Quo Vadis

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

First published 1896

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4.0(43,256)

Marcus Vinicius returns to Rome and becomes obsessed with Lygia, a royal hostage raised in the household of Aulus Plautius and Pomponia Graecina. When imperial influence places her in Vinicius’s power, she escapes into the Christian community guided by Peter and Paul. With the help of his cultivated uncle Petronius and the informer Chilo, Vinicius searches for her, but contact with the Christians gradually turns possession into love and forces him to question the violence accepted by Nero’s court.

The Great Fire of Rome destroys much of the city, and Nero’s government blames the Christians, beginning arrests, executions and spectacles in the arena. Lygia and her protector Ursus are taken, while Vinicius attempts to save them from a regime in which cruelty has become entertainment and political defence. The novel contrasts imperial power with martyrdom and conversion, combining fictional romance with Nero, Petronius and traditions surrounding the final years of Peter and Paul.