Quo Vadis (novel)

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Quo Vadis is a novel by a Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz, describing the introduction of Christianity into early A.D. Rome (while under Nero's rule). The title is Latin for "Where are you going?" and alludes to a New Testament verse (John 13:36). Quo Vadis tells the story of the love that develops between a young Christian woman Lygia (also Ligia) and a Roman officer Marcus Vinicius who, after meeting her fellow Christians, converts to her religion. Published in installments in three Polish dailies in 1895, it came out in book form in 1896 and has since been translated into more than 50 languages. This novel chiefly contributed to Sienkiewicz's Nobel Prize for literature in 1905. The Hollywood film Quo Vadis, which was based on the novel and in which Peter Ustinov played Nero, appeared in 1951.