diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-0.txt | 13178 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-0.zip | bin | 256478 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-8.txt | 13187 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-8.zip | bin | 254344 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-h.zip | bin | 531447 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-h/52650-h.htm | 12141 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-h/images/back.jpg | bin | 133882 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 123066 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52650-h/images/rose.jpg | bin | 5018 -> 0 bytes |
12 files changed, 17 insertions, 38506 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c975923 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52650 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52650) diff --git a/old/52650-0.txt b/old/52650-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a5aaf9f..0000000 --- a/old/52650-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13178 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hear Me, Pilate!, by William LeGette Blythe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Hear Me, Pilate! - -Author: William LeGette Blythe - -Release Date: July 26, 2016 [EBook #52650] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEAR ME, PILATE! *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Ron Box and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - HEAR - ME, - PILATE! - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - LeGETTE BLYTHE - - - HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON · NEW YORK - - -Copyright © 1961 by LeGette Blythe - -All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or -portions thereof in any form. - -Published simultaneously in Canada by Holt, Rinehart and Winston of -Canada, Limited. - -First Edition - - -Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-11599 - - -Designer: Ernst Reichl - -81003-0211 - -Printed in the United States of America - - - FOR ANNE AND JULIE - - - - - Rome - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 1 - - -The capricious flame spattered darts of thin yellow light on walls and -floor as the doors swung gently closed. Claudia turned from her tall, -deeply tanned, uniformed escort to address the servant who had let them -in. - -“I won’t be needing you tonight, Tullia. You may go now. But wait ... -before you leave, we shan’t be wanting all these lamps. Put out all but -that one”—she pointed—“and then you may go to bed. Poor thing, I know -you’re tired.” She peered beyond the wide archway opening onto the -peristylium. “I see you left a lamp burning in my bedroom. Good. Well, -then, just put these others out. - -“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” Claudia said as the servant -snuffed out the flame and, bowing to them, disappeared into the now -darkened corridor. “She’s a treasure, Longinus, intelligent, faithful, -and, most important, she’s utterly loyal. She would die before betraying -me. She’s Phoebe’s daughter, and Phoebe, you know, hanged herself rather -than be a witness against my mother. Tullia, I’m sure, would do the same -thing for me.” She pointed toward the peristylium. “Let’s sit out there -in the moonlight. It seems a little warm in here, doesn’t it?” - -“It does,” he answered. “I was hoping you’d suggest that. It would be a -shame to waste that moon, and the fountain and flowers.” He was glancing -around the luxuriously furnished room. “By the gods, Claudia, you have a -handsome place. It’s been a long time since I was here, but it seems -more lavish. Did Aemilius have it redecorated?” - -“Bona Dea, no. That insipid oaf? What has he ever done for me?” She -acted mildly piqued but then smiled. “It has been redecorated, but I had -it done. This apartment’s actually an extension of the Imperial Palace, -you remember. My beloved stepfather, the great Emperor Tiberius,” she -said sarcastically, “had it built for his little girls. When he moved -them out to Capri with him—a new group, of course, for several of us -were too old by then—he allowed me to stay here. But I moved away when I -married Aemilius; we went out to Baiae. After we were divorced, though, -I returned here, and that’s when I had it redecorated. But the place was -built for the Emperor’s little girls.” She paused, leaned against a -high-backed bronze chair. “You understand?” - -“I’ve heard stories, yes.” - -“Well, when poor Mother sent me to him from Pandateria—you know I was -born on that dreadful island soon after Grandfather Augustus banished -her there, and I really think she sent me to Tiberius to see that I got -away from it. Anyway, he put me in here with the other little girls. -This wing connects with his private quarters, or once did. There’s a -wing very much like this one on the other side; that’s where he kept his -boys.” She shrugged; he sensed that it was more a shudder. “Tiberius, -thank the gods, spent more time over on the boys’ side. There’s a small -passage-way—few persons probably know about it now—that opened from his -quarters into my dressing room. It was all quite convenient. But when -the old monster moved out to Capri, I had the door removed and the -opening bricked up.” - -“I’ve heard stories about the Emperor. Was he ... did he really ... I -mean, you know, Claudia, did he actually do ... does he, I mean...?” - -She laughed. “Yes, he did. And I presume he still does; they say old men -are worse that way than young men. But he no longer bothers me and -hasn’t for years. I’m much too old for him; he likes them very young, or -did. He’s an old rake, all right, though he can’t be guilty of all the -things they’ve charged him with. Out at Capri now I really think he’s -more interested in his astrologers and philosophers than in his little -girls and his painted pretty boys. But, well”—she shrugged—“there are -things I do know about him, experiences I myself have had with him, and -although I’m not close blood kin to him, my mother, poor thing, was his -wife though she was that only because her father forced her to marry -him.” They had crossed into the peristylium, and she paused to face him, -smiling. “But let’s talk no more of the Emperor and me, Longinus; by the -gods, there are pleasanter subjects.” - -“I agree; there are pleasanter subjects than Tiberius.” They walked -around a tall potted plant and sat down. Claudia leaned back against the -plush cushions of the couch; she pushed her jewel-studded golden sandals -out from beneath the folds of her white silk stola. The moonlight danced -in the jeweled clasps that fastened the straps above her shoulders, -while the gold mesh of her girdle glittered brightly. For a moment she -silently studied the fountain. Then suddenly she sat forward. - -“Forgive me, Longinus. Would you like some wine and perhaps a wafer? I -have some excellent Campania, both Falernian and Surrentine, in the -other room. Or perhaps you’re hungry....” - -“No, no, Claudia, thank you. I made a pig of myself at Herod’s dinner -tonight.” - -“But it was a lavish banquet, wasn’t it?” Her smile indicated a sudden -secret amusement. “I wonder what Sejanus will think of it.” - -“Sejanus?” Then he smiled with her. “Oh, I see what you mean. He’s going -to wonder where Herod got the money. And why Herod gave the dinner for -Herodias.” - -Claudia laughed. “Well, she’s his favorite niece, isn’t she?” - -“She surely must be. But she’s also his half brother’s wife.” Longinus -paused thoughtfully. “I hardly think, however, that Sejanus will be -greatly concerned with the domestic affairs of the Herods.” - -“As long as they keep the money flowing into his treasury, hmm?” - -“Exactly. And you’re right. Tonight’s lavish feast may cause the Prefect -to suspect that the flow is being partially diverted. Our friend Herod -Antipas ought to have given a more modest affair. No doubt he was -trying, though, to impress Herodias.” - -“No doubt,” Claudia repeated. “But it was hardly necessary. She wants to -marry him and be Tetrarchess.” - -Longinus looked surprised. “Then you think Antipas will take her away -from Philip?” - -“I’m sure he will. He already has, in fact.” - -“By the gods, that’s odd. That Arabian woman he left in Tiberias is much -more beautiful. And so is that Jewish woman he brought along with him to -Rome. What did you say her name was?” - -“I noticed you had eyes for her all evening.” Claudia’s tone, he -thought, was not altogether flippant, and that pleased him. “Her name’s -Mary,” she continued, “and she lives at Magdala on the Sea of Galilee -just above Tiberias. But of course you know where Tiberias is. And I -suspect you might remember Mary.” Her smile was coy and slyly -questioning. “Herodias says that this Mary is being pursued by half the -wealthy men in Galilee for the artistry with which she performs her -bedroom chores.” - -“I must confess”—Longinus grinned—“that unfortunately I am numbered -among the other half. But what does Herodias think of her beloved -uncle’s amours? Isn’t she jealous?” - -“Oh, I’m sure she is ... what woman wouldn’t be? But she knows that in -such activities she must share him. Antipas, I understand, is a true -Herod.” - -“Yes, and I have a strong suspicion that in such activities, as you -express it, Herodias is a Herod, too.” He sat forward, serious again. -“But what puzzles me, Claudia, is how I happened to be one of Antipas’ -guests tonight. It must have been entirely through your arranging, but -why on earth are you involved in a social way with any of these Jews?” - -Claudia laughed. “Herodias and I have long been friends. You see, after -her grandfather, old Herod the Great they called him, had her father and -her uncle, his own sons, killed”—she involuntarily shuddered—“Herodias -and her brother Agrippa were virtually brought up at the Emperor’s -court. Agrippa’s a spoiled, arrogant, worthless spendthrift. Old Herod -sent his other sons to Rome, too, to be educated—Antipas and Philip, -Herodias’ husband now, and still another Philip....” She broke off and -gestured to indicate futility. “You see, Longinus, old Herod had ten -wives and only the gods know how many children and grandchildren and -great-grandchildren. Do you know much about the Herods? They’re older -than we, of course.” - -Longinus shook his head. “No, nor do I care to. I think maybe I have -seen some of them a few times, including this Philip, but I happily -surrender to you any share I may have in any Jew.” - -“But, Longinus, the Herods aren’t orthodox Jews. They even say that some -of them, including Herodias and her no-good brother, are more Roman than -we Romans. They’ve all probably spent more time in Rome than in -Palestine. Why, they have about as much regard for the Jewish religion -as you and I have for our Roman gods. Actually, Longinus, the Herods are -Idumaeans, and they’re quite different from the rest of the Jews. The -Jews are strict in their religious observances.” Abruptly she stopped. -“But why, Bona Dea, am I telling you about the Jews? You have lived out -there in Palestine, and I’ve never set foot near it. Your father has -vast properties in that region, while mine....” She lifted a knee to the -couch as she twisted her body to face him, her dark eyes deadly serious -in the silver brightness of the moon. “Longinus, do you know about my -father?” - -“No, Claudia, nothing.” - -“Of course you don’t.” She smiled bitterly. “That was a silly question. -I don’t even know myself. I’ve often wondered if Mother did. But haven’t -you heard stories, Longinus?” - -“I was rather young, remember, when you were born.” But immediately he -was serious. “Gossip, Claudia, yes. I’ve heard people talk. But gossip -has never interested me.” A sly grin lightened his expression. “I’m more -interested in your father’s handiwork than in who he was.” - -“Prettily said, Centurion.” She patted the back of his bronzed hand. -“But surely you must have heard that my father was the son of Mark -Antony and Cleopatra?” - -“Well, yes, I believe I have. But why...?” - -“And that my other grandfather, the Emperor Augustus, had him killed -when he got Mother pregnant with me and then banished her to that -damnably barren Pandateria?” - -“I may have heard something about it, Claudia, but what of it? What -difference does it make?” - -“Do you mean to tell me that it makes no difference to you that I’m a -bastard, Longinus, and the discarded plaything of a lecherous old man, -even though that lecherous old man happens to be the second Emperor of -Rome? Does it make no difference to a son of the distinguished Tullius -clan...?” - -“And isn’t your slave maid, too, a member of this distinguished Tullius -clan?” - -His quick parrying of the question amused her. “It’s funny,” she said, -“I hadn’t thought of Tullia that way. Her grandfather belonged to one of -the Tullii, no doubt. But Tullia is actually not Roman; she’s Jewish. -Her grandfather was one of those Jews brought as slaves from Jerusalem -by Pompey. Tullia is even faithful to the Jewish religion. But that’s -her only fault, and it’s one I’m glad to overlook. Sometimes I allow her -to go to one of the synagogues over in the Janiculum Hill section.” - -Longinus reached for her hand. “Nevertheless, Claudia, you must know -that many so-called distinguished Romans are legitimate only because -their mothers happened to be married, though not to their fathers, when -they were conceived?” - -“Yes, I suppose so. No doubt you’ve heard the story of what Mother said -to a friend who asked her one day how all five of the children she had -during the time she was married to General Agrippa happened to look so -much like him.” - -“If I have, I don’t recall it. What was her answer?” - -“‘I never take on a passenger unless the vessel is already full.’” - -“I can see how that would be effective,” the centurion observed dryly. -“But then how do you explain ... well, yourself?” - -“After General Agrippa died, Augustus made Tiberius divorce his wife and -marry Mother. But they were totally incompatible, and I can see how, -under the circumstances, things turned out the way they did. Tiberius -left Rome and went out to Rhodes to live. That pleased Mother; she was -young and beautiful, and she was still the most sought-after of her set -in Rome. So, after Tiberius hadn’t been near her bed for years and a -succession of more interesting men had, it was discovered, to the horror -of my conventional and publicly pious grandfather and the delight of -Rome’s gossips, that I was expected. So the Emperor had the man who was -supposed to be my father”—she smiled—“you know, I’ve always rather hoped -he was—he had him executed, and he sent Mother off to Pandateria.” She -threw out her hands, palms up. “That’s the story of Mother’s misfortune, -me. But you must have heard about all this years ago?” - -He ignored her question. “You her misfortune? Don’t be silly. You were -rather, I’d say, her gift to Rome.” - -“You do put things prettily, Longinus. Nevertheless, my mother was -banished because of me.” - -“But, by the gods, how could you help it, Claudia?” He caught her chin -and turned her face around so that the moon shone full upon it. “Aren’t -you still the granddaughter of the first Emperor of Rome on one side and -a queen and triumvir on the other? Aren’t you still the stepdaughter of -the Emperor Tiberius? Those are distinguished bloodlines, by Jove! What -nobler heritage could anyone have? And aren’t you the most beautiful -woman in Rome? What, by mighty Jupiter, Claudia, do you lack?” - -“At the moment,” she answered, her serious air suddenly vanished, “a -husband.” - -“A situation you could quickly remedy.” - -“A situation that Tiberius or Sejanus could quickly remedy, you mean, -and may attempt to do soon, and not to my liking, I suspect. They may -even pick another Aemilius for me, the gods forbid. Seriously, Longinus, -I wouldn’t be surprised to learn right now that Sejanus has already -arranged it. He and the Emperor are desperately afraid, I suspect, that -I may scandalize Rome, as Mother did, if they don’t get me married -quickly before I have a baby and no husband to blame it on.” - -“But, Claudia....” - -“By the Bountiful Mother, Longinus,” she laughed, “I’m not expecting, if -that’s what you think. And what’s more, I don’t expect to be expecting -... any time soon. But I know Sejanus, and I know Tiberius. It’s all -politics, Centurion. And politics must be served, just as it was served -in my grandfather’s day and at every other time since man first knew the -taste of power. The same hypocritical public behavior, the same affected -virtues propped right alongside the same winked-at corruption.” She -swung her legs around and stood up. “But enough of this speech-making. -I’m going to bring us some of the Campania.” - -She returned with the wine on a silver tray and handed him one of the -two slender goblets. He held the glass up to the light and slowly -revolved its gracefully thin stem between his thumb and forefinger. - -“Don’t you like Campania?” - -“Very much,” he answered. “But it’s the glass that interests me. This -goblet comes from my father’s plant near Tyre.” - -“Oh, really?” She smiled. “I’m glad. I knew they were made in Phoenicia, -but I didn’t know they came from Senator Piso’s glassworks. Herodias -gave me several pieces from a set Antipas brought her. They are lovely.” -She lifted her own goblet and admired it in the moonlight. “Such -beautiful craftsmanship. You know, I’ve never understood how they can be -blown so perfectly. And I love the delicate coloring. Now that I know -they come from your father’s factory, they’re all the more interesting -to me, and valued.” She set the goblet down and sat quietly for a moment -studying the resplendent full moon. “Longinus, I’m so glad you’re back -in Rome,” she said at last. “It seems you’ve been away in Germania, and -before that in Palestine, for such a long time. Did you ever think of me -while you were away?” - -“Yes. And did you ... of me?” - -“Oh, yes, often, and very much. In spite of Aemilius.” She picked up the -goblet, then set it down again on the tripod and leaned against his -shoulder. “By the Bountiful Mother Ceres”—she bent forward, slipping her -feet out of the sandals—“I can’t get comfortable, Longinus. I’m too -warm. This stola’s heavy, and I’m so ... so laced.” She stood up. “Wait -here; I’ll only be a minute.” - -Diagonally across from them a thin sliver of lamplight shone through a -crack in the doorway to Claudia’s bedroom. She stepped into her sandals, -walked around the spraying fountain, and entered the room. “I won’t -close the door entirely,” she called back, as she swung it three-fourths -shut. “That way we can talk while I’m getting into something more -comfortable.” - -“I really should be going,” Longinus said. “I have early duty tomorrow.” - -“Oh, not yet, please. Do wait. I’ll be out in a moment. Pour yourself -some wine.” - -He poured another glass, sipped from it, then set the goblet on the tray -and settled back against the cushions. His gaze returned to the widened -rectangle of light in her doorway. In the center of it there was a -sudden movement. Surely, he thought, she isn’t going to change directly -in front of the open door. Then he realized that he was looking into a -long mirror on the wall at right angles to the doorway; he was seeing -her image in the polished bronze. In stepping back from the door she had -taken a position in the corner of the room just at the spot where the -angle was right for the mirror to reflect her image to anyone seated on -the couch outside. - -“By all the gods!” Longinus sat forward. - -But now she had disappeared. The mirror showed only a corner of her -dressing table with its profusion of containers—vials of perfumes, oils, -ointments, jars of creams—and scissors, tweezers, strigils, razors, he -presumed them to be, though because of the distance from them and the -table’s disarray he could not see them clearly. Now they were suddenly -hidden behind the brightness of the stola as the young woman again came -into view. She dropped a garment across a chair, then turned to face the -dressing table and the mirror above it. The light shone full upon her -back. Both stola and girdle behind were cut low, and the cold shimmering -whiteness of the gown accentuated the smooth warmth of her flesh tones. -Now her fingers were busy at the jeweled fastenings of the girdle; the -light flashed in the stones of her rings. Quickly the girdle came off, -and her hands went to one shoulder as her bracelets, their stones -glimmering, slipped along her arms. The clasp gave; the strap fell to -reveal warm flesh to her waist. She unfastened the other strap, and the -stola slipped to the floor. Bending quickly, she picked up the -voluminous garment and, turning, laid it with the girdle across the -chair. - -“Jove!” he exclaimed. “By all the great gods!” In the strong but -flickering light of the wall lamp, Claudia stood divested now of all her -clothing except for the sheer black silk of her scant undergarments. - -“Are you still there, Longinus?” she called out. “And did I hear you say -something?” - -“I’m here,” he answered. “But really, Claudia, I should be going.” He -hoped his voice did not betray his suddenly mounting tension. - -“No, not yet. Just a minute. I’m coming now.” - -She reached for a dressing robe and hurriedly swept it around her. -Fastening the belt loosely about her waist, she turned toward the -doorway and stepped quickly back into the peristylium. He stood up to -meet her. Gently she pushed him to the couch and sat beside him. - -“Please don’t go yet, Longinus. You’ve been away in Germania so long, -and I couldn’t have you to myself at the banquet. There’s so much to -talk about, to ask you about.” She leaned back and snuggled against him. -Then she looked down at her knees, round and pink under the sheerness of -the pale rose robe. “Bona Dea!” She clamped her knees together and -doubled the robe over them. “I didn’t realize this robe was so -transparent, Longinus. But it is comfortable, and there is only the -moonlight out here.” She reached out, caught his hand, squeezed it, and -released it. “And you can lean back and look only at the moon.” - -“But in Germania we had the moon.” - -“Yes, and women. I’ve heard much about the women of Germania, and seen -them, too. Women with yellow hair and complexions like the bloom of the -apricot or the skin of the pomegranate. And women free for the asking, -eh, Centurion?” - -“Not often for the asking. Sometimes for the taking.” He pulled her -close and felt through his tunic the quick surge of her warmth against -him. “But tonight is not Germania and women whose hair is the color of -ripening grain, Claudia. Tonight is Rome and a woman with hair as black -as a raven’s wing and skin fair and smooth and warm and greatly -tempting.” - -“A woman maybe for the asking, or the taking?” Quickly she twisted out -from the arm about her waist, and her gay, impish laughter broke upon -the fountain’s sleepy murmuring. “I didn’t know you were also a poet, -Longinus.” She reached for the pitcher. “Wine to toast the weaver of -beautiful words,” she said, filling the goblets; she handed him his, -then held hers aloft. “I drink to the new Catullus. ‘Let us live, Lesbia -mine, and love.’ - -“How did he say it...? - - “And all the mumbling of harsh old men - “We shall reckon as a pennyworth. - -“And then, well.... - - “Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, - “Then another thousand, then a second hundred, - “And still another thousand, then a hundred. - -“It goes on,” she added, “but that’s all I can repeat. Now drink with me -to your own pretty words.” - -Longinus laughed and sipped the wine. “Were his words quoted by you for -me ... from you? Remember that Catullus later wrote of his Lesbia: - - “A woman’s words to hungry lover said - “Should be upon the flowing winds inscribed, - “Upon swift streams engraved.” - -She leaned out from the shadow into which the retreating moon had pushed -them. “Maybe they were quoted to spur your asking, Longinus, or”—she -paused and smiled demurely—“your taking.” Then quickly she sank back -against him. “You think I’m a blatantly bold hussy, don’t you?” - -“No, Claudia,” he smiled, “just experienced. And beautiful, and ... and -very tempting.” - -“Experienced, yes, but believe me, not promiscuous, Longinus. By the -Bountiful Mother, I’m not that way, in spite of my experience.” The -teasing was gone from her eyes. “In spite of everything, not that.” - -She snuggled against his arm outstretched along the back of the couch, -and gently he half turned her to let her head down upon his lap. Her -eyes were wide, and in each he saw a luminous and trembling small, round -moon; her mouth was open, and against his thigh he felt the quickened -pounding of her heart. As he bent over her, she reached up and drew him, -her hot palm cupping the back of his cropped head, down hard upon her -lips tasting sweet of the Campania and desperately eager and burning. - -He raised his face from hers and lifted her slightly to relieve the -pressure of her body on his arm. She drew up her feet and, with knees -bent, braced them against the end of the short couch. Her robe slipped -open, and she lay still, her eyes closed, her lips apart. - -His throat tightened, and he felt a prickling sensation moving up and -down his spine, coursing outward to his arms and past tingling palms to -his fingertips. Deftly he eased his legs from beneath her; lowering her -head to the couch, he stood up. - -“Oh, Longinus, please, not now,” she pleaded, her voice tense, her tone -entreating. “Please don’t leave me now.” - -For a moment he stood above her, silent, and then, bending down quickly, -he lifted her from the couch and started toward the still open bedroom -door. He was past the fountain when a sudden, loud knocking at the -entrance doors shattered the silence. - -“Oh, Longinus, put me down!” She swung her legs to the floor. “Bona Dea, -who could be coming here at this hour! Of all the damnable luck!” She -stared in dismay at her disarrayed and transparent robe. “By all the -gods, I can’t go into the atrium dressed like this! Longinus, will you -go? Tullia’s probably sound asleep.” With that, Claudia darted into the -bedroom, while the pounding grew ever louder and more insistent. - -Longinus started toward the door, but before he could reach it, Tullia -had appeared from the corridor. She quickly opened the door, then backed -away as the robust soldier stepped inside. - -“I am seeking the Centurion Longinus. I was told ... ah, there you are!” -he cried. - -“Cornelius! What are you doing here?” - -“Longinus! By Jove! I’ve been searching all Rome for you.” - -“But I thought you were still in Palestine.” - -“And I thought you were still in Germania!”—Cornelius laughed—“until -today.” - -“Come, sit down,” Longinus said. “When did you get back?” - -“Only a week ago, and most of that time I’ve been out at Baiae with the -family. I came into Rome today to report to the Prefect.” - -“Jove! Is he going to name you Procurator of Judaea, Cornelius? I hear -that Valerius Gratus is being recalled.” - -“Me Procurator? Don’t be silly, man. No, but I have an idea it’s -something concerned with Palestine that has him calling for you. I’ve -got orders to find you and bring you to his palace immediately. So we’d -best be going, Longinus.” - -“To see Sejanus? At this hour?” - -“Yes, he said it was urgent. He’s leaving early tomorrow morning for -Capri, and he says he’s got to see you before he goes.” - -“By the gods!” Longinus’ countenance was suddenly solemn. “What have _I_ -done?” - -“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing to be alarmed about. Probably some special -assignment or other. I don’t know. But come, man, you know Sejanus -doesn’t like to be kept waiting. Get your toga. I have a sedan chair -outside.” - -“In a minute, Cornelius. I must tell Claudia.” - -“Couldn’t her maid explain...?” - -But Longinus already was striding toward the peristylium. “Claudia,” he -called through the crack in the doorway, “the Prefect has sent for me. I -don’t know what he wants, but I’ve got to be going.” - -“Bona Dea!” She was just inside the door. “Sejanus?” - -“Yes. Cornelius says he wants to see me tonight, right now. I don’t have -any idea what he could want, but tomorrow night, if I may see you then, -I’ll explain everything.” - -“What could that old devil be wanting with you, Longinus?” The question -seemed addressed more to herself than to him. “Yes, of course, you must -come. I’ll be anxious to know.” - -The sound of his retreating steps echoed along the peristylium and -across the mosaic floor of the atrium. Claudia listened until she heard -Tullia shut the double doors, and then there was silence. She closed her -own door and crossed to her still undisturbed bed; she flung herself -upon it. - -“Sejanus, the devil! The old devil!” With furious fists she pounded on -the bed. “May Pluto’s mallet splatter his evil brains!” - - - - - 2 - - -“Centurion Longinus, how well do you know Pontius Pilate?” - -The Prefect Sejanus sensed that the soldier was hardly prepared for the -blunt question. He had only a moment ago entered the ornate chamber. But -Sejanus added nothing to qualify the question. Instead, he seemed to -enjoy Longinus’ momentary uneasiness. His small eyes reflected the light -from the lamps flanking the heavy oak desk behind which he sat, while he -waited for the centurion to answer. - -“Sir,” Longinus at last began, “during our campaign in Germania he -commanded the cohort of which my century was a unit, but I cannot say -that I know him well.” - -“Then you and Pontius Pilate”—the Prefect paused and smiled -blandly—“could hardly be described as devoted friends or intimates?” - -“That is true, sir, and I am not sure that Pilate....” He hesitated. - -“Please speak frankly, Centurion.” The Prefect’s smile was disarmingly -reassuring. “You were about to say, were you not, that you are not sure -that Pilate has many intimate friends?” - -“I was going to say, sir, that in my opinion Pilate is not the type of -soldier who has many intimate friends. I may be doing him an injustice, -but I have never considered him a particularly ... ah ... sociable -fellow. I have the feeling that he is a very ambitious man, determined -to advance his career....” - -“And his private fortune?” - -Longinus thought carefully before answering. “So far as that is -concerned, sir, I really cannot say. I have no information whatever on -which to base an opinion. Nor did I intend to indicate in any way that I -thought Pilate was seeking advancement in the army in an improper -manner.” - -Sejanus sat back in his chair. His falcon-like eyes darted back and -forth as they measured and appraised the young man. “Centurion,” he -said, leaning forward and smiling ingratiatingly, “you are cautious, and -you evidence a sense of loyalty to your superiors. Both qualities I -admire, particularly in the soldier. This makes me all the more -confident that you will be able to carry out the assignment I propose to -give you.” He stared unblinkingly into the centurion’s eyes. “Longinus, -no doubt you have been wondering why I sent for you, why I insisted you -come at this late hour, and why we are closeted here alone.” - -“Yes, sir, I have been wondering.” - -“It is irregular, of course, even though it is with the son of Senator -Marcus Tullius Piso that the Prefect is closeted.” The wry smile was -gone now; the Prefect’s countenance was serious. “Longinus, you must be -aware of the regard your father and I have for each other. You must know -that we also understand each other, that we are colleagues in various -enterprises widely scattered about the Empire.” - -“I know, sir, that my father has a high regard for the Prefect, and I -have known in a vague way of your association in certain business -enterprises.” - -“Yes, and they have been profitable to both of us, Longinus. Have you -ever wondered, for instance, how it happens that whenever your father’s -plants in Phoenicia begin to run low on slaves, a government ship always -arrives with fresh ones?” - -Longinus nodded. “Whenever such a vessel arrived, I always thought I -knew why. But I never asked questions or ventured comments, sir. I just -put the new slaves to work.” - -“Excellent. You are discreet, indeed. There is nothing more valuable to -me than an intelligent man who can keep his eyes open and his mouth -closed.” Sejanus arose, came around the desk to sit in a chair at arm’s -length from the centurion. “Longinus, the assignment I propose to give -you is of immense importance. And it is highly confidential in nature.” -His expression and voice were grave. “To accomplish it successfully, the -man I choose will have to be always on the alert; he will have to have -imagination and initiative; he will need to exercise great caution; and -above all, he will have to be someone completely loyal to the Prefect.” -For a long moment his quickly darting eyes appraised the soldier. “I -know that you are intelligent, Longinus, and I am satisfied that you -possess these other qualities.” He leaned forward and tapped the -centurion on the knee. “I had a purpose in asking you if you knew -Pontius Pilate well. Tomorrow Pilate is to see me. If everything goes as -I expect, then we shall start for Capri to see the Emperor, and the -Emperor will approve officially what I shall have done already.” He -paused and smiled cynically. “You understand, of course?” - -Longinus smiled. “I believe, sir, that you speak for the Emperor in such -matters, do you not?” - -“In all matters, Longinus. The Emperor no longer concerns himself with -the affairs of the Empire.” His piggish eyes brightened. “He’s too busy -with his astrologers and his philosophers and his”—he smiled with -contempt—“his friends.” But suddenly the contemptuous smile was gone, -and Sejanus sat back in his chair. “Longinus, Pontius Pilate is anxious -to succeed Valerius Gratus as Procurator of Judaea.” - -The centurion sensed that the Prefect was waiting for his reaction. But -he said nothing. Sejanus leaned forward again. “I am speaking in -complete frankness, Longinus. We must understand each other; you must -likewise speak frankly to me. But what we say must go no further. Is -that clear?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Good. Now to get back to Pilate. He’s a man well suited to my purpose, -I’m confident.” Once more the Prefect hesitated, as if seeking a way to -proceed. “Some years ago, before you went out to Phoenicia, the -Emperor’s nephew, General Germanicus, was fatally poisoned at -Alexandria. It was rumored at the time that the Emperor had ordered it. -Pilate, who served in Gaul under Germanicus, came stoutly to the -Emperor’s defense with the story that the poisoning had been done by -supporters of the Emperor but without his knowledge, because they had -learned that the nephew was plotting the uncle’s downfall. Perhaps you -heard something about this?” - -“I believe I did hear something to that effect, sir. But that was about -seven years ago, wasn’t it?” - -“Yes, no doubt. Time passes so fast for me, Centurion. But let’s get -back to Pontius Pilate. He’s ambitious, as you suggested, and as I said, -he wants to be appointed Procurator in Judaea. So he should be amenable -to ... ah, suggestions, eh, Centurion? And he should therefore be a -perfect counterpart in Judaea to the Tetrarch Antipas in Galilee.” -Sejanus suddenly was staring intently at the sober-faced young soldier. -“How well, Longinus, do you know Herod Antipas?” - -“I hardly know him at all, sir. I’ve seen him a few times; I used to go -into Galilee and other parts of Palestine for our glassware plants; I -tried once, I remember, to sell him glassware for the new palace he was -building on the Sea of Galilee. But those were business trips, you see, -and I rarely saw him even then. I was usually directed to speak with the -Tetrarchess or Herod’s steward.” - -“But you were a guest at the banquet he gave this evening, weren’t you?” - -“I was, sir.” Longinus wondered, almost admiringly, how the Prefect -managed to keep so well-informed of even the most private goings-on in -Rome. - -“It was a sumptuous feast, no doubt?” - -“It was quite lavish, sir.” - -“Hmmm. I must remember that.” The Prefect puckered his lips, and his -forehead wrinkled into a frown. Leaning across the desk, he drew his -lips tightly against his teeth. “Soon, Longinus, you will be having two -to watch.” His eyes narrowed to a squint. “Three, in fact.” - -“To watch, sir?” - -“Yes, that is the assignment I have for you, Longinus. I am sending you -out to Palestine, to be my eyes and ears in the land of those -pestiferous Jews. At intervals you will report”—he held up his hand, -palm out—“but only to me, understand. You will travel about the various -areas—Caesarea, Jerusalem, Tiberias, to your father’s plants in -Phoenicia, perhaps other places—ostensibly on routine tasks for the -army. The details will be worked out later.” He leveled a forefinger at -the centurion. “It will be your task, among the various duties you will -have, Centurion, to report to me any suspicions that may be aroused in -your mind concerning the flow of revenues into the Imperial treasury in -accordance with the terms that I shall make with Pontius Pilate, and -likewise with the revised schedules I shall”—he paused an instant, and -his smile was sardonic—“suggest to the Tetrarch Antipas before he -returns to Galilee.” He sat back, and his sharp small eyes studied -Longinus. - -“Then, sir, as I understand it, you are suspicious that both Pilate and -Antipas may withhold for themselves money that should be going to Rome?” - -“Let’s put it this way, Longinus.” The Prefect leaned toward the -centurion and tapped the desk with the ends of his fingers. “I don’t -trust them. I know the Tetrarch has been dipping his fat hand into the -treasury, though not too heavily thus far, let us say. That white marble -palace at the seaside, for example, and the gorgeous furnishings, -including Phoenician glassware, eh?” He shot a quizzical straight glance -into the centurion’s eyes, but quickly a smile tempered it. “We don’t -object to his buying glass, do we, as long as it comes from your -father’s plants?” - -But just as quickly the Prefect was serious again. He sat back against -the leather and put his hands together, fingertips to fingertips. “Herod -Antipas wants to be a Herod the Great,” he declared. “But he hasn’t the -character his father had. By character, Centurion, I mean courage, -stamina, strength, and ability, yes. Old Herod was a villain, mean, -blackhearted, cold-blooded, murderous. But he was an able man, strong, a -great administrator, a brave and brilliant soldier, every inch a ruler. -Beside him, his son is a weakling. Herodias, on the other hand, is more -like her grandfather than Antipas is like his father. She’s ambitious, -vain, demanding. She is continually pushing Antipas. She seeks -advancement, more power, more of the trappings of royalty.” He lifted a -forefinger and shook it before the centurion. “Herodias will likely -bring ruin upon both of them.” Then he paused, thoughtful. “But so much -for Antipas. Watch him, Longinus. If he”—his expression warmed with a -disarming smile—“buys too much of that Phoenician glass, then let me -know.” - -“I will, sir.” Longinus was smiling, too. Then he was serious. “But, -sir, you were speaking also of Pontius Pilate....” - -“Yes. I think Pilate is the man I want for Judaea. But I don’t trust him -either. I want him watched closely, Longinus. I suspect that his fingers -will be itching, likewise, to dip too deeply into the till.” - -“But, sir, if you can’t trust him....” - -“Why then am I sending him out there?” The Prefect laughed cynically. -Then he sobered. “It’s a proper question, my boy. We must be frank, as I -said. I’ve told you that I believe Pilate will be amenable to -suggestions. Like Antipas, he, too, is a weakling. He has a good record -as a soldier, but always as a subordinate. I question whether he has the -courage, the stamina, to lead and rule. He will be looking to Rome, I -believe, for direction. And he will always be fearful of displeasing the -Prefect. But at the same time, Longinus, I think he will be looking for -ways of adding to his personal wealth. So he will bleed those Jews to -get all Rome requires and some for his own pocket as well.” He paused, -thoughtful for a moment. “Yes, I believe Pontius Pilate is the man I -want. Certainly I shall give him a chance to prove himself.” Quickly he -raised an emphatic finger. “But I want you to watch him, Longinus. I -want you to ascertain whether any diversions are being made in the flow -of the tax revenues to the Imperial treasury, and if so, to report it to -me. Even if you have no proof, but only strong suspicions to go on, by -all means report them too. I’ll work out a plan whereby you can make the -reports confidentially and quickly.” - -The Prefect paused, leaned back in his chair, and calmly studied the -younger man. When Longinus ventured no comment, Sejanus continued with -his instructions. “You will be transferred from your present cohort to -the Second Italian. Your rank will remain the same; as a centurion you -will be more useful to me, since you will be less observed and therefore -less suspected in this lower grade. But you will be properly -compensated, Longinus, with the extent of the compensation being -governed in great part, let us say”—he puckered his lips again—“upon the -degree of functioning of your eyes and ears.” - -Sejanus arose, and Longinus stood with him. “You have made no comment, -Centurion Longinus.” - -“Sir, I am at the Prefect’s command. But may I ask when I am to be given -further instructions and when I shall be sailing for Palestine?” - -“Soon, Centurion, as quickly as I can arrange it. I would like you to go -out ahead of Pilate and be there when he arrives at Caesarea. It will be -important to observe how he takes over the duties of the post from the -outset. I shall summon you when I am ready and give you full -instructions.” - -The audience with the Prefect was at an end. At the door, as he was -about to step into the corridor, Longinus paused. “Sir, a moment ago you -said there would be three for me to watch. You spoke of Pilate and Herod -Antipas. Who is the third?” - -Sejanus smiled blandly and rubbed his hands together. “The third, ah, -yes.” His black small eyes danced. “And there will be others also. But -you need not concern yourself with any of this detail at the moment. -When I have completed my plans, as I’ve said, I shall summon you here -and instruct you fully.” - - - - - 3 - - -Longinus sat up in bed, thrust forth an arm to peel back his side of the -covering sheet, pulled up his feet, and twisted around to plant them -evenly on the floor. - -“Jove!” He craned his neck, blinked his still heavy eyelids, and -strained to rub the cramped muscles at his shoulder blades. From the -northeast, rolling down through the gentle depression dividing the -mansion-studded slopes of the Viminal and Quirinal Hills, came the -fading plaintively sweet notes of a trumpet. He glanced toward the -window; the light was already beginning to sift through slits in the -drawn draperies. - -Claudia opened her eyes. She pushed herself up to a sitting position. -“Are you going, Longinus? Must you be leaving so early?” She rubbed her -eyes and squinted into the slowly brightening window. “Do you have -to...?” - -“The morning watch at Castra Praetoria,” he explained, nodding in the -direction of the window. “It awakened me, luckily. I must be out there -before the next call is sounded. Today I’m on early duty.” - -“You always have to be going.” Her lips, the rouge smeared but still -red, were pouting. “You hardly get here, and then you say you must be -leaving.” - -“But, by the gods, Claudia, I’ve been here all night, remember.” He -pinched her chin. “I had dinner with you, and I haven’t left yet.” - -“Oh, all right. But if you must go, you’d best be dressing. Although, -really, Longinus, can’t you stay a few minutes longer, just a few? -Please.” She slid back to lie in a stretched position, her figure -clearly outlined beneath the light covering. - -“Temptress! By the gods, I wish I could.” He bent down and kissed her -smeared lips. “Well, at least it won’t be like this when we get to -Palestine. Out there I’ll be able to arrange my own schedule, and -there’ll be no early morning duty then. But by great Jove, I’ve got to -be going now.” He stood up and walked to the chair on which his clothing -lay. “Today I’ll begin getting preparations made so that we can be ready -to sail when Sejanus gives me his final orders. And the preparations -will include arrangements for our wedding,” he concluded, grinning. - -Languidly she lay back and watched him as he dressed. “Longinus,” she -said, as he finished latching his boots, “do you really believe that -your father will be willing to let you marry me?” Her expression -indicated concern. “I have no doubt but that my beloved stepfather will -be quite willing, quite happy, in fact, because I’m sure he’s already -anxious to be freed of the responsibility he has, or thinks he has, for -me. But I do wonder about Senator Piso.” - -“By the great and little gods, Claudia, it’s not the senator you’re -marrying, remember? _I’m_ the one,” he said, thumping his chest with -stiffened thumb. “Me, understand?” - -“Of course, silly man.” She sat up again and fluffed the pillow behind -her. “But the senator might object, Longinus. He’s a proud man, proud of -his name, his lineage. He’s not going to like the idea of his son’s -marrying a bastard and a divorcee, even though she may be the -granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus.” - -“He won’t object, Claudia; I’m sure of it. But even if he should, I’d -marry you anyway, despite him, despite Sejanus, despite even old -Tiberius himself.” He adjusted his tunic, then came over to stand by the -bed. “Remember that, Claudia.” - -“Even in spite of last night?” She was smiling up at him, and she said -it capriciously, but he thought he detected a note of seriousness in her -voice. “You don’t think I’m terribly wanton, Longinus?” - -“Last night makes me all the more determined.” He studied her for a long -moment; her expression was coy, but radiant too, a little wistful and -warmly affectionate, he saw. “Wanton? Of course not, my dear.” A -mischievous grin slowly crossed his face. “Wanting, maybe. And wanted -certainly, wanted by me. The most desirable woman I’ve ever known, the -most wanted.” He bent down to her, his eyes aflame, and gently he pushed -the outthrust chin to separate slightly the rouge-smudged lips raised -hungrily to his. Greedily their lips met and held, and then as the girl -lifted a hand to the back of his head to crush his face against hers, he -grasped the protecting sheet from her fingers and flung it toward the -foot of the bed. - -“Oh, you beast!” she shrieked. “By all the silly little gods!” - -Roaring, he darted for the peristylium. As he fled past the long mirror -near the doorway, he caught in it a glimpse of the laughing Claudia -struggling wildly to cover herself with the twisted sheet. - - - - - 4 - - -The magnificent villa of the Prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus clung -precariously to the precipitous slope high above the blue waters of the -bay. The greater part of the mansion had been built some hundred years -before in the days of Lucius Licinius Lucullus by one of the general’s -fellow patricians. This man’s family had suffered the misfortune of -having had the villa confiscated after the pater familias had been -beheaded for making the wrong choice in a civil war of that era. - -Sejanus had acquired the property—many Romans wondered how, but they -were too discreet to inquire—and had added to it extensively, including -a spacious peristylium with a great fountain that spouted water piped -from higher on the slope and palms and flowers and oriental plants. But -most interesting of his improvements was the spreading terrace pushed -outward from the peristylium to the very edge of the precipice, paved in -ornate mosaic with slabs of marble transported in government barges from -quarries far distant—gray and red from Egypt, yellow in various shades -and black from Numidia, green cipolin from Euboea—and bordered by a -protecting balustrade of white Carrara. - -This morning the Prefect and his guest, Pontius Pilate, a cohort -commander lately returned from a campaign in Germania, sat on this -terrace before a round bronze table whose legs were molded in the size -and likeness of a lion’s foreleg. On the table were a pitcher and -matching goblets. Pilate, large, broad-framed, with a round head and -hair closely cropped, a heavy man and, in his early forties, perhaps a -score of years younger than the Prefect, was eying the unusual pitcher. -Sejanus motioned to it. - -“You may be interested in glassware,” he said, as he reached over and -with a fingernail tapped one of the delicate blue, blown goblets. “These -pieces came from Phoenicia. No doubt you will have the opportunity while -you’re in Judaea to visit the glassworks where they were blown. It’s -situated near Tyre, up the coast from Caesarea and not far from Mount -Carmel. One of Senator Piso’s enterprises.” He fastened his unblinking -small eyes on Pilate’s florid face. “But of course you won’t be -concerned with this operation. It’s not in Judaea anyway, and its -affairs—so far as Rome is concerned—are being supervised from Rome.” - -Pilate nodded. “I understand, sir.” - -“Good. It’s important that you do understand fully. There should be no -area, for example, in which your duties and responsibilities overlap -those of Tetrarch Herod Antipas. I trust that you’ll always bear that in -mind.” - -“You can depend upon my doing so, sir.” - -“Then is there anything else not entirely clear to you concerning your -duties, powers, and functions as I’ve outlined them? Do you fully -understand that as Procurator you will be required to keep the Jews in -your province as quiet and contented as possible—and they are a -cantankerous, fanatical, troublesome race, I warn you—even though you -will be draining them of their revenues to the limit of their -capacities?” He held up an admonishing forefinger. “And do you also -understand that it is tremendously important for you, as Procurator of -Judaea, to avoid becoming embroiled in any of the turmoils arising out -of their foolish but zealously defended one-god system of religion?” -Sejanus curled his lower lip to cover the upper and slowly pushed them -both out into a rounded tight pucker; his eyes remained firmly fixed on -the cohort commander’s face. “It is a difficult post, being Procurator -in Judaea, Pilate.” - -“It is a difficult assignment, sir, but it’s one that I’ve been hoping -to obtain, and I appreciate the appointment. I understand what is -required, and I shall make every effort to administer Judaea to the best -of my ability and in accordance with your instructions.” - -“Then you may consider yourself Procurator, Pilate. When the Emperor -gives you your audience tomorrow, he will approve what I have actually -already done.” A sly smile overspread the Prefect’s weasel face. “But -there is one thing further that you must agree to do, Pilate, if you -wish to become Procurator of Judaea.” He stood, and Pilate arose, -remaining stiffly erect. Sejanus walked to the marble balustrade and -looked down at the blue water far below. “But first, come here. I want -to show you something.” - -The cohort commander strode quickly to the Prefect’s side. Sejanus -pointed toward the north. “Look,” he said, “Misenum there, and just -beyond is Baiae. Over there”—he swept his arm in an arc—“is Puteoli. And -in this half-moon of shore line fronting on the bay between here and -Puteoli’s harbor, in those mansions scrambling up the slopes”—he drew a -half circle in the air that ended with his forefinger pointing straight -south—“in this lower district of Campania from here to Puteoli and -Neapolis and around the rugged rim of the gulf, past Vesuvius and -Herculaneum, Pompeii and Surrentum out to the end of Capri is embraced -the very cream of the Empire’s aristocracy and wealth.” He turned to -face north again. “There. That is the villa for which Lucullus paid ten -million sesterces. You can see parts of the roof among the trees and -flowering plants. They say that some of the cherry trees he introduced -from Pontus are still bearing. Yes, they rightly call this the -playground of the Empire. Look down there,” he said, pointing toward the -gaily colored barges idling along the shore between Baiae and Puteoli. -“There you will find beautiful women, Pilate, gorgeous creatures who are -completely uninhibited, delightfully immoral. Beautiful Baiae, where -husbands able to afford it can find happy respite from monogamy. Ah, -Ovid, how you would sing of Baiae today!” - -Silently for a moment now the Prefect contemplated the villa-filled -slopes, the pleasure barges, the lazily lifting sulphurous fumes above -Lake Avernus in the crater of an extinct volcano to the north, and the -sleeping cone of Vesuvius looming magnificently in the west. Then he -turned again to face Pilate, and a sly, malevolent smile crossed his -narrow face. “You, too, Commander, some day can live in luxury out there -on the slope above Baiae ... if you manage affairs in Judaea properly,” -he paused, for emphasis, “by following explicitly the instructions you -have received and will continue to receive from me.” - -“I am ambitious, sir,” Pilate answered, “and I would take great pleasure -some day in joining the equestrian class here. But whether I am able to -achieve a villa at Baiae or not, I am determined to follow explicitly -the Prefect’s instructions and desires.” His hand on the marble -balustrade, Pilate studied the movement in the bay. Then he faced the -Prefect. “But you said a moment ago, sir, that there was still one more -provision?” - -“Yes, Pilate.” Sejanus pointed to the chairs beside the lion-legged -table. “But let’s sit down and have some more of the Falernian.” - -As they took their seats, a slave who all the while had been hovering -attentively near-by came forward quickly and filled the goblets. Sejanus -sipped slowly. “Surely you have guessed that the Emperor and I confer at -times on matters of particular intimacy, such as the problems of his -household, even the affairs of members of his own Imperial family?” - -“I can see, sir, how the Emperor would wish the Prefect’s counsel in -matters of every kind.” - -“That is true.” Sejanus toyed with the wine glass, then abruptly set it -down. “This is the provision, Pilate, and I think it not unreasonable. -In fact, I might explain that it was at my suggestion that Tiberius has -included it. And were I in your position, Pilate”—his eyes brightened, -and he flattened his lips against his teeth—“I would be delighted that -such a provision had been made. She is a beautiful woman, young, -possessed of every feminine appeal, and a woman to be earnestly desired -and sought, at least in the opinion of one old man who”—he smiled—“can -still look, appreciate, and imagine.” - -“A woman?” - -“Yes, Pilate. The Emperor expects you to marry his stepdaughter.” - -“Claudia!” Pilate said in amazement. “The granddaughter of Augustus?” - -“Indeed.” Sejanus was eying him intently. “And of Antony, too, and -Cleopatra, I’ve always understood.” A sly smile again crossed his face. -“And, if I’m a capable judge, a woman possessed of everything Cleopatra -had.” - -Pilate seemed oblivious to the Prefect’s description. “But why should he -want me, the son of a Spanish...?” - -“But you will be Procurator of Judaea,” Sejanus interrupted. “Look, -Pilate,” he went on, his face all seriousness now, “I’m sure you’ve -heard the story of Claudia’s mother, the wife of Tiberius. Augustus was -forced to banish her when her adulteries became notorious. It’s one of -those paradoxes, Pilate, of Imperial life. The Emperor may indulge in -any of the ordinarily forbidden delights, adultery, pederasty”—he smiled -again, but this time his smile was a scarcely concealed sneer—“but his -stepdaughter may not. Or she may not publicly, at any rate. And now that -Claudia is divorced from Aemilius and has no husband to point to in the -event that....” He paused and laid his hand on Pilate’s arm. “I dislike -putting the matter so bluntly, Pilate, but there is no other way to -explain the situation. The Emperor wishes to forestall any scandal. The -best way to do so, he thinks, is to have his stepdaughter married and -sent as far away as possible from Rome.” - -“But, sir, doesn’t custom forbid the wives of generals and legates and -procurators from journeying with them to their provincial posts?” - -“Custom, yes. But custom is not always followed. Agrippina, for example, -accompanied Germanicus on his campaign in the north. Caligula was born -while she was away with the general.” He was watching Pilate closely. -“But you have not said whether you accept the Emperor’s final -provision.” - -“Sir, I would be greatly honored and highly pleased to be the husband of -the granddaughter of the great Augustus.” - -Sejanus beamed. “Then, Pilate, you may consider yourself the Procurator -of Judaea.” - -“But....” - -The Prefect held up his hand to interrupt. “The Emperor will speak to -you about the necessity of your keeping your wife under firm authority. -But I would like to emphasize something more important, Commander, and -that is this: keep her happy, and keep her satisfied, in Judaea. I want -no reports coming to me that the Emperor’s stepdaughter is being kept -virtually a prisoner, that she is suffering banishment from Rome.” His -eyes flamed again, and he licked his sensuous lips. “Do you understand, -Pilate? Claudia is a modern woman. She’s accustomed to the ways of -Rome’s equestrians. Keep her contented, Pilate; do nothing to add to her -burden of living in a land that to her, no doubt, will be dull and even -loathsome. If sometimes she strays into indiscretions, overlook them. -Don’t attempt to make of her a Caesar’s wife.” His stern expression -relaxed into a grin. “Besides, I believe it’s too late for anyone to -accomplish that.” Then as quickly as it had come, the levity was gone. -“But I interrupted you. You were going to ask something?” - -“Yes.” Pilate stared thoughtfully at his hands. “I was wondering, sir, -if Claudia has been apprised of the Emperor’s and your wishes. What has -she to say about all this?” - -“Say?” Sejanus smiled and rubbed his palms together. “My dear -Procurator, Claudia has nothing to say in matters such as this. Tiberius -speaks for his stepdaughter. And _I_ speak for Tiberius.” - - - - - 5 - - -The next morning one of the fastest triremes of the Roman navy carried -the Prefect Sejanus and Pontius Pilate from the harbor below the -Prefect’s villa straight southward across the gulf toward the island of -Capri. - -When Sejanus finished discussing certain other matters of business with -the Emperor, he had his aide summon Pilate into the Imperial chamber. -The cohort commander was nervous as he entered the great hall. It was -his first sight of Tiberius since the Emperor had allowed his crafty -minister to bring all nine of the Praetorian Guard’s cohorts into the -camp near the Viminal Gate, from which, on a moment’s notice, they could -sally forth to enforce the Prefect’s will, even to giving orders to the -Senate itself. A year ago the Emperor, melancholy, embittered, tired of -rule, had left Rome and journeyed southward to Capri to seek on that -island the privacy he had long craved. Since then, with the exception of -the wily Prefect and a few others—the Emperor’s young girls and, -according to Roman gossip, his powdered, painted, and perfumed young -boys and the growing circle of poets and philosophers—Tiberius Claudius -Nero Caesar had seen few visitors. Gradually he had relinquished affairs -of state to the scheming Prefect Sejanus. - -But now Pilate saw confronting him a man vastly changed from the tall, -powerful, and thoroughly able general he had known earlier. The Emperor -was noticeably stooped; his once broad forehead and now almost naked -pate seemed to have shriveled into a narrowing expanse of wrinkled -skull. Acne had inflamed and pocked his face, and the skin lay in folds -around the stem of his neck like that of a vulture’s. - -Tiberius greeted Pilate perfunctorily. “The Prefect tells me you’re -petitioning us for appointment to the post of Procurator in Judaea. Is -that true?” - -“Sire, if it is the will of the Emperor that I serve in that capacity, I -shall be happy to undertake the assignment and serve the Emperor and the -Empire to the full extent of my ability.” - -“That I would expect and demand,” Tiberius harshly replied. “It is a -difficult post. The Jews are a stubborn and intractable people. They are -fanatically religious, and they resent bitterly and will oppose even to -the sacrifice of their lives all actions they consider offensive to -their strange one-god religion. Their priests are diabolically clever, -and they are determined to rule the people in accordance with the -ancient religious laws and traditions of the land.” His cold eyes -fastened upon the cohort commander’s countenance. “Pilate, I shall -expect you to govern in that province. Foremost among your functions of -office, in addition to maintaining at all times Roman law and order, -will be the levying and collecting of ample taxes. That, in itself, will -be a burdensome duty. In addition, I charge you to see to it that Rome -is not embroiled in any great difficulty with these Jews. I warn you, it -will be difficult. Do you think you are equal to such a task?” - -“I am bold enough, Sire, to think so. Certainly I shall do everything -within my power to demonstrate to the Emperor and his Prefect that I -am.” - -“We shall see.” The Emperor’s cold eyes bored into those of the officer -standing before him. Suddenly his grimness relaxed into a thin smile. -“Sejanus tells me also that you have ambitions to marry my stepdaughter -Claudia.” - -“To marry your stepdaughter, Sire, should it be the Emperor’s will, -would bestow on me the highest honor and afford me the greatest -happiness.” - -“Evidently he knows little about her,” Tiberius observed wryly to -Sejanus, “else he would not consider himself so fortunate.” But quickly -his eyes were on Pilate again, and the malevolent smile was gone. “I -grant my permission, Pilate. The dowry will be arranged, and I assure -you it will be adequate. Sejanus will settle the details. Unfortunately -I shall not be able to attend the festivities of the wedding.” Now he -twisted his head to face the Prefect. “If there is nothing further, -Sejanus?” He did not wait for an answer but arose. The Prefect and -Pontius Pilate, bowing, were backing toward the doorway when Tiberius -suddenly stopped them. “Wait. I wish to tell Pilate a story. - -“Once a traveler stopped to aid a man lying wounded beside the road,” he -began. “He started to brush away the flies clustered about the wound, -when the injured man spoke out. ‘No, don’t drive away the flies,’ he -said. ‘They have fed on me until now they are satisfied and no longer -hurt me. But if you brush these off, then other, more hungry ones will -come and feed on me until I am sucked dry of blood.’” A mirthless smile -crinkled the corners of his mouth. “Pilate, I want no new thirsty fly -settling after Valerius Gratus upon the Jews in Judaea. Nevertheless, -from them I must be sent a sufficiency of blood. Do you understand?” - -Pilate swallowed. “Sire, I understand.” He licked his heavy red lips. - -As they were at the door, Tiberius raised his hand to stop them again. A -sly grin, leering and sadistic, spread across his face. “Take Claudia -with you to Judaea, Procurator. And rule her, man! Rule her!” - - - - - 6 - - -Languidly the Princess Herodias of the Maccabean branch of the Herod -dynasty lay back in the warm, scented water so that only her head, -framed in black hair held dry by a finely woven silk net, was exposed. - -“More hot water, Neaera,” she commanded. “But be careful. I don’t want -to look cooked for the Tetrarch.” - -Quickly the slave maid turned the tap, and steaming water gushed from -the ornate eagle’s-head faucet. - -“That’s enough!” shouted Herodias after a minute. “By the gods, shut it -off!” She sat upright in the tiled tub, and the water ran down from her -neck and shoulders, leaving little islands of suds clinging to her -glistening white body. “Now hand me the mirror.” - -She extended a dripping arm and accepted the polished bronze. For a long -moment she studied her image. “Neaera, tell me truthfully, am I showing -my age too dreadfully?” - -“But, Mistress, you are not old,” the maid protested. - -“You’re a flatterer, Neaera. Salome, remember, is fourteen.” - -“But you were married very young, Mistress.” - -“And I was married a long time ago, too.” She peered again into the -mirror. “Look. Already I can see tiny crow’s-foot lines around my eyes.” - -“But unguents and a little eye shadowing....” - -“More flattery.” Herodias shook a wet finger at the young woman’s nose. -“But I love it; so don’t ever stop. But now”—she grasped the sides of -the tub—“help me out. I mustn’t lie in this hot water any longer, or -I’ll be as pink as a roast by the time the Tetrarch comes.” She grasped -the maid’s arm to steady herself as she stepped from the tub to the -tufted mat, and Neaera began to rub her down with a heavy towel. When -the slave maid had finished drying her, Herodias turned to face the -full-length minor, her body flushed and glowing from the brisk robbing. -Palms on hips, she studied her own straight, still lithe frame. “Really, -Neaera,” she asked, “how do I look?” With fingers spread she caressed -the gently rounded smooth plane of her stomach and then lifted cupped -palms to her firm, finely shaped breasts. “I haven’t lost my figure too -badly, have I?” - -“You haven’t lost it at all, Mistress,” the maid assured her, as she -picked up a filmy undergarment from the bench. “It’s still youthful and -still beautiful.” Herodias braced herself as the girl bent low to assist -her into the black silk garment. Neaera leaned back and studied the -older woman again. “You have the figure of a young woman, indeed, -Mistress,” she said, “though fully matured and....” - -“And what, Neaera? What were you going to say?” - -“Well, Mistress, a figure to me more beautiful because of maturity, and -more interesting.” - -“And more alluring, more seductive, maybe?” Her smile was lightly -wanton. “To the Tetrarch, perhaps? But the Herods, Neaera, and old -Tiberius, too, I hear, like their women very young.” Her expression -sobered. “I’m almost afraid he’ll be having eyes for Salome rather than -for me. The child has matured remarkably, you know, in the last year.” - -“I should think, though, Mistress, that the Tetrarch....” - -A sharp knocking on the door interrupted her. - -“By the gods, Neaera, it must be the Tetrarch, and I’m not ready. Tell -Strabo to seat him in the peristylium and pour him wine and say that I -shall be ready soon.” - -But the visitor was not the Tetrarch of Galilee. Strabo announced that -the Emperor’s stepdaughter was in the atrium. - -“Claudia! How wonderful! Show her into the solarium, and tell her I’ll -join her in a minute. Neaera, hurry and fetch me my robe. We can sit and -talk while you do my hair.” - -“I can’t stay for more than a few minutes,” the Emperor’s stepdaughter -announced when, a moment later, Herodias greeted her in the solarium. -“Longinus is going to take me out to the chariot races, and he may be -waiting for me right now. But I wanted to tell you, Herodias....” She -paused, her expression suddenly questioning. “Bona Dea, I’ll bet that -the Tetrarch is taking you there, too, and I’ve caught you in the middle -of getting dressed.” - -“Yes, you’re right, but there’s no hurry, Claudia. I can finish quickly. -And if I’m not ready when he comes, he can wait.” - -“So,” Claudia laughed, “you already have the Tetrarch so entranced that -he will wait patiently while you dress.” - -“Not patiently, perhaps, but he’ll wait ... without protesting.” - -“Then it won’t be long before you’ll be marrying him and leaving for -Palestine.” She said it teasingly, but immediately her expression -changed to reveal concern. “But, Herodias, when you do, what will his -present wife say; how will she take it? And his subjects in Galilee? -Doesn’t the Jewish religion forbid a man’s having more than one living -wife?” - -“The daughter of King Aretas will resent his bringing another wife to -Tiberias, no doubt”—Herodias smiled coyly—“if I do marry him. And as for -the religion of the Jews, well, my dear, you must know that neither -Antipas nor I follow its tenets too closely.” - -“Of course. But I wasn’t thinking of you or the Tetrarch as much as I -was of how his present wife would react. And the people of Galilee, too, -how will they feel about his having two living wives, one of whom is his -niece. Won’t it offend them?” - -“Yes, if we marry, it will offend a great many of them. But my -grandfather, old King Herod, father of Philip and Antipas, had ten -wives, remember, nine of them at the same time. The Jews didn’t like -that, but what could they do? No, we aren’t too concerned about what the -Jews will think. But Aretas’ daughter probably will try to cause -trouble. Not because Antipas will be having a new bedfellow, but because -she won’t any longer be Tetrarchess. Being replaced will make her -furious. She cares not a fig for the Tetrarch’s bedding with other -women; she even gave him a harem of Arabian women, Antipas told me.” She -paused, smiling. “Claudia, you remember that black-haired woman at the -banquet the other night, the one called Mary of Magdala?” Claudia -nodded. “Well, Antipas told me that his wife not only knew that Mary was -coming with him to Rome but actually suggested that he bring her. He -said his wife and Mary were good friends even though the Tetrarchess -knew quite well what the relationship was between him and Mary.” - -“Maybe the Tetrarchess sent this Mary with Antipas to keep his eyes from -straying to other women, like you, for example.” - -“Keeping his eyes from straying would be an impossible task.” - -“Do you think Mary is jealous of you now?” - -“That woman!” Herodias tossed her head. “Of course not. Nor am I jealous -of her. I really don’t care if he spends an occasional night in her bed. -All I want is to be Tetrarchess. If he marries me, I shall insist, -though, that he divorce that Arabian woman. No, our concern, -Claudia”—she lowered her voice and glanced cautiously around the room, -but Neaera had left the solarium—“is not what the Jews in Galilee, or -his present wife, or this woman from Magdala will think, but rather what -the Prefect himself will think. Sejanus could cause us much trouble. But -now everything seems to be all right. Antipas assures me that we needn’t -worry about it any longer. He says that he and Sejanus have reached an -understanding.” - -“And I have a good idea of what that understanding is based upon,” -Claudia said. “But what about your husband, Herodias? What will Philip -think?” - -“Philip! Hah!” She sneered. “What Philip thinks is of no concern. I’ve -never really cared for him anyway. It’s a little hard to feel romantic -toward a man who’s your half uncle, you know.” - -“But Antipas, too, is your half uncle, isn’t he? And he’s Philip’s half -brother as well. Hmm.” She smiled mischievously. “That makes him both -Salome’s half uncle and half great-uncle, doesn’t it? That is, if -Philip’s her father.” - -“Well, yes,” Herodias admitted. “I suppose he’s her father. Anyway, he -thinks so. But he’s also an old man, a generation older than I.” She -said it with evident sarcasm. “Antipas is old too, of course, but -remember, my dear, he’s the Tetrarch of Galilee, while Philip is only a -tiresome, fast aging, disowned son of a dead king, dependent for his -very existence on the favor of a crotchety Emperor and a conniving -Prefect. Antipas is old and fat, Claudia, but he has power and an -opulence far in excess of Philip’s, and a title, too. And some day, -perhaps not too far away, with my pushing him, who knows, he may be a -king like his father was.” She shrugged. “As for romance, the world’s -filled with younger men.” - -Claudia studied the face of her Idumaean friend. “Herodias, you worship -power, don’t you?” - -“Why shouldn’t I?” Herodias replied tartly. “Power and wealth, you -forget, are rightfully mine. I am the granddaughter of Mariamne, King -Herod’s royal wife, daughter of the Maccabeans, while Philip’s mother -was only a high priest’s daughter and the mother of Antipas was a -Samaritan woman. I am descended from the true royalty in Israel.” Her -irritation faded as quickly as it had come. “You say I worship power. -What else, pray, is there for one to worship? Your pale, anemic Roman -gods? Bah! You don’t worship them yourself. Why then should I? I’m not -even a Roman. Silly superstition, your Roman gods, and well you know it, -Claudia. And the gods of the Greeks are no better. Nor the Egyptians. If -I had to embrace the superstition of any religion I would be inclined to -worship the Yahweh of the Jews. He’s the only god who makes any sense at -all to me, but even he is too fire-breathing and vindictive for my -liking. But I’m not a Jew, Claudia, even though I am descended on one -side from the royal Maccabeans. I’m a Herod, and the Herods are -Idumaeans. The Jews call them pagans, and by the Jews’ standards, pagans -we are.” For a moment she was thoughtful, and Claudia said nothing to -break the silence. “But I suppose you’re right, Claudia,” she said at -last. “If I have any god at all, he’s the two-headed god of power and -money. And if the Tetrarch were your Longinus, well, my god would have a -third head, pleasure. I envy you, Claudia! By the way,” she added, as -she poured wine for her guest and herself, “may I be so bold, my dear, -as to inquire how things between you and the centurion stand just now?” - -“That’s why I came to see you, Herodias. I wanted to thank you for a -most enjoyable evening too, but mainly I wanted to tell you that -Longinus and I have—how did you express it—reached an understanding.” - -“Wonderful!” Herodias beamed. “Are you going to marry him, Claudia, or -are you...?” She hesitated, grinning. - -“Am I going to marry him, or will we just continue as we are without the -formality of marriage vows?” She laughed. “Yes, I’m planning to marry -him. But this is what I wanted to tell you, Herodias. I’m going out with -him to Palestine. He’s being sent there on some sort of special mission -by the Prefect Sejanus.” - -“By all the gods, that is wonderful, Claudia! Then we’ll be able to see -each other out there. Where will you be stationed? At Caesarea? -Jerusalem? Maybe even Tiberias?” - -“He hasn’t received his detailed orders yet. But I’ll be able to visit -you at the palace anyway. I hear it’s a magnificent place.” - -“It must be. I’m anxious to see it myself; you know, I haven’t been near -the place since it was finished. And it will be wonderful to have you -and Longinus to visit us.” But suddenly her expression sobered. -“Claudia, has the Emperor given his permission for you to marry -Longinus? And does the Prefect approve?” - -“Neither of them knows about it yet. But I’m sure they’ll both be glad -to see me married and away from Rome. Longinus is going to speak to -Sejanus about us.” - -They heard voices in the atrium. Claudia stood up quickly. “That must be -the Tetrarch. By Bona Dea, I didn’t realize I was staying this long; I -must be going. Longinus will be waiting for me. Herodias, surely we’ll -see one another again before either of us sails for Palestine?” - -“Yes, we must. And when we do, we’ll both know more about our plans.” - -Neaera entered. “Has the Tetrarch come?” Herodias asked. - -“No, Mistress, it’s a soldier sent by the Prefect. He seeks the Lady -Claudia. He awaits her in the atrium.” - -The soldier, one of the Praetorian Guardsmen, announced that the Prefect -Sejanus was at that moment waiting for Claudia in her own apartment at -the Imperial Palace. He added that he hoped they might start -immediately; he feared the Prefect might be getting impatient. - -But when they reached her house and she entered the atrium to greet the -Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Sejanus bowed low and smiled -reassuringly. “I come from an audience with your beloved stepfather, the -Emperor, at Capri,” he said. “He commanded me to bear to you his esteem -and fatherly love and to offer his congratulations upon the most -excellent plans he has projected—with my warm approval, let me hasten to -assure you—for your forthcoming marriage.” - -“For my marriage? But, Prefect Sejanus....” Claudia paused, striving to -maintain outward composure. - -“I know it comes as quite a surprise to you. But the arrangements have -been completed, and I’ve come here to tell you immediately on my return -from Capri. You and your future husband are the only ones who are being -informed now of the Emperor’s plans. But you will be married soon, even -before you and your husband leave for his tour of duty in Palestine.” - -“In Palestine!” - -How could the Emperor have known about Longinus and me? The Prefect? Of -course, that’s how. Sejanus knew that Longinus was with me at the -banquet Antipas gave for Herodias; he knew that Longinus was at my house -later that evening when he sent Cornelius out to fetch him, or he -learned of it when they came afterward to his palace. Old Sejanus must -not be so bad, after all. Nor is the Emperor, either. Perhaps I have -been too severe in judging them. Perhaps they both have their good -moments, their generous impulses.... - -“Yes, to Palestine.” The Prefect was speaking. “He has promised your -hand in marriage to a Roman army officer who, if he follows my orders -implicitly and remains completely loyal to me, may shortly be not only a -man of wealth but also a leader of influence in the affairs of the -Empire.” - -Claudia was about to express her thanks to the Emperor and his most -excellent Prefect and to ask when the wedding would be held. But some -instinctive vein of caution restrained her from mentioning Longinus’ -name. Now the Prefect was speaking again. - -“Needless to say, I join the Emperor in praying the gods that you and -the Procurator Pontius Pilate lead long lives and find great happiness -with each other.” - -“The Procurator Pontius Pilate! Then....” But again caution stopped her -just in time. - -Sejanus smiled. “You are surprised, my dear Claudia? And whom did you -think the Emperor had chosen to be your husband?” - -“But I ... I don’t even know this Pontius Pilate.” Claudia ignored the -Prefect’s question. “He is to be Procurator in Palestine, succeeding -Valerius Gratus?” - -“Procurator of Judaea, with headquarters at Caesarea, yes.” His grin was -sardonically beguiling. “But what were you about to say?” - -“I was going to observe that then I would be spending the rest of my -life away from Rome, living in a distant provincial army post,” she -lied, not too convincingly, she suspected. - -But Sejanus did not pursue his questioning. “Not if the Procurator -conducts the affairs of his post in the manner that I have outlined to -him.” - -“Has he been informed of the Emperor’s plans for ... for us?” - -“Yes. And he is tremendously happy and excited, as what man wouldn’t be, -my dear Claudia?” His lips flattened bloodless across his teeth, and his -little eyes flamed. “Even I, with my youth long fled, envy him!” - - - - - 7 - - -Claudia, striving to be courteously casual, walked with the Prefect to -the doorway where two Praetorian Guardsmen awaited him. As they went out -she closed the pivoted double doors behind them, but after a moment she -cautiously drew one back and peered through the narrow slit. - -The Prefect’s bearers and the guards who had remained outside were -standing stiffly at attention, the bearers at the sedan-chair handles; -one of the guards stepped forward quickly to open the door. Sejanus -paused an instant and spoke to the man; then he stepped into the chair -and, as the guard closed the door, pulled together the shielding -curtains. The guard raised his hand, and the bearers moved off smartly. - -Claudia saw, however, that the bodyguard did not march off with the -Prefect’s procession; instead, he peered about furtively, cast a hurried -glance toward her doorway, and then merged into the traffic pushing -along the narrow, cobbled way. Momentarily she lost him but in the next -instant discovered him idling in front of a shop diagonally across from -her entrance. But not for long did he study the wares of the merchant; -she saw that he had faced about and was staring intently at her own -doorway. - -“I thought so,” she observed to Tullia, who had retreated into the -shadowed narrow corridor as Sejanus was leaving. “The Prefect left one -of his bodyguards to watch the house. He either wishes to know where -I’ll be going or who will be coming here, perhaps both. I don’t know -what he is scheming, Tullia”—the maid had come forward and secured the -doors—“but whatever it is, I don’t like it. Longinus may endanger -himself by coming. We must warn him. But how, Tullia? He is likely to be -arriving any moment; he must have been delayed at Castra Praetoria, or -he would have been here already.” - -Quickly she told the maid the startling news the Prefect had brought. - -“Anyone who leaves this house through these doors, Mistress, then is -sure to be followed. But I could go out through the servant’s entrance -on some contrived mission and perhaps be able to warn him.” - -“Good, Tullia. You can be taking something to Senator Piso’s house and -carry a message to Longinus. Talk with him if he is there and tell him -what has happened, but say that I’ll arrange to meet him later, perhaps -at the house of Herodias.” - -“Or maybe, Mistress, at the shop of Stephanos.” - -“Yes. Maybe the goldsmith’s would be better. But if the Prefect’s men -should follow and ask you questions, Tullia, what will you say?” - -“I could be bearing a small gift to Philo, Senator Piso’s old Greek -slave who tutored his children. He’s quite ill and....” - -“Wonderful! Tullia, you are indeed my treasure. Take the old man a jar -of that honey from Samos; he would like that. And some wheat cakes and a -bottle of the Falernian.” She was silent a moment, thoughtful. “By the -Bountiful Mother! Tullia, I’ll help you get away by leading that soldier -myself on a false chase. Fetch me my cloak and scarf. I’ll pretend to be -disguising myself in order to slip away. Then he’ll follow me. Now find -the things to take to old Philo, and get yourself ready. And do hurry.” - -In a few minutes Tullia returned with the cloak and scarf. “The basket -of food is ready,” she said. She helped her mistress put on the cloak -and tie the scarf so that much of her face was concealed. “Leave the -door ajar as I go out,” Claudia instructed her, “and when you see the -soldier following me, close the door and slip away yourself through the -servants’ entrance. And return the same way, as quickly as you can.” - -“Yes, Mistress.” - -“And, Tullia, say to Longinus that I instructed you to tell him that -what has happened changes nothing, that as far as I am concerned -everything is just as it was with him and me. But say as little as you -can to anyone else, Tullia, and nothing concerning the Prefect’s visit.” - -Claudia walked to the entrance doors and turned to face her maid again. -“You go out and look around furtively as though you were seeing that the -way was clear for me. That will likely warn the guardsman that something -is afoot, that we suspect someone may be watching the house. Then I’ll -go out, and because I will not have my bearers summoned, he’ll surmise -that I am trying to leave unnoticed.” - -Then she puckered her rouged lips into a thoughtful bud. “But why is old -Sejanus having us watched? Did he think that I would slip out to tell -Longinus? Does he want me to tell the centurion and perhaps deliberately -prejudice him against Pilate?” She shook her head slowly. “But how can -he know about Longinus and me?” - -“Perhaps, Mistress, he only suspects,” Tullia answered. “It may be that -he is trying to find out just what your relationship is.” - -“Maybe so. But little he’ll discover now, by the gods!” She opened the -door and peered out. “Now.” - -Tullia slipped through the doorway, looked up and down the narrow -street, then stepped back into the atrium. - -“Now I’ll go,” Claudia said. “Be careful, Tullia. And do guard your -tongue.” Outside she readjusted her scarf and pulled her cloak more -closely about her. Then she stepped into the cobble-stoned way and -walked rapidly along it. - -Tullia, peeping through the slit in the doorway, saw the Prefect’s man -emerge from the shadows of a shop entrance and move off quickly to -follow her. When the two had disappeared around the turn, Tullia closed -the doors and hurriedly recrossed the atrium. A moment later she slipped -out through the servants’ entrance. A freshly starched napkin covered -the food in the basket she carried. - - - - - 8 - - -An unexpected assignment, fortunately, had delayed Longinus’ departure -from Castra Praetoria, and he had just reached home when Tullia arrived -at Senator Piso’s. Quickly she told him of the Prefect’s visit to her -mistress. - -He listened attentively, outwardly calm but inwardly with rage mounting -as her story progressed. “Go back to your mistress, Tullia,” he said, -when she finished, “and tell her that with me, too, nothing is changed. -But warn her to make no attempt, until I tell her, to communicate with -me. The Prefect is diabolically clever; he may suspect that we will try -to thwart his plans. I don’t understand just what he’s scheming; we must -be careful. But assure her that I will find some way of getting a -message to her.” - -“Centurion Longinus, if I may suggest, sir, should you send the message, -or bear it yourself, to the shop of Stephanos in the Vicus -Margaritarius....” - -“I know that shop, Tullia, and the goldsmith, too.” - -“Then, sir, from there I could take your message verbally to my -mistress. Stephanos is the son of my father’s brother. He can be -trusted, you may be assured, sir.” - -“That’s a good arrangement, Tullia. And should your mistress wish to -send me a message, you can leave it with the goldsmith. But do warn her -to be careful. The Prefect may be setting a trap for us.” - -The goldsmith Stephanos was, like his cousin Tullia, a Greek-speaking -Jew who had been reared in the Jewish colony in Rome. Although a young -man, he had already established a profitable business in the capital, -and his customers numbered many of the equestrian class, including -members of Senator Piso’s family. Consequently, Longinus, were he being -watched, could go to the goldsmith’s shop without arousing suspicion. - -Longinus discovered how fortunate they had been in taking such -precautions when, a week after Tullia’s visit to him, he was again -summoned to the palace of the Prefect. - -Sejanus gave little time to the formalities of greeting the Senator’s -son. “I am now prepared to hand you your orders, Centurion Longinus,” he -said. “But before I do so I must ask you if you have any reservations -whatsoever concerning this mission I propose to send you on.” The -Prefect’s cold little eyes were studying him, Longinus realized, and he -was determined that he would reveal neither fear nor surprise. - -“None, sir. I’m a soldier, and I await the Prefect’s orders.” - -But Sejanus was not satisfied. “When last I talked with you, you said -that you were hardly acquainted with Pontius Pilate, that you were in no -sense an intimate friend. But I ask you now, do you have any hostility -toward him?” He leaned forward, and his eyes bored into the centurion’s -bland countenance. “Has anything happened since then that would cause -you to change your feeling toward him?” - -“I know nothing that he has done, sir, that would cause me to feel -hostility toward him. Has he, sir?” - -The question seemed to surprise Sejanus. He leaned back against his -chair. “He has done nothing. But something has been done that may have -caused you to feel bitter toward him.” He was studying the centurion -intently. “Bitterness toward the Procurator would render you unfit for -the assignment I am proposing for you, just as close friendship for him -would do the same.” He smiled, changing his stern tone to one of -fatherly interest. “Frankly, Longinus, I had expected to find you bitter -toward Pilate, the Emperor, and me.” - -“But why, sir, should _I_ be bitter?” - -“I had thought that perhaps you would be jealous of him, resent his....” - -“Jealous of Pilate?” Boldly Longinus ventured to interrupt. “But why, -sir?” - -“Pilate is going to marry the Emperor’s stepdaughter and take her out to -Judaea when he goes there to begin his duties as Procurator. I had -thought that you yourself might be planning to marry Claudia.” - -“_I_, sir?” Longinus affected sudden surprise. “May I respectfully ask -why you thought that?” - -“You have been seeing her since your return from Germania. She -accompanied you to the banquet Antipas gave for his brother’s wife.” -Sejanus shrugged. “That suggested it to me.” His lips thinned into a -feline grin. “Since I made known to her the Emperor’s plans I have had -you both watched; if you have met or communicated with one another, it -has escaped my men’s sharp eyes.” His piggish eyes brightened. “I want -you to understand, Longinus, that I am not the protector of either -Claudia or Pilate. I am not the least concerned with their private lives -so long as what they do doesn’t harm me or the Empire. And let me -add”—his eyes were dancing now—“I’m not concerned with your private life -either. I am determined, however, that nothing be done to interfere with -our plans for Pilate and Claudia. But if after they are married and gone -out to Judaea, some evening in Caesarea or Jerusalem you should find -yourself in Pilate’s bed when Pilate is away, that will be no concern of -mine, nor shall I care one green fig’s worth.” Suddenly the lascivious -gleam was gone from his eyes, and his countenance was grave. He raised a -stern hand and leaned forward again. “But I’ll require of you a true and -unbiased report on Pontius Pilate, Longinus. If you think you may be -prejudiced against the man because he will have taken Claudia away from -you, then I charge you to tell me now and I shall give you some other -assignment.” - -“I assure you, sir, that I have no hostility toward him. But I do wonder -why Claudia is being required to marry him and be virtually exiled from -Rome.” - -Sejanus studied the senator’s son a long moment. “Longinus, I shall be -entirely frank with you, as I shall require you to be with me,” he -replied, lowering his voice, though there were no other ears to hear. -“The Emperor and I want Claudia exiled, though we would never employ so -harsh a word for her being sent away from Rome. Claudia’s the -granddaughter of Augustus, remember, and also—it’s generally believed, -at any rate—the granddaughter of Mark Antony and the Egyptian Cleopatra. -She’s in direct descent from strong-willed, able—and in their day -tremendously popular—forebears. Tiberius, on the other hand, is not. Nor -does he have any strong following. As you know, Longinus”—he paused, and -his small black eyes for an instant weighed the centurion’s -expression—“in everything but name, I am the Emperor.” - -“Indeed, sir, but were Rome to overthrow the Emperor, the gods forbid, -would the people enthrone a woman? Surely, sir, they would never....” - -“Of course not. It’s not likely, under any circumstances. But you don’t -understand, Longinus.” The Prefect’s grim countenance relaxed a bit, but -he kept his voice low as he sat back against his chair. “Claudia is no -longer married. While she was married to that fop Aemilius there was no -cause for concern. But now she’s divorced and in a position to marry -again.” He smiled, and the wanton flame lighted once more. “And -beautiful. Gods, what a figure!” He rolled his eyes. “If I were young -again, with her I could be Emperor of Rome!” He was silent a moment. -“But I am Emperor of Rome—in all but title.” Now Sejanus was suddenly -grave, and old, and the flame was only of an innate cunning. He leaned -toward the centurion. “Longinus, any man in Rome, any man, would be -happy to marry Claudia. She’s beautiful, rich, highly intelligent, and -the granddaughter of Rome’s greatest Emperor. Being that, she remains a -threat to us as long as she is in Rome. What if some strong, ambitious -general or senator, for example, should marry her and undertake to -displace Tiberius?” He sat back and gestured with outspread palms. -“Don’t you see, Centurion? And displacement of Tiberius—and me—would be -disastrous for your father, of course, and for you. You and I must work -together just as your father and I have been doing. So I shall look -forward not only to your frequent reports of a military and -administrative nature, particularly with respect to the collection of -revenue, but now that Claudia is going out there, to tidbits of -information concerning her and Pilate.” His sensual lips thinned across -his teeth. “Claudia must be kept away from Rome, Longinus, but she must -be kept happily away, too. So if you can help make her stay in Judaea -pleasant, if you can help Pilate keep her satisfied, or if you can keep -her satisfied,” he added with a leer, “you will be serving the Emperor -and me, your father, and yourself. And I don’t care _how_ you do it. Be -careful to avoid scandal, though, that might reach Rome.” He grinned -again. “I think you need have little fear of Pilate.” His lips were -twisted in an evil smile. “Now have I answered your question, Longinus? -Do I make myself entirely clear?” - -“You do, sir.” Longinus’ countenance was impassive, he hoped, but his -palm itched to be doubled into a fist that would smash the leer off the -Prefect’s face. - -“Then these are your orders. Three days hence the ‘Palmyra’ sails for -Palestine. Aboard will be a maniple of troops to relieve two centuries -of the Second Italian Cohort. You will command a century that will be -stationed at Caesarea under Sergius Paulus. Centurion Cornelius will -command the other. Also aboard will be Tetrarch Herod Antipas. You and -your century will go ashore at Caesarea, but Cornelius and his will -accompany Herod to Joppa. There they will land, and Cornelius will -escort the Tetrarch to Jerusalem. Ostensibly Herod will be going up to -the Temple to worship, but he will be bearing a message from me to old -Annas, the former high priest.” He paused but did not explain further. -“From Jerusalem,” he went on, “Cornelius will escort Herod to Tiberias, -where the century will be stationed, with a garrison post at Capernaum -supporting it. And now, to get back to you, Longinus, I have dispatched -orders to Sergius Paulus that although you will command a century, you -must be allowed leave any time you request it to undertake special -missions. I indicated to him that these missions would be concerned -primarily with the government’s interest in the operations of your -father’s factories in Phoenicia. This work understandably could take you -to the plants in Phoenicia and also to Tiberias, Jerusalem, and other -regions in Palestine. The cohort commander must never suspect, nor -anyone else, including Claudia, remember, that you are keeping sharp -eyes and ears on Pilate and Herod Antipas. I’m sending you ahead on the -‘Palmyra,’ Longinus, so that you will be in Caesarea when Pilate and -Claudia arrive there.” He studied the centurion. “Is everything -understood, Centurion?” - -“Yes, sir, I understand.” His forehead creased into small wrinkles. -“When you talked with me before, sir, you said that I would be expected -to keep watch on the activities of three persons, Pilate, Antipas, -and....” - -“Claudia, of course, was the third.” He twisted his vulture-like head to -scan the large chamber, a habit developed during long years of caution. -“Watch her, too. Know what she is doing, what she is thinking even, if -you can.” He lowered his voice. “Be careful, Centurion. She’s a clever -woman, with brains worthy of old Augustus. I am not concerned, as I -said, with her morals, or Pilate’s, or yours. But be careful.” His -little eyes fired again, and a wry grin twisted his face. “Don’t let -Pilate catch you in bed with her. Such carelessness might destroy your -effectiveness.” - -Sejanus stood up, a signal that his business with the centurion was -finished. Longinus arose quickly to stand at attention, concerned that -even yet he might reveal in the Prefect’s presence the revulsion -mounting within him. - -“Send me reports as often and as regularly as you have valuable -information to give, Longinus. Use great care to see that your messages -are well-sealed and not likely to go astray. Watch those three. Let -nothing of significance escape your notice, and let nothing be omitted -from your reports. Keep Claudia under surveillance, but don’t get so -occupied with her that you aren’t fully alive to everything that is -happening. Watch her, regardless of what else you two may be doing!” - - - - - 9 - - -Longinus led his century from its quarters at Castra Praetoria westward -through the Viminal Gate along the way that skirted the leveled-out -northern extremity of Esqueline Hill. - -At the point where this way joined Via Longa the procession entered the -cobblestoned street and moved westward and then straight southward. -Longinus glanced over his shoulder and had a glimpse, between shops that -crowded the lower level of Quirinal Hill, of his father’s great house -high on that elevation. But quickly he lost sight of it as his century -became virtually submerged in the dense traffic fighting its way slowly -along Via Longa. Fortunately, the legionaries were bearing only their -lightest armor; the heavier gear had been sent ahead and put aboard the -“Palmyra.” But even thus equipped, in the narrow, packed street, though -it was one of Rome’s important thoroughfares, they were finding it -increasingly difficult to maintain a steady march. - -As the century began to pass north of the crowded Subura, that motley -district of massed tenements, shops, taverns, and brothels already being -pointed out as the birthplace more than a century ago of the great -Julius Caesar, the press of the throng so increased that the soldiers -were almost forced to fight their way forward. But progress became -easier in the area below the Forum Augustus, and as the troops were -pushing past it toward the Forum Romanum, Longinus glanced toward the -summit of Palatine Hill crowned by the sprawling great Imperial Palace; -his eyes went immediately to the northeast wing and to the window in -Claudia’s bedroom through which he had heard, one recent morning, the -rising trumpet call from the post. - -Longinus had not seen the Emperor’s stepdaughter since the day the -Prefect had visited her, though they had exchanged messages left with -Stephanos the goldsmith at his shop in Vicus Margaritarius. Claudia’s -last message had assured him that she would contrive some plan for -seeing him immediately upon her arrival with Pilate at Caesarea; that -shouldn’t be too difficult. Tullia had relayed Claudia’s message to -Stephanos, and Longinus had received it verbally from the goldsmith. “We -will have the Great Sea between the Emperor and Sejanus and us,” she had -sent word to the centurion. “It will be much safer then; as for Pilate, -I am little concerned with what he thinks or does; in fact, he’ll do -nothing.” - -Before the Forum Romanum Longinus led his troops straight southward. At -the northwest end of Circus Maximus they veered westward and went along -the way leading across the Tiber on the ancient Pons Sublicius, -fashioned of great stones fitted together to span the swiftly flowing -muddy water. Near the bridge entrance the column turned left and -paralleled the stream to halt at the pier just below the Sublicius. -Quickly the legionaries went aboard the “Palmyra.” - -Longinus’ troops were the last to embark, and within an hour the -“Palmyra” began slowly to shove its stern out into the stream. When the -ship was safely away from the pier, the hortator gave a sharp command, -and the long oars, manned by galley slaves chained to their three-tiered -benches, rose and fell in perfect cadence, with the starboard oarsmen -pushing forward and those on the port side pulling hard, so that the -“Palmyra’s” bow came around; soon the vessel was moving steadily -downstream. - -Longinus and Cornelius, having stowed their gear, returned to the deck -to stand together on the port side near the stern. By now the vessel was -rounding the slight westward bend in the river and was passing the -Aventine Hill. Cornelius, watching the yellow waters churning in the -wake of the “Palmyra,” raised his eyes and pointed across the stern -toward the Imperial Palace, the western front of which they could see -jutting past the squared end of the Circus Maximus. The upper section of -the great palace was visible above the race course. “Longinus, I’m -surprised you’re leaving her in Rome. I thought that if you ever went -back to Palestine, you’d be taking Claudia with you.” - -Longinus wondered if by some chance Cornelius had learned of the -Emperor’s plans for his stepdaughter and was trying now gently to probe -further. “But the night you came to her house for me was the first time -I’d seen her after returning from Germania,” he protested, laughing. -“Wouldn’t that be a little fast? She’s the Emperor’s stepdaughter, you -know.” - -“Well, maybe I was imagining things.” Cornelius shrugged. “But she is a -beautiful woman.” - -“I agree, Cornelius. The Bountiful Mother was lavish with her gifts to -the Lady Claudia.” He turned to lean against the rail. “What _I’m_ -wondering, though, is why Herod didn’t marry Herodias and bring her -along.” - -“Maybe he has married her. But I suspect that whether he has or not, -he’ll be returning to Rome for her before many months. That is, after -he’s made peace with the Tetrarchess and old King Aretas, her father.” -He grinned. “I’d wager, too, that you’ll be coming back for Claudia.” - -Longinus laughed but made no comment. His friend, he reasoned, did not -know about Claudia and Pontius Pilate. Nor would he tell him yet. - -Now the “Palmyra” was moving swiftly, its cadenced oars rising and -falling rhythmically to propel the vessel much faster downstream than -the current unaided would have borne it. They had come opposite the -thousand-foot-long Emporium huddled on the Tiber’s eastern bank, its -wharves crawling with slaves moving great casks and bales of merchandise -into the warehouses or bringing them out to be loaded aboard ships -preparing to slip down the Tiber and into the Great Sea at Ostia. Black -Ethiopians and Nubians, their sweating bodies shining as though they had -been rubbed with olive oil and naked except for brightly colored -loincloths, straggled at their tasks. Blond warriors brought from -Germania as part of some Roman general’s triumph, their skins now burnt -to the color of old leather, and squat, swarthy men from Gaul and -Dalmatia, from Macedonia and the Greek islands, captives of Roman -legionaries ranging far from the Italian mainland, pulled and shoved to -the roared commands of the overseers and the not infrequent angry -uncoiling of long leather whips. - -“Did you ever realize, Longinus, what a comprehensive view you get of -Rome and the Empire from a ship going along the Tiber?” Cornelius nodded -toward the stern. “Look at those marble-crowned hills back there, -literally overrun with palaces, billions of sesterces spent in building -them, hundreds, thousands of lives used up, sacrificed, raising them one -above the other. The people in them, too, Longinus, and the -rottenness—smug hypocrisy, adherence to convention, infidelity, -unfairness, utter cruelty, depravity. Rome, great mistress of the world. -Hah!” He half turned and pointed toward the Emporium. “Those sweating -slaves over there would agree.” He gestured with opened hands. “Ride -down the Tiber and see Rome, glorious Mother Rome, from Viminal’s crown -to Emporium’s docks, eh?” - -“You’re right,” Longinus smiled. “And it’s only because the gods have -decreed for us a different fate that you and I are not over there -heaving crates, or chained here pulling oars.” He leaned over the rail -and studied the rhythmical rise and fall of the long, slim oars. “No -doubt there are among these slaves several whose intelligence, -education, and culture are considerably greater than the hortator’s, and -I’m sure.... Look!” - -Cornelius followed the direction of Longinus’ outstretched arm. One of -the oars had come up beneath a floating object and sent it spinning and -twisting in the churning muddy flood. Now another oar’s sharp blade -struck the object, ripping apart its once carefully folded wrapping; as -the oar cleared the surface, the wrapping unrolled, exposing the body of -a tiny infant, chalk-white in the yellow water. It spun giddily for a -moment, then sank. - -“By the gods!” Cornelius shouted. “It’s an exposed baby girl!” - -But now the small, lifeless body bobbed to the surface and for one -unruffled moment lay on its back, eyes wide-open and fixed, staring -upward unseeing toward the two centurions leaning over the ship’s rail. -In that same instant the oars descended, and the knife-sharp edge of one -near the stern sliced diagonally across the drowned infant; the oar -shivered with the unexpected added burden, but it bore the mangled small -corpse beneath the thick waters, and up through them rose a trickle of -dark crimson. - -“She wasn’t dead when she was thrown in,” Cornelius said, “and that -wasn’t long ago. Perhaps from one of the bridges back there, or maybe a -wharf. Or even a boat ahead.” His shoulders trembled in an involuntary -shudder. “Longinus, I could kill a man in battle without blinking, but I -couldn’t throw an infant into the Tiber. By the gods, how can any man do -it?” - -“Nevertheless, hundreds do it every year, Centurion. We were speaking of -those slaves over there on the Emporium’s docks and these galley slaves -rowing us. And this drowned baby, and countless others who simply lost -when the gods rolled the dice. The fickle gods, my friend, the -unfeeling, stonehearted gods.” - -“Don’t blame the gods, Longinus. Blame rather Rome’s mounting vanity and -greed, her selfishness, cruelty.” - -“You know I’m not blaming the gods, Cornelius; I have no more faith than -you have even in their existence. They are nothing but pale nobodies, -fabrications in which not even intelligent children believe.” - -“Fabrications, yes. Our gods are inventions, but they serve a purpose -and are necessary.” - -“Necessary?” The centurion’s face had twisted into a heavy scowl. “Why, -Cornelius?” - -“Because they fill a place, supply a need, Longinus. It’s the nature of -man to look to some higher power, isn’t it, some greater intelligence? -Else why would one invent these gods; why would primitive peoples carve -them from wood and stone; why would we and the Greeks and the Egyptians -raise great temples to them?” - -“Do you contend then that people worship these carved sticks and stones -as symbols of some higher intelligence and power rather than the carved -objects themselves, even primitive peoples? Is that what you’re saying?” - -“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Some—many, in fact—have become -confused, of course, and in seeking to worship this mysterious divinity -they go through a form or ceremony of worshiping the symbol. But what -I’m trying to say, Centurion, is that it is the nature of mankind to -look to something higher, something more intelligent, more powerful, -better, yes, than man himself, better even than such an exemplary man as -our beloved”—now his tone was sarcastic—“Emperor, or his most worthy -Prefect. And if man seeks such a being to worship—and all men, mind you, -even savages, even those wild tree worshipers in Britannia do it—doesn’t -it stand to reason that there should be such a being?” - -The “Palmyra” had entered the smooth bending of the Tiber and was moving -rapidly toward the river’s nearest approach to Janiculum Hill, Rome’s -Jewish quarter on the west bank of the stream. Longinus pointed to the -steep rise of the hill and the plane before it cluttered with the -densely massed homes of thousands of Jews, many of them born in the -capital, others newly settled there. “It seems to me, Centurion, that -you’ve become an adherent of the Jewish one-god religion.” - -His words amused Cornelius. “Other Romans at our post in Galilee have -charged me with the same thing. It came about, I suppose, from my -helping the Jews at Capernaum build their new synagogue.” - -“Then surely you must be a member of their fellowship or synagogue ... -whatever they call it?” - -“No, I’m no convert to the Jews’ religion, Centurion. I don’t belong to -the synagogue. I helped them, I told myself, in order to promote good -relations between the Jews in Galilee and the members of our small Roman -post. But maybe I had other reasons, too. There are many things about -their one-god religion that seem sensible and right to me. But there are -also practices among the Jews that I don’t approve of at all, practices -that seem cruel and senseless. Their system of sacrifices, for instance. -I can see no act of proper worship in slitting the throats of -innumerable sheep and cattle to appease an angry god....” - -“I agree. But we do the same thing. Doesn’t the Emperor dedicate the -games by slitting the throats of oxen?” - -“Exactly. But what is the good of such worship or ceremony or whatever -you may choose to call it? If there is a god to whom the sacrifice is -being made, what good does it do him, what pleasure could he possibly -receive from it?” - -“I see nothing to any of it, Cornelius. Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, -forest worship in Britannia, whatever the system is; it’s all -superstition, delusion....” - -“I grant you, maybe it is. But, Longinus, don’t you feel deep down -inside yourself that there must be some intelligence, some power, far -above man’s very limited intelligence and power, that created the earth -and the heavens and controls them? Else how did they get here in the -first place?” - -“I don’t know, Cornelius. You’ve gone ahead of me, my friend. I never -gave much thought to matters like this.” The lines of his forehead -wrinkled into a frown. “But even if you _should_ feel that way, how -could you ever _know_? Have you seen a god, Centurion? Have you ever -felt one or heard one speak?” - -“I’ve never seen one, Longinus. But I think I have felt and perhaps -heard one. There have been times when I was confident that I was -communicating with one.” Cornelius watched the spume thrown up by the -flashing oars as they cut into the muddy waters. He turned back to face -Longinus. “That’s the difficulty, you know, communication. How can one -get a grip upon a god—the god, if there be but one, and the way I see it -that is the only sensible answer—like those slaves down there grip the -oar handles? How can one hear a god, see him, taste him? Obviously, one -cannot, for this god, whether there be one or many, must be different -from man; he must be a spiritual being rather than a physical one. But -if he is a spirit, how can we of the physical world communicate with him -and he with us? There, my friend, is the problem.” - -Longinus shook his head. “You’ve got me, Cornelius. I cannot imagine a -spirit, a being without a body, a something that is nothing.” - -“Many persons can’t, Centurion. And that’s the main difficulty in -accepting the Jews’ Yahweh, their one god. He is a spirit, they say, -without physical form or substance. They believe in him, but how do they -know him, how do they learn what he’s like? In a word, if he does exist, -how can he be made comprehensible to man?” - -Longinus smiled indulgently. “But you say you think you have felt one -and maybe heard one. Why?” - -“I don’t know if I can explain. Maybe it goes back to the fact that my -first lessons were taught me by a Greek slave. He was purchased by my -father from a lot brought to Rome after one of those early rebellions. -This man was one of the wisest I have ever known. I shall never forget -his teaching concerning the gods. When we would speak lightly of our -Roman gods, old Pheidias would scold us. ‘Don’t speak disparagingly of -the gods,’ he would say, even though he himself did not believe in them. -I can still remember his words. ‘The gods,’ he said, ‘are symbols of -man’s efforts to attain a higher life, a more noble plane of living. The -good gods are the symbols of the good attributes in man; evil gods -symbolize the base passions. Therefore, hold communion with the good -gods, and seek to avoid contact with the evil ones.’” - -“But how does that teaching explain what you feel?” - -“Wait,” Cornelius smiled, then continued. “Sometimes Pheidias would -confide in us and talk in more intimate terms of his own philosophy. At -such times he would tell us that his own gods were merged into one -omnipotent and omniscient good god, a spirit without a body, everywhere -present. This one god was a synthesis of the good, the true, and the -beautiful. And though he could not be felt, as I feel this rail -here”—Cornelius ran his hand along the ship’s rail—“and though he was -not to be seen or heard as one sees or hears another person, he was -nevertheless even more real. ‘For the only things that are real,’ my -tutor would say, ‘are the intangible things, and the only imperishable -things are those that have no physical being. Truth, for example. Truth -has no body. Who can hold truth in his hand? And yet truth is eternal, -unchangeable, indestructible. And love? Who can destroy love; who can -defeat it? Yet can you put love in a basket and carry it from the shop? -And who can measure a modius of love or weigh out twelve unciae?’” -Calmly he regarded Longinus. “And I ask you, my friend, who can? What, -after all, is more indestructible, unchangeable, immortal than the -intangible?” - -The “Palmyra” was moving around the river’s bend now and gaining speed -as it came into the straight stretch at a point even with the -right-angled turning of the city’s south wall. “But forgive me, -Longinus,” Cornelius said lightly. “I hadn’t meant to be giving you a -lecture on the nature of the gods or the one god.” - -“It has been entertaining and enlightening, my friend. And it has -convinced me that you do hold with this one-god idea. Those Jews at -Capernaum, cultivating the plant that came up from the seeds that old -tutor sowed in your childhood, have brought it along to blooming.” He -laughed and tapped the rail with the palm of his hand. “Well, perhaps -it’s an advance—from the Roman gods to the Jews’ one god—in -superstition.” But then the patronizing smile was gone, and he was -serious. “I don’t know, Cornelius. This one-god scheme does have its -merits, I can see. I would like to believe, and I wish I could, that -such an all-powerful, all-wise, all-good being rules the universe. -But”—he paused, and a heavy frown darkened his countenance—“Cornelius,” -he began again, “I keep thinking of those slaves back there on the -Emporium docks, countless slaves all over Rome and throughout the -Empire, beaten, maimed, killed at the whims of their masters, yes, and -that baby thrown into the Tiber, numberless unwanted babies exposed to -die—drowned, thrown to the beasts, bashed against walls—and yet you say -that one good god rules, one all-powerful and all-knowing god, one -_good_ god.” He thrust forth a quivering, challenging forefinger almost -under his friend’s nose. “Then tell me, Cornelius, why does your good -one god send all this ignorance, this stupidity, this cruelty, this -despicable wickedness on the world? Tell me why; give me one logical, -sensible reason, and I’ll fall down at the invisible and intangible feet -of your great one god and worship him in utter subjection.” - -“I can’t tell you, Longinus. That very question has troubled me, too. I -have wondered, and I’ve tried to explain it for myself. I don’t know how -old Pheidias explained it, or even if he did. I don’t recall our ever -challenging him on that point. But it may be that this one god—if there -be one, mind you—does not ordain all the things that happen in the -world. It may be that he is even sorrowful, too, because babies are -thrown into the Tiber, because men are cruel and heartless toward other -men....” - -“Then if he is all-powerful, Cornelius, why does he permit it? You say -he doesn’t will it. Then why does he allow it?” - -Cornelius looked across the deck to the shore line on the starboard side -and for a long moment silently considered his friend’s question. “I -cannot say, Centurion; it’s a mystery to me. Could it be, though, that -the answer, if there be any answer, lies in this god’s determination to -give man his freedom? Could it be that even though he is hurt when man -abuses the freedom given him, he feels that his children must be free, -nevertheless, to work out their destinies? Maybe some such reasoning -might explain it. I don’t know.” He shook his head sadly. “What do you -think?” - -“I disagree, Cornelius. You say that this one god would not order an -infant thrown into the river. I agree, but that is not enough. A good -god would not permit it.” His grim expression relaxed, but he was still -serious. “No, when one sees the condition in which countless men live, -the utter unfairness of things, one cannot logically believe in the -existence of such a god as you have described. Indeed, it is more -logical to believe in our Roman gods than in the god of your old tutor -or the Yahweh of the Jews, in our good ones contending with the evil -ones”—he shrugged—“with the evil ones usually winning. But it is even -more logical, Cornelius, to believe in no gods at all.” - -“You have a good argument, Longinus. But it seems to me that we -invariably come back to what I said when we started this gods -discussion. If there is no higher intelligence, no supreme power, then -how did all this”—he swept his arm in a wide arc—“how did we, the world, -the sun and moon and stars, everything, how did it all come into -existence in the first place? By accident? Bah! And if not by accident, -how? Answer me that, Longinus.” - -“I can’t answer you. But why should I? What difference does it make? If -this good god does exist but does not rule, if he does not enforce a -good way of living among men, if he does not protect helpless babies or -captured peoples—and obviously he doesn’t—is the world any better off -than if no gods existed in the first place?” He smiled complacently. -“But, Cornelius, I have no quarrel with your attachment to your tutor’s -strangely Yahweh-like god. Some day when I visit you in Capernaum I may -go with you to the synagogue or even the Temple at Jerusalem. I may -even,” he added with a grin, “offer a brace of doves for the sacrifices. -Or would your Yahweh insist on my offering a young lamb?” - -“_My_ Yahweh? But I’m no Jew, Longinus. The god of old Pheidias has a -greater appeal to me than Yahweh. Yahweh is too stern, too unbending, as -they interpret him. But maybe they interpret him wrong, the priests who -lead the worship, or maybe I interpret their interpretation wrong. It -may be that the true one god”—he smiled—“if there be one, my friend, has -never been properly interpreted to man. Maybe we just don’t know him, -what he’s like.” He shrugged and stepped away from the rail. “But I -think we’ve had enough of gods for one day, don’t you agree? Let’s go -inside. I’ve got some work to do before we reach Ostia; you probably -have some, too.” - -As they started toward the cabin, Longinus turned to look back. Rome was -entirely behind them now, off the port stern, but still clearly in -sight. Above the city wall and the Aventine Hill beyond and now lifted -clear of the Circus Maximus, the sprawling great Imperial Palace atop -Palatine Hill flaunted itself in the sunshine. - -_Had Claudia arisen? Was she now in her bath or in the solarium having -her hair dressed or her nails manicured? Was she in the peristylium or -on the couch in the exedra? Was she making preparations, not too -reluctantly perhaps, for her wedding with Pontius Pilate?_ - -_... Yes, and back there somewhere in that press of humanity were -Pontius Pilate and the Prefect Sejanus, by all the gods. By all the -gods, indeed. Good gods and evil gods, good to Pilate, evil to me...._ - -Longinus abruptly faced about. Ahead, straight over the bow of the -“Palmyra,” gaining momentum now in a channel clearing of the jam of -traffic within the city’s walls, was Rome’s port of Ostia, where the -great mainsail would be hoisted aloft to catch the winds that would help -speed the vessel eastward. Ahead and many days and long Great Sea miles -distant were the coasts of Palestine ... and Caesarea. Ahead, too, -despite all the gods, real or fancied, and despite Sejanus and Pontius -Pilate, was Claudia. - - - - - Palestine - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 10 - - -Longinus and Cornelius strolled over to the port bow rail as the -“Palmyra,” its mainsail sliding slowly down the mast behind them, swung -around the end of the north breakwater and skimmed lightly across the -harbor toward the docks at Ptolemaïs. - -“I thought Caesarea would be our first stop.” - -“We’re putting in here only long enough to drop some passengers and a -quantity of goods Herod’s brought from Rome,” Cornelius revealed. - -Longinus looked up in surprise. “Herod’s goods?” he asked. - -“Furnishings for the palace at Tiberias—bronze tables, chairs, -decorative pieces, of Herodias’ choosing, I suspect. In fact, some of it -probably came from her house, favorite things to make her feel more at -home in Tiberias. Putting those crates ashore here will save us the -trouble of carrying them on to Joppa and Jerusalem.” - -“But when the Tetrarchess discovers that Herodias had a hand in -selecting the things....” Longinus grimaced, laughing. “Say, are you -letting your men go ashore here?” - -“Only for a few minutes, just to let them stretch their legs while the -vessel’s unloading. Don’t worry, they’ve been told to stay in the wharf -area. If they were to get near the taverns and brothels, we’d be here -all night!” - -Already the soldiers of the two centuries, impatient to get ashore ever -since they had first spotted Mount Carmel towering above the promontory -jutting out from the Phoenician coast, were lining the “Palmyra’s” -rails. Cornelius beckoned to one of his legionaries. - -“Decius, call out a detachment—twelve men should be enough—to be ready -as soon as the ‘Palmyra’ docks to take charge of transporting the -shipment of goods the Tetrarch Herod is sending to his palace at -Tiberias. His steward Chuza will put several of the palace servants to -unloading it and will arrange for obtaining carts and beasts to move it. -You will be concerned only with guarding the caravan. But be on the -alert every moment, Decius. See that you aren’t surprised by some -lurking band of thieves lying in wait for you. If anything should happen -to this shipment, by the gods, we’d never hear the end of it; word would -get back to Rome and the Prefect himself would know about it.” Upon -delivering the goods at the Tetrarch’s palace, he added, Decius should -take the detachment to the garrison post and there await his arrival -with the remainder of the century, which would be escorting Herod to -Jerusalem and from there northward to his Galilean capital. - -When some two hours later the unloading had been completed and the other -legionaries had returned to the ship, Decius stood with his detachment -beside the piled crates and casks and waved good-by to his comrades as -the “Palmyra” moved slowly away from the wharf and then, gaining speed, -headed on a straight course toward the harbor mouth. The next day the -vessel cleared the long breakwater thrust far out into the Great Sea to -provide a safe harbor at Caesarea, and Longinus and his century went -ashore. While the legionaries were assembling their gear, Cornelius -stood with him on the pier. - -“Come visit us at Tiberias, Longinus. You can contrive some mission that -will warrant your being sent, can’t you?” he asked, then added, -“Herodias will probably be coming out from Rome before long. I suspect -Herod will be going back for her as soon as he can arrange with the -present Tetrarchess for her to be supplanted....” - -“If he can—which I doubt.” - -“Whether he can amicably or not, I’d wager that he’ll be bringing -Herodias to Tiberias as Tetrarchess. Then Claudia can visit her and you -can meet her there. And marry her and keep her out here until you’ve -completed your tour of duty.” Cornelius winked and playfully nudged his -friend with an elbow. “By the gods, maybe that’s what you and Claudia -have planned all along. Is it, Longinus?” - -“No, we haven’t planned any such thing.” Longinus stared thoughtfully -out at the shore before them. “But I’ll contrive some reason for getting -up to Tiberias. And we’re bound to meet in Jerusalem during one of the -festivals; they bring in the troops then, you know. Or perhaps some -mission will bring you to Caesarea; at Tiberias, after all, you’ll be -nearer us than we will be to Jerusalem.” He clapped a hand on his -friend’s shoulder. “My love, and the blessings of the gods—including -your Yahweh—to your family.” - -Cornelius stood at the “Palmyra’s” rail as the vessel slipped away from -the wharf. When it was nearing the rounding of the breakwater, he heard -Longinus’ sharp command, and the century moved off smartly. The tapping -of the legionaries’ heavy boots in rhythmical, perfect cadence came -clearly to him across the water. Longinus turned and lifted his arm high -in salute; Cornelius returned it, as the century, swinging along the -cobblestoned way, gained a street corner and turned, then began to be -swallowed up into the maze of stone buildings beyond the piers. - -The sun was dropping low into the Great Sea when the “Palmyra” sailed -into the port at Joppa. Relieved and happy that the long voyage was -safely ended, the passengers disembarked to seek refreshment and rest -for the night. Early on the morrow Herod Antipas with Mary of Magdala -and the others of his company, escorted by Centurion Cornelius and his -century, would set out on the forty-mile journey southeastward to -Jerusalem. - - - - - 11 - - -Centurion Cornelius pointed to a horseman hurrying toward them along the -narrow road east of the river. “The advance guard must have run into -trouble, maybe Bar Abbas and his gang or some other waylaying zealots.” - -“Then you’d better send out a patrol to overtake and destroy them,” -Herod Antipas scowled. “I have no patience with those rebel cutthroats.” - -The caravan trudging up the deep trough of the Jordan had paused for the -midday refreshment. Four days ago it had descended the Jericho road from -Jerusalem to encamp for the night on the plain before the city. Horses -had been provided for the Tetrarch and certain of his household, but the -soldiers of the century, with the exception of the small advance and -rear patrols, were on foot. Heavily loaded carts and donkeys transported -the supplies, gear, and tents. The journey had been made without -incident; another day of uninterrupted progress would bring the caravan -to the Sea of Galilee, or, if they were lucky, perhaps even as far as -Tiberias. - -Cornelius stood up and signaled the approaching rider. The horseman rode -straight up to him, reined in his mount, and saluted. “Centurion,” he -reported, “up ahead at the river crossing there’s a motley crowd of -about a hundred persons, most of them men. Judging by their appearance, -they must have traveled a long way. They appear to be peaceful, but -there’s a wild-looking, hairy fellow haranguing them, and they’re -drinking in his every word; they hardly noticed me when I joined them.” - -“What was the fellow saying, Lucilius?” - -“I couldn’t understand him, Centurion. I’m not familiar with the speech -of this region, which I presume it was. But I thought he might be one of -those Galilean revolutionaries trying to incite the crowd against our -Roman rule.” - -“One of those zealots, you mean? No, hardly, Lucilius. Those rebels -don’t stand up delivering speeches; their way is to thrust a knife -between somebody’s ribs and then slink quickly away. More than likely -this fellow’s a religious fanatic, and I would guess his language is -Aramaic. There’s probably no harm in him, but you did well to report. I -understand Aramaic; I’ll return with you and investigate.” - -“I believe I know who the man is, Centurion,” the Tetrarch volunteered. -“There was a desert fellow from the Wilderness country beginning to -cause a stir here when I was leaving for Rome. I had reports then that -he was thundering invectives against everything, even the Tetrarch and -his house. He may be inciting the people against Rome. At any rate, I -want to hear him, and perhaps you should, too.” - -Mary of Magdala, seated near-by, had overheard. “I, too, would like to -hear the strange prophet.” - -“But surely even your irresistible charms would not tempt this mad -Wilderness preacher.” Antipas winked at the centurion. - -“I am not interested in charming him. But if this is the man you think -he is I have heard much about him. I would like to observe him for -myself.” - -Cornelius turned back to Antipas. “If the Tetrarch wishes, I’ll send up -a patrol to be near-by in case of any trouble. But I think, Sire, you -should disguise yourself. Then you will be able to mingle safely with -the throng, and the preacher, not knowing the Tetrarch is hearing him, -will talk freely.” - -Antipas, agreeing, quickly exchanged his purple mantle for the simple -Galilean garment of one of his servants and wrapped about his -Roman-style cropped head a bedraggled scarf to form an effectively -concealing headdress. The servant cut a reed to serve as a walking -staff. Mary, too, changed garments and veiled her face in the manner of -a Galilean peasant woman. - -Cornelius sent a patrol ahead. “Stop this side of the ford,” he -instructed Lucilius, “and try to avoid being noticed by the throng down -there. But keep on the alert for any commotion that might develop.” Then -he, Antipas, and Mary all mounted horses and rode toward the place where -the multitude had assembled. At a bend in the road some two hundred -paces from the ford the three riders dismounted behind screening thick -willows that came up from the river bank; from there they quietly made -their way down to the ford and slipped unobtrusively into the crowd. - -Every burning dark eye seemed to be focused on the gesticulating, -fiercely intent preacher. He stood in the center of the circled throng -on the river bank, and his words came to them clear and sharply -challenging, angry and pleading, denunciatory and promising. - -“You generation of vipers!” he thundered, shaking a gnarled fist in -their teeth, “have I not warned you to escape from the wrath that is -coming? Do you contend that because you are Abraham’s seed you are -secure from the judgment of a righteous God?” He lowered his voice, -strode two steps forward, and dramatically wheeled about. “What are -Abraham’s descendants to God? Could he not raise up from these very -stones”—he pointed toward the smoothly rounded small rocks lining the -water’s edge—“children for Abraham? And is not the ax ready at the foot -of the tree to cut down every one that does not bear fruit?” - -Cornelius nudged a bent Jew, his face streaked with perspiration that -ran down in soiled small beads into his grizzled beard, his whole frame -seemingly so absorbed in the speaker’s thundering words that he had not -even noticed the centurion’s arrival beside him. “That man, who is he?” - -The old fellow turned incredulously to stare. “Soldier, you have been in -Galilee long enough to speak our tongue, and yet you do not know _him_?” - -“But for many weeks I have not set foot in Galilee,” Cornelius replied. -“I am just now returning, by way of Jerusalem, from Rome.” - -“He is the Prophet John, soldier, the one sent of God to warn Israel to -repent and be baptized.” The old man turned back to give his attention -for the moment to the preacher. Then, his face earnest, he confronted -Cornelius again. “He is not concerned with Rome, soldier. He preaches -only that men should cleanse their hearts of evil and walk in the way of -our Yahweh.” Once more he turned to stare at the prophet whose eyes were -wildly flaming in his burnt dark face; ignoring Cornelius, the old man -leaned forward and raised a knotted hand to cup his ear. - -John was tall, and his leathery leanness accentuated his height. The -prophet, it was immediately evident to the centurion, was not a man of -the cities and the synagogues; he was a son of the desert and the -wastelands of Judaea, and the sun and wind had tanned his skin to the -color and hardness of old harness. Nor did he appear any more afraid of -the proud and opulent Pharisees and Sadducees who confronted him with -their disdainful smiles than he must have been of the wild animals of -his Wilderness haunts. - -“Repent! I say unto you. And bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. -Try not further the patience of God. Forswear evil and do good.” - -“But what are for us fruits worthy of repentance? What must we do?” - -The questioner, his countenance heavy with pain, stood at the river’s -edge facing the prophet. His garb revealed him to be a man of means, but -it was evident also that the thundering words of the baptizer had -stirred him deeply and that he had asked the question in all humility. - -John thrust forth a lean forefinger and shook it sternly. “You are of a -calling unloved in Israel, and justly so. You have sold your birthright -as a son of Israel to join your heel to the conqueror’s to grind -Abraham’s seed into the earth. You are a publican; I know you, and I -know the publican’s heart.” His voice was almost a hiss, and around the -clearing beards nodded in agreement with the prophet’s harsh appraisal. -“I call upon you to repent!” - -“But what, Rab John, are the fruits of my repentance?” The perspiration -was running freely down the man’s face and dripping into his beard. -“What must I do?” - -“Demand only that which is legally due you.” - -“I swear that this I shall henceforth do, Yahweh being my helper. By the -beard of the High Priest, I swear it.” The man sighed deeply, and from -the fold of his robe pulled forth a kerchief with which he mopped his -forehead, his whiskered cheeks, and the dampened long beard. - -“But we are not great ones,” ventured a gnarled and grizzled fellow who -leaned twisted on his staff, “neither are we publicans. We are the plain -and the simple and the poor of Galilee. What shall we do worthy of -repentance?” - -“You have two coats, though they be worn and patched with much wearing? -Then give one to him who has none. And you have food, though it be -coarse and not plentiful? Share what you have with him who is hungry.” - -Cornelius had noticed, standing not far from the prophet but somewhat -withdrawn from the throng as if to avoid contamination with these men of -earth such as the one who had just questioned John, a knot of -resplendently robed Israelites, their beards oiled and combed and -carefully braided, their fingers heavily ringed. Now one of these men, -his hands clasped in front of his rounded, sagging paunch, stepped -forward a pace and bowed. “Rabbi, we are priests and Levites sent by the -rulers in Jerusalem to hear and observe your teaching. We perceive that -you speak with great authority. Tell us, Rabbi”—his smile was as -unctuous as his beard was oiled—“are you that great One for whom we are -looking?” - -“I am not the Messiah,” John answered evenly. - -“Are you then the Prophet Elijah returned to us?” - -“I am not he.” - -“Then, Rabbi, who are you? We have been instructed to come and see and -carry back our report to the Temple rulers. What then shall we say of -you, who you are?” - -“Say that I am: - - “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, - “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, - “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. - “Every valley shall be exalted, - “And every mountain and hill shall be made low: - “And the crooked shall be made straight, - “And the rough places plain: - “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, - “And all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath - spoken it.” - -“You speak the words of the great Isaiah,” the pompous questioner -declared. - -“Yes,” John agreed. “And other words he said also. - - “The voice said, ‘Cry,’ - “And he said, ‘What shall I cry? - “‘All flesh is grass, - “‘And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. - “‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth.... - “‘But the word of our God shall stand forever.’” - -“Then you, like we, yet look for the coming of the Messiah of God?” - -John raised a lean and burnt arm and the haircloth robe slid down along -it to his shoulder. He pointed a darting forefinger toward the Temple’s -emissary, and his countenance was solemn. “I tell you, that One is now -among us, though you have not recognized him as the Messiah of God. And -though he comes after me in time, he ranks before me; indeed, I am not -worthy to stoop down and unloose his sandal straps. I baptize you with -water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!” - -“Then, Rabbi, why do you baptize with water?” The unctuous one smiled -broadly and, pleased with his cleverness, looked from one member of the -delegation to another. - -“It is a sign that those who enter upon it have repented and been -cleansed in their hearts.” He looked the man in the eyes. “Have you -repented, my brother? Is your heart changed? Are you ready for the -coming of Him of Whom I have this moment spoken?” John whirled about, -and his lean arm described an arc that embraced the multitude. “Repent, -ye men of Israel! Ye who dwell in great houses, repent! Ye men of earth -who know not where your next mouthful will be found, repent. For the -clean in heart do not all dwell in palaces or attend upon the Temple -worship, nor do they all go about hungry and naked and shelterless.” - -As the prophet paused, he looked toward the centurion and the disguised -Tetrarch, who stood beside Mary and within a few paces of the portly -questioner from Jerusalem. Cornelius wondered what Herod was thinking of -this strange Wilderness preacher, this fiery denouncer of evildoers. But -in that same moment John resumed his discourse. “No, sin and wickedness -abide in the high places; evil reigns even in the great marble pile -built above the graves at Tiberias where the Idumaean pawn of the -conqueror despoils and seduces the people of Israel! He, too, my -brothers, even he must repent his wicked ways; he must seek the Lord -while yet He may be found, or he and his evil associates will be cast -into outer darkness!” - -The fleeting thought came suddenly to the centurion that the prophet had -recognized the large man in the soiled Galilean robe, and perhaps the -notorious woman of Magdala as well. But then would he have dared utter -such a denunciation? Was the desert preacher really a man of dedication -and courage, as people said? Perhaps. Cornelius scrutinized Herod’s -face. The Tetrarch’s normally pale complexion had turned an ugly shade -of red beneath the twisted turban, while beads of perspiration ran down -his heavy jowls. But Mary, though little of her face showed because of -the veil, appeared more amused than angered. - -The prophet’s interrogator from Jerusalem was still unsatisfied. “But, -Rabbi,” he began again, “you say that the Messiah of God is already -among us. Why then has he not declared himself, why has he not consumed -with holy fire the Edomite who possesses us and tramples into the dust -of utter subjection our ancient land?” - -John’s eyes flashed angrily, but he controlled his tongue. When he spoke -his voice was calm. “It is not for me to explain or defend the will and -works of the Messiah. I am but His messenger who goes ahead to announce -His coming, to call upon His people Israel to repent that their eyes -might be whole to see Him when He comes, that their hearts might be -clean to know Him!” With bronzed fist he smote the palm of his left -hand, his ardor mounting. “You leaders of the people”—he stabbed a lean -forefinger toward the haughty group from Jerusalem—“cleanse your own -hearts; let fall from your eyes the scabs of greed and hypocrisy so that -when He comes you may recognize Him!” - -Cornelius felt a gentle tug on his arm; it was Mary. “The Tetrarch is -going back,” she whispered. “He’s furious at the man’s denunciation of -him. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he would have had to reveal his -identity in doing it, Antipas would have had him arrested. But he didn’t -want those puffed toads”—she inclined her head to indicate the Jewish -delegation—“carrying stories back, and he wished to avoid provoking a -commotion; so he overlooked the....” - -“Behold, the Lamb of God!” - -Cornelius and the woman, her report to him startlingly interrupted by -the prophet’s ejaculation, faced about quickly to look in the direction -toward which he was pointing. In that instant the others had whirled -about, too. Cornelius and Mary strained forward, trying to see above the -heads of the multitude. - -“He is the One of Whom I have been speaking!” shouted John. “Behold, the -Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Yonder is the Messiah -of God!” - -They saw coming along the path that led down from the road above the -river, walking with long, easy stride as he descended the grade toward -the clearing at the ford, a tall, sunburned young man, well-muscled but -lithe, broad of shoulders, erect. He wore a plain, brown, homespun robe, -belted at the waist with a length of rope, and coarse, heavy sandals. He -was bareheaded; his reddish brown hair fell away from a part in the -center of his head in locks that curled almost to his shoulders. In his -right hand he gripped a long staff cut from a sapling. As he strode down -the pathway and across the open space toward the prophet, he seemed deep -in thought, almost insensible to the throng about him. He walked -straight up to John. Cornelius and Mary could see the two talking in -subdued tones, but they could understand nothing of what was being said -by either man. - -“What are they saying?” It was the bent old Jew; he still stood near-by, -and he had cupped his palm to an ear lost in grizzled earlocks. -“Soldier, can you hear them?” - -“No, not a word,” Cornelius answered. “They aren’t talking loudly enough -for us up here.” - -At that moment a youth who had been down at the water’s edge standing a -few feet away from the prophet approached them. He heard the old man’s -question. “They are arguing about baptizing the tall one,” he explained. -“He wants the desert preacher to baptize him, but the preacher claims it -should be the other way around; he says he isn’t worthy to baptize the -Messiah.” - -“The Messiah!” The old man had been peering intently at the tall young -man standing calmly beside the prophet. “Is that the one the prophet -called the Lamb of God, the one long expected of Israel?” - -“Yes, the tall one.” - -“Why do you ask?” Cornelius inquired of the bent one. “Do you know the -man?” - -“Do I know him?” The old man chuckled. “Soldier, I come from Nazareth. -Many’s the day I have worked with Joseph, that boy’s father, planing one -end of a beam while he was shaping the other end. But Joseph’s dead now, -been dead a long time. That boy there lives with his mother, the widow -Mary.” - -“What does he do?” - -“He’s a carpenter, too, like his father before him. And he’s a good boy -and a hard-working boy, soldier. But Jesus ben Joseph the Messiah of -Israel....” The old fellow, both hands braced on his gnarled stick, -shook his head incredulously. “Soldier, my faith in that John the -Baptizer is weakening. He must be”—he removed one hand from the stick -and with bent forefinger tapped his forehead—“a little touched.” - -Cornelius laughed. “I don’t know much about this Messiah business, but, -I agree, he must be.” Then he turned to Mary. “Are you ready to go? I -mustn’t let Herod get too far ahead. I’m responsible for his arriving in -Tiberias, you know.” - -They started retracing their way along the path to the road; where it -joined the broader way, they turned southward. When a moment later they -came out from behind a clump of shrubs grown up in an outcropping of -small boulders, Cornelius glanced over his shoulder toward the ford and -the throng. He caught Mary’s arm and pointed. - -The haircloth mantle and the brown homespun robe had been thrown across -small bushes at the river’s edge. In the center of the little stream, -with the water up to their loincloths and their faces lifted heavenward, -stood the gaunt Wilderness prophet and the tall bronzed young man from -Nazareth. - - - - - 12 - - -The Procurator’s Palace sat high on a promontory overlooking the harbor -at Caesarea. A marble-paved esplanade led from the cobblestoned street -up to the palace, and on its west side facing the Great Sea an immense -terrace of colored, polished stones went out from the peristylium. - -In the days when King Herod, father of Antipas, determined to build here -on the Palestinian coast a fabulous port city to honor his patron, the -Emperor Augustus, the place was an insignificant town called by the -unusual name of Strato’s Towers. Then there was virtually no harbor. But -at tremendous cost in the lives of slaves and artisans and money wrung -in taxes from his already poor subjects, Herod built of huge stones sunk -in twenty fathoms of often rough water a tremendous mole that went out -and around like a protecting arm to form a safe shelter for countless -ships of every type. - -Quickly old Herod had transformed Strato’s Towers into a beautiful and -busy city more Roman than Jewish. A stranger unfamiliar with the region -and just landed from a trireme in the harbor at Caesarea, in fact, would -hardly realize that he was in a Palestinian city. Not only were its -great public buildings and lavish homes Roman—its Procurator’s Palace, -its immense hippodrome for athletic sports and gladiatorial combats, its -theater, its gleaming marble temples to pagan gods—but Roman, too, were -many of its people. Its population actually was of varied -nationalities—Roman, Greek, Syrian, Idumaean, Ethiopian, and many -others; there were countless slaves from conquered provinces—Germania, -Gaul, Dalmatia, even here and there one from Britannia—a motley -multitude from every region on the rim of the Great Sea and even from -lands farther away. Caesarea was a metropolitan city set down upon the -coast of this ancient homeland of the Samaritans and their more -peculiarly Hebrew cousins the Judaeans. - -Today the newly arrived Procurator Pontius Pilate and his wife sat in -the warming sunshine on the terrace and looked down upon the busy harbor -and the Great Sea stretching westward into the blue haze. Obliquely -facing them, so that he could see both the harbor and a portion of the -maze of buildings pushing one upon the other from it, sat their guest, -the Centurion Longinus. - -Claudia pointed to a large merchant ship being tied up at one of the -docks below. “This is a tremendous harbor, rivaling Ostia’s, isn’t it? -Look at all those vessels, and that one that has just sailed in. Judging -by its size, I’d say it was an Alexandrian grain ship.” - -“It is a great harbor, and wonderfully protected. In fact, I was amazed -to find Caesarea such a modern city.” Pilate smiled broadly. “I had -feared that it would be another typical provincial outpost.” - -“On the contrary, Excellency, it’s quite a metropolis,” Longinus -observed. “You’ll discover people here from every part of the world, and -far fewer Jews, I suspect, than you had anticipated finding. Of course, -you’ve hardly had time yet to learn much about the city.” - -Pilate laughed, but with little humor. “The fewer Jews the better. I’m -glad the capital of the province is here rather than at Jerusalem; it -would be galling, I suspect, to be forced to spend most of one’s time in -that nest of Jews. Speaking of Jerusalem, Centurion, I plan to visit the -city shortly and have a straight talk with that High Priest. I wish it -known at the very beginning of my Procuratorship that I intend to -demonstrate clearly and forcefully, if that be necessary, that Rome -cannot be trifled with by these obstinate and pestiferous Jews. You, of -course, have been to Jerusalem?” - -“Not since I came out this time. But on many occasions previously, -including visits during the festivals. If you go there during Passover -week, you’ll see Jews from every part of the world.” - -“I have already seen enough of them for a lifetime,” Pilate said, -scowling. But quickly he smiled again. “Centurion, I am going to the -cohort’s headquarters; I wish to talk with Sergius Paulus.” He clapped -his hands, and a slave came running. “Summon my sedan bearers,” he -commanded. “May I take you to your quarters,” he asked Longinus, “or -will you stay longer and entertain Claudia?” He turned to his wife and -smiled warmly. “A familiar face, and a Roman one, is particularly -welcome in this strange outpost of the Empire, isn’t it, my dear -Claudia?” - -“Yes, indeed, Pilate.” She reached over and put her hand lightly on the -centurion’s arm. “Longinus, do stay and talk. You can give me -instructions on how to act out here in this strange region, strange to -Pilate and me, at any rate.” - -In a few minutes the servant announced that the sedan bearers were -awaiting him, and Pilate excused himself. When he was gone, Longinus -moved his chair nearer Claudia. “I wonder why he invited me to stay,” he -said. “Does he suspect us, do you suppose? Or,” he added with a wry -smile, “is there no longer any occasion for his doing that?” - -“I don’t think he suspects us, although I haven’t yet learned how to -weigh his words or actions. But what if he does?” She shrugged. “With me -everything is just as it was before you left Rome. But maybe”—coyly she -looked up at him from beneath her long lashes—“you have discovered some -woman out here....” - -“No. And I haven’t looked. But I wonder how much he knows or suspects.” -He told her of his last conversation with the Prefect, of the -determination of Sejanus to keep her happily away from Rome, of that -wily rascal’s invitation—in fact, almost command—to do whatever might be -necessary, including the invasion of the Procurator’s bed, to detain her -in contented exile. “But I don’t think he suspected then that we were -planning to get married almost immediately. And I’m sure Pilate didn’t.” -His forehead wrinkled in deep study. “By any chance, Claudia, have you -let slip...?” - -“About us, to him? Of course not.” - -“To anyone... Herodias maybe, the gods forbid. I wouldn’t trust that -woman as far as I could throw that grain ship over there. Could you, -without realizing it, have let slip...?” - -“Yes, I did tell Herodias. She does know that you and I were planning to -marry and come out to Palestine. But I’m sure neither she nor Antipas -has said anything to Pilate about it ... if they’ve even seen him since. -And certainly they haven’t talked with Sejanus.” - -“Anyway, Claudia, we must be doubly careful. So long as Sejanus thinks -I’m simply keeping you ... satisfied, he called it, it’s all right. But -should he get the notion that I might be planning to take you away from -Pilate and back to Rome ...” he broke off, scowling. “And here there’ll -be other eyes and ears watching and listening, too. But when Pilate goes -to Jerusalem, can’t we arrange...?” - -“I’ll be going, too,” she interrupted. “And so must you. We can contrive -some excuse for your accompanying us.” Her eyes were bright with -smoldering fires, he saw, and her lips warm, he knew, and red and eager, -and he remembered the taste of the Falernian upon them. But adamantly he -turned his eyes away to look toward the great harbor. “And in Jerusalem, -Longinus, beloved”—her hand had caught his arm and was squeezing -hard—“we’ll find some way.” - - - - - 13 - - -Sergius Paulus, who commanded the legionaries escorting Procurator -Pontius Pilate and his party to Jerusalem, halted his column several -hundred paces west of the great market square outside the Joppa Gate. - -“Sheathe the cohort’s emblems!” he commanded, and quickly down the line -of march the soldiers began covering the banners of the Second -Italian—the likenesses of the Emperor Tiberius, the screaming eagles, -the fasces with their bundled arrows and axes, everything that flaunted -the proud victories of this cohort of Rome’s conquering armies. - -“But Commander Sergius,” Pilate began to protest, “by whose orders must -Rome thus bow to these haughty Jews? Is this, by any chance, _your_ -scheme for forestalling possible disorder?” - -“No, Excellency, the sheathing of the emblems in Jerusalem is not of my -devising; it follows a long established custom, started, I believe, by -the Emperor Augustus as a result of a pact with the Jewish leaders and -continued by the Emperor Tiberius through orders transmitted to us by -the Prefect Sejanus.” His smile was coldly professional. “I assure you, -sir, covering our emblems before the gates of Jerusalem is as -distasteful to me as it must be to the Procurator, but this is an order -I dare not violate.” - -The round face of the helmeted Procurator reddened with fury. He shook -his head angrily and banged his heavy fist against the apron of the -chariot in which he stood beside his wife. “I am not accustomed to -seeing Rome display humility—abject humility—which is what this action -seems to me to be. But I shall not countermand the order you have given, -though to me it is both humiliating and exasperating that our -legionaries are forced thus to yield to these outrageous Jews.” He -raised his hand to signal. “When you are ready, Commander, let us -proceed into the city.” Then he turned to address Longinus, who had -halted near the Procurator. “Centurion, will you exchange places with my -driver? Claudia and I are entering Jerusalem for the first time; would -you be our guide and point out the principal places of interest?” - -Quickly the exchange was accomplished, and the detachment, its emblems -shielded now from view, resumed its march. Crossing the market place at -the gate, a suddenly stilled large square that a moment before the -Romans’ arrival had been a hubbub of shouts and shrill cries of -bargaining, the procession moved through the gateway to enter a narrow -cobblestoned street also strangely deserted. - -“But where are the people to welcome us?” Pilate inquired, his balding -high forehead creased in anger and consternation. “Why this unnatural -calm?” - -“They have retreated inside their shops and houses and closed the -shutters; right now they are peering at us through lattices and from the -roof tops, Excellency. This is the way they show their scorn for their -conquerors. It will be our good fortune if we are not pelted with rotten -vegetables and fruit thrown from the house tops, or even tiles from the -roofs.” He smiled, not too happily. “The Jews, Excellency, don’t have -much affection for us Romans.” - -The veins in the Procurator’s neck swelled as though they might burst, -and his countenance was livid. “In every province in which I have -formerly entered with our troops,” he declared, “the populace has -welcomed us thunderously, often with flowers and branches of trees -thrown in our way, and many times they have even prostrated themselves -before us.” He knotted his fist again. “By all the gods, I shall teach -these Jews better manners. Nor shall I delay long in setting them to -their lessons!” - -Claudia laid a soothing hand on her husband’s arm; with the other she -pointed to the right. “Those huge buildings! Longinus, they appear to be -towers. And what tremendous stones. I didn’t know these Jews were -capable of raising such structures.” - -“Yes, on the contrary, the Jews are good artisans, and old Herod, who -built many great edifices here as well as at Caesarea and other cities, -also employed many foreign workers of great skill. He evidently wished -to emulate Augustus in raising magnificent public buildings.” They were -coming now to a great square tower, one of those to which Claudia had -pointed. “This first one is the Hippicus Tower, named, I have heard, for -a friend of Herod. The next one, in the middle, is Phasael, called that -in honor of Herod’s brother. But that one”—he pointed in the direction -of a third—“is the most famous, perhaps because he built it to the -memory of the only wife he really loved. It’s called the Mariamne Tower, -after the one he had killed. They say that the old reprobate almost went -insane with grief after he’d executed her. Claudia, this Mariamne was -the grandmother of Herodias and her spendthrift brother Agrippa. -Mariamne was a member of the ancient Hasmonean line of Israelite rulers. -Very soon now we’ll be passing the old Hasmonean Palace; it’s over near -the viaduct that connects Zion Hill with the Temple.” - -“But, Longinus, where is the Procurator’s Palace?” - -“Yes, Centurion, I’d be interested in seeing it.” - -“It’s behind that wall joining the three towers, sir. And it’s a -tremendous place, too, with fountains and flowers and grass and -trees—you will love it, Claudia—it serves as headquarters of the -Procurator when he visits Jerusalem, though it’s called Herod’s Palace. -When the Tetrarch is in Jerusalem, especially if the Procurator is here -at the same time—for instance, during Passover feasts—the Tetrarch -usually stays at the Hasmonean Palace. Excellency”—he faced the -Procurator again, for he had been busy with the reins in an attempt to -dodge a heavily loaded cart being pulled by a trudging donkey—“do you -plan to stop here at Herod’s Palace, or will you stay in the -Procurator’s quarters at the Tower of Antonia?” - -“What was the custom of Valerius Gratus? Where did he stay?” - -“He usually lodged here, I believe. It’s more comfortable, of course, -and perhaps will be quieter than the quarters at Antonia.” - -“Perhaps”—Pilate faced Claudia, his expression questioning—“then we -should stay at Herod’s Palace. But, pray the gods, why should it be -called Herod’s Palace now? The Herods no longer have authority in -Judaea.” - -“It was built by old Herod, sir, and the name persists. Things change -slowly out here; tradition and custom rule in Judaea. I’m sure you’ll -realize that more the longer you remain in Palestine.” They were nearing -a gate in the high wall that gave admittance to the palace. Several -guards at the gate, seeing the procession of Roman troops, straightened -and raised their arms in salute. Longinus lifted the reins to halt the -chariot. - -“No, not yet,” Pilate said. “Claudia wishes to see the Temple and -Antonia Tower before we stop. Don’t you, my dear?” - -“I do. Then, after I’ve had a look at them, we can return, can’t we? And -if the Procurator is kept at Antonia Tower longer than he expects to be, -perhaps the centurion would fetch me back here?” - -Longinus smiled. “Of course,” he murmured, then turned to Pilate. “But, -sir, you won’t be able to proceed far with the chariots. You’ll have to -change to horseback or be borne in a sedan chair. These Jerusalem -streets are very narrow, and many of them ascend and descend stairs that -a chariot could scarcely manage.” - -Pilate nodded. “Thank you, Centurion. In that case we’ll leave the -chariots here, and I’ll ride horseback. Claudia can take a sedan chair.” -He looked toward his wife, and his eyes were questioning. “That is, if -she still wishes to go on to Antonia.” - -“Yes, I’d particularly like to see the Temple; I’ve heard stories of -what a marvelous structure it is. I’ll go on, and Longinus can bring me -back.” She smiled. “Would you?” - -“As you wish,” he said. - -Pilate nodded. “If you will, Centurion. Or I can send someone to bring -you here, Claudia, if the centurion finds that he cannot get away from -his duties. I’ll probably be detained for some time at the Tower. I am -determined to see the High Priest before the sun sets. I had planned to -call on him at his palace, but now, after the reception Jerusalem has -given me, by all the gods”—his face was reddening again—“I shall summon -him to come to me!” - -So the column was halted along the narrow way in front of the sprawling -Herod’s Palace. The chariots were driven inside the palace grounds and -left there, and a sedan chair was brought out by bearers quickly -recruited from the palace’s staff of servants. - -“Centurion, if you will ride in the sedan chair with Claudia,” the -Procurator said, “you can point out to her the places of importance in -this nest of obstinate Jewry.” He mounted a gaily caparisoned horse and -rode forward to the head of the column. - -“Perhaps, Excellency, it would be best for me to go ahead with the -advance guard”—Sergius Paulus smiled grimly as Pilate came abreast of -him—“to absorb the stones that may be hurled at the new Procurator, not -that there is any personal animosity toward you, sir, but because you -are a symbol of Rome’s dominion....” - -“No! I’m not afraid of them!” the Procurator angrily interrupted. “And, -by great Jove, I’ll teach them to respect the dominion of Rome!” He -spurred his horse several paces ahead of the cohort commander. - -Meanwhile Claudia and Longinus had settled themselves in the sedan -chair. As it moved off, they did not draw the curtains. “It isn’t -because I am afraid to draw them,” Claudia said to him. “I’m not afraid -of Pilate, nor am I afraid of the people out there. It’s because I want -to see Jerusalem.” - -“You don’t think Pilate might become suspicious, do you, or even -jealous?” - -“Pilate thinks only of Pilate and how he can advance his own fortune. -He’s ambitious and egotistical; he craves authority, and he covets -riches. He’ll do nothing to displease me, not because of affection for -me, but because I’m the stepdaughter of the Emperor and because our -marriage was arranged by the Prefect. If he’s ever jealous of me—and I -think he never will be—I’m quite certain he will make every effort not -to show it.” - -“Which means?” - -“That it should not be difficult for us to contrive to see each -other....” - -“Tonight?” - -Claudia laughed. “Are you, I hope, that eager?” - -“I’ve been that eager for many weeks, Claudia.” He leaned across to take -her hand. She drew it back. - -“Not now, Centurion. The soldiers, you know....” - -“Then you are afraid of the Procurator’s knowing....” - -“Not afraid, Longinus. Say, rather, discreet.” - -Now they were being borne down a flight of stone steps. The hoofs of the -horses in front of and behind them clattered and slipped, and sometimes -an animal would go to its knees, though the heavily burdened donkeys -coming up the stairs and keeping close to the buildings managed to -scramble forward on nimble, sure feet. Sometimes a swaying load piled -high on a donkey’s back would be overbalanced and topple as its -containing straps burst, and in a moment the merchandise would be -trampled to bits by the soldiers’ steeds. - -When they reached the bottom of the steps and began to move along a -level portion of the street where there was an open space between the -buildings on the right, Claudia suddenly pointed. “That must be the old -Hasmonean Palace where the ancestors of Herodias’ mother lived.” - -“Yes.” - -She scowled. “It’s a stern and forbidding pile of stones.” - -“You’ll find that most Jewish public buildings are that way, the palaces -especially. But once you get inside them, you’re bound to find them -enchanting. Herod’s Palace has a sumptuous array of grass and flowers -and fountains; you should enjoy your stay there.” - -“Perhaps.” She smiled coyly. “It depends.” Then she pointed. “What on -earth is that next building? It, too, looks like a fortress.” - -“That place is called the Xystus; it’s a Roman-style gymnasium built by -King Herod, who also constructed down this way”—he pointed off toward -the south—“an open-air theatre and”—he nodded in the opposite -direction—“northeast of the Temple area a large hippodrome where he held -games and gladiatorial sports modeled after ours at home. But the -orthodox Jews will have nothing to do with any of these things; they -won’t even go near the places. To do so would violate some of their -religious laws.” - -The sound of the horses’ hoofs pounding ahead suddenly changed. - -“Are we on a bridge?” Claudia asked, as she leaned out left. She rode -facing forward, while Longinus sat opposite her, his back to the streets -unwinding ahead of them. “Yes, I see we are,” she answered her own -question. “And it’s a high one. Look, Longinus, by the Bountiful Mother! -That structure across there! It’s ... it’s unbelievable!” - -“That’s the Temple,” he announced. “It’s the Jews’ temple to their -Yahweh. And it is one of the most gorgeous—if that’s the proper word, -Claudia—and costliest buildings in the world. It’s made of white marble, -the finest cedarwood, and untold bronze and other materials of the most -extravagant quality, and trimmed with sheet gold and precious gems. -You’ll see when we cross the bridge and enter its walls.” Their sedan -chair was nearing the middle of the viaduct now. “See, it’s a high -bridge. It connects Zion Hill, which we’ve just left, with the Temple -region. Over there”—he twisted about to point to the Temple on his right -and behind him—“is Mount Moriah. Between the two hills is this sharp -drop called the Tyropoeon Valley; some call it the Valley of the -Cheesemongers. In festival times these hillsides swarm with pilgrims -coming from all over the world to worship at the Temple, which they -consider the residing place of their Yahweh.” He laughed, then gestured -with outflung hands. “But we should have Cornelius here to be your -guide. He knows far more about the religious customs and beliefs of the -Jews than I do; in fact, we had quite a talk about it on the boat coming -out, and I charged him with being a worshiper of the Jews’ god himself.” - -Near the end of the towering viaduct the procession stopped, and the -soldiers dismounted. Quickly a litter was provided for the Procurator, -and then the marching column, with Pilate’s sedan chair in the vanguard -and Longinus and Claudia some paces behind him, moved off the viaduct -and passed beneath a great arch. - -“This is called the Gate Shalleketh,” Longinus told her. “It’s the main -gate into the Temple area from the Zion section of the city.” - -“I’m amazed that you know so much about Jerusalem,” Claudia began, then -suddenly stopped as, startled, she caught sight of a veritable forest of -marble columns, gigantic, reaching upward out of her range of vision -from within the constricting sedan chair. “Bona Dea! Longinus, this is -unbelievable! What a majestic structure! And look how far it extends! -It’s mammoth, breath-taking!” - -“And that’s only one of the porches, as they call it,” Longinus hastened -to explain. “This one is styled the Royal Portico of Herod. Its marble -columns, as you can see, are more than a hundred feet high. And look, -Claudia”—he pointed behind, over his shoulder—“the colonnade itself runs -almost a thousand feet. Have you ever seen anything so fantastic?” - -“No, and I’m sure the High Priest couldn’t be a bit more effective than -you in singing the Temple’s praises,” Claudia declared, laughing. “But -it really is a marvelous structure these Jews have built to their -superstition.” - -“Yes, I agree. And that’s exactly what I told Cornelius.” - -The procession turned squarely to the left and started to emerge from -beneath the great roofed colonnade into the strong sunlight of an -immense open square. - -“This is called the Court of the Gentiles,” Longinus explained. “And -over there is the Temple proper. Inside it is a place they call the Holy -of Holies. Only the High Priest himself, they say, is permitted to enter -it, and then only on a feast day, maybe once a year.” - -“I’ve heard that inside that room there’s a golden head of an ass and -that the Jews actually worship this ass’s head.” - -Longinus smiled. It was an old story he had heard many times, he -explained, though never from a Jew. Perhaps it started, so far as Rome -was concerned at any rate, with the time that Pompey, searching for -treasure, invaded the holy shrine of the Jews. “But he found no golden -head of an ass. He found only an empty chamber, severe and forbidding, -with nothing in it but a few golden vessels and some furniture that was -probably used as an altar. That’s the story the Jews tell, anyway.” - -“But this one god, Longinus, what did you say they call him?” - -“Yahweh, or Jehovah.” - -“Yes, I remember. But where is he? Don’t they have any statues of him -somewhere in the Temple, Centurion?” - -“No, according to what I’ve heard from the Jews themselves and from what -Cornelius has told me—and he knows far more about their religious -customs and beliefs than I do—statues are one thing they definitely do -not have. They declare that their god is a spirit without body and to -them any sort of representation in physical form—whether it be statues, -carvings, or whatnot—would be sacrilege. That’s why they were so -violently opposed to our bringing in unsheathed emblems. They have the -strange belief that our army emblems are what they call ‘graven images,’ -and their laws expressly forbid any such thing. They won’t even engrave -the head of a man or an animal on any of their coins.” He shook his -head, as though scarcely able to believe his own words. “Strange, these -Jews. But you will discover that for yourself before you’ve been out -here many weeks.” - -They were coming opposite the eastern face of the Temple proper. “Look -at that gate, or door!” Claudia pointed again. “Whatever it is, it’s -tremendous! And it shines as though it were gold!” - -“They call it the Beautiful Gate. It’s made of Corinthian brass and -plates of gold, and it’s so heavy it takes a score of strong men to open -and close it. They say it was given by a rich foreign Jew. It must have -cost many a sesterce, don’t you think?” - -“I’m sure it did.” Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “The whole place -is magnificent; why I’ve never seen anything like....” Suddenly she -clamped a hand to her nose. “By all the gods, Longinus, what an odor!” -She leaned her head out. “Bona Dea, all that cattle. No wonder that -awful stench. What on earth are cattle and sheep doing in this beautiful -place, Longinus? Can it be for sacrificing, by all the great and little -gods!” - -“Yes, it’s for sacrificing.” Longinus grimaced. “The Jews think that -slitting an animal’s throat and throwing the blood on that great altar -somehow cleanses them of their sins. I don’t understand how it -could....” - -The young woman’s laugh was derisive. “Bringing all those poor animals -in here to befoul this beautiful place, these gorgeous mosaics, to -pollute the very air, and they call that cleansing themselves. Bona Dea, -their Yahweh, if he demands this sort of worship, must be a bloodthirsty -god. It just goes to prove, Centurion, that this one-god religion has -less sense to it than even our silly superstitions.” - -“That’s what I told Cornelius. I see no efficacy in slitting the throats -of poor beasts and slaughtering countless doves and pigeons in order to -serve some god. Of course, so far as the priests are concerned, it’s a -highly profitable business. But, of course, why should we criticize the -Jews when we do it in Rome, too, though not on such a grand scale?” - -A few paces farther on, the procession turned squarely to the left again -and proceeded along a third side of the Temple enclosure, past the -stalls of the lowing, frightened cattle and the cages of birds and the -money-changers seated behind their tables. From the long portico the -marchers pivoted to the right, then ascended steps that led to a wide, -paved esplanade. - -“This is the platform before the Tower of Antonia. We’re coming to it -now.” He motioned behind him. “It’s the Roman military headquarters in -Jerusalem. But Pilate must have told you all about it.” - -She leaned out and looked westward along the platform. “Pilate tells me -very little,” she answered. “By the gods, it’s a tall structure and a -grim-looking one. Doubtless overrun with soldiers, too, even in the -Procurator’s private apartments.” She winked and smiled. “I’m glad -Pilate decided to stop at the Herod Palace during our visit to -Jerusalem. He’ll probably be here at Antonia much of the time. It should -be easier then to arrange things over there.” - -“Things?” - -“Well”—her tone was playful, her eyelids fluttered teasingly—“yes, -things for people to do ... two people.” - - - - - 14 - - -It was past midnight when Longinus returned at last to the now quiet -Tower of Antonia. Before leaving Caesarea he had arranged with Sergius -Paulus to have little more than token duty during the stay in Jerusalem. -In the weeks since his arrival in Palestine, he and the cohort commander -had come to an understanding; although Sergius knew little of the -centurion’s reasons for being in this far eastern province, he did know -that Longinus had been sent out by the Prefect Sejanus, and Sergius was -not disposed to challenge, or even question actions of the Prefect. - -Pontius Pilate had not returned to the palace; presumably he had eaten -his evening meal at the tower with the officers there. At any rate, -Longinus and Claudia had not been disturbed. - -But when Longinus was admitted by the guards at the tower’s outer gate, -he deliberately walked past the stairs leading to the southwest tower, -where the administrative offices, including the Procurator’s quarters, -were situated. Going by the southeast tower would take him a bit out of -his way, Longinus reasoned, but he would be less likely to run into the -Procurator at this late and embarrassing hour. - -The centurion had been assigned quarters in the officers’ section on a -floor level with a great gallery along the Temple side of Antonia; a -protective rampart ran the length of this gallery, and a door opened -onto the gallery from each officer’s quarters. - -The air in the small chamber was musty and warm, and Longinus, too, was -warm from the exertion of his walk back to the tower. He sat on the side -of his bed for a moment, then stood up and opened the outer door. When -the draft of fresh air swept in, he stepped out onto the gallery to wait -there until his chamber had cooled. - -As he stood leaning on the rampart, Longinus heard a door open behind -him. Turning, he saw a soldier coming out. Another man too warm to fall -asleep, he thought, as he turned back to stare at the still and almost -deserted Temple enclosure. Fires smoldered on the great altar, and -flickering lamplight from the region of the cattle and sheep stalls gave -a look of eeriness to a scene that just a few hours before had been a -bedlam of sound and movement. - -The other soldier halted near him to look down also on the somnolent -Temple. The man pointed over the parapet. “Still an amazing picture, -even in the nighttime, isn’t it?” - -“Cornelius!” Longinus said, recognizing the voice and whirling around to -face the other. “By all the gods, man, I thought you were in Galilee!” -He clapped a heavy hand on his friend’s shoulder. “But I’m glad to see -you, Centurion.” - -“And I had no idea you were in Jerusalem, Longinus!” Cornelius responded -with a shoulder-shaking slap. “How long have you been here? Did you come -today with the Procurator?” - -“Yes, we arrived here a little past midday; we marched out of Caesarea -at daybreak day before yesterday. But, by Jove”—he pointed to a stone -bench set against the rampart—“let’s sit down, Cornelius. I’ve had a -hard day, and I’m sure you have, too. When did you get into Jerusalem, -and did you bring your century?” - -“We came only an hour before sunset. Yes, I had orders from the new -Procurator to meet him here with my century.” - -“But why, pray Jove? It’s no festival occasion. Can Pilate be expecting -trouble? He didn’t indicate any such thing to me.” - -“There’s no reason why he should be anticipating any trouble, so far as -I can see ... unless he’s planning to provoke it himself.” - -“But why would he do that? He must know that Tiberius and Sejanus are -determined to keep our conquered dominions at peace, if for no other -reason than to insure the uninterrupted flow of revenue. But”—Longinus -shrugged—“maybe Pilate wants to make a show of force in the hope of -increasing that very flow—with the increase going into his own pockets, -of course—which might be why he’s been conferring at such length with -Caiaphas and old Annas.” He pointed toward a lighted window high in the -southwestern tower. “Look, they’re still up there. Pilate didn’t even go -to the Herod Palace for the evening meal with his new wife.” - -“New wife? I didn’t know Pilate was married.” - -“Yes. Since we left Rome. And you’ll be surprised to learn who she is.” - -“Who?” - -“Claudia.” - -“By all the great gods! Longinus, I thought you would be marrying -Claudia.” - -“We had planned to be married.” Longinus paused. “But Tiberius and -Sejanus made this other arrangement.” - -Cornelius shook his head. “But what does Claudia say about it?” - -“What can she say? To them, I mean. But to me she declares that nothing -has changed between us. And judging by this afternoon and tonight—I’ve -been with her ever since we reached Jerusalem until a few minutes -ago—nothing has.” - -“But couldn’t that be dangerous for you two?” - -Longinus shook his head. “I hardly think so. Their marriage was an -entirely arranged one, and furthermore, I’m convinced Pilate would do -nothing to offend Claudia.” - -“Tell me”—Cornelius leaned forward and tapped his friend’s knee—“you -knew before we left Rome that this arrangement had been made?” - -“Yes, but I couldn’t say anything about it then, Cornelius.” - -“I understand. You were in some kind of cross fire, weren’t you?