Makrina.
Sunset over our home; sunset of hope and of light in the world! Oh Basil! that we should live to see the night!
Basil.
The light <g>is</g>.
Julian.
The light shall be. Turn your backs to the sunset, Galileans! Your faces to the east, to the east, where Helios lies dreaming. Verily I say unto you, you shall see the Sun-King of the world.
[He goes out to the right; all follow him.
SCENE THIRD. Beyond the Euphrates and Tigris. A wide plain, with the imperial camp. Copses, to the left and in the background, hide the windings of the Tigris. Masts of ships rise over the thickets in long rows, stretching into the far distance. A cloudy evening.
Soldiers and men-at-arms of all sorts are busy pitching their tents on the plain. All kinds of stores are being brought from the ships. Watchfires far away. Nevita, Jovian, and other officers come from the fleet.
Nevita.
See, now, how rightly the Emperor has chosen! Here we stand, without a stroke, on the enemy's territory; no one has opposed our passage of the river; not even a single Persian horseman is to be seen.
