Quo Vadis

Set in Rome at the height of Nero’s reign, Sienkiewicz’s most famous novel follows Marcus Vinicius, a proud young patrician who falls for Lygia, a gentle hostage secretly devoted to the new Christian faith. Their forbidden love unfolds against a court steeped in cruelty and excess, watched over by the witty, world-weary Petronius. When fire sweeps the city, Nero shifts the blame onto Rome’s Christians, and the story turns from romance to a harrowing account of faith under persecution. The novel earned Sienkiewicz worldwide fame and helped secure his Nobel Prize. Jeremiah Curtin’s translation is available here as a free PDF and EPUB edition.