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you have an understanding or arrangement with Sejanus, don’t you—I -don’t mean about Claudia? Wait....” He held up his hand. “Don’t answer -that. But I do want you to remember, Longinus, that regardless of what -may happen, I’m on your side ... yours and Claudia’s.” - -“I know that, my friend. And I’m on your side ... regardless. And it may -be that sometime we’ll need one another’s support. With old Tiberius and -crafty Sejanus on the one hand and this vain and ambitious Pilate on the -other, and perhaps Herod Antipas....” With mention of the Tetrarch’s -name, he paused. “I assume you got him delivered to Tiberias in safety. -What did his Arabian Tetrarchess say about Herodias?” - -“She had heard about it before we reached Tiberias, perhaps from some of -that fellow Chuza’s servants, the ones who fetched the furnishings from -Ptolemaïs, you remember. But that was only the beginning. Now they’re -wondering at the palace what she’ll do when Antipas gets back with his -new wife; he’s already left for Rome, they say, to fetch her, and when -Herodias arrives, she’ll probably be taking over as Tetrarchess.” - -They sat for a long time in the coolness of the gallery high above the -sleeping Temple, and Cornelius related his experiences in escorting the -Tetrarch up the narrow defile of the Jordan River and their encounter -that day with the strange Wilderness preacher. He described the man’s -bitter denunciation of Herod and his sudden and dramatic pointing out of -a tall young Galilean carpenter as the Jews’ long looked for Messiah, -the man foretold by the ancient Israelite prophets as he who would -redeem their historic homeland from its bondage. - -“As we were leaving the place, I turned and looked back,” Cornelius -added. “The strange prophet and the tall Galilean were standing in the -river with the water up to their loincloths; the tall one had asked to -receive something they call baptism, a symbolic cleansing of one’s sins, -as I understand it.” Cornelius paused and stared thoughtfully at his -hands. “I shall never forget the look on that man’s face, Longinus. Ever -since that day I have been wondering about him. The Jewish Messiah.” He -said it slowly, as though he were talking more to himself than to his -friend. “Do you remember that day on the ‘Palmyra’ when we were talking -about this Yahweh of the Jews, this one-god spirit? You said then that -you would never be able to imagine a being without a body.” - -“Yes, I remember it quite clearly. But what are you going to say,” -Longinus demanded, “that this tall fellow might have been a god turned -into a man? By all the gods, Cornelius, you don’t mean to tell me you -think this Galilean could be the Messiah of the Jews? Their Messiah, if -I understand it correctly, will be a great military leader who will -drive us pagan Romans out of Palestine and re-establish the ancient -Israelite kingdom. Even the Jews don’t believe he’ll be a god, do they?” - -“I don’t know, Longinus. I think most Jews believe he’ll be a great -earthly king, as you say. But listening to that wild fellow and seeing -the look on that young man’s face”—he paused, then ventured a hesitant -grin—“well, those strange words, the prophet’s evident sincerity, his -intense manner....” - -“Jewish gibberish.” Longinus shook his head and scowled. “This -superstition has captured you, my friend. This eastern mysticism that -comes to a head in that cruel and extravagant circus down there.” He -pointed toward the great Temple, whose gold-plated roof shone -brilliantly in the light of the moon now emerging from behind a cloud. -“A carpenter from Galilee to overthrow imperial Rome! What with, pray -great Jove! A hammer and a chisel and a flat-headed adz?” - - - - - 15 - - -For two days after his long meeting with the High Priest Caiaphas and -the former High Priest Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas, the Procurator -Pontius Pilate was in a sullen mood. He said little and kept close to -his quarters in the Antonia Tower. Now and then he would walk out onto -the gallery overlooking the Temple enclosure and, leaning upon the -parapet, would stare balefully at the magnificent structure and the stir -of life within and around it. - -The orderly movements of the priests, set through the long years into an -inexorable pattern as they followed the prescribed routine of their -duties, seemed almost to infuriate him. “Look at them, Centurion!” he -snapped to Longinus on one of these occasions when the centurion -happened to be sunning himself on the gallery. “See how smugly they go -about their mummery, as if it were the most important thing in the -world. They seem studiously to ignore our all-powerful Rome and lavish -every attention upon their Yahweh.” He doubled his fist and banged it -upon the parapet. “Yet one lone Roman century ordered into that hive of -impudent, arrogant busy bees could send them all flying, one Roman -century, Longinus. And by the great Jove, I’m tempted to dispatch -soldiers down there to clean out that insubordinate, traitorous nest!” - -Fortunately, though, the Procurator issued no such order, and the day -passed without the Romans’ becoming involved in the religious ceremonies -of the Jews. The next morning, however, Pilate called together all his -officers on duty in Jerusalem, including Longinus and Cornelius. -Immediately it was evident that the Procurator’s hostility toward the -Temple leadership had not diminished. - -“We are in a war of wits with these obstinate, proud Jews,” he declared, -“and I cannot defeat them by remaining on the defensive. It’s been a war -of words and gestures thus far, but I have been forced to the opinion -that we can have no victory over them until we have had some blood.” His -blue eyes swept coldly over the unsmiling faces before him. “So I have -determined upon a bold plan in which we shall take the offensive.” - -Pilate revealed that Caiaphas and Annas had rebuffed, though with -unctuous smiles and sugared words, his every effort even to discuss the -possibility of using Temple funds for the improvement of Jerusalem, -particularly the health of its residents, through the construction of -facilities to enlarge and improve the city’s water supply. - -“They insist that this money has been dedicated to their god and belongs -to him and that for me to use one denarius of it, even in promoting -their welfare, would be a profanation and a sacrilege. Old Annas, may -Pluto burn him, even suggested that the people—he emphasized the fact -that he was not himself suggesting it—might even believe that _I_ had -seized the money for my own use.” Pilate’s anger had turned his face an -ugly crimson. His voice rose to a shout. “A profanation indeed! To these -insufferable Jews everything they do not wish to do or to have done is a -profanation. Yet their priestly caste is sucking the very lifeblood of -the people in the name of religion.” He paused for a moment, then -continued more calmly. “So I have determined to initiate a bold new -plan. I shall have these Temple leaders crawling to me, and on their -bellies, cringing!” - -When it was clear that Pilate had, at least temporarily, finished, -Sergius Paulus ventured to speak. “But, Excellency, do you plan to raid -their Temple’s treasury, to commandeer the gold the Jews have stored -there? Such a course, you must realize, might provoke the wrath of the -Emperor and the Prefect, since they have made a compact with....” - -“No, Commander, I am planning no raid on their treasury,” Pilate -interrupted. “On the contrary, they will bring their treasure to me and -urge me to use it in providing a new water supply for Jerusalem. In so -doing they will admit to me and, more importantly, to their fellow -religionists that Rome is master and that their puny Yahweh is a lesser -god than our Emperor.” - -Quickly and more calmly the Procurator unfolded his plan. When three -days ago he had come into Jerusalem at the head of the troops, he -reminded them, he had suffered the humiliation, for the first time in -his military career, of marching with the proud ensigns of Rome all -sheathed. This was done, he pointed out, to appease the Jews, to mollify -their Yahweh. - -“You recall the stony silence with which we were greeted, even the -hostile looks of the people peering from behind their screens or down -from their housetops; you remember the hatred in their eyes as we -crossed through the Temple court on our way here, the taunting remarks -flung at us. Rome has lost prestige in Palestine. We must recover it, -and this I am determined to do.” The trace of a malevolent smile spread -across his round Roman face. “The Emperor must not be made to yield to -Yahweh; our eagles and our fasces must no longer be hidden from view as -though we were ashamed of them.” - -Longinus was watching Sergius Paulus. He saw the commander’s face -blanch, but Sergius said nothing. And Pilate continued outlining his -plan. - -“On top of this tower”—Pilate pointed upward—“is a perpetual flame that -burns while the vestments of the High Priest are held safe here in -Antonia. Rome therefore is providing and tending a flame that, to my -mind, is a memorial of Rome’s yielding. No ensign with the Roman eagle -flies above the fortress or hangs from its ramparts. A further testimony -to our surrender to the stubborn Jews and their jealous god.” A -humorless smile wrote thin lines at the corners of his mouth. “Of course -I am telling you what you who are stationed in Jerusalem already know. -Perhaps to me it is more galling because it is new.” He paused, as if to -consider carefully his next words. “Tomorrow, with Centurion Longinus -and his century escorting my party,” he began again, “I shall leave -Jerusalem on my return to Caesarea. Centurion Cornelius with his century -from Galilee will remain here until after my departure; how long he will -stay will be determined by the situation.” His thin smile blossomed into -a baleful grin. “During the night, after I have left, the troops -stationed here at Antonia will extinguish the flame atop the tower and -hang out from the ramparts the ensigns of Rome, including the eagles, -the fasces, and the likenesses of the Emperor.” - -“But, Excellency”—Sergius’ face was pale, and his expression mirrored -alarm—“do you realize how this action will provoke the Jews, how it will -inflame them against us, lead perhaps even to bloodshed...?” - -“I fully realize that, Commander. That is why I am ordering it. I wish -to provoke them. It is only by provoking them that we can demonstrate -forcefully to them that Rome is master.” - -“But, sir, the Emperor and the Prefect....” - -“Are you not aware that since my arrival at Caesarea I represent the -Emperor and the Prefect Sejanus in Judaea?” The words were almost a -snarl. “If you wish to dispute my authority or my judgment....” - -“But I do not, Excellency. The Procurator’s commands to me naturally -will be carried out fully.” - -“I expected as much, Commander. You will have charge of our forces in -Jerusalem in carrying out my orders. If it comes to bloodshed, do not -hesitate to shed Jewish blood if the Jews assail you; your only concern -will be to prevent the shedding by them of Roman blood. I am confident -that they will yield before offering violence to Rome; I think they -haven’t the courage to challenge us. What they will do”—his cold, -calculating smile overspread his florid face—“is send their priests, -including old Annas no doubt, whining to me at Caesarea and imploring me -to rescind my orders. Then I will have a lever with which to move them. -And thereafter, you may be sure, the legionaries and their ensigns will -be respected by the Jews as they are respected by all other conquered -peoples. Our Emperor, as he rightfully should, will then take his place, -even in Jerusalem, above their vengeful and jealous Yahweh.” - -He dismissed the group with instructions to begin at once their -preparations for putting his orders into effect. - - - - - 16 - - -For five days the roads into Caesarea from Jerusalem and central Judaea -were clogged with a motley throng of Jews pushing relentlessly toward -the Procurator’s Palace. Here and there in the multitude rode a man or -woman on a donkey, but countless hundreds trudged on foot, dust-covered -and weary in every bone but more outraged in spirit. - -Then the dam that was Caesarea’s gates was inundated, and the flood of -disgruntled Jewry, sweating, travel-soiled, frightened but still -undaunted in its anger despite the long and tiresome journey, poured -through the city to fill its market squares and surge upward toward -Pilate’s house. The angry flood had burst upon the port city hardly two -days behind the messengers sent by Sergius Paulus to warn the Procurator -of the multitude’s approach. - -The Jews, the messengers informed Pilate, were swarming toward Caesarea -to protest with all the vigor they could command his profanation, they -called it, of their holy city through the display at the Tower of -Antonia of the Roman army’s ensigns, including even the likenesses of -the Emperor Tiberius. The morning after the Procurator’s departure, they -revealed, the Jews had awakened to behold with horror the flaunted -banners. But their vehement protests to the commander of the fortress -had been unavailing. Sergius Paulus had told them with firmness that -only a command of Pilate could restore the flame above the tower and -once again sheathe the offending ensigns. - -So, alternately beating their breasts with loud lamentations and angrily -calling down their Yahweh’s curses upon the invading Edomites, as they -termed the Romans, they had surged into the roads and pushed -northwestward to demand of the Procurator himself an end to the -profanation of their Jerusalem. - -Five days ago these Jews had arrived at Caesarea, but five days of -protesting, of threatening, of pleading, and of threatening again had -not moved Pontius Pilate. “Rome is master,” declared the stubborn and -proud Procurator to the Jews’ spokesmen; “the emblems of Rome’s mastery -will not be removed or sheathed. My orders stand.” - -But the sons of Israel, too, were unyielding in their demands. “Your -Emperor Augustus, your Emperor Tiberius”—Pilate took notice that they -did not say “our” Emperor—“have respected our laws, which forbid the -display of such emblems, and have been strict in honoring our religion,” -the spokesman insisted. “Your Emperor Tiberius cannot but be angered by -the refusal of the Procurator to respect in the same manner our ancient -traditions.” - -“Go home!” Pilate ordered. “Get you back to Jerusalem. I, not you, speak -for Tiberius. I was sent out by him to govern this province, and by the -great Jove, I will govern it!” - -But the Jews did not go home. Hungry, discouraged, exhausted, they were -not defeated. They swarmed about Pilate’s palace, they fell in their -tracks on the marble of the esplanades to sleep fitfully when sheer -exhaustion overtook them; they crowded the market places, they slept in -rich men’s doorways. But they would not turn their backs on Caesarea. - -On the morning of the sixth day, Pilate called Longinus to the Palace. -“Centurion,” he said, his face livid with anger, “since Sergius Paulus -continues at Jerusalem, I wish you to take command of the troops here -and put into execution the orders I am about to give you. Send out -couriers to summon these Jews to come together in the Hippodrome; say -that I will meet them there. In the meantime, disguise a sufficient -number of your soldiers and place them about the amphitheater in -advantageous positions so that should disorder arise among the Jews, you -will be ready immediately to put it down.” - -Claudia had been listening to her husband. “But, Pilate, aren’t you -creating a situation that will produce fighting between our troops and -these Jews?” - -“And if there is bloodshed?” Pilate’s eyes flashed sudden anger. -“Haven’t I been patient with these obstinate rebels? If they choose to -get themselves run through with swords, isn’t it their own doing?” Then -quickly he recovered his poise. “Claudia,” he said quietly, “I have -given them every opportunity to return peaceably to Jerusalem. Have I -not?” - -“Yes. But you have not agreed to have the ensigns sheathed. And until -you do....” - -He turned upon her, his countenance flaming, his mood changed -completely. “Do you stand with these stubborn provincials against Rome? -Are you with them, or are you with me?” - -“Before you interrupted me, Procurator,” Claudia’s voice was as cold as -her smile, “I was going to observe that in displaying the army’s -emblems, you are really breaking a tradition, so far as I have been able -to understand it, and this tradition may very well be a long-standing -order of the Emperor and, indeed, of Augustus before him. I care not a -fig about these Jews. Nor do I care about their High Priest or their -Yahweh. I am concerned only with what will be the attitude of the -Emperor and the Prefect Sejanus toward the Procurator as a result of -this unprecedented breach of the established order.” She turned away, -her head high. Pilate seemed taken aback; he looked at her somewhat -sheepishly and licked his lips as though he were about to speak. But he -said nothing. Instead, he turned abruptly to Longinus. “I take -responsibility for the orders I give,” he said tersely. “My orders to -you are unchanged.” - -Longinus saluted, then without a word turned on his heel and withdrew. - -By early afternoon the great concourse had filled with excited, -chattering Jews. Their determined stand, they felt confident, had -defeated the Procurator; their reminder that the Emperors had honored -the Jews and their Yahweh and that Tiberius might not approve a course -taken in defiance of the long-established tradition had frightened -Pilate. He was calling them together, wasn’t he, to announce that he was -withdrawing the hated emblems and to ask them to return home victors? - -But they had judged the Procurator wrongly. And they discovered their -mistake as soon as he began to address the throng from his box high in -the stands of the great oval. - -“For five days, and this is now the sixth, you have kept our Caesarea in -turmoil. You have been obstinate and insubordinate and have shown little -respect to the Procurator, who represents the Emperor and in this -province personifies the power and majesty of the Empire. You have -threatened him with reprisal, saying that he has flouted the orders of -our Emperor. You were not only inhospitable in refusing to welcome the -Procurator to Jerusalem, you were actually hostile. In being hostile to -us, you have shown yourselves contemptuous of Rome and enemies of our -Empire; in being stubbornly hateful to me, you have shown yourselves no -friends of the Emperor.” - -Pilate paused, his face suffused with color as his anger grew with his -listing of their offenses. Then he stood back on his heels, squared his -shoulders, and held up his tightly clenched fist. “Now hear me, men of -Judaea!” he shouted. “I have asked you to disperse and return to your -homes. Stubbornly you have refused to heed my command. I am asking you -again to abandon this unreasonable, senseless, and ill-advised effort -and get yourselves outside the gates of Caesarea and on the roads that -lead homeward. Hear me, by great Jove! This is my last command to you.” -He leveled a shaking forefinger toward the multitude. “I have stationed -my soldiers in disguise among you, and they are heavily armed. They have -been instructed, upon my next command, to spring upon you and run you -through with their swords.” - -But in the vast oval of the colosseum not an Israelite moved to obey -him. Stolidly, calmly, they faced the Procurator; silence was heavy upon -the great throng. - -Pilate’s face was twisted with wrath. “Then I must give the order, men -of Judaea?” He shouted the question. - -Not a man moved. - -Then from the ranks nearest Pilate a man stepped forward a pace and held -up his hand to speak. By his dress it was evident that he was one of the -Temple leaders. “O noble Procurator,” he said in a loud voice, “though -your soldiers run us through with swords until each of us has perished, -we cannot submit to the profanation of God’s holy Temple; we cannot -countenance without protest the treading into the dust of our God’s -commandments. Before we agree to Rome’s profanation of our holy places -and her flouting of our God’s laws, O Procurator, we will bow our necks -to the Procurator’s soldiers. We will die, and gladly, for our God!” - -“Profanation! Profanation! All I hear is Rome’s profanation of your -traditions. By all the gods, in every other land our Emperor is honored, -his banners and his emblems, his likenesses paraded on our staffs, all -these are hailed with shouts and acclamations! And yet you Jews....” - -Suddenly Pilate paused. The priestly leader who had just addressed him -had fallen on his face in the dust of the great stadium, and beside him -and behind him others now were prostrating themselves. Within moments -every Jew in the place was lying face down upon the ground before the -Procurator of Judaea. Mouth open, eyes darting from one area of the -great concourse to another, aghast, Pilate stood silent. Then quietly he -spoke to Longinus, who was standing near him. “Centurion, I cannot order -men on their faces ran through with swords. It would be massacre.” - -“So it would be, Excellency, on their faces or standing, since they are -defenseless.” - -Pilate turned back to face the prostrated multitude. “Stand on your -feet!” he commanded. “I shall withhold for the moment at least my -command to the soldiers.” - -Without a word being said, without a change of countenance even, the -Jews rose to their feet and faced the Procurator. “Now send me your High -Priest and his father-in-law the former High Priest Annas,” Pilate -commanded. “No harm will be done them; this I swear by the great Jove.” - -Hours later Caiaphas and Annas returned from the conference with the -Procurator at the palace. Mounting the rostrum from which Pilate had -previously addressed them, Caiaphas held up his hand for silence. “Men -of Israel, we have just concluded our meeting with the Procurator -Pilate,” he announced. “An agreement has been reached. Now you may -return in peace to your homes. The offensive emblems of Rome, the -Procurator has assured us, will be removed so that they will no longer -profane our holy places. The God of Israel, He is One!” - -“The God of Israel, He is One!” The multitude of suddenly exultant Jews -echoed his words in a great chorus, and a hosanna of shouts swept wave -upon wave across the immense arena. Then, laughing and chattering, the -people began pushing toward the Hippodrome’s exits. - -And in all the throng not a man ventured to inquire of the High Priest -what the terms of the agreement with Pilate had been. - - - - - 17 - - -An hour before the “Actium” was to sail out of the harbor at Caesarea on -the return voyage to Rome, Centurion Longinus went aboard and handed the -captain a heavily sealed communication addressed to the Prefect Sejanus. - -“This is an army message of great importance,” he announced. “It must be -delivered in person to the Prefect. He is expecting it, and if it is not -delivered immediately after the docking of your ship, he will begin to -inquire why he has not received it.” Actually, the centurion knew that -Sejanus was not expecting a message from him on the returning “Actium,” -but telling the captain so would insure the message’s getting quickly -into the hands of the Prefect. The captain might well think that the -centurion’s letter was in reply to a message brought him from Sejanus by -the Tetrarch Herod Antipas. - -The “Actium” two days before had brought the Tetrarch and his new wife -Herodias and her daughter Salome to Caesarea, and from the wharf they -had been escorted by Longinus and a detachment of his century to the -Procurator’s Palace to be guests of Pilate and Claudia while resting a -few days after the long voyage out from Rome. From Caesarea they planned -a short visit to Jerusalem, and then they would travel northward through -the Jordan Valley to the Tetrarch’s gleaming white marble palace at -Tiberias. - -It was when Longinus learned that the “Actium” would be returning -directly to Rome that he decided to dispatch a report to the Prefect. -The report related in considerable detail the events of the Procurator’s -recent visit to Jerusalem, his flaunting, in disregard of Sergius -Paulus’ warning, of the cohort’s banners from the Antonia ramparts, the -subsequent storming of Caesarea by the irate Jews, and Pilate’s yielding -to them, after a conference with Caiaphas and Annas. Longinus advanced -no suggestion concerning the probable terms of the agreement between the -Procurator and the Temple leaders. The centurion was confident, however, -that the astute and suspicious Sejanus would infer from what he had left -unwritten that Pilate had profited handsomely. Longinus concluded the -message with an avowal that the report was factual and uncolored. - -From the “Actium” Longinus returned to the headquarters of the cohort -and that evening was a guest, along with Sergius Paulus, of the -Procurator and his wife at a small, informal dinner honoring the -Tetrarch, his wife, and her daughter. When they had finished the meal, -Herodias and her hostess retired to Claudia’s apartment, and Salome went -to her chamber. The four men remained reclining at the table, where -after a while, as they drank wine and nibbled grapes and figs, the -inhibitions of Pilate and Antipas, each vain and domineering and jealous -of the other’s authority, began slowly to disappear. Gently at first -Antipas chided the Procurator for his profanation of Jerusalem by -flaunting the ensigns of Imperial Rome from the Tower of Antonia. - -“Profanation! Profanation! All I hear in this contentious province is -profanation. I am sick of the word.” Pilate wiggled a forefinger at the -Tetrarch. “Do you consider Rome’s display of her honored emblems -profanation of Jerusalem and this province, I ask you, Tetrarch?” - -Antipas studied the fig he held between finger and thumb. “I don’t -consider it profanation, nor do the Emperor and the Prefect, but I do -agree with the Emperor and the Prefect that it is a wise course not to -offend unnecessarily the people of Israel who do so hold.” It was a -clever answer, and Antipas, knowing it, pressed the point. “It would be -politic if the new Procurator learned to uphold the traditions of this -land,” he continued, “so long, of course, as they do not seriously -conflict with the interests of the Empire and certainly”—he smiled—“so -long as the Emperor and the Prefect uphold them.” - -Pilate was quick to strike back. “I was sent out to this province to -rule it,” he declared, his eyes flashing indignation. “I was not sent -here to cower and truckle, to lower Rome’s ensigns at the demands of -your obstinate, cantankerous Jews,” he hissed. “I came to rule....” - -“But you did lower Rome’s ensigns when those obstinate—Jews bared their -necks to your swordsmen and refused to obey your command to return -home,” Antipas interrupted. Then suddenly, as though seeking a truce, he -changed his tone. “But I don’t blame you, Procurator. In fact, I admire -you; you’re a very intelligent man. Living in this province must be -trying to one who has never lived here before, and of course it’s -unrewarding unless there are ... ah ... extra benefits, shall we say ... -not provided by Rome. And there is much gold in the Temple’s coffers, I -am told. It seems that no matter how much is withdrawn, a great deal -still remains for the use of the Temple leaders, hmm?” He smiled -appreciatively. “And no doubt the Prefect will approve, too, -provided....” Grinning, he left the observation unfinished. “And with no -Jewish blood shed by your soldiers, there will be nothing to explain to -Tiberius, Excellency.” - -Pilate glared, mouth open. But he did not deny the Tetrarch’s thinly -veiled charge. “Profanations! Violated traditions!” He hurled across the -room the grape he had selected from the silver dish of piled fruit and -pointed a quaking finger at the Tetrarch. “And how dare you, Antipas, -speak of my violating the traditions and offending the religion of the -Jews, when you have just taken to bed your brother’s wife! Is that not a -heinous offense for a Jew himself...?” - -“Excellency!” Sergius Paulus, palpably fearful of what the exchange -might quickly be leading to, jumped to his feet. “The hour is growing -late, and the Centurion Longinus and I must be getting back to -headquarters. Please excuse us, sir. We’ve enjoyed your hospitality, and -we beg you to express our thanks to your wife.” He glanced toward -Longinus, who nodded agreement. “And I thought, Excellency, that the -Tetrarch perhaps might honor us by going with us—we have a sedan chair -at the door—to inspect our cohort headquarters, should you, sir, be -willing to excuse him.” He looked questioningly toward the Procurator -and then the Tetrarch. - -“Should the Tetrarch wish....” - -“I shall be happy to accompany you,” Antipas interrupted. Carefully he -pulled the stem from the fig. “It will be a change of air.” But he was -smiling, and his manner was jovial; the tension of the moment had been -dispelled. - -“When you have finished with him, Sergius”—Pilate had calmed, too, and -no rancor was revealed in his tone—“have him brought back, properly -attended. He and the Tetrarchess are always welcome at the Procurator’s -Palace.” - -But Longinus knew, as the three prepared to leave the great dining hall, -that relations between the Tetrarch and the Procurator were still -strained; he suspected that they would remain so. The temperaments of -the two men, coupled with the situations in which they had been placed, -would demand it. In his own dealings with them, in his observation and -appraisal of them and their activities, he told himself, he must bear -this always in mind. - -Meanwhile, lounging comfortably on Claudia’s large couch, pillows at -their backs, the two women had been exchanging news of their own -activities since they had last seen one another in Rome, and, more -interesting to Claudia, Herodias had been revealing tidbits of gossip -involving the more lively set in the Empire’s capital city. But soon the -discussion narrowed to their own changed circumstances. Claudia was -frank. “Yes, it’s just as I told you it would be that day you came to -return my call. I said marrying Pilate would make no difference. -Remember? Well, it hasn’t.” A cloud passed across her countenance. “Of -course, we will have to be patient, though, and wait for things to work -out.” - -“But until they do, must you never...?” Herodias paused. - -“No, it isn’t that bad,” Claudia hastened to reply, smiling. “We can see -each other and we can be together ... more and more hereafter, I hope. -We have been together already, for hours, in fact, both here at Caesarea -and in Jerusalem at the Herod’s Palace, while Pilate conveniently, I do -believe, busied himself at the Antonia Tower.” She shook her head. -“Really, Herodias, I don’t know whether the man is stupid, quite wise, -or just indifferent. But whatever he is, his being the way he is will -help Longinus and me to arrange things.” - -Herodias’ large dark eyes were bright now with scheming. “My dear, you -have never been in Galilee, have you? It’s a beautiful land, especially -now that spring is beginning to break, so much more interesting than -this barren Judaea. We have so many flowers, and willows and oleanders -and bright-blooming shrubs along the watercourses. I remember Galilee in -the spring from my childhood days and on occasional visits since. -So”—her eyes were dancing now—“you must go with us to Tiberias. We can -contrive to have Longinus escort us. And in the Palace there”—her voice -dropped to an intimate whisper—“you will have no one to disturb you.” - -“But Antipas’ other wife? What would she say if I should go with you?” - -“_I_ am the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea,” she said evenly. “As -soon as we get there, Antipas is going to divorce her and send her back -to old Aretas.” - - - - - 18 - - -Before they reached the bend in the road roughly paralleling the Jordan, -whose banks were beginning to color now with the awakening of willows -and oleanders to advancing spring, the Tetrarch recognized the voice. - -“By the beard of the venerable High Priest!” Antipas exclaimed. “This -isn’t the place where he was making his stand when I came this way -before, but it’s the same fellow, that mad prophet of the Wilderness. -I’d know his haranguing anywhere.” - -Longinus was riding beside the Tetrarch. Herodias and Claudia, with -lively Salome a few paces back, were following in the narrow column, and -just behind them rode Neaera, Tullia, and several other servants of the -two households. Soldiers were in the vanguard and at the rear. - -Antipas turned to Longinus. “Centurion, I wonder if we shouldn’t go -another way and avoid encountering this fellow. I’d rather not see him -or hear more of his ranting.” - -“But _I_ want to see him.” Herodias had ridden abreast of the Tetrarch. -“He must be the one I’ve just been hearing so much about in Jerusalem. -Everybody was talking of his ability to sway the multitudes and his -fearlessness in denouncing the Temple priests.” - -“Yes, he’s the one. But, my dear Herodias,” the Tetrarch began to -protest, “he’s likely to say something that will offend you, too. The -fellow has no respect for the Tetrarch’s office or authority and no -bridle on his loose tongue.” - -“By the gods, then, that’s all the more reason I want to hear him.” She -laughed gaily, then quickly grew sober. “And certainly the Tetrarch -should be concerned,” she added, “if the man flouts the Tetrarch’s -authority.” She signaled to Longinus to resume the march. “Let’s ride -down and join his audience. After the boredom of our journey, this -should at least provide a diversion.” - -Antipas shook his head grudgingly but offered no further protest. -“She’ll regret it as soon as she hears him, by the gods,” he muttered to -the centurion as they started. “But I warned her.” - -At the bottom of the slope the group dismounted, and on Longinus’ -summons, soldiers came up to hold the horses. The servants remained -behind with them except for Neaera and Tullia who followed their -mistresses as the Tetrarch’s party quietly slipped around a screening -clump of willows to join the throng about the gaunt and weathered -speaker. To Antipas, John seemed little changed since that day when they -had come upon him at the ford farther up the Jordan. His clothes looked -the same; fleetingly the Tetrarch wondered if the haircloth mantle had -ever been cleaned since he had last seen it. - -Although the Tetrarch’s group had slipped unobtrusively into the rim of -the crowd, Antipas was quickly recognized, and soon a murmur moved -through the multitude and heads began to nod as intent black eyes -shifted from the fiery prophet to study the newly arrived ruler of -Galilee and Peraea. - -“It’s old Herod,” Longinus heard a beak-nosed, thin Jew whisper to the -man beside him. “And that woman, she must be the new wife he’s fetched -from Rome, the one he took away from his brother, and that must be the -brother’s daughter beside her.” Both men turned to stare, then smile. “I -wonder what John will say to that!” one said to the other as they turned -back to peer again at the thundering prophet. - -John, too, had recognized the Tetrarch, Longinus was sure; yet the -prophet made no immediate reference to his presence. Instead, he -continued preaching on the necessity of repentance and on the use of -baptism as a sign of Yahweh’s forgiveness. The man was a powerful -speaker; he had native ability, Longinus immediately perceived, to -command attention and sway his hearers. The crowd listened, entranced, -to his every word; now and then one would step forward and, crying -loudly in repentance, ask for baptism. - -Sometimes a man would interrupt the prophet to seek an answer to some -deeply perplexing problem. But no one yet had spoken openly of the -Tetrarch’s presence among them. - -Then a tall, narrow-faced Jew, unkempt, ill-clothed, evidently a man of -the earth, stepped forward and held up his hand. “This repentance of -which you speak,” he questioned, “is it necessary for the rich man in -the same manner as it is for the poor and dispossessed, for the man of -authority as well as for the servant? I ask you, does the measuring rod -measure the same for all men, or is there one rule for one man and -another rule for another?” - -“Repentance is necessary for all men, my brother,” John replied calmly. -“The same measuring rod measures for both the man of authority and the -servant who serves him, for both the rich man and the man of earth.” - -John paused. Then slowly his dark eyes moved from the face of his -questioner to that of the Tetrarch. “The same measuring rod measures for -the Tetrarch of Galilee, my brother, that measures for you, and it is -the same for even the lowliest servant in that iniquitous marble pile -above the graveyard in Tiberias!” The prophet’s eyes were blazing now, -and he raised his gaunt, sun-bronzed arm to point a lean forefinger -directly at Herod Antipas. “Repent, O Tetrarch, repent!” His voice was -thunderous now, and the finger darted forward like the tongue of a -serpent. “Repent while yet there is time! Repent of the evil you have -done, and seek in true penitence the forgiveness of our God Whom you -have scorned and despised!” - -Antipas stood silent and stared straight ahead, looking as though -suddenly he had been turned to stone. But Herodias, though amazed, had -not been rendered speechless by the torrent of the prophet’s -denunciation. Calmly she turned to her husband. “Do you intend to stand -here and allow this madman to vilify you? Are you going to stand -patiently while...?” - -“And you! You evil woman!” John’s shout interrupted her. Now the angry -hand was pointed directly at her. “You call me a madman,” he said. “Yes, -I am a madman. I am a madman for our God. And I call upon you, too, to -repent. Repent before our God turns His face from you forever. I call -upon both you sinners to fall on your faces and cry out to the God of -Israel, imploring Him for forgiveness.” Then the prophet’s stern eyes -turned again toward the Tetrarch. “Herod, cast this foul woman from you! -Have you not stolen her away from the bed of your brother? You cannot -have her, O Tetrarch! Does not God’s holy law forbid a man from taking -to bed the wife of his living brother in the flesh? Adulterer! Repent! -And you, evil woman, you adulteress”—John’s eyes were fiery now with a -wild zeal as he faced Herodias, whose flushed cheeks and lips drawn into -thin lines revealed her fury—“neither shall you have him! Get you back -to the bed you have deserted, if the husband you have abandoned has the -grace to forgive and receive you! O Tetrarch”—John lifted his gaunt arms -toward the heavens—“cast her from you before your grievous sinning -brings ruin down upon the land. Send her back to your brother, and -humbly beseech the forgiveness of our God! Repent, O Tetrarch, repent! -Repent!” - -Still Herod Antipas stood staring, unmoving, rooted. - -“By all the great and little gods, Antipas”—Herodias, infuriated, -whirled upon the Tetrarch, grabbed his arm and shook him—“will you stand -there like a statue and permit that fanatic to insult and intimidate you -and your wife before this crowd?” Scornfully she measured him, and her -lips curled with disgust. “Are you indeed the Tetrarch of Galilee, or -are you a frightened mouse?” She stood back, taunting him with her -shrill laugh. - -Her challenging words and her mirthless laughter broke the spell the -prophet had cast. “No, I am not afraid of him,” Antipas replied slowly, -as though he were arguing with himself. “Nor can I any longer permit -this abuse to go unpunished. He has not only vilified your Tetrarch and -his wife”—Antipas was now addressing the crowd rather than Herodias—“but -he has challenged my honor and authority. His words are a call to -insurrection. I can no longer permit the preaching of rebellion.” He -turned to confront Longinus. “Centurion, arrest this man. Have him taken -at once to the Fortress Machaerus and there placed in its dungeon. Order -him held until I pronounce judgment.” - -Without even a glance toward the now silent but calm and seemingly -untroubled prophet of the Wilderness, Herod turned and started along the -gentle rise toward the horses. - - - - - 19 - - -As they approached the southern shore line of the Sea of Galilee, -Longinus sent riders ahead to notify Chuza of the impending arrival of -the Tetrarch and his party at Tiberias. So the steward, with household -servants to handle the baggage, was waiting at the palace gate when the -caravan entered the grounds. - -But Chuza, though he greeted them warmly and with profuse smiles, was -obviously troubled, and Antipas quickly drew the man aside to question -him. “Sire, you will not find the Tetrarchess here to welcome you,” the -steward explained, his tone apologetic and his expression patently -pained. “She has departed from Tiberias. I suggested that she might wish -to delay her leaving, Sire, until your return, but she insisted on going -at once.” - -She had received a message, she told Chuza, that her father, King Aretas -of Arabia Petraea, was desperately ill and that he had summoned her to -his bedside. Although the steward had seen no messengers, he had not -been disposed to question the Tetrarchess. She had prepared for the -journey very quickly. The Centurion Cornelius had provided her with a -detachment of soldiers to escort her to her father’s capital in the -country southeast of the Dead Sea, beyond the Fortress Machaerus; she -had taken with her, in addition, her best raiment and many of her -choicest personal possessions. - -“Then you think that she is not planning to come back to me? Is that -what you’re suggesting, Chuza?” - -“Sire, I am suggesting nothing. I am relating only what I saw and heard. -I have no opinion as to what plans the Tetrarchess....” - -“The Princess Herodias is Tetrarchess now, Chuza,” Antipas interrupted. - -“Indeed, Sire”—Chuza bowed to the Tetrarch and then to Herodias—“the -former Tetrarchess....” - -“But when did she depart, Chuza?” Antipas interrupted again. - -“A week ago, Sire. The escorting soldiers have not yet returned.” - -“Had she heard that I was returning from Rome with a new Tetrarchess?” - -“She said nothing to me about it, Sire, but I am confident that she knew -of the Tetrarch’s marriage. Passengers coming ashore at Ptolemaïs from -the vessel on which you and the Tetrarchess sailed out from Rome brought -to Tiberias word of the new Tetrarchess. I myself heard it, and surely -the report must have come also to her ears here at the palace.” - -“Very well, Chuza; think no more of it.” By now they had entered the -lofty, marble-columned great atrium. A faint smile crossed his heavy -face. “Do you know, I believe she must have suspected all along?” He -turned to Herodias. “By all the gods, my dear, she has made our course -all the easier.” - -Longinus declined the invitation of the Tetrarch and Herodias to take a -chamber in the palace during his stay at Tiberias. He had promised -Cornelius that he would be his guest when next he came to Galilee. -Tempting though the Tetrarch’s invitation had been, Longinus reasoned -that it might be wise to assume that the watched might also be the -watching. - -Besides, Claudia had been assigned an apartment which, the centurion had -observed, looked out upon a broad terrace facing the Sea of Galilee. A -door from Claudia’s bedroom conveniently opened onto the terrace. -Longinus smiled as he reviewed the details of the arrangement. - -The sentry at the palace gate, he also knew, would be a Roman soldier. - - - - - 20 - - -Cornelius shook his head solemnly. “Herod will regret it. Arresting the -prophet was unwise, Longinus.” - -“But the fellow is an insurrectionist, Cornelius; certainly it can’t be -denied that he’s been inciting rebellion against the Tetrarch’s rule. -You should have heard what he called Antipas and Herodias.” A wry smile -twisted the corners of his mouth. “Of course, just between you and me, I -think he was right. But that doesn’t absolve him from agitating against -the Tetrarch, and in this province, of course, the Tetrarch represents -Rome.” - -“But I don’t think that the prophet’s a revolutionary,” Cornelius -insisted. “He lambasted the Tetrarch that day we came on him at -Bethabara, too, but he wasn’t challenging Herod’s authority as Tetrarch; -he was denouncing his wickedness as a man and calling upon him as a man -to repent just as others were repenting. There’s a difference, Longinus, -even though it’s hard for us Romans to understand that. We bundle our -religion—if we have any, which few of us do, I suspect—and our imperial -government into one packet. But the Jews keep their religion and their -government, or rather our enforced government over them, separate. And -their religion is predominant. In ordering John imprisoned, therefore, -Herod is allowing the government to invade the Jews’ religious -precincts, just as Pilate did when he had the army’s ensigns flown from -the ramparts of Antonia. He’s likely to find himself in the same sort of -situation that Pilate faced. It will do him no good; John at Machaerus -will likely have more power over the people than he would have had if -Herod had left him unmolested.” He glanced quizzically toward his -friend. “Don’t you think so?” - -“I’ve never thought of it. Nor do I care, by the gods, what becomes of -that Wilderness fellow, or....” He paused and glanced about. - -“There’s no one to hear us.” - -Nor was there. From the early evening meal, eaten in the stuffiness of -the garrison’s mess hall at a table with the other officers, Cornelius -had brought his guest to the flat roof. Up here they would escape the -heat and the heavy odors of food and wine and sweating soldiers and at -the same time catch any vagrant breeze that might be stirring from the -sea. Nor would there be any ears to overhear. - -“I was going to say that I cared little what happened to him or Antipas -... or, by great Jove, even Pontius Pilate.” - -“Both Herod and Pilate have blundered. And I’m sure Sejanus will be -hearing about it; that is, if he hasn’t heard of it already.” - -Longinus nodded, then casually changed the subject. “By the way,” he -commented, “that reminds me; what ever became of that carpenter you said -the desert preacher hailed as the Jews’ Messiah? Has he begun yet the -task of wrecking the Roman Empire with his hammer and chisels?” - -“It’s just possible that he has, though not with any hammer and chisel.” -His smile was enigmatic. “Certainly the Empire, if I understand him, -isn’t built on any plan that he approves.” - -“By all the gods, Cornelius!” Longinus, who had been sprawled in his -chair with his feet propped on the low rampart, sat up with a start. -“What do you mean?” - -Cornelius held up his hand. “Now wait,” he said calmly. “There’s nothing -to be alarmed about. You won’t need to report to Sejanus about the -carpenter. But since I saw you last he has gained a great following, -even among some of the more influential people. You remember that -beautiful woman Herod took with him to Jerusalem, the one called Mary of -Magdala?” - -“Who could forget her?” - -“I agree. Well, she’s a disciple of the carpenter now, and a different -woman, they say; she’s forsworn the Tetrarch’s bedchamber.” - -“Maybe”—Longinus grinned—“that’s because Herodias has moved in.” - -“Could be; I don’t know. But the report is that she’s given up all her -amatory pursuits in order to follow him. All up and down the seaside, in -fact, the people are swarming to hear him and beseech his help.” - -“But insurrection, Cornelius....” - -“Oh, it isn’t that, Longinus. The Galilean isn’t concerned with the -government, as I understand his teachings, though I’ve seen little of -him myself; I get my information from some of the Jews in the synagogue -at Capernaum”—he smiled—“who secretly, I suspect, are followers of the -man, though many others among the Jews are hostile. I think he wants to -change people as individuals, not their governments; he wants to help -them. I’m sure he’s never given any thought to fomenting rebellion -against Rome.” - -Longinus relaxed and sat back. “Then he’s just another of these -religious fanatics, isn’t he? Well, I’m relieved to hear that, though -Palestine seems to have more than its share of these charlatans.” - -“Charlatan? I wouldn’t say that. Let me tell you a story, and then you -can deduce what you wish. It happened only a few weeks ago. When you see -Chuza, Herod’s steward....” - -“I saw him today.” - -“When you see him again, ask him to tell you what happened to his son. -Everybody in this part of the country has heard about it; the news swept -through Galilee like flames across a parched grassland.” - -“Well, by the gods, Cornelius, what did happen?” - -“Chuza’s young son had come down with a fever. In this low country along -the lakeside, you know, fevers are pretty common, but they’re not often -dangerous. So Chuza and Joanna—she’s his wife—weren’t alarmed at first. -But when days passed and the boy didn’t improve—in fact, his condition -grew worse—they became concerned. One physician after another was called -in, and they exhausted all the treatments they knew how to give. But the -child was failing fast, and Chuza and Joanna were frantic; it looked as -though their son wouldn’t live much longer. The fever was consuming him. -What could they do? Where could they get help? - -“It happened that on the last day, when it appeared that the boy was -about to die, a Jewish fisherman who had occasionally been supplying the -palace came to Chuza. He and his brother and two other brothers with -whom he frequently fished had made a heavy catch, and this Simon had -come to inquire if Chuza would buy a mess for the Tetrarch’s household. - -“But a servant came to the door and told him his master could not -discuss business; the steward’s son, he explained, was dying. - -“‘In that case, I must see him,’ the fisherman said to the servant. ‘I -can tell him how his son’s life may be saved.’ - -“But the servant told him that the physicians had despaired of saving -the child and that the parents were momentarily awaiting his death. He -ordered Simon to leave. - -“The fisherman, a headstrong fellow, insisted, however, on being shown -into the chamberlain’s presence, and the argument grew so loud that -Chuza heard and came out to discover what was taking place. The -fisherman Simon then told the Tetrarch’s steward of the Galilean -carpenter’s amazing ability to effect miraculous cures, and he suggested -that a servant be sent on horseback to find this young man, whom Simon -referred to as ‘the Master.’ ‘And when the servant finds him,’ he said -‘have him bring the Master here, and he will heal your son.’ - -“Of course Chuza protested,” Cornelius continued, “that skilled -physicians had been unable to cure the child. ‘Only try the Master,’ -Simon then implored him. ‘Only have faith in him and ask him to heal -your son, and he will heal him.’ - -“And suddenly the thought came to Chuza that surely he had nothing to -lose by seeking out the Galilean mystic. The child was already on the -verge of death; certainly this Jesus ben Joseph, whatever he might do, -wouldn’t further endanger the boy’s life. So he asked Simon where his -master might be found and whether he would come at once to his son’s -bedside. - -“The Galilean was visiting friends at Cana, a village a few miles west -of the little sea. And Simon assured Chuza that he would come. - -“So Chuza decided to seek the carpenter’s aid. But he sent no servant -for him. Instead, he had three horses saddled, one for Simon, one for -himself, and one for this Jesus ben Joseph. - -“‘As we rode westward toward Cana,’ Chuza told me, ‘I felt a growing -hope that the strange Galilean might really be able to restore my son to -health, and I was possessed by an overpowering urge to find the man. -Soon Simon and I were racing along the dusty road. When we reached Cana -and found the house, we discovered this Jesus seated with his friends at -the noonday meal.’” - -Cornelius got up from his chair, sat down again on the rampart, and -looked out toward a small fleet of fishing boats coming in to shore with -the day’s catch. - -“By the gods,” Longinus asked, “what happened then? Go on; it’s a good -story.” - -“When he looked into the understanding eyes of the young man from -Nazareth, Chuza told me, a strange warmth, not physical warmth from the -hard riding but a sense of eased tension, of peace, perhaps, something -he said he couldn’t describe to me and didn’t entirely understand -himself, took possession of him. He knew then, he was utterly certain, -he said, that the young man smiling at him had the power to heal his -son, if he could but get him to Tiberias in time!” - -Once more Cornelius paused in his recital to study a fishing boat -unloading a heavy catch. Then he resumed the narrative. - -“Chuza said he didn’t remember what he said to the man, except that he -blurted out his plea for help and begged the stranger to return with him -to the boy’s bedside. He and his wife loved their son so much, he -pleaded, and the little fellow was dying. If only the carpenter would -intervene to save him, he knew the child’s life would be spared. - -“Then,” Cornelius went on, “the Nazareth carpenter said a strange thing. -He turned his intent, kindly gaze from Chuza to glance at those at the -table with him. ‘Always you must have signs and wonders,’ he said. -‘Can’t you believe without actually seeing these things done before your -eyes?’ - -“Chuza didn’t understand the man’s words, but he didn’t try to find out -what they meant. His son was dying, his need was desperate. Once more he -begged the carpenter for his help. ‘O, sir, my boy is dying,’ he -pleaded; ‘he won’t last out the day unless you go to him. Won’t you -leave with us now, sir, and restore him?’” - -Cornelius paused again. Longinus, his forehead creased in heavy -concentration, seemed absorbed in the doings of several fishermen down -at the water’s edge as they struggled with a heavy net. But he turned -quickly to confront his friend. “Pluto blast you, Cornelius! Why do you -keep stopping? Did the carpenter return with him or didn’t he?” - -“No, he didn’t. He laid his hand on Chuza’s shoulder. ‘Return to your -son,’ he said. ‘The fever has left him. He has been restored.’” - -“And I suppose when Chuza and the fisherman got back, they found that -the boy’s fever had actually broken?” - -“Yes, he was fully recovered. And when Chuza asked Joanna what time it -was when the fever broke, she said it was the seventh hour, which was -exactly when the carpenter had told Chuza that the boy had been -restored.” Cornelius smiled and stood up. “That’s the story, Centurion -... Chuza’s story, not mine. What do you make of it?” - -“A good story, and ably told by you. I’d call it an entertaining account -of a remarkable coincidence.” - -“Only a coincidence?” - -“What else could it be? Surely you don’t believe that this carpenter -fellow, without even going to the sick boy, drove out the fever? You -know that fever victims either get well or die and that once the fever -reaches a certain point, it goes one way or the other; it’s either death -or a very rapid recovery, and the odds are about the same.” He shrugged -his shoulders. “After hearing Chuza’s story the carpenter probably -calculated it was time for the fever to break, and he simply gambled on -the outcome.” Then he was suddenly serious, his eyes questioning. -“Cornelius, don’t tell me you believe the carpenter actually cured the -boy?” - -“I don’t know, Longinus. But I’ll say this: I don’t disbelieve it. And I -do know that the boy is alive and well today.” Cornelius stood up and -stretched. “After all, to Chuza and Joanna that’s the important thing. -When you see Chuza, you might ask him what he thinks of the Galilean.” - -“If that carpenter did cure the boy in the manner you described, -Cornelius, then he’s bound to be a god. And would a carpenter be a god, -and a Galilean carpenter, at that? To me the whole idea is preposterous. -But I’m just a Roman soldier; I haven’t been exposed, like you, to these -eastern workers of magic.” - -“This Jesus is no magician. In fact, he seems reluctant to perform -these—what did he call them—‘signs and wonders.’ But the sick and the -crippled continually besiege him to heal them, and his sympathies for -the unfortunate appear to be boundless.” Cornelius sat down again on the -parapet. “Tell me, do you remember that day we were sailing down the -Tiber, standing at the ‘Palmyra’s’ rail talking about the various gods, -and you said that you could never comprehend a spirit god, something -that was nothing, you said, a being without a body?” - -“Yes, and I still feel that way.” - -“But what about a god that does have a body, a god-man? If a god should -have a physical body and be in every physical respect like a man, would -that make sense to you? Could you comprehend such a god?” - -“By Jove, Cornelius, you’ve been out here with these Jews for much too -long. You’ve been listening to too much prattle about their Yahweh. A -god without a body, a body that houses a god. Bah! I put no credence in -any of these notions. As for that carpenter, I’d say he’s another -Wilderness preacher, not as fanatical perhaps, not as desert-parched and -smelling of dried sweat as John, but certainly no god—whatever a god is, -if there is such a thing, which I most seriously doubt. A carpenter from -Nazareth, that hillside cluster of huts! Cornelius, I’ve been to -Nazareth, as I’m sure you have. I ask you, would a god choose Nazareth -to come from?” He stood up. “Nevertheless, the story you told was -entertaining. Maybe to some it would be convincing. To me, though....” -He shook his head slowly. Then suddenly a wide grin lighted his grim -countenance. “How is it that you and I inevitably get around sooner or -later to a discussion of the gods? And where do we invariably end? -Nowhere. Talk, that’s all. And talk is all it can ever be, isn’t it? -It’s all too nebulous, intangible....” - -“But, Longinus, if this all-powerful, all-wise, all-good god that old -Pheidias envisioned, this supreme one god, in order to communicate with -his earthly creatures”—Cornelius held up his hand to stop Longinus, who -had been about to interrupt—“should decide to take the form of a man, an -ordinary man....” - -“By all the small and great gods,” Longinus did interrupt, “do you think -then that he would choose to be a carpenter from Nazareth?” - -Cornelius stared at the fishing boats, now pulled up on the beach; the -lengthening shadows had already begun to obscure them. “I wonder,” he -said. - - - - - 21 - - -Herod Antipas was in a bad mood; he said little and appeared preoccupied -during the meal. When they had finished he announced that he planned to -spend the remainder of the evening conferring with his ministers. “I’ve -been out of the country for a long time,” he explained casually. “I -suspect there will be many trying problems awaiting consideration.” - -When the Tetrarch withdrew from the lofty dining chamber, Herodias had -servants place couches at the eastern edge of the terrace beside the -bordering balustrade of faintly rose-hued marble, and with Neaera and -Tullia hovering discreetly near them, the new Tetrarchess and her guest -lay back comfortably to relax after the heavy meal. Out here it was -cooler than it had been in the great chamber, for the white marble -palace of Herod Antipas had been built on an upflung spit of land that -pushed out like a flattened giant thumb into the Sea of Galilee, and -whenever there was a breeze from off the water it swept unobstructed -across the spacious terrace. - -This terrace had been built seaward from an immense glass-covered -peristylium, paved with tiny marble blocks in colors that had been laid -to form an intricate but pleasing mosaic pattern and alive with -fountains, flowers, and luxuriant tropical plants. Predominantly Roman -in architecture, decoration, and furnishings, the palace reminded -Claudia of the Procurator’s Palace at Caesarea. “Except that it’s more -pretentious,” she told Herodias. - -“Yes, it is,” Herodias agreed. “Antipas was determined for once to outdo -his father. He had always lived in the shadow of old Herod, and I think -he resented it. But even so, he has never had the ambition or the -courage that his father had.” - -“But surely, Herodias, you don’t see any virtue in your grandfather. -Didn’t he have your grandmother and your father killed?” - -“Yes, and my father’s brother Alexander. No, he was a monster, -particularly in his last years when I think he must have been demented. -But he was an able man, and he had courage. He never would have -permitted that desert fellow to stand there and insult him and his wife, -for example, even if the man had had all the Jews in Galilee at his -side. Nor would he have yielded, as your Pilate did, to those Jews at -Caesarea. He would have had them run through with swords and would have -roared with laughter at their agonized dying. But perhaps I offend you.” - -“No, you don’t offend me, my dear. Nor do I defend Pilate. But you must -remember, he has Sejanus to deal with and also my beloved stepfather. -Neither of those pillars of the Empire would have sanctioned the -massacre of thousands of Jews. Pilate does have a difficult role to -play.” - -Herodias smiled and pointed a ringed forefinger. “And are you going to -help him play it, my dear Claudia, or will you...?” She paused and -allowed her question to hang in mid-air. - -“Or will I conspire with Longinus to lead Pilate into making further -wrong moves, thereby getting him recalled and perhaps banished and -permitting me to divorce him and marry Longinus?” Laughing, Claudia sat -up and swung her feet to the floor. “You are so subtle, my dear, so very -subtle.” Now she shook an accusing finger at her hostess. “But tell me, -what will you do when Aretas’ daughter returns to Tiberias and demands -her place as Tetrarchess?” - -“She won’t return; Antipas is sending her a bill of divorcement. Surely -you must know that I would see to that. In fact, I think she left with -her mind made up that she was finished as Tetrarchess. My only -thought—and that isn’t concern—is what old Aretas will do about it.” - -Behind them now the lamps had been lighted in the palace. A brilliant -full moon slowly climbed the sky above the little sea; both women lay -back luxuriously to watch the moon mount higher, and before long their -talk had slowed into silence. Suddenly Herodias realized that she had -become almost senseless. She sat up with a start. - -“By the gods, Claudia, we’re almost asleep!” - -“We’re tired from the journey,” Claudia said, rubbing her eyes. - -“Yes. Maybe we should go to bed. Can I have Neaera bring you something? -Some wine and wafers, fruit, or a glass of hot milk?” - -“No, not a thing. I’m still stuffed from the wonderful dinner. I only -want to get to bed and to sleep. I am really quite tired.” - -“You must be indeed.” Her smile, Claudia saw plainly in the brightness -of the full moon, was positively devilish. It was impossible to mistake -its meaning. - -“Oh, that,” she laughed, then added, “but surely you heard him tell the -Tetrarch he would spend the night with Cornelius?” - -“Yes, I heard him tell the Tetrarch.” She stood up. “Let’s go to bed.” -They crossed the terrace and entered the palace. “I’ll see you to your -chamber,” she said. - -An inner room that opened into Claudia’s had been prepared for Tullia. -Herodias glanced quickly around the apartment, then turned to go. At the -door opening onto the corridor she paused. “I hope you will be -comfortable and sleep well.” Her eyes brightened. “You won’t be -disturbed. And you’ll discover”—she swept her hand in an arc to embrace -Claudia’s chamber—“that all your doors have bolts opening from the -inside, including,” she added with a knowing smile, “the one to the -terrace. Good night, Claudia. And, by all the gods”—her dark, wanton -eyes had burst into dancing flames—“I envy you!” - - - - - 22 - - -Claudia sat up in bed, instantly and fully awake. She knew that she had -been dreaming, a confused, wandering, disconnected, senseless sort of -dream, though now with her awakening it had vanished completely, -dissolved into nothing. But the gentle tapping that had been mixed with -the dreaming, had not been a part of it; the tapping at the door to the -terrace was real and repeated and insistent. - -She kicked her feet free of the sheet and swung them to the floor. From -the waist down, as she arose, she stood in the narrow band of -silver-cold moonlight spearing through the tall window behind her to cut -diagonally across the foot of the bed; quickly she stepped into the less -revealing shadows at the doorway. - -“Longinus?” she whispered, her face close to the panel. - -“Yes.” - -“One minute until I can draw the bolt.” - -When he was inside and she was closing and bolting the door, he slipped -his toga off and, stepping past the shaft of moonlight, dropped it on a -chair against the wall near the head of the bed. As he turned around, -she came toward him, her arms outstretched; crossing the bright beam, -her white body stood plainly revealed through the sheerness of the black -gown. - -“Oh, Longinus”—she flung herself into his arms—“I thought you really had -decided to stay with Cornelius.” - -He lifted her to her toes and held her, almost crushingly, against him, -and then he caught her chin and raising her face so that he could look -into her eyes, bent down and kissed her red and warmly eager lips. - -“Didn’t you know,” he asked when he released her after a long while, -“that those words were for Antipas and not you? Didn’t you know that -nothing could possibly keep me from you tonight?” - -Gently, almost carrying her, he led her the two or three steps to the -bed. They sat down beside each other, and he bent forward to unbuckle -his sandals. When he sat up again, she twisted her feet around and -lifted them to the bed, doubled up her knees, and lay with her head and -right shoulder pressed hard against his side. “Are you tired from the -journey and anxious to get to sleep?” she asked, turning her head to -look into his face. - -“Tired maybe, and warm from walking from the Antonia”—he pulled his -tunic open at the throat and to his waist—“but sleepy, no.” He laughed, -but not loudly, for the palace was as quiet as a sepulcher. “Do you -think any man in my present situation could be sleepy?” - -“Yes, by all the gods, I know one.” She sat up and swung her feet to the -floor. “Pontius Pilate.” - -“No, Claudia, he couldn’t be that cold-blooded.” He pulled her to him, -and drew her warm body into the closing circle of his arms. She lifted -her feet again to the bed and slid down into the brightness of the -moonlight. - -“But, I tell you he is, Longinus. All the man ever thinks of is guarding -and extending the powers and authority of the Procuratorship and piling -up Jewish shekels. To him my only attraction is being the Emperor’s -stepdaughter.” - -“Then he’s an even bigger fool than I thought.” Gently he pushed her -chin down to pull her lips slightly apart and, bending over her, crushed -his mouth upon them. - -“Oh, Longinus,” she cried out, when finally, breathing heavily, he -raised his head, “do take me away from him! Do, Longinus, oh, do, do! I -cannot endure him! By all the gods, I simply cannot!” - -“But where would we go?” He looked deeply into her troubled eyes, -luminous even in the shadows. “How could we escape the Emperor and the -Prefect, my dear girl? How could we?” - -“We couldn’t, of course. If we attempted it, they would soon find us, -and Tiberius would do to you what my grandfather did to my poor father. -I know that, Longinus. But it’s so long from one time with you to -another, from one night so quickly passed to the gods only know when -again.” She slipped her hand beneath his tunic and caressingly ran her -fingers across the damp, warm expanse of his chest. “It’s so hard -waiting for these few stolen hours,” she murmured. “Must we be forever -waiting, Longinus?” - -“No, Claudia, no. Pluto burn him! One of these days he’ll go too far -with the Emperor and Sejanus. But we’ve got to give him time to be -caught in his own trap. Then when he’s ruined himself, the Emperor will -permit you to divorce him. But in the meantime, we must steal all the -hours we can”—his words were blurred as he buried his face in her -lustrous, fragrant hair—“and not be too concerned with Pilate or our -future.” They remained silent side by side for a while, then Longinus -raised his head. Claudia lay stretched out full length upon the bed, and -from the waist down now her scarcely concealed body came within the -rapidly widening band of moonlight. “We mustn’t try to anticipate -things,” he said quietly. “We must seize the opportunities as they come. -Carpe diem, that’s all.” He bent lower to look into her eyes. “More to -the point, let’s enjoy the night while we have it.” - -He stood up quickly and in the shadows hastily stripped off his clothes. - - - - - 23 - - -As he drifted up slowly out of the depths of slumber he fancied he was -hearing the early cockcrow from Castra Praetoria; surely he was sharing -Claudia’s bed in her apartment in the Imperial Palace, for he could -smell her perfume, he could feel the satiny texture of her hair spread -fan-like across his chest. - -The trumpet was insistent. He would have to open his eyes. He twisted up -on his elbow and squinted toward the window; light sifting into the -chamber revealed the crumpled sheer nightgown dropped across his clothes -on the chair near the bed. Looking down, he studied Claudia’s sleeping -face—rouge-smeared, half-open mouth, cheeks, forehead, and even her neck -splotched with the smudged prints of his lips from her own lipstick. - -He glanced around the room again; no, this time he was not in Rome, and -the trumpet call came only from the post headquarters in Tiberias. This -time there was no threat of immediate separation. Immensely relieved, he -pulled up the sheet that had fallen away and snuggled back down beside -her. - -“Must you be going so soon?” she asked sleepily, for his movement had -aroused her. “Must you always be leaving me?” - -“That’s the cockcrow at Castra Praetoria, and I have early duty,” he -said. “Maybe this morning I’ll be summoned before the Prefect.” - -“You aren’t deceiving me. The Prefect is in Rome, and we are in -Tiberias,” she replied. “And you have no morning duty at the post’s -quarters.” Smiling, she added, “I’m not that sleepy, Centurion.” She -slid forward and sat up, then just as quickly slipped back beneath the -protecting sheet. “I forgot,” she said, grinning. “But I’m so glad that -you don’t have to leave now.” - -“But I’ll have to be going soon,” he declared. “I’d like to get away -before the palace is too much astir.” - -“But why, Longinus? Must you sneak away as though you were a thieving -intruder? Don’t you know that Herodias was expecting you? She even -admitted that she was envious of me; I’m sure she was anticipating a far -less interesting evening with Antipas.” She paused, and her eyes -widened. “Surely you aren’t afraid of his knowing ... about us?” - -“You know I’m not afraid of the Tetrarch’s knowing”—his tone was gently -scolding—“or, by the gods, of Pontius Pilate’s.” - -“Then could it be Cornelius?” Now she was teasing. “But doesn’t he know? -Surely....” - -“Of course,” he interrupted. “He knew last night I was coming here. He -gave me the password for the sentry at the palace gate.” - -“But did he know you were going to be spending the night ... with me?” - -“I didn’t tell him that. But I’m sure that anybody with the intelligence -of a centurion would arrive at such a conclusion.” He was grinning. -“Wouldn’t you think so?” - -“Yes. But maybe he doesn’t approve, now that he’s become so interested -in the Jews’ religion. And judging by that desert fanatic’s tirade -against Herodias and Antipas, even the most innocent adultery is frowned -upon by these Jewish religionists.” - -“Whatever he may think about it, Cornelius knows very well that what you -and I do is none of his business, and I’m sure he won’t try to make it -his affair.” - -“Then I’m the one.” Her smeared lips were pushed out in a feigned pout. -“You’re bored with me. I know, you’re just trying to get rid....” - -“Silly girl.” He pulled her close, for she had coquettishly twisted -away. “Did I say I was leaving right now?” - - - - - 24 - - -Two soldiers from his own century at Caesarea who had ridden into -Tiberias during the night were awaiting Longinus when he returned to the -garrison headquarters. They had been sent by Sergius Paulus with a -message from the Prefect Sejanus. A note from the Prefect had been -attached to the carefully sealed message, emphasizing the importance of -the communication and ordering Sergius Paulus, should Longinus not be in -Caesarea on its arrival, to have it dispatched to him wherever he might -be and as speedily as possible. - -The message from Sejanus had arrived on an Alexandrian grain ship that -had sailed into the harbor at Caesarea several days after Herod Antipas -and his new wife, with their party and their guest, the Procurator’s -wife, had departed for Jerusalem on their way to Tiberias. The cohort -commander had dispatched the two horsemen at once in the hope that they -might overtake the centurion before Herod’s party had started on the -journey up the Jordan Valley toward the Galilean capital. But the -caravan had been two days on the way before the horseman rode into -Jerusalem; from there they had started almost immediately for Tiberias. - -Quickly and with considerable apprehension Longinus broke the seals. Why -was the message so urgent? What could have happened? He knew that -Sejanus was not replying to the report he himself had dispatched to the -Prefect by the hand of the “Actium’s” captain; that vessel had probably -not even reached Rome yet. - -Longinus hurriedly scanned the message; then, relieved, he read it again -more slowly. The Prefect was summoning him to return to Rome to report -in detail on the situation in Judaea and Galilee. But first he was to go -immediately to Senator Piso’s glassworks in Phoenicia. There he would -receive a package which he would then convey to Rome. - -The package would be highly valuable, the Prefect warned; it would -contain a large sum of money, revenue from sales of glassware, and he -was to exercise every precaution in seeing to it that he got it to Rome -intact. Impress as many soldiers as he thought necessary to serve as -guards while the package was being transported from the glass plant to -the ship that would bring it to Rome, the Prefect ordered; take no risk -of being waylaid by robbers or some band of zealots. He suggested that -to minimize this danger, the centurion should go aboard ship at Tyre, -the seaport nearest the plant. - -Longinus explained to the two soldiers who had brought him the message -that he was being ordered to Rome by the Prefect Sejanus and instructed -them to bear to Sergius Paulus a message he would write. In this note he -informed the cohort commander of the assignment Sejanus had given him to -come to Rome, although he made no mention of the money he would be -delivering. He added that the Prefect had given him no details of the -new assignment; he would write later from Rome. When he finished writing -the communication, Longinus dismissed the two to return with it to -Caesarea. - -Cornelius had been aware of the arrival of the two men sent by Sergius -Paulus; Longinus told him what the Prefect’s instructions had been. - -“Cornelius, I want you to pick a small detachment from your century to -go with me to Phoenicia for the package and then on over to Tyre,” he -said. “If by any chance I should let that money be stolen....” He -shrugged and drew his fingers across his throat. “I suspect a large -portion of it, if not all, is destined to find its way into the -Prefect’s private coffers.” - -Cornelius agreed to accompany him. His men would leave early on the -morrow and meet the two centurions at the home of Cornelius at Capernaum -where they would spend the evening. From there the party would start -northwestward for the senator’s glassworks in Phoenicia. - -“And now,” said Cornelius when they had made the arrangements, “you’ll -be wanting to return to the palace; after today it may be a long time -before you see Claudia again.” - -Only last night he and Claudia had talked of how they might remain in -Tiberias for perhaps two weeks; he had even considered taking her with -him on a hurried visit to the glassworks, which he had not inspected for -the last several months. And they would manage to spend every evening -together, to be with each other every night through. - -“Oh, Longinus, let me go with you to Rome! Take me, please,” she pleaded -an hour later as they sat on the terrace outside her bedchamber. “Do you -dare, Longinus? Or, should I say, do we dare?” - -“No,” he said, “though by all the gods, I wish we did.” He shook his -head slowly. “No, Claudia, we mustn’t attempt it. You might be able to -hide from the Prefect and the Emperor. But not for long. Pilate would -report your disappearance—he would have to for his own protection—and -immediately Sejanus would suspect me. He might even think you and I were -plotting to upset the rule of Tiberius, which would mean, of course, the -overthrow of the Prefect. You would be discovered within a matter of -days. And then in all probability it would be the imperial headsman for -me, and for you ... well, for you it would probably be a fate much like -your mother’s, Pandateria or some other far-off place. And for the -friends who tried to hide you, death, too. You see, Sejanus and the -Emperor married you off to Pilate to get you far away from Rome. They -intend for you to remain away. Until”—he shrugged—“there’s a violent -change in Rome, you must not return.” - -They sat quietly and looked out at the fishing boats plying the sea. - -“I won’t remain long in Rome, I think,” he said after a while. “If the -gods are good, Claudia, it will be only a few months until....” - -“If the gods are good!” she interrupted, harshly. “There are no good -gods, Longinus. There are no gods!” She scowled and looked away. “If -there are, how can they be so perverse?” - -“I don’t dispute it. Call it what you like, gods, fate, chance, -luck....” - -“Ill luck, perversity of fate. Bona Dea, Longinus, if there are gods, -they are evil, and the most evil of all is old Sejanus, may Pluto -transfix him with his white-hot fork! Why must he forever be doing us -ill?” - -“Perhaps, who knows, he may be serving us well in calling me to Rome. It -may lead to the Emperor’s banishing Pilate or, if not that, his removal -from the Procuratorship.” - -“May the gods grant it!” she said fervently. - -“But now, my dear”—he smiled—“there are no gods.” - -They sat for a long time on the sunlit terrace and talked, though they -knew their future was a difficult one to predict. They walked down to -the beach and strolled along the sands; once they paused to sit for a -while on the rotting hull of a half-buried fishing boat. Before the sun -dropped westward behind the palace they climbed the steps and crossed -the esplanade; in the peristylium he said good-by to the Tetrarch and -Herodias. Claudia walked with him back to the terrace, where he quickly -bade her farewell. - -“I’ll see you before many months in Caesarea,” he said and gently -pinched her cheek. He bent down for a last kiss. “Pray the gods for the -winds to bring me quickly ... and with good news. Pray the silly little -no-gods.” - -“I would, if I thought it would bring you back any sooner,” she said. -“I’d even say a prayer—and offer a lamb—to the Jew’s grim Yahweh. But I -have more faith in the charity of the winds themselves.” - -An hour later he and Cornelius set out for Capernaum. The squad from the -Tiberias century that would escort them to the glassworks and then to -the harbor at Tyre had been selected and equipped for the journey; the -soldiers would join the centurions the next morning at the home of -Cornelius. - -As they were nearing the house, Cornelius turned to question his friend. -“Longinus, do you remember Lucian?” - -“Lucian? Your son?” - -“Well, you could probably call him our son, although he’s actually my -slave. He was given me by his father, just before he died, when Lucian -was only three or four years old. He’s the grandson of old Pheidias, the -tutor I was telling you about some time ago.” - -“Yes, I do remember the boy. But he is more like a son than a slave, -isn’t he?” - -“He is. We’re devoted to the boy. We couldn’t love him more, I’m sure, -nor could he love us more, if he were really our own flesh and blood.” - -“But why are you asking me about him?” - -“Well, some time ago I promised Lucian that the next time I went on a -journey I’d take him along. I wonder if you would object to his going -with us up into Phoenicia?” - -“Of course not. Why don’t you take him?” - -“Then I shall. We’ll get an early start in the morning. We ought to be -ready to begin the journey when the detachment arrives from Tiberias.” - -But the next morning Lucian was ill. Perhaps, Cornelius thought, it came -from the great excitement of the anticipated journey. With his palm the -centurion felt the boy’s forehead, cheeks, under his chin. They were -feverish. - - - - - Phoenicia - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 25 - - -The old man, smoke-blackened and naked except for a frayed and soiled -loincloth, tottered forward and collapsed at their feet. - -“He almost fell into the fire chamber,” explained one of the two young -slaves who had dragged him from the furnace shed. - -A beetle-browed, scowling overseer with a long leather whip came running -from an adjacent section of the sheds. “Get back to your work!” he -shouted, as he slashed viciously at the slaves. The two fled inside; the -burly fellow strode across to the old man on the ground. - -“Water! O Zeus, mercy. Water! Water!” the old slave gasped. - -The overseer raised his whip. “Stand up, you, or by the gods, I’ll cut -you in strips!” he hissed. “Get back to the furnace!” He stood poised to -strike the inert man. - -“Hold!” Cornelius commanded. “Strike him once, and by the great Jove, -you’ll have me to deal with!” Suddenly furious, his eyes blazing, the -centurion stepped forward to confront the overseer. - -“Who, by the gods, are you?” the fellow demanded insolently. “By whose -authority do you interfere with the operation of this plant?” - -“By the great gods, my own, if the centurion”—he glanced coldly toward -Longinus—“is little enough interested to stop you.” - -“Don’t touch him!” Longinus pointed. “And get back to your duties.” - -“And who”—the fellow was glowering, his heavy jaw thrust out—“are you, -by the gods, to be giving me orders?” - -Aroused by the angry words outside the fire chamber, a man rushed from -the near-by furnace-shed office. “Porcius, you insolent, blundering -fool, put down that whip!” he bellowed. “Don’t you know the -centurion”—he gestured toward Longinus—“is the son of Senator Piso, who -owns this plant? And the other one is his friend. Now you get back to -your work!” - -“But first let him get this poor old slave some water.” - -“Yes, Centurion.” He turned fiercely to the overseer. “You heard the -centurion. Go! And bring a cloth, too, to bathe his face.” - -“O Zeus, mercy. Water.” The old man’s plea was hardly a whisper. “Mercy, -O....” - -Longinus pointed. “Water will do him no good now, Cornelius.” - -The wizened, gaunt slave’s eyes, wide-open, were setting in an agonized, -frightened stare; his head was stretched back, and Cornelius, looking -into his blackened and bony face, saw that it was pitted and scarred -from innumerable small burns; the eyebrows and eyelashes were completely -gone, singed away in the intolerable heat of the glass furnaces. - -The overseer returned with the water and a smudged cloth. - -“No need now,” the plant superintendent said. “He’s dead.” - -The overseer nodded. “Shall we....?” He paused. “The usual way?” - -“Not for the moment. Put him over there under the shed. Later, when....” - -“When we have left, eh?” Cornelius was pointedly sarcastic. “What is the -usual way?” - -The superintendent hesitated. - -“I’ll tell him, Lucius,” Longinus spoke out unconcernedly. “Usually, -Cornelius, they are thrown into the furnaces they have been tending, -provided, of course, that the heat is so intense that such disposition -of the cadaver will not endanger the mixture in the glassmaking. -Oftentimes they end up over there, in the deserted area behind that sand -dune, with the vultures picking their ill-padded bones. But every now -and then, when they do drag one over there, particularly if the breeze -is from the land, they shovel a bit of sand over him.” He shrugged and -thrust out his hands solemnly. “Of course, doing it that way provides a -more pleasant atmosphere for working.” - -Cornelius appeared not to have heard his friend’s poor attempt at humor. -He stared at the dead slave on the ground and slowly shook his head. “He -was calling upon Zeus, a Greek. He might have been another Pheidias.” He -shook his head ruefully. “Slaves both, but what a difference in their -lots.” - -“And what is the difference?” Longinus demanded. “They’re both dead. -Your old tutor was put away honorably in a tomb, no doubt. But when this -fellow’s carcass has become a handful of ashes or is completely -dissolved into the sand and water and sea winds, won’t they both be gone -to nothingness, ended without a trace?” - -“They’re both dead, yes. But gone to nothingness, I can’t say. It might -be that their spirits, their souls....” - -“Oh, come now, Cornelius.” Longinus turned to the plant superintendent, -“My friend has been too long in Palestine,” he commented wryly. “He has -come to believe what those Jews believe, that the death of a man is not -his end. In other words”—he pointed to the stiffened slave now being -borne to the shed—“that that fellow’s soul, whatever a soul is—if there -is such a thing, which I find it impossible to believe—is floating -around somewhere in a world filled with other disembodied beings.” - -“If you will excuse me, sir,” the manager said, evading comment, “I have -some work....” - -“Go ahead, Lucius. We will be leaving early tomorrow for Tyre. -Everything, you say, is ready?” - -“Everything, the reports, the revenue, everything, sir.” - -Earlier Longinus had shown Cornelius through the various departments of -the glassmaking plant, and Cornelius had marveled at the skill of the -glassblowers, slaves whose lot was incomparably more fortunate, he saw, -than that of those who fired the roaring furnaces. When he had remarked -about this to Longinus, his host had observed casually that the blowers -were valuable property, while the laborers in the furnace chambers were -easily replaced when after a few weeks or months they literally burned -themselves out. The two had just completed their tour when the old Greek -was dragged out to die before them. - -From the plant they strolled toward the beach some two hundred paces -below it. “I can’t get that slave out of my mind,” Cornelius said, as -they sat in the bow of a small boat that had been pulled up on the -sands. “By all the gods, I thought those on the docks of the Emporium -were having a hard time, but these slaves that fire your glass -furnaces”—he grimaced—“Jupiter pity them. Certainly nobody else does.” - -“But if we are to have beautiful glass in the mansions of Rome, or at -the Tetrarch’s Palace, or the Procurator’s at Caesarea, or in countless -other great places of the wealthy and the privileged, if revenue from -the glass factories is to continue flowing into the coffers of the -Empire and the Prefect, then, Cornelius, the furnaces must be stoked and -the molten glass must be blown. So”—he shrugged—“slaves will die and be -replaced. But remember, Cornelius, they are slaves, and slaves are easy -to come by; fresh ones are always being sent out here by Sejanus. And we -only put those of least value into the furnace chambers.” - -“So, Longinus, the value of a slave is to be measured in direct -proportion to the value of the merchandise—in your case, glassware—he is -able to produce? And when tomorrow you leave for Rome with the profits -made from your glassware, you will be carrying the lives of many slaves -in your package, won’t you? And when at the markets of Rome and Antioch -and Alexandria you sell those beautiful goblets with their slender, -rose-tinted stems, you will know that you are selling glass colored with -the lifeblood of men such as that old Greek, that slave who perhaps by -now has been consumed in the very furnace that exacted his life? Isn’t -that true?” - -“Cornelius, you’re a good soldier, but you’re in the wrong profession.” -Longinus leaned forward and cracked his bronzed knuckles. “You should be -writing poetry or lecturing classes in philosophy, or even”—he paused, -and a grin spread across his face—“be acting as a priest in the Temple -at Jerusalem.” Suddenly the smile was gone. “Of course a slave is -valuable in proportion to what he can produce or the service he can -provide. Aren’t we all valuable in that same proportion? We live awhile, -work, love, hate, die. What do we leave? Only what we have produced. -Everything else is gone, including us. So, in the end, we and the dead -slave are the same ... nothing. But you don’t agree, do you?” - -“I don’t want to agree, Longinus. What you say makes sense. But -something within me says just as emphatically that you are wrong. Yet I -can’t prove it.” Cornelius dug his sandaled heels into the sand at the -bottom of the long abandoned boat. “I keep thinking of the old Greek up -there. I don’t know what life gave him, of course, before some invading -Roman soldiers destroyed his home—if he had a home—certainly his way of -life, and dragged him to Rome, where he simply had the bad luck to fall -into the hands of the Prefect. But there’s no mystery about what life -has offered him since his enslavement. And this man may have been -another Pheidias, Centurion, a man more intelligent, more cultured, a -better man, my friend, than nine out of ten of the equestrians in Rome. -Obviously, then, life has been unfair to him. And you say he is -finished, done for, nothing. You say there will never be any chance of -his getting a better throw of the dice.” - -“Exactly. And throw of the dice is right, too. He shook them in the cup -and rolled them, and they rolled wrong; we rolled ours, and they stopped -with the right numbers up. That’s all there is to it. Fate, chance, -luck, call it what you will. It’s a few years or many, a good life or -one of pain ... and then nothing. Isn’t it just that simple, Cornelius? -How else could it possibly be? Isn’t any other idea simply -superstition?” Longinus leaned over and picked up a small shell. “Look -at this,” he said. “What happened to the mollusk who lived here? Did he -live out his span of life happily, or was he eaten in his prime? And is -his unshelled spirit now swimming about in some sea heaven?” He tossed -the shell into the surf. “That old slave up there, I maintain, is just -as dead and gone—or will be when his corpse is disposed of—as the -mollusk who once inhabited that shell. And both of them are gone for -good.” - -“Then you put men and mollusks in the same category?” - -“Yes, as far as having immortal spirits is concerned. But you don’t, -Centurion; you hold with your Pharisee friends—it’s the Pharisees who -believe in immortality, isn’t it—that man is a different sort of animal -in that he survives in a spirit world....” - -“I’d like to; I want to. It’s a damnably unfair world if he doesn’t.” - -“And it’s just as unfair if he does. Look.” Longinus leaned forward -again. “You say that this all-powerful, all-wise, all-good god, this -Yahweh, will see to it that in the next world, the spirit world, that -old slave up there will get justice. But I insist that such a god does -not exist; if he did, as I argued that day we were sailing down the -Tiber, you remember, he wouldn’t permit such unfairness and injustice in -this present life. Isn’t that a logical contention, Cornelius? How can a -good god, I ask you again, decree, or permit, so much evil?” - -“I don’t know,” Cornelius replied. “I’m no nearer an answer to your -question now than I was that other day. But I am confident that if this -god exists—and I believe he does, Longinus; in fact I’m even stronger -now in that belief than I was then—he does not decree evil, he simply -permits evil men sometimes to rule in the affairs of this earthly, -physical life. It may be that he doesn’t want to restrict man’s freedom. -Do you see? That wouldn’t mean he approves of the evil acts of men.” - -Longinus slowly shook his head. “No, Cornelius, I don’t see. Your -argument seems completely fatuous to me. I cannot comprehend an -all-powerful, good god who would permit men to do one another evil. I am -convinced that the fact that the world is filled with men who are unjust -and cruel and evil indisputably proves that no such god exists.” - -“And I would answer that it is strong evidence but not indisputable -proof.” For a long moment Cornelius stared out in the direction of a -merchant ship sailing southward toward towering Mount Carmel. “You see, -Longinus,” he said, turning to face his companion, “we have so little -information on which to base an opinion. If there is such a god—if there -is, remember—how can we even comprehend his nature, what he is like, -unless?...” He paused and looked back to the sea. - -“Unless?” - -“Unless someone reveals him to us, interprets him to men, shows his -works and thoughts....” - -“The Jewish Messiah, eh? The carpenter who is about to overthrow Rome?” - -“I don’t think he’s ever indicated that he was seeking to overthrow -Rome. I think that idea has come down from the old Jewish prophets, who -foresaw a great political and military savior of their land. Several -times I’ve been in the crowds listening to him talking, and so far as I -could tell, he was only trying to explain to the people the nature of -this god whom he refers to as his father. He was attempting to interpret -this Yahweh to them sometimes even to the extent of utilizing some of -this father god’s power. That’s apparently what he did when he restored -Chuza’s son.” - -“You mean he was clever enough to figure out when nature would do the -restoring. But we won’t go into that again.” Longinus twisted around in -the boat and stood up. “No, my friend, I insist that your reasoning is -not sound, that you have been overcome by this eastern mysticism which -seems to fill the very air out here.” He clapped his hand on Cornelius’ -shoulder; his friend had risen with him. “Centurion, come with me to -Rome; I suspect that you need to be indoctrinated again in the ways of -modern thought.” - -“I wish I could go with you.” Cornelius stepped from the boat and kicked -the sand from his sandals. “But sometimes I wonder just what sort of -thinking could properly be termed modern.” - -They walked back to the inn to await the loading of the ship on which -Longinus would sail for the capital. No further mention was made of the -Roman gods, the Greek gods, Yahweh, or the Galilean carpenter. And early -in the forenoon the next day the vessel spread its sails for Rome. Two -hours later Cornelius and his men started on their return to Tiberias. - - - - - 26 - - -One of the household servants was waiting for Cornelius when he returned -to the garrison’s quarters at Tiberias. - -“Centurion, Lucian is desperately ill,” he reported. “In the last few -days he has developed a palsy. Your wife bade me tell you that she fears -him near death. You must come back with me, sir; she’s greatly -frightened and in much distress about the boy.” - -“But the physicians? Haven’t they been able to help him?” - -The man shook his head. “She has had them all with him, sir, all she -could find in this region, and they have done what they could; but the -paralysis has spread, and his fever does not abate. All their efforts -have been useless. She prays that you hurry, sir.” - -As fast as their horses could take them the two raced toward Capernaum. -When Cornelius entered the house, his wife rushed to him and fell into -his arms. “Oh, I thought you would never get here,” she cried. “Lucian -is near death, I know; I don’t see how he can live much longer. And the -physicians have despaired of saving him.” - -“But there must be something we can do,” he said, as he turned toward -the sick boy’s chamber. “Are there no other physicians we could call?” - -“None,” she said. “And the paralysis seems to be growing worse. He is -deathly ill, Cornelius. Oh, by all the gods, if there were -something....” - -“‘By all the gods.’ The carpenter! Didn’t he restore Chuza’s son? And -though Lucian is a slave, isn’t he just as much a son to us? Wouldn’t -the carpenter just as willingly restore a slave boy, even of a Roman -soldier?” He had said the words aloud, but they had been addressed more -to himself than to his wife. - -He turned smiling, to face her. “Do you remember how that young -carpenter of Nazareth healed the son of Herod’s chamberlain? Don’t you -think...?” - -“But he’s a Jew, Cornelius, and we are Romans.” - -“No matter.” He turned to the servant who had gone to Tiberias in search -of him. “Get me a fresh horse, and quickly!” he ordered. “I’m going out -to find that carpenter!” - -A few minutes later he stopped to inquire of a shopkeeper if the man had -seen the young Nazarene rabbi. “Has he been around today?” Cornelius -asked. “Can you tell me how to find him?” - -“He passed here this morning,” the shopkeeper answered, “with Simon and -the Zebedees and some of those others who are usually with him. They -went out the gate in the western wall, and judging by the poor trade -I’ve had all day, the whole city’s gone out after them. I hear the -carpenter’s been speaking to them from the side of that little mountain -over there.” With his head he motioned toward the west. “In all -likelihood you’ll find him there, soldier.” Suddenly his face fell; his -hands shook as he grasped his scraggly beard. “Now wait a minute,” he -sputtered, “this fellow, this Nazarene, he hasn’t run afoul of you -Romans, has he?” - -“No. No, indeed. It’s on a personal mission that I seek him.” Cornelius -smiled reassuringly. “I’m his friend.” - -The shopkeeper looked relieved. “Then if you station yourself at the -western gate, you’ll surely see him as he returns to the city. Or you -might ride out toward the mountain, soldier.” - -Cornelius rode on through the gate. He was halfway to the little -eminence in the plain west of the city when he began to meet the throng -returning. Soon he spotted the rabbi walking in the company of the -Capernaum fishermen. Boldly he rode up to them and dismounted. - -The men with Jesus formed a circle about him. - -“I am unarmed, and I intend no one harm,” Cornelius said, holding out -his hands. “I am seeking the rabbi of Nazareth.” - -Jesus stepped forward and held up his staff in salute. His brown eyes -were warmly bright. Cornelius, closer to him than he had ever been -before, saw sparkling in the beads of perspiration rolling down his -bronzed smooth forehead the long rays of the setting sun. He saw them, -too, in the beads clinging to the thick mat of reddish-brown hair on the -carpenter’s chest, for in the sultry stillness of the dying day, Jesus -had thrown open his robe half way to his rope-belted waist. - -“What would you have of me, my brother?” he asked the centurion. - -“Sir, I pray you to restore my little servant boy whom I greatly love; I -fear he is near death of a palsy. If, sir, you would but say the -word....” He paused, suddenly hesitant. - -The rabbi reached out and with strong brown fingers grasped the -centurion’s arm. “I will go with you and restore the boy,” he said -gently. “Show me to your house.” - -“But, sir, I am a Roman soldier”—a feeling of embarrassment, deep -humility, strange to the centurion, possessed him as he looked into the -face of the young rabbi—“and unworthy that you should enter my house. -But if you would only command that my little servant boy be healed, -while we stand here, sir, then I know that he would be restored to -health.” He smiled, weakly, he thought. “You see, sir, I understand -authority, for I am a centurion and when I give a command, it is -obeyed.” - -For an instant the rabbi said nothing, but his warm eyes lighted with a -rapture plain to see. He turned to his friends. “Nowhere in Israel have -I seen such faith. I tell you that many will come from the east and the -west and with our fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob sit down in the -Kingdom of Heaven. But many of the chosen likewise will be cast out, and -there will be great wailing and mourning, for their faith shall not be -as the faith of this Roman.” - -Then he turned again to confront the centurion, and Cornelius saw that -his face was radiant. “You may go on your way, my brother,” he said. “As -you have believed that it might be done, so has it been accomplished. -Return in peace to the little boy.” - -“Oh, sir....” But the centurion’s eyes were blinded with tears, and he -bowed his head, and no words would come. Then he felt a warm hand on his -shoulder and strong fingers once more gently squeezing his arm, then the -fingers released it. When after a moment he looked up, Cornelius saw -that the Nazarene and his friends had resumed walking toward the city -gate. In that same instant Jesus turned and looked over his shoulder, -his face still alight with a glowing happiness, and raised his hand high -in a parting salute. Then he quickly turned eastward again, and the -little group disappeared around the bend. - -Cornelius stood unmoving, his left hand still clutching the bridle rein, -and then he mounted and rode toward the western gate. A few paces ahead -he went around the bend and shortly passed the rabbi and his friends, -who had overtaken several men who evidently had been out with them at -the mountainside; Jesus smiled and once more lifted his hand in friendly -greeting. - -The centurion, reaching the gate, rode through it and toward the center -of the city, where he turned left and followed a cavernous road to the -gate in the southern wall. He was in no hurry as his horse picked its -way along the cobblestones and out upon the coast road southward. His -fright, his sudden hysteria had gone; it had vanished completely as he -had looked into the eyes of the young rabbi. Cornelius knew that Lucian -would be well; not the shadow of a doubt darkened his thoughts. - -When he reached home and turned into his courtyard, a servant came -running to take his horse. “Lucian, sir, is well again!” the man -declared, almost breathless with the excitement of being the first to -give his master the thrilling news. - -“Yes, I know it.” Cornelius smiled. - -“But, sir, it was only an hour ago that....” - -“A man over at Capernaum told me then,” he said and strode toward the -house as the servant, mouth open, stared after him. - -As he stepped inside from the courtyard, his wife, who had heard him -ride in from the roadway, rushed to him and flung her aims about his -waist. “Oh, Cornelius, Lucian has been restored! Not only has his fever -gone, but so has the paralysis. He can use his arms and hands, and he -can walk as though nothing had ever been wrong with his legs!” - -She stood back from him, her eyes wet with the sudden surging of her -emotion. “Isn’t it wonderful, Cornelius! And it happened so quickly, -too; he was low, Cornelius, desperately sick, much sicker than when you -left, I’m sure, and the fever was consuming him. I had turned aside from -his bed a moment to wet a cloth to spread on his forehead; then, as I -wrung it out and turned back to him, suddenly he sat up. I caught him -under his arms and discovered that he was no longer feverish; in a -moment he was talking and using his hands, and then quickly he stood up -and walked toward the table where I had set the pitcher of cool water. -‘I’m so thirsty,’ he said, grinning at me, ‘and hungry, too.’” - -“Yes, I knew about it. It happened about an hour ago. Where is Lucian -now?” - -“He went out to the stables. He wanted to see his horse; he hadn’t....” -Abruptly she broke off and stared at her husband, incredulous. -“Cornelius, how did you know when it happened? Did one of the servants -tell...?” - -“Yes, when I rode in a moment ago. But I knew when it happened.” - -“But how, Cornelius?” Her amazement was evident. - -“Have you forgotten that I went in search of the carpenter of Nazareth? -Well, an hour ago I came upon him beyond the western gate of Capernaum. -I implored him to heal Lucian, and he did. He told me so. And I knew he -had; I had not the slightest doubt. Nor am I in the least surprised to -find him well.” His serious expression relaxed into a warm smile. “Did -you feed the young imp?” - -“Yes. And he was famished. Literally, Cornelius, the boy ate like a -horse.” - -“Well, he hadn’t had anything in days; he was bound to be empty.” - -“But, Cornelius, this carpenter from Nazareth....” She paused, her -forehead furrowed in perplexity. - -“Yes,” he said, not waiting for her to finish her question, “and, by all -the gods, I’d like to see Longinus try to explain this one away!” - - - - - Rome - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 27 - - -When the vessel eased in to dock just below the Sublicious Bridge, -almost at the spot from which the “Palmyra” had started its voyage, -Longinus went ashore. Quickly he engaged a loitering freed slave to help -with his luggage. He had brought little from Phoenicia, only his -clothing and a few small presents for his mother, principally some -choice pieces of glass, and the package he was delivering to Sejanus. - -“I’ll carry this,” he said to the fellow; “it’s glass and fragile.” He -picked up the bundle, heavily wrapped. “And I’ll take this spare toga, -too. You can carry the remainder. I don’t want any sedan chair; I’d -rather walk. I want to get my land legs back.” - -The toga had been wrapped about the money packet, which Longinus had -kept securely under his arm as he descended from the ship. But it was an -innocent looking bundle and only its weight would have excited a -bearer’s suspicion. Longinus had determined not to let it get out of his -possession until he had locked it in his father’s safe to await its -delivery to the Prefect. - -They walked from the pier along the way that went eastward from the -bridge into the dense, traffic-jammed heart of the city. At the foot of -Palatine Hill they turned left and walked northward past the western -front of the Imperial Palace. Glancing over his shoulder as they reached -the northwest corner of the sprawling great structure, Longinus had a -glimpse of the wing that had been Claudia’s apartment; once again he -picked out the bedroom window through which that morning he had heard -the rising bugle at Castra Praetoria. - -“I wonder....” - -“Sir, did you say something?” His helper, trudging behind, paused. - -“No.” Longinus turned to face him. “I was just thinking, talking to -myself.” - -All the way from the dock area Longinus had been retracing the route he -had come with his century from Castra Praetoria the day they sailed for -Palestine. But a hundred paces farther on, instead of continuing past -the Forum of Augustus on their left, he turned abruptly westward. “I -want to walk through the Forum Romanum,” he explained. “It’s been a long -time since I’ve been there. I’ve lost touch with Rome. What’s been -happening lately?” - -“Very little, sir, as far as I’ve seen.” The fellow shook his head -resignedly. “No triumphs, as I recall, no big ones anyway, and precious -few games.” - -“Why haven’t there been more?” - -“Oh, I don’t know, sir. They say the Emperor gets no enjoyment out of -such things, and he’s not here in Rome most of the time anyway, and I -hear it told that the Prefect doesn’t want to spend the money....” - -“They do say that?” - -“Now, sir, I have heard such talk. Understand, I don’t know anything -about it; I don’t know anything about them, the Emperor and the Prefect. -Not a thing. I don’t even know whether I’d recognize either one of them -if he came right up to us now.” The fellow’s fear that he had spoken too -boldly was obvious. “All I ever get done, sir, is work; I have to -struggle hard to make a living. Seems that it’s just like it’s always -been in Rome, the way I see it, which is that the rich get richer and -the poor get poorer.” He grinned good-naturedly. “I’m meaning no offense -to you, Centurion; likely you’re one of the rich ones.” - -“I understand, and I suspect it’s a sound observation, that the rich do -get richer and the poor get poorer, I mean. But it’s not true of Rome -alone; it’s that way everywhere, isn’t it, throughout the world?” - -“I couldn’t say as to that, sir. Rome’s pretty much my world.” - -Rome was his world, too, Longinus told himself a moment later as the two -were propelled suddenly from the shaded cavern of the cobblestoned -narrow street into the widened stir and commotion of a veritable forest -of marbled columns and statuary. - -The centurion’s heart lifted as he strode once more into the Forum -Romanum, that busy, marble-crowded flat between the Tiber’s westward -bend and the mansion-crowned hills. He took a deep breath, and his chest -swelled. - -_... This is the veritable beating, pulsing heart of Rome, and Rome is -the world. Here is reality. Here are solidity, strength, planning made -real, dreams hewn in enduring stone. Here are wealth, accomplishment, -power, might. Not twenty paces across there is the Millenarium Aureum, -the resplendent bronze column set up to mark the center of the Roman -world, the point from which miles are counted along the highways and -their joining sea lanes stretching to the ends of the known earth to -bind Rome into one colossal, unconquerable, enduring Empire!..._ - -They paused to catch their breath. Longinus set down the glass, but he -continued to clutch the toga-wrapped packet under his arm. In another -moment they would push once more into the jostling, shoving multitude -milling through the Forum’s crossways. Suddenly the centurion remembered -Cornelius and their discussion that afternoon as the two men had sat in -the wrecked rowboat near the glassworks. He smiled grimly. - -_... But this is Rome. This is reality. This is accomplishment, -creation. I can reach out and run my hand over the stone and feel these -marbled creations of men; a thousand years from now, were I to live so -long, I could rub my hands across their imperishable cold faces. These -are tangible things, and Rome is tangible, her power, her strength, her -wealth, her dominance over the world. Cornelius may prate of his old -tutor’s preachments about the imperishability of the intangibles and the -reality of things unseen. But these statues, these temples, this -Millenarium Aureum, are tangible. Rome is carved statuary and fluted -marble magnificence; Rome is spacious mansions and marching great armies -flaunting their ensigns. Rome is poverty, too, and injustice and -ugliness at times and in places, but Rome is no pale intangibles, no -vaporous conjurations of an eastern philosopher. Rome is not even her -gods. This is Rome, this marbled splendor of the Forum; Rome is here and -now and touchable and real, and Rome, by all the gods or no gods, will -endure._ - -_... Rome is something else. Rome is strength and power and substance, -but Rome is also grace and beauty. Examine these graceful columns, these -elegant pediments. Rome is feminine, a beautiful woman. Rome, by the -great Jove, is Claudia. Indeed! What is more Rome than Claudia; what is -more Claudia than Rome? Rome is beauty and pleasure, tangible, real, to -be experienced, enjoyed._ - -_... And Rome will endure. That carpenter of Galilee, wandering up and -down the seacoast with his little band of poor working people, talking -of intangibles to illiterate fisherfolk and the dwellers in Jerusalem’s -festering Ophel, that fellow to overcome Rome! Even under the silvery -softness of a full moon beside the sea in Galilee, it was a preposterous -notion. But here in the middle of the Forum, with confirmation of Rome’s -might everywhere around...._ - -“By all the gods, Cornelius. Can’t you see?” - -The man carrying Longinus’ belongings whirled suddenly around. “I beg -your pardon, sir,” he asked, “did you command anything of me?” - -Longinus laughed. “No,” he answered. “I was just thinking aloud again. I -must be growing old.” He reached down and picked up the glassware -package. “But let’s be moving on. I’m anxious to get to my father’s -house.” He pointed the directions. “Out that way and on through the -Forum of Augustus to Via Longa. The house is on Quirinal Hill.” - - - - - 28 - - -Longinus placed the package on the desk in front of the Prefect. “Sir, -I’m delivering this to you just as I received it at the glassworks,” he -said. “I have not seen the contents; I don’t know what’s inside. The -package when it was handed to me was sealed as you see it now; the seals -have not been broken.” - -“Thank you, Centurion, for bringing it; it has been quite a -responsibility, I know.” The Prefect’s darting eyes, Longinus saw, had -examined the package already. The centurion, appraising Sejanus in the -short moment he had been in the ornate chamber, had observed no change -in the Prefect’s appearance. Judging by the man’s looks and demeanor, it -might well have been only yesterday that they had last met. The small, -cold eyes were just as carefully calculating as they had been the day -the Prefect had given Longinus his orders and sent him and Cornelius -eastward aboard the “Palmyra.” Now the eyes were disarmingly friendly. -“My purpose in having it so well sealed was not because I didn’t trust -you, Longinus, but because I wished the manager at the glassworks to -know that no one but himself could be blamed in the event that the -contents were subsequently found short. I knew that he would therefore -make sure that the packet left Phoenicia intact.” The blinking, small -eyes narrowed. “So actually, you see, it was a protection for you.” With -a flourish of the hand he motioned to the chair in front of the massive -desk. “Sit down, Centurion.” - -“Thank you, sir.” Longinus took the seat and faced the Prefect. - -Sejanus leaned forward and crossed his hands on the desk. “In all -likelihood, Centurion, you’ve been wondering why I summoned you to -Rome.” - -“I have wondered, sir.” - -“Yes, I’m sure you have. And I’m sure you’ve also guessed that I -dispatched my message to you before receiving your report.” - -“I had presumed so, sir.” - -“And right you were. Had I received the report but a few days earlier I -would not have summoned you here. But once I’d received your -communication, I had no way of countermanding my order to you so that -you would get it before sailing for Rome.” He sat back in his chair and -folded his arms across his chest; his entire attitude radiated good -humor. “But I’m glad it happened as it did, Longinus. I’d rather like to -hear in person from you concerning the situation in Palestine. It was a -good report, Centurion, and comprehensive, so far as such written -reports go. But I had the feeling in reading it that you might have had -further information to give had you been able to talk with me directly. -Perhaps discretion had cramped your writing hand.” Now his smile was -disarming. “But here, with no ears to hear us but our own, we can talk -with complete freedom. I, too, can say things that I would not dare -write.” - -The Prefect unfolded his arms and, leaning forward, drummed his fingers -on the desk. He studied the centurion briefly through narrowed eyes, -then sat back again. - -“How did you leave the Procurator, Longinus?” - -“He was quite well, sir, when I left him at Caesarea. But your message -overtook me at Tiberias, and I had then been away from Caesarea for some -time. I went on to the glassworks and sailed from Tyre, as you -suggested.” - -“Then you have seen Herod Antipas quite recently?” - -“Yes, sir. I saw the Tetrarch and Herodias and told them good-by just -before leaving Tiberias. I had escorted them to Galilee from their -landing at Caesarea.” - -“And how did the daughter of King Aretas accept Herod’s new wife?” - -“She didn’t, sir. She has left him and returned to her father. She....” - -“By winged Mercury!” Sejanus lunged forward and slammed his fist against -the desk. “Gone, you say? Fled to Aretas? By great Jupiter! But this you -did not report, Longinus!” - -“Sir, Herod didn’t know she was gone until we arrived at his capital. I -was preparing to dispatch a report to you when I received your summons, -and then I decided I would bring the report in person, instead.” He -ventured a wan smile, and the Prefect himself relaxed. - -“I understand; you did right, Centurion.” Then his countenance darkened, -and his narrow forehead wrinkled. “This is a matter of considerable -moment; I shall come back to it presently.” He shook his head. “Yes, it -could have dire repercussions. But for the moment, let us speak of more -pleasant things.” His small weasel-like face lighted with a thin but -suggestive smile. “Longinus, when did you last see Claudia? How is the -Procurator’s wife?” - -“I saw her in Tiberias the day before I left there for Phoenicia, sir. -Herodias and Herod Antipas had invited her to accompany them to Tiberias -for a visit.” - -“And Pilate didn’t object to her going up into Galilee with them ... and -you?” He licked his lips and drew them in thin lines across his teeth. - -“If he did, sir, he did not indicate anything of the sort to me.” - -“I’m sure the Procurator would do nothing that he thought might -displease the Emperor’s stepdaughter. But what he thinks, however, is a -different matter, isn’t it?” - -“I’m sure it is, sir.” Longinus expected momentarily that the Prefect -would begin plying him with intimately personal questions concerning his -relations with the Procurator’s wife, and he wondered desperately how he -should answer. But, happily, Sejanus turned away from the Procurator’s -affairs to return to a discussion of the Tetrarch’s. - -“You were saying a moment ago, Longinus”—the familiar scowl had returned -to the Prefect’s face—“that Herod’s wife has gone back to old Aretas. -Have you had any reports concerning his feelings toward Herod for the -way his daughter has been treated?” - -“He was greatly angered, according to reports coming back to Galilee, -sir.” - -Sejanus shook his head slowly. “No doubt.” He reflected a moment. “Has -there been any talk of possible reprisal?” - -“There has been some talk that Aretas might attempt to punish Herod. But -that would mean war, sir, and war with us Romans. So I feel that Aretas -would hardly be so foolhardy as to attempt to send an army against -Herod.” - -“I hardly think so, either, Centurion. But a father will sometimes do -foolish things when his daughter’s honor is at stake. If Aretas should -challenge Herod, that will mean war, and war is expensive, Longinus. The -cost in terms of both men and money is exorbitant ... and useless. War -would also mean loss of work and production and loss of revenue in -addition to the expenditure of revenue already collected.” His frown -deepened. “By the great gods, I should never have permitted Herod to -have Herodias. He has not only offended his own people; he has now set -King Aretas against him ... and us!” - -Angrily the Prefect drummed his fingers on the desk again. Then quickly -his anger seemed to disappear. He arose, and the centurion stood with -him. “But we need not anticipate events,” Sejanus said. “When you go -back to Palestine, however, I want you to make a careful investigation -of the situation. It might be well for you to contrive some reason for -visiting our fortress at Machaerus; it’s over beyond the Dead Sea on the -borders of Arabia; perhaps by going there you may learn whether Aretas -is actually planning to attack Herod.” - -“I’m familiar with the place, sir. I was there several years ago.” - -“Yes. By the way, in your report of Herod’s arrest of that desert -preacher, you indicated that he may have displeased a large number of -the Jews.” - -“I’m confident he did, sir. Many of them hold that John in the highest -regard. I think Herod made a mistake, sir, and I felt it my duty to -inform you so.” - -“But wasn’t Herod justified in believing him to be an insurrectionist?” - -“At first, sir, I confess I thought so. But Cornelius, who understands -the Jews, insisted that he was just a harmless religious fanatic, and -nothing more. Frankly I soon came to the same conclusion. The fellow is -deluded, of course, but so are most of the Jews in respect to their -foolish one-god religion; other than that, I’m convinced that he’s -entirely harmless. And he has many followers who were deeply offended -when Herod, at the insistence of Herodias, had him arrested.” - -“By the gods, that headstrong woman! She will be Herod’s ruination!” He -was thoughtfully silent. “Perhaps, Centurion, Rome might profit if I had -the man liberated. At any rate, look into the matter, and let me hear as -quickly as you can”—his scowl deepened—“if it will wait that long ... -and if Aretas isn’t precipitate in sending an army against Herod.” - -“But, sir....” - -“I haven’t told you, Longinus,” the Prefect interrupted. “You aren’t -returning at once to Palestine. Now that you’re here, I have another -mission, quite urgent, that I’m sending you on into Gaul. When you have -accomplished this—and it should require only a few months—you will go -out to the east again.” - -Sejanus pushed out his lips into a round pucker, and once more his eyes -began to catch fire and his narrow face lighted sensually. Then he -twisted his lips again into the thin semblance of a smile. “I hope, -Centurion, that you can wait that long ... before getting back to -Claudia!” Then quickly the smile was gone. “Remember, Longinus, she must -be kept away from Rome, and it will continue to be your task to keep her -happily occupied.” The lips twisted again. “That task, I should think, -will not be an unpleasant one.” - - - - - Machaerus - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 29 - - -Someone knocked on the door to Claudia’s apartment, and Tullia was sent -to answer it. She ran quickly back into the tepidarium. - -“Tertius says there’s a soldier to see you, Mistress, a centurion. He’s -waiting in the atrium.” - -“Longinus! Oh, by the Bountiful Mother!” But quickly Claudia’s elation -subsided. “He must still be in Gaul, though, according to the -information Sergius Paulus had from Rome. Still”—her face lighted—“he -might have returned early, perhaps, and caught a fast vessel to -Caesarea. Bona Dea, Tullia, help me finish dressing! The perfume, that -vial”—she pointed—“the Tyrian. And do hurry, Tullia!” - -A few minutes later she scurried breathlessly into the atrium. But the -soldier was not Longinus. The Centurion Cornelius arose and advanced to -meet her. He saw her disappointment and smiled understanding. “I’m -sorry, Claudia, but Longinus hasn’t returned to Palestine, nor have we -heard at Tiberias when he expects to arrive. I’ve come to bring you a -message from the Tetrarch Herod Antipas and the Tetrarchess.” - -“I’ll confess I was hoping Longinus had surprised me, Cornelius,” she -said, “although I’d heard that he was still in Gaul. Did you know about -his assignment out there?” - -Cornelius nodded. “Yes. But we understood it was not to be a lengthy -mission.” - -Claudia motioned to a seat; she sat down and Cornelius sat facing her. -She summoned Tertius to bring wine and wafers. “And now, Centurion,” she -said, “what is the message you fetch me from Tiberias?” - -“They are inviting you and the Procurator to go with them down to -Machaerus to spend a holiday season there. And if the Procurator’s -duties will not permit his leaving his post, the Tetrarchess hopes that -you will join them anyway, together with your servants and any guests -you may wish to bring.” - -“To Machaerus? That’s the fortress castle on the other side of the Dead -Sea, isn’t it, on the southern border of Peraea?” - -“Yes, it’s on a high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, some way south of -Mount Nebo.” - -“A wild and desolate country, isn’t it? I’ve never been there.” - -“I understand so; I’ve never been there myself. A good place, they say -in Tiberias, for the sort of holiday the Tetrarch particularly enjoys -... wild, uninhibited, like himself.” - -Claudia laughed appreciatively. “It promises to be interesting at any -rate. But”—her face clouded perceptibly—“I know that Pilate won’t go. In -the first place, he loathes Antipas—and I do, too, as a matter of -fact—and in the second place, he wouldn’t venture that far from -provincial headquarters. But he might let me go. And it would be a -change from this dreary existence.” She brightened. “When are they -planning to make this holiday excursion?” - -“As a matter of fact, they’ve probably already started. They sent me on -ahead in the hope that you might agree to join them; if you should, I’m -to escort you and your party to the Jordan, where they plan to meet us. -They were to start this morning from Tiberias. If we could leave by -tomorrow morning, we would be able to reach the Jordan at about the same -time they do. From there we would continue down the Jordan Valley to the -Dead Sea and around its eastern shore at the foot of Mount Nebo to -Machaerus.” - -“How long do they plan to be there?” - -“A week or longer, probably longer”—Cornelius smiled glumly—“if the -Tetrarch has to recover from one of his usual drunken orgies. But if you -should wish to leave earlier, I’d be glad to escort you back to -Caesarea. And we’ll see that you don’t ran afoul of Bar Abbas or any of -those other zealot cutthroats.” - -“I really would like to go, and I see no reason why I shouldn’t, even if -Pilate won’t. If I only knew that Longinus would be there.” ... She -broke off, laughing. “Cornelius, why do you suppose old Sejanus recalled -him to Rome? Do you think it was because of”—she shrugged—“well, us? And -do you suppose he’ll continue to provide assignments that will keep him -away from Palestine?” - -Cornelius shook his head. “I hardly think so, Claudia. The Prefect, in -my opinion, summoned him to Rome to inquire about the situation out -here. I think he wanted to learn about the temper of the people, how the -Jews were taking to Antipas and his new wife, and to the new Procurator; -that was one reason, I’m sure. But he was mainly interested in learning -whether the revenue was flowing into his treasury without being diverted -in part into the coffers of....” He paused. - -“Pilate and Antipas?” - -“That’s my opinion, Claudia. I don’t believe the Prefect is really -concerned with anything beyond keeping the province peacefully paying -its taxes. So I’m confident Longinus will be sent back to Palestine, -he’s the man Sejanus needs for the job he gave him ... and still needs; -he’ll be back, though I’d hesitate to predict when.” He shrugged his -shoulders. “For a soldier, I’ve been speaking very freely, and to the -wife of the Procurator, at that.” - -“And for the wife of the Procurator, so have I. But I’m not naïve enough -to think, Cornelius, that you don’t know just how little I am Pilate’s -wife. You must feel free to talk with me in complete frankness, just as -I feel free to talk that way with you. And tomorrow, by the gods, Pilate -willing or Pilate grumbling—and he won’t grumble at me, by the Great -Mother—I’ll start with you for Machaerus.” - - - - - 30 - - -The two sat in a protected spot of warming sunshine on the terrace at -Machaerus. A week ago as the caravan bringing the Tetrarch’s party had -moved down the low trough of the Jordan, the faintly greening willows -and oleanders bordering the twisting stream had hinted of spring. But -here on this desolate, upflung headland, barren and granite-capped, the -March winds were crisply chill. - -“Are you cold?” Herodias asked. “Would you like to go inside?” - -“No, it’s wonderful out here, as long as we’re sheltered from the wind. -It’s so bracing, so invigorating after all our dissipating....” - -“But, my dear, I haven’t been aware of your dissipating at Machaerus. -With Longinus not here....” - -“Pluto roast old Sejanus! But too much wine, nevertheless, and entirely -too much rich food.” Claudia looked out from beneath long eyelashes. -“After all, isn’t more indulging done in banquet halls than in -bedrooms?” - -“As far as I’m concerned, yes, certainly.” - -“But the Tetrarch is here with you, Herodias, and he appears to be in a -gay holiday mood.” - -“Here with me? Hah!” She tossed her head disdainfully. “With his women, -you mean, those dark, fat, greasy, perfume-reeking Arabian women old -Aretas gave him. And his little girls.” - -“Little girls?” - -“Yes. Hadn’t you noticed? They seem at the moment to be an important -part of the Machaerus staff. As Antipas gets more senile—and I’m sure -he’s getting that way—he tries more and more to ape the Emperor. At -least, that’s what I believe he thinks he’s doing. It’s disgusting, of -course, but I welcome being relieved of his crude attentions.” - -“But in Rome, Herodias, weren’t you eager to marry Antipas?” - -“Yes, but you know why. I wanted to marry the Tetrarch of Galilee and -Peraea so that I could make him a king and myself a queen. I sought the -office, my dear, not the man.” She pulled her lips into a determined -grim line. “And I still expect to see him on a king’s throne, with me -seated beside him. But as a man Antipas has as much attraction for me as -... as I suppose Pilate has for you.” - -Claudia laughed understanding, but made no observation. Instead, she -pointed westward. “Look how high we are here. The Dead Sea seems almost -below us, and it must be several miles away.” - -“The surface of the Dead Sea is a quarter of a mile below the surface of -the Great Sea. And we’re a half mile above the Great Sea; that would -make us, where we sit now, about four thousand feet above the Dead Sea, -wouldn’t it? Jerusalem, of course, is almost this high.” Herodias -twisted around slightly to point northwestward. “See, across there, -almost straight west of the top of the Dead Sea, that’s Jerusalem. It’s -too far away, of course, for us to distinguish any of the buildings, but -the city’s on that rise, just there. Sometimes of a late afternoon, when -the angle is just right, they say, one can see the sunlight flashing -from the golden roof of the Temple.” - -Claudia looked off to her left and settled back in her chair. “Herodias, -why did they ever build this palace in such a desolate, rockbound region -so far from everything?” - -“I asked Antipas the same question. He said it was built more as a fort -than a palace. This is near the southern boundary of the tetrarchy. Down -there”—she pointed southward above a narrow valley fast greening with -luxuriant vegetation—“beyond that stream with its banks lined with -willows is the kingdom of Aretas. The Herods originally came from that -region at the southern end of the Dead Sea, which was called Idumaea. So -this fortress up here was built as a defense post.” - -“Then Aretas isn’t far away, is he? By the way, what became of his -daughter, the woman you displaced?” - -“I don’t know, and what’s more, I don’t care!” She realized that she had -spoken petulantly. “I didn’t mean to be short, Claudia. I have no reason -to hate her, after all. And I have no idea that she or her father will -attempt reprisal against Antipas. Any attack upon him would be an attack -upon Rome, and surely they wouldn’t risk that.” - -“I think you need have no apprehensions. But, of course, I know -absolutely nothing about this King Aretas or his daughter. Generally, -though, I understand, these eastern peoples are impulsive and -vindictive.” - -“But they’re also known to be very shrewd. Surely he would know he -couldn’t defeat Rome.” - -“If he calmly considered the situation, yes.” She shrugged. “I hope so. -If Rome should be involved in war with the Arabian king, Sejanus and the -Emperor would both be infuriated, and Sejanus, I’m sure, would place the -blame for it upon Antipas ... and you.” She had been looking downward -beyond the descending outcroppings of granite and limestone and sand to -the great sluggish salt sea far below them. But now she confronted -Herodias, her countenance plainly concerned. “Herodias, if Aretas should -seek vengeance against the Tetrarch and you, what would the Israelites -do? Would they fight him? Have they become reconciled to your being -Tetrarchess? Do many of them still hold with that wild fellow we -encountered that day on the river bank?” She paused, and suddenly her -eyes were roundly questioning. “Wasn’t it to Machaerus that Antipas sent -him? By the gods, is he here now?” - -“Yes, and still a troublemaker. They say his followers have been coming -here all the time since he’s been imprisoned. Haven’t you noticed all -the Jews coming and going while we’ve been here? Look.” She indicated a -point far down the slope where the trail to Machaerus led from the road -paralleling the lakeside. “That group down there, I’d wager they’re -coming here to listen to the fellow’s haranguing. And they’ll try to see -Antipas and petition him to free the madman.” For a moment she watched -the men coming slowly up the slope. “If Antipas had done as I said and -had the man beheaded, he could have prevented all this; while that -fellow’s alive there’ll be more and more agitation against us.” She -hunched up a shoulder. “But what can one do with a person,” she said -indifferently, “who is not only fearful and woefully superstitious but -is horribly obstinate as well?” She stood up. “Excuse me, Claudia; you -stay out here and sun yourself as long as you like. But I have some -things to do before we sit down to Antipas’ birthday banquet, one of -which, no doubt”—her brittle laugh echoed across the terrace—“will be to -get him sobered sufficiently to attend it himself.” - - - - - 31 - - -The Tetrarch, mouth open, his thick lips grease-smeared and -wine-purpled, snored sonorously; his round, closely cropped head, -cradled in his hand, swayed in precarious balance on the column of his -forearm which was pressed into the heavy cushion. - -Herodias, reclining at his left, had changed position to rest her head -on her right arm and thereby avoid somewhat breathing the heavily -alcoholic exhalations of her spouse; she lay facing her daughter. - -Claudia, Herod’s guest of honor, was at his right, and next to her, as -the ranking Roman soldier at Machaerus, Herod had placed the Centurion -Cornelius. Other guests, in various stages of intoxication, sat or -reclined on their elbows or had fallen inert on their couches to the -right and left of the Tetrarch. - -The banquet had begun in the daylight of late afternoon, and by the time -the sun had dropped behind the western headlands the Tetrarch and his -guests had begun to be surfeited with the richly tempting food, the -wine, and the wildly sensual dancing of Herod’s darkly handsome Arabian -women, who, nude but for gossamer thin, gaily colored loincloths, -writhed and twisted in the open square before the tables to the -oriental, whining insistence of the strings and the maddeningly -rhythmical beat of the drums. - -But now the dancers, their copper-hued perspiring bodies shining as -though they had been rubbed with olive oil, had retired to a chamber -adjoining the banquet room. From there they could come prancing out -barefoot, with lewd twistings and contortings, at the first summons of -the musicians. Until Antipas should arouse from his stupor, though, and -call for them, they would be free to relax. - -Cornelius, who had been eying the Tetrarch, nodded in his direction. “If -we could get his head down flat,” he said to Claudia, “he’d be asleep -until morning, and we could leave. Wouldn’t you like to get away?” - -“Yes. I’m gorged. And I’d like to have a breath of fresh air on the -terrace. Perhaps Herodias would excuse us. I had no idea that -Antipas....” - -But at that instant the Tetrarch’s head slipped from its cradling hand, -and he fell face downward upon the cushion. The sudden drop awakened -him, and he twisted his legs around heavily and sat up. The leader of -the musicians, seeing him, signaled his men to begin playing and -motioned to the dancers to return. - -“No! No!” shouted the Tetrarch. “We have had enough of their dancing! -But now, my friends”—Antipas faced right and left to look along the -couches, as his guests began to sit up—“I shall provide you with more -novel entertainment.” He paused and reached for his wine goblet. “I ask -your pardon for having gone to sleep, although I’m sure a number of you -did likewise. During our stay at Machaerus I have been overindulging in -food and wine and, for a man of my age, certainly, other more strenuous -pleasures.” He ran his thick tongue over his greasy lips and smiled -lewdly. “But now”—he signaled two of the guards standing at the doorway -opening upon the terrace—“go into the dungeon and fetch to our birthday -feast the Wilderness prophet.” - -Herodias whirled about to confront him, her countenance betraying both -anger and amazement. “Why should the Tetrarch bring that depraved madman -here to insult his guests, his wife, and himself? Has the Tetrarch -permitted too much wine and too many women...?” - -“Patience, my dear! And be calm. I am not having him brought before us -to insult us. On the contrary, he will ask our pardon for his -intemperate words, and we shall release him.” - -“Release him! By all the gods, can the Tetrarch be speaking seriously? -Does he for one moment contemplate giving this notorious insurrectionist -his freedom to resume his agitating against us, against Rome...?” - -“But, my dear Tetrarchess, Rome, as represented by the Centurion -Cornelius,” he interrupted, as he glanced toward the centurion and then -turned his head the other way to address his wife, “thinks that -releasing this man will be not only an evidence of the Tetrarch’s -magnanimity but also a politic act greatly pleasing to a countless -number of our Jewish brothers. It was he who suggested....” - -“But are not you Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea? Was it not your wife -and you, not the centurion, whom this revolutionary castigated so -bitterly? And has he not sought to inflame the people even against -Rome?” - -Claudia had turned to confront Cornelius; she said nothing, but her eyes -were sharply questioning. He bent forward and spoke quietly, so that -none of the others would hear. - -“I did suggest that it would be a good idea—especially in so far as -Sejanus is concerned—for him to free the man, since it would please the -Jews and the man is plainly no insurrectionist against Rome. But I -didn’t know he meant to have the fellow brought before us. The man -should have been freed quietly, with no fanfare.” - -“Frankly, I think he would have done better,” Claudia whispered to -Cornelius, “to have had the fellow beheaded, but quietly.” She leaned -nearer the centurion. “Antipas craves attention; he tries to be -dramatic. He’s always....” - -But suddenly she stopped, for the guards, flanking the manacled -prisoner, were entering the great hall. They escorted John into the open -square before the Tetrarch’s table. - -“Unbind him,” the Tetrarch commanded, “and step back from him.” - -In an instant the guards had removed the shackles about the prophet’s -wrists and retreated to their former places at the doorway. - -Though not all the Tetrarch’s guests had completely sobered, every eye -was on the Wilderness preacher. In the months he had been imprisoned in -the Machaerus dungeon, John had lost the leathery deep burn of the -desert, but otherwise he was little changed. He was tall and erect and -perhaps even more gaunt than he had appeared to be the day Antipas had -ordered his arrest; his coarse brown robe, belted with a woven rope at -the waist, hung loosely about him. But his eyes still blazed with the -zealot’s fire as, relaxed and silent, he stood calmly facing the -Tetrarch. - -“You are the Prophet John of the Wilderness and the Jordan Valley?” -Antipas asked, his tone and manner almost friendly. - -“Have I been so long in your dungeon, O Tetrarch, that you can’t be sure -you know me?” - -The question and the tone in which it was framed were sarcastic, even -patronizing, but the Tetrarch appeared to take no offense. - -“It was an idle query, and you have been a long time in prison. Perhaps -your intemperate words to the Tetrarch and the Tetrarchess have been -sufficiently punished.” Antipas smiled blandly and rubbed his fat hands -together. “Our banqueting this day is an occasion of joy and merriment; -it is our birthday and to mark it further the Tetrarch is happy to -demonstrate before these our honored guests, including even the wife of -the great Procurator Pontius Pilate”—he bowed toward Claudia, who had -been listening avidly—“and our honored Centurion Cornelius, his softness -of heart toward his subjects. Today a group of the prophet’s -followers”—now he bowed toward John—“has petitioned the Tetrarch to -liberate him. These men assured us that you”—he spoke directly to the -gaunt preacher—“have never had any thought of insurrection against the -government of Rome or the Tetrarch but that you were concerned only with -the promulgation of our true religion. I agreed I would grant their -petition. Now as soon as you satisfy me that you will cause us no -further trouble and express your regret for the intemperate and -malicious words with which you castigated the Tetrarch and his beloved -Tetrarchess, as soon as you assure us that you have repented of your -evil words....” - -“Repented!” John’s eyes blazed. “I have nothing for which to repent to -you, O Tetrarch! My repentance is to the God of Israel against whom I -have sinned and continue to sin. But I have done you no evil. I call -upon you to repent, O you of evil and lustful heart, you robber of your -brother’s bed!” The prophet lifted himself upon his sandaled toes and -pointed with lean forearm straight upward toward the ceiling dome. -“Repent! Repent! Repent, for your days are numbered! The Messiah of God, -Him of Whom I spoke in the Wilderness and along the Jordan lowlands, had -come! Even now He walks up and down Galilee preaching of the coming of -the Kingdom and bringing blessed salvation to those whose ears are bent -to hear Him. The time of repentance, O Tetrarch, is now!” He lowered his -gaunt arm, and the robe fell about it, and he swept it in an arc in the -faces of the diners on the square of couches. “Repent! Repent! Cast away -your sins and be cleansed, and be baptized!” - -Suddenly the preacher paused, and his blazing eyes settled upon the -Tetrarchess. He thrust out his arm and held it before the startled -woman’s face. “And you, repent, you evil woman, you deserter of your -lawful bed, return to your husband, forswear your adulterous -cohabiting....” - -“Hold your tongue!” Herodias, eyes flashing her uncontrollable rage, her -cheeks flaming, had sprung to her feet. She leaned across the -food-covered, disordered table. “By all the gods, O Tetrarch”—she turned -to grasp her husband’s shoulder as he sat upright on the couch—“I will -hear no more of this evil madman’s prattle. Send him away—have him shot -with arrows, or order him beheaded, or throw him again into the -dungeon—by the great Jove, I don’t care what you do with him, but I will -not remain here with him and be further insulted!” She shook his -shoulder furiously. “Do you understand, Antipas? Do you understand, by -the Great Mother Ceres?” - -The Tetrarch stumbled to his feet, swayed, but clutched the table edge -to steady himself. “Take your seat, my dear,” he said evenly. “I -understand very well what you say. And you speak the truth.” He turned -from her to face the desert preacher. “I had meant to hand you your -freedom, Wilderness prophet; I had meant to give you into the care of -your friends who remained here tonight to take you back into Judaea. But -your vicious tirade against us forces me to change my plans for you.” He -beckoned to the two guards. “Manacle him, and return him to the -dungeon,” he commanded. - -Quickly they fettered his wrists and, grasping him by the arms, led him -toward the door through which moments ago they had brought him into the -chamber. John walked silently, head erect and unafraid. But as they were -about to go out through the doorway, he jerked his arms free, and -whirled about to face the Tetrarch and his guests. Raising the manacled -hands, he pointed toward the Tetrarch. “Repent, adulterer!” His blazing -eyes sought the still incensed Herodias. “And you, whore of Rome, get -you back to your Babylon!” - -The guards jerked their prisoner through the doorway, and the door -closed heavily behind them. The banqueters, silenced by the bitter -exchange between Herodias and the prophet, listened to the retreating -footsteps of the three along the corridor. - -“The fellow’s a fool,” Claudia observed in a low aside to Cornelius, -“but he does have courage.” - -“Yes, he must believe that he’s serving his Yahweh and Yahweh’s -Messiah,” the centurion agreed; “that faith must be the source of his -courage.” - -“Amazing. I cannot understand how these Jews can be so swayed by such -silly superstition. I do wonder what Antipas will do with him; Herodias, -if she could, would have his head off in a minute. And so would I, if he -had talked to me as he did to her.” She tossed her head and smiled -indifferently. “But why should I be concerned about this Jewish fanatic? -I don’t care one green Campanian fig what happens to him.” - -As she reached for her wine goblet, which a servant had refilled, -Antipas set his down and stood up. The servant hastened to fill the -Tetrarch’s. Antipas licked his thick lips. “By the beard of the High -Priest,” he said, “I really intended to liberate the prophet. His -imprisonment is on his own head.” He clutched the table’s edge to steady -himself again. Then he grasped his wine goblet and drained it in one -gulp. The servant raced around the table to refill the empty glass. -Antipas picked it up and twirled it slowly on its slender stem, “Drink, -my friends! Let us dispel this sudden gloom. Isn’t this the Tetrarch’s -birthday? Drink! Drink!” He downed the wine as his guests, lifting their -goblets, drank to their host. Antipas clapped his hands. “And now, music -and the dancing women!” - -The leader signaled to his men, and the musicians began their lively -playing, as the Arabian dancers came scampering again into the hollow -square before the tables. Antipas sat down, rested his head on the palm -of his left hand, and with his right reached for the glass. - -“Soon now he’ll be very drunk, and we can escape,” Cornelius whispered -to Claudia. “He’s still afraid of the Wilderness preacher, and he will -try to drown his fears in wine.” - -“But he just ordered the fellow back to the dungeon.” - -“He also fears Herodias. He’ll free John, though, as soon as he can do -so without his wife’s knowing about it.” - -The tempo of the music was increasing, and the women, refreshed by the -long intermission they had been having and the food and wine they had -been served, were fast approaching a frenzy of abandon in their wild -convolutions and sensual writhings. For a few moments the jaded -Tetrarch, watching the brazenly lewd gyrations of the dancing women, -appeared to be gaining renewed stimulation. But quickly his interest -faded; he sat up on his couch and straightened himself. “Hold!” he -commanded, waving his hand aloft. “Enough of this. We are surfeited on -dark women.” - -The music stopped. “Let them go,” said Antipas, nodding toward the -leader of the musicians. The man bowed to the Tetrarch and, turning, -waved his dismissal to the dancers, who went tripping out. Once again -the great triclinium was as still and the guests as suddenly silent as -they had been at the dramatic entrance of the gaunt prophet. - -Now the Tetrarch, beaming, looked to his left beyond his Tetrarchess. -“It is our wish that our beloved daughter Salome honor our birthday by -dancing for the Tetrarch and his guests,” he declared in honeyed tones. -“Will you not dance for us, my dear child?” - -Cornelius leaned forward to watch Herodias’ daughter. Salome seemed -amazed at her stepfather’s request. “But, Sire,” she ventured to -protest, as she turned on her couch to face the unctuously smiling -Tetrarch, “doesn’t my dear father know that I am not a dancer? Surely he -prefers the dancing of women trained in the art.” She shook her head -firmly. “Sire, I would not wish to display before this company just how -poorly....” - -“Oh come now, my child, your dancing will delight the Tetrarch and his -guests. Do not let maidenly modesty deny us the pleasure of seeing you -perform.” The Tetrarch’s eyes were beginning to flame. “We would delight -in your dancing, my dear. After all that dark flesh, a flashing before -us of firm, white, youthful....” - -“But Salome, the Tetrarch well knows, is not accustomed to dancing -before companies such as this.” Herodias, her eyes challenging, caught -her husband’s arm in protest. “And has not the Tetrarch seen enough -already of both white and dark female flesh? Is he not surfeited with -women? Why should he wish to see a child...?” - -“I wish to see her dance, my dear Tetrarchess. I have never seen her -dance. And is this not my birthday? Shouldn’t one be indulged on his -birthday?” He leaned past his wife to plead again with Salome. “Won’t -you, my dear Salome, dance just this once, to please and flatter your -doting father?” - -Claudia leaned close to Cornelius. “I don’t believe ‘doting’ is the -word,” she whispered; “I’d say ‘drooling’ is more like it.” - -Antipas was still pleading with the girl. “If you will but dance this -once for us, Salome, my child,” he said, his voice soft and sugared, his -round face disarmingly friendly, “I will grant any request you make of -me.” - -“If I could dance well, Sire, I would be happy to dance for the -Tetrarch, but I am not skilled in that art, nor do I have the mature -charms of the Arabian women nor the....” - -“But you have the tender charms, my dear Salome, the virginal charms of -the bud about to open to full flowering. And I am satiated with these -wide-open flowers ready to shatter.” He stood up and braced himself -against the table, then turned toward her with renewed pleading. “Dance -for us, my dear. Dance for us, and I will reward you what you will, I -swear by the High Priest’s beard, even to the half of our tetrarchy!” - -“But, Sire, even were I able to please the Tetrarch with my poor -efforts, I am not suitably dressed....” The girl paused, for her mother -had leaned over to whisper in her ear. She listened, solemn-faced, and -then, suddenly smiling, she turned back to address the Tetrarch. “Sire, -if the Tetrarch would not unmercifully censure my stumbling attempts, -and”—she hesitated, and her smile was demure—“does the Tetrarch really -intend seriously to grant any request I might make of him?” - -“I’ve never been more serious in my life, my dear child. I fully intend -to keep my promise. Anything you want, a marble palace, a pleasure barge -to rival Cleopatra’s, gold, precious gems, silks from the Orient, -anything; it is yours but for you to name it ... after you have danced -for the Tetrarch and his guests.” - -“Very well, Sire.” The girl stood up. “I shall do my best to please the -Tetrarch and his guests on his birthday. But, first, I must change my -costume.” Herodias arose unsteadily to stand beside her. “Mother will -help me dress.” - -Claudia leaned to her right to whisper to Cornelius. The Tetrarch, -absorbed in watching his wife and stepdaughter, would hardly have heard -her had she spoken aloud. “It’s Herodias who’s told her to dance for -him. She’s got some sort of scheme in mind, and I’m sure it hinges on -that request. I wonder what it will be....” - -Cornelius nodded. “Something, I would say, that bodes the Tetrarch no -good. I’ll be interested myself to see what Salome will ask.” - -A few minutes later Herodias reappeared in the doorway. She signaled to -the leader of the musicians, and he went over to her; she talked with -him a moment, and then, as he rejoined his group, she made her way -around the couches to resume her place beside the Tetrarch. Immediately -the leader raised his hand, and the musicians began to play. - -“By the great Jove!” Cornelius, who had turned momentarily to reply to -something Claudia had said, glanced back toward the doorway through -which the Tetrarchess had returned. At his murmured exclamation Claudia -looked in the same direction. - -“By Bona Dea! what a transformation!” she exclaimed. - -Salome was standing just inside the doorway. When she had left the -chamber a few minutes ago she had been wearing a shimmering white silken -stola, held at the waist by a wide girdle of interlaced narrow strips of -green and gold, and golden sandals. Her raven-black hair had been combed -back from a part in the center and bound in a loose knot at the back of -her neck where it was held neatly in place by a net. Her hair, like her -mother’s and Claudia’s, had been arranged in the style currently popular -among Roman women of the equestrian class. - -But now the girl, immobile and statuesque, stood stripped of every -garment she had worn in leaving the chamber. At first glance the -centurion thought Salome had returned completely in the nude, save for -the few thin veils she had draped about her shoulders. But looking more -closely, he saw that her loins were bound, though scantily, with a -carefully folded flesh-colored veil. To the casual observer and -certainly to the aging Tetrarch, the girl appeared to be standing before -them divested of all her clothing. The brightly colored veils even -heightened the illusion. She was barefoot, and her hair, freed from the -restricting net and unbound, fell past firm, outthrust breasts almost to -her slim waist in a tumbling dark cascade of curls. Salome looked as -though, finding herself unclad, she had pushed her black tresses -suddenly through a small wispish rainbow that had settled about her -white shoulders and slipped downward to her dimpled knees. - -“Her charms seem quite mature,” Cornelius whispered to Claudia, -grinning. - -“And I suspect they’re no longer virginal,” she replied. “But, by the -gods, she must be sixteen, and”—she leaned nearer and spoke into his -ear—“whoever could imagine a Herodian virgin any older!” - -Claudia’s caution had not been necessary, for the Tetrarch’s dark eyes, -smoldering as though at any moment they might burst into flame, were -measuring and exploring and savoring the girl. Claudia, following -Cornelius’ eyes, glanced toward the entranced ruler and then, turning -back to the centurion, whispered again, “Soon he’ll be drooling. He’s -mad, stark, raving mad.” - -The music had been soft and slow, but now Salome, with a quick upward -flexing of her fingers and a nod to signal the musicians, stepped -forward a pace and with shoulders twisting and hips undulating came -slithering into the opening between the tables. - -From high on a pilaster a shaded lamp cast a circle of bright light in -the center of the hollow square. As she tripped on the balls of her bare -feet, Salome held the sheer veils lightly to her white body, arms -crossed over her breasts, taking care to avoid the full brightness of -the illuminated circle. Once she ventured, whirling and twisting, to -come as close to the Tetrarch as the position directly in front of -Cornelius, but then teasingly she doubled back the other way. When a -moment later she reversed her direction and came prancing between the -bright circle and the Tetrarch’s couch, Antipas lunged forward to grasp -her, but laughingly she slipped from his reach and sped away. - -“Magnificent! Wonderful!” he shouted, unabashed, as he sank again to his -couch and reached for his goblet. “My child, you restore the sap of -youth to my aging limbs!” - -At the edge of the circle and straight across it from the Tetrarch, -Salome stopped, and as the drums ceased their throbbing and the strings -subsided to a whisper, she turned deliberately to face the Tetrarch and -his guests. - -“Bountiful Ceres!” Claudia kept her voice low. “Is she going to discard -those veils?” - -But Salome, with her arms still pressed across her chest, continued to -clutch the colored gauze protectively before her. The music began to -increase in volume, and hardly discernible at first above the harmony of -the strings and the flutes, the drums added their insistent throbbing. -Now the girl in the square before the diners slowly withdrew her right -arm, which had been crossed underneath the left one, and lifted it high; -at the same time she pushed forward her left leg, so that the gossamer -veils fell to either side to expose it from toes to hip, and leaned -back; the leg, torso, and lifted arm to ringed forefinger made one -continuous straight line of vibrant, glowing, suddenly stilled flesh, -veiled but scantily by the diaphanous colored silks. - -Cornelius ventured a glance toward the Tetrarch. Antipas, upright on his -couch, was leaning forward, mouth half open, dark eyes staring -unblinking at his stepdaughter and grandniece. The centurion gently -nudged Claudia. “Any moment now,” he whispered, “he’ll be lunging over -the table again.” But his eyes darted quickly to the girl. - -Her head was back, in line with the rest of her body, and her sultry -eyes looked upward to her extended forefinger. Now it began to move, -almost imperceptibly, so that few of the Tetrarch’s guests were aware of -the beginning of its motion. But Cornelius, intrigued, saw the finger’s -movement widening and speeding; like a serpent it was coiling and -uncoiling, twisting sideways, darting, writhing, all in perfect rhythm -with the music. As he watched, the motion of the finger appeared to flow -like liquid downward to involve the hand and then the forearm. Now along -the graceful length of her slender bare arm the smooth, unknotting -muscles, rippling and twisting, seemed to have transformed it into an -oriental adder swaying and bobbing to the compelling strains of the -charmer’s flute. - -“The child’s amazing, I must agree with the Tetrarch,” Cornelius said. -“Do you suppose Herodias trained her?” He leaned forward to glance past -Antipas to the intent Tetrarchess who seemed absorbed completely in her -daughter’s performance. “What a symphony of motion and movement!” - -“And when that movement begins to gyrate in the region of the hips, -Centurion, you’ll realize Salome’s no longer a child!” - -Nor was the flowing, rhythmical motion long in attaining that region. In -synchronized rolling and lifting and falling, the right shoulder joined -the twisting, gently writhing arm, and then the rounded stomach -undulated, freed now of the teasing veils. As the tempo of the music -speeded and the volume swelled and the throb of the drums grew deeper, -the hips began their undulating motion. Grinding, thrusting, -withdrawing, thrusting, they moved faster and faster in an abandon of -voluptuous movement. Then the music slowed again and the frenzied -gyrations with it, and quickly the movement ran downward from the -stilled hips and disappeared in a restrained tapping of bare toes on the -mosaic of the triclinium’s marble floor. - -The Tetrarch’s guests, inspired by his shouted acclamations, applauded -wildly. And before they had settled to silence again, Salome dextrously -transferred to her right hand the thin veils that throughout her -dancing, even in the abandon of its most voluptuous last moments, she -had held clutched snugly against her breasts, and lifted high her left -arm as she extended her right foot. Then she began anew the routine she -had just finished; she followed it, motion for motion, until in the -midst of the most lascivious portion of the dance she suddenly turned -her back to the Tetrarch and his company, and lowering her arm, without -missing one wanton movement of her writhing, weaving hips, she thrust -her arms, shoulder high, straight out to the sides. In each hand, -completely away from her perspiration-dampened, shimmering white body, -she clutched several of the bright-hued wisps of silk. - -From where the diners sat across the bright circle from her, the girl -appeared to be entirely nude, despite the thin bit of flesh-toned silk -that bound her loins. Her curling long black hair hanging unrestrained -down her back and across her shoulders added to the illusion. - -“But, my dear daughter, don’t you know that one never turns his back -upon the Tetrarch?” Antipas shouted, as he leaned out across the table, -his black eyes bulging as though they might leap from the sockets. - -The girl’s only response was to draw in her hands slightly and then -thrust them outward again in the pantomime of unveiling herself anew as, -in an ecstasy of voluptuous simulations, she rotated her slim hips to -the mounting frenzy of the music. - -“Wonderful! Wonderful!” Antipas clapped his fat hands together. -“Marvelous, my dear child! But must you continue to give your back to -the Tetrarch? Will you continue thus to tease us?” - -Still Salome made no reply to her stepfather. But slowly, as Antipas -clutched the table edge to pull to his feet, the girl, without breaking -the rhythm of her seductive undulations, began slowly to turn herself -about, her arms still outthrust from her sides. The Tetrarch, seeing it, -let go his prop and sank heavily to the couch; once more his screamed -approval signaled the guests to new applause, as every eye in eager -anticipation followed the gracefully suggestive motions of their royal -host’s stepdaughter. - -But hardly had the girl done a quarter turn toward the diners when -suddenly she drew the gossamer scarves protectively to herself, and, -whirling the remainder of the turn to face them, paused in her dancing. -Then with head tossed back and laughing, she scampered across the -spotlighted circle almost to the Tetrarch’s table. A pace from it she -stopped, turned her head, and with a nod signaled the musicians. As they -resumed the dancing rhythm, she began again her voluptuous gyrations. - -Claudia was close enough now to Salome to see that the girl’s -half-closed eyes, peering through slits beneath the darkly shadowed -lids, were glancing from the Tetrarch to her mother beside him. Salome, -she was suddenly convinced, was performing for Antipas not out of her -own volition but through Herodias’ devising. And what, Claudia wondered -again, could the crafty Tetrarchess be planning to accomplish through -this brazen flaunting of her daughter’s physical charms. - -But the Procurator’s wife had only a moment for conjecture; Salome -suddenly ceased her rhythmical writhings and stepped forward to lean -above the Tetrarch’s still burdened table. Teasingly, and before the -musicians were aware of her changed routine, she fumbled with the veils -still held pressed against her, and as Antipas, in a new frenzy of -excitement, sought to rise from his couch, she thrust her hands apart -and then, with a high squeal of laughter, crossed them again in front of -her. In the brief moment that her youthful but fully matured bosom had -been completely exposed to them, the Tetrarch had lunged out to clutch -her, but he had shattered his wine goblet instead and the girl, -screaming with laughter, had darted backward into the illuminated circle -to evade him. - -As a servant came running up to mop the spilled wine and remove the -broken glass, Antipas settled back on his couch. “Aha! The clever little -vixen was too quick for me,” he said, turning to face his wife. “But -I’ll....” He said no more. Herodias, Claudia saw, was unsmiling, grim. -But evidently she hadn’t meant for Antipas to see her in such a mood, -for quickly she affected a cloaking smile. “By the gods,” she said to -her husband, “the child is clever, isn’t she?” - -Salome was now in the center of the bright light. The music had died -away as the leader awaited his new instructions. The girl stood quietly -facing the Tetrarch and his guests, the colored veils clutched in her -crossed hands as though she were trying to cover herself in a chilling -breeze. Then she turned her head and lifted one veil-holding hand to -signal resumption of the dance music; the musicians swung quickly into a -fast rhythm that sent Salome dipping and prancing around the lighted -circle. As she came within inches of the Tetrarch’s table, Antipas once -more lunged toward her, but she had anticipated his attempt to catch her -and had darted out of reach. Laughing, she danced to the center of the -lighted spot; soon she was whirling around on the balls of her bare -feet, and as the tempo of the drums and the strings and the brasses -increased and the volume swelled, she circled as she pirouetted. -Opposite the Centurion Cornelius she released one of the veils and it -sailed across the table to be caught by the diner at his right. - -“Another!” shouted Antipas as she whirled past his couch but safely -beyond his reach. “Another! Let another one fly!” - -She was wheeling before the diners at her mother’s left when she loosed -a second veil; a man grabbed for it and thrust it beneath his pillow. -When she had spun around to the other side of the circle she held out -her arm and a yellow one sailed above the table. A man and a woman -grabbed for the floating gossamer; he caught it but laughingly -surrendered it to her. - -“More! More!” screamed the Tetrarch, and around the square of the tables -others joined in chorus. And when the girl let two of the shimmering -scarves sail away together, they screamed again. “More! More! Let them -fly!” - -Salome, her head back, laughing, began now to tease the Tetrarch and his -guests. Whirling around the rim of the patch of light, she would sweep -one hand with its veils outward with a flourish and then, without -releasing them, fold the arm back across the other one, which all the -while she had kept pressed close to her pirouetting white body. - -“She’s an actress, the little coquette!” Cornelius observed. “She knows -how to build up suspense. She understands how to please Antipas, too; -she’s got a good sense of the dramatic.” - -“Yes, and in another moment or so, unless I’m entirely wrong about her, -her dramatics will have Antipas—and maybe you, too—groveling.” But -quickly her expression changed to one of perplexity. “Still I wonder, -Cornelius, what Herodias is scheming. Surely she’s getting no pleasure -out of seeing her daughter make a spectacle of herself in public. There -must be something behind it; yet I can’t imagine what. What on earth -could she want so badly that she would go to such great...?” - -But her question remained unfinished, for the girl had pranced, still -pirouetting, into the center of the bright spot. She paused in her -turning and with both hands clutching the remaining veils modestly -across her chest, signaled with a motion of her head to the leader of -the musicians. Immediately the volume of the music began to increase and -the tempo to speed, and Salome whirled faster and faster in time with -the music’s crescendo. As she spun on the balls of her bare feet, the -veils that had been hanging to her knees streamed out in a kaleidoscope -of whirling color. The flutes more insistently joined their whining -pleas to the deeper invitations of the harps and the dulcimers and the -rhythmical throaty demands of the drums; the girl’s black hair, standing -out from her head as she whirled, made a dark spinning disk above the -circular rainbow of the scarves. - -Now Salome lifted one arm above her head, while she held the other -protectively before her, so that the dark whirling of her hair had above -it as well as beneath it a spinning rainbow of color. - -“I think I know what she’ll do next,” Claudia said, leaning to her right -to speak to Cornelius above the steadily mounting volume and frenzy of -the music. - -Antipas, too, must have anticipated it. “The other arm!” he shouted, as -he leaned forward, his eyes blazing with lechery. “Raise the other arm, -my dear child!” - -But Salome did not obey the Tetrarch. Instead, as she came pirouetting -nearer him, she lowered the arm she had just raised, and the two -whirling circles of color merged into one fast, revolving gossamer -flame. Faster the girl spun, and faster, faster the musicians played, -and higher swelled their instruments’ invitation to abandoned revelry. - -Antipas, who had sat back when the girl failed to heed his demand, -reached for his goblet, gulped his wine, and was replacing the -slender-stemmed glass when suddenly Salome, whirling hardly two paces -from his table, lifted both arms high into the air. The transparent -veils twisted upward with them to form above the girl’s swirling black -hair a spinning canopy of weaving and shifting bright colors. - -Once more the Tetrarch overturned his goblet, and the wine spilled -across the table. But when a servant came racing to his aid, Antipas -waved him away. The Tetrarch’s amazed eyes had focused upon the dancing -girl; he would permit nothing to obstruct, even for an instant, his view -of her. - -The spinning Salome in the circle of light from the wall lamp was nude -from the small gossamer triangle of her loins’ covering to the crown of -her head, and in the rapidity of her turning she appeared to be entirely -divested of clothing. - -Antipas caught at the edge of the table and pushed himself, swaying, to -his feet. “Nearer, child, nearer!” he shrieked. “Come closer! Come -closer to us! Come....” But his frenzied words were choked in a swirling -cloud of silken transparencies, for his stepdaughter had let go all her -veils and one had dipped full into the flushed, round face of the -Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. - -As Antipas struggled to free himself of the clinging, vision-obscuring -fluff of silk, the guests around the tables grabbed merrily for the -descending veils. But by the time the Tetrarch had jerked the scarf away -from his face, Salome had already disappeared; she had darted across the -spotlighted mosaic floor into the enfolding privacy of the triclinium’s -antechamber. Behind her, her audience thundered its applause. - -Moments later, before the birthday celebrants had settled completely -from the excitement of her dramatic exit, Salome, dressed as she had -been when she left to prepare for her dance, returned to the great -chamber and took her place beside her mother. Claudia, watching -discreetly, saw the Tetrarchess lightly squeeze the girl’s hand and bend -over to whisper into her ear. - -Antipas sat up and beaming turned to face his stepdaughter. “My child, -you have pleased the Tetrarch immensely,” he said, as he rubbed his -plump hands together. “I had no idea that you could dance with such -grace and charm. Your dancing has far excelled the finest efforts of the -women of Arabia; it has added immeasurably to the pleasure of the -Tetrarch and his guests.” He reached for his goblet, swallowed the wine, -then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “And now, my dear -daughter, you have but to name your reward for thus having entertained -so pleasantly the Tetrarch and our friends. Speak out, Salome. What -shall it be? A palace of your own beside the sea? A great pleasure yacht -with servants in shining livery and galley slaves to row it? Perchance a -long visit to Rome to renew your friendships in the capital, with a -handsome allowance to cover every gift your fancy may envision? Speak -up, now. Let your wish be known, and it shall be granted.” - -“Even, Sire, to the half of your tetrarchy?” - -Antipas blinked, hesitated a moment, and then his round face brightened. -“Yes, if you ask it, even to the half of the tetrarchy, though I should -think a marble palace or a yacht....” - -“Have no fear, Sire,” Salome interrupted. “I wish not the half of your -tetrarchy or any part of it. Nor do I need or desire a marble palace or -a pleasure boat, or a trip at this time to Rome.” - -“Ah, but I know what will please you,” Antipas spoke up. “A new -wardrobe, full of beautiful garments fashioned of the finest silks -brought from the Orient or woven on the looms in Phoenicia....” - -“No, not gowns or shoes or houses or yachts or journeys to Rome or gold -and silver....” - -“But come, my dear child, you must be repaid for the pleasure you have -given us. I beg of you, name your any desire....” - -“And the Tetrarch will grant it?” Salome stood up, facing the ruler of -Galilee and Peraea, just beyond her mother. “You swear it, Sire?” - -“By the beard of the High Priest, I swear it, Salome. I shall grant -whatever you ask of me, even to the half of the tetrarchy.” - -“Then, Sire,” she said, smiling demurely, “my request is simple and will -rob the Tetrarch’s treasury of not one denarius. It is my wish”—she -paused and looked the happily smiling Antipas full in his round -face—“that the Tetrarch present to me on a silver platter the head of -the Wilderness preacher called John the Baptizer.” - -Claudia and Cornelius had been leaning out over their plates, avidly -following the conversation of the girl and her stepfather. - -“By all the gods!” Claudia whispered, without taking her eyes from the -still calmly smiling Salome. “Now I understand. Herodias, by the -Bountiful Mother....” - -But she said no more, for Antipas was pulling to his feet. “Surely, -child, I have not heard you correctly. Surely you would not wish to have -the head of a man....” - -“But you did hear correctly, Sire. And you have sworn to grant me my -wish. I ask only for the head of the Prophet John.” - -The Tetrarch, braced against the table’s edge, looked to his right and -then left along the tables. The eyes of his guests were fastened on -their plates; not one face was raised to help him. Antipas stood, -drained of all levity; the impact of the girl’s inhuman request, so -simply and heartlessly presented, had sobered him. He turned again to -Salome and tried to affect a smile. - -“Were you a man, a soldier, perhaps, seeking revenge upon an enemy ... -but for a beautiful young woman of such charm and culture, who has -danced for us so delightfully”—he shook his head sadly—“such an utterly -strange request for a beautiful woman.” He seemed to be thinking aloud, -talking more to himself than to the girl. “To want the head of a prophet -of Israel, a man held in such esteem by so many of our Jewish subjects, -a prophet who may indeed have been sent of Israel’s God....” He broke -off, shaking his head as if in deep perplexity. - -Claudia, watching Salome now, saw Herodias reach out and gently grasp -her daughter’s arm. The girl, still standing, smiled cynically and -tossed her head. “Nevertheless, Sire, that is my request. If, however, -the Tetrarch wishes to dishonor his oath before this company and refuse -me....” - -The Tetrarch banged his fist on the table top. “The Tetrarch never -dishonors an oath!” he shouted. “He withdraws no promises he makes.” He -turned to face the two guardsmen at the door, the soldiers who had -brought the Wilderness prophet into the banquet room and had escorted -him back to the dungeon. “Guardsmen, you have heard the request of the -Princess Salome. Go you now into the dungeon and carry out her request.” -He paused. They stood stiffly at attention, awaiting his final command. -“Do you understand?” - -The men glanced at one another, then faced the Tetrarch. “We understand, -Sire,” one said. - -“Then go.” - -Quickly the two strode out of the chamber; their footsteps echoed as -they marched down the hall. Antipas slumped on his couch, then lowered -his head between his hands. Salome took her seat. She smiled as she and -her mother whispered. The guests kept their places and were silent; the -servants, moving about to replenish the wine goblets, walked -noiselessly. - -“The Tetrarch is making a monstrous mistake,” Cornelius said. - -“Because he’s giving in to Herodias?” Claudia inquired. - -“Because he’s ordering the prophet’s death.” - -“Then you”—a faint smile crossed her face—“are afraid of the Jews’ one -god?” - -“I could be,” he answered unhesitatingly. “But that’s not my reason. I’m -sure it’s....” He stopped. A servant had approached the Tetrarch’s -couch. - -“The Centurion Longinus?” The Tetrarch raised his bulky frame to a -sitting position. “Indeed, bring him to us.” - -At the sound of the Tetrarch’s words, Claudia looked up; her eyes -followed the retreating servant. Antipas turned to her. “The Centurion -Longinus has just arrived at Machaerus,” he said; “I’ve sent for him. -Shall we make a place for him between you and Centurion Cornelius -perhaps, my dear?” He grinned. “He must be famished from the long -journey to this forsaken outpost.” - -A moment later the servant escorted the centurion to the Tetrarch’s -couch. Antipas greeted him cordially, presented him to the diners, and -ordered the servants to set him a place at the table. When after a -minute he was settled beside her, Claudia found his hand on the couch -and squeezed it hard. “It’s so wonderful to have you here,” she said. “I -can hardly wait to hear the news from Rome.” - -“I can hardly wait to be with you ... alone,” he said. “It’s been so -long, and I had no idea I’d find you here.” He turned to Cornelius at -his right. “I’ve got much to tell you, Centurion,” he announced, “and, -no doubt, much to hear from you too.” - -“But what on earth are you doing at Machaerus, Longinus? Where have you -been before this?” - -“Tiberias,” he answered, “I came there after landing at Caesarea. I had -orders from Sejanus to convey to the Tetrarch. When I reached Tiberias -and found that he and his guests had departed for Machaerus, I set out -to follow. It was urgent that I see the Tetrarch as quickly as possible; -I didn’t dare await his return to his palace.” - -Antipas had overheard. “We are happy that you came, Centurion, but what -mission could you have that would be so urgent?” He smiled, and his -manner was most agreeable. “A new style of glassware, perhaps, that you -wish to sell to the Tetrarch?” - -“No, Sire, nothing to sell you ... now, at any rate. It’s a more -important mission. I’m coming to you from the Prefect Sejanus who is -sending you instructions in the name of the Emperor, for whom he is -acting in this case and after conferring with Tiberius at Capri. I -assure you it is important and urgent, and I desire an audience with you -at the first moment you may be available, Sire, in order to transmit to -you the instructions from Rome.” - -“Indeed, Centurion”—the Tetrarch’s flippant manner had disappeared; his -countenance, at the centurion’s mention of Sejanus and the Emperor, was -suddenly grave—“if it is that urgent, we can leave the dining chamber at -once. But that would cause a lot of talk, I suppose. Must you confer -with me in secret, Centurion? These are all dear friends, my wife, the -Procurator’s wife, Centurion Cornelius. Is it necessary that the -information you bring me from Rome be kept from them?” - -“Indeed, no, Sire. In fact, they would know soon anyway, as quickly as -you acted. And the Prefect desires that you act immediately.” He paused. -Antipas nodded. “In fact, Sire, it is fortunate that you are here at -Machaerus; your orders can be put into effect within minutes after they -have been issued. The Prefect’s instructions to you have to do with that -strange fellow we encountered along the Jordan as we were going to -Tiberias, the one you had arrested and brought here to be imprisoned, -you remember, the Wilderness prophet called John the Baptizer.” - -“John the Baptizer!” The Tetrarch’s face had paled. Herodias, who had -been listening, leaned forward; her countenance was a mask. “But what of -John,” the Tetrarch began, “what...?” He paused, licked his dry lips, -and swallowed. - -“Sire, it’s nothing to be unduly concerned about,” Longinus replied. -“It’s only a policy matter. You know that Sejanus and Tiberius are -always stressing the importance of keeping the Jews happy, at least to -the extent that they won’t attempt to revolt. And since John is so -popular among them, the Prefect believes that your release of the -prophet will be pleasing to the Jews and will, to that extent, -strengthen Rome’s rule ... and the Tetrarch’s. There’s no point in -needlessly offending them, you see. That’s why he sent me to you with -the suggestion, Sire, that you release John at once. He has prepared -notices, to be signed by you, for posting in Tiberias, Jerusalem, -Caesarea....” - -The Tetrarch said nothing but buried his face in his hands. Herodias, -erect and unmoving, stared straight ahead. - -“But, Sire....” - -Longinus said no more, for Claudia had suddenly grasped his arm. He -turned and stared toward the doorway through which, a moment before the -centurion’s arrival, the two palace guardsmen had disappeared. Now the -two were returning. They advanced straight toward the Tetrarch. One man -was carrying, chest high and at arms’ length, a large silver tray of the -type used by servants at Machaerus for serving food. On the tray was a -rounded, gory mass. - -“But that can’t be for me, surely,” Longinus whispered to her. “It looks -like raw meat, bloody.... Great Jove!” The man bearing the tray had come -close enough for them to see his ghastly offering. “By all the great and -little gods!” He twisted to face the girl, his expression suddenly -aghast. His voice, when at last he spoke, was hoarse and unbelieving. -“The Wilderness prophet?” - -She nodded. “Yes, the Tetrarch had him beheaded ... just a moment ago, -perhaps even after you arrived here.” She turned her head to look away -from the guardsman’s horrifying burden. - -But Longinus saw. The prophet’s head, with blood dripping from the stump -of the severed neck, lay on one ear in the tangled, gore-smeared mat of -his long, black hair. His beard, too, was blood-streaked, and his face -and forehead were smeared; blood had run down into the corners of his -eyes. Wide-open and set in staring rigidity, the eyes seemed to be -trying to communicate with him. - -“Sire,” the guardsmen said, as he reached the table and held out the -profaned tray, “the Tetrarch’s orders have been carried out. The head of -the desert preacher....” - -“No! No!” screamed Antipas, as he held up his right hand before his eyes -and pointed with the other toward his wife and her daughter. “Not here! -It’s ... it’s theirs! Put it there!” - -The guardsman set the tray down in front of Salome, who glanced at it -idly and then lowered her head. Herodias stared unabashed at the pitiful -profanation before them, and then after a moment she, too, looked away. - -Now the Tetrarch lowered his shielding hand and calmly turned to his -left to face Herodias and his stepdaughter. His demeanor, Longinus saw, -was suddenly changed. When he spoke his voice was calm, modulated. “The -Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea does not dishonor a promise made,” he -said. “My daughter, you have the reward you sought. Now what will you do -with it?” - -The girl turned to stare an instant at her questioner. Then she glanced -again toward the head on the tray. Shock, nausea, sudden fear, horror -curdled her countenance, and she threw up a protecting hand to shut out -the fearful sight. “Give it to Mother!” she cried out, her voice shrill, -and tense. Jumping to her feet, she fled from the great chamber. - -“Take it away!” Herodias screamed to a servant at her elbow. “Dispose of -it ... quickly!” Without a word to her husband, she reached for her wine -goblet and drank; then she drew up her feet, smoothed the skirt of her -glistening stola, and settled herself comfortably on her elbow. - -Equally calm, Antipas leaned over to speak to Longinus. “I regret, -Centurion, that you didn’t reach Machaerus a few minutes earlier. -But....” He gestured with resignation, then sat back on his couch. He -was reaching for his wine glass when a palace servant approached, -bowing. The Tetrarch nodded to him. “Yes?” - -“Sire, a delegation has just arrived; the men declare they were sent by -King Aretas. They maintain their mission is most urgent and they -petition—indeed, Sire, they demand—that the Tetrarch give them audience -this evening.” - -“From King Aretas?” A heavy scowl darkened the Tetrarch’s full, round -face. “Most urgent, they say?” He was thoughtfully silent a moment. Then -he turned, glaring, to the obeisant servant. “Then bring them to us.” - -“But, Sire”—the bowing man was rubbing his hands together nervously, -palpably fearful—“they suggested that perhaps the Tetrarch would wish to -receive them privately in his council chamber....” - -“No! Who are they to tell the Tetrarch where he must receive them! Bring -them to us, at once!” - -“Yes, Sire. Yes, immediately.” The timorous fellow was backing away, -bowing, as he rubbed his knuckles in his palm. - -“Did you hear what the servant said?” Claudia whispered to Longinus, as -the Tetrarch twisted his heavy hulk the other way to watch the -retreating fellow. “I wonder....” - -“Yes, so do I. And I’m sure Herodias does, too.” He turned to speak to -Cornelius on his right. “You heard the servant?” Cornelius nodded. -“Sounds like more trouble for the Tetrarch, doesn’t it?” - -“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Cornelius agreed. “This seems to be a bad -night for the old fellow, a tough night, indeed.” - -The representatives of the Arabian king were formally polite, rigidly -reserved. - -“It is no pleasant mission on which we have been sent here, O Tetrarch -Herod,” the spokesman of the visiting Arabians announced, once they had -been presented to Antipas, “and we regret that we must speak as we have -been ordered to speak, Sire, and particularly that ears other than the -Tetrarch’s will hear the message we have been commanded to bring you -from His Majesty, King Aretas. But the Tetrarch has so ordered it, and -we must obey.” He paused, and from the fold of his robe pulled forth a -rolled document. - -“Go on, speak,” Antipas told him. “The Tetrarch wishes on his -birthday”—he affected a grim smile—“that nothing be withheld from his -beloved wife and his guests. The Tetrarch is prepared to hear the King’s -message.” - -The man nodded, and unrolled the document. “Sire, I have here the King’s -message to the Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. But would not the -Tetrarch prefer to have it read to him privately and then later, if the -Tetrarch might still wish it, have it read to this assembled group?” - -“Read it, now. Go on with it. Let us all hear the King’s message.” - -“Very well, Sire.” He bowed and then, shifting his position so that the -light from the wall lamps fell more directly on the parchment, held it -out from him and began to read. But when the stiffly formal greeting was -concluded, he raised his eyes questioningly. - -“Continue,” said the Tetrarch. - -The man nodded, and once more his eyes returned to the out-held -document. “‘King Aretas declares that the Tetrarch Herod Antipas in -sending his faithful wife, the King’s beloved daughter, a bill of -divorcement, after having deprived her of the honors and privileges of -the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea, which honors and privileges -without right he conferred upon her successor, has grievously injured -and insulted the King’s daughter, his royal house, and the person of the -King himself.’” - -Claudia gently squeezed Longinus’ hand beside hers on the couch, but she -dared venture no whisper. Slyly, though, they both glanced toward -Herodias who sat eying the Arabian, a malevolent, frozen smile on her -plainly flushed face. - -The reader looked up again, but only for an instant, and then resumed -his reading of the Arabian ruler’s grievances. “‘Now, therefore’”—he -cleared his throat—“‘King Aretas demands that the Tetrarch Herod Antipas -seek to make what amends he can by providing certain reparations to King -Aretas, the terms of which shall be agreed upon in conference of the -Tetrarch and his ministers with the King’s ministers who bear this -message. But King Aretas further demands that before such negotiations -are entered into, the Tetrarch Herod Antipas must put away or reduce to -second wife the woman he now calls Tetrarchess and restore to her -rightful place as Tetrarchess and first wife the King’s beloved -daughter. He further demands....’” - -“‘_He_ demands!’ Everything is ‘_He_ demands’!” Herodias had sprung to -her feet, her eyes blazing, her shaking finger extended across the table -toward the suddenly interrupted Arabian. Now she turned fiercely upon -the Tetrarch. “Didn’t you hear him, O Tetrarch? ‘_He_ demands!’ That old -goat of Arabia demands of you, Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. He -writes you an evil, insulting message abusing you and your wife, and you -sit here calmly listening while that man reads it before these your -guests and me your Tetrarchess....” - -“But, my beloved Herodias”—Antipas clutched the table’s edge as he -straggled to get to his feet—“these men are only the messengers of King -Aretas. What you hear are not this man’s words, they are the King’s.” - -“Of course I know that, Antipas; I am not entirely a fool. I know they -are the King’s words, but don’t they say that Aretas has empowered these -men to represent him in your negotiations over me? Over me, do you hear? -Negotiations designed to force me from the palace in Tiberias, to return -_her_....” - -Gently Antipas caught his wife’s arm and tried to calm her, to get her -to take her seat. “Of course not, my dear, of course you’ll not be sent -away, you’ll never be supplanted....” - -She jerked her arm free, turned upon him, eyes blazing now in utter -fury. “Then send them back to her doting old father! Send them packing, -Antipas!” She shook her finger under his nose. “Or else, by all the -great and little gods, I myself will go away!” - -Antipas faced the still shocked Arabian. “Perhaps you had best excuse -yourself,” he said evenly. “Tomorrow, in the calm of our council -chamber, we shall be able....” - -“No!” shouted Herodias. “Let them leave tonight, immediately. I can -abide their insulting presence here no longer!” - -The Tetrarch, ignoring his wife’s outburst, beckoned to a servant -hovering nearby. “Escort these men into a suitable chamber, and see that -they are adequately provided for with our best food and wine,” he -commanded, “and after they have dined, show them to their bedchambers. -They must be in need of replenishment and rest after their arduous -journey to Machaerus.” He bowed to the delegation’s leader. “We shall -defer further consideration of the matter until the morning. We are all -greatly fatigued and agitated.” - -The servant stepped forward and bowed to the visitors. They in turn, -without any further word from their spokesman, bowed to the Tetrarch and -turned with the escorting servant to withdraw from the triclinium. - -Herodias, seated now and apparently calm, twisted around to watch them -depart. But when at the doorway Aretas’ spokesman glanced over his -shoulder toward the Tetrarch, she suddenly grabbed the goblet beside her -plate. “Go!” she screamed. “Go! Go!” With all her strength she hurled -the goblet toward the man; it shattered on the wall near the door. As a -servant came running to pick up the broken bits of glass, she sank to -the couch, pulled up her sandaled feet, and, sobbing wildly, buried her -face in the pillow. - - - - - Judaea - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 32 - - -The Tetrarch’s caravan had reached the flatland where the narrow Plain -of Esdraelon pushing eastward between Mount Gilboa and Little Hermon -touched the Jordan valley. There Longinus and Claudia had taken leave of -the returning group. - -Cornelius had wanted to send a detail of guardsmen to escort them the -remainder of the way to Caesarea. “You never know when one of these -zealot gangs may come swooping down on you,” he had protested to -Longinus. “And if the Emperor’s stepdaughter should be captured, with -Senator Piso’s son, and held for ransom ... well, by Jove, Longinus, you -can imagine the uproar there’d be in Rome.” - -But Longinus had refused the offer. He had assured Cornelius that their -little party, he, Claudia, and the two servants she had brought with -her, would join the first caravan headed toward Caesarea; until one came -along they would remain at the nearby inn. - -Though the Tetrarch’s parting words had been polite, he had seemed -deeply meditative, still mired in the haze of introspection into which -the startling twist of his birthday celebration had plunged him. Nor had -the results of his meeting the next day with the representatives of King -Aretas enlivened him, for though he had yielded nothing to his former -father-in-law’s demands, he knew that the Arabians had departed in a -bitter mood that for him boded no good. That this unfortunate series of -events was known to two Roman centurions and the Procurator’s wife, and -particularly to Longinus, who had come to Machaerus on a mission from -the Prefect Sejanus whose accomplishment had been so disastrously -thwarted by the Tetrarch himself, made the situation all the more -distressing. - -Herodias, on the other hand, apparently had recovered completely from -the loss of presence suffered at the Tetrarch’s banquet. She spoke with -her usual polished ease. “Soon you must visit us again at Tiberias, my -dear,” she said to Claudia, as the Tetrarch’s caravan prepared to resume -its journey, “and bring Longinus to protect you from our plundering -zealots.” She smiled pertly. “Longinus, help her arrange it. Let’s try -to get together in Jerusalem, perhaps during the Feast of Tabernacles.” - -They had ridden at once to the inn, which sat at the edge of the road -that led from the Jordan ford straight westward past Mount Gilboa to the -Samaria highroad from Galilee. - -“We will require two rooms,” Longinus told the proprietor, a beak-nosed -Jew with an unkempt, wine-stained beard. “The manservant will wish to -sleep near the horses; if there is a place in the stables....” - -“Yes, soldier”—the innkeeper had observed immediately that his guest was -wearing a Roman military uniform—“he can bed down comfortably there. And -for you and your wife”—he paused, questioning, and Longinus nodded—“one -of the larger chambers, yes, and for the maid a smaller one, adjoining -yours, perhaps?” - -“It will not be necessary that it adjoin ours; wherever you can -conveniently place her will be satisfactory.” - -So a small room down the narrow hallway from theirs had been assigned to -Tullia, and now the maid had retired to it, and the manservant to a mat -at the stable. Claudia and Longinus had supper and, fatigued from the -journey down from Machaerus to the Jericho plain, they retired to their -chamber. - -Longinus, seated on a low stool, was unbuckling his sandals. “I do hope -a caravan for Caesarea comes along soon,” he said. “I’m anxious to get -there; I’m almost tempted to venture the journey on our own. But with so -many of those zealots in the hills....” - -“Then you have tired of me this quickly, you can’t wait to return me to -the Procurator?” she asked innocently. - -“I’m getting tired of returning you _to_ the Procurator,” he said. - -“And after every time with you I’m more loath to go back to him myself.” -The mask of innocence was gone; she was entirely serious now. “Longinus, -isn’t there something we can do, some solution? We simply can’t go on -like this indefinitely.” She had finished undressing; walking over to -the bed, she pulled down the cover, slid beneath it, and pulled it up to -her chin. “By all the gods, Longinus, there must be a better fate for -us. Surely the granddaughter of an Emperor, the stepdaughter of another -Emperor....” - -“But that’s exactly why there is a problem,” he interrupted. “If you -were just a Roman equestrian, you wouldn’t have been forced to marry -Pilate in the first place.” He kicked off one of his sandals and twisted -about to face her. “Claudia, you could slip away from him and we could -go away somewhere, but that would hardly be a solution, though for me -certainly it would be a permanent one.” He smiled vapidly. “Also you -could ask Tiberius—and that means, of course, Sejanus, too—to permit you -to divorce him; I hardly think, however, that they would allow you to do -it, and then the situation would be worse than it is now; they would -watch us all the more and doubtless send us to separate far distance -provinces, the gods only know where.” He considered a moment. “There’s -the possibility, though—probability, I hope—that Pilate will soon do -something that will so infuriate Sejanus that he will depose him as -Procurator and perhaps banish him to another remote province. Then they -might allow you to divorce him and marry me, provided we went off to -Gaul or”—he shrugged—“Britannia or Hispania or some other faraway place. -But I’m not sure of that.” He removed the other sandal and placed it -beside the first one. “That is probably our best chance, Claudia, maybe -our only one as long as Tiberius and Sejanus stay in power. But even -then I can’t proceed too fast against Pilate, because then Sejanus would -surely suspect that you and I....” - -“But doesn’t he think already that you want to marry me?” - -“At first he did, I suspect. But now I think he’s convinced that our -interest in each other is ... well, a purely physical one. And Antipas, -I’m sure, has the same notion.” - -“Certainly Antipas isn’t likely to cause us trouble. He’s in enough -trouble himself to keep occupied with his own affairs.” - -“Yes. Between Sejanus and Aretas he’s likely to be very busy for the -next few months. And that gets me back—after you started me on another -tack—to why I’m so eager to be in Caesarea. I’ve got to get off a report -to Sejanus. I want him to hear from me what happened at Machaerus before -someone else gets the chance to tell him. He may think my dallying -allowed Antipas to behead the Wilderness fellow, and also he may wonder -why I didn’t prevent the trouble between Antipas and Aretas from coming -to such an acute crisis. So I want to get my report off as quickly as -possible, do you understand?” - -“Yes, I do understand. You’re quite right, it’s very important. I -wouldn’t be surprised if Antipas got into a war with Aretas because of -Herodias. And that would bring the Roman legionaries into the fighting, -of course, and surely Pilate would be drawn in, and you.” - -“Very probably, yes. Certainly it would involve Pilate sooner or later. -And, of course, the Legate Vitellius would be implicated. Sejanus will -certainly call on him to defend Galilee should Aretas attack Antipas.” - -“Then the Tetrarch’s marrying Herodias may ruin him ... and Pilate, -too,” Claudia said thoughtfully. She lay, head back, watching him finish -his preparations for bed. - -“You sound as though you hope it will.” - -She stretched herself seductively under the light covering. “Well?” Her -quick smile revealed a suddenly changed mood. “But for tonight at least -let’s think no more of Antipas or Pilate. Tomorrow perhaps there’ll be a -caravan along, and we’ll be starting for Caesarea.” Gingerly she turned -down the covering beside her and held out white, bare arms to him. -“Hurry, Longinus,” she said softly. “The night is wasting.” - - - - - 33 - - -Well ahead of his caravan returning to the palace at Tiberias raced the -startling and, to many, the highly provocative report of the Tetrarch’s -beheading of John the Baptist in fulfillment of a rash promise made to -his wife’s dancing daughter. - -The delegation that had gone down to Machaerus to intercede for the -prophet’s release had brought back the tragic news; quickly the story -had spread to Jerusalem and to Ophel, the teeming Lower City into which -countless poor were squalidly compressed, and beyond there on past the -villages of Judaea and Samaria, all the way down into Galilee. Along the -shores of the little sea and in many a huddle of modest homes, and here -and there in the pretentious houses of the rich, Israelites were shaking -their heads sadly and muttering imprecations upon the Idumaean ruler of -Galilee and Peraea. - -With the account of the Wilderness prophet’s execution went the story, -too, of how King Aretas of Arabia had sent his couriers to Machaerus to -threaten Herod Antipas with war because of the Tetrarch’s having -divorced the King’s daughter and made her supplanter Herodias his -Tetrarchess. Soon rumors began to spread that war with Aretas was -imminent and that the Arabian ruler was likely any day to bring his army -surging across the borders of Israel to punish his former son-in-law. - -Even before the arrival at Caesarea of Claudia and Longinus, the stories -from Machaerus had reached the Procurator Pontius Pilate. Their -lateness, she explained to Pilate, had been unavoidable; they had waited -to join a caravan journeying westward rather than risk the hazards of -traveling with only two servants through a region frequented by robbers -and zealot revolutionaries. - -Pilate appeared to accept without reservation her explanation; he -indicated in no way that he might be jealous of the centurion. His -attitude exasperated Claudia all the more. - -“He can’t be that stupid,” she fumed one day to Tullia, with whom she -had long come to talk frankly and in utter confidence. “He surely knows -about Longinus and me. Yet if he’s in the least bit jealous of the -centurion, he’s careful not to let me know. It’s insulting, Tullia, his -indifference to me. It’s humiliating. Why do you suppose he acts that -way?” - -“But you are the stepdaughter of the Emperor, Mistress. What could he -do, even though he is the Procurator?” - -“He could be a man!” Claudia snapped. “He could kill Longinus, or try -to, and give me a lashing!” - -The maid shook her head. “No, Mistress, not even a Procurator would dare -lay a hand on you, or anyone for whom you held high regard.” - -“But I’m his wife, Tullia.” - -“Yes, but you are also the Emperor’s stepdaughter, Mistress.” - -Immediately upon their return to Caesarea from Machaerus, Longinus had -prepared a comprehensive report to Sejanus in which he related the -unfortunate events that had come to such a dramatic climax at the -Tetrarch’s birthday banquet. The message was dispatched to Rome on an -Alexandrian grain ship that had paused for a day in the harbor at -Caesarea. - -In the several weeks that followed he saw little of Claudia. During that -period he went on a mission for Sergius Paulus to Jerusalem and upon his -return took command while Sergius was away at Antioch in response to a -summons from the Legate Vitellius, who commanded the Roman forces in -that entire eastern region. Sergius, Longinus was sure, had been ordered -to Antioch because of the Arabian king’s threat to attack Herod Antipas. -The Legate, he reasoned, was planning to have his forces ready for -action in the event that Aretas should challenge Rome by sending his -army against the Tetrarch. The centurion presumed that Vitellius had -summoned all military leaders stationed in Galilee—and possibly even the -Tetrarch himself—to meet him at Antioch. Longinus learned that his -guesswork had been correct; the meeting had been held, and the Legate, -Sergius said, had been blunt in his conversations with the Tetrarch. - -Shortly after the Caesarea garrison commander resumed his post, a -message from Senator Piso for his son arrived. It instructed Longinus to -set out as quickly as he could for the glassworks. Production had -decreased, and the quality of the ware being manufactured was -deteriorating. Morale among the slaves, his father reported, seemed at -its lowest point. Longinus was to do whatever might be necessary to -speed up the plant’s production and improve the quality of the -glassware. The Prefect, his father added, was in complete concurrence -with these instructions. A fresh supply of slaves, said the senator, was -being sent out to Phoenicia by the Prefect; the slaves were being -shipped aboard a government trireme that was leaving Rome within a week -after the vessel bearing this letter would sail for Joppa. Longinus, the -letter suggested, might even go aboard this letter-bearing vessel when -it put in at Caesarea. - -Little had happened in Rome since his departure for Palestine, his -father reported. The Emperor was still at Capri, and Sejanus was -directing the government of the Empire. His mother sent her love; she -was quite well, though of late she had been disturbed at the -indisposition of her little Maltese dog. But the animal, thanks be to -Jove and the patient ministrations of Longinus’ mother, was now -recovered. - -“Try to achieve as quickly as possible a new production record at the -glassworks,” his father concluded. The Prefect was keeping an eye on the -figures, and it would be good business to earn the Prefect’s early -approval. “Don’t spare the slaves; they are the cheapest item in the -operational cost; replacements can be made quickly available.” - -His eyes scanned the letter, hardly seeing the words. Ever the patrician -Romans, his parents ... his mother concerned with the indisposition of -that pampered, silken-haired pet, his father thinking only of pleasing -Sejanus and building up for the Prefect and himself more millions of -sesterces. Don’t spare the slaves; the life of a slave is the cheapest -item in the production of beautiful glassware for the tables of -patrician Rome and Alexandria and Antioch and Athens. Work them until -they fall dead, and heave them into the flaming furnaces. - -Longinus thought of the old slave. What would Cornelius think of his -father’s letter, his father’s philosophy? But Cornelius’ father, too, is -of the equestrian class; perhaps he shares the views of Senator Piso. -Cornelius, of course, would disapprove. He would say that men are not -the cheapest items in the making of glassware or anything else. He would -hold with the Galilean carpenter that every man, Roman senator or Gallic -slave or black savage from Ethiopia, is a son of that jealous Yahweh of -the Jews and possessor of an immortal spirit. - -And I, suddenly thought Longinus, do I hold with my father or with -Cornelius and the Galilean? - -The day after Herod’s birthday banquet Cornelius had related to him in -dramatic detail what he contended was the Galilean’s miraculous healing -of Lucian, but Longinus had shrugged off his friend’s fervor with the -observation that once more, as in the case of Chuza’s son, the clever -carpenter from Nazareth had successfully judged the hour at which the -fever would break. - -Of course his urbane, affluent father, rather than his Jewish-influenced -friend the centurion and the Galilean mystic, was right. Even without -using a stylus and tablet one can prove that a slave is the cheapest of -the several things involved in the making of fine glassware; his -father’s statement to that effect was quickly demonstrable. And yet.... - -Longinus shrugged and put away the letter. The ship, he discovered some -moments later, would be at the Caesarea port only long enough to load -supplies and freight; it would sail for Tyre within four or five hours. - -He packed quickly and sent his bags to the dock to be put aboard. Then -he rushed to the Procurator’s Palace to tell Pilate and his wife -good-by. Happily, the Procurator had gone out. But Longinus could have -only a few minutes with Claudia. - -“I won’t be up in Phoenicia long,” he reassured her. “It shouldn’t take -many days before I get the operation of the plant reorganized. And even -before I finish the task, if I find it takes longer than I now think it -will, I may be able to board a vessel and come down here for a visit. -Claudia, why couldn’t you arrange a journey”—his tone was eager—“over to -Tiberias for another stay in the Tetrarch’s Palace? That is, if in the -meantime”—his grin lightened the tenseness of the moment—“Aretas hasn’t -driven him and Herodias away? But if they’re still around, well, then I -could just by chance select that same time to visit Cornelius.” - -When he could stay with her no longer she summoned the palace -sedan-chair bearers and rode with him down to the dock. After he had -embarked and the ship was moving across the harbor to gain the open sea -beyond the long breakwater, she stepped again into the sedan chair and -was borne to the palace. - - - - - 34 - - -But the biting, sharp winds of spring, sweeping down from the mountains -of Judah across the lower Shefelah and the region of the coast, had -subsided into the still and enervating heat of summer, and the Centurion -Longinus had not yet returned to his post. - -Nor had Claudia received any message from him. Sergius Paulus, too, had -heard nothing, as she found when on several occasions she had discreetly -inquired about the centurion. The Procurator’s wife began to wonder if -Longinus had been recalled to Rome and sent away by Sejanus on a mission -to some remote province of the Empire, perhaps even as far, the gods -forbid, as Brittania. - -Then one day in late summer Cornelius appeared at the Procurator’s -Palace. Pilate, it happened, had ridden down the coast to Joppa; Claudia -and the centurion could talk freely. Hardly were they seated on the -terrace overlooking the Great Sea when she confronted him, eyes solemnly -inquiring, her forehead wrinkled. - -“Cornelius, what can have happened to Longinus? I haven’t had a word -from him or concerning him since he left here for the glassworks so many -weeks ago. I can’t understand....” - -“You’ve no cause to be worried,” he interrupted, laughing. “He is still -at the glassworks, or at any rate he was when I was there recently. He’s -been working hard. The plant had deteriorated considerably; he said it -required more work than he had anticipated to restore its operation to -normal. He’s been hoping all along to get back to Caesarea to see you, -but he just hasn’t had the opportunity. And he thought it best not to -send any written messages; unfortunately, there’s been no one coming -this way with whom he dared entrust a spoken one ... except for me, of -course. He gave me a message for you, but I’ve been delayed getting -here. He thinks you heard from him weeks ago.” - -“And what was the message he sent?” - -“Just what I’ve told you.” He grinned. “That he was well, working hard, -and hoped he would soon be in position to return to Caesarea.” - -“That was all?” - -“Should there have been more?” His eyes were teasing. “Yes, he said to -tell you that as far as he was concerned, nothing has changed. He’s -still looking to the future. Is that the message you sought?” - -“Yes, and expected. And should you see him before I do, you may tell him -that my message to him is the same. But, Cornelius”—her expression -suddenly was earnest, almost pained—“things move so slowly; the future -seems so far ahead, and the waiting is so long.” - -“Maybe not, Claudia. Maybe just around the turn of the road you’ll....” - -“But I can see no turn.” - -“The situation out here just now is so explosive that any moment could -bring great changes,” he insisted, “and overnight the problem you and -Longinus have could be solved. Pilate and Herod both could lose their -favored positions and, conceivably, their heads. And speaking of Herod -reminds me that I was to give you another message, too.” - -“From whom, Herodias?” - -“Yes.” - -“She wants me to return with you to Tiberias?” - -“No, not that. But she does want you to meet her in Jerusalem in October -at the Feast of Tabernacles. Pilate undoubtedly will go again this year, -and Herod too; after beheading the Wilderness prophet and possibly -involving Galilee in a war with Aretas, Antipas will surely want to go -up to the Temple to worship the Jewish Yahweh; it’s the only way -left—aside from dropping Herodias—for him to strengthen himself with his -subjects.” He paused and leaned forward, smiling. “I’ll have to take my -century up to Jerusalem, Claudia, as I do on all such occasions when -multitudes of Jews assemble there, and I’ll try to bring Longinus over -to Tiberias to make the journey to Jerusalem with me. If you’ll promise -to join us there, I’m sure I can promise you I’ll have the centurion -with me when I come.” - - - - - 35 - - -Almost overnight Jerusalem had been transformed. - -Through the long drought of the summer months the ancient city had grown -more drab with the deepening of fine dust upon its houses, its public -buildings, and even upon the resplendent Temple itself. - -But now, with the coming of autumn and the annual great Feast of -Tabernacles, Jerusalem had bloomed into a veritable forest of greenery. -As far as Claudia could see from her perch high on a balcony of the -Tower of Antonia—down into the adjoining Temple area, along the terraced -rise of Mount Zion, southward to sweltering Ophel and beyond the always -smoking gehenna of Hinnom’s vale to the bluffs above it on the Bethlehem -road, and eastward past the Brook Kidron and the Garden of Gethsemane up -the slope of the Mount of Olives—stretched an almost unbroken canopy of -green boughs now beginning to wilt. Balconies, roof tops, the grounds -about the Temple walls, every unfilled small plot of the cluttered soil -of Jewry’s holy city, were covered with these improvised, temporary -dwellings. - -The Feast of Tabernacles, Tullia had explained to her mistress, was the -Hebrew festival marking the end of the harvesting season and the early -beginning of the rains. It was an occasion of national thanksgiving to -Yahweh, one that commemorated the Israelites’ years of wandering in the -desert wilderness where, after their escape from Egyptian bondage, under -the leadership of their great law-giver Moses, they had dwelt in -booths—they called them tabernacles—made of branches hastily woven -together. - -“And to this day,” Tullia had concluded, “in accordance with the -instructions in our sacred writings, every Jew during the Feast of -Tabernacles must leave his house and for eight days live in a hut made -of the branches of pine or myrtle or olive or palm.” The festival -occasion, she further pointed out, was one of rejoicing for Yahweh’s -deliverance of His children from slavery and His establishment of them -in their promised land. To honor Yahweh, the celebrants would offer -sacrifices each day and follow a prescribed order of worship and praise -and thanksgiving. These ceremonies, Tullia declared, were carried out in -great dignity and with reverence. Nothing she had ever seen in Rome, the -maid was certain, would excel them in pageantry. - -“Mistress,” she pleaded, “why don’t you move from the Palace of the -Herods for a day or two to the Procurator’s apartment in the Tower of -Antonia? From there you could look down on the ceremonial rites being -performed at the Temple, and no one would need know that you were -watching. And though it would have no interest to you as a service of -worship, it should prove entertaining in the same way that the theater -in Rome is diverting.” - -“It might be amusing at that,” Claudia had agreed. “And there’s nothing -else to do in Jerusalem anyway. But how is it, Tullia,” she asked, and -her expression clearly revealed her puzzlement, “that you know so much -about these festival customs? Even if your forebears were Jewish, you -were brought up in Rome, and surely you couldn’t have learned all this -at the synagogue on Janiculum Hill.” - -“But, Mistress, through the years I have read our sacred scriptures, and -I have heard much talk of our laws and customs. And you must know that -an Israelite, though he may never set foot in Israel, if he is a true -child of the faith, is loyal to our one God.” - -“I know little about Israelites or their Yahweh, and I care less about -either”—she smiled—“except for you, and I have never considered you a -Jew except perhaps by blood. But as for loyalty, by all the gods, little -one, I know you are loyal to me, just as your mother was to mine. All -this Yahweh and Temple business, though, confuses rather than interests -me. To me it seems the sheerest nonsense. How could any being worthy of -being called a god appreciate the sight of poor cattles’ throats being -slit; how could he enjoy the smell of warm blood and broiling fat? -Certainly it nauseates me.” - -“I have wondered that myself, Mistress,” Tullia answered. “But I believe -He is pleased because we are seeking to please Him, even though our form -of worship may not be too pleasing. Do you understand me, Mistress?” - -“Yes, but I believe still that your worship is nothing more than -superstition, just as our worship of the innumerable Roman and Greek -gods is superstition. But”—she reached over and gently pinched the slave -girl’s cheek—“I’ll do as you suggest; I’ll venture to watch the -ceremonial at the Temple, and you can tell me what they are doing.” - -So they had gone up to Antonia and from the balcony had watched the busy -movement of the priests and the assembled throngs, many of them pilgrims -returned from every province in the Empire, as these earnest Israelites -performed the traditional rites of the ancient festival of worship. On -her first morning, Claudia had arisen early and had stepped out onto the -balcony. The sun was just lifting above the Mount of Olives, but already -the Temple was astir, and pilgrims in their many colored robes were -swarming into the Court of the Gentiles, the nearer Court of the Women, -and the other more sacred precincts permitted to them. In their hands -they carried leafed branches. - -Claudia stared in rapt fascination at the spectacle below. As she leaned -out over the balcony, she scarcely heard Tullia’s footsteps approaching -behind her. - -“Good morning, Mistress.” - -“Good morning,” Claudia replied, turning to greet the girl. She pointed -downward. “You were right about this offering much in the way of -entertainment. It’s nearly as good as our Roman games.” - -Tullia laughed. “Who knows, perhaps you, too, Mistress, may become a -convert to our ways.” - -“Hardly.” Claudia shook her head with a wry smile. Then she turned and -looked thoughtfully down again at the bustling crowds in the Temple -courts. “There’s one thing in particular, you know, that I can’t -understand about the Jewish religion, little one.” The half-smile had -been replaced by a perplexed frown. “Unless I’m mistaken, the Jews -contend that their Yahweh is all-powerful, that he’s the only god there -is, and that he rules over all peoples; yet they call him the God of -Israel and seem to believe that he has no interest in anyone else. Down -there, for example”—she pointed toward the Temple—“there are signs -warning foreigners not to enter, under pain of death, certain of the -sacred places. How do the Jews explain that? It seems to me that they -make their Yahweh a sort of tribal god, one having less authority even -than our Jupiter. If Yahweh is the god of all the world, how can the -Jews claim him as exclusively theirs? And on the other hand, if he is -the god and father of all peoples, doesn’t that make all peoples -brothers?” She shrugged. “I see little sense to ... all this.” She broke -off with a quick sweep of her hand toward the procession of priests and -pilgrims moving down the slope toward the waters of Siloam. - -“They do say that such is the teaching of Jesus, that our Yahweh is the -father of all peoples, even the pagans who have never heard of Him, -that....” - -“Jesus?” - -“The Galilean. The carpenter, Mistress, of whom the Prophet John -declared himself to be the forerunner, you know. He’s been teaching down -there at the Temple; he came up from Galilee, though he wasn’t here at -the beginning of the feast, it was said. The priests are bitter toward -him, especially Annas and Caiaphas and the Temple leaders; they say he -is corrupting our religion.” - -“Hah! Annas and Caiaphas talk of corruption! I should think they -wouldn’t have the nerve. But have you seen this Galilean, little one?” - -“No, Mistress, but I should like to. They say he speaks with great charm -and clarity.” - -“By the gods, I would like to hear him myself. He’s the one, isn’t he, -who Cornelius contends healed his little servant boy? Maybe we could -prevail on him to do some other feats of magic.” - -“But his followers, so I hear, deny that he works magic. They say he -does such things of his own power and authority, as the Messiah of God.” - -“So Cornelius believes, according to Longinus; he thinks the Galilean is -a man-god and that he really healed the little boy, but Longinus wasn’t -that naïve. I wish Longinus were here to see the carpenter and hear his -discoursing; I’d like to know _his_ opinion of the man.” - -But Longinus was not in Jerusalem. Cornelius had failed in his promise -to bring the centurion to the Feast of Tabernacles. Hardly a week before -they were to leave Tiberias, Cornelius had received a message from -Longinus saying that the Prefect Sejanus had sent him instructions to -board ship at Tyre for Antioch, where he would have business with the -Legate Vitellius. What the nature of the business was, Cornelius told -Claudia, had not been revealed. Nor had Longinus indicated how long he -would be away. Had she known he would not be in the Judaean capital, -Claudia told her maid, she herself would have remained in the provincial -capital on the coast. That would have given her two weeks of freedom -from Pontius Pilate, at any rate, for Pilate, with a maniple of soldiers -and a retinue of servants, had come up with her to the festival and -would probably remain in Jerusalem until the final ceremonies were -completed and all the withered booths had been removed. - -In late afternoon the Procurator’s wife ate an early dinner, and as the -sun dropped behind the western walls, she stood again with Tullia at the -balcony’s parapet and looked down upon the animated movement within the -Temple’s courts. - -“See, Mistress!” Tullia pointed. “They all carry unlighted torches. It -will be beautiful, the illumination of the Temple. This is the great -event of the festival; it is called the ‘Joy of the Feast.’ When the sun -goes down, a watchman on the western wall of the Temple will give the -signal and the candelabra will be lighted. See how high they are, -perhaps thirty cubits. The light from them will illuminate the whole -Temple area. It will be like nothing you have seen, Mistress!” - -“Yes, Bona Dea, I agree it will be different. And in Jerusalem, Tullia, -you’re different. I do believe I’ve never before seen you so excited.” - -The service began with a great company of priests and Levites -alternating in the antiphonal chant of the Psalms and other sacred -Hebrew scriptures. Then, as the shadows lengthened and the quick murk of -descending night began to envelop the vast edifice and the thousands -massed within it, one of the priests, bearing a long lighted taper, -moved through the Court of the Priests and down the steps to the Court -of the Women. - -“Look, Mistress! See the priest carrying the lighted taper,” Tullia -said, her enthusiasm mounting. “With it he will light the great -candelabra.” - -The advancing priest paused. “Arise, shine!” his voice suddenly rang -out, “for thy Light is come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon -thee!” Deliberately, with all eyes upon him, he lighted first the -central candle in the great stand, and then as quickly as he could with -the uplifted long taper he touched the flickering flame to each of the -three on either side of the central one; when he had finished his task -before the first great candelabrum, he crossed with measured tread to -the other and lighted it. As he touched the last candle and the flame -caught, a great welling up of excited, triumphant song was lifted to the -two on the balcony above, one the pagan daughter of Roman emperors and -the other, her slave maid, daughter of ancient and buffeted Israel. - -“What does the song mean, Tullia?” Claudia asked. “It seems to have a -tone of triumph, of victory. Yet how can the people of Israel boast of -their victories, if that is what they are doing?” - -“It _is_ a song of triumph, Mistress,” she replied. “It speaks, like the -Feast of Tabernacles itself does, of the days when our fathers were led -by the God of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. The song recalls, like the -flaming candelabra, the long and wearisome journey upward into the -promised land when the pillar of cloud led by day and the pillar of fire -by night. It is more of the lore of our people. But look! The procession -of light is beginning! See the torches!” - -First came the Levites. In procession they passed the flaming -candelabra, and as each man came opposite the blazing, darting fire, he -mounted the steps, lifted high his torch, and touched it to the flame. -Soon the torches of the Levites, followed by those of the pilgrims, had -transformed the entire mountain of the Temple into a blaze of fire. - -For a long moment, silent, Claudia stood at the balcony’s parapet and -studied the procession of torchbearers; their voices, raised in song, -filled the night. “It’s amazing,” she said finally. “I’ve always thought -that the Jewish religion had no joy in it; I thought it was the worship -of a stern, vengeful, morose god who was quick to punish any violator of -his strict and senseless laws, who demanded bloody sacrifices and -fasting and permitted no indulgence in pleasures. But these Jews seem to -be having a grand time, almost as though they were devotees of Isis or -Moloch.” - -“Yes, but without the orgies of Isis and Moloch,” Tullia explained. -“Many persons who are not of our faith do have that opinion of the God -of Israel. But we believe that although He is stern and demands that we -uphold His laws, He is also a loving God who wants His people to be -happy. Some will be dancing here as long as their torches burn, -Mistress.” - -“Well, you may stay out and watch them as long as you like, Tullia, but -I’m going to bed.” - -“One more thing, Mistress,” the slave girl asked. “If I may, I should -like at sunrise tomorrow to slip down into the Temple courts for the -early service.” - -“Of course, little one,” Claudia smiled. “But be careful. And perhaps it -would be best if you made no mention of being in the Procurator’s -household.” - - - - - 36 - - -Faintly at first and from afar off the silvery notes of a trumpet -floated into her bedchamber. As she seemed to rise slowly upward out of -a deep cavern of slumber, she sensed a stirring beside her. - -“The morning watch at Castra Praetoria,” he said, as in the dim light of -breaking day he raised himself on an elbow to look into her face, “and I -have early duty.” - -“But, Longinus,” she began a murmured protest, “must you forever be -leaving...?” - -“Today is very important,” he went on, unheeding. “I must meet the -Prefect there to begin our journey down to Capri for an audience with -the Emperor. Sejanus is going to recommend that Tiberius recall Pontius -Pilate and banish him to Gaul and then name me as Procurator. But you -are not to go with him into banishment. Instead, you will marry me -and....” - -“By all the gods! Longinus! Oh, by the Bountiful Mother! So long have we -waited....” - -She sat up from her pillow. The light was seeping through the narrow -window beyond the foot of the bed; the chamber was bursting now with the -sound of trumpets. Sleepily, though she was fast coming awake, she felt -for the centurion and sought to hold on to the dream, but she knew he -was not there. And in a moment’s hush between the trumpetings she heard -from the room adjoining hers, through the doorway connecting the -chambers, the sonorous, heavy snoring of Pontius Pilate. - -“Tullia!” she called, keeping her voice down. But the door to the maid’s -smaller chamber on the side opposite the Procurator’s was open; she had -hardly expected Tullia to be there. The trumpets below were calling -Israel to the sunrise worship, and somewhere in the milling throng of -Jerusalem dwellers and pilgrims was her devoted maid. - -She pushed down the covering, swung her feet around to the floor, and -stood up. Drawing her robe about her, she stepped into her sandals and -tiptoed out onto the balcony. Down below in the Temple courts a few -torches sputtered sporadically in the strengthening light, and several -still burning in the two giant candelabra offered more twisting -blue-black smoke than illumination. - -But there was a glory in the east; behind the rounded crest of the Mount -of Olives a giant hand spread fingers of orange and gold and salmon and -pink, and as the aureole fanned out higher and wider and its vivid -colors swam together in one blazing brightness, the sun ventured to peek -above the hilltop. In that instant the golden dome of the Temple flamed, -and the topmost stones around the city’s western wall caught fire. - -A blast of trumpets, silvery, melodious, triumphant, saluted the sun’s -rising. And then another, and another. Looking down into the Court of -the Priests, from which the sound had come, Claudia saw two lavishly -caparisoned priests, carrying trumpets and walking abreast, marching -toward the lower Court of the Women. They were going down the steps -between the two courts when suddenly they paused and, lifting their -instruments to their lips, once again blew three blasts. Then they moved -austerely down the remaining steps and into the court, where they paused -and blew three blasts again. - -“Can they be sun worshipers, by all the gods?” Claudia murmured as she -watched the priests offering what appeared to be homage to the newly -risen monarch of the heavens. - -The two priests, pacing steadily eastward through the great Court of the -Women, stopped near its center and once more blew sharp blasts and then, -lowering their trumpets, marched straight toward the Beautiful Gate, the -eastern entrance to the court. But before the huge portal they stopped -and faced about, so that now their backs were toward the sun. - -“Our fathers, who worshiped likewise in this place, turned their backs -upon the sanctuary of the Lord and their faces to the sun,” they said in -chorus, and the words came up distinctly to Claudia, who was able to -understand their meaning though she could not comprehend their -significance. “But our eyes are turned toward the Lord!” - -“Then at least they do not worship the sun,” she said to herself, -“although I look upon the sun as being more godlike than their puny -spirit one god.” - -She stood another moment watching the pageantry below; then her eyes -swept beyond the Temple walls to survey the tabernacled city and the -area outside its protective walls. Today, she remembered, would see the -ending of the Jewish autumn festival, the Israelites’ traditional Feast -of Tabernacles. And it was well that it should. Already the little green -bough shelters were beginning to wilt in the October sun. The pageantry, -too, must be losing its luster, even to the people of Israel. - -_... And Longinus could not come to Jerusalem...._ - -Turning from the parapet, she crossed the balcony and entered her -chamber. Taking off her robe, she slipped back into the inviting warmth -of the bed. - - - - - 37 - - -The opening of the bedchamber door awakened Claudia; she sat up in bed. - -“I’m sorry, Mistress,” Tullia said apologetically as she closed the door -behind her. “I thought perhaps you had gone out.” - -“It’s all right. I’ve slept enough. Those early trumpets awoke me, and I -went out on the balcony and watched the services beginning. That was -probably just a short while after you left. Then I came back to bed. But -why have you returned so soon? Surely that water-pouring ceremony isn’t -finished yet.” She paused and studied the slave maid. “By the gods, -Tullia, something’s happened. I can see stars in your eyes. And you’re -all out of breath; you’ve been running. Quickly, tell me, what is it?” - -“Oh, Mistress,” Tullia burst out happily, “he’s down there! He’s down -there right now, in the Court of the Gentiles. I ran back to tell you.” - -“Longinus!” Claudia scrambled to her feet. - -The stars dimmed. “I’m sorry, Mistress, I hadn’t meant to disappoint -you. But yesterday you said you’d like to see him....” - -“The Galilean?” - -“Yes, Mistress, and he’s down there right now. Do you remember that -woman who came with the Tetrarch Herod to Rome, the beautiful one called -Mary of Magdala?” - -“Yes, of course. Why do you ask?” - -“I was in the Court of the Women, Mistress, during the early service, -when I came upon her. I recognized her, and I knew she was a follower of -the Galilean. So I asked her to tell me if he had come to the Feast. She -said he had and that even then he was in the Court of the Gentiles over -near the Shushan Gate; today, she said, he would be teaching there, no -doubt as soon as the service of the water pouring is finished. Soon the -procession will return from the Pool of Siloam; it may be that it’s -already back. If you’d like to eat, Mistress, and then go down to the -Court of the Gentiles....” - -“But I need not eat just this minute, Tullia. We’ll go now. Here,” she -said, holding out her robe, “help me get dressed. I really would like to -see that man and hear him speak”—she smiled—“and witness any feats of -magic he might be prevailed upon to perform.” But quickly her expression -sobered. “Tullia, you’ll have to fix me so that no one would even dream -he was looking at the Procurator’s wife.” - -“Yes, Mistress, but a veil and simple stola will serve that purpose.” - -Claudia peeked into the adjoining bedchamber. It was empty. “Pilate no -doubt has gone to the Praetorium,” she said. “He needn’t know I’m going -down into the Temple precincts.” - -With Tullia’s aid, she dressed, and they descended to the ground level -and went out through the great vaulted doorway on the south side of the -Tower. A moment later the two women, heavily veiled, entered the Temple -enclosure through the North Gate of Asuppim and headed toward the Soreg, -a lacy latticework of carefully carved and interwoven stones four and a -half feet high surrounding the Temple itself. From there they turned -left and strode eastward through the vast Court of the Gentiles with its -jam of worshipers and the idly curious. - -“Mary said that he usually sits over there”—Tullia pointed toward the -cloisters along the eastern wall of the Temple—“near the Shushan Gate.” -The Shushan Gate was at the northern end of the wall, directly east of -the Beautiful Gate. Steps led up from the Court of the Gentiles to the -Chel, a corridor running between the Soreg and the walls of the Temple -proper, in which sat the resplendent, great Shushan Gate. The Court of -the Women, in turn, was several feet higher than the Chel. At the -western end of the Court of the Women, centering the wall, was another -large opening, the Gate of Nicanor, and directly west of this gate and -on a still more uplifted platform, stood the Great Altar. A person at -the Gate of Shushan could look above marble steps ascending from one -court level to another to the priests performing their orders before -this tremendous and imposing pyramidal altar of burnt offerings. - -As Claudia and Tullia neared the eastern end of the Soreg they could see -the Shushan Gate, but no group was knotted about it. They could look -across the cloister and out through the gate to the rise of the Mount of -Olives beyond the Brook Kidron far below. “He’s not there,” Tullia said, -her tone revealing disappointment. “Perhaps he went with the procession -to the Pool of Siloam and has not yet returned. Surely he will be here -soon.” - -But as they turned the corner to their left, the two women saw a motley -throng pushed together in a half circle about the steps that led up to -the Chel. “Maybe Jesus is there,” Tullia exclaimed, keeping her voice -low, for now they were nearing the outer edge of this crowd. She turned -to confront a lean and bearded tall Israelite. “We have just come here,” -she said. “We wonder why all these people are gathered about. Is some -rabbi expounding the law?” - -“Yes, the Galilean whom some hold to be the Messiah of God. The priests -and the scholars have been trying to confuse him, but he has thrown -their words back into their teeth.” - -They moved forward into the outer fringe of the group and eased their -steps toward the man sitting before the Beautiful Gate until soon they -had an unobstructed view of him. From where they stood they could also -see through the wide portals of the Beautiful Gate across the Court of -the Women and the Gate of Nicanor to the Great Altar, upon which the -High Priest Caiaphas, with two other Temple dignitaries assisting him, -had tipped the golden ewer of water from the Pool of Siloam as a -libation to Yahweh. Many of those now listening to the discourse of the -Galilean had been present for the ceremonies of the water pouring, -including a small knot of lavishly robed Israelites whom Tullia -immediately recognized as the men who had been attempting to confound -Jesus with their hate-inspired but politely phrased questions. - -Evidently one of these men, a stout Pharisee from the looks of his garb, -had just so challenged the Galilean. But if Jesus was perturbed, he did -not indicate it. He was speaking calmly, and his resonant but gentle -Galilean Aramaic came clearly to them above the din of the cattle in the -stalls along the northern cloisters. “He doesn’t speak with the fire and -thunder of that Wilderness prophet,” Claudia observed in whispered -comment. “He seems not to be the fanatical type, and I’m surprised. He’s -handsome, too, and I’m even more surprised at that. I thought he would -be another lean and burnt, arm-waving, shouting fanatic, one with a long -messy beard, flaming eyes, and soiled clothing—a generally anemic look. -But this one’s a strong fellow, though his manner’s gentle enough. Even -so, there’s something odd about this. I wonder....” - -But suddenly she stopped speaking, for the rabbi had raised his bronzed -hand, long forefinger extended, to point to one of the Pharisees who had -been questioning him. “You say that I am but testifying to myself and -that therefore my testimony is invalid. But I say unto you, my brother, -that my testimony is valid. Is it not written in the law that the -testimony of two witnesses establishes the fact? Then my testimony is -true, for I bear witness and likewise my Father that sent me bears -witness. That makes two witnesses; that establishes the truthfulness of -the testimony I have borne.” - -“Who is this father of whom he speaks?” asked a man standing near the -two women. “Is he not the son of a carpenter of Nazareth long dead? How -then does he say that his father’s testimony corroborates his own?” - -“He’s not speaking of his natural father,” another man standing near-by -replied. “He means the God of Israel as his father.” - -“But isn’t that blasphemy? How can a man call himself the son of -Israel’s God?” - -“But if indeed he is the Messiah....” The second man paused, his hand on -the questioner’s arm, for Jesus had arisen and, turning, was pointing -toward the high altar before the Holy of Holies. “Behold, I am the water -of life! If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” The -Galilean spoke in calm tones but with warmth of feeling, and in the -pause that followed none of his hearers spoke. Again he pointed, this -time toward the giant candelabra below the Gate of Nicanor in the Court -of the Women; last night the great court and all the environs of the -Temple had been ablaze with light from the candelabra and the hundreds -of flaming torches. “I am the light of the world!” he declared. “He that -follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life!” - -Claudia nudged her maid. “What does he mean, Tullia?” she whispered. - -“I’m not sure I know, Mistress,” the girl answered. “But I take it he’s -using a kind of symbolism that the Jews can understand. He must be -referring to the ceremony of water pouring and to last night’s -illumination of the Temple.” - -But the carping Pharisees and the other Temple leaders pretended -likewise not to understand. - -“The water of life, the light of the world. And your father being a -witness to the truthfulness of the testimony you present. These things -are incomprehensible to us,” one of them declared. “Rabbi, wasn’t your -father a carpenter in Galilee? And where is he to support your witness? -Isn’t he dead? How then can you say that you and your father make two -witnesses? We have not seen your father, nor have we heard him speak.” - -“You speak the truth when you say that you have not seen my Father.” His -voice was calm, even gentle, but his eyes were filled with fire. -“Neither have you seen me. For if you had seen me, you would likewise -have seen my Father, for the Father is in me and I am in the Father. My -Father and I are one.” - -“Is he speaking of the God of Israel as his father?” A portly Pharisee -near the two women had turned to speak with one of his colleagues. “Is -that the meaning of his strange utterance?” - -“I think so.” - -“Blasphemy!” declared the questioner. “He makes himself one with God!” - -But Jesus had heard. - -“No,” he declared, looking the fat one full in the face. “Only truth. -And if you knew me and were willing to live by my teaching, you would -know the truth, and the truth would make you free. You would not walk in -darkness, but in the light of the world, in the fullness of life.” - -“But, Rabbi, we are free. We are children of Abraham. We are not slaves. -How can you say that we would be made free? We have never been slaves to -any man.” - -“Any man who sins is a slave, and no slave is a son of the house; yet if -the son of the house sets him free, he is no longer a slave.” - -“But we _are_ sons of Abraham. We are no bastards. We are the children -of the God of Israel.” - -Jesus leveled his forefinger at the protesting Pharisee. “No, you are -not the sons of the Father; you are rather sons of the Evil One, for he -is the enemy of truth and you likewise are its enemies.” His words were -uttered in calmness, but they were emphatic, and his eyes flashed. “You -will neither hear the truth nor comprehend it.” - -“But, Rabbi, you must be mad.” - -Jesus smiled, and Claudia, who had been watching him in complete -fascination since her first sight of him, thought she detected a hint of -restrained amusement in his dark eyes. “No,” he said, “I am not mad; I -speak the truth, and whoever lives by the truth, my brother, will not -even see death.” - -“But haven’t all the fathers in ages before—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, -Isaiah, all the righteous ones of old—haven’t they all met death? Then -how can you say that others will not die?” - -“I dare say, he is not speaking of physical death,” Tullia whispered. -“It’s obvious he’s referring to the afterlife of the spirit. But these -sniveling Pharisees don’t even want to understand him.” - -Yet Jesus did not answer the Temple leader, for in the rear of the press -about him a commotion had arisen and the Galilean had turned from the -questioning Pharisee to look out over the heads of the people now -craning their necks to see the cause of the tumult. The questioner and -his little knot had turned, too; the Galilean’s inquisitor, Tullia -surmised, was quite willing for the exchange to be ended, for he had not -been faring well in matching wits and words with the tall one from -Nazareth. - -Tullia and Claudia, too, had twisted about to look eastward toward the -sounds that so precipitately had disturbed the strangely inspiriting -discourse and the carping questions of the Nazarene’s challengers. In -that same instant they saw, out in front of the gate of Shushan, several -coarse men half-dragging, half-carrying a bedraggled Jewish woman toward -the throng ringed about Jesus. As the crowd opened a lane inward to the -Galilean, the men rushed the poor creature toward him and savagely -thrust her to the ground at his feet. A man who had been walking in the -rear of the pitiful procession, whom Tullia took to be a minor Temple -priest, stepped in front of Jesus. - -“Rabbi, this woman has been taken in the act of adultery, in the very -act, Rabbi, as the witnesses will testify. Now the law of Moses says -that such a woman must be stoned.” He paused, and his eyes surveyed the -half circle of intent, set faces. Along the rim heads nodded in -agreement. - -“Is that really the law of the Israelites?” Claudia whispered. “Stone to -death a woman for such offense, by all the gods!” - -“Yes, it’s the old Mosaic law, Mistress.” - -“That is barbarous, Tullia. By all the gods, if I were a Jew, then -they....” But she paused, for the man had turned back to question the -Galilean. “You, however, Rabbi, have been teaching a new law. What would -you say to her punishment? Must she be stoned in accordance with our -ancient laws or not?” - -Jesus was eying the poor woman, who had scrambled to her feet and was -trying to smooth out her disordered robe. Frightened and humiliated, she -kept her eyes on the ground; then, as the man finished his question and -the suddenly quiet throng listened for the reply, she raised them and -looked, with a mixture of defiance, contempt, and fright, at the tall -bronzed man before her. - -“But what can he say?” Claudia whispered. “Aren’t they trying to trap -him into advocating violation of their laws?” - -“Yes, Mistress. And they know, too, that they have no authority to stone -anyone to death unless the person is first condemned by the Procurator. -Either way, it’s a trap they’re trying to set.” - -“Then I shall speak to Pilate....” She stopped; Tullia had laid a gently -restraining hand on her arm, for Jesus had bent down suddenly and -without offering to answer the Jew who had questioned him had begun to -trace with extended forefinger certain markings in the dust of the -marble pavement. - -About him stood the silent crowd. Some seemed fearful of the horror they -might soon be witnessing; others, their cold smiles attesting to their -sadistic natures, were waiting expectantly to witness the woman’s death -agonies; only a few solemn faces revealed concern and deep pity. But the -little knot of Pharisees stood with arms folded across their rounded -paunches; their smug smiles betrayed their confidence that at last, on -the final day of the great festival, they had run to earth this annoying -and dangerous young Galilean who had been so cleverly eluding them. - -Then, raising his head, Jesus faced the man who had questioned him. “You -have testified aright as to the law of our father Moses,” he said, his -voice calm, deliberate. “The law of Moses commands that the woman ... -and the man ... taken in adultery be stoned. But you ask me my -interpretation of this law?” - -“We do, Rabbi. What will you do with this woman?” The man looked about -the semicircle of cold, hard faces, and one by one the Pharisees nodded -approval of his questioning. “Rabbi, what is your law in this case?” - -“I answer you, my brother, in this wise, and this is my interpretation -of the law. Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone.” -His quiet, dark eyes rested a moment on the startled countenance of the -man who had just propounded the question, and then quickly they moved -along the line of the challenging Temple leaders. - -Now once more he bent forward and with stiffened forefinger traced -symbols in the dust. - -For a long moment his eyes remained fixed upon the pavement. When he -looked up, the little group of sneering Pharisees had departed. The -others in the ring about him had fallen back from the steps on which he -sat and stood regarding him with frank amazement; some of them revealed -their delight at his having confounded his enemies, and on the faces of -others could be seen a heightened responsiveness to the young man’s -teachings and for the Galilean himself a strengthened affection. - -“Woman, where are your accusers?” he asked the amazed poor creature, -from whom in the swift moment of his answer had fled all trace of -defiant insolence. “Does no man remain to condemn you?” - -She lifted her tear-streaked face to him. “No man, Lord.” - -“Neither do I condemn you. Go now, and sin no more.” - -Claudia could not understand the woman’s murmured reply, but on her face -clearly discernible was a look of radiance as she bowed to the Galilean -and, turning, slipped away out of the crowd. At the same time the -Procurator’s wife noticed a large, bushy-bearded fellow, wide of -shoulders and heavily muscled, pushing through the throng from the -direction of the Gate Shalleketh. He walked up to Jesus, who had stood -up as the woman was leaving. “Master, you have been here a long while; -you must be weary. Let us go over to Bethany to rest a spell.” - -“That’s the fisherman I saw one day at Tiberias,” whispered Tullia. “He -is of the Galilean’s company; his name, I think, is Simon.” - -The crowd now began to disperse, for Jesus and the big fisherman were -moving off toward the Gate Shushan. They came past the two women, so -close to them that Claudia could have reached out and touched the tall -Galilean. Their eyes met; he smiled and passed on. She stood rooted, -watching the two until they had passed out of sight down the slope -toward the Brook Kidron. “He seemed to recognize me,” she said to -herself, as suddenly a fanciful thought crossed her mind. “But of course -he didn’t; he’s never in all his life seen me before.” - -With the two men’s disappearance, however, the spell was broken. Claudia -caught her maid’s arm. “We’d better be going now,” she said. But she was -still lost in her own thoughts; they had rounded the corner of the Soreg -and were nearing the North Gate of Asuppim before she spoke again. “By -the gods, what a man! What a marvelous, strange Jew. And he didn’t do -any feats of magic either. Little one, I’m so glad you brought me down -here.” - -“Mistress, now that you’ve seen him and heard his discourse, even though -for but a few minutes, what is your opinion of him? Do you think that -perhaps he really is the Messiah of Israel?” - -“I know nothing of the Messiah of Israel ... and care nothing. And this -idea of a man’s being a god, even though we Romans are supposed to -believe that the gods come to earth in the form of men, is just as -incomprehensible to me as it is to Longinus. Maybe that’s because I -don’t believe in the gods in the first place.” They were going through -the great North Gate of Asuppim when Claudia stopped and caught Tullia’s -arm. “Nevertheless, little one—and you asked me my opinion of him—there -is something tremendously different about that man. I’m sure I have -never encountered another like him. He’s a quick thinker and able to -out-wit his enemies, and he’s evidently a good and just man. But there’s -something else”—she paused, her forehead creased in a frown—“something -to me, at any rate, mystifying. The way he looked at me, Tullia....” Her -solemn expression relaxed into a quick, warming smile. “Perhaps he _is_ -your Messiah of the Jews, little one, whatever that means!” - - - - - 38 - - -On her return to Caesarea from the Feast of Tabernacles, Claudia learned -from Sergius Paulus that Longinus had sailed for Rome. The message from -the centurion to the commander of the Roman constabulary had been -brought by a ship’s master who had sailed southward from the Antioch -port of Seleucia shortly after Longinus had gone aboard a ship there for -his voyage to the capital. - -The message had been brief, the commander said; its purpose was to let -him know that Longinus had been sent to Rome by the Legate Vitellius on -what the legate must have considered an urgent mission, probably to the -Prefect Sejanus. - -“Longinus must have sailed from Seleucia on one of the last boats out,” -Sergius observed. “From now until spring there’ll be few crossings; any -ship attempting to make it will be braving the heavy winds.” He smiled -wryly. “It must have been important business the legate was sending him -on.” - -Claudia suspected that Longinus was going to the capital to relay the -legate’s report on the situation in Palestine. Particularly important, -she knew, would be the question of whether or not King Aretas was -planning to attack Herod and thereby involve the whole Palestinian -region in war. But she had no direct message from the centurion. - -Longinus was acting wisely, she realized, in sending her no written -communication. He could hardly evolve any innocent appearing reason for -writing her, and it would be impossible to send her such a message -without Pilate’s learning about it, and possibly even the Prefect. And -any message sent would of necessity be innocuous. But as the weeks -pushed deeper and deeper into winter and no word of him came to her at -all, she began to wonder if he would return to Palestine or if, the gods -forbid, Sejanus might have sent him once more to Germania or Gaul or to -some other post far remote from the now increasingly dreary Palestine. - -Despite the fact that it was Herodias who had urged her to go up to -Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, the two women had hardly seen -one another during those days in Israel’s capital. Claudia recalled that -even then the Tetrarchess had seemed somewhat reserved. And once when -mention was made of the journey of Longinus to Antioch in response to -the summons of the Legate Vitellius, Herodias had appeared to grow even -more coldly formal. Perhaps the Tetrarchess suspected, Claudia thought -at the time, that Longinus was reporting on Herod’s visit to Machaerus -and the appearance there of the ambassadors from King Aretas, and even -of her own bizarre conduct at the Tetrarch’s birthday banquet. Nor had -Herodias, as they were preparing to leave Jerusalem, invited her to come -to Tiberias. - -And at the Feast neither she nor Pilate had seen Antipas. She wondered -if perhaps he, too, might have suspected that Longinus was even then in -Antioch reporting what he had seen and heard at Machaerus. But her -failure to be honored by the Tetrarch in Jerusalem troubled her not at -all. She had less respect for him, she confessed to herself, than she -had for the Procurator. And she hoped that Longinus was finding -opportunity for dropping some poisoned, if discreet, words into the ears -of Sejanus concerning Pontius Pilate and his continuing difficulties -with the Jews. - -Nor was the Procurator’s administration of affairs in Judaea, as the -winter advanced, serving to establish him in better favor with the -people he was governing. Stubborn and unimaginative, he steadfastly -refused either to learn anything or forget anything. Scorning his -subordinate officials and refusing to give consideration to their -counseling, fearful of his superiors, including the Legate Vitellius and -particularly the Prefect Sejanus, Pilate provided no stable rule of -Judaea; his administration vacillated from fierce oppression and -arbitrary action to cowardly yielding to priestly demands. His tax -gatherers, working through the despised publicans, those native -hirelings of Rome whom the Israelites looked upon with loathing as -traitors to Israel and Israel’s Yahweh, demanded and received exorbitant -tribute in money and produce of the land; this did not add to the -Procurator’s popularity among the Jews. Both the people and the Temple -leaders were growing increasingly enraged. - -The natural breach between the Procurator and the Tetrarch, too, was -widening as the weeks went by; an incident at the Temple during one of -the great festival occasions in which Pilate’s soldiers had slain a -group of roistering Galileans had infuriated Herod Antipas. And Pilate’s -effort to use Temple funds in the building of an aqueduct to bring water -into Jerusalem had evoked the bitter animosity of the Temple leadership. -On all sides, then, the Procurator, beginning with his flaunting of the -Roman ensigns in Jerusalem shortly after his arrival in Judaea, had been -strengthening rather than weakening the natural hostility the Israelites -had for the representatives of conquering Rome. - -All this Claudia had observed; she wondered how long this mounting -burden of tension and hate could continue to build upon the broad -shoulders of Pontius Pilate before inevitably it should topple him from -the Procuratorship. The answer, she was confident, lay not in Judaea, -but in Rome. Pilate would last only so long as he did not too greatly -displease Sejanus. And from the moment the tribute from Judaea to Rome -... and Sejanus ... began to shrink, she reasoned, her spouse’s days as -Procurator would be numbered. - -_ ... Perhaps Sejanus may have begun to suspect already that Pilate’s -fingers have become sticky, that too large a proportion of the revenues -are failing to reach Rome; perhaps he has revealed, or hinted, his -suspicions to Longinus, and Longinus will tell me everything when he -returns._ - -_... If he does return. But surely he will be back in Caesarea when -winter relents and calming weather permits the ships to resume their -sailing. Surely he will arrive in time to go with us to Jerusalem for -the Feast of the Passover...._ - -Thinking one day of the coming Feast, she recalled her earlier visit -with Tullia to the Temple. “Do you remember that last day of the Feast -of Tabernacles?” she asked, turning to her slave maid. The girl nodded -and smiled. “That Galilean,” Claudia continued, “your Messiah of the -Jews, I wonder what has become of him. Do you suppose he’ll return to -the Jewish capital for the Passover festival?” - -“I would say so, Mistress,” Tullia answered. “Every devout Jew tries to -go up for the Passover Feast. And certainly the Galilean is a devout -Jew. Even though the Temple priests are bent on destroying him, I’m sure -he will wish to go there to worship.” - -“If he does, maybe we’ll have an opportunity to hear him again ... and -perhaps this time he will perform some feat of magic.” - -“But, Mistress, those who hold him to be the Messiah insist that he does -not work magic; they declare he does his miracles of healing by the will -of God.” - -She smiled. “Well, however he does them—and even from you, little one, -I’ve heard reports that he does—is no concern of mine. But should he -come up to the Temple and perform some such feat, either by his own -cleverness or with the aid of your Yahweh, I would like to be there when -he did it.” - -“But, Mistress, you saw him that day they dragged the woman before -him....” - -“Yes, but his saving her from that mob was not magic, little one. That -was only the working of a quick intelligence and a good heart. But they -say he can make lame persons walk again and blind persons see. And -Cornelius, you remember, declared he healed his little servant boy, -though Longinus thinks it was only a coincidence that the boy’s fever -broke just at the same time the Galilean supposedly was curing him. -Cornelius even believes that the carpenter once actually restored to -life the son of a widow; he told me they were bearing the young man to -the tomb when the Galilean happened along and brought him back to life. -Of course, the boy may have been in a trance; certainly no sensible -person can believe that he was really dead and then came back to life -when the Galilean said some mysterious words and made some queer motions -over him.” She paused and looked Tullia in the eyes. “Or do you, little -one?” - -“But if he is actually the son of our God....” - -“Oh, you gullible Jews, even you, Tullia.” Her countenance revealed an -amused tolerance. “And Cornelius. A soldier of Rome. But how, by all the -gods, Tullia, can any present-day person of education and culture -embrace such blatant superstition to believe that a man could come to -earth as a god, even if he could believe that there are gods in the -first place?” - -But Tullia skillfully evaded answering the question. “If you saw him -restore to life a man who you knew was dead, what would you say about -him then, Mistress?” - -“When I see him do that, little one, I’ll tell you then.” - -Nevertheless, Claudia had not dismissed the Galilean from her thoughts, -for that night she dreamed about him. It was a confused and illogical -arrangement of stories she had heard about Jesus, interwoven with the -experience she and Tullia had had that day at the Temple during the -final exercises of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the dream she and -Longinus had strolled with Cornelius down from the Tower of Antonia into -the Court of the Gentiles. Rounding a corner of the Soreg, the three had -come upon a throng ringed about the Galilean. They had pushed forward to -the inner circle, and there, they had discovered on the stones of the -court at the carpenter’s feet a crushed and bloody woman. - -“Rabbi,” a burly fellow beside the woman was saying, “this woman is -dead. We caught her in the act of adultery, and in accordance with the -law of our father Moses we stoned her to death. I ask you, Rabbi, did -not we do well in thus upholding the ancient law of Israel?” - -“It is the law that the woman and the man taken in adultery be stoned to -death,” the Galilean replied, and then his eyes flamed and his voice -took on a new intensity, “but you who stoned her, were you without -sins?” Then he lowered his eyes to the stones beside the dead woman and -began with his forefinger to trace symbols in the dust. After a moment -he stood up and, bending down, caught the stiffened body underneath his -arms and raised it, unbending, until it stood upright. - -“Remember,” said Cornelius, “she is dead, completely dead; see her -mangled face, her crushed skull. Watch the Galilean.” - -Jesus was steadying the rigid corpse with one hand. Now he raised his -other hand to a position above her head and began to intone words that -to Claudia were strange and utterly incomprehensible. - -“Watch now,” said Cornelius. “Keep your eyes on him. And, remember, the -woman is dead; there is no life in her, none.” - -Incredulous, their eyes straining, they saw the stiffened limbs -beginning to relax and the head bend forward slightly; the crushed bones -of the shattered face rounded outward, the torn and bruised flesh -smoothed, the clotted blood melted away, and the desecrated ghastly -countenance was restored to a calm beauty; the woman, looking now into -the serene face of the Galilean, smiled. - -“By all the great gods ...” But Longinus hushed precipitately, for Jesus -was speaking to the woman, now fully alert. “No man condemns you, my -sister, and neither do I,” Jesus said, as he pointed toward her -executioners, now slinking away toward the Gate of Shushan. “Go, and sin -no more.” - -Longinus turned now to the Procurator’s wife, and on his face she saw an -expression of utter amazement. “But, Claudia, the woman was dead! Her -head was crushed; her face was a bloody pulp. And now, look! She is -walking away, around the corner of the Soreg! The Galilean, Claudia, he -must be a god! By all the gods, Claudia, this man must be a god! He must -be....” - -But Longinus’ voice was fading, and he was receding, slipping away, and -so were Cornelius and the Galilean and the woman.... - -Claudia opened her eyes; her chamber was flooded with light. She closed -them again, trying to recapture the scene in the great court of the -Temple. But the dream had fled. “Bona Dea,” she said aloud. “It was so -real. That woman. And the Galilean. And Cornelius and Longinus. So -vivid. Maybe”—the notion suddenly occurred to her—“I’m dreaming now, -maybe I’m dreaming that I was dreaming.” - -She sat up, swung her feet around to the floor, stretched and yawned. -Then quickly she arose and crossing to the window, looked down at the -ships in the harbor. Bright sunlight flashed from the hulls and the -billowing sails. On the docks slaves struggled with casks and crates as -they loaded and unloaded vessels. The world she was seeing was real; she -stood looking through her window upon things tangible and -comprehensible. The dream, with all its implications of the inscrutable, -was gone, vanished. - -But she was not to forget it entirely. One day Tullia revealed that -while at the market place she had encountered some travelers from -Galilee who had gone up to Jerusalem and were returning by way of -Caesarea. On their journey, they told her, they had come upon the -Galilean and several of his band in a hamlet in the mountains of -Ephraim. Jesus had returned to Galilee from the Feast of Tabernacles, -but after several weeks he had gone back for the Feast of Dedication. -From Jerusalem he had retired into Peraea. - -As Tullia related the story she had been told, her eyes began to shine. -“While he was on the other side of the Jordan,” she went on, “he -received a message from Bethany....” - -“Bethany?” - -“It’s a small village a few miles—a mile or so—just west of Jerusalem, -Mistress.” - -“What was the message?” - -“Jesus had three friends who lived there, a man and his two sisters. -While he was over beyond the Jordan he had word that the man was near -death. So he and his band returned to Bethany. When they got there, they -found that his friend had been dead four days.” - -“And the Galilean brought him back to life?” - -“Yes, Mistress! That’s what the travelers said.” - -Claudia laughed. “Cornelius should have been there. No doubt, though, -he’s already heard about it. And, of course, he believes the story.” - -“But you don’t, Mistress?” - -Claudia wasn’t sure that the servant woman was teasing. “No, Tullia, I -don’t,” she replied. “Very probably this story has been repeated many -times and has been added to by each teller. No doubt it was like the one -Cornelius was telling about the widow’s son, or even the incident in -which his own little slave boy was supposed to have been cured by the -Galilean. Obviously, the man at Bethany was not dead; no doubt they -thought he was....” - -“But, Mistress, they said he had been in the tomb four days.” - -“They said it, yes. Perhaps he hadn’t been entombed that long; but if he -had, what of it? He wouldn’t have suffocated; tombs aren’t sealed that -securely. In all probability the man was in a trance when they put him -away; no doubt the carpenter roused him from the trance into which he -had fallen.” - -“Mistress, you have little faith in the Galilean.” Tullia’s dark eyes -were serious now. “You cannot see how he could be the Messiah of the -Jews and armed with unearthly power, can you?” - -“I don’t believe that any man can restore life to another man, if that’s -what you mean, little one. I cannot believe that any human possesses -supernatural power; in fact, as I have told you many times, I doubt the -existence of supernatural beings, including your Yahweh.” She laughed -again. “But you and Cornelius outnumber me. I should have Longinus here -to support me.” - -But when a few weeks later the Centurion Longinus did sail into the -harbor at Caesarea, Claudia had no longer a thought for the Galilean -mystic and his reported wonder-working. - -The centurion journeyed on a coastal vessel bound from Seleucia to -Alexandria. He had sailed from Rome as soon as weather conditions -permitted; from Seleucia he had moved on to Antioch to report to the -Legate Vitellius. Returning a few days later, he had boarded another -vessel destined for the Palestinian ports and Alexandria. - -On coming ashore at Caesarea the centurion went first to the garrison -headquarters and reported to Sergius Paulus. That duty completed, he -visited the Procurator’s Palace, ostensibly to pay his respects to -Pontius Pilate. The Procurator, polite but coldly formal, talked with -him for only a moment before excusing himself and leaving the palace. -Longinus, remarking about it to Claudia, wondered if the Procurator was -finally becoming jealous. - -“No, he isn’t jealous, by all the gods, and that makes me furious with -him!” Claudia had answered. “But he may suspect that you’ve been spying -on him and that Vitellius called you to Antioch to report on his -administration of affairs in Judaea and then sent you to Rome to relay -information and suggestions to Sejanus.” - -“He would be entirely right, too, in thinking so. And you can add old -Herod Antipas to my watched list.” He thought, with sudden amusement, of -the third name on the list given him by Sejanus when first the Prefect -sent him out to Palestine, but he did not comment. “And what I told the -Prefect about both of them, for the Legate Vitellius and from my own -observations, didn’t make them any more secure in their positions, by -the gods!” - -Quickly he related his experiences in Rome; he had met several times -with Sejanus, once to discuss ways of increasing the output of the -glassworks in Phoenicia. On another occasion the two had gone out to -Capri for an audience with Tiberius. “The Emperor asked about his -beloved stepdaughter,” he said, “but I professed to have little -information about you. Sejanus also quizzed me—I’m sure he still -suspects us—but he, too, learned nothing.” - -“But what is going to happen, Longinus—about us, I mean—and when? Is -there any likelihood still of Pilate’s being recalled ... soon?” - -“Yes, I’d say there was. I know Sejanus is losing patience with Pilate; -he seems to hear everything that happens out here, and Pilate’s -inability to rule Judaea without continually provoking turmoil and -protesting by the Jews angers the Prefect. The only thing that’s kept -Pilate as Procurator this long, I suspect, is the fact that Sejanus -apparently doesn’t suspect that Pilate is dipping too heavily into the -taxes, if he is ... and I can’t say yet that he is. That was one -question he kept coming back to in talking with me, if there was any -evidence that the Procurator was not sending to Rome all the revenues he -was supposed to.” - -“Did the Prefect indicate that he might call Pilate to Rome for -questioning?” - -“I couldn’t say that he did. But if the Procurator should be ordered to -the capital to justify his administration of Judaea, he won’t be -returned, you can be sure. The same thing is true of Herod Antipas. I -believe the Procurator and the Tetrarch stand in precarious positions; -the next few months could determine the fate of both.” - -Longinus left the palace soon after Pilate had departed; he and Claudia, -they agreed, would meet again when the opportunity was afforded. But -that opportunity did not come quickly; he did not return to the palace -until the Procurator summoned him there to discuss plans for the -forthcoming journey to Jerusalem. - -A week later the Procurator and his party, with Longinus commanding one -of the escorting centuries, set out for Israel’s capital and the great -Feast of the Passover. - - - - - Jerusalem - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 39 - - -The caravan from Galilee had halted on the plain before Jericho for rest -and the midday meal, and now the Tetrarch’s party and the escorting -soldiers of Cornelius’ century were preparing to resume their journey. -Two days and a half of steady traveling southward had brought them from -Tiberias through the rapidly greening gorge of the Jordan, and soon they -would face the most grueling and dangerous part of the journey, the -steep and boulder-locked climb to Jerusalem. - -Centurion Cornelius, who had been making a quick inspection of the -assembled legionaries, approached Herod Antipas and saluted. “Sire, I -need now to determine your wishes”—he bowed to Herodias—“and the wishes -of the Tetrarchess, for the remainder of our journey up to Jerusalem. If -you wish to rest awhile, we could make camp here and leave early in the -morning for Jerusalem. Or we could move on now and camp for the night -where the Jericho road begins its ascent to Jerusalem. But if you -prefer, we can set out now and not stop until we reach the capital, -though it will probably be well past nightfall before we enter the -city.” - -“Are you fearful of traveling the Jericho road after the sun has set, -Centurion?” Antipas inquired. “Do you think that perhaps robbers or -zealot bands might sweep down on us from the rocks?” - -“I have no fear, Sire; certainly none, if they knew our strength, would -attempt it. And before we enter that region, I’ll rearrange our order of -march to strengthen our guard against a surprise attack.” - -“Then I suggest that we continue on to Jerusalem today,” Herodias spoke -up. “We can rest better tomorrow in the palace than we can here in camp, -even though”—she turned malevolent eyes on the Tetrarch, and her tone -was bitterly sarcastic—“we shall be lodging in the old Hasmonean Palace -in order that our Palace of the Herods may be occupied by the Procurator -and his wife.” - -“Yes, the Tetrarchess is right, Centurion,” Antipas agreed -complaisantly. “Let’s push on to Jerusalem today.” He ignored his wife’s -caustic remark. “We’ll have tonight and all tomorrow to rest before the -start of the Passover celebration.” - -Beyond Jericho, where the Peraean road joined the road up from Galilee -and one that came down along the western side of the Jordan from the -region of Ephraim, the way began to fill with pilgrims going up to -Israel’s capital for the annual great spring festival of the Passover. -As the caravan neared the point where the road began its steep climb, -Cornelius called a halt. While the Tetrarch and Herodias were having a -brief respite from their saddles, he called in his legionaries and -changed the pattern of their advance. Down through the Jordan valley -they had been moving in column along the roadway with guards ahead of -and behind the Tetrarch’s party and only now and then a few soldiers on -the flanks. - -But now Cornelius gave orders to Decius to divide the century into three -groups, the largest of which would continue along the Jericho road, -while the other two would move forward with the Tetrarch’s group, one on -its right flank, the other on the left, and each several hundred yards -from the road. - -“I’m not expecting any trouble,” he explained, “but if there are any -Zealots lying in wait for us, in all probability they’ll be up there in -that defile where the road cuts through the rocks. You men out on the -flanks will be able to beat them off; if they’re crouched beside the -road, we’ll trap them between your columns and us.” - -When the division of the century had been completed, the centurion had a -final warning. “Stay abreast of us, and keep in contact. And now, let’s -get moving. Men, keep your eyes open. These Zealots are bent on killing -every Roman in Palestine. They’re clever, and they know every foot of -ground in this region.” - -The steep rise of the narrow Jericho road and the push of pilgrims -trudging ahead slowed the progress of the caravan, and it was nearing -sunset when once more Cornelius halted the column. “It’s been a hard -climb, and the animals are laboring,” he explained to the Tetrarch. “A -short rest will refresh us for the last few miles into Jerusalem. Soon -we’ll be past the boulders and can move faster. And with danger of -assault by robbers ended, we can pull in our flanking files. So we -should be approaching Jerusalem by nightfall.” - -But the centurion had spoken too quickly. They went hardly a mile -farther and were moving slowly through the last narrow defile in the -ascending road before it veered sharply around screening boulders to -come on a level plateau extending to the vicinity of Bethany; the -caravan was strung out in a long column and the advance guard had -disappeared around the turn in the gorge-like roadway. In the instant -that Herod and the Tetrarchess, with Cornelius and several of the -escorting legionaries just ahead of or behind them, had advanced into -the narrowest portion of the rock-walled canyon, they heard a sudden -commotion above them. Looking up, they saw on each side of the pass, -glaring down upon them and with spears poised, a group of grizzled, -fierce-eyed insurgents. - -“Halt, Roman dogs!” shouted a hulking, reddish-bearded fellow, as he -drew back his spear menacingly. “Get down from your beast before I nail -you to his belly like a thief to his cross! And you”—with his free hand -he gestured toward the Tetrarch—“you traitor to Israel, you fawning -puppet of evil Rome, stay where you are! You, too”—his angry black eyes -were studying Herodias—“you adulterous sharer of your uncle’s bed, don’t -you move!” - -“Who are you? What do you want?” Cornelius demanded loudly, in the hope -that his soldiers in the flanking columns would hear. - -“You needn’t be screaming, soldier,” the burly fellow said calmly. -“There’s nobody to help you. We have you surrounded. See?” He pointed to -his men in the rocks on the other side of the road. “One wrong move and -we’ll stick your carcasses full of spears. And you needn’t be hoping for -help from those up ahead”—he motioned—“or down there.” He threw back his -bearish great head and roared his laughter. “We have them cornered, -too.” Then suddenly he was scowling again. “You dogs of Rome! Throw down -your weapons! Quickly, before we forget ourselves and let our spears -fly!” - -“Do as he says, men,” Cornelius commanded, dropping his sword. “But what -do you want?” he asked the highwaymen’s leader again. He had decided -that the safest course would be to pretend that he knew nothing of the -rebel group, that ruthless party of guerrilla-fighting revolutionaries -known as Zealots who had sworn not to rest until every imperialist Roman -had been vanquished from their nation’s soil. “We have brought little -money,” he said casually. “We aren’t Jews, you know; we aren’t going up -to Jerusalem to purchase animals for the Passover sacrifices.” - -The centurion’s thrust at the Israelites seemed to incense the fellow. -“No, you mongrel of a Roman,” he roared, “nor would your sacrifice be -acceptable to Israel’s God were you of a mind to offer it! Now get down, -all you Romans! We’re taking your horses. But you and your woman, Herod, -stay where you are. We’re taking you with us for ransom, and if the -money isn’t quickly forthcoming to redeem you”—he tugged at his flaring -dirt-caked beard and once again laughed uproariously—“we’ll skin you and -one dark night pin your worthless hides to the door of old Herod’s -Palace.” But quickly his demeanor changed again. He turned to glare at -his comrades. “Get down there and pick up their weapons,” he commanded, -“and mount the horses. We’ve got to be getting back into the hills. And -you, Bildad and Achbor, I’ll hold you accountable for the Tetrarch. -Dysmas and Cush, you take charge of the woman.” His sneering countenance -softened into an evil grinning. “And see that no harm comes to her. I -may wish myself to examine her seductive charms.” - -Antipas sat staring stonily ahead, his countenance a frozen mask of -fear. But anger added a flush to the cheeks of the frightened -Tetrarchess. She did not venture, however, to challenge the man’s -insulting remark. - -The revolutionaries scampered like sure-footed mountain goats down from -the rocks and quickly assembled the swords that Cornelius’ soldiers had -thrown to the ground. The leader, who had stayed in his position atop an -overjutting boulder, watched eagle-eyed along with several of his band -who had continued to stand guard. “Issachar, you and Nadab see to the -weapons those frightened dogs have thrown down,” he called. “See that -not one remains to them when we’re gone. Now, Achbor and you, Bildad, -get started with the Tetrarch, and let the woman follow. Men, mount the -horses”—he paused an instant to watch one of his men who was having -trouble getting into the saddle—“all you who know how to ride a horse -... and Coz, you don’t, I see.” - -“But you can’t get away into the rocks with these horses. You have our -swords; why don’t you leave us the horses...?” - -“And let you fly into Jerusalem and have old Pilate’s soldiers combing -through the hills for us? Oh, no, Roman dog, we aren’t fools. You’ll -stand in your tracks until we’re gone, or we’ll come charging back and -slit your throats and leave you here for the vultures to clean your -bones.” He suddenly whirled about, for from behind him came the sound of -men running through the rocks back from the road. - -“Romans! Romans!” Cornelius heard someone shouting in Aramaic. “Fly! -Roman soldiers!” In the next instant a bearded, coarse fellow burst into -view above the deep-cut trail. “We can’t stand against them, Bar Abbas; -there are too many of them!” he shouted. “We’d better get across the -road and into those rocks!” He looked down and spied his companions and -their captured party. “The Romans!” he yelled. “Fly men! There are too -many for us to fight them!” - -“Fly!” yelled the gang’s leader. “Go out through that ravine!” He -pointed. “Get yourselves lost in the rocks, and hurry!” He turned to the -man who had just rushed up to him. “How many did there appear to be, -Hamor?” - -“Many. I could not count them. We speared several before they discovered -us....” - -“Fools! If you’d held your peace and stayed under cover, they wouldn’t -have known you were there. Now you’ve caused us to be flushed out. By -the beard of the High Priest, Hamor, haven’t I warned you...?” - -“But we thought there were only a handful....” - -“Through that way!” Bar Abbas turned his back toward the road and was -signaling the revolutionaries racing toward him. Cornelius, who since -his first sight of the burly fellow had suspected he was the notorious -Zealot marauder, couldn’t see the fleeing Israelites, but he could hear -their sandals slapping against the loose stones. And close behind -them—he was able distinctly to distinguish the sound of their heavy -boots crunching the gravel and scattering the pebbles—came the pursuing -legionaries of his flanking file on the west. - -Already the assailants in the defile of the road were fleeing. Some -clambered up the steep sides of the little ravine that opened into the -gulch of the roadway and disappeared into the sheltering boulders above; -others ran down the road to the end of the canyon and turned eastward; -several went the other way along the narrow trail and then turned off in -the same direction the others had taken. But before they had all cleared -the road, Bar Abbas and his companions on the boulders above, still -clutching their spears, had dropped into the defile and without a glance -toward their now liberated prisoners had scampered into the converging -ravine. - -Hardly had the burly Bar Abbas disappeared before the pursuing Romans -were plunging into the boulders beside the road. In another moment -several of them were peering down into the narrow roadway. In that same -instant Cornelius, looking up, spied Decius. “Here!” the centurion -called out. “Down that way!” He pointed. “Hurry!” - -“Cornelius, by all the gods, you aren’t going to let them get away, are -you!” screamed Herodias, having suddenly found her voice. - -“But, my dear Herodias”—Antipas turned ponderously in his saddle to face -his spouse—“certainly the centurion knows what....” - -“Hah! The Tetrarch has come to life! He speaks, now that Bar Abbas and -his revolutionaries have fled,” she observed sneeringly. - -“Bar Abbas,” Cornelius said, ignoring the Tetrarchess and Herod, as -Decius and several of his detachment clambered down into the road. “They -pounced on us from the rocks there”—he pointed—“and had us disarmed. I -was hoping you would hear the commotion.” - -“They jumped us the same way, Centurion,” Decius said. “I think they -killed two of our men. I left some men with them. We got several of the -revolutionaries, though.” - -“It’s a poor exchange. But get after him, Decius. Here, Galba, Licinius, -Mallius”—Cornelius called out a half dozen of the men who had been in -his detachment—“go with them; you saw Bar Abbas; you’ll know him.” -Already the men were grabbing up their swords from the pile Bar Abbas’ -men had left in their rush to get away. “They were headed east, toward -the Wilderness. In a moment they’ll be running into Lucius on the flank -over there. If he can turn them back, we’ll have them in a bag. But they -may break through him. Stay after them, Decius; get that Bar Abbas, and -try to take him alive.” He turned to another of his men. “Livius, take a -detachment and go down the road; you saw where the revolutionaries -turned off left. Marius, take your squad and go that way”—he pointed up -the Jericho road toward Jerusalem—“and run down those that fled in that -direction; you saw where they turned off. Follow them. And all of you be -careful; we want no more ambushes.” He called out several more names. -“You men stay here with me,” he said. “We’ll see that no harm comes to -the Tetrarch and his lady.” He smiled wryly as he looked toward -Herodias. “We almost didn’t do that awhile ago.” Then he turned again to -Decius. “We’re moving out of this trap in here, though,” he said. “We’ll -be up there a thousand paces. And hurry, men; it will soon be dark in -those rocks.” He signaled for them to be off. “I want that Bar Abbas.” - -Less than half an hour later Marius and his men returned. They were -leading a manacled Israelite. “We saw only five men,” Marius reported. -“Two of them we killed, and this one we cornered between two big rocks. -The other two slipped away; we searched, but we’re sure they’re gone -now. This fellow is a Galilean, named Gesmas, he says.” - -“And you had nobody hurt?” Marius nodded. “Good. Keep a sharp eye on -this fellow.” Cornelius pointed. “Livius is coming in. No prisoners, I -believe.” - -Livius reported that his men had killed or wounded several of the -fleeing revolutionaries. He had had only one man cut slightly by an -Israelite’s desperately wielded spear; the weapon had grazed the -soldier’s shoulder. “We saw no signs of Lucius’ flanking file,” Livius -revealed. “They must have been up ahead, and the revolutionaries we were -pursuing must have slipped around their rear. They know this country; -they simply disappeared like conies into those big rocks. But maybe -Lucius intercepted some of those that Decius went after.” - -“Look!” One of the Romans pointed. “There’s Decius.” Having moved up -from the narrow defile through the boulders, they could see out on both -sides of the road. “And he has two prisoners.” - -“Yes. And one of them, by all the gods”—Cornelius was straining to see -more clearly in the gathering dusk—“is Bar Abbas! Great Jove, he caught -the big prize!” - -The other Israelite, too, they discovered in a moment, was a much wanted -revolutionary, one of Bar Abbas’ principal lieutenants, a Galilean named -Dysmas. - -Lucius had stayed out on the flank, Decius explained, to prevent any -sudden desperate attempt of the Zealots to rescue their leader. They -were still no doubt in the rocks back from the road, perhaps regrouping -their scattered forces. - -“From here into Jerusalem the road is clear, and they won’t be able to -prepare any ambush.” The centurion called out four soldiers standing -near him. “Go tell Lucius to come in nearer. We can move faster that -way, and in the deepening darkness it will be safer for everybody. Tell -him we’re starting at once for Jerusalem.” As they were leaving, he -turned again to Decius. “See that the prisoners are bound securely, and -manacle each one between two of our men. And box them in with guards. -Give them no chance of getting away from us or being rescued.” - -Herodias had been watching silently but with evident interest. “It seems -to me, Centurion,” she observed petulantly, “that you could prevent -either eventuality by executing these rebel scum right now.” - -“I am a Roman soldier, Tetrarchess. These men have had no trial.” - -She pointed to her silent spouse, glumly sitting his horse. “He is the -Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. These revolutionaries are Galileans. He -is the proper one to try them.” - -“No, my dear Herodias,” Antipas spoke out. “This is neither the time nor -the place to conduct any trial. Centurion, let us proceed with your -plans to go on into Jerusalem.” - -Herodias lifted her head haughtily, but she made no reply. As soon as -the caravan re-formed and was ready for the march, Cornelius gave the -command to move forward. Less than two hours later he led the Tetrarch -and Tetrarchess through the gate and let them and their servants into -the gloomy pile of the old Hasmonean Palace. From there he marched his -century to the Fortress of Antonia, where he surrendered his three -prisoners to the dungeon jailer, who locked them, still bound securely, -in the darkness and squalor of one of the lowest-level cells. - -When he had seen to the quartering of his men in their Antonia barracks, -he climbed the stone stairway in the southwestern tower and walked along -the corridor to the room he had been assigned in the officers’ quarters. -He had decided he would have a steaming bath and put on fresh clothing -before going down to the mess for a late evening meal. - -The chamber, the centurion found, was close and warm. He pushed open the -window; then he unbolted the door and walked out onto the balcony. Down -below lights blazed in the Temple courts, and men scurried to and fro, -already in a frenzy of Passover preparations. - - - - - 40 - - -Once again the household of Procurator Pontius Pilate was settled in the -magnificent great Palace of the Herods; once again the ancient capital -of Israel was teeming with countless Jews come up for the Feast of the -Passover. - -From every region and hamlet, almost from every home, in Judaea, -Samaria, Peraea, and Galilee, from Antioch, Damascus, Tarsus, -Alexandria, Memphis, and Cyrene, from Ephesus, Athens, and Corinth, from -all provinces rimming the Great Sea, even to Rome and beyond, from the -islands of Cyprus and Sardinia and Sicily and Crete and those numerous -smaller ones dotting the Aegean, devout Israelites had swarmed into -Jerusalem’s crowded narrow ways and squares before the gates. - -Every Jewish home, whether pretentious stone residence crowning Mount -Zion or squalid malodorous hovel burrowed beneath the city’s walls in -noisome Ophel, was overflowing with pilgrim kinsmen returned for this -greatest annual feast of Israel. For every person living in Jerusalem, -Centurion Longinus casually estimated as he stood on Fortress Antonia’s -balcony outside his chamber, perhaps ten pilgrims had squirmed -themselves inside the walls of the old city. And countless other -thousands had been unable to find living quarters within the walls. -Throngs of Passover celebrants overflowed the slope downward to the -Brook Kidron and up the eastern rise past Gethsemane to the summit of -the Mount of Olives and as far as Bethany. To the south, beyond the ever -smoldering fires of the refuse dumps in the Hinnom valley, and to the -west, tents and brush arbors of Passover pilgrims dotted the untilled -areas through which ran the Bethlehem road. Northward, too, though -Longinus could not survey that section of Jerusalem and its environs -because of the great tower at his back, and to his right over beyond the -massive pile of the Palace of the Herods, for many furlongs past the -Ephraim and Joppa Gates, thin curlings of grayish-white smoke spiraled -upward from small fires over which Passover pilgrims were bending now in -preparation of the evening meal. - -Longinus had been quartered near the Centurion Cornelius, but he had -hardly seen his friend. The night of Cornelius’ arrival from Galilee -with the Tetrarch’s party and his three Zealot prisoners, they had -talked briefly in the mess hall, but they were both weary from the -traveling and soon retired to their beds. The next day Pontius Pilate, -greatly pleased at the capture of the wily zealot chieftain, had ordered -Cornelius to take his century and scour the rocks above the Jericho road -into which the evening before the marauders had disappeared. He had -commanded the centurion to ferret out every member of Bar Abbas’ band -and either capture or kill him. “And follow them as far as Galilee if -need be, Centurion,” the Procurator had instructed him. “Capture any you -can, and bring them back here; we will crucify them during the Passover -festival, and for the thousands of rebellious, stubborn Jews who will -see them dying on the crosses it will be a salutary lesson. It may help -them realize what fate awaits those who thus oppose Rome’s authority and -power.” - -Longinus wondered what success Cornelius was having. Evidently he had -been forced to pursue the fleeing revolutionaries a long way, perhaps -even as far as Galilee, where they might expect to find haven among -kinsmen and friends. No doubt the attackers of the Tetrarch’s party had -separated in their flight from the soldiers of Cornelius. It would be -particularly difficult, virtually impossible, in fact, to round up all -the revolutionaries Bar Abbas had been leading, Longinus felt. In all -probability, he reasoned, a number of them had slipped into Jerusalem a -few minutes after Cornelius had entered the city, perhaps even ahead of -his caravan, and were now safely lost among the tens of thousands -deluging the ancient capital. - -Nor had Longinus had an opportunity thus far to spend any considerable -time alone with Claudia. Though Pilate had been keeping close to his -headquarters in the fortress during the day-time, he had been returning -to the palace at night, and his bedchamber was beside Claudia’s and -connected with it by a doorway. The Procurator, too, had issued orders -for all officers not on active duty to be quickly available; Pilate -seemed unusually restive. Longinus felt that Pilate was determined to -prevent any small turmoil among the Jews from developing into a crisis -whose handling by him might further jeopardize his standing with the -Prefect Sejanus and the Emperor. With so many Jews congregated in -Israel’s holy city on a festival occasion so characteristically Jewish -and one that so emphasized the peculiarly nationalistic spirit of the -Jews, the situation was always highly inflammable. A small spark, if not -snuffed quickly, could blaze into a holocaust. - -One such minor incident that had taken place on the first day of the -Jewish week might have provided such a spark, had the principal actor in -it been of a mind to cause trouble. And, strangely, without having known -what he was seeing, Longinus had witnessed this small happening. - -He had breakfasted early with several fellow officers and had come up to -his chamber this particular morning, when, to enjoy a stirring of the -already warming April air, he had stepped out onto the balcony. Down -below him the Court of the Gentiles was a hive of bustling activity. Out -beyond the eastern wall in the direction he happened to be looking the -slopes were alive with pilgrims preparing for the great festival. But up -on the balcony he was safe from the stir and seething and the -interminable chattering of excited Jewry, and a gentle breeze fanned -him. He sat on the wide stone railing of the rampart, and idly his gaze -went down the nearer slope to the Brook Kidron and along the meandering -road on the other side as it climbed past Gethsemane’s olive grove -toward the hill’s summit. - -It was then that he noticed a procession moving slowly but with evident -enthusiasm downward over this road toward the city from the direction of -Bethany. Immediately his interest was attracted to the motley parade. -Above the harsh cries of the hawkers in the Temple courts, the -quarrelsome tones of bargaining, and the dull lowing of the cattle in -the stalls awaiting sacrificing on the Great Altar, Longinus could -distinguish the screamed hosannas of this unrestrained movement of -dancing, singing, joyous people. Many of them were waving green branches -they must have torn from trees and shrubs along the roadside. -Occasionally the centurion would catch sight of an erect, tall man -astride a white donkey. He adjudged the man to be tall, because his feet -were not far from the gravel of the road as he sat astride the beast. -And then he would lose sight of the rider as the shouting celebrants -swirled about him. - -Some popular rabbi with his people coming up to Jerusalem for the -Passover, Longinus surmised, as he watched the writhing column approach -the Brook Kidron crossing. Soon it disappeared under the walls down near -Dung Gate, but presently it emerged again into his sight; he followed -its progress through the cavernous alleys of Ophel, sometimes seeing it -crossing a narrow opening between huddled buildings but hearing without -interruption its lively shouts and chantings, until it came into clearer -view at a stairway in the street pushing upward along Mount Moriah -toward the Temple now resplendent in the morning sunshine. - -Inside the Court of the Gentiles, which the strange little caravan of -one rider and his evidently unorganized but plainly joyous adherents had -reached by coming in through the Gate Shalleketh, the tall man -dismounted, and someone quickly led the little animal away. In another -moment the shouting and hosannas had ceased, and soon the centurion lost -the rider in the press of the Temple throng. - -Later that day in crossing the Court of the Gentiles to go out through -the Gate Shalleketh and onto the bridge over the Tyropoeon, which was -the easiest way to Mount Zion from the fortress, Longinus learned that -the man on the donkey was the rabbi from Galilee. Many of his followers -had expected the rabbi, whose fame by now had spread throughout Judaea, -to come into the precincts of the Temple, proclaim himself Yahweh’s -Messiah and the ruler of the world, and call down legions of heavenly -angels utterly to destroy every vestige of Rome’s dominion. Now these -followers were deeply disappointed and utterly chagrined. The tall one -from Galilee in whom they had put their trust, the one who would be -Israel’s new David to deliver it from its mighty enemy, had failed them. - -But what if this Jesus had really fancied himself a man ordained to lead -his little nation in throwing off the yoke of Rome? What, reasoned the -centurion, if he had been as visionary, as passionately though unwisely -patriotic as countless other Jews assembled here in Rome for Israel’s -great celebration? In this tense, highly inflammable atmosphere of -Passover week in Jerusalem, with great numbers of his followers -believing that he possessed supernatural authority and powers, the -rabbi’s willingness to allow himself to be proclaimed Israel’s king -would have resulted in fearful bloodshed. But this Jesus at the last -moment had either lost his courage, or else he had never contemplated -leadership of Israel except in some vague, religious sense that -Cornelius perhaps would term spiritual. At any rate, Longinus concluded, -the Galilean was no threat to Rome and of no concern to the Empire. In -his report to Sejanus, he would make no mention of the rabbi, unless in -some manner Pontius Pilate might become involved with the man from -Galilee. He wondered if Pilate had even been informed of the little -procession that had come to such an inglorious ending within the Temple -court. He wondered if Pilate, in fact, in his harried administration of -the affairs of Judaea had ever heard of this Jesus. - - - - - 41 - - -Claudia sat on a small stone bench facing one of the fountains in the -garden of the Palace of the Herods. All about her the grass was a -luxuriant green and the flower beds, fed, she had been told, with blood -drained through subterranean pipes from the overflow of the Great Altar, -were already ablaze with color. Birds skipped and twittered in the rich -foliage, and now and then some venturing small animal would skitter -across an open patch of bright sunshine to disappear beneath the -branches of a flowering shrub. The bench, shaded by a gnarled great -olive, was invitingly cool despite the day’s warmth and heaviness, and -the gentle babble of the spraying water ordinarily would have lulled one -sitting there into a mood of peaceful contemplation, if not pleasant -slumber. - -But this afternoon the wife of the Procurator felt neither peaceful nor -pleasant. She watched the fountain’s waters lifting and arching and -falling and draining away in an undeviating pattern of movement and -allowed her own thoughts to wander with it. - -_... There is the picture of my living. Like the water that is the -thrust-along prisoner of the pump, or the ram which again and again -lifts it and sends it spurting upward only to fall back and sink down -and be forced up again, I am the prisoner of some malign power that -pushes me along through a dull monotony of_ _days that I am powerless -even to protest against; I am swirled about but held fast like that -water in a routine of existence I dare not even challenge...._ - -She leaned forward with her head upon her hands and glared, hardly -seeing it, at the captive, dancing water. How, by Bona Dea and all the -good and gentle gods, the kind and happily ministering gods, how, by -Pluto and all his evil soot-begrimed and blackened imps, could she -escape the treadmill of this deadening monotony, this unending, -bedeviling frustration? Granddaughter of the great god Augustus, -stepdaughter of the great god Tiberius, granddaughter of the -almost-great god Mark Antony and the great great goddess Cleopatra, wife -of the mighty Procurator of Judaea, daughter through Augustus of Jove -himself, princess of the blood.... - -“Bah!” She said it aloud. But there was nobody near-by in the garden. -She sat back against the coolness of the stone. “By all the gods, why -couldn’t I have been a wench serving tables in a tavern, a strumpet down -in the Subura, and had my freedom!” - -_... Why, by all the gods, can’t old Tiberius die? He’s past seventy -now, and of what service is he to the Empire? And Sejanus, the old rake, -must be past sixty. If someone would give the Prefect a neat sword -thrust...._ - -She stood up and walked over to the fountain, held out her hands to the -spraying water and lifted wet palms to her flushed cheeks. The afternoon -was still and depressing. She raised her eyes and saw above the trees -and the turreted nearest corner of the great palace rounded soft white -puffs of clouds, like newly lifted fresh curds in a deeply blue -overturned bowl. “A storm,” she said to herself, “one of those swiftly -arrived, quickly gone, fierce Judaean storms. But it will clear the air -of this blanket of heat, and it will serve to break for a while the -monotony of another fruitless day.” - -But she did not go inside. She sat down again and watched the gathering -puffs of clouds. Never had she been afraid of storms, even ominous -thunder and the swift, sharp streaks of lightning. She remembered that -once in her early childhood when a governess had warned her against -staying outdoors and running the risk of being struck by one of Jove’s -hurled mighty bolts, she had remarked, “If old Jove is clever enough to -strike me with a bolt outdoors, why can’t he throw one right through the -roof and hit me while I’m inside? I don’t believe he can hit me whether -I’m outside or inside.” - -Her blasphemous words had woefully shocked the governess, but Claudia -had never seen cause to retract them. One thing had led to another; from -denying Jove’s power she had soon come to deny his very existence, and -with his, the existence likewise of the entire pantheon of lesser gods -and goddesses. - -She was still seated on the bench when a palace servant came out to -announce that a soldier had arrived from Fortress Antonia with a message -for her. - -“Then bring him here,” she instructed the servant. Could it be, she -wondered, that the man is bringing a message from Longinus? - -But the legionary had been sent to her by the Procurator. Pilate, he -reported, would not be returning to the palace either for the evening -meal or to spend the night. He begged to explain to his wife that he had -had a very trying day and that he would be engaged until late in the -evening. He had agreed to give an audience to the High Priest Caiaphas, -and their meeting might well be extended into the night. He had decided, -therefore, to forego the privilege and pleasure of dining with the -Procuratoress; he would have supper in his quarters and after he had -ended his long day’s duties would spend the remainder of the night -there. - -Her first thought was of getting a message to Longinus. She would write -it, seal it fast, and send it by the legionary. - -“Thank you,” she said to the soldier. “I shall want you to carry a -message to the Fortress.” She stood up. “I’ll go inside and prepare it.” -But would it be a discreet thing to do, sending a message to Longinus by -this legionary? What if by chance it should fall into other hands, even -Pilate’s? “No, there’s no need of my writing it,” she said. “Just tell -the Procurator that I thank him for informing me and that I shall see -him at his pleasure tomorrow.” - -But she would find a way of notifying Longinus. Tullia. Of course. -Tullia was one person upon whose loyalty and good judgment she could -always depend. When Tullia returned, she would send her to Longinus. - -A soft breeze had sprung up and was pushing the storm clouds gently -away; the air had cooled; the storm seemed to have been averted for the -day. Claudia rose from the bench and returned to her apartment in the -palace. - -When a few minutes later her maid returned, she was carrying a small -wicker basket. “Mistress, I found these in one of the markets near the -Temple,” she said, beaming as she held out the basket to Claudia. “I -thought you might enjoy them.” - -“Fresh figs? And so early?” She picked one up. “It really is a fresh -one, isn’t it?” - -“Yes, and I’ve washed them. You can eat it right now. I was surprised to -find any this early, but the man explained that in some of the warm -coves on the protected side of Olivet they often have figs ripening in -early April.” - -Claudia pulled the fig open and nibbled at the firm reddish flesh -inside. “It’s delicious,” she said, “and such a surprise.” She saw that -Tullia’s eyes were ablaze with an excitement, however, that no discovery -of fresh figs could have provoked. “What is it, little one? What -happened? Whom did you see?” - -“Mistress, I was looking at the figs when I heard a familiar voice -speaking to the merchant. I looked around; it was Mary of Magdala.” - -Jesus and his little group, she had told Tullia, had come down from the -Ephraim hills for the Passover. Her master was spending his nights with -Martha and Mary and Lazarus out at near-by Bethany; during the day he -came into the Temple courts to teach. - -“Perhaps, then, he will proclaim himself the Messiah of Israel and -establish a new government,” Tullia said she had said to Mary. But the -Magdalene had answered that Jesus seemed to be insisting instead that he -would not become Israel’s temporal ruler, that he would even die as a -sort of Passover sacrifice, an offering for the salvation of his people. - -“But surely,” Claudia commented, “you Jews would never so debase -yourselves as to offer a human sacrifice, as do those who worship -Moloch.” - -“It wouldn’t be that way, Mistress. But ... I don’t believe it will ever -happen anyway.” - -Mary had asked Tullia to spend the night with her in a cottage out at -Bethany near the modest home of Lazarus and his sisters. She might be -able to see Jesus and even talk with him. They would meet, if Claudia -should be agreeable, at Shushan Gate before sunset and go out to -Bethany. - -“Then you’d best be going soon,” Claudia observed. “But before you meet -Mary, I want you to go by Fortress Antonia and tell Longinus that the -Procurator will be spending the night there.” She told the maid of the -message Pilate had sent her. “And tell Longinus I’ll accept no excuse -for his failing to come.” - - - - - 42 - - -The lean, blue-jowled ascetic face of Joseph Caiaphas, High Priest of -Israel, warmed into a disarming smile, and the flames from the chamber’s -wall lamps danced in his sharp, dark eyes. - -“Excellency,” he said, “you must be exasperated at my coming to you at -this late hour.” He faced the Procurator across the ornate, heavy desk. -“I know you are tired, and I appreciate the fact that the strain you’ve -been undergoing ever since your arrival in Judaea has been intensified -during these recent inflammable days of the Passover season.” He leaned -nearer Pilate. “I realize, too, Excellency, that you must be determined -to prevent the repetition of events in Palestine that might result in -the dispatching to Rome of further damaging reports”—the Procurator’s -florid round face darkened, but Caiaphas pretended not to -notice—“challenging the excellence of the Procurator’s administration of -the affairs of this province.” - -“I am tired; I’ve had a long day.” Pilate’s tone revealed irritation. -“Perhaps if the High Priest would proceed at once to the business he had -in coming....” - -“Indeed, Excellency,” the High Priest interrupted, “and I shall require -little of your time, so that shortly you may go to your well-earned -couch. A fortunate event of the day has facilitated the early -satisfactory disposition of the business; if the Procurator will -co-operate in disposing of it we shall quickly rid ourselves of a -grievous threat both to Israel’s peace and to the Procurator’s rule. I -have just come from a lengthy session of the elders of Israel, -Excellency—that explains my late arrival here—at which we have -agreed....” - -“But what is the business you would lay before me? And how would it -affect the Procurator’s administration of the government in Judaea?” -Pilate’s impatience had put a sharp edge on his voice. “If it is a -question of the alleged violation of certain religious laws of the -Jews....” - -“It is that, Excellency, but it is more.” Caiaphas leaned forward, and -the light of the lamps flashed in the gems of his rings. “Not only would -this man destroy our religion, but likewise would he destroy the rule of -Rome in Palestine.” - -“This man? Are you speaking of one Bar Abbas? He has been seized, with -two of his fellow revolutionaries. They go to the cross tomorrow.” - -The High Priest shook his head. “It is not that one, Excellency. The man -is a Galilean, one Jesus bar Joseph, not a robber like Bar Abbas, but a -far more dangerous revolutionary, whom his misguided followers—and their -number is growing, Excellency—are proclaiming not only the Messiah of -God but also the next King of Israel. Were noise to get back to the -Prefect Sejanus or the Emperor that such a person was being permitted to -advocate and plan Rome’s overthrow and your Excellency’s -supplanting....” - -“But does the High Priest know where this man is? Does the Sanhedrin -have him in its custody?” - -Calmly Joseph Caiaphas stroked his oiled and braided long beard. “He is -in Jerusalem at this moment, Excellency, or within the close environs of -the city. It is possible that already he has been seized by the Temple -guard. He has been at the Feast since the first day of the week when he -entered Jerusalem riding on a white donkey, which among the Jews is a -symbol of royalty, Excellency. It was then that he had planned to enlist -the Passover pilgrims, led by his fellow Galileans, in proclaiming him -the new David, the King of Israel suddenly freed of Rome’s domination. -He lost his courage, though, or in some manner his plans failed of -materialization. But”—his hand stabbed out again at the Procurator—“the -fellow is still intent on seizing power, and his countless misguided -followers are determined to see him established on the throne as King of -Israel. They will plunge our ancient land into revolution, Excellency. -Blood will flow freely throughout Judaea and Galilee. Many Roman -soldiers will die before the rebellion is crushed, unless”—his forehead -wrinkled in heavy concern—“this fellow is quietly slain, Excellency, -before his followers can rally.” - -“You say that perhaps he has been arrested already. How could he be -taken without alarming these supporters of whom you speak?” - -The High Priest leaned back in his chair and folded his long arms across -his chest. “The God of Israel has favored us, Excellency. He has -delivered this blasphemer into our hands through his betrayal by one of -his own band. This man came to us and after seeking pay told us he would -point out where the man might be found and taken with little commotion. -We gave the fellow thirty pieces of silver. By now no doubt he has -delivered his leader into the hands of the guardsmen....” - -“You say this man’s a blasphemer. Don’t you know that the Procurator is -not concerned with violations of your religious code? What is it to Rome -if your Yahweh is blasphemed? We will not enter into the religious -quarrels of the Jews. I presume you have come here to ask me to try the -man and find him guilty. I say, O High Priest, try the man yourself.” - -Caiaphas smiled indulgently, but then his brow furrowed again and he -scowled darkly. “That is true, Excellency. Rome has no concern with -Israel’s worship of our God. But is not Rome concerned when a man, under -the guise of teaching a new religion, declares openly that he will -establish a new government in Israel? Would not Sejanus and the Emperor -consider then that Rome was concerned ... and deeply concerned?” - -The High Priest’s clever thrust had made its mark; Pilate’s face -flushed; his tone, when he replied, was petulant. “Of course, the -Prefect and the Emperor would be concerned; so would the Legate -Vitellius, and so would the Procurator; so, in fact, would any loyal -Roman.” Now the Procurator extended his own finger to point. “But how do -you know that this Galilean advocates the overthrow of Rome? Has he come -to trial? Has he faced witnesses against him? What would the High Priest -have me to do, send a man to his death without trial? Certainly the High -Priest must know that Rome is ruled by law, that no man under the rule -of Rome may suffer death until he has been adjudged guilty, and that any -such judgment can come only after a fair trial in which the man has been -confronted by witnesses against him.” - -“Indeed, O Procurator”—Joseph Caiaphas held up a soothing palm—“we well -know that and approve. We, too, would never consent to sending this -revolutionary to his death without trial, even though his crimes against -Israel and against Rome have already been conclusively established. But -he is being brought to fair trial, Excellency, before the great -Sanhedrin of Israel. Perhaps he has already been apprehended in the -Garden of Gethsemane, where he had planned to conceal himself with -certain of his followers, as we learned from the traitor who came to us. -He will be examined, no doubt before my beloved father-in-law Annas, -known for his piety and his wisdom, learned in the laws of Israel”—he -smiled warmly—“and strong in his devotion to the Prefect and the -Emperor. And then, Excellency, as soon as the dawn of the new day makes -it legal under our laws to conduct such a trial, the Galilean will be -brought before the Sanhedrin, confronted by witnesses against him, and -given proper trial.” - -“Then why has the High Priest,” Pilate asked in exasperation, “come to -me?” - -“O Excellency, the Procurator must know that the ancient laws of Israel, -now that Rome has become master, no longer apply in every detail. Should -our Sanhedrin find this revolutionary Galilean guilty of base crimes and -sentence him to death, it would still be powerless to carry out its -sentence without the approval of Rome. I am here, O Excellency, to -petition the Procurator to approve our verdict and sentence. And I urge -you to do this quickly, in order that the man may be executed while it -is yet early and before all Jerusalem, and the Galileans in particular, -are astir. Then much commotion and bloodshed would be prevented and,” he -added with a suggestive smile, “there would be no necessity of any -report’s going to Rome.” - -“But you wish me to condemn a man to death _before_ he has been tried?” -Pilate’s anger showed plainly in his frown. - -“Indeed, no, Excellency,” the High Priest replied calmly. “We only wish -you to approve and order into execution the sentence of the Sanhedrin in -the event that _after_ he has been tried, he is judged guilty.” - -Pilate shook his head. “No, I shall send no man to the cross or to death -by stoning until _I_ have tried him. To do so would be an unspeakable -breach of Rome’s system of justice.” - -“But, Excellency, would you show your scorn of Israel’s highest court?” - -“I would show only my determination to uphold Rome’s laws and -procedures. If you wish this man tried, then bring him before me at the -Procuratorium.” He bowed coldly. “And now, if the High Priest will -excuse me....” - -The High Priest stood up as though to leave. “Indeed, Excellency, I too -am greatly fatigued,” he said, “but one more point detains me. A moment -ago, Procurator Pilate, did I not hear you say that on the morrow you -were sending Bar Abbas to the cross? If so, Excellency, have you not -already convicted him?” - -Pilate’s smile was contemptuous as he, too, rose to his feet. “I did say -that, and I have no doubt that he will go to the cross. But not, O High -Priest, until he has been given trial, before he has been confronted by -witnesses who will testify to what they saw and heard as concerns those -charges that will be placed against him. I presume that many will appear -against this Bar Abbas and that he will be convicted. But I do not say -now that he will. I say only that he will be given a fair trial.” He -lifted a heavy fist and brought it forcefully down upon the surface of -his desk. “And so, by all the gods, will your Galilean!” - - - - - 43 - - -_... The knocking is insistent. Can it be that the Praetorian Guardsman -has been there a long time pounding on the door between the atrium and -the peristylium while I slowly awakened? Bona Dea, what can old Sejanus -want this time? Will he never cease hounding Longinus and me?_ - -_... Longinus. By the Bountiful Mother, maybe it’s Longinus returned -from Germania. Maybe he’s at the bedroom door opening on the -peristylium...._ - -“Just a moment, Centurion, until I get my robe!” Claudia sat up in bed, -rubbed her eyes, and shook her head to clear it. A narrow slash of -natural light showed through the not completely drawn draperies. It was -dawn. And burrowed in the pillow beside her was the close-cropped head -of the Centurion Longinus. - -Now the knocking had begun again. But it came, Claudia realized, from -the other side of the door between her bedroom and Tullia’s. And though -insistent, the knocking was not loud. “Mistress! Mistress! Oh, -Mistress!” - -She recognized her maid’s voice; Tullia was trying to awaken her without -making too much noise in the early morning stillness of the Palace of -the Herods. “Just a moment, little one,” she called out softly. At the -door she slid back the bolt. “But, Tullia,” she demanded, keeping her -voice low so that she would not awaken Longinus, “what are you doing -back so early? It must be hardly daylight. Why, little one....” she -paused, seeing the maid on the verge of tears. - -“Oh, Mistress, he’s in grave danger!” Tullia burst out. “They’ve seized -him. We fear great harm may befall him. That’s why I have come back to -seek your help for him.” She was making an obvious effort to gain -control of herself; somewhat calmed, she continued. “I started from -Bethany at the first glimmering of light, almost as soon as we heard -that he had been taken. We’re so afraid, Mistress, that great harm will -come to him unless....” - -“Let’s sit down”—Claudia’s tone was soothing—“and then quietly you can -tell me why you’re so afraid he’s going to suffer great injury. And who, -Tullia? You haven’t even told me his name.” - -“The Galilean, Mistress; I thought you knew. Sometime during the night -some Temple guardsmen came and seized him in the Garden of Gethsemane; -he’d gone there with his little band to rest after eating the Passover -meal at the home of Mary of Cypress. They say it was one of his own band -who betrayed him, who told the Temple priests where he could be found -and arrested without there being a big stir. Of course there would have -been a great commotion if they had tried to take him anywhere near the -Temple; they wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing if....” - -“But how do you know all this?” Claudia interrupted. “Maybe you’re -getting yourself upset without good reason.” - -“No, it’s true, Mistress. Jesus and those of his immediate company, -along with his mother and certain other relatives, have been staying in -the Bethany neighborhood during the festival period,” Tullia revealed. -“Jesus himself lodged at the home of Lazarus and his sisters. But -yesterday afternoon the Master and the twelve men of his band went into -Jerusalem. That’s the last time Mary of Magdala saw him.” Her face was a -mask of pain and apprehension. “Then, early this morning, we were -awakened by several of his band who had come running back to Bethany in -great panic to report what had befallen him. All of them forsook him in -the garden when the soldiers appeared; even Simon, after he had slashed -out with his sword at one of the guardsmen, turned on his heel and ran, -too, they said.” - -“But where did the soldiers take him?” Claudia asked. “And why have you -come to me?” - -“They said there was talk that he was being taken before the High Priest -or else old Annas, Mistress. And we’re afraid that he may suffer a -terrible fate if he falls into the hands of the Temple priests. They’re -determined to kill him, Mistress.” She paused, eyes tearful. “I knew no -one else to whom I could turn for help, no one but you. I thought that -you might speak to the Procurator and he might rescue the Galilean -before they have him killed.” - -“But don’t you know that they have no authority to execute the death -sentence until the Procurator has given approval?” - -“Yes, but they’re so inflamed against him, Mistress, that they might -risk it. But if you could send a message to the Procurator....” - -“He was probably up late into the night. To awaken him now with a -message might offend him, and that would be doing the Galilean more harm -than good. But Pilate usually returns to the palace before beginning his -morning duties; as soon as he does, I’ll lay before him this matter of -the Galilean’s arrest. Certainly no harm can come to him before Pilate -has had an opportunity to sit in judgment on him.” - - - - - 44 - - -This Passover season there would be only three burdened crosses on top -of the desolate Hill of the Skull, but they would be enough. The ugly -spectacle would provide a frightful ending to the Jews’ annual great -festival. - -In other times in Palestine, Centurion Cornelius had been told, Rome had -moved swiftly—and with far more terrifying effectiveness—to dramatize -the utter futility of any province’s attempt to contend against the -mighty conqueror. In Galilee they still talked, though even now in -carefully guarded conversations, of that dreadful day at Sepphoris -hardly more than twenty years ago when the Roman general Varus had -crushed a rebellion and crucified two thousand Jewish insurrectionists. - -Perhaps Pontius Pilate, who a week ago had sent him chasing the rebels -of the now leaderless Bar Abbas band, had tired of awaiting the -centurion’s return with more captives for the crosses; perhaps he had -already ordered to slow and agonizing deaths the revolutionaries’ leader -and the two followers captured with him. It might be that even now -countless pilgrims up for the Passover, drawn by a morbid fascination, -were gawking at the scourged, torn, and broken, unimaginably desecrated -bodies of the captured robber-Zealots. But Cornelius would provide no -additional victims for those crosses on the Hill of the Skull. - -“And I’m glad,” he said aloud. - -“What, Centurion? Glad?” Decius, riding beside him, had heard. - -“I was just thinking aloud about this business of crucifying slaves and -depraved criminals. I was glad those four revolutionaries we cornered in -the Ephraim hills chose to fight to their deaths rather than surrender. -It’s better not having to take anybody back to Jerusalem to be nailed up -on a cross.” - -“It’s not one of the most pleasant assignments a soldier gets, being on -a crucifixion detail,” Decius agreed. “I’ve been on three, and I’ll -never forget those poor devils, the first one especially, maybe just -because he was my first. He was a boy in Germania, hardly sixteen, but a -sturdy, strong fellow. I can still see him, Centurion. He was fair and -his hair was the color of ripened grain, and his eyes were as blue as -the sky. He had killed one of our soldiers, they said.” - -“Probably after our soldier had killed the boy’s parents and raped his -sister.” - -“I can’t say as to that; you could be right, Centurion. But our -commander ordered him to the cross, and I was put on the detail. We took -that boy and tied him to the low stake and scourged him until he was a -bloody pulp, Centurion. I can still see those bone-tipped whips slashing -that white skin and flicking off bits of flesh, and one of them got him -in the eye and knocked the ball out of the socket; it was hanging down -when we nailed him up.” Decius shook his head ruefully. “By the gods, -Centurion, do you know that boy even then fought us and cursed us as -long as he had a hand or foot loose, and when we got all four spiked -down he tried to butt us with his head. He was a strong one, that -fellow; I remember he didn’t die until well along in the second day, and -then he was spitting at us and cursing us almost to his last breath.” -Decius stared thoughtfully for a moment at the road unwinding ahead. -“Many times I’ve dreamed about that boy, Centurion, and I can still see -him plainly and hear his screaming and cursing. It’s not a pleasant -dream. I’d rather dream about those yellow-haired women in Germania.” - -Cornelius nodded his head solemnly. “Yet we Romans call ourselves modern -and civilized people.” They rode on in silence for a few moments. “Maybe -we did well in being away from Jerusalem most of the week of the feast,” -Cornelius finally commented. “Maybe we escaped being assigned by the -Procurator to a crucifixion detail.” - -“I hope so; I’ve no stomach for serving on one again,” Decius agreed. -“You know, Centurion, I’ve just been thinking that very likely many of -Bar Abbas’ cutthroats are right up there in Jerusalem in that Passover -crowd. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them should try to rescue -those three Zealots.” - -Cornelius nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me either. I suspect that most -of them, in fact, doubled back that night and beat us into Jerusalem and -got themselves quickly lost in the surge of Passover pilgrims. And only -the gods know how many other Zealots are swarming all over the city with -their daggers sharpened for our throats.” - -It was almost midday when they moved through the defile between the -boulders where a week before they had been waylaid by the Zealot -chieftain. This time Cornelius sent a scouting party ahead to -reconnoiter. But no marauder was encountered. - -In the level beyond the rocks the century paused to eat and rest. But -not for long. Soon Cornelius gave the order to reassemble in marching -formation. The sun was straight overhead, and the air was warm and -heavy; a stifling stillness presaged a violent storm. “I’d like to get -into Antonia before it breaks,” the centurion observed to Decius, as -they mounted their horses. “Look.” He pointed off toward the southwest -where an immense angry black cloud hovered low. “By mighty Jove, it must -be already dark in Jerusalem.” - - - - - 45 - - -The tall Galilean arose from the steps before the Beautiful Gate and -bending over, caught the hand of the prostrate, frightened woman. -“Neither do I condemn you, my sister,” he said gently, as he helped her -to her feet and she lifted tearful, penitent eyes to him. “Go, and sin -no more.” - -“He is truly a good man, Tullia, a noble man of warm heart, a generous, -forgiving, good man. But a god? No, little one.” They were watching the -woman as she neared the corner of the Chel toward the Fortress of -Antonia. “There are no gods.” - -The woman went out of their sight around the Soreg. They turned to look -again toward the Galilean at the marble steps. - -But the steps had disappeared, and the Beautiful Gate, and beyond it the -Great Altar. Only the man stood there, and his arms were bound behind -him now, and where the Chel had been was the Procurator’s tribunal. -Solemn but unafraid, he faced the judge. At his back the Temple leaders -who a moment ago had dragged the poor woman before him were shouting -execrations upon him and demanding of the Procurator his crucifixion. -“Crucify him!” they were screaming. “Crucify him!” - -And in the magistrate’s chair ... by the Great Mother, there was Pontius -Pilate! - -Pilate, his round face livid with anger, was remonstrating with the -priests. “But shall I crucify your King? Shall I crucify the King of the -Jews?” - -Crucify Jesus of Galilee? - -“No, Pilate! No! No!” She was running toward the Procurator to stand -beside the Galilean. “No, my husband, have nothing to do with this good -man!” - -_... But Pilate does not see me or hear me. Nor does the Galilean. Am I -a disembodied spirit? But there are no spirits. Oh, Tullia. But Tullia -neither hears nor sees me...._ - -“Then take him yourselves and crucify him. His death be your -responsibility.” Pilate was speaking again. “I am free of his blood.” - -“No! No! No, Pilate! You are sending an innocent man to his death! You -can never disavow responsibility! Oh, hear me, my husband! Hear me!” - -But the Praetorium and its tribunal, the tall, bound Galilean, the -railing priests and their blood-hungry supporters were suddenly -vanished. - -The great throne room of the Imperial Palace in Rome was strangely -darkened. She could hear the voice of the Emperor, but she could hardly -distinguish his features. Was he her stepfather Tiberius, incredibly old -now, or a younger Emperor? The voice was somewhat strange, too. “You -have failed miserably,” the voice was saying. “You have been rash and -stubbornly determined to govern in accordance with your own whims, you -have not only permitted, but you have, through your intemperate -governing, created much turmoil and insurrection within your province; -in short, your rule has been a travesty of Roman administration.” The -voice paused. “But I shall not order you executed, as you deserve. -Instead, I decree that you be banished, forthwith and forever....” - -The voice had faded out as the light came up, and she saw standing with -bowed head, old and bent and his once round face thinned and haggard and -hopeless, Pontius Pilate. - -“No! No! If you had only listened....” - -But no one heard her, and the great chamber was dark, and not a sound -came to her out of the stillness. - -“Oh, by the Great Mother! By all the gods, great and small. Oh, -Galilean!” - -Now as she stood immobile and weightless in the blackness and silence, -she began to sense a luminosity thinning the darkness below, and looking -down she saw a great way off a point of light that spread and lifted and -came up in ever widening circles to illuminate the heights about her. -For she was standing on the summit of a great mountain, higher even than -the sun-baked granite bluffs on which Machaerus sat above the Dead Sea, -and far below she could discern the imprisoned, restless waters of a -mountain-rimmed small lake. - -Then, as she raised her eyes from the waters and looked across toward an -opposite peak, she saw him. He stood, bent and shrunken and old with the -weight of centuries, on a jagged thrust of rock that came out from the -mountain to overhang the agitated surface of the lake. He was looking -down at the waters; the light was reflected from a head completely bald, -and it played on cheek bones guarding cheeks long sunken, so that his -head even in life appeared to have dried away to a skull, and only long -dewlaps hanging down showed signs of animation. - -“No! No! It cannot be!” - -But she knew it was, though Pontius Pilate had shriveled into a pitiful -husk of the vain and pompous Procurator he had been. - -In the same moment she heard voices, and looking around, she saw people -on the slopes of the mountain, coming up, pushing outward, swelling, and -growing until all the mountain was filled with people, and they were of -all races and times and colors and tongues. But strangely enough, she -could understand their words, Roman and Greek and Egyptian and the -tongues of the yellow-haired sons of Germania and the dark-haired women -of Gaul, and even the babblings of the barbarians in faraway Britannia, -and the curious utterances of the many unborn strange peoples of places -beyond the as yet uncharted seas. And each in his own way was saying -what all the others were saying. - -The man on the precipice appeared not to see or hear the people; he -seemed preoccupied, fearful, oblivious of everything about him, and -struggling with the burden of some monstrous inner distress. He raised -his hands and held them before his face, and then it was that she saw -they were red to the wrists with the color of blood freshly spilled; he -rubbed them together, as though struggling fiercely to scrub the blood -away; he lowered them as if to dip them in a basin, then lifted them -again to study them, his bloodless face, in contrast to the hands, a -shade of ashen horror. - -But the frenzied washing had done no good; the hands shone fiery red. -Despairing, Pilate dropped them to his sides and stepped to the very -edge of the yawning gulf. “I didn’t know!” he cried. “By all the gods, I -didn’t know.” He raised his cavernous face and with eyes wide looked -into the void. “O God of the Jews”—his shrunken head swayed on the -wrinkled neck—“had I but known. Had I but known....” His words whispered -into silence, and he closed his eyes. - -“Don’t! No! No!” she screamed. “No, don’t!” - -She forced herself to look down. - -Pilate’s lean frame was dropping, slowly turning and twisting, toward -the angry waters; his bony arms and legs were thrust out stiffly from -the shroud of his too large toga, which streamed above the plummeting -body, flapping furiously in the wind. Rigid with horror, staring into -the abyss, she saw the body strike, heard the sickening blob, and -watched it gradually disappear. - -But the waters would not grant oblivion. Angrily they flung the broken, -thin body back to the surface, and to Claudia, watching in frozen -fascination, it seemed to be twisting and eddying in continuous -agitation above the seething waters. Looking more closely, her eyes -rooted to the scene in morbid horror, she saw white arms thrust upward -and hands still reddened, cleansed not one tint by their plunge into the -watery depths. Now suddenly the hands seemed detached from the -stiffening arms, and alive; like wounded rodents seeking haven in a dark -fissure among the rocks, they were feeling their way along the ascending -stony slope toward her, and in that dreadful instant there lifted to her -also the babble of countless voices in many tongues blending once again -into a swelling chorus. The light breaking slowly above the mountain -showed the plain below and the steep rises teeming with a multitude -drawn from all races and nations. - -On the faces of some she read swift anger and deep hate, and their fists -were lifted skyward and their voices raised in execrations; others -revealed only indifference, and their words were but the prattled -monotony of chanted creed; but here and there on the level and along the -slopes she saw those whose words fitted without disharmony into the -growing chorus but whose faces as they uttered them revealed sorrow, -deep pity, and a forgiving spirit. - -She closed her eyes against the vision of the myriad chanting faces, but -she heard their voices and she understood their many tongues ... -“Crucified by Pontius Pilate ... Crucified ... suffered under Pontius -Pilate ... suffered ... suffered ... Pontius Pilate....” - -“No! No!” She opened her eyes to see the mountain cleared of the people, -the vision gone, the voices silenced. But there on the ledge at her -feet, rubbing one against the other, endlessly, eternally, fruitlessly -seeking to be cleansed, were the two gory, dismembered hands. - -“No! Back! Back! Go back!” She whirled about to rid herself of the -frightening apparition, and burying her face, eyes shut, against her -crossed arms, she leaned down upon the cool hardness of the boulder -beside her. “No! No!” she sobbed. “Get back! Go! Please go!” Would those -hands, the horrible thought came suddenly to her, come closer? Would -they attempt to exact vengeance upon her? Might they even now be -creeping upon her to fasten cold, bloody fingers about her neck, to -choke the life...? - -“Get back! No! No!” she screamed, as she freed an arm to beat frantic -fist against the stone. “Don’t touch me! Tullia! Longinus! Oh, -Longinus....” - -“Claudia! By great Jove!” The centurion, sitting up fully awake, shook -her hard. “Claudia! Wake up, woman! Wake up! Come out of it! What on -earth....” - -She opened her eyes. “Longinus! Oh, by all the gods, it was terrible, -terrible!” Nor was the terror completely dispelled; in her eyes, wide, -staring, her fear still spoke. Her shoulders shook in an involuntary -shudder. - -He pulled her up into a sitting position and grasped her hand. “But it -was only a nightmare, Claudia. You’re all right. You were just -dreaming.” She blinked and ventured a thin smile. “You were screaming -like a wild woman and beating the bed with your fist.” His excited -concern gave way to a grin. “It must have been a bloodcurdling dream.” - -“Oh, Longinus”—she clenched her eyelids tightly against the light -streaming in through the window—“it was the most horrible dream I ever -had, the most frightful thing anyone could imagine. I dreamed ... oh, -it’s too horribly near; I can’t tell you now.” Still shaking, she turned -to snuggle within the haven of his arms. “Bona Dea....” - -A sudden light knocking on the door interrupted her. Tullia entered to -ask softly if anything was wrong. - -“It was only a nightmare, little one,” Claudia answered, leaning back on -her pillow. “It was so vivid, so frightening. But I’m all right now. -I’ll call you when I need you.” - -“Was it about what I told you, Mistress, the Galilean?” Her question and -tone of voice betrayed Tullia’s deep concern. - -“Yes ... about him and Pilate; horrible, horrible. I....” - -“Oh, Mistress, could it have been a message to you, a vision sent...?” - -“From your Jewish Yahweh, perhaps?” Claudia affected an uneasy laugh. -“No, it was a dream, little one, that’s all. Get back to your bed; you -must still be weary.” - -Claudia saw Longinus’ look of puzzlement. “Tullia returned late in the -night from Bethany and reported that the High Priest had schemed the -arrest of the rabbi of Galilee. She was afraid he might prevail on -Pilate this morning to agree to the crucifixion of the Galilean.” - -“Crucifixion? By all the gods, on what charge?” - -“That he seeks to overthrow Rome.” - -“The Galilean? But he’s no revolutionary. Surely Pilate knows that.” - -“Yes, surely he must.” She frowned. “But you know how Pilate fears the -High Priest and his Temple crowd, how he’s always afraid they’ll send -reports to Sejanus.” - -“And you dreamed that he had sent the Galilean to the cross?” - -“Yes. It was all confused, all horrible.” She sat up precipitately and -looked toward the window. “Bona Dea, it must be late. And Pilate begins -his trials soon after daybreak. Mother Ceres, I do wonder....” She -sprang from the bed and drew on her robe. “Tullia!” she called. “Fetch -me a wax tablet and stylus! Hurry, little one! I must send Pilate a -message.” - - - - - 46 - - -The sun was lifting above the Mount of Olives when Pilate’s orderly -awakened him from heavy sleep. “Sir, the High Priest Caiaphas and others -of the Temple leadership,” he said apologetically, “insisted that I -inform you that they have arrived with the prisoner about whom he spoke -with you last night. They said that they were most anxious for you to -proceed at once to dispose of the case.” - -The Procurator sat up in bed and blinked his heavy-lidded eyes. -“Insolent Jew!” he muttered. “He would not only tell the Procurator what -to do, but when to do it! By the great Jove, I may surprise him!” He -threw back the covering and rose ponderously to his feet. “Go tell the -High Priest to have his witnesses ready. I shall be there shortly.” - -The great Fortress of Antonia, Rome’s bastion in the Jerusalem region, -consisted actually of four straight-walled, high buildings joined -together by corner towers to compose an impregnable stone structure some -fifty by one hundred paces on the outside walls. The space within the -inside four walls had been paved with great stone slabs to form a -tremendous courtyard reached by huge gateways, one on each of the -edifice’s four sides. Massive gates guarded the fortress against sudden -attack; when opened, they admitted a flow of nondescript traffic into -the courtyard. - -Along the southern side of the fortress there was another paved court -from which a wide flight of stone steps led up to a terrace; the -terrace, in turn, led into the interior courtyard. In a high-ceilinged -chamber on the ground floor of this structure, Pontius Pilate had set up -his Praetorium. A Roman praetorium, or trial place of a praetor, -consisted of a semicircular dais on which the curule, or magistrate’s -chair, had been placed. - -In the rear of this chamber was a small doorway, and it was through this -doorway that Pilate, shortly after the orderly had reported to High -Priest Caiaphas, came into the Praetorium. - -The Procurator strode straight to the dais, mounted its several steps, -and sat down on the curule. Frowning, he glanced toward the tall, -manacled prisoner. Flanking the man on both sides were several guards, -all Roman soldiers, who had been assigned to the Temple detail. Though a -throng had already assembled in the court beyond the gateway, the -Procurator could see from where he sat on the tribunal that not a Jew -had followed the prisoner inside the vaulted chamber. “What charge is -brought against this man?” Pilate snapped. “And where are his accusers?” - -The captain of the guard saluted. “High Priest Caiaphas commanded me, -Excellency, to bring the prisoner before you with instructions that he -has been tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin and found guilty of crimes -punishable by death. He said you, O Excellency, were to confirm the -verdict of the Jewish court and order its sentence put into execution.” - -Anger suffused the Procurator’s round, usually bland face. “And why -hasn’t the High Priest come himself to bear witness to the Sanhedrin’s -action? Why has this man no accusers confronting him?” - -The captain was plainly ill at ease. He shifted his weight from one foot -to the other, started to speak, then swallowed. “The Jews, O Excellency, -will not enter the Praetorium for fear that to do so will be a -profanation, that it will render them unfit to eat of their Passover -evening meal,” he finally revealed. “They will come no nearer than the -steps”—he pointed—“out there.” - -Pilate, as the captain had expected, was furious. “Profanation! -Profanation! All I hear in this rebellious, proud province is -profanation! Hah! They would profane themselves by entering a Roman hall -of justice!” His already flushed cheeks were purpling. He stood up -quickly, strode down the steps of the tribunal, and stalked forward to -the stairway; from there he could survey the mass of excited, chattering -Jews, who quieted perceptibly on seeing him emerge from the Praetorium. - -“The prisoner,” he said, motioning with his head toward the chamber from -which he had just come, “what charge do you bring against him? And where -are his accusers?” - -The multitude was silent. Eyes turned toward a group near the foot of -the steps; in the center of the knot stood the High Priest. He advanced -a pace and bowed to the Procurator. “O Excellency, this man has been -tried by our Sanhedrin and found guilty of grievous crimes. If he had -not been found to be a criminal of desperate wickedness, then we would -not have brought him before the Procurator to be sentenced.” - -The bold insolence of the High Priest’s reply did not escape Pilate. “If -you have tried him then and found him guilty, why don’t you also take -him and execute upon him your sentence?” - -Caiaphas stood silent for a moment. “But the Procurator must know, O -Excellency,” he replied at length, a humorless smile lifting the corners -of his mouth, “that under the dominion of Rome the Sanhedrin has not the -authority, however heinous the criminal’s deeds may have been, to -execute upon him the sentence of death. Therefore, O sir, we petition -the Procurator to order executed upon this vicious criminal the sentence -of death which the Sanhedrin has found him so fully to deserve.” - -But Pilate was obdurate. “You would ask a Roman magistrate to find a man -guilty and send him to the cross, even though no accusation had been -made against him and no witnesses had confronted him,” he declared. -“Don’t you know that were I to do so I would violate every principle of -Roman justice?” He jabbed a pudgy forefinger toward Caiaphas. “Would -you, O High Priest, ask the Procurator thus to violate his oath as -Rome’s regent in Judaea?” - -The Procurator, however, had failed to gauge the High Priest’s cunning. -“Indeed, O Excellency, of course I would not seek to lead the Procurator -into violating his oath to uphold Roman justice.” He smiled and bowed, -mockingly. “Nor would I stand silent and unprotesting while the -Procurator released a clever though iniquitous criminal who seeks not -only the demoralization of Israel’s religion and the perversion of her -people but also the overthrow of Rome in this province and the -establishment of himself as King of Israel.” - -The High Priest’s answer was not only a skilful parry of the -Procurator’s question but it was, moreover, a well-aimed thrust of his -own most effective weapon. Caiaphas knew that Pilate lived always in -mortal fear of being reported to Rome; he knew that the Procurator would -not dare to ignore any situation in Judaea, or even the hint of it, that -might be fostering incipient revolt against Roman rule. - -But Pilate maintained his composure; he would not yield obsequiously to -this hateful symbol of Jewry’s stubborn pride of race and nationality -and her cold scorn of everything Roman. He studied the group for whom -the High Priest professed to be speaking; it was a nondescript -assemblage, Temple hirelings, a knot of Pharisees, and surrounding the -High Priest himself, his own Sadducean coterie; the others were, for the -most part, sunburnt fellows who might well be, the thought came to him -suddenly, Galilean and Judaean revolutionaries come in for the Passover -feast from their mountain and Wilderness strongholds. Scowling, Pilate -confronted the cynically smiling Caiaphas. “You say this man is guilty -of heinous crimes, you declare he would set himself up as King of -Judaea, but, O High Priest, you have made before me no accusation, you -have brought no witnesses to testify against him.” He turned to point -with a sweep of his arm toward the Galilean, standing calmly beside his -guards. “There stands the prisoner before the tribunal. I ask you again, -O High Priest, what charges do you bring against him? Where are his -accusers?” - -Caiaphas realized that the Procurator was refusing to admit what he had -assumed, at last night’s meeting, had been a tacit agreement, that a -retrial of the prisoner would be unnecessary; perhaps he was fearful -that Rome would disapprove such a disposition of the case. At any rate, -reasoned the High Priest, further verbal sparring would mean delay in -sending the upstart Galilean to the cross, and he wished this Jesus dead -and taken down before the beginning at sunset of the sacred Sabbath. -Too, the longer they delayed, the more likely it was that other -hot-blooded Galileans would get noise of the trial and come storming to -their leader’s support; they might even succeed in effecting the -fellow’s release. He would not, therefore, challenge Pilate further. - -“O Excellency”—Caiaphas raised his hand and the rays of the morning sun -flashed in the gems of his rings—“we charge that this fellow not only -sought to lead astray the people from the true worship of our God of -Israel, but that he did also forbid them to pay tribute to Caesar, and -that he did declare that he himself was rightful King of Israel and -would so establish himself!” - -Pilate would give no consideration to the first charge, the High Priest -was sure, but, he reasoned, the Procurator could not ignore the other -two. And the soundness of his reasoning was immediately demonstrated. -Pilate turned his back upon Caiaphas and the crowd and returned to the -Praetorium, where he mounted the tribunal and sat down. “Are you”—he -pointed toward the prisoner, who still, though weary, stood erect and -calm—“the King of the Jews?” - -“Do you ask this of your own desire to know”—the trace of a smile -lightened the solemn countenance—“or has someone else said it of me?” - -The Procurator shrugged his heavy shoulders. “Am I a Jew?” he asked -sarcastically. “Your own nation, your High Priest, and the others of the -Temple leadership have delivered you unto me. What have you done?” - -“I am a King,” Jesus replied calmly. “But my Kingdom is not a worldly -kingdom; if it were, then my servants would fight against my being -delivered to these leaders of the Jews. The Kingdom I rule is not of -this world.” - -Pilate’s round face betrayed bafflement. “Then you profess to be a king, -but in another realm, the world of magic, spirits...?” - -“I was born into this world to bear testimony to the truth,” Jesus -answered. “Everyone who is of the truth will understand and acknowledge -my Kingship.” - -Then this man was, as Pilate had suspected all along, in no sense a -revolutionary planning Rome’s overthrow; he was but another of these -eastern mystics, dreaming of the imponderable and intangible. Hadn’t -Herod Antipas beheaded another such fellow because of his slurs against -Herodias, slurs undoubtedly deserved at that? The man before him, Pilate -realized, was simply a religious leader, someone whom, perhaps, Caiaphas -feared as a possible rival, who Caiaphas felt might even supplant him in -the office of High Priest. Of course, reasoned the Procurator, the -fellow might well be a little addled through too long immersion in this -utterly foolish and depraved one-god religion of Israel. “Those who know -the truth,” the fellow had just proclaimed, “will recognize me, -acknowledge me as their king.” Hah! - -“Truth”—Pilate shot forth his finger toward the prisoner—“what is -truth?” He hunched his shoulders and waved his hands, palms up, in a -gesture he had borrowed from the Jews. And without looking toward the -man of whom he had asked the question, he stepped down from the tribunal -and strode out to the High Priest and his restive throng. - -“I have examined the prisoner as to the charges you have brought against -him,” he announced to Caiaphas. “I find nothing criminal in him. He’s a -religious man, a dreamer, but he is no revolutionary.” He was glad to be -rid of the man, though, he confessed to himself; he was happy to wash -his hands of this Jesus, Caiaphas, and the rest of them; if he could -only be freed of all Palestine, if he could never lay eyes again upon -another Jew. “I find no fault in the man; I shall release him.” - -“No! No! O Excellency, no!” Hands were waving wildly in the air. “No! O -Pilate!” The Procurator, scanning the throng, saw the priests fomenting -the agitation into a swell of shouted disapproval of his verdict. Once -more the High Priest stepped forward a pace or two from the front ranks. -“The man is amazingly clever, O Excellency,” he declared, smiling -agreeably, “as he has just demonstrated in thus deceiving the -Procurator. But he is a criminal, and one of the most vicious and -depraved order, O sir. And he is a revolutionary. Beginning in his -native Galilee, he has deceived and perverted the people, and by his -dangerous and evil perverting, his criminal teachings in opposition to -our religion and Rome’s government, he has brought into Peraea and -Judaea....” - -“Beginning, you say, in Galilee? Then this man is a Galilean?” - -“Indeed, O Excellency, and one of the worst of the Galilean -revolutionaries, one of the most dastardly clever,” He smiled -sardonically. “He smites with words rather than a dagger.” - -_... A Galilean, by great Jove! Then send him to Herod Antipas. Let the -Tetrarch dispose of this case. He assumed jurisdiction over that -fanatical Wilderness prophet and ordered him beheaded. Well, this man, -too, is a Galilean. Let Herod stand between this persistent, obstinate -High Priest and old Sejanus. Let the Tetrarch, for once, bear the brunt -of any reports sent back to Rome; this time Sejanus may not overlook -what he considers a mistake of administration in this gods-abandoned -province. If there’s to be a mistake, let the Tetrarch make it...._ - -“Then this man,” he said to the High Priest, “is a subject of the -Tetrarch Herod Antipas. He should be remanded to the Tetrarch for -trial.” - -Pilate returned quickly to the Praetorium. “Captain of the Guards,” he -commanded, “conduct this prisoner to the Tetrarch Herod Antipas. Bear to -the Tetrarch the Procurator’s compliments and say to him that the -Procurator is sending him the King of the Jews”—a sneering smile for an -instant pushed away the scowl on his round face—“a Galilean. It may be -that the Tetrarch will wish to examine the prisoner concerning the -charges that have been brought against him by the High Priest Caiaphas. -At any rate, the prisoner, being from Galilee, is a subject of the -Tetrarch and under his jurisdiction.” He nodded curtly. “Go.” - -Quickly the guards formed about the tall prisoner and led him from the -Praetorium, down the steps into the Court of the Gentiles. Leaving the -Temple area through the Gate Shalleketh, they crossed the bridge above -the Valley of the Tyropoeon and arrived shortly in front of the -sprawling Xystus. A few moments later they paused before the gate giving -admittance to the gloomy and forbidding ancient stone residence of the -Hasmonean kings. - - - - - 47 - - -Perhaps it was the thin slash of early sunlight venturing across her bed -that had aroused her; perhaps she had awakened early because she had -retired early. Pleading weariness and an aching head, Joanna had stayed -away from the Tetrarch’s lavish dinner, the preparation of which she had -directed. She had felt certain that the banquet, safely hidden within -the old palace’s thick walls from the prying, sanctimonious eyes of the -priests, would turn into a drunken debauch, and the Feast of the -Passover, she held strongly, was no occasion for such frivolity. - -The drafty old palace and the grounds about it were quiet. With the -exception of the servants, she surmised, there was likely to be no one -astir in the Tetrarch’s household, particularly Herod Antipas himself. -No doubt he would arise late, in time to bathe and dress for his -ceremonious partaking of the Passover meal. - -Joanna, who had come up from Tiberias with her husband Chuza and others -of the Tetrarch’s staff, lay still and listened to the small sounds of -early morning in old Jerusalem: birds twittering on the sill of her open -window, cattle lowing in the stalls at the Temple, the rising hum of the -densely packed city’s coming alive. - -So, lying quiet and keenly awake now, she heard in the court below her -window a babble of men’s voices and the uncadenced slap and shuffle of -sandaled feet on paving stones. Quickly she slipped from the bed and -crossed her chamber. Peering out from behind the draperies, she saw, -hardly twenty paces from the palace wall, a motley throng that numbered -several Temple priests resplendently robed, with their luxuriant beards -fastidiously plaited and oiled. One of the elegant ones, she was -surprised to discover, was the High Priest Joseph Caiaphas himself. But -why, she wondered, would the High Priest and his Temple aristocracy be -coming with such a nondescript mob as this into the palace courtyard? - -She ventured to open wider the slit between the draperies and the window -frame and lean further forward. Ahead, leading the strangely discordant -procession, was a detachment of Roman soldiers, currently assigned, no -doubt, as guardsmen in the Temple service, since they were in the -vanguard of the High Priest and others of the Temple leadership. - -Then, in the center of the marching soldiers, she saw the manacled -prisoner. Bareheaded, he was half a head taller than his guards; his -reddish-brown hair fell straight to curl at his shoulders. He held his -head erect, but he seemed to be walking with labored stride to keep in -step with his captors; his wide shoulders sloped as though pulled down -by the weight of his long arms and the pinioned hands; his brown -homespun robe, already sweat-stained, hung awry and loosely open at the -neck. - -Though his back was toward her, there was something vaguely familiar -about the tall one, his carriage, manner of walking, the way he arched -his back, weary though he must have been for a long while. Then he -turned his head to look over his shoulder, and she saw the twin-spiked -short beard and the curling earlocks. - -“By the beard of the High Priest!” She had almost screamed it aloud, but -she restrained herself. “The rabbi of Nazareth!” The man who had healed -her son of the deadly fever, who had also cured the Centurion Cornelius’ -Lucian, the good teacher whom many believed—and she, too!—to have in -those fettered hands the veritable healing power of God Himself. - -The procession stopped. A soldier stepped to the entrance way and spoke -to the sentry on duty there. Now the sentry was talking with a -manservant who had appeared at the portal. In another instant the -servant disappeared inside. - -“It’s the High Priest’s doing!” she said aloud. “He’s bringing the -Nazarene here for the Tetrarch to condemn; he’s determined to destroy -Jesus.” - -She stepped back from the window and began quickly to dress. As she -pulled on her clothes she tried desperately to evolve some plan that -might thwart the High Priest’s evil scheme. Certainly Antipas, -incredibly fearful of displeasing Caiaphas and his fellows in the Temple -leadership, would be disposed to yield to the High Priest’s demands, -even to beheading the Galilean. Had he not beheaded the Wilderness -prophet? Had he not yielded then, against his better judgment, to -Herodias? Herod would be more inclined to give way to Caiaphas than -would the Procurator Pontius Pilate. But if Herodias would intervene.... - -The Tetrarchess indeed! Hurriedly Joanna finished dressing and rushed -downstairs as quickly as she could without exciting undue attention, to -find the palace servant with whom the sentry a moment ago had spoken. - -“They have brought the Galilean wonder worker to the Tetrarch for -trial,” the servant revealed. “The High Priest is charging him with many -crimes, the soldier said. They took him first before the Procurator, but -when Pilate discovered he was a Galilean, he ordered him delivered here -for trial before Tetrarch Herod. Now they are in the judgment hall -awaiting the Tetrarch’s arrival.” He smiled glumly. “Herod, I suppose, -was fit to burst at being awakened so early.” - -Next, Joanna went in search of Herodias. She found her in her apartment; -the Tetrarchess had finished her bath and now Neaera was doing her hair. -In a few words Joanna revealed that Pilate had just sent the Galilean -teacher and miracle worker to the Tetrarch for trial and that the High -Priest Caiaphas and other Sadducean leaders were awaiting Herod’s -arrival in the judgment hall; they planned to present charges that Jesus -was guilty of crimes deserving of death. - -Herodias listened patiently. When Joanna finished her recital, the -Tetrarchess shrugged. “But what do you wish me to do? How does this -Galilean’s fate concern me? Just because he beguiled you and Chuza into -believing that he drove out the fever and healed your son....” She broke -off with a patronizing smile. - -“He concerns you, Tetrarchess, in that the Tetrarch is greatly -concerned, though he may not suspect it. The High Priest schemed this -man’s arrest and carried him before the Procurator, who rules in Judaea. -But Pilate, realizing that whatever judgment he might render, whether to -release the prisoner or execute him, would cause a great outcry in the -province and be reported to the rulers in Rome, has cleverly sought to -evade his responsibility and put it upon the Tetrarch. Thus, the -Tetrarch in trying the Galilean, will be the one to be judged both in -Israel and in Rome.” - -The smile on the face of the crafty Herodias had vanished, and her -forehead wrinkled in sudden concern. “But the man is a Galilean, and -Pilate in sending him before Antipas recognizes the Tetrarch’s authority -and compliments him....” - -“He professes to do that, but what he’s really doing is shifting the -burden onto the Tetrarch. And when this commotion develops into a great -storm in Rome, then the Tetrarch, too late, I’m afraid, will know he’s -been tricked. Let him free this prisoner, and the High Priest will -inform the Emperor that the Tetrarch has released someone who was -plotting to overthrow Rome. On the other hand, let him execute the -Galilean and the report will go by fastest ship to Rome that another -prophet in the Wilderness....” - -“No! No! Joanna, never mention that man!” Herodias cried out. But -quickly she recovered her poise and smiled weakly. “You see, mere -mention of that Wilderness fellow still frightens Antipas. When he began -to get reports of this Nazarene’s appearance before throngs in Galilee -and other places, Antipas was obsessed with the idea that this one was -the Wilderness preacher returned to life. Lately he seems to have -returned to his senses, but, as you know, he’s a very superstitious -person. And frankly, Joanna, I myself don’t like to be reminded of the -Wilderness prophet.” She relaxed somewhat. “You’re right about Pilate, I -daresay. He probably does wish to evade trying the Galilean. Claudia, -though, would want him to get himself involved in further difficulty; -that would make it easier for her and Longinus.” She turned to speak to -her maid. “Hurry, Neaera,” she ordered, “I’ve got to get out of here -quickly. We can finish all this later. I must see the Tetrarch before he -goes.” Then she spoke again to the wife of Herod’s steward. “Thank you, -Joanna; you have done Antipas and me a great service.” - - - - - 48 - - -As the Temple guardsmen withdrew with their prisoner from the -Praetorium, Pilate beckoned to one of the Antonia soldiers. - -“I wish to proceed with the trials of the revolutionaries captured last -week by Centurion Cornelius,” he announced. “If the centurion has -returned with any other captives, have them brought in too.” - -“He has not returned, sir,” the soldier said. - -“Then we shall try the three we have.” - -Bar Abbas and his two henchmen had already been brought up from their -cells deep under Antonia; the witnesses who would testify against them, -including several soldiers from Cornelius’ century, were waiting in an -anteroom. In the group of witnesses were several Temple priests, -elegantly robed, their beards elaborately braided and oiled, their plump -fingers weighted with rings. - -The prisoners, shackled at wrists and ankles, were led shuffling into -the chamber to stand before the tribunal. After a week in the blackness -of the dungeon, their eyes were unaccustomed to light; they stood -blinking in the growing brightness of the chamber. Then from an anteroom -on the other side of the courtroom another soldier escorted the -witnesses to a position facing Pilate’s curule several paces across from -the three bound men. - -Quickly the prisoners were identified: one Bar Abbas, long sought -chieftain of a Zealot band preying upon travelers in various sections of -the province, particularly the boulder-bordered steep ascent of the -Jericho road, and two others of his fellow revolutionaries, one Dysmas -and one Gesmas, all three of Galilee. - -“With what crimes are these men charged?” the Procurator asked. He made -no reference to their being Galileans, nor did he question his -jurisdiction over them, though he had just sent another Galilean to the -Tetrarch. - -The accusations were made. As members of a notoriously desperate Zealot -gang of revolutionaries, they had pillaged caravans, waylaid tax -collectors and robbed them of their revenues, descended from the hills -upon merchants’ pack trains and looted them, even assailed detachments -of Roman soldiers and slain some. Then the witnesses confronted them. -One of the priests, accompanied by fellow priests of the Temple, was -returning from Caesarea when the party was set upon and robbed. He -identified the three as among his assailants; he declared he was -positive the shackled men standing there were the culprits. Then another -lavishly robed priest was called upon to give testimony. - -“O Excellency,” he began, “it was on the Jericho road that these men, -this Bar Abbas and these other two”—he pointed to each in turn—“came -down from the rocks and seized me. I was bearing a large pouch of gold -and silver, funds of the Temple I was taking to be put in its coffers, -when this big fellow here....” - -“He was coming _from_ the Temple!” screamed Bar Abbas, interrupting the -testimony, as he lifted his pinioned hands and shook them so that the -chains rattled loudly. “He had stolen the money from its coffers! But we -took it from him and gave it to feed the poor and those dispossessed by -the traitorous publicans!” - -“Silence!” commanded Pilate. “You will have your turn to speak.” - -Next, two soldiers, one after the other, who had been coming to -Jerusalem the past week as members of the century commanded by Centurion -Cornelius, testified that the three were among the marauders who had -swept down from the rocks beside the Jericho road to capture for a few -minutes the detachment that was escorting Tetrarch Herod Antipas and his -wife and to assail the near-by flanking columns put out by the -centurion. In this assault, the witnesses testified, several of the -Roman soldiers had been killed. - -The three offered no evidence in rebuttal. The one called Dysmas, who -looked both grave and resigned, seemed to be studying the pattern of the -mosaic at his feet; Gesmas glared sullenly at the smirking priests who -had witnessed against him; and Bar Abbas stood, as wide-legged as his -chains would permit, with his sharp black eyes fixed in defiance on the -round face of his judge and his lips above the tangle of his beard -twisted in a sneer. - -“I adjudge you guilty,” Pilate said, looking in turn toward each of the -prisoners. He called to one of the soldiers on courtroom duty. “Go tell -the commander to send me three centurions.” - -When after a short wait the soldier returned with the three officers and -they had reported to the Procurator, Pilate faced the convicted -revolutionaries. “I sentence each of you to the lash and the cross. And -may all such dastardly wicked enemies of Rome so perish!” He turned -again to the tribunal attendant. “Prepare a titulus for each,” he -commanded, “and write thus: robber-assassin-revolutionary.” He leaned -forward. “Take them now into the courtyard and scourge them, and then -conduct them outside the walls to the Hill of the Skull, and crucify -them. Each of you centurions will choose a quaternion to assist, and -each will have charge of the scourging and execution of one of the -prisoners. And do not dally. I wish them on the crosses quickly, so that -the Passover crowds may see what becomes of those who plot revolution -against Rome. It should have a salutary effect.” He waved his arm -imperiously. “Take them away!” - - - - - 49 - - -Hardly had the Procurator climbed the stairs to his apartment and -ordered his long delayed breakfast to be brought in, when a soldier -assigned to the Praetorium reported to him. - -“Sir, the Galilean whom you sent to the Tetrarch Herod has been returned -to you,” he announced. “The High Priest and his Temple associates, -together with a throng of excited Jews, are down there awaiting your -return to the Praetorium to resume trial of the prisoner.” - -“By great Jove!” The Procurator’s scowl was heavy. Why had Herod sent -him back? Surely the bumbling Tetrarch hadn’t been clever enough to -comprehend Pilate’s scheme to evade responsibility. - -He did not question the soldier, however, and a few moments later he -mounted the tribunal again and sat down upon the curule. From the -pavement before the Praetorium the captain of the Temple guards and his -detachment, forming a square about the Galilean, advanced to the -tribunal. Jesus, Pilate saw, was wearing a bedraggled, purple-bordered -robe. One of the soldiers was carrying the folded brown homespun robe -which the prisoner had been wearing before. - -Pilate, color mounting, pointed to Jesus and glared at the officer. -“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. “Why is he wearing this -emblem of authority? Speak up! Who is responsible for this mockery?” - -“Not I, sir,” the captain hastened to declare. “The Tetrarch ordered one -of his old robes to be placed upon the prisoner; he said he appreciated -the Procurator’s raillery in calling the man the King of the Jews, and -he ordered him arrayed in the purple in order to further your joking, -sir.” - -“Didn’t he examine the prisoner?” - -“He questioned him, sir, and sought to have him work some tricks of -magic, but the prisoner made no reply.” - -Once again Pilate descended from the tribunal and went out upon the -pavement before the Praetorium. At first sight of him the mob began to -raise a clamor. “Bar Abbas!” a man toward the rear of the multitude -screamed. “Bar Abbas! Give us Bar Abbas!” Others joined in the uproar. -Pilate seemed not to understand them. “They want to see the -revolutionaries’ leader,” he said to the soldier who had accompanied -him. “They will see him as the condemned men start for the Hill of the -Skull. But not until I have disposed of this Galilean. There is already -too much commotion. Go into the courtyard, and tell the centurions not -to start to the execution ground until I give the order.” He turned back -to face Caiaphas and the priests and behind them the motley crowd. “You -brought me this man and charged that he was a revolutionary, that he -sought to overthrow the rule of Rome in this province, but I found no -guilt in him, and when I sent him to the Tetrarch Herod, ruler of -Galilee, he, too, found nothing worthy of death. So I shall discharge -him. And now, disperse and let us have no more of this tumult.” - -“No! No! O Procurator, crucify him! Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!” - -“Crucify the King of the Jews!” Pilate looked toward the High Priest as -he said it, as though he were jesting, but he could not effectively -conceal the scorn in his voice and on his face. “I must let him go -free!” - -His words provoked another storm of shouted entreaties and demands. “Bar -Abbas! Bar Abbas! Give us Bar Abbas!” - -“When I have disposed of this Jesus of Galilee, you shall get to see -that revolutionary”—he smiled glumly—“as Bar Abbas goes to the cross.” - -“The Passover release! It’s the long-established custom, O Procurator. -Give us the Passover release!” - -Pilate stared in surprise at the crowd shouting below him. Could it be, -then, as he had first suspected, that this throng hated the Temple -priests and especially Caiaphas and wanted the release of the Galilean? -But he had found Jesus not guilty and technically had already released -him. If, however, he should find him guilty of some minor crime, such as -causing a great disturbance and commotion among the people, for example, -and punish him for that, then he might logically release him as the -Passover recipient of the Procurator’s pardon. At the same time he would -dull considerably any report concerning this case that might find its -way to Rome. - -“I find no serious fault in this Galilean,” he declared, as he held up -his hand to signal for silence, “but because of his indiscretions and -his provocation of tumults and unrest and much bickering among the -people, I shall have him scourged before I release him.” - -He returned to the tribunal and gave the formal order for the scourging -of Jesus. Then once again he climbed the stone stairway to his apartment -and called for his breakfast. His food was placed on a small table by -the window, for already the morning sun was warm and out beyond the -smoldering Vale of Hinnom dark, thickening clouds had begun to form. But -the Procurator was not permitted to relax calmly over his morning meal. -The din below not only continued, but the shoutings grew increasingly -loud. After awhile, Pilate pushed back his plate and stood up. - -“I’ll abide this no longer!” he shouted to his orderly standing near the -doorway. “The obstinate, cantankerous provincials! They’ll end this -disgraceful tumult, or I’ll have the Antonia garrison on them with their -swords!” He caught up his toga and started once more for the Praetorium. - -“Bring out to the pavement the robber Bar Abbas and the Galilean miracle -worker,” he commanded, when he arrived in his tribunal chamber. - -“Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas! Bring forth Bar Abbas, O Procurator!” the -multitude began to shout, as Pilate appeared on the mosaic in front of -the Praetorium. “The Passover release! Give us Bar Abbas!” The -Procurator, studying the vociferous throng, saw that the cries for the -release of the robber chieftain seemed to be coming from a group of -wild-eyed, fanatical-looking rough fellows bunched behind the High -Priest and his clique. The thought came to him that they might be -Zealots, even some of the escaped members of the Bar Abbas band broken -up a week before by the Centurion Cornelius. But the supporters of the -Galilean mystic, he reasoned, would outnumber these men screaming for -the release of Bar Abbas. - -The multitude calmed perceptibly as the scourged revolutionary appeared -on the pavement before them and then, recovered somewhat from the shock -the man’s sad state had caused, burst into a new clamoring for his -release. Bar Abbas stared stonily ahead, as if indifferent to the -screams and yelling of the people, no doubt still half dazed from the -ordeal from which he had that moment been delivered. Although his coarse -robe had been returned to him after the scourging and was thrown loosely -about his shoulders, the milling crowd saw at once that the -leather-thonged whip had stripped and torn the flesh of his shoulders -and back; already the robe was reddening into a gory, clinging covering -like that which a butcher might have worn to carry on his shoulder a -freshly slaughtered lamb. - -But Jesus, when he was led forth from the courtyard to the pavement -before the Praetorium to stand near the robber chieftain, made an even -more pitiable figure. The purple robe he had been wearing when he was -brought back from Herod’s judgment hall was once again about his sagging -shoulders, and it was soaked with blood. His long hair was matted with -drying blood where it curled above his flayed and bruised shoulders, and -his naked upper arms were crisscrossed with bleeding cuts and great -reddened welts. But more shocking than the lacerations and the bleeding -flesh, the blood-soaked purple robe, the mercilessly flayed, drooping -shoulders burdened beyond human strength to endure, was the evidence he -wore upon his head of a sadism past comprehending. Pressed down hard -against his skull, so that the sharp points in some places actually had -pierced the skin of his forehead and temples, was a circlet hastily -fashioned from a long thin branch torn from a rhamnus thorn. - -Pilate noticed it immediately. “Why the victor’s wreath?” he asked the -soldier guarding the Galilean. - -“It’s not a victor’s wreath,” he answered. “Sir, it’s the royal crown of -the King of the Jews.” He ventured a smile. “The soldiers made it from a -shrub growing near the scourging post and crowned him with it.” - -“Indeed, the crown goes well with the Tetrarch’s purple.” Pilate smiled -humorlessly. Then he held up his hand to command silence. “It must be -well known to you that each year at the Feast of the Passover it is the -custom of the Procurator to release a prisoner. Here before you are the -revolutionary and murderer and robber, one Bar Abbas, who has been -sentenced to the cross, and the prisoner brought by the High Priest, one -Jesus of Galilee”—he paused and looking directly at the group of Temple -priests, smiled appreciatively—“the King of the Jews....” - -“We have no king!” shouted Joseph Caiaphas, and a chorus of angry voices -supported him, “no king except Tiberius. This man is not our king; he is -a blasphemer, an enemy of Israel’s God; he stirs up the people; he -declares himself to be king in Israel; he calls himself the Son of God!” -He paused, as if fearful at having uttered the ineffable name. - -“Crucify him! Crucify him!” The mob renewed its angry demanding. “He -claims to be the Son of God, the blasphemer! Crucify him!” - -But Pilate paid them little heed. Turning his back upon the High Priest -and the clamoring throng on the esplanade below, he withdrew into the -Praetorium. “Bring him inside,” he said, motioning with his head as he -looked back. And then he spoke to the soldier guarding Bar Abbas. “And -remove that one from the sight of the multitude. But presently I shall -call for him again.” - -The Procurator had hardly mounted the tribunal when a soldier entered -the chamber from the courtyard and handed a tablet to one of the -attendants. The two whispered, heads together, for a moment. Then the -attendant strode quickly to the tribunal, saluted, and presented Pilate -the wax tablet. “A message, sir, from the Procurator’s wife,” he -explained. “The messenger reported it was urgent.” - -Hastily Pilate scanned the tablet. He scowled, then beckoned to the man. -“Fetch me the soldier who brought this tablet.” - -In another moment the soldier was standing stiffly before the tribunal. -“Soldier,” Pilate inquired, “did you bring this message from the hand of -the Lady Claudia?” - -“No, sir,” he answered. “It was handed to me in the courtyard over -there.” - -“By whom?” - -“The Centurion Longinus, sir; he had just come, I understood, from the -Palace of the Herods.” - -A quick frown darkened the Procurator’s countenance. “And where is the -Centurion Longinus now?” - -“Sir, I think he went up to his apartment in the fortress.” - -Pilate nodded and waved the man aside; his face was heavy as once again -he read his wife’s message: - - _Hear me, Pilate_: - -_Take no responsibility for that righteous man’s blood, for in the night -I had a frightful dream concerning him._ - -What on earth, he wondered, could Claudia have dreamed about this -Galilean fanatic? And how did she know that the man had been brought -before the Procurator’s tribunal? Yes, and by all the gods, why had the -message come from Longinus, and why, moreover, had Longinus not -delivered it himself? - -Still frowning, Pilate turned once again to question the prisoner -standing calmly before the tribunal, his face streaked with drying sweat -and blood, his robe turned deep crimson from the whip’s fearful wounds, -his matted hair still crowned with the circlet of thorns. “They say you -claim to be the son of their god,” he said. “What do they mean? Tell me, -where _do_ you come from?” - -Jesus appeared lost in introspection. If he heard the Procurator’s -question, he ignored it. An infinite sadness seemed to possess him. - -But Pilate, still scowling, perhaps upset further because of his wife’s -message and the manner in which it had been brought to him, revealed his -impatience. “Will you answer me?” he asked testily. “Don’t you know that -I have the power either to release you or to condemn you?” - -Calmly, looking the Procurator in the eyes and with no tone of rancor, -Jesus replied. “You would have no power over me were it not granted you -from above. Therefore, he who delivered me to you”—he pointed toward the -esplanade where the High Priest and his cohorts awaited—“has a greater -guilt than you.” - -Once again the Procurator stepped down from the tribunal and strode out -to the pavement in front of the Praetorium. “Bring forth the prisoner,” -he commanded. “And have Bar Abbas brought to me, too.” - -“I shall release to you a Passover prisoner,” he announced to the -multitude when the two scourged prisoners stood before him. “Here stand -a robber and assassin”—he pointed toward Bar Abbas—“and”—he smiled -grimly as he waved his hand toward the Galilean—“your King of the Jews. -Which shall I release?” - -“Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!” the people howled, and Pilate could see the -priests exhorting them to shout their demands. “Release Bar Abbas! Bar -Abbas!” - -“But what shall I do with the King of the Jews?” - -“Crucify him! Crucify him!” they stormed. “Release unto us Bar Abbas!” - -“He is not our king!” shouted Caiaphas. “We have no king but Caesar!” - -Grudgingly, Pilate nodded to the robber chief’s guards. “Release him.” -The Procurator had lost. He had been sure the Galilean’s followers would -outnumber the vociferous Zealots. But Caiaphas had been the better -schemer. - -Quickly the soldiers freed the hulking Bar Abbas, and in another moment -he disappeared with a tumultuously happy group of his supporters, -probably members of his own band, in the mass of people thronging the -Court of the Gentiles. But the High Priest and his hirelings kept their -places on the pavement before the Praetorium. Now the Procurator, -pointing toward the Galilean, spoke to them. - -“What then shall I do with the King of the Jews?” His tone was -sarcastic. “_I_ find no fault in him. I shall release him, just as I -have already released your robber.” - -“No! No! Crucify him! He is not our king! He is a blasphemer who would -destroy us!” - -“Crucify your king?” A cold smile lifted the corners of the Procurator’s -heavy lips. “Crucify the King of the Jews?” - -“We have no king, O Procurator,” Caiaphas declared evenly, when he had -lifted his hands to still the clamor, “no king but Caesar. And if you -are a friend of Caesar, O Excellency, you will rid us of this one who -not only seeks to destroy our religion but also to set himself upon the -restored throne of King David. Should word get to Tiberius or Sejanus in -Rome....” The High Priest shrugged and smiled suggestively. - -Word would certainly reach the capital. And the story would be of the -High Priest’s coloring. The Procurator Pontius Pilate, despite repeated -warning and ample testimony establishing the guilt of the accused, it -would be told, had released a dangerously clever revolutionary intent -upon restoring the ancient kingdom of the Jews in Palestine with himself -as king. - -“But he declares that his kingdom is not of this world,” Pilate tried to -protest. “He’s nothing but a harmless babbler, a religious fanatic whom -too much reasoning has driven mad....” - -“So he would have you think, O Procurator. The man is cunning, amazingly -clever, captivating.” Caiaphas smiled indulgently. “Has he not already -deceived even the wise and discerning Procurator?” - -The High Priest Joseph Caiaphas had won. Already too many reports of the -conduct of the Procurator’s office had gone to Rome; one more might be -sufficient to arouse the wrath of the Prefect Sejanus. Nevertheless, -since the High Priest had forced the verdict, the responsibility would -rest on him. He clapped his hands and when a servant came running, -called for a basin of water. A moment later, as the servant held the -basin before him, the Procurator plunged his hands into the water and -rubbed them together vigorously. “Let the people heed,” he said loudly -and with ostentation, “that I wash my hands of the blood of this man. I -am guiltless. His blood is not upon me.” - -“Indeed, O Procurator”—the High Priest’s smile was scornful, his tone -sneeringly derisive—“let his blood be upon us, yea, and our children!” - -“Then take him, and crucify him.” Pilate glanced toward the prisoner, -standing tall and calm and regal in the blood-drenched discarded purple. -But when their eyes met, Pilate’s shifted in that same instant to the -mosaic at the Galilean’s feet, so that momentarily the judge’s head was -bowed to the prisoner. Then, in a voice that was scarcely more than a -whisper, Pilate spoke to the guard who held the fetter binding Jesus’ -wrists. “Lead him into the courtyard.” - -As they were going out he summoned an attendant. “Fetch a tablet that I -may prepare the titulus.” His eyes fell upon the wax tablet that his -wife had sent him. “Wait,” he said. “This one will suffice. There’s -space enough on it for what I have in mind.” The soldier picked up the -tablet with the attached stylus. “Write this,” Pilate commanded, “and -when you have written it, take the tablet into the courtyard and have -the words inscribed on the headboard in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.” He -paused, reflecting. “Write what I say: _This is Jesus of Nazareth, the -King of the Jews_.” - -Joseph Caiaphas had heard. “No, O Procurator! Write that he says he is -King of the Jews!” - -Pontius Pilate stared in stony silence at the furious High Priest. “What -I have written,” he said after a moment, “I have written.” He turned to -the soldier. “Go prepare the titulus board.” Then, without a glance -toward the High Priest and his group, he returned to the Praetorium and -mounted the tribunal. Only the few soldiers in attendance remained in -the vaulted great chamber. Pilate sat down upon the curule; his eyes, -unseeing, were fixed on the pattern of the mosaic at the foot of the -tribunal steps. - -_... Great Rome’s vaunted justice. But must not justice yield sometimes -to expediency, the expediency of the greater good for the greater -number? Will not his death end a developing tumult in Palestine that -might have brought even bloodshed and death for many Jews and perhaps -even Roman soldiers? And now no report will go to Sejanus from Joseph -Caiaphas._ - -_... The Galilean. A dreamer, a devotee of the Jewish religion, a -visionary ... a righteous man, Claudia said. “Take no responsibility for -that righteous man’s blood.” Claudia’s dream, bah. Superstition, -astrology maybe, foolishness. Calpurnia had a dream, and Caesar laughed -at her warning. Caesar laughed, and Caesar died._ - -_... But no report will go to Rome of the Procurator’s releasing a -dangerous revolutionary who was planning to establish himself on the -restored throne of ancient Israel. Joseph Caiaphas has been -silenced...._ - -Suddenly a cold, numbing fear clutched Pontius Pilate. “By great Jove!” -But he had not exclaimed aloud. No report would go to Rome from the High -Priest, no fawning spies would tell how the Procurator had freed a -cunning revolutionary, but Claudia had warned him not to judge the -Galilean. Could his wife, by all the gods, be a secret follower of this -mystic? Didn’t many high-placed women of Rome become devotees of this -strange Jewish one-god religion? Could the Emperor’s stepdaughter, by -great Jove, have become, of all persons, interested in religion, in any -religion? Could Claudia really feel strongly about this Nazarene fellow? - -_... And Longinus had fetched her message. Longinus, yes, by all the -gods...._ - -The soldier who had led Jesus forth from the pavement into the courtyard -had returned to the Praetorium. “Sir, the titulus board is complete. -They are ready to proceed with the crucifixions, except....” - -“Then start at once with the three prisoners to the Hill of the Skull.” -He paused. “Except? What were you going to say?” - -“You have assigned no centurion, sir, to have charge of the crucifixion -of this fellow whom you have just condemned. Do you wish Porcius, who -was to have crucified Bar Abbas....” - -“No.” Then, in a flash came an idea. Pilate maintained a sternly -impassive countenance, but inwardly he exulted in the suddenly revealed -manner of solving his dilemma. Now _no one_ would be sending stories to -Rome, for certainly nobody would be foolish enough to reveal to Sejanus -the execution of an innocent Jew if _he himself_ had participated with -the Procurator in that Jew’s crucifixion. “I wish Porcius for another -duty today.” He pointed upward. “Go at once to the apartment of the -Centurion Longinus and inform him that the Procurator assigns him to -take charge of the quaternion and orders him to proceed immediately with -the crucifixion of the Galilean.” - - - - - 50 - - -Beside a cluster of gnarled olive trees along the Bethany road Centurion -Cornelius halted his weary cavalcade. They had attained the summit of -the Mount of Olives. Steady climbing from the Jericho plain had lathered -the laboring horses, and the dust-grimed faces of the men were streaked -with perspiration. Since the passing of midday the heat had grown -increasingly oppressive; now, as they approached Jerusalem in the eerie -half-darkness, it weighed upon them like a heavy blanket. - -The dark cloud over the city that hardly two hours ago they had seen -from the narrow defile between the boulders had grown to envelop them, -and as they came over the rise and looked across toward the walled -density of flat-roofed stone structures, they could scarcely make out -the usually dominating mass of the Temple. Ordinarily on an early -afternoon in April the sun would have been reflected brilliantly in the -gold plates of the Temple’s roof, but today it was barely able to -penetrate the overcast. In the strangely thickening gloom the -resplendent plates had taken on a dull coating of bilious green. Faintly -discernible to the right were the darker masses of the Fortress Antonia -towers upthrust in the cloaking shadows; but westward, beyond Antonia, -the great Palace of the Herods and the other splendid abodes of the -privileged were completely shrouded; Mount Zion and the Ophel shared -equally in oblivion. - -“What is it, Centurion?” Decius shook his head perplexedly. “I’ve been -out here a long time, but I’ve never seen anything like it. This strange -darkness, this stillness, and the peculiar blue-green cast. Centurion, -this isn’t just another storm coming up, another thunderstorm following -excessive heat. It’s got a queer, ghastly look, as if the gods might be -angry ...” - -“The gods, Decius?” - -The soldier laughed uneasily. “I use the term broadly, for want of one -more accurate.” He waved an arm in the direction of the darkened city. -“But it does have a sort of supernatural look, doesn’t it, -Centurion?”—he smiled—“though of course I have little belief in the -supernatural.” He shrugged. “How do you explain it?” - -“It does have a strange, unearthly look,” Cornelius agreed. “But I don’t -believe it’s a manifestation of the gods’ anger, though I’ve never seen -one before like this. Could it be a heavy mass of sand borne in from the -desert? If that’s it, then maybe the sun shining through the -concentration of sand accounts for this strange greenish color.” - -“That’s probably it,” Decius agreed. “But then, where is the wind?” - -“It may be the lull before the wind. This unseasonable heat is bound to -bring on a storm. Look!” He pointed. “The sun.” - -High above the city, beyond its southern wall and past the ever -smoldering refuse heaps in the Vale of Hinnom, the sun rode like a pale -copper disk behind a thinning portion of the veiling cloud. In the same -instant its rays found a rift in the mantle covering the city and shot a -pinpoint of light to bathe in sudden brilliance a small eminence just -beyond and slightly to the right of the Fortress Antonia. - -“By all the gods! Bar Abbas and the two henchmen we captured last week!” - -On the summit of the little hill stood three crosses, and stretched upon -each cross was the body of a man. A staring throng of spectators stood -scattered about below. - -Then suddenly the rift in the covering cloud was healed; darkness -swallowed the burdened crosses. - -“Poor devils,” Cornelius said. “That’s an assignment I’m glad I didn’t -get. Being late returning may have saved me.” He looked up again toward -the lowering sky. “But we’d better be getting on to Antonia. This storm -may break at any moment, and when it does, I don’t want to be in it.” - -Quickly the cavalcade moved down the slope toward the Garden of -Gethsemane and the Brook Kidron beyond. Entering the walled city by Dung -Gate, it went through Ophel and ascended the slope westward to move -along the lower level of Mount Zion and cross the bridge spanning the -Tyropoeon Valley. At the eastern end of the bridge the procession turned -northward and marched along the way paralleling the Temple’s wall to the -entrance gate of the Antonia. - -When Cornelius had dismissed his men, he went up at once to his -apartment in the officers’ quarters on the south side of the fortress. -He had been looking forward eagerly to a refreshing bath and a short nap -before dressing in fresh clothing for the evening meal. But as he was -about to enter his quarters he encountered a centurion coming into the -corridor from the apartment next to his. - -“By Hercules, Cornelius!” - -“Porcius!” He clapped a hand on the other’s shoulder. “I didn’t know you -were quartered here.” - -“I’ve come since you left, Cornelius. I heard you were out pursuing a -gang of those Zealots. Did you overtake any of them?” - -“Yes, and killed several. But we didn’t capture any.” - -“This morning they crucified two of the ones you captured last week.” - -“Three, you mean, don’t you? Bar Abbas and two of his company.” - -“But Pilate released Bar Abbas.” - -“Released him? Bar Abbas?” - -“Yes, released him. It’s amazing, isn’t it? But the mob demanded his -release as the Passover prisoner—you know, don’t you, that the -Procurator each year, in accordance with tradition, releases one -prisoner at Passover time?” - -Cornelius nodded. “But weren’t there three men crucified?” - -“Yes. I was supposed to have had charge of the crucifixion of Bar Abbas. -Pilate had already condemned him to the cross when the demand for his -release was made. So he released him, and I was relieved of a most -unpleasant task.” - -“You were fortunate, Porcius. But if three men were crucified, who was -the third? I didn’t know another revolutionary had been captured.” - -“He was no revolutionary, Cornelius. Pilate knew he wasn’t and wanted to -free him. But the High Priest insisted that the fellow was a -troublemaker who planned to attempt to set himself up as King of Israel. -So, rather than run the risk of having the Temple leaders report him to -Rome as protector of the Emperor’s enemies, Pilate yielded and sent the -fellow to the cross. And luckily for me, he assigned Centurion Longinus -the task of conducting the man’s execution.” - -“Longinus! By all the gods, Porcius, who was the fellow?” - -“A Galilean. A religious fanatic, I judged him to be, but entirely -harmless. His name, if I recall it correctly, was Jesus, I think, one -Jesus from a place in Galilee called Nazareth, they said.” - -“Jesus! Oh, by all the gods, when....” - -“But do you know the man, Centurion?” - -“When did they lead him to the Hill of the Skull?” Cornelius ignored the -centurion’s question. “How long...?” - -“It was in mid-morning. He’s been on the cross for several hours now. -And he was unmercifully scourged before they started with him to the -crucifixion ground.” He stared at his companion’s suddenly ashen face. -“But, Cornelius, why...?” - -“Jesus! Oh, great Jove!” Anger, utter amazement and pain were written in -swift succession on his still sweating, dust-covered face. “O God of -Israel! O his God! O _my_ God, Jesus!” - -Turning, he raced along the corridor toward the steps that a moment ago -he had ascended, stone stairs that went down to the ground-floor open -area just inside the great western entrance to the fortress. - - - - - 51 - - -Cornelius had reached the gate in the north wall when the storm broke -with sudden fury. He darted beneath the flimsy awning of a fish stall to -wait out the blast. - -“Here, let me help,” he said to the frantic shopkeeper as he caught a -side of the filthy cloth with which the squat Jew was trying desperately -to cover his malodorous fish to protect them from the dust and powdered -dung swirling along the cobblestones. “You’re lucky your market has the -protection of the wall, or everything would be blown away. This is one -of the worst storms I’ve ever.... By all the gods!” The ground had begun -to tremble. - -“An earthquake!” the shopkeeper shouted. “Wind and torrents of rain, and -now the earth shakes!” His eyes were round and frightened. But in -another moment the tremors subsided, and the man regained his calm. “I’m -not surprised, soldier,” he observed, lifting his hands, palms up, and -shaking his head solemnly. “And it makes no difference, I’m thinking, -that my stall sits in the lee of the great wall. By the beard of the -High Priest, it, too, will be leveled to the ground!” - -“What do you mean? Hasn’t this wall survived many an earthquake before -this one?” - -“Indeed, soldier. But we’ve never had anything like that before.” He -indicated with a quick nod of his head the hill beyond the gate’s -square. “Never _him_ on a cross.” He looked the centurion in the eyes, -and Cornelius fancied he saw a sudden hostility. “Soldier, have you been -up there?” - -“No, I’ve just come from the Fortress Antonia, and only an hour ago I -arrived in Jerusalem. What do you mean?” - -“I mean that one up there, soldier, on the middle cross.” He pointed. -“It’s that rabbi from Galilee. Your Pilate tried him this morning and -sent him to the cross, and unjustly, too, it’s my opinion. And I heard -it said that the Galilean told how he would cause the Temple to be -destroyed and in three days raise it up again.” He dabbed a greasy -forefinger against the centurion’s soiled toga. “And I’m of the opinion, -soldier, he’s got the power to do it. Didn’t he raise that fellow over -at Bethany from the dead? This storm and this earthquake”—he paused and -on his countenance was an expression of understanding suddenly -gained—“soldier, maybe he’s doing it now! Nor could I blame him.” He -shook his head slowly. “I’d hate to be in Pilate’s sandals, or those -soldiers’ up there!” - -Almost as quickly as it had burst upon them, the storm was ended. The -rain ceased with the blowing away of the clouds, the winds quieted, and -the great blazing disk of the sun, still high in the sky toward the -Great Sea, shone down bright and searing. The shopkeeper rolled back the -grimy cloth, crumpled it into a heap, and with it dabbed lightly at -several fish it had failed to protect; then he hurled it into a corner -and turned to wait upon pilgrims in the vanguard of a procession -Cornelius saw coming down the slope of the Hill of the Skull. - -“The Galilean, is he...?” - -“He’s dead,” the man answered before the fish merchant could complete -his question. “He died just as the storm broke. This fish”—he -pointed—“where was it caught?” - -“No earlier than the day before yesterday, and fetched by fast cart from -the Sea of Galilee. Good, fresh carp, perches, bream.” With grimy -fingers he poked at now one and now another of his offerings. “The -finest fish in Jerusalem, and the most weight for your money!” - -Cornelius stepped away from the stall into the warmth of the freshly -cleansed air. As he walked quickly along the road he could now see -plainly revealed the three crosses and their inert, mutilated burdens. -The pause in the fish market during the raging of the storm had given -him time to catch his breath after racing over the cobblestones from the -square in front of Antonia. - -But why had he come on the run to the Hill of the Skull? Why had he come -at all? Porcius had said that Jesus had already been nailed to the cross -for several hours. Had the centurion hoped in some mysterious manner to -save the Galilean, to get him down from the cross and revive him? Had he -thought he might countermand Pilate’s judgment and sentence? - -He hadn’t thought. He had acted on his emotions. He had wanted to see -Jesus, to protest to Longinus, to scream out his denunciation of -everyone who’d had a hand in this abominable act. He hadn’t reasoned any -course of action. He had only come as fast as he could to the place of -horrors, his whole being seething with resentment and anger and a -terrible bitterness. - -And now Jesus was dead. The good man who had done no man ill, who had -done countless men good, who had restored Lucian, and Chuza’s son. Or -had he really? - -Would he be up there now, perhaps already dead on a Roman cross, if he -had had the power to heal Chuza’s little boy, if he had been able by his -own mighty will to rid Lucian of the fever that was consuming him? Would -he? - -Longinus had been right. Those “miracles” had been only remarkable -coincidences. The Galilean wonder worker, the good man, the son of the -Jews’ one god—Cornelius ventured to raise his head from the ascending -path and look upward toward the central cross—was hanging spiked to a -crossbeam, crumpled and lifeless, as dead, or soon to be, as those two -revolutionaries who hung there with him. And Longinus, though unhappy -that Pilate had required him to crucify an innocent man, would remind -him that all along he had been right in denying that Jesus of Galilee -had been anything more than a good man. - -He found Longinus seated not far from the crosses on a low stone -outcropping. His head was bent forward, cradled in his hands, and his -eyes were fastened to the ground. - -“I’ve been expecting you, Cornelius,” he said, looking up as his friend -spoke. “I knew you would be coming.” - -“We didn’t get into Jerusalem until a short time before the storm. As -soon as I heard at Antonia, I came running; I was at the gate down there -when the storm struck.” - -“I knew you would come.” He shook his head slowly; his eyes were fixed, -unseeing. “And I deserve everything you’re going to say.” He lifted his -face, and Cornelius saw on it fear and sorrow and a great revulsion. -“I’m undone, my friend.” He arose slowly to his feet, and his eyes, for -an instant before he looked away, encompassed the crosses behind -Cornelius. - -“But, Longinus, you didn’t ... it was Pilate....” He reached out to put -his hand on his comrade’s arm, but Longinus drew back, hand raised. - -“No, Cornelius, Pilate condemned him, but I _killed_ him! I, this hand. -Look!” He held it before him and turned it slowly. “His blood! His -innocent blood! I tortured to his slow death an innocent man, a good -man, Cornelius, a perfect man, yes, and by all the gods, even more than -a perfect man!” - -“I’d thought that he was more, that perhaps he possessed powers no man -could have, I’d hoped so; I’d hoped that he had called upon a -supernatural power to heal Lucian. But would a god, would the son of -_the God_, if there is one, my friend”—Cornelius’ countenance was darkly -pained—“allow himself to be put to death, to accept the tortured death -of the cross?” - -“I know that my saying it sounds strange, Cornelius, but ever since this -morning I’ve had the feeling that he was _allowing_ himself to be -crucified and that at any moment, if he had wished, he could have -destroyed us all. Yet in the midst of his agonies, while we were spiking -him to the crossbeam, he prayed to his god to forgive us. To forgive us, -Centurion!” He shook his head sadly. “To forgive _me_. But I killed him. -By all the gods, let me show you.” - -They walked over to the foot of the center cross. The body of Jesus, -naked except for a bloody loincloth, hung out from the upright at a -grotesque angle, held by heavy spikes through the palms of the hands and -supported by a narrow wedge between the legs. The head had slumped -forward so that the twin points of his short beard splayed out across -his chest. Other large spikes through his purpling feet held them to the -upright. - -“See?” Longinus pointed to a gaping wound from which blood and body -fluid still dripped slowly. Blood had gushed forth when the wound was -made, for below it the tortured flesh was wide streaked and the -loincloth was gore-soaked; his blood had run down the length of one leg, -and even as Cornelius stared, a crimson bead swelled at the end of the -great toe and dropped to the bloodstained ground. - -“But why this wound?” Cornelius asked. “Did you...?” - -“Yes, it was my lance that did it. He must have been already dead, but I -didn’t know. And I couldn’t bear for him to have to endure any more -agony.” - -“You did it in mercy, Longinus.” - -“Yes, but I killed him, Cornelius. He’s dead, and I can never have his -forgiveness. And I’m soiled, ruined, undone. I can never cleanse -myself”—he studied his hands—“of this man’s death.” He lifted his eyes -to stare at his friend. “Strange, Cornelius, but ... well you know what -I’ve always thought of the gods, Roman, Greek, Jewish, any of them, and -of the survival of the spirit or whatever you want to call it. And you -know what I thought of”—he gazed a moment at the dead man stiffening -above them—“him.... Well today I’ve been with him for several hours, -_long_, terrible hours of torture for him, and for me, too.” He paused, -trying painfully to choose his words. “Now I don’t know, Cornelius; I’m -confused, my smug assurance is gone. I’m not sure any more. But he”—he -looked up again—“by all the gods, Cornelius, he was!” - -“Then you think now he may have been...?” - -“If there are any gods, Cornelius”—he stared into the blood-drained face -of the Galilean, and his voice was infinitely sad—“if there exists any -being like the one your old Greek tutor spoke of, a good, all-wise, -all-powerful one god, then this man must have been the son of that god.” - - - - - 52 - - -As soon as Longinus left the palace with her message, Claudia went back -to bed in the hope of finding relaxing sleep after the terrifying dream. -But sleep would not come; she was almost afraid to close her eyes for -fear the nightmare would return. And even as she lay sleepless, staring -wide-eyed at the high ceiling of her bed-chamber, she began to envision -a pair of disembodied blood-red hands feeling their way stealthily -around and across the intricate plastered figures and medallions of its -surface. - -“Tullia, it’s no use trying any longer,” she called to her maid, as she -swung her feet around to stand up. “I just can’t seem to shake off the -dream. Maybe if I dress and busy myself at something, I’ll think no more -of it. Thank the gods, though, I sent the Procurator that warning.” - -But as the morning hours went by the dream did not go away; it persisted -in all its horrible detail in the forefront of her consciousness, and -the harder she tried to dispel it, the more determinedly it stayed with -her. “Why, by the Great Mother, little one, am I so disturbed by a -dream?” she at length demanded of her maid. “I put no faith in dreams. I -must have had thousands, and not one has ever before bothered me. I know -they’re nothing but rearrangements, often fanciful and sometimes, like -this one, frightening, of things that have happened to us, people we’ve -seen, places we’ve visited. You can always explain them. Even this one I -understand. You came in late from Bethany with the fearful news of the -Galilean’s arrest and the High Priest’s plotting to have Pilate condemn -him. Then soon afterward I went to sleep and dreamed about it. It’s -simple enough to understand....” She paused, silent in thought. “Or is -it?” she asked softly. “Are people ever warned in dreams? Is there -really some power...?” The question was unfinished. - -“I don’t doubt it, Mistress. Our ancient scriptures tell of many -instances in which God spoke to His prophets in visions, which must have -been dreams or the like.” She paused. “And there’s the story of Julius -Caesar’s wife, you know.” - -“Yes,” Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “But if your god wished to save the -Galilean’s life, why didn’t he let Pilate have the dream?” - -Tullia shook her head thoughtfully. “I can’t say. I can’t fathom the -mind of God, Mistress.” A suggestion of a smile crossed her face. “Maybe -He thought you might have more influence on the Procurator than He -Himself could.” - -Claudia smiled. “Certainly I’m more real to Pilate—and threatening, no -doubt—than your Yahweh.” With a quick lifting of her shoulder, she -changed her tone. “But why talk of it further? I’m sure my message -warned him sufficiently. And I want to forget the dream and the -Galilean. This terrific heat is exhausting enough. Still, I do -wonder....” She scowled and said no more. - -The heat grew more intolerable. Longinus did not return, nor did any -news come from Antonia. Midday passed, and as she had done the day -before, Claudia retreated into the garden and sat on the stone bench -before the spouting fountain. But today, unlike yesterday, there were no -white puffs of clouds. Instead, from noon on, a thick overcast began to -settle upon Jerusalem, so that inside the palace servants lighted lamps, -which added, it seemed to Claudia, to the oppressiveness. As she sat -staring introspectively at the spray of water, the heat, despite the -covering of clouds screening off the sun’s rays, seemed to be mounting -as the skies darkened; in the thickening gloom the air grew still; -yesterday’s singing, twittering birds had taken cover under the heavy, -drooping foliage, and all nature seemed silently expectant of a coming -upheaval. But maybe, thought Claudia, the impending storm will not -descend; maybe the winds, like yesterday, will spring up and blow the -clouds away and bring welcome relief from this oppressive heat. - -It was during this foreboding lull, some two hours past midday, that a -sedan chair entered the palace grounds, and when the bearers set it down -at the doorway, the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea emerged and was -admitted to the sumptuous edifice. A moment later, with much bowing and -murmured directing, servants conducted her to the wife of the -Procurator. But the two had done little more than exchange greetings and -sit down together when the winds did come, and with a suddenness and -severity that sent them scurrying for the protection of the palace. This -time the clouds were not immediately blown away; crash after crash of -lightning sundered them, and for a few wild moments they poured a deluge -upon the steaming, crowded capital of ancient Israel. - -“Claudia, I know you wonder why I have come,” Herodias said, when they -were settled in one of the inner chambers into which little of the noise -of the storm penetrated. “But soon the Feast of the Passover will be -ended, and we will be going back to our posts; I’m sure you, at any -rate, are unwilling to consider Caesarea home. So we may have little -further opportunity to talk together alone, Herod’s engaged at the -palace, and Pilate, I presume, will be busy at Antonia.” Claudia nodded. -“Yes. Well, you remember once in Rome when you came over to see me and -we were talking about Antipas and Longinus, and you wondered why I was -interested in the Tetrarch....” Herodias paused, and Claudia, smiling, -nodded again. “You may recall, too, I told you that I was interested in -what the Tetrarch could become, in the position he might attain, rather -than in Antipas as a man....” - -“Yes, I recall. You said he might become a king like his father.” - -“I did. Some day he might, I believe I said, with my conniving.” She -leaned forward and looked Claudia directly in the eyes. “The time has -come,” she said quietly, “for us to begin our determined conniving.” - -“_Our?_” Claudia queried, her tone intent. - -“Yes. What I’m scheming will concern you, and Longinus, as much as it -will Antipas and me.” Her brow suddenly furrowed. “You still feel the -same way about the centurion, don’t you, as you did when you left Rome -to come out here?” - -“Well, yes, but....” - -“Oh, I know, Claudia, you must be careful, must guard your tongue. But -you needn’t worry about my making indiscreet remarks, you know.” She -shrugged. “I haven’t thus far, have I? And I’ve known all along. And -now”—she did not wait for Claudia to answer her question—“the time has -come for us to strike out for what both of us want. Soon Longinus will -be going back to Rome, and more than likely this time he’ll have much to -tell the Prefect.” - -“But, Herodias....” - -The Tetrarchess laughed and shrugged. “Oh, nobody has told me anything,” -she said, “but I do have eyes and ears and an ability to put things -together. I know that Senator Piso and Sejanus are more than friends; -they’re bound to be business partners, for Sejanus, you may be sure, has -his fingers in any enterprise that has been operating with considerable -success. I know that Longinus has had unusual freedom for a centurion -presumably on active duty and that he has made trips back to Rome, to -Antioch, and to many another place that no centurion ordinarily would be -called on to visit in the course of duty. And you told me, remember, -that he was being sent out to Palestine on a special mission.” She -paused, and when Claudia made no comment, she smiled and gestured with -outflung hands. “Well, it makes little difference whether he was sent -out to watch Pilate or not, and maybe Antipas and me ...” she paused, -grinning, “and possibly even you, Claudia. He’ll probably be called back -to Rome soon to make some sort of report, even about the operation of -the Senator’s glassworks....” - -“But how would that affect you and Antipas, and Pilate ... and maybe -me?” - -“Longinus might be called back to Rome to report on Pilate’s ... well, -shortcomings.” - -“Even then I fail to understand how....” - -“This is the way I envision what might easily happen should he be -ordered to Rome,” Herodias interrupted. “Longinus certainly must have -strong influence with Sejanus, because he’s Senator Piso’s son, for one -thing. Should he point out, and with emphasis, Pilate’s failures as an -administrator—and certainly he’d have little trouble supporting his -charge—he might very likely cause the Prefect to dismiss Pilate as -Procurator or move him to another province. And with Pilate disgraced, -surely you would be permitted to divorce him.” She smiled and airily -lifted her hands. “Then, my dear, you could marry Longinus and return to -Rome to live.” - -“Maybe so. But even then how would that affect you and Antipas?” - -Herodias leaned toward her hostess, her expression intent. “Suppose -Pilate is dismissed, transferred, even, by the gods, beheaded....” Her -eyes narrowed. “That would cause you no grief, would it?” But she did -not pause for Claudia’s comment. “Then Sejanus, regardless of Pilate’s -fate, might extend Antipas’ realm to include Judaea, don’t you see, and -elevate him to kingship. And I”—she sat back and smiled felinely—“would -be queen.” Quickly the smile vanished. “And I shall never be content, -Claudia, until I’m a queen. Why, soon as Tetrarchess I’ll have no higher -station than little Salome.” She paused, her expression suddenly -questioning. “Did you know that she is marrying Herod Philip?” - -“_Her father?_” Claudia exclaimed, aghast. “By all the gods, surely....” - -“Of course not, my dear.” Herodias laughed. “The other Herod Philip, her -father’s half brother and”—she grinned—“my half uncle. He rules the puny -tetrarchy over east of us, Batanea and Trachonitis. He’s considerably -older than Salome, naturally, but....” - -“Then he’s Salome’s half great-uncle and half uncle as well as half -stepuncle, and ... well....” Claudia broke off with a shrug. “You Herods -really never let anything get out of the family, do you?” Then she was -serious. “But what about old King Aretas? If he should attack -Antipas....” - -“Certainly he hasn’t attacked yet,” Herodias hastened to reply. “And he -probably never will. But even if he does, that might just strengthen -Antipas with Rome. At any rate,” she added, “the Arabian isn’t making -trouble at the moment.” - -“But, Herodias, what if Sejanus, instead of putting Judaea under Antipas -and making him king, should send out a new Procurator to succeed -Pilate?” - -The Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea was not abashed. “In that case,” -she replied without hesitation, “he might even make Longinus Procurator, -although I’m sure he—and surely you too, wouldn’t you—would prefer to be -assigned a post in some province other than Judaea. But in any event, -Claudia, if Longinus should very strongly recommend and urge the -transfer of Pilate and the extension of Antipas’ realm to embrace -Judaea, then I’m confident it would have great weight with Sejanus. -That’s why I came to see you, Claudia, the principal reason, I mean. I -hope you’ll suggest such a course to Longinus. It’s a way by which you -and Longinus and I—I’m not considering Pilate and indolent old -Antipas—can attain what all three of us want most.” She leaned forward -again, and her expression betrayed a malevolent cunning. “Claudia, -Longinus would have good reason to advise Sejanus to withdraw Pilate -from Judaea. Pilate from his first days out here has failed to get along -with the Jews, from the High Priest on down. And now, today, the -suddenly bitter hostility of the followers of this Galilean fellow whom -he tried this morning....” - -“Galilean fellow?” Claudia’s expression was suddenly grave. “Who...?” - -“Maybe you haven’t heard of him. He has a large following devotedly -attached to him, so large that the Temple leaders are both jealous and -fearful of him. They brought him before Pilate this morning, and the -Procurator, wishing to evade responsibility”—her tone was -sarcastic—“sent him to Antipas for trial, since the fellow was a -Galilean, from the village of Nazareth, I believe. But I learned about -it in time to warn Antipas to have nothing to do with the fellow....” -She paused, and the bitter lines around her mouth deepened in a scowl. -“He’s never forgotten that Wilderness fanatic at Machaerus. So he sent -the Galilean back to Pilate.” She smiled. “Whatever the Procurator does -with him, or has done, will add to his troubles with the Jews ...” she -paused—“or at any rate, we hope so, don’t we?” - -“Then you don’t know whether Pilate has tried the man?” Claudia tried to -conceal her anxiety. - -“No. I only know that Antipas didn’t fall into Pilate’s trap.” - -_... Thank the Bountiful Mother I sent Pilate the message...._ - -“You were always a clever one, Herodias. Antipas is fortunate.” But she -did not elaborate and quickly changed the subject. - -With the same suddenness that it had begun, like the opening and closing -of a great door, the storm ended, and the sun shone down through skies -sparkling and refreshed. “I must be going,” said Herodias. “I’ve much to -do before we start back to Tiberias. My dear”—she laid her hand -affectionately on Claudia’s arm and stood up—“do come to visit us again. -And won’t you talk with Longinus about this? You’ll be seeing him, of -course, perhaps tonight?” - -“Perhaps.” But Claudia’s smile was thin. - -Herodias’ visit and the dissipation of the storm clouds had done nothing -to dispel Claudia’s misgivings; the news brought by the Tetrarchess had, -in fact, served to deepen her foreboding. Why hadn’t Pilate acknowledged -receiving her message, if indeed he had received it? Suddenly the -desperate notion possessed her that the Procurator had failed to get her -hurriedly scribbled warning. And why, if he had seen it, had he failed -to reassure her that Jesus would not be condemned? What, by the gods, -had Pilate done with him? - -She summoned her maid. “You must go up to Antonia and discover what’s -happened to the Galilean, Tullia,” she said. “Until I hear, I shall have -no peace.” She hesitated, brow furrowed. “No, wait. I’ll go myself. Call -the sedan-chair bearers.” - - - - - 53 - - -When Herodias returned to the Hasmonean Palace she learned from Neaera -that the Tetrarch had shut himself away from all company in the -seclusion of one of the inner chambers. He seemed to be entering a -period of depression, the maid reported, like the one into which he had -plunged after the beheading of the Wilderness prophet. - -The Tetrarchess found him sprawled in his chair, staring at the wall, -his heavy jowls sagging. For a moment he appeared unmindful of her -entrance. Then he turned ponderously to face her. “The Galilean,” he -said slowly, as though in pain, “is dead. Crucified.” - -“Dead already? How did you learn it?” - -“Joanna. She was at the Hill of the Skull with some of his friends, -including Mary of Magdala. They saw him die. But she declared she knew -that the Galilean”—suddenly his dull eyes brightened with the pain of -sharpened fear—“would rise from the dead and avenge himself upon his -enemies. Herodias”—he got heavily to his feet and flung out his hands in -desperation—“why did you make me do it? By the beard of the High Priest, -Tetrarchess, why, why?” - -“Are you mad, Antipas?” Her dark eyes snapped. “You didn’t kill him! By -the gods, Pilate did. The Procurator tried him. You sent him back to -Pilate, don’t you remember?” - -“Of course I sent him back to Pilate. But I had it in my power to free -him; instead, I sent him to his death. When he rises, he will wreak upon -me a double vengeance.” - -“Double vengeance?” - -“Yes, the vengeance of both the prophet of the Wilderness and of the -Nazarene.” His eyes glittered with incipient madness. “The Nazarene was -the prophet returned to life. When he arises, he will be the two -returned.” - -“Nonsense!” Herodias advanced, her eyes flaming, and grasped her -husband’s arm. “If the Galilean is dead, he’s dead, and you know it. -Must you give heed to Joanna’s superstitious drivel?” Her scowl -lightened into a crafty smile. “Pilate has served you well in crucifying -this fellow. Can’t you see that the Galilean’s followers will be all the -more determined to do the Procurator ill?” - -“But how will his misfortune help me?” the Tetrarch asked. - -“Your father ruled this whole province. Should Pilate’s mishandling of -his duties drive him from the Procuratorship, the Emperor might elevate -you to king of all the region. It’s not for nothing that your father is -called ‘Herod the Great.’” She shook a ringed forefinger under his nose. -“If you had one-fourth the ambition and energy that he had, you’d -already be wearing the crown!” - -“But I don’t want to wear a crown,” Antipas protested. “Crowns often -become greater burdens than they’re worth. We can live out our lives at -Tiberias, happy and unchallenged, and enjoy the benefits of the royal -prerogative without risking its dangers and burdens, my dear, and with -considerably less chance of drawing the ire of old Sejanus.” - -Herodias stamped her foot angrily. “Don’t you have any aspirations, -Antipas? Are you willing to continue being a mouse instead of a man?” -Her tone was coldly sarcastic, and she knotted her hand into a fist to -emphasize her stern words. “Well, by the beard of the High Priest, -Antipas, I’m going to see to it that you sit on the throne of Judaea as -your father did. I’ve just returned from talking with Claudia about my -plan ... and my determination ... to get you elevated to kingship. She -will help; she wants to see Pilate disgraced so that she can divorce him -and marry Longinus.” - -“I don’t know about that, my dear Tetrarchess. What would be the -difference anyway, except in titles? Wouldn’t it be best to let well -enough...?” - -“And spend the rest of our lives in an out-of-the-way poor district of -illiterate fishermen and grape growers! Never!” she stormed. “Would you -be willing for me never to occupy a station higher than Salome, by all -the gods?” She studied him, her contempt plainly revealed. “I do believe -you _would_. Well, I’m not willing. I’ll leave you first ... and go back -to Rome!” She was silent for a moment and when he made no retort, -continued. “This is what we’ll do,” she said, her tone even now. “We’ll -return to Tiberias and begin to assemble choice presents for the -Emperor, and most important, for Sejanus. And you will increase the -revenue going to the Prefect. The gifts will please and flatter him, and -the increased revenues from Galilee and Peraea may suggest to him that -if you were governing the whole province the increase in taxes would be -substantial. And we won’t send them to Rome, the gifts, I mean, but -we’ll take them ourselves, and then we can personally petition Sejanus -to make you king over the entire province.” - -Herod Antipas shook his grizzled head slowly, and his countenance was -troubled. “But I foresee only disaster if....” - -“I don’t care what you foresee or how agitated you may become,” she -said, with a defiant toss of her head, “we are going to Rome to ask the -Prefect to make you king, and I’m either coming back to Palestine as -queen or I’m not coming back at all!” - - - - - 54 - - -As Claudia and her maid entered the anteroom adjacent to the -Procurator’s great chamber in the southwestern tower of Antonia, two men -of serious mien, well-dressed and with beards oiled and carefully -braided, emerged from Pilate’s room and walked quickly into the -corridor. - -Claudia motioned Tullia to a seat and without pausing strode past the -attendant through the still unclosed doorway. - -Pilate stood before one of the windows facing westward. His long shadow -reached out to her feet across the high-domed room; soon now the sun -would be dropping beneath the wall of the ancient city, and the -solemnity of the Jewish Sabbath would still the Passover festivities. He -turned to face his wife, and she saw that his expression was deadly -serious. She questioned him with a lift of her head. “Those men who just -went out?” - -“Wealthy Jews,” he replied. “One of them anyway, a merchant from -Arimathea. Both of them members of the Sanhedrin. They came to petition -me.” He saw that she was still not satisfied. “A small matter; they -asked for the body of one of the men crucified today. They want to bury -him.” He advanced toward her and managed a thin smile. “Here, my dear -Claudia,” he pointed, “have this chair.” His smile warmed. “To what am I -indebted for the honor of your visit?” - -“This man whose body they wished,” she asked, ignoring his question, -“could it be that he was the Galilean mystic?” - -“Yes, they said he was from Galilee.” His eyes avoided her probing -stare. - -“He was called Jesus?” - -“I believe they called him that.” - -“Then you did not receive my message ... about the dream I had?” - -She saw in his eyes a mounting panic. “Yes, Claudia, but it was only a -dream, and the High Priest demanded....” - -“You condemned to the cross an innocent man”—she stood up and pointed a -trembling finger at the Procurator, and her eyes blazed -furiously—“because the High Priest demanded it! The great Procurator, -representative of imperial Rome, _crucified_ an innocent man because a -jealous and mean little Temple strut-cock _ordered_ you to send him to -the cross! By all the gods, Pilate, _and_ you condemned him after _I_ -sent you that warning!” - -“But, Claudia, I was being pulled at from both sides. I didn’t want to -condemn him. I told them I found no fault in the man. I had a basin of -water fetched and before the multitude I washed my hands of his blood, -and....” - -“You washed your hands of his blood! Never! Oh, by all the gods, those -hands! Those blood-red, crawling, slinking hands!” She held her palms -before her face. “In the dream I saw them. Now you’ll never be able to -cleanse those foul, polluted hands.” - -“But if I had released him, Claudia, and news had got back to the -Prefect that I had allowed a dangerous revolutionary to go free....” - -“You knew he was no revolutionary.” Her voice was almost a hiss. “You -knew he was an innocent man, and you sent him to the cross.” She crossed -the room quickly and looked out toward the Hill of the Skull. The -shadows were heavy in the square before Antonia, but the sinking sun -shone levelly upon the three burdened crosses on the hill. “Which cross -is his?” she asked, without taking her eyes from the macabre scene. - -“The one at the center,” he replied, his eyes fixed unseeing on the -polished surface of his desk. - -“And he is dead, you’re sure of that?” - -“I don’t know. I’ve sent for the centurion in charge of the execution, -and now I’m waiting for his report. I told the two Jews I would not -release the body until I was certain the Galilean was dead. Should the -body be taken down and the man revived, and should word, as it would, -get to Rome....” - -“Are you concerned only with what sort of reports go to Rome?” she -demanded, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “Have you no interest in seeing -justice prevail even in Judaea?” - -“I am interested, my dear Claudia”—he appeared somewhat to have regained -his composure—“in maintaining myself in the office of Procurator. -Perhaps I erred in the case of this Galilean. Perhaps I should have -given greater heed to the message you sent me. But I’ve spent many hard -years in the army, and I have long dreamed of being the Procurator of a -province of imperial Rome. Now that I have attained it, I must not gain -the further enmity of the Temple leadership, or I might lose the post, -you know.” - -“Then your only concern is in remaining Procurator of Judaea?” Her tone -was coldly scornful. “And you might have the post taken from you, at -that. Much depends, you know, on the attitude of the Prefect toward -you.” - -Pilate blanched. “But, my dear, surely you wouldn’t suggest to him that -he carry to Sejanus an evil report about my conduct of affairs....” - -“To _him_? To whom, Excellency”—she paused, and her tone was -taunting—“do you refer?” - -But once more he was evasive. “Perhaps you are tired, my dear,” he said -with a short, humorless laugh. “Perhaps you should return to the palace. -I can order the sedan-chair bearers....” - -“Mine are outside,” she replied evenly. “But why are you trying to get -rid of me, Pilate? Does the Galilean haunt you already?” - -“Indeed, no.” Again he attempted a laugh, but it lacked conviction. “Any -minute now the centurion will be reporting to me, and I thought perhaps -you would not wish to be reminded again of the Galilean’s death or your -strange dream....” - -“No, I will stay. Perhaps it is you who do not wish to be reminded that -you condemned to a terrible death a man innocent of the crime charged -against him, innocent of any crime, and known by you to be innocent!” - -“But, my dear Claudia, had I freed....” - -The Procurator’s protest was interrupted by a knock on the door, and a -moment later at Pilate’s bidding the attendant entered. “The Centurion -Longinus, Excellency,” he said, bowing, “has arrived to make his -report.” - -“Longinus! By great Jupiter, did you send Longinus to crucify the -Galilean?” She whirled to face the centurion, who had entered the -chamber. “Surely, Longinus, you didn’t...” Abruptly she stopped; her -face, suddenly drained of fury, betrayed apprehension and pain. - -“Yes,” he said, “I killed him. I was ordered by the Procurator to do so, -but that doesn’t absolve me from guilt. I crucified an innocent man”—his -eyes shifted to level on Pilate—“as the Procurator well knew when he -condemned him to the cross.” He paused, but Pilate did not challenge the -statement. “Excellency, you sent for me to report. The Galilean is dead. -Your order has been carried out.” - -“Thank you, Centurion. Then I shall grant those Jews’ request for the -body for burial.” He spoke calmly, but his flustered manner betrayed an -inner stress. “You may return to your duty and notify the men, who will -be at the execution ground, that I grant their petition. You may have -your quaternion help them remove the body from the cross and ...” - -He broke off suddenly. Through the slit in the doorway, which Longinus -had failed to close completely behind him, came the insistent voice of a -man talking with Pilate’s aide in the anteroom. “By the gods, I’m glad -to catch him. I’ve come from Caesarea with a message for him from the -Commander Sergius Paulus. And I was given emphatic instructions to -deliver it myself into his hands with the seals unbroken,” they heard -the man say. “I’ve been searching all over Jerusalem for him; I even -went out to the crucifixion hill.” He lowered his voice. “It’s bound to -be an important message. It came from Rome, probably, by the gods, from -the Prefect or even the Emperor.” - -“Centurion, perhaps you’d prefer to go out there”—Pilate’s face had -paled perceptibly—“to accept the message.” - -Longinus nodded and left the room. As the door closed behind him, -Claudia turned with renewed fury upon her husband. “Why did you assign -Longinus to crucify the Galilean?” she cried. “Was it because I sent my -message by him and you suspected he had spent the night with me and you -finally did me the small honor of being jealous? Well, by the gods”—her -voice was tremulous as her anger rose—“_that’s exactly what he did_!” -With hatred in her eyes she approached him, coming so close that their -faces nearly touched. “And, you fool, that wasn’t the first time,” she -added with a low, harsh laugh, “nor even, by Jupiter, the last!” - -The Procurator stepped back and sank heavily into his chair. For a long -moment he sat silent, staring at the floor. Then he raised his eyes to -his wife’s bitter, scornful face. “Surely you cannot believe me that -stupid, Claudia my dear,” he said quietly, “to think that I haven’t -known. Surely you must know that I am not entirely deaf and blind, that -I have even contrived to spend many an evening away so that you....” He -paused, pensively contemplating the woman before him. “But perhaps you -don’t know....” - -“Oh, how I despise you!” she screamed. “I knew you were a weakling, a -coward, a ... yes, today, even a murderer. But I didn’t know you were a -crawling worm who would willingly lend his wife to another man! By all -Pluto’s fire-blackened imps, I....” - -“But perhaps you don’t know,” the Procurator went on, “that I was -commanded by the Prefect and the Emperor, at the time our marriage was -arranged, to do everything possible to keep you content in this dismal -province ... even to overlooking any indiscretions....” - -“Then you’ve been willing to do anything, by the Great Mother, in order -to stay in the good graces of old Sejanus,” Claudia hissed. “You’re -willing to send a good and innocent man, maybe a god-man, to the cross -rather than displease a contemptible High Priest who might complain -against you to the Prefect!” She clenched her fists and brought them -down, hard, across the desk. “You’re even willing to surrender your wife -to another man’s enjoyment in order—you said it—to keep her ‘content’ -but _really_ to keep that man from reporting to Sejanus your bumbling -incompetence, your foolish provocations, your utter imbecility!” Her -voice had risen to a shout. Slowly she moved toward the window, and then -she whirled about to face him again. “Well, I’m not ‘content,’ and I -never will be ... with you! And by all the gods, I hope Longinus will go -to Rome and reveal to Sejanus how miserably you have administered the -affairs of the Empire in this province!” She pointed at him from across -the room. “And how you have dragged in the dust Rome’s vaunted justice, -how in all probability”—her voice dropped to a menacing tone—“you have -withheld funds from the Empire’s treasury....” - -“No! Oh, no, Claudia! I have kept back nothing due the Empire or the -Prefect! Nothing! Not one shekel, not a denarius! Longinus knows it’s -true.” He lowered his voice. “Hasn’t he been watching; hasn’t he been -reporting? Surely you don’t think I haven’t suspected....” But suddenly -he broke off his protests. Quickly crossing the chamber, he opened the -door and summoned the centurion. “You have heard my wife’s words?” he -asked, as he closed the door behind them. - -“I’ve heard excited words,” Longinus replied cautiously. “I didn’t get -the full import of them, though.” - -“Claudia has been hurling accusations at me. She said she hoped you -would report me to the Prefect when you go to....” He paused, and both -his face and voice revealed his fear. “The message was from Rome, wasn’t -it? From Sejanus? He asked you to report to him on the situation out -here, how I’m administering...?” - -“He asked me to come at once to Rome, but he said only that it was to -meet with him on a matter of utmost concern, the nature of which he did -not indicate. Here, Excellency”—he handed the letter to the -Procurator—“you may read it yourself.” - -Eagerly the Procurator accepted the message. His forehead creased as he -studied it. “True,” he said, handing it back to Longinus, “there’s no -mention in it of the Procurator. But surely the Prefect will ask you how -I’m administering affairs. I beg of you, Centurion, don’t give him an -unfavorable report; don’t make any charges against....” - -“What of the Galilean you’ve just crucified?” Claudia interrupted. “Can -you contend that you even thought you were acting justly? Didn’t you -just tell me you found no fault in the man? What else could Longinus -tell the Prefect concerning your trial...?” - -“But the centurion will say nothing of this Galilean, surely.” The trace -of a sickly smile flickered across his round face. “The centurion will -remember that it was _he_ who crucified the man.” - -“Yes, I shall never forget that I killed him,” Longinus said. “And I -suspect that to the end of his days the Procurator, too, will remember -the part he played in this horrible thing. But if this Galilean’s case -comes to the Prefect’s attention and he inquires of me about it, I shall -reveal fully what happened, and why I was involved.” - -“But surely, Centurion, unless you report it, Sejanus will never know -about it. Caiaphas is pleased. The illiterate, poor followers of the -Galilean didn’t even attempt to aid him at the trial; their protests, if -they offer any, can never reach as far as Rome. I beg of you, Longinus, -make no mention of it to the Prefect. The Galilean is dead; soon he’ll -be forgotten.” - -“No!” Claudia protested. “I’ll never forget him! Longinus will never -forget him! Nor will _you_! Look at your hands, Pilate. Soon you will be -seeing them as I saw them, cold, clammy, scurrying to hide themselves -under the rocks, foul and evil and reeking with _his_ blood! By all the -gods, Pilate”—her voice was shrill in newly mounting anger—“if Longinus -doesn’t tell the Prefect of your cowardly flouting of Roman justice, _I_ -will!” - -The Procurator’s face blanched. He started to speak, then swallowed. -“Claudia, my dear, you wouldn’t. Surely you wouldn’t be so....” - -“Indeed, I would! I have lost all patience with you, Pilate. Today I’ve -seen you as I’ve never seen you before. You’re a small man, Procurator, -vain, self-seeking, pompous, and yet a sniveling coward too fearful for -his own skin to rule justly. And at the first opportunity I shall so -describe you to the Prefect ... and perhaps to the Emperor.” - -“No, my dear! No! Please....” His panic changed quickly into abject -pleading. “Please don’t, my dear. Why should you wish to ruin me? What -would it gain you ... and Longinus?” He sat down wearily behind his -desk. “Why can’t we continue as we have been ...” he paused, “enduring -this trying land and these troublesome people? Centurion”—he faced -Longinus—“for a long time I have suspected, and known, the ... -situation. But haven’t I been understanding, even co-operative?” The -suggestion of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Why, then, -cannot the three of us, understanding this and appreciating it, just -continue to play the roles as we have been? Why can’t we...?” - -“Oh, by great Ceres!” Claudia shouted angrily, “you are indeed a -crawling worm! You _invite_ another man to your wife’s bed! You pander! -You’re nothing but a procurer, a Spanish pimp! Gods, but I detest you!” -Turning, she strode to the door and opened it. “Summon my sedan-chair -bearers,” she ordered the attendant, “and quickly!” Then she wheeled -about to face the Procurator again. “I’m going back to the palace. I -cannot summon the patience to remain longer in your presence. It would -please me greatly if I should never lay eyes on you again!” She stormed -through the doorway; the door slammed behind her. - -Pilate sat unmoving and stared stonily into space. - -“A moment ago, Excellency,” Longinus ventured, “you directed me to -return to the Hill of the Skull. The Jewish Sabbath is fast nearing. -Perhaps I should go now.” - -Without raising his eyes, Pontius Pilate nodded. Longinus crossed the -darkening chamber and went out. After a while the Procurator stood up -and walked to the window. Out beyond Antonia’s front square and the -squat stone structures flanking it, on a wretched knoll beyond the -city’s wall, the three crosses still lifted their quiet burdens into the -waning light. But already the shadow of the wall was groping for the -pinioned feet of the man on the middle cross. For a long moment Pilate -stood rooted before the window; when the shadow had climbed to engulf -the man’s sagging knees, he turned slowly away and sat again in his big -chair. As the gloom thickened in the great chamber, the staring -Procurator leaned slowly forward to cross his arms on the desk and, -bending over, cradled his round head on their crossing. - - - - - 55 - - -Late in the afternoon of the Jews’ Sabbath the Procurator Pontius Pilate -stood face to face once again with the High Priest Joseph Caiaphas. - -“My visit to you, Excellency, and the petition I bring,” he began, -“concern that impostor and revolutionary you crucified yesterday, the -one who was seeking to establish himself upon the restored throne of -Israel.” - -“But the man is dead and buried,” Pilate spoke up irritably. “Can’t you -let him lie quietly in his tomb? Can’t you understand that I wish to -have no further mention made to me of that Galilean?” - -“Indeed I do understand, Excellency. That’s exactly what we also wish, -to allow him to lie quietly and undisturbed until his body rots and his -name is forgotten.” He leaned forward, and his black eyes lighted with -new fires. “But, Excellency, as you may have been told, that blasphemer -was heard to declare that he would destroy our Temple and in three days -with his own hands rebuild it. Now some of his deluded followers are -saying that he wasn’t speaking of the Temple yonder”—he nodded in the -direction of the great structure—“but rather of his own physical body. -They interpret his words as meaning that he would of his own accord give -his life and then on the third day claim it again and walk forth from -his tomb. Of course, Excellency, we know that the fellow is dead and -will never rise again”—with the tip of his tongue he licked his thin red -lips—“but many naïve ones may be deluded into believing that he really -did possess power to call back his life. Even today a report has reached -us that certain of his followers are planning in the nighttime to visit -the tomb and steal away the body. Then with the tomb empty on the -morrow, which will be the third day since he died, they can publish -abroad the tidings that the blasphemer really did arise as he had -declared he would do.” - -“But how am I concerned in this nonsense?” Pilate was plainly annoyed. -“What do you want me to do?” - -“We would have you set a guard over the fellow’s tomb, Excellency, to -see that no one steals away the body.” - -“What’s this but children’s prattle? Surely no one would seriously -expect a dead man to walk from his tomb.” Slowly Pilate’s scowl gave way -to a mocking half-smile. “What would the High Priest do if the Galilean -_did_ rise? _You_ contrived his crucifixion.” - -“But what, Excellency, would the Procurator do? _You crucified_ him.” - -Pilate was not amused by the High Priest’s retort. “Maybe it’s as well,” -he observed, “that neither of us will be so tested.” For a moment he was -silent, looking away. Then he turned back to face Caiaphas. “You have -your Temple guards. Can’t you use some of them to guard that tomb?” - -“But, Excellency, with the great surge of Passover pilgrims still in the -Temple courts and about the cattle stalls and the money changers’ -tables, our guards are all greatly needed. And, more important, your -placing a guard would lend greater prestige....” - -“The Antonia garrison is just as busy,” Pilate interrupted, “and many of -our soldiers are leaving Jerusalem. Maybe, though, I can arrange yet -again to humor the High Priest.” He beckoned to an aide. “Summon the -fortress commander.” - -“Are there any centurions available for a special assignment beginning -at once and continuing into tomorrow?” he asked, when a few moments -later the officer appeared. - -“Centurion Longinus, sir, is....” - -“No, by all the gods!” - -“The only other one not assigned at the present is Centurion Cornelius. -He’s preparing to return his....” - -“Then call Cornelius in and instruct him to select from his century a -sufficient detail and mount a guard at the tomb of the Galilean”—he -paused and looked unsmiling toward the High Priest—“rather, the ‘King of -the Jews,’ to see that it is not disturbed.” - -Caiaphas smiled grimly but made no comment. - -“Now, O High Priest, you will have your guard, though I consider a guard -unnecessary. Once again your will has prevailed.” He bowed, and his -smile was cold. “I trust your sleep tonight will be peaceful.” - - - - - 56 - - -It was within two hours of midnight after the Jewish Sabbath, which by -Hebrew reckoning ended at sundown, when Longinus came to the Palace of -the Herods. Claudia was already in her nightdress and prepared for bed. -“Aren’t you going to spend the night?” she asked eagerly, after he -loosened her from their warm embrace. - -“With your permission,” he said, grinning wryly. “I have your husband’s, -remember.” - -“Please, let’s not talk of him.” Her expression sobered. “Did I speak -too frankly yesterday, Longinus? Did I reveal too much to him ... about -us, I mean? Is that why you didn’t come last night? You were annoyed -with me?” - -“You really spoke your feelings, didn’t you? But I wasn’t annoyed with -you,” he said. “In fact, I’m glad you spoke up. And I suspect he was not -surprised at what you told him, only that you would say it, and with -such fury.” She had sat down on the side of her bed. He seated himself -beside her and bent over to unfasten his sandals. Then he straightened -and faced her. “Claudia, I was too depressed last night to be good -company.” He shook his head slowly. “I’ve never been in lower spirits.” - -“Because of the Galilean?” - -“Yes. Because of what I had done. It felt like a crushing load on my -back. I couldn’t get out from under it.” He stood up, and laid his tunic -across a chair. “After I left you and Pilate, I went back out to the -crosses and helped get him down, taking care to see that in pulling the -nails out we didn’t tear or further bruise the flesh”—he paused in his -narration, and his low laugh was hollow, mirthless—“after I had seen the -nails driven through the living flesh and had plunged my lance into his -side. Then we put him in the rich Jew’s tomb; they had bound the body -the way the Jews prepare their dead for burial, although they didn’t -have time to anoint it with aromatic spices as they customarily do....” - -“They are going to do that tomorrow,” Claudia interrupted him. “Tullia -has gone out to Bethany to go with Mary of Magdala and Chuza’s wife -Joanna and some other followers of the Galilean early in the morning to -the tomb to finish the burial rites.” She paused. “But I interrupted -your story. What did you do when you had finished out there?” - -“I came back to Antonia and sat for a long time on the balcony looking -out over the Temple courts. Then I went to bed and tried to get some -sleep, but I couldn’t, no matter how I tried. Every time I closed my -eyes I saw that man ... the death march out to the hill, nailing him -down, lifting him to the upright....” He cupped his palm across his -eyes. “By the gods, Claudia, it was terrible, frightening. And his -crying out to his god to forgive us.” His hand dropped listlessly to his -side. “Well, I finally gave up and walked out along the balcony again, -and then I went to see Cornelius. He was troubled, too. He hadn’t gone -to bed. We sat and talked, mostly about that man, until daylight.” - -“Did you come to any conclusion ... about him, I mean?” - -“Well, no, I suppose not, except that it was a monstrous crime to -crucify such a man, though Cornelius still held to the idea that the -Galilean probably was a god of some sort, that he had supernatural -powers, even the ability to heal people—he insisted that he had healed -his little Lucian—maybe to raise dead people to life. Cornelius even -said he thought it was possible that the Galilean might come to life -himself, as some of his followers say he will, and walk out of that -tomb.” He was silent for a moment. “If he does,” he added after awhile, -“he’ll have to move a tremendous stone from the mouth of the tomb ... -and _from the inside_.” He sat down again beside her. “And under the -noses of the guards, too.” - -“The guards?” - -“Yes. At the insistence of the High Priest, Pilate has set a guard at -the tomb to prevent the Galilean’s followers from stealing the body and -claiming that he actually did come to life. The Procurator put Cornelius -in charge, and I went out there with him; in fact, I’ve just come from -there. Cornelius is going to stay until daylight.” - -“Then Pilate is still trying to appease the High Priest, even after all -I said to him yesterday?” - -“Evidently. The Procurator isn’t likely to change his ways.” - -“Maybe I was rash yesterday in losing my temper and speaking with such -boldness, but I’ve come to have such contempt for him, to loathe him so. -Oh, Longinus”—she clutched his arm in both hands and clung to him—“how -can I stay with him longer in this dreary land? Please take me with you -to Rome. Hasn’t the time come...?” - -“That’s why I’m here, Claudia.” Then his serious expression softened, -and his eyes teased. “And because it’s my last night.” - -“Must you be leaving tomorrow?” - -“Yes. I’m going with Cornelius as far as Tiberias. From there I’ll go -across to Ptolemaïs and get a ship for Rome. Cornelius is providing me -an escort to the coast. I’ll have to get the first ship leaving that -port for the capital. But I had to see you before I left. Claudia”—in -the subdued light of the bedchamber the gentle flame of the wall lamp -was mirrored in his eyes as he looked deeply into hers—“it may be that a -way of escape is about to open for us. By all the gods, it’s strange, -and distressing, too, but the death of the Galilean may actually save -us.” - -“You mean that Pilate in condemning the Galilean may have condemned -himself?” - -“I believe he has ... in one way or another. And I think he has given -you a means of freeing yourself.” He paused. “You’re sure no one can -hear us?” - -She nodded. But he went to the door anyway, listened with his ear to the -panel, and tried the bolt. - -“This is dangerous, Claudia,” he said, as he sat down again. “You -mustn’t breathe a word of it to anybody, not even Tullia. It could get -us both killed.” He lowered his voice. “That message I had yesterday. It -brought startling news. I purposely showed it to Pilate, but of course -he had no idea what it was saying. But I did. That ‘matter of utmost -concern’ was the Prefect’s way of notifying me that now he’s finally -ready to proceed with his scheme and wants me in Rome when he makes his -move.” - -“But this new scheme? What...?” - -“It’s not a new one, Claudia. He gave me a broad hint concerning his -plans the last time I was home; he said that when I got a message so -worded it would mean he was ready to proceed with the final step.” He -leaned close to her. “Claudia, Sejanus is plotting _to have the Emperor -assassinated_; he is bidding for the throne.” - -“But surely”—her face had paled—“he doesn’t mean for you to ...” - -“Oh, no, not that. Some palace servant out at Capri will probably attend -to that. But he wants me in Rome when it’s done so that I can help rally -his supporters at the crucial moment and make him Emperor.” - -“But even if Sejanus should become Emperor, how would that help us?” - -“I would be much closer to him than I am now, one of his advisors,” the -centurion replied. “I’m sure I could poison him against Pilate, and -justly. This case of the Galilean will be just one more example of his -unfitness to administer Roman government. His failure to conciliate, his -forever keeping Judaea in a stir....” - -“But, Longinus”—her face revealed sudden apprehension, fear—“what if the -Emperor’s supporters should discover the Prefect’s plotting and kill -_him_ before he could have the Emperor killed?” - -“Then I would have been on the Emperor’s side.” Longinus smiled -reassuringly and patted the back of her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry -about me; I’ll not let myself get trapped. And soon now, either way the -dice fall, we’ll be the winners.” He stood up and quickly lifted her to -her feet. Leaning over, he pulled down the light coverlet. “But for now, -my dearest,” he said, as he gently pushed her down and lifted her legs -to the bed, “let’s forget them all; let’s make what’s left of it _our_ -night.” - - - - - 57 - - -Once more she felt herself floating upward in a dark morass of confused -and tangled dreaming. Then as she seemed to burst through the heavy -waters to the surface and a sudden effulgent light, she sat up, eyes -blinking and sleep drained from her. - -The knocking and calling were restrained but insistent from Tullia’s -side of the door. “Mistress! Oh, Mistress! Mistress!” - -She sprang from the bed. “Just a moment, little one, until I can draw -back the bolt.” The movement and her exclamation awakened Longinus; -precipitately he sat up in bed. “Tullia’s returned,” she explained to -him, as he blinked sleepily. She opened the door. “Bona Dea, you’re -breathless,” she said to the girl. “What’s happened, by great Ceres?” - -“I’ve run all the way from the Hasmonean Palace where I left Joanna....” -She paused, breathing hard. “Mistress”—her face flamed with new -excitement—“Jesus is _alive_! He’s come from the tomb alive! He did it, -Mistress! He really did it!” - -“Sit down, Tullia,” she said calmly. “You’re excited, little one. Calm -yourself. Longinus told me that the Galilean was not in a trance; he -said he knew he was dead; he said....” - -“He was dead, Mistress, I know. But _now_ he’s alive again! He’s -_alive_, Mistress, _alive_!” - -Claudia shook her head dubiously. “I don’t doubt that you think so, but -when a man’s dead....” She paused. “And you’ve been under such tension, -so troubled....” - -“But I’m no longer troubled, Mistress,” Tullia said calmly. “Nor have I -lost my reason. He _is_ alive. Mary of Magdala talked with him at the -tomb. We’ve just come from there, Mistress.” - -“But where were Cornelius and his soldiers? Surely they didn’t all go to -sleep and let the Galilean’s friends....” - -“They had gone,” the maid answered. “But nobody stole the body, -Mistress. Jesus walked away. He told Mary to tell those of his company -that he would meet them down in Galilee.” - -“Then Cornelius and his guards weren’t at the tomb when the Galilean -walked from it, Tullia?” Longinus, adjusting his tunic, came through the -doorway. - -“Oh, no, Centurion, I meant they were gone when we got there. But they -had left only a few minutes before. In fact, we met them coming in -through the city gate as we were going out. I recognized Centurion -Cornelius, although I don’t think he noticed me. He seemed greatly -disturbed.” - -“Then, by the gods, Claudia, I must go find him. This is amazing. -Tullia, by great Jupiter, do you know what you’re saying? Do you realize -that you are saying a dead man....?” - -His question was interrupted by a knocking on the corridor door. Quickly -Tullia opened it. A palace servant announced that Centurion Cornelius -was trying to find Centurion Longinus. - -“Tell him to come in,” Claudia had overheard. “The Centurion Longinus is -here.” - -“I’ve been trying since daylight to locate you, Longinus,” he reported. -“I went to your quarters, but I should have known....” He didn’t finish -the observation. “Something very strange has happened. The Galilean -disappeared from his tomb.” - -“So Tullia has just told us,” Longinus said. “She contends that he came -to life and simply walked out.” His eyes narrowed. “By the gods, -Cornelius, did your guards go to sleep and allow his friends to slip in -and...?” - -“No, Longinus, we weren’t asleep.” He shook his head slowly. “Nobody was -asleep. I can’t understand it. I had stationed my men so that no one -could slip past us to get to the tomb. And that heavy stone ... -Longinus, it had to be rolled uphill on its track, and that requires the -hard work of at least two or three strong men.” His forehead wrinkled in -a puzzled frown. - -“Well, then,” Longinus pursued, “what _did_ happen?” - -“That’s what I don’t know. Nothing happened. At least, I saw and heard -nothing. I asked the men later if any of them had, and they all -insisted, to a man, that they hadn’t heard a sound or seen anything the -least bit unusual. Only a moment before I had checked the tomb’s mouth. -The seal hadn’t been disturbed. And there was a dim light from a little -fire we had kindled earlier to keep off the night chill; it had burned -down, but there was still a light on the stone at the mouth. In fact, -that’s how we noticed....” - -“The Galilean?” - -“Oh, no, we didn’t see him. But one moment the stone was in place, and -the next ... well, I looked over there, and it had been rolled up the -track and the mouth was wide-open.” - -“What did you do then?” - -“I lighted a torch from the smoldering fire and investigated. The -Galilean was gone, disappeared. The linen strips with which the body had -been wrapped were lying there, still in folds but collapsed, just as -though the body they had been enfolding had melted away.” He shook his -head, gestured with palms up. “Longinus, I can’t figure it any other -way.” - -“You mean you actually believe he returned to life?” - -“What else can I believe?” - -“But what about the stone? How could he have rolled it back?” - -“If he had the power to call back his life,” Cornelius said, “rolling -away the stone would surely have been no problem.” - -“But, Cornelius,” Claudia interposed, “Tullia, too, has just come from -the tomb. She was there with Mary of Magdala and Joanna and some other -followers of the Galilean.” - -“I didn’t see them....” - -“They got there just after you left. They saw you at the city gate as -you were coming away, she said. But Mary of Magdala saw the Galilean and -talked with him.” She shrugged. “Or at any rate that’s what she told -Tullia.” - -The centurion’s amazement was not feigned. “Then where did he go? Where -is he now?” - -“According to Tullia, he told Mary that he was going down to Galilee. He -said he would meet his band there.” - -“Then we may come upon him somewhere, beside the sea with the fishermen -or maybe in Capernaum.” - -“But, Cornelius”—Claudia’s expression betrayed a sudden -apprehension—“how would he receive Longinus?” - -“In a spirit of forgiveness, I hope ... and believe. It was really not -Longinus who did it. The guilt was Herod’s and Pilate’s ... and, of -course, even more, the High Priest’s.” - -“Cornelius, does Pilate know ... about the empty tomb, I mean?” - -“Yes, Claudia. I reported to him first, before I started to look for -Longinus. He was still in his bedchamber.” - -“What did he say? How did he act?” - -“At first he was angry; he charged that the guards had gone to sleep, -said the High Priest would be greatly agitated, and threatened to punish -us severely. But when I stood my ground and insisted that no one had -stolen the body, he began to show concern, and when I left him he was -thoroughly frightened.” He turned to Longinus. “That’s why I want to get -started as quickly as possible for Tiberias, before Pilate orders my -century to remain in Jerusalem to help protect him from the Galilean. -Can you be ready to start by midday?” - -Longinus nodded. “Yes. I’m already packed. All I have to do is pick up -my bags at Antonia.” - - - - - 58 - - -When Cornelius left the Palace of the Herods, Claudia and Longinus -walked out into the garden and sat on the stone bench before the -fountain. Already the sun was high in the cloudless heavens and the air -was growing warm. Birds chattered in the trees and shrubs, and as they -watched the spurting water, two small conies skittered across a circle -of sunlight to dark safety beneath a heavily leaved fig bush. - -“A glorious day.” - -“Yes.” He tossed a twig toward the fountain. “You know, Claudia”—he was -looking, she saw, at some invisible point beyond the trembling column of -water—“a hundred years from now the world may still remember this day, -if....” - -“If the Galilean really has come to life?” she finished softly. “What do -you think about it, Longinus? Cornelius and Tullia seemed so certain he -has.” - -The centurion shook his head slowly, his eyes still on the lifting and -falling water. “I don’t know what to think. But”—he turned to face her, -and his forehead was furrowed in concentration—“how else can you explain -it? The guards awake, the heavy stone sealing the tomb. By all the -gods....” - -“Are you afraid then?” - -For a long moment he was silent. “No,” he answered finally, “I’m not -afraid. But I’m ... I’m ashamed, Claudia; I’m ashamed for myself, -Pilate, Herod, the contemptible High Priest, my quaternion, everybody -who had anything at all to do with this terrible thing. If indeed he did -come back to life, I hope I may see him in Galilee and beg his -forgiveness.” - -“But what about Pilate? Do you think the Galilean will seek vengeance on -him? And on the High Priest, and even Antipas?” - -“Up there on the hill as we were nailing him to the crossbeam, that man -prayed to his god to forgive us ... to forgive us, Claudia. Didn’t he -mean _all_ his enemies?” Longinus stood up and walked to the fountain; -he held his palm against the upshooting column. “A few days ago I was -scoffing at him and even at the very idea of gods, any god, or spirit -being, or whatever you may call it”—he smiled glumly—“and so were you, -my dear. But since day before yesterday”—he shrugged—“and this morning, -well, I’m ... I’m changed. You know, I’ve been thinking about what -Cornelius’ old Greek tutor taught and how it might fit in with the Jews’ -notion of their Yahweh. And now, if the Galilean really has taken on -life again—and I _know_ he was _dead_ when we took him down—it may be -that he really was ... is ... a physical, tangible manifestation of this -all-wise and all-powerful spirit....” Abruptly he broke off. “Oh, I -don’t know, Claudia, it’s too deep for me. But I do know”—his smile was -warm—“if there’s ever another testing, I’ll be on _his_ side then.” - -He strode over to the bench and helped her to her feet, and they -returned to her apartment where no other eyes could invade the privacy -of their last moments together. - -“Has this morning changed things for us, beloved?” she asked, as they -sat on her couch. “Your plans, in Rome, I mean, do you still intend to -do what you were telling me last night?” - -“Of course, my dearest. And it won’t be long before we’ll have a new -Emperor _or_ a new Prefect. And in either case there’ll be a new -Procurator in Judaea and”—he smiled playfully—“a new husband for the -present Procurator’s wife. It’s even possible,” he added with a studied -air, “that the present Procurator’s wife will be the wife of the new -Procurator.” - -“But, Longinus, you wouldn’t want to be Procurator in this dreary -province....” - -“No,” he broke in, “but if the present Procurator’s wife went with the -assignment”—he shrugged—“I believe I could endure it.” Then he was -serious. “Before the summer is ended, Claudia, I firmly believe that -Tiberius or Sejanus will be dead—and little I care which—or both of them -even, and there’ll be a new regime at Rome. By then, and maybe earlier, -Pilate will have been banished to Gaul or Britannia or some other remote -province, and you and I will be together ... maybe living out at Baiae.” - -“Oh, Longinus, I hope so, I do hope so.” She clung to him tightly, for -in a few minutes, she knew, he would be leaving her to join Cornelius -for the journey down into Galilee. “Already it has been so long, and I -am utterly weary of waiting. May the beneficent gods grant you swift -sailing and an early safe return.” - -With an arm about her waist he lifted her to her toes. “But there are no -gods, remember?” Teasingly, he pushed her chin until her eager lips -parted, and then hungrily he bent once again to savor them. - - - - - 59 - - -Longinus and the orderly carrying his luggage had almost reached the -foot of the Antonia stairway when a soldier came hurrying down the steps -behind them. The Procurator Pontius Pilate, the soldier announced, -wished to speak immediately with the centurion. - -“Take the bags to the pack train,” Longinus instructed his man, “and -tell Centurion Cornelius I’ll be there as quickly as the Procurator -dismisses me.” Then he went at once to the Procurator’s chamber. - -Pontius Pilate was standing before the window, staring in the direction -of the forlorn and frightful Hill of the Skull. When he heard the -centurion, he turned quickly and advanced toward the center of the -chamber. “Have a seat, Centurion,” he said, as he pointed to a chair -across the desk from his own. “I’ll detain you only a moment.” His round -face lighted with an unctuous smile as he sat down heavily. “You’ll soon -be leaving Jerusalem, no doubt?” - -“Yes, Excellency. I was on my way, in fact, when your aide overtook me.” - -“It occurred to me, though I haven’t seen her since we three were here -two days ago, that Lady Claudia might like to ride with you as far as -Caesarea. She is weary of Jerusalem, I know, but I’ll not be able to -leave here for several days. And at Caesarea you two could enjoy one -another’s company until your ship sails for Rome.” - -“But I’m not going to Caesarea, Excellency. I’m going to accompany -Centurion Cornelius down into Galilee, and from there I’ll cross to -Ptolemaïs and get a vessel for Rome.” - -“Oh. Well, then, yes.” Pilate’s honeyed smile vanished, and he licked -his lips. “I thought you two would welcome an opportunity....” But he -did not pursue the thought further. He leaned forward, elbows on desk. -“Centurion, this ‘matter of utmost concern’ that takes you to Rome, I -wonder if....” - -“You read the Prefect’s message,” Longinus said, when the Procurator -paused. “And of course, Excellency, I’ve had no further communication -from him.” - -“The Prefect must be calling you to Rome to discuss the situation out -here, Longinus. It would hardly be anything in Rome that he’s concerned -about, because you wouldn’t be familiar with affairs there. I’ve been -trying to think what it could be that commands his attention here.” -Pilate’s expression was grim now, his shallow suavity gone. “It must be -that he’s dissatisfied with my governing, or even”—he swallowed, and his -face was somber—“that he’s planning to remove me as Procurator and -extend Herod’s domain to include Judaea, with that incompetent weasel as -king over the entire realm his father ruled.” He paused, his expression -questioning. “Herodias’ scheming, I’ll wager.” - -“I can’t say, Excellency”—Longinus shook his head—“what the Prefect may -be planning for any of us.” - -“Us? By all the gods, Longinus, I hadn’t thought that his plans might -concern you, too!” His expression suddenly brightened. “Why, that’s it, -great Jupiter, that would solve the dilemma!” - -“But, Excellency, I don’t....” - -“I beg you then, Centurion, in your report to the Prefect to deal -charitably....” - -“But, what....?” - -“Petition him to transfer me, with comparable position and emoluments, -to some other post, Gaul, Spain, Alexandria maybe, even Rome, and name -you Procurator of Judaea, Longinus.” The unctuous smile, patently -contrived, momentarily relieved his grimness. “And then, though the -Prefect and the Emperor might not permit Lady Claudia to go with me to a -new post, particularly if it should be at Rome or near the capital, I’m -sure they would permit her to divorce me and marry you.” - -“But the day the Galilean died”—the discipline of long training kept -Longinus’ tone level, even though his fist ached to be smashed against -the stupidly grinning round face—“you appeared to be most anxious to -retain your post here.” - -The mere mention of the Galilean made violence unnecessary; the -Procurator’s mask of laughter was instantly ripped away, and the terror -beneath it now lay exposed. “Yes, Centurion,” he began, “but since then -I ... I....” He threw out both hands as if in desperation. “I’ve had no -peace! It’s these insufferable Jews, Centurion. And the arrogant, -demanding, conniving High Priest, may the great Pluto grill him to -cinders! I must get away from these Jews before they drive me mad, -Longinus.” He stood up and glanced toward the window, then shuddered and -quickly turned away. “That Galilean, the one you crucified....” - -“The one you condemned to the cross, Excellency.” - -“Yes, the one _I_ condemned.” Pilate seemed suddenly very weary. “I -thought I’d purchase immunity by involving you. But I was thinking of -the High Priest on the one hand and the Prefect on the other. I never -thought of _him_. And now, now I can’t get away from him. I can’t sleep, -Centurion. He’s always there between me and sleep, his calm face -confronting me, his dark eyes studying me. It’s as though _he_ were -trying _me_! I ... I can’t get away from him, Longinus. He’ll haunt me -as long as I remain in this abominable province.” He leaned on the desk -with fists clenched. “Nor will they let him lie in his tomb and be -forgotten. Have you heard the foolish rumor”—his eyes narrowed as he -hesitated, and then he leaned nearer the centurion—“that the Galilean -has walked from his tomb and is on his way to Galilee?” - -“Yes, Excellency, Cornelius told me the man had disappeared under the -noses of his guardsmen.” - -“So he told me. But of course the guards were asleep. And since -Cornelius reported the man’s disappearance, I’ve been told some of the -guards were bribed by Caiaphas—Pluto take him—to say that they permitted -certain of his followers to steal the body to make it appear that he had -come to life, as they claimed he would.” He shook his forefinger to -emphasize his venom. “That arrogant Jew never relents in his efforts to -embarrass me and undermine my administration of Judaea’s government.” - -“But, Excellency, the body _wasn’t stolen_. Cornelius assured me they -were all wide-awake. And there was that heavy stone sealing the -mouth....” - -“By great Jupiter, Longinus”—Pilate sank to his chair, and his eyes were -incredulous—“surely you don’t believe he had supernatural power to -restore himself to life and roll back the stone?” He sat back; his eyes -were fixed unseeing, it seemed, on the wall beyond and above the -centurion’s head. “He said that his kingdom was not of this world. He -said that were he to command it, a host of his followers”—he paused, and -his eyes, intent and fearful, sought the centurion’s—“unearthly -followers, Longinus, spirits, demons....” Quickly he leaned forward. -“Could he have been in a trance after all? Could you have failed to take -his life?” - -“He was dead, Procurator; I assure you he was dead when we put him in -the tomb.” Longinus leaned nearer his questioner. “But we didn’t _take_ -his life. When he was ready to die, he _surrendered_ it.” - -“Centurion, do you realize what you’re saying?” A sickly smile played at -the corners of his mouth, and his usually florid face was the shade of -ashes. He braced his hands, palms down, on the desk’s gleaming surface. -“By great Jupiter, Longinus, do you believe the Galilean really did -return to life, that he’s _alive now_?” - -“Excellency”—Longinus looked the Procurator straight in the eyes—“what -other explanation could I offer?” - -Pilate opened his mouth, but no answer came. Instead, with the tip of -his thick tongue he circled his dry lips, and a heavy sigh stirred his -ponderous frame. “I should have had the courage to resist the High -Priest and release the man,” he observed, more to himself than to the -centurion across the desk from him. “But I condemned him. Then I tried -to cleanse these hands”—he turned them over and, palms up, studied -them—“of his guiltless blood. I _could_ have freed him.” He glanced -toward the window but quickly turned back to face Longinus. “Centurion, -do you suppose”—perspiration was beading on the Procurator’s plainly -frightened face—“he will be coming back soon from Galilee ... to -Jerusalem, the Temple, to _Antonia_? By great Jupiter, Longinus”—he did -not pause for the centurion’s reply—“help me escape him! Urge the -Prefect to transfer me, send me to some post across the world from this -frightful Judaea, to Gaul, Germania, even, by the gods, to Britannia!” -His eyes were wild, his hands on the desk were shaking, and he clenched -them into white-knuckled fists. “Tell him to give you Claudia; she’s -been yours anyway all along.” He attempted a feeble smile. “But I ... I -mustn’t keep you. Centurion Cornelius will be awaiting you, Longinus. -Go, and the gods give you good winds.” His voice had calmed. “And I beg -you, Centurion, say a good word to the Prefect.” - -Longinus nodded and quietly left the chamber. As the door closed gently -behind him, Pilate sat motionless, frozen in his chair. But some moments -later, hearing the commotion in the courtyard below, he went to the -window and watched the century, with Cornelius and Longinus leading the -column and the pack animals at the rear, until it disappeared around the -bend of the narrow street. Then as he raised his eyes from the -cobblestones to the huddled houses beyond the Damascus Gate, a sudden -sharp glint of sunshine was reflected to them from a white-painted -titulus board nailed to a heavy timber thrusting upward from a forlorn -scarred mound on the other side of the city wall. - -“No! No!” Pilate whirled about hands before his eyes as though the flash -of sunlight had blinded him. “Flavius! Flavius!” - -The startled attendant rushed in. “Yes, Excellency?” he asked. - -“Go find the commander of Antonia and tell him I want every cross -upright out there on the Hill of the Skull pulled down, and by great -Jupiter, I want it done now!” Breathing heavily, Pilate sat again at his -desk. “Wait. Before you go, draw those draperies. I’m sick of the -sight.” Flavius went to the window and busied himself with the curtains, -but when he had pulled one, he discovered that he could not draw the -other all the way until the bronze stand and wine-colored vase on it had -been moved. Quickly he shifted them to the western window a few paces -away and almost directly behind the Procurator. - -As he did so he saw that the sun shining through the vase shot straight -outward from the delicate glass a band of red light that crossed the -floor, climbed the back of Pilate’s chair, and went obliquely over his -shoulder to split evenly the polished surface of the desk. Flavius -turned back to the first window and pulled the curtains together, so -that not even a sliver of sunshine came through. Then he came around in -front of the Procurator. But Pilate said nothing, and Flavius withdrew -quietly, closing the door behind him. - -The Procurator leaned back in his chair; his arms were folded across his -middle, and his eyes appeared fixed upon a spot above the door. But -Pilate was not seeing the ornate panels; his eyes were being held -instead in the calm and untroubled gaze of another pair of eyes.... - -Suddenly he shook his head, vigorously, as though to rid himself of this -haunting vision. “What’s this?” he said aloud. “The man’s dead. Of -course the guards dozed. Gods-come-to-earth, spirits, demons. Woman -dreaming. Jewish fanaticism. Bah! Cornelius and Longinus wished to -confuse and frighten me.” - -_... Even if he did walk from the tomb, he can cross no seas to haunt me -with pitying sad eyes. In Gaul or Germania, anywhere but in this -despicable land, I’ll be free of him. I’ll have escaped him. By great -Jupiter, I, afraid of a Galilean carpenter. Imagine, I, a Roman soldier, -I, by the gods, Procurator of Judaea...._ - -“I’ll have an end to this foolishness, this child’s business,” he said -loudly. He sat up straight. “The other day I washed my hands of that -man’s death. Today, this moment, I wash them of _him_, his circlet of -thorns, his slashed back, his searching eyes, his blood, by the gods of -Rome. I’m free of him, do you hear?” - -_... And I’m not afraid to look through that window at his hill of -death...._ - -“Flavius!” he shouted. “Come draw aside the draperies. I want to see -outside.” - -He lifted his hands to the desk and, leaning forward, began to rise. - -_... By great Jupiter, I’ll go look out the window now. I’ve purged -myself of the Galilean; I’ve washed my hands of that man...._ - -He glanced downward. - -Flavius, entering the chamber in response to Pilate’s summons, halted -abruptly. Procurator Pontius Pilate, ruler of Judaea, his eyes wide with -terror, stood rigid in his tracks, staring at his hands. - -From wrists to fingertips, in the fiery beam from the window, they -flamed a gory crimson. - -[Illustration: Ever since the publication of his best-selling novels, -_Bold Galilean_ and _The Tree of Judas_, the name of LeGette Blythe has -been synonymous with the finest in historical fiction. Hear Me, Pilate! -demonstrates once again his amazing ability to recreate scenes from the -past with drama and authenticity. Mr. Blythe is a graduate of the -University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is married, and has three -children.] - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public - domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - ---In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Hear Me, Pilate!, by William LeGette Blythe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEAR ME, PILATE! *** - -***** This file should be named 52650-0.txt or 52650-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/6/5/52650/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Ron Box and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/52650-0.zip b/old/52650-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f4f297b..0000000 --- a/old/52650-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52650-8.txt b/old/52650-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cf06903..0000000 --- a/old/52650-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13187 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hear Me, Pilate!, by William LeGette Blythe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Hear Me, Pilate! - -Author: William LeGette Blythe - -Release Date: July 26, 2016 [EBook #52650] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEAR ME, PILATE! *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Ron Box and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - HEAR - ME, - PILATE! - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - LeGETTE BLYTHE - - - HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON NEW YORK - - -Copyright (c) 1961 by LeGette Blythe - -All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or -portions thereof in any form. - -Published simultaneously in Canada by Holt, Rinehart and Winston of -Canada, Limited. - -First Edition - - -Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-11599 - - -Designer: Ernst Reichl - -81003-0211 - -Printed in the United States of America - - - FOR ANNE AND JULIE - - - - - Rome - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 1 - - -The capricious flame spattered darts of thin yellow light on walls and -floor as the doors swung gently closed. Claudia turned from her tall, -deeply tanned, uniformed escort to address the servant who had let them -in. - -"I won't be needing you tonight, Tullia. You may go now. But wait ... -before you leave, we shan't be wanting all these lamps. Put out all but -that one"--she pointed--"and then you may go to bed. Poor thing, I know -you're tired." She peered beyond the wide archway opening onto the -peristylium. "I see you left a lamp burning in my bedroom. Good. Well, -then, just put these others out. - -"I don't know what I'd do without her," Claudia said as the servant -snuffed out the flame and, bowing to them, disappeared into the now -darkened corridor. "She's a treasure, Longinus, intelligent, faithful, -and, most important, she's utterly loyal. She would die before betraying -me. She's Phoebe's daughter, and Phoebe, you know, hanged herself rather -than be a witness against my mother. Tullia, I'm sure, would do the same -thing for me." She pointed toward the peristylium. "Let's sit out there -in the moonlight. It seems a little warm in here, doesn't it?" - -"It does," he answered. "I was hoping you'd suggest that. It would be a -shame to waste that moon, and the fountain and flowers." He was glancing -around the luxuriously furnished room. "By the gods, Claudia, you have a -handsome place. It's been a long time since I was here, but it seems -more lavish. Did Aemilius have it redecorated?" - -"Bona Dea, no. That insipid oaf? What has he ever done for me?" She -acted mildly piqued but then smiled. "It has been redecorated, but I had -it done. This apartment's actually an extension of the Imperial Palace, -you remember. My beloved stepfather, the great Emperor Tiberius," she -said sarcastically, "had it built for his little girls. When he moved -them out to Capri with him--a new group, of course, for several of us -were too old by then--he allowed me to stay here. But I moved away when -I married Aemilius; we went out to Baiae. After we were divorced, -though, I returned here, and that's when I had it redecorated. But the -place was built for the Emperor's little girls." She paused, leaned -against a high-backed bronze chair. "You understand?" - -"I've heard stories, yes." - -"Well, when poor Mother sent me to him from Pandateria--you know I was -born on that dreadful island soon after Grandfather Augustus banished -her there, and I really think she sent me to Tiberius to see that I got -away from it. Anyway, he put me in here with the other little girls. -This wing connects with his private quarters, or once did. There's a -wing very much like this one on the other side; that's where he kept his -boys." She shrugged; he sensed that it was more a shudder. "Tiberius, -thank the gods, spent more time over on the boys' side. There's a small -passage-way--few persons probably know about it now--that opened from -his quarters into my dressing room. It was all quite convenient. But -when the old monster moved out to Capri, I had the door removed and the -opening bricked up." - -"I've heard stories about the Emperor. Was he ... did he really ... I -mean, you know, Claudia, did he actually do ... does he, I mean...?" - -She laughed. "Yes, he did. And I presume he still does; they say old men -are worse that way than young men. But he no longer bothers me and -hasn't for years. I'm much too old for him; he likes them very young, or -did. He's an old rake, all right, though he can't be guilty of all the -things they've charged him with. Out at Capri now I really think he's -more interested in his astrologers and philosophers than in his little -girls and his painted pretty boys. But, well"--she shrugged--"there are -things I do know about him, experiences I myself have had with him, and -although I'm not close blood kin to him, my mother, poor thing, was his -wife though she was that only because her father forced her to marry -him." They had crossed into the peristylium, and she paused to face him, -smiling. "But let's talk no more of the Emperor and me, Longinus; by the -gods, there are pleasanter subjects." - -"I agree; there are pleasanter subjects than Tiberius." They walked -around a tall potted plant and sat down. Claudia leaned back against the -plush cushions of the couch; she pushed her jewel-studded golden sandals -out from beneath the folds of her white silk stola. The moonlight danced -in the jeweled clasps that fastened the straps above her shoulders, -while the gold mesh of her girdle glittered brightly. For a moment she -silently studied the fountain. Then suddenly she sat forward. - -"Forgive me, Longinus. Would you like some wine and perhaps a wafer? I -have some excellent Campania, both Falernian and Surrentine, in the -other room. Or perhaps you're hungry...." - -"No, no, Claudia, thank you. I made a pig of myself at Herod's dinner -tonight." - -"But it was a lavish banquet, wasn't it?" Her smile indicated a sudden -secret amusement. "I wonder what Sejanus will think of it." - -"Sejanus?" Then he smiled with her. "Oh, I see what you mean. He's going -to wonder where Herod got the money. And why Herod gave the dinner for -Herodias." - -Claudia laughed. "Well, she's his favorite niece, isn't she?" - -"She surely must be. But she's also his half brother's wife." Longinus -paused thoughtfully. "I hardly think, however, that Sejanus will be -greatly concerned with the domestic affairs of the Herods." - -"As long as they keep the money flowing into his treasury, hmm?" - -"Exactly. And you're right. Tonight's lavish feast may cause the Prefect -to suspect that the flow is being partially diverted. Our friend Herod -Antipas ought to have given a more modest affair. No doubt he was -trying, though, to impress Herodias." - -"No doubt," Claudia repeated. "But it was hardly necessary. She wants to -marry him and be Tetrarchess." - -Longinus looked surprised. "Then you think Antipas will take her away -from Philip?" - -"I'm sure he will. He already has, in fact." - -"By the gods, that's odd. That Arabian woman he left in Tiberias is much -more beautiful. And so is that Jewish woman he brought along with him to -Rome. What did you say her name was?" - -"I noticed you had eyes for her all evening." Claudia's tone, he -thought, was not altogether flippant, and that pleased him. "Her name's -Mary," she continued, "and she lives at Magdala on the Sea of Galilee -just above Tiberias. But of course you know where Tiberias is. And I -suspect you might remember Mary." Her smile was coy and slyly -questioning. "Herodias says that this Mary is being pursued by half the -wealthy men in Galilee for the artistry with which she performs her -bedroom chores." - -"I must confess"--Longinus grinned--"that unfortunately I am numbered -among the other half. But what does Herodias think of her beloved -uncle's amours? Isn't she jealous?" - -"Oh, I'm sure she is ... what woman wouldn't be? But she knows that in -such activities she must share him. Antipas, I understand, is a true -Herod." - -"Yes, and I have a strong suspicion that in such activities, as you -express it, Herodias is a Herod, too." He sat forward, serious again. -"But what puzzles me, Claudia, is how I happened to be one of Antipas' -guests tonight. It must have been entirely through your arranging, but -why on earth are you involved in a social way with any of these Jews?" - -Claudia laughed. "Herodias and I have long been friends. You see, after -her grandfather, old Herod the Great they called him, had her father and -her uncle, his own sons, killed"--she involuntarily shuddered--"Herodias -and her brother Agrippa were virtually brought up at the Emperor's -court. Agrippa's a spoiled, arrogant, worthless spendthrift. Old Herod -sent his other sons to Rome, too, to be educated--Antipas and Philip, -Herodias' husband now, and still another Philip...." She broke off and -gestured to indicate futility. "You see, Longinus, old Herod had ten -wives and only the gods know how many children and grandchildren and -great-grandchildren. Do you know much about the Herods? They're older -than we, of course." - -Longinus shook his head. "No, nor do I care to. I think maybe I have -seen some of them a few times, including this Philip, but I happily -surrender to you any share I may have in any Jew." - -"But, Longinus, the Herods aren't orthodox Jews. They even say that some -of them, including Herodias and her no-good brother, are more Roman than -we Romans. They've all probably spent more time in Rome than in -Palestine. Why, they have about as much regard for the Jewish religion -as you and I have for our Roman gods. Actually, Longinus, the Herods are -Idumaeans, and they're quite different from the rest of the Jews. The -Jews are strict in their religious observances." Abruptly she stopped. -"But why, Bona Dea, am I telling you about the Jews? You have lived out -there in Palestine, and I've never set foot near it. Your father has -vast properties in that region, while mine...." She lifted a knee to the -couch as she twisted her body to face him, her dark eyes deadly serious -in the silver brightness of the moon. "Longinus, do you know about my -father?" - -"No, Claudia, nothing." - -"Of course you don't." She smiled bitterly. "That was a silly question. -I don't even know myself. I've often wondered if Mother did. But haven't -you heard stories, Longinus?" - -"I was rather young, remember, when you were born." But immediately he -was serious. "Gossip, Claudia, yes. I've heard people talk. But gossip -has never interested me." A sly grin lightened his expression. "I'm more -interested in your father's handiwork than in who he was." - -"Prettily said, Centurion." She patted the back of his bronzed hand. -"But surely you must have heard that my father was the son of Mark -Antony and Cleopatra?" - -"Well, yes, I believe I have. But why...?" - -"And that my other grandfather, the Emperor Augustus, had him killed -when he got Mother pregnant with me and then banished her to that -damnably barren Pandateria?" - -"I may have heard something about it, Claudia, but what of it? What -difference does it make?" - -"Do you mean to tell me that it makes no difference to you that I'm a -bastard, Longinus, and the discarded plaything of a lecherous old man, -even though that lecherous old man happens to be the second Emperor of -Rome? Does it make no difference to a son of the distinguished Tullius -clan...?" - -"And isn't your slave maid, too, a member of this distinguished Tullius -clan?" - -His quick parrying of the question amused her. "It's funny," she said, -"I hadn't thought of Tullia that way. Her grandfather belonged to one of -the Tullii, no doubt. But Tullia is actually not Roman; she's Jewish. -Her grandfather was one of those Jews brought as slaves from Jerusalem -by Pompey. Tullia is even faithful to the Jewish religion. But that's -her only fault, and it's one I'm glad to overlook. Sometimes I allow her -to go to one of the synagogues over in the Janiculum Hill section." - -Longinus reached for her hand. "Nevertheless, Claudia, you must know -that many so-called distinguished Romans are legitimate only because -their mothers happened to be married, though not to their fathers, when -they were conceived?" - -"Yes, I suppose so. No doubt you've heard the story of what Mother said -to a friend who asked her one day how all five of the children she had -during the time she was married to General Agrippa happened to look so -much like him." - -"If I have, I don't recall it. What was her answer?" - -"'I never take on a passenger unless the vessel is already full.'" - -"I can see how that would be effective," the centurion observed dryly. -"But then how do you explain ... well, yourself?" - -"After General Agrippa died, Augustus made Tiberius divorce his wife and -marry Mother. But they were totally incompatible, and I can see how, -under the circumstances, things turned out the way they did. Tiberius -left Rome and went out to Rhodes to live. That pleased Mother; she was -young and beautiful, and she was still the most sought-after of her set -in Rome. So, after Tiberius hadn't been near her bed for years and a -succession of more interesting men had, it was discovered, to the horror -of my conventional and publicly pious grandfather and the delight of -Rome's gossips, that I was expected. So the Emperor had the man who was -supposed to be my father"--she smiled--"you know, I've always rather -hoped he was--he had him executed, and he sent Mother off to -Pandateria." She threw out her hands, palms up. "That's the story of -Mother's misfortune, me. But you must have heard about all this years -ago?" - -He ignored her question. "You her misfortune? Don't be silly. You were -rather, I'd say, her gift to Rome." - -"You do put things prettily, Longinus. Nevertheless, my mother was -banished because of me." - -"But, by the gods, how could you help it, Claudia?" He caught her chin -and turned her face around so that the moon shone full upon it. "Aren't -you still the granddaughter of the first Emperor of Rome on one side and -a queen and triumvir on the other? Aren't you still the stepdaughter of -the Emperor Tiberius? Those are distinguished bloodlines, by Jove! What -nobler heritage could anyone have? And aren't you the most beautiful -woman in Rome? What, by mighty Jupiter, Claudia, do you lack?" - -"At the moment," she answered, her serious air suddenly vanished, "a -husband." - -"A situation you could quickly remedy." - -"A situation that Tiberius or Sejanus could quickly remedy, you mean, -and may attempt to do soon, and not to my liking, I suspect. They may -even pick another Aemilius for me, the gods forbid. Seriously, Longinus, -I wouldn't be surprised to learn right now that Sejanus has already -arranged it. He and the Emperor are desperately afraid, I suspect, that -I may scandalize Rome, as Mother did, if they don't get me married -quickly before I have a baby and no husband to blame it on." - -"But, Claudia...." - -"By the Bountiful Mother, Longinus," she laughed, "I'm not expecting, if -that's what you think. And what's more, I don't expect to be expecting -... any time soon. But I know Sejanus, and I know Tiberius. It's all -politics, Centurion. And politics must be served, just as it was served -in my grandfather's day and at every other time since man first knew the -taste of power. The same hypocritical public behavior, the same affected -virtues propped right alongside the same winked-at corruption." She -swung her legs around and stood up. "But enough of this speech-making. -I'm going to bring us some of the Campania." - -She returned with the wine on a silver tray and handed him one of the -two slender goblets. He held the glass up to the light and slowly -revolved its gracefully thin stem between his thumb and forefinger. - -"Don't you like Campania?" - -"Very much," he answered. "But it's the glass that interests me. This -goblet comes from my father's plant near Tyre." - -"Oh, really?" She smiled. "I'm glad. I knew they were made in Phoenicia, -but I didn't know they came from Senator Piso's glassworks. Herodias -gave me several pieces from a set Antipas brought her. They are lovely." -She lifted her own goblet and admired it in the moonlight. "Such -beautiful craftsmanship. You know, I've never understood how they can be -blown so perfectly. And I love the delicate coloring. Now that I know -they come from your father's factory, they're all the more interesting -to me, and valued." She set the goblet down and sat quietly for a moment -studying the resplendent full moon. "Longinus, I'm so glad you're back -in Rome," she said at last. "It seems you've been away in Germania, and -before that in Palestine, for such a long time. Did you ever think of me -while you were away?" - -"Yes. And did you ... of me?" - -"Oh, yes, often, and very much. In spite of Aemilius." She picked up the -goblet, then set it down again on the tripod and leaned against his -shoulder. "By the Bountiful Mother Ceres"--she bent forward, slipping -her feet out of the sandals--"I can't get comfortable, Longinus. I'm too -warm. This stola's heavy, and I'm so ... so laced." She stood up. "Wait -here; I'll only be a minute." - -Diagonally across from them a thin sliver of lamplight shone through a -crack in the doorway to Claudia's bedroom. She stepped into her sandals, -walked around the spraying fountain, and entered the room. "I won't -close the door entirely," she called back, as she swung it three-fourths -shut. "That way we can talk while I'm getting into something more -comfortable." - -"I really should be going," Longinus said. "I have early duty tomorrow." - -"Oh, not yet, please. Do wait. I'll be out in a moment. Pour yourself -some wine." - -He poured another glass, sipped from it, then set the goblet on the tray -and settled back against the cushions. His gaze returned to the widened -rectangle of light in her doorway. In the center of it there was a -sudden movement. Surely, he thought, she isn't going to change directly -in front of the open door. Then he realized that he was looking into a -long mirror on the wall at right angles to the doorway; he was seeing -her image in the polished bronze. In stepping back from the door she had -taken a position in the corner of the room just at the spot where the -angle was right for the mirror to reflect her image to anyone seated on -the couch outside. - -"By all the gods!" Longinus sat forward. - -But now she had disappeared. The mirror showed only a corner of her -dressing table with its profusion of containers--vials of perfumes, -oils, ointments, jars of creams--and scissors, tweezers, strigils, -razors, he presumed them to be, though because of the distance from them -and the table's disarray he could not see them clearly. Now they were -suddenly hidden behind the brightness of the stola as the young woman -again came into view. She dropped a garment across a chair, then turned -to face the dressing table and the mirror above it. The light shone full -upon her back. Both stola and girdle behind were cut low, and the cold -shimmering whiteness of the gown accentuated the smooth warmth of her -flesh tones. Now her fingers were busy at the jeweled fastenings of the -girdle; the light flashed in the stones of her rings. Quickly the girdle -came off, and her hands went to one shoulder as her bracelets, their -stones glimmering, slipped along her arms. The clasp gave; the strap -fell to reveal warm flesh to her waist. She unfastened the other strap, -and the stola slipped to the floor. Bending quickly, she picked up the -voluminous garment and, turning, laid it with the girdle across the -chair. - -"Jove!" he exclaimed. "By all the great gods!" In the strong but -flickering light of the wall lamp, Claudia stood divested now of all her -clothing except for the sheer black silk of her scant undergarments. - -"Are you still there, Longinus?" she called out. "And did I hear you say -something?" - -"I'm here," he answered. "But really, Claudia, I should be going." He -hoped his voice did not betray his suddenly mounting tension. - -"No, not yet. Just a minute. I'm coming now." - -She reached for a dressing robe and hurriedly swept it around her. -Fastening the belt loosely about her waist, she turned toward the -doorway and stepped quickly back into the peristylium. He stood up to -meet her. Gently she pushed him to the couch and sat beside him. - -"Please don't go yet, Longinus. You've been away in Germania so long, -and I couldn't have you to myself at the banquet. There's so much to -talk about, to ask you about." She leaned back and snuggled against him. -Then she looked down at her knees, round and pink under the sheerness of -the pale rose robe. "Bona Dea!" She clamped her knees together and -doubled the robe over them. "I didn't realize this robe was so -transparent, Longinus. But it is comfortable, and there is only the -moonlight out here." She reached out, caught his hand, squeezed it, and -released it. "And you can lean back and look only at the moon." - -"But in Germania we had the moon." - -"Yes, and women. I've heard much about the women of Germania, and seen -them, too. Women with yellow hair and complexions like the bloom of the -apricot or the skin of the pomegranate. And women free for the asking, -eh, Centurion?" - -"Not often for the asking. Sometimes for the taking." He pulled her -close and felt through his tunic the quick surge of her warmth against -him. "But tonight is not Germania and women whose hair is the color of -ripening grain, Claudia. Tonight is Rome and a woman with hair as black -as a raven's wing and skin fair and smooth and warm and greatly -tempting." - -"A woman maybe for the asking, or the taking?" Quickly she twisted out -from the arm about her waist, and her gay, impish laughter broke upon -the fountain's sleepy murmuring. "I didn't know you were also a poet, -Longinus." She reached for the pitcher. "Wine to toast the weaver of -beautiful words," she said, filling the goblets; she handed him his, -then held hers aloft. "I drink to the new Catullus. 'Let us live, Lesbia -mine, and love.' - -"How did he say it...? - - "And all the mumbling of harsh old men - "We shall reckon as a pennyworth. - -"And then, well.... - - "Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, - "Then another thousand, then a second hundred, - "And still another thousand, then a hundred. - -"It goes on," she added, "but that's all I can repeat. Now drink with me -to your own pretty words." - -Longinus laughed and sipped the wine. "Were his words quoted by you for -me ... from you? Remember that Catullus later wrote of his Lesbia: - - "A woman's words to hungry lover said - "Should be upon the flowing winds inscribed, - "Upon swift streams engraved." - -She leaned out from the shadow into which the retreating moon had pushed -them. "Maybe they were quoted to spur your asking, Longinus, or"--she -paused and smiled demurely--"your taking." Then quickly she sank back -against him. "You think I'm a blatantly bold hussy, don't you?" - -"No, Claudia," he smiled, "just experienced. And beautiful, and ... and -very tempting." - -"Experienced, yes, but believe me, not promiscuous, Longinus. By the -Bountiful Mother, I'm not that way, in spite of my experience." The -teasing was gone from her eyes. "In spite of everything, not that." - -She snuggled against his arm outstretched along the back of the couch, -and gently he half turned her to let her head down upon his lap. Her -eyes were wide, and in each he saw a luminous and trembling small, round -moon; her mouth was open, and against his thigh he felt the quickened -pounding of her heart. As he bent over her, she reached up and drew him, -her hot palm cupping the back of his cropped head, down hard upon her -lips tasting sweet of the Campania and desperately eager and burning. - -He raised his face from hers and lifted her slightly to relieve the -pressure of her body on his arm. She drew up her feet and, with knees -bent, braced them against the end of the short couch. Her robe slipped -open, and she lay still, her eyes closed, her lips apart. - -His throat tightened, and he felt a prickling sensation moving up and -down his spine, coursing outward to his arms and past tingling palms to -his fingertips. Deftly he eased his legs from beneath her; lowering her -head to the couch, he stood up. - -"Oh, Longinus, please, not now," she pleaded, her voice tense, her tone -entreating. "Please don't leave me now." - -For a moment he stood above her, silent, and then, bending down quickly, -he lifted her from the couch and started toward the still open bedroom -door. He was past the fountain when a sudden, loud knocking at the -entrance doors shattered the silence. - -"Oh, Longinus, put me down!" She swung her legs to the floor. "Bona Dea, -who could be coming here at this hour! Of all the damnable luck!" She -stared in dismay at her disarrayed and transparent robe. "By all the -gods, I can't go into the atrium dressed like this! Longinus, will you -go? Tullia's probably sound asleep." With that, Claudia darted into the -bedroom, while the pounding grew ever louder and more insistent. - -Longinus started toward the door, but before he could reach it, Tullia -had appeared from the corridor. She quickly opened the door, then backed -away as the robust soldier stepped inside. - -"I am seeking the Centurion Longinus. I was told ... ah, there you are!" -he cried. - -"Cornelius! What are you doing here?" - -"Longinus! By Jove! I've been searching all Rome for you." - -"But I thought you were still in Palestine." - -"And I thought you were still in Germania!"--Cornelius laughed--"until -today." - -"Come, sit down," Longinus said. "When did you get back?" - -"Only a week ago, and most of that time I've been out at Baiae with the -family. I came into Rome today to report to the Prefect." - -"Jove! Is he going to name you Procurator of Judaea, Cornelius? I hear -that Valerius Gratus is being recalled." - -"Me Procurator? Don't be silly, man. No, but I have an idea it's -something concerned with Palestine that has him calling for you. I've -got orders to find you and bring you to his palace immediately. So we'd -best be going, Longinus." - -"To see Sejanus? At this hour?" - -"Yes, he said it was urgent. He's leaving early tomorrow morning for -Capri, and he says he's got to see you before he goes." - -"By the gods!" Longinus' countenance was suddenly solemn. "What have _I_ -done?" - -"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing to be alarmed about. Probably some special -assignment or other. I don't know. But come, man, you know Sejanus -doesn't like to be kept waiting. Get your toga. I have a sedan chair -outside." - -"In a minute, Cornelius. I must tell Claudia." - -"Couldn't her maid explain...?" - -But Longinus already was striding toward the peristylium. "Claudia," he -called through the crack in the doorway, "the Prefect has sent for me. I -don't know what he wants, but I've got to be going." - -"Bona Dea!" She was just inside the door. "Sejanus?" - -"Yes. Cornelius says he wants to see me tonight, right now. I don't have -any idea what he could want, but tomorrow night, if I may see you then, -I'll explain everything." - -"What could that old devil be wanting with you, Longinus?" The question -seemed addressed more to herself than to him. "Yes, of course, you must -come. I'll be anxious to know." - -The sound of his retreating steps echoed along the peristylium and -across the mosaic floor of the atrium. Claudia listened until she heard -Tullia shut the double doors, and then there was silence. She closed her -own door and crossed to her still undisturbed bed; she flung herself -upon it. - -"Sejanus, the devil! The old devil!" With furious fists she pounded on -the bed. "May Pluto's mallet splatter his evil brains!" - - - - - 2 - - -"Centurion Longinus, how well do you know Pontius Pilate?" - -The Prefect Sejanus sensed that the soldier was hardly prepared for the -blunt question. He had only a moment ago entered the ornate chamber. But -Sejanus added nothing to qualify the question. Instead, he seemed to -enjoy Longinus' momentary uneasiness. His small eyes reflected the light -from the lamps flanking the heavy oak desk behind which he sat, while he -waited for the centurion to answer. - -"Sir," Longinus at last began, "during our campaign in Germania he -commanded the cohort of which my century was a unit, but I cannot say -that I know him well." - -"Then you and Pontius Pilate"--the Prefect paused and smiled -blandly--"could hardly be described as devoted friends or intimates?" - -"That is true, sir, and I am not sure that Pilate...." He hesitated. - -"Please speak frankly, Centurion." The Prefect's smile was disarmingly -reassuring. "You were about to say, were you not, that you are not sure -that Pilate has many intimate friends?" - -"I was going to say, sir, that in my opinion Pilate is not the type of -soldier who has many intimate friends. I may be doing him an injustice, -but I have never considered him a particularly ... ah ... sociable -fellow. I have the feeling that he is a very ambitious man, determined -to advance his career...." - -"And his private fortune?" - -Longinus thought carefully before answering. "So far as that is -concerned, sir, I really cannot say. I have no information whatever on -which to base an opinion. Nor did I intend to indicate in any way that I -thought Pilate was seeking advancement in the army in an improper -manner." - -Sejanus sat back in his chair. His falcon-like eyes darted back and -forth as they measured and appraised the young man. "Centurion," he -said, leaning forward and smiling ingratiatingly, "you are cautious, and -you evidence a sense of loyalty to your superiors. Both qualities I -admire, particularly in the soldier. This makes me all the more -confident that you will be able to carry out the assignment I propose to -give you." He stared unblinkingly into the centurion's eyes. "Longinus, -no doubt you have been wondering why I sent for you, why I insisted you -come at this late hour, and why we are closeted here alone." - -"Yes, sir, I have been wondering." - -"It is irregular, of course, even though it is with the son of Senator -Marcus Tullius Piso that the Prefect is closeted." The wry smile was -gone now; the Prefect's countenance was serious. "Longinus, you must be -aware of the regard your father and I have for each other. You must know -that we also understand each other, that we are colleagues in various -enterprises widely scattered about the Empire." - -"I know, sir, that my father has a high regard for the Prefect, and I -have known in a vague way of your association in certain business -enterprises." - -"Yes, and they have been profitable to both of us, Longinus. Have you -ever wondered, for instance, how it happens that whenever your father's -plants in Phoenicia begin to run low on slaves, a government ship always -arrives with fresh ones?" - -Longinus nodded. "Whenever such a vessel arrived, I always thought I -knew why. But I never asked questions or ventured comments, sir. I just -put the new slaves to work." - -"Excellent. You are discreet, indeed. There is nothing more valuable to -me than an intelligent man who can keep his eyes open and his mouth -closed." Sejanus arose, came around the desk to sit in a chair at arm's -length from the centurion. "Longinus, the assignment I propose to give -you is of immense importance. And it is highly confidential in nature." -His expression and voice were grave. "To accomplish it successfully, the -man I choose will have to be always on the alert; he will have to have -imagination and initiative; he will need to exercise great caution; and -above all, he will have to be someone completely loyal to the Prefect." -For a long moment his quickly darting eyes appraised the soldier. "I -know that you are intelligent, Longinus, and I am satisfied that you -possess these other qualities." He leaned forward and tapped the -centurion on the knee. "I had a purpose in asking you if you knew -Pontius Pilate well. Tomorrow Pilate is to see me. If everything goes as -I expect, then we shall start for Capri to see the Emperor, and the -Emperor will approve officially what I shall have done already." He -paused and smiled cynically. "You understand, of course?" - -Longinus smiled. "I believe, sir, that you speak for the Emperor in such -matters, do you not?" - -"In all matters, Longinus. The Emperor no longer concerns himself with -the affairs of the Empire." His piggish eyes brightened. "He's too busy -with his astrologers and his philosophers and his"--he smiled with -contempt--"his friends." But suddenly the contemptuous smile was gone, -and Sejanus sat back in his chair. "Longinus, Pontius Pilate is anxious -to succeed Valerius Gratus as Procurator of Judaea." - -The centurion sensed that the Prefect was waiting for his reaction. But -he said nothing. Sejanus leaned forward again. "I am speaking in -complete frankness, Longinus. We must understand each other; you must -likewise speak frankly to me. But what we say must go no further. Is -that clear?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Good. Now to get back to Pilate. He's a man well suited to my purpose, -I'm confident." Once more the Prefect hesitated, as if seeking a way to -proceed. "Some years ago, before you went out to Phoenicia, the -Emperor's nephew, General Germanicus, was fatally poisoned at -Alexandria. It was rumored at the time that the Emperor had ordered it. -Pilate, who served in Gaul under Germanicus, came stoutly to the -Emperor's defense with the story that the poisoning had been done by -supporters of the Emperor but without his knowledge, because they had -learned that the nephew was plotting the uncle's downfall. Perhaps you -heard something about this?" - -"I believe I did hear something to that effect, sir. But that was about -seven years ago, wasn't it?" - -"Yes, no doubt. Time passes so fast for me, Centurion. But let's get -back to Pontius Pilate. He's ambitious, as you suggested, and as I said, -he wants to be appointed Procurator in Judaea. So he should be amenable -to ... ah, suggestions, eh, Centurion? And he should therefore be a -perfect counterpart in Judaea to the Tetrarch Antipas in Galilee." -Sejanus suddenly was staring intently at the sober-faced young soldier. -"How well, Longinus, do you know Herod Antipas?" - -"I hardly know him at all, sir. I've seen him a few times; I used to go -into Galilee and other parts of Palestine for our glassware plants; I -tried once, I remember, to sell him glassware for the new palace he was -building on the Sea of Galilee. But those were business trips, you see, -and I rarely saw him even then. I was usually directed to speak with the -Tetrarchess or Herod's steward." - -"But you were a guest at the banquet he gave this evening, weren't you?" - -"I was, sir." Longinus wondered, almost admiringly, how the Prefect -managed to keep so well-informed of even the most private goings-on in -Rome. - -"It was a sumptuous feast, no doubt?" - -"It was quite lavish, sir." - -"Hmmm. I must remember that." The Prefect puckered his lips, and his -forehead wrinkled into a frown. Leaning across the desk, he drew his -lips tightly against his teeth. "Soon, Longinus, you will be having two -to watch." His eyes narrowed to a squint. "Three, in fact." - -"To watch, sir?" - -"Yes, that is the assignment I have for you, Longinus. I am sending you -out to Palestine, to be my eyes and ears in the land of those -pestiferous Jews. At intervals you will report"--he held up his hand, -palm out--"but only to me, understand. You will travel about the various -areas--Caesarea, Jerusalem, Tiberias, to your father's plants in -Phoenicia, perhaps other places--ostensibly on routine tasks for the -army. The details will be worked out later." He leveled a forefinger at -the centurion. "It will be your task, among the various duties you will -have, Centurion, to report to me any suspicions that may be aroused in -your mind concerning the flow of revenues into the Imperial treasury in -accordance with the terms that I shall make with Pontius Pilate, and -likewise with the revised schedules I shall"--he paused an instant, and -his smile was sardonic--"suggest to the Tetrarch Antipas before he -returns to Galilee." He sat back, and his sharp small eyes studied -Longinus. - -"Then, sir, as I understand it, you are suspicious that both Pilate and -Antipas may withhold for themselves money that should be going to Rome?" - -"Let's put it this way, Longinus." The Prefect leaned toward the -centurion and tapped the desk with the ends of his fingers. "I don't -trust them. I know the Tetrarch has been dipping his fat hand into the -treasury, though not too heavily thus far, let us say. That white marble -palace at the seaside, for example, and the gorgeous furnishings, -including Phoenician glassware, eh?" He shot a quizzical straight glance -into the centurion's eyes, but quickly a smile tempered it. "We don't -object to his buying glass, do we, as long as it comes from your -father's plants?" - -But just as quickly the Prefect was serious again. He sat back against -the leather and put his hands together, fingertips to fingertips. "Herod -Antipas wants to be a Herod the Great," he declared. "But he hasn't the -character his father had. By character, Centurion, I mean courage, -stamina, strength, and ability, yes. Old Herod was a villain, mean, -blackhearted, cold-blooded, murderous. But he was an able man, strong, a -great administrator, a brave and brilliant soldier, every inch a ruler. -Beside him, his son is a weakling. Herodias, on the other hand, is more -like her grandfather than Antipas is like his father. She's ambitious, -vain, demanding. She is continually pushing Antipas. She seeks -advancement, more power, more of the trappings of royalty." He lifted a -forefinger and shook it before the centurion. "Herodias will likely -bring ruin upon both of them." Then he paused, thoughtful. "But so much -for Antipas. Watch him, Longinus. If he"--his expression warmed with a -disarming smile--"buys too much of that Phoenician glass, then let me -know." - -"I will, sir." Longinus was smiling, too. Then he was serious. "But, -sir, you were speaking also of Pontius Pilate...." - -"Yes. I think Pilate is the man I want for Judaea. But I don't trust him -either. I want him watched closely, Longinus. I suspect that his fingers -will be itching, likewise, to dip too deeply into the till." - -"But, sir, if you can't trust him...." - -"Why then am I sending him out there?" The Prefect laughed cynically. -Then he sobered. "It's a proper question, my boy. We must be frank, as I -said. I've told you that I believe Pilate will be amenable to -suggestions. Like Antipas, he, too, is a weakling. He has a good record -as a soldier, but always as a subordinate. I question whether he has the -courage, the stamina, to lead and rule. He will be looking to Rome, I -believe, for direction. And he will always be fearful of displeasing the -Prefect. But at the same time, Longinus, I think he will be looking for -ways of adding to his personal wealth. So he will bleed those Jews to -get all Rome requires and some for his own pocket as well." He paused, -thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I believe Pontius Pilate is the man I -want. Certainly I shall give him a chance to prove himself." Quickly he -raised an emphatic finger. "But I want you to watch him, Longinus. I -want you to ascertain whether any diversions are being made in the flow -of the tax revenues to the Imperial treasury, and if so, to report it to -me. Even if you have no proof, but only strong suspicions to go on, by -all means report them too. I'll work out a plan whereby you can make the -reports confidentially and quickly." - -The Prefect paused, leaned back in his chair, and calmly studied the -younger man. When Longinus ventured no comment, Sejanus continued with -his instructions. "You will be transferred from your present cohort to -the Second Italian. Your rank will remain the same; as a centurion you -will be more useful to me, since you will be less observed and therefore -less suspected in this lower grade. But you will be properly -compensated, Longinus, with the extent of the compensation being -governed in great part, let us say"--he puckered his lips again--"upon -the degree of functioning of your eyes and ears." - -Sejanus arose, and Longinus stood with him. "You have made no comment, -Centurion Longinus." - -"Sir, I am at the Prefect's command. But may I ask when I am to be given -further instructions and when I shall be sailing for Palestine?" - -"Soon, Centurion, as quickly as I can arrange it. I would like you to go -out ahead of Pilate and be there when he arrives at Caesarea. It will be -important to observe how he takes over the duties of the post from the -outset. I shall summon you when I am ready and give you full -instructions." - -The audience with the Prefect was at an end. At the door, as he was -about to step into the corridor, Longinus paused. "Sir, a moment ago you -said there would be three for me to watch. You spoke of Pilate and Herod -Antipas. Who is the third?" - -Sejanus smiled blandly and rubbed his hands together. "The third, ah, -yes." His black small eyes danced. "And there will be others also. But -you need not concern yourself with any of this detail at the moment. -When I have completed my plans, as I've said, I shall summon you here -and instruct you fully." - - - - - 3 - - -Longinus sat up in bed, thrust forth an arm to peel back his side of the -covering sheet, pulled up his feet, and twisted around to plant them -evenly on the floor. - -"Jove!" He craned his neck, blinked his still heavy eyelids, and -strained to rub the cramped muscles at his shoulder blades. From the -northeast, rolling down through the gentle depression dividing the -mansion-studded slopes of the Viminal and Quirinal Hills, came the -fading plaintively sweet notes of a trumpet. He glanced toward the -window; the light was already beginning to sift through slits in the -drawn draperies. - -Claudia opened her eyes. She pushed herself up to a sitting position. -"Are you going, Longinus? Must you be leaving so early?" She rubbed her -eyes and squinted into the slowly brightening window. "Do you have -to...?" - -"The morning watch at Castra Praetoria," he explained, nodding in the -direction of the window. "It awakened me, luckily. I must be out there -before the next call is sounded. Today I'm on early duty." - -"You always have to be going." Her lips, the rouge smeared but still -red, were pouting. "You hardly get here, and then you say you must be -leaving." - -"But, by the gods, Claudia, I've been here all night, remember." He -pinched her chin. "I had dinner with you, and I haven't left yet." - -"Oh, all right. But if you must go, you'd best be dressing. Although, -really, Longinus, can't you stay a few minutes longer, just a few? -Please." She slid back to lie in a stretched position, her figure -clearly outlined beneath the light covering. - -"Temptress! By the gods, I wish I could." He bent down and kissed her -smeared lips. "Well, at least it won't be like this when we get to -Palestine. Out there I'll be able to arrange my own schedule, and -there'll be no early morning duty then. But by great Jove, I've got to -be going now." He stood up and walked to the chair on which his clothing -lay. "Today I'll begin getting preparations made so that we can be ready -to sail when Sejanus gives me his final orders. And the preparations -will include arrangements for our wedding," he concluded, grinning. - -Languidly she lay back and watched him as he dressed. "Longinus," she -said, as he finished latching his boots, "do you really believe that -your father will be willing to let you marry me?" Her expression -indicated concern. "I have no doubt but that my beloved stepfather will -be quite willing, quite happy, in fact, because I'm sure he's already -anxious to be freed of the responsibility he has, or thinks he has, for -me. But I do wonder about Senator Piso." - -"By the great and little gods, Claudia, it's not the senator you're -marrying, remember? _I'm_ the one," he said, thumping his chest with -stiffened thumb. "Me, understand?" - -"Of course, silly man." She sat up again and fluffed the pillow behind -her. "But the senator might object, Longinus. He's a proud man, proud of -his name, his lineage. He's not going to like the idea of his son's -marrying a bastard and a divorcee, even though she may be the -granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus." - -"He won't object, Claudia; I'm sure of it. But even if he should, I'd -marry you anyway, despite him, despite Sejanus, despite even old -Tiberius himself." He adjusted his tunic, then came over to stand by the -bed. "Remember that, Claudia." - -"Even in spite of last night?" She was smiling up at him, and she said -it capriciously, but he thought he detected a note of seriousness in her -voice. "You don't think I'm terribly wanton, Longinus?" - -"Last night makes me all the more determined." He studied her for a long -moment; her expression was coy, but radiant too, a little wistful and -warmly affectionate, he saw. "Wanton? Of course not, my dear." A -mischievous grin slowly crossed his face. "Wanting, maybe. And wanted -certainly, wanted by me. The most desirable woman I've ever known, the -most wanted." He bent down to her, his eyes aflame, and gently he pushed -the outthrust chin to separate slightly the rouge-smudged lips raised -hungrily to his. Greedily their lips met and held, and then as the girl -lifted a hand to the back of his head to crush his face against hers, he -grasped the protecting sheet from her fingers and flung it toward the -foot of the bed. - -"Oh, you beast!" she shrieked. "By all the silly little gods!" - -Roaring, he darted for the peristylium. As he fled past the long mirror -near the doorway, he caught in it a glimpse of the laughing Claudia -struggling wildly to cover herself with the twisted sheet. - - - - - 4 - - -The magnificent villa of the Prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus clung -precariously to the precipitous slope high above the blue waters of the -bay. The greater part of the mansion had been built some hundred years -before in the days of Lucius Licinius Lucullus by one of the general's -fellow patricians. This man's family had suffered the misfortune of -having had the villa confiscated after the pater familias had been -beheaded for making the wrong choice in a civil war of that era. - -Sejanus had acquired the property--many Romans wondered how, but they -were too discreet to inquire--and had added to it extensively, including -a spacious peristylium with a great fountain that spouted water piped -from higher on the slope and palms and flowers and oriental plants. But -most interesting of his improvements was the spreading terrace pushed -outward from the peristylium to the very edge of the precipice, paved in -ornate mosaic with slabs of marble transported in government barges from -quarries far distant--gray and red from Egypt, yellow in various shades -and black from Numidia, green cipolin from Euboea--and bordered by a -protecting balustrade of white Carrara. - -This morning the Prefect and his guest, Pontius Pilate, a cohort -commander lately returned from a campaign in Germania, sat on this -terrace before a round bronze table whose legs were molded in the size -and likeness of a lion's foreleg. On the table were a pitcher and -matching goblets. Pilate, large, broad-framed, with a round head and -hair closely cropped, a heavy man and, in his early forties, perhaps a -score of years younger than the Prefect, was eying the unusual pitcher. -Sejanus motioned to it. - -"You may be interested in glassware," he said, as he reached over and -with a fingernail tapped one of the delicate blue, blown goblets. "These -pieces came from Phoenicia. No doubt you will have the opportunity while -you're in Judaea to visit the glassworks where they were blown. It's -situated near Tyre, up the coast from Caesarea and not far from Mount -Carmel. One of Senator Piso's enterprises." He fastened his unblinking -small eyes on Pilate's florid face. "But of course you won't be -concerned with this operation. It's not in Judaea anyway, and its -affairs--so far as Rome is concerned--are being supervised from Rome." - -Pilate nodded. "I understand, sir." - -"Good. It's important that you do understand fully. There should be no -area, for example, in which your duties and responsibilities overlap -those of Tetrarch Herod Antipas. I trust that you'll always bear that in -mind." - -"You can depend upon my doing so, sir." - -"Then is there anything else not entirely clear to you concerning your -duties, powers, and functions as I've outlined them? Do you fully -understand that as Procurator you will be required to keep the Jews in -your province as quiet and contented as possible--and they are a -cantankerous, fanatical, troublesome race, I warn you--even though you -will be draining them of their revenues to the limit of their -capacities?" He held up an admonishing forefinger. "And do you also -understand that it is tremendously important for you, as Procurator of -Judaea, to avoid becoming embroiled in any of the turmoils arising out -of their foolish but zealously defended one-god system of religion?" -Sejanus curled his lower lip to cover the upper and slowly pushed them -both out into a rounded tight pucker; his eyes remained firmly fixed on -the cohort commander's face. "It is a difficult post, being Procurator -in Judaea, Pilate." - -"It is a difficult assignment, sir, but it's one that I've been hoping -to obtain, and I appreciate the appointment. I understand what is -required, and I shall make every effort to administer Judaea to the best -of my ability and in accordance with your instructions." - -"Then you may consider yourself Procurator, Pilate. When the Emperor -gives you your audience tomorrow, he will approve what I have actually -already done." A sly smile overspread the Prefect's weasel face. "But -there is one thing further that you must agree to do, Pilate, if you -wish to become Procurator of Judaea." He stood, and Pilate arose, -remaining stiffly erect. Sejanus walked to the marble balustrade and -looked down at the blue water far below. "But first, come here. I want -to show you something." - -The cohort commander strode quickly to the Prefect's side. Sejanus -pointed toward the north. "Look," he said, "Misenum there, and just -beyond is Baiae. Over there"--he swept his arm in an arc--"is Puteoli. -And in this half-moon of shore line fronting on the bay between here and -Puteoli's harbor, in those mansions scrambling up the slopes"--he drew a -half circle in the air that ended with his forefinger pointing straight -south--"in this lower district of Campania from here to Puteoli and -Neapolis and around the rugged rim of the gulf, past Vesuvius and -Herculaneum, Pompeii and Surrentum out to the end of Capri is embraced -the very cream of the Empire's aristocracy and wealth." He turned to -face north again. "There. That is the villa for which Lucullus paid ten -million sesterces. You can see parts of the roof among the trees and -flowering plants. They say that some of the cherry trees he introduced -from Pontus are still bearing. Yes, they rightly call this the -playground of the Empire. Look down there," he said, pointing toward the -gaily colored barges idling along the shore between Baiae and Puteoli. -"There you will find beautiful women, Pilate, gorgeous creatures who are -completely uninhibited, delightfully immoral. Beautiful Baiae, where -husbands able to afford it can find happy respite from monogamy. Ah, -Ovid, how you would sing of Baiae today!" - -Silently for a moment now the Prefect contemplated the villa-filled -slopes, the pleasure barges, the lazily lifting sulphurous fumes above -Lake Avernus in the crater of an extinct volcano to the north, and the -sleeping cone of Vesuvius looming magnificently in the west. Then he -turned again to face Pilate, and a sly, malevolent smile crossed his -narrow face. "You, too, Commander, some day can live in luxury out there -on the slope above Baiae ... if you manage affairs in Judaea properly," -he paused, for emphasis, "by following explicitly the instructions you -have received and will continue to receive from me." - -"I am ambitious, sir," Pilate answered, "and I would take great pleasure -some day in joining the equestrian class here. But whether I am able to -achieve a villa at Baiae or not, I am determined to follow explicitly -the Prefect's instructions and desires." His hand on the marble -balustrade, Pilate studied the movement in the bay. Then he faced the -Prefect. "But you said a moment ago, sir, that there was still one more -provision?" - -"Yes, Pilate." Sejanus pointed to the chairs beside the lion-legged -table. "But let's sit down and have some more of the Falernian." - -As they took their seats, a slave who all the while had been hovering -attentively near-by came forward quickly and filled the goblets. Sejanus -sipped slowly. "Surely you have guessed that the Emperor and I confer at -times on matters of particular intimacy, such as the problems of his -household, even the affairs of members of his own Imperial family?" - -"I can see, sir, how the Emperor would wish the Prefect's counsel in -matters of every kind." - -"That is true." Sejanus toyed with the wine glass, then abruptly set it -down. "This is the provision, Pilate, and I think it not unreasonable. -In fact, I might explain that it was at my suggestion that Tiberius has -included it. And were I in your position, Pilate"--his eyes brightened, -and he flattened his lips against his teeth--"I would be delighted that -such a provision had been made. She is a beautiful woman, young, -possessed of every feminine appeal, and a woman to be earnestly desired -and sought, at least in the opinion of one old man who"--he smiled--"can -still look, appreciate, and imagine." - -"A woman?" - -"Yes, Pilate. The Emperor expects you to marry his stepdaughter." - -"Claudia!" Pilate said in amazement. "The granddaughter of Augustus?" - -"Indeed." Sejanus was eying him intently. "And of Antony, too, and -Cleopatra, I've always understood." A sly smile again crossed his face. -"And, if I'm a capable judge, a woman possessed of everything Cleopatra -had." - -Pilate seemed oblivious to the Prefect's description. "But why should he -want me, the son of a Spanish...?" - -"But you will be Procurator of Judaea," Sejanus interrupted. "Look, -Pilate," he went on, his face all seriousness now, "I'm sure you've -heard the story of Claudia's mother, the wife of Tiberius. Augustus was -forced to banish her when her adulteries became notorious. It's one of -those paradoxes, Pilate, of Imperial life. The Emperor may indulge in -any of the ordinarily forbidden delights, adultery, pederasty"--he -smiled again, but this time his smile was a scarcely concealed -sneer--"but his stepdaughter may not. Or she may not publicly, at any -rate. And now that Claudia is divorced from Aemilius and has no husband -to point to in the event that...." He paused and laid his hand on -Pilate's arm. "I dislike putting the matter so bluntly, Pilate, but -there is no other way to explain the situation. The Emperor wishes to -forestall any scandal. The best way to do so, he thinks, is to have his -stepdaughter married and sent as far away as possible from Rome." - -"But, sir, doesn't custom forbid the wives of generals and legates and -procurators from journeying with them to their provincial posts?" - -"Custom, yes. But custom is not always followed. Agrippina, for example, -accompanied Germanicus on his campaign in the north. Caligula was born -while she was away with the general." He was watching Pilate closely. -"But you have not said whether you accept the Emperor's final -provision." - -"Sir, I would be greatly honored and highly pleased to be the husband of -the granddaughter of the great Augustus." - -Sejanus beamed. "Then, Pilate, you may consider yourself the Procurator -of Judaea." - -"But...." - -The Prefect held up his hand to interrupt. "The Emperor will speak to -you about the necessity of your keeping your wife under firm authority. -But I would like to emphasize something more important, Commander, and -that is this: keep her happy, and keep her satisfied, in Judaea. I want -no reports coming to me that the Emperor's stepdaughter is being kept -virtually a prisoner, that she is suffering banishment from Rome." His -eyes flamed again, and he licked his sensuous lips. "Do you understand, -Pilate? Claudia is a modern woman. She's accustomed to the ways of -Rome's equestrians. Keep her contented, Pilate; do nothing to add to her -burden of living in a land that to her, no doubt, will be dull and even -loathsome. If sometimes she strays into indiscretions, overlook them. -Don't attempt to make of her a Caesar's wife." His stern expression -relaxed into a grin. "Besides, I believe it's too late for anyone to -accomplish that." Then as quickly as it had come, the levity was gone. -"But I interrupted you. You were going to ask something?" - -"Yes." Pilate stared thoughtfully at his hands. "I was wondering, sir, -if Claudia has been apprised of the Emperor's and your wishes. What has -she to say about all this?" - -"Say?" Sejanus smiled and rubbed his palms together. "My dear -Procurator, Claudia has nothing to say in matters such as this. Tiberius -speaks for his stepdaughter. And _I_ speak for Tiberius." - - - - - 5 - - -The next morning one of the fastest triremes of the Roman navy carried -the Prefect Sejanus and Pontius Pilate from the harbor below the -Prefect's villa straight southward across the gulf toward the island of -Capri. - -When Sejanus finished discussing certain other matters of business with -the Emperor, he had his aide summon Pilate into the Imperial chamber. -The cohort commander was nervous as he entered the great hall. It was -his first sight of Tiberius since the Emperor had allowed his crafty -minister to bring all nine of the Praetorian Guard's cohorts into the -camp near the Viminal Gate, from which, on a moment's notice, they could -sally forth to enforce the Prefect's will, even to giving orders to the -Senate itself. A year ago the Emperor, melancholy, embittered, tired of -rule, had left Rome and journeyed southward to Capri to seek on that -island the privacy he had long craved. Since then, with the exception of -the wily Prefect and a few others--the Emperor's young girls and, -according to Roman gossip, his powdered, painted, and perfumed young -boys and the growing circle of poets and philosophers--Tiberius Claudius -Nero Caesar had seen few visitors. Gradually he had relinquished affairs -of state to the scheming Prefect Sejanus. - -But now Pilate saw confronting him a man vastly changed from the tall, -powerful, and thoroughly able general he had known earlier. The Emperor -was noticeably stooped; his once broad forehead and now almost naked -pate seemed to have shriveled into a narrowing expanse of wrinkled -skull. Acne had inflamed and pocked his face, and the skin lay in folds -around the stem of his neck like that of a vulture's. - -Tiberius greeted Pilate perfunctorily. "The Prefect tells me you're -petitioning us for appointment to the post of Procurator in Judaea. Is -that true?" - -"Sire, if it is the will of the Emperor that I serve in that capacity, I -shall be happy to undertake the assignment and serve the Emperor and the -Empire to the full extent of my ability." - -"That I would expect and demand," Tiberius harshly replied. "It is a -difficult post. The Jews are a stubborn and intractable people. They are -fanatically religious, and they resent bitterly and will oppose even to -the sacrifice of their lives all actions they consider offensive to -their strange one-god religion. Their priests are diabolically clever, -and they are determined to rule the people in accordance with the -ancient religious laws and traditions of the land." His cold eyes -fastened upon the cohort commander's countenance. "Pilate, I shall -expect you to govern in that province. Foremost among your functions of -office, in addition to maintaining at all times Roman law and order, -will be the levying and collecting of ample taxes. That, in itself, will -be a burdensome duty. In addition, I charge you to see to it that Rome -is not embroiled in any great difficulty with these Jews. I warn you, it -will be difficult. Do you think you are equal to such a task?" - -"I am bold enough, Sire, to think so. Certainly I shall do everything -within my power to demonstrate to the Emperor and his Prefect that I -am." - -"We shall see." The Emperor's cold eyes bored into those of the officer -standing before him. Suddenly his grimness relaxed into a thin smile. -"Sejanus tells me also that you have ambitions to marry my stepdaughter -Claudia." - -"To marry your stepdaughter, Sire, should it be the Emperor's will, -would bestow on me the highest honor and afford me the greatest -happiness." - -"Evidently he knows little about her," Tiberius observed wryly to -Sejanus, "else he would not consider himself so fortunate." But quickly -his eyes were on Pilate again, and the malevolent smile was gone. "I -grant my permission, Pilate. The dowry will be arranged, and I assure -you it will be adequate. Sejanus will settle the details. Unfortunately -I shall not be able to attend the festivities of the wedding." Now he -twisted his head to face the Prefect. "If there is nothing further, -Sejanus?" He did not wait for an answer but arose. The Prefect and -Pontius Pilate, bowing, were backing toward the doorway when Tiberius -suddenly stopped them. "Wait. I wish to tell Pilate a story. - -"Once a traveler stopped to aid a man lying wounded beside the road," he -began. "He started to brush away the flies clustered about the wound, -when the injured man spoke out. 'No, don't drive away the flies,' he -said. 