Quo Vadis · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

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Chapter 1
Dedication
The author dedicates the volume to Auguste Comte of San Francisco, California, addressing him as a dear friend and classmate.
Chapter 2
Introductory
Jeremiah Curtin introduces Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis as a depiction of the early conflict between Christianity and the Roman Empire, contrasting it with the author's earlier Polish trilogy and emphasizing the growing global significance of this moral struggle.
Chapter 3
Quo Vadis
The opening chapter introduces the setting of Nero's Rome and the key characters Petronius and Vinicius, establishing the decadent and tyrannical atmosphere of the imperial court.
Chapter 4
Chapter I
Vinicius visits his uncle Petronius at the bath and confesses his passionate love for Lygia, a hostage princess raised in the house of Aulus Plautius. Petronius, though skeptical and witty, agrees to help Vinicius by speaking to Plautius on his behalf.
Chapter 5
Chapter II
Vinicius passionately declares his love to Lygia in the garden at sunset, comparing his feelings to the devotion of Titus for Berenice. Lygia listens with a mixture of alarm and fascination. Old Aulus interrupts them, speaking of his desire to retire to Sicily. Petronius arrives and engages in refined conversation with Pomponia Graecina, quoting Homer to Lygia, who responds with a verse from the Odyssey. Petronius and Vinicius then leave, discussing the fickle mob and Nero's tyranny, with Petronius giving Vinicius a copy of his Satyricon. They proceed to the house of Aulus, noting its unusual lack of chains on the doorkeepers.

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Dedication

Introductory

Quo Vadis

Chapter I

Chapter II