SALLUSTIUS, Catilina.

_O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!_
SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet.

PREFACE

This story, published in Germany under the title of _Gelimer_ is the
third volume in the group of romances to which "Felicitas" and "The
Captive of the Roman Eagles" belong, and, like them, deals with the
long-continued conflict between the Germans and the Romans.

But in the present novel the scene of the struggle is transferred from
the forests of Germania to the arid sands of Africa, and, in
wonderfully vivid pen-pictures, the author displays the marvellous
magnificence surrounding the descendants of the Vandal Genseric, the
superb pageants of their festivals, and the luxury whose enervating
influence has gradually sapped the strength and courage of the rude,
invincible warriors--once the terror of all the neighboring coasts and
islands--till their enfeebled limbs can no longer support the weight of
their ancestors' armor, and they cast aside their helmets to crown
themselves with the rose-garlands of Roman revellers.

The pages glow with color as the brilliant changeful vision of life in
Carthage, under the Vandal rule, rises from the mists of the vanished
centuries, and the characters which people this ancient world are no
less varied. The noble king, the subtle Roman, Verus, the gallant
warrior, Zazo, Hilda, the beautiful, fearless Ostrogoth Princess, the
wily Justinian, his unscrupulous Empress, Theodora, and their brave,
impetuous general, Belisarius, are clearly portrayed; and, underlying
the whole drama, surges the fierce warfare between Roman Catholic and
Arian, while the place and the period in which the scenes of the
romance are laid, both comparatively little known, lend a peculiar
charm and freshness to the gifted author's narrative.

MARY J. SAFFORD.

HIGHFIELD COTTAGE,
DOUGLAS HILL, MAINE,
August 24, 1903.

THE
SCARLET BANNER

_BOOK ONE_
BEFORE THE WAR

CHAPTER I

TO CORNELIUS CETHEGUS CAESARIUS, A FRIEND:

I send these notes to you rather than to any other man. Why? First of
all, because I know not where you are, so the missive will probably be
los