'They have fed on me until now they are satisfied and no longer -hurt me. But if you brush these off, then other, more hungry ones will -come and feed on me until I am sucked dry of blood.'" A mirthless smile -crinkled the corners of his mouth. "Pilate, I want no new thirsty fly -settling after Valerius Gratus upon the Jews in Judaea. Nevertheless, -from them I must be sent a sufficiency of blood. Do you understand?" - -Pilate swallowed. "Sire, I understand." He licked his heavy red lips. - -As they were at the door, Tiberius raised his hand to stop them again. A -sly grin, leering and sadistic, spread across his face. "Take Claudia -with you to Judaea, Procurator. And rule her, man! Rule her!" - - - - - 6 - - -Languidly the Princess Herodias of the Maccabean branch of the Herod -dynasty lay back in the warm, scented water so that only her head, -framed in black hair held dry by a finely woven silk net, was exposed. - -"More hot water, Neaera," she commanded. "But be careful. I don't want -to look cooked for the Tetrarch." - -Quickly the slave maid turned the tap, and steaming water gushed from -the ornate eagle's-head faucet. - -"That's enough!" shouted Herodias after a minute. "By the gods, shut it -off!" She sat upright in the tiled tub, and the water ran down from her -neck and shoulders, leaving little islands of suds clinging to her -glistening white body. "Now hand me the mirror." - -She extended a dripping arm and accepted the polished bronze. For a long -moment she studied her image. "Neaera, tell me truthfully, am I showing -my age too dreadfully?" - -"But, Mistress, you are not old," the maid protested. - -"You're a flatterer, Neaera. Salome, remember, is fourteen." - -"But you were married very young, Mistress." - -"And I was married a long time ago, too." She peered again into the -mirror. "Look. Already I can see tiny crow's-foot lines around my eyes." - -"But unguents and a little eye shadowing...." - -"More flattery." Herodias shook a wet finger at the young woman's nose. -"But I love it; so don't ever stop. But now"--she grasped the sides of -the tub--"help me out. I mustn't lie in this hot water any longer, or -I'll be as pink as a roast by the time the Tetrarch comes." She grasped -the maid's arm to steady herself as she stepped from the tub to the -tufted mat, and Neaera began to rub her down with a heavy towel. When -the slave maid had finished drying her, Herodias turned to face the -full-length minor, her body flushed and glowing from the brisk robbing. -Palms on hips, she studied her own straight, still lithe frame. "Really, -Neaera," she asked, "how do I look?" With fingers spread she caressed -the gently rounded smooth plane of her stomach and then lifted cupped -palms to her firm, finely shaped breasts. "I haven't lost my figure too -badly, have I?" - -"You haven't lost it at all, Mistress," the maid assured her, as she -picked up a filmy undergarment from the bench. "It's still youthful and -still beautiful." Herodias braced herself as the girl bent low to assist -her into the black silk garment. Neaera leaned back and studied the -older woman again. "You have the figure of a young woman, indeed, -Mistress," she said, "though fully matured and...." - -"And what, Neaera? What were you going to say?" - -"Well, Mistress, a figure to me more beautiful because of maturity, and -more interesting." - -"And more alluring, more seductive, maybe?" Her smile was lightly -wanton. "To the Tetrarch, perhaps? But the Herods, Neaera, and old -Tiberius, too, I hear, like their women very young." Her expression -sobered. "I'm almost afraid he'll be having eyes for Salome rather than -for me. The child has matured remarkably, you know, in the last year." - -"I should think, though, Mistress, that the Tetrarch...." - -A sharp knocking on the door interrupted her. - -"By the gods, Neaera, it must be the Tetrarch, and I'm not ready. Tell -Strabo to seat him in the peristylium and pour him wine and say that I -shall be ready soon." - -But the visitor was not the Tetrarch of Galilee. Strabo announced that -the Emperor's stepdaughter was in the atrium. - -"Claudia! How wonderful! Show her into the solarium, and tell her I'll -join her in a minute. Neaera, hurry and fetch me my robe. We can sit and -talk while you do my hair." - -"I can't stay for more than a few minutes," the Emperor's stepdaughter -announced when, a moment later, Herodias greeted her in the solarium. -"Longinus is going to take me out to the chariot races, and he may be -waiting for me right now. But I wanted to tell you, Herodias...." She -paused, her expression suddenly questioning. "Bona Dea, I'll bet that -the Tetrarch is taking you there, too, and I've caught you in the middle -of getting dressed." - -"Yes, you're right, but there's no hurry, Claudia. I can finish quickly. -And if I'm not ready when he comes, he can wait." - -"So," Claudia laughed, "you already have the Tetrarch so entranced that -he will wait patiently while you dress." - -"Not patiently, perhaps, but he'll wait ... without protesting." - -"Then it won't be long before you'll be marrying him and leaving for -Palestine." She said it teasingly, but immediately her expression -changed to reveal concern. "But, Herodias, when you do, what will his -present wife say; how will she take it? And his subjects in Galilee? -Doesn't the Jewish religion forbid a man's having more than one living -wife?" - -"The daughter of King Aretas will resent his bringing another wife to -Tiberias, no doubt"--Herodias smiled coyly--"if I do marry him. And as -for the religion of the Jews, well, my dear, you must know that neither -Antipas nor I follow its tenets too closely." - -"Of course. But I wasn't thinking of you or the Tetrarch as much as I -was of how his present wife would react. And the people of Galilee, too, -how will they feel about his having two living wives, one of whom is his -niece. Won't it offend them?" - -"Yes, if we marry, it will offend a great many of them. But my -grandfather, old King Herod, father of Philip and Antipas, had ten -wives, remember, nine of them at the same time. The Jews didn't like -that, but what could they do? No, we aren't too concerned about what the -Jews will think. But Aretas' daughter probably will try to cause -trouble. Not because Antipas will be having a new bedfellow, but because -she won't any longer be Tetrarchess. Being replaced will make her -furious. She cares not a fig for the Tetrarch's bedding with other -women; she even gave him a harem of Arabian women, Antipas told me." She -paused, smiling. "Claudia, you remember that black-haired woman at the -banquet the other night, the one called Mary of Magdala?" Claudia -nodded. "Well, Antipas told me that his wife not only knew that Mary was -coming with him to Rome but actually suggested that he bring her. He -said his wife and Mary were good friends even though the Tetrarchess -knew quite well what the relationship was between him and Mary." - -"Maybe the Tetrarchess sent this Mary with Antipas to keep his eyes from -straying to other women, like you, for example." - -"Keeping his eyes from straying would be an impossible task." - -"Do you think Mary is jealous of you now?" - -"That woman!" Herodias tossed her head. "Of course not. Nor am I jealous -of her. I really don't care if he spends an occasional night in her bed. -All I want is to be Tetrarchess. If he marries me, I shall insist, -though, that he divorce that Arabian woman. No, our concern, -Claudia"--she lowered her voice and glanced cautiously around the room, -but Neaera had left the solarium--"is not what the Jews in Galilee, or -his present wife, or this woman from Magdala will think, but rather what -the Prefect himself will think. Sejanus could cause us much trouble. But -now everything seems to be all right. Antipas assures me that we needn't -worry about it any longer. He says that he and Sejanus have reached an -understanding." - -"And I have a good idea of what that understanding is based upon," -Claudia said. "But what about your husband, Herodias? What will Philip -think?" - -"Philip! Hah!" She sneered. "What Philip thinks is of no concern. I've -never really cared for him anyway. It's a little hard to feel romantic -toward a man who's your half uncle, you know." - -"But Antipas, too, is your half uncle, isn't he? And he's Philip's half -brother as well. Hmm." She smiled mischievously. "That makes him both -Salome's half uncle and half great-uncle, doesn't it? That is, if -Philip's her father." - -"Well, yes," Herodias admitted. "I suppose he's her father. Anyway, he -thinks so. But he's also an old man, a generation older than I." She -said it with evident sarcasm. "Antipas is old too, of course, but -remember, my dear, he's the Tetrarch of Galilee, while Philip is only a -tiresome, fast aging, disowned son of a dead king, dependent for his -very existence on the favor of a crotchety Emperor and a conniving -Prefect. Antipas is old and fat, Claudia, but he has power and an -opulence far in excess of Philip's, and a title, too. And some day, -perhaps not too far away, with my pushing him, who knows, he may be a -king like his father was." She shrugged. "As for romance, the world's -filled with younger men." - -Claudia studied the face of her Idumaean friend. "Herodias, you worship -power, don't you?" - -"Why shouldn't I?" Herodias replied tartly. "Power and wealth, you -forget, are rightfully mine. I am the granddaughter of Mariamne, King -Herod's royal wife, daughter of the Maccabeans, while Philip's mother -was only a high priest's daughter and the mother of Antipas was a -Samaritan woman. I am descended from the true royalty in Israel." Her -irritation faded as quickly as it had come. "You say I worship power. -What else, pray, is there for one to worship? Your pale, anemic Roman -gods? Bah! You don't worship them yourself. Why then should I? I'm not -even a Roman. Silly superstition, your Roman gods, and well you know it, -Claudia. And the gods of the Greeks are no better. Nor the Egyptians. If -I had to embrace the superstition of any religion I would be inclined to -worship the Yahweh of the Jews. He's the only god who makes any sense at -all to me, but even he is too fire-breathing and vindictive for my -liking. But I'm not a Jew, Claudia, even though I am descended on one -side from the royal Maccabeans. I'm a Herod, and the Herods are -Idumaeans. The Jews call them pagans, and by the Jews' standards, pagans -we are." For a moment she was thoughtful, and Claudia said nothing to -break the silence. "But I suppose you're right, Claudia," she said at -last. "If I have any god at all, he's the two-headed god of power and -money. And if the Tetrarch were your Longinus, well, my god would have a -third head, pleasure. I envy you, Claudia! By the way," she added, as -she poured wine for her guest and herself, "may I be so bold, my dear, -as to inquire how things between you and the centurion stand just now?" - -"That's why I came to see you, Herodias. I wanted to thank you for a -most enjoyable evening too, but mainly I wanted to tell you that -Longinus and I have--how did you express it--reached an understanding." - -"Wonderful!" Herodias beamed. "Are you going to marry him, Claudia, or -are you...?" She hesitated, grinning. - -"Am I going to marry him, or will we just continue as we are without the -formality of marriage vows?" She laughed. "Yes, I'm planning to marry -him. But this is what I wanted to tell you, Herodias. I'm going out with -him to Palestine. He's being sent there on some sort of special mission -by the Prefect Sejanus." - -"By all the gods, that is wonderful, Claudia! Then we'll be able to see -each other out there. Where will you be stationed? At Caesarea? -Jerusalem? Maybe even Tiberias?" - -"He hasn't received his detailed orders yet. But I'll be able to visit -you at the palace anyway. I hear it's a magnificent place." - -"It must be. I'm anxious to see it myself; you know, I haven't been near -the place since it was finished. And it will be wonderful to have you -and Longinus to visit us." But suddenly her expression sobered. -"Claudia, has the Emperor given his permission for you to marry -Longinus? And does the Prefect approve?" - -"Neither of them knows about it yet. But I'm sure they'll both be glad -to see me married and away from Rome. Longinus is going to speak to -Sejanus about us." - -They heard voices in the atrium. Claudia stood up quickly. "That must be -the Tetrarch. By Bona Dea, I didn't realize I was staying this long; I -must be going. Longinus will be waiting for me. Herodias, surely we'll -see one another again before either of us sails for Palestine?" - -"Yes, we must. And when we do, we'll both know more about our plans." - -Neaera entered. "Has the Tetrarch come?" Herodias asked. - -"No, Mistress, it's a soldier sent by the Prefect. He seeks the Lady -Claudia. He awaits her in the atrium." - -The soldier, one of the Praetorian Guardsmen, announced that the Prefect -Sejanus was at that moment waiting for Claudia in her own apartment at -the Imperial Palace. He added that he hoped they might start -immediately; he feared the Prefect might be getting impatient. - -But when they reached her house and she entered the atrium to greet the -Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Sejanus bowed low and smiled -reassuringly. "I come from an audience with your beloved stepfather, the -Emperor, at Capri," he said. "He commanded me to bear to you his esteem -and fatherly love and to offer his congratulations upon the most -excellent plans he has projected--with my warm approval, let me hasten -to assure you--for your forthcoming marriage." - -"For my marriage? But, Prefect Sejanus...." Claudia paused, striving to -maintain outward composure. - -"I know it comes as quite a surprise to you. But the arrangements have -been completed, and I've come here to tell you immediately on my return -from Capri. You and your future husband are the only ones who are being -informed now of the Emperor's plans. But you will be married soon, even -before you and your husband leave for his tour of duty in Palestine." - -"In Palestine!" - -How could the Emperor have known about Longinus and me? The Prefect? Of -course, that's how. Sejanus knew that Longinus was with me at the -banquet Antipas gave for Herodias; he knew that Longinus was at my house -later that evening when he sent Cornelius out to fetch him, or he -learned of it when they came afterward to his palace. Old Sejanus must -not be so bad, after all. Nor is the Emperor, either. Perhaps I have -been too severe in judging them. Perhaps they both have their good -moments, their generous impulses.... - -"Yes, to Palestine." The Prefect was speaking. "He has promised your -hand in marriage to a Roman army officer who, if he follows my orders -implicitly and remains completely loyal to me, may shortly be not only a -man of wealth but also a leader of influence in the affairs of the -Empire." - -Claudia was about to express her thanks to the Emperor and his most -excellent Prefect and to ask when the wedding would be held. But some -instinctive vein of caution restrained her from mentioning Longinus' -name. Now the Prefect was speaking again. - -"Needless to say, I join the Emperor in praying the gods that you and -the Procurator Pontius Pilate lead long lives and find great happiness -with each other." - -"The Procurator Pontius Pilate! Then...." But again caution stopped her -just in time. - -Sejanus smiled. "You are surprised, my dear Claudia? And whom did you -think the Emperor had chosen to be your husband?" - -"But I ... I don't even know this Pontius Pilate." Claudia ignored the -Prefect's question. "He is to be Procurator in Palestine, succeeding -Valerius Gratus?" - -"Procurator of Judaea, with headquarters at Caesarea, yes." His grin was -sardonically beguiling. "But what were you about to say?" - -"I was going to observe that then I would be spending the rest of my -life away from Rome, living in a distant provincial army post," she -lied, not too convincingly, she suspected. - -But Sejanus did not pursue his questioning. "Not if the Procurator -conducts the affairs of his post in the manner that I have outlined to -him." - -"Has he been informed of the Emperor's plans for ... for us?" - -"Yes. And he is tremendously happy and excited, as what man wouldn't be, -my dear Claudia?" His lips flattened bloodless across his teeth, and his -little eyes flamed. "Even I, with my youth long fled, envy him!" - - - - - 7 - - -Claudia, striving to be courteously casual, walked with the Prefect to -the doorway where two Praetorian Guardsmen awaited him. As they went out -she closed the pivoted double doors behind them, but after a moment she -cautiously drew one back and peered through the narrow slit. - -The Prefect's bearers and the guards who had remained outside were -standing stiffly at attention, the bearers at the sedan-chair handles; -one of the guards stepped forward quickly to open the door. Sejanus -paused an instant and spoke to the man; then he stepped into the chair -and, as the guard closed the door, pulled together the shielding -curtains. The guard raised his hand, and the bearers moved off smartly. - -Claudia saw, however, that the bodyguard did not march off with the -Prefect's procession; instead, he peered about furtively, cast a hurried -glance toward her doorway, and then merged into the traffic pushing -along the narrow, cobbled way. Momentarily she lost him but in the next -instant discovered him idling in front of a shop diagonally across from -her entrance. But not for long did he study the wares of the merchant; -she saw that he had faced about and was staring intently at her own -doorway. - -"I thought so," she observed to Tullia, who had retreated into the -shadowed narrow corridor as Sejanus was leaving. "The Prefect left one -of his bodyguards to watch the house. He either wishes to know where -I'll be going or who will be coming here, perhaps both. I don't know -what he is scheming, Tullia"--the maid had come forward and secured the -doors--"but whatever it is, I don't like it. Longinus may endanger -himself by coming. We must warn him. But how, Tullia? He is likely to be -arriving any moment; he must have been delayed at Castra Praetoria, or -he would have been here already." - -Quickly she told the maid the startling news the Prefect had brought. - -"Anyone who leaves this house through these doors, Mistress, then is -sure to be followed. But I could go out through the servant's entrance -on some contrived mission and perhaps be able to warn him." - -"Good, Tullia. You can be taking something to Senator Piso's house and -carry a message to Longinus. Talk with him if he is there and tell him -what has happened, but say that I'll arrange to meet him later, perhaps -at the house of Herodias." - -"Or maybe, Mistress, at the shop of Stephanos." - -"Yes. Maybe the goldsmith's would be better. But if the Prefect's men -should follow and ask you questions, Tullia, what will you say?" - -"I could be bearing a small gift to Philo, Senator Piso's old Greek -slave who tutored his children. He's quite ill and...." - -"Wonderful! Tullia, you are indeed my treasure. Take the old man a jar -of that honey from Samos; he would like that. And some wheat cakes and a -bottle of the Falernian." She was silent a moment, thoughtful. "By the -Bountiful Mother! Tullia, I'll help you get away by leading that soldier -myself on a false chase. Fetch me my cloak and scarf. I'll pretend to be -disguising myself in order to slip away. Then he'll follow me. Now find -the things to take to old Philo, and get yourself ready. And do hurry." - -In a few minutes Tullia returned with the cloak and scarf. "The basket -of food is ready," she said. She helped her mistress put on the cloak -and tie the scarf so that much of her face was concealed. "Leave the -door ajar as I go out," Claudia instructed her, "and when you see the -soldier following me, close the door and slip away yourself through the -servants' entrance. And return the same way, as quickly as you can." - -"Yes, Mistress." - -"And, Tullia, say to Longinus that I instructed you to tell him that -what has happened changes nothing, that as far as I am concerned -everything is just as it was with him and me. But say as little as you -can to anyone else, Tullia, and nothing concerning the Prefect's visit." - -Claudia walked to the entrance doors and turned to face her maid again. -"You go out and look around furtively as though you were seeing that the -way was clear for me. That will likely warn the guardsman that something -is afoot, that we suspect someone may be watching the house. Then I'll -go out, and because I will not have my bearers summoned, he'll surmise -that I am trying to leave unnoticed." - -Then she puckered her rouged lips into a thoughtful bud. "But why is old -Sejanus having us watched? Did he think that I would slip out to tell -Longinus? Does he want me to tell the centurion and perhaps deliberately -prejudice him against Pilate?" She shook her head slowly. "But how can -he know about Longinus and me?" - -"Perhaps, Mistress, he only suspects," Tullia answered. "It may be that -he is trying to find out just what your relationship is." - -"Maybe so. But little he'll discover now, by the gods!" She opened the -door and peered out. "Now." - -Tullia slipped through the doorway, looked up and down the narrow -street, then stepped back into the atrium. - -"Now I'll go," Claudia said. "Be careful, Tullia. And do guard your -tongue." Outside she readjusted her scarf and pulled her cloak more -closely about her. Then she stepped into the cobble-stoned way and -walked rapidly along it. - -Tullia, peeping through the slit in the doorway, saw the Prefect's man -emerge from the shadows of a shop entrance and move off quickly to -follow her. When the two had disappeared around the turn, Tullia closed -the doors and hurriedly recrossed the atrium. A moment later she slipped -out through the servants' entrance. A freshly starched napkin covered -the food in the basket she carried. - - - - - 8 - - -An unexpected assignment, fortunately, had delayed Longinus' departure -from Castra Praetoria, and he had just reached home when Tullia arrived -at Senator Piso's. Quickly she told him of the Prefect's visit to her -mistress. - -He listened attentively, outwardly calm but inwardly with rage mounting -as her story progressed. "Go back to your mistress, Tullia," he said, -when she finished, "and tell her that with me, too, nothing is changed. -But warn her to make no attempt, until I tell her, to communicate with -me. The Prefect is diabolically clever; he may suspect that we will try -to thwart his plans. I don't understand just what he's scheming; we must -be careful. But assure her that I will find some way of getting a -message to her." - -"Centurion Longinus, if I may suggest, sir, should you send the message, -or bear it yourself, to the shop of Stephanos in the Vicus -Margaritarius...." - -"I know that shop, Tullia, and the goldsmith, too." - -"Then, sir, from there I could take your message verbally to my -mistress. Stephanos is the son of my father's brother. He can be -trusted, you may be assured, sir." - -"That's a good arrangement, Tullia. And should your mistress wish to -send me a message, you can leave it with the goldsmith. But do warn her -to be careful. The Prefect may be setting a trap for us." - -The goldsmith Stephanos was, like his cousin Tullia, a Greek-speaking -Jew who had been reared in the Jewish colony in Rome. Although a young -man, he had already established a profitable business in the capital, -and his customers numbered many of the equestrian class, including -members of Senator Piso's family. Consequently, Longinus, were he being -watched, could go to the goldsmith's shop without arousing suspicion. - -Longinus discovered how fortunate they had been in taking such -precautions when, a week after Tullia's visit to him, he was again -summoned to the palace of the Prefect. - -Sejanus gave little time to the formalities of greeting the Senator's -son. "I am now prepared to hand you your orders, Centurion Longinus," he -said. "But before I do so I must ask you if you have any reservations -whatsoever concerning this mission I propose to send you on." The -Prefect's cold little eyes were studying him, Longinus realized, and he -was determined that he would reveal neither fear nor surprise. - -"None, sir. I'm a soldier, and I await the Prefect's orders." - -But Sejanus was not satisfied. "When last I talked with you, you said -that you were hardly acquainted with Pontius Pilate, that you were in no -sense an intimate friend. But I ask you now, do you have any hostility -toward him?" He leaned forward, and his eyes bored into the centurion's -bland countenance. "Has anything happened since then that would cause -you to change your feeling toward him?" - -"I know nothing that he has done, sir, that would cause me to feel -hostility toward him. Has he, sir?" - -The question seemed to surprise Sejanus. He leaned back against his -chair. "He has done nothing. But something has been done that may have -caused you to feel bitter toward him." He was studying the centurion -intently. "Bitterness toward the Procurator would render you unfit for -the assignment I am proposing for you, just as close friendship for him -would do the same." He smiled, changing his stern tone to one of -fatherly interest. "Frankly, Longinus, I had expected to find you bitter -toward Pilate, the Emperor, and me." - -"But why, sir, should _I_ be bitter?" - -"I had thought that perhaps you would be jealous of him, resent his...." - -"Jealous of Pilate?" Boldly Longinus ventured to interrupt. "But why, -sir?" - -"Pilate is going to marry the Emperor's stepdaughter and take her out to -Judaea when he goes there to begin his duties as Procurator. I had -thought that you yourself might be planning to marry Claudia." - -"_I_, sir?" Longinus affected sudden surprise. "May I respectfully ask -why you thought that?" - -"You have been seeing her since your return from Germania. She -accompanied you to the banquet Antipas gave for his brother's wife." -Sejanus shrugged. "That suggested it to me." His lips thinned into a -feline grin. "Since I made known to her the Emperor's plans I have had -you both watched; if you have met or communicated with one another, it -has escaped my men's sharp eyes." His piggish eyes brightened. "I want -you to understand, Longinus, that I am not the protector of either -Claudia or Pilate. I am not the least concerned with their private lives -so long as what they do doesn't harm me or the Empire. And let me -add"--his eyes were dancing now--"I'm not concerned with your private -life either. I am determined, however, that nothing be done to interfere -with our plans for Pilate and Claudia. But if after they are married and -gone out to Judaea, some evening in Caesarea or Jerusalem you should -find yourself in Pilate's bed when Pilate is away, that will be no -concern of mine, nor shall I care one green fig's worth." Suddenly the -lascivious gleam was gone from his eyes, and his countenance was grave. -He raised a stern hand and leaned forward again. "But I'll require of -you a true and unbiased report on Pontius Pilate, Longinus. If you think -you may be prejudiced against the man because he will have taken Claudia -away from you, then I charge you to tell me now and I shall give you -some other assignment." - -"I assure you, sir, that I have no hostility toward him. But I do wonder -why Claudia is being required to marry him and be virtually exiled from -Rome." - -Sejanus studied the senator's son a long moment. "Longinus, I shall be -entirely frank with you, as I shall require you to be with me," he -replied, lowering his voice, though there were no other ears to hear. -"The Emperor and I want Claudia exiled, though we would never employ so -harsh a word for her being sent away from Rome. Claudia's the -granddaughter of Augustus, remember, and also--it's generally believed, -at any rate--the granddaughter of Mark Antony and the Egyptian -Cleopatra. She's in direct descent from strong-willed, able--and in -their day tremendously popular--forebears. Tiberius, on the other hand, -is not. Nor does he have any strong following. As you know, -Longinus"--he paused, and his small black eyes for an instant weighed -the centurion's expression--"in everything but name, I am the Emperor." - -"Indeed, sir, but were Rome to overthrow the Emperor, the gods forbid, -would the people enthrone a woman? Surely, sir, they would never...." - -"Of course not. It's not likely, under any circumstances. But you don't -understand, Longinus." The Prefect's grim countenance relaxed a bit, but -he kept his voice low as he sat back against his chair. "Claudia is no -longer married. While she was married to that fop Aemilius there was no -cause for concern. But now she's divorced and in a position to marry -again." He smiled, and the wanton flame lighted once more. "And -beautiful. Gods, what a figure!" He rolled his eyes. "If I were young -again, with her I could be Emperor of Rome!" He was silent a moment. -"But I am Emperor of Rome--in all but title." Now Sejanus was suddenly -grave, and old, and the flame was only of an innate cunning. He leaned -toward the centurion. "Longinus, any man in Rome, any man, would be -happy to marry Claudia. She's beautiful, rich, highly intelligent, and -the granddaughter of Rome's greatest Emperor. Being that, she remains a -threat to us as long as she is in Rome. What if some strong, ambitious -general or senator, for example, should marry her and undertake to -displace Tiberius?" He sat back and gestured with outspread palms. -"Don't you see, Centurion? And displacement of Tiberius--and me--would -be disastrous for your father, of course, and for you. You and I must -work together just as your father and I have been doing. So I shall look -forward not only to your frequent reports of a military and -administrative nature, particularly with respect to the collection of -revenue, but now that Claudia is going out there, to tidbits of -information concerning her and Pilate." His sensual lips thinned across -his teeth. "Claudia must be kept away from Rome, Longinus, but she must -be kept happily away, too. So if you can help make her stay in Judaea -pleasant, if you can help Pilate keep her satisfied, or if you can keep -her satisfied," he added with a leer, "you will be serving the Emperor -and me, your father, and yourself. And I don't care _how_ you do it. Be -careful to avoid scandal, though, that might reach Rome." He grinned -again. "I think you need have little fear of Pilate." His lips were -twisted in an evil smile. "Now have I answered your question, Longinus? -Do I make myself entirely clear?" - -"You do, sir." Longinus' countenance was impassive, he hoped, but his -palm itched to be doubled into a fist that would smash the leer off the -Prefect's face. - -"Then these are your orders. Three days hence the 'Palmyra' sails for -Palestine. Aboard will be a maniple of troops to relieve two centuries -of the Second Italian Cohort. You will command a century that will be -stationed at Caesarea under Sergius Paulus. Centurion Cornelius will -command the other. Also aboard will be Tetrarch Herod Antipas. You and -your century will go ashore at Caesarea, but Cornelius and his will -accompany Herod to Joppa. There they will land, and Cornelius will -escort the Tetrarch to Jerusalem. Ostensibly Herod will be going up to -the Temple to worship, but he will be bearing a message from me to old -Annas, the former high priest." He paused but did not explain further. -"From Jerusalem," he went on, "Cornelius will escort Herod to Tiberias, -where the century will be stationed, with a garrison post at Capernaum -supporting it. And now, to get back to you, Longinus, I have dispatched -orders to Sergius Paulus that although you will command a century, you -must be allowed leave any time you request it to undertake special -missions. I indicated to him that these missions would be concerned -primarily with the government's interest in the operations of your -father's factories in Phoenicia. This work understandably could take you -to the plants in Phoenicia and also to Tiberias, Jerusalem, and other -regions in Palestine. The cohort commander must never suspect, nor -anyone else, including Claudia, remember, that you are keeping sharp -eyes and ears on Pilate and Herod Antipas. I'm sending you ahead on the -'Palmyra,' Longinus, so that you will be in Caesarea when Pilate and -Claudia arrive there." He studied the centurion. "Is everything -understood, Centurion?" - -"Yes, sir, I understand." His forehead creased into small wrinkles. -"When you talked with me before, sir, you said that I would be expected -to keep watch on the activities of three persons, Pilate, Antipas, -and...." - -"Claudia, of course, was the third." He twisted his vulture-like head to -scan the large chamber, a habit developed during long years of caution. -"Watch her, too. Know what she is doing, what she is thinking even, if -you can." He lowered his voice. "Be careful, Centurion. She's a clever -woman, with brains worthy of old Augustus. I am not concerned, as I -said, with her morals, or Pilate's, or yours. But be careful." His -little eyes fired again, and a wry grin twisted his face. "Don't let -Pilate catch you in bed with her. Such carelessness might destroy your -effectiveness." - -Sejanus stood up, a signal that his business with the centurion was -finished. Longinus arose quickly to stand at attention, concerned that -even yet he might reveal in the Prefect's presence the revulsion -mounting within him. - -"Send me reports as often and as regularly as you have valuable -information to give, Longinus. Use great care to see that your messages -are well-sealed and not likely to go astray. Watch those three. Let -nothing of significance escape your notice, and let nothing be omitted -from your reports. Keep Claudia under surveillance, but don't get so -occupied with her that you aren't fully alive to everything that is -happening. Watch her, regardless of what else you two may be doing!" - - - - - 9 - - -Longinus led his century from its quarters at Castra Praetoria westward -through the Viminal Gate along the way that skirted the leveled-out -northern extremity of Esqueline Hill. - -At the point where this way joined Via Longa the procession entered the -cobblestoned street and moved westward and then straight southward. -Longinus glanced over his shoulder and had a glimpse, between shops that -crowded the lower level of Quirinal Hill, of his father's great house -high on that elevation. But quickly he lost sight of it as his century -became virtually submerged in the dense traffic fighting its way slowly -along Via Longa. Fortunately, the legionaries were bearing only their -lightest armor; the heavier gear had been sent ahead and put aboard the -"Palmyra." But even thus equipped, in the narrow, packed street, though -it was one of Rome's important thoroughfares, they were finding it -increasingly difficult to maintain a steady march. - -As the century began to pass north of the crowded Subura, that motley -district of massed tenements, shops, taverns, and brothels already being -pointed out as the birthplace more than a century ago of the great -Julius Caesar, the press of the throng so increased that the soldiers -were almost forced to fight their way forward. But progress became -easier in the area below the Forum Augustus, and as the troops were -pushing past it toward the Forum Romanum, Longinus glanced toward the -summit of Palatine Hill crowned by the sprawling great Imperial Palace; -his eyes went immediately to the northeast wing and to the window in -Claudia's bedroom through which he had heard, one recent morning, the -rising trumpet call from the post. - -Longinus had not seen the Emperor's stepdaughter since the day the -Prefect had visited her, though they had exchanged messages left with -Stephanos the goldsmith at his shop in Vicus Margaritarius. Claudia's -last message had assured him that she would contrive some plan for -seeing him immediately upon her arrival with Pilate at Caesarea; that -shouldn't be too difficult. Tullia had relayed Claudia's message to -Stephanos, and Longinus had received it verbally from the goldsmith. "We -will have the Great Sea between the Emperor and Sejanus and us," she had -sent word to the centurion. "It will be much safer then; as for Pilate, -I am little concerned with what he thinks or does; in fact, he'll do -nothing." - -Before the Forum Romanum Longinus led his troops straight southward. At -the northwest end of Circus Maximus they veered westward and went along -the way leading across the Tiber on the ancient Pons Sublicius, -fashioned of great stones fitted together to span the swiftly flowing -muddy water. Near the bridge entrance the column turned left and -paralleled the stream to halt at the pier just below the Sublicius. -Quickly the legionaries went aboard the "Palmyra." - -Longinus' troops were the last to embark, and within an hour the -"Palmyra" began slowly to shove its stern out into the stream. When the -ship was safely away from the pier, the hortator gave a sharp command, -and the long oars, manned by galley slaves chained to their three-tiered -benches, rose and fell in perfect cadence, with the starboard oarsmen -pushing forward and those on the port side pulling hard, so that the -"Palmyra's" bow came around; soon the vessel was moving steadily -downstream. - -Longinus and Cornelius, having stowed their gear, returned to the deck -to stand together on the port side near the stern. By now the vessel was -rounding the slight westward bend in the river and was passing the -Aventine Hill. Cornelius, watching the yellow waters churning in the -wake of the "Palmyra," raised his eyes and pointed across the stern -toward the Imperial Palace, the western front of which they could see -jutting past the squared end of the Circus Maximus. The upper section of -the great palace was visible above the race course. "Longinus, I'm -surprised you're leaving her in Rome. I thought that if you ever went -back to Palestine, you'd be taking Claudia with you." - -Longinus wondered if by some chance Cornelius had learned of the -Emperor's plans for his stepdaughter and was trying now gently to probe -further. "But the night you came to her house for me was the first time -I'd seen her after returning from Germania," he protested, laughing. -"Wouldn't that be a little fast? She's the Emperor's stepdaughter, you -know." - -"Well, maybe I was imagining things." Cornelius shrugged. "But she is a -beautiful woman." - -"I agree, Cornelius. The Bountiful Mother was lavish with her gifts to -the Lady Claudia." He turned to lean against the rail. "What _I'm_ -wondering, though, is why Herod didn't marry Herodias and bring her -along." - -"Maybe he has married her. But I suspect that whether he has or not, -he'll be returning to Rome for her before many months. That is, after -he's made peace with the Tetrarchess and old King Aretas, her father." -He grinned. "I'd wager, too, that you'll be coming back for Claudia." - -Longinus laughed but made no comment. His friend, he reasoned, did not -know about Claudia and Pontius Pilate. Nor would he tell him yet. - -Now the "Palmyra" was moving swiftly, its cadenced oars rising and -falling rhythmically to propel the vessel much faster downstream than -the current unaided would have borne it. They had come opposite the -thousand-foot-long Emporium huddled on the Tiber's eastern bank, its -wharves crawling with slaves moving great casks and bales of merchandise -into the warehouses or bringing them out to be loaded aboard ships -preparing to slip down the Tiber and into the Great Sea at Ostia. Black -Ethiopians and Nubians, their sweating bodies shining as though they had -been rubbed with olive oil and naked except for brightly colored -loincloths, straggled at their tasks. Blond warriors brought from -Germania as part of some Roman general's triumph, their skins now burnt -to the color of old leather, and squat, swarthy men from Gaul and -Dalmatia, from Macedonia and the Greek islands, captives of Roman -legionaries ranging far from the Italian mainland, pulled and shoved to -the roared commands of the overseers and the not infrequent angry -uncoiling of long leather whips. - -"Did you ever realize, Longinus, what a comprehensive view you get of -Rome and the Empire from a ship going along the Tiber?" Cornelius nodded -toward the stern. "Look at those marble-crowned hills back there, -literally overrun with palaces, billions of sesterces spent in building -them, hundreds, thousands of lives used up, sacrificed, raising them one -above the other. The people in them, too, Longinus, and the -rottenness--smug hypocrisy, adherence to convention, infidelity, -unfairness, utter cruelty, depravity. Rome, great mistress of the world. -Hah!" He half turned and pointed toward the Emporium. "Those sweating -slaves over there would agree." He gestured with opened hands. "Ride -down the Tiber and see Rome, glorious Mother Rome, from Viminal's crown -to Emporium's docks, eh?" - -"You're right," Longinus smiled. "And it's only because the gods have -decreed for us a different fate that you and I are not over there -heaving crates, or chained here pulling oars." He leaned over the rail -and studied the rhythmical rise and fall of the long, slim oars. "No -doubt there are among these slaves several whose intelligence, -education, and culture are considerably greater than the hortator's, and -I'm sure.... Look!" - -Cornelius followed the direction of Longinus' outstretched arm. One of -the oars had come up beneath a floating object and sent it spinning and -twisting in the churning muddy flood. Now another oar's sharp blade -struck the object, ripping apart its once carefully folded wrapping; as -the oar cleared the surface, the wrapping unrolled, exposing the body of -a tiny infant, chalk-white in the yellow water. It spun giddily for a -moment, then sank. - -"By the gods!" Cornelius shouted. "It's an exposed baby girl!" - -But now the small, lifeless body bobbed to the surface and for one -unruffled moment lay on its back, eyes wide-open and fixed, staring -upward unseeing toward the two centurions leaning over the ship's rail. -In that same instant the oars descended, and the knife-sharp edge of one -near the stern sliced diagonally across the drowned infant; the oar -shivered with the unexpected added burden, but it bore the mangled small -corpse beneath the thick waters, and up through them rose a trickle of -dark crimson. - -"She wasn't dead when she was thrown in," Cornelius said, "and that -wasn't long ago. Perhaps from one of the bridges back there, or maybe a -wharf. Or even a boat ahead." His shoulders trembled in an involuntary -shudder. "Longinus, I could kill a man in battle without blinking, but I -couldn't throw an infant into the Tiber. By the gods, how can any man do -it?" - -"Nevertheless, hundreds do it every year, Centurion. We were speaking of -those slaves over there on the Emporium's docks and these galley slaves -rowing us. And this drowned baby, and countless others who simply lost -when the gods rolled the dice. The fickle gods, my friend, the -unfeeling, stonehearted gods." - -"Don't blame the gods, Longinus. Blame rather Rome's mounting vanity and -greed, her selfishness, cruelty." - -"You know I'm not blaming the gods, Cornelius; I have no more faith than -you have even in their existence. They are nothing but pale nobodies, -fabrications in which not even intelligent children believe." - -"Fabrications, yes. Our gods are inventions, but they serve a purpose -and are necessary." - -"Necessary?" The centurion's face had twisted into a heavy scowl. "Why, -Cornelius?" - -"Because they fill a place, supply a need, Longinus. It's the nature of -man to look to some higher power, isn't it, some greater intelligence? -Else why would one invent these gods; why would primitive peoples carve -them from wood and stone; why would we and the Greeks and the Egyptians -raise great temples to them?" - -"Do you contend then that people worship these carved sticks and stones -as symbols of some higher intelligence and power rather than the carved -objects themselves, even primitive peoples? Is that what you're saying?" - -"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Some--many, in fact--have become -confused, of course, and in seeking to worship this mysterious divinity -they go through a form or ceremony of worshiping the symbol. But what -I'm trying to say, Centurion, is that it is the nature of mankind to -look to something higher, something more intelligent, more powerful, -better, yes, than man himself, better even than such an exemplary man as -our beloved"--now his tone was sarcastic--"Emperor, or his most worthy -Prefect. And if man seeks such a being to worship--and all men, mind -you, even savages, even those wild tree worshipers in Britannia do -it--doesn't it stand to reason that there should be such a being?" - -The "Palmyra" had entered the smooth bending of the Tiber and was moving -rapidly toward the river's nearest approach to Janiculum Hill, Rome's -Jewish quarter on the west bank of the stream. Longinus pointed to the -steep rise of the hill and the plane before it cluttered with the -densely massed homes of thousands of Jews, many of them born in the -capital, others newly settled there. "It seems to me, Centurion, that -you've become an adherent of the Jewish one-god religion." - -His words amused Cornelius. "Other Romans at our post in Galilee have -charged me with the same thing. It came about, I suppose, from my -helping the Jews at Capernaum build their new synagogue." - -"Then surely you must be a member of their fellowship or synagogue ... -whatever they call it?" - -"No, I'm no convert to the Jews' religion, Centurion. I don't belong to -the synagogue. I helped them, I told myself, in order to promote good -relations between the Jews in Galilee and the members of our small Roman -post. But maybe I had other reasons, too. There are many things about -their one-god religion that seem sensible and right to me. But there are -also practices among the Jews that I don't approve of at all, practices -that seem cruel and senseless. Their system of sacrifices, for instance. -I can see no act of proper worship in slitting the throats of -innumerable sheep and cattle to appease an angry god...." - -"I agree. But we do the same thing. Doesn't the Emperor dedicate the -games by slitting the throats of oxen?" - -"Exactly. But what is the good of such worship or ceremony or whatever -you may choose to call it? If there is a god to whom the sacrifice is -being made, what good does it do him, what pleasure could he possibly -receive from it?" - -"I see nothing to any of it, Cornelius. Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, -forest worship in Britannia, whatever the system is; it's all -superstition, delusion...." - -"I grant you, maybe it is. But, Longinus, don't you feel deep down -inside yourself that there must be some intelligence, some power, far -above man's very limited intelligence and power, that created the earth -and the heavens and controls them? Else how did they get here in the -first place?" - -"I don't know, Cornelius. You've gone ahead of me, my friend. I never -gave much thought to matters like this." The lines of his forehead -wrinkled into a frown. "But even if you _should_ feel that way, how -could you ever _know_? Have you seen a god, Centurion? Have you ever -felt one or heard one speak?" - -"I've never seen one, Longinus. But I think I have felt and perhaps -heard one. There have been times when I was confident that I was -communicating with one." Cornelius watched the spume thrown up by the -flashing oars as they cut into the muddy waters. He turned back to face -Longinus. "That's the difficulty, you know, communication. How can one -get a grip upon a god--the god, if there be but one, and the way I see -it that is the only sensible answer--like those slaves down there grip -the oar handles? How can one hear a god, see him, taste him? Obviously, -one cannot, for this god, whether there be one or many, must be -different from man; he must be a spiritual being rather than a physical -one. But if he is a spirit, how can we of the physical world communicate -with him and he with us? There, my friend, is the problem." - -Longinus shook his head. "You've got me, Cornelius. I cannot imagine a -spirit, a being without a body, a something that is nothing." - -"Many persons can't, Centurion. And that's the main difficulty in -accepting the Jews' Yahweh, their one god. He is a spirit, they say, -without physical form or substance. They believe in him, but how do they -know him, how do they learn what he's like? In a word, if he does exist, -how can he be made comprehensible to man?" - -Longinus smiled indulgently. "But you say you think you have felt one -and maybe heard one. Why?" - -"I don't know if I can explain. Maybe it goes back to the fact that my -first lessons were taught me by a Greek slave. He was purchased by my -father from a lot brought to Rome after one of those early rebellions. -This man was one of the wisest I have ever known. I shall never forget -his teaching concerning the gods. When we would speak lightly of our -Roman gods, old Pheidias would scold us. 'Don't speak disparagingly of -the gods,' he would say, even though he himself did not believe in them. -I can still remember his words. 'The gods,' he said, 'are symbols of -man's efforts to attain a higher life, a more noble plane of living. The -good gods are the symbols of the good attributes in man; evil gods -symbolize the base passions. Therefore, hold communion with the good -gods, and seek to avoid contact with the evil ones.'" - -"But how does that teaching explain what you feel?" - -"Wait," Cornelius smiled, then continued. "Sometimes Pheidias would -confide in us and talk in more intimate terms of his own philosophy. At -such times he would tell us that his own gods were merged into one -omnipotent and omniscient good god, a spirit without a body, everywhere -present. This one god was a synthesis of the good, the true, and the -beautiful. And though he could not be felt, as I feel this rail -here"--Cornelius ran his hand along the ship's rail--"and though he was -not to be seen or heard as one sees or hears another person, he was -nevertheless even more real. 'For the only things that are real,' my -tutor would say, 'are the intangible things, and the only imperishable -things are those that have no physical being. Truth, for example. Truth -has no body. Who can hold truth in his hand? And yet truth is eternal, -unchangeable, indestructible. And love? Who can destroy love; who can -defeat it? Yet can you put love in a basket and carry it from the shop? -And who can measure a modius of love or weigh out twelve unciae?'" -Calmly he regarded Longinus. "And I ask you, my friend, who can? What, -after all, is more indestructible, unchangeable, immortal than the -intangible?" - -The "Palmyra" was moving around the river's bend now and gaining speed -as it came into the straight stretch at a point even with the -right-angled turning of the city's south wall. "But forgive me, -Longinus," Cornelius said lightly. "I hadn't meant to be giving you a -lecture on the nature of the gods or the one god." - -"It has been entertaining and enlightening, my friend. And it has -convinced me that you do hold with this one-god idea. Those Jews at -Capernaum, cultivating the plant that came up from the seeds that old -tutor sowed in your childhood, have brought it along to blooming." He -laughed and tapped the rail with the palm of his hand. "Well, perhaps -it's an advance--from the Roman gods to the Jews' one god--in -superstition." But then the patronizing smile was gone, and he was -serious. "I don't know, Cornelius. This one-god scheme does have its -merits, I can see. I would like to believe, and I wish I could, that -such an all-powerful, all-wise, all-good being rules the universe. -But"--he paused, and a heavy frown darkened his -countenance--"Cornelius," he began again, "I keep thinking of those -slaves back there on the Emporium docks, countless slaves all over Rome -and throughout the Empire, beaten, maimed, killed at the whims of their -masters, yes, and that baby thrown into the Tiber, numberless unwanted -babies exposed to die--drowned, thrown to the beasts, bashed against -walls--and yet you say that one good god rules, one all-powerful and -all-knowing god, one _good_ god." He thrust forth a quivering, -challenging forefinger almost under his friend's nose. "Then tell me, -Cornelius, why does your good one god send all this ignorance, this -stupidity, this cruelty, this despicable wickedness on the world? Tell -me why; give me one logical, sensible reason, and I'll fall down at the -invisible and intangible feet of your great one god and worship him in -utter subjection." - -"I can't tell you, Longinus. That very question has troubled me, too. I -have wondered, and I've tried to explain it for myself. I don't know how -old Pheidias explained it, or even if he did. I don't recall our ever -challenging him on that point. But it may be that this one god--if there -be one, mind you--does not ordain all the things that happen in the -world. It may be that he is even sorrowful, too, because babies are -thrown into the Tiber, because men are cruel and heartless toward other -men...." - -"Then if he is all-powerful, Cornelius, why does he permit it? You say -he doesn't will it. Then why does he allow it?" - -Cornelius looked across the deck to the shore line on the starboard side -and for a long moment silently considered his friend's question. "I -cannot say, Centurion; it's a mystery to me. Could it be, though, that -the answer, if there be any answer, lies in this god's determination to -give man his freedom? Could it be that even though he is hurt when man -abuses the freedom given him, he feels that his children must be free, -nevertheless, to work out their destinies? Maybe some such reasoning -might explain it. I don't know." He shook his head sadly. "What do you -think?" - -"I disagree, Cornelius. You say that this one god would not order an -infant thrown into the river. I agree, but that is not enough. A good -god would not permit it." His grim expression relaxed, but he was still -serious. "No, when one sees the condition in which countless men live, -the utter unfairness of things, one cannot logically believe in the -existence of such a god as you have described. Indeed, it is more -logical to believe in our Roman gods than in the god of your old tutor -or the Yahweh of the Jews, in our good ones contending with the evil -ones"--he shrugged--"with the evil ones usually winning. But it is even -more logical, Cornelius, to believe in no gods at all." - -"You have a good argument, Longinus. But it seems to me that we -invariably come back to what I said when we started this gods -discussion. If there is no higher intelligence, no supreme power, then -how did all this"--he swept his arm in a wide arc--"how did we, the -world, the sun and moon and stars, everything, how did it all come into -existence in the first place? By accident? Bah! And if not by accident, -how? Answer me that, Longinus." - -"I can't answer you. But why should I? What difference does it make? If -this good god does exist but does not rule, if he does not enforce a -good way of living among men, if he does not protect helpless babies or -captured peoples--and obviously he doesn't--is the world any better off -than if no gods existed in the first place?" He smiled complacently. -"But, Cornelius, I have no quarrel with your attachment to your tutor's -strangely Yahweh-like god. Some day when I visit you in Capernaum I may -go with you to the synagogue or even the Temple at Jerusalem. I may -even," he added with a grin, "offer a brace of doves for the sacrifices. -Or would your Yahweh insist on my offering a young lamb?" - -"_My_ Yahweh? But I'm no Jew, Longinus. The god of old Pheidias has a -greater appeal to me than Yahweh. Yahweh is too stern, too unbending, as -they interpret him. But maybe they interpret him wrong, the priests who -lead the worship, or maybe I interpret their interpretation wrong. It -may be that the true one god"--he smiled--"if there be one, my friend, -has never been properly interpreted to man. Maybe we just don't know -him, what he's like." He shrugged and stepped away from the rail. "But I -think we've had enough of gods for one day, don't you agree? Let's go -inside. I've got some work to do before we reach Ostia; you probably -have some, too." - -As they started toward the cabin, Longinus turned to look back. Rome was -entirely behind them now, off the port stern, but still clearly in -sight. Above the city wall and the Aventine Hill beyond and now lifted -clear of the Circus Maximus, the sprawling great Imperial Palace atop -Palatine Hill flaunted itself in the sunshine. - -_Had Claudia arisen? Was she now in her bath or in the solarium having -her hair dressed or her nails manicured? Was she in the peristylium or -on the couch in the exedra? Was she making preparations, not too -reluctantly perhaps, for her wedding with Pontius Pilate?_ - -_... Yes, and back there somewhere in that press of humanity were -Pontius Pilate and the Prefect Sejanus, by all the gods. By all the -gods, indeed. Good gods and evil gods, good to Pilate, evil to me...._ - -Longinus abruptly faced about. Ahead, straight over the bow of the -"Palmyra," gaining momentum now in a channel clearing of the jam of -traffic within the city's walls, was Rome's port of Ostia, where the -great mainsail would be hoisted aloft to catch the winds that would help -speed the vessel eastward. Ahead and many days and long Great Sea miles -distant were the coasts of Palestine ... and Caesarea. Ahead, too, -despite all the gods, real or fancied, and despite Sejanus and Pontius -Pilate, was Claudia. - - - - - Palestine - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 10 - - -Longinus and Cornelius strolled over to the port bow rail as the -"Palmyra," its mainsail sliding slowly down the mast behind them, swung -around the end of the north breakwater and skimmed lightly across the -harbor toward the docks at Ptolemais. - -"I thought Caesarea would be our first stop." - -"We're putting in here only long enough to drop some passengers and a -quantity of goods Herod's brought from Rome," Cornelius revealed. - -Longinus looked up in surprise. "Herod's goods?" he asked. - -"Furnishings for the palace at Tiberias--bronze tables, chairs, -decorative pieces, of Herodias' choosing, I suspect. In fact, some of it -probably came from her house, favorite things to make her feel more at -home in Tiberias. Putting those crates ashore here will save us the -trouble of carrying them on to Joppa and Jerusalem." - -"But when the Tetrarchess discovers that Herodias had a hand in -selecting the things...." Longinus grimaced, laughing. "Say, are you -letting your men go ashore here?" - -"Only for a few minutes, just to let them stretch their legs while the -vessel's unloading. Don't worry, they've been told to stay in the wharf -area. If they were to get near the taverns and brothels, we'd be here -all night!" - -Already the soldiers of the two centuries, impatient to get ashore ever -since they had first spotted Mount Carmel towering above the promontory -jutting out from the Phoenician coast, were lining the "Palmyra's" -rails. Cornelius beckoned to one of his legionaries. - -"Decius, call out a detachment--twelve men should be enough--to be ready -as soon as the 'Palmyra' docks to take charge of transporting the -shipment of goods the Tetrarch Herod is sending to his palace at -Tiberias. His steward Chuza will put several of the palace servants to -unloading it and will arrange for obtaining carts and beasts to move it. -You will be concerned only with guarding the caravan. But be on the -alert every moment, Decius. See that you aren't surprised by some -lurking band of thieves lying in wait for you. If anything should happen -to this shipment, by the gods, we'd never hear the end of it; word would -get back to Rome and the Prefect himself would know about it." Upon -delivering the goods at the Tetrarch's palace, he added, Decius should -take the detachment to the garrison post and there await his arrival -with the remainder of the century, which would be escorting Herod to -Jerusalem and from there northward to his Galilean capital. - -When some two hours later the unloading had been completed and the other -legionaries had returned to the ship, Decius stood with his detachment -beside the piled crates and casks and waved good-by to his comrades as -the "Palmyra" moved slowly away from the wharf and then, gaining speed, -headed on a straight course toward the harbor mouth. The next day the -vessel cleared the long breakwater thrust far out into the Great Sea to -provide a safe harbor at Caesarea, and Longinus and his century went -ashore. While the legionaries were assembling their gear, Cornelius -stood with him on the pier. - -"Come visit us at Tiberias, Longinus. You can contrive some mission that -will warrant your being sent, can't you?" he asked, then added, -"Herodias will probably be coming out from Rome before long. I suspect -Herod will be going back for her as soon as he can arrange with the -present Tetrarchess for her to be supplanted...." - -"If he can--which I doubt." - -"Whether he can amicably or not, I'd wager that he'll be bringing -Herodias to Tiberias as Tetrarchess. Then Claudia can visit her and you -can meet her there. And marry her and keep her out here until you've -completed your tour of duty." Cornelius winked and playfully nudged his -friend with an elbow. "By the gods, maybe that's what you and Claudia -have planned all along. Is it, Longinus?" - -"No, we haven't planned any such thing." Longinus stared thoughtfully -out at the shore before them. "But I'll contrive some reason for getting -up to Tiberias. And we're bound to meet in Jerusalem during one of the -festivals; they bring in the troops then, you know. Or perhaps some -mission will bring you to Caesarea; at Tiberias, after all, you'll be -nearer us than we will be to Jerusalem." He clapped a hand on his -friend's shoulder. "My love, and the blessings of the gods--including -your Yahweh--to your family." - -Cornelius stood at the "Palmyra's" rail as the vessel slipped away from -the wharf. When it was nearing the rounding of the breakwater, he heard -Longinus' sharp command, and the century moved off smartly. The tapping -of the legionaries' heavy boots in rhythmical, perfect cadence came -clearly to him across the water. Longinus turned and lifted his arm high -in salute; Cornelius returned it, as the century, swinging along the -cobblestoned way, gained a street corner and turned, then began to be -swallowed up into the maze of stone buildings beyond the piers. - -The sun was dropping low into the Great Sea when the "Palmyra" sailed -into the port at Joppa. Relieved and happy that the long voyage was -safely ended, the passengers disembarked to seek refreshment and rest -for the night. Early on the morrow Herod Antipas with Mary of Magdala -and the others of his company, escorted by Centurion Cornelius and his -century, would set out on the forty-mile journey southeastward to -Jerusalem. - - - - - 11 - - -Centurion Cornelius pointed to a horseman hurrying toward them along the -narrow road east of the river. "The advance guard must have run into -trouble, maybe Bar Abbas and his gang or some other waylaying zealots." - -"Then you'd better send out a patrol to overtake and destroy them," -Herod Antipas scowled. "I have no patience with those rebel cutthroats." - -The caravan trudging up the deep trough of the Jordan had paused for the -midday refreshment. Four days ago it had descended the Jericho road from -Jerusalem to encamp for the night on the plain before the city. Horses -had been provided for the Tetrarch and certain of his household, but the -soldiers of the century, with the exception of the small advance and -rear patrols, were on foot. Heavily loaded carts and donkeys transported -the supplies, gear, and tents. The journey had been made without -incident; another day of uninterrupted progress would bring the caravan -to the Sea of Galilee, or, if they were lucky, perhaps even as far as -Tiberias. - -Cornelius stood up and signaled the approaching rider. The horseman rode -straight up to him, reined in his mount, and saluted. "Centurion," he -reported, "up ahead at the river crossing there's a motley crowd of -about a hundred persons, most of them men. Judging by their appearance, -they must have traveled a long way. They appear to be peaceful, but -there's a wild-looking, hairy fellow haranguing them, and they're -drinking in his every word; they hardly noticed me when I joined them." - -"What was the fellow saying, Lucilius?" - -"I couldn't understand him, Centurion. I'm not familiar with the speech -of this region, which I presume it was. But I thought he might be one of -those Galilean revolutionaries trying to incite the crowd against our -Roman rule." - -"One of those zealots, you mean? No, hardly, Lucilius. Those rebels -don't stand up delivering speeches; their way is to thrust a knife -between somebody's ribs and then slink quickly away. More than likely -this fellow's a religious fanatic, and I would guess his language is -Aramaic. There's probably no harm in him, but you did well to report. I -understand Aramaic; I'll return with you and investigate." - -"I believe I know who the man is, Centurion," the Tetrarch volunteered. -"There was a desert fellow from the Wilderness country beginning to -cause a stir here when I was leaving for Rome. I had reports then that -he was thundering invectives against everything, even the Tetrarch and -his house. He may be inciting the people against Rome. At any rate, I -want to hear him, and perhaps you should, too." - -Mary of Magdala, seated near-by, had overheard. "I, too, would like to -hear the strange prophet." - -"But surely even your irresistible charms would not tempt this mad -Wilderness preacher." Antipas winked at the centurion. - -"I am not interested in charming him. But if this is the man you think -he is I have heard much about him. I would like to observe him for -myself." - -Cornelius turned back to Antipas. "If the Tetrarch wishes, I'll send up -a patrol to be near-by in case of any trouble. But I think, Sire, you -should disguise yourself. Then you will be able to mingle safely with -the throng, and the preacher, not knowing the Tetrarch is hearing him, -will talk freely." - -Antipas, agreeing, quickly exchanged his purple mantle for the simple -Galilean garment of one of his servants and wrapped about his -Roman-style cropped head a bedraggled scarf to form an effectively -concealing headdress. The servant cut a reed to serve as a walking -staff. Mary, too, changed garments and veiled her face in the manner of -a Galilean peasant woman. - -Cornelius sent a patrol ahead. "Stop this side of the ford," he -instructed Lucilius, "and try to avoid being noticed by the throng down -there. But keep on the alert for any commotion that might develop." Then -he, Antipas, and Mary all mounted horses and rode toward the place where -the multitude had assembled. At a bend in the road some two hundred -paces from the ford the three riders dismounted behind screening thick -willows that came up from the river bank; from there they quietly made -their way down to the ford and slipped unobtrusively into the crowd. - -Every burning dark eye seemed to be focused on the gesticulating, -fiercely intent preacher. He stood in the center of the circled throng -on the river bank, and his words came to them clear and sharply -challenging, angry and pleading, denunciatory and promising. - -"You generation of vipers!" he thundered, shaking a gnarled fist in -their teeth, "have I not warned you to escape from the wrath that is -coming? Do you contend that because you are Abraham's seed you are -secure from the judgment of a righteous God?" He lowered his voice, -strode two steps forward, and dramatically wheeled about. "What are -Abraham's descendants to God? Could he not raise up from these very -stones"--he pointed toward the smoothly rounded small rocks lining the -water's edge--"children for Abraham? And is not the ax ready at the foot -of the tree to cut down every one that does not bear fruit?" - -Cornelius nudged a bent Jew, his face streaked with perspiration that -ran down in soiled small beads into his grizzled beard, his whole frame -seemingly so absorbed in the speaker's thundering words that he had not -even noticed the centurion's arrival beside him. "That man, who is he?" - -The old fellow turned incredulously to stare. "Soldier, you have been in -Galilee long enough to speak our tongue, and yet you do not know _him_?" - -"But for many weeks I have not set foot in Galilee," Cornelius replied. -"I am just now returning, by way of Jerusalem, from Rome." - -"He is the Prophet John, soldier, the one sent of God to warn Israel to -repent and be baptized." The old man turned back to give his attention -for the moment to the preacher. Then, his face earnest, he confronted -Cornelius again. "He is not concerned with Rome, soldier. He preaches -only that men should cleanse their hearts of evil and walk in the way of -our Yahweh." Once more he turned to stare at the prophet whose eyes were -wildly flaming in his burnt dark face; ignoring Cornelius, the old man -leaned forward and raised a knotted hand to cup his ear. - -John was tall, and his leathery leanness accentuated his height. The -prophet, it was immediately evident to the centurion, was not a man of -the cities and the synagogues; he was a son of the desert and the -wastelands of Judaea, and the sun and wind had tanned his skin to the -color and hardness of old harness. Nor did he appear any more afraid of -the proud and opulent Pharisees and Sadducees who confronted him with -their disdainful smiles than he must have been of the wild animals of -his Wilderness haunts. - -"Repent! I say unto you. And bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. -Try not further the patience of God. Forswear evil and do good." - -"But what are for us fruits worthy of repentance? What must we do?" - -The questioner, his countenance heavy with pain, stood at the river's -edge facing the prophet. His garb revealed him to be a man of means, but -it was evident also that the thundering words of the baptizer had -stirred him deeply and that he had asked the question in all humility. - -John thrust forth a lean forefinger and shook it sternly. "You are of a -calling unloved in Israel, and justly so. You have sold your birthright -as a son of Israel to join your heel to the conqueror's to grind -Abraham's seed into the earth. You are a publican; I know you, and I -know the publican's heart." His voice was almost a hiss, and around the -clearing beards nodded in agreement with the prophet's harsh appraisal. -"I call upon you to repent!" - -"But what, Rab John, are the fruits of my repentance?" The perspiration -was running freely down the man's face and dripping into his beard. -"What must I do?" - -"Demand only that which is legally due you." - -"I swear that this I shall henceforth do, Yahweh being my helper. By the -beard of the High Priest, I swear it." The man sighed deeply, and from -the fold of his robe pulled forth a kerchief with which he mopped his -forehead, his whiskered cheeks, and the dampened long beard. - -"But we are not great ones," ventured a gnarled and grizzled fellow who -leaned twisted on his staff, "neither are we publicans. We are the plain -and the simple and the poor of Galilee. What shall we do worthy of -repentance?" - -"You have two coats, though they be worn and patched with much wearing? -Then give one to him who has none. And you have food, though it be -coarse and not plentiful? Share what you have with him who is hungry." - -Cornelius had noticed, standing not far from the prophet but somewhat -withdrawn from the throng as if to avoid contamination with these men of -earth such as the one who had just questioned John, a knot of -resplendently robed Israelites, their beards oiled and combed and -carefully braided, their fingers heavily ringed. Now one of these men, -his hands clasped in front of his rounded, sagging paunch, stepped -forward a pace and bowed. "Rabbi, we are priests and Levites sent by the -rulers in Jerusalem to hear and observe your teaching. We perceive that -you speak with great authority. Tell us, Rabbi"--his smile was as -unctuous as his beard was oiled--"are you that great One for whom we are -looking?" - -"I am not the Messiah," John answered evenly. - -"Are you then the Prophet Elijah returned to us?" - -"I am not he." - -"Then, Rabbi, who are you? We have been instructed to come and see and -carry back our report to the Temple rulers. What then shall we say of -you, who you are?" - -"Say that I am: - - "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, - "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, - "Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. - "Every valley shall be exalted, - "And every mountain and hill shall be made low: - "And the crooked shall be made straight, - "And the rough places plain: - "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, - "And all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath - spoken it." - -"You speak the words of the great Isaiah," the pompous questioner -declared. - -"Yes," John agreed. "And other words he said also. - - "The voice said, 'Cry,' - "And he said, 'What shall I cry? - "'All flesh is grass, - "'And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. - "'The grass withereth, the flower fadeth.... - "'But the word of our God shall stand forever.'" - -"Then you, like we, yet look for the coming of the Messiah of God?" - -John raised a lean and burnt arm and the haircloth robe slid down along -it to his shoulder. He pointed a darting forefinger toward the Temple's -emissary, and his countenance was solemn. "I tell you, that One is now -among us, though you have not recognized him as the Messiah of God. And -though he comes after me in time, he ranks before me; indeed, I am not -worthy to stoop down and unloose his sandal straps. I baptize you with -water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!" - -"Then, Rabbi, why do you baptize with water?" The unctuous one smiled -broadly and, pleased with his cleverness, looked from one member of the -delegation to another. - -"It is a sign that those who enter upon it have repented and been -cleansed in their hearts." He looked the man in the eyes. "Have you -repented, my brother? Is your heart changed? Are you ready for the -coming of Him of Whom I have this moment spoken?" John whirled about, -and his lean arm described an arc that embraced the multitude. "Repent, -ye men of Israel! Ye who dwell in great houses, repent! Ye men of earth -who know not where your next mouthful will be found, repent. For the -clean in heart do not all dwell in palaces or attend upon the Temple -worship, nor do they all go about hungry and naked and shelterless." - -As the prophet paused, he looked toward the centurion and the disguised -Tetrarch, who stood beside Mary and within a few paces of the portly -questioner from Jerusalem. Cornelius wondered what Herod was thinking of -this strange Wilderness preacher, this fiery denouncer of evildoers. But -in that same moment John resumed his discourse. "No, sin and wickedness -abide in the high places; evil reigns even in the great marble pile -built above the graves at Tiberias where the Idumaean pawn of the -conqueror despoils and seduces the people of Israel! He, too, my -brothers, even he must repent his wicked ways; he must seek the Lord -while yet He may be found, or he and his evil associates will be cast -into outer darkness!" - -The fleeting thought came suddenly to the centurion that the prophet had -recognized the large man in the soiled Galilean robe, and perhaps the -notorious woman of Magdala as well. But then would he have dared utter -such a denunciation? Was the desert preacher really a man of dedication -and courage, as people said? Perhaps. Cornelius scrutinized Herod's -face. The Tetrarch's normally pale complexion had turned an ugly shade -of red beneath the twisted turban, while beads of perspiration ran down -his heavy jowls. But Mary, though little of her face showed because of -the veil, appeared more amused than angered. - -The prophet's interrogator from Jerusalem was still unsatisfied. "But, -Rabbi," he began again, "you say that the Messiah of God is already -among us. Why then has he not declared himself, why has he not consumed -with holy fire the Edomite who possesses us and tramples into the dust -of utter subjection our ancient land?" - -John's eyes flashed angrily, but he controlled his tongue. When he spoke -his voice was calm. "It is not for me to explain or defend the will and -works of the Messiah. I am but His messenger who goes ahead to announce -His coming, to call upon His people Israel to repent that their eyes -might be whole to see Him when He comes, that their hearts might be -clean to know Him!" With bronzed fist he smote the palm of his left -hand, his ardor mounting. "You leaders of the people"--he stabbed a lean -forefinger toward the haughty group from Jerusalem--"cleanse your own -hearts; let fall from your eyes the scabs of greed and hypocrisy so that -when He comes you may recognize Him!" - -Cornelius felt a gentle tug on his arm; it was Mary. "The Tetrarch is -going back," she whispered. "He's furious at the man's denunciation of -him. If it hadn't been for the fact that he would have had to reveal his -identity in doing it, Antipas would have had him arrested. But he didn't -want those puffed toads"--she inclined her head to indicate the Jewish -delegation--"carrying stories back, and he wished to avoid provoking a -commotion; so he overlooked the...." - -"Behold, the Lamb of God!" - -Cornelius and the woman, her report to him startlingly interrupted by -the prophet's ejaculation, faced about quickly to look in the direction -toward which he was pointing. In that instant the others had whirled -about, too. Cornelius and Mary strained forward, trying to see above the -heads of the multitude. - -"He is the One of Whom I have been speaking!" shouted John. "Behold, the -Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Yonder is the Messiah -of God!" - -They saw coming along the path that led down from the road above the -river, walking with long, easy stride as he descended the grade toward -the clearing at the ford, a tall, sunburned young man, well-muscled but -lithe, broad of shoulders, erect. He wore a plain, brown, homespun robe, -belted at the waist with a length of rope, and coarse, heavy sandals. He -was bareheaded; his reddish brown hair fell away from a part in the -center of his head in locks that curled almost to his shoulders. In his -right hand he gripped a long staff cut from a sapling. As he strode down -the pathway and across the open space toward the prophet, he seemed deep -in thought, almost insensible to the throng about him. He walked -straight up to John. Cornelius and Mary could see the two talking in -subdued tones, but they could understand nothing of what was being said -by either man. - -"What are they saying?" It was the bent old Jew; he still stood near-by, -and he had cupped his palm to an ear lost in grizzled earlocks. -"Soldier, can you hear them?" - -"No, not a word," Cornelius answered. "They aren't talking loudly enough -for us up here." - -At that moment a youth who had been down at the water's edge standing a -few feet away from the prophet approached them. He heard the old man's -question. "They are arguing about baptizing the tall one," he explained. -"He wants the desert preacher to baptize him, but the preacher claims it -should be the other way around; he says he isn't worthy to baptize the -Messiah." - -"The Messiah!" The old man had been peering intently at the tall young -man standing calmly beside the prophet. "Is that the one the prophet -called the Lamb of God, the one long expected of Israel?" - -"Yes, the tall one." - -"Why do you ask?" Cornelius inquired of the bent one. "Do you know the -man?" - -"Do I know him?" The old man chuckled. "Soldier, I come from Nazareth. -Many's the day I have worked with Joseph, that boy's father, planing one -end of a beam while he was shaping the other end. But Joseph's dead now, -been dead a long time. That boy there lives with his mother, the widow -Mary." - -"What does he do?" - -"He's a carpenter, too, like his father before him. And he's a good boy -and a hard-working boy, soldier. But Jesus ben Joseph the Messiah of -Israel...." The old fellow, both hands braced on his gnarled stick, -shook his head incredulously. "Soldier, my faith in that John the -Baptizer is weakening. He must be"--he removed one hand from the stick -and with bent forefinger tapped his forehead--"a little touched." - -Cornelius laughed. "I don't know much about this Messiah business, but, -I agree, he must be." Then he turned to Mary. "Are you ready to go? I -mustn't let Herod get too far ahead. I'm responsible for his arriving in -Tiberias, you know." - -They started retracing their way along the path to the road; where it -joined the broader way, they turned southward. When a moment later they -came out from behind a clump of shrubs grown up in an outcropping of -small boulders, Cornelius glanced over his shoulder toward the ford and -the throng. He caught Mary's arm and pointed. - -The haircloth mantle and the brown homespun robe had been thrown across -small bushes at the river's edge. In the center of the little stream, -with the water up to their loincloths and their faces lifted heavenward, -stood the gaunt Wilderness prophet and the tall bronzed young man from -Nazareth. - - - - - 12 - - -The Procurator's Palace sat high on a promontory overlooking the harbor -at Caesarea. A marble-paved esplanade led from the cobblestoned street -up to the palace, and on its west side facing the Great Sea an immense -terrace of colored, polished stones went out from the peristylium. - -In the days when King Herod, father of Antipas, determined to build here -on the Palestinian coast a fabulous port city to honor his patron, the -Emperor Augustus, the place was an insignificant town called by the -unusual name of Strato's Towers. Then there was virtually no harbor. But -at tremendous cost in the lives of slaves and artisans and money wrung -in taxes from his already poor subjects, Herod built of huge stones sunk -in twenty fathoms of often rough water a tremendous mole that went out -and around like a protecting arm to form a safe shelter for countless -ships of every type. - -Quickly old Herod had transformed Strato's Towers into a beautiful and -busy city more Roman than Jewish. A stranger unfamiliar with the region -and just landed from a trireme in the harbor at Caesarea, in fact, would -hardly realize that he was in a Palestinian city. Not only were its -great public buildings and lavish homes Roman--its Procurator's Palace, -its immense hippodrome for athletic sports and gladiatorial combats, its -theater, its gleaming marble temples to pagan gods--but Roman, too, were -many of its people. Its population actually was of varied -nationalities--Roman, Greek, Syrian, Idumaean, Ethiopian, and many -others; there were countless slaves from conquered provinces--Germania, -Gaul, Dalmatia, even here and there one from Britannia--a motley -multitude from every region on the rim of the Great Sea and even from -lands farther away. Caesarea was a metropolitan city set down upon the -coast of this ancient homeland of the Samaritans and their more -peculiarly Hebrew cousins the Judaeans. - -Today the newly arrived Procurator Pontius Pilate and his wife sat in -the warming sunshine on the terrace and looked down upon the busy harbor -and the Great Sea stretching westward into the blue haze. Obliquely -facing them, so that he could see both the harbor and a portion of the -maze of buildings pushing one upon the other from it, sat their guest, -the Centurion Longinus. - -Claudia pointed to a large merchant ship being tied up at one of the -docks below. "This is a tremendous harbor, rivaling Ostia's, isn't it? -Look at all those vessels, and that one that has just sailed in. Judging -by its size, I'd say it was an Alexandrian grain ship." - -"It is a great harbor, and wonderfully protected. In fact, I was amazed -to find Caesarea such a modern city." Pilate smiled broadly. "I had -feared that it would be another typical provincial outpost." - -"On the contrary, Excellency, it's quite a metropolis," Longinus -observed. "You'll discover people here from every part of the world, and -far fewer Jews, I suspect, than you had anticipated finding. Of course, -you've hardly had time yet to learn much about the city." - -Pilate laughed, but with little humor. "The fewer Jews the better. I'm -glad the capital of the province is here rather than at Jerusalem; it -would be galling, I suspect, to be forced to spend most of one's time in -that nest of Jews. Speaking of Jerusalem, Centurion, I plan to visit the -city shortly and have a straight talk with that High Priest. I wish it -known at the very beginning of my Procuratorship that I intend to -demonstrate clearly and forcefully, if that be necessary, that Rome -cannot be trifled with by these obstinate and pestiferous Jews. You, of -course, have been to Jerusalem?" - -"Not since I came out this time. But on many occasions previously, -including visits during the festivals. If you go there during Passover -week, you'll see Jews from every part of the world." - -"I have already seen enough of them for a lifetime," Pilate said, -scowling. But quickly he smiled again. "Centurion, I am going to the -cohort's headquarters; I wish to talk with Sergius Paulus." He clapped -his hands, and a slave came running. "Summon my sedan bearers," he -commanded. "May I take you to your quarters," he asked Longinus, "or -will you stay longer and entertain Claudia?" He turned to his wife and -smiled warmly. "A familiar face, and a Roman one, is particularly -welcome in this strange outpost of the Empire, isn't it, my dear -Claudia?" - -"Yes, indeed, Pilate." She reached over and put her hand lightly on the -centurion's arm. "Longinus, do stay and talk. You can give me -instructions on how to act out here in this strange region, strange to -Pilate and me, at any rate." - -In a few minutes the servant announced that the sedan bearers were -awaiting him, and Pilate excused himself. When he was gone, Longinus -moved his chair nearer Claudia. "I wonder why he invited me to stay," he -said. "Does he suspect us, do you suppose? Or," he added with a wry -smile, "is there no longer any occasion for his doing that?" - -"I don't think he suspects us, although I haven't yet learned how to -weigh his words or actions. But what if he does?" She shrugged. "With me -everything is just as it was before you left Rome. But maybe"--coyly she -looked up at him from beneath her long lashes--"you have discovered some -woman out here...." - -"No. And I haven't looked. But I wonder how much he knows or suspects." -He told her of his last conversation with the Prefect, of the -determination of Sejanus to keep her happily away from Rome, of that -wily rascal's invitation--in fact, almost command--to do whatever might -be necessary, including the invasion of the Procurator's bed, to detain -her in contented exile. "But I don't think he suspected then that we -were planning to get married almost immediately. And I'm sure Pilate -didn't." His forehead wrinkled in deep study. "By any chance, Claudia, -have you let slip...?" - -"About us, to him? Of course not." - -"To anyone... Herodias maybe, the gods forbid. I wouldn't trust that -woman as far as I could throw that grain ship over there. Could you, -without realizing it, have let slip...?" - -"Yes, I did tell Herodias. She does know that you and I were planning to -marry and come out to Palestine. But I'm sure neither she nor Antipas -has said anything to Pilate about it ... if they've even seen him since. -And certainly they haven't talked with Sejanus." - -"Anyway, Claudia, we must be doubly careful. So long as Sejanus thinks -I'm simply keeping you ... satisfied, he called it, it's all right. But -should he get the notion that I might be planning to take you away from -Pilate and back to Rome ..." he broke off, scowling. "And here there'll -be other eyes and ears watching and listening, too. But when Pilate goes -to Jerusalem, can't we arrange...?" - -"I'll be going, too," she interrupted. "And so must you. We can contrive -some excuse for your accompanying us." Her eyes were bright with -smoldering fires, he saw, and her lips warm, he knew, and red and eager, -and he remembered the taste of the Falernian upon them. But adamantly he -turned his eyes away to look toward the great harbor. "And in Jerusalem, -Longinus, beloved"--her hand had caught his arm and was squeezing -hard--"we'll find some way." - - - - - 13 - - -Sergius Paulus, who commanded the legionaries escorting Procurator -Pontius Pilate and his party to Jerusalem, halted his column several -hundred paces west of the great market square outside the Joppa Gate. - -"Sheathe the cohort's emblems!" he commanded, and quickly down the line -of march the soldiers began covering the banners of the Second -Italian--the likenesses of the Emperor Tiberius, the screaming eagles, -the fasces with their bundled arrows and axes, everything that flaunted -the proud victories of this cohort of Rome's conquering armies. - -"But Commander Sergius," Pilate began to protest, "by whose orders must -Rome thus bow to these haughty Jews? Is this, by any chance, _your_ -scheme for forestalling possible disorder?" - -"No, Excellency, the sheathing of the emblems in Jerusalem is not of my -devising; it follows a long established custom, started, I believe, by -the Emperor Augustus as a result of a pact with the Jewish leaders and -continued by the Emperor Tiberius through orders transmitted to us by -the Prefect Sejanus." His smile was coldly professional. "I assure you, -sir, covering our emblems before the gates of Jerusalem is as -distasteful to me as it must be to the Procurator, but this is an order -I dare not violate." - -The round face of the helmeted Procurator reddened with fury. He shook -his head angrily and banged his heavy fist against the apron of the -chariot in which he stood beside his wife. "I am not accustomed to -seeing Rome display humility--abject humility--which is what this action -seems to me to be. But I shall not countermand the order you have given, -though to me it is both humiliating and exasperating that our -legionaries are forced thus to yield to these outrageous Jews." He -raised his hand to signal. "When you are ready, Commander, let us -proceed into the city." Then he turned to address Longinus, who had -halted near the Procurator. "Centurion, will you exchange places with my -driver? Claudia and I are entering Jerusalem for the first time; would -you be our guide and point out the principal places of interest?" - -Quickly the exchange was accomplished, and the detachment, its emblems -shielded now from view, resumed its march. Crossing the market place at -the gate, a suddenly stilled large square that a moment before the -Romans' arrival had been a hubbub of shouts and shrill cries of -bargaining, the procession moved through the gateway to enter a narrow -cobblestoned street also strangely deserted. - -"But where are the people to welcome us?" Pilate inquired, his balding -high forehead creased in anger and consternation. "Why this unnatural -calm?" - -"They have retreated inside their shops and houses and closed the -shutters; right now they are peering at us through lattices and from the -roof tops, Excellency. This is the way they show their scorn for their -conquerors. It will be our good fortune if we are not pelted with rotten -vegetables and fruit thrown from the house tops, or even tiles from the -roofs." He smiled, not too happily. "The Jews, Excellency, don't have -much affection for us Romans." - -The veins in the Procurator's neck swelled as though they might burst, -and his countenance was livid. "In every province in which I have -formerly entered with our troops," he declared, "the populace has -welcomed us thunderously, often with flowers and branches of trees -thrown in our way, and many times they have even prostrated themselves -before us." He knotted his fist again. "By all the gods, I shall teach -these Jews better manners. Nor shall I delay long in setting them to -their lessons!" - -Claudia laid a soothing hand on her husband's arm; with the other she -pointed to the right. "Those huge buildings! Longinus, they appear to be -towers. And what tremendous stones. I didn't know these Jews were -capable of raising such structures." - -"Yes, on the contrary, the Jews are good artisans, and old Herod, who -built many great edifices here as well as at Caesarea and other cities, -also employed many foreign workers of great skill. He evidently wished -to emulate Augustus in raising magnificent public buildings." They were -coming now to a great square tower, one of those to which Claudia had -pointed. "This first one is the Hippicus Tower, named, I have heard, for -a friend of Herod. The next one, in the middle, is Phasael, called that -in honor of Herod's brother. But that one"--he pointed in the direction -of a third--"is the most famous, perhaps because he built it to the -memory of the only wife he really loved. It's called the Mariamne Tower, -after the one he had killed. They say that the old reprobate almost went -insane with grief after he'd executed her. Claudia, this Mariamne was -the grandmother of Herodias and her spendthrift brother Agrippa. -Mariamne was a member of the ancient Hasmonean line of Israelite rulers. -Very soon now we'll be passing the old Hasmonean Palace; it's over near -the viaduct that connects Zion Hill with the Temple." - -"But, Longinus, where is the Procurator's Palace?" - -"Yes, Centurion, I'd be interested in seeing it." - -"It's behind that wall joining the three towers, sir. And it's a -tremendous place, too, with fountains and flowers and grass and -trees--you will love it, Claudia--it serves as headquarters of the -Procurator when he visits Jerusalem, though it's called Herod's Palace. -When the Tetrarch is in Jerusalem, especially if the Procurator is here -at the same time--for instance, during Passover feasts--the Tetrarch -usually stays at the Hasmonean Palace. Excellency"--he faced the -Procurator again, for he had been busy with the reins in an attempt to -dodge a heavily loaded cart being pulled by a trudging donkey--"do you -plan to stop here at Herod's Palace, or will you stay in the -Procurator's quarters at the Tower of Antonia?" - -"What was the custom of Valerius Gratus? Where did he stay?" - -"He usually lodged here, I believe. It's more comfortable, of course, -and perhaps will be quieter than the quarters at Antonia." - -"Perhaps"--Pilate faced Claudia, his expression questioning--"then we -should stay at Herod's Palace. But, pray the gods, why should it be -called Herod's Palace now? The Herods no longer have authority in -Judaea." - -"It was built by old Herod, sir, and the name persists. Things change -slowly out here; tradition and custom rule in Judaea. I'm sure you'll -realize that more the longer you remain in Palestine." They were nearing -a gate in the high wall that gave admittance to the palace. Several -guards at the gate, seeing the procession of Roman troops, straightened -and raised their arms in salute. Longinus lifted the reins to halt the -chariot. - -"No, not yet," Pilate said. "Claudia wishes to see the Temple and -Antonia Tower before we stop. Don't you, my dear?" - -"I do. Then, after I've had a look at them, we can return, can't we? And -if the Procurator is kept at Antonia Tower longer than he expects to be, -perhaps the centurion would fetch me back here?" - -Longinus smiled. "Of course," he murmured, then turned to Pilate. "But, -sir, you won't be able to proceed far with the chariots. You'll have to -change to horseback or be borne in a sedan chair. These Jerusalem -streets are very narrow, and many of them ascend and descend stairs that -a chariot could scarcely manage." - -Pilate nodded. "Thank you, Centurion. In that case we'll leave the -chariots here, and I'll ride horseback. Claudia can take a sedan chair." -He looked toward his wife, and his eyes were questioning. "That is, if -she still wishes to go on to Antonia." - -"Yes, I'd particularly like to see the Temple; I've heard stories of -what a marvelous structure it is. I'll go on, and Longinus can bring me -back." She smiled. "Would you?" - -"As you wish," he said. - -Pilate nodded. "If you will, Centurion. Or I can send someone to bring -you here, Claudia, if the centurion finds that he cannot get away from -his duties. I'll probably be detained for some time at the Tower. I am -determined to see the High Priest before the sun sets. I had planned to -call on him at his palace, but now, after the reception Jerusalem has -given me, by all the gods"--his face was reddening again--"I shall -summon him to come to me!" - -So the column was halted along the narrow way in front of the sprawling -Herod's Palace. The chariots were driven inside the palace grounds and -left there, and a sedan chair was brought out by bearers quickly -recruited from the palace's staff of servants. - -"Centurion, if you will ride in the sedan chair with Claudia," the -Procurator said, "you can point out to her the places of importance in -this nest of obstinate Jewry." He mounted a gaily caparisoned horse and -rode forward to the head of the column. - -"Perhaps, Excellency, it would be best for me to go ahead with the -advance guard"--Sergius Paulus smiled grimly as Pilate came abreast of -him--"to absorb the stones that may be hurled at the new Procurator, not -that there is any personal animosity toward you, sir, but because you -are a symbol of Rome's dominion...." - -"No! I'm not afraid of them!" the Procurator angrily interrupted. "And, -by great Jove, I'll teach them to respect the dominion of Rome!" He -spurred his horse several paces ahead of the cohort commander. - -Meanwhile Claudia and Longinus had settled themselves in the sedan -chair. As it moved off, they did not draw the curtains. "It isn't -because I am afraid to draw them," Claudia said to him. "I'm not afraid -of Pilate, nor am I afraid of the people out there. It's because I want -to see Jerusalem." - -"You don't think Pilate might become suspicious, do you, or even -jealous?" - -"Pilate thinks only of Pilate and how he can advance his own fortune. -He's ambitious and egotistical; he craves authority, and he covets -riches. He'll do nothing to displease me, not because of affection for -me, but because I'm the stepdaughter of the Emperor and because our -marriage was arranged by the Prefect. If he's ever jealous of me--and I -think he never will be--I'm quite certain he will make every effort not -to show it." - -"Which means?" - -"That it should not be difficult for us to contrive to see each -other...." - -"Tonight?" - -Claudia laughed. "Are you, I hope, that eager?" - -"I've been that eager for many weeks, Claudia." He leaned across to take -her hand. She drew it back. - -"Not now, Centurion. The soldiers, you know...." - -"Then you are afraid of the Procurator's knowing...." - -"Not afraid, Longinus. Say, rather, discreet." - -Now they were being borne down a flight of stone steps. The hoofs of the -horses in front of and behind them clattered and slipped, and sometimes -an animal would go to its knees, though the heavily burdened donkeys -coming up the stairs and keeping close to the buildings managed to -scramble forward on nimble, sure feet. Sometimes a swaying load piled -high on a donkey's back would be overbalanced and topple as its -containing straps burst, and in a moment the merchandise would be -trampled to bits by the soldiers' steeds. - -When they reached the bottom of the steps and began to move along a -level portion of the street where there was an open space between the -buildings on the right, Claudia suddenly pointed. "That must be the old -Hasmonean Palace where the ancestors of Herodias' mother lived." - -"Yes." - -She scowled. "It's a stern and forbidding pile of stones." - -"You'll find that most Jewish public buildings are that way, the palaces -especially. But once you get inside them, you're bound to find them -enchanting. Herod's Palace has a sumptuous array of grass and flowers -and fountains; you should enjoy your stay there." - -"Perhaps." She smiled coyly. "It depends." Then she pointed. "What on -earth is that next building? It, too, looks like a fortress." - -"That place is called the Xystus; it's a Roman-style gymnasium built by -King Herod, who also constructed down this way"--he pointed off toward -the south--"an open-air theatre and"--he nodded in the opposite -direction--"northeast of the Temple area a large hippodrome where he -held games and gladiatorial sports modeled after ours at home. But the -orthodox Jews will have nothing to do with any of these things; they -won't even go near the places. To do so would violate some of their -religious laws." - -The sound of the horses' hoofs pounding ahead suddenly changed. - -"Are we on a bridge?" Claudia asked, as she leaned out left. She rode -facing forward, while Longinus sat opposite her, his back to the streets -unwinding ahead of them. "Yes, I see we are," she answered her own -question. "And it's a high one. Look, Longinus, by the Bountiful Mother! -That structure across there! It's ... it's unbelievable!" - -"That's the Temple," he announced. "It's the Jews' temple to their -Yahweh. And it is one of the most gorgeous--if that's the proper word, -Claudia--and costliest buildings in the world. It's made of white -marble, the finest cedarwood, and untold bronze and other materials of -the most extravagant quality, and trimmed with sheet gold and precious -gems. You'll see when we cross the bridge and enter its walls." Their -sedan chair was nearing the middle of the viaduct now. "See, it's a high -bridge. It connects Zion Hill, which we've just left, with the Temple -region. Over there"--he twisted about to point to the Temple on his -right and behind him--"is Mount Moriah. Between the two hills is this -sharp drop called the Tyropoeon Valley; some call it the Valley of the -Cheesemongers. In festival times these hillsides swarm with pilgrims -coming from all over the world to worship at the Temple, which they -consider the residing place of their Yahweh." He laughed, then gestured -with outflung hands. "But we should have Cornelius here to be your -guide. He knows far more about the religious customs and beliefs of the -Jews than I do; in fact, we had quite a talk about it on the boat coming -out, and I charged him with being a worshiper of the Jews' god himself." - -Near the end of the towering viaduct the procession stopped, and the -soldiers dismounted. Quickly a litter was provided for the Procurator, -and then the marching column, with Pilate's sedan chair in the vanguard -and Longinus and Claudia some paces behind him, moved off the viaduct -and passed beneath a great arch. - -"This is called the Gate Shalleketh," Longinus told her. "It's the main -gate into the Temple area from the Zion section of the city." - -"I'm amazed that you know so much about Jerusalem," Claudia began, then -suddenly stopped as, startled, she caught sight of a veritable forest of -marble columns, gigantic, reaching upward out of her range of vision -from within the constricting sedan chair. "Bona Dea! Longinus, this is -unbelievable! What a majestic structure! And look how far it extends! -It's mammoth, breath-taking!" - -"And that's only one of the porches, as they call it," Longinus hastened -to explain. "This one is styled the Royal Portico of Herod. Its marble -columns, as you can see, are more than a hundred feet high. And look, -Claudia"--he pointed behind, over his shoulder--"the colonnade itself -runs almost a thousand feet. Have you ever seen anything so fantastic?" - -"No, and I'm sure the High Priest couldn't be a bit more effective than -you in singing the Temple's praises," Claudia declared, laughing. "But -it really is a marvelous structure these Jews have built to their -superstition." - -"Yes, I agree. And that's exactly what I told Cornelius." - -The procession turned squarely to the left and started to emerge from -beneath the great roofed colonnade into the strong sunlight of an -immense open square. - -"This is called the Court of the Gentiles," Longinus explained. "And -over there is the Temple proper. Inside it is a place they call the Holy -of Holies. Only the High Priest himself, they say, is permitted to enter -it, and then only on a feast day, maybe once a year." - -"I've heard that inside that room there's a golden head of an ass and -that the Jews actually worship this ass's head." - -Longinus smiled. It was an old story he had heard many times, he -explained, though never from a Jew. Perhaps it started, so far as Rome -was concerned at any rate, with the time that Pompey, searching for -treasure, invaded the holy shrine of the Jews. "But he found no golden -head of an ass. He found only an empty chamber, severe and forbidding, -with nothing in it but a few golden vessels and some furniture that was -probably used as an altar. That's the story the Jews tell, anyway." - -"But this one god, Longinus, what did you say they call him?" - -"Yahweh, or Jehovah." - -"Yes, I remember. But where is he? Don't they have any statues of him -somewhere in the Temple, Centurion?" - -"No, according to what I've heard from the Jews themselves and from what -Cornelius has told me--and he knows far more about their religious -customs and beliefs than I do--statues are one thing they definitely do -not have. They declare that their god is a spirit without body and to -them any sort of representation in physical form--whether it be statues, -carvings, or whatnot--would be sacrilege. That's why they were so -violently opposed to our bringing in unsheathed emblems. They have the -strange belief that our army emblems are what they call 'graven images,' -and their laws expressly forbid any such thing. They won't even engrave -the head of a man or an animal on any of their coins." He shook his -head, as though scarcely able to believe his own words. "Strange, these -Jews. But you will discover that for yourself before you've been out -here many weeks." - -They were coming opposite the eastern face of the Temple proper. "Look -at that gate, or door!" Claudia pointed again. "Whatever it is, it's -tremendous! And it shines as though it were gold!" - -"They call it the Beautiful Gate. It's made of Corinthian brass and -plates of gold, and it's so heavy it takes a score of strong men to open -and close it. They say it was given by a rich foreign Jew. It must have -cost many a sesterce, don't you think?" - -"I'm sure it did." Her eyes were wide with disbelief. "The whole place -is magnificent; why I've never seen anything like...." Suddenly she -clamped a hand to her nose. "By all the gods, Longinus, what an odor!" -She leaned her head out. "Bona Dea, all that cattle. No wonder that -awful stench. What on earth are cattle and sheep doing in this beautiful -place, Longinus? Can it be for sacrificing, by all the great and little -gods!" - -"Yes, it's for sacrificing." Longinus grimaced. "The Jews think that -slitting an animal's throat and throwing the blood on that great altar -somehow cleanses them of their sins. I don't understand how it -could...." - -The young woman's laugh was derisive. "Bringing all those poor animals -in here to befoul this beautiful place, these gorgeous mosaics, to -pollute the very air, and they call that cleansing themselves. Bona Dea, -their Yahweh, if he demands this sort of worship, must be a bloodthirsty -god. It just goes to prove, Centurion, that this one-god religion has -less sense to it than even our silly superstitions." - -"That's what I told Cornelius. I see no efficacy in slitting the throats -of poor beasts and slaughtering countless doves and pigeons in order to -serve some god. Of course, so far as the priests are concerned, it's a -highly profitable business. But, of course, why should we criticize the -Jews when we do it in Rome, too, though not on such a grand scale?" - -A few paces farther on, the procession turned squarely to the left again -and proceeded along a third side of the Temple enclosure, past the -stalls of the lowing, frightened cattle and the cages of birds and the -money-changers seated behind their tables. From the long portico the -marchers pivoted to the right, then ascended steps that led to a wide, -paved esplanade. - -"This is the platform before the Tower of Antonia. We're coming to it -now." He motioned behind him. "It's the Roman military headquarters in -Jerusalem. But Pilate must have told you all about it." - -She leaned out and looked westward along the platform. "Pilate tells me -very little," she answered. "By the gods, it's a tall structure and a -grim-looking one. Doubtless overrun with soldiers, too, even in the -Procurator's private apartments." She winked and smiled. "I'm glad -Pilate decided to stop at the Herod Palace during our visit to -Jerusalem. He'll probably be here at Antonia much of the time. It should -be easier then to arrange things over there." - -"Things?" - -"Well"--her tone was playful, her eyelids fluttered teasingly--"yes, -things for people to do ... two people." - - - - - 14 - - -It was past midnight when Longinus returned at last to the now quiet -Tower of Antonia. Before leaving Caesarea he had arranged with Sergius -Paulus to have little more than token duty during the stay in Jerusalem. -In the weeks since his arrival in Palestine, he and the cohort commander -had come to an understanding; although Sergius knew little of the -centurion's reasons for being in this far eastern province, he did know -that Longinus had been sent out by the Prefect Sejanus, and Sergius was -not disposed to challenge, or even question actions of the Prefect. - -Pontius Pilate had not returned to the palace; presumably he had eaten -his evening meal at the tower with the officers there. At any rate, -Longinus and Claudia had not been disturbed. - -But when Longinus was admitted by the guards at the tower's outer gate, -he deliberately walked past the stairs leading to the southwest tower, -where the administrative offices, including the Procurator's quarters, -were situated. Going by the southeast tower would take him a bit out of -his way, Longinus reasoned, but he would be less likely to run into the -Procurator at this late and embarrassing hour. - -The centurion had been assigned quarters in the officers' section on a -floor level with a great gallery along the Temple side of Antonia; a -protective rampart ran the length of this gallery, and a door opened -onto the gallery from each officer's quarters. - -The air in the small chamber was musty and warm, and Longinus, too, was -warm from the exertion of his walk back to the tower. He sat on the side -of his bed for a moment, then stood up and opened the outer door. When -the draft of fresh air swept in, he stepped out onto the gallery to wait -there until his chamber had cooled. - -As he stood leaning on the rampart, Longinus heard a door open behind -him. Turning, he saw a soldier coming out. Another man too warm to fall -asleep, he thought, as he turned back to stare at the still and almost -deserted Temple enclosure. Fires smoldered on the great altar, and -flickering lamplight from the region of the cattle and sheep stalls gave -a look of eeriness to a scene that just a few hours before had been a -bedlam of sound and movement. - -The other soldier halted near him to look down also on the somnolent -Temple. The man pointed over the parapet. "Still an amazing picture, -even in the nighttime, isn't it?" - -"Cornelius!" Longinus said, recognizing the voice and whirling around to -face the other. "By all the gods, man, I thought you were in Galilee!" -He clapped a heavy hand on his friend's shoulder. "But I'm glad to see -you, Centurion." - -"And I had no idea you were in Jerusalem, Longinus!" Cornelius responded -with a shoulder-shaking slap. "How long have you been here? Did you come -today with the Procurator?" - -"Yes, we arrived here a little past midday; we marched out of Caesarea -at daybreak day before yesterday. But, by Jove"--he pointed to a stone -bench set against the rampart--"let's sit down, Cornelius. I've had a -hard day, and I'm sure you have, too. When did you get into Jerusalem, -and did you bring your century?" - -"We came only an hour before sunset. Yes, I had orders from the new -Procurator to meet him here with my century." - -"But why, pray Jove? It's no festival occasion. Can Pilate be expecting -trouble? He didn't indicate any such thing to me." - -"There's no reason why he should be anticipating any trouble, so far as -I can see ... unless he's planning to provoke it himself." - -"But why would he do that? He must know that Tiberius and Sejanus are -determined to keep our conquered dominions at peace, if for no other -reason than to insure the uninterrupted flow of revenue. But"--Longinus -shrugged--"maybe Pilate wants to make a show of force in the hope of -increasing that very flow--with the increase going into his own pockets, -of course--which might be why he's been conferring at such length with -Caiaphas and old Annas." He pointed toward a lighted window high in the -southwestern tower. "Look, they're still up there. Pilate didn't even go -to the Herod Palace for the evening meal with his new wife." - -"New wife? I didn't know Pilate was married." - -"Yes. Since we left Rome. And you'll be surprised to learn who she is." - -"Who?" - -"Claudia." - -"By all the great gods! Longinus, I thought you would be marrying -Claudia." - -"We had planned to be married." Longinus paused. "But Tiberius and -Sejanus made this other arrangement." - -Cornelius shook his head. "But what does Claudia say about it?" - -"What can she say? To them, I mean. But to me she declares that nothing -has changed between us. And judging by this afternoon and tonight--I've -been with her ever since we reached Jerusalem until a few minutes -ago--nothing has." - -"But couldn't that be dangerous for you two?" - -Longinus shook his head. "I hardly think so. Their marriage was an -entirely arranged one, and furthermore, I'm convinced Pilate would do -nothing to offend Claudia." - -"Tell me"--Cornelius leaned forward and tapped his friend's knee--"you -knew before we left Rome that this arrangement had been made?" - -"Yes, but I couldn't say anything about it then, Cornelius." - -"I understand. You were in some kind of cross fire, weren't you?" - -"Yes." - -"And you have an understanding or arrangement with Sejanus, don't you--I -don't mean about Claudia? Wait...." He held up his hand. "Don't answer -that. But I do want you to remember, Longinus, that regardless of what -may happen, I'm on your side ... yours and Claudia's." - -"I know that, my friend. And I'm on your side ... regardless. And it may -be that sometime we'll need one another's support. With old Tiberius and -crafty Sejanus on the one hand and this vain and ambitious Pilate on the -other, and perhaps Herod Antipas...." With mention of the Tetrarch's -name, he paused. "I assume you got him delivered to Tiberias in safety. -What did his Arabian Tetrarchess say about Herodias?" - -"She had heard about it before we reached Tiberias, perhaps from some of -that fellow Chuza's servants, the ones who fetched the furnishings from -Ptolemais, you remember. But that was only the beginning. Now they're -wondering at the palace what she'll do when Antipas gets back with his -new wife; he's already left for Rome, they say, to fetch her, and when -Herodias arrives, she'll probably be taking over as Tetrarchess." - -They sat for a long time in the coolness of the gallery high above the -sleeping Temple, and Cornelius related his experiences in escorting the -Tetrarch up the narrow defile of the Jordan River and their encounter -that day with the strange Wilderness preacher. He described the man's -bitter denunciation of Herod and his sudden and dramatic pointing out of -a tall young Galilean carpenter as the Jews' long looked for Messiah, -the man foretold by the ancient Israelite prophets as he who would -redeem their historic homeland from its bondage. - -"As we were leaving the place, I turned and looked back," Cornelius -added. "The strange prophet and the tall Galilean were standing in the -river with the water up to their loincloths; the tall one had asked to -receive something they call baptism, a symbolic cleansing of one's sins, -as I understand it." Cornelius paused and stared thoughtfully at his -hands. "I shall never forget the look on that man's face, Longinus. Ever -since that day I have been wondering about him. The Jewish Messiah." He -said it slowly, as though he were talking more to himself than to his -friend. "Do you remember that day on the 'Palmyra' when we were talking -about this Yahweh of the Jews, this one-god spirit? You said then that -you would never be able to imagine a being without a body." - -"Yes, I remember it quite clearly. But what are you going to say," -Longinus demanded, "that this tall fellow might have been a god turned -into a man? By all the gods, Cornelius, you don't mean to tell me you -think this Galilean could be the Messiah of the Jews? Their Messiah, if -I understand it correctly, will be a great military leader who will -drive us pagan Romans out of Palestine and re-establish the ancient -Israelite kingdom. Even the Jews don't believe he'll be a god, do they?" - -"I don't know, Longinus. I think most Jews believe he'll be a great -earthly king, as you say. But listening to that wild fellow and seeing -the look on that young man's face"--he paused, then ventured a hesitant -grin--"well, those strange words, the prophet's evident sincerity, his -intense manner...." - -"Jewish gibberish." Longinus shook his head and scowled. "This -superstition has captured you, my friend. This eastern mysticism that -comes to a head in that cruel and extravagant circus down there." He -pointed toward the great Temple, whose gold-plated roof shone -brilliantly in the light of the moon now emerging from behind a cloud. -"A carpenter from Galilee to overthrow imperial Rome! What with, pray -great Jove! A hammer and a chisel and a flat-headed adz?" - - - - - 15 - - -For two days after his long meeting with the High Priest Caiaphas and -the former High Priest Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas, the Procurator -Pontius Pilate was in a sullen mood. He said little and kept close to -his quarters in the Antonia Tower. Now and then he would walk out onto -the gallery overlooking the Temple enclosure and, leaning upon the -parapet, would stare balefully at the magnificent structure and the stir -of life within and around it. - -The orderly movements of the priests, set through the long years into an -inexorable pattern as they followed the prescribed routine of their -duties, seemed almost to infuriate him. "Look at them, Centurion!" he -snapped to Longinus on one of these occasions when the centurion -happened to be sunning himself on the gallery. "See how smugly they go -about their mummery, as if it were the most important thing in the -world. They seem studiously to ignore our all-powerful Rome and lavish -every attention upon their Yahweh." He doubled his fist and banged it -upon the parapet. "Yet one lone Roman century ordered into that hive of -impudent, arrogant busy bees could send them all flying, one Roman -century, Longinus. And by the great Jove, I'm tempted to dispatch -soldiers down there to clean out that insubordinate, traitorous nest!" - -Fortunately, though, the Procurator issued no such order, and the day -passed without the Romans' becoming involved in the religious ceremonies -of the Jews. The next morning, however, Pilate called together all his -officers on duty in Jerusalem, including Longinus and Cornelius. -Immediately it was evident that the Procurator's hostility toward the -Temple leadership had not diminished. - -"We are in a war of wits with these obstinate, proud Jews," he declared, -"and I cannot defeat them by remaining on the defensive. It's been a war -of words and gestures thus far, but I have been forced to the opinion -that we can have no victory over them until we have had some blood." His -blue eyes swept coldly over the unsmiling faces before him. "So I have -determined upon a bold plan in which we shall take the offensive." - -Pilate revealed that Caiaphas and Annas had rebuffed, though with -unctuous smiles and sugared words, his every effort even to discuss the -possibility of using Temple funds for the improvement of Jerusalem, -particularly the health of its residents, through the construction of -facilities to enlarge and improve the city's water supply. - -"They insist that this money has been dedicated to their god and belongs -to him and that for me to use one denarius of it, even in promoting -their welfare, would be a profanation and a sacrilege. Old Annas, may -Pluto burn him, even suggested that the people--he emphasized the fact -that he was not himself suggesting it--might even believe that _I_ had -seized the money for my own use." Pilate's anger had turned his face an -ugly crimson. His voice rose to a shout. "A profanation indeed! To these -insufferable Jews everything they do not wish to do or to have done is a -profanation. Yet their priestly caste is sucking the very lifeblood of -the people in the name of religion." He paused for a moment, then -continued more calmly. "So I have determined to initiate a bold new -plan. I shall have these Temple leaders crawling to me, and on their -bellies, cringing!" - -When it was clear that Pilate had, at least temporarily, finished, -Sergius Paulus ventured to speak. "But, Excellency, do you plan to raid -their Temple's treasury, to commandeer the gold the Jews have stored -there? Such a course, you must realize, might provoke the wrath of the -Emperor and the Prefect, since they have made a compact with...." - -"No, Commander, I am planning no raid on their treasury," Pilate -interrupted. "On the contrary, they will bring their treasure to me and -urge me to use it in providing a new water supply for Jerusalem. In so -doing they will admit to me and, more importantly, to their fellow -religionists that Rome is master and that their puny Yahweh is a lesser -god than our Emperor." - -Quickly and more calmly the Procurator unfolded his plan. When three -days ago he had come into Jerusalem at the head of the troops, he -reminded them, he had suffered the humiliation, for the first time in -his military career, of marching with the proud ensigns of Rome all -sheathed. This was done, he pointed out, to appease the Jews, to mollify -their Yahweh. - -"You recall the stony silence with which we were greeted, even the -hostile looks of the people peering from behind their screens or down -from their housetops; you remember the hatred in their eyes as we -crossed through the Temple court on our way here, the taunting remarks -flung at us. Rome has lost prestige in Palestine. We must recover it, -and this I am determined to do." The trace of a malevolent smile spread -across his round Roman face. "The Emperor must not be made to yield to -Yahweh; our eagles and our fasces must no longer be hidden from view as -though we were ashamed of them." - -Longinus was watching Sergius Paulus. He saw the commander's face -blanch, but Sergius said nothing. And Pilate continued outlining his -plan. - -"On top of this tower"--Pilate pointed upward--"is a perpetual flame -that burns while the vestments of the High Priest are held safe here in -Antonia. Rome therefore is providing and tending a flame that, to my -mind, is a memorial of Rome's yielding. No ensign with the Roman eagle -flies above the fortress or hangs from its ramparts. A further testimony -to our surrender to the stubborn Jews and their jealous god." A -humorless smile wrote thin lines at the corners of his mouth. "Of course -I am telling you what you who are stationed in Jerusalem already know. -Perhaps to me it is more galling because it is new." He paused, as if to -consider carefully his next words. "Tomorrow, with Centurion Longinus -and his century escorting my party," he began again, "I shall leave -Jerusalem on my return to Caesarea. Centurion Cornelius with his century -from Galilee will remain here until after my departure; how long he will -stay will be determined by the situation." His thin smile blossomed into -a baleful grin. "During the night, after I have left, the troops -stationed here at Antonia will extinguish the flame atop the tower and -hang out from the ramparts the ensigns of Rome, including the eagles, -the fasces, and the likenesses of the Emperor." - -"But, Excellency"--Sergius' face was pale, and his expression mirrored -alarm--"do you realize how this action will provoke the Jews, how it -will inflame them against us, lead perhaps even to bloodshed...?" - -"I fully realize that, Commander. That is why I am ordering it. I wish -to provoke them. It is only by provoking them that we can demonstrate -forcefully to them that Rome is master." - -"But, sir, the Emperor and the Prefect...." - -"Are you not aware that since my arrival at Caesarea I represent the -Emperor and the Prefect Sejanus in Judaea?" The words were almost a -snarl. "If you wish to dispute my authority or my judgment...." - -"But I do not, Excellency. The Procurator's commands to me naturally -will be carried out fully." - -"I expected as much, Commander. You will have charge of our forces in -Jerusalem in carrying out my orders. If it comes to bloodshed, do not -hesitate to shed Jewish blood if the Jews assail you; your only concern -will be to prevent the shedding by them of Roman blood. I am confident -that they will yield before offering violence to Rome; I think they -haven't the courage to challenge us. What they will do"--his cold, -calculating smile overspread his florid face--"is send their priests, -including old Annas no doubt, whining to me at Caesarea and imploring me -to rescind my orders. Then I will have a lever with which to move them. -And thereafter, you may be sure, the legionaries and their ensigns will -be respected by the Jews as they are respected by all other conquered -peoples. Our Emperor, as he rightfully should, will then take his place, -even in Jerusalem, above their vengeful and jealous Yahweh." - -He dismissed the group with instructions to begin at once their -preparations for putting his orders into effect. - - - - - 16 - - -For five days the roads into Caesarea from Jerusalem and central Judaea -were clogged with a motley throng of Jews pushing relentlessly toward -the Procurator's Palace. Here and there in the multitude rode a man or -woman on a donkey, but countless hundreds trudged on foot, dust-covered -and weary in every bone but more outraged in spirit. - -Then the dam that was Caesarea's gates was inundated, and the flood of -disgruntled Jewry, sweating, travel-soiled, frightened but still -undaunted in its anger despite the long and tiresome journey, poured -through the city to fill its market squares and surge upward toward -Pilate's house. The angry flood had burst upon the port city hardly two -days behind the messengers sent by Sergius Paulus to warn the Procurator -of the multitude's approach. - -The Jews, the messengers informed Pilate, were swarming toward Caesarea -to protest with all the vigor they could command his profanation, they -called it, of their holy city through the display at the Tower of -Antonia of the Roman army's ensigns, including even the likenesses of -the Emperor Tiberius. The morning after the Procurator's departure, they -revealed, the Jews had awakened to behold with horror the flaunted -banners. But their vehement protests to the commander of the fortress -had been unavailing. Sergius Paulus had told them with firmness that -only a command of Pilate could restore the flame above the tower and -once again sheathe the offending ensigns. - -So, alternately beating their breasts with loud lamentations and angrily -calling down their Yahweh's curses upon the invading Edomites, as they -termed the Romans, they had surged into the roads and pushed -northwestward to demand of the Procurator himself an end to the -profanation of their Jerusalem. - -Five days ago these Jews had arrived at Caesarea, but five days of -protesting, of threatening, of pleading, and of threatening again had -not moved Pontius Pilate. "Rome is master," declared the stubborn and -proud Procurator to the Jews' spokesmen; "the emblems of Rome's mastery -will not be removed or sheathed. My orders stand." - -But the sons of Israel, too, were unyielding in their demands. "Your -Emperor Augustus, your Emperor Tiberius"--Pilate took notice that they -did not say "our" Emperor--"have respected our laws, which forbid the -display of such emblems, and have been strict in honoring our religion," -the spokesman insisted. "Your Emperor Tiberius cannot but be angered by -the refusal of the Procurator to respect in the same manner our ancient -traditions." - -"Go home!" Pilate ordered. "Get you back to Jerusalem. I, not you, speak -for Tiberius. I was sent out by him to govern this province, and by the -great Jove, I will govern it!" - -But the Jews did not go home. Hungry, discouraged, exhausted, they were -not defeated. They swarmed about Pilate's palace, they fell in their -tracks on the marble of the esplanades to sleep fitfully when sheer -exhaustion overtook them; they crowded the market places, they slept in -rich men's doorways. But they would not turn their backs on Caesarea. - -On the morning of the sixth day, Pilate called Longinus to the Palace. -"Centurion," he said, his face livid with anger, "since Sergius Paulus -continues at Jerusalem, I wish you to take command of the troops here -and put into execution the orders I am about to give you. Send out -couriers to summon these Jews to come together in the Hippodrome; say -that I will meet them there. In the meantime, disguise a sufficient -number of your soldiers and place them about the amphitheater in -advantageous positions so that should disorder arise among the Jews, you -will be ready immediately to put it down." - -Claudia had been listening to her husband. "But, Pilate, aren't you -creating a situation that will produce fighting between our troops and -these Jews?" - -"And if there is bloodshed?" Pilate's eyes flashed sudden anger. -"Haven't I been patient with these obstinate rebels? If they choose to -get themselves run through with swords, isn't it their own doing?" Then -quickly he recovered his poise. "Claudia," he said quietly, "I have -given them every opportunity to return peaceably to Jerusalem. Have I -not?" - -"Yes. But you have not agreed to have the ensigns sheathed. And until -you do...." - -He turned upon her, his countenance flaming, his mood changed -completely. "Do you stand with these stubborn provincials against Rome? -Are you with them, or are you with me?" - -"Before you interrupted me, Procurator," Claudia's voice was as cold as -her smile, "I was going to observe that in displaying the army's -emblems, you are really breaking a tradition, so far as I have been able -to understand it, and this tradition may very well be a long-standing -order of the Emperor and, indeed, of Augustus before him. I care not a -fig about these Jews. Nor do I care about their High Priest or their -Yahweh. I am concerned only with what will be the attitude of the -Emperor and the Prefect Sejanus toward the Procurator as a result of -this unprecedented breach of the established order." She turned away, -her head high. Pilate seemed taken aback; he looked at her somewhat -sheepishly and licked his lips as though he were about to speak. But he -said nothing. Instead, he turned abruptly to Longinus. "I take -responsibility for the orders I give," he said tersely. "My orders to -you are unchanged." - -Longinus saluted, then without a word turned on his heel and withdrew. - -By early afternoon the great concourse had filled with excited, -chattering Jews. Their determined stand, they felt confident, had -defeated the Procurator; their reminder that the Emperors had honored -the Jews and their Yahweh and that Tiberius might not approve a course -taken in defiance of the long-established tradition had frightened -Pilate. He was calling them together, wasn't he, to announce that he was -withdrawing the hated emblems and to ask them to return home victors? - -But they had judged the Procurator wrongly. And they discovered their -mistake as soon as he began to address the throng from his box high in -the stands of the great oval. - -"For five days, and this is now the sixth, you have kept our Caesarea in -turmoil. You have been obstinate and insubordinate and have shown little -respect to the Procurator, who represents the Emperor and in this -province personifies the power and majesty of the Empire. You have -threatened him with reprisal, saying that he has flouted the orders of -our Emperor. You were not only inhospitable in refusing to welcome the -Procurator to Jerusalem, you were actually hostile. In being hostile to -us, you have shown yourselves contemptuous of Rome and enemies of our -Empire; in being stubbornly hateful to me, you have shown yourselves no -friends of the Emperor." - -Pilate paused, his face suffused with color as his anger grew with his -listing of their offenses. Then he stood back on his heels, squared his -shoulders, and held up his tightly clenched fist. "Now hear me, men of -Judaea!" he shouted. "I have asked you to disperse and return to your -homes. Stubbornly you have refused to heed my command. I am asking you -again to abandon this unreasonable, senseless, and ill-advised effort -and get yourselves outside the gates of Caesarea and on the roads that -lead homeward. Hear me, by great Jove! This is my last command to you." -He leveled a shaking forefinger toward the multitude. "I have stationed -my soldiers in disguise among you, and they are heavily armed. They have -been instructed, upon my next command, to spring upon you and run you -through with their swords." - -But in the vast oval of the colosseum not an Israelite moved to obey -him. Stolidly, calmly, they faced the Procurator; silence was heavy upon -the great throng. - -Pilate's face was twisted with wrath. "Then I must give the order, men -of Judaea?" He shouted the question. - -Not a man moved. - -Then from the ranks nearest Pilate a man stepped forward a pace and held -up his hand to speak. By his dress it was evident that he was one of the -Temple leaders. "O noble Procurator," he said in a loud voice, "though -your soldiers run us through with swords until each of us has perished, -we cannot submit to the profanation of God's holy Temple; we cannot -countenance without protest the treading into the dust of our God's -commandments. Before we agree to Rome's profanation of our holy places -and her flouting of our God's laws, O Procurator, we will bow our necks -to the Procurator's soldiers. We will die, and gladly, for our God!" - -"Profanation! Profanation! All I hear is Rome's profanation of your -traditions. By all the gods, in every other land our Emperor is honored, -his banners and his emblems, his likenesses paraded on our staffs, all -these are hailed with shouts and acclamations! And yet you Jews...." - -Suddenly Pilate paused. The priestly leader who had just addressed him -had fallen on his face in the dust of the great stadium, and beside him -and behind him others now were prostrating themselves. Within moments -every Jew in the place was lying face down upon the ground before the -Procurator of Judaea. Mouth open, eyes darting from one area of the -great concourse to another, aghast, Pilate stood silent. Then quietly he -spoke to Longinus, who was standing near him. "Centurion, I cannot order -men on their faces ran through with swords. It would be massacre." - -"So it would be, Excellency, on their faces or standing, since they are -defenseless." - -Pilate turned back to face the prostrated multitude. "Stand on your -feet!" he commanded. "I shall withhold for the moment at least my -command to the soldiers." - -Without a word being said, without a change of countenance even, the -Jews rose to their feet and faced the Procurator. "Now send me your High -Priest and his father-in-law the former High Priest Annas," Pilate -commanded. "No harm will be done them; this I swear by the great Jove." - -Hours later Caiaphas and Annas returned from the conference with the -Procurator at the palace. Mounting the rostrum from which Pilate had -previously addressed them, Caiaphas held up his hand for silence. "Men -of Israel, we have just concluded our meeting with the Procurator -Pilate," he announced. "An agreement has been reached. Now you may -return in peace to your homes. The offensive emblems of Rome, the -Procurator has assured us, will be removed so that they will no longer -profane our holy places. The God of Israel, He is One!" - -"The God of Israel, He is One!" The multitude of suddenly exultant Jews -echoed his words in a great chorus, and a hosanna of shouts swept wave -upon wave across the immense arena. Then, laughing and chattering, the -people began pushing toward the Hippodrome's exits. - -And in all the throng not a man ventured to inquire of the High Priest -what the terms of the agreement with Pilate had been. - - - - - 17 - - -An hour before the "Actium" was to sail out of the harbor at Caesarea on -the return voyage to Rome, Centurion Longinus went aboard and handed the -captain a heavily sealed communication addressed to the Prefect Sejanus. - -"This is an army message of great importance," he announced. "It must be -delivered in person to the Prefect. He is expecting it, and if it is not -delivered immediately after the docking of your ship, he will begin to -inquire why he has not received it." Actually, the centurion knew that -Sejanus was not expecting a message from him on the returning "Actium," -but telling the captain so would insure the message's getting quickly -into the hands of the Prefect. The captain might well think that the -centurion's letter was in reply to a message brought him from Sejanus by -the Tetrarch Herod Antipas. - -The "Actium" two days before had brought the Tetrarch and his new wife -Herodias and her daughter Salome to Caesarea, and from the wharf they -had been escorted by Longinus and a detachment of his century to the -Procurator's Palace to be guests of Pilate and Claudia while resting a -few days after the long voyage out from Rome. From Caesarea they planned -a short visit to Jerusalem, and then they would travel northward through -the Jordan Valley to the Tetrarch's gleaming white marble palace at -Tiberias. - -It was when Longinus learned that the "Actium" would be returning -directly to Rome that he decided to dispatch a report to the Prefect. -The report related in considerable detail the events of the Procurator's -recent visit to Jerusalem, his flaunting, in disregard of Sergius -Paulus' warning, of the cohort's banners from the Antonia ramparts, the -subsequent storming of Caesarea by the irate Jews, and Pilate's yielding -to them, after a conference with Caiaphas and Annas. Longinus advanced -no suggestion concerning the probable terms of the agreement between the -Procurator and the Temple leaders. The centurion was confident, however, -that the astute and suspicious Sejanus would infer from what he had left -unwritten that Pilate had profited handsomely. Longinus concluded the -message with an avowal that the report was factual and uncolored. - -From the "Actium" Longinus returned to the headquarters of the cohort -and that evening was a guest, along with Sergius Paulus, of the -Procurator and his wife at a small, informal dinner honoring the -Tetrarch, his wife, and her daughter. When they had finished the meal, -Herodias and her hostess retired to Claudia's apartment, and Salome went -to her chamber. The four men remained reclining at the table, where -after a while, as they drank wine and nibbled grapes and figs, the -inhibitions of Pilate and Antipas, each vain and domineering and jealous -of the other's authority, began slowly to disappear. Gently at first -Antipas chided the Procurator for his profanation of Jerusalem by -flaunting the ensigns of Imperial Rome from the Tower of Antonia. - -"Profanation! Profanation! All I hear in this contentious province is -profanation. I am sick of the word." Pilate wiggled a forefinger at the -Tetrarch. "Do you consider Rome's display of her honored emblems -profanation of Jerusalem and this province, I ask you, Tetrarch?" - -Antipas studied the fig he held between finger and thumb. "I don't -consider it profanation, nor do the Emperor and the Prefect, but I do -agree with the Emperor and the Prefect that it is a wise course not to -offend unnecessarily the people of Israel who do so hold." It was a -clever answer, and Antipas, knowing it, pressed the point. "It would be -politic if the new Procurator learned to uphold the traditions of this -land," he continued, "so long, of course, as they do not seriously -conflict with the interests of the Empire and certainly"--he smiled--"so -long as the Emperor and the Prefect uphold them." - -Pilate was quick to strike back. "I was sent out to this province to -rule it," he declared, his eyes flashing indignation. "I was not sent -here to cower and truckle, to lower Rome's ensigns at the demands of -your obstinate, cantankerous Jews," he hissed. "I came to rule...." - -"But you did lower Rome's ensigns when those obstinate--Jews bared their -necks to your swordsmen and refused to obey your command to return -home," Antipas interrupted. Then suddenly, as though seeking a truce, he -changed his tone. "But I don't blame you, Procurator. In fact, I admire -you; you're a very intelligent man. Living in this province must be -trying to one who has never lived here before, and of course it's -unrewarding unless there are ... ah ... extra benefits, shall we say ... -not provided by Rome. And there is much gold in the Temple's coffers, I -am told. It seems that no matter how much is withdrawn, a great deal -still remains for the use of the Temple leaders, hmm?" He smiled -appreciatively. "And no doubt the Prefect will approve, too, -provided...." Grinning, he left the observation unfinished. "And with no -Jewish blood shed by your soldiers, there will be nothing to explain to -Tiberius, Excellency." - -Pilate glared, mouth open. But he did not deny the Tetrarch's thinly -veiled charge. "Profanations! Violated traditions!" He hurled across the -room the grape he had selected from the silver dish of piled fruit and -pointed a quaking finger at the Tetrarch. "And how dare you, Antipas, -speak of my violating the traditions and offending the religion of the -Jews, when you have just taken to bed your brother's wife! Is that not a -heinous offense for a Jew himself...?" - -"Excellency!" Sergius Paulus, palpably fearful of what the exchange -might quickly be leading to, jumped to his feet. "The hour is growing -late, and the Centurion Longinus and I must be getting back to -headquarters. Please excuse us, sir. We've enjoyed your hospitality, and -we beg you to express our thanks to your wife." He glanced toward -Longinus, who nodded agreement. "And I thought, Excellency, that the -Tetrarch perhaps might honor us by going with us--we have a sedan chair -at the door--to inspect our cohort headquarters, should you, sir, be -willing to excuse him." He looked questioningly toward the Procurator -and then the Tetrarch. - -"Should the Tetrarch wish...." - -"I shall be happy to accompany you," Antipas interrupted. Carefully he -pulled the stem from the fig. "It will be a change of air." But he was -smiling, and his manner was jovial; the tension of the moment had been -dispelled. - -"When you have finished with him, Sergius"--Pilate had calmed, too, and -no rancor was revealed in his tone--"have him brought back, properly -attended. He and the Tetrarchess are always welcome at the Procurator's -Palace." - -But Longinus knew, as the three prepared to leave the great dining hall, -that relations between the Tetrarch and the Procurator were still -strained; he suspected that they would remain so. The temperaments of -the two men, coupled with the situations in which they had been placed, -would demand it. In his own dealings with them, in his observation and -appraisal of them and their activities, he told himself, he must bear -this always in mind. - -Meanwhile, lounging comfortably on Claudia's large couch, pillows at -their backs, the two women had been exchanging news of their own -activities since they had last seen one another in Rome, and, more -interesting to Claudia, Herodias had been revealing tidbits of gossip -involving the more lively set in the Empire's capital city. But soon the -discussion narrowed to their own changed circumstances. Claudia was -frank. "Yes, it's just as I told you it would be that day you came to -return my call. I said marrying Pilate would make no difference. -Remember? Well, it hasn't." A cloud passed across her countenance. "Of -course, we will have to be patient, though, and wait for things to work -out." - -"But until they do, must you never...?" Herodias paused. - -"No, it isn't that bad," Claudia hastened to reply, smiling. "We can see -each other and we can be together ... more and more hereafter, I hope. -We have been together already, for hours, in fact, both here at Caesarea -and in Jerusalem at the Herod's Palace, while Pilate conveniently, I do -believe, busied himself at the Antonia Tower." She shook her head. -"Really, Herodias, I don't know whether the man is stupid, quite wise, -or just indifferent. But whatever he is, his being the way he is will -help Longinus and me to arrange things." - -Herodias' large dark eyes were bright now with scheming. "My dear, you -have never been in Galilee, have you? It's a beautiful land, especially -now that spring is beginning to break, so much more interesting than -this barren Judaea. We have so many flowers, and willows and oleanders -and bright-blooming shrubs along the watercourses. I remember Galilee in -the spring from my childhood days and on occasional visits since. -So"--her eyes were dancing now--"you must go with us to Tiberias. We can -contrive to have Longinus escort us. And in the Palace there"--her voice -dropped to an intimate whisper--"you will have no one to disturb you." - -"But Antipas' other wife? What would she say if I should go with you?" - -"_I_ am the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea," she said evenly. "As -soon as we get there, Antipas is going to divorce her and send her back -to old Aretas." - - - - - 18 - - -Before they reached the bend in the road roughly paralleling the Jordan, -whose banks were beginning to color now with the awakening of willows -and oleanders to advancing spring, the Tetrarch recognized the voice. - -"By the beard of the venerable High Priest!" Antipas exclaimed. "This -isn't the place where he was making his stand when I came this way -before, but it's the same fellow, that mad prophet of the Wilderness. -I'd know his haranguing anywhere." - -Longinus was riding beside the Tetrarch. Herodias and Claudia, with -lively Salome a few paces back, were following in the narrow column, and -just behind them rode Neaera, Tullia, and several other servants of the -two households. Soldiers were in the vanguard and at the rear. - -Antipas turned to Longinus. "Centurion, I wonder if we shouldn't go -another way and avoid encountering this fellow. I'd rather not see him -or hear more of his ranting." - -"But _I_ want to see him." Herodias had ridden abreast of the Tetrarch. -"He must be the one I've just been hearing so much about in Jerusalem. -Everybody was talking of his ability to sway the multitudes and his -fearlessness in denouncing the Temple priests." - -"Yes, he's the one. But, my dear Herodias," the Tetrarch began to -protest, "he's likely to say something that will offend you, too. The -fellow has no respect for the Tetrarch's office or authority and no -bridle on his loose tongue." - -"By the gods, then, that's all the more reason I want to hear him." She -laughed gaily, then quickly grew sober. "And certainly the Tetrarch -should be concerned," she added, "if the man flouts the Tetrarch's -authority." She signaled to Longinus to resume the march. "Let's ride -down and join his audience. After the boredom of our journey, this -should at least provide a diversion." - -Antipas shook his head grudgingly but offered no further protest. -"She'll regret it as soon as she hears him, by the gods," he muttered to -the centurion as they started. "But I warned her." - -At the bottom of the slope the group dismounted, and on Longinus' -summons, soldiers came up to hold the horses. The servants remained -behind with them except for Neaera and Tullia who followed their -mistresses as the Tetrarch's party quietly slipped around a screening -clump of willows to join the throng about the gaunt and weathered -speaker. To Antipas, John seemed little changed since that day when they -had come upon him at the ford farther up the Jordan. His clothes looked -the same; fleetingly the Tetrarch wondered if the haircloth mantle had -ever been cleaned since he had last seen it. - -Although the Tetrarch's group had slipped unobtrusively into the rim of -the crowd, Antipas was quickly recognized, and soon a murmur moved -through the multitude and heads began to nod as intent black eyes -shifted from the fiery prophet to study the newly arrived ruler of -Galilee and Peraea. - -"It's old Herod," Longinus heard a beak-nosed, thin Jew whisper to the -man beside him. "And that woman, she must be the new wife he's fetched -from Rome, the one he took away from his brother, and that must be the -brother's daughter beside her." Both men turned to stare, then smile. "I -wonder what John will say to that!" one said to the other as they turned -back to peer again at the thundering prophet. - -John, too, had recognized the Tetrarch, Longinus was sure; yet the -prophet made no immediate reference to his presence. Instead, he -continued preaching on the necessity of repentance and on the use of -baptism as a sign of Yahweh's forgiveness. The man was a powerful -speaker; he had native ability, Longinus immediately perceived, to -command attention and sway his hearers. The crowd listened, entranced, -to his every word; now and then one would step forward and, crying -loudly in repentance, ask for baptism. - -Sometimes a man would interrupt the prophet to seek an answer to some -deeply perplexing problem. But no one yet had spoken openly of the -Tetrarch's presence among them. - -Then a tall, narrow-faced Jew, unkempt, ill-clothed, evidently a man of -the earth, stepped forward and held up his hand. "This repentance of -which you speak," he questioned, "is it necessary for the rich man in -the same manner as it is for the poor and dispossessed, for the man of -authority as well as for the servant? I ask you, does the measuring rod -measure the same for all men, or is there one rule for one man and -another rule for another?" - -"Repentance is necessary for all men, my brother," John replied calmly. -"The same measuring rod measures for both the man of authority and the -servant who serves him, for both the rich man and the man of earth." - -John paused. Then slowly his dark eyes moved from the face of his -questioner to that of the Tetrarch. "The same measuring rod measures for -the Tetrarch of Galilee, my brother, that measures for you, and it is -the same for even the lowliest servant in that iniquitous marble pile -above the graveyard in Tiberias!" The prophet's eyes were blazing now, -and he raised his gaunt, sun-bronzed arm to point a lean forefinger -directly at Herod Antipas. "Repent, O Tetrarch, repent!" His voice was -thunderous now, and the finger darted forward like the tongue of a -serpent. "Repent while yet there is time! Repent of the evil you have -done, and seek in true penitence the forgiveness of our God Whom you -have scorned and despised!" - -Antipas stood silent and stared straight ahead, looking as though -suddenly he had been turned to stone. But Herodias, though amazed, had -not been rendered speechless by the torrent of the prophet's -denunciation. Calmly she turned to her husband. "Do you intend to stand -here and allow this madman to vilify you? Are you going to stand -patiently while...?" - -"And you! You evil woman!" John's shout interrupted her. Now the angry -hand was pointed directly at her. "You call me a madman," he said. "Yes, -I am a madman. I am a madman for our God. And I call upon you, too, to -repent. Repent before our God turns His face from you forever. I call -upon both you sinners to fall on your faces and cry out to the God of -Israel, imploring Him for forgiveness." Then the prophet's stern eyes -turned again toward the Tetrarch. "Herod, cast this foul woman from you! -Have you not stolen her away from the bed of your brother? You cannot -have her, O Tetrarch! Does not God's holy law forbid a man from taking -to bed the wife of his living brother in the flesh? Adulterer! Repent! -And you, evil woman, you adulteress"--John's eyes were fiery now with a -wild zeal as he faced Herodias, whose flushed cheeks and lips drawn into -thin lines revealed her fury--"neither shall you have him! Get you back -to the bed you have deserted, if the husband you have abandoned has the -grace to forgive and receive you! O Tetrarch"--John lifted his gaunt -arms toward the heavens--"cast her from you before your grievous sinning -brings ruin down upon the land. Send her back to your brother, and -humbly beseech the forgiveness of our God! Repent, O Tetrarch, repent! -Repent!" - -Still Herod Antipas stood staring, unmoving, rooted. - -"By all the great and little gods, Antipas"--Herodias, infuriated, -whirled upon the Tetrarch, grabbed his arm and shook him--"will you -stand there like a statue and permit that fanatic to insult and -intimidate you and your wife before this crowd?" Scornfully she measured -him, and her lips curled with disgust. "Are you indeed the Tetrarch of -Galilee, or are you a frightened mouse?" She stood back, taunting him -with her shrill laugh. - -Her challenging words and her mirthless laughter broke the spell the -prophet had cast. "No, I am not afraid of him," Antipas replied slowly, -as though he were arguing with himself. "Nor can I any longer permit -this abuse to go unpunished. He has not only vilified your Tetrarch and -his wife"--Antipas was now addressing the crowd rather than -Herodias--"but he has challenged my honor and authority. His words are a -call to insurrection. I can no longer permit the preaching of -rebellion." He turned to confront Longinus. "Centurion, arrest this man. -Have him taken at once to the Fortress Machaerus and there placed in its -dungeon. Order him held until I pronounce judgment." - -Without even a glance toward the now silent but calm and seemingly -untroubled prophet of the Wilderness, Herod turned and started along the -gentle rise toward the horses. - - - - - 19 - - -As they approached the southern shore line of the Sea of Galilee, -Longinus sent riders ahead to notify Chuza of the impending arrival of -the Tetrarch and his party at Tiberias. So the steward, with household -servants to handle the baggage, was waiting at the palace gate when the -caravan entered the grounds. - -But Chuza, though he greeted them warmly and with profuse smiles, was -obviously troubled, and Antipas quickly drew the man aside to question -him. "Sire, you will not find the Tetrarchess here to welcome you," the -steward explained, his tone apologetic and his expression patently -pained. "She has departed from Tiberias. I suggested that she might wish -to delay her leaving, Sire, until your return, but she insisted on going -at once." - -She had received a message, she told Chuza, that her father, King Aretas -of Arabia Petraea, was desperately ill and that he had summoned her to -his bedside. Although the steward had seen no messengers, he had not -been disposed to question the Tetrarchess. She had prepared for the -journey very quickly. The Centurion Cornelius had provided her with a -detachment of soldiers to escort her to her father's capital in the -country southeast of the Dead Sea, beyond the Fortress Machaerus; she -had taken with her, in addition, her best raiment and many of her -choicest personal possessions. - -"Then you think that she is not planning to come back to me? Is that -what you're suggesting, Chuza?" - -"Sire, I am suggesting nothing. I am relating only what I saw and heard. -I have no opinion as to what plans the Tetrarchess...." - -"The Princess Herodias is Tetrarchess now, Chuza," Antipas interrupted. - -"Indeed, Sire"--Chuza bowed to the Tetrarch and then to Herodias--"the -former Tetrarchess...." - -"But when did she depart, Chuza?" Antipas interrupted again. - -"A week ago, Sire. The escorting soldiers have not yet returned." - -"Had she heard that I was returning from Rome with a new Tetrarchess?" - -"She said nothing to me about it, Sire, but I am confident that she knew -of the Tetrarch's marriage. Passengers coming ashore at Ptolemais from -the vessel on which you and the Tetrarchess sailed out from Rome brought -to Tiberias word of the new Tetrarchess. I myself heard it, and surely -the report must have come also to her ears here at the palace." - -"Very well, Chuza; think no more of it." By now they had entered the -lofty, marble-columned great atrium. A faint smile crossed his heavy -face. "Do you know, I believe she must have suspected all along?" He -turned to Herodias. "By all the gods, my dear, she has made our course -all the easier." - -Longinus declined the invitation of the Tetrarch and Herodias to take a -chamber in the palace during his stay at Tiberias. He had promised -Cornelius that he would be his guest when next he came to Galilee. -Tempting though the Tetrarch's invitation had been, Longinus reasoned -that it might be wise to assume that the watched might also be the -watching. - -Besides, Claudia had been assigned an apartment which, the centurion had -observed, looked out upon a broad terrace facing the Sea of Galilee. A -door from Claudia's bedroom conveniently opened onto the terrace. -Longinus smiled as he reviewed the details of the arrangement. - -The sentry at the palace gate, he also knew, would be a Roman soldier. - - - - - 20 - - -Cornelius shook his head solemnly. "Herod will regret it. Arresting the -prophet was unwise, Longinus." - -"But the fellow is an insurrectionist, Cornelius; certainly it can't be -denied that he's been inciting rebellion against the Tetrarch's rule. -You should have heard what he called Antipas and Herodias." A wry smile -twisted the corners of his mouth. "Of course, just between you and me, I -think he was right. But that doesn't absolve him from agitating against -the Tetrarch, and in this province, of course, the Tetrarch represents -Rome." - -"But I don't think that the prophet's a revolutionary," Cornelius -insisted. "He lambasted the Tetrarch that day we came on him at -Bethabara, too, but he wasn't challenging Herod's authority as Tetrarch; -he was denouncing his wickedness as a man and calling upon him as a man -to repent just as others were repenting. There's a difference, Longinus, -even though it's hard for us Romans to understand that. We bundle our -religion--if we have any, which few of us do, I suspect--and our -imperial government into one packet. But the Jews keep their religion -and their government, or rather our enforced government over them, -separate. And their religion is predominant. In ordering John -imprisoned, therefore, Herod is allowing the government to invade the -Jews' religious precincts, just as Pilate did when he had the army's -ensigns flown from the ramparts of Antonia. He's likely to find himself -in the same sort of situation that Pilate faced. It will do him no good; -John at Machaerus will likely have more power over the people than he -would have had if Herod had left him unmolested." He glanced quizzically -toward his friend. "Don't you think so?" - -"I've never thought of it. Nor do I care, by the gods, what becomes of -that Wilderness fellow, or...." He paused and glanced about. - -"There's no one to hear us." - -Nor was there. From the early evening meal, eaten in the stuffiness of -the garrison's mess hall at a table with the other officers, Cornelius -had brought his guest to the flat roof. Up here they would escape the -heat and the heavy odors of food and wine and sweating soldiers and at -the same time catch any vagrant breeze that might be stirring from the -sea. Nor would there be any ears to overhear. - -"I was going to say that I cared little what happened to him or Antipas -... or, by great Jove, even Pontius Pilate." - -"Both Herod and Pilate have blundered. And I'm sure Sejanus will be -hearing about it; that is, if he hasn't heard of it already." - -Longinus nodded, then casually changed the subject. "By the way," he -commented, "that reminds me; what ever became of that carpenter you said -the desert preacher hailed as the Jews' Messiah? Has he begun yet the -task of wrecking the Roman Empire with his hammer and chisels?" - -"It's just possible that he has, though not with any hammer and chisel." -His smile was enigmatic. "Certainly the Empire, if I understand him, -isn't built on any plan that he approves." - -"By all the gods, Cornelius!" Longinus, who had been sprawled in his -chair with his feet propped on the low rampart, sat up with a start. -"What do you mean?" - -Cornelius held up his hand. "Now wait," he said calmly. "There's nothing -to be alarmed about. You won't need to report to Sejanus about the -carpenter. But since I saw you last he has gained a great following, -even among some of the more influential people. You remember that -beautiful woman Herod took with him to Jerusalem, the one called Mary of -Magdala?" - -"Who could forget her?" - -"I agree. Well, she's a disciple of the carpenter now, and a different -woman, they say; she's forsworn the Tetrarch's bedchamber." - -"Maybe"--Longinus grinned--"that's because Herodias has moved in." - -"Could be; I don't know. But the report is that she's given up all her -amatory pursuits in order to follow him. All up and down the seaside, in -fact, the people are swarming to hear him and beseech his help." - -"But insurrection, Cornelius...." - -"Oh, it isn't that, Longinus. The Galilean isn't concerned with the -government, as I understand his teachings, though I've seen little of -him myself; I get my information from some of the Jews in the synagogue -at Capernaum"--he smiled--"who secretly, I suspect, are followers of the -man, though many others among the Jews are hostile. I think he wants to -change people as individuals, not their governments; he wants to help -them. I'm sure he's never given any thought to fomenting rebellion -against Rome." - -Longinus relaxed and sat back. "Then he's just another of these -religious fanatics, isn't he? Well, I'm relieved to hear that, though -Palestine seems to have more than its share of these charlatans." - -"Charlatan? I wouldn't say that. Let me tell you a story, and then you -can deduce what you wish. It happened only a few weeks ago. When you see -Chuza, Herod's steward...." - -"I saw him today." - -"When you see him again, ask him to tell you what happened to his son. -Everybody in this part of the country has heard about it; the news swept -through Galilee like flames across a parched grassland." - -"Well, by the gods, Cornelius, what did happen?" - -"Chuza's young son had come down with a fever. In this low country along -the lakeside, you know, fevers are pretty common, but they're not often -dangerous. So Chuza and Joanna--she's his wife--weren't alarmed at -first. But when days passed and the boy didn't improve--in fact, his -condition grew worse--they became concerned. One physician after another -was called in, and they exhausted all the treatments they knew how to -give. But the child was failing fast, and Chuza and Joanna were frantic; -it looked as though their son wouldn't live much longer. The fever was -consuming him. What could they do? Where could they get help? - -"It happened that on the last day, when it appeared that the boy was -about to die, a Jewish fisherman who had occasionally been supplying the -palace came to Chuza. He and his brother and two other brothers with -whom he frequently fished had made a heavy catch, and this Simon had -come to inquire if Chuza would buy a mess for the Tetrarch's household. - -"But a servant came to the door and told him his master could not -discuss business; the steward's son, he explained, was dying. - -"'In that case, I must see him,' the fisherman said to the servant. 'I -can tell him how his son's life may be saved.' - -"But the servant told him that the physicians had despaired of saving -the child and that the parents were momentarily awaiting his death. He -ordered Simon to leave. - -"The fisherman, a headstrong fellow, insisted, however, on being shown -into the chamberlain's presence, and the argument grew so loud that -Chuza heard and came out to discover what was taking place. The -fisherman Simon then told the Tetrarch's steward of the Galilean -carpenter's amazing ability to effect miraculous cures, and he suggested -that a servant be sent on horseback to find this young man, whom Simon -referred to as 'the Master.' 'And when the servant finds him,' he said -'have him bring the Master here, and he will heal your son.' - -"Of course Chuza protested," Cornelius continued, "that skilled -physicians had been unable to cure the child. 'Only try the Master,' -Simon then implored him. 'Only have faith in him and ask him to heal -your son, and he will heal him.' - -"And suddenly the thought came to Chuza that surely he had nothing to -lose by seeking out the Galilean mystic. The child was already on the -verge of death; certainly this Jesus ben Joseph, whatever he might do, -wouldn't further endanger the boy's life. So he asked Simon where his -master might be found and whether he would come at once to his son's -bedside. - -"The Galilean was visiting friends at Cana, a village a few miles west -of the little sea. And Simon assured Chuza that he would come. - -"So Chuza decided to seek the carpenter's aid. But he sent no servant -for him. Instead, he had three horses saddled, one for Simon, one for -himself, and one for this Jesus ben Joseph. - -"'As we rode westward toward Cana,' Chuza told me, 'I felt a growing -hope that the strange Galilean might really be able to restore my son to -health, and I was possessed by an overpowering urge to find the man. -Soon Simon and I were racing along the dusty road. When we reached Cana -and found the house, we discovered this Jesus seated with his friends at -the noonday meal.'" - -Cornelius got up from his chair, sat down again on the rampart, and -looked out toward a small fleet of fishing boats coming in to shore with -the day's catch. - -"By the gods," Longinus asked, "what happened then? Go on; it's a good -story." - -"When he looked into the understanding eyes of the young man from -Nazareth, Chuza told me, a strange warmth, not physical warmth from the -hard riding but a sense of eased tension, of peace, perhaps, something -he said he couldn't describe to me and didn't entirely understand -himself, took possession of him. He knew then, he was utterly certain, -he said, that the young man smiling at him had the power to heal his -son, if he could but get him to Tiberias in time!" - -Once more Cornelius paused in his recital to study a fishing boat -unloading a heavy catch. Then he resumed the narrative. - -"Chuza said he didn't remember what he said to the man, except that he -blurted out his plea for help and begged the stranger to return with him -to the boy's bedside. He and his wife loved their son so much, he -pleaded, and the little fellow was dying. If only the carpenter would -intervene to save him, he knew the child's life would be spared. - -"Then," Cornelius went on, "the Nazareth carpenter said a strange thing. -He turned his intent, kindly gaze from Chuza to glance at those at the -table with him. 'Always you must have signs and wonders,' he said. -'Can't you believe without actually seeing these things done before your -eyes?' - -"Chuza didn't understand the man's words, but he didn't try to find out -what they meant. His son was dying, his need was desperate. Once more he -begged the carpenter for his help. 'O, sir, my boy is dying,' he -pleaded; 'he won't last out the day unless you go to him. Won't you -leave with us now, sir, and restore him?'" - -Cornelius paused again. Longinus, his forehead creased in heavy -concentration, seemed absorbed in the doings of several fishermen down -at the water's edge as they struggled with a heavy net. But he turned -quickly to confront his friend. "Pluto blast you, Cornelius! Why do you -keep stopping? Did the carpenter return with him or didn't he?" - -"No, he didn't. He laid his hand on Chuza's shoulder. 'Return to your -son,' he said. 'The fever has left him. He has been restored.'" - -"And I suppose when Chuza and the fisherman got back, they found that -the boy's fever had actually broken?" - -"Yes, he was fully recovered. And when Chuza asked Joanna what time it -was when the fever broke, she said it was the seventh hour, which was -exactly when the carpenter had told Chuza that the boy had been -restored." Cornelius smiled and stood up. "That's the story, Centurion -... Chuza's story, not mine. What do you make of it?" - -"A good story, and ably told by you. I'd call it an entertaining account -of a remarkable coincidence." - -"Only a coincidence?" - -"What else could it be? Surely you don't believe that this carpenter -fellow, without even going to the sick boy, drove out the fever? You -know that fever victims either get well or die and that once the fever -reaches a certain point, it goes one way or the other; it's either death -or a very rapid recovery, and the odds are about the same." He shrugged -his shoulders. "After hearing Chuza's story the carpenter probably -calculated it was time for the fever to break, and he simply gambled on -the outcome." Then he was suddenly serious, his eyes questioning. -"Cornelius, don't tell me you believe the carpenter actually cured the -boy?" - -"I don't know, Longinus. But I'll say this: I don't disbelieve it. And I -do know that the boy is alive and well today." Cornelius stood up and -stretched. "After all, to Chuza and Joanna that's the important thing. -When you see Chuza, you might ask him what he thinks of the Galilean." - -"If that carpenter did cure the boy in the manner you described, -Cornelius, then he's bound to be a god. And would a carpenter be a god, -and a Galilean carpenter, at that? To me the whole idea is preposterous. -But I'm just a Roman soldier; I haven't been exposed, like you, to these -eastern workers of magic." - -"This Jesus is no magician. In fact, he seems reluctant to perform -these--what did he call them--'signs and wonders.' But the sick and the -crippled continually besiege him to heal them, and his sympathies for -the unfortunate appear to be boundless." Cornelius sat down again on the -parapet. "Tell me, do you remember that day we were sailing down the -Tiber, standing at the 'Palmyra's' rail talking about the various gods, -and you said that you could never comprehend a spirit god, something -that was nothing, you said, a being without a body?" - -"Yes, and I still feel that way." - -"But what about a god that does have a body, a god-man? If a god should -have a physical body and be in every physical respect like a man, would -that make sense to you? Could you comprehend such a god?" - -"By Jove, Cornelius, you've been out here with these Jews for much too -long. You've been listening to too much prattle about their Yahweh. A -god without a body, a body that houses a god. Bah! I put no credence in -any of these notions. As for that carpenter, I'd say he's another -Wilderness preacher, not as fanatical perhaps, not as desert-parched and -smelling of dried sweat as John, but certainly no god--whatever a god -is, if there is such a thing, which I most seriously doubt. A carpenter -from Nazareth, that hillside cluster of huts! Cornelius, I've been to -Nazareth, as I'm sure you have. I ask you, would a god choose Nazareth -to come from?" He stood up. "Nevertheless, the story you told was -entertaining. Maybe to some it would be convincing. To me, though...." -He shook his head slowly. Then suddenly a wide grin lighted his grim -countenance. "How is it that you and I inevitably get around sooner or -later to a discussion of the gods? And where do we invariably end? -Nowhere. Talk, that's all. And talk is all it can ever be, isn't it? -It's all too nebulous, intangible...." - -"But, Longinus, if this all-powerful, all-wise, all-good god that old -Pheidias envisioned, this supreme one god, in order to communicate with -his earthly creatures"--Cornelius held up his hand to stop Longinus, who -had been about to interrupt--"should decide to take the form of a man, -an ordinary man...." - -"By all the small and great gods," Longinus did interrupt, "do you think -then that he would choose to be a carpenter from Nazareth?" - -Cornelius stared at the fishing boats, now pulled up on the beach; the -lengthening shadows had already begun to obscure them. "I wonder," he -said. - - - - - 21 - - -Herod Antipas was in a bad mood; he said little and appeared preoccupied -during the meal. When they had finished he announced that he planned to -spend the remainder of the evening conferring with his ministers. "I've -been out of the country for a long time," he explained casually. "I -suspect there will be many trying problems awaiting consideration." - -When the Tetrarch withdrew from the lofty dining chamber, Herodias had -servants place couches at the eastern edge of the terrace beside the -bordering balustrade of faintly rose-hued marble, and with Neaera and -Tullia hovering discreetly near them, the new Tetrarchess and her guest -lay back comfortably to relax after the heavy meal. Out here it was -cooler than it had been in the great chamber, for the white marble -palace of Herod Antipas had been built on an upflung spit of land that -pushed out like a flattened giant thumb into the Sea of Galilee, and -whenever there was a breeze from off the water it swept unobstructed -across the spacious terrace. - -This terrace had been built seaward from an immense glass-covered -peristylium, paved with tiny marble blocks in colors that had been laid -to form an intricate but pleasing mosaic pattern and alive with -fountains, flowers, and luxuriant tropical plants. Predominantly Roman -in architecture, decoration, and furnishings, the palace reminded -Claudia of the Procurator's Palace at Caesarea. "Except that it's more -pretentious," she told Herodias. - -"Yes, it is," Herodias agreed. "Antipas was determined for once to outdo -his father. He had always lived in the shadow of old Herod, and I think -he resented it. But even so, he has never had the ambition or the -courage that his father had." - -"But surely, Herodias, you don't see any virtue in your grandfather. -Didn't he have your grandmother and your father killed?" - -"Yes, and my father's brother Alexander. No, he was a monster, -particularly in his last years when I think he must have been demented. -But he was an able man, and he had courage. He never would have -permitted that desert fellow to stand there and insult him and his wife, -for example, even if the man had had all the Jews in Galilee at his -side. Nor would he have yielded, as your Pilate did, to those Jews at -Caesarea. He would have had them run through with swords and would have -roared with laughter at their agonized dying. But perhaps I offend you." - -"No, you don't offend me, my dear. Nor do I defend Pilate. But you must -remember, he has Sejanus to deal with and also my beloved stepfather. -Neither of those pillars of the Empire would have sanctioned the -massacre of thousands of Jews. Pilate does have a difficult role to -play." - -Herodias smiled and pointed a ringed forefinger. "And are you going to -help him play it, my dear Claudia, or will you...?" She paused and -allowed her question to hang in mid-air. - -"Or will I conspire with Longinus to lead Pilate into making further -wrong moves, thereby getting him recalled and perhaps banished and -permitting me to divorce him and marry Longinus?" Laughing, Claudia sat -up and swung her feet to the floor. "You are so subtle, my dear, so very -subtle." Now she shook an accusing finger at her hostess. "But tell me, -what will you do when Aretas' daughter returns to Tiberias and demands -her place as Tetrarchess?" - -"She won't return; Antipas is sending her a bill of divorcement. Surely -you must know that I would see to that. In fact, I think she left with -her mind made up that she was finished as Tetrarchess. My only -thought--and that isn't concern--is what old Aretas will do about it." - -Behind them now the lamps had been lighted in the palace. A brilliant -full moon slowly climbed the sky above the little sea; both women lay -back luxuriously to watch the moon mount higher, and before long their -talk had slowed into silence. Suddenly Herodias realized that she had -become almost senseless. She sat up with a start. - -"By the gods, Claudia, we're almost asleep!" - -"We're tired from the journey," Claudia said, rubbing her eyes. - -"Yes. Maybe we should go to bed. Can I have Neaera bring you something? -Some wine and wafers, fruit, or a glass of hot milk?" - -"No, not a thing. I'm still stuffed from the wonderful dinner. I only -want to get to bed and to sleep. I am really quite tired." - -"You must be indeed." Her smile, Claudia saw plainly in the brightness -of the full moon, was positively devilish. It was impossible to mistake -its meaning. - -"Oh, that," she laughed, then added, "but surely you heard him tell the -Tetrarch he would spend the night with Cornelius?" - -"Yes, I heard him tell the Tetrarch." She stood up. "Let's go to bed." -They crossed the terrace and entered the palace. "I'll see you to your -chamber," she said. - -An inner room that opened into Claudia's had been prepared for Tullia. -Herodias glanced quickly around the apartment, then turned to go. At the -door opening onto the corridor she paused. "I hope you will be -comfortable and sleep well." Her eyes brightened. "You won't be -disturbed. And you'll discover"--she swept her hand in an arc to embrace -Claudia's chamber--"that all your doors have bolts opening from the -inside, including," she added with a knowing smile, "the one to the -terrace. Good night, Claudia. And, by all the gods"--her dark, wanton -eyes had burst into dancing flames--"I envy you!" - - - - - 22 - - -Claudia sat up in bed, instantly and fully awake. She knew that she had -been dreaming, a confused, wandering, disconnected, senseless sort of -dream, though now with her awakening it had vanished completely, -dissolved into nothing. But the gentle tapping that had been mixed with -the dreaming, had not been a part of it; the tapping at the door to the -terrace was real and repeated and insistent. - -She kicked her feet free of the sheet and swung them to the floor. From -the waist down, as she arose, she stood in the narrow band of -silver-cold moonlight spearing through the tall window behind her to cut -diagonally across the foot of the bed; quickly she stepped into the less -revealing shadows at the doorway. - -"Longinus?" she whispered, her face close to the panel. - -"Yes." - -"One minute until I can draw the bolt." - -When he was inside and she was closing and bolting the door, he slipped -his toga off and, stepping past the shaft of moonlight, dropped it on a -chair against the wall near the head of the bed. As he turned around, -she came toward him, her arms outstretched; crossing the bright beam, -her white body stood plainly revealed through the sheerness of the black -gown. - -"Oh, Longinus"--she flung herself into his arms--"I thought you really -had decided to stay with Cornelius." - -He lifted her to her toes and held her, almost crushingly, against him, -and then he caught her chin and raising her face so that he could look -into her eyes, bent down and kissed her red and warmly eager lips. - -"Didn't you know," he asked when he released her after a long while, -"that those words were for Antipas and not you? Didn't you know that -nothing could possibly keep me from you tonight?" - -Gently, almost carrying her, he led her the two or three steps to the -bed. They sat down beside each other, and he bent forward to unbuckle -his sandals. When he sat up again, she twisted her feet around and -lifted them to the bed, doubled up her knees, and lay with her head and -right shoulder pressed hard against his side. "Are you tired from the -journey and anxious to get to sleep?" she asked, turning her head to -look into his face. - -"Tired maybe, and warm from walking from the Antonia"--he pulled his -tunic open at the throat and to his waist--"but sleepy, no." He laughed, -but not loudly, for the palace was as quiet as a sepulcher. "Do you -think any man in my present situation could be sleepy?" - -"Yes, by all the gods, I know one." She sat up and swung her feet to the -floor. "Pontius Pilate." - -"No, Claudia, he couldn't be that cold-blooded." He pulled her to him, -and drew her warm body into the closing circle of his arms. She lifted -her feet again to the bed and slid down into the brightness of the -moonlight. - -"But, I tell you he is, Longinus. All the man ever thinks of is guarding -and extending the powers and authority of the Procuratorship and piling -up Jewish shekels. To him my only attraction is being the Emperor's -stepdaughter." - -"Then he's an even bigger fool than I thought." Gently he pushed her -chin down to pull her lips slightly apart and, bending over her, crushed -his mouth upon them. - -"Oh, Longinus," she cried out, when finally, breathing heavily, he -raised his head, "do take me away from him! Do, Longinus, oh, do, do! I -cannot endure him! By all the gods, I simply cannot!" - -"But where would we go?" He looked deeply into her troubled eyes, -luminous even in the shadows. "How could we escape the Emperor and the -Prefect, my dear girl? How could we?" - -"We couldn't, of course. If we attempted it, they would soon find us, -and Tiberius would do to you what my grandfather did to my poor father. -I know that, Longinus. But it's so long from one time with you to -another, from one night so quickly passed to the gods only know when -again." She slipped her hand beneath his tunic and caressingly ran her -fingers across the damp, warm expanse of his chest. "It's so hard -waiting for these few stolen hours," she murmured. "Must we be forever -waiting, Longinus?" - -"No, Claudia, no. Pluto burn him! One of these days he'll go too far -with the Emperor and Sejanus. But we've got to give him time to be -caught in his own trap. Then when he's ruined himself, the Emperor will -permit you to divorce him. But in the meantime, we must steal all the -hours we can"--his words were blurred as he buried his face in her -lustrous, fragrant hair--"and not be too concerned with Pilate or our -future." They remained silent side by side for a while, then Longinus -raised his head. Claudia lay stretched out full length upon the bed, and -from the waist down now her scarcely concealed body came within the -rapidly widening band of moonlight. "We mustn't try to anticipate -things," he said quietly. "We must seize the opportunities as they come. -Carpe diem, that's all." He bent lower to look into her eyes. "More to -the point, let's enjoy the night while we have it." - -He stood up quickly and in the shadows hastily stripped off his clothes. - - - - - 23 - - -As he drifted up slowly out of the depths of slumber he fancied he was -hearing the early cockcrow from Castra Praetoria; surely he was sharing -Claudia's bed in her apartment in the Imperial Palace, for he could -smell her perfume, he could feel the satiny texture of her hair spread -fan-like across his chest. - -The trumpet was insistent. He would have to open his eyes. He twisted up -on his elbow and squinted toward the window; light sifting into the -chamber revealed the crumpled sheer nightgown dropped across his clothes -on the chair near the bed. Looking down, he studied Claudia's sleeping -face--rouge-smeared, half-open mouth, cheeks, forehead, and even her -neck splotched with the smudged prints of his lips from her own -lipstick. - -He glanced around the room again; no, this time he was not in Rome, and -the trumpet call came only from the post headquarters in Tiberias. This -time there was no threat of immediate separation. Immensely relieved, he -pulled up the sheet that had fallen away and snuggled back down beside -her. - -"Must you be going so soon?" she asked sleepily, for his movement had -aroused her. "Must you always be leaving me?" - -"That's the cockcrow at Castra Praetoria, and I have early duty," he -said. "Maybe this morning I'll be summoned before the Prefect." - -"You aren't deceiving me. The Prefect is in Rome, and we are in -Tiberias," she replied. "And you have no morning duty at the post's -quarters." Smiling, she added, "I'm not that sleepy, Centurion." She -slid forward and sat up, then just as quickly slipped back beneath the -protecting sheet. "I forgot," she said, grinning. "But I'm so glad that -you don't have to leave now." - -"But I'll have to be going soon," he declared. "I'd like to get away -before the palace is too much astir." - -"But why, Longinus? Must you sneak away as though you were a thieving -intruder? Don't you know that Herodias was expecting you? She even -admitted that she was envious of me; I'm sure she was anticipating a far -less interesting evening with Antipas." She paused, and her eyes -widened. "Surely you aren't afraid of his knowing ... about us?" - -"You know I'm not afraid of the Tetrarch's knowing"--his tone was gently -scolding--"or, by the gods, of Pontius Pilate's." - -"Then could it be Cornelius?" Now she was teasing. "But doesn't he know? -Surely...." - -"Of course," he interrupted. "He knew last night I was coming here. He -gave me the password for the sentry at the palace gate." - -"But did he know you were going to be spending the night ... with me?" - -"I didn't tell him that. But I'm sure that anybody with the intelligence -of a centurion would arrive at such a conclusion." He was grinning. -"Wouldn't you think so?" - -"Yes. But maybe he doesn't approve, now that he's become so interested -in the Jews' religion. And judging by that desert fanatic's tirade -against Herodias and Antipas, even the most innocent adultery is frowned -upon by these Jewish religionists." - -"Whatever he may think about it, Cornelius knows very well that what you -and I do is none of his business, and I'm sure he won't try to make it -his affair." - -"Then I'm the one." Her smeared lips were pushed out in a feigned pout. -"You're bored with me. I know, you're just trying to get rid...." - -"Silly girl." He pulled her close, for she had coquettishly twisted -away. "Did I say I was leaving right now?" - - - - - 24 - - -Two soldiers from his own century at Caesarea who had ridden into -Tiberias during the night were awaiting Longinus when he returned to the -garrison headquarters. They had been sent by Sergius Paulus with a -message from the Prefect Sejanus. A note from the Prefect had been -attached to the carefully sealed message, emphasizing the importance of -the communication and ordering Sergius Paulus, should Longinus not be in -Caesarea on its arrival, to have it dispatched to him wherever he might -be and as speedily as possible. - -The message from Sejanus had arrived on an Alexandrian grain ship that -had sailed into the harbor at Caesarea several days after Herod Antipas -and his new wife, with their party and their guest, the Procurator's -wife, had departed for Jerusalem on their way to Tiberias. The cohort -commander had dispatched the two horsemen at once in the hope that they -might overtake the centurion before Herod's party had started on the -journey up the Jordan Valley toward the Galilean capital. But the -caravan had been two days on the way before the horseman rode into -Jerusalem; from there they had started almost immediately for Tiberias. - -Quickly and with considerable apprehension Longinus broke the seals. Why -was the message so urgent? What could have happened? He knew that -Sejanus was not replying to the report he himself had dispatched to the -Prefect by the hand of the "Actium's" captain; that vessel had probably -not even reached Rome yet. - -Longinus hurriedly scanned the message; then, relieved, he read it again -more slowly. The Prefect was summoning him to return to Rome to report -in detail on the situation in Judaea and Galilee. But first he was to go -immediately to Senator Piso's glassworks in Phoenicia. There he would -receive a package which he would then convey to Rome. - -The package would be highly valuable, the Prefect warned; it would -contain a large sum of money, revenue from sales of glassware, and he -was to exercise every precaution in seeing to it that he got it to Rome -intact. Impress as many soldiers as he thought necessary to serve as -guards while the package was being transported from the glass plant to -the ship that would bring it to Rome, the Prefect ordered; take no risk -of being waylaid by robbers or some band of zealots. He suggested that -to minimize this danger, the centurion should go aboard ship at Tyre, -the seaport nearest the plant. - -Longinus explained to the two soldiers who had brought him the message -that he was being ordered to Rome by the Prefect Sejanus and instructed -them to bear to Sergius Paulus a message he would write. In this note he -informed the cohort commander of the assignment Sejanus had given him to -come to Rome, although he made no mention of the money he would be -delivering. He added that the Prefect had given him no details of the -new assignment; he would write later from Rome. When he finished writing -the communication, Longinus dismissed the two to return with it to -Caesarea. - -Cornelius had been aware of the arrival of the two men sent by Sergius -Paulus; Longinus told him what the Prefect's instructions had been. - -"Cornelius, I want you to pick a small detachment from your century to -go with me to Phoenicia for the package and then on over to Tyre," he -said. "If by any chance I should let that money be stolen...." He -shrugged and drew his fingers across his throat. "I suspect a large -portion of it, if not all, is destined to find its way into the -Prefect's private coffers." - -Cornelius agreed to accompany him. His men would leave early on the -morrow and meet the two centurions at the home of Cornelius at Capernaum -where they would spend the evening. From there the party would start -northwestward for the senator's glassworks in Phoenicia. - -"And now," said Cornelius when they had made the arrangements, "you'll -be wanting to return to the palace; after today it may be a long time -before you see Claudia again." - -Only last night he and Claudia had talked of how they might remain in -Tiberias for perhaps two weeks; he had even considered taking her with -him on a hurried visit to the glassworks, which he had not inspected for -the last several months. And they would manage to spend every evening -together, to be with each other every night through. - -"Oh, Longinus, let me go with you to Rome! Take me, please," she pleaded -an hour later as they sat on the terrace outside her bedchamber. "Do you -dare, Longinus? Or, should I say, do we dare?" - -"No," he said, "though by all the gods, I wish we did." He shook his -head slowly. "No, Claudia, we mustn't attempt it. You might be able to -hide from the Prefect and the Emperor. But not for long. Pilate would -report your disappearance--he would have to for his own protection--and -immediately Sejanus would suspect me. He might even think you and I were -plotting to upset the rule of Tiberius, which would mean, of course, the -overthrow of the Prefect. You would be discovered within a matter of -days. And then in all probability it would be the imperial headsman for -me, and for you ... well, for you it would probably be a fate much like -your mother's, Pandateria or some other far-off place. And for the -friends who tried to hide you, death, too. You see, Sejanus and the -Emperor married you off to Pilate to get you far away from Rome. They -intend for you to remain away. Until"--he shrugged--"there's a violent -change in Rome, you must not return." - -They sat quietly and looked out at the fishing boats plying the sea. - -"I won't remain long in Rome, I think," he said after a while. "If the -gods are good, Claudia, it will be only a few months until...." - -"If the gods are good!" she interrupted, harshly. "There are no good -gods, Longinus. There are no gods!" She scowled and looked away. "If -there are, how can they be so perverse?" - -"I don't dispute it. Call it what you like, gods, fate, chance, -luck...." - -"Ill luck, perversity of fate. Bona Dea, Longinus, if there are gods, -they are evil, and the most evil of all is old Sejanus, may Pluto -transfix him with his white-hot fork! Why must he forever be doing us -ill?" - -"Perhaps, who knows, he may be serving us well in calling me to Rome. It -may lead to the Emperor's banishing Pilate or, if not that, his removal -from the Procuratorship." - -"May the gods grant it!" she said fervently. - -"But now, my dear"--he smiled--"there are no gods." - -They sat for a long time on the sunlit terrace and talked, though they -knew their future was a difficult one to predict. They walked down to -the beach and strolled along the sands; once they paused to sit for a -while on the rotting hull of a half-buried fishing boat. Before the sun -dropped westward behind the palace they climbed the steps and crossed -the esplanade; in the peristylium he said good-by to the Tetrarch and -Herodias. Claudia walked with him back to the terrace, where he quickly -bade her farewell. - -"I'll see you before many months in Caesarea," he said and gently -pinched her cheek. He bent down for a last kiss. "Pray the gods for the -winds to bring me quickly ... and with good news. Pray the silly little -no-gods." - -"I would, if I thought it would bring you back any sooner," she said. -"I'd even say a prayer--and offer a lamb--to the Jew's grim Yahweh. But -I have more faith in the charity of the winds themselves." - -An hour later he and Cornelius set out for Capernaum. The squad from the -Tiberias century that would escort them to the glassworks and then to -the harbor at Tyre had been selected and equipped for the journey; the -soldiers would join the centurions the next morning at the home of -Cornelius. - -As they were nearing the house, Cornelius turned to question his friend. -"Longinus, do you remember Lucian?" - -"Lucian? Your son?" - -"Well, you could probably call him our son, although he's actually my -slave. He was given me by his father, just before he died, when Lucian -was only three or four years old. He's the grandson of old Pheidias, the -tutor I was telling you about some time ago." - -"Yes, I do remember the boy. But he is more like a son than a slave, -isn't he?" - -"He is. We're devoted to the boy. We couldn't love him more, I'm sure, -nor could he love us more, if he were really our own flesh and blood." - -"But why are you asking me about him?" - -"Well, some time ago I promised Lucian that the next time I went on a -journey I'd take him along. I wonder if you would object to his going -with us up into Phoenicia?" - -"Of course not. Why don't you take him?" - -"Then I shall. We'll get an early start in the morning. We ought to be -ready to begin the journey when the detachment arrives from Tiberias." - -But the next morning Lucian was ill. Perhaps, Cornelius thought, it came -from the great excitement of the anticipated journey. With his palm the -centurion felt the boy's forehead, cheeks, under his chin. They were -feverish. - - - - - Phoenicia - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 25 - - -The old man, smoke-blackened and naked except for a frayed and soiled -loincloth, tottered forward and collapsed at their feet. - -"He almost fell into the fire chamber," explained one of the two young -slaves who had dragged him from the furnace shed. - -A beetle-browed, scowling overseer with a long leather whip came running -from an adjacent section of the sheds. "Get back to your work!" he -shouted, as he slashed viciously at the slaves. The two fled inside; the -burly fellow strode across to the old man on the ground. - -"Water! O Zeus, mercy. Water! Water!" the old slave gasped. - -The overseer raised his whip. "Stand up, you, or by the gods, I'll cut -you in strips!" he hissed. "Get back to the furnace!" He stood poised to -strike the inert man. - -"Hold!" Cornelius commanded. "Strike him once, and by the great Jove, -you'll have me to deal with!" Suddenly furious, his eyes blazing, the -centurion stepped forward to confront the overseer. - -"Who, by the gods, are you?" the fellow demanded insolently. "By whose -authority do you interfere with the operation of this plant?" - -"By the great gods, my own, if the centurion"--he glanced coldly toward -Longinus--"is little enough interested to stop you." - -"Don't touch him!" Longinus pointed. "And get back to your duties." - -"And who"--the fellow was glowering, his heavy jaw thrust out--"are you, -by the gods, to be giving me orders?" - -Aroused by the angry words outside the fire chamber, a man rushed from -the near-by furnace-shed office. "Porcius, you insolent, blundering -fool, put down that whip!" he bellowed. "Don't you know the -centurion"--he gestured toward Longinus--"is the son of Senator Piso, -who owns this plant? And the other one is his friend. Now you get back -to your work!" - -"But first let him get this poor old slave some water." - -"Yes, Centurion." He turned fiercely to the overseer. "You heard the -centurion. Go! And bring a cloth, too, to bathe his face." - -"O Zeus, mercy. Water." The old man's plea was hardly a whisper. "Mercy, -O...." - -Longinus pointed. "Water will do him no good now, Cornelius." - -The wizened, gaunt slave's eyes, wide-open, were setting in an agonized, -frightened stare; his head was stretched back, and Cornelius, looking -into his blackened and bony face, saw that it was pitted and scarred -from innumerable small burns; the eyebrows and eyelashes were completely -gone, singed away in the intolerable heat of the glass furnaces. - -The overseer returned with the water and a smudged cloth. - -"No need now," the plant superintendent said. "He's dead." - -The overseer nodded. "Shall we....?" He paused. "The usual way?" - -"Not for the moment. Put him over there under the shed. Later, when...." - -"When we have left, eh?" Cornelius was pointedly sarcastic. "What is the -usual way?" - -The superintendent hesitated. - -"I'll tell him, Lucius," Longinus spoke out unconcernedly. "Usually, -Cornelius, they are thrown into the furnaces they have been tending, -provided, of course, that the heat is so intense that such disposition -of the cadaver will not endanger the mixture in the glassmaking. -Oftentimes they end up over there, in the deserted area behind that sand -dune, with the vultures picking their ill-padded bones. But every now -and then, when they do drag one over there, particularly if the breeze -is from the land, they shovel a bit of sand over him." He shrugged and -thrust out his hands solemnly. "Of course, doing it that way provides a -more pleasant atmosphere for working." - -Cornelius appeared not to have heard his friend's poor attempt at humor. -He stared at the dead slave on the ground and slowly shook his head. "He -was calling upon Zeus, a Greek. He might have been another Pheidias." He -shook his head ruefully. "Slaves both, but what a difference in their -lots." - -"And what is the difference?" Longinus demanded. "They're both dead. -Your old tutor was put away honorably in a tomb, no doubt. But when this -fellow's carcass has become a handful of ashes or is completely -dissolved into the sand and water and sea winds, won't they both be gone -to nothingness, ended without a trace?" - -"They're both dead, yes. But gone to nothingness, I can't say. It might -be that their spirits, their souls...." - -"Oh, come now, Cornelius." Longinus turned to the plant superintendent, -"My friend has been too long in Palestine," he commented wryly. "He has -come to believe what those Jews believe, that the death of a man is not -his end. In other words"--he pointed to the stiffened slave now being -borne to the shed--"that that fellow's soul, whatever a soul is--if -there is such a thing, which I find it impossible to believe--is -floating around somewhere in a world filled with other disembodied -beings." - -"If you will excuse me, sir," the manager said, evading comment, "I have -some work...." - -"Go ahead, Lucius. We will be leaving early tomorrow for Tyre. -Everything, you say, is ready?" - -"Everything, the reports, the revenue, everything, sir." - -Earlier Longinus had shown Cornelius through the various departments of -the glassmaking plant, and Cornelius had marveled at the skill of the -glassblowers, slaves whose lot was incomparably more fortunate, he saw, -than that of those who fired the roaring furnaces. When he had remarked -about this to Longinus, his host had observed casually that the blowers -were valuable property, while the laborers in the furnace chambers were -easily replaced when after a few weeks or months they literally burned -themselves out. The two had just completed their tour when the old Greek -was dragged out to die before them. - -From the plant they strolled toward the beach some two hundred paces -below it. "I can't get that slave out of my mind," Cornelius said, as -they sat in the bow of a small boat that had been pulled up on the -sands. "By all the gods, I thought those on the docks of the Emporium -were having a hard time, but these slaves that fire your glass -furnaces"--he grimaced--"Jupiter pity them. Certainly nobody else does." - -"But if we are to have beautiful glass in the mansions of Rome, or at -the Tetrarch's Palace, or the Procurator's at Caesarea, or in countless -other great places of the wealthy and the privileged, if revenue from -the glass factories is to continue flowing into the coffers of the -Empire and the Prefect, then, Cornelius, the furnaces must be stoked and -the molten glass must be blown. So"--he shrugged--"slaves will die and -be replaced. But remember, Cornelius, they are slaves, and slaves are -easy to come by; fresh ones are always being sent out here by Sejanus. -And we only put those of least value into the furnace chambers." - -"So, Longinus, the value of a slave is to be measured in direct -proportion to the value of the merchandise--in your case, glassware--he -is able to produce? And when tomorrow you leave for Rome with the -profits made from your glassware, you will be carrying the lives of many -slaves in your package, won't you? And when at the markets of Rome and -Antioch and Alexandria you sell those beautiful goblets with their -slender, rose-tinted stems, you will know that you are selling glass -colored with the lifeblood of men such as that old Greek, that slave who -perhaps by now has been consumed in the very furnace that exacted his -life? Isn't that true?" - -"Cornelius, you're a good soldier, but you're in the wrong profession." -Longinus leaned forward and cracked his bronzed knuckles. "You should be -writing poetry or lecturing classes in philosophy, or even"--he paused, -and a grin spread across his face--"be acting as a priest in the Temple -at Jerusalem." Suddenly the smile was gone. "Of course a slave is -valuable in proportion to what he can produce or the service he can -provide. Aren't we all valuable in that same proportion? We live awhile, -work, love, hate, die. What do we leave? Only what we have produced. -Everything else is gone, including us. So, in the end, we and the dead -slave are the same ... nothing. But you don't agree, do you?" - -"I don't want to agree, Longinus. What you say makes sense. But -something within me says just as emphatically that you are wrong. Yet I -can't prove it." Cornelius dug his sandaled heels into the sand at the -bottom of the long abandoned boat. "I keep thinking of the old Greek up -there. I don't know what life gave him, of course, before some invading -Roman soldiers destroyed his home--if he had a home--certainly his way -of life, and dragged him to Rome, where he simply had the bad luck to -fall into the hands of the Prefect. But there's no mystery about what -life has offered him since his enslavement. And this man may have been -another Pheidias, Centurion, a man more intelligent, more cultured, a -better man, my friend, than nine out of ten of the equestrians in Rome. -Obviously, then, life has been unfair to him. And you say he is -finished, done for, nothing. You say there will never be any chance of -his getting a better throw of the dice." - -"Exactly. And throw of the dice is right, too. He shook them in the cup -and rolled them, and they rolled wrong; we rolled ours, and they stopped -with the right numbers up. That's all there is to it. Fate, chance, -luck, call it what you will. It's a few years or many, a good life or -one of pain ... and then nothing. Isn't it just that simple, Cornelius? -How else could it possibly be? Isn't any other idea simply -superstition?" Longinus leaned over and picked up a small shell. "Look -at this," he said. "What happened to the mollusk who lived here? Did he -live out his span of life happily, or was he eaten in his prime? And is -his unshelled spirit now swimming about in some sea heaven?" He tossed -the shell into the surf. "That old slave up there, I maintain, is just -as dead and gone--or will be when his corpse is disposed of--as the -mollusk who once inhabited that shell. And both of them are gone for -good." - -"Then you put men and mollusks in the same category?" - -"Yes, as far as having immortal spirits is concerned. But you don't, -Centurion; you hold with your Pharisee friends--it's the Pharisees who -believe in immortality, isn't it--that man is a different sort of animal -in that he survives in a spirit world...." - -"I'd like to; I want to. It's a damnably unfair world if he doesn't." - -"And it's just as unfair if he does. Look." Longinus leaned forward -again. "You say that this all-powerful, all-wise, all-good god, this -Yahweh, will see to it that in the next world, the spirit world, that -old slave up there will get justice. But I insist that such a god does -not exist; if he did, as I argued that day we were sailing down the -Tiber, you remember, he wouldn't permit such unfairness and injustice in -this present life. Isn't that a logical contention, Cornelius? How can a -good god, I ask you again, decree, or permit, so much evil?" - -"I don't know," Cornelius replied. "I'm no nearer an answer to your -question now than I was that other day. But I am confident that if this -god exists--and I believe he does, Longinus; in fact I'm even stronger -now in that belief than I was then--he does not decree evil, he simply -permits evil men sometimes to rule in the affairs of this earthly, -physical life. It may be that he doesn't want to restrict man's freedom. -Do you see? That wouldn't mean he approves of the evil acts of men." - -Longinus slowly shook his head. "No, Cornelius, I don't see. Your -argument seems completely fatuous to me. I cannot comprehend an -all-powerful, good god who would permit men to do one another evil. I am -convinced that the fact that the world is filled with men who are unjust -and cruel and evil indisputably proves that no such god exists." - -"And I would answer that it is strong evidence but not indisputable -proof." For a long moment Cornelius stared out in the direction of a -merchant ship sailing southward toward towering Mount Carmel. "You see, -Longinus," he said, turning to face his companion, "we have so little -information on which to base an opinion. If there is such a god--if -there is, remember--how can we even comprehend his nature, what he is -like, unless?..." He paused and looked back to the sea. - -"Unless?" - -"Unless someone reveals him to us, interprets him to men, shows his -works and thoughts...." - -"The Jewish Messiah, eh? The carpenter who is about to overthrow Rome?" - -"I don't think he's ever indicated that he was seeking to overthrow -Rome. I think that idea has come down from the old Jewish prophets, who -foresaw a great political and military savior of their land. Several -times I've been in the crowds listening to him talking, and so far as I -could tell, he was only trying to explain to the people the nature of -this god whom he refers to as his father. He was attempting to interpret -this Yahweh to them sometimes even to the extent of utilizing some of -this father god's power. That's apparently what he did when he restored -Chuza's son." - -"You mean he was clever enough to figure out when nature would do the -restoring. But we won't go into that again." Longinus twisted around in -the boat and stood up. "No, my friend, I insist that your reasoning is -not sound, that you have been overcome by this eastern mysticism which -seems to fill the very air out here." He clapped his hand on Cornelius' -shoulder; his friend had risen with him. "Centurion, come with me to -Rome; I suspect that you need to be indoctrinated again in the ways of -modern thought." - -"I wish I could go with you." Cornelius stepped from the boat and kicked -the sand from his sandals. "But sometimes I wonder just what sort of -thinking could properly be termed modern." - -They walked back to the inn to await the loading of the ship on which -Longinus would sail for the capital. No further mention was made of the -Roman gods, the Greek gods, Yahweh, or the Galilean carpenter. And early -in the forenoon the next day the vessel spread its sails for Rome. Two -hours later Cornelius and his men started on their return to Tiberias. - - - - - 26 - - -One of the household servants was waiting for Cornelius when he returned -to the garrison's quarters at Tiberias. - -"Centurion, Lucian is desperately ill," he reported. "In the last few -days he has developed a palsy. Your wife bade me tell you that she fears -him near death. You must come back with me, sir; she's greatly -frightened and in much distress about the boy." - -"But the physicians? Haven't they been able to help him?" - -The man shook his head. "She has had them all with him, sir, all she -could find in this region, and they have done what they could; but the -paralysis has spread, and his fever does not abate. All their efforts -have been useless. She prays that you hurry, sir." - -As fast as their horses could take them the two raced toward Capernaum. -When Cornelius entered the house, his wife rushed to him and fell into -his arms. "Oh, I thought you would never get here," she cried. "Lucian -is near death, I know; I don't see how he can live much longer. And the -physicians have despaired of saving him." - -"But there must be something we can do," he said, as he turned toward -the sick boy's chamber. "Are there no other physicians we could call?" - -"None," she said. "And the paralysis seems to be growing worse. He is -deathly ill, Cornelius. Oh, by all the gods, if there were -something...." - -"'By all the gods.' The carpenter! Didn't he restore Chuza's son? And -though Lucian is a slave, isn't he just as much a son to us? Wouldn't -the carpenter just as willingly restore a slave boy, even of a Roman -soldier?" He had said the words aloud, but they had been addressed more -to himself than to his wife. - -He turned smiling, to face her. "Do you remember how that young -carpenter of Nazareth healed the son of Herod's chamberlain? Don't you -think...?" - -"But he's a Jew, Cornelius, and we are Romans." - -"No matter." He turned to the servant who had gone to Tiberias in search -of him. "Get me a fresh horse, and quickly!" he ordered. "I'm going out -to find that carpenter!" - -A few minutes later he stopped to inquire of a shopkeeper if the man had -seen the young Nazarene rabbi. "Has he been around today?" Cornelius -asked. "Can you tell me how to find him?" - -"He passed here this morning," the shopkeeper answered, "with Simon and -the Zebedees and some of those others who are usually with him. They -went out the gate in the western wall, and judging by the poor trade -I've had all day, the whole city's gone out after them. I hear the -carpenter's been speaking to them from the side of that little mountain -over there." With his head he motioned toward the west. "In all -likelihood you'll find him there, soldier." Suddenly his face fell; his -hands shook as he grasped his scraggly beard. "Now wait a minute," he -sputtered, "this fellow, this Nazarene, he hasn't run afoul of you -Romans, has he?" - -"No. No, indeed. It's on a personal mission that I seek him." Cornelius -smiled reassuringly. "I'm his friend." - -The shopkeeper looked relieved. "Then if you station yourself at the -western gate, you'll surely see him as he returns to the city. Or you -might ride out toward the mountain, soldier." - -Cornelius rode on through the gate. He was halfway to the little -eminence in the plain west of the city when he began to meet the throng -returning. Soon he spotted the rabbi walking in the company of the -Capernaum fishermen. Boldly he rode up to them and dismounted. - -The men with Jesus formed a circle about him. - -"I am unarmed, and I intend no one harm," Cornelius said, holding out -his hands. "I am seeking the rabbi of Nazareth." - -Jesus stepped forward and held up his staff in salute. His brown eyes -were warmly bright. Cornelius, closer to him than he had ever been -before, saw sparkling in the beads of perspiration rolling down his -bronzed smooth forehead the long rays of the setting sun. He saw them, -too, in the beads clinging to the thick mat of reddish-brown hair on the -carpenter's chest, for in the sultry stillness of the dying day, Jesus -had thrown open his robe half way to his rope-belted waist. - -"What would you have of me, my brother?" he asked the centurion. - -"Sir, I pray you to restore my little servant boy whom I greatly love; I -fear he is near death of a palsy. If, sir, you would but say the -word...." He paused, suddenly hesitant. - -The rabbi reached out and with strong brown fingers grasped the -centurion's arm. "I will go with you and restore the boy," he said -gently. "Show me to your house." - -"But, sir, I am a Roman soldier"--a feeling of embarrassment, deep -humility, strange to the centurion, possessed him as he looked into the -face of the young rabbi--"and unworthy that you should enter my house. -But if you would only command that my little servant boy be healed, -while we stand here, sir, then I know that he would be restored to -health." He smiled, weakly, he thought. "You see, sir, I understand -authority, for I am a centurion and when I give a command, it is -obeyed." - -For an instant the rabbi said nothing, but his warm eyes lighted with a -rapture plain to see. He turned to his friends. "Nowhere in Israel have -I seen such faith. I tell you that many will come from the east and the -west and with our fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob sit down in the -Kingdom of Heaven. But many of the chosen likewise will be cast out, and -there will be great wailing and mourning, for their faith shall not be -as the faith of this Roman." - -Then he turned again to confront the centurion, and Cornelius saw that -his face was radiant. "You may go on your way, my brother," he said. "As -you have believed that it might be done, so has it been accomplished. -Return in peace to the little boy." - -"Oh, sir...." But the centurion's eyes were blinded with tears, and he -bowed his head, and no words would come. Then he felt a warm hand on his -shoulder and strong fingers once more gently squeezing his arm, then the -fingers released it. When after a moment he looked up, Cornelius saw -that the Nazarene and his friends had resumed walking toward the city -gate. In that same instant Jesus turned and looked over his shoulder, -his face still alight with a glowing happiness, and raised his hand high -in a parting salute. Then he quickly turned eastward again, and the -little group disappeared around the bend. - -Cornelius stood unmoving, his left hand still clutching the bridle rein, -and then he mounted and rode toward the western gate. A few paces ahead -he went around the bend and shortly passed the rabbi and his friends, -who had overtaken several men who evidently had been out with them at -the mountainside; Jesus smiled and once more lifted his hand in friendly -greeting. - -The centurion, reaching the gate, rode through it and toward the center -of the city, where he turned left and followed a cavernous road to the -gate in the southern wall. He was in no hurry as his horse picked its -way along the cobblestones and out upon the coast road southward. His -fright, his sudden hysteria had gone; it had vanished completely as he -had looked into the eyes of the young rabbi. Cornelius knew that Lucian -would be well; not the shadow of a doubt darkened his thoughts. - -When he reached home and turned into his courtyard, a servant came -running to take his horse. "Lucian, sir, is well again!" the man -declared, almost breathless with the excitement of being the first to -give his master the thrilling news. - -"Yes, I know it." Cornelius smiled. - -"But, sir, it was only an hour ago that...." - -"A man over at Capernaum told me then," he said and strode toward the -house as the servant, mouth open, stared after him. - -As he stepped inside from the courtyard, his wife, who had heard him -ride in from the roadway, rushed to him and flung her aims about his -waist. "Oh, Cornelius, Lucian has been restored! Not only has his fever -gone, but so has the paralysis. He can use his arms and hands, and he -can walk as though nothing had ever been wrong with his legs!" - -She stood back from him, her eyes wet with the sudden surging of her -emotion. "Isn't it wonderful, Cornelius! And it happened so quickly, -too; he was low, Cornelius, desperately sick, much sicker than when you -left, I'm sure, and the fever was consuming him. I had turned aside from -his bed a moment to wet a cloth to spread on his forehead; then, as I -wrung it out and turned back to him, suddenly he sat up. I caught him -under his arms and discovered that he was no longer feverish; in a -moment he was talking and using his hands, and then quickly he stood up -and walked toward the table where I had set the pitcher of cool water. -'I'm so thirsty,' he said, grinning at me, 'and hungry, too.'" - -"Yes, I knew about it. It happened about an hour ago. Where is Lucian -now?" - -"He went out to the stables. He wanted to see his horse; he hadn't...." -Abruptly she broke off and stared at her husband, incredulous. -"Cornelius, how did you know when it happened? Did one of the servants -tell...?" - -"Yes, when I rode in a moment ago. But I knew when it happened." - -"But how, Cornelius?" Her amazement was evident. - -"Have you forgotten that I went in search of the carpenter of Nazareth? -Well, an hour ago I came upon him beyond the western gate of Capernaum. -I implored him to heal Lucian, and he did. He told me so. And I knew he -had; I had not the slightest doubt. Nor am I in the least surprised to -find him well." His serious expression relaxed into a warm smile. "Did -you feed the young imp?" - -"Yes. And he was famished. Literally, Cornelius, the boy ate like a -horse." - -"Well, he hadn't had anything in days; he was bound to be empty." - -"But, Cornelius, this carpenter from Nazareth...." She paused, her -forehead furrowed in perplexity. - -"Yes," he said, not waiting for her to finish her question, "and, by all -the gods, I'd like to see Longinus try to explain this one away!" - - - - - Rome - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 27 - - -When the vessel eased in to dock just below the Sublicious Bridge, -almost at the spot from which the "Palmyra" had started its voyage, -Longinus went ashore. Quickly he engaged a loitering freed slave to help -with his luggage. He had brought little from Phoenicia, only his -clothing and a few small presents for his mother, principally some -choice pieces of glass, and the package he was delivering to Sejanus. - -"I'll carry this," he said to the fellow; "it's glass and fragile." He -picked up the bundle, heavily wrapped. "And I'll take this spare toga, -too. You can carry the remainder. I don't want any sedan chair; I'd -rather walk. I want to get my land legs back." - -The toga had been wrapped about the money packet, which Longinus had -kept securely under his arm as he descended from the ship. But it was an -innocent looking bundle and only its weight would have excited a -bearer's suspicion. Longinus had determined not to let it get out of his -possession until he had locked it in his father's safe to await its -delivery to the Prefect. - -They walked from the pier along the way that went eastward from the -bridge into the dense, traffic-jammed heart of the city. At the foot of -Palatine Hill they turned left and walked northward past the western -front of the Imperial Palace. Glancing over his shoulder as they reached -the northwest corner of the sprawling great structure, Longinus had a -glimpse of the wing that had been Claudia's apartment; once again he -picked out the bedroom window through which that morning he had heard -the rising bugle at Castra Praetoria. - -"I wonder...." - -"Sir, did you say something?" His helper, trudging behind, paused. - -"No." Longinus turned to face him. "I was just thinking, talking to -myself." - -All the way from the dock area Longinus had been retracing the route he -had come with his century from Castra Praetoria the day they sailed for -Palestine. But a hundred paces farther on, instead of continuing past -the Forum of Augustus on their left, he turned abruptly westward. "I -want to walk through the Forum Romanum," he explained. "It's been a long -time since I've been there. I've lost touch with Rome. What's been -happening lately?" - -"Very little, sir, as far as I've seen." The fellow shook his head -resignedly. "No triumphs, as I recall, no big ones anyway, and precious -few games." - -"Why haven't there been more?" - -"Oh, I don't know, sir. They say the Emperor gets no enjoyment out of -such things, and he's not here in Rome most of the time anyway, and I -hear it told that the Prefect doesn't want to spend the money...." - -"They do say that?" - -"Now, sir, I have heard such talk. Understand, I don't know anything -about it; I don't know anything about them, the Emperor and the Prefect. -Not a thing. I don't even know whether I'd recognize either one of them -if he came right up to us now." The fellow's fear that he had spoken too -boldly was obvious. "All I ever get done, sir, is work; I have to -struggle hard to make a living. Seems that it's just like it's always -been in Rome, the way I see it, which is that the rich get richer and -the poor get poorer." He grinned good-naturedly. "I'm meaning no offense -to you, Centurion; likely you're one of the rich ones." - -"I understand, and I suspect it's a sound observation, that the rich do -get richer and the poor get poorer, I mean. But it's not true of Rome -alone; it's that way everywhere, isn't it, throughout the world?" - -"I couldn't say as to that, sir. Rome's pretty much my world." - -Rome was his world, too, Longinus told himself a moment later as the two -were propelled suddenly from the shaded cavern of the cobblestoned -narrow street into the widened stir and commotion of a veritable forest -of marbled columns and statuary. - -The centurion's heart lifted as he strode once more into the Forum -Romanum, that busy, marble-crowded flat between the Tiber's westward -bend and the mansion-crowned hills. He took a deep breath, and his chest -swelled. - -_... This is the veritable beating, pulsing heart of Rome, and Rome is -the world. Here is reality. Here are solidity, strength, planning made -real, dreams hewn in enduring stone. Here are wealth, accomplishment, -power, might. Not twenty paces across there is the Millenarium Aureum, -the resplendent bronze column set up to mark the center of the Roman -world, the point from which miles are counted along the highways and -their joining sea lanes stretching to the ends of the known earth to -bind Rome into one colossal, unconquerable, enduring Empire!..._ - -They paused to catch their breath. Longinus set down the glass, but he -continued to clutch the toga-wrapped packet under his arm. In another -moment they would push once more into the jostling, shoving multitude -milling through the Forum's crossways. Suddenly the centurion remembered -Cornelius and their discussion that afternoon as the two men had sat in -the wrecked rowboat near the glassworks. He smiled grimly. - -_... But this is Rome. This is reality. This is accomplishment, -creation. I can reach out and run my hand over the stone and feel these -marbled creations of men; a thousand years from now, were I to live so -long, I could rub my hands across their imperishable cold faces. These -are tangible things, and Rome is tangible, her power, her strength, her -wealth, her dominance over the world. Cornelius may prate of his old -tutor's preachments about the imperishability of the intangibles and the -reality of things unseen. But these statues, these temples, this -Millenarium Aureum, are tangible. Rome is carved statuary and fluted -marble magnificence; Rome is spacious mansions and marching great armies -flaunting their ensigns. Rome is poverty, too, and injustice and -ugliness at times and in places, but Rome is no pale intangibles, no -vaporous conjurations of an eastern philosopher. Rome is not even her -gods. This is Rome, this marbled splendor of the Forum; Rome is here and -now and touchable and real, and Rome, by all the gods or no gods, will -endure._ - -_... Rome is something else. Rome is strength and power and substance, -but Rome is also grace and beauty. Examine these graceful columns, these -elegant pediments. Rome is feminine, a beautiful woman. Rome, by the -great Jove, is Claudia. Indeed! What is more Rome than Claudia; what is -more Claudia than Rome? Rome is beauty and pleasure, tangible, real, to -be experienced, enjoyed._ - -_... And Rome will endure. That carpenter of Galilee, wandering up and -down the seacoast with his little band of poor working people, talking -of intangibles to illiterate fisherfolk and the dwellers in Jerusalem's -festering Ophel, that fellow to overcome Rome! Even under the silvery -softness of a full moon beside the sea in Galilee, it was a preposterous -notion. But here in the middle of the Forum, with confirmation of Rome's -might everywhere around...._ - -"By all the gods, Cornelius. Can't you see?" - -The man carrying Longinus' belongings whirled suddenly around. "I beg -your pardon, sir," he asked, "did you command anything of me?" - -Longinus laughed. "No," he answered. "I was just thinking aloud again. I -must be growing old." He reached down and picked up the glassware -package. "But let's be moving on. I'm anxious to get to my father's -house." He pointed the directions. "Out that way and on through the -Forum of Augustus to Via Longa. The house is on Quirinal Hill." - - - - - 28 - - -Longinus placed the package on the desk in front of the Prefect. "Sir, -I'm delivering this to you just as I received it at the glassworks," he -said. "I have not seen the contents; I don't know what's inside. The -package when it was handed to me was sealed as you see it now; the seals -have not been broken." - -"Thank you, Centurion, for bringing it; it has been quite a -responsibility, I know." The Prefect's darting eyes, Longinus saw, had -examined the package already. The centurion, appraising Sejanus in the -short moment he had been in the ornate chamber, had observed no change -in the Prefect's appearance. Judging by the man's looks and demeanor, it -might well have been only yesterday that they had last met. The small, -cold eyes were just as carefully calculating as they had been the day -the Prefect had given Longinus his orders and sent him and Cornelius -eastward aboard the "Palmyra." Now the eyes were disarmingly friendly. -"My purpose in having it so well sealed was not because I didn't trust -you, Longinus, but because I wished the manager at the glassworks to -know that no one but himself could be blamed in the event that the -contents were subsequently found short. I knew that he would therefore -make sure that the packet left Phoenicia intact." The blinking, small -eyes narrowed. "So actually, you see, it was a protection for you." With -a flourish of the hand he motioned to the chair in front of the massive -desk. "Sit down, Centurion." - -"Thank you, sir." Longinus took the seat and faced the Prefect. - -Sejanus leaned forward and crossed his hands on the desk. "In all -likelihood, Centurion, you've been wondering why I summoned you to -Rome." - -"I have wondered, sir." - -"Yes, I'm sure you have. And I'm sure you've also guessed that I -dispatched my message to you before receiving your report." - -"I had presumed so, sir." - -"And right you were. Had I received the report but a few days earlier I -would not have summoned you here. But once I'd received your -communication, I had no way of countermanding my order to you so that -you would get it before sailing for Rome." He sat back in his chair and -folded his arms across his chest; his entire attitude radiated good -humor. "But I'm glad it happened as it did, Longinus. I'd rather like to -hear in person from you concerning the situation in Palestine. It was a -good report, Centurion, and comprehensive, so far as such written -reports go. But I had the feeling in reading it that you might have had -further information to give had you been able to talk with me directly. -Perhaps discretion had cramped your writing hand." Now his smile was -disarming. "But here, with no ears to hear us but our own, we can talk -with complete freedom. I, too, can say things that I would not dare -write." - -The Prefect unfolded his arms and, leaning forward, drummed his fingers -on the desk. He studied the centurion briefly through narrowed eyes, -then sat back again. - -"How did you leave the Procurator, Longinus?" - -"He was quite well, sir, when I left him at Caesarea. But your message -overtook me at Tiberias, and I had then been away from Caesarea for some -time. I went on to the glassworks and sailed from Tyre, as you -suggested." - -"Then you have seen Herod Antipas quite recently?" - -"Yes, sir. I saw the Tetrarch and Herodias and told them good-by just -before leaving Tiberias. I had escorted them to Galilee from their -landing at Caesarea." - -"And how did the daughter of King Aretas accept Herod's new wife?" - -"She didn't, sir. She has left him and returned to her father. She...." - -"By winged Mercury!" Sejanus lunged forward and slammed his fist against -the desk. "Gone, you say? Fled to Aretas? By great Jupiter! But this you -did not report, Longinus!" - -"Sir, Herod didn't know she was gone until we arrived at his capital. I -was preparing to dispatch a report to you when I received your summons, -and then I decided I would bring the report in person, instead." He -ventured a wan smile, and the Prefect himself relaxed. - -"I understand; you did right, Centurion." Then his countenance darkened, -and his narrow forehead wrinkled. "This is a matter of considerable -moment; I shall come back to it presently." He shook his head. "Yes, it -could have dire repercussions. But for the moment, let us speak of more -pleasant things." His small weasel-like face lighted with a thin but -suggestive smile. "Longinus, when did you last see Claudia? How is the -Procurator's wife?" - -"I saw her in Tiberias the day before I left there for Phoenicia, sir. -Herodias and Herod Antipas had invited her to accompany them to Tiberias -for a visit." - -"And Pilate didn't object to her going up into Galilee with them ... and -you?" He licked his lips and drew them in thin lines across his teeth. - -"If he did, sir, he did not indicate anything of the sort to me." - -"I'm sure the Procurator would do nothing that he thought might -displease the Emperor's stepdaughter. But what he thinks, however, is a -different matter, isn't it?" - -"I'm sure it is, sir." Longinus expected momentarily that the Prefect -would begin plying him with intimately personal questions concerning his -relations with the Procurator's wife, and he wondered desperately how he -should answer. But, happily, Sejanus turned away from the Procurator's -affairs to return to a discussion of the Tetrarch's. - -"You were saying a moment ago, Longinus"--the familiar scowl had -returned to the Prefect's face--"that Herod's wife has gone back to old -Aretas. Have you had any reports concerning his feelings toward Herod -for the way his daughter has been treated?" - -"He was greatly angered, according to reports coming back to Galilee, -sir." - -Sejanus shook his head slowly. "No doubt." He reflected a moment. "Has -there been any talk of possible reprisal?" - -"There has been some talk that Aretas might attempt to punish Herod. But -that would mean war, sir, and war with us Romans. So I feel that Aretas -would hardly be so foolhardy as to attempt to send an army against -Herod." - -"I hardly think so, either, Centurion. But a father will sometimes do -foolish things when his daughter's honor is at stake. If Aretas should -challenge Herod, that will mean war, and war is expensive, Longinus. The -cost in terms of both men and money is exorbitant ... and useless. War -would also mean loss of work and production and loss of revenue in -addition to the expenditure of revenue already collected." His frown -deepened. "By the great gods, I should never have permitted Herod to -have Herodias. He has not only offended his own people; he has now set -King Aretas against him ... and us!" - -Angrily the Prefect drummed his fingers on the desk again. Then quickly -his anger seemed to disappear. He arose, and the centurion stood with -him. "But we need not anticipate events," Sejanus said. "When you go -back to Palestine, however, I want you to make a careful investigation -of the situation. It might be well for you to contrive some reason for -visiting our fortress at Machaerus; it's over beyond the Dead Sea on the -borders of Arabia; perhaps by going there you may learn whether Aretas -is actually planning to attack Herod." - -"I'm familiar with the place, sir. I was there several years ago." - -"Yes. By the way, in your report of Herod's arrest of that desert -preacher, you indicated that he may have displeased a large number of -the Jews." - -"I'm confident he did, sir. Many of them hold that John in the highest -regard. I think Herod made a mistake, sir, and I felt it my duty to -inform you so." - -"But wasn't Herod justified in believing him to be an insurrectionist?" - -"At first, sir, I confess I thought so. But Cornelius, who understands -the Jews, insisted that he was just a harmless religious fanatic, and -nothing more. Frankly I soon came to the same conclusion. The fellow is -deluded, of course, but so are most of the Jews in respect to their -foolish one-god religion; other than that, I'm convinced that he's -entirely harmless. And he has many followers who were deeply offended -when Herod, at the insistence of Herodias, had him arrested." - -"By the gods, that headstrong woman! She will be Herod's ruination!" He -was thoughtfully silent. "Perhaps, Centurion, Rome might profit if I had -the man liberated. At any rate, look into the matter, and let me hear as -quickly as you can"--his scowl deepened--"if it will wait that long ... -and if Aretas isn't precipitate in sending an army against Herod." - -"But, sir...." - -"I haven't told you, Longinus," the Prefect interrupted. "You aren't -returning at once to Palestine. Now that you're here, I have another -mission, quite urgent, that I'm sending you on into Gaul. When you have -accomplished this--and it should require only a few months--you will go -out to the east again." - -Sejanus pushed out his lips into a round pucker, and once more his eyes -began to catch fire and his narrow face lighted sensually. Then he -twisted his lips again into the thin semblance of a smile. "I hope, -Centurion, that you can wait that long ... before getting back to -Claudia!" Then quickly the smile was gone. "Remember, Longinus, she must -be kept away from Rome, and it will continue to be your task to keep her -happily occupied." The lips twisted again. "That task, I should think, -will not be an unpleasant one." - - - - - Machaerus - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 29 - - -Someone knocked on the door to Claudia's apartment, and Tullia was sent -to answer it. She ran quickly back into the tepidarium. - -"Tertius says there's a soldier to see you, Mistress, a centurion. He's -waiting in the atrium." - -"Longinus! Oh, by the Bountiful Mother!" But quickly Claudia's elation -subsided. "He must still be in Gaul, though, according to the -information Sergius Paulus had from Rome. Still"--her face lighted--"he -might have returned early, perhaps, and caught a fast vessel to -Caesarea. Bona Dea, Tullia, help me finish dressing! The perfume, that -vial"--she pointed--"the Tyrian. And do hurry, Tullia!" - -A few minutes later she scurried breathlessly into the atrium. But the -soldier was not Longinus. The Centurion Cornelius arose and advanced to -meet her. He saw her disappointment and smiled understanding. "I'm -sorry, Claudia, but Longinus hasn't returned to Palestine, nor have we -heard at Tiberias when he expects to arrive. I've come to bring you a -message from the Tetrarch Herod Antipas and the Tetrarchess." - -"I'll confess I was hoping Longinus had surprised me, Cornelius," she -said, "although I'd heard that he was still in Gaul. Did you know about -his assignment out there?" - -Cornelius nodded. "Yes. But we understood it was not to be a lengthy -mission." - -Claudia motioned to a seat; she sat down and Cornelius sat facing her. -She summoned Tertius to bring wine and wafers. "And now, Centurion," she -said, "what is the message you fetch me from Tiberias?" - -"They are inviting you and the Procurator to go with them down to -Machaerus to spend a holiday season there. And if the Procurator's -duties will not permit his leaving his post, the Tetrarchess hopes that -you will join them anyway, together with your servants and any guests -you may wish to bring." - -"To Machaerus? That's the fortress castle on the other side of the Dead -Sea, isn't it, on the southern border of Peraea?" - -"Yes, it's on a high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, some way south of -Mount Nebo." - -"A wild and desolate country, isn't it? I've never been there." - -"I understand so; I've never been there myself. A good place, they say -in Tiberias, for the sort of holiday the Tetrarch particularly enjoys -... wild, uninhibited, like himself." - -Claudia laughed appreciatively. "It promises to be interesting at any -rate. But"--her face clouded perceptibly--"I know that Pilate won't go. -In the first place, he loathes Antipas--and I do, too, as a matter of -fact--and in the second place, he wouldn't venture that far from -provincial headquarters. But he might let me go. And it would be a -change from this dreary existence." She brightened. "When are they -planning to make this holiday excursion?" - -"As a matter of fact, they've probably already started. They sent me on -ahead in the hope that you might agree to join them; if you should, I'm -to escort you and your party to the Jordan, where they plan to meet us. -They were to start this morning from Tiberias. If we could leave by -tomorrow morning, we would be able to reach the Jordan at about the same -time they do. From there we would continue down the Jordan Valley to the -Dead Sea and around its eastern shore at the foot of Mount Nebo to -Machaerus." - -"How long do they plan to be there?" - -"A week or longer, probably longer"--Cornelius smiled glumly--"if the -Tetrarch has to recover from one of his usual drunken orgies. But if you -should wish to leave earlier, I'd be glad to escort you back to -Caesarea. And we'll see that you don't ran afoul of Bar Abbas or any of -those other zealot cutthroats." - -"I really would like to go, and I see no reason why I shouldn't, even if -Pilate won't. If I only knew that Longinus would be there." ... She -broke off, laughing. "Cornelius, why do you suppose old Sejanus recalled -him to Rome? Do you think it was because of"--she shrugged--"well, us? -And do you suppose he'll continue to provide assignments that will keep -him away from Palestine?" - -Cornelius shook his head. "I hardly think so, Claudia. The Prefect, in -my opinion, summoned him to Rome to inquire about the situation out -here. I think he wanted to learn about the temper of the people, how the -Jews were taking to Antipas and his new wife, and to the new Procurator; -that was one reason, I'm sure. But he was mainly interested in learning -whether the revenue was flowing into his treasury without being diverted -in part into the coffers of...." He paused. - -"Pilate and Antipas?" - -"That's my opinion, Claudia. I don't believe the Prefect is really -concerned with anything beyond keeping the province peacefully paying -its taxes. So I'm confident Longinus will be sent back to Palestine, -he's the man Sejanus needs for the job he gave him ... and still needs; -he'll be back, though I'd hesitate to predict when." He shrugged his -shoulders. "For a soldier, I've been speaking very freely, and to the -wife of the Procurator, at that." - -"And for the wife of the Procurator, so have I. But I'm not naive enough -to think, Cornelius, that you don't know just how little I am Pilate's -wife. You must feel free to talk with me in complete frankness, just as -I feel free to talk that way with you. And tomorrow, by the gods, Pilate -willing or Pilate grumbling--and he won't grumble at me, by the Great -Mother--I'll start with you for Machaerus." - - - - - 30 - - -The two sat in a protected spot of warming sunshine on the terrace at -Machaerus. A week ago as the caravan bringing the Tetrarch's party had -moved down the low trough of the Jordan, the faintly greening willows -and oleanders bordering the twisting stream had hinted of spring. But -here on this desolate, upflung headland, barren and granite-capped, the -March winds were crisply chill. - -"Are you cold?" Herodias asked. "Would you like to go inside?" - -"No, it's wonderful out here, as long as we're sheltered from the wind. -It's so bracing, so invigorating after all our dissipating...." - -"But, my dear, I haven't been aware of your dissipating at Machaerus. -With Longinus not here...." - -"Pluto roast old Sejanus! But too much wine, nevertheless, and entirely -too much rich food." Claudia looked out from beneath long eyelashes. -"After all, isn't more indulging done in banquet halls than in -bedrooms?" - -"As far as I'm concerned, yes, certainly." - -"But the Tetrarch is here with you, Herodias, and he appears to be in a -gay holiday mood." - -"Here with me? Hah!" She tossed her head disdainfully. "With his women, -you mean, those dark, fat, greasy, perfume-reeking Arabian women old -Aretas gave him. And his little girls." - -"Little girls?" - -"Yes. Hadn't you noticed? They seem at the moment to be an important -part of the Machaerus staff. As Antipas gets more senile--and I'm sure -he's getting that way--he tries more and more to ape the Emperor. At -least, that's what I believe he thinks he's doing. It's disgusting, of -course, but I welcome being relieved of his crude attentions." - -"But in Rome, Herodias, weren't you eager to marry Antipas?" - -"Yes, but you know why. I wanted to marry the Tetrarch of Galilee and -Peraea so that I could make him a king and myself a queen. I sought the -office, my dear, not the man." She pulled her lips into a determined -grim line. "And I still expect to see him on a king's throne, with me -seated beside him. But as a man Antipas has as much attraction for me as -... as I suppose Pilate has for you." - -Claudia laughed understanding, but made no observation. Instead, she -pointed westward. "Look how high we are here. The Dead Sea seems almost -below us, and it must be several miles away." - -"The surface of the Dead Sea is a quarter of a mile below the surface of -the Great Sea. And we're a half mile above the Great Sea; that would -make us, where we sit now, about four thousand feet above the Dead Sea, -wouldn't it? Jerusalem, of course, is almost this high." Herodias -twisted around slightly to point northwestward. "See, across there, -almost straight west of the top of the Dead Sea, that's Jerusalem. It's -too far away, of course, for us to distinguish any of the buildings, but -the city's on that rise, just there. Sometimes of a late afternoon, when -the angle is just right, they say, one can see the sunlight flashing -from the golden roof of the Temple." - -Claudia looked off to her left and settled back in her chair. "Herodias, -why did they ever build this palace in such a desolate, rockbound region -so far from everything?" - -"I asked Antipas the same question. He said it was built more as a fort -than a palace. This is near the southern boundary of the tetrarchy. Down -there"--she pointed southward above a narrow valley fast greening with -luxuriant vegetation--"beyond that stream with its banks lined with -willows is the kingdom of Aretas. The Herods originally came from that -region at the southern end of the Dead Sea, which was called Idumaea. So -this fortress up here was built as a defense post." - -"Then Aretas isn't far away, is he? By the way, what became of his -daughter, the woman you displaced?" - -"I don't know, and what's more, I don't care!" She realized that she had -spoken petulantly. "I didn't mean to be short, Claudia. I have no reason -to hate her, after all. And I have no idea that she or her father will -attempt reprisal against Antipas. Any attack upon him would be an attack -upon Rome, and surely they wouldn't risk that." - -"I think you need have no apprehensions. But, of course, I know -absolutely nothing about this King Aretas or his daughter. Generally, -though, I understand, these eastern peoples are impulsive and -vindictive." - -"But they're also known to be very shrewd. Surely he would know he -couldn't defeat Rome." - -"If he calmly considered the situation, yes." She shrugged. "I hope so. -If Rome should be involved in war with the Arabian king, Sejanus and the -Emperor would both be infuriated, and Sejanus, I'm sure, would place the -blame for it upon Antipas ... and you." She had been looking downward -beyond the descending outcroppings of granite and limestone and sand to -the great sluggish salt sea far below them. But now she confronted -Herodias, her countenance plainly concerned. "Herodias, if Aretas should -seek vengeance against the Tetrarch and you, what would the Israelites -do? Would they fight him? Have they become reconciled to your being -Tetrarchess? Do many of them still hold with that wild fellow we -encountered that day on the river bank?" She paused, and suddenly her -eyes were roundly questioning. "Wasn't it to Machaerus that Antipas sent -him? By the gods, is he here now?" - -"Yes, and still a troublemaker. They say his followers have been coming -here all the time since he's been imprisoned. Haven't you noticed all -the Jews coming and going while we've been here? Look." She indicated a -point far down the slope where the trail to Machaerus led from the road -paralleling the lakeside. "That group down there, I'd wager they're -coming here to listen to the fellow's haranguing. And they'll try to see -Antipas and petition him to free the madman." For a moment she watched -the men coming slowly up the slope. "If Antipas had done as I said and -had the man beheaded, he could have prevented all this; while that -fellow's alive there'll be more and more agitation against us." She -hunched up a shoulder. "But what can one do with a person," she said -indifferently, "who is not only fearful and woefully superstitious but -is horribly obstinate as well?" She stood up. "Excuse me, Claudia; you -stay out here and sun yourself as long as you like. But I have some -things to do before we sit down to Antipas' birthday banquet, one of -which, no doubt"--her brittle laugh echoed across the terrace--"will be -to get him sobered sufficiently to attend it himself." - - - - - 31 - - -The Tetrarch, mouth open, his thick lips grease-smeared and -wine-purpled, snored sonorously; his round, closely cropped head, -cradled in his hand, swayed in precarious balance on the column of his -forearm which was pressed into the heavy cushion. - -Herodias, reclining at his left, had changed position to rest her head -on her right arm and thereby avoid somewhat breathing the heavily -alcoholic exhalations of her spouse; she lay facing her daughter. - -Claudia, Herod's guest of honor, was at his right, and next to her, as -the ranking Roman soldier at Machaerus, Herod had placed the Centurion -Cornelius. Other guests, in various stages of intoxication, sat or -reclined on their elbows or had fallen inert on their couches to the -right and left of the Tetrarch. - -The banquet had begun in the daylight of late afternoon, and by the time -the sun had dropped behind the western headlands the Tetrarch and his -guests had begun to be surfeited with the richly tempting food, the -wine, and the wildly sensual dancing of Herod's darkly handsome Arabian -women, who, nude but for gossamer thin, gaily colored loincloths, -writhed and twisted in the open square before the tables to the -oriental, whining insistence of the strings and the maddeningly -rhythmical beat of the drums. - -But now the dancers, their copper-hued perspiring bodies shining as -though they had been rubbed with olive oil, had retired to a chamber -adjoining the banquet room. From there they could come prancing out -barefoot, with lewd twistings and contortings, at the first summons of -the musicians. Until Antipas should arouse from his stupor, though, and -call for them, they would be free to relax. - -Cornelius, who had been eying the Tetrarch, nodded in his direction. "If -we could get his head down flat," he said to Claudia, "he'd be asleep -until morning, and we could leave. Wouldn't you like to get away?" - -"Yes. I'm gorged. And I'd like to have a breath of fresh air on the -terrace. Perhaps Herodias would excuse us. I had no idea that -Antipas...." - -But at that instant the Tetrarch's head slipped from its cradling hand, -and he fell face downward upon the cushion. The sudden drop awakened -him, and he twisted his legs around heavily and sat up. The leader of -the musicians, seeing him, signaled his men to begin playing and -motioned to the dancers to return. - -"No! No!" shouted the Tetrarch. "We have had enough of their dancing! -But now, my friends"--Antipas faced right and left to look along the -couches, as his guests began to sit up--"I shall provide you with more -novel entertainment." He paused and reached for his wine goblet. "I ask -your pardon for having gone to sleep, although I'm sure a number of you -did likewise. During our stay at Machaerus I have been overindulging in -food and wine and, for a man of my age, certainly, other more strenuous -pleasures." He ran his thick tongue over his greasy lips and smiled -lewdly. "But now"--he signaled two of the guards standing at the doorway -opening upon the terrace--"go into the dungeon and fetch to our birthday -feast the Wilderness prophet." - -Herodias whirled about to confront him, her countenance betraying both -anger and amazement. "Why should the Tetrarch bring that depraved madman -here to insult his guests, his wife, and himself? Has the Tetrarch -permitted too much wine and too many women...?" - -"Patience, my dear! And be calm. I am not having him brought before us -to insult us. On the contrary, he will ask our pardon for his -intemperate words, and we shall release him." - -"Release him! By all the gods, can the Tetrarch be speaking seriously? -Does he for one moment contemplate giving this notorious insurrectionist -his freedom to resume his agitating against us, against Rome...?" - -"But, my dear Tetrarchess, Rome, as represented by the Centurion -Cornelius," he interrupted, as he glanced toward the centurion and then -turned his head the other way to address his wife, "thinks that -releasing this man will be not only an evidence of the Tetrarch's -magnanimity but also a politic act greatly pleasing to a countless -number of our Jewish brothers. It was he who suggested...." - -"But are not you Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea? Was it not your wife -and you, not the centurion, whom this revolutionary castigated so -bitterly? And has he not sought to inflame the people even against -Rome?" - -Claudia had turned to confront Cornelius; she said nothing, but her eyes -were sharply questioning. He bent forward and spoke quietly, so that -none of the others would hear. - -"I did suggest that it would be a good idea--especially in so far as -Sejanus is concerned--for him to free the man, since it would please the -Jews and the man is plainly no insurrectionist against Rome. But I -didn't know he meant to have the fellow brought before us. The man -should have been freed quietly, with no fanfare." - -"Frankly, I think he would have done better," Claudia whispered to -Cornelius, "to have had the fellow beheaded, but quietly." She leaned -nearer the centurion. "Antipas craves attention; he tries to be -dramatic. He's always...." - -But suddenly she stopped, for the guards, flanking the manacled -prisoner, were entering the great hall. They escorted John into the open -square before the Tetrarch's table. - -"Unbind him," the Tetrarch commanded, "and step back from him." - -In an instant the guards had removed the shackles about the prophet's -wrists and retreated to their former places at the doorway. - -Though not all the Tetrarch's guests had completely sobered, every eye -was on the Wilderness preacher. In the months he had been imprisoned in -the Machaerus dungeon, John had lost the leathery deep burn of the -desert, but otherwise he was little changed. He was tall and erect and -perhaps even more gaunt than he had appeared to be the day Antipas had -ordered his arrest; his coarse brown robe, belted with a woven rope at -the waist, hung loosely about him. But his eyes still blazed with the -zealot's fire as, relaxed and silent, he stood calmly facing the -Tetrarch. - -"You are the Prophet John of the Wilderness and the Jordan Valley?" -Antipas asked, his tone and manner almost friendly. - -"Have I been so long in your dungeon, O Tetrarch, that you can't be sure -you know me?" - -The question and the tone in which it was framed were sarcastic, even -patronizing, but the Tetrarch appeared to take no offense. - -"It was an idle query, and you have been a long time in prison. Perhaps -your intemperate words to the Tetrarch and the Tetrarchess have been -sufficiently punished." Antipas smiled blandly and rubbed his fat hands -together. "Our banqueting this day is an occasion of joy and merriment; -it is our birthday and to mark it further the Tetrarch is happy to -demonstrate before these our honored guests, including even the wife of -the great Procurator Pontius Pilate"--he bowed toward Claudia, who had -been listening avidly--"and our honored Centurion Cornelius, his -softness of heart toward his subjects. Today a group of the prophet's -followers"--now he bowed toward John--"has petitioned the Tetrarch to -liberate him. These men assured us that you"--he spoke directly to the -gaunt preacher--"have never had any thought of insurrection against the -government of Rome or the Tetrarch but that you were concerned only with -the promulgation of our true religion. I agreed I would grant their -petition. Now as soon as you satisfy me that you will cause us no -further trouble and express your regret for the intemperate and -malicious words with which you castigated the Tetrarch and his beloved -Tetrarchess, as soon as you assure us that you have repented of your -evil words...." - -"Repented!" John's eyes blazed. "I have nothing for which to repent to -you, O Tetrarch! My repentance is to the God of Israel against whom I -have sinned and continue to sin. But I have done you no evil. I call -upon you to repent, O you of evil and lustful heart, you robber of your -brother's bed!" The prophet lifted himself upon his sandaled toes and -pointed with lean forearm straight upward toward the ceiling dome. -"Repent! Repent! Repent, for your days are numbered! The Messiah of God, -Him of Whom I spoke in the Wilderness and along the Jordan lowlands, had -come! Even now He walks up and down Galilee preaching of the coming of -the Kingdom and bringing blessed salvation to those whose ears are bent -to hear Him. The time of repentance, O Tetrarch, is now!" He lowered his -gaunt arm, and the robe fell about it, and he swept it in an arc in the -faces of the diners on the square of couches. "Repent! Repent! Cast away -your sins and be cleansed, and be baptized!" - -Suddenly the preacher paused, and his blazing eyes settled upon the -Tetrarchess. He thrust out his arm and held it before the startled -woman's face. "And you, repent, you evil woman, you deserter of your -lawful bed, return to your husband, forswear your adulterous -cohabiting...." - -"Hold your tongue!" Herodias, eyes flashing her uncontrollable rage, her -cheeks flaming, had sprung to her feet. She leaned across the -food-covered, disordered table. "By all the gods, O Tetrarch"--she -turned to grasp her husband's shoulder as he sat upright on the -couch--"I will hear no more of this evil madman's prattle. Send him -away--have him shot with arrows, or order him beheaded, or throw him -again into the dungeon--by the great Jove, I don't care what you do with -him, but I will not remain here with him and be further insulted!" She -shook his shoulder furiously. "Do you understand, Antipas? Do you -understand, by the Great Mother Ceres?" - -The Tetrarch stumbled to his feet, swayed, but clutched the table edge -to steady himself. "Take your seat, my dear," he said evenly. "I -understand very well what you say. And you speak the truth." He turned -from her to face the desert preacher. "I had meant to hand you your -freedom, Wilderness prophet; I had meant to give you into the care of -your friends who remained here tonight to take you back into Judaea. But -your vicious tirade against us forces me to change my plans for you." He -beckoned to the two guards. "Manacle him, and return him to the -dungeon," he commanded. - -Quickly they fettered his wrists and, grasping him by the arms, led him -toward the door through which moments ago they had brought him into the -chamber. John walked silently, head erect and unafraid. But as they were -about to go out through the doorway, he jerked his arms free, and -whirled about to face the Tetrarch and his guests. Raising the manacled -hands, he pointed toward the Tetrarch. "Repent, adulterer!" His blazing -eyes sought the still incensed Herodias. "And you, whore of Rome, get -you back to your Babylon!" - -The guards jerked their prisoner through the doorway, and the door -closed heavily behind them. The banqueters, silenced by the bitter -exchange between Herodias and the prophet, listened to the retreating -footsteps of the three along the corridor. - -"The fellow's a fool," Claudia observed in a low aside to Cornelius, -"but he does have courage." - -"Yes, he must believe that he's serving his Yahweh and Yahweh's -Messiah," the centurion agreed; "that faith must be the source of his -courage." - -"Amazing. I cannot understand how these Jews can be so swayed by such -silly superstition. I do wonder what Antipas will do with him; Herodias, -if she could, would have his head off in a minute. And so would I, if he -had talked to me as he did to her." She tossed her head and smiled -indifferently. "But why should I be concerned about this Jewish fanatic? -I don't care one green Campanian fig what happens to him." - -As she reached for her wine goblet, which a servant had refilled, -Antipas set his down and stood up. The servant hastened to fill the -Tetrarch's. Antipas licked his thick lips. "By the beard of the High -Priest," he said, "I really intended to liberate the prophet. His -imprisonment is on his own head." He clutched the table's edge to steady -himself again. Then he grasped his wine goblet and drained it in one -gulp. The servant raced around the table to refill the empty glass. -Antipas picked it up and twirled it slowly on its slender stem, "Drink, -my friends! Let us dispel this sudden gloom. Isn't this the Tetrarch's -birthday? Drink! Drink!" He downed the wine as his guests, lifting their -goblets, drank to their host. Antipas clapped his hands. "And now, music -and the dancing women!" - -The leader signaled to his men, and the musicians began their lively -playing, as the Arabian dancers came scampering again into the hollow -square before the tables. Antipas sat down, rested his head on the palm -of his left hand, and with his right reached for the glass. - -"Soon now he'll be very drunk, and we can escape," Cornelius whispered -to Claudia. "He's still afraid of the Wilderness preacher, and he will -try to drown his fears in wine." - -"But he just ordered the fellow back to the dungeon." - -"He also fears Herodias. He'll free John, though, as soon as he can do -so without his wife's knowing about it." - -The tempo of the music was increasing, and the women, refreshed by the -long intermission they had been having and the food and wine they had -been served, were fast approaching a frenzy of abandon in their wild -convolutions and sensual writhings. For a few moments the jaded -Tetrarch, watching the brazenly lewd gyrations of the dancing women, -appeared to be gaining renewed stimulation. But quickly his interest -faded; he sat up on his couch and straightened himself. "Hold!" he -commanded, waving his hand aloft. "Enough of this. We are surfeited on -dark women." - -The music stopped. "Let them go," said Antipas, nodding toward the -leader of the musicians. The man bowed to the Tetrarch and, turning, -waved his dismissal to the dancers, who went tripping out. Once again -the great triclinium was as still and the guests as suddenly silent as -they had been at the dramatic entrance of the gaunt prophet. - -Now the Tetrarch, beaming, looked to his left beyond his Tetrarchess. -"It is our wish that our beloved daughter Salome honor our birthday by -dancing for the Tetrarch and his guests," he declared in honeyed tones. -"Will you not dance for us, my dear child?" - -Cornelius leaned forward to watch Herodias' daughter. Salome seemed -amazed at her stepfather's request. "But, Sire," she ventured to -protest, as she turned on her couch to face the unctuously smiling -Tetrarch, "doesn't my dear father know that I am not a dancer? Surely he -prefers the dancing of women trained in the art." She shook her head -firmly. "Sire, I would not wish to display before this company just how -poorly...." - -"Oh come now, my child, your dancing will delight the Tetrarch and his -guests. Do not let maidenly modesty deny us the pleasure of seeing you -perform." The Tetrarch's eyes were beginning to flame. "We would delight -in your dancing, my dear. After all that dark flesh, a flashing before -us of firm, white, youthful...." - -"But Salome, the Tetrarch well knows, is not accustomed to dancing -before companies such as this." Herodias, her eyes challenging, caught -her husband's arm in protest. "And has not the Tetrarch seen enough -already of both white and dark female flesh? Is he not surfeited with -women? Why should he wish to see a child...?" - -"I wish to see her dance, my dear Tetrarchess. I have never seen her -dance. And is this not my birthday? Shouldn't one be indulged on his -birthday?" He leaned past his wife to plead again with Salome. "Won't -you, my dear Salome, dance just this once, to please and flatter your -doting father?" - -Claudia leaned close to Cornelius. "I don't believe 'doting' is the -word," she whispered; "I'd say 'drooling' is more like it." - -Antipas was still pleading with the girl. "If you will but dance this -once for us, Salome, my child," he said, his voice soft and sugared, his -round face disarmingly friendly, "I will grant any request you make of -me." - -"If I could dance well, Sire, I would be happy to dance for the -Tetrarch, but I am not skilled in that art, nor do I have the mature -charms of the Arabian women nor the...." - -"But you have the tender charms, my dear Salome, the virginal charms of -the bud about to open to full flowering. And I am satiated with these -wide-open flowers ready to shatter." He stood up and braced himself -against the table, then turned toward her with renewed pleading. "Dance -for us, my dear. Dance for us, and I will reward you what you will, I -swear by the High Priest's beard, even to the half of our tetrarchy!" - -"But, Sire, even were I able to please the Tetrarch with my poor -efforts, I am not suitably dressed...." The girl paused, for her mother -had leaned over to whisper in her ear. She listened, solemn-faced, and -then, suddenly smiling, she turned back to address the Tetrarch. "Sire, -if the Tetrarch would not unmercifully censure my stumbling attempts, -and"--she hesitated, and her smile was demure--"does the Tetrarch really -intend seriously to grant any request I might make of him?" - -"I've never been more serious in my life, my dear child. I fully intend -to keep my promise. Anything you want, a marble palace, a pleasure barge -to rival Cleopatra's, gold, precious gems, silks from the Orient, -anything; it is yours but for you to name it ... after you have danced -for the Tetrarch and his guests." - -"Very well, Sire." The girl stood up. "I shall do my best to please the -Tetrarch and his guests on his birthday. But, first, I must change my -costume." Herodias arose unsteadily to stand beside her. "Mother will -help me dress." - -Claudia leaned to her right to whisper to Cornelius. The Tetrarch, -absorbed in watching his wife and stepdaughter, would hardly have heard -her had she spoken aloud. "It's Herodias who's told her to dance for -him. She's got some sort of scheme in mind, and I'm sure it hinges on -that request. I wonder what it will be...." - -Cornelius nodded. "Something, I would say, that bodes the Tetrarch no -good. I'll be interested myself to see what Salome will ask." - -A few minutes later Herodias reappeared in the doorway. She signaled to -the leader of the musicians, and he went over to her; she talked with -him a moment, and then, as he rejoined his group, she made her way -around the couches to resume her place beside the Tetrarch. Immediately -the leader raised his hand, and the musicians began to play. - -"By the great Jove!" Cornelius, who had turned momentarily to reply to -something Claudia had said, glanced back toward the doorway through -which the Tetrarchess had returned. At his murmured exclamation Claudia -looked in the same direction. - -"By Bona Dea! what a transformation!" she exclaimed. - -Salome was standing just inside the doorway. When she had left the -chamber a few minutes ago she had been wearing a shimmering white silken -stola, held at the waist by a wide girdle of interlaced narrow strips of -green and gold, and golden sandals. Her raven-black hair had been combed -back from a part in the center and bound in a loose knot at the back of -her neck where it was held neatly in place by a net. Her hair, like her -mother's and Claudia's, had been arranged in the style currently popular -among Roman women of the equestrian class. - -But now the girl, immobile and statuesque, stood stripped of every -garment she had worn in leaving the chamber. At first glance the -centurion thought Salome had returned completely in the nude, save for -the few thin veils she had draped about her shoulders. But looking more -closely, he saw that her loins were bound, though scantily, with a -carefully folded flesh-colored veil. To the casual observer and -certainly to the aging Tetrarch, the girl appeared to be standing before -them divested of all her clothing. The brightly colored veils even -heightened the illusion. She was barefoot, and her hair, freed from the -restricting net and unbound, fell past firm, outthrust breasts almost to -her slim waist in a tumbling dark cascade of curls. Salome looked as -though, finding herself unclad, she had pushed her black tresses -suddenly through a small wispish rainbow that had settled about her -white shoulders and slipped downward to her dimpled knees. - -"Her charms seem quite mature," Cornelius whispered to Claudia, -grinning. - -"And I suspect they're no longer virginal," she replied. "But, by the -gods, she must be sixteen, and"--she leaned nearer and spoke into his -ear--"whoever could imagine a Herodian virgin any older!" - -Claudia's caution had not been necessary, for the Tetrarch's dark eyes, -smoldering as though at any moment they might burst into flame, were -measuring and exploring and savoring the girl. Claudia, following -Cornelius' eyes, glanced toward the entranced ruler and then, turning -back to the centurion, whispered again, "Soon he'll be drooling. He's -mad, stark, raving mad." - -The music had been soft and slow, but now Salome, with a quick upward -flexing of her fingers and a nod to signal the musicians, stepped -forward a pace and with shoulders twisting and hips undulating came -slithering into the opening between the tables. - -From high on a pilaster a shaded lamp cast a circle of bright light in -the center of the hollow square. As she tripped on the balls of her bare -feet, Salome held the sheer veils lightly to her white body, arms -crossed over her breasts, taking care to avoid the full brightness of -the illuminated circle. Once she ventured, whirling and twisting, to -come as close to the Tetrarch as the position directly in front of -Cornelius, but then teasingly she doubled back the other way. When a -moment later she reversed her direction and came prancing between the -bright circle and the Tetrarch's couch, Antipas lunged forward to grasp -her, but laughingly she slipped from his reach and sped away. - -"Magnificent! Wonderful!" he shouted, unabashed, as he sank again to his -couch and reached for his goblet. "My child, you restore the sap of -youth to my aging limbs!" - -At the edge of the circle and straight across it from the Tetrarch, -Salome stopped, and as the drums ceased their throbbing and the strings -subsided to a whisper, she turned deliberately to face the Tetrarch and -his guests. - -"Bountiful Ceres!" Claudia kept her voice low. "Is she going to discard -those veils?" - -But Salome, with her arms still pressed across her chest, continued to -clutch the colored gauze protectively before her. The music began to -increase in volume, and hardly discernible at first above the harmony of -the strings and the flutes, the drums added their insistent throbbing. -Now the girl in the square before the diners slowly withdrew her right -arm, which had been crossed underneath the left one, and lifted it high; -at the same time she pushed forward her left leg, so that the gossamer -veils fell to either side to expose it from toes to hip, and leaned -back; the leg, torso, and lifted arm to ringed forefinger made one -continuous straight line of vibrant, glowing, suddenly stilled flesh, -veiled but scantily by the diaphanous colored silks. - -Cornelius ventured a glance toward the Tetrarch. Antipas, upright on his -couch, was leaning forward, mouth half open, dark eyes staring -unblinking at his stepdaughter and grandniece. The centurion gently -nudged Claudia. "Any moment now," he whispered, "he'll be lunging over -the table again." But his eyes darted quickly to the girl. - -Her head was back, in line with the rest of her body, and her sultry -eyes looked upward to her extended forefinger. Now it began to move, -almost imperceptibly, so that few of the Tetrarch's guests were aware of -the beginning of its motion. But Cornelius, intrigued, saw the finger's -movement widening and speeding; like a serpent it was coiling and -uncoiling, twisting sideways, darting, writhing, all in perfect rhythm -with the music. As he watched, the motion of the finger appeared to flow -like liquid downward to involve the hand and then the forearm. Now along -the graceful length of her slender bare arm the smooth, unknotting -muscles, rippling and twisting, seemed to have transformed it into an -oriental adder swaying and bobbing to the compelling strains of the -charmer's flute. - -"The child's amazing, I must agree with the Tetrarch," Cornelius said. -"Do you suppose Herodias trained her?" He leaned forward to glance past -Antipas to the intent Tetrarchess who seemed absorbed completely in her -daughter's performance. "What a symphony of motion and movement!" - -"And when that movement begins to gyrate in the region of the hips, -Centurion, you'll realize Salome's no longer a child!" - -Nor was the flowing, rhythmical motion long in attaining that region. In -synchronized rolling and lifting and falling, the right shoulder joined -the twisting, gently writhing arm, and then the rounded stomach -undulated, freed now of the teasing veils. As the tempo of the music -speeded and the volume swelled and the throb of the drums grew deeper, -the hips began their undulating motion. Grinding, thrusting, -withdrawing, thrusting, they moved faster and faster in an abandon of -voluptuous movement. Then the music slowed again and the frenzied -gyrations with it, and quickly the movement ran downward from the -stilled hips and disappeared in a restrained tapping of bare toes on the -mosaic of the triclinium's marble floor. - -The Tetrarch's guests, inspired by his shouted acclamations, applauded -wildly. And before they had settled to silence again, Salome dextrously -transferred to her right hand the thin veils that throughout her -dancing, even in the abandon of its most voluptuous last moments, she -had held clutched snugly against her breasts, and lifted high her left -arm as she extended her right foot. Then she began anew the routine she -had just finished; she followed it, motion for motion, until in the -midst of the most lascivious portion of the dance she suddenly turned -her back to the Tetrarch and his company, and lowering her arm, without -missing one wanton movement of her writhing, weaving hips, she thrust -her arms, shoulder high, straight out to the sides. In each hand, -completely away from her perspiration-dampened, shimmering white body, -she clutched several of the bright-hued wisps of silk. - -From where the diners sat across the bright circle from her, the girl -appeared to be entirely nude, despite the thin bit of flesh-toned silk -that bound her loins. Her curling long black hair hanging unrestrained -down her back and across her shoulders added to the illusion. - -"But, my dear daughter, don't you know that one never turns his back -upon the Tetrarch?" Antipas shouted, as he leaned out across the table, -his black eyes bulging as though they might leap from the sockets. - -The girl's only response was to draw in her hands slightly and then -thrust them outward again in the pantomime of unveiling herself anew as, -in an ecstasy of voluptuous simulations, she rotated her slim hips to -the mounting frenzy of the music. - -"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Antipas clapped his fat hands together. -"Marvelous, my dear child! But must you continue to give your back to -the Tetrarch? Will you continue thus to tease us?" - -Still Salome made no reply to her stepfather. But slowly, as Antipas -clutched the table edge to pull to his feet, the girl, without breaking -the rhythm of her seductive undulations, began slowly to turn herself -about, her arms still outthrust from her sides. The Tetrarch, seeing it, -let go his prop and sank heavily to the couch; once more his screamed -approval signaled the guests to new applause, as every eye in eager -anticipation followed the gracefully suggestive motions of their royal -host's stepdaughter. - -But hardly had the girl done a quarter turn toward the diners when -suddenly she drew the gossamer scarves protectively to herself, and, -whirling the remainder of the turn to face them, paused in her dancing. -Then with head tossed back and laughing, she scampered across the -spotlighted circle almost to the Tetrarch's table. A pace from it she -stopped, turned her head, and with a nod signaled the musicians. As they -resumed the dancing rhythm, she began again her voluptuous gyrations. - -Claudia was close enough now to Salome to see that the girl's -half-closed eyes, peering through slits beneath the darkly shadowed -lids, were glancing from the Tetrarch to her mother beside him. Salome, -she was suddenly convinced, was performing for Antipas not out of her -own volition but through Herodias' devising. And what, Claudia wondered -again, could the crafty Tetrarchess be planning to accomplish through -this brazen flaunting of her daughter's physical charms. - -But the Procurator's wife had only a moment for conjecture; Salome -suddenly ceased her rhythmical writhings and stepped forward to lean -above the Tetrarch's still burdened table. Teasingly, and before the -musicians were aware of her changed routine, she fumbled with the veils -still held pressed against her, and as Antipas, in a new frenzy of -excitement, sought to rise from his couch, she thrust her hands apart -and then, with a high squeal of laughter, crossed them again in front of -her. In the brief moment that her youthful but fully matured bosom had -been completely exposed to them, the Tetrarch had lunged out to clutch -her, but he had shattered his wine goblet instead and the girl, -screaming with laughter, had darted backward into the illuminated circle -to evade him. - -As a servant came running up to mop the spilled wine and remove the -broken glass, Antipas settled back on his couch. "Aha! The clever little -vixen was too quick for me," he said, turning to face his wife. "But -I'll...." He said no more. Herodias, Claudia saw, was unsmiling, grim. -But evidently she hadn't meant for Antipas to see her in such a mood, -for quickly she affected a cloaking smile. "By the gods," she said to -her husband, "the child is clever, isn't she?" - -Salome was now in the center of the bright light. The music had died -away as the leader awaited his new instructions. The girl stood quietly -facing the Tetrarch and his guests, the colored veils clutched in her -crossed hands as though she were trying to cover herself in a chilling -breeze. Then she turned her head and lifted one veil-holding hand to -signal resumption of the dance music; the musicians swung quickly into a -fast rhythm that sent Salome dipping and prancing around the lighted -circle. As she came within inches of the Tetrarch's table, Antipas once -more lunged toward her, but she had anticipated his attempt to catch her -and had darted out of reach. Laughing, she danced to the center of the -lighted spot; soon she was whirling around on the balls of her bare -feet, and as the tempo of the drums and the strings and the brasses -increased and the volume swelled, she circled as she pirouetted. -Opposite the Centurion Cornelius she released one of the veils and it -sailed across the table to be caught by the diner at his right. - -"Another!" shouted Antipas as she whirled past his couch but safely -beyond his reach. "Another! Let another one fly!" - -She was wheeling before the diners at her mother's left when she loosed -a second veil; a man grabbed for it and thrust it beneath his pillow. -When she had spun around to the other side of the circle she held out -her arm and a yellow one sailed above the table. A man and a woman -grabbed for the floating gossamer; he caught it but laughingly -surrendered it to her. - -"More! More!" screamed the Tetrarch, and around the square of the tables -others joined in chorus. And when the girl let two of the shimmering -scarves sail away together, they screamed again. "More! More! Let them -fly!" - -Salome, her head back, laughing, began now to tease the Tetrarch and his -guests. Whirling around the rim of the patch of light, she would sweep -one hand with its veils outward with a flourish and then, without -releasing them, fold the arm back across the other one, which all the -while she had kept pressed close to her pirouetting white body. - -"She's an actress, the little coquette!" Cornelius observed. "She knows -how to build up suspense. She understands how to please Antipas, too; -she's got a good sense of the dramatic." - -"Yes, and in another moment or so, unless I'm entirely wrong about her, -her dramatics will have Antipas--and maybe you, too--groveling." But -quickly her expression changed to one of perplexity. "Still I wonder, -Cornelius, what Herodias is scheming. Surely she's getting no pleasure -out of seeing her daughter make a spectacle of herself in public. There -must be something behind it; yet I can't imagine what. What on earth -could she want so badly that she would go to such great...?" - -But her question remained unfinished, for the girl had pranced, still -pirouetting, into the center of the bright spot. She paused in her -turning and with both hands clutching the remaining veils modestly -across her chest, signaled with a motion of her head to the leader of -the musicians. Immediately the volume of the music began to increase and -the tempo to speed, and Salome whirled faster and faster in time with -the music's crescendo. As she spun on the balls of her bare feet, the -veils that had been hanging to her knees streamed out in a kaleidoscope -of whirling color. The flutes more insistently joined their whining -pleas to the deeper invitations of the harps and the dulcimers and the -rhythmical throaty demands of the drums; the girl's black hair, standing -out from her head as she whirled, made a dark spinning disk above the -circular rainbow of the scarves. - -Now Salome lifted one arm above her head, while she held the other -protectively before her, so that the dark whirling of her hair had above -it as well as beneath it a spinning rainbow of color. - -"I think I know what she'll do next," Claudia said, leaning to her right -to speak to Cornelius above the steadily mounting volume and frenzy of -the music. - -Antipas, too, must have anticipated it. "The other arm!" he shouted, as -he leaned forward, his eyes blazing with lechery. "Raise the other arm, -my dear child!" - -But Salome did not obey the Tetrarch. Instead, as she came pirouetting -nearer him, she lowered the arm she had just raised, and the two -whirling circles of color merged into one fast, revolving gossamer -flame. Faster the girl spun, and faster, faster the musicians played, -and higher swelled their instruments' invitation to abandoned revelry. - -Antipas, who had sat back when the girl failed to heed his demand, -reached for his goblet, gulped his wine, and was replacing the -slender-stemmed glass when suddenly Salome, whirling hardly two paces -from his table, lifted both arms high into the air. The transparent -veils twisted upward with them to form above the girl's swirling black -hair a spinning canopy of weaving and shifting bright colors. - -Once more the Tetrarch overturned his goblet, and the wine spilled -across the table. But when a servant came racing to his aid, Antipas -waved him away. The Tetrarch's amazed eyes had focused upon the dancing -girl; he would permit nothing to obstruct, even for an instant, his view -of her. - -The spinning Salome in the circle of light from the wall lamp was nude -from the small gossamer triangle of her loins' covering to the crown of -her head, and in the rapidity of her turning she appeared to be entirely -divested of clothing. - -Antipas caught at the edge of the table and pushed himself, swaying, to -his feet. "Nearer, child, nearer!" he shrieked. "Come closer! Come -closer to us! Come...." But his frenzied words were choked in a swirling -cloud of silken transparencies, for his stepdaughter had let go all her -veils and one had dipped full into the flushed, round face of the -Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. - -As Antipas struggled to free himself of the clinging, vision-obscuring -fluff of silk, the guests around the tables grabbed merrily for the -descending veils. But by the time the Tetrarch had jerked the scarf away -from his face, Salome had already disappeared; she had darted across the -spotlighted mosaic floor into the enfolding privacy of the triclinium's -antechamber. Behind her, her audience thundered its applause. - -Moments later, before the birthday celebrants had settled completely -from the excitement of her dramatic exit, Salome, dressed as she had -been when she left to prepare for her dance, returned to the great -chamber and took her place beside her mother. Claudia, watching -discreetly, saw the Tetrarchess lightly squeeze the girl's hand and bend -over to whisper into her ear. - -Antipas sat up and beaming turned to face his stepdaughter. "My child, -you have pleased the Tetrarch immensely," he said, as he rubbed his -plump hands together. "I had no idea that you could dance with such -grace and charm. Your dancing has far excelled the finest efforts of the -women of Arabia; it has added immeasurably to the pleasure of the -Tetrarch and his guests." He reached for his goblet, swallowed the wine, -then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "And now, my dear -daughter, you have but to name your reward for thus having entertained -so pleasantly the Tetrarch and our friends. Speak out, Salome. What -shall it be? A palace of your own beside the sea? A great pleasure yacht -with servants in shining livery and galley slaves to row it? Perchance a -long visit to Rome to renew your friendships in the capital, with a -handsome allowance to cover every gift your fancy may envision? Speak -up, now. Let your wish be known, and it shall be granted." - -"Even, Sire, to the half of your tetrarchy?" - -Antipas blinked, hesitated a moment, and then his round face brightened. -"Yes, if you ask it, even to the half of the tetrarchy, though I should -think a marble palace or a yacht...." - -"Have no fear, Sire," Salome interrupted. "I wish not the half of your -tetrarchy or any part of it. Nor do I need or desire a marble palace or -a pleasure boat, or a trip at this time to Rome." - -"Ah, but I know what will please you," Antipas spoke up. "A new -wardrobe, full of beautiful garments fashioned of the finest silks -brought from the Orient or woven on the looms in Phoenicia...." - -"No, not gowns or shoes or houses or yachts or journeys to Rome or gold -and silver...." - -"But come, my dear child, you must be repaid for the pleasure you have -given us. I beg of you, name your any desire...." - -"And the Tetrarch will grant it?" Salome stood up, facing the ruler of -Galilee and Peraea, just beyond her mother. "You swear it, Sire?" - -"By the beard of the High Priest, I swear it, Salome. I shall grant -whatever you ask of me, even to the half of the tetrarchy." - -"Then, Sire," she said, smiling demurely, "my request is simple and will -rob the Tetrarch's treasury of not one denarius. It is my wish"--she -paused and looked the happily smiling Antipas full in his round -face--"that the Tetrarch present to me on a silver platter the head of -the Wilderness preacher called John the Baptizer." - -Claudia and Cornelius had been leaning out over their plates, avidly -following the conversation of the girl and her stepfather. - -"By all the gods!" Claudia whispered, without taking her eyes from the -still calmly smiling Salome. "Now I understand. Herodias, by the -Bountiful Mother...." - -But she said no more, for Antipas was pulling to his feet. "Surely, -child, I have not heard you correctly. Surely you would not wish to have -the head of a man...." - -"But you did hear correctly, Sire. And you have sworn to grant me my -wish. I ask only for the head of the Prophet John." - -The Tetrarch, braced against the table's edge, looked to his right and -then left along the tables. The eyes of his guests were fastened on -their plates; not one face was raised to help him. Antipas stood, -drained of all levity; the impact of the girl's inhuman request, so -simply and heartlessly presented, had sobered him. He turned again to -Salome and tried to affect a smile. - -"Were you a man, a soldier, perhaps, seeking revenge upon an enemy ... -but for a beautiful young woman of such charm and culture, who has -danced for us so delightfully"--he shook his head sadly--"such an -utterly strange request for a beautiful woman." He seemed to be thinking -aloud, talking more to himself than to the girl. "To want the head of a -prophet of Israel, a man held in such esteem by so many of our Jewish -subjects, a prophet who may indeed have been sent of Israel's God...." -He broke off, shaking his head as if in deep perplexity. - -Claudia, watching Salome now, saw Herodias reach out and gently grasp -her daughter's arm. The girl, still standing, smiled cynically and -tossed her head. "Nevertheless, Sire, that is my request. If, however, -the Tetrarch wishes to dishonor his oath before this company and refuse -me...." - -The Tetrarch banged his fist on the table top. "The Tetrarch never -dishonors an oath!" he shouted. "He withdraws no promises he makes." He -turned to face the two guardsmen at the door, the soldiers who had -brought the Wilderness prophet into the banquet room and had escorted -him back to the dungeon. "Guardsmen, you have heard the request of the -Princess Salome. Go you now into the dungeon and carry out her request." -He paused. They stood stiffly at attention, awaiting his final command. -"Do you understand?" - -The men glanced at one another, then faced the Tetrarch. "We understand, -Sire," one said. - -"Then go." - -Quickly the two strode out of the chamber; their footsteps echoed as -they marched down the hall. Antipas slumped on his couch, then lowered -his head between his hands. Salome took her seat. She smiled as she and -her mother whispered. The guests kept their places and were silent; the -servants, moving about to replenish the wine goblets, walked -noiselessly. - -"The Tetrarch is making a monstrous mistake," Cornelius said. - -"Because he's giving in to Herodias?" Claudia inquired. - -"Because he's ordering the prophet's death." - -"Then you"--a faint smile crossed her face--"are afraid of the Jews' one -god?" - -"I could be," he answered unhesitatingly. "But that's not my reason. I'm -sure it's...." He stopped. A servant had approached the Tetrarch's -couch. - -"The Centurion Longinus?" The Tetrarch raised his bulky frame to a -sitting position. "Indeed, bring him to us." - -At the sound of the Tetrarch's words, Claudia looked up; her eyes -followed the retreating servant. Antipas turned to her. "The Centurion -Longinus has just arrived at Machaerus," he said; "I've sent for him. -Shall we make a place for him between you and Centurion Cornelius -perhaps, my dear?" He grinned. "He must be famished from the long -journey to this forsaken outpost." - -A moment later the servant escorted the centurion to the Tetrarch's -couch. Antipas greeted him cordially, presented him to the diners, and -ordered the servants to set him a place at the table. When after a -minute he was settled beside her, Claudia found his hand on the couch -and squeezed it hard. "It's so wonderful to have you here," she said. "I -can hardly wait to hear the news from Rome." - -"I can hardly wait to be with you ... alone," he said. "It's been so -long, and I had no idea I'd find you here." He turned to Cornelius at -his right. "I've got much to tell you, Centurion," he announced, "and, -no doubt, much to hear from you too." - -"But what on earth are you doing at Machaerus, Longinus? Where have you -been before this?" - -"Tiberias," he answered, "I came there after landing at Caesarea. I had -orders from Sejanus to convey to the Tetrarch. When I reached Tiberias -and found that he and his guests had departed for Machaerus, I set out -to follow. It was urgent that I see the Tetrarch as quickly as possible; -I didn't dare await his return to his palace." - -Antipas had overheard. "We are happy that you came, Centurion, but what -mission could you have that would be so urgent?" He smiled, and his -manner was most agreeable. "A new style of glassware, perhaps, that you -wish to sell to the Tetrarch?" - -"No, Sire, nothing to sell you ... now, at any rate. It's a more -important mission. I'm coming to you from the Prefect Sejanus who is -sending you instructions in the name of the Emperor, for whom he is -acting in this case and after conferring with Tiberius at Capri. I -assure you it is important and urgent, and I desire an audience with you -at the first moment you may be available, Sire, in order to transmit to -you the instructions from Rome." - -"Indeed, Centurion"--the Tetrarch's flippant manner had disappeared; his -countenance, at the centurion's mention of Sejanus and the Emperor, was -suddenly grave--"if it is that urgent, we can leave the dining chamber -at once. But that would cause a lot of talk, I suppose. Must you confer -with me in secret, Centurion? These are all dear friends, my wife, the -Procurator's wife, Centurion Cornelius. Is it necessary that the -information you bring me from Rome be kept from them?" - -"Indeed, no, Sire. In fact, they would know soon anyway, as quickly as -you acted. And the Prefect desires that you act immediately." He paused. -Antipas nodded. "In fact, Sire, it is fortunate that you are here at -Machaerus; your orders can be put into effect within minutes after they -have been issued. The Prefect's instructions to you have to do with that -strange fellow we encountered along the Jordan as we were going to -Tiberias, the one you had arrested and brought here to be imprisoned, -you remember, the Wilderness prophet called John the Baptizer." - -"John the Baptizer!" The Tetrarch's face had paled. Herodias, who had -been listening, leaned forward; her countenance was a mask. "But what of -John," the Tetrarch began, "what...?" He paused, licked his dry lips, -and swallowed. - -"Sire, it's nothing to be unduly concerned about," Longinus replied. -"It's only a policy matter. You know that Sejanus and Tiberius are -always stressing the importance of keeping the Jews happy, at least to -the extent that they won't attempt to revolt. And since John is so -popular among them, the Prefect believes that your release of the -prophet will be pleasing to the Jews and will, to that extent, -strengthen Rome's rule ... and the Tetrarch's. There's no point in -needlessly offending them, you see. That's why he sent me to you with -the suggestion, Sire, that you release John at once. He has prepared -notices, to be signed by you, for posting in Tiberias, Jerusalem, -Caesarea...." - -The Tetrarch said nothing but buried his face in his hands. Herodias, -erect and unmoving, stared straight ahead. - -"But, Sire...." - -Longinus said no more, for Claudia had suddenly grasped his arm. He -turned and stared toward the doorway through which, a moment before the -centurion's arrival, the two palace guardsmen had disappeared. Now the -two were returning. They advanced straight toward the Tetrarch. One man -was carrying, chest high and at arms' length, a large silver tray of the -type used by servants at Machaerus for serving food. On the tray was a -rounded, gory mass. - -"But that can't be for me, surely," Longinus whispered to her. "It looks -like raw meat, bloody.... Great Jove!" The man bearing the tray had come -close enough for them to see his ghastly offering. "By all the great and -little gods!" He twisted to face the girl, his expression suddenly -aghast. His voice, when at last he spoke, was hoarse and unbelieving. -"The Wilderness prophet?" - -She nodded. "Yes, the Tetrarch had him beheaded ... just a moment ago, -perhaps even after you arrived here." She turned her head to look away -from the guardsman's horrifying burden. - -But Longinus saw. The prophet's head, with blood dripping from the stump -of the severed neck, lay on one ear in the tangled, gore-smeared mat of -his long, black hair. His beard, too, was blood-streaked, and his face -and forehead were smeared; blood had run down into the corners of his -eyes. Wide-open and set in staring rigidity, the eyes seemed to be -trying to communicate with him. - -"Sire," the guardsmen said, as he reached the table and held out the -profaned tray, "the Tetrarch's orders have been carried out. The head of -the desert preacher...." - -"No! No!" screamed Antipas, as he held up his right hand before his eyes -and pointed with the other toward his wife and her daughter. "Not here! -It's ... it's theirs! Put it there!" - -The guardsman set the tray down in front of Salome, who glanced at it -idly and then lowered her head. Herodias stared unabashed at the pitiful -profanation before them, and then after a moment she, too, looked away. - -Now the Tetrarch lowered his shielding hand and calmly turned to his -left to face Herodias and his stepdaughter. His demeanor, Longinus saw, -was suddenly changed. When he spoke his voice was calm, modulated. "The -Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea does not dishonor a promise made," he -said. "My daughter, you have the reward you sought. Now what will you do -with it?" - -The girl turned to stare an instant at her questioner. Then she glanced -again toward the head on the tray. Shock, nausea, sudden fear, horror -curdled her countenance, and she threw up a protecting hand to shut out -the fearful sight. "Give it to Mother!" she cried out, her voice shrill, -and tense. Jumping to her feet, she fled from the great chamber. - -"Take it away!" Herodias screamed to a servant at her elbow. "Dispose of -it ... quickly!" Without a word to her husband, she reached for her wine -goblet and drank; then she drew up her feet, smoothed the skirt of her -glistening stola, and settled herself comfortably on her elbow. - -Equally calm, Antipas leaned over to speak to Longinus. "I regret, -Centurion, that you didn't reach Machaerus a few minutes earlier. -But...." He gestured with resignation, then sat back on his couch. He -was reaching for his wine glass when a palace servant approached, -bowing. The Tetrarch nodded to him. "Yes?" - -"Sire, a delegation has just arrived; the men declare they were sent by -King Aretas. They maintain their mission is most urgent and they -petition--indeed, Sire, they demand--that the Tetrarch give them -audience this evening." - -"From King Aretas?" A heavy scowl darkened the Tetrarch's full, round -face. "Most urgent, they say?" He was thoughtfully silent a moment. Then -he turned, glaring, to the obeisant servant. "Then bring them to us." - -"But, Sire"--the bowing man was rubbing his hands together nervously, -palpably fearful--"they suggested that perhaps the Tetrarch would wish -to receive them privately in his council chamber...." - -"No! Who are they to tell the Tetrarch where he must receive them! Bring -them to us, at once!" - -"Yes, Sire. Yes, immediately." The timorous fellow was backing away, -bowing, as he rubbed his knuckles in his palm. - -"Did you hear what the servant said?" Claudia whispered to Longinus, as -the Tetrarch twisted his heavy hulk the other way to watch the -retreating fellow. "I wonder...." - -"Yes, so do I. And I'm sure Herodias does, too." He turned to speak to -Cornelius on his right. "You heard the servant?" Cornelius nodded. -"Sounds like more trouble for the Tetrarch, doesn't it?" - -"I wouldn't be surprised," Cornelius agreed. "This seems to be a bad -night for the old fellow, a tough night, indeed." - -The representatives of the Arabian king were formally polite, rigidly -reserved. - -"It is no pleasant mission on which we have been sent here, O Tetrarch -Herod," the spokesman of the visiting Arabians announced, once they had -been presented to Antipas, "and we regret that we must speak as we have -been ordered to speak, Sire, and particularly that ears other than the -Tetrarch's will hear the message we have been commanded to bring you -from His Majesty, King Aretas. But the Tetrarch has so ordered it, and -we must obey." He paused, and from the fold of his robe pulled forth a -rolled document. - -"Go on, speak," Antipas told him. "The Tetrarch wishes on his -birthday"--he affected a grim smile--"that nothing be withheld from his -beloved wife and his guests. The Tetrarch is prepared to hear the King's -message." - -The man nodded, and unrolled the document. "Sire, I have here the King's -message to the Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. But would not the -Tetrarch prefer to have it read to him privately and then later, if the -Tetrarch might still wish it, have it read to this assembled group?" - -"Read it, now. Go on with it. Let us all hear the King's message." - -"Very well, Sire." He bowed and then, shifting his position so that the -light from the wall lamps fell more directly on the parchment, held it -out from him and began to read. But when the stiffly formal greeting was -concluded, he raised his eyes questioningly. - -"Continue," said the Tetrarch. - -The man nodded, and once more his eyes returned to the out-held -document. "'King Aretas declares that the Tetrarch Herod Antipas in -sending his faithful wife, the King's beloved daughter, a bill of -divorcement, after having deprived her of the honors and privileges of -the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea, which honors and privileges -without right he conferred upon her successor, has grievously injured -and insulted the King's daughter, his royal house, and the person of the -King himself.'" - -Claudia gently squeezed Longinus' hand beside hers on the couch, but she -dared venture no whisper. Slyly, though, they both glanced toward -Herodias who sat eying the Arabian, a malevolent, frozen smile on her -plainly flushed face. - -The reader looked up again, but only for an instant, and then resumed -his reading of the Arabian ruler's grievances. "'Now, therefore'"--he -cleared his throat--"'King Aretas demands that the Tetrarch Herod -Antipas seek to make what amends he can by providing certain reparations -to King Aretas, the terms of which shall be agreed upon in conference of -the Tetrarch and his ministers with the King's ministers who bear this -message. But King Aretas further demands that before such negotiations -are entered into, the Tetrarch Herod Antipas must put away or reduce to -second wife the woman he now calls Tetrarchess and restore to her -rightful place as Tetrarchess and first wife the King's beloved -daughter. He further demands....'" - -"'_He_ demands!' Everything is '_He_ demands'!" Herodias had sprung to -her feet, her eyes blazing, her shaking finger extended across the table -toward the suddenly interrupted Arabian. Now she turned fiercely upon -the Tetrarch. "Didn't you hear him, O Tetrarch? '_He_ demands!' That old -goat of Arabia demands of you, Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. He -writes you an evil, insulting message abusing you and your wife, and you -sit here calmly listening while that man reads it before these your -guests and me your Tetrarchess...." - -"But, my beloved Herodias"--Antipas clutched the table's edge as he -straggled to get to his feet--"these men are only the messengers of King -Aretas. What you hear are not this man's words, they are the King's." - -"Of course I know that, Antipas; I am not entirely a fool. I know they -are the King's words, but don't they say that Aretas has empowered these -men to represent him in your negotiations over me? Over me, do you hear? -Negotiations designed to force me from the palace in Tiberias, to return -_her_...." - -Gently Antipas caught his wife's arm and tried to calm her, to get her -to take her seat. "Of course not, my dear, of course you'll not be sent -away, you'll never be supplanted...." - -She jerked her arm free, turned upon him, eyes blazing now in utter -fury. "Then send them back to her doting old father! Send them packing, -Antipas!" She shook her finger under his nose. "Or else, by all the -great and little gods, I myself will go away!" - -Antipas faced the still shocked Arabian. "Perhaps you had best excuse -yourself," he said evenly. "Tomorrow, in the calm of our council -chamber, we shall be able...." - -"No!" shouted Herodias. "Let them leave tonight, immediately. I can -abide their insulting presence here no longer!" - -The Tetrarch, ignoring his wife's outburst, beckoned to a servant -hovering nearby. "Escort these men into a suitable chamber, and see that -they are adequately provided for with our best food and wine," he -commanded, "and after they have dined, show them to their bedchambers. -They must be in need of replenishment and rest after their arduous -journey to Machaerus." He bowed to the delegation's leader. "We shall -defer further consideration of the matter until the morning. We are all -greatly fatigued and agitated." - -The servant stepped forward and bowed to the visitors. They in turn, -without any further word from their spokesman, bowed to the Tetrarch and -turned with the escorting servant to withdraw from the triclinium. - -Herodias, seated now and apparently calm, twisted around to watch them -depart. But when at the doorway Aretas' spokesman glanced over his -shoulder toward the Tetrarch, she suddenly grabbed the goblet beside her -plate. "Go!" she screamed. "Go! Go!" With all her strength she hurled -the goblet toward the man; it shattered on the wall near the door. As a -servant came running to pick up the broken bits of glass, she sank to -the couch, pulled up her sandaled feet, and, sobbing wildly, buried her -face in the pillow. - - - - - Judaea - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 32 - - -The Tetrarch's caravan had reached the flatland where the narrow Plain -of Esdraelon pushing eastward between Mount Gilboa and Little Hermon -touched the Jordan valley. There Longinus and Claudia had taken leave of -the returning group. - -Cornelius had wanted to send a detail of guardsmen to escort them the -remainder of the way to Caesarea. "You never know when one of these -zealot gangs may come swooping down on you," he had protested to -Longinus. "And if the Emperor's stepdaughter should be captured, with -Senator Piso's son, and held for ransom ... well, by Jove, Longinus, you -can imagine the uproar there'd be in Rome." - -But Longinus had refused the offer. He had assured Cornelius that their -little party, he, Claudia, and the two servants she had brought with -her, would join the first caravan headed toward Caesarea; until one came -along they would remain at the nearby inn. - -Though the Tetrarch's parting words had been polite, he had seemed -deeply meditative, still mired in the haze of introspection into which -the startling twist of his birthday celebration had plunged him. Nor had -the results of his meeting the next day with the representatives of King -Aretas enlivened him, for though he had yielded nothing to his former -father-in-law's demands, he knew that the Arabians had departed in a -bitter mood that for him boded no good. That this unfortunate series of -events was known to two Roman centurions and the Procurator's wife, and -particularly to Longinus, who had come to Machaerus on a mission from -the Prefect Sejanus whose accomplishment had been so disastrously -thwarted by the Tetrarch himself, made the situation all the more -distressing. - -Herodias, on the other hand, apparently had recovered completely from -the loss of presence suffered at the Tetrarch's banquet. She spoke with -her usual polished ease. "Soon you must visit us again at Tiberias, my -dear," she said to Claudia, as the Tetrarch's caravan prepared to resume -its journey, "and bring Longinus to protect you from our plundering -zealots." She smiled pertly. "Longinus, help her arrange it. Let's try -to get together in Jerusalem, perhaps during the Feast of Tabernacles." - -They had ridden at once to the inn, which sat at the edge of the road -that led from the Jordan ford straight westward past Mount Gilboa to the -Samaria highroad from Galilee. - -"We will require two rooms," Longinus told the proprietor, a beak-nosed -Jew with an unkempt, wine-stained beard. "The manservant will wish to -sleep near the horses; if there is a place in the stables...." - -"Yes, soldier"--the innkeeper had observed immediately that his guest -was wearing a Roman military uniform--"he can bed down comfortably -there. And for you and your wife"--he paused, questioning, and Longinus -nodded--"one of the larger chambers, yes, and for the maid a smaller -one, adjoining yours, perhaps?" - -"It will not be necessary that it adjoin ours; wherever you can -conveniently place her will be satisfactory." - -So a small room down the narrow hallway from theirs had been assigned to -Tullia, and now the maid had retired to it, and the manservant to a mat -at the stable. Claudia and Longinus had supper and, fatigued from the -journey down from Machaerus to the Jericho plain, they retired to their -chamber. - -Longinus, seated on a low stool, was unbuckling his sandals. "I do hope -a caravan for Caesarea comes along soon," he said. "I'm anxious to get -there; I'm almost tempted to venture the journey on our own. But with so -many of those zealots in the hills...." - -"Then you have tired of me this quickly, you can't wait to return me to -the Procurator?" she asked innocently. - -"I'm getting tired of returning you _to_ the Procurator," he said. - -"And after every time with you I'm more loath to go back to him myself." -The mask of innocence was gone; she was entirely serious now. "Longinus, -isn't there something we can do, some solution? We simply can't go on -like this indefinitely." She had finished undressing; walking over to -the bed, she pulled down the cover, slid beneath it, and pulled it up to -her chin. "By all the gods, Longinus, there must be a better fate for -us. Surely the granddaughter of an Emperor, the stepdaughter of another -Emperor...." - -"But that's exactly why there is a problem," he interrupted. "If you -were just a Roman equestrian, you wouldn't have been forced to marry -Pilate in the first place." He kicked off one of his sandals and twisted -about to face her. "Claudia, you could slip away from him and we could -go away somewhere, but that would hardly be a solution, though for me -certainly it would be a permanent one." He smiled vapidly. "Also you -could ask Tiberius--and that means, of course, Sejanus, too--to permit -you to divorce him; I hardly think, however, that they would allow you -to do it, and then the situation would be worse than it is now; they -would watch us all the more and doubtless send us to separate far -distance provinces, the gods only know where." He considered a moment. -"There's the possibility, though--probability, I hope--that Pilate will -soon do something that will so infuriate Sejanus that he will depose him -as Procurator and perhaps banish him to another remote province. Then -they might allow you to divorce him and marry me, provided we went off -to Gaul or"--he shrugged--"Britannia or Hispania or some other faraway -place. But I'm not sure of that." He removed the other sandal and placed -it beside the first one. "That is probably our best chance, Claudia, -maybe our only one as long as Tiberius and Sejanus stay in power. But -even then I can't proceed too fast against Pilate, because then Sejanus -would surely suspect that you and I...." - -"But doesn't he think already that you want to marry me?" - -"At first he did, I suspect. But now I think he's convinced that our -interest in each other is ... well, a purely physical one. And Antipas, -I'm sure, has the same notion." - -"Certainly Antipas isn't likely to cause us trouble. He's in enough -trouble himself to keep occupied with his own affairs." - -"Yes. Between Sejanus and Aretas he's likely to be very busy for the -next few months. And that gets me back--after you started me on another -tack--to why I'm so eager to be in Caesarea. I've got to get off a -report to Sejanus. I want him to hear from me what happened at Machaerus -before someone else gets the chance to tell him. He may think my -dallying allowed Antipas to behead the Wilderness fellow, and also he -may wonder why I didn't prevent the trouble between Antipas and Aretas -from coming to such an acute crisis. So I want to get my report off as -quickly as possible, do you understand?" - -"Yes, I do understand. You're quite right, it's very important. I -wouldn't be surprised if Antipas got into a war with Aretas because of -Herodias. And that would bring the Roman legionaries into the fighting, -of course, and surely Pilate would be drawn in, and you." - -"Very probably, yes. Certainly it would involve Pilate sooner or later. -And, of course, the Legate Vitellius would be implicated. Sejanus will -certainly call on him to defend Galilee should Aretas attack Antipas." - -"Then the Tetrarch's marrying Herodias may ruin him ... and Pilate, -too," Claudia said thoughtfully. She lay, head back, watching him finish -his preparations for bed. - -"You sound as though you hope it will." - -She stretched herself seductively under the light covering. "Well?" Her -quick smile revealed a suddenly changed mood. "But for tonight at least -let's think no more of Antipas or Pilate. Tomorrow perhaps there'll be a -caravan along, and we'll be starting for Caesarea." Gingerly she turned -down the covering beside her and held out white, bare arms to him. -"Hurry, Longinus," she said softly. "The night is wasting." - - - - - 33 - - -Well ahead of his caravan returning to the palace at Tiberias raced the -startling and, to many, the highly provocative report of the Tetrarch's -beheading of John the Baptist in fulfillment of a rash promise made to -his wife's dancing daughter. - -The delegation that had gone down to Machaerus to intercede for the -prophet's release had brought back the tragic news; quickly the story -had spread to Jerusalem and to Ophel, the teeming Lower City into which -countless poor were squalidly compressed, and beyond there on past the -villages of Judaea and Samaria, all the way down into Galilee. Along the -shores of the little sea and in many a huddle of modest homes, and here -and there in the pretentious houses of the rich, Israelites were shaking -their heads sadly and muttering imprecations upon the Idumaean ruler of -Galilee and Peraea. - -With the account of the Wilderness prophet's execution went the story, -too, of how King Aretas of Arabia had sent his couriers to Machaerus to -threaten Herod Antipas with war because of the Tetrarch's having -divorced the King's daughter and made her supplanter Herodias his -Tetrarchess. Soon rumors began to spread that war with Aretas was -imminent and that the Arabian ruler was likely any day to bring his army -surging across the borders of Israel to punish his former son-in-law. - -Even before the arrival at Caesarea of Claudia and Longinus, the stories -from Machaerus had reached the Procurator Pontius Pilate. Their -lateness, she explained to Pilate, had been unavoidable; they had waited -to join a caravan journeying westward rather than risk the hazards of -traveling with only two servants through a region frequented by robbers -and zealot revolutionaries. - -Pilate appeared to accept without reservation her explanation; he -indicated in no way that he might be jealous of the centurion. His -attitude exasperated Claudia all the more. - -"He can't be that stupid," she fumed one day to Tullia, with whom she -had long come to talk frankly and in utter confidence. "He surely knows -about Longinus and me. Yet if he's in the least bit jealous of the -centurion, he's careful not to let me know. It's insulting, Tullia, his -indifference to me. It's humiliating. Why do you suppose he acts that -way?" - -"But you are the stepdaughter of the Emperor, Mistress. What could he -do, even though he is the Procurator?" - -"He could be a man!" Claudia snapped. "He could kill Longinus, or try -to, and give me a lashing!" - -The maid shook her head. "No, Mistress, not even a Procurator would dare -lay a hand on you, or anyone for whom you held high regard." - -"But I'm his wife, Tullia." - -"Yes, but you are also the Emperor's stepdaughter, Mistress." - -Immediately upon their return to Caesarea from Machaerus, Longinus had -prepared a comprehensive report to Sejanus in which he related the -unfortunate events that had come to such a dramatic climax at the -Tetrarch's birthday banquet. The message was dispatched to Rome on an -Alexandrian grain ship that had paused for a day in the harbor at -Caesarea. - -In the several weeks that followed he saw little of Claudia. During that -period he went on a mission for Sergius Paulus to Jerusalem and upon his -return took command while Sergius was away at Antioch in response to a -summons from the Legate Vitellius, who commanded the Roman forces in -that entire eastern region. Sergius, Longinus was sure, had been ordered -to Antioch because of the Arabian king's threat to attack Herod Antipas. -The Legate, he reasoned, was planning to have his forces ready for -action in the event that Aretas should challenge Rome by sending his -army against the Tetrarch. The centurion presumed that Vitellius had -summoned all military leaders stationed in Galilee--and possibly even -the Tetrarch himself--to meet him at Antioch. Longinus learned that his -guesswork had been correct; the meeting had been held, and the Legate, -Sergius said, had been blunt in his conversations with the Tetrarch. - -Shortly after the Caesarea garrison commander resumed his post, a -message from Senator Piso for his son arrived. It instructed Longinus to -set out as quickly as he could for the glassworks. Production had -decreased, and the quality of the ware being manufactured was -deteriorating. Morale among the slaves, his father reported, seemed at -its lowest point. Longinus was to do whatever might be necessary to -speed up the plant's production and improve the quality of the -glassware. The Prefect, his father added, was in complete concurrence -with these instructions. A fresh supply of slaves, said the senator, was -being sent out to Phoenicia by the Prefect; the slaves were being -shipped aboard a government trireme that was leaving Rome within a week -after the vessel bearing this letter would sail for Joppa. Longinus, the -letter suggested, might even go aboard this letter-bearing vessel when -it put in at Caesarea. - -Little had happened in Rome since his departure for Palestine, his -father reported. The Emperor was still at Capri, and Sejanus was -directing the government of the Empire. His mother sent her love; she -was quite well, though of late she had been disturbed at the -indisposition of her little Maltese dog. But the animal, thanks be to -Jove and the patient ministrations of Longinus' mother, was now -recovered. - -"Try to achieve as quickly as possible a new production record at the -glassworks," his father concluded. The Prefect was keeping an eye on the -figures, and it would be good business to earn the Prefect's early -approval. "Don't spare the slaves; they are the cheapest item in the -operational cost; replacements can be made quickly available." - -His eyes scanned the letter, hardly seeing the words. Ever the patrician -Romans, his parents ... his mother concerned with the indisposition of -that pampered, silken-haired pet, his father thinking only of pleasing -Sejanus and building up for the Prefect and himself more millions of -sesterces. Don't spare the slaves; the life of a slave is the cheapest -item in the production of beautiful glassware for the tables of -patrician Rome and Alexandria and Antioch and Athens. Work them until -they fall dead, and heave them into the flaming furnaces. - -Longinus thought of the old slave. What would Cornelius think of his -father's letter, his father's philosophy? But Cornelius' father, too, is -of the equestrian class; perhaps he shares the views of Senator Piso. -Cornelius, of course, would disapprove. He would say that men are not -the cheapest items in the making of glassware or anything else. He would -hold with the Galilean carpenter that every man, Roman senator or Gallic -slave or black savage from Ethiopia, is a son of that jealous Yahweh of -the Jews and possessor of an immortal spirit. - -And I, suddenly thought Longinus, do I hold with my father or with -Cornelius and the Galilean? - -The day after Herod's birthday banquet Cornelius had related to him in -dramatic detail what he contended was the Galilean's miraculous healing -of Lucian, but Longinus had shrugged off his friend's fervor with the -observation that once more, as in the case of Chuza's son, the clever -carpenter from Nazareth had successfully judged the hour at which the -fever would break. - -Of course his urbane, affluent father, rather than his Jewish-influenced -friend the centurion and the Galilean mystic, was right. Even without -using a stylus and tablet one can prove that a slave is the cheapest of -the several things involved in the making of fine glassware; his -father's statement to that effect was quickly demonstrable. And yet.... - -Longinus shrugged and put away the letter. The ship, he discovered some -moments later, would be at the Caesarea port only long enough to load -supplies and freight; it would sail for Tyre within four or five hours. - -He packed quickly and sent his bags to the dock to be put aboard. Then -he rushed to the Procurator's Palace to tell Pilate and his wife -good-by. Happily, the Procurator had gone out. But Longinus could have -only a few minutes with Claudia. - -"I won't be up in Phoenicia long," he reassured her. "It shouldn't take -many days before I get the operation of the plant reorganized. And even -before I finish the task, if I find it takes longer than I now think it -will, I may be able to board a vessel and come down here for a visit. -Claudia, why couldn't you arrange a journey"--his tone was eager--"over -to Tiberias for another stay in the Tetrarch's Palace? That is, if in -the meantime"--his grin lightened the tenseness of the moment--"Aretas -hasn't driven him and Herodias away? But if they're still around, well, -then I could just by chance select that same time to visit Cornelius." - -When he could stay with her no longer she summoned the palace -sedan-chair bearers and rode with him down to the dock. After he had -embarked and the ship was moving across the harbor to gain the open sea -beyond the long breakwater, she stepped again into the sedan chair and -was borne to the palace. - - - - - 34 - - -But the biting, sharp winds of spring, sweeping down from the mountains -of Judah across the lower Shefelah and the region of the coast, had -subsided into the still and enervating heat of summer, and the Centurion -Longinus had not yet returned to his post. - -Nor had Claudia received any message from him. Sergius Paulus, too, had -heard nothing, as she found when on several occasions she had discreetly -inquired about the centurion. The Procurator's wife began to wonder if -Longinus had been recalled to Rome and sent away by Sejanus on a mission -to some remote province of the Empire, perhaps even as far, the gods -forbid, as Brittania. - -Then one day in late summer Cornelius appeared at the Procurator's -Palace. Pilate, it happened, had ridden down the coast to Joppa; Claudia -and the centurion could talk freely. Hardly were they seated on the -terrace overlooking the Great Sea when she confronted him, eyes solemnly -inquiring, her forehead wrinkled. - -"Cornelius, what can have happened to Longinus? I haven't had a word -from him or concerning him since he left here for the glassworks so many -weeks ago. I can't understand...." - -"You've no cause to be worried," he interrupted, laughing. "He is still -at the glassworks, or at any rate he was when I was there recently. He's -been working hard. The plant had deteriorated considerably; he said it -required more work than he had anticipated to restore its operation to -normal. He's been hoping all along to get back to Caesarea to see you, -but he just hasn't had the opportunity. And he thought it best not to -send any written messages; unfortunately, there's been no one coming -this way with whom he dared entrust a spoken one ... except for me, of -course. He gave me a message for you, but I've been delayed getting -here. He thinks you heard from him weeks ago." - -"And what was the message he sent?" - -"Just what I've told you." He grinned. "That he was well, working hard, -and hoped he would soon be in position to return to Caesarea." - -"That was all?" - -"Should there have been more?" His eyes were teasing. "Yes, he said to -tell you that as far as he was concerned, nothing has changed. He's -still looking to the future. Is that the message you sought?" - -"Yes, and expected. And should you see him before I do, you may tell him -that my message to him is the same. But, Cornelius"--her expression -suddenly was earnest, almost pained--"things move so slowly; the future -seems so far ahead, and the waiting is so long." - -"Maybe not, Claudia. Maybe just around the turn of the road you'll...." - -"But I can see no turn." - -"The situation out here just now is so explosive that any moment could -bring great changes," he insisted, "and overnight the problem you and -Longinus have could be solved. Pilate and Herod both could lose their -favored positions and, conceivably, their heads. And speaking of Herod -reminds me that I was to give you another message, too." - -"From whom, Herodias?" - -"Yes." - -"She wants me to return with you to Tiberias?" - -"No, not that. But she does want you to meet her in Jerusalem in October -at the Feast of Tabernacles. Pilate undoubtedly will go again this year, -and Herod too; after beheading the Wilderness prophet and possibly -involving Galilee in a war with Aretas, Antipas will surely want to go -up to the Temple to worship the Jewish Yahweh; it's the only way -left--aside from dropping Herodias--for him to strengthen himself with -his subjects." He paused and leaned forward, smiling. "I'll have to take -my century up to Jerusalem, Claudia, as I do on all such occasions when -multitudes of Jews assemble there, and I'll try to bring Longinus over -to Tiberias to make the journey to Jerusalem with me. If you'll promise -to join us there, I'm sure I can promise you I'll have the centurion -with me when I come." - - - - - 35 - - -Almost overnight Jerusalem had been transformed. - -Through the long drought of the summer months the ancient city had grown -more drab with the deepening of fine dust upon its houses, its public -buildings, and even upon the resplendent Temple itself. - -But now, with the coming of autumn and the annual great Feast of -Tabernacles, Jerusalem had bloomed into a veritable forest of greenery. -As far as Claudia could see from her perch high on a balcony of the -Tower of Antonia--down into the adjoining Temple area, along the -terraced rise of Mount Zion, southward to sweltering Ophel and beyond -the always smoking gehenna of Hinnom's vale to the bluffs above it on -the Bethlehem road, and eastward past the Brook Kidron and the Garden of -Gethsemane up the slope of the Mount of Olives--stretched an almost -unbroken canopy of green boughs now beginning to wilt. Balconies, roof -tops, the grounds about the Temple walls, every unfilled small plot of -the cluttered soil of Jewry's holy city, were covered with these -improvised, temporary dwellings. - -The Feast of Tabernacles, Tullia had explained to her mistress, was the -Hebrew festival marking the end of the harvesting season and the early -beginning of the rains. It was an occasion of national thanksgiving to -Yahweh, one that commemorated the Israelites' years of wandering in the -desert wilderness where, after their escape from Egyptian bondage, under -the leadership of their great law-giver Moses, they had dwelt in -booths--they called them tabernacles--made of branches hastily woven -together. - -"And to this day," Tullia had concluded, "in accordance with the -instructions in our sacred writings, every Jew during the Feast of -Tabernacles must leave his house and for eight days live in a hut made -of the branches of pine or myrtle or olive or palm." The festival -occasion, she further pointed out, was one of rejoicing for Yahweh's -deliverance of His children from slavery and His establishment of them -in their promised land. To honor Yahweh, the celebrants would offer -sacrifices each day and follow a prescribed order of worship and praise -and thanksgiving. These ceremonies, Tullia declared, were carried out in -great dignity and with reverence. Nothing she had ever seen in Rome, the -maid was certain, would excel them in pageantry. - -"Mistress," she pleaded, "why don't you move from the Palace of the -Herods for a day or two to the Procurator's apartment in the Tower of -Antonia? From there you could look down on the ceremonial rites being -performed at the Temple, and no one would need know that you were -watching. And though it would have no interest to you as a service of -worship, it should prove entertaining in the same way that the theater -in Rome is diverting." - -"It might be amusing at that," Claudia had agreed. "And there's nothing -else to do in Jerusalem anyway. But how is it, Tullia," she asked, and -her expression clearly revealed her puzzlement, "that you know so much -about these festival customs? Even if your forebears were Jewish, you -were brought up in Rome, and surely you couldn't have learned all this -at the synagogue on Janiculum Hill." - -"But, Mistress, through the years I have read our sacred scriptures, and -I have heard much talk of our laws and customs. And you must know that -an Israelite, though he may never set foot in Israel, if he is a true -child of the faith, is loyal to our one God." - -"I know little about Israelites or their Yahweh, and I care less about -either"--she smiled--"except for you, and I have never considered you a -Jew except perhaps by blood. But as for loyalty, by all the gods, little -one, I know you are loyal to me, just as your mother was to mine. All -this Yahweh and Temple business, though, confuses rather than interests -me. To me it seems the sheerest nonsense. How could any being worthy of -being called a god appreciate the sight of poor cattles' throats being -slit; how could he enjoy the smell of warm blood and broiling fat? -Certainly it nauseates me." - -"I have wondered that myself, Mistress," Tullia answered. "But I believe -He is pleased because we are seeking to please Him, even though our form -of worship may not be too pleasing. Do you understand me, Mistress?" - -"Yes, but I believe still that your worship is nothing more than -superstition, just as our worship of the innumerable Roman and Greek -gods is superstition. But"--she reached over and gently pinched the -slave girl's cheek--"I'll do as you suggest; I'll venture to watch the -ceremonial at the Temple, and you can tell me what they are doing." - -So they had gone up to Antonia and from the balcony had watched the busy -movement of the priests and the assembled throngs, many of them pilgrims -returned from every province in the Empire, as these earnest Israelites -performed the traditional rites of the ancient festival of worship. On -her first morning, Claudia had arisen early and had stepped out onto the -balcony. The sun was just lifting above the Mount of Olives, but already -the Temple was astir, and pilgrims in their many colored robes were -swarming into the Court of the Gentiles, the nearer Court of the Women, -and the other more sacred precincts permitted to them. In their hands -they carried leafed branches. - -Claudia stared in rapt fascination at the spectacle below. As she leaned -out over the balcony, she scarcely heard Tullia's footsteps approaching -behind her. - -"Good morning, Mistress." - -"Good morning," Claudia replied, turning to greet the girl. She pointed -downward. "You were right about this offering much in the way of -entertainment. It's nearly as good as our Roman games." - -Tullia laughed. "Who knows, perhaps you, too, Mistress, may become a -convert to our ways." - -"Hardly." Claudia shook her head with a wry smile. Then she turned and -looked thoughtfully down again at the bustling crowds in the Temple -courts. "There's one thing in particular, you know, that I can't -understand about the Jewish religion, little one." The half-smile had -been replaced by a perplexed frown. "Unless I'm mistaken, the Jews -contend that their Yahweh is all-powerful, that he's the only god there -is, and that he rules over all peoples; yet they call him the God of -Israel and seem to believe that he has no interest in anyone else. Down -there, for example"--she pointed toward the Temple--"there are signs -warning foreigners not to enter, under pain of death, certain of the -sacred places. How do the Jews explain that? It seems to me that they -make their Yahweh a sort of tribal god, one having less authority even -than our Jupiter. If Yahweh is the god of all the world, how can the -Jews claim him as exclusively theirs? And on the other hand, if he is -the god and father of all peoples, doesn't that make all peoples -brothers?" She shrugged. "I see little sense to ... all this." She broke -off with a quick sweep of her hand toward the procession of priests and -pilgrims moving down the slope toward the waters of Siloam. - -"They do say that such is the teaching of Jesus, that our Yahweh is the -father of all peoples, even the pagans who have never heard of Him, -that...." - -"Jesus?" - -"The Galilean. The carpenter, Mistress, of whom the Prophet John -declared himself to be the forerunner, you know. He's been teaching down -there at the Temple; he came up from Galilee, though he wasn't here at -the beginning of the feast, it was said. The priests are bitter toward -him, especially Annas and Caiaphas and the Temple leaders; they say he -is corrupting our religion." - -"Hah! Annas and Caiaphas talk of corruption! I should think they -wouldn't have the nerve. But have you seen this Galilean, little one?" - -"No, Mistress, but I should like to. They say he speaks with great charm -and clarity." - -"By the gods, I would like to hear him myself. He's the one, isn't he, -who Cornelius contends healed his little servant boy? Maybe we could -prevail on him to do some other feats of magic." - -"But his followers, so I hear, deny that he works magic. They say he -does such things of his own power and authority, as the Messiah of God." - -"So Cornelius believes, according to Longinus; he thinks the Galilean is -a man-god and that he really healed the little boy, but Longinus wasn't -that naive. I wish Longinus were here to see the carpenter and hear his -discoursing; I'd like to know _his_ opinion of the man." - -But Longinus was not in Jerusalem. Cornelius had failed in his promise -to bring the centurion to the Feast of Tabernacles. Hardly a week before -they were to leave Tiberias, Cornelius had received a message from -Longinus saying that the Prefect Sejanus had sent him instructions to -board ship at Tyre for Antioch, where he would have business with the -Legate Vitellius. What the nature of the business was, Cornelius told -Claudia, had not been revealed. Nor had Longinus indicated how long he -would be away. Had she known he would not be in the Judaean capital, -Claudia told her maid, she herself would have remained in the provincial -capital on the coast. That would have given her two weeks of freedom -from Pontius Pilate, at any rate, for Pilate, with a maniple of soldiers -and a retinue of servants, had come up with her to the festival and -would probably remain in Jerusalem until the final ceremonies were -completed and all the withered booths had been removed. - -In late afternoon the Procurator's wife ate an early dinner, and as the -sun dropped behind the western walls, she stood again with Tullia at the -balcony's parapet and looked down upon the animated movement within the -Temple's courts. - -"See, Mistress!" Tullia pointed. "They all carry unlighted torches. It -will be beautiful, the illumination of the Temple. This is the great -event of the festival; it is called the 'Joy of the Feast.' When the sun -goes down, a watchman on the western wall of the Temple will give the -signal and the candelabra will be lighted. See how high they are, -perhaps thirty cubits. The light from them will illuminate the whole -Temple area. It will be like nothing you have seen, Mistress!" - -"Yes, Bona Dea, I agree it will be different. And in Jerusalem, Tullia, -you're different. I do believe I've never before seen you so excited." - -The service began with a great company of priests and Levites -alternating in the antiphonal chant of the Psalms and other sacred -Hebrew scriptures. Then, as the shadows lengthened and the quick murk of -descending night began to envelop the vast edifice and the thousands -massed within it, one of the priests, bearing a long lighted taper, -moved through the Court of the Priests and down the steps to the Court -of the Women. - -"Look, Mistress! See the priest carrying the lighted taper," Tullia -said, her enthusiasm mounting. "With it he will light the great -candelabra." - -The advancing priest paused. "Arise, shine!" his voice suddenly rang -out, "for thy Light is come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon -thee!" Deliberately, with all eyes upon him, he lighted first the -central candle in the great stand, and then as quickly as he could with -the uplifted long taper he touched the flickering flame to each of the -three on either side of the central one; when he had finished his task -before the first great candelabrum, he crossed with measured tread to -the other and lighted it. As he touched the last candle and the flame -caught, a great welling up of excited, triumphant song was lifted to the -two on the balcony above, one the pagan daughter of Roman emperors and -the other, her slave maid, daughter of ancient and buffeted Israel. - -"What does the song mean, Tullia?" Claudia asked. "It seems to have a -tone of triumph, of victory. Yet how can the people of Israel boast of -their victories, if that is what they are doing?" - -"It _is_ a song of triumph, Mistress," she replied. "It speaks, like the -Feast of Tabernacles itself does, of the days when our fathers were led -by the God of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. The song recalls, like the -flaming candelabra, the long and wearisome journey upward into the -promised land when the pillar of cloud led by day and the pillar of fire -by night. It is more of the lore of our people. But look! The procession -of light is beginning! See the torches!" - -First came the Levites. In procession they passed the flaming -candelabra, and as each man came opposite the blazing, darting fire, he -mounted the steps, lifted high his torch, and touched it to the flame. -Soon the torches of the Levites, followed by those of the pilgrims, had -transformed the entire mountain of the Temple into a blaze of fire. - -For a long moment, silent, Claudia stood at the balcony's parapet and -studied the procession of torchbearers; their voices, raised in song, -filled the night. "It's amazing," she said finally. "I've always thought -that the Jewish religion had no joy in it; I thought it was the worship -of a stern, vengeful, morose god who was quick to punish any violator of -his strict and senseless laws, who demanded bloody sacrifices and -fasting and permitted no indulgence in pleasures. But these Jews seem to -be having a grand time, almost as though they were devotees of Isis or -Moloch." - -"Yes, but without the orgies of Isis and Moloch," Tullia explained. -"Many persons who are not of our faith do have that opinion of the God -of Israel. But we believe that although He is stern and demands that we -uphold His laws, He is also a loving God who wants His people to be -happy. Some will be dancing here as long as their torches burn, -Mistress." - -"Well, you may stay out and watch them as long as you like, Tullia, but -I'm going to bed." - -"One more thing, Mistress," the slave girl asked. "If I may, I should -like at sunrise tomorrow to slip down into the Temple courts for the -early service." - -"Of course, little one," Claudia smiled. "But be careful. And perhaps it -would be best if you made no mention of being in the Procurator's -household." - - - - - 36 - - -Faintly at first and from afar off the silvery notes of a trumpet -floated into her bedchamber. As she seemed to rise slowly upward out of -a deep cavern of slumber, she sensed a stirring beside her. - -"The morning watch at Castra Praetoria," he said, as in the dim light of -breaking day he raised himself on an elbow to look into her face, "and I -have early duty." - -"But, Longinus," she began a murmured protest, "must you forever be -leaving...?" - -"Today is very important," he went on, unheeding. "I must meet the -Prefect there to begin our journey down to Capri for an audience with -the Emperor. Sejanus is going to recommend that Tiberius recall Pontius -Pilate and banish him to Gaul and then name me as Procurator. But you -are not to go with him into banishment. Instead, you will marry me -and...." - -"By all the gods! Longinus! Oh, by the Bountiful Mother! So long have we -waited...." - -She sat up from her pillow. The light was seeping through the narrow -window beyond the foot of the bed; the chamber was bursting now with the -sound of trumpets. Sleepily, though she was fast coming awake, she felt -for the centurion and sought to hold on to the dream, but she knew he -was not there. And in a moment's hush between the trumpetings she heard -from the room adjoining hers, through the doorway connecting the -chambers, the sonorous, heavy snoring of Pontius Pilate. - -"Tullia!" she called, keeping her voice down. But the door to the maid's -smaller chamber on the side opposite the Procurator's was open; she had -hardly expected Tullia to be there. The trumpets below were calling -Israel to the sunrise worship, and somewhere in the milling throng of -Jerusalem dwellers and pilgrims was her devoted maid. - -She pushed down the covering, swung her feet around to the floor, and -stood up. Drawing her robe about her, she stepped into her sandals and -tiptoed out onto the balcony. Down below in the Temple courts a few -torches sputtered sporadically in the strengthening light, and several -still burning in the two giant candelabra offered more twisting -blue-black smoke than illumination. - -But there was a glory in the east; behind the rounded crest of the Mount -of Olives a giant hand spread fingers of orange and gold and salmon and -pink, and as the aureole fanned out higher and wider and its vivid -colors swam together in one blazing brightness, the sun ventured to peek -above the hilltop. In that instant the golden dome of the Temple flamed, -and the topmost stones around the city's western wall caught fire. - -A blast of trumpets, silvery, melodious, triumphant, saluted the sun's -rising. And then another, and another. Looking down into the Court of -the Priests, from which the sound had come, Claudia saw two lavishly -caparisoned priests, carrying trumpets and walking abreast, marching -toward the lower Court of the Women. They were going down the steps -between the two courts when suddenly they paused and, lifting their -instruments to their lips, once again blew three blasts. Then they moved -austerely down the remaining steps and into the court, where they paused -and blew three blasts again. - -"Can they be sun worshipers, by all the gods?" Claudia murmured as she -watched the priests offering what appeared to be homage to the newly -risen monarch of the heavens. - -The two priests, pacing steadily eastward through the great Court of the -Women, stopped near its center and once more blew sharp blasts and then, -lowering their trumpets, marched straight toward the Beautiful Gate, the -eastern entrance to the court. But before the huge portal they stopped -and faced about, so that now their backs were toward the sun. - -"Our fathers, who worshiped likewise in this place, turned their backs -upon the sanctuary of the Lord and their faces to the sun," they said in -chorus, and the words came up distinctly to Claudia, who was able to -understand their meaning though she could not comprehend their -significance. "But our eyes are turned toward the Lord!" - -"Then at least they do not worship the sun," she said to herself, -"although I look upon the sun as being more godlike than their puny -spirit one god." - -She stood another moment watching the pageantry below; then her eyes -swept beyond the Temple walls to survey the tabernacled city and the -area outside its protective walls. Today, she remembered, would see the -ending of the Jewish autumn festival, the Israelites' traditional Feast -of Tabernacles. And it was well that it should. Already the little green -bough shelters were beginning to wilt in the October sun. The pageantry, -too, must be losing its luster, even to the people of Israel. - -_... And Longinus could not come to Jerusalem...._ - -Turning from the parapet, she crossed the balcony and entered her -chamber. Taking off her robe, she slipped back into the inviting warmth -of the bed. - - - - - 37 - - -The opening of the bedchamber door awakened Claudia; she sat up in bed. - -"I'm sorry, Mistress," Tullia said apologetically as she closed the door -behind her. "I thought perhaps you had gone out." - -"It's all right. I've slept enough. Those early trumpets awoke me, and I -went out on the balcony and watched the services beginning. That was -probably just a short while after you left. Then I came back to bed. But -why have you returned so soon? Surely that water-pouring ceremony isn't -finished yet." She paused and studied the slave maid. "By the gods, -Tullia, something's happened. I can see stars in your eyes. And you're -all out of breath; you've been running. Quickly, tell me, what is it?" - -"Oh, Mistress," Tullia burst out happily, "he's down there! He's down -there right now, in the Court of the Gentiles. I ran back to tell you." - -"Longinus!" Claudia scrambled to her feet. - -The stars dimmed. "I'm sorry, Mistress, I hadn't meant to disappoint -you. But yesterday you said you'd like to see him...." - -"The Galilean?" - -"Yes, Mistress, and he's down there right now. Do you remember that -woman who came with the Tetrarch Herod to Rome, the beautiful one called -Mary of Magdala?" - -"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" - -"I was in the Court of the Women, Mistress, during the early service, -when I came upon her. I recognized her, and I knew she was a follower of -the Galilean. So I asked her to tell me if he had come to the Feast. She -said he had and that even then he was in the Court of the Gentiles over -near the Shushan Gate; today, she said, he would be teaching there, no -doubt as soon as the service of the water pouring is finished. Soon the -procession will return from the Pool of Siloam; it may be that it's -already back. If you'd like to eat, Mistress, and then go down to the -Court of the Gentiles...." - -"But I need not eat just this minute, Tullia. We'll go now. Here," she -said, holding out her robe, "help me get dressed. I really would like to -see that man and hear him speak"--she smiled--"and witness any feats of -magic he might be prevailed upon to perform." But quickly her expression -sobered. "Tullia, you'll have to fix me so that no one would even dream -he was looking at the Procurator's wife." - -"Yes, Mistress, but a veil and simple stola will serve that purpose." - -Claudia peeked into the adjoining bedchamber. It was empty. "Pilate no -doubt has gone to the Praetorium," she said. "He needn't know I'm going -down into the Temple precincts." - -With Tullia's aid, she dressed, and they descended to the ground level -and went out through the great vaulted doorway on the south side of the -Tower. A moment later the two women, heavily veiled, entered the Temple -enclosure through the North Gate of Asuppim and headed toward the Soreg, -a lacy latticework of carefully carved and interwoven stones four and a -half feet high surrounding the Temple itself. From there they turned -left and strode eastward through the vast Court of the Gentiles with its -jam of worshipers and the idly curious. - -"Mary said that he usually sits over there"--Tullia pointed toward the -cloisters along the eastern wall of the Temple--"near the Shushan Gate." -The Shushan Gate was at the northern end of the wall, directly east of -the Beautiful Gate. Steps led up from the Court of the Gentiles to the -Chel, a corridor running between the Soreg and the walls of the Temple -proper, in which sat the resplendent, great Shushan Gate. The Court of -the Women, in turn, was several feet higher than the Chel. At the -western end of the Court of the Women, centering the wall, was another -large opening, the Gate of Nicanor, and directly west of this gate and -on a still more uplifted platform, stood the Great Altar. A person at -the Gate of Shushan could look above marble steps ascending from one -court level to another to the priests performing their orders before -this tremendous and imposing pyramidal altar of burnt offerings. - -As Claudia and Tullia neared the eastern end of the Soreg they could see -the Shushan Gate, but no group was knotted about it. They could look -across the cloister and out through the gate to the rise of the Mount of -Olives beyond the Brook Kidron far below. "He's not there," Tullia said, -her tone revealing disappointment. "Perhaps he went with the procession -to the Pool of Siloam and has not yet returned. Surely he will be here -soon." - -But as they turned the corner to their left, the two women saw a motley -throng pushed together in a half circle about the steps that led up to -the Chel. "Maybe Jesus is there," Tullia exclaimed, keeping her voice -low, for now they were nearing the outer edge of this crowd. She turned -to confront a lean and bearded tall Israelite. "We have just come here," -she said. "We wonder why all these people are gathered about. Is some -rabbi expounding the law?" - -"Yes, the Galilean whom some hold to be the Messiah of God. The priests -and the scholars have been trying to confuse him, but he has thrown -their words back into their teeth." - -They moved forward into the outer fringe of the group and eased their -steps toward the man sitting before the Beautiful Gate until soon they -had an unobstructed view of him. From where they stood they could also -see through the wide portals of the Beautiful Gate across the Court of -the Women and the Gate of Nicanor to the Great Altar, upon which the -High Priest Caiaphas, with two other Temple dignitaries assisting him, -had tipped the golden ewer of water from the Pool of Siloam as a -libation to Yahweh. Many of those now listening to the discourse of the -Galilean had been present for the ceremonies of the water pouring, -including a small knot of lavishly robed Israelites whom Tullia -immediately recognized as the men who had been attempting to confound -Jesus with their hate-inspired but politely phrased questions. - -Evidently one of these men, a stout Pharisee from the looks of his garb, -had just so challenged the Galilean. But if Jesus was perturbed, he did -not indicate it. He was speaking calmly, and his resonant but gentle -Galilean Aramaic came clearly to them above the din of the cattle in the -stalls along the northern cloisters. "He doesn't speak with the fire and -thunder of that Wilderness prophet," Claudia observed in whispered -comment. "He seems not to be the fanatical type, and I'm surprised. He's -handsome, too, and I'm even more surprised at that. I thought he would -be another lean and burnt, arm-waving, shouting fanatic, one with a long -messy beard, flaming eyes, and soiled clothing--a generally anemic look. -But this one's a strong fellow, though his manner's gentle enough. Even -so, there's something odd about this. I wonder...." - -But suddenly she stopped speaking, for the rabbi had raised his bronzed -hand, long forefinger extended, to point to one of the Pharisees who had -been questioning him. "You say that I am but testifying to myself and -that therefore my testimony is invalid. But I say unto you, my brother, -that my testimony is valid. Is it not written in the law that the -testimony of two witnesses establishes the fact? Then my testimony is -true, for I bear witness and likewise my Father that sent me bears -witness. That makes two witnesses; that establishes the truthfulness of -the testimony I have borne." - -"Who is this father of whom he speaks?" asked a man standing near the -two women. "Is he not the son of a carpenter of Nazareth long dead? How -then does he say that his father's testimony corroborates his own?" - -"He's not speaking of his natural father," another man standing near-by -replied. "He means the God of Israel as his father." - -"But isn't that blasphemy? How can a man call himself the son of -Israel's God?" - -"But if indeed he is the Messiah...." The second man paused, his hand on -the questioner's arm, for Jesus had arisen and, turning, was pointing -toward the high altar before the Holy of Holies. "Behold, I am the water -of life! If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." The -Galilean spoke in calm tones but with warmth of feeling, and in the -pause that followed none of his hearers spoke. Again he pointed, this -time toward the giant candelabra below the Gate of Nicanor in the Court -of the Women; last night the great court and all the environs of the -Temple had been ablaze with light from the candelabra and the hundreds -of flaming torches. "I am the light of the world!" he declared. "He that -follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life!" - -Claudia nudged her maid. "What does he mean, Tullia?" she whispered. - -"I'm not sure I know, Mistress," the girl answered. "But I take it he's -using a kind of symbolism that the Jews can understand. He must be -referring to the ceremony of water pouring and to last night's -illumination of the Temple." - -But the carping Pharisees and the other Temple leaders pretended -likewise not to understand. - -"The water of life, the light of the world. And your father being a -witness to the truthfulness of the testimony you present. These things -are incomprehensible to us," one of them declared. "Rabbi, wasn't your -father a carpenter in Galilee? And where is he to support your witness? -Isn't he dead? How then can you say that you and your father make two -witnesses? We have not seen your father, nor have we heard him speak." - -"You speak the truth when you say that you have not seen my Father." His -voice was calm, even gentle, but his eyes were filled with fire. -"Neither have you seen me. For if you had seen me, you would likewise -have seen my Father, for the Father is in me and I am in the Father. My -Father and I are one." - -"Is he speaking of the God of Israel as his father?" A portly Pharisee -near the two women had turned to speak with one of his colleagues. "Is -that the meaning of his strange utterance?" - -"I think so." - -"Blasphemy!" declared the questioner. "He makes himself one with God!" - -But Jesus had heard. - -"No," he declared, looking the fat one full in the face. "Only truth. -And if you knew me and were willing to live by my teaching, you would -know the truth, and the truth would make you free. You would not walk in -darkness, but in the light of the world, in the fullness of life." - -"But, Rabbi, we are free. We are children of Abraham. We are not slaves. -How can you say that we would be made free? We have never been slaves to -any man." - -"Any man who sins is a slave, and no slave is a son of the house; yet if -the son of the house sets him free, he is no longer a slave." - -"But we _are_ sons of Abraham. We are no bastards. We are the children -of the God of Israel." - -Jesus leveled his forefinger at the protesting Pharisee. "No, you are -not the sons of the Father; you are rather sons of the Evil One, for he -is the enemy of truth and you likewise are its enemies." His words were -uttered in calmness, but they were emphatic, and his eyes flashed. "You -will neither hear the truth nor comprehend it." - -"But, Rabbi, you must be mad." - -Jesus smiled, and Claudia, who had been watching him in complete -fascination since her first sight of him, thought she detected a hint of -restrained amusement in his dark eyes. "No," he said, "I am not mad; I -speak the truth, and whoever lives by the truth, my brother, will not -even see death." - -"But haven't all the fathers in ages before--Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, -Isaiah, all the righteous ones of old--haven't they all met death? Then -how can you say that others will not die?" - -"I dare say, he is not speaking of physical death," Tullia whispered. -"It's obvious he's referring to the afterlife of the spirit. But these -sniveling Pharisees don't even want to understand him." - -Yet Jesus did not answer the Temple leader, for in the rear of the press -about him a commotion had arisen and the Galilean had turned from the -questioning Pharisee to look out over the heads of the people now -craning their necks to see the cause of the tumult. The questioner and -his little knot had turned, too; the Galilean's inquisitor, Tullia -surmised, was quite willing for the exchange to be ended, for he had not -been faring well in matching wits and words with the tall one from -Nazareth. - -Tullia and Claudia, too, had twisted about to look eastward toward the -sounds that so precipitately had disturbed the strangely inspiriting -discourse and the carping questions of the Nazarene's challengers. In -that same instant they saw, out in front of the gate of Shushan, several -coarse men half-dragging, half-carrying a bedraggled Jewish woman toward -the throng ringed about Jesus. As the crowd opened a lane inward to the -Galilean, the men rushed the poor creature toward him and savagely -thrust her to the ground at his feet. A man who had been walking in the -rear of the pitiful procession, whom Tullia took to be a minor Temple -priest, stepped in front of Jesus. - -"Rabbi, this woman has been taken in the act of adultery, in the very -act, Rabbi, as the witnesses will testify. Now the law of Moses says -that such a woman must be stoned." He paused, and his eyes surveyed the -half circle of intent, set faces. Along the rim heads nodded in -agreement. - -"Is that really the law of the Israelites?" Claudia whispered. "Stone to -death a woman for such offense, by all the gods!" - -"Yes, it's the old Mosaic law, Mistress." - -"That is barbarous, Tullia. By all the gods, if I were a Jew, then -they...." But she paused, for the man had turned back to question the -Galilean. "You, however, Rabbi, have been teaching a new law. What would -you say to her punishment? Must she be stoned in accordance with our -ancient laws or not?" - -Jesus was eying the poor woman, who had scrambled to her feet and was -trying to smooth out her disordered robe. Frightened and humiliated, she -kept her eyes on the ground; then, as the man finished his question and -the suddenly quiet throng listened for the reply, she raised them and -looked, with a mixture of defiance, contempt, and fright, at the tall -bronzed man before her. - -"But what can he say?" Claudia whispered. "Aren't they trying to trap -him into advocating violation of their laws?" - -"Yes, Mistress. And they know, too, that they have no authority to stone -anyone to death unless the person is first condemned by the Procurator. -Either way, it's a trap they're trying to set." - -"Then I shall speak to Pilate...." She stopped; Tullia had laid a gently -restraining hand on her arm, for Jesus had bent down suddenly and -without offering to answer the Jew who had questioned him had begun to -trace with extended forefinger certain markings in the dust of the -marble pavement. - -About him stood the silent crowd. Some seemed fearful of the horror they -might soon be witnessing; others, their cold smiles attesting to their -sadistic natures, were waiting expectantly to witness the woman's death -agonies; only a few solemn faces revealed concern and deep pity. But the -little knot of Pharisees stood with arms folded across their rounded -paunches; their smug smiles betrayed their confidence that at last, on -the final day of the great festival, they had run to earth this annoying -and dangerous young Galilean who had been so cleverly eluding them. - -Then, raising his head, Jesus faced the man who had questioned him. "You -have testified aright as to the law of our father Moses," he said, his -voice calm, deliberate. "The law of Moses commands that the woman ... -and the man ... taken in adultery be stoned. But you ask me my -interpretation of this law?" - -"We do, Rabbi. What will you do with this woman?" The man looked about -the semicircle of cold, hard faces, and one by one the Pharisees nodded -approval of his questioning. "Rabbi, what is your law in this case?" - -"I answer you, my brother, in this wise, and this is my interpretation -of the law. Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone." -His quiet, dark eyes rested a moment on the startled countenance of the -man who had just propounded the question, and then quickly they moved -along the line of the challenging Temple leaders. - -Now once more he bent forward and with stiffened forefinger traced -symbols in the dust. - -For a long moment his eyes remained fixed upon the pavement. When he -looked up, the little group of sneering Pharisees had departed. The -others in the ring about him had fallen back from the steps on which he -sat and stood regarding him with frank amazement; some of them revealed -their delight at his having confounded his enemies, and on the faces of -others could be seen a heightened responsiveness to the young man's -teachings and for the Galilean himself a strengthened affection. - -"Woman, where are your accusers?" he asked the amazed poor creature, -from whom in the swift moment of his answer had fled all trace of -defiant insolence. "Does no man remain to condemn you?" - -She lifted her tear-streaked face to him. "No man, Lord." - -"Neither do I condemn you. Go now, and sin no more." - -Claudia could not understand the woman's murmured reply, but on her face -clearly discernible was a look of radiance as she bowed to the Galilean -and, turning, slipped away out of the crowd. At the same time the -Procurator's wife noticed a large, bushy-bearded fellow, wide of -shoulders and heavily muscled, pushing through the throng from the -direction of the Gate Shalleketh. He walked up to Jesus, who had stood -up as the woman was leaving. "Master, you have been here a long while; -you must be weary. Let us go over to Bethany to rest a spell." - -"That's the fisherman I saw one day at Tiberias," whispered Tullia. "He -is of the Galilean's company; his name, I think, is Simon." - -The crowd now began to disperse, for Jesus and the big fisherman were -moving off toward the Gate Shushan. They came past the two women, so -close to them that Claudia could have reached out and touched the tall -Galilean. Their eyes met; he smiled and passed on. She stood rooted, -watching the two until they had passed out of sight down the slope -toward the Brook Kidron. "He seemed to recognize me," she said to -herself, as suddenly a fanciful thought crossed her mind. "But of course -he didn't; he's never in all his life seen me before." - -With the two men's disappearance, however, the spell was broken. Claudia -caught her maid's arm. "We'd better be going now," she said. But she was -still lost in her own thoughts; they had rounded the corner of the Soreg -and were nearing the North Gate of Asuppim before she spoke again. "By -the gods, what a man! What a marvelous, strange Jew. And he didn't do -any feats of magic either. Little one, I'm so glad you brought me down -here." - -"Mistress, now that you've seen him and heard his discourse, even though -for but a few minutes, what is your opinion of him? Do you think that -perhaps he really is the Messiah of Israel?" - -"I know nothing of the Messiah of Israel ... and care nothing. And this -idea of a man's being a god, even though we Romans are supposed to -believe that the gods come to earth in the form of men, is just as -incomprehensible to me as it is to Longinus. Maybe that's because I -don't believe in the gods in the first place." They were going through -the great North Gate of Asuppim when Claudia stopped and caught Tullia's -arm. "Nevertheless, little one--and you asked me my opinion of -him--there is something tremendously different about that man. I'm sure -I have never encountered another like him. He's a quick thinker and able -to out-wit his enemies, and he's evidently a good and just man. But -there's something else"--she paused, her forehead creased in a -frown--"something to me, at any rate, mystifying. The way he looked at -me, Tullia...." Her solemn expression relaxed into a quick, warming -smile. "Perhaps he _is_ your Messiah of the Jews, little one, whatever -that means!" - - - - - 38 - - -On her return to Caesarea from the Feast of Tabernacles, Claudia learned -from Sergius Paulus that Longinus had sailed for Rome. The message from -the centurion to the commander of the Roman constabulary had been -brought by a ship's master who had sailed southward from the Antioch -port of Seleucia shortly after Longinus had gone aboard a ship there for -his voyage to the capital. - -The message had been brief, the commander said; its purpose was to let -him know that Longinus had been sent to Rome by the Legate Vitellius on -what the legate must have considered an urgent mission, probably to the -Prefect Sejanus. - -"Longinus must have sailed from Seleucia on one of the last boats out," -Sergius observed. "From now until spring there'll be few crossings; any -ship attempting to make it will be braving the heavy winds." He smiled -wryly. "It must have been important business the legate was sending him -on." - -Claudia suspected that Longinus was going to the capital to relay the -legate's report on the situation in Palestine. Particularly important, -she knew, would be the question of whether or not King Aretas was -planning to attack Herod and thereby involve the whole Palestinian -region in war. But she had no direct message from the centurion. - -Longinus was acting wisely, she realized, in sending her no written -communication. He could hardly evolve any innocent appearing reason for -writing her, and it would be impossible to send her such a message -without Pilate's learning about it, and possibly even the Prefect. And -any message sent would of necessity be innocuous. But as the weeks -pushed deeper and deeper into winter and no word of him came to her at -all, she began to wonder if he would return to Palestine or if, the gods -forbid, Sejanus might have sent him once more to Germania or Gaul or to -some other post far remote from the now increasingly dreary Palestine. - -Despite the fact that it was Herodias who had urged her to go up to -Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, the two women had hardly seen -one another during those days in Israel's capital. Claudia recalled that -even then the Tetrarchess had seemed somewhat reserved. And once when -mention was made of the journey of Longinus to Antioch in response to -the summons of the Legate Vitellius, Herodias had appeared to grow even -more coldly formal. Perhaps the Tetrarchess suspected, Claudia thought -at the time, that Longinus was reporting on Herod's visit to Machaerus -and the appearance there of the ambassadors from King Aretas, and even -of her own bizarre conduct at the Tetrarch's birthday banquet. Nor had -Herodias, as they were preparing to leave Jerusalem, invited her to come -to Tiberias. - -And at the Feast neither she nor Pilate had seen Antipas. She wondered -if perhaps he, too, might have suspected that Longinus was even then in -Antioch reporting what he had seen and heard at Machaerus. But her -failure to be honored by the Tetrarch in Jerusalem troubled her not at -all. She had less respect for him, she confessed to herself, than she -had for the Procurator. And she hoped that Longinus was finding -opportunity for dropping some poisoned, if discreet, words into the ears -of Sejanus concerning Pontius Pilate and his continuing difficulties -with the Jews. - -Nor was the Procurator's administration of affairs in Judaea, as the -winter advanced, serving to establish him in better favor with the -people he was governing. Stubborn and unimaginative, he steadfastly -refused either to learn anything or forget anything. Scorning his -subordinate officials and refusing to give consideration to their -counseling, fearful of his superiors, including the Legate Vitellius and -particularly the Prefect Sejanus, Pilate provided no stable rule of -Judaea; his administration vacillated from fierce oppression and -arbitrary action to cowardly yielding to priestly demands. His tax -gatherers, working through the despised publicans, those native -hirelings of Rome whom the Israelites looked upon with loathing as -traitors to Israel and Israel's Yahweh, demanded and received exorbitant -tribute in money and produce of the land; this did not add to the -Procurator's popularity among the Jews. Both the people and the Temple -leaders were growing increasingly enraged. - -The natural breach between the Procurator and the Tetrarch, too, was -widening as the weeks went by; an incident at the Temple during one of -the great festival occasions in which Pilate's soldiers had slain a -group of roistering Galileans had infuriated Herod Antipas. And Pilate's -effort to use Temple funds in the building of an aqueduct to bring water -into Jerusalem had evoked the bitter animosity of the Temple leadership. -On all sides, then, the Procurator, beginning with his flaunting of the -Roman ensigns in Jerusalem shortly after his arrival in Judaea, had been -strengthening rather than weakening the natural hostility the Israelites -had for the representatives of conquering Rome. - -All this Claudia had observed; she wondered how long this mounting -burden of tension and hate could continue to build upon the broad -shoulders of Pontius Pilate before inevitably it should topple him from -the Procuratorship. The answer, she was confident, lay not in Judaea, -but in Rome. Pilate would last only so long as he did not too greatly -displease Sejanus. And from the moment the tribute from Judaea to Rome -... and Sejanus ... began to shrink, she reasoned, her spouse's days as -Procurator would be numbered. - -_ ... Perhaps Sejanus may have begun to suspect already that Pilate's -fingers have become sticky, that too large a proportion of the revenues -are failing to reach Rome; perhaps he has revealed, or hinted, his -suspicions to Longinus, and Longinus will tell me everything when he -returns._ - -_... If he does return. But surely he will be back in Caesarea when -winter relents and calming weather permits the ships to resume their -sailing. Surely he will arrive in time to go with us to Jerusalem for -the Feast of the Passover...._ - -Thinking one day of the coming Feast, she recalled her earlier visit -with Tullia to the Temple. "Do you remember that last day of the Feast -of Tabernacles?" she asked, turning to her slave maid. The girl nodded -and smiled. "That Galilean," Claudia continued, "your Messiah of the -Jews, I wonder what has become of him. Do you suppose he'll return to -the Jewish capital for the Passover festival?" - -"I would say so, Mistress," Tullia answered. "Every devout Jew tries to -go up for the Passover Feast. And certainly the Galilean is a devout -Jew. Even though the Temple priests are bent on destroying him, I'm sure -he will wish to go there to worship." - -"If he does, maybe we'll have an opportunity to hear him again ... and -perhaps this time he will perform some feat of magic." - -"But, Mistress, those who hold him to be the Messiah insist that he does -not work magic; they declare he does his miracles of healing by the will -of God." - -She smiled. "Well, however he does them--and even from you, little one, -I've heard reports that he does--is no concern of mine. But should he -come up to the Temple and perform some such feat, either by his own -cleverness or with the aid of your Yahweh, I would like to be there when -he did it." - -"But, Mistress, you saw him that day they dragged the woman before -him...." - -"Yes, but his saving her from that mob was not magic, little one. That -was only the working of a quick intelligence and a good heart. But they -say he can make lame persons walk again and blind persons see. And -Cornelius, you remember, declared he healed his little servant boy, -though Longinus thinks it was only a coincidence that the boy's fever -broke just at the same time the Galilean supposedly was curing him. -Cornelius even believes that the carpenter once actually restored to -life the son of a widow; he told me they were bearing the young man to -the tomb when the Galilean happened along and brought him back to life. -Of course, the boy may have been in a trance; certainly no sensible -person can believe that he was really dead and then came back to life -when the Galilean said some mysterious words and made some queer motions -over him." She paused and looked Tullia in the eyes. "Or do you, little -one?" - -"But if he is actually the son of our God...." - -"Oh, you gullible Jews, even you, Tullia." Her countenance revealed an -amused tolerance. "And Cornelius. A soldier of Rome. But how, by all the -gods, Tullia, can any present-day person of education and culture -embrace such blatant superstition to believe that a man could come to -earth as a god, even if he could believe that there are gods in the -first place?" - -But Tullia skillfully evaded answering the question. "If you saw him -restore to life a man who you knew was dead, what would you say about -him then, Mistress?" - -"When I see him do that, little one, I'll tell you then." - -Nevertheless, Claudia had not dismissed the Galilean from her thoughts, -for that night she dreamed about him. It was a confused and illogical -arrangement of stories she had heard about Jesus, interwoven with the -experience she and Tullia had had that day at the Temple during the -final exercises of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the dream she and -Longinus had strolled with Cornelius down from the Tower of Antonia into -the Court of the Gentiles. Rounding a corner of the Soreg, the three had -come upon a throng ringed about the Galilean. They had pushed forward to -the inner circle, and there, they had discovered on the stones of the -court at the carpenter's feet a crushed and bloody woman. - -"Rabbi," a burly fellow beside the woman was saying, "this woman is -dead. We caught her in the act of adultery, and in accordance with the -law of our father Moses we stoned her to death. I ask you, Rabbi, did -not we do well in thus upholding the ancient law of Israel?" - -"It is the law that the woman and the man taken in adultery be stoned to -death," the Galilean replied, and then his eyes flamed and his voice -took on a new intensity, "but you who stoned her, were you without -sins?" Then he lowered his eyes to the stones beside the dead woman and -began with his forefinger to trace symbols in the dust. After a moment -he stood up and, bending down, caught the stiffened body underneath his -arms and raised it, unbending, until it stood upright. - -"Remember," said Cornelius, "she is dead, completely dead; see her -mangled face, her crushed skull. Watch the Galilean." - -Jesus was steadying the rigid corpse with one hand. Now he raised his -other hand to a position above her head and began to intone words that -to Claudia were strange and utterly incomprehensible. - -"Watch now," said Cornelius. "Keep your eyes on him. And, remember, the -woman is dead; there is no life in her, none." - -Incredulous, their eyes straining, they saw the stiffened limbs -beginning to relax and the head bend forward slightly; the crushed bones -of the shattered face rounded outward, the torn and bruised flesh -smoothed, the clotted blood melted away, and the desecrated ghastly -countenance was restored to a calm beauty; the woman, looking now into -the serene face of the Galilean, smiled. - -"By all the great gods ..." But Longinus hushed precipitately, for Jesus -was speaking to the woman, now fully alert. "No man condemns you, my -sister, and neither do I," Jesus said, as he pointed toward her -executioners, now slinking away toward the Gate of Shushan. "Go, and sin -no more." - -Longinus turned now to the Procurator's wife, and on his face she saw an -expression of utter amazement. "But, Claudia, the woman was dead! Her -head was crushed; her face was a bloody pulp. And now, look! She is -walking away, around the corner of the Soreg! The Galilean, Claudia, he -must be a god! By all the gods, Claudia, this man must be a god! He must -be...." - -But Longinus' voice was fading, and he was receding, slipping away, and -so were Cornelius and the Galilean and the woman.... - -Claudia opened her eyes; her chamber was flooded with light. She closed -them again, trying to recapture the scene in the great court of the -Temple. But the dream had fled. "Bona Dea," she said aloud. "It was so -real. That woman. And the Galilean. And Cornelius and Longinus. So -vivid. Maybe"--the notion suddenly occurred to her--"I'm dreaming now, -maybe I'm dreaming that I was dreaming." - -She sat up, swung her feet around to the floor, stretched and yawned. -Then quickly she arose and crossing to the window, looked down at the -ships in the harbor. Bright sunlight flashed from the hulls and the -billowing sails. On the docks slaves struggled with casks and crates as -they loaded and unloaded vessels. The world she was seeing was real; she -stood looking through her window upon things tangible and -comprehensible. The dream, with all its implications of the inscrutable, -was gone, vanished. - -But she was not to forget it entirely. One day Tullia revealed that -while at the market place she had encountered some travelers from -Galilee who had gone up to Jerusalem and were returning by way of -Caesarea. On their journey, they told her, they had come upon the -Galilean and several of his band in a hamlet in the mountains of -Ephraim. Jesus had returned to Galilee from the Feast of Tabernacles, -but after several weeks he had gone back for the Feast of Dedication. -From Jerusalem he had retired into Peraea. - -As Tullia related the story she had been told, her eyes began to shine. -"While he was on the other side of the Jordan," she went on, "he -received a message from Bethany...." - -"Bethany?" - -"It's a small village a few miles--a mile or so--just west of Jerusalem, -Mistress." - -"What was the message?" - -"Jesus had three friends who lived there, a man and his two sisters. -While he was over beyond the Jordan he had word that the man was near -death. So he and his band returned to Bethany. When they got there, they -found that his friend had been dead four days." - -"And the Galilean brought him back to life?" - -"Yes, Mistress! That's what the travelers said." - -Claudia laughed. "Cornelius should have been there. No doubt, though, -he's already heard about it. And, of course, he believes the story." - -"But you don't, Mistress?" - -Claudia wasn't sure that the servant woman was teasing. "No, Tullia, I -don't," she replied. "Very probably this story has been repeated many -times and has been added to by each teller. No doubt it was like the one -Cornelius was telling about the widow's son, or even the incident in -which his own little slave boy was supposed to have been cured by the -Galilean. Obviously, the man at Bethany was not dead; no doubt they -thought he was...." - -"But, Mistress, they said he had been in the tomb four days." - -"They said it, yes. Perhaps he hadn't been entombed that long; but if he -had, what of it? He wouldn't have suffocated; tombs aren't sealed that -securely. In all probability the man was in a trance when they put him -away; no doubt the carpenter roused him from the trance into which he -had fallen." - -"Mistress, you have little faith in the Galilean." Tullia's dark eyes -were serious now. "You cannot see how he could be the Messiah of the -Jews and armed with unearthly power, can you?" - -"I don't believe that any man can restore life to another man, if that's -what you mean, little one. I cannot believe that any human possesses -supernatural power; in fact, as I have told you many times, I doubt the -existence of supernatural beings, including your Yahweh." She laughed -again. "But you and Cornelius outnumber me. I should have Longinus here -to support me." - -But when a few weeks later the Centurion Longinus did sail into the -harbor at Caesarea, Claudia had no longer a thought for the Galilean -mystic and his reported wonder-working. - -The centurion journeyed on a coastal vessel bound from Seleucia to -Alexandria. He had sailed from Rome as soon as weather conditions -permitted; from Seleucia he had moved on to Antioch to report to the -Legate Vitellius. Returning a few days later, he had boarded another -vessel destined for the Palestinian ports and Alexandria. - -On coming ashore at Caesarea the centurion went first to the garrison -headquarters and reported to Sergius Paulus. That duty completed, he -visited the Procurator's Palace, ostensibly to pay his respects to -Pontius Pilate. The Procurator, polite but coldly formal, talked with -him for only a moment before excusing himself and leaving the palace. -Longinus, remarking about it to Claudia, wondered if the Procurator was -finally becoming jealous. - -"No, he isn't jealous, by all the gods, and that makes me furious with -him!" Claudia had answered. "But he may suspect that you've been spying -on him and that Vitellius called you to Antioch to report on his -administration of affairs in Judaea and then sent you to Rome to relay -information and suggestions to Sejanus." - -"He would be entirely right, too, in thinking so. And you can add old -Herod Antipas to my watched list." He thought, with sudden amusement, of -the third name on the list given him by Sejanus when first the Prefect -sent him out to Palestine, but he did not comment. "And what I told the -Prefect about both of them, for the Legate Vitellius and from my own -observations, didn't make them any more secure in their positions, by -the gods!" - -Quickly he related his experiences in Rome; he had met several times -with Sejanus, once to discuss ways of increasing the output of the -glassworks in Phoenicia. On another occasion the two had gone out to -Capri for an audience with Tiberius. "The Emperor asked about his -beloved stepdaughter," he said, "but I professed to have little -information about you. Sejanus also quizzed me--I'm sure he still -suspects us--but he, too, learned nothing." - -"But what is going to happen, Longinus--about us, I mean--and when? Is -there any likelihood still of Pilate's being recalled ... soon?" - -"Yes, I'd say there was. I know Sejanus is losing patience with Pilate; -he seems to hear everything that happens out here, and Pilate's -inability to rule Judaea without continually provoking turmoil and -protesting by the Jews angers the Prefect. The only thing that's kept -Pilate as Procurator this long, I suspect, is the fact that Sejanus -apparently doesn't suspect that Pilate is dipping too heavily into the -taxes, if he is ... and I can't say yet that he is. That was one -question he kept coming back to in talking with me, if there was any -evidence that the Procurator was not sending to Rome all the revenues he -was supposed to." - -"Did the Prefect indicate that he might call Pilate to Rome for -questioning?" - -"I couldn't say that he did. But if the Procurator should be ordered to -the capital to justify his administration of Judaea, he won't be -returned, you can be sure. The same thing is true of Herod Antipas. I -believe the Procurator and the Tetrarch stand in precarious positions; -the next few months could determine the fate of both." - -Longinus left the palace soon after Pilate had departed; he and Claudia, -they agreed, would meet again when the opportunity was afforded. But -that opportunity did not come quickly; he did not return to the palace -until the Procurator summoned him there to discuss plans for the -forthcoming journey to Jerusalem. - -A week later the Procurator and his party, with Longinus commanding one -of the escorting centuries, set out for Israel's capital and the great -Feast of the Passover. - - - - - Jerusalem - - - [Illustration: decorative glyph] - - - - - 39 - - -The caravan from Galilee had halted on the plain before Jericho for rest -and the midday meal, and now the Tetrarch's party and the escorting -soldiers of Cornelius' century were preparing to resume their journey. -Two days and a half of steady traveling southward had brought them from -Tiberias through the rapidly greening gorge of the Jordan, and soon they -would face the most grueling and dangerous part of the journey, the -steep and boulder-locked climb to Jerusalem. - -Centurion Cornelius, who had been making a quick inspection of the -assembled legionaries, approached Herod Antipas and saluted. "Sire, I -need now to determine your wishes"--he bowed to Herodias--"and the -wishes of the Tetrarchess, for the remainder of our journey up to -Jerusalem. If you wish to rest awhile, we could make camp here and leave -early in the morning for Jerusalem. Or we could move on now and camp for -the night where the Jericho road begins its ascent to Jerusalem. But if -you prefer, we can set out now and not stop until we reach the capital, -though it will probably be well past nightfall before we enter the -city." - -"Are you fearful of traveling the Jericho road after the sun has set, -Centurion?" Antipas inquired. "Do you think that perhaps robbers or -zealot bands might sweep down on us from the rocks?" - -"I have no fear, Sire; certainly none, if they knew our strength, would -attempt it. And before we enter that region, I'll rearrange our order of -march to strengthen our guard against a surprise attack." - -"Then I suggest that we continue on to Jerusalem today," Herodias spoke -up. "We can rest better tomorrow in the palace than we can here in camp, -even though"--she turned malevolent eyes on the Tetrarch, and her tone -was bitterly sarcastic--"we shall be lodging in the old Hasmonean Palace -in order that our Palace of the Herods may be occupied by the Procurator -and his wife." - -"Yes, the Tetrarchess is right, Centurion," Antipas agreed -complaisantly. "Let's push on to Jerusalem today." He ignored his wife's -caustic remark. "We'll have tonight and all tomorrow to rest before the -start of the Passover celebration." - -Beyond Jericho, where the Peraean road joined the road up from Galilee -and one that came down along the western side of the Jordan from the -region of Ephraim, the way began to fill with pilgrims going up to -Israel's capital for the annual great spring festival of the Passover. -As the caravan neared the point where the road began its steep climb, -Cornelius called a halt. While the Tetrarch and Herodias were having a -brief respite from their saddles, he called in his legionaries and -changed the pattern of their advance. Down through the Jordan valley -they had been moving in column along the roadway with guards ahead of -and behind the Tetrarch's party and only now and then a few soldiers on -the flanks. - -But now Cornelius gave orders to Decius to divide the century into three -groups, the largest of which would continue along the Jericho road, -while the other two would move forward with the Tetrarch's group, one on -its right flank, the other on the left, and each several hundred yards -from the road. - -"I'm not expecting any trouble," he explained, "but if there are any -Zealots lying in wait for us, in all probability they'll be up there in -that defile where the road cuts through the rocks. You men out on the -flanks will be able to beat them off; if they're crouched beside the -road, we'll trap them between your columns and us." - -When the division of the century had been completed, the centurion had a -final warning. "Stay abreast of us, and keep in contact. And now, let's -get moving. Men, keep your eyes open. These Zealots are bent on killing -every Roman in Palestine. They're clever, and they know every foot of -ground in this region." - -The steep rise of the narrow Jericho road and the push of pilgrims -trudging ahead slowed the progress of the caravan, and it was nearing -sunset when once more Cornelius halted the column. "It's been a hard -climb, and the animals are laboring," he explained to the Tetrarch. "A -short rest will refresh us for the last few miles into Jerusalem. Soon -we'll be past the boulders and can move faster. And with danger of -assault by robbers ended, we can pull in our flanking files. So we -should be approaching Jerusalem by nightfall." - -But the centurion had spoken too quickly. They went hardly a mile -farther and were moving slowly through the last narrow defile in the -ascending road before it veered sharply around screening boulders to -come on a level plateau extending to the vicinity of Bethany; the -caravan was strung out in a long column and the advance guard had -disappeared around the turn in the gorge-like roadway. In the instant -that Herod and the Tetrarchess, with Cornelius and several of the -escorting legionaries just ahead of or behind them, had advanced into -the narrowest portion of the rock-walled canyon, they heard a sudden -commotion above them. Looking up, they saw on each side of the pass, -glaring down upon them and with spears poised, a group of grizzled, -fierce-eyed insurgents. - -"Halt, Roman dogs!" shouted a hulking, reddish-bearded fellow, as he -drew back his spear menacingly. "Get down from your beast before I nail -you to his belly like a thief to his cross! And you"--with his free hand -he gestured toward the Tetrarch--"you traitor to Israel, you fawning -puppet of evil Rome, stay where you are! You, too"--his angry black eyes -were studying Herodias--"you adulterous sharer of your uncle's bed, -don't you move!" - -"Who are you? What do you want?" Cornelius demanded loudly, in the hope -that his soldiers in the flanking columns would hear. - -"You needn't be screaming, soldier," the burly fellow said calmly. -"There's nobody to help you. We have you surrounded. See?" He pointed to -his men in the rocks on the other side of the road. "One wrong move and -we'll stick your carcasses full of spears. And you needn't be hoping for -help from those up ahead"--he motioned--"or down there." He threw back -his bearish great head and roared his laughter. "We have them cornered, -too." Then suddenly he was scowling again. "You dogs of Rome! Throw down -your weapons! Quickly, before we forget ourselves and let our spears -fly!" - -"Do as he says, men," Cornelius commanded, dropping his sword. "But what -do you want?" he asked the highwaymen's leader again. He had decided -that the safest course would be to pretend that he knew nothing of the -rebel group, that ruthless party of guerrilla-fighting revolutionaries -known as Zealots who had sworn not to rest until every imperialist Roman -had been vanquished from their nation's soil. "We have brought little -money," he said casually. "We aren't Jews, you know; we aren't going up -to Jerusalem to purchase animals for the Passover sacrifices." - -The centurion's thrust at the Israelites seemed to incense the fellow. -"No, you mongrel of a Roman," he roared, "nor would your sacrifice be -acceptable to Israel's God were you of a mind to offer it! Now get down, -all you Romans! We're taking your horses. But you and your woman, Herod, -stay where you are. We're taking you with us for ransom, and if the -money isn't quickly forthcoming to redeem you"--he tugged at his flaring -dirt-caked beard and once again laughed uproariously--"we'll skin you -and one dark night pin your worthless hides to the door of old Herod's -Palace." But quickly his demeanor changed again. He turned to glare at -his comrades. "Get down there and pick up their weapons," he commanded, -"and mount the horses. We've got to be getting back into the hills. And -you, Bildad and Achbor, I'll hold you accountable for the Tetrarch. -Dysmas and Cush, you take charge of the woman." His sneering countenance -softened into an evil grinning. "And see that no harm comes to her. I -may wish myself to examine her seductive charms." - -Antipas sat staring stonily ahead, his countenance a frozen mask of -fear. But anger added a flush to the cheeks of the frightened -Tetrarchess. She did not venture, however, to challenge the man's -insulting remark. - -The revolutionaries scampered like sure-footed mountain goats down from -the rocks and quickly assembled the swords that Cornelius' soldiers had -thrown to the ground. The leader, who had stayed in his position atop an -overjutting boulder, watched eagle-eyed along with several of his band -who had continued to stand guard. "Issachar, you and Nadab see to the -weapons those frightened dogs have thrown down," he called. "See that -not one remains to them when we're gone. Now, Achbor and you, Bildad, -get started with the Tetrarch, and let the woman follow. Men, mount the -horses"--he paused an instant to watch one of his men who was having -trouble getting into the saddle--"all you who know how to ride a horse -... and Coz, you don't, I see." - -"But you can't get away into the rocks with these horses. You have our -swords; why don't you leave us the horses...?" - -"And let you fly into Jerusalem and have old Pilate's soldiers combing -through the hills for us? Oh, no, Roman dog, we aren't fools. You'll -stand in your tracks until we're gone, or we'll come charging back and -slit your throats and leave you here for the vultures to clean your -bones." He suddenly whirled about, for from behind him came the sound of -men running through the rocks back from the road. - -"Romans! Romans!" Cornelius heard someone shouting in Aramaic. "Fly! -Roman soldiers!" In the next instant a bearded, coarse fellow burst into -view above the deep-cut trail. "We can't stand against them, Bar Abbas; -there are too many of them!" he shouted. "We'd better get across the -road and into those rocks!" He looked down and spied his companions and -their captured party. "The Romans!" he yelled. "Fly men! There are too -many for us to fight them!" - -"Fly!" yelled the gang's leader. "Go out through that ravine!" He -pointed. "Get yourselves lost in the rocks, and hurry!" He turned to the -man who had just rushed up to him. "How many did there appear to be, -Hamor?" - -"Many. I could not count them. We speared several before they discovered -us...." - -"Fools! If you'd held your peace and stayed under cover, they wouldn't -have known you were there. Now you've caused us to be flushed out. By -the beard of the High Priest, Hamor, haven't I warned you...?" - -"But we thought there were only a handful...." - -"Through that way!" Bar Abbas turned his back toward the road and was -signaling the revolutionaries racing toward him. Cornelius, who since -his first sight of the burly fellow had suspected he was the notorious -Zealot marauder, couldn't see the fleeing Israelites, but he could hear -their sandals slapping against the loose stones. And close behind -them--he was able distinctly to distinguish the sound of their heavy -boots crunching the gravel and scattering the pebbles--came the pursuing -legionaries of his flanking file on the west. - -Already the assailants in the defile of the road were fleeing. Some -clambered up the steep sides of the little ravine that opened into the -gulch of the roadway and disappeared into the sheltering boulders above; -others ran down the road to the end of the canyon and turned eastward; -several went the other way along the narrow trail and then turned off in -the same direction the others had taken. But before they had all cleared -the road, Bar Abbas and his companions on the boulders above, still -clutching their spears, had dropped into the defile and without a glance -toward their now liberated prisoners had scampered into the converging -ravine. - -Hardly had the burly Bar Abbas disappeared before the pursuing Romans -were plunging into the boulders beside the road. In another moment -several of them were peering down into the narrow roadway. In that same -instant Cornelius, looking up, spied Decius. "Here!" the centurion -called out. "Down that way!" He pointed. "Hurry!" - -"Cornelius, by all the gods, you aren't going to let them get away, are -you!" screamed Herodias, having suddenly found her voice. - -"But, my dear Herodias"--Antipas turned ponderously in his saddle to -face his spouse--"certainly the centurion knows what...." - -"Hah! The Tetrarch has come to life! He speaks, now that Bar Abbas and -his revolutionaries have fled," she observed sneeringly. - -"Bar Abbas," Cornelius said, ignoring the Tetrarchess and Herod, as -Decius and several of his detachment clambered down into the road. "They -pounced on us from the rocks there"--he pointed--"and had us disarmed. I -was hoping you would hear the commotion." - -"They jumped us the same way, Centurion," Decius said. "I think they -killed two of our men. I left some men with them. We got several of the -revolutionaries, though." - -"It's a poor exchange. But get after him, Decius. Here, Galba, Licinius, -Mallius"--Cornelius called out a half dozen of the men who had been in -his detachment--"go with them; you saw Bar Abbas; you'll know him." -Already the men were grabbing up their swords from the pile Bar Abbas' -men had left in their rush to get away. "They were headed east, toward -the Wilderness. In a moment they'll be running into Lucius on the flank -over there. If he can turn them back, we'll have them in a bag. But they -may break through him. Stay after them, Decius; get that Bar Abbas, and -try to take him alive." He turned to another of his men. "Livius, take a -detachment and go down the road; you saw where the revolutionaries -turned off left. Marius, take your squad and go that way"--he pointed up -the Jericho road toward Jerusalem--"and run down those that fled in that -direction; you saw where they turned off. Follow them. And all of you be -careful; we want no more ambushes." He called out several more names. -"You men stay here with me," he said. "We'll see that no harm comes to -the Tetrarch and his lady." He smiled wryly as he looked toward -Herodias. "We almost didn't do that awhile ago." Then he turned again to -Decius. "We're moving out of this trap in here, though," he said. "We'll -be up there a thousand paces. And hurry, men; it will soon be dark in -those rocks." He signaled for them to be off. "I want that Bar Abbas." - -Less than half an hour later Marius and his men returned. They were -leading a manacled Israelite. "We saw only five men," Marius reported. -"Two of them we killed, and this one we cornered between two big rocks. -The other two slipped away; we searched, but we're sure they're gone -now. This fellow is a Galilean, named Gesmas, he says." - -"And you had nobody hurt?" Marius nodded. "Good. Keep a sharp eye on -this fellow." Cornelius pointed. "Livius is coming in. No prisoners, I -believe." - -Livius reported that his men had killed or wounded several of the -fleeing revolutionaries. He had had only one man cut slightly by an -Israelite's desperately wielded spear; the weapon had grazed the -soldier's shoulder. "We saw no signs of Lucius' flanking file," Livius -revealed. "They must have been up ahead, and the revolutionaries we were -pursuing must have slipped around their rear. They know this country; -they simply disappeared like conies into those big rocks. But maybe -Lucius intercepted some of those that Decius went after." - -"Look!" One of the Romans pointed. "There's Decius." Having moved up -from the narrow defile through the boulders, they could see out on both -sides of the road. "And he has two prisoners." - -"Yes. And one of them, by all the gods"--Cornelius was straining to see -more clearly in the gathering dusk--"is Bar Abbas! Great Jove, he caught -the big prize!" - -The other Israelite, too, they discovered in a moment, was a much wanted -revolutionary, one of Bar Abbas' principal lieutenants, a Galilean named -Dysmas. - -Lucius had stayed out on the flank, Decius explained, to prevent any -sudden desperate attempt of the Zealots to rescue their leader. They -were still no doubt in the rocks back from the road, perhaps regrouping -their scattered forces. - -"From here into Jerusalem the road is clear, and they won't be able to -prepare any ambush." The centurion called out four soldiers standing -near him. "Go tell Lucius to come in nearer. We can move faster that -way, and in the deepening darkness it will be safer for everybody. Tell -him we're starting at once for Jerusalem." As they were leaving, he -turned again to Decius. "See that the prisoners are bound securely, and -manacle each one between two of our men. And box them in with guards. -Give them no chance of getting away from us or being rescued." - -Herodias had been watching silently but with evident interest. "It seems -to me, Centurion," she observed petulantly, "that you could prevent -either eventuality by executing these rebel scum right now." - -"I am a Roman soldier, Tetrarchess. These men have had no trial." - -She pointed to her silent spouse, glumly sitting his horse. "He is the -Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. These revolutionaries are Galileans. He -is the proper one to try them." - -"No, my dear Herodias," Antipas spoke out. "This is neither the time nor -the place to conduct any trial. Centurion, let us proceed with your -plans to go on into Jerusalem." - -Herodias lifted her head haughtily, but she made no reply. As soon as -the caravan re-formed and was ready for the march, Cornelius gave the -command to move forward. Less than two hours later he led the Tetrarch -and Tetrarchess through the gate and let them and their servants into -the gloomy pile of the old Hasmonean Palace. From there he marched his -century to the Fortress of Antonia, where he surrendered his three -prisoners to the dungeon jailer, who locked them, still bound securely, -in the darkness and squalor of one of the lowest-level cells. - -When he had seen to the quartering of his men in their Antonia barracks, -he climbed the stone stairway in the southwestern tower and walked along -the corridor to the room he had been assigned in the officers' quarters. -He had decided he would have a steaming bath and put on fresh clothing -before going down to the mess for a late evening meal. - -The chamber, the centurion found, was close and warm. He pushed open the -window; then he unbolted the door and walked out onto the balcony. Down -below lights blazed in the Temple courts, and men scurried to and fro, -already in a frenzy of Passover preparations. - - - - - 40 - - -Once again the household of Procurator Pontius Pilate was settled in the -magnificent great Palace of the Herods; once again the ancient capital -of Israel was teeming with countless Jews come up for the Feast of the -Passover. - -From every region and hamlet, almost from every home, in Judaea, -Samaria, Peraea, and Galilee, from Antioch, Damascus, Tarsus, -Alexandria, Memphis, and Cyrene, from Ephesus, Athens, and Corinth, from -all provinces rimming the Great Sea, even to Rome and beyond, from the -islands of Cyprus and Sardinia and Sicily and Crete and those numerous -smaller ones dotting the Aegean, devout Israelites had swarmed into -Jerusalem's crowded narrow ways and squares before the gates. - -Every Jewish home, whether pretentious stone residence crowning Mount -Zion or squalid malodorous hovel burrowed beneath the city's walls in -noisome Ophel, was overflowing with pilgrim kinsmen returned for this -greatest annual feast of Israel. For every person living in Jerusalem, -Centurion Longinus casually estimated as he stood on Fortress Antonia's -balcony outside his chamber, perhaps ten pilgrims had squirmed -themselves inside the walls of the old city. And countless other -thousands had been unable to find living quarters within the walls. -Throngs of Passover celebrants overflowed the slope downward to the -Brook Kidron and up the eastern rise past Gethsemane to the summit of -the Mount of Olives and as far as Bethany. To the south, beyond the ever -smoldering fires of the refuse dumps in the Hinnom valley, and to the -west, tents and brush arbors of Passover pilgrims dotted the untilled -areas through which ran the Bethlehem road. Northward, too, though -Longinus could not survey that section of Jerusalem and its environs -because of the great tower at his back, and to his right over beyond the -massive pile of the Palace of the Herods, for many furlongs past the -Ephraim and Joppa Gates, thin curlings of grayish-white smoke spiraled -upward from small fires over which Passover pilgrims were bending now in -preparation of the evening meal. - -Longinus had been quartered near the Centurion Cornelius, but he had -hardly seen his friend. The night of Cornelius' arrival from Galilee -with the Tetrarch's party and his three Zealot prisoners, they had -talked briefly in the mess hall, but they were both weary from the -traveling and soon retired to their beds. The next day Pontius Pilate, -greatly pleased at the capture of the wily zealot chieftain, had ordered -Cornelius to take his century and scour the rocks above the Jericho road -into which the evening before the marauders had disappeared. He had -commanded the centurion to ferret out every member of Bar Abbas' band -and either capture or kill him. "And follow them as far as Galilee if -need be, Centurion," the Procurator had instructed him. "Capture any you -can, and bring them back here; we will crucify them during the Passover -festival, and for the thousands of rebellious, stubborn Jews who will -see them dying on the crosses it will be a salutary lesson. It may help -them realize what fate awaits those who thus oppose Rome's authority and -power." - -Longinus wondered what success Cornelius was having. Evidently he had -been forced to pursue the fleeing revolutionaries a long way, perhaps -even as far as Galilee, where they might expect to find haven among -kinsmen and friends. No doubt the attackers of the Tetrarch's party had -separated in their flight from the soldiers of Cornelius. It would be -particularly difficult, virtually impossible, in fact, to round up all -the revolutionaries Bar Abbas had been leading, Longinus felt. In all -probability, he reasoned, a number of them had slipped into Jerusalem a -few minutes after Cornelius had entered the city, perhaps even ahead of -his caravan, and were now safely lost among the tens of thousands -deluging the ancient capital. - -Nor had Longinus had an opportunity thus far to spend any considerable -time alone with Claudia. Though Pilate had been keeping close to his -headquarters in the fortress during the day-time, he had been returning -to the palace at night, and his bedchamber was beside Claudia's and -connected with it by a doorway. The Procurator, too, had issued orders -for all officers not on active duty to be quickly available; Pilate -seemed unusually restive. Longinus felt that Pilate was determined to -prevent any small turmoil among the Jews from developing into a crisis -whose handling by him might further jeopardize his standing with the -Prefect Sejanus and the Emperor. With so many Jews congregated in -Israel's holy city on a festival occasion so characteristically Jewish -and one that so emphasized the peculiarly nationalistic spirit of the -Jews, the situation was always highly inflammable. A small spark, if not -snuffed quickly, could blaze into a holocaust. - -One such minor incident that had taken place on the first day of the -Jewish week might have provided such a spark, had the principal actor in -it been of a mind to cause trouble. And, strangely, without having known -what he was seeing, Longinus had witnessed this small happening. - -He had breakfasted early with several fellow officers and had come up to -his chamber this particular morning, when, to enjoy a stirring of the -already warming April air, he had stepped out onto the balcony. Down -below him the Court of the Gentiles was a hive of bustling activity. Out -beyond the eastern wall in the direction he happened to be looking the -slopes were alive with pilgrims preparing for the great festival. But up -on the balcony he was safe from the stir and seething and the -interminable chattering of excited Jewry, and a gentle breeze fanned -him. He sat on the wide stone railing of the rampart, and idly his gaze -went down the nearer slope to the Brook Kidron and along the meandering -road on the other side as it climbed past Gethsemane's olive grove -toward the hill's summit. - -It was then that he noticed a procession moving slowly but with evident -enthusiasm downward over this road toward the city from the direction of -Bethany. Immediately his interest was attracted to the motley parade. -Above the harsh cries of the hawkers in the Temple courts, the -quarrelsome tones of bargaining, and the dull lowing of the cattle in -the stalls awaiting sacrificing on the Great Altar, Longinus could -distinguish the screamed hosannas of this unrestrained movement of -dancing, singing, joyous people. Many of them were waving green branches -they must have torn from trees and shrubs along the roadside. -Occasionally the centurion would catch sight of an erect, tall man -astride a white donkey. He adjudged the man to be tall, because his feet -were not far from the gravel of the road as he sat astride the beast. -And then he would lose sight of the rider as the shouting celebrants -swirled about him. - -Some popular rabbi with his people coming up to Jerusalem for the -Passover, Longinus surmised, as he watched the writhing column approach -the Brook Kidron crossing. Soon it disappeared under the walls down near -Dung Gate, but presently it emerged again into his sight; he followed -its progress through the cavernous alleys of Ophel, sometimes seeing it -crossing a narrow opening between huddled buildings but hearing without -interruption its lively shouts and chantings, until it came into clearer -view at a stairway in the street pushing upward along Mount Moriah -toward the Temple now resplendent in the morning sunshine. - -Inside the Court of the Gentiles, which the strange little caravan of -one rider and his evidently unorganized but plainly joyous adherents had -reached by coming in through the Gate Shalleketh, the tall man -dismounted, and someone quickly led the little animal away. In another -moment the shouting and hosannas had ceased, and soon the centurion lost -the rider in the press of the Temple throng. - -Later that day in crossing the Court of the Gentiles to go out through -the Gate Shalleketh and onto the bridge over the Tyropoeon, which was -the easiest way to Mount Zion from the fortress, Longinus learned that -the man on the donkey was the rabbi from Galilee. Many of his followers -had expected the rabbi, whose fame by now had spread throughout Judaea, -to come into the precincts of the Temple, proclaim himself Yahweh's -Messiah and the ruler of the world, and call down legions of heavenly -angels utterly to destroy every vestige of Rome's dominion. Now these -followers were deeply disappointed and utterly chagrined. The tall one -from Galilee in whom they had put their trust, the one who would be -Israel's new David to deliver it from its mighty enemy, had failed them. - -But what if this Jesus had really fancied himself a man ordained to lead -his little nation in throwing off the yoke of Rome? What, reasoned the -centurion, if he had been as visionary, as passionately though unwisely -patriotic as countless other Jews assembled here in Rome for Israel's -great celebration? In this tense, highly inflammable atmosphere of -Passover week in Jerusalem, with great numbers of his followers -believing that he possessed supernatural authority and powers, the -rabbi's willingness to allow himself to be proclaimed Israel's king -would have resulted in fearful bloodshed. But this Jesus at the last -moment had either lost his courage, or else he had never contemplated -leadership of Israel except in some vague, religious sense that -Cornelius perhaps would term spiritual. At any rate, Longinus concluded, -the Galilean was no threat to Rome and of no concern to the Empire. In -his report to Sejanus, he would make no mention of the rabbi, unless in -some manner Pontius Pilate might become involved with the man from -Galilee. He wondered if Pilate had even been informed of the little -procession that had come to such an inglorious ending within the Temple -court. He wondered if Pilate, in fact, in his harried administration of -the affairs of Judaea had ever heard of this Jesus. - - - - - 41 - - -Claudia sat on a small stone bench facing one of the fountains in the -garden of the Palace of the Herods. All about her the grass was a -luxuriant green and the flower beds, fed, she had been told, with blood -drained through subterranean pipes from the overflow of the Great Altar, -were already ablaze with color. Birds skipped and twittered in the rich -foliage, and now and then some venturing small animal would skitter -across an open patch of bright sunshine to disappear beneath the -branches of a flowering shrub. The bench, shaded by a gnarled great -olive, was invitingly cool despite the day's warmth and heaviness, and -the gentle babble of the spraying water ordinarily would have lulled one -sitting there into a mood of peaceful contemplation, if not pleasant -slumber. - -But this afternoon the wife of the Procurator felt neither peaceful nor -pleasant. She watched the fountain's waters lifting and arching and -falling and draining away in an undeviating pattern of movement and -allowed her own thoughts to wander with it. - -_... There is the picture of my living. Like the water that is the -thrust-along prisoner of the pump, or the ram which again and again -lifts it and sends it spurting upward only to fall back and sink down -and be forced up again, I am the prisoner of some malign power that -pushes me along through a dull monotony of_ _days that I am powerless -even to protest against; I am swirled about but held fast like that -water in a routine of existence I dare not even challenge...._ - -She leaned forward with her head upon her hands and glared, hardly -seeing it, at the captive, dancing water. How, by Bona Dea and all the -good and gentle gods, the kind and happily ministering gods, how, by -Pluto and all his evil soot-begrimed and blackened imps, could she -escape the treadmill of this deadening monotony, this unending, -bedeviling frustration? Granddaughter of the great god Augustus, -stepdaughter of the great god Tiberius, granddaughter of the -almost-great god Mark Antony and the great great goddess Cleopatra, wife -of the mighty Procurator of Judaea, daughter through Augustus of Jove -himself, princess of the blood.... - -"Bah!" She said it aloud. But there was nobody near-by in the garden. -She sat back against the coolness of the stone. "By all the gods, why -couldn't I have been a wench serving tables in a tavern, a strumpet down -in the Subura, and had my freedom!" - -_... Why, by all the gods, can't old Tiberius die? He's past seventy -now, and of what service is he to the Empire? And Sejanus, the old rake, -must be past sixty. If someone would give the Prefect a neat sword -thrust...._ - -She stood up and walked over to the fountain, held out her hands to the -spraying water and lifted wet palms to her flushed cheeks. The afternoon -was still and depressing. She raised her eyes and saw above the trees -and the turreted nearest corner of the great palace rounded soft white -puffs of clouds, like newly lifted fresh curds in a deeply blue -overturned bowl. "A storm," she said to herself, "one of those swiftly -arrived, quickly gone, fierce Judaean storms. But it will clear the air -of this blanket of heat, and it will serve to break for a while the -monotony of another fruitless day." - -But she did not go inside. She sat down again and watched the gathering -puffs of clouds. Never had she been afraid of storms, even ominous -thunder and the swift, sharp streaks of lightning. She remembered that -once in her early childhood when a governess had warned her against -staying outdoors and running the risk of being struck by one of Jove's -hurled mighty bolts, she had remarked, "If old Jove is clever enough to -strike me with a bolt outdoors, why can't he throw one right through the -roof and hit me while I'm inside? I don't believe he can hit me whether -I'm outside or inside." - -Her blasphemous words had woefully shocked the governess, but Claudia -had never seen cause to retract them. One thing had led to another; from -denying Jove's power she had soon come to deny his very existence, and -with his, the existence likewise of the entire pantheon of lesser gods -and goddesses. - -She was still seated on the bench when a palace servant came out to -announce that a soldier had arrived from Fortress Antonia with a message -for her. - -"Then bring him here," she instructed the servant. Could it be, she -wondered, that the man is bringing a message from Longinus? - -But the legionary had been sent to her by the Procurator. Pilate, he -reported, would not be returning to the palace either for the evening -meal or to spend the night. He begged to explain to his wife that he had -had a very trying day and that he would be engaged until late in the -evening. He had agreed to give an audience to the High Priest Caiaphas, -and their meeting might well be extended into the night. He had decided, -therefore, to forego the privilege and pleasure of dining with the -Procuratoress; he would have supper in his quarters and after he had -ended his long day's duties would spend the remainder of the night -there. - -Her first thought was of getting a message to Longinus. She would write -it, seal it fast, and send it by the legionary. - -"Thank you," she said to the soldier. "I shall want you to carry a -message to the Fortress." She stood up. "I'll go inside and prepare it." -But would it be a discreet thing to do, sending a message to Longinus by -this legionary? What if by chance it should fall into other hands, even -Pilate's? "No, there's no need of my writing it," she said. "Just tell -the Procurator that I thank him for informing me and that I shall see -him at his pleasure tomorrow." - -But she would find a way of notifying Longinus. Tullia. Of course. -Tullia was one person upon whose loyalty and good judgment she could -always depend. When Tullia returned, she would send her to Longinus. - -A soft breeze had sprung up and was pushing the storm clouds gently -away; the air had cooled; the storm seemed to have been averted for the -day. Claudia rose from the bench and returned to her apartment in the -palace. - -When a few minutes later her maid returned, she was carrying a small -wicker basket. "Mistress, I found these in one of the markets near the -Temple," she said, beaming as she held out the basket to Claudia. "I -thought you might enjoy them." - -"Fresh figs? And so early?" She picked one up. "It really is a fresh -one, isn't it?" - -"Yes, and I've washed them. You can eat it right now. I was surprised to -find any this early, but the man explained that in some of the warm -coves on the protected side of Olivet they often have figs ripening in -early April." - -Claudia pulled the fig open and nibbled at the firm reddish flesh -inside. "It's delicious," she said, "and such a surprise." She saw that -Tullia's eyes were ablaze with an excitement, however, that no discovery -of fresh figs could have provoked. "What is it, little one? What -happened? Whom did you see?" - -"Mistress, I was looking at the figs when I heard a familiar voice -speaking to the merchant. I looked around; it was Mary of Magdala." - -Jesus and his little group, she had told Tullia, had come down from the -Ephraim hills for the Passover. Her master was spending his nights with -Martha and Mary and Lazarus out at near-by Bethany; during the day he -came into the Temple courts to teach. - -"Perhaps, then, he will proclaim himself the Messiah of Israel and -establish a new government," Tullia said she had said to Mary. But the -Magdalene had answered that Jesus seemed to be insisting instead that he -would not become Israel's temporal ruler, that he would even die as a -sort of Passover sacrifice, an offering for the salvation of his people. - -"But surely," Claudia commented, "you Jews would never so debase -yourselves as to offer a human sacrifice, as do those who worship -Moloch." - -"It wouldn't be that way, Mistress. But ... I don't believe it will ever -happen anyway." - -Mary had asked Tullia to spend the night with her in a cottage out at -Bethany near the modest home of Lazarus and his sisters. She might be -able to see Jesus and even talk with him. They would meet, if Claudia -should be agreeable, at Shushan Gate before sunset and go out to -Bethany. - -"Then you'd best be going soon," Claudia observed. "But before you meet -Mary, I want you to go by Fortress Antonia and tell Longinus that the -Procurator will be spending the night there." She told the maid of the -message Pilate had sent her. "And tell Longinus I'll accept no excuse -for his failing to come." - - - - - 42 - - -The lean, blue-jowled ascetic face of Joseph Caiaphas, High Priest of -Israel, warmed into a disarming smile, and the flames from the chamber's -wall lamps danced in his sharp, dark eyes. - -"Excellency," he said, "you must be exasperated at my coming to you at -this late hour." He faced the Procurator across the ornate, heavy desk. -"I know you are tired, and I appreciate the fact that the strain you've -been undergoing ever since your arrival in Judaea has been intensified -during these recent inflammable days of the Passover season." He leaned -nearer Pilate. "I realize, too, Excellency, that you must be determined -to prevent the repetition of events in Palestine that might result in -the dispatching to Rome of further damaging reports"--the Procurator's -florid round face darkened, but Caiaphas pretended not to -notice--"challenging the excellence of the Procurator's administration -of the affairs of this province." - -"I am tired; I've had a long day." Pilate's tone revealed irritation. -"Perhaps if the High Priest would proceed at once to the business he had -in coming...." - -"Indeed, Excellency," the High Priest interrupted, "and I shall require -little of your time, so that shortly you may go to your well-earned -couch. A fortunate event of the day has facilitated the early -satisfactory disposition of the business; if the Procurator will -co-operate in disposing of it we shall quickly rid ourselves of a -grievous threat both to Israel's peace and to the Procurator's rule. I -have just come from a lengthy session of the elders of Israel, -Excellency--that explains my late arrival here--at which we have -agreed...." - -"But what is the business you would lay before me? And how would it -affect the Procurator's administration of the government in Judaea?" -Pilate's impatience had put a sharp edge on his voice. "If it is a -question of the alleged violation of certain religious laws of the -Jews...." - -"It is that, Excellency, but it is more." Caiaphas leaned forward, and -the light of the lamps flashed in the gems of his rings. "Not only would -this man destroy our religion, but likewise would he destroy the rule of -Rome in Palestine." - -"This man? Are you speaking of one Bar Abbas? He has been seized, with -two of his fellow revolutionaries. They go to the cross tomorrow." - -The High Priest shook his head. "It is not that one, Excellency. The man -is a Galilean, one Jesus bar Joseph, not a robber like Bar Abbas, but a -far more dangerous revolutionary, whom his misguided followers--and -their number is growing, Excellency--are proclaiming not only the -Messiah of God but also the next King of Israel. Were noise to get back -to the Prefect Sejanus or the Emperor that such a person was being -permitted to advocate and plan Rome's overthrow and your Excellency's -supplanting...." - -"But does the High Priest know where this man is? Does the Sanhedrin -have him in its custody?" - -Calmly Joseph Caiaphas stroked his oiled and braided long beard. "He is -in Jerusalem at this moment, Excellency, or within the close environs of -the city. It is possible that already he has been seized by the Temple -guard. He has been at the Feast since the first day of the week when he -entered Jerusalem riding on a white donkey, which among the Jews is a -symbol of royalty, Excellency. It was then that he had planned to enlist -the Passover pilgrims, led by his fellow Galileans, in proclaiming him -the new David, the King of Israel suddenly freed of Rome's domination. -He lost his courage, though, or in some manner his plans failed of -materialization. But"--his hand stabbed out again at the -Procurator--"the fellow is still intent on seizing power, and his -countless misguided followers are determined to see him established on -the throne as King of Israel. They will plunge our ancient land into -revolution, Excellency. Blood will flow freely throughout Judaea and -Galilee. Many Roman soldiers will die before the rebellion is crushed, -unless"--his forehead wrinkled in heavy concern--"this fellow is quietly -slain, Excellency, before his followers can rally." - -"You say that perhaps he has been arrested already. How could he be -taken without alarming these supporters of whom you speak?" - -The High Priest leaned back in his chair and folded his long arms across -his chest. "The God of Israel has favored us, Excellency. He has -delivered this blasphemer into our hands through his betrayal by one of -his own band. This man came to us and after seeking pay told us he would -point out where the man might be found and taken with little commotion. -We gave the fellow thirty pieces of silver. By now no doubt he has -delivered his leader into the hands of the guardsmen...." - -"You say this man's a blasphemer. Don't you know that the Procurator is -not concerned with violations of your religious code? What is it to Rome -if your Yahweh is blasphemed? We will not enter into the religious -quarrels of the Jews. I presume you have come here to ask me to try the -man and find him guilty. I say, O High Priest, try the man yourself." - -Caiaphas smiled indulgently, but then his brow furrowed again and he -scowled darkly. "That is true, Excellency. Rome has no concern with -Israel's worship of our God. But is not Rome concerned when a man, under -the guise of teaching a new religion, declares openly that he will -establish a new government in Israel? Would not Sejanus and the Emperor -consider then that Rome was concerned ... and deeply concerned?" - -The High Priest's clever thrust had made its mark; Pilate's face -flushed; his tone, when he replied, was petulant. "Of course, the -Prefect and the Emperor would be concerned; so would the Legate -Vitellius, and so would the Procurator; so, in fact, would any loyal -Roman." Now the Procurator extended his own finger to point. "But how do -you know that this Galilean advocates the overthrow of Rome? Has he come -to trial? Has he faced witnesses against him? What would the High Priest -have me to do, send a man to his death without trial? Certainly the High -Priest must know that Rome is ruled by law, that no man under the rule -of Rome may suffer death until he has been adjudged guilty, and that any -such judgment can come only after a fair trial in which the man has been -confronted by witnesses against him." - -"Indeed, O Procurator"--Joseph Caiaphas held up a soothing palm--"we -well know that and approve. We, too, would never consent to sending this -revolutionary to his death without trial, even though his crimes against -Israel and against Rome have already been conclusively established. But -he is being brought to fair trial, Excellency, before the great -Sanhedrin of Israel. Perhaps he has already been apprehended in the -Garden of Gethsemane, where he had planned to conceal himself with -certain of his followers, as we learned from the traitor who came to us. -He will be examined, no doubt before my beloved father-in-law Annas, -known for his piety and his wisdom, learned in the laws of Israel"--he -smiled warmly--"and strong in his devotion to the Prefect and the -Emperor. And then, Excellency, as soon as the dawn of the new day makes -it legal under our laws to conduct such a trial, the Galilean will be -brought before the Sanhedrin, confronted by witnesses against him, and -given proper trial." - -"Then why has the High Priest," Pilate asked in exasperation, "come to -me?" - -"O Excellency, the Procurator must know that the ancient laws of Israel, -now that Rome has become master, no longer apply in every detail. Should -our Sanhedrin find this revolutionary Galilean guilty of base crimes and -sentence him to death, it would still be powerless to carry out its -sentence without the approval of Rome. I am here, O Excellency, to -petition the Procurator to approve our verdict and sentence. And I urge -you to do this quickly, in order that the man may be executed while it -is yet early and before all Jerusalem, and the Galileans in particular, -are astir. Then much commotion and bloodshed would be prevented and," he -added with a suggestive smile, "there would be no necessity of any -report's going to Rome." - -"But you wish me to condemn a man to death _before_ he has been tried?" -Pilate's anger showed plainly in his frown. - -"Indeed, no, Excellency," the High Priest replied calmly. "We only wish -you to approve and order into execution the sentence of the Sanhedrin in -the event that _after_ he has been tried, he is judged guilty." - -Pilate shook his head. "No, I shall send no man to the cross or to death -by stoning until _I_ have tried him. To do so would be an unspeakable -breach of Rome's system of justice." - -"But, Excellency, would you show your scorn of Israel's highest court?" - -"I would show only my determination to uphold Rome's laws and -procedures. If you wish this man tried, then bring him before me at the -Procuratorium." He bowed coldly. "And now, if the High Priest will -excuse me...." - -The High Priest stood up as though to leave. "Indeed, Excellency, I too -am greatly fatigued," he said, "but one more point detains me. A moment -ago, Procurator Pilate, did I not hear you say that on the morrow you -were sending Bar Abbas to the cross? If so, Excellency, have you not -already convicted him?" - -Pilate's smile was contemptuous as he, too, rose to his feet. "I did say -that, and I have no doubt that he will go to the cross. But not, O High -Priest, until he has been given trial, before he has been confronted by -witnesses who will testify to what they saw and heard as concerns those -charges that will be placed against him. I presume that many will appear -against this Bar Abbas and that he will be convicted. But I do not say -now that he will. I say only that he will be given a fair trial." He -lifted a heavy fist and brought it forcefully down upon the surface of -his desk. "And so, by all the gods, will your Galilean!" - - - - - 43 - - -_... The knocking is insistent. Can it be that the Praetorian Guardsman -has been there a long time pounding on the door between the atrium and -the peristylium while I slowly awakened? Bona Dea, what can old Sejanus -want this time? Will he never cease hounding Longinus and me?_ - -_... Longinus. By the Bountiful Mother, maybe it's Longinus returned -from Germania. Maybe he's at the bedroom door opening on the -peristylium...._ - -"Just a moment, Centurion, until I get my robe!" Claudia sat up in bed, -rubbed her eyes, and shook her head to clear it. A narrow slash of -natural light showed through the not completely drawn draperies. It was -dawn. And burrowed in the pillow beside her was the close-cropped head -of the Centurion Longinus. - -Now the knocking had begun again. But it came, Claudia realized, from -the other side of the door between her bedroom and Tullia's. And though -insistent, the knocking was not loud. "Mistress! Mistress! Oh, -Mistress!" - -She recognized her maid's voice; Tullia was trying to awaken her without -making too much noise in the early morning stillness of the Palace of -the Herods. "Just a moment, little one," she called out softly. At the -door she slid back the bolt. "But, Tullia," she demanded, keeping her -voice low so that she would not awaken Longinus, "what are you doing -back so early? It must be hardly daylight. Why, little one...." she -paused, seeing the maid on the verge of tears. - -"Oh, Mistress, he's in grave danger!" Tullia burst out. "They've seized -him. We fear great harm may befall him. That's why I have come back to -seek your help for him." She was making an obvious effort to gain -control of herself; somewhat calmed, she continued. "I started from -Bethany at the first glimmering of light, almost as soon as we heard -that he had been taken. We're so afraid, Mistress, that great harm will -come to him unless...." - -"Let's sit down"--Claudia's tone was soothing--"and then quietly you can -tell me why you're so afraid he's going to suffer great injury. And who, -Tullia? You haven't even told me his name." - -"The Galilean, Mistress; I thought you knew. Sometime during the night -some Temple guardsmen came and seized him in the Garden of Gethsemane; -he'd gone there with his little band to rest after eating the Passover -meal at the home of Mary of Cypress. They say it was one of his own band -who betrayed him, who told the Temple priests where he could be found -and arrested without there being a big stir. Of course there would have -been a great commotion if they had tried to take him anywhere near the -Temple; they wouldn't have dared to do such a thing if...." - -"But how do you know all this?" Claudia interrupted. "Maybe you're -getting yourself upset without good reason." - -"No, it's true, Mistress. Jesus and those of his immediate company, -along with his mother and certain other relatives, have been staying in -the Bethany neighborhood during the festival period," Tullia revealed. -"Jesus himself lodged at the home of Lazarus and his sisters. But -yesterday afternoon the Master and the twelve men of his band went into -Jerusalem. That's the last time Mary of Magdala saw him." Her face was a -mask of pain and apprehension. "Then, early this morning, we were -awakened by several of his band who had come running back to Bethany in -great panic to report what had befallen him. All of them forsook him in -the garden when the soldiers appeared; even Simon, after he had slashed -out with his sword at one of the guardsmen, turned on his heel and ran, -too, they said." - -"But where did the soldiers take him?" Claudia asked. "And why have you -come to me?" - -"They said there was talk that he was being taken before the High Priest -or else old Annas, Mistress. And we're afraid that he may suffer a -terrible fate if he falls into the hands of the Temple priests. They're -determined to kill him, Mistress." She paused, eyes tearful. "I knew no -one else to whom I could turn for help, no one but you. I thought that -you might speak to the Procurator and he might rescue the Galilean -before they have him killed." - -"But don't you know that they have no authority to execute the death -sentence until the Procurator has given approval?" - -"Yes, but they're so inflamed against him, Mistress, that they might -risk it. But if you could send a message to the Procurator...." - -"He was probably up late into the night. To awaken him now with a -message might offend him, and that would be doing the Galilean more harm -than good. But Pilate usually returns to the palace before beginning his -morning duties; as soon as he does, I'll lay before him this matter of -the Galilean's arrest. Certainly no harm can come to him before Pilate -has had an opportunity to sit in judgment on him." - - - - - 44 - - -This Passover season there would be only three burdened crosses on top -of the desolate Hill of the Skull, but they would be enough. The ugly -spectacle would provide a frightful ending to the Jews' annual great -festival. - -In other times in Palestine, Centurion Cornelius had been told, Rome had -moved swiftly--and with far more terrifying effectiveness--to dramatize -the utter futility of any province's attempt to contend against the -mighty conqueror. In Galilee they still talked, though even now in -carefully guarded conversations, of that dreadful day at Sepphoris -hardly more than twenty years ago when the Roman general Varus had -crushed a rebellion and crucified two thousand Jewish insurrectionists. - -Perhaps Pontius Pilate, who a week ago had sent him chasing the rebels -of the now leaderless Bar Abbas band, had tired of awaiting the -centurion's return with more captives for the crosses; perhaps he had -already ordered to slow and agonizing deaths the revolutionaries' leader -and the two followers captured with him. It might be that even now -countless pilgrims up for the Passover, drawn by a morbid fascination, -were gawking at the scourged, torn, and broken, unimaginably desecrated -bodies of the captured robber-Zealots. But Cornelius would provide no -additional victims for those crosses on the Hill of the Skull. - -"And I'm glad," he said aloud. - -"What, Centurion? Glad?" Decius, riding beside him, had heard. - -"I was just thinking aloud about this business of crucifying slaves and -depraved criminals. I was glad those four revolutionaries we cornered in -the Ephraim hills chose to fight to their deaths rather than surrender. -It's better not having to take anybody back to Jerusalem to be nailed up -on a cross." - -"It's not one of the most pleasant assignments a soldier gets, being on -a crucifixion detail," Decius agreed. "I've been on three, and I'll -never forget those poor devils, the first one especially, maybe just -because he was my first. He was a boy in Germania, hardly sixteen, but a -sturdy, strong fellow. I can still see him, Centurion. He was fair and -his hair was the color of ripened grain, and his eyes were as blue as -the sky. He had killed one of our soldiers, they said." - -"Probably after our soldier had killed the boy's parents and raped his -sister." - -"I can't say as to that; you could be right, Centurion. But our -commander ordered him to the cross, and I was put on the detail. We took -that boy and tied him to the low stake and scourged him until he was a -bloody pulp, Centurion. I can still see those bone-tipped whips slashing -that white skin and flicking off bits of flesh, and one of them got him -in the eye and knocked the ball out of the socket; it was hanging down -when we nailed him up." Decius shook his head ruefully. "By the gods, -Centurion, do you know that boy even then fought us and cursed us as -long as he had a hand or foot loose, and when we got all four spiked -down he tried to butt us with his head. He was a strong one, that -fellow; I remember he didn't die until well along in the second day, and -then he was spitting at us and cursing us almost to his last breath." -Decius stared thoughtfully for a moment at the road unwinding ahead. -"Many times I've dreamed about that boy, Centurion, and I can still see -him plainly and hear his screaming and cursing. It's not a pleasant -dream. I'd rather dream about those yellow-haired women in Germania." - -Cornelius nodded his head solemnly. "Yet we Romans call ourselves modern -and civilized people." They rode on in silence for a few moments. "Maybe -we did well in being away from Jerusalem most of the week of the feast," -Cornelius finally commented. "Maybe we escaped being assigned by the -Procurator to a crucifixion detail." - -"I hope so; I've no stomach for serving on one again," Decius agreed. -"You know, Centurion, I've just been thinking that very likely many of -Bar Abbas' cutthroats are right up there in Jerusalem in that Passover -crowd. It wouldn't surprise me if some of them should try to rescue -those three Zealots." - -Cornelius nodded. "It wouldn't surprise me either. I suspect that most -of them, in fact, doubled back that night and beat us into Jerusalem and -got themselves quickly lost in the surge of Passover pilgrims. And only -the gods know how many other Zealots are swarming all over the city with -their daggers sharpened for our throats." - -It was almost midday when they moved through the defile between the -boulders where a week before they had been waylaid by the Zealot -chieftain. This time Cornelius sent a scouting party ahead to -reconnoiter. But no marauder was encountered. - -In the level beyond the rocks the century paused to eat and rest. But -not for long. Soon Cornelius gave the order to reassemble in marching -formation. The sun was straight overhead, and the air was warm and -heavy; a stifling stillness presaged a violent storm. "I'd like to get -into Antonia before it breaks," the centurion observed to Decius, as -they mounted their horses. "Look." He pointed off toward the southwest -where an immense angry black cloud hovered low. "By mighty Jove, it must -be already dark in Jerusalem." - - - - - 45 - - -The tall Galilean arose from the steps before the Beautiful Gate and -bending over, caught the hand of the prostrate, frightened woman. -"Neither do I condemn you, my sister," he said gently, as he helped her -to her feet and she lifted tearful, penitent eyes to him. "Go, and sin -no more." - -"He is truly a good man, Tullia, a noble man of warm heart, a generous, -forgiving, good man. But a god? No, little one." They were watching the -woman as she neared the corner of the Chel toward the Fortress of -Antonia. "There are no gods." - -The woman went out of their sight around the Soreg. They turned to look -again toward the Galilean at the marble steps. - -But the steps had disappeared, and the Beautiful Gate, and beyond it the -Great Altar. Only the man stood there, and his arms were bound behind -him now, and where the Chel had been was the Procurator's tribunal. -Solemn but unafraid, he faced the judge. At his back the Temple leaders -who a moment ago had dragged the poor woman before him were shouting -execrations upon him and demanding of the Procurator his crucifixion. -"Crucify him!" they were screaming. "Crucify him!" - -And in the magistrate's chair ... by the Great Mother, there was Pontius -Pilate! - -Pilate, his round face livid with anger, was remonstrating with the -priests. "But shall I crucify your King? Shall I crucify the King of the -Jews?" - -Crucify Jesus of Galilee? - -"No, Pilate! No! No!" She was running toward the Procurator to stand -beside the Galilean. "No, my husband, have nothing to do with this good -man!" - -_... But Pilate does not see me or hear me. Nor does the Galilean. Am I -a disembodied spirit? But there are no spirits. Oh, Tullia. But Tullia -neither hears nor sees me...._ - -"Then take him yourselves and crucify him. His death be your -responsibility." Pilate was speaking again. "I am free of his blood." - -"No! No! No, Pilate! You are sending an innocent man to his death! You -can never disavow responsibility! Oh, hear me, my husband! Hear me!" - -But the Praetorium and its tribunal, the tall, bound Galilean, the -railing priests and their blood-hungry supporters were suddenly -vanished. - -The great throne room of the Imperial Palace in Rome was strangely -darkened. She could hear the voice of the Emperor, but she could hardly -distinguish his features. Was he her stepfather Tiberius, incredibly old -now, or a younger Emperor? The voice was somewhat strange, too. "You -have failed miserably," the voice was saying. "You have been rash and -stubbornly determined to govern in accordance with your own whims, you -have not only permitted, but you have, through your intemperate -governing, created much turmoil and insurrection within your province; -in short, your rule has been a travesty of Roman administration." The -voice paused. "But I shall not order you executed, as you deserve. -Instead, I decree that you be banished, forthwith and forever...." - -The voice had faded out as the light came up, and she saw standing with -bowed head, old and bent and his once round face thinned and haggard and -hopeless, Pontius Pilate. - -"No! No! If you had only listened...." - -But no one heard her, and the great chamber was dark, and not a sound -came to her out of the stillness. - -"Oh, by the Great Mother! By all the gods, great and small. Oh, -Galilean!" - -Now as she stood immobile and weightless in the blackness and silence, -she began to sense a luminosity thinning the darkness below, and looking -down she saw a great way off a point of light that spread and lifted and -came up in ever widening circles to illuminate the heights about her. -For she was standing on the summit of a great mountain, higher even than -the sun-baked granite bluffs on which Machaerus sat above the Dead Sea, -and far below she could discern the imprisoned, restless waters of a -mountain-rimmed small lake. - -Then, as she raised her eyes from the waters and looked across toward an -opposite peak, she saw him. He stood, bent and shrunken and old with the -weight of centuries, on a jagged thrust of rock that came out from the -mountain to overhang the agitated surface of the lake. He was looking -down at the waters; the light was reflected from a head completely bald, -and it played on cheek bones guarding cheeks long sunken, so that his -head even in life appeared to have dried away to a skull, and only long -dewlaps hanging down showed signs of animation. - -"No! No! It cannot be!" - -But she knew it was, though Pontius Pilate had shriveled into a pitiful -husk of the vain and pompous Procurator he had been. - -In the same moment she heard voices, and looking around, she saw people -on the slopes of the mountain, coming up, pushing outward, swelling, and -growing until all the mountain was filled with people, and they were of -all races and times and colors and tongues. But strangely enough, she -could understand their words, Roman and Greek and Egyptian and the -tongues of the yellow-haired sons of Germania and the dark-haired women -of Gaul, and even the babblings of the barbarians in faraway Britannia, -and the curious utterances of the many unborn strange peoples of places -beyond the as yet uncharted seas. And each in his own way was saying -what all the others were saying. - -The man on the precipice appeared not to see or hear the people; he -seemed preoccupied, fearful, oblivious of everything about him, and -struggling with the burden of some monstrous inner distress. He raised -his hands and held them before his face, and then it was that she saw -they were red to the wrists with the color of blood freshly spilled; he -rubbed them together, as though struggling fiercely to scrub the blood -away; he lowered them as if to dip them in a basin, then lifted them -again to study them, his bloodless face, in contrast to the hands, a -shade of ashen horror. - -But the frenzied washing had done no good; the hands shone fiery red. -Despairing, Pilate dropped them to his sides and stepped to the very -edge of the yawning gulf. "I didn't know!" he cried. "By all the gods, I -didn't know." He raised his cavernous face and with eyes wide looked -into the void. "O God of the Jews"--his shrunken head swayed on the -wrinkled neck--"had I but known. Had I but known...." His words -whispered into silence, and he closed his eyes. - -"Don't! No! No!" she screamed. "No, don't!" - -She forced herself to look down. - -Pilate's lean frame was dropping, slowly turning and twisting, toward -the angry waters; his bony arms and legs were thrust out stiffly from -the shroud of his too large toga, which streamed above the plummeting -body, flapping furiously in the wind. Rigid with horror, staring into -the abyss, she saw the body strike, heard the sickening blob, and -watched it gradually disappear. - -But the waters would not grant oblivion. Angrily they flung the broken, -thin body back to the surface, and to Claudia, watching in frozen -fascination, it seemed to be twisting and eddying in continuous -agitation above the seething waters. Looking more closely, her eyes -rooted to the scene in morbid horror, she saw white arms thrust upward -and hands still reddened, cleansed not one tint by their plunge into the -watery depths. Now suddenly the hands seemed detached from the -stiffening arms, and alive; like wounded rodents seeking haven in a dark -fissure among the rocks, they were feeling their way along the ascending -stony slope toward her, and in that dreadful instant there lifted to her -also the babble of countless voices in many tongues blending once again -into a swelling chorus. The light breaking slowly above the mountain -showed the plain below and the steep rises teeming with a multitude -drawn from all races and nations. - -On the faces of some she read swift anger and deep hate, and their fists -were lifted skyward and their voices raised in execrations; others -revealed only indifference, and their words were but the prattled -monotony of chanted creed; but here and there on the level and along the -slopes she saw those whose words fitted without disharmony into the -growing chorus but whose faces as they uttered them revealed sorrow, -deep pity, and a forgiving spirit. - -She closed her eyes against the vision of the myriad chanting faces, but -she heard their voices and she understood their many tongues ... -"Crucified by Pontius Pilate ... Crucified ... suffered under Pontius -Pilate ... suffered ... suffered ... Pontius Pilate...." - -"No! No!" She opened her eyes to see the mountain cleared of the people, -the vision gone, the voices silenced. But there on the ledge at her -feet, rubbing one against the other, endlessly, eternally, fruitlessly -seeking to be cleansed, were the two gory, dismembered hands. - -"No! Back! Back! Go back!" She whirled about to rid herself of the -frightening apparition, and burying her face, eyes shut, against her -crossed arms, she leaned down upon the cool hardness of the boulder -beside her. "No! No!" she sobbed. "Get back! Go! Please go!" Would those -hands, the horrible thought came suddenly to her, come closer? Would -they attempt to exact vengeance upon her? Might they even now be -creeping upon her to fasten cold, bloody fingers about her neck, to -choke the life...? - -"Get back! No! No!" she screamed, as she freed an arm to beat frantic -fist against the stone. "Don't touch me! Tullia! Longinus! Oh, -Longinus...." - -"Claudia! By great Jove!" The centurion, sitting up fully awake, shook -her hard. "Claudia! Wake up, woman! Wake up! Come out of it! What on -earth...." - -She opened her eyes. "Longinus! Oh, by all the gods, it was terrible, -terrible!" Nor was the terror completely dispelled; in her eyes, wide, -staring, her fear still spoke. Her shoulders shook in an involuntary -shudder. - -He pulled her up into a sitting position and grasped her hand. "But it -was only a nightmare, Claudia. You're all right. You were just -dreaming." She blinked and ventured a thin smile. "You were screaming -like a wild woman and beating the bed with your fist." His excited -concern gave way to a grin. "It must have been a bloodcurdling dream." - -"Oh, Longinus"--she clenched her eyelids tightly against the light -streaming in through the window--"it was the most horrible dream I ever -had, the most frightful thing anyone could imagine. I dreamed ... oh, -it's too horribly near; I can't tell you now." Still shaking, she turned -to snuggle within the haven of his arms. "Bona Dea...." - -A sudden light knocking on the door interrupted her. Tullia entered to -ask softly if anything was wrong. - -"It was only a nightmare, little one," Claudia answered, leaning back on -her pillow. "It was so vivid, so frightening. But I'm all right now. -I'll call you when I need you." - -"Was it about what I told you, Mistress, the Galilean?" Her question and -tone of voice betrayed Tullia's deep concern. - -"Yes ... about him and Pilate; horrible, horrible. I...." - -"Oh, Mistress, could it have been a message to you, a vision sent...?" - -"From your Jewish Yahweh, perhaps?" Claudia affected an uneasy laugh. -"No, it was a dream, little one, that's all. Get back to your bed; you -must still be weary." - -Claudia saw Longinus' look of puzzlement. "Tullia returned late in the -night from Bethany and reported that the High Priest had schemed the -arrest of the rabbi of Galilee. She was afraid he might prevail on -Pilate this morning to agree to the crucifixion of the Galilean." - -"Crucifixion? By all the gods, on what charge?" - -"That he seeks to overthrow Rome." - -"The Galilean? But he's no revolutionary. Surely Pilate knows that." - -"Yes, surely he must." She frowned. "But you know how Pilate fears the -High Priest and his Temple crowd, how he's always afraid they'll send -reports to Sejanus." - -"And you dreamed that he had sent the Galilean to the cross?" - -"Yes. It was all confused, all horrible." She sat up precipitately and -looked toward the window. "Bona Dea, it must be late. And Pilate begins -his trials soon after daybreak. Mother Ceres, I do wonder...." She -sprang from the bed and drew on her robe. "Tullia!" she called. "Fetch -me a wax tablet and stylus! Hurry, little one! I must send Pilate a -message." - - - - - 46 - - -The sun was lifting above the Mount of Olives when Pilate's orderly -awakened him from heavy sleep. "Sir, the High Priest Caiaphas and others -of the Temple leadership," he said apologetically, "insisted that I -inform you that they have arrived with the prisoner about whom he spoke -with you last night. They said that they were most anxious for you to -proceed at once to dispose of the case." - -The Procurator sat up in bed and blinked his heavy-lidded eyes. -"Insolent Jew!" he muttered. "He would not only tell the Procurator what -to do, but when to do it! By the great Jove, I may surprise him!" He -threw back the covering and rose ponderously to his feet. "Go tell the -High Priest to have his witnesses ready. I shall be there shortly." - -The great Fortress of Antonia, Rome's bastion in the Jerusalem region, -consisted actually of four straight-walled, high buildings joined -together by corner towers to compose an impregnable stone structure some -fifty by one hundred paces on the outside walls. The space within the -inside four walls had been paved with great stone slabs to form a -tremendous courtyard reached by huge gateways, one on each of the -edifice's four sides. Massive gates guarded the fortress against sudden -attack; when opened, they admitted a flow of nondescript traffic into -the courtyard. - -Along the southern side of the fortress there was another paved court -from which a wide flight of stone steps led up to a terrace; the -terrace, in turn, led into the interior courtyard. In a high-ceilinged -chamber on the ground floor of this structure, Pontius Pilate had set up -his Praetorium. A Roman praetorium, or trial place of a praetor, -consisted of a semicircular dais on which the curule, or magistrate's -chair, had been placed. - -In the rear of this chamber was a small doorway, and it was through this -doorway that Pilate, shortly after the orderly had reported to High -Priest Caiaphas, came into the Praetorium. - -The Procurator strode straight to the dais, mounted its several steps, -and sat down on the curule. Frowning, he glanced toward the tall, -manacled prisoner. Flanking the man on both sides were several guards, -all Roman soldiers, who had been assigned to the Temple detail. Though a -throng had already assembled in the court beyond the gateway, the -Procurator could see from where he sat on the tribunal that not a Jew -had followed the prisoner inside the vaulted chamber. "What charge is -brought against this man?" Pilate snapped. "And where are his accusers?" - -The captain of the guard saluted. "High Priest Caiaphas commanded me, -Excellency, to bring the prisoner before you with instructions that he -has been tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin and found guilty of crimes -punishable by death. He said you, O Excellency, were to confirm the -verdict of the Jewish court and order its sentence put into execution." - -Anger suffused the Procurator's round, usually bland face. "And why -hasn't the High Priest come himself to bear witness to the Sanhedrin's -action? Why has this man no accusers confronting him?" - -The captain was plainly ill at ease. He shifted his weight from one foot -to the other, started to speak, then swallowed. "The Jews, O Excellency, -will not enter the Praetorium for fear that to do so will be a -profanation, that it will render them unfit to eat of their Passover -evening meal," he finally revealed. "They will come no nearer than the -steps"--he pointed--"out there." - -Pilate, as the captain had expected, was furious. "Profanation! -Profanation! All I hear in this rebellious, proud province is -profanation! Hah! They would profane themselves by entering a Roman hall -of justice!" His already flushed cheeks were purpling. He stood up -quickly, strode down the steps of the tribunal, and stalked forward to -the stairway; from there he could survey the mass of excited, chattering -Jews, who quieted perceptibly on seeing him emerge from the Praetorium. - -"The prisoner," he said, motioning with his head toward the chamber from -which he had just come, "what charge do you bring against him? And where -are his accusers?" - -The multitude was silent. Eyes turned toward a group near the foot of -the steps; in the center of the knot stood the High Priest. He advanced -a pace and bowed to the Procurator. "O Excellency, this man has been -tried by our Sanhedrin and found guilty of grievous crimes. If he had -not been found to be a criminal of desperate wickedness, then we would -not have brought him before the Procurator to be sentenced." - -The bold insolence of the High Priest's reply did not escape Pilate. "If -you have tried him then and found him guilty, why don't you also take -him and execute upon him your sentence?" - -Caiaphas stood silent for a moment. "But the Procurator must know, O -Excellency," he replied at length, a humorless smile lifting the corners -of his mouth, "that under the dominion of Rome the Sanhedrin has not the -authority, however heinous the criminal's deeds may have been, to -execute upon him the sentence of death. Therefore, O sir, we petition -the Procurator to order executed upon this vicious criminal the sentence -of death which the Sanhedrin has found him so fully to deserve." - -But Pilate was obdurate. "You would ask a Roman magistrate to find a man -guilty and send him to the cross, even though no accusation had been -made against him and no witnesses had confronted him," he declared. -"Don't you know that were I to do so I would violate every principle of -Roman justice?" He jabbed a pudgy forefinger toward Caiaphas. "Would -you, O High Priest, ask the Procurator thus to violate his oath as -Rome's regent in Judaea?" - -The Procurator, however, had failed to gauge the High Priest's cunning. -"Indeed, O Excellency, of course I would not seek to lead the Procurator -into violating his oath to uphold Roman justice." He smiled and bowed, -mockingly. "Nor would I stand silent and unprotesting while the -Procurator released a clever though iniquitous criminal who seeks not -only the demoralization of Israel's religion and the perversion of her -people but also the overthrow of Rome in this province and the -establishment of himself as King of Israel." - -The High Priest's answer was not only a skilful parry of the -Procurator's question but it was, moreover, a well-aimed thrust of his -own most effective weapon. Caiaphas knew that Pilate lived always in -mortal fear of being reported to Rome; he knew that the Procurator would -not dare to ignore any situation in Judaea, or even the hint of it, that -might be fostering incipient revolt against Roman rule. - -But Pilate maintained his composure; he would not yield obsequiously to -this hateful symbol of Jewry's stubborn pride of race and nationality -and her cold scorn of everything Roman. He studied the group for whom -the High Priest professed to be speaking; it was a nondescript -assemblage, Temple hirelings, a knot of Pharisees, and surrounding the -High Priest himself, his own Sadducean coterie; the others were, for the -most part, sunburnt fellows who might well be, the thought came to him -suddenly, Galilean and Judaean revolutionaries come in for the Passover -feast from their mountain and Wilderness strongholds. Scowling, Pilate -confronted the cynically smiling Caiaphas. "You say this man is guilty -of heinous crimes, you declare he would set himself up as King of -Judaea, but, O High Priest, you have made before me no accusation, you -have brought no witnesses to testify against him." He turned to point -with a sweep of his arm toward the Galilean, standing calmly beside his -guards. "There stands the prisoner before the tribunal. I ask you again, -O High Priest, what charges do you bring against him? Where are his -accusers?" - -Caiaphas realized that the Procurator was refusing to admit what he had -assumed, at last night's meeting, had been a tacit agreement, that a -retrial of the prisoner would be unnecessary; perhaps he was fearful -that Rome would disapprove such a disposition of the case. At any rate, -reasoned the High Priest, further verbal sparring would mean delay in -sending the upstart Galilean to the cross, and he wished this Jesus dead -and taken down before the beginning at sunset of the sacred Sabbath. -Too, the longer they delayed, the more likely it was that other -hot-blooded Galileans would get noise of the trial and come storming to -their leader's support; they might even succeed in effecting the -fellow's release. He would not, therefore, challenge Pilate further. - -"O Excellency"--Caiaphas raised his hand and the rays of the morning sun -flashed in the gems of his rings--"we charge that this fellow not only -sought to lead astray the people from the true worship of our God of -Israel, but that he did also forbid them to pay tribute to Caesar, and -that he did declare that he himself was rightful King of Israel and -would so establish himself!" - -Pilate would give no consideration to the first charge, the High Priest -was sure, but, he reasoned, the Procurator could not ignore the other -two. And the soundness of his reasoning was immediately demonstrated. -Pilate turned his back upon Caiaphas and the crowd and returned to the -Praetorium, where he mounted the tribunal and sat down. "Are you"--he -pointed toward the prisoner, who still, though weary, stood erect and -calm--"the King of the Jews?" - -"Do you ask this of your own desire to know"--the trace of a smile -lightened the solemn countenance--"or has someone else said it of me?" - -The Procurator shrugged his heavy shoulders. "Am I a Jew?" he asked -sarcastically. "Your own nation, your High Priest, and the others of the -Temple leadership have delivered you unto me. What have you done?" - -"I am a King," Jesus replied calmly. "But my Kingdom is not a worldly -kingdom; if it were, then my servants would fight against my being -delivered to these leaders of the Jews. The Kingdom I rule is not of -this world." - -Pilate's round face betrayed bafflement. "Then you profess to be a king, -but in another realm, the world of magic, spirits...?" - -"I was born into this world to bear testimony to the truth," Jesus -answered. "Everyone who is of the truth will understand and acknowledge -my Kingship." - -Then this man was, as Pilate had suspected all along, in no sense a -revolutionary planning Rome's overthrow; he was but another of these -eastern mystics, dreaming of the imponderable and intangible. Hadn't -Herod Antipas beheaded another such fellow because of his slurs against -Herodias, slurs undoubtedly deserved at that? The man before him, Pilate -realized, was simply a religious leader, someone whom, perhaps, Caiaphas -feared as a possible rival, who Caiaphas felt might even supplant him in -the office of High Priest. Of course, reasoned the Procurator, the -fellow might well be a little addled through too long immersion in this -utterly foolish and depraved one-god religion of Israel. "Those who know -the truth," the fellow had just proclaimed, "will recognize me, -acknowledge me as their king." Hah! - -"Truth"--Pilate shot forth his finger toward the prisoner--"what is -truth?" He hunched his shoulders and waved his hands, palms up, in a -gesture he had borrowed from the Jews. And without looking toward the -man of whom he had asked the question, he stepped down from the tribunal -and strode out to the High Priest and his restive throng. - -"I have examined the prisoner as to the charges you have brought against -him," he announced to Caiaphas. "I find nothing criminal in him. He's a -religious man, a dreamer, but he is no revolutionary." He was glad to be -rid of the man, though, he confessed to himself; he was happy to wash -his hands of this Jesus, Caiaphas, and the rest of them; if he could -only be freed of all Palestine, if he could never lay eyes again upon -another Jew. "I find no fault in the man; I shall release him." - -"No! No! O Excellency, no!" Hands were waving wildly in the air. "No! O -Pilate!" The Procurator, scanning the throng, saw the priests fomenting -the agitation into a swell of shouted disapproval of his verdict. Once -more the High Priest stepped forward a pace or two from the front ranks. -"The man is amazingly clever, O Excellency," he declared, smiling -agreeably, "as he has just demonstrated in thus deceiving the -Procurator. But he is a criminal, and one of the most vicious and -depraved order, O sir. And he is a revolutionary. Beginning in his -native Galilee, he has deceived and perverted the people, and by his -dangerous and evil perverting, his criminal teachings in opposition to -our religion and Rome's government, he has brought into Peraea and -Judaea...." - -"Beginning, you say, in Galilee? Then this man is a Galilean?" - -"Indeed, O Excellency, and one of the worst of the Galilean -revolutionaries, one of the most dastardly clever," He smiled -sardonically. "He smites with words rather than a dagger." - -_... A Galilean, by great Jove! Then send him to Herod Antipas. Let the -Tetrarch dispose of this case. He assumed jurisdiction over that -fanatical Wilderness prophet and ordered him beheaded. Well, this man, -too, is a Galilean. Let Herod stand between this persistent, obstinate -High Priest and old Sejanus. Let the Tetrarch, for once, bear the brunt -of any reports sent back to Rome; this time Sejanus may not overlook -what he considers a mistake of administration in this gods-abandoned -province. If there's to be a mistake, let the Tetrarch make it...._ - -"Then this man," he said to the High Priest, "is a subject of the -Tetrarch Herod Antipas. He should be remanded to the Tetrarch for -trial." - -Pilate returned quickly to the Praetorium. "Captain of the Guards," he -commanded, "conduct this prisoner to the Tetrarch Herod Antipas. Bear to -the Tetrarch the Procurator's compliments and say to him that the -Procurator is sending him the King of the Jews"--a sneering smile for an -instant pushed away the scowl on his round face--"a Galilean. It may be -that the Tetrarch will wish to examine the prisoner concerning the -charges that have been brought against him by the High Priest Caiaphas. -At any rate, the prisoner, being from Galilee, is a subject of the -Tetrarch and under his jurisdiction." He nodded curtly. "Go." - -Quickly the guards formed about the tall prisoner and led him from the -Praetorium, down the steps into the Court of the Gentiles. Leaving the -Temple area through the Gate Shalleketh, they crossed the bridge above -the Valley of the Tyropoeon and arrived shortly in front of the -sprawling Xystus. A few moments later they paused before the gate giving -admittance to the gloomy and forbidding ancient stone residence of the -Hasmonean kings. - - - - - 47 - - -Perhaps it was the thin slash of early sunlight venturing across her bed -that had aroused her; perhaps she had awakened early because she had -retired early. Pleading weariness and an aching head, Joanna had stayed -away from the Tetrarch's lavish dinner, the preparation of which she had -directed. She had felt certain that the banquet, safely hidden within -the old palace's thick walls from the prying, sanctimonious eyes of the -priests, would turn into a drunken debauch, and the Feast of the -Passover, she held strongly, was no occasion for such frivolity. - -The drafty old palace and the grounds about it were quiet. With the -exception of the servants, she surmised, there was likely to be no one -astir in the Tetrarch's household, particularly Herod Antipas himself. -No doubt he would arise late, in time to bathe and dress for his -ceremonious partaking of the Passover meal. - -Joanna, who had come up from Tiberias with her husband Chuza and others -of the Tetrarch's staff, lay still and listened to the small sounds of -early morning in old Jerusalem: birds twittering on the sill of her open -window, cattle lowing in the stalls at the Temple, the rising hum of the -densely packed city's coming alive. - -So, lying quiet and keenly awake now, she heard in the court below her -window a babble of men's voices and the uncadenced slap and shuffle of -sandaled feet on paving stones. Quickly she slipped from the bed and -crossed her chamber. Peering out from behind the draperies, she saw, -hardly twenty paces from the palace wall, a motley throng that numbered -several Temple priests resplendently robed, with their luxuriant beards -fastidiously plaited and oiled. One of the elegant ones, she was -surprised to discover, was the High Priest Joseph Caiaphas himself. But -why, she wondered, would the High Priest and his Temple aristocracy be -coming with such a nondescript mob as this into the palace courtyard? - -She ventured to open wider the slit between the draperies and the window -frame and lean further forward. Ahead, leading the strangely discordant -procession, was a detachment of Roman soldiers, currently assigned, no -doubt, as guardsmen in the Temple service, since they were in the -vanguard of the High Priest and others of the Temple leadership. - -Then, in the center of the marching soldiers, she saw the manacled -prisoner. Bareheaded, he was half a head taller than his guards; his -reddish-brown hair fell straight to curl at his shoulders. He held his -head erect, but he seemed to be walking with labored stride to keep in -step with his captors; his wide shoulders sloped as though pulled down -by the weight of his long arms and the pinioned hands; his brown -homespun robe, already sweat-stained, hung awry and loosely open at the -neck. - -Though his back was toward her, there was something vaguely familiar -about the tall one, his carriage, manner of walking, the way he arched -his back, weary though he must have been for a long while. Then he -turned his head to look over his shoulder, and she saw the twin-spiked -short beard and the curling earlocks. - -"By the beard of the High Priest!" She had almost screamed it aloud, but -she restrained herself. "The rabbi of Nazareth!" The man who had healed -her son of the deadly fever, who had also cured the Centurion Cornelius' -Lucian, the good teacher whom many believed--and she, too!--to have in -those fettered hands the veritable healing power of God Himself. - -The procession stopped. A soldier stepped to the entrance way and spoke -to the sentry on duty there. Now the sentry was talking with a -manservant who had appeared at the portal. In another instant the -servant disappeared inside. - -"It's the High Priest's doing!" she said aloud. "He's bringing the -Nazarene here for the Tetrarch to condemn; he's determined to destroy -Jesus." - -She stepped back from the window and began quickly to dress. As she -pulled on her clothes she tried desperately to evolve some plan that -might thwart the High Priest's evil scheme. Certainly Antipas, -incredibly fearful of displeasing Caiaphas and his fellows in the Temple -leadership, would be disposed to yield to the High Priest's demands, -even to beheading the Galilean. Had he not beheaded the Wilderness -prophet? Had he not yielded then, against his better judgment, to -Herodias? Herod would be more inclined to give way to Caiaphas than -would the Procurator Pontius Pilate. But if Herodias would intervene.... - -The Tetrarchess indeed! Hurriedly Joanna finished dressing and rushed -downstairs as quickly as she could without exciting undue attention, to -find the palace servant with whom the sentry a moment ago had spoken. - -"They have brought the Galilean wonder worker to the Tetrarch for -trial," the servant revealed. "The High Priest is charging him with many -crimes, the soldier said. They took him first before the Procurator, but -when Pilate discovered he was a Galilean, he ordered him delivered here -for trial before Tetrarch Herod. Now they are in the judgment hall -awaiting the Tetrarch's arrival." He smiled glumly. "Herod, I suppose, -was fit to burst at being awakened so early." - -Next, Joanna went in search of Herodias. She found her in her apartment; -the Tetrarchess had finished her bath and now Neaera was doing her hair. -In a few words Joanna revealed that Pilate had just sent the Galilean -teacher and miracle worker to the Tetrarch for trial and that the High -Priest Caiaphas and other Sadducean leaders were awaiting Herod's -arrival in the judgment hall; they planned to present charges that Jesus -was guilty of crimes deserving of death. - -Herodias listened patiently. When Joanna finished her recital, the -Tetrarchess shrugged. "But what do you wish me to do? How does this -Galilean's fate concern me? Just because he beguiled you and Chuza into -believing that he drove out the fever and healed your son...." She broke -off with a patronizing smile. - -"He concerns you, Tetrarchess, in that the Tetrarch is greatly -concerned, though he may not suspect it. The High Priest schemed this -man's arrest and carried him before the Procurator, who rules in Judaea. -But Pilate, realizing that whatever judgment he might render, whether to -release the prisoner or execute him, would cause a great outcry in the -province and be reported to the rulers in Rome, has cleverly sought to -evade his responsibility and put it upon the Tetrarch. Thus, the -Tetrarch in trying the Galilean, will be the one to be judged both in -Israel and in Rome." - -The smile on the face of the crafty Herodias had vanished, and her -forehead wrinkled in sudden concern. "But the man is a Galilean, and -Pilate in sending him before Antipas recognizes the Tetrarch's authority -and compliments him...." - -"He professes to do that, but what he's really doing is shifting the -burden onto the Tetrarch. And when this commotion develops into a great -storm in Rome, then the Tetrarch, too late, I'm afraid, will know he's -been tricked. Let him free this prisoner, and the High Priest will -inform the Emperor that the Tetrarch has released someone who was -plotting to overthrow Rome. On the other hand, let him execute the -Galilean and the report will go by fastest ship to Rome that another -prophet in the Wilderness...." - -"No! No! Joanna, never mention that man!" Herodias cried out. But -quickly she recovered her poise and smiled weakly. "You see, mere -mention of that Wilderness fellow still frightens Antipas. When he began -to get reports of this Nazarene's appearance before throngs in Galilee -and other places, Antipas was obsessed with the idea that this one was -the Wilderness preacher returned to life. Lately he seems to have -returned to his senses, but, as you know, he's a very superstitious -person. And frankly, Joanna, I myself don't like to be reminded of the -Wilderness prophet." She relaxed somewhat. "You're right about Pilate, I -daresay. He probably does wish to evade trying the Galilean. Claudia, -though, would want him to get himself involved in further difficulty; -that would make it easier for her and Longinus." She turned to speak to -her maid. "Hurry, Neaera," she ordered, "I've got to get out of here -quickly. We can finish all this later. I must see the Tetrarch before he -goes." Then she spoke again to the wife of Herod's steward. "Thank you, -Joanna; you have done Antipas and me a great service." - - - - - 48 - - -As the Temple guardsmen withdrew with their prisoner from the -Praetorium, Pilate beckoned to one of the Antonia soldiers. - -"I wish to proceed with the trials of the revolutionaries captured last -week by Centurion Cornelius," he announced. "If the centurion has -returned with any other captives, have them brought in too." - -"He has not returned, sir," the soldier said. - -"Then we shall try the three we have." - -Bar Abbas and his two henchmen had already been brought up from their -cells deep under Antonia; the witnesses who would testify against them, -including several soldiers from Cornelius' century, were waiting in an -anteroom. In the group of witnesses were several Temple priests, -elegantly robed, their beards elaborately braided and oiled, their plump -fingers weighted with rings. - -The prisoners, shackled at wrists and ankles, were led shuffling into -the chamber to stand before the tribunal. After a week in the blackness -of the dungeon, their eyes were unaccustomed to light; they stood -blinking in the growing brightness of the chamber. Then from an anteroom -on the other side of the courtroom another soldier escorted the -witnesses to a position facing Pilate's curule several paces across from -the three bound men. - -Quickly the prisoners were identified: one Bar Abbas, long sought -chieftain of a Zealot band preying upon travelers in various sections of -the province, particularly the boulder-bordered steep ascent of the -Jericho road, and two others of his fellow revolutionaries, one Dysmas -and one Gesmas, all three of Galilee. - -"With what crimes are these men charged?" the Procurator asked. He made -no reference to their being Galileans, nor did he question his -jurisdiction over them, though he had just sent another Galilean to the -Tetrarch. - -The accusations were made. As members of a notoriously desperate Zealot -gang of revolutionaries, they had pillaged caravans, waylaid tax -collectors and robbed them of their revenues, descended from the hills -upon merchants' pack trains and looted them, even assailed detachments -of Roman soldiers and slain some. Then the witnesses confronted them. -One of the priests, accompanied by fellow priests of the Temple, was -returning from Caesarea when the party was set upon and robbed. He -identified the three as among his assailants; he declared he was -positive the shackled men standing there were the culprits. Then another -lavishly robed priest was called upon to give testimony. - -"O Excellency," he began, "it was on the Jericho road that these men, -this Bar Abbas and these other two"--he pointed to each in turn--"came -down from the rocks and seized me. I was bearing a large pouch of gold -and silver, funds of the Temple I was taking to be put in its coffers, -when this big fellow here...." - -"He was coming _from_ the Temple!" screamed Bar Abbas, interrupting the -testimony, as he lifted his pinioned hands and shook them so that the -chains rattled loudly. "He had stolen the money from its coffers! But we -took it from him and gave it to feed the poor and those dispossessed by -the traitorous publicans!" - -"Silence!" commanded Pilate. "You will have your turn to speak." - -Next, two soldiers, one after the other, who had been coming to -Jerusalem the past week as members of the century commanded by Centurion -Cornelius, testified that the three were among the marauders who had -swept down from the rocks beside the Jericho road to capture for a few -minutes the detachment that was escorting Tetrarch Herod Antipas and his -wife and to assail the near-by flanking columns put out by the -centurion. In this assault, the witnesses testified, several of the -Roman soldiers had been killed. - -The three offered no evidence in rebuttal. The one called Dysmas, who -looked both grave and resigned, seemed to be studying the pattern of the -mosaic at his feet; Gesmas glared sullenly at the smirking priests who -had witnessed against him; and Bar Abbas stood, as wide-legged as his -chains would permit, with his sharp black eyes fixed in defiance on the -round face of his judge and his lips above the tangle of his beard -twisted in a sneer. - -"I adjudge you guilty," Pilate said, looking in turn toward each of the -prisoners. He called to one of the soldiers on courtroom duty. "Go tell -the commander to send me three centurions." - -When after a short wait the soldier returned with the three officers and -they had reported to the Procurator, Pilate faced the convicted -revolutionaries. "I sentence each of you to the lash and the cross. And -may all such dastardly wicked enemies of Rome so perish!" He turned -again to the tribunal attendant. "Prepare a titulus for each," he -commanded, "and write thus: robber-assassin-revolutionary." He leaned -forward. "Take them now into the courtyard and scourge them, and then -conduct them outside the walls to the Hill of the Skull, and crucify -them. Each of you centurions will choose a quaternion to assist, and -each will have charge of the scourging and execution of one of the -prisoners. And do not dally. I wish them on the crosses quickly, so that -the Passover crowds may see what becomes of those who plot revolution -against Rome. It should have a salutary effect." He waved his arm -imperiously. "Take them away!" - - - - - 49 - - -Hardly had the Procurator climbed the stairs to his apartment and -ordered his long delayed breakfast to be brought in, when a soldier -assigned to the Praetorium reported to him. - -"Sir, the Galilean whom you sent to the Tetrarch Herod has been returned -to you," he announced. "The High Priest and his Temple associates, -together with a throng of excited Jews, are down there awaiting your -return to the Praetorium to resume trial of the prisoner." - -"By great Jove!" The Procurator's scowl was heavy. Why had Herod sent -him back? Surely the bumbling Tetrarch hadn't been clever enough to -comprehend Pilate's scheme to evade responsibility. - -He did not question the soldier, however, and a few moments later he -mounted the tribunal again and sat down upon the curule. From the -pavement before the Praetorium the captain of the Temple guards and his -detachment, forming a square about the Galilean, advanced to the -tribunal. Jesus, Pilate saw, was wearing a bedraggled, purple-bordered -robe. One of the soldiers was carrying the folded brown homespun robe -which the prisoner had been wearing before. - -Pilate, color mounting, pointed to Jesus and glared at the officer. -"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Why is he wearing this -emblem of authority? Speak up! Who is responsible for this mockery?" - -"Not I, sir," the captain hastened to declare. "The Tetrarch ordered one -of his old robes to be placed upon the prisoner; he said he appreciated -the Procurator's raillery in calling the man the King of the Jews, and -he ordered him arrayed in the purple in order to further your joking, -sir." - -"Didn't he examine the prisoner?" - -"He questioned him, sir, and sought to have him work some tricks of -magic, but the prisoner made no reply." - -Once again Pilate descended from the tribunal and went out upon the -pavement before the Praetorium. At first sight of him the mob began to -raise a clamor. "Bar Abbas!" a man toward the rear of the multitude -screamed. "Bar Abbas! Give us Bar Abbas!" Others joined in the uproar. -Pilate seemed not to understand them. "They want to see the -revolutionaries' leader," he said to the soldier who had accompanied -him. "They will see him as the condemned men start for the Hill of the -Skull. But not until I have disposed of this Galilean. There is already -too much commotion. Go into the courtyard, and tell the centurions not -to start to the execution ground until I give the order." He turned back -to face Caiaphas and the priests and behind them the motley crowd. "You -brought me this man and charged that he was a revolutionary, that he -sought to overthrow the rule of Rome in this province, but I found no -guilt in him, and when I sent him to the Tetrarch Herod, ruler of -Galilee, he, too, found nothing worthy of death. So I shall discharge -him. And now, disperse and let us have no more of this tumult." - -"No! No! O Procurator, crucify him! Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!" - -"Crucify the King of the Jews!" Pilate looked toward the High Priest as -he said it, as though he were jesting, but he could not effectively -conceal the scorn in his voice and on his face. "I must let him go -free!" - -His words provoked another storm of shouted entreaties and demands. "Bar -Abbas! Bar Abbas! Give us Bar Abbas!" - -"When I have disposed of this Jesus of Galilee, you shall get to see -that revolutionary"--he smiled glumly--"as Bar Abbas goes to the cross." - -"The Passover release! It's the long-established custom, O Procurator. -Give us the Passover release!" - -Pilate stared in surprise at the crowd shouting below him. Could it be, -then, as he had first suspected, that this throng hated the Temple -priests and especially Caiaphas and wanted the release of the Galilean? -But he had found Jesus not guilty and technically had already released -him. If, however, he should find him guilty of some minor crime, such as -causing a great disturbance and commotion among the people, for example, -and punish him for that, then he might logically release him as the -Passover recipient of the Procurator's pardon. At the same time he would -dull considerably any report concerning this case that might find its -way to Rome. - -"I find no serious fault in this Galilean," he declared, as he held up -his hand to signal for silence, "but because of his indiscretions and -his provocation of tumults and unrest and much bickering among the -people, I shall have him scourged before I release him." - -He returned to the tribunal and gave the formal order for the scourging -of Jesus. Then once again he climbed the stone stairway to his apartment -and called for his breakfast. His food was placed on a small table by -the window, for already the morning sun was warm and out beyond the -smoldering Vale of Hinnom dark, thickening clouds had begun to form. But -the Procurator was not permitted to relax calmly over his morning meal. -The din below not only continued, but the shoutings grew increasingly -loud. After awhile, Pilate pushed back his plate and stood up. - -"I'll abide this no longer!" he shouted to his orderly standing near the -doorway. "The obstinate, cantankerous provincials! They'll end this -disgraceful tumult, or I'll have the Antonia garrison on them with their -swords!" He caught up his toga and started once more for the Praetorium. - -"Bring out to the pavement the robber Bar Abbas and the Galilean miracle -worker," he commanded, when he arrived in his tribunal chamber. - -"Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas! Bring forth Bar Abbas, O Procurator!" the -multitude began to shout, as Pilate appeared on the mosaic in front of -the Praetorium. "The Passover release! Give us Bar Abbas!" The -Procurator, studying the vociferous throng, saw that the cries for the -release of the robber chieftain seemed to be coming from a group of -wild-eyed, fanatical-looking rough fellows bunched behind the High -Priest and his clique. The thought came to him that they might be -Zealots, even some of the escaped members of the Bar Abbas band broken -up a week before by the Centurion Cornelius. But the supporters of the -Galilean mystic, he reasoned, would outnumber these men screaming for -the release of Bar Abbas. - -The multitude calmed perceptibly as the scourged revolutionary appeared -on the pavement before them and then, recovered somewhat from the shock -the man's sad state had caused, burst into a new clamoring for his -release. Bar Abbas stared stonily ahead, as if indifferent to the -screams and yelling of the people, no doubt still half dazed from the -ordeal from which he had that moment been delivered. Although his coarse -robe had been returned to him after the scourging and was thrown loosely -about his shoulders, the milling crowd saw at once that the -leather-thonged whip had stripped and torn the flesh of his shoulders -and back; already the robe was reddening into a gory, clinging covering -like that which a butcher might have worn to carry on his shoulder a -freshly slaughtered lamb. - -But Jesus, when he was led forth from the courtyard to the pavement -before the Praetorium to stand near the robber chieftain, made an even -more pitiable figure. The purple robe he had been wearing when he was -brought back from Herod's judgment hall was once again about his sagging -shoulders, and it was soaked with blood. His long hair was matted with -drying blood where it curled above his flayed and bruised shoulders, and -his naked upper arms were crisscrossed with bleeding cuts and great -reddened welts. But more shocking than the lacerations and the bleeding -flesh, the blood-soaked purple robe, the mercilessly flayed, drooping -shoulders burdened beyond human strength to endure, was the evidence he -wore upon his head of a sadism past comprehending. Pressed down hard -against his skull, so that the sharp points in some places actually had -pierced the skin of his forehead and temples, was a circlet hastily -fashioned from a long thin branch torn from a rhamnus thorn. - -Pilate noticed it immediately. "Why the victor's wreath?" he asked the -soldier guarding the Galilean. - -"It's not a victor's wreath," he answered. "Sir, it's the royal crown of -the King of the Jews." He ventured a smile. "The soldiers made it from a -shrub growing near the scourging post and crowned him with it." - -"Indeed, the crown goes well with the Tetrarch's purple." Pilate smiled -humorlessly. Then he held up his hand to command silence. "It must be -well known to you that each year at the Feast of the Passover it is the -custom of the Procurator to release a prisoner. Here before you are the -revolutionary and murderer and robber, one Bar Abbas, who has been -sentenced to the cross, and the prisoner brought by the High Priest, one -Jesus of Galilee"--he paused and looking directly at the group of Temple -priests, smiled appreciatively--"the King of the Jews...." - -"We have no king!" shouted Joseph Caiaphas, and a chorus of angry voices -supported him, "no king except Tiberius. This man is not our king; he is -a blasphemer, an enemy of Israel's God; he stirs up the people; he -declares himself to be king in Israel; he calls himself the Son of God!" -He paused, as if fearful at having uttered the ineffable name. - -"Crucify him! Crucify him!" The mob renewed its angry demanding. "He -claims to be the Son of God, the blasphemer! Crucify him!" - -But Pilate paid them little heed. Turning his back upon the High Priest -and the clamoring throng on the esplanade below, he withdrew into the -Praetorium. "Bring him inside," he said, motioning with his head as he -looked back. And then he spoke to the soldier guarding Bar Abbas. "And -remove that one from the sight of the multitude. But presently I shall -call for him again." - -The Procurator had hardly mounted the tribunal when a soldier entered -the chamber from the courtyard and handed a tablet to one of the -attendants. The two whispered, heads together, for a moment. Then the -attendant strode quickly to the tribunal, saluted, and presented Pilate -the wax tablet. "A message, sir, from the Procurator's wife," he -explained. "The messenger reported it was urgent." - -Hastily Pilate scanned the tablet. He scowled, then beckoned to the man. -"Fetch me the soldier who brought this tablet." - -In another moment the soldier was standing stiffly before the tribunal. -"Soldier," Pilate inquired, "did you bring this message from the hand of -the Lady Claudia?" - -"No, sir," he answered. "It was handed to me in the courtyard over -there." - -"By whom?" - -"The Centurion Longinus, sir; he had just come, I understood, from the -Palace of the Herods." - -A quick frown darkened the Procurator's countenance. "And where is the -Centurion Longinus now?" - -"Sir, I think he went up to his apartment in the fortress." - -Pilate nodded and waved the man aside; his face was heavy as once again -he read his wife's message: - - _Hear me, Pilate_: - -_Take no responsibility for that righteous man's blood, for in the night -I had a frightful dream concerning him._ - -What on earth, he wondered, could Claudia have dreamed about this -Galilean fanatic? And how did she know that the man had been brought -before the Procurator's tribunal? Yes, and by all the gods, why had the -message come from Longinus, and why, moreover, had Longinus not -delivered it himself? - -Still frowning, Pilate turned once again to question the prisoner -standing calmly before the tribunal, his face streaked with drying sweat -and blood, his robe turned deep crimson from the whip's fearful wounds, -his matted hair still crowned with the circlet of thorns. "They say you -claim to be the son of their god," he said. "What do they mean? Tell me, -where _do_ you come from?" - -Jesus appeared lost in introspection. If he heard the Procurator's -question, he ignored it. An infinite sadness seemed to possess him. - -But Pilate, still scowling, perhaps upset further because of his wife's -message and the manner in which it had been brought to him, revealed his -impatience. "Will you answer me?" he asked testily. "Don't you know that -I have the power either to release you or to condemn you?" - -Calmly, looking the Procurator in the eyes and with no tone of rancor, -Jesus replied. "You would have no power over me were it not granted you -from above. Therefore, he who delivered me to you"--he pointed toward -the esplanade where the High Priest and his cohorts awaited--"has a -greater guilt than you." - -Once again the Procurator stepped down from the tribunal and strode out -to the pavement in front of the Praetorium. "Bring forth the prisoner," -he commanded. "And have Bar Abbas brought to me, too." - -"I shall release to you a Passover prisoner," he announced to the -multitude when the two scourged prisoners stood before him. "Here stand -a robber and assassin"--he pointed toward Bar Abbas--"and"--he smiled -grimly as he waved his hand toward the Galilean--"your King of the Jews. -Which shall I release?" - -"Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!" the people howled, and Pilate could see the -priests exhorting them to shout their demands. "Release Bar Abbas! Bar -Abbas!" - -"But what shall I do with the King of the Jews?" - -"Crucify him! Crucify him!" they stormed. "Release unto us Bar Abbas!" - -"He is not our king!" shouted Caiaphas. "We have no king but Caesar!" - -Grudgingly, Pilate nodded to the robber chief's guards. "Release him." -The Procurator had lost. He had been sure the Galilean's followers would -outnumber the vociferous Zealots. But Caiaphas had been the better -schemer. - -Quickly the soldiers freed the hulking Bar Abbas, and in another moment -he disappeared with a tumultuously happy group of his supporters, -probably members of his own band, in the mass of people thronging the -Court of the Gentiles. But the High Priest and his hirelings kept their -places on the pavement before the Praetorium. Now the Procurator, -pointing toward the Galilean, spoke to them. - -"What then shall I do with the King of the Jews?" His tone was -sarcastic. "_I_ find no fault in him. I shall release him, just as I -have already released your robber." - -"No! No! Crucify him! He is not our king! He is a blasphemer who would -destroy us!" - -"Crucify your king?" A cold smile lifted the corners of the Procurator's -heavy lips. "Crucify the King of the Jews?" - -"We have no king, O Procurator," Caiaphas declared evenly, when he had -lifted his hands to still the clamor, "no king but Caesar. And if you -are a friend of Caesar, O Excellency, you will rid us of this one who -not only seeks to destroy our religion but also to set himself upon the -restored throne of King David. Should word get to Tiberius or Sejanus in -Rome...." The High Priest shrugged and smiled suggestively. - -Word would certainly reach the capital. And the story would be of the -High Priest's coloring. The Procurator Pontius Pilate, despite repeated -warning and ample testimony establishing the guilt of the accused, it -would be told, had released a dangerously clever revolutionary intent -upon restoring the ancient kingdom of the Jews in Palestine with himself -as king. - -"But he declares that his kingdom is not of this world," Pilate tried to -protest. "He's nothing but a harmless babbler, a religious fanatic whom -too much reasoning has driven mad...." - -"So he would have you think, O Procurator. The man is cunning, amazingly -clever, captivating." Caiaphas smiled indulgently. "Has he not already -deceived even the wise and discerning Procurator?" - -The High Priest Joseph Caiaphas had won. Already too many reports of the -conduct of the Procurator's office had gone to Rome; one more might be -sufficient to arouse the wrath of the Prefect Sejanus. Nevertheless, -since the High Priest had forced the verdict, the responsibility would -rest on him. He clapped his hands and when a servant came running, -called for a basin of water. A moment later, as the servant held the -basin before him, the Procurator plunged his hands into the water and -rubbed them together vigorously. "Let the people heed," he said loudly -and with ostentation, "that I wash my hands of the blood of this man. I -am guiltless. His blood is not upon me." - -"Indeed, O Procurator"--the High Priest's smile was scornful, his tone -sneeringly derisive--"let his blood be upon us, yea, and our children!" - -"Then take him, and crucify him." Pilate glanced toward the prisoner, -standing tall and calm and regal in the blood-drenched discarded purple. -But when their eyes met, Pilate's shifted in that same instant to the -mosaic at the Galilean's feet, so that momentarily the judge's head was -bowed to the prisoner. Then, in a voice that was scarcely more than a -whisper, Pilate spoke to the guard who held the fetter binding Jesus' -wrists. "Lead him into the courtyard." - -As they were going out he summoned an attendant. "Fetch a tablet that I -may prepare the titulus." His eyes fell upon the wax tablet that his -wife had sent him. "Wait," he said. "This one will suffice. There's -space enough on it for what I have in mind." The soldier picked up the -tablet with the attached stylus. "Write this," Pilate commanded, "and -when you have written it, take the tablet into the courtyard and have -the words inscribed on the headboard in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew." He -paused, reflecting. "Write what I say: _This is Jesus of Nazareth, the -King of the Jews_." - -Joseph Caiaphas had heard. "No, O Procurator! Write that he says he is -King of the Jews!" - -Pontius Pilate stared in stony silence at the furious High Priest. "What -I have written," he said after a moment, "I have written." He turned to -the soldier. "Go prepare the titulus board." Then, without a glance -toward the High Priest and his group, he returned to the Praetorium and -mounted the tribunal. Only the few soldiers in attendance remained in -the vaulted great chamber. Pilate sat down upon the curule; his eyes, -unseeing, were fixed on the pattern of the mosaic at the foot of the -tribunal steps. - -_... Great Rome's vaunted justice. But must not justice yield sometimes -to expediency, the expediency of the greater good for the greater -number? Will not his death end a developing tumult in Palestine that -might have brought even bloodshed and death for many Jews and perhaps -even Roman soldiers? And now no report will go to Sejanus from Joseph -Caiaphas._ - -_... The Galilean. A dreamer, a devotee of the Jewish religion, a -visionary ... a righteous man, Claudia said. "Take no responsibility for -that righteous man's blood." Claudia's dream, bah. Superstition, -astrology maybe, foolishness. Calpurnia had a dream, and Caesar laughed -at her warning. Caesar laughed, and Caesar died._ - -_... But no report will go to Rome of the Procurator's releasing a -dangerous revolutionary who was planning to establish himself on the -restored throne of ancient Israel. Joseph Caiaphas has been -silenced...._ - -Suddenly a cold, numbing fear clutched Pontius Pilate. "By great Jove!" -But he had not exclaimed aloud. No report would go to Rome from the High -Priest, no fawning spies would tell how the Procurator had freed a -cunning revolutionary, but Claudia had warned him not to judge the -Galilean. Could his wife, by all the gods, be a secret follower of this -mystic? Didn't many high-placed women of Rome become devotees of this -strange Jewish one-god religion? Could the Emperor's stepdaughter, by -great Jove, have become, of all persons, interested in religion, in any -religion? Could Claudia really feel strongly about this Nazarene fellow? - -_... And Longinus had fetched her message. Longinus, yes, by all the -gods...._ - -The soldier who had led Jesus forth from the pavement into the courtyard -had returned to the Praetorium. "Sir, the titulus board is complete. -They are ready to proceed with the crucifixions, except...." - -"Then start at once with the three prisoners to the Hill of the Skull." -He paused. "Except? What were you going to say?" - -"You have assigned no centurion, sir, to have charge of the crucifixion -of this fellow whom you have just condemned. Do you wish Porcius, who -was to have crucified Bar Abbas...." - -"No." Then, in a flash came an idea. Pilate maintained a sternly -impassive countenance, but inwardly he exulted in the suddenly revealed -manner of solving his dilemma. Now _no one_ would be sending stories to -Rome, for certainly nobody would be foolish enough to reveal to Sejanus -the execution of an innocent Jew if _he himself_ had participated with -the Procurator in that Jew's crucifixion. "I wish Porcius for another -duty today." He pointed upward. "Go at once to the apartment of the -Centurion Longinus and inform him that the Procurator assigns him to -take charge of the quaternion and orders him to proceed immediately with -the crucifixion of the Galilean." - - - - - 50 - - -Beside a cluster of gnarled olive trees along the Bethany road Centurion -Cornelius halted his weary cavalcade. They had attained the summit of -the Mount of Olives. Steady climbing from the Jericho plain had lathered -the laboring horses, and the dust-grimed faces of the men were streaked -with perspiration. Since the passing of midday the heat had grown -increasingly oppressive; now, as they approached Jerusalem in the eerie -half-darkness, it weighed upon them like a heavy blanket. - -The dark cloud over the city that hardly two hours ago they had seen -from the narrow defile between the boulders had grown to envelop them, -and as they came over the rise and looked across toward the walled -density of flat-roofed stone structures, they could scarcely make out -the usually dominating mass of the Temple. Ordinarily on an early -afternoon in April the sun would have been reflected brilliantly in the -gold plates of the Temple's roof, but today it was barely able to -penetrate the overcast. In the strangely thickening gloom the -resplendent plates had taken on a dull coating of bilious green. Faintly -discernible to the right were the darker masses of the Fortress Antonia -towers upthrust in the cloaking shadows; but westward, beyond Antonia, -the great Palace of the Herods and the other splendid abodes of the -privileged were completely shrouded; Mount Zion and the Ophel shared -equally in oblivion. - -"What is it, Centurion?" Decius shook his head perplexedly. "I've been -out here a long time, but I've never seen anything like it. This strange -darkness, this stillness, and the peculiar blue-green cast. Centurion, -this isn't just another storm coming up, another thunderstorm following -excessive heat. It's got a queer, ghastly look, as if the gods might be -angry ..." - -"The gods, Decius?" - -The soldier laughed uneasily. "I use the term broadly, for want of one -more accurate." He waved an arm in the direction of the darkened city. -"But it does have a sort of supernatural look, doesn't it, -Centurion?"--he smiled--"though of course I have little belief in the -supernatural." He shrugged. "How do you explain it?" - -"It does have a strange, unearthly look," Cornelius agreed. "But I don't -believe it's a manifestation of the gods' anger, though I've never seen -one before like this. Could it be a heavy mass of sand borne in from the -desert? If that's it, then maybe the sun shining through the -concentration of sand accounts for this strange greenish color." - -"That's probably it," Decius agreed. "But then, where is the wind?" - -"It may be the lull before the wind. This unseasonable heat is bound to -bring on a storm. Look!" He pointed. "The sun." - -High above the city, beyond its southern wall and past the ever -smoldering refuse heaps in the Vale of Hinnom, the sun rode like a pale -copper disk behind a thinning portion of the veiling cloud. In the same -instant its rays found a rift in the mantle covering the city and shot a -pinpoint of light to bathe in sudden brilliance a small eminence just -beyond and slightly to the right of the Fortress Antonia. - -"By all the gods! Bar Abbas and the two henchmen we captured last week!" - -On the summit of the little hill stood three crosses, and stretched upon -each cross was the body of a man. A staring throng of spectators stood -scattered about below. - -Then suddenly the rift in the covering cloud was healed; darkness -swallowed the burdened crosses. - -"Poor devils," Cornelius said. "That's an assignment I'm glad I didn't -get. Being late returning may have saved me." He looked up again toward -the lowering sky. "But we'd better be getting on to Antonia. This storm -may break at any moment, and when it does, I don't want to be in it." - -Quickly the cavalcade moved down the slope toward the Garden of -Gethsemane and the Brook Kidron beyond. Entering the walled city by Dung -Gate, it went through Ophel and ascended the slope westward to move -along the lower level of Mount Zion and cross the bridge spanning the -Tyropoeon Valley. At the eastern end of the bridge the procession turned -northward and marched along the way paralleling the Temple's wall to the -entrance gate of the Antonia. - -When Cornelius had dismissed his men, he went up at once to his -apartment in the officers' quarters on the south side of the fortress. -He had been looking forward eagerly to a refreshing bath and a short nap -before dressing in fresh clothing for the evening meal. But as he was -about to enter his quarters he encountered a centurion coming into the -corridor from the apartment next to his. - -"By Hercules, Cornelius!" - -"Porcius!" He clapped a hand on the other's shoulder. "I didn't know you -were quartered here." - -"I've come since you left, Cornelius. I heard you were out pursuing a -gang of those Zealots. Did you overtake any of them?" - -"Yes, and killed several. But we didn't capture any." - -"This morning they crucified two of the ones you captured last week." - -"Three, you mean, don't you? Bar Abbas and two of his company." - -"But Pilate released Bar Abbas." - -"Released him? Bar Abbas?" - -"Yes, released him. It's amazing, isn't it? But the mob demanded his -release as the Passover prisoner--you know, don't you, that the -Procurator each year, in accordance with tradition, releases one -prisoner at Passover time?" - -Cornelius nodded. "But weren't there three men crucified?" - -"Yes. I was supposed to have had charge of the crucifixion of Bar Abbas. -Pilate had already condemned him to the cross when the demand for his -release was made. So he released him, and I was relieved of a most -unpleasant task." - -"You were fortunate, Porcius. But if three men were crucified, who was -the third? I didn't know another revolutionary had been captured." - -"He was no revolutionary, Cornelius. Pilate knew he wasn't and wanted to -free him. But the High Priest insisted that the fellow was a -troublemaker who planned to attempt to set himself up as King of Israel. -So, rather than run the risk of having the Temple leaders report him to -Rome as protector of the Emperor's enemies, Pilate yielded and sent the -fellow to the cross. And luckily for me, he assigned Centurion Longinus -the task of conducting the man's execution." - -"Longinus! By all the gods, Porcius, who was the fellow?" - -"A Galilean. A religious fanatic, I judged him to be, but entirely -harmless. His name, if I recall it correctly, was Jesus, I think, one -Jesus from a place in Galilee called Nazareth, they said." - -"Jesus! Oh, by all the gods, when...." - -"But do you know the man, Centurion?" - -"When did they lead him to the Hill of the Skull?" Cornelius ignored the -centurion's question. "How long...?" - -"It was in mid-morning. He's been on the cross for several hours now. -And he was unmercifully scourged before they started with him to the -crucifixion ground." He stared at his companion's suddenly ashen face. -"But, Cornelius, why...?" - -"Jesus! Oh, great Jove!" Anger, utter amazement and pain were written in -swift succession on his still sweating, dust-covered face. "O God of -Israel! O his God! O _my_ God, Jesus!" - -Turning, he raced along the corridor toward the steps that a moment ago -he had ascended, stone stairs that went down to the ground-floor open -area just inside the great western entrance to the fortress. - - - - - 51 - - -Cornelius had reached the gate in the north wall when the storm broke -with sudden fury. He darted beneath the flimsy awning of a fish stall to -wait out the blast. - -"Here, let me help," he said to the frantic shopkeeper as he caught a -side of the filthy cloth with which the squat Jew was trying desperately -to cover his malodorous fish to protect them from the dust and powdered -dung swirling along the cobblestones. "You're lucky your market has the -protection of the wall, or everything would be blown away. This is one -of the worst storms I've ever.... By all the gods!" The ground had begun -to tremble. - -"An earthquake!" the shopkeeper shouted. "Wind and torrents of rain, and -now the earth shakes!" His eyes were round and frightened. But in -another moment the tremors subsided, and the man regained his calm. "I'm -not surprised, soldier," he observed, lifting his hands, palms up, and -shaking his head solemnly. "And it makes no difference, I'm thinking, -that my stall sits in the lee of the great wall. By the beard of the -High Priest, it, too, will be leveled to the ground!" - -"What do you mean? Hasn't this wall survived many an earthquake before -this one?" - -"Indeed, soldier. But we've never had anything like that before." He -indicated with a quick nod of his head the hill beyond the gate's -square. "Never _him_ on a cross." He looked the centurion in the eyes, -and Cornelius fancied he saw a sudden hostility. "Soldier, have you been -up there?" - -"No, I've just come from the Fortress Antonia, and only an hour ago I -arrived in Jerusalem. What do you mean?" - -"I mean that one up there, soldier, on the middle cross." He pointed. -"It's that rabbi from Galilee. Your Pilate tried him this morning and -sent him to the cross, and unjustly, too, it's my opinion. And I heard -it said that the Galilean told how he would cause the Temple to be -destroyed and in three days raise it up again." He dabbed a greasy -forefinger against the centurion's soiled toga. "And I'm of the opinion, -soldier, he's got the power to do it. Didn't he raise that fellow over -at Bethany from the dead? This storm and this earthquake"--he paused and -on his countenance was an expression of understanding suddenly -gained--"soldier, maybe he's doing it now! Nor could I blame him." He -shook his head slowly. "I'd hate to be in Pilate's sandals, or those -soldiers' up there!" - -Almost as quickly as it had burst upon them, the storm was ended. The -rain ceased with the blowing away of the clouds, the winds quieted, and -the great blazing disk of the sun, still high in the sky toward the -Great Sea, shone down bright and searing. The shopkeeper rolled back the -grimy cloth, crumpled it into a heap, and with it dabbed lightly at -several fish it had failed to protect; then he hurled it into a corner -and turned to wait upon pilgrims in the vanguard of a procession -Cornelius saw coming down the slope of the Hill of the Skull. - -"The Galilean, is he...?" - -"He's dead," the man answered before the fish merchant could complete -his question. "He died just as the storm broke. This fish"--he -pointed--"where was it caught?" - -"No earlier than the day before yesterday, and fetched by fast cart from -the Sea of Galilee. Good, fresh carp, perches, bream." With grimy -fingers he poked at now one and now another of his offerings. "The -finest fish in Jerusalem, and the most weight for your money!" - -Cornelius stepped away from the stall into the warmth of the freshly -cleansed air. As he walked quickly along the road he could now see -plainly revealed the three crosses and their inert, mutilated burdens. -The pause in the fish market during the raging of the storm had given -him time to catch his breath after racing over the cobblestones from the -square in front of Antonia. - -But why had he come on the run to the Hill of the Skull? Why had he come -at all? Porcius had said that Jesus had already been nailed to the cross -for several hours. Had the centurion hoped in some mysterious manner to -save the Galilean, to get him down from the cross and revive him? Had he -thought he might countermand Pilate's judgment and sentence? - -He hadn't thought. He had acted on his emotions. He had wanted to see -Jesus, to protest to Longinus, to scream out his denunciation of -everyone who'd had a hand in this abominable act. He hadn't reasoned any -course of action. He had only come as fast as he could to the place of -horrors, his whole being seething with resentment and anger and a -terrible bitterness. - -And now Jesus was dead. The good man who had done no man ill, who had -done countless men good, who had restored Lucian, and Chuza's son. Or -had he really? - -Would he be up there now, perhaps already dead on a Roman cross, if he -had had the power to heal Chuza's little boy, if he had been able by his -own mighty will to rid Lucian of the fever that was consuming him? Would -he? - -Longinus had been right. Those "miracles" had been only remarkable -coincidences. The Galilean wonder worker, the good man, the son of the -Jews' one god--Cornelius ventured to raise his head from the ascending -path and look upward toward the central cross--was hanging spiked to a -crossbeam, crumpled and lifeless, as dead, or soon to be, as those two -revolutionaries who hung there with him. And Longinus, though unhappy -that Pilate had required him to crucify an innocent man, would remind -him that all along he had been right in denying that Jesus of Galilee -had been anything more than a good man. - -He found Longinus seated not far from the crosses on a low stone -outcropping. His head was bent forward, cradled in his hands, and his -eyes were fastened to the ground. - -"I've been expecting you, Cornelius," he said, looking up as his friend -spoke. "I knew you would be coming." - -"We didn't get into Jerusalem until a short time before the storm. As -soon as I heard at Antonia, I came running; I was at the gate down there -when the storm struck." - -"I knew you would come." He shook his head slowly; his eyes were fixed, -unseeing. "And I deserve everything you're going to say." He lifted his -face, and Cornelius saw on it fear and sorrow and a great revulsion. -"I'm undone, my friend." He arose slowly to his feet, and his eyes, for -an instant before he looked away, encompassed the crosses behind -Cornelius. - -"But, Longinus, you didn't ... it was Pilate...." He reached out to put -his hand on his comrade's arm, but Longinus drew back, hand raised. - -"No, Cornelius, Pilate condemned him, but I _killed_ him! I, this hand. -Look!" He held it before him and turned it slowly. "His blood! His -innocent blood! I tortured to his slow death an innocent man, a good -man, Cornelius, a perfect man, yes, and by all the gods, even more than -a perfect man!" - -"I'd thought that he was more, that perhaps he possessed powers no man -could have, I'd hoped so; I'd hoped that he had called upon a -supernatural power to heal Lucian. But would a god, would the son of -_the God_, if there is one, my friend"--Cornelius' countenance was -darkly pained--"allow himself to be put to death, to accept the tortured -death of the cross?" - -"I know that my saying it sounds strange, Cornelius, but ever since this -morning I've had the feeling that he was _allowing_ himself to be -crucified and that at any moment, if he had wished, he could have -destroyed us all. Yet in the midst of his agonies, while we were spiking -him to the crossbeam, he prayed to his god to forgive us. To forgive us, -Centurion!" He shook his head sadly. "To forgive _me_. But I killed him. -By all the gods, let me show you." - -They walked over to the foot of the center cross. The body of Jesus, -naked except for a bloody loincloth, hung out from the upright at a -grotesque angle, held by heavy spikes through the palms of the hands and -supported by a narrow wedge between the legs. The head had slumped -forward so that the twin points of his short beard splayed out across -his chest. Other large spikes through his purpling feet held them to the -upright. - -"See?" Longinus pointed to a gaping wound from which blood and body -fluid still dripped slowly. Blood had gushed forth when the wound was -made, for below it the tortured flesh was wide streaked and the -loincloth was gore-soaked; his blood had run down the length of one leg, -and even as Cornelius stared, a crimson bead swelled at the end of the -great toe and dropped to the bloodstained ground. - -"But why this wound?" Cornelius asked. "Did you...?" - -"Yes, it was my lance that did it. He must have been already dead, but I -didn't know. And I couldn't bear for him to have to endure any more -agony." - -"You did it in mercy, Longinus." - -"Yes, but I killed him, Cornelius. He's dead, and I can never have his -forgiveness. And I'm soiled, ruined, undone. I can never cleanse -myself"--he studied his hands--"of this man's death." He lifted his eyes -to stare at his friend. "Strange, Cornelius, but ... well you know what -I've always thought of the gods, Roman, Greek, Jewish, any of them, and -of the survival of the spirit or whatever you want to call it. And you -know what I thought of"--he gazed a moment at the dead man stiffening -above them--"him.... Well today I've been with him for several hours, -_long_, terrible hours of torture for him, and for me, too." He paused, -trying painfully to choose his words. "Now I don't know, Cornelius; I'm -confused, my smug assurance is gone. I'm not sure any more. But he"--he -looked up again--"by all the gods, Cornelius, he was!" - -"Then you think now he may have been...?" - -"If there are any gods, Cornelius"--he stared into the blood-drained -face of the Galilean, and his voice was infinitely sad--"if there exists -any being like the one your old Greek tutor spoke of, a good, all-wise, -all-powerful one god, then this man must have been the son of that god." - - - - - 52 - - -As soon as Longinus left the palace with her message, Claudia went back -to bed in the hope of finding relaxing sleep after the terrifying dream. -But sleep would not come; she was almost afraid to close her eyes for -fear the nightmare would return. And even as she lay sleepless, staring -wide-eyed at the high ceiling of her bed-chamber, she began to envision -a pair of disembodied blood-red hands feeling their way stealthily -around and across the intricate plastered figures and medallions of its -surface. - -"Tullia, it's no use trying any longer," she called to her maid, as she -swung her feet around to stand up. "I just can't seem to shake off the -dream. Maybe if I dress and busy myself at something, I'll think no more -of it. Thank the gods, though, I sent the Procurator that warning." - -But as the morning hours went by the dream did not go away; it persisted -in all its horrible detail in the forefront of her consciousness, and -the harder she tried to dispel it, the more determinedly it stayed with -her. "Why, by the Great Mother, little one, am I so disturbed by a -dream?" she at length demanded of her maid. "I put no faith in dreams. I -must have had thousands, and not one has ever before bothered me. I know -they're nothing but rearrangements, often fanciful and sometimes, like -this one, frightening, of things that have happened to us, people we've -seen, places we've visited. You can always explain them. Even this one I -understand. You came in late from Bethany with the fearful news of the -Galilean's arrest and the High Priest's plotting to have Pilate condemn -him. Then soon afterward I went to sleep and dreamed about it. It's -simple enough to understand...." She paused, silent in thought. "Or is -it?" she asked softly. "Are people ever warned in dreams? Is there -really some power...?" The question was unfinished. - -"I don't doubt it, Mistress. Our ancient scriptures tell of many -instances in which God spoke to His prophets in visions, which must have -been dreams or the like." She paused. "And there's the story of Julius -Caesar's wife, you know." - -"Yes," Claudia's eyes narrowed. "But if your god wished to save the -Galilean's life, why didn't he let Pilate have the dream?" - -Tullia shook her head thoughtfully. "I can't say. I can't fathom the -mind of God, Mistress." A suggestion of a smile crossed her face. "Maybe -He thought you might have more influence on the Procurator than He -Himself could." - -Claudia smiled. "Certainly I'm more real to Pilate--and threatening, no -doubt--than your Yahweh." With a quick lifting of her shoulder, she -changed her tone. "But why talk of it further? I'm sure my message -warned him sufficiently. And I want to forget the dream and the -Galilean. This terrific heat is exhausting enough. Still, I do -wonder...." She scowled and said no more. - -The heat grew more intolerable. Longinus did not return, nor did any -news come from Antonia. Midday passed, and as she had done the day -before, Claudia retreated into the garden and sat on the stone bench -before the spouting fountain. But today, unlike yesterday, there were no -white puffs of clouds. Instead, from noon on, a thick overcast began to -settle upon Jerusalem, so that inside the palace servants lighted lamps, -which added, it seemed to Claudia, to the oppressiveness. As she sat -staring introspectively at the spray of water, the heat, despite the -covering of clouds screening off the sun's rays, seemed to be mounting -as the skies darkened; in the thickening gloom the air grew still; -yesterday's singing, twittering birds had taken cover under the heavy, -drooping foliage, and all nature seemed silently expectant of a coming -upheaval. But maybe, thought Claudia, the impending storm will not -descend; maybe the winds, like yesterday, will spring up and blow the -clouds away and bring welcome relief from this oppressive heat. - -It was during this foreboding lull, some two hours past midday, that a -sedan chair entered the palace grounds, and when the bearers set it down -at the doorway, the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea emerged and was -admitted to the sumptuous edifice. A moment later, with much bowing and -murmured directing, servants conducted her to the wife of the -Procurator. But the two had done little more than exchange greetings and -sit down together when the winds did come, and with a suddenness and -severity that sent them scurrying for the protection of the palace. This -time the clouds were not immediately blown away; crash after crash of -lightning sundered them, and for a few wild moments they poured a deluge -upon the steaming, crowded capital of ancient Israel. - -"Claudia, I know you wonder why I have come," Herodias said, when they -were settled in one of the inner chambers into which little of the noise -of the storm penetrated. "But soon the Feast of the Passover will be -ended, and we will be going back to our posts; I'm sure you, at any -rate, are unwilling to consider Caesarea home. So we may have little -further opportunity to talk together alone, Herod's engaged at the -palace, and Pilate, I presume, will be busy at Antonia." Claudia nodded. -"Yes. Well, you remember once in Rome when you came over to see me and -we were talking about Antipas and Longinus, and you wondered why I was -interested in the Tetrarch...." Herodias paused, and Claudia, smiling, -nodded again. "You may recall, too, I told you that I was interested in -what the Tetrarch could become, in the position he might attain, rather -than in Antipas as a man...." - -"Yes, I recall. You said he might become a king like his father." - -"I did. Some day he might, I believe I said, with my conniving." She -leaned forward and looked Claudia directly in the eyes. "The time has -come," she said quietly, "for us to begin our determined conniving." - -"_Our?_" Claudia queried, her tone intent. - -"Yes. What I'm scheming will concern you, and Longinus, as much as it -will Antipas and me." Her brow suddenly furrowed. "You still feel the -same way about the centurion, don't you, as you did when you left Rome -to come out here?" - -"Well, yes, but...." - -"Oh, I know, Claudia, you must be careful, must guard your tongue. But -you needn't worry about my making indiscreet remarks, you know." She -shrugged. "I haven't thus far, have I? And I've known all along. And -now"--she did not wait for Claudia to answer her question--"the time has -come for us to strike out for what both of us want. Soon Longinus will -be going back to Rome, and more than likely this time he'll have much to -tell the Prefect." - -"But, Herodias...." - -The Tetrarchess laughed and shrugged. "Oh, nobody has told me anything," -she said, "but I do have eyes and ears and an ability to put things -together. I know that Senator Piso and Sejanus are more than friends; -they're bound to be business partners, for Sejanus, you may be sure, has -his fingers in any enterprise that has been operating with considerable -success. I know that Longinus has had unusual freedom for a centurion -presumably on active duty and that he has made trips back to Rome, to -Antioch, and to many another place that no centurion ordinarily would be -called on to visit in the course of duty. And you told me, remember, -that he was being sent out to Palestine on a special mission." She -paused, and when Claudia made no comment, she smiled and gestured with -outflung hands. "Well, it makes little difference whether he was sent -out to watch Pilate or not, and maybe Antipas and me ..." she paused, -grinning, "and possibly even you, Claudia. He'll probably be called back -to Rome soon to make some sort of report, even about the operation of -the Senator's glassworks...." - -"But how would that affect you and Antipas, and Pilate ... and maybe -me?" - -"Longinus might be called back to Rome to report on Pilate's ... well, -shortcomings." - -"Even then I fail to understand how...." - -"This is the way I envision what might easily happen should he be -ordered to Rome," Herodias interrupted. "Longinus certainly must have -strong influence with Sejanus, because he's Senator Piso's son, for one -thing. Should he point out, and with emphasis, Pilate's failures as an -administrator--and certainly he'd have little trouble supporting his -charge--he might very likely cause the Prefect to dismiss Pilate as -Procurator or move him to another province. And with Pilate disgraced, -surely you would be permitted to divorce him." She smiled and airily -lifted her hands. "Then, my dear, you could marry Longinus and return to -Rome to live." - -"Maybe so. But even then how would that affect you and Antipas?" - -Herodias leaned toward her hostess, her expression intent. "Suppose -Pilate is dismissed, transferred, even, by the gods, beheaded...." Her -eyes narrowed. "That would cause you no grief, would it?" But she did -not pause for Claudia's comment. "Then Sejanus, regardless of Pilate's -fate, might extend Antipas' realm to include Judaea, don't you see, and -elevate him to kingship. And I"--she sat back and smiled -felinely--"would be queen." Quickly the smile vanished. "And I shall -never be content, Claudia, until I'm a queen. Why, soon as Tetrarchess -I'll have no higher station than little Salome." She paused, her -expression suddenly questioning. "Did you know that she is marrying -Herod Philip?" - -"_Her father?_" Claudia exclaimed, aghast. "By all the gods, surely...." - -"Of course not, my dear." Herodias laughed. "The other Herod Philip, her -father's half brother and"--she grinned--"my half uncle. He rules the -puny tetrarchy over east of us, Batanea and Trachonitis. He's -considerably older than Salome, naturally, but...." - -"Then he's Salome's half great-uncle and half uncle as well as half -stepuncle, and ... well...." Claudia broke off with a shrug. "You Herods -really never let anything get out of the family, do you?" Then she was -serious. "But what about old King Aretas? If he should attack -Antipas...." - -"Certainly he hasn't attacked yet," Herodias hastened to reply. "And he -probably never will. But even if he does, that might just strengthen -Antipas with Rome. At any rate," she added, "the Arabian isn't making -trouble at the moment." - -"But, Herodias, what if Sejanus, instead of putting Judaea under Antipas -and making him king, should send out a new Procurator to succeed -Pilate?" - -The Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea was not abashed. "In that case," -she replied without hesitation, "he might even make Longinus Procurator, -although I'm sure he--and surely you too, wouldn't you--would prefer to -be assigned a post in some province other than Judaea. But in any event, -Claudia, if Longinus should very strongly recommend and urge the -transfer of Pilate and the extension of Antipas' realm to embrace -Judaea, then I'm confident it would have great weight with Sejanus. -That's why I came to see you, Claudia, the principal reason, I mean. I -hope you'll suggest such a course to Longinus. It's a way by which you -and Longinus and I--I'm not considering Pilate and indolent old -Antipas--can attain what all three of us want most." She leaned forward -again, and her expression betrayed a malevolent cunning. "Claudia, -Longinus would have good reason to advise Sejanus to withdraw Pilate -from Judaea. Pilate from his first days out here has failed to get along -with the Jews, from the High Priest on down. And now, today, the -suddenly bitter hostility of the followers of this Galilean fellow whom -he tried this morning...." - -"Galilean fellow?" Claudia's expression was suddenly grave. "Who...?" - -"Maybe you haven't heard of him. He has a large following devotedly -attached to him, so large that the Temple leaders are both jealous and -fearful of him. They brought him before Pilate this morning, and the -Procurator, wishing to evade responsibility"--her tone was -sarcastic--"sent him to Antipas for trial, since the fellow was a -Galilean, from the village of Nazareth, I believe. But I learned about -it in time to warn Antipas to have nothing to do with the fellow...." -She paused, and the bitter lines around her mouth deepened in a scowl. -"He's never forgotten that Wilderness fanatic at Machaerus. So he sent -the Galilean back to Pilate." She smiled. "Whatever the Procurator does -with him, or has done, will add to his troubles with the Jews ..." she -paused--"or at any rate, we hope so, don't we?" - -"Then you don't know whether Pilate has tried the man?" Claudia tried to -conceal her anxiety. - -"No. I only know that Antipas didn't fall into Pilate's trap." - -_... Thank the Bountiful Mother I sent Pilate the message...._ - -"You were always a clever one, Herodias. Antipas is fortunate." But she -did not elaborate and quickly changed the subject. - -With the same suddenness that it had begun, like the opening and closing -of a great door, the storm ended, and the sun shone down through skies -sparkling and refreshed. "I must be going," said Herodias. "I've much to -do before we start back to Tiberias. My dear"--she laid her hand -affectionately on Claudia's arm and stood up--"do come to visit us -again. And won't you talk with Longinus about this? You'll be seeing -him, of course, perhaps tonight?" - -"Perhaps." But Claudia's smile was thin. - -Herodias' visit and the dissipation of the storm clouds had done nothing -to dispel Claudia's misgivings; the news brought by the Tetrarchess had, -in fact, served to deepen her foreboding. Why hadn't Pilate acknowledged -receiving her message, if indeed he had received it? Suddenly the -desperate notion possessed her that the Procurator had failed to get her -hurriedly scribbled warning. And why, if he had seen it, had he failed -to reassure her that Jesus would not be condemned? What, by the gods, -had Pilate done with him? - -She summoned her maid. "You must go up to Antonia and discover what's -happened to the Galilean, Tullia," she said. "Until I hear, I shall have -no peace." She hesitated, brow furrowed. "No, wait. I'll go myself. Call -the sedan-chair bearers." - - - - - 53 - - -When Herodias returned to the Hasmonean Palace she learned from Neaera -that the Tetrarch had shut himself away from all company in the -seclusion of one of the inner chambers. He seemed to be entering a -period of depression, the maid reported, like the one into which he had -plunged after the beheading of the Wilderness prophet. - -The Tetrarchess found him sprawled in his chair, staring at the wall, -his heavy jowls sagging. For a moment he appeared unmindful of her -entrance. Then he turned ponderously to face her. "The Galilean," he -said slowly, as though in pain, "is dead. Crucified." - -"Dead already? How did you learn it?" - -"Joanna. She was at the Hill of the Skull with some of his friends, -including Mary of Magdala. They saw him die. But she declared she knew -that the Galilean"--suddenly his dull eyes brightened with the pain of -sharpened fear--"would rise from the dead and avenge himself upon his -enemies. Herodias"--he got heavily to his feet and flung out his hands -in desperation--"why did you make me do it? By the beard of the High -Priest, Tetrarchess, why, why?" - -"Are you mad, Antipas?" Her dark eyes snapped. "You didn't kill him! By -the gods, Pilate did. The Procurator tried him. You sent him back to -Pilate, don't you remember?" - -"Of course I sent him back to Pilate. But I had it in my power to free -him; instead, I sent him to his death. When he rises, he will wreak upon -me a double vengeance." - -"Double vengeance?" - -"Yes, the vengeance of both the prophet of the Wilderness and of the -Nazarene." His eyes glittered with incipient madness. "The Nazarene was -the prophet returned to life. When he arises, he will be the two -returned." - -"Nonsense!" Herodias advanced, her eyes flaming, and grasped her -husband's arm. "If the Galilean is dead, he's dead, and you know it. -Must you give heed to Joanna's superstitious drivel?" Her scowl -lightened into a crafty smile. "Pilate has served you well in crucifying -this fellow. Can't you see that the Galilean's followers will be all the -more determined to do the Procurator ill?" - -"But how will his misfortune help me?" the Tetrarch asked. - -"Your father ruled this whole province. Should Pilate's mishandling of -his duties drive him from the Procuratorship, the Emperor might elevate -you to king of all the region. It's not for nothing that your father is -called 'Herod the Great.'" She shook a ringed forefinger under his nose. -"If you had one-fourth the ambition and energy that he had, you'd -already be wearing the crown!" - -"But I don't want to wear a crown," Antipas protested. "Crowns often -become greater burdens than they're worth. We can live out our lives at -Tiberias, happy and unchallenged, and enjoy the benefits of the royal -prerogative without risking its dangers and burdens, my dear, and with -considerably less chance of drawing the ire of old Sejanus." - -Herodias stamped her foot angrily. "Don't you have any aspirations, -Antipas? Are you willing to continue being a mouse instead of a man?" -Her tone was coldly sarcastic, and she knotted her hand into a fist to -emphasize her stern words. "Well, by the beard of the High Priest, -Antipas, I'm going to see to it that you sit on the throne of Judaea as -your father did. I've just returned from talking with Claudia about my -plan ... and my determination ... to get you elevated to kingship. She -will help; she wants to see Pilate disgraced so that she can divorce him -and marry Longinus." - -"I don't know about that, my dear Tetrarchess. What would be the -difference anyway, except in titles? Wouldn't it be best to let well -enough...?" - -"And spend the rest of our lives in an out-of-the-way poor district of -illiterate fishermen and grape growers! Never!" she stormed. "Would you -be willing for me never to occupy a station higher than Salome, by all -the gods?" She studied him, her contempt plainly revealed. "I do believe -you _would_. Well, I'm not willing. I'll leave you first ... and go back -to Rome!" She was silent for a moment and when he made no retort, -continued. "This is what we'll do," she said, her tone even now. "We'll -return to Tiberias and begin to assemble choice presents for the -Emperor, and most important, for Sejanus. And you will increase the -revenue going to the Prefect. The gifts will please and flatter him, and -the increased revenues from Galilee and Peraea may suggest to him that -if you were governing the whole province the increase in taxes would be -substantial. And we won't send them to Rome, the gifts, I mean, but -we'll take them ourselves, and then we can personally petition Sejanus -to make you king over the entire province." - -Herod Antipas shook his grizzled head slowly, and his countenance was -troubled. "But I foresee only disaster if...." - -"I don't care what you foresee or how agitated you may become," she -said, with a defiant toss of her head, "we are going to Rome to ask the -Prefect to make you king, and I'm either coming back to Palestine as -queen or I'm not coming back at all!" - - - - - 54 - - -As Claudia and her maid entered the anteroom adjacent to the -Procurator's great chamber in the southwestern tower of Antonia, two men -of serious mien, well-dressed and with beards oiled and carefully -braided, emerged from Pilate's room and walked quickly into the -corridor. - -Claudia motioned Tullia to a seat and without pausing strode past the -attendant through the still unclosed doorway. - -Pilate stood before one of the windows facing westward. His long shadow -reached out to her feet across the high-domed room; soon now the sun -would be dropping beneath the wall of the ancient city, and the -solemnity of the Jewish Sabbath would still the Passover festivities. He -turned to face his wife, and she saw that his expression was deadly -serious. She questioned him with a lift of her head. "Those men who just -went out?" - -"Wealthy Jews," he replied. "One of them anyway, a merchant from -Arimathea. Both of them members of the Sanhedrin. They came to petition -me." He saw that she was still not satisfied. "A small matter; they -asked for the body of one of the men crucified today. They want to bury -him." He advanced toward her and managed a thin smile. "Here, my dear -Claudia," he pointed, "have this chair." His smile warmed. "To what am I -indebted for the honor of your visit?" - -"This man whose body they wished," she asked, ignoring his question, -"could it be that he was the Galilean mystic?" - -"Yes, they said he was from Galilee." His eyes avoided her probing -stare. - -"He was called Jesus?" - -"I believe they called him that." - -"Then you did not receive my message ... about the dream I had?" - -She saw in his eyes a mounting panic. "Yes, Claudia, but it was only a -dream, and the High Priest demanded...." - -"You condemned to the cross an innocent man"--she stood up and pointed a -trembling finger at the Procurator, and her eyes blazed -furiously--"because the High Priest demanded it! The great Procurator, -representative of imperial Rome, _crucified_ an innocent man because a -jealous and mean little Temple strut-cock _ordered_ you to send him to -the cross! By all the gods, Pilate, _and_ you condemned him after _I_ -sent you that warning!" - -"But, Claudia, I was being pulled at from both sides. I didn't want to -condemn him. I told them I found no fault in the man. I had a basin of -water fetched and before the multitude I washed my hands of his blood, -and...." - -"You washed your hands of his blood! Never! Oh, by all the gods, those -hands! Those blood-red, crawling, slinking hands!" She held her palms -before her face. "In the dream I saw them. Now you'll never be able to -cleanse those foul, polluted hands." - -"But if I had released him, Claudia, and news had got back to the -Prefect that I had allowed a dangerous revolutionary to go free...." - -"You knew he was no revolutionary." Her voice was almost a hiss. "You -knew he was an innocent man, and you sent him to the cross." She crossed -the room quickly and looked out toward the Hill of the Skull. The -shadows were heavy in the square before Antonia, but the sinking sun -shone levelly upon the three burdened crosses on the hill. "Which cross -is his?" she asked, without taking her eyes from the macabre scene. - -"The one at the center," he replied, his eyes fixed unseeing on the -polished surface of his desk. - -"And he is dead, you're sure of that?" - -"I don't know. I've sent for the centurion in charge of the execution, -and now I'm waiting for his report. I told the two Jews I would not -release the body until I was certain the Galilean was dead. Should the -body be taken down and the man revived, and should word, as it would, -get to Rome...." - -"Are you concerned only with what sort of reports go to Rome?" she -demanded, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Have you no interest in seeing -justice prevail even in Judaea?" - -"I am interested, my dear Claudia"--he appeared somewhat to have -regained his composure--"in maintaining myself in the office of -Procurator. Perhaps I erred in the case of this Galilean. Perhaps I -should have given greater heed to the message you sent me. But I've -spent many hard years in the army, and I have long dreamed of being the -Procurator of a province of imperial Rome. Now that I have attained it, -I must not gain the further enmity of the Temple leadership, or I might -lose the post, you know." - -"Then your only concern is in remaining Procurator of Judaea?" Her tone -was coldly scornful. "And you might have the post taken from you, at -that. Much depends, you know, on the attitude of the Prefect toward -you." - -Pilate blanched. "But, my dear, surely you wouldn't suggest to him that -he carry to Sejanus an evil report about my conduct of affairs...." - -"To _him_? To whom, Excellency"--she paused, and her tone was -taunting--"do you refer?" - -But once more he was evasive. "Perhaps you are tired, my dear," he said -with a short, humorless laugh. "Perhaps you should return to the palace. -I can order the sedan-chair bearers...." - -"Mine are outside," she replied evenly. "But why are you trying to get -rid of me, Pilate? Does the Galilean haunt you already?" - -"Indeed, no." Again he attempted a laugh, but it lacked conviction. "Any -minute now the centurion will be reporting to me, and I thought perhaps -you would not wish to be reminded again of the Galilean's death or your -strange dream...." - -"No, I will stay. Perhaps it is you who do not wish to be reminded that -you condemned to a terrible death a man innocent of the crime charged -against him, innocent of any crime, and known by you to be innocent!" - -"But, my dear Claudia, had I freed...." - -The Procurator's protest was interrupted by a knock on the door, and a -moment later at Pilate's bidding the attendant entered. "The Centurion -Longinus, Excellency," he said, bowing, "has arrived to make his -report." - -"Longinus! By great Jupiter, did you send Longinus to crucify the -Galilean?" She whirled to face the centurion, who had entered the -chamber. "Surely, Longinus, you didn't..." Abruptly she stopped; her -face, suddenly drained of fury, betrayed apprehension and pain. - -"Yes," he said, "I killed him. I was ordered by the Procurator to do so, -but that doesn't absolve me from guilt. I crucified an innocent -man"--his eyes shifted to level on Pilate--"as the Procurator well knew -when he condemned him to the cross." He paused, but Pilate did not -challenge the statement. "Excellency, you sent for me to report. The -Galilean is dead. Your order has been carried out." - -"Thank you, Centurion. Then I shall grant those Jews' request for the -body for burial." He spoke calmly, but his flustered manner betrayed an -inner stress. "You may return to your duty and notify the men, who will -be at the execution ground, that I grant their petition. You may have -your quaternion help them remove the body from the cross and ..." - -He broke off suddenly. Through the slit in the doorway, which Longinus -had failed to close completely behind him, came the insistent voice of a -man talking with Pilate's aide in the anteroom. "By the gods, I'm glad -to catch him. I've come from Caesarea with a message for him from the -Commander Sergius Paulus. And I was given emphatic instructions to -deliver it myself into his hands with the seals unbroken," they heard -the man say. "I've been searching all over Jerusalem for him; I even -went out to the crucifixion hill." He lowered his voice. "It's bound to -be an important message. It came from Rome, probably, by the gods, from -the Prefect or even the Emperor." - -"Centurion, perhaps you'd prefer to go out there"--Pilate's face had -paled perceptibly--"to accept the message." - -Longinus nodded and left the room. As the door closed behind him, -Claudia turned with renewed fury upon her husband. "Why did you assign -Longinus to crucify the Galilean?" she cried. "Was it because I sent my -message by him and you suspected he had spent the night with me and you -finally did me the small honor of being jealous? Well, by the gods"--her -voice was tremulous as her anger rose--"_that's exactly what he did_!" -With hatred in her eyes she approached him, coming so close that their -faces nearly touched. "And, you fool, that wasn't the first time," she -added with a low, harsh laugh, "nor even, by Jupiter, the last!" - -The Procurator stepped back and sank heavily into his chair. For a long -moment he sat silent, staring at the floor. Then he raised his eyes to -his wife's bitter, scornful face. "Surely you cannot believe me that -stupid, Claudia my dear," he said quietly, "to think that I haven't -known. Surely you must know that I am not entirely deaf and blind, that -I have even contrived to spend many an evening away so that you...." He -paused, pensively contemplating the woman before him. "But perhaps you -don't know...." - -"Oh, how I despise you!" she screamed. "I knew you were a weakling, a -coward, a ... yes, today, even a murderer. But I didn't know you were a -crawling worm who would willingly lend his wife to another man! By all -Pluto's fire-blackened imps, I...." - -"But perhaps you don't know," the Procurator went on, "that I was -commanded by the Prefect and the Emperor, at the time our marriage was -arranged, to do everything possible to keep you content in this dismal -province ... even to overlooking any indiscretions...." - -"Then you've been willing to do anything, by the Great Mother, in order -to stay in the good graces of old Sejanus," Claudia hissed. "You're -willing to send a good and innocent man, maybe a god-man, to the cross -rather than displease a contemptible High Priest who might complain -against you to the Prefect!" She clenched her fists and brought them -down, hard, across the desk. "You're even willing to surrender your wife -to another man's enjoyment in order--you said it--to keep her 'content' -but _really_ to keep that man from reporting to Sejanus your bumbling -incompetence, your foolish provocations, your utter imbecility!" Her -voice had risen to a shout. Slowly she moved toward the window, and then -she whirled about to face him again. "Well, I'm not 'content,' and I -never will be ... with you! And by all the gods, I hope Longinus will go -to Rome and reveal to Sejanus how miserably you have administered the -affairs of the Empire in this province!" She pointed at him from across -the room. "And how you have dragged in the dust Rome's vaunted justice, -how in all probability"--her voice dropped to a menacing tone--"you have -withheld funds from the Empire's treasury...." - -"No! Oh, no, Claudia! I have kept back nothing due the Empire or the -Prefect! Nothing! Not one shekel, not a denarius! Longinus knows it's -true." He lowered his voice. "Hasn't he been watching; hasn't he been -reporting? Surely you don't think I haven't suspected...." But suddenly -he broke off his protests. Quickly crossing the chamber, he opened the -door and summoned the centurion. "You have heard my wife's words?" he -asked, as he closed the door behind them. - -"I've heard excited words," Longinus replied cautiously. "I didn't get -the full import of them, though." - -"Claudia has been hurling accusations at me. She said she hoped you -would report me to the Prefect when you go to...." He paused, and both -his face and voice revealed his fear. "The message was from Rome, wasn't -it? From Sejanus? He asked you to report to him on the situation out -here, how I'm administering...?" - -"He asked me to come at once to Rome, but he said only that it was to -meet with him on a matter of utmost concern, the nature of which he did -not indicate. Here, Excellency"--he handed the letter to the -Procurator--"you may read it yourself." - -Eagerly the Procurator accepted the message. His forehead creased as he -studied it. "True," he said, handing it back to Longinus, "there's no -mention in it of the Procurator. But surely the Prefect will ask you how -I'm administering affairs. I beg of you, Centurion, don't give him an -unfavorable report; don't make any charges against...." - -"What of the Galilean you've just crucified?" Claudia interrupted. "Can -you contend that you even thought you were acting justly? Didn't you -just tell me you found no fault in the man? What else could Longinus -tell the Prefect concerning your trial...?" - -"But the centurion will say nothing of this Galilean, surely." The trace -of a sickly smile flickered across his round face. "The centurion will -remember that it was _he_ who crucified the man." - -"Yes, I shall never forget that I killed him," Longinus said. "And I -suspect that to the end of his days the Procurator, too, will remember -the part he played in this horrible thing. But if this Galilean's case -comes to the Prefect's attention and he inquires of me about it, I shall -reveal fully what happened, and why I was involved." - -"But surely, Centurion, unless you report it, Sejanus will never know -about it. Caiaphas is pleased. The illiterate, poor followers of the -Galilean didn't even attempt to aid him at the trial; their protests, if -they offer any, can never reach as far as Rome. I beg of you, Longinus, -make no mention of it to the Prefect. The Galilean is dead; soon he'll -be forgotten." - -"No!" Claudia protested. "I'll never forget him! Longinus will never -forget him! Nor will _you_! Look at your hands, Pilate. Soon you will be -seeing them as I saw them, cold, clammy, scurrying to hide themselves -under the rocks, foul and evil and reeking with _his_ blood! By all the -gods, Pilate"--her voice was shrill in newly mounting anger--"if -Longinus doesn't tell the Prefect of your cowardly flouting of Roman -justice, _I_ will!" - -The Procurator's face blanched. He started to speak, then swallowed. -"Claudia, my dear, you wouldn't. Surely you wouldn't be so...." - -"Indeed, I would! I have lost all patience with you, Pilate. Today I've -seen you as I've never seen you before. You're a small man, Procurator, -vain, self-seeking, pompous, and yet a sniveling coward too fearful for -his own skin to rule justly. And at the first opportunity I shall so -describe you to the Prefect ... and perhaps to the Emperor." - -"No, my dear! No! Please...." His panic changed quickly into abject -pleading. "Please don't, my dear. Why should you wish to ruin me? What -would it gain you ... and Longinus?" He sat down wearily behind his -desk. "Why can't we continue as we have been ..." he paused, "enduring -this trying land and these troublesome people? Centurion"--he faced -Longinus--"for a long time I have suspected, and known, the ... -situation. But haven't I been understanding, even co-operative?" The -suggestion of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "Why, then, -cannot the three of us, understanding this and appreciating it, just -continue to play the roles as we have been? Why can't we...?" - -"Oh, by great Ceres!" Claudia shouted angrily, "you are indeed a -crawling worm! You _invite_ another man to your wife's bed! You pander! -You're nothing but a procurer, a Spanish pimp! Gods, but I detest you!" -Turning, she strode to the door and opened it. "Summon my sedan-chair -bearers," she ordered the attendant, "and quickly!" Then she wheeled -about to face the Procurator again. "I'm going back to the palace. I -cannot summon the patience to remain longer in your presence. It would -please me greatly if I should never lay eyes on you again!" She stormed -through the doorway; the door slammed behind her. - -Pilate sat unmoving and stared stonily into space. - -"A moment ago, Excellency," Longinus ventured, "you directed me to -return to the Hill of the Skull. The Jewish Sabbath is fast nearing. -Perhaps I should go now." - -Without raising his eyes, Pontius Pilate nodded. Longinus crossed the -darkening chamber and went out. After a while the Procurator stood up -and walked to the window. Out beyond Antonia's front square and the -squat stone structures flanking it, on a wretched knoll beyond the -city's wall, the three crosses still lifted their quiet burdens into the -waning light. But already the shadow of the wall was groping for the -pinioned feet of the man on the middle cross. For a long moment Pilate -stood rooted before the window; when the shadow had climbed to engulf -the man's sagging knees, he turned slowly away and sat again in his big -chair. As the gloom thickened in the great chamber, the staring -Procurator leaned slowly forward to cross his arms on the desk and, -bending over, cradled his round head on their crossing. - - - - - 55 - - -Late in the afternoon of the Jews' Sabbath the Procurator Pontius Pilate -stood face to face once again with the High Priest Joseph Caiaphas. - -"My visit to you, Excellency, and the petition I bring," he began, -"concern that impostor and revolutionary you crucified yesterday, the -one who was seeking to establish himself upon the restored throne of -Israel." - -"But the man is dead and buried," Pilate spoke up irritably. "Can't you -let him lie quietly in his tomb? Can't you understand that I wish to -have no further mention made to me of that Galilean?" - -"Indeed I do understand, Excellency. That's exactly what we also wish, -to allow him to lie quietly and undisturbed until his body rots and his -name is forgotten." He leaned forward, and his black eyes lighted with -new fires. "But, Excellency, as you may have been told, that blasphemer -was heard to declare that he would destroy our Temple and in three days -with his own hands rebuild it. Now some of his deluded followers are -saying that he wasn't speaking of the Temple yonder"--he nodded in the -direction of the great structure--"but rather of his own physical body. -They interpret his words as meaning that he would of his own accord give -his life and then on the third day claim it again and walk forth from -his tomb. Of course, Excellency, we know that the fellow is dead and -will never rise again"--with the tip of his tongue he licked his thin -red lips--"but many naive ones may be deluded into believing that he -really did possess power to call back his life. Even today a report has -reached us that certain of his followers are planning in the nighttime -to visit the tomb and steal away the body. Then with the tomb empty on -the morrow, which will be the third day since he died, they can publish -abroad the tidings that the blasphemer really did arise as he had -declared he would do." - -"But how am I concerned in this nonsense?" Pilate was plainly annoyed. -"What do you want me to do?" - -"We would have you set a guard over the fellow's tomb, Excellency, to -see that no one steals away the body." - -"What's this but children's prattle? Surely no one would seriously -expect a dead man to walk from his tomb." Slowly Pilate's scowl gave way -to a mocking half-smile. "What would the High Priest do if the Galilean -_did_ rise? _You_ contrived his crucifixion." - -"But what, Excellency, would the Procurator do? _You crucified_ him." - -Pilate was not amused by the High Priest's retort. "Maybe it's as well," -he observed, "that neither of us will be so tested." For a moment he was -silent, looking away. Then he turned back to face Caiaphas. "You have -your Temple guards. Can't you use some of them to guard that tomb?" - -"But, Excellency, with the great surge of Passover pilgrims still in the -Temple courts and about the cattle stalls and the money changers' -tables, our guards are all greatly needed. And, more important, your -placing a guard would lend greater prestige...." - -"The Antonia garrison is just as busy," Pilate interrupted, "and many of -our soldiers are leaving Jerusalem. Maybe, though, I can arrange yet -again to humor the High Priest." He beckoned to an aide. "Summon the -fortress commander." - -"Are there any centurions available for a special assignment beginning -at once and continuing into tomorrow?" he asked, when a few moments -later the officer appeared. - -"Centurion Longinus, sir, is...." - -"No, by all the gods!" - -"The only other one not assigned at the present is Centurion Cornelius. -He's preparing to return his...." - -"Then call Cornelius in and instruct him to select from his century a -sufficient detail and mount a guard at the tomb of the Galilean"--he -paused and looked unsmiling toward the High Priest--"rather, the 'King -of the Jews,' to see that it is not disturbed." - -Caiaphas smiled grimly but made no comment. - -"Now, O High Priest, you will have your guard, though I consider a guard -unnecessary. Once again your will has prevailed." He bowed, and his -smile was cold. "I trust your sleep tonight will be peaceful." - - - - - 56 - - -It was within two hours of midnight after the Jewish Sabbath, which by -Hebrew reckoning ended at sundown, when Longinus came to the Palace of -the Herods. Claudia was already in her nightdress and prepared for bed. -"Aren't you going to spend the night?" she asked eagerly, after he -loosened her from their warm embrace. - -"With your permission," he said, grinning wryly. "I have your husband's, -remember." - -"Please, let's not talk of him." Her expression sobered. "Did I speak -too frankly yesterday, Longinus? Did I reveal too much to him ... about -us, I mean? Is that why you didn't come last night? You were annoyed -with me?" - -"You really spoke your feelings, didn't you? But I wasn't annoyed with -you," he said. "In fact, I'm glad you spoke up. And I suspect he was not -surprised at what you told him, only that you would say it, and with -such fury." She had sat down on the side of her bed. He seated himself -beside her and bent over to unfasten his sandals. Then he straightened -and faced her. "Claudia, I was too depressed last night to be good -company." He shook his head slowly. "I've never been in lower spirits." - -"Because of the Galilean?" - -"Yes. Because of what I had done. It felt like a crushing load on my -back. I couldn't get out from under it." He stood up, and laid his tunic -across a chair. "After I left you and Pilate, I went back out to the -crosses and helped get him down, taking care to see that in pulling the -nails out we didn't tear or further bruise the flesh"--he paused in his -narration, and his low laugh was hollow, mirthless--"after I had seen -the nails driven through the living flesh and had plunged my lance into -his side. Then we put him in the rich Jew's tomb; they had bound the -body the way the Jews prepare their dead for burial, although they -didn't have time to anoint it with aromatic spices as they customarily -do...." - -"They are going to do that tomorrow," Claudia interrupted him. "Tullia -has gone out to Bethany to go with Mary of Magdala and Chuza's wife -Joanna and some other followers of the Galilean early in the morning to -the tomb to finish the burial rites." She paused. "But I interrupted -your story. What did you do when you had finished out there?" - -"I came back to Antonia and sat for a long time on the balcony looking -out over the Temple courts. Then I went to bed and tried to get some -sleep, but I couldn't, no matter how I tried. Every time I closed my -eyes I saw that man ... the death march out to the hill, nailing him -down, lifting him to the upright...." He cupped his palm across his -eyes. "By the gods, Claudia, it was terrible, frightening. And his -crying out to his god to forgive us." His hand dropped listlessly to his -side. "Well, I finally gave up and walked out along the balcony again, -and then I went to see Cornelius. He was troubled, too. He hadn't gone -to bed. We sat and talked, mostly about that man, until daylight." - -"Did you come to any conclusion ... about him, I mean?" - -"Well, no, I suppose not, except that it was a monstrous crime to -crucify such a man, though Cornelius still held to the idea that the -Galilean probably was a god of some sort, that he had supernatural -powers, even the ability to heal people--he insisted that he had healed -his little Lucian--maybe to raise dead people to life. Cornelius even -said he thought it was possible that the Galilean might come to life -himself, as some of his followers say he will, and walk out of that -tomb." He was silent for a moment. "If he does," he added after awhile, -"he'll have to move a tremendous stone from the mouth of the tomb ... -and _from the inside_." He sat down again beside her. "And under the -noses of the guards, too." - -"The guards?" - -"Yes. At the insistence of the High Priest, Pilate has set a guard at -the tomb to prevent the Galilean's followers from stealing the body and -claiming that he actually did come to life. The Procurator put Cornelius -in charge, and I went out there with him; in fact, I've just come from -there. Cornelius is going to stay until daylight." - -"Then Pilate is still trying to appease the High Priest, even after all -I said to him yesterday?" - -"Evidently. The Procurator isn't likely to change his ways." - -"Maybe I was rash yesterday in losing my temper and speaking with such -boldness, but I've come to have such contempt for him, to loathe him so. -Oh, Longinus"--she clutched his arm in both hands and clung to him--"how -can I stay with him longer in this dreary land? Please take me with you -to Rome. Hasn't the time come...?" - -"That's why I'm here, Claudia." Then his serious expression softened, -and his eyes teased. "And because it's my last night." - -"Must you be leaving tomorrow?" - -"Yes. I'm going with Cornelius as far as Tiberias. From there I'll go -across to Ptolemais and get a ship for Rome. Cornelius is providing me -an escort to the coast. I'll have to get the first ship leaving that -port for the capital. But I had to see you before I left. Claudia"--in -the subdued light of the bedchamber the gentle flame of the wall lamp -was mirrored in his eyes as he looked deeply into hers--"it may be that -a way of escape is about to open for us. By all the gods, it's strange, -and distressing, too, but the death of the Galilean may actually save -us." - -"You mean that Pilate in condemning the Galilean may have condemned -himself?" - -"I believe he has ... in one way or another. And I think he has given -you a means of freeing yourself." He paused. "You're sure no one can -hear us?" - -She nodded. But he went to the door anyway, listened with his ear to the -panel, and tried the bolt. - -"This is dangerous, Claudia," he said, as he sat down again. "You -mustn't breathe a word of it to anybody, not even Tullia. It could get -us both killed." He lowered his voice. "That message I had yesterday. It -brought startling news. I purposely showed it to Pilate, but of course -he had no idea what it was saying. But I did. That 'matter of utmost -concern' was the Prefect's way of notifying me that now he's finally -ready to proceed with his scheme and wants me in Rome when he makes his -move." - -"But this new scheme? What...?" - -"It's not a new one, Claudia. He gave me a broad hint concerning his -plans the last time I was home; he said that when I got a message so -worded it would mean he was ready to proceed with the final step." He -leaned close to her. "Claudia, Sejanus is plotting _to have the Emperor -assassinated_; he is bidding for the throne." - -"But surely"--her face had paled--"he doesn't mean for you to ..." - -"Oh, no, not that. Some palace servant out at Capri will probably attend -to that. But he wants me in Rome when it's done so that I can help rally -his supporters at the crucial moment and make him Emperor." - -"But even if Sejanus should become Emperor, how would that help us?" - -"I would be much closer to him than I am now, one of his advisors," the -centurion replied. "I'm sure I could poison him against Pilate, and -justly. This case of the Galilean will be just one more example of his -unfitness to administer Roman government. His failure to conciliate, his -forever keeping Judaea in a stir...." - -"But, Longinus"--her face revealed sudden apprehension, fear--"what if -the Emperor's supporters should discover the Prefect's plotting and kill -_him_ before he could have the Emperor killed?" - -"Then I would have been on the Emperor's side." Longinus smiled -reassuringly and patted the back of her hand on his arm. "Don't worry -about me; I'll not let myself get trapped. And soon now, either way the -dice fall, we'll be the winners." He stood up and quickly lifted her to -her feet. Leaning over, he pulled down the light coverlet. "But for now, -my dearest," he said, as he gently pushed her down and lifted her legs -to the bed, "let's forget them all; let's make what's left of it _our_ -night." - - - - - 57 - - -Once more she felt herself floating upward in a dark morass of confused -and tangled dreaming. Then as she seemed to burst through the heavy -waters to the surface and a sudden effulgent light, she sat up, eyes -blinking and sleep drained from her. - -The knocking and calling were restrained but insistent from Tullia's -side of the door. "Mistress! Oh, Mistress! Mistress!" - -She sprang from the bed. "Just a moment, little one, until I can draw -back the bolt." The movement and her exclamation awakened Longinus; -precipitately he sat up in bed. "Tullia's returned," she explained to -him, as he blinked sleepily. She opened the door. "Bona Dea, you're -breathless," she said to the girl. "What's happened, by great Ceres?" - -"I've run all the way from the Hasmonean Palace where I left Joanna...." -She paused, breathing hard. "Mistress"--her face flamed with new -excitement--"Jesus is _alive_! He's come from the tomb alive! He did it, -Mistress! He really did it!" - -"Sit down, Tullia," she said calmly. "You're excited, little one. Calm -yourself. Longinus told me that the Galilean was not in a trance; he -said he knew he was dead; he said...." - -"He was dead, Mistress, I know. But _now_ he's alive again! He's -_alive_, Mistress, _alive_!" - -Claudia shook her head dubiously. "I don't doubt that you think so, but -when a man's dead...." She paused. "And you've been under such tension, -so troubled...." - -"But I'm no longer troubled, Mistress," Tullia said calmly. "Nor have I -lost my reason. He _is_ alive. Mary of Magdala talked with him at the -tomb. We've just come from there, Mistress." - -"But where were Cornelius and his soldiers? Surely they didn't all go to -sleep and let the Galilean's friends...." - -"They had gone," the maid answered. "But nobody stole the body, -Mistress. Jesus walked away. He told Mary to tell those of his company -that he would meet them down in Galilee." - -"Then Cornelius and his guards weren't at the tomb when the Galilean -walked from it, Tullia?" Longinus, adjusting his tunic, came through the -doorway. - -"Oh, no, Centurion, I meant they were gone when we got there. But they -had left only a few minutes before. In fact, we met them coming in -through the city gate as we were going out. I recognized Centurion -Cornelius, although I don't think he noticed me. He seemed greatly -disturbed." - -"Then, by the gods, Claudia, I must go find him. This is amazing. -Tullia, by great Jupiter, do you know what you're saying? Do you realize -that you are saying a dead man....?" - -His question was interrupted by a knocking on the corridor door. Quickly -Tullia opened it. A palace servant announced that Centurion Cornelius -was trying to find Centurion Longinus. - -"Tell him to come in," Claudia had overheard. "The Centurion Longinus is -here." - -"I've been trying since daylight to locate you, Longinus," he reported. -"I went to your quarters, but I should have known...." He didn't finish -the observation. "Something very strange has happened. The Galilean -disappeared from his tomb." - -"So Tullia has just told us," Longinus said. "She contends that he came -to life and simply walked out." His eyes narrowed. "By the gods, -Cornelius, did your guards go to sleep and allow his friends to slip in -and...?" - -"No, Longinus, we weren't asleep." He shook his head slowly. "Nobody was -asleep. I can't understand it. I had stationed my men so that no one -could slip past us to get to the tomb. And that heavy stone ... -Longinus, it had to be rolled uphill on its track, and that requires the -hard work of at least two or three strong men." His forehead wrinkled in -a puzzled frown. - -"Well, then," Longinus pursued, "what _did_ happen?" - -"That's what I don't know. Nothing happened. At least, I saw and heard -nothing. I asked the men later if any of them had, and they all -insisted, to a man, that they hadn't heard a sound or seen anything the -least bit unusual. Only a moment before I had checked the tomb's mouth. -The seal hadn't been disturbed. And there was a dim light from a little -fire we had kindled earlier to keep off the night chill; it had burned -down, but there was still a light on the stone at the mouth. In fact, -that's how we noticed...." - -"The Galilean?" - -"Oh, no, we didn't see him. But one moment the stone was in place, and -the next ... well, I looked over there, and it had been rolled up the -track and the mouth was wide-open." - -"What did you do then?" - -"I lighted a torch from the smoldering fire and investigated. The -Galilean was gone, disappeared. The linen strips with which the body had -been wrapped were lying there, still in folds but collapsed, just as -though the body they had been enfolding had melted away." He shook his -head, gestured with palms up. "Longinus, I can't figure it any other -way." - -"You mean you actually believe he returned to life?" - -"What else can I believe?" - -"But what about the stone? How could he have rolled it back?" - -"If he had the power to call back his life," Cornelius said, "rolling -away the stone would surely have been no problem." - -"But, Cornelius," Claudia interposed, "Tullia, too, has just come from -the tomb. She was there with Mary of Magdala and Joanna and some other -followers of the Galilean." - -"I didn't see them...." - -"They got there just after you left. They saw you at the city gate as -you were coming away, she said. But Mary of Magdala saw the Galilean and -talked with him." She shrugged. "Or at any rate that's what she told -Tullia." - -The centurion's amazement was not feigned. "Then where did he go? Where -is he now?" - -"According to Tullia, he told Mary that he was going down to Galilee. He -said he would meet his band there." - -"Then we may come upon him somewhere, beside the sea with the fishermen -or maybe in Capernaum." - -"But, Cornelius"--Claudia's expression betrayed a sudden -apprehension--"how would he receive Longinus?" - -"In a spirit of forgiveness, I hope ... and believe. It was really not -Longinus who did it. The guilt was Herod's and Pilate's ... and, of -course, even more, the High Priest's." - -"Cornelius, does Pilate know ... about the empty tomb, I mean?" - -"Yes, Claudia. I reported to him first, before I started to look for -Longinus. He was still in his bedchamber." - -"What did he say? How did he act?" - -"At first he was angry; he charged that the guards had gone to sleep, -said the High Priest would be greatly agitated, and threatened to punish -us severely. But when I stood my ground and insisted that no one had -stolen the body, he began to show concern, and when I left him he was -thoroughly frightened." He turned to Longinus. "That's why I want to get -started as quickly as possible for Tiberias, before Pilate orders my -century to remain in Jerusalem to help protect him from the Galilean. -Can you be ready to start by midday?" - -Longinus nodded. "Yes. I'm already packed. All I have to do is pick up -my bags at Antonia." - - - - - 58 - - -When Cornelius left the Palace of the Herods, Claudia and Longinus -walked out into the garden and sat on the stone bench before the -fountain. Already the sun was high in the cloudless heavens and the air -was growing warm. Birds chattered in the trees and shrubs, and as they -watched the spurting water, two small conies skittered across a circle -of sunlight to dark safety beneath a heavily leaved fig bush. - -"A glorious day." - -"Yes." He tossed a twig toward the fountain. "You know, Claudia"--he was -looking, she saw, at some invisible point beyond the trembling column of -water--"a hundred years from now the world may still remember this day, -if...." - -"If the Galilean really has come to life?" she finished softly. "What do -you think about it, Longinus? Cornelius and Tullia seemed so certain he -has." - -The centurion shook his head slowly, his eyes still on the lifting and -falling water. "I don't know what to think. But"--he turned to face her, -and his forehead was furrowed in concentration--"how else can you -explain it? The guards awake, the heavy stone sealing the tomb. By all -the gods...." - -"Are you afraid then?" - -For a long moment he was silent. "No," he answered finally, "I'm not -afraid. But I'm ... I'm ashamed, Claudia; I'm ashamed for myself, -Pilate, Herod, the contemptible High Priest, my quaternion, everybody -who had anything at all to do with this terrible thing. If indeed he did -come back to life, I hope I may see him in Galilee and beg his -forgiveness." - -"But what about Pilate? Do you think the Galilean will seek vengeance on -him? And on the High Priest, and even Antipas?" - -"Up there on the hill as we were nailing him to the crossbeam, that man -prayed to his god to forgive us ... to forgive us, Claudia. Didn't he -mean _all_ his enemies?" Longinus stood up and walked to the fountain; -he held his palm against the upshooting column. "A few days ago I was -scoffing at him and even at the very idea of gods, any god, or spirit -being, or whatever you may call it"--he smiled glumly--"and so were you, -my dear. But since day before yesterday"--he shrugged--"and this -morning, well, I'm ... I'm changed. You know, I've been thinking about -what Cornelius' old Greek tutor taught and how it might fit in with the -Jews' notion of their Yahweh. And now, if the Galilean really has taken -on life again--and I _know_ he was _dead_ when we took him down--it may -be that he really was ... is ... a physical, tangible manifestation of -this all-wise and all-powerful spirit...." Abruptly he broke off. "Oh, I -don't know, Claudia, it's too deep for me. But I do know"--his smile was -warm--"if there's ever another testing, I'll be on _his_ side then." - -He strode over to the bench and helped her to her feet, and they -returned to her apartment where no other eyes could invade the privacy -of their last moments together. - -"Has this morning changed things for us, beloved?" she asked, as they -sat on her couch. "Your plans, in Rome, I mean, do you still intend to -do what you were telling me last night?" - -"Of course, my dearest. And it won't be long before we'll have a new -Emperor _or_ a new Prefect. And in either case there'll be a new -Procurator in Judaea and"--he smiled playfully--"a new husband for the -present Procurator's wife. It's even possible," he added with a studied -air, "that the present Procurator's wife will be the wife of the new -Procurator." - -"But, Longinus, you wouldn't want to be Procurator in this dreary -province...." - -"No," he broke in, "but if the present Procurator's wife went with the -assignment"--he shrugged--"I believe I could endure it." Then he was -serious. "Before the summer is ended, Claudia, I firmly believe that -Tiberius or Sejanus will be dead--and little I care which--or both of -them even, and there'll be a new regime at Rome. By then, and maybe -earlier, Pilate will have been banished to Gaul or Britannia or some -other remote province, and you and I will be together ... maybe living -out at Baiae." - -"Oh, Longinus, I hope so, I do hope so." She clung to him tightly, for -in a few minutes, she knew, he would be leaving her to join Cornelius -for the journey down into Galilee. "Already it has been so long, and I -am utterly weary of waiting. May the beneficent gods grant you swift -sailing and an early safe return." - -With an arm about her waist he lifted her to her toes. "But there are no -gods, remember?" Teasingly, he pushed her chin until her eager lips -parted, and then hungrily he bent once again to savor them. - - - - - 59 - - -Longinus and the orderly carrying his luggage had almost reached the -foot of the Antonia stairway when a soldier came hurrying down the steps -behind them. The Procurator Pontius Pilate, the soldier announced, -wished to speak immediately with the centurion. - -"Take the bags to the pack train," Longinus instructed his man, "and -tell Centurion Cornelius I'll be there as quickly as the Procurator -dismisses me." Then he went at once to the Procurator's chamber. - -Pontius Pilate was standing before the window, staring in the direction -of the forlorn and frightful Hill of the Skull. When he heard the -centurion, he turned quickly and advanced toward the center of the -chamber. "Have a seat, Centurion," he said, as he pointed to a chair -across the desk from his own. "I'll detain you only a moment." His round -face lighted with an unctuous smile as he sat down heavily. "You'll soon -be leaving Jerusalem, no doubt?" - -"Yes, Excellency. I was on my way, in fact, when your aide overtook me." - -"It occurred to me, though I haven't seen her since we three were here -two days ago, that Lady Claudia might like to ride with you as far as -Caesarea. She is weary of Jerusalem, I know, but I'll not be able to -leave here for several days. And at Caesarea you two could enjoy one -another's company until your ship sails for Rome." - -"But I'm not going to Caesarea, Excellency. I'm going to accompany -Centurion Cornelius down into Galilee, and from there I'll cross to -Ptolemais and get a vessel for Rome." - -"Oh. Well, then, yes." Pilate's honeyed smile vanished, and he licked -his lips. "I thought you two would welcome an opportunity...." But he -did not pursue the thought further. He leaned forward, elbows on desk. -"Centurion, this 'matter of utmost concern' that takes you to Rome, I -wonder if...." - -"You read the Prefect's message," Longinus said, when the Procurator -paused. "And of course, Excellency, I've had no further communication -from him." - -"The Prefect must be calling you to Rome to discuss the situation out -here, Longinus. It would hardly be anything in Rome that he's concerned -about, because you wouldn't be familiar with affairs there. I've been -trying to think what it could be that commands his attention here." -Pilate's expression was grim now, his shallow suavity gone. "It must be -that he's dissatisfied with my governing, or even"--he swallowed, and -his face was somber--"that he's planning to remove me as Procurator and -extend Herod's domain to include Judaea, with that incompetent weasel as -king over the entire realm his father ruled." He paused, his expression -questioning. "Herodias' scheming, I'll wager." - -"I can't say, Excellency"--Longinus shook his head--"what the Prefect -may be planning for any of us." - -"Us? By all the gods, Longinus, I hadn't thought that his plans might -concern you, too!" His expression suddenly brightened. "Why, that's it, -great Jupiter, that would solve the dilemma!" - -"But, Excellency, I don't...." - -"I beg you then, Centurion, in your report to the Prefect to deal -charitably...." - -"But, what....?" - -"Petition him to transfer me, with comparable position and emoluments, -to some other post, Gaul, Spain, Alexandria maybe, even Rome, and name -you Procurator of Judaea, Longinus." The unctuous smile, patently -contrived, momentarily relieved his grimness. "And then, though the -Prefect and the Emperor might not permit Lady Claudia to go with me to a -new post, particularly if it should be at Rome or near the capital, I'm -sure they would permit her to divorce me and marry you." - -"But the day the Galilean died"--the discipline of long training kept -Longinus' tone level, even though his fist ached to be smashed against -the stupidly grinning round face--"you appeared to be most anxious to -retain your post here." - -The mere mention of the Galilean made violence unnecessary; the -Procurator's mask of laughter was instantly ripped away, and the terror -beneath it now lay exposed. "Yes, Centurion," he began, "but since then -I ... I...." He threw out both hands as if in desperation. "I've had no -peace! It's these insufferable Jews, Centurion. And the arrogant, -demanding, conniving High Priest, may the great Pluto grill him to -cinders! I must get away from these Jews before they drive me mad, -Longinus." He stood up and glanced toward the window, then shuddered and -quickly turned away. "That Galilean, the one you crucified...." - -"The one you condemned to the cross, Excellency." - -"Yes, the one _I_ condemned." Pilate seemed suddenly very weary. "I -thought I'd purchase immunity by involving you. But I was thinking of -the High Priest on the one hand and the Prefect on the other. I never -thought of _him_. And now, now I can't get away from him. I can't sleep, -Centurion. He's always there between me and sleep, his calm face -confronting me, his dark eyes studying me. It's as though _he_ were -trying _me_! I ... I can't get away from him, Longinus. He'll haunt me -as long as I remain in this abominable province." He leaned on the desk -with fists clenched. "Nor will they let him lie in his tomb and be -forgotten. Have you heard the foolish rumor"--his eyes narrowed as he -hesitated, and then he leaned nearer the centurion--"that the Galilean -has walked from his tomb and is on his way to Galilee?" - -"Yes, Excellency, Cornelius told me the man had disappeared under the -noses of his guardsmen." - -"So he told me. But of course the guards were asleep. And since -Cornelius reported the man's disappearance, I've been told some of the -guards were bribed by Caiaphas--Pluto take him--to say that they -permitted certain of his followers to steal the body to make it appear -that he had come to life, as they claimed he would." He shook his -forefinger to emphasize his venom. "That arrogant Jew never relents in -his efforts to embarrass me and undermine my administration of Judaea's -government." - -"But, Excellency, the body _wasn't stolen_. Cornelius assured me they -were all wide-awake. And there was that heavy stone sealing the -mouth...." - -"By great Jupiter, Longinus"--Pilate sank to his chair, and his eyes -were incredulous--"surely you don't believe he had supernatural power to -restore himself to life and roll back the stone?" He sat back; his eyes -were fixed unseeing, it seemed, on the wall beyond and above the -centurion's head. "He said that his kingdom was not of this world. He -said that were he to command it, a host of his followers"--he paused, -and his eyes, intent and fearful, sought the centurion's--"unearthly -followers, Longinus, spirits, demons...." Quickly he leaned forward. -"Could he have been in a trance after all? Could you have failed to take -his life?" - -"He was dead, Procurator; I assure you he was dead when we put him in -the tomb." Longinus leaned nearer his questioner. "But we didn't _take_ -his life. When he was ready to die, he _surrendered_ it." - -"Centurion, do you realize what you're saying?" A sickly smile played at -the corners of his mouth, and his usually florid face was the shade of -ashes. He braced his hands, palms down, on the desk's gleaming surface. -"By great Jupiter, Longinus, do you believe the Galilean really did -return to life, that he's _alive now_?" - -"Excellency"--Longinus looked the Procurator straight in the eyes--"what -other explanation could I offer?" - -Pilate opened his mouth, but no answer came. Instead, with the tip of -his thick tongue he circled his dry lips, and a heavy sigh stirred his -ponderous frame. "I should have had the courage to resist the High -Priest and release the man," he observed, more to himself than to the -centurion across the desk from him. "But I condemned him. Then I tried -to cleanse these hands"--he turned them over and, palms up, studied -them--"of his guiltless blood. I _could_ have freed him." He glanced -toward the window but quickly turned back to face Longinus. "Centurion, -do you suppose"--perspiration was beading on the Procurator's plainly -frightened face--"he will be coming back soon from Galilee ... to -Jerusalem, the Temple, to _Antonia_? By great Jupiter, Longinus"--he did -not pause for the centurion's reply--"help me escape him! Urge the -Prefect to transfer me, send me to some post across the world from this -frightful Judaea, to Gaul, Germania, even, by the gods, to Britannia!" -His eyes were wild, his hands on the desk were shaking, and he clenched -them into white-knuckled fists. "Tell him to give you Claudia; she's -been yours anyway all along." He attempted a feeble smile. "But I ... I -mustn't keep you. Centurion Cornelius will be awaiting you, Longinus. -Go, and the gods give you good winds." His voice had calmed. "And I beg -you, Centurion, say a good word to the Prefect." - -Longinus nodded and quietly left the chamber. As the door closed gently -behind him, Pilate sat motionless, frozen in his chair. But some moments -later, hearing the commotion in the courtyard below, he went to the -window and watched the century, with Cornelius and Longinus leading the -column and the pack animals at the rear, until it disappeared around the -bend of the narrow street. Then as he raised his eyes from the -cobblestones to the huddled houses beyond the Damascus Gate, a sudden -sharp glint of sunshine was reflected to them from a white-painted -titulus board nailed to a heavy timber thrusting upward from a forlorn -scarred mound on the other side of the city wall. - -"No! No!" Pilate whirled about hands before his eyes as though the flash -of sunlight had blinded him. "Flavius! Flavius!" - -The startled attendant rushed in. "Yes, Excellency?" he asked. - -"Go find the commander of Antonia and tell him I want every cross -upright out there on the Hill of the Skull pulled down, and by great -Jupiter, I want it done now!" Breathing heavily, Pilate sat again at his -desk. "Wait. Before you go, draw those draperies. I'm sick of the -sight." Flavius went to the window and busied himself with the curtains, -but when he had pulled one, he discovered that he could not draw the -other all the way until the bronze stand and wine-colored vase on it had -been moved. Quickly he shifted them to the western window a few paces -away and almost directly behind the Procurator. - -As he did so he saw that the sun shining through the vase shot straight -outward from the delicate glass a band of red light that crossed the -floor, climbed the back of Pilate's chair, and went obliquely over his -shoulder to split evenly the polished surface of the desk. Flavius -turned back to the first window and pulled the curtains together, so -that not even a sliver of sunshine came through. Then he came around in -front of the Procurator. But Pilate said nothing, and Flavius withdrew -quietly, closing the door behind him. - -The Procurator leaned back in his chair; his arms were folded across his -middle, and his eyes appeared fixed upon a spot above the door. But -Pilate was not seeing the ornate panels; his eyes were being held -instead in the calm and untroubled gaze of another pair of eyes.... - -Suddenly he shook his head, vigorously, as though to rid himself of this -haunting vision. "What's this?" he said aloud. "The man's dead. Of -course the guards dozed. Gods-come-to-earth, spirits, demons. Woman -dreaming. Jewish fanaticism. Bah! Cornelius and Longinus wished to -confuse and frighten me." - -_... Even if he did walk from the tomb, he can cross no seas to haunt me -with pitying sad eyes. In Gaul or Germania, anywhere but in this -despicable land, I'll be free of him. I'll have escaped him. By great -Jupiter, I, afraid of a Galilean carpenter. Imagine, I, a Roman soldier, -I, by the gods, Procurator of Judaea...._ - -"I'll have an end to this foolishness, this child's business," he said -loudly. He sat up straight. "The other day I washed my hands of that -man's death. Today, this moment, I wash them of _him_, his circlet of -thorns, his slashed back, his searching eyes, his blood, by the gods of -Rome. I'm free of him, do you hear?" - -_... And I'm not afraid to look through that window at his hill of -death...._ - -"Flavius!" he shouted. "Come draw aside the draperies. I want to see -outside." - -He lifted his hands to the desk and, leaning forward, began to rise. - -_... By great Jupiter, I'll go look out the window now. I've purged -myself of the Galilean; I've washed my hands of that man...._ - -He glanced downward. - -Flavius, entering the chamber in response to Pilate's summons, halted -abruptly. Procurator Pontius Pilate, ruler of Judaea, his eyes wide with -terror, stood rigid in his tracks, staring at his hands. - -From wrists to fingertips, in the fiery beam from the window, they -flamed a gory crimson. - -[Illustration: Ever since the publication of his best-selling novels, -_Bold Galilean_ and _The Tree of Judas_, the name of LeGette Blythe has -been synonymous with the finest in historical fiction. Hear Me, Pilate! -demonstrates once again his amazing ability to recreate scenes from the -past with drama and authenticity. Mr. Blythe is a graduate of the -University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is married, and has three -children.] - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original--this e-text is public - domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - ---In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Hear Me, Pilate!, by William LeGette Blythe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEAR ME, PILATE! *** - -***** This file should be named 52650-8.txt or 52650-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/6/5/52650/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Ron Box and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/52650-8.zip b/old/52650-8.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2840fd7..0000000 --- a/old/52650-8.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52650-h.zip b/old/52650-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 91ea88f..0000000 --- a/old/52650-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52650-h/52650-h.htm b/old/52650-h/52650-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 44001c9..0000000 --- a/old/52650-h/52650-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12141 +0,0 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> -<title>Hear Me, Pilate! by LeGette Blythe: a Project Gutenberg eBook</title> -<meta name="author" content="LeGette Blythe" /> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<link rel="schema.DC" href="http://dublincore.org/documents/1998/09/dces/" /> -<meta name="DC.Creator" content="LeGette Blythe" /> -<meta name="DC.Title" content="Hear Me, Pilate!" /> -<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> -<meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html" /> -<meta name="DC.Created" content="1961" /> -<meta name="pss.pubdate" content="1961" /> -<style type="text/css"> -large { font-size:125%; } -sc { font-variant:small-caps; font-style: normal; } - -/* == GLOBAL MARKUP == */ -body, table.twocol tr td { margin-left:2em; margin-right:2em; } /* BODY */ -.box { border-style:double; margin-bottom:2em; max-width:30em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-top:2em; clear:both; } -.box p { margin-right:1em; margin-left:1em; } -.box dl { margin-right:1em; margin-left:1em; } -h1, h5, h6, .titlepg p { text-align:center; clear:both; } /* HEADINGS */ -h2 { margin-top:1.5em; margin-bottom:1em; font-size:200%; text-align:center; clear:both; } -h1 { margin-top:3em; font-size:300%; } -div.box h1 { margin-top:1em; } -div.box h2 { margin-top:1em; } -h3 { margin-top:2.5em; text-align:center; font-size:150%; clear:both; } -h4, h5 { font-size:110%; text-align:center; clear:right; } -h6 { font-size:100%; } -h6.var { font-size:80%; font-style:normal; } -.titlepg { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; border-style:double; clear:both; } -span.chaptertitle { font-style:normal; display:block; text-align:center; font-size:150%; } -.tblttl { text-align:center; } -.tblsttl { text-align:center; font-variant:small-caps; } - -pre sub.ms { width:4em; letter-spacing:1em; } -table.fmla { text-align:center; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em; margin-left:0em; margin-right:0em; } -table.inline, table.symbol { display: inline-table; vertical-align: middle; } -td.cola { text-align:left; vertical-align:100%; } -td.colb { text-align:justify; } - -p, blockquote, div.p, div.bq { text-align:justify; } /* PARAGRAPHS */ -div.p, div.bq { margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; } -blockquote, .bq { margin-left:1em; margin-right:0em; } -.verse { font-size:100%; } -p.indent {text-indent:2em; text-align:left; } -p.tb, p.tbcenter, verse.tb, blockquote.tb { margin-top:2em; } - -span.pb, div.pb, dt.pb, p.pb /* PAGE BREAKS */ -{ text-align:right; float:right; margin-right:0em; clear:right; } -div.pb { display:inline; } -.pb, dl.index dt.pb, dl.toc dt.pb, dl.tocl dt.pb { text-align:right; float:right; margin-left: 1.5em; - margin-top:.5em; margin-bottom:.5em; display:inline; text-indent:0; - font-size:80%; font-style:normal; font-weight:bold; - color:gray; border:1px solid gray;padding:1px 3px; } -div.index .pb { display:block; } -.bq div.pb, .bq span.pb { font-size:90%; margin-right:2em; } - -div.img, body a img {text-align:center; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:2em; clear:right; } -img, body img { text-align:center; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; } - -sup, a.fn { font-size:75%; vertical-align:100%; line-height:50%; font-weight:normal; } - a.fnxx { text-decoration:none; border-style:solid; border-color:gray; border-width:1px; } -h3 a.fn { font-size:65%; } -h2 a.fn { font-size:50%; line-height:100%; } -sub { font-size:75%; } -.center, .tbcenter { text-align:center; clear:both; text-indent:0; } /* TEXTUAL MARKUP */ -span.center { display:block; } -table.center { clear:both; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } -table.center tr td.l {text-align:left; margin-left:0em; } -table.center tr td.t {text-align:left; text-indent:1em; } -table.center tr td.t2 {text-align:left; text-indent:2em; } -table.center tr td.r {text-align:right; } -table.center tr th {vertical-align:bottom; } -table.center tr td {vertical-align:top; } -table.inline, table.symbol { display: inline-table; vertical-align: middle; } - -p { clear:left; } -.small, .lsmall { font-size:90%; } -h2 .small { font-size:67%; } -.smaller { font-size:80%; } -.smallest { font-size:67%; } -.larger { font-size:150%; } -.large { font-size:125%; } -.xlarge { font-size:200%; line-height:60%; } -.xxlarge { font-size:200%; line-height:60%; } -.gs { letter-spacing:1em; } -.gs3 { letter-spacing:2em; } -.gslarge { letter-spacing:.3em; font-size:110%; } -.sc { font-variant:small-caps; font-style:normal; } -.unbold { font-weight:normal; } -.xo { position:relative; left:-.3em; } -.over, over { text-decoration: overline; display:inline; } -hr { width:20%; } -.jl { text-align:left; } -.jr { text-align:right; min-width:2em; display:block; margin-right:1em; } -.jr1 { text-align:right; margin-right:2em; } -h1 .jr { margin-right:.5em; } -.ind1 { text-align:left; margin-left:2em; } -.u { text-decoration:underline; } -.hst { margin-left:2em; } -.hst2 { margin-left:4em; } -.rubric { color:red; } -.cnwhite { color:white; background-color:black; min-width:2em; display:inline-block; - text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-family:sans-serif; } -.cwhite { color:white; background-color:black; text-align:center; font-weight:bold; - font-family:sans-serif; } -ul li { text-align:justify; } - -dd.t { text-align:left; margin-left: 5.5em; } -dl.toc { clear:both; margin-top:1em; } /* CONTENTS (.TOC) */ -.toc dt.center { text-align:center; clear:both; margin-top:3em; margin-bottom:1em;} -.toc dt { text-align:left; clear:both; clear:both; } -.toc dd { text-align:right; clear:both; } -.toc dd.ddt { text-align:right; clear:both; margin-left:4em; } -.toc dd.ddt2 { text-align:right; clear:both; margin-left:5em; } -.toc dd.ddt3 { text-align:right; clear:both; margin-left:6em; } -.toc dd.ddt4 { text-align:right; clear:both; margin-left:7em; } -.toc dd.ddt5 { text-align:right; clear:both; margin-left:8em; } -.toc dd.note { text-align:justify; clear:both; margin-left:5em; text-indent:-1em; margin-right:3em; } -.toc dt .xxxtest {width:17em; display:block; position:relative; left:4em; } -.toc dt a, -.toc dd a, -.toc dt span.left, -.toc dt span.lsmall, -.toc dd span.left { text-align:left; clear:right; float:left; } -.toc dt a span.cn { width:2.3em; text-align:right; margin-right:.7em; float:left; } -.toc dt.sc { text-align:right; clear:both; } -.toc dt.scl { text-align:left; clear:both; font-variant:small-caps; } -.toc dt.sct { text-align:right; clear:both; font-variant:small-caps; margin-left:1em; } -.toc dt.jl { text-align:justify; clear:both; font-variant:normal; margin-left:3em; - margin-right:3em; text-indent:0em; margin-top:0; } -.toc dt.scc { text-align:center; clear:both; font-variant:small-caps; } -.toc dt span.lj { text-align:left; display:block; float:left; } -.toc dd.center { text-align:center; } -dd.tocsummary {text-align:justify; margin-right:2em; margin-left:2em; } -dd.center sc {display:block; text-align:center; } -/* BOX CELL */ -td.top { border-top:1px solid; width:.5em; height:.8em; } -td.bot { border-bottom:1px solid; width:.5em; height:.8em; } -td.rb { border:1px solid; border-left:none; width:.5em; height:.8em; } -td.lb { border:1px solid; border-right:none; width:.5em; height:.8em; } - -/* INDEX (.INDEX) */ -dl.index { clear:both; } -.index dd { margin-left:4em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left; } -.index dt { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left; } -.index dt.center {text-align:center; } - -.ab, .abl { -font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; -border-style:solid; border-color:gray; border-width:1px; -margin-right:0px; margin-top:5px; display:inline-block; text-align:center; } -.ab { width:1em; } - - /* FOOTNOTE BLOCKS */ -div.notes p { margin-left:1em; text-indent:-1em; text-align:justify; } - -dl.undent dd { margin-left:3em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:justify; } -dl.undent dt { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:justify; } -dl.undent dd.t { margin-left:4em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:justify; } -dl.int dd { text-align:justify; } - /* POETRY LINE NUMBER */ -.lnum { text-align:right; float:right; margin-left:.5em; display:inline; } - -.hymn { text-align:left; } /* HYMN AND VERSE: HTML */ -.verse { text-align:left; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:0em; } -.versetb { text-align:left; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:0em; } -.originc { text-align:center; } -.subttl { text-align:center; font-size:80%; } -.srcttl { text-align:center; font-size:80%; font-weight:bold; } -p.t0, p.l { margin-left:4em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.lb { margin-left:4em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.tw, div.tw, .tw { margin-left:1em; text-indent:-1em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t, div.t, .t { margin-left:5em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t2, div.t2, .t2 { margin-left:6em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t3, div.t3, .t3 { margin-left:7em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t4, div.t4, .t4 { margin-left:8em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t5, div.t5, .t5 { margin-left:9em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t6, div.t6, .t6 { margin-left:10em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t7, div.t7, .t7 { margin-left:11em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t8, div.t8, .t8 { margin-left:12em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t9, div.t9, .t9 { margin-left:13em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t10, div.t10,.t10 { margin-left:14em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t11, div.t11,.t11 { margin-left:15em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t12, div.t12,.t12 { margin-left:16em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t13, div.t13,.t13 { margin-left:17em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t14, div.t14,.t14 { margin-left:18em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.t15, div.t15,.t15 { margin-left:19em; text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:left; } -p.lr, div.lr, span.lr { display:block; margin-left:0em; margin-right:1em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:right; } -dt.lr { width:100%; margin-left:0em; margin-right:0em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:1em; text-align:right; } -dl dt.lr a { text-align:left; clear:left; float:left; } - -.fnblock { margin-top:2em; } -.fndef { text-align:justify; margin-top:1.5em; margin-left:1.5em; text-indent:-1.5em; } -.fndef p.fncont, .fndef dl, div.fncont { margin-left:1.5em; text-indent:0em; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; text-align:justify; } -dl.catalog dd { font-style:italic; } -dl.catalog dt { margin-top:1em; } -.author { text-align:right; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em; display:block; } - -dl.biblio dt { margin-top:.6em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:justify; clear:both; } -dl.biblio dt div { display:block; float:left; margin-left:-6em; width:6em; clear:both; } -dl.biblio dt.center { margin-left:0em; text-align:center; } -dl.biblio dd { margin-top:.3em; margin-left:3em; text-align:justify; font-size:90%; } -.clear { clear:both; } -p.book { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } -p.review { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; font-size:80%; } -p.pcap { margin-left:auto; text-indent:0em; text-align:center; margin-top:0em; - font-weight:bold; font-size:90%; max-width:35em; margin-right:auto; } -p.pcapc { margin-left:4.7em; text-indent:0em; text-align:justify; } -span.pn { display:inline-block; width:4.7em; text-align:left; margin-left:0; text-indent:0; } -div.sidenote { max-width:50%; float:left; clear:left; - - margin-bottom:1em; font-weight:bold; font-size:90%; } - - -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hear Me, Pilate!, by William LeGette Blythe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Hear Me, Pilate! - -Author: William LeGette Blythe - -Release Date: July 26, 2016 [EBook #52650] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEAR ME, PILATE! *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Ron Box and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Hear Me, Pilate!" width="500" height="755" /> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<h1>HEAR -<br />ME, -<br />PILATE!</h1> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<p class="center"><span class="sc">LeGETTE BLYTHE</span></p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON · NEW YORK</span></p> -</div> -<p class="tb">Copyright © 1961 by LeGette Blythe</p> -<p>All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions -thereof in any form.</p> -<p>Published simultaneously in Canada by Holt, Rinehart and Winston of -Canada, Limited.</p> -<p>First Edition</p> -<p class="tb">Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-11599</p> -<p class="tb">Designer: Ernst Reichl</p> -<p>81003-0211</p> -<p>Printed in the United States of America</p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="large">FOR ANNE AND JULIE</span></p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Rome</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_11">11</div> -<h2 id="c1">1</h2> -<p>The capricious flame spattered darts of thin yellow light on walls -and floor as the doors swung gently closed. Claudia turned from -her tall, deeply tanned, uniformed escort to address the servant -who had let them in.</p> -<p>“I won’t be needing you tonight, Tullia. You may go now. -But wait ... before you leave, we shan’t be wanting all these -lamps. Put out all but that one”—she pointed—“and then you -may go to bed. Poor thing, I know you’re tired.” She peered -beyond the wide archway opening onto the peristylium. “I see -you left a lamp burning in my bedroom. Good. Well, then, just -put these others out.</p> -<p>“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” Claudia said as the -servant snuffed out the flame and, bowing to them, disappeared -into the now darkened corridor. “She’s a treasure, Longinus, intelligent, -faithful, and, most important, she’s utterly loyal. She -would die before betraying me. She’s Phoebe’s daughter, and -Phoebe, you know, hanged herself rather than be a witness against -my mother. Tullia, I’m sure, would do the same thing for me.” -She pointed toward the peristylium. “Let’s sit out there in the -moonlight. It seems a little warm in here, doesn’t it?”</p> -<p>“It does,” he answered. “I was hoping you’d suggest that. It -would be a shame to waste that moon, and the fountain and -flowers.” He was glancing around the luxuriously furnished room. -“By the gods, Claudia, you have a handsome place. It’s been a -long time since I was here, but it seems more lavish. Did Aemilius -have it redecorated?”</p> -<p>“Bona Dea, no. That insipid oaf? What has he ever done for -me?” She acted mildly piqued but then smiled. “It has been redecorated, -but I had it done. This apartment’s actually an extension -<span class="pb" id="Page_12">12</span> -of the Imperial Palace, you remember. My beloved stepfather, -the great Emperor Tiberius,” she said sarcastically, “had it -built for his little girls. When he moved them out to Capri with -him—a new group, of course, for several of us were too old by -then—he allowed me to stay here. But I moved away when I -married Aemilius; we went out to Baiae. After we were divorced, -though, I returned here, and that’s when I had it redecorated. -But the place was built for the Emperor’s little girls.” She paused, -leaned against a high-backed bronze chair. “You understand?”</p> -<p>“I’ve heard stories, yes.”</p> -<p>“Well, when poor Mother sent me to him from Pandateria—you -know I was born on that dreadful island soon after Grandfather -Augustus banished her there, and I really think she sent me -to Tiberius to see that I got away from it. Anyway, he put me in -here with the other little girls. This wing connects with his private -quarters, or once did. There’s a wing very much like this one on -the other side; that’s where he kept his boys.” She shrugged; he -sensed that it was more a shudder. “Tiberius, thank the gods, -spent more time over on the boys’ side. There’s a small passage-way—few -persons probably know about it now—that opened from -his quarters into my dressing room. It was all quite convenient. -But when the old monster moved out to Capri, I had the door -removed and the opening bricked up.”</p> -<p>“I’ve heard stories about the Emperor. Was he ... did he -really ... I mean, you know, Claudia, did he actually do ... -does he, I mean...?”</p> -<p>She laughed. “Yes, he did. And I presume he still does; they -say old men are worse that way than young men. But he no longer -bothers me and hasn’t for years. I’m much too old for him; he -likes them very young, or did. He’s an old rake, all right, though -he can’t be guilty of all the things they’ve charged him with. Out -at Capri now I really think he’s more interested in his astrologers -and philosophers than in his little girls and his painted pretty -boys. But, well”—she shrugged—“there are things I do know about -him, experiences I myself have had with him, and although I’m -not close blood kin to him, my mother, poor thing, was his wife -though she was that only because her father forced her to marry -<span class="pb" id="Page_13">13</span> -him.” They had crossed into the peristylium, and she paused to -face him, smiling. “But let’s talk no more of the Emperor and me, -Longinus; by the gods, there are pleasanter subjects.”</p> -<p>“I agree; there are pleasanter subjects than Tiberius.” They -walked around a tall potted plant and sat down. Claudia leaned -back against the plush cushions of the couch; she pushed her -jewel-studded golden sandals out from beneath the folds of her -white silk stola. The moonlight danced in the jeweled clasps that -fastened the straps above her shoulders, while the gold mesh of -her girdle glittered brightly. For a moment she silently studied the -fountain. Then suddenly she sat forward.</p> -<p>“Forgive me, Longinus. Would you like some wine and perhaps -a wafer? I have some excellent Campania, both Falernian and -Surrentine, in the other room. Or perhaps you’re hungry....”</p> -<p>“No, no, Claudia, thank you. I made a pig of myself at Herod’s -dinner tonight.”</p> -<p>“But it was a lavish banquet, wasn’t it?” Her smile indicated -a sudden secret amusement. “I wonder what Sejanus will think -of it.”</p> -<p>“Sejanus?” Then he smiled with her. “Oh, I see what you mean. -He’s going to wonder where Herod got the money. And why -Herod gave the dinner for Herodias.”</p> -<p>Claudia laughed. “Well, she’s his favorite niece, isn’t she?”</p> -<p>“She surely must be. But she’s also his half brother’s wife.” -Longinus paused thoughtfully. “I hardly think, however, that -Sejanus will be greatly concerned with the domestic affairs of the -Herods.”</p> -<p>“As long as they keep the money flowing into his treasury, -hmm?”</p> -<p>“Exactly. And you’re right. Tonight’s lavish feast may cause the -Prefect to suspect that the flow is being partially diverted. Our -friend Herod Antipas ought to have given a more modest affair. -No doubt he was trying, though, to impress Herodias.”</p> -<p>“No doubt,” Claudia repeated. “But it was hardly necessary. -She wants to marry him and be Tetrarchess.”</p> -<p>Longinus looked surprised. “Then you think Antipas will take -her away from Philip?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div> -<p>“I’m sure he will. He already has, in fact.”</p> -<p>“By the gods, that’s odd. That Arabian woman he left in -Tiberias is much more beautiful. And so is that Jewish woman -he brought along with him to Rome. What did you say her name -was?”</p> -<p>“I noticed you had eyes for her all evening.” Claudia’s tone, he -thought, was not altogether flippant, and that pleased him. “Her -name’s Mary,” she continued, “and she lives at Magdala on the -Sea of Galilee just above Tiberias. But of course you know where -Tiberias is. And I suspect you might remember Mary.” Her smile -was coy and slyly questioning. “Herodias says that this Mary is -being pursued by half the wealthy men in Galilee for the artistry -with which she performs her bedroom chores.”</p> -<p>“I must confess”—Longinus grinned—“that unfortunately I am -numbered among the other half. But what does Herodias think of -her beloved uncle’s amours? Isn’t she jealous?”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’m sure she is ... what woman wouldn’t be? But she -knows that in such activities she must share him. Antipas, I understand, -is a true Herod.”</p> -<p>“Yes, and I have a strong suspicion that in such activities, as -you express it, Herodias is a Herod, too.” He sat forward, serious -again. “But what puzzles me, Claudia, is how I happened to be one -of Antipas’ guests tonight. It must have been entirely through -your arranging, but why on earth are you involved in a social way -with any of these Jews?”</p> -<p>Claudia laughed. “Herodias and I have long been friends. You -see, after her grandfather, old Herod the Great they called him, -had her father and her uncle, his own sons, killed”—she involuntarily -shuddered—“Herodias and her brother Agrippa were virtually -brought up at the Emperor’s court. Agrippa’s a spoiled, arrogant, -worthless spendthrift. Old Herod sent his other sons to -Rome, too, to be educated—Antipas and Philip, Herodias’ husband -now, and still another Philip....” She broke off and gestured to -indicate futility. “You see, Longinus, old Herod had ten wives -and only the gods know how many children and grandchildren -and great-grandchildren. Do you know much about the Herods? -They’re older than we, of course.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div> -<p>Longinus shook his head. “No, nor do I care to. I think maybe -I have seen some of them a few times, including this Philip, but -I happily surrender to you any share I may have in any Jew.”</p> -<p>“But, Longinus, the Herods aren’t orthodox Jews. They even -say that some of them, including Herodias and her no-good brother, -are more Roman than we Romans. They’ve all probably spent -more time in Rome than in Palestine. Why, they have about as -much regard for the Jewish religion as you and I have for our -Roman gods. Actually, Longinus, the Herods are Idumaeans, and -they’re quite different from the rest of the Jews. The Jews are -strict in their religious observances.” Abruptly she stopped. “But -why, Bona Dea, am I telling you about the Jews? You have lived -out there in Palestine, and I’ve never set foot near it. Your father -has vast properties in that region, while mine....” She lifted a -knee to the couch as she twisted her body to face him, her dark -eyes deadly serious in the silver brightness of the moon. “Longinus, -do you know about my father?”</p> -<p>“No, Claudia, nothing.”</p> -<p>“Of course you don’t.” She smiled bitterly. “That was a silly -question. I don’t even know myself. I’ve often wondered if Mother -did. But haven’t you heard stories, Longinus?”</p> -<p>“I was rather young, remember, when you were born.” But -immediately he was serious. “Gossip, Claudia, yes. I’ve heard people -talk. But gossip has never interested me.” A sly grin lightened -his expression. “I’m more interested in your father’s handiwork -than in who he was.”</p> -<p>“Prettily said, Centurion.” She patted the back of his bronzed -hand. “But surely you must have heard that my father was the -son of Mark Antony and Cleopatra?”</p> -<p>“Well, yes, I believe I have. But why...?”</p> -<p>“And that my other grandfather, the Emperor Augustus, had -him killed when he got Mother pregnant with me and then -banished her to that damnably barren Pandateria?”</p> -<p>“I may have heard something about it, Claudia, but what of it? -What difference does it make?”</p> -<p>“Do you mean to tell me that it makes no difference to you -that I’m a bastard, Longinus, and the discarded plaything of a -<span class="pb" id="Page_16">16</span> -lecherous old man, even though that lecherous old man happens -to be the second Emperor of Rome? Does it make no difference -to a son of the distinguished Tullius clan...?”</p> -<p>“And isn’t your slave maid, too, a member of this distinguished -Tullius clan?”</p> -<p>His quick parrying of the question amused her. “It’s funny,” -she said, “I hadn’t thought of Tullia that way. Her grandfather -belonged to one of the Tullii, no doubt. But Tullia is actually -not Roman; she’s Jewish. Her grandfather was one of those Jews -brought as slaves from Jerusalem by Pompey. Tullia is even faithful -to the Jewish religion. But that’s her only fault, and it’s one -I’m glad to overlook. Sometimes I allow her to go to one of the -synagogues over in the Janiculum Hill section.”</p> -<p>Longinus reached for her hand. “Nevertheless, Claudia, you -must know that many so-called distinguished Romans are legitimate -only because their mothers happened to be married, though -not to their fathers, when they were conceived?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I suppose so. No doubt you’ve heard the story of what -Mother said to a friend who asked her one day how all five of the -children she had during the time she was married to General -Agrippa happened to look so much like him.”</p> -<p>“If I have, I don’t recall it. What was her answer?”</p> -<p>“‘I never take on a passenger unless the vessel is already full.’”</p> -<p>“I can see how that would be effective,” the centurion observed -dryly. “But then how do you explain ... well, yourself?”</p> -<p>“After General Agrippa died, Augustus made Tiberius divorce -his wife and marry Mother. But they were totally incompatible, -and I can see how, under the circumstances, things turned out -the way they did. Tiberius left Rome and went out to Rhodes -to live. That pleased Mother; she was young and beautiful, and -she was still the most sought-after of her set in Rome. So, after -Tiberius hadn’t been near her bed for years and a succession of -more interesting men had, it was discovered, to the horror of my -conventional and publicly pious grandfather and the delight of -Rome’s gossips, that I was expected. So the Emperor had the -man who was supposed to be my father”—she smiled—“you know, -I’ve always rather hoped he was—he had him executed, and he -<span class="pb" id="Page_17">17</span> -sent Mother off to Pandateria.” She threw out her hands, palms -up. “That’s the story of Mother’s misfortune, me. But you must -have heard about all this years ago?”</p> -<p>He ignored her question. “You her misfortune? Don’t be silly. -You were rather, I’d say, her gift to Rome.”</p> -<p>“You do put things prettily, Longinus. Nevertheless, my mother -was banished because of me.”</p> -<p>“But, by the gods, how could you help it, Claudia?” He caught -her chin and turned her face around so that the moon shone full -upon it. “Aren’t you still the granddaughter of the first Emperor -of Rome on one side and a queen and triumvir on the other? -Aren’t you still the stepdaughter of the Emperor Tiberius? Those -are distinguished bloodlines, by Jove! What nobler heritage could -anyone have? And aren’t you the most beautiful woman in Rome? -What, by mighty Jupiter, Claudia, do you lack?”</p> -<p>“At the moment,” she answered, her serious air suddenly vanished, -“a husband.”</p> -<p>“A situation you could quickly remedy.”</p> -<p>“A situation that Tiberius or Sejanus could quickly remedy, you -mean, and may attempt to do soon, and not to my liking, I suspect. -They may even pick another Aemilius for me, the gods -forbid. Seriously, Longinus, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn right -now that Sejanus has already arranged it. He and the Emperor -are desperately afraid, I suspect, that I may scandalize Rome, as -Mother did, if they don’t get me married quickly before I have -a baby and no husband to blame it on.”</p> -<p>“But, Claudia....”</p> -<p>“By the Bountiful Mother, Longinus,” she laughed, “I’m not -expecting, if that’s what you think. And what’s more, I don’t expect -to be expecting ... any time soon. But I know Sejanus, -and I know Tiberius. It’s all politics, Centurion. And politics must -be served, just as it was served in my grandfather’s day and at -every other time since man first knew the taste of power. The -same hypocritical public behavior, the same affected virtues -propped right alongside the same winked-at corruption.” She -swung her legs around and stood up. “But enough of this speech-making. -I’m going to bring us some of the Campania.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div> -<p>She returned with the wine on a silver tray and handed him -one of the two slender goblets. He held the glass up to the light -and slowly revolved its gracefully thin stem between his thumb -and forefinger.</p> -<p>“Don’t you like Campania?”</p> -<p>“Very much,” he answered. “But it’s the glass that interests -me. This goblet comes from my father’s plant near Tyre.”</p> -<p>“Oh, really?” She smiled. “I’m glad. I knew they were made -in Phoenicia, but I didn’t know they came from Senator Piso’s -glassworks. Herodias gave me several pieces from a set Antipas -brought her. They are lovely.” She lifted her own goblet and admired -it in the moonlight. “Such beautiful craftsmanship. You -know, I’ve never understood how they can be blown so perfectly. -And I love the delicate coloring. Now that I know they come -from your father’s factory, they’re all the more interesting to me, -and valued.” She set the goblet down and sat quietly for a moment -studying the resplendent full moon. “Longinus, I’m so glad you’re -back in Rome,” she said at last. “It seems you’ve been away in -Germania, and before that in Palestine, for such a long time. Did -you ever think of me while you were away?”</p> -<p>“Yes. And did you ... of me?”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, often, and very much. In spite of Aemilius.” She -picked up the goblet, then set it down again on the tripod and -leaned against his shoulder. “By the Bountiful Mother Ceres”—she -bent forward, slipping her feet out of the sandals—“I can’t get -comfortable, Longinus. I’m too warm. This stola’s heavy, and I’m -so ... so laced.” She stood up. “Wait here; I’ll only be a minute.”</p> -<p>Diagonally across from them a thin sliver of lamplight shone -through a crack in the doorway to Claudia’s bedroom. She stepped -into her sandals, walked around the spraying fountain, and entered -the room. “I won’t close the door entirely,” she called back, as -she swung it three-fourths shut. “That way we can talk while I’m -getting into something more comfortable.”</p> -<p>“I really should be going,” Longinus said. “I have early duty -tomorrow.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div> -<p>“Oh, not yet, please. Do wait. I’ll be out in a moment. Pour -yourself some wine.”</p> -<p>He poured another glass, sipped from it, then set the goblet on -the tray and settled back against the cushions. His gaze returned -to the widened rectangle of light in her doorway. In the center of -it there was a sudden movement. Surely, he thought, she isn’t going -to change directly in front of the open door. Then he realized -that he was looking into a long mirror on the wall at right angles -to the doorway; he was seeing her image in the polished bronze. In -stepping back from the door she had taken a position in the -corner of the room just at the spot where the angle was right for -the mirror to reflect her image to anyone seated on the couch -outside.</p> -<p>“By all the gods!” Longinus sat forward.</p> -<p>But now she had disappeared. The mirror showed only a corner -of her dressing table with its profusion of containers—vials of perfumes, -oils, ointments, jars of creams—and scissors, tweezers, -strigils, razors, he presumed them to be, though because of the -distance from them and the table’s disarray he could not see them -clearly. Now they were suddenly hidden behind the brightness of -the stola as the young woman again came into view. She dropped -a garment across a chair, then turned to face the dressing table -and the mirror above it. The light shone full upon her back. Both -stola and girdle behind were cut low, and the cold shimmering -whiteness of the gown accentuated the smooth warmth of her -flesh tones. Now her fingers were busy at the jeweled fastenings -of the girdle; the light flashed in the stones of her rings. Quickly -the girdle came off, and her hands went to one shoulder as her -bracelets, their stones glimmering, slipped along her arms. The -clasp gave; the strap fell to reveal warm flesh to her waist. She -unfastened the other strap, and the stola slipped to the floor. -Bending quickly, she picked up the voluminous garment and, turning, -laid it with the girdle across the chair.</p> -<p>“Jove!” he exclaimed. “By all the great gods!” In the strong -but flickering light of the wall lamp, Claudia stood divested now -of all her clothing except for the sheer black silk of her scant -undergarments.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div> -<p>“Are you still there, Longinus?” she called out. “And did I -hear you say something?”</p> -<p>“I’m here,” he answered. “But really, Claudia, I should be -going.” He hoped his voice did not betray his suddenly mounting -tension.</p> -<p>“No, not yet. Just a minute. I’m coming now.”</p> -<p>She reached for a dressing robe and hurriedly swept it around -her. Fastening the belt loosely about her waist, she turned toward -the doorway and stepped quickly back into the peristylium. He -stood up to meet her. Gently she pushed him to the couch and -sat beside him.</p> -<p>“Please don’t go yet, Longinus. You’ve been away in Germania -so long, and I couldn’t have you to myself at the banquet. There’s -so much to talk about, to ask you about.” She leaned back and -snuggled against him. Then she looked down at her knees, round -and pink under the sheerness of the pale rose robe. “Bona Dea!” -She clamped her knees together and doubled the robe over them. -“I didn’t realize this robe was so transparent, Longinus. But it is -comfortable, and there is only the moonlight out here.” She -reached out, caught his hand, squeezed it, and released it. “And -you can lean back and look only at the moon.”</p> -<p>“But in Germania we had the moon.”</p> -<p>“Yes, and women. I’ve heard much about the women of Germania, -and seen them, too. Women with yellow hair and complexions -like the bloom of the apricot or the skin of the pomegranate. -And women free for the asking, eh, Centurion?”</p> -<p>“Not often for the asking. Sometimes for the taking.” He pulled -her close and felt through his tunic the quick surge of her warmth -against him. “But tonight is not Germania and women whose hair -is the color of ripening grain, Claudia. Tonight is Rome and a -woman with hair as black as a raven’s wing and skin fair and -smooth and warm and greatly tempting.”</p> -<p>“A woman maybe for the asking, or the taking?” Quickly she -twisted out from the arm about her waist, and her gay, impish -laughter broke upon the fountain’s sleepy murmuring. “I didn’t -know you were also a poet, Longinus.” She reached for the pitcher. -“Wine to toast the weaver of beautiful words,” she said, filling -<span class="pb" id="Page_21">21</span> -the goblets; she handed him his, then held hers aloft. “I drink -to the new Catullus. ‘Let us live, Lesbia mine, and love.’</p> -<p>“How did he say it...?</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“And all the mumbling of harsh old men</p> -<p class="t0">“We shall reckon as a pennyworth.</p> -</div> -<p>“And then, well....</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,</p> -<p class="t0">“Then another thousand, then a second hundred,</p> -<p class="t0">“And still another thousand, then a hundred.</p> -</div> -<p>“It goes on,” she added, “but that’s all I can repeat. Now drink -with me to your own pretty words.”</p> -<p>Longinus laughed and sipped the wine. “Were his words quoted -by you for me ... from you? Remember that Catullus later -wrote of his Lesbia:</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“A woman’s words to hungry lover said</p> -<p class="t0">“Should be upon the flowing winds inscribed,</p> -<p class="t0">“Upon swift streams engraved.”</p> -</div> -<p>She leaned out from the shadow into which the retreating moon -had pushed them. “Maybe they were quoted to spur your asking, -Longinus, or”—she paused and smiled demurely—“your taking.” -Then quickly she sank back against him. “You think I’m -a blatantly bold hussy, don’t you?”</p> -<p>“No, Claudia,” he smiled, “just experienced. And beautiful, and -... and very tempting.”</p> -<p>“Experienced, yes, but believe me, not promiscuous, Longinus. -By the Bountiful Mother, I’m not that way, in spite of my experience.” -The teasing was gone from her eyes. “In spite of everything, -not that.”</p> -<p>She snuggled against his arm outstretched along the back of -the couch, and gently he half turned her to let her head down -upon his lap. Her eyes were wide, and in each he saw a luminous -and trembling small, round moon; her mouth was open, and against -his thigh he felt the quickened pounding of her heart. As he bent -<span class="pb" id="Page_22">22</span> -over her, she reached up and drew him, her hot palm cupping the -back of his cropped head, down hard upon her lips tasting sweet -of the Campania and desperately eager and burning.</p> -<p>He raised his face from hers and lifted her slightly to relieve -the pressure of her body on his arm. She drew up her feet and, -with knees bent, braced them against the end of the short couch. -Her robe slipped open, and she lay still, her eyes closed, her lips -apart.</p> -<p>His throat tightened, and he felt a prickling sensation moving -up and down his spine, coursing outward to his arms and past -tingling palms to his fingertips. Deftly he eased his legs from -beneath her; lowering her head to the couch, he stood up.</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus, please, not now,” she pleaded, her voice tense, -her tone entreating. “Please don’t leave me now.”</p> -<p>For a moment he stood above her, silent, and then, bending -down quickly, he lifted her from the couch and started toward -the still open bedroom door. He was past the fountain when a -sudden, loud knocking at the entrance doors shattered the silence.</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus, put me down!” She swung her legs to the -floor. “Bona Dea, who could be coming here at this hour! Of all -the damnable luck!” She stared in dismay at her disarrayed and -transparent robe. “By all the gods, I can’t go into the atrium -dressed like this! Longinus, will you go? Tullia’s probably sound -asleep.” With that, Claudia darted into the bedroom, while the -pounding grew ever louder and more insistent.</p> -<p>Longinus started toward the door, but before he could reach -it, Tullia had appeared from the corridor. She quickly opened -the door, then backed away as the robust soldier stepped inside.</p> -<p>“I am seeking the Centurion Longinus. I was told ... ah, -there you are!” he cried.</p> -<p>“Cornelius! What are you doing here?”</p> -<p>“Longinus! By Jove! I’ve been searching all Rome for you.”</p> -<p>“But I thought you were still in Palestine.”</p> -<p>“And I thought you were still in Germania!”—Cornelius -laughed—“until today.”</p> -<p>“Come, sit down,” Longinus said. “When did you get back?”</p> -<p>“Only a week ago, and most of that time I’ve been out at Baiae -<span class="pb" id="Page_23">23</span> -with the family. I came into Rome today to report to the Prefect.”</p> -<p>“Jove! Is he going to name you Procurator of Judaea, Cornelius? -I hear that Valerius Gratus is being recalled.”</p> -<p>“Me Procurator? Don’t be silly, man. No, but I have an idea -it’s something concerned with Palestine that has him calling for -you. I’ve got orders to find you and bring you to his palace immediately. -So we’d best be going, Longinus.”</p> -<p>“To see Sejanus? At this hour?”</p> -<p>“Yes, he said it was urgent. He’s leaving early tomorrow morning -for Capri, and he says he’s got to see you before he goes.”</p> -<p>“By the gods!” Longinus’ countenance was suddenly solemn. -“What have <i>I</i> done?”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing to be alarmed about. Probably some -special assignment or other. I don’t know. But come, man, you -know Sejanus doesn’t like to be kept waiting. Get your toga. I -have a sedan chair outside.”</p> -<p>“In a minute, Cornelius. I must tell Claudia.”</p> -<p>“Couldn’t her maid explain...?”</p> -<p>But Longinus already was striding toward the peristylium. -“Claudia,” he called through the crack in the doorway, “the Prefect -has sent for me. I don’t know what he wants, but I’ve got to -be going.”</p> -<p>“Bona Dea!” She was just inside the door. “Sejanus?”</p> -<p>“Yes. Cornelius says he wants to see me tonight, right now. I -don’t have any idea what he could want, but tomorrow night, if I -may see you then, I’ll explain everything.”</p> -<p>“What could that old devil be wanting with you, Longinus?” -The question seemed addressed more to herself than to him. “Yes, -of course, you must come. I’ll be anxious to know.”</p> -<p>The sound of his retreating steps echoed along the peristylium -and across the mosaic floor of the atrium. Claudia listened until -she heard Tullia shut the double doors, and then there was silence. -She closed her own door and crossed to her still undisturbed -bed; she flung herself upon it.</p> -<p>“Sejanus, the devil! The old devil!” With furious fists she -pounded on the bed. “May Pluto’s mallet splatter his evil brains!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div> -<h2 id="c2">2</h2> -<p>“Centurion Longinus, how well do you know Pontius Pilate?”</p> -<p>The Prefect Sejanus sensed that the soldier was hardly prepared -for the blunt question. He had only a moment ago entered the -ornate chamber. But Sejanus added nothing to qualify the question. -Instead, he seemed to enjoy Longinus’ momentary uneasiness. -His small eyes reflected the light from the lamps flanking the -heavy oak desk behind which he sat, while he waited for the centurion -to answer.</p> -<p>“Sir,” Longinus at last began, “during our campaign in Germania -he commanded the cohort of which my century was a unit, -but I cannot say that I know him well.”</p> -<p>“Then you and Pontius Pilate”—the Prefect paused and smiled -blandly—“could hardly be described as devoted friends or intimates?”</p> -<p>“That is true, sir, and I am not sure that Pilate....” He hesitated.</p> -<p>“Please speak frankly, Centurion.” The Prefect’s smile was disarmingly -reassuring. “You were about to say, were you not, that -you are not sure that Pilate has many intimate friends?”</p> -<p>“I was going to say, sir, that in my opinion Pilate is not the -type of soldier who has many intimate friends. I may be doing -him an injustice, but I have never considered him a particularly -... ah ... sociable fellow. I have the feeling that he is a very -ambitious man, determined to advance his career....”</p> -<p>“And his private fortune?”</p> -<p>Longinus thought carefully before answering. “So far as that is -concerned, sir, I really cannot say. I have no information whatever -on which to base an opinion. Nor did I intend to indicate in any -<span class="pb" id="Page_25">25</span> -way that I thought Pilate was seeking advancement in the army -in an improper manner.”</p> -<p>Sejanus sat back in his chair. His falcon-like eyes darted back -and forth as they measured and appraised the young man. “Centurion,” -he said, leaning forward and smiling ingratiatingly, “you -are cautious, and you evidence a sense of loyalty to your superiors. -Both qualities I admire, particularly in the soldier. This -makes me all the more confident that you will be able to carry -out the assignment I propose to give you.” He stared unblinkingly -into the centurion’s eyes. “Longinus, no doubt you have been -wondering why I sent for you, why I insisted you come at this -late hour, and why we are closeted here alone.”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir, I have been wondering.”</p> -<p>“It is irregular, of course, even though it is with the son of -Senator Marcus Tullius Piso that the Prefect is closeted.” The -wry smile was gone now; the Prefect’s countenance was serious. -“Longinus, you must be aware of the regard your father and I -have for each other. You must know that we also understand -each other, that we are colleagues in various enterprises widely -scattered about the Empire.”</p> -<p>“I know, sir, that my father has a high regard for the Prefect, -and I have known in a vague way of your association in certain -business enterprises.”</p> -<p>“Yes, and they have been profitable to both of us, Longinus. -Have you ever wondered, for instance, how it happens that whenever -your father’s plants in Phoenicia begin to run low on slaves, -a government ship always arrives with fresh ones?”</p> -<p>Longinus nodded. “Whenever such a vessel arrived, I always -thought I knew why. But I never asked questions or ventured -comments, sir. I just put the new slaves to work.”</p> -<p>“Excellent. You are discreet, indeed. There is nothing more -valuable to me than an intelligent man who can keep his eyes -open and his mouth closed.” Sejanus arose, came around the desk -to sit in a chair at arm’s length from the centurion. “Longinus, -the assignment I propose to give you is of immense importance. -And it is highly confidential in nature.” His expression and voice -were grave. “To accomplish it successfully, the man I choose will -<span class="pb" id="Page_26">26</span> -have to be always on the alert; he will have to have imagination -and initiative; he will need to exercise great caution; and above -all, he will have to be someone completely loyal to the Prefect.” -For a long moment his quickly darting eyes appraised the soldier. -“I know that you are intelligent, Longinus, and I am satisfied -that you possess these other qualities.” He leaned forward and -tapped the centurion on the knee. “I had a purpose in asking -you if you knew Pontius Pilate well. Tomorrow Pilate is to see me. -If everything goes as I expect, then we shall start for Capri to see -the Emperor, and the Emperor will approve officially what I -shall have done already.” He paused and smiled cynically. “You -understand, of course?”</p> -<p>Longinus smiled. “I believe, sir, that you speak for the Emperor -in such matters, do you not?”</p> -<p>“In all matters, Longinus. The Emperor no longer concerns -himself with the affairs of the Empire.” His piggish eyes brightened. -“He’s too busy with his astrologers and his philosophers and -his”—he smiled with contempt—“his friends.” But suddenly the -contemptuous smile was gone, and Sejanus sat back in his chair. -“Longinus, Pontius Pilate is anxious to succeed Valerius Gratus -as Procurator of Judaea.”</p> -<p>The centurion sensed that the Prefect was waiting for his reaction. -But he said nothing. Sejanus leaned forward again. “I am -speaking in complete frankness, Longinus. We must understand -each other; you must likewise speak frankly to me. But what we -say must go no further. Is that clear?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> -<p>“Good. Now to get back to Pilate. He’s a man well suited to -my purpose, I’m confident.” Once more the Prefect hesitated, as -if seeking a way to proceed. “Some years ago, before you went -out to Phoenicia, the Emperor’s nephew, General Germanicus, was -fatally poisoned at Alexandria. It was rumored at the time that the -Emperor had ordered it. Pilate, who served in Gaul under Germanicus, -came stoutly to the Emperor’s defense with the story -that the poisoning had been done by supporters of the Emperor -but without his knowledge, because they had learned that the -<span class="pb" id="Page_27">27</span> -nephew was plotting the uncle’s downfall. Perhaps you heard -something about this?”</p> -<p>“I believe I did hear something to that effect, sir. But that was -about seven years ago, wasn’t it?”</p> -<p>“Yes, no doubt. Time passes so fast for me, Centurion. But let’s -get back to Pontius Pilate. He’s ambitious, as you suggested, and -as I said, he wants to be appointed Procurator in Judaea. So he -should be amenable to ... ah, suggestions, eh, Centurion? And -he should therefore be a perfect counterpart in Judaea to the -Tetrarch Antipas in Galilee.” Sejanus suddenly was staring intently -at the sober-faced young soldier. “How well, Longinus, do -you know Herod Antipas?”</p> -<p>“I hardly know him at all, sir. I’ve seen him a few times; I used -to go into Galilee and other parts of Palestine for our glassware -plants; I tried once, I remember, to sell him glassware for the new -palace he was building on the Sea of Galilee. But those were business -trips, you see, and I rarely saw him even then. I was usually -directed to speak with the Tetrarchess or Herod’s steward.”</p> -<p>“But you were a guest at the banquet he gave this evening, -weren’t you?”</p> -<p>“I was, sir.” Longinus wondered, almost admiringly, how the -Prefect managed to keep so well-informed of even the most private -goings-on in Rome.</p> -<p>“It was a sumptuous feast, no doubt?”</p> -<p>“It was quite lavish, sir.”</p> -<p>“Hmmm. I must remember that.” The Prefect puckered his lips, -and his forehead wrinkled into a frown. Leaning across the desk, -he drew his lips tightly against his teeth. “Soon, Longinus, you -will be having two to watch.” His eyes narrowed to a squint. -“Three, in fact.”</p> -<p>“To watch, sir?”</p> -<p>“Yes, that is the assignment I have for you, Longinus. I am -sending you out to Palestine, to be my eyes and ears in the land -of those pestiferous Jews. At intervals you will report”—he held -up his hand, palm out—“but only to me, understand. You will -travel about the various areas—Caesarea, Jerusalem, Tiberias, to -your father’s plants in Phoenicia, perhaps other places—ostensibly -<span class="pb" id="Page_28">28</span> -on routine tasks for the army. The details will be worked out -later.” He leveled a forefinger at the centurion. “It will be your -task, among the various duties you will have, Centurion, to report -to me any suspicions that may be aroused in your mind concerning -the flow of revenues into the Imperial treasury in accordance -with the terms that I shall make with Pontius Pilate, and likewise -with the revised schedules I shall”—he paused an instant, and his -smile was sardonic—“suggest to the Tetrarch Antipas before he returns -to Galilee.” He sat back, and his sharp small eyes studied -Longinus.</p> -<p>“Then, sir, as I understand it, you are suspicious that both Pilate -and Antipas may withhold for themselves money that should be -going to Rome?”</p> -<p>“Let’s put it this way, Longinus.” The Prefect leaned toward -the centurion and tapped the desk with the ends of his fingers. -“I don’t trust them. I know the Tetrarch has been dipping his fat -hand into the treasury, though not too heavily thus far, let us say. -That white marble palace at the seaside, for example, and the -gorgeous furnishings, including Phoenician glassware, eh?” He shot -a quizzical straight glance into the centurion’s eyes, but quickly a -smile tempered it. “We don’t object to his buying glass, do we, as -long as it comes from your father’s plants?”</p> -<p>But just as quickly the Prefect was serious again. He sat back -against the leather and put his hands together, fingertips to fingertips. -“Herod Antipas wants to be a Herod the Great,” he declared. -“But he hasn’t the character his father had. By character, Centurion, -I mean courage, stamina, strength, and ability, yes. Old -Herod was a villain, mean, blackhearted, cold-blooded, murderous. -But he was an able man, strong, a great administrator, a brave and -brilliant soldier, every inch a ruler. Beside him, his son is a weakling. -Herodias, on the other hand, is more like her grandfather -than Antipas is like his father. She’s ambitious, vain, demanding. -She is continually pushing Antipas. She seeks advancement, more -power, more of the trappings of royalty.” He lifted a forefinger -and shook it before the centurion. “Herodias will likely bring -ruin upon both of them.” Then he paused, thoughtful. “But so -much for Antipas. Watch him, Longinus. If he”—his expression -<span class="pb" id="Page_29">29</span> -warmed with a disarming smile—“buys too much of that Phoenician -glass, then let me know.”</p> -<p>“I will, sir.” Longinus was smiling, too. Then he was serious. -“But, sir, you were speaking also of Pontius Pilate....”</p> -<p>“Yes. I think Pilate is the man I want for Judaea. But I don’t -trust him either. I want him watched closely, Longinus. I suspect -that his fingers will be itching, likewise, to dip too deeply into -the till.”</p> -<p>“But, sir, if you can’t trust him....”</p> -<p>“Why then am I sending him out there?” The Prefect laughed -cynically. Then he sobered. “It’s a proper question, my boy. We -must be frank, as I said. I’ve told you that I believe Pilate will be -amenable to suggestions. Like Antipas, he, too, is a weakling. He -has a good record as a soldier, but always as a subordinate. I question -whether he has the courage, the stamina, to lead and rule. He -will be looking to Rome, I believe, for direction. And he will always -be fearful of displeasing the Prefect. But at the same time, -Longinus, I think he will be looking for ways of adding to his -personal wealth. So he will bleed those Jews to get all Rome requires -and some for his own pocket as well.” He paused, thoughtful -for a moment. “Yes, I believe Pontius Pilate is the man I want. -Certainly I shall give him a chance to prove himself.” Quickly he -raised an emphatic finger. “But I want you to watch him, Longinus. -I want you to ascertain whether any diversions are being made -in the flow of the tax revenues to the Imperial treasury, and if so, -to report it to me. Even if you have no proof, but only strong -suspicions to go on, by all means report them too. I’ll work out a -plan whereby you can make the reports confidentially and -quickly.”</p> -<p>The Prefect paused, leaned back in his chair, and calmly studied -the younger man. When Longinus ventured no comment, Sejanus -continued with his instructions. “You will be transferred from your -present cohort to the Second Italian. Your rank will remain the -same; as a centurion you will be more useful to me, since you will -be less observed and therefore less suspected in this lower grade. -But you will be properly compensated, Longinus, with the extent -of the compensation being governed in great part, let us say”—he -<span class="pb" id="Page_30">30</span> -puckered his lips again—“upon the degree of functioning of your -eyes and ears.”</p> -<p>Sejanus arose, and Longinus stood with him. “You have made -no comment, Centurion Longinus.”</p> -<p>“Sir, I am at the Prefect’s command. But may I ask when I am -to be given further instructions and when I shall be sailing for -Palestine?”</p> -<p>“Soon, Centurion, as quickly as I can arrange it. I would like -you to go out ahead of Pilate and be there when he arrives at -Caesarea. It will be important to observe how he takes over the -duties of the post from the outset. I shall summon you when I am -ready and give you full instructions.”</p> -<p>The audience with the Prefect was at an end. At the door, as -he was about to step into the corridor, Longinus paused. “Sir, a -moment ago you said there would be three for me to watch. You -spoke of Pilate and Herod Antipas. Who is the third?”</p> -<p>Sejanus smiled blandly and rubbed his hands together. “The -third, ah, yes.” His black small eyes danced. “And there will be -others also. But you need not concern yourself with any of this -detail at the moment. When I have completed my plans, as I’ve -said, I shall summon you here and instruct you fully.”</p> -<h2 id="c3">3</h2> -<p>Longinus sat up in bed, thrust forth an arm to peel back his side -of the covering sheet, pulled up his feet, and twisted around to -plant them evenly on the floor.</p> -<p>“Jove!” He craned his neck, blinked his still heavy eyelids, and -strained to rub the cramped muscles at his shoulder blades. From -the northeast, rolling down through the gentle depression dividing -the mansion-studded slopes of the Viminal and Quirinal Hills, -came the fading plaintively sweet notes of a trumpet. He glanced -<span class="pb" id="Page_31">31</span> -toward the window; the light was already beginning to sift through -slits in the drawn draperies.</p> -<p>Claudia opened her eyes. She pushed herself up to a sitting -position. “Are you going, Longinus? Must you be leaving so early?” -She rubbed her eyes and squinted into the slowly brightening window. -“Do you have to...?”</p> -<p>“The morning watch at Castra Praetoria,” he explained, nodding -in the direction of the window. “It awakened me, luckily. I -must be out there before the next call is sounded. Today I’m on -early duty.”</p> -<p>“You always have to be going.” Her lips, the rouge smeared but -still red, were pouting. “You hardly get here, and then you say -you must be leaving.”</p> -<p>“But, by the gods, Claudia, I’ve been here all night, remember.” -He pinched her chin. “I had dinner with you, and I haven’t left -yet.”</p> -<p>“Oh, all right. But if you must go, you’d best be dressing. Although, -really, Longinus, can’t you stay a few minutes longer, just -a few? Please.” She slid back to lie in a stretched position, her -figure clearly outlined beneath the light covering.</p> -<p>“Temptress! By the gods, I wish I could.” He bent down and -kissed her smeared lips. “Well, at least it won’t be like this when -we get to Palestine. Out there I’ll be able to arrange my own -schedule, and there’ll be no early morning duty then. But by great -Jove, I’ve got to be going now.” He stood up and walked to the -chair on which his clothing lay. “Today I’ll begin getting preparations -made so that we can be ready to sail when Sejanus gives me -his final orders. And the preparations will include arrangements for -our wedding,” he concluded, grinning.</p> -<p>Languidly she lay back and watched him as he dressed. “Longinus,” -she said, as he finished latching his boots, “do you really -believe that your father will be willing to let you marry me?” Her -expression indicated concern. “I have no doubt but that my beloved -stepfather will be quite willing, quite happy, in fact, because -I’m sure he’s already anxious to be freed of the responsibility he -has, or thinks he has, for me. But I do wonder about Senator -Piso.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div> -<p>“By the great and little gods, Claudia, it’s not the senator you’re -marrying, remember? <i>I’m</i> the one,” he said, thumping his chest -with stiffened thumb. “Me, understand?”</p> -<p>“Of course, silly man.” She sat up again and fluffed the pillow -behind her. “But the senator might object, Longinus. He’s a proud -man, proud of his name, his lineage. He’s not going to like the -idea of his son’s marrying a bastard and a divorcee, even though -she may be the granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus.”</p> -<p>“He won’t object, Claudia; I’m sure of it. But even if he should, -I’d marry you anyway, despite him, despite Sejanus, despite even -old Tiberius himself.” He adjusted his tunic, then came over to -stand by the bed. “Remember that, Claudia.”</p> -<p>“Even in spite of last night?” She was smiling up at him, and -she said it capriciously, but he thought he detected a note of seriousness -in her voice. “You don’t think I’m terribly wanton, Longinus?”</p> -<p>“Last night makes me all the more determined.” He studied -her for a long moment; her expression was coy, but radiant too, -a little wistful and warmly affectionate, he saw. “Wanton? Of -course not, my dear.” A mischievous grin slowly crossed his face. -“Wanting, maybe. And wanted certainly, wanted by me. The most -desirable woman I’ve ever known, the most wanted.” He bent -down to her, his eyes aflame, and gently he pushed the outthrust -chin to separate slightly the rouge-smudged lips raised hungrily to -his. Greedily their lips met and held, and then as the girl lifted -a hand to the back of his head to crush his face against hers, he -grasped the protecting sheet from her fingers and flung it toward -the foot of the bed.</p> -<p>“Oh, you beast!” she shrieked. “By all the silly little gods!”</p> -<p>Roaring, he darted for the peristylium. As he fled past the long -mirror near the doorway, he caught in it a glimpse of the laughing -Claudia struggling wildly to cover herself with the twisted sheet.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div> -<h2 id="c4">4</h2> -<p>The magnificent villa of the Prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus clung -precariously to the precipitous slope high above the blue waters of -the bay. The greater part of the mansion had been built some -hundred years before in the days of Lucius Licinius Lucullus by -one of the general’s fellow patricians. This man’s family had suffered -the misfortune of having had the villa confiscated after the -pater familias had been beheaded for making the wrong choice in -a civil war of that era.</p> -<p>Sejanus had acquired the property—many Romans wondered -how, but they were too discreet to inquire—and had added to it -extensively, including a spacious peristylium with a great fountain -that spouted water piped from higher on the slope and palms and -flowers and oriental plants. But most interesting of his improvements -was the spreading terrace pushed outward from the peristylium -to the very edge of the precipice, paved in ornate mosaic -with slabs of marble transported in government barges from quarries -far distant—gray and red from Egypt, yellow in various shades -and black from Numidia, green cipolin from Euboea—and bordered -by a protecting balustrade of white Carrara.</p> -<p>This morning the Prefect and his guest, Pontius Pilate, a cohort -commander lately returned from a campaign in Germania, sat on -this terrace before a round bronze table whose legs were molded in -the size and likeness of a lion’s foreleg. On the table were a pitcher -and matching goblets. Pilate, large, broad-framed, with a round -head and hair closely cropped, a heavy man and, in his early forties, -perhaps a score of years younger than the Prefect, was eying the -unusual pitcher. Sejanus motioned to it.</p> -<p>“You may be interested in glassware,” he said, as he reached over -and with a fingernail tapped one of the delicate blue, blown goblets. -<span class="pb" id="Page_34">34</span> -“These pieces came from Phoenicia. No doubt you will have -the opportunity while you’re in Judaea to visit the glassworks -where they were blown. It’s situated near Tyre, up the coast from -Caesarea and not far from Mount Carmel. One of Senator Piso’s -enterprises.” He fastened his unblinking small eyes on Pilate’s -florid face. “But of course you won’t be concerned with this operation. -It’s not in Judaea anyway, and its affairs—so far as Rome is -concerned—are being supervised from Rome.”</p> -<p>Pilate nodded. “I understand, sir.”</p> -<p>“Good. It’s important that you do understand fully. There -should be no area, for example, in which your duties and responsibilities -overlap those of Tetrarch Herod Antipas. I trust that you’ll -always bear that in mind.”</p> -<p>“You can depend upon my doing so, sir.”</p> -<p>“Then is there anything else not entirely clear to you concerning -your duties, powers, and functions as I’ve outlined them? Do -you fully understand that as Procurator you will be required to -keep the Jews in your province as quiet and contented as possible—and -they are a cantankerous, fanatical, troublesome race, I warn -you—even though you will be draining them of their revenues to -the limit of their capacities?” He held up an admonishing forefinger. -“And do you also understand that it is tremendously important -for you, as Procurator of Judaea, to avoid becoming embroiled -in any of the turmoils arising out of their foolish but -zealously defended one-god system of religion?” Sejanus curled his -lower lip to cover the upper and slowly pushed them both out -into a rounded tight pucker; his eyes remained firmly fixed on the -cohort commander’s face. “It is a difficult post, being Procurator -in Judaea, Pilate.”</p> -<p>“It is a difficult assignment, sir, but it’s one that I’ve been hoping -to obtain, and I appreciate the appointment. I understand -what is required, and I shall make every effort to administer Judaea -to the best of my ability and in accordance with your instructions.”</p> -<p>“Then you may consider yourself Procurator, Pilate. When the -Emperor gives you your audience tomorrow, he will approve what -I have actually already done.” A sly smile overspread the Prefect’s -weasel face. “But there is one thing further that you must agree -<span class="pb" id="Page_35">35</span> -to do, Pilate, if you wish to become Procurator of Judaea.” He -stood, and Pilate arose, remaining stiffly erect. Sejanus walked to -the marble balustrade and looked down at the blue water far below. -“But first, come here. I want to show you something.”</p> -<p>The cohort commander strode quickly to the Prefect’s side. -Sejanus pointed toward the north. “Look,” he said, “Misenum -there, and just beyond is Baiae. Over there”—he swept his arm in -an arc—“is Puteoli. And in this half-moon of shore line fronting -on the bay between here and Puteoli’s harbor, in those mansions -scrambling up the slopes”—he drew a half circle in the air that -ended with his forefinger pointing straight south—“in this lower -district of Campania from here to Puteoli and Neapolis and around -the rugged rim of the gulf, past Vesuvius and Herculaneum, Pompeii -and Surrentum out to the end of Capri is embraced the very -cream of the Empire’s aristocracy and wealth.” He turned to face -north again. “There. That is the villa for which Lucullus paid ten -million sesterces. You can see parts of the roof among the trees -and flowering plants. They say that some of the cherry trees he -introduced from Pontus are still bearing. Yes, they rightly call this -the playground of the Empire. Look down there,” he said, pointing -toward the gaily colored barges idling along the shore between -Baiae and Puteoli. “There you will find beautiful women, Pilate, -gorgeous creatures who are completely uninhibited, delightfully -immoral. Beautiful Baiae, where husbands able to afford it can -find happy respite from monogamy. Ah, Ovid, how you would -sing of Baiae today!”</p> -<p>Silently for a moment now the Prefect contemplated the villa-filled -slopes, the pleasure barges, the lazily lifting sulphurous -fumes above Lake Avernus in the crater of an extinct volcano to -the north, and the sleeping cone of Vesuvius looming magnificently -in the west. Then he turned again to face Pilate, and a sly, -malevolent smile crossed his narrow face. “You, too, Commander, -some day can live in luxury out there on the slope above Baiae ... -if you manage affairs in Judaea properly,” he paused, for emphasis, -“by following explicitly the instructions you have received and will -continue to receive from me.”</p> -<p>“I am ambitious, sir,” Pilate answered, “and I would take great -<span class="pb" id="Page_36">36</span> -pleasure some day in joining the equestrian class here. But whether -I am able to achieve a villa at Baiae or not, I am determined to -follow explicitly the Prefect’s instructions and desires.” His hand -on the marble balustrade, Pilate studied the movement in the bay. -Then he faced the Prefect. “But you said a moment ago, sir, that -there was still one more provision?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Pilate.” Sejanus pointed to the chairs beside the lion-legged -table. “But let’s sit down and have some more of the -Falernian.”</p> -<p>As they took their seats, a slave who all the while had been -hovering attentively near-by came forward quickly and filled the -goblets. Sejanus sipped slowly. “Surely you have guessed that the -Emperor and I confer at times on matters of particular intimacy, -such as the problems of his household, even the affairs of members -of his own Imperial family?”</p> -<p>“I can see, sir, how the Emperor would wish the Prefect’s counsel -in matters of every kind.”</p> -<p>“That is true.” Sejanus toyed with the wine glass, then abruptly -set it down. “This is the provision, Pilate, and I think it not unreasonable. -In fact, I might explain that it was at my suggestion -that Tiberius has included it. And were I in your position, Pilate”—his -eyes brightened, and he flattened his lips against his teeth—“I -would be delighted that such a provision had been made. She -is a beautiful woman, young, possessed of every feminine appeal, -and a woman to be earnestly desired and sought, at least in the -opinion of one old man who”—he smiled—“can still look, appreciate, -and imagine.”</p> -<p>“A woman?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Pilate. The Emperor expects you to marry his stepdaughter.”</p> -<p>“Claudia!” Pilate said in amazement. “The granddaughter of -Augustus?”</p> -<p>“Indeed.” Sejanus was eying him intently. “And of Antony, -too, and Cleopatra, I’ve always understood.” A sly smile again -crossed his face. “And, if I’m a capable judge, a woman possessed -of everything Cleopatra had.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div> -<p>Pilate seemed oblivious to the Prefect’s description. “But why -should he want me, the son of a Spanish...?”</p> -<p>“But you will be Procurator of Judaea,” Sejanus interrupted. -“Look, Pilate,” he went on, his face all seriousness now, “I’m sure -you’ve heard the story of Claudia’s mother, the wife of Tiberius. -Augustus was forced to banish her when her adulteries became -notorious. It’s one of those paradoxes, Pilate, of Imperial life. The -Emperor may indulge in any of the ordinarily forbidden delights, -adultery, pederasty”—he smiled again, but this time his smile was -a scarcely concealed sneer—“but his stepdaughter may not. Or she -may not publicly, at any rate. And now that Claudia is divorced -from Aemilius and has no husband to point to in the event -that....” He paused and laid his hand on Pilate’s arm. “I dislike -putting the matter so bluntly, Pilate, but there is no other way -to explain the situation. The Emperor wishes to forestall any scandal. -The best way to do so, he thinks, is to have his stepdaughter -married and sent as far away as possible from Rome.”</p> -<p>“But, sir, doesn’t custom forbid the wives of generals and legates -and procurators from journeying with them to their provincial -posts?”</p> -<p>“Custom, yes. But custom is not always followed. Agrippina, for -example, accompanied Germanicus on his campaign in the north. -Caligula was born while she was away with the general.” He was -watching Pilate closely. “But you have not said whether you -accept the Emperor’s final provision.”</p> -<p>“Sir, I would be greatly honored and highly pleased to be the -husband of the granddaughter of the great Augustus.”</p> -<p>Sejanus beamed. “Then, Pilate, you may consider yourself the -Procurator of Judaea.”</p> -<p>“But....”</p> -<p>The Prefect held up his hand to interrupt. “The Emperor will -speak to you about the necessity of your keeping your wife under -firm authority. But I would like to emphasize something more important, -Commander, and that is this: keep her happy, and keep -her satisfied, in Judaea. I want no reports coming to me that the -Emperor’s stepdaughter is being kept virtually a prisoner, that she -is suffering banishment from Rome.” His eyes flamed again, and -<span class="pb" id="Page_38">38</span> -he licked his sensuous lips. “Do you understand, Pilate? Claudia -is a modern woman. She’s accustomed to the ways of Rome’s -equestrians. Keep her contented, Pilate; do nothing to add to her -burden of living in a land that to her, no doubt, will be dull and -even loathsome. If sometimes she strays into indiscretions, overlook -them. Don’t attempt to make of her a Caesar’s wife.” His -stern expression relaxed into a grin. “Besides, I believe it’s too late -for anyone to accomplish that.” Then as quickly as it had come, -the levity was gone. “But I interrupted you. You were going to ask -something?”</p> -<p>“Yes.” Pilate stared thoughtfully at his hands. “I was wondering, -sir, if Claudia has been apprised of the Emperor’s and your -wishes. What has she to say about all this?”</p> -<p>“Say?” Sejanus smiled and rubbed his palms together. “My -dear Procurator, Claudia has nothing to say in matters such as this. -Tiberius speaks for his stepdaughter. And <i>I</i> speak for Tiberius.”</p> -<h2 id="c5">5</h2> -<p>The next morning one of the fastest triremes of the Roman navy -carried the Prefect Sejanus and Pontius Pilate from the harbor -below the Prefect’s villa straight southward across the gulf toward -the island of Capri.</p> -<p>When Sejanus finished discussing certain other matters of business -with the Emperor, he had his aide summon Pilate into the -Imperial chamber. The cohort commander was nervous as he entered -the great hall. It was his first sight of Tiberius since the -Emperor had allowed his crafty minister to bring all nine of the -Praetorian Guard’s cohorts into the camp near the Viminal Gate, -from which, on a moment’s notice, they could sally forth to enforce -the Prefect’s will, even to giving orders to the Senate itself. -A year ago the Emperor, melancholy, embittered, tired of rule, had -<span class="pb" id="Page_39">39</span> -left Rome and journeyed southward to Capri to seek on that island -the privacy he had long craved. Since then, with the exception of -the wily Prefect and a few others—the Emperor’s young girls and, -according to Roman gossip, his powdered, painted, and perfumed -young boys and the growing circle of poets and philosophers—Tiberius -Claudius Nero Caesar had seen few visitors. Gradually he -had relinquished affairs of state to the scheming Prefect Sejanus.</p> -<p>But now Pilate saw confronting him a man vastly changed from -the tall, powerful, and thoroughly able general he had known earlier. -The Emperor was noticeably stooped; his once broad forehead -and now almost naked pate seemed to have shriveled into a narrowing -expanse of wrinkled skull. Acne had inflamed and pocked -his face, and the skin lay in folds around the stem of his neck -like that of a vulture’s.</p> -<p>Tiberius greeted Pilate perfunctorily. “The Prefect tells me -you’re petitioning us for appointment to the post of Procurator in -Judaea. Is that true?”</p> -<p>“Sire, if it is the will of the Emperor that I serve in that capacity, -I shall be happy to undertake the assignment and serve the -Emperor and the Empire to the full extent of my ability.”</p> -<p>“That I would expect and demand,” Tiberius harshly replied. -“It is a difficult post. The Jews are a stubborn and intractable -people. They are fanatically religious, and they resent bitterly and -will oppose even to the sacrifice of their lives all actions they consider -offensive to their strange one-god religion. Their priests are -diabolically clever, and they are determined to rule the people in -accordance with the ancient religious laws and traditions of the -land.” His cold eyes fastened upon the cohort commander’s countenance. -“Pilate, I shall expect you to govern in that province. -Foremost among your functions of office, in addition to maintaining -at all times Roman law and order, will be the levying and -collecting of ample taxes. That, in itself, will be a burdensome -duty. In addition, I charge you to see to it that Rome is not embroiled -in any great difficulty with these Jews. I warn you, it will -be difficult. Do you think you are equal to such a task?”</p> -<p>“I am bold enough, Sire, to think so. Certainly I shall do everything -<span class="pb" id="Page_40">40</span> -within my power to demonstrate to the Emperor and his -Prefect that I am.”</p> -<p>“We shall see.” The Emperor’s cold eyes bored into those of -the officer standing before him. Suddenly his grimness relaxed into -a thin smile. “Sejanus tells me also that you have ambitions to -marry my stepdaughter Claudia.”</p> -<p>“To marry your stepdaughter, Sire, should it be the Emperor’s -will, would bestow on me the highest honor and afford me the -greatest happiness.”</p> -<p>“Evidently he knows little about her,” Tiberius observed wryly -to Sejanus, “else he would not consider himself so fortunate.” But -quickly his eyes were on Pilate again, and the malevolent smile -was gone. “I grant my permission, Pilate. The dowry will be arranged, -and I assure you it will be adequate. Sejanus will settle the -details. Unfortunately I shall not be able to attend the festivities -of the wedding.” Now he twisted his head to face the Prefect. “If -there is nothing further, Sejanus?” He did not wait for an answer -but arose. The Prefect and Pontius Pilate, bowing, were backing -toward the doorway when Tiberius suddenly stopped them. “Wait. -I wish to tell Pilate a story.</p> -<p>“Once a traveler stopped to aid a man lying wounded beside the -road,” he began. “He started to brush away the flies clustered -about the wound, when the injured man spoke out. ‘No, don’t -drive away the flies,’ he said. ‘They have fed on me until now -they are satisfied and no longer hurt me. But if you brush these -off, then other, more hungry ones will come and feed on me until -I am sucked dry of blood.’” A mirthless smile crinkled the corners -of his mouth. “Pilate, I want no new thirsty fly settling after -Valerius Gratus upon the Jews in Judaea. Nevertheless, from them -I must be sent a sufficiency of blood. Do you understand?”</p> -<p>Pilate swallowed. “Sire, I understand.” He licked his heavy red -lips.</p> -<p>As they were at the door, Tiberius raised his hand to stop them -again. A sly grin, leering and sadistic, spread across his face. “Take -Claudia with you to Judaea, Procurator. And rule her, man! Rule -her!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_41">41</div> -<h2 id="c6">6</h2> -<p>Languidly the Princess Herodias of the Maccabean branch of the -Herod dynasty lay back in the warm, scented water so that only -her head, framed in black hair held dry by a finely woven silk net, -was exposed.</p> -<p>“More hot water, Neaera,” she commanded. “But be careful. I -don’t want to look cooked for the Tetrarch.”</p> -<p>Quickly the slave maid turned the tap, and steaming water -gushed from the ornate eagle’s-head faucet.</p> -<p>“That’s enough!” shouted Herodias after a minute. “By the -gods, shut it off!” She sat upright in the tiled tub, and the water -ran down from her neck and shoulders, leaving little islands of -suds clinging to her glistening white body. “Now hand me the -mirror.”</p> -<p>She extended a dripping arm and accepted the polished bronze. -For a long moment she studied her image. “Neaera, tell me truthfully, -am I showing my age too dreadfully?”</p> -<p>“But, Mistress, you are not old,” the maid protested.</p> -<p>“You’re a flatterer, Neaera. Salome, remember, is fourteen.”</p> -<p>“But you were married very young, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“And I was married a long time ago, too.” She peered again -into the mirror. “Look. Already I can see tiny crow’s-foot lines -around my eyes.”</p> -<p>“But unguents and a little eye shadowing....”</p> -<p>“More flattery.” Herodias shook a wet finger at the young woman’s -nose. “But I love it; so don’t ever stop. But now”—she grasped -the sides of the tub—“help me out. I mustn’t lie in this hot water -any longer, or I’ll be as pink as a roast by the time the Tetrarch -comes.” She grasped the maid’s arm to steady herself as she stepped -from the tub to the tufted mat, and Neaera began to rub her -<span class="pb" id="Page_42">42</span> -down with a heavy towel. When the slave maid had finished drying -her, Herodias turned to face the full-length minor, her body -flushed and glowing from the brisk robbing. Palms on hips, she -studied her own straight, still lithe frame. “Really, Neaera,” she -asked, “how do I look?” With fingers spread she caressed the -gently rounded smooth plane of her stomach and then lifted -cupped palms to her firm, finely shaped breasts. “I haven’t lost my -figure too badly, have I?”</p> -<p>“You haven’t lost it at all, Mistress,” the maid assured her, as -she picked up a filmy undergarment from the bench. “It’s still -youthful and still beautiful.” Herodias braced herself as the girl -bent low to assist her into the black silk garment. Neaera leaned -back and studied the older woman again. “You have the figure of -a young woman, indeed, Mistress,” she said, “though fully matured -and....”</p> -<p>“And what, Neaera? What were you going to say?”</p> -<p>“Well, Mistress, a figure to me more beautiful because of maturity, -and more interesting.”</p> -<p>“And more alluring, more seductive, maybe?” Her smile was -lightly wanton. “To the Tetrarch, perhaps? But the Herods, -Neaera, and old Tiberius, too, I hear, like their women very -young.” Her expression sobered. “I’m almost afraid he’ll be having -eyes for Salome rather than for me. The child has matured -remarkably, you know, in the last year.”</p> -<p>“I should think, though, Mistress, that the Tetrarch....”</p> -<p>A sharp knocking on the door interrupted her.</p> -<p>“By the gods, Neaera, it must be the Tetrarch, and I’m not -ready. Tell Strabo to seat him in the peristylium and pour him -wine and say that I shall be ready soon.”</p> -<p>But the visitor was not the Tetrarch of Galilee. Strabo announced -that the Emperor’s stepdaughter was in the atrium.</p> -<p>“Claudia! How wonderful! Show her into the solarium, and tell -her I’ll join her in a minute. Neaera, hurry and fetch me my robe. -We can sit and talk while you do my hair.”</p> -<p>“I can’t stay for more than a few minutes,” the Emperor’s stepdaughter -announced when, a moment later, Herodias greeted her -in the solarium. “Longinus is going to take me out to the chariot -<span class="pb" id="Page_43">43</span> -races, and he may be waiting for me right now. But I wanted to -tell you, Herodias....” She paused, her expression suddenly -questioning. “Bona Dea, I’ll bet that the Tetrarch is taking you -there, too, and I’ve caught you in the middle of getting dressed.”</p> -<p>“Yes, you’re right, but there’s no hurry, Claudia. I can finish -quickly. And if I’m not ready when he comes, he can wait.”</p> -<p>“So,” Claudia laughed, “you already have the Tetrarch so entranced -that he will wait patiently while you dress.”</p> -<p>“Not patiently, perhaps, but he’ll wait ... without protesting.”</p> -<p>“Then it won’t be long before you’ll be marrying him and leaving -for Palestine.” She said it teasingly, but immediately her expression -changed to reveal concern. “But, Herodias, when you do, -what will his present wife say; how will she take it? And his subjects -in Galilee? Doesn’t the Jewish religion forbid a man’s having -more than one living wife?”</p> -<p>“The daughter of King Aretas will resent his bringing another -wife to Tiberias, no doubt”—Herodias smiled coyly—“if I do marry -him. And as for the religion of the Jews, well, my dear, you must -know that neither Antipas nor I follow its tenets too closely.”</p> -<p>“Of course. But I wasn’t thinking of you or the Tetrarch as -much as I was of how his present wife would react. And the -people of Galilee, too, how will they feel about his having two living -wives, one of whom is his niece. Won’t it offend them?”</p> -<p>“Yes, if we marry, it will offend a great many of them. But my -grandfather, old King Herod, father of Philip and Antipas, had -ten wives, remember, nine of them at the same time. The Jews -didn’t like that, but what could they do? No, we aren’t too concerned -about what the Jews will think. But Aretas’ daughter probably -will try to cause trouble. Not because Antipas will be having -a new bedfellow, but because she won’t any longer be Tetrarchess. -Being replaced will make her furious. She cares not a fig for the -Tetrarch’s bedding with other women; she even gave him a harem -of Arabian women, Antipas told me.” She paused, smiling. “Claudia, -you remember that black-haired woman at the banquet the -other night, the one called Mary of Magdala?” Claudia nodded. -“Well, Antipas told me that his wife not only knew that Mary -was coming with him to Rome but actually suggested that he bring -<span class="pb" id="Page_44">44</span> -her. He said his wife and Mary were good friends even though -the Tetrarchess knew quite well what the relationship was between -him and Mary.”</p> -<p>“Maybe the Tetrarchess sent this Mary with Antipas to keep -his eyes from straying to other women, like you, for example.”</p> -<p>“Keeping his eyes from straying would be an impossible task.”</p> -<p>“Do you think Mary is jealous of you now?”</p> -<p>“That woman!” Herodias tossed her head. “Of course not. Nor -am I jealous of her. I really don’t care if he spends an occasional -night in her bed. All I want is to be Tetrarchess. If he marries me, -I shall insist, though, that he divorce that Arabian woman. No, -our concern, Claudia”—she lowered her voice and glanced cautiously -around the room, but Neaera had left the solarium—“is not -what the Jews in Galilee, or his present wife, or this woman from -Magdala will think, but rather what the Prefect himself will think. -Sejanus could cause us much trouble. But now everything seems -to be all right. Antipas assures me that we needn’t worry about it -any longer. He says that he and Sejanus have reached an understanding.”</p> -<p>“And I have a good idea of what that understanding is based -upon,” Claudia said. “But what about your husband, Herodias? -What will Philip think?”</p> -<p>“Philip! Hah!” She sneered. “What Philip thinks is of no concern. -I’ve never really cared for him anyway. It’s a little hard to -feel romantic toward a man who’s your half uncle, you know.”</p> -<p>“But Antipas, too, is your half uncle, isn’t he? And he’s -Philip’s half brother as well. Hmm.” She smiled mischievously. -“That makes him both Salome’s half uncle and half great-uncle, -doesn’t it? That is, if Philip’s her father.”</p> -<p>“Well, yes,” Herodias admitted. “I suppose he’s her father. Anyway, -he thinks so. But he’s also an old man, a generation older -than I.” She said it with evident sarcasm. “Antipas is old too, of -course, but remember, my dear, he’s the Tetrarch of Galilee, -while Philip is only a tiresome, fast aging, disowned son of a dead -king, dependent for his very existence on the favor of a crotchety -Emperor and a conniving Prefect. Antipas is old and fat, Claudia, -but he has power and an opulence far in excess of Philip’s, and a -<span class="pb" id="Page_45">45</span> -title, too. And some day, perhaps not too far away, with my pushing -him, who knows, he may be a king like his father was.” She -shrugged. “As for romance, the world’s filled with younger men.”</p> -<p>Claudia studied the face of her Idumaean friend. “Herodias, you -worship power, don’t you?”</p> -<p>“Why shouldn’t I?” Herodias replied tartly. “Power and wealth, -you forget, are rightfully mine. I am the granddaughter of Mariamne, -King Herod’s royal wife, daughter of the Maccabeans, while -Philip’s mother was only a high priest’s daughter and the mother -of Antipas was a Samaritan woman. I am descended from the true -royalty in Israel.” Her irritation faded as quickly as it had come. -“You say I worship power. What else, pray, is there for one to -worship? Your pale, anemic Roman gods? Bah! You don’t worship -them yourself. Why then should I? I’m not even a Roman. Silly -superstition, your Roman gods, and well you know it, Claudia. -And the gods of the Greeks are no better. Nor the Egyptians. If -I had to embrace the superstition of any religion I would be inclined -to worship the Yahweh of the Jews. He’s the only god who -makes any sense at all to me, but even he is too fire-breathing and -vindictive for my liking. But I’m not a Jew, Claudia, even though -I am descended on one side from the royal Maccabeans. I’m a -Herod, and the Herods are Idumaeans. The Jews call them pagans, -and by the Jews’ standards, pagans we are.” For a moment she was -thoughtful, and Claudia said nothing to break the silence. “But I -suppose you’re right, Claudia,” she said at last. “If I have any god -at all, he’s the two-headed god of power and money. And if the -Tetrarch were your Longinus, well, my god would have a third -head, pleasure. I envy you, Claudia! By the way,” she added, as she -poured wine for her guest and herself, “may I be so bold, my -dear, as to inquire how things between you and the centurion stand -just now?”</p> -<p>“That’s why I came to see you, Herodias. I wanted to thank -you for a most enjoyable evening too, but mainly I wanted to -tell you that Longinus and I have—how did you express it—reached -an understanding.”</p> -<p>“Wonderful!” Herodias beamed. “Are you going to marry him, -Claudia, or are you...?” She hesitated, grinning.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div> -<p>“Am I going to marry him, or will we just continue as we are -without the formality of marriage vows?” She laughed. “Yes, I’m -planning to marry him. But this is what I wanted to tell you, -Herodias. I’m going out with him to Palestine. He’s being sent -there on some sort of special mission by the Prefect Sejanus.”</p> -<p>“By all the gods, that is wonderful, Claudia! Then we’ll be able -to see each other out there. Where will you be stationed? At -Caesarea? Jerusalem? Maybe even Tiberias?”</p> -<p>“He hasn’t received his detailed orders yet. But I’ll be able to -visit you at the palace anyway. I hear it’s a magnificent place.”</p> -<p>“It must be. I’m anxious to see it myself; you know, I haven’t -been near the place since it was finished. And it will be wonderful -to have you and Longinus to visit us.” But suddenly her expression -sobered. “Claudia, has the Emperor given his permission for -you to marry Longinus? And does the Prefect approve?”</p> -<p>“Neither of them knows about it yet. But I’m sure they’ll both -be glad to see me married and away from Rome. Longinus is going -to speak to Sejanus about us.”</p> -<p>They heard voices in the atrium. Claudia stood up quickly. -“That must be the Tetrarch. By Bona Dea, I didn’t realize I was -staying this long; I must be going. Longinus will be waiting for -me. Herodias, surely we’ll see one another again before either of us -sails for Palestine?”</p> -<p>“Yes, we must. And when we do, we’ll both know more about -our plans.”</p> -<p>Neaera entered. “Has the Tetrarch come?” Herodias asked.</p> -<p>“No, Mistress, it’s a soldier sent by the Prefect. He seeks the -Lady Claudia. He awaits her in the atrium.”</p> -<p>The soldier, one of the Praetorian Guardsmen, announced that -the Prefect Sejanus was at that moment waiting for Claudia in -her own apartment at the Imperial Palace. He added that he -hoped they might start immediately; he feared the Prefect might -be getting impatient.</p> -<p>But when they reached her house and she entered the atrium -to greet the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Sejanus bowed low -and smiled reassuringly. “I come from an audience with your beloved -stepfather, the Emperor, at Capri,” he said. “He commanded -<span class="pb" id="Page_47">47</span> -me to bear to you his esteem and fatherly love and to offer his -congratulations upon the most excellent plans he has projected—with -my warm approval, let me hasten to assure you—for your -forthcoming marriage.”</p> -<p>“For my marriage? But, Prefect Sejanus....” Claudia paused, -striving to maintain outward composure.</p> -<p>“I know it comes as quite a surprise to you. But the arrangements -have been completed, and I’ve come here to tell you immediately -on my return from Capri. You and your future husband are -the only ones who are being informed now of the Emperor’s plans. -But you will be married soon, even before you and your husband -leave for his tour of duty in Palestine.”</p> -<p>“In Palestine!”</p> -<p>How could the Emperor have known about Longinus and me? -The Prefect? Of course, that’s how. Sejanus knew that Longinus -was with me at the banquet Antipas gave for Herodias; he knew -that Longinus was at my house later that evening when he sent -Cornelius out to fetch him, or he learned of it when they came -afterward to his palace. Old Sejanus must not be so bad, after all. -Nor is the Emperor, either. Perhaps I have been too severe in -judging them. Perhaps they both have their good moments, their -generous impulses....</p> -<p>“Yes, to Palestine.” The Prefect was speaking. “He has promised -your hand in marriage to a Roman army officer who, if he follows -my orders implicitly and remains completely loyal to me, may -shortly be not only a man of wealth but also a leader of influence -in the affairs of the Empire.”</p> -<p>Claudia was about to express her thanks to the Emperor and his -most excellent Prefect and to ask when the wedding would be -held. But some instinctive vein of caution restrained her from -mentioning Longinus’ name. Now the Prefect was speaking again.</p> -<p>“Needless to say, I join the Emperor in praying the gods that -you and the Procurator Pontius Pilate lead long lives and find great -happiness with each other.”</p> -<p>“The Procurator Pontius Pilate! Then....” But again caution -stopped her just in time.</p> -<p>Sejanus smiled. “You are surprised, my dear Claudia? And -<span class="pb" id="Page_48">48</span> -whom did you think the Emperor had chosen to be your husband?”</p> -<p>“But I ... I don’t even know this Pontius Pilate.” Claudia ignored -the Prefect’s question. “He is to be Procurator in Palestine, -succeeding Valerius Gratus?”</p> -<p>“Procurator of Judaea, with headquarters at Caesarea, yes.” His -grin was sardonically beguiling. “But what were you about to say?”</p> -<p>“I was going to observe that then I would be spending the rest -of my life away from Rome, living in a distant provincial army -post,” she lied, not too convincingly, she suspected.</p> -<p>But Sejanus did not pursue his questioning. “Not if the Procurator -conducts the affairs of his post in the manner that I have -outlined to him.”</p> -<p>“Has he been informed of the Emperor’s plans for ... for us?”</p> -<p>“Yes. And he is tremendously happy and excited, as what man -wouldn’t be, my dear Claudia?” His lips flattened bloodless across -his teeth, and his little eyes flamed. “Even I, with my youth long -fled, envy him!”</p> -<h2 id="c7">7</h2> -<p>Claudia, striving to be courteously casual, walked with the Prefect -to the doorway where two Praetorian Guardsmen awaited him. As -they went out she closed the pivoted double doors behind them, -but after a moment she cautiously drew one back and peered -through the narrow slit.</p> -<p>The Prefect’s bearers and the guards who had remained outside -were standing stiffly at attention, the bearers at the sedan-chair -handles; one of the guards stepped forward quickly to open the -door. Sejanus paused an instant and spoke to the man; then he -stepped into the chair and, as the guard closed the door, pulled -together the shielding curtains. The guard raised his hand, and the -bearers moved off smartly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div> -<p>Claudia saw, however, that the bodyguard did not march off -with the Prefect’s procession; instead, he peered about furtively, -cast a hurried glance toward her doorway, and then merged into -the traffic pushing along the narrow, cobbled way. Momentarily -she lost him but in the next instant discovered him idling in front -of a shop diagonally across from her entrance. But not for long did -he study the wares of the merchant; she saw that he had faced -about and was staring intently at her own doorway.</p> -<p>“I thought so,” she observed to Tullia, who had retreated into -the shadowed narrow corridor as Sejanus was leaving. “The Prefect -left one of his bodyguards to watch the house. He either wishes to -know where I’ll be going or who will be coming here, perhaps -both. I don’t know what he is scheming, Tullia”—the maid had -come forward and secured the doors—“but whatever it is, I don’t -like it. Longinus may endanger himself by coming. We must warn -him. But how, Tullia? He is likely to be arriving any moment; he -must have been delayed at Castra Praetoria, or he would have been -here already.”</p> -<p>Quickly she told the maid the startling news the Prefect had -brought.</p> -<p>“Anyone who leaves this house through these doors, Mistress, -then is sure to be followed. But I could go out through the servant’s -entrance on some contrived mission and perhaps be able to -warn him.”</p> -<p>“Good, Tullia. You can be taking something to Senator Piso’s -house and carry a message to Longinus. Talk with him if he is -there and tell him what has happened, but say that I’ll arrange to -meet him later, perhaps at the house of Herodias.”</p> -<p>“Or maybe, Mistress, at the shop of Stephanos.”</p> -<p>“Yes. Maybe the goldsmith’s would be better. But if the Prefect’s -men should follow and ask you questions, Tullia, what will -you say?”</p> -<p>“I could be bearing a small gift to Philo, Senator Piso’s old -Greek slave who tutored his children. He’s quite ill and....”</p> -<p>“Wonderful! Tullia, you are indeed my treasure. Take the old -man a jar of that honey from Samos; he would like that. And some -wheat cakes and a bottle of the Falernian.” She was silent a moment, -<span class="pb" id="Page_50">50</span> -thoughtful. “By the Bountiful Mother! Tullia, I’ll help you -get away by leading that soldier myself on a false chase. Fetch me -my cloak and scarf. I’ll pretend to be disguising myself in order -to slip away. Then he’ll follow me. Now find the things to take -to old Philo, and get yourself ready. And do hurry.”</p> -<p>In a few minutes Tullia returned with the cloak and scarf. “The -basket of food is ready,” she said. She helped her mistress put on -the cloak and tie the scarf so that much of her face was concealed. -“Leave the door ajar as I go out,” Claudia instructed her, “and -when you see the soldier following me, close the door and slip -away yourself through the servants’ entrance. And return the same -way, as quickly as you can.”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“And, Tullia, say to Longinus that I instructed you to tell him -that what has happened changes nothing, that as far as I am concerned -everything is just as it was with him and me. But say as -little as you can to anyone else, Tullia, and nothing concerning -the Prefect’s visit.”</p> -<p>Claudia walked to the entrance doors and turned to face her -maid again. “You go out and look around furtively as though you -were seeing that the way was clear for me. That will likely warn -the guardsman that something is afoot, that we suspect someone -may be watching the house. Then I’ll go out, and because I will -not have my bearers summoned, he’ll surmise that I am trying to -leave unnoticed.”</p> -<p>Then she puckered her rouged lips into a thoughtful bud. “But -why is old Sejanus having us watched? Did he think that I would -slip out to tell Longinus? Does he want me to tell the centurion -and perhaps deliberately prejudice him against Pilate?” She shook -her head slowly. “But how can he know about Longinus and me?”</p> -<p>“Perhaps, Mistress, he only suspects,” Tullia answered. “It may -be that he is trying to find out just what your relationship is.”</p> -<p>“Maybe so. But little he’ll discover now, by the gods!” She -opened the door and peered out. “Now.”</p> -<p>Tullia slipped through the doorway, looked up and down the -narrow street, then stepped back into the atrium.</p> -<p>“Now I’ll go,” Claudia said. “Be careful, Tullia. And do guard -<span class="pb" id="Page_51">51</span> -your tongue.” Outside she readjusted her scarf and pulled her -cloak more closely about her. Then she stepped into the cobble-stoned -way and walked rapidly along it.</p> -<p>Tullia, peeping through the slit in the doorway, saw the Prefect’s -man emerge from the shadows of a shop entrance and move off -quickly to follow her. When the two had disappeared around the -turn, Tullia closed the doors and hurriedly recrossed the atrium. A -moment later she slipped out through the servants’ entrance. A -freshly starched napkin covered the food in the basket she carried.</p> -<h2 id="c8">8</h2> -<p>An unexpected assignment, fortunately, had delayed Longinus’ departure -from Castra Praetoria, and he had just reached home when -Tullia arrived at Senator Piso’s. Quickly she told him of the Prefect’s -visit to her mistress.</p> -<p>He listened attentively, outwardly calm but inwardly with rage -mounting as her story progressed. “Go back to your mistress, Tullia,” -he said, when she finished, “and tell her that with me, too, -nothing is changed. But warn her to make no attempt, until I tell -her, to communicate with me. The Prefect is diabolically clever; he -may suspect that we will try to thwart his plans. I don’t understand -just what he’s scheming; we must be careful. But assure her -that I will find some way of getting a message to her.”</p> -<p>“Centurion Longinus, if I may suggest, sir, should you send the -message, or bear it yourself, to the shop of Stephanos in the Vicus -Margaritarius....”</p> -<p>“I know that shop, Tullia, and the goldsmith, too.”</p> -<p>“Then, sir, from there I could take your message verbally to my -mistress. Stephanos is the son of my father’s brother. He can be -trusted, you may be assured, sir.”</p> -<p>“That’s a good arrangement, Tullia. And should your mistress -<span class="pb" id="Page_52">52</span> -wish to send me a message, you can leave it with the goldsmith. -But do warn her to be careful. The Prefect may be setting a trap -for us.”</p> -<p>The goldsmith Stephanos was, like his cousin Tullia, a Greek-speaking -Jew who had been reared in the Jewish colony in Rome. -Although a young man, he had already established a profitable -business in the capital, and his customers numbered many of the -equestrian class, including members of Senator Piso’s family. Consequently, -Longinus, were he being watched, could go to the goldsmith’s -shop without arousing suspicion.</p> -<p>Longinus discovered how fortunate they had been in taking such -precautions when, a week after Tullia’s visit to him, he was again -summoned to the palace of the Prefect.</p> -<p>Sejanus gave little time to the formalities of greeting the Senator’s -son. “I am now prepared to hand you your orders, Centurion -Longinus,” he said. “But before I do so I must ask you if you have -any reservations whatsoever concerning this mission I propose to -send you on.” The Prefect’s cold little eyes were studying him, -Longinus realized, and he was determined that he would reveal -neither fear nor surprise.</p> -<p>“None, sir. I’m a soldier, and I await the Prefect’s orders.”</p> -<p>But Sejanus was not satisfied. “When last I talked with you, -you said that you were hardly acquainted with Pontius Pilate, that -you were in no sense an intimate friend. But I ask you now, do -you have any hostility toward him?” He leaned forward, and his -eyes bored into the centurion’s bland countenance. “Has anything -happened since then that would cause you to change your feeling -toward him?”</p> -<p>“I know nothing that he has done, sir, that would cause me to -feel hostility toward him. Has he, sir?”</p> -<p>The question seemed to surprise Sejanus. He leaned back against -his chair. “He has done nothing. But something has been done -that may have caused you to feel bitter toward him.” He was -studying the centurion intently. “Bitterness toward the Procurator -would render you unfit for the assignment I am proposing for you, -just as close friendship for him would do the same.” He smiled, -changing his stern tone to one of fatherly interest. “Frankly, Longinus, -<span class="pb" id="Page_53">53</span> -I had expected to find you bitter toward Pilate, the Emperor, -and me.”</p> -<p>“But why, sir, should <i>I</i> be bitter?”</p> -<p>“I had thought that perhaps you would be jealous of him, resent -his....”</p> -<p>“Jealous of Pilate?” Boldly Longinus ventured to interrupt. “But -why, sir?”</p> -<p>“Pilate is going to marry the Emperor’s stepdaughter and take -her out to Judaea when he goes there to begin his duties as Procurator. -I had thought that you yourself might be planning to -marry Claudia.”</p> -<p>“<i>I</i>, sir?” Longinus affected sudden surprise. “May I respectfully -ask why you thought that?”</p> -<p>“You have been seeing her since your return from Germania. She -accompanied you to the banquet Antipas gave for his brother’s -wife.” Sejanus shrugged. “That suggested it to me.” His lips thinned -into a feline grin. “Since I made known to her the Emperor’s -plans I have had you both watched; if you have met or communicated -with one another, it has escaped my men’s sharp eyes.” His -piggish eyes brightened. “I want you to understand, Longinus, that -I am not the protector of either Claudia or Pilate. I am not the -least concerned with their private lives so long as what they do -doesn’t harm me or the Empire. And let me add”—his eyes were -dancing now—“I’m not concerned with your private life either. I -am determined, however, that nothing be done to interfere with -our plans for Pilate and Claudia. But if after they are married and -gone out to Judaea, some evening in Caesarea or Jerusalem you -should find yourself in Pilate’s bed when Pilate is away, that will -be no concern of mine, nor shall I care one green fig’s worth.” -Suddenly the lascivious gleam was gone from his eyes, and his -countenance was grave. He raised a stern hand and leaned forward -again. “But I’ll require of you a true and unbiased report on -Pontius Pilate, Longinus. If you think you may be prejudiced -against the man because he will have taken Claudia away from -you, then I charge you to tell me now and I shall give you some -other assignment.”</p> -<p>“I assure you, sir, that I have no hostility toward him. But I do -<span class="pb" id="Page_54">54</span> -wonder why Claudia is being required to marry him and be virtually -exiled from Rome.”</p> -<p>Sejanus studied the senator’s son a long moment. “Longinus, -I shall be entirely frank with you, as I shall require you to be -with me,” he replied, lowering his voice, though there were no -other ears to hear. “The Emperor and I want Claudia exiled, -though we would never employ so harsh a word for her being sent -away from Rome. Claudia’s the granddaughter of Augustus, remember, -and also—it’s generally believed, at any rate—the granddaughter -of Mark Antony and the Egyptian Cleopatra. She’s in -direct descent from strong-willed, able—and in their day tremendously -popular—forebears. Tiberius, on the other hand, is not. -Nor does he have any strong following. As you know, Longinus”—he -paused, and his small black eyes for an instant weighed the -centurion’s expression—“in everything but name, I am the Emperor.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, sir, but were Rome to overthrow the Emperor, the gods -forbid, would the people enthrone a woman? Surely, sir, they -would never....”</p> -<p>“Of course not. It’s not likely, under any circumstances. But -you don’t understand, Longinus.” The Prefect’s grim countenance -relaxed a bit, but he kept his voice low as he sat back against his -chair. “Claudia is no longer married. While she was married to -that fop Aemilius there was no cause for concern. But now she’s -divorced and in a position to marry again.” He smiled, and the -wanton flame lighted once more. “And beautiful. Gods, what a -figure!” He rolled his eyes. “If I were young again, with her I -could be Emperor of Rome!” He was silent a moment. “But I -am Emperor of Rome—in all but title.” Now Sejanus was suddenly -grave, and old, and the flame was only of an innate cunning. -He leaned toward the centurion. “Longinus, any man in Rome, -any man, would be happy to marry Claudia. She’s beautiful, rich, -highly intelligent, and the granddaughter of Rome’s greatest Emperor. -Being that, she remains a threat to us as long as she is in -Rome. What if some strong, ambitious general or senator, for example, -should marry her and undertake to displace Tiberius?” He -sat back and gestured with outspread palms. “Don’t you see, Centurion? -<span class="pb" id="Page_55">55</span> -And displacement of Tiberius—and me—would be disastrous -for your father, of course, and for you. You and I must work -together just as your father and I have been doing. So I shall look -forward not only to your frequent reports of a military and administrative -nature, particularly with respect to the collection -of revenue, but now that Claudia is going out there, to tidbits of -information concerning her and Pilate.” His sensual lips thinned -across his teeth. “Claudia must be kept away from Rome, Longinus, -but she must be kept happily away, too. So if you can -help make her stay in Judaea pleasant, if you can help Pilate keep -her satisfied, or if you can keep her satisfied,” he added with a -leer, “you will be serving the Emperor and me, your father, and -yourself. And I don’t care <i>how</i> you do it. Be careful to avoid -scandal, though, that might reach Rome.” He grinned again. “I -think you need have little fear of Pilate.” His lips were twisted -in an evil smile. “Now have I answered your question, Longinus? -Do I make myself entirely clear?”</p> -<p>“You do, sir.” Longinus’ countenance was impassive, he hoped, -but his palm itched to be doubled into a fist that would smash -the leer off the Prefect’s face.</p> -<p>“Then these are your orders. Three days hence the ‘Palmyra’ -sails for Palestine. Aboard will be a maniple of troops to relieve -two centuries of the Second Italian Cohort. You will command -a century that will be stationed at Caesarea under Sergius Paulus. -Centurion Cornelius will command the other. Also aboard will be -Tetrarch Herod Antipas. You and your century will go ashore at -Caesarea, but Cornelius and his will accompany Herod to Joppa. -There they will land, and Cornelius will escort the Tetrarch to -Jerusalem. Ostensibly Herod will be going up to the Temple to -worship, but he will be bearing a message from me to old Annas, -the former high priest.” He paused but did not explain further. -“From Jerusalem,” he went on, “Cornelius will escort Herod to -Tiberias, where the century will be stationed, with a garrison post -at Capernaum supporting it. And now, to get back to you, Longinus, -I have dispatched orders to Sergius Paulus that although -you will command a century, you must be allowed leave any time -<span class="pb" id="Page_56">56</span> -you request it to undertake special missions. I indicated to him -that these missions would be concerned primarily with the government’s -interest in the operations of your father’s factories in -Phoenicia. This work understandably could take you to the plants -in Phoenicia and also to Tiberias, Jerusalem, and other regions in -Palestine. The cohort commander must never suspect, nor anyone -else, including Claudia, remember, that you are keeping sharp -eyes and ears on Pilate and Herod Antipas. I’m sending you ahead -on the ‘Palmyra,’ Longinus, so that you will be in Caesarea when -Pilate and Claudia arrive there.” He studied the centurion. “Is -everything understood, Centurion?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir, I understand.” His forehead creased into small -wrinkles. “When you talked with me before, sir, you said that I -would be expected to keep watch on the activities of three persons, -Pilate, Antipas, and....”</p> -<p>“Claudia, of course, was the third.” He twisted his vulture-like -head to scan the large chamber, a habit developed during long -years of caution. “Watch her, too. Know what she is doing, what -she is thinking even, if you can.” He lowered his voice. “Be careful, -Centurion. She’s a clever woman, with brains worthy of old -Augustus. I am not concerned, as I said, with her morals, or -Pilate’s, or yours. But be careful.” His little eyes fired again, and -a wry grin twisted his face. “Don’t let Pilate catch you in bed -with her. Such carelessness might destroy your effectiveness.”</p> -<p>Sejanus stood up, a signal that his business with the centurion -was finished. Longinus arose quickly to stand at attention, concerned -that even yet he might reveal in the Prefect’s presence -the revulsion mounting within him.</p> -<p>“Send me reports as often and as regularly as you have valuable -information to give, Longinus. Use great care to see that your -messages are well-sealed and not likely to go astray. Watch those -three. Let nothing of significance escape your notice, and let nothing -be omitted from your reports. Keep Claudia under surveillance, -but don’t get so occupied with her that you aren’t fully alive to -everything that is happening. Watch her, regardless of what else -you two may be doing!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_57">57</div> -<h2 id="c9">9</h2> -<p>Longinus led his century from its quarters at Castra Praetoria -westward through the Viminal Gate along the way that skirted the -leveled-out northern extremity of Esqueline Hill.</p> -<p>At the point where this way joined Via Longa the procession -entered the cobblestoned street and moved westward and then -straight southward. Longinus glanced over his shoulder and had -a glimpse, between shops that crowded the lower level of Quirinal -Hill, of his father’s great house high on that elevation. But quickly -he lost sight of it as his century became virtually submerged in the -dense traffic fighting its way slowly along Via Longa. Fortunately, -the legionaries were bearing only their lightest armor; the heavier -gear had been sent ahead and put aboard the “Palmyra.” But even -thus equipped, in the narrow, packed street, though it was one -of Rome’s important thoroughfares, they were finding it increasingly -difficult to maintain a steady march.</p> -<p>As the century began to pass north of the crowded Subura, that -motley district of massed tenements, shops, taverns, and brothels -already being pointed out as the birthplace more than a century -ago of the great Julius Caesar, the press of the throng so increased -that the soldiers were almost forced to fight their way forward. -But progress became easier in the area below the Forum Augustus, -and as the troops were pushing past it toward the Forum -Romanum, Longinus glanced toward the summit of Palatine Hill -crowned by the sprawling great Imperial Palace; his eyes went -immediately to the northeast wing and to the window in Claudia’s -bedroom through which he had heard, one recent morning, the -rising trumpet call from the post.</p> -<p>Longinus had not seen the Emperor’s stepdaughter since the -day the Prefect had visited her, though they had exchanged messages -<span class="pb" id="Page_58">58</span> -left with Stephanos the goldsmith at his shop in Vicus -Margaritarius. Claudia’s last message had assured him that she -would contrive some plan for seeing him immediately upon her -arrival with Pilate at Caesarea; that shouldn’t be too difficult. -Tullia had relayed Claudia’s message to Stephanos, and Longinus -had received it verbally from the goldsmith. “We will have the -Great Sea between the Emperor and Sejanus and us,” she had -sent word to the centurion. “It will be much safer then; as for -Pilate, I am little concerned with what he thinks or does; in fact, -he’ll do nothing.”</p> -<p>Before the Forum Romanum Longinus led his troops straight -southward. At the northwest end of Circus Maximus they veered -westward and went along the way leading across the Tiber on -the ancient Pons Sublicius, fashioned of great stones fitted together -to span the swiftly flowing muddy water. Near the bridge -entrance the column turned left and paralleled the stream to -halt at the pier just below the Sublicius. Quickly the legionaries -went aboard the “Palmyra.”</p> -<p>Longinus’ troops were the last to embark, and within an hour -the “Palmyra” began slowly to shove its stern out into the stream. -When the ship was safely away from the pier, the hortator gave -a sharp command, and the long oars, manned by galley slaves -chained to their three-tiered benches, rose and fell in perfect -cadence, with the starboard oarsmen pushing forward and those -on the port side pulling hard, so that the “Palmyra’s” bow came -around; soon the vessel was moving steadily downstream.</p> -<p>Longinus and Cornelius, having stowed their gear, returned to -the deck to stand together on the port side near the stern. By -now the vessel was rounding the slight westward bend in the river -and was passing the Aventine Hill. Cornelius, watching the yellow -waters churning in the wake of the “Palmyra,” raised his eyes -and pointed across the stern toward the Imperial Palace, the western -front of which they could see jutting past the squared end of -the Circus Maximus. The upper section of the great palace was -visible above the race course. “Longinus, I’m surprised you’re leaving -her in Rome. I thought that if you ever went back to Palestine, -you’d be taking Claudia with you.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div> -<p>Longinus wondered if by some chance Cornelius had learned -of the Emperor’s plans for his stepdaughter and was trying now -gently to probe further. “But the night you came to her house -for me was the first time I’d seen her after returning from Germania,” -he protested, laughing. “Wouldn’t that be a little fast? -She’s the Emperor’s stepdaughter, you know.”</p> -<p>“Well, maybe I was imagining things.” Cornelius shrugged. -“But she is a beautiful woman.”</p> -<p>“I agree, Cornelius. The Bountiful Mother was lavish with her -gifts to the Lady Claudia.” He turned to lean against the rail. -“What <i>I’m</i> wondering, though, is why Herod didn’t marry Herodias -and bring her along.”</p> -<p>“Maybe he has married her. But I suspect that whether he has -or not, he’ll be returning to Rome for her before many months. -That is, after he’s made peace with the Tetrarchess and old King -Aretas, her father.” He grinned. “I’d wager, too, that you’ll be -coming back for Claudia.”</p> -<p>Longinus laughed but made no comment. His friend, he reasoned, -did not know about Claudia and Pontius Pilate. Nor -would he tell him yet.</p> -<p>Now the “Palmyra” was moving swiftly, its cadenced oars rising -and falling rhythmically to propel the vessel much faster -downstream than the current unaided would have borne it. They -had come opposite the thousand-foot-long Emporium huddled -on the Tiber’s eastern bank, its wharves crawling with slaves moving -great casks and bales of merchandise into the warehouses or -bringing them out to be loaded aboard ships preparing to slip -down the Tiber and into the Great Sea at Ostia. Black Ethiopians -and Nubians, their sweating bodies shining as though they had -been rubbed with olive oil and naked except for brightly colored -loincloths, straggled at their tasks. Blond warriors brought from -Germania as part of some Roman general’s triumph, their skins -now burnt to the color of old leather, and squat, swarthy men -from Gaul and Dalmatia, from Macedonia and the Greek islands, -captives of Roman legionaries ranging far from the Italian mainland, -pulled and shoved to the roared commands of the overseers -and the not infrequent angry uncoiling of long leather whips.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div> -<p>“Did you ever realize, Longinus, what a comprehensive view -you get of Rome and the Empire from a ship going along the -Tiber?” Cornelius nodded toward the stern. “Look at those -marble-crowned hills back there, literally overrun with palaces, billions -of sesterces spent in building them, hundreds, thousands of -lives used up, sacrificed, raising them one above the other. The -people in them, too, Longinus, and the rottenness—smug hypocrisy, -adherence to convention, infidelity, unfairness, utter cruelty, -depravity. Rome, great mistress of the world. Hah!” He half -turned and pointed toward the Emporium. “Those sweating slaves -over there would agree.” He gestured with opened hands. “Ride -down the Tiber and see Rome, glorious Mother Rome, from -Viminal’s crown to Emporium’s docks, eh?”</p> -<p>“You’re right,” Longinus smiled. “And it’s only because the -gods have decreed for us a different fate that you and I are not -over there heaving crates, or chained here pulling oars.” He leaned -over the rail and studied the rhythmical rise and fall of the long, -slim oars. “No doubt there are among these slaves several whose -intelligence, education, and culture are considerably greater than -the hortator’s, and I’m sure.... Look!”</p> -<p>Cornelius followed the direction of Longinus’ outstretched arm. -One of the oars had come up beneath a floating object and sent it -spinning and twisting in the churning muddy flood. Now another -oar’s sharp blade struck the object, ripping apart its once carefully -folded wrapping; as the oar cleared the surface, the wrapping -unrolled, exposing the body of a tiny infant, chalk-white in the -yellow water. It spun giddily for a moment, then sank.</p> -<p>“By the gods!” Cornelius shouted. “It’s an exposed baby girl!”</p> -<p>But now the small, lifeless body bobbed to the surface and for -one unruffled moment lay on its back, eyes wide-open and fixed, -staring upward unseeing toward the two centurions leaning over -the ship’s rail. In that same instant the oars descended, and the -knife-sharp edge of one near the stern sliced diagonally across -the drowned infant; the oar shivered with the unexpected added -burden, but it bore the mangled small corpse beneath the thick -waters, and up through them rose a trickle of dark crimson.</p> -<p>“She wasn’t dead when she was thrown in,” Cornelius said, -<span class="pb" id="Page_61">61</span> -“and that wasn’t long ago. Perhaps from one of the bridges back -there, or maybe a wharf. Or even a boat ahead.” His shoulders -trembled in an involuntary shudder. “Longinus, I could kill a -man in battle without blinking, but I couldn’t throw an infant -into the Tiber. By the gods, how can any man do it?”</p> -<p>“Nevertheless, hundreds do it every year, Centurion. We were -speaking of those slaves over there on the Emporium’s docks and -these galley slaves rowing us. And this drowned baby, and countless -others who simply lost when the gods rolled the dice. The -fickle gods, my friend, the unfeeling, stonehearted gods.”</p> -<p>“Don’t blame the gods, Longinus. Blame rather Rome’s mounting -vanity and greed, her selfishness, cruelty.”</p> -<p>“You know I’m not blaming the gods, Cornelius; I have no -more faith than you have even in their existence. They are nothing -but pale nobodies, fabrications in which not even intelligent children -believe.”</p> -<p>“Fabrications, yes. Our gods are inventions, but they serve a -purpose and are necessary.”</p> -<p>“Necessary?” The centurion’s face had twisted into a heavy -scowl. “Why, Cornelius?”</p> -<p>“Because they fill a place, supply a need, Longinus. It’s the -nature of man to look to some higher power, isn’t it, some greater -intelligence? Else why would one invent these gods; why would -primitive peoples carve them from wood and stone; why would -we and the Greeks and the Egyptians raise great temples to them?”</p> -<p>“Do you contend then that people worship these carved sticks -and stones as symbols of some higher intelligence and power rather -than the carved objects themselves, even primitive peoples? Is that -what you’re saying?”</p> -<p>“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Some—many, in fact—have -become confused, of course, and in seeking to worship this mysterious -divinity they go through a form or ceremony of worshiping -the symbol. But what I’m trying to say, Centurion, is that it is the -nature of mankind to look to something higher, something more -intelligent, more powerful, better, yes, than man himself, better -even than such an exemplary man as our beloved”—now his tone -was sarcastic—“Emperor, or his most worthy Prefect. And if man -<span class="pb" id="Page_62">62</span> -seeks such a being to worship—and all men, mind you, even -savages, even those wild tree worshipers in Britannia do it—doesn’t -it stand to reason that there should be such a being?”</p> -<p>The “Palmyra” had entered the smooth bending of the Tiber -and was moving rapidly toward the river’s nearest approach to -Janiculum Hill, Rome’s Jewish quarter on the west bank of the -stream. Longinus pointed to the steep rise of the hill and the -plane before it cluttered with the densely massed homes of thousands -of Jews, many of them born in the capital, others newly -settled there. “It seems to me, Centurion, that you’ve become -an adherent of the Jewish one-god religion.”</p> -<p>His words amused Cornelius. “Other Romans at our post in -Galilee have charged me with the same thing. It came about, I -suppose, from my helping the Jews at Capernaum build their new -synagogue.”</p> -<p>“Then surely you must be a member of their fellowship or -synagogue ... whatever they call it?”</p> -<p>“No, I’m no convert to the Jews’ religion, Centurion. I don’t -belong to the synagogue. I helped them, I told myself, in order to -promote good relations between the Jews in Galilee and the members -of our small Roman post. But maybe I had other reasons, -too. There are many things about their one-god religion that seem -sensible and right to me. But there are also practices among the -Jews that I don’t approve of at all, practices that seem cruel and -senseless. Their system of sacrifices, for instance. I can see no -act of proper worship in slitting the throats of innumerable sheep -and cattle to appease an angry god....”</p> -<p>“I agree. But we do the same thing. Doesn’t the Emperor dedicate -the games by slitting the throats of oxen?”</p> -<p>“Exactly. But what is the good of such worship or ceremony -or whatever you may choose to call it? If there is a god to whom -the sacrifice is being made, what good does it do him, what pleasure -could he possibly receive from it?”</p> -<p>“I see nothing to any of it, Cornelius. Roman, Greek, Egyptian, -Jewish, forest worship in Britannia, whatever the system is; -it’s all superstition, delusion....”</p> -<p>“I grant you, maybe it is. But, Longinus, don’t you feel deep -<span class="pb" id="Page_63">63</span> -down inside yourself that there must be some intelligence, some -power, far above man’s very limited intelligence and power, that -created the earth and the heavens and controls them? Else how -did they get here in the first place?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know, Cornelius. You’ve gone ahead of me, my friend. -I never gave much thought to matters like this.” The lines of his -forehead wrinkled into a frown. “But even if you <i>should</i> feel -that way, how could you ever <i>know</i>? Have you seen a god, Centurion? -Have you ever felt one or heard one speak?”</p> -<p>“I’ve never seen one, Longinus. But I think I have felt and -perhaps heard one. There have been times when I was confident -that I was communicating with one.” Cornelius watched the -spume thrown up by the flashing oars as they cut into the muddy -waters. He turned back to face Longinus. “That’s the difficulty, -you know, communication. How can one get a grip upon a god—the -god, if there be but one, and the way I see it that is the only -sensible answer—like those slaves down there grip the oar handles? -How can one hear a god, see him, taste him? Obviously, one cannot, -for this god, whether there be one or many, must be different -from man; he must be a spiritual being rather than a physical -one. But if he is a spirit, how can we of the physical world communicate -with him and he with us? There, my friend, is the problem.”</p> -<p>Longinus shook his head. “You’ve got me, Cornelius. I cannot -imagine a spirit, a being without a body, a something that is -nothing.”</p> -<p>“Many persons can’t, Centurion. And that’s the main difficulty -in accepting the Jews’ Yahweh, their one god. He is a spirit, they -say, without physical form or substance. They believe in him, but -how do they know him, how do they learn what he’s like? In a -word, if he does exist, how can he be made comprehensible to -man?”</p> -<p>Longinus smiled indulgently. “But you say you think you have -felt one and maybe heard one. Why?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know if I can explain. Maybe it goes back to the fact -that my first lessons were taught me by a Greek slave. He was -purchased by my father from a lot brought to Rome after one of -<span class="pb" id="Page_64">64</span> -those early rebellions. This man was one of the wisest I have -ever known. I shall never forget his teaching concerning the -gods. When we would speak lightly of our Roman gods, old -Pheidias would scold us. ‘Don’t speak disparagingly of the gods,’ -he would say, even though he himself did not believe in them. I -can still remember his words. ‘The gods,’ he said, ‘are symbols -of man’s efforts to attain a higher life, a more noble plane of living. -The good gods are the symbols of the good attributes in man; -evil gods symbolize the base passions. Therefore, hold communion -with the good gods, and seek to avoid contact with the evil ones.’”</p> -<p>“But how does that teaching explain what you feel?”</p> -<p>“Wait,” Cornelius smiled, then continued. “Sometimes Pheidias -would confide in us and talk in more intimate terms of his own -philosophy. At such times he would tell us that his own gods -were merged into one omnipotent and omniscient good god, a -spirit without a body, everywhere present. This one god was a -synthesis of the good, the true, and the beautiful. And though -he could not be felt, as I feel this rail here”—Cornelius ran his -hand along the ship’s rail—“and though he was not to be seen -or heard as one sees or hears another person, he was nevertheless -even more real. ‘For the only things that are real,’ my tutor would -say, ‘are the intangible things, and the only imperishable things -are those that have no physical being. Truth, for example. Truth -has no body. Who can hold truth in his hand? And yet truth -is eternal, unchangeable, indestructible. And love? Who can destroy -love; who can defeat it? Yet can you put love in a basket -and carry it from the shop? And who can measure a modius of love -or weigh out twelve unciae?’” Calmly he regarded Longinus. -“And I ask you, my friend, who can? What, after all, is more indestructible, -unchangeable, immortal than the intangible?”</p> -<p>The “Palmyra” was moving around the river’s bend now and -gaining speed as it came into the straight stretch at a point even -with the right-angled turning of the city’s south wall. “But forgive -me, Longinus,” Cornelius said lightly. “I hadn’t meant to be -giving you a lecture on the nature of the gods or the one god.”</p> -<p>“It has been entertaining and enlightening, my friend. And it -has convinced me that you do hold with this one-god idea. Those -<span class="pb" id="Page_65">65</span> -Jews at Capernaum, cultivating the plant that came up from the -seeds that old tutor sowed in your childhood, have brought it -along to blooming.” He laughed and tapped the rail with the -palm of his hand. “Well, perhaps it’s an advance—from the -Roman gods to the Jews’ one god—in superstition.” But then the -patronizing smile was gone, and he was serious. “I don’t know, -Cornelius. This one-god scheme does have its merits, I can see. -I would like to believe, and I wish I could, that such an all-powerful, -all-wise, all-good being rules the universe. But”—he paused, -and a heavy frown darkened his countenance—“Cornelius,” he -began again, “I keep thinking of those slaves back there on the -Emporium docks, countless slaves all over Rome and throughout -the Empire, beaten, maimed, killed at the whims of their masters, -yes, and that baby thrown into the Tiber, numberless unwanted -babies exposed to die—drowned, thrown to the beasts, bashed -against walls—and yet you say that one good god rules, one all-powerful -and all-knowing god, one <i>good</i> god.” He thrust forth a -quivering, challenging forefinger almost under his friend’s nose. -“Then tell me, Cornelius, why does your good one god send all -this ignorance, this stupidity, this cruelty, this despicable wickedness -on the world? Tell me why; give me one logical, sensible -reason, and I’ll fall down at the invisible and intangible feet of -your great one god and worship him in utter subjection.”</p> -<p>“I can’t tell you, Longinus. That very question has troubled me, -too. I have wondered, and I’ve tried to explain it for myself. I -don’t know how old Pheidias explained it, or even if he did. I -don’t recall our ever challenging him on that point. But it may -be that this one god—if there be one, mind you—does not ordain -all the things that happen in the world. It may be that he is even -sorrowful, too, because babies are thrown into the Tiber, because -men are cruel and heartless toward other men....”</p> -<p>“Then if he is all-powerful, Cornelius, why does he permit it? -You say he doesn’t will it. Then why does he allow it?”</p> -<p>Cornelius looked across the deck to the shore line on the -starboard side and for a long moment silently considered his -friend’s question. “I cannot say, Centurion; it’s a mystery to me. -Could it be, though, that the answer, if there be any answer, lies -<span class="pb" id="Page_66">66</span> -in this god’s determination to give man his freedom? Could it be -that even though he is hurt when man abuses the freedom given -him, he feels that his children must be free, nevertheless, to work -out their destinies? Maybe some such reasoning might explain it. -I don’t know.” He shook his head sadly. “What do you think?”</p> -<p>“I disagree, Cornelius. You say that this one god would not -order an infant thrown into the river. I agree, but that is not -enough. A good god would not permit it.” His grim expression -relaxed, but he was still serious. “No, when one sees the condition -in which countless men live, the utter unfairness of things, -one cannot logically believe in the existence of such a god as you -have described. Indeed, it is more logical to believe in our Roman -gods than in the god of your old tutor or the Yahweh of the Jews, -in our good ones contending with the evil ones”—he shrugged—“with -the evil ones usually winning. But it is even more logical, -Cornelius, to believe in no gods at all.”</p> -<p>“You have a good argument, Longinus. But it seems to me -that we invariably come back to what I said when we started this -gods discussion. If there is no higher intelligence, no supreme -power, then how did all this”—he swept his arm in a wide arc—“how -did we, the world, the sun and moon and stars, everything, -how did it all come into existence in the first place? By accident? -Bah! And if not by accident, how? Answer me that, Longinus.”</p> -<p>“I can’t answer you. But why should I? What difference does -it make? If this good god does exist but does not rule, if he does -not enforce a good way of living among men, if he does not protect -helpless babies or captured peoples—and obviously he doesn’t—is -the world any better off than if no gods existed in the first -place?” He smiled complacently. “But, Cornelius, I have no quarrel -with your attachment to your tutor’s strangely Yahweh-like -god. Some day when I visit you in Capernaum I may go with you -to the synagogue or even the Temple at Jerusalem. I may even,” -he added with a grin, “offer a brace of doves for the sacrifices. Or -would your Yahweh insist on my offering a young lamb?”</p> -<p>“<i>My</i> Yahweh? But I’m no Jew, Longinus. The god of old -Pheidias has a greater appeal to me than Yahweh. Yahweh is too -stern, too unbending, as they interpret him. But maybe they interpret -<span class="pb" id="Page_67">67</span> -him wrong, the priests who lead the worship, or maybe I -interpret their interpretation wrong. It may be that the true one -god”—he smiled—“if there be one, my friend, has never been -properly interpreted to man. Maybe we just don’t know him, what -he’s like.” He shrugged and stepped away from the rail. “But -I think we’ve had enough of gods for one day, don’t you agree? -Let’s go inside. I’ve got some work to do before we reach Ostia; -you probably have some, too.”</p> -<p>As they started toward the cabin, Longinus turned to look -back. Rome was entirely behind them now, off the port stern, but -still clearly in sight. Above the city wall and the Aventine Hill -beyond and now lifted clear of the Circus Maximus, the sprawling -great Imperial Palace atop Palatine Hill flaunted itself in the sunshine.</p> -<p><i>Had Claudia arisen? Was she now in her bath or in the solarium -having her hair dressed or her nails manicured? Was she in the -peristylium or on the couch in the exedra? Was she making preparations, -not too reluctantly perhaps, for her wedding with Pontius -Pilate?</i></p> -<p><i>... Yes, and back there somewhere in that press of humanity -were Pontius Pilate and the Prefect Sejanus, by all the gods. By -all the gods, indeed. Good gods and evil gods, good to Pilate, -evil to me....</i></p> -<p>Longinus abruptly faced about. Ahead, straight over the bow -of the “Palmyra,” gaining momentum now in a channel clearing -of the jam of traffic within the city’s walls, was Rome’s port of -Ostia, where the great mainsail would be hoisted aloft to catch -the winds that would help speed the vessel eastward. Ahead and -many days and long Great Sea miles distant were the coasts of -Palestine ... and Caesarea. Ahead, too, despite all the gods, real -or fancied, and despite Sejanus and Pontius Pilate, was Claudia.</p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Palestine</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div> -<h2 id="c10">10</h2> -<p>Longinus and Cornelius strolled over to the port bow rail as the -“Palmyra,” its mainsail sliding slowly down the mast behind them, -swung around the end of the north breakwater and skimmed -lightly across the harbor toward the docks at Ptolemaïs.</p> -<p>“I thought Caesarea would be our first stop.”</p> -<p>“We’re putting in here only long enough to drop some passengers -and a quantity of goods Herod’s brought from Rome,” -Cornelius revealed.</p> -<p>Longinus looked up in surprise. “Herod’s goods?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Furnishings for the palace at Tiberias—bronze tables, chairs, -decorative pieces, of Herodias’ choosing, I suspect. In fact, some -of it probably came from her house, favorite things to make her -feel more at home in Tiberias. Putting those crates ashore here -will save us the trouble of carrying them on to Joppa and Jerusalem.”</p> -<p>“But when the Tetrarchess discovers that Herodias had a hand -in selecting the things....” Longinus grimaced, laughing. “Say, -are you letting your men go ashore here?”</p> -<p>“Only for a few minutes, just to let them stretch their legs -while the vessel’s unloading. Don’t worry, they’ve been told to -stay in the wharf area. If they were to get near the taverns and -brothels, we’d be here all night!”</p> -<p>Already the soldiers of the two centuries, impatient to get -ashore ever since they had first spotted Mount Carmel towering -above the promontory jutting out from the Phoenician coast, -were lining the “Palmyra’s” rails. Cornelius beckoned to one of his -legionaries.</p> -<p>“Decius, call out a detachment—twelve men should be enough—to -be ready as soon as the ‘Palmyra’ docks to take charge of -transporting the shipment of goods the Tetrarch Herod is sending -<span class="pb" id="Page_72">72</span> -to his palace at Tiberias. His steward Chuza will put several of -the palace servants to unloading it and will arrange for obtaining -carts and beasts to move it. You will be concerned only with -guarding the caravan. But be on the alert every moment, Decius. -See that you aren’t surprised by some lurking band of thieves lying -in wait for you. If anything should happen to this shipment, by -the gods, we’d never hear the end of it; word would get back to -Rome and the Prefect himself would know about it.” Upon delivering -the goods at the Tetrarch’s palace, he added, Decius should -take the detachment to the garrison post and there await his arrival -with the remainder of the century, which would be escorting -Herod to Jerusalem and from there northward to his Galilean -capital.</p> -<p>When some two hours later the unloading had been completed -and the other legionaries had returned to the ship, Decius -stood with his detachment beside the piled crates and casks and -waved good-by to his comrades as the “Palmyra” moved slowly -away from the wharf and then, gaining speed, headed on a straight -course toward the harbor mouth. The next day the vessel cleared -the long breakwater thrust far out into the Great Sea to provide -a safe harbor at Caesarea, and Longinus and his century went -ashore. While the legionaries were assembling their gear, Cornelius -stood with him on the pier.</p> -<p>“Come visit us at Tiberias, Longinus. You can contrive some -mission that will warrant your being sent, can’t you?” he asked, -then added, “Herodias will probably be coming out from Rome -before long. I suspect Herod will be going back for her as soon -as he can arrange with the present Tetrarchess for her to be supplanted....”</p> -<p>“If he can—which I doubt.”</p> -<p>“Whether he can amicably or not, I’d wager that he’ll be bringing -Herodias to Tiberias as Tetrarchess. Then Claudia can visit -her and you can meet her there. And marry her and keep her out -here until you’ve completed your tour of duty.” Cornelius winked -and playfully nudged his friend with an elbow. “By the gods, -maybe that’s what you and Claudia have planned all along. Is it, -Longinus?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<p>“No, we haven’t planned any such thing.” Longinus stared -thoughtfully out at the shore before them. “But I’ll contrive -some reason for getting up to Tiberias. And we’re bound to meet -in Jerusalem during one of the festivals; they bring in the troops -then, you know. Or perhaps some mission will bring you to -Caesarea; at Tiberias, after all, you’ll be nearer us than we will be -to Jerusalem.” He clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “My -love, and the blessings of the gods—including your Yahweh—to -your family.”</p> -<p>Cornelius stood at the “Palmyra’s” rail as the vessel slipped -away from the wharf. When it was nearing the rounding of the -breakwater, he heard Longinus’ sharp command, and the century -moved off smartly. The tapping of the legionaries’ heavy boots in -rhythmical, perfect cadence came clearly to him across the water. -Longinus turned and lifted his arm high in salute; Cornelius returned -it, as the century, swinging along the cobblestoned way, -gained a street corner and turned, then began to be swallowed up -into the maze of stone buildings beyond the piers.</p> -<p>The sun was dropping low into the Great Sea when the -“Palmyra” sailed into the port at Joppa. Relieved and happy that -the long voyage was safely ended, the passengers disembarked -to seek refreshment and rest for the night. Early on the morrow -Herod Antipas with Mary of Magdala and the others of his company, -escorted by Centurion Cornelius and his century, would set -out on the forty-mile journey southeastward to Jerusalem.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div> -<h2 id="c11">11</h2> -<p>Centurion Cornelius pointed to a horseman hurrying toward them -along the narrow road east of the river. “The advance guard must -have run into trouble, maybe Bar Abbas and his gang or some -other waylaying zealots.”</p> -<p>“Then you’d better send out a patrol to overtake and destroy -them,” Herod Antipas scowled. “I have no patience with those -rebel cutthroats.”</p> -<p>The caravan trudging up the deep trough of the Jordan had -paused for the midday refreshment. Four days ago it had descended -the Jericho road from Jerusalem to encamp for the night -on the plain before the city. Horses had been provided for the -Tetrarch and certain of his household, but the soldiers of the -century, with the exception of the small advance and rear patrols, -were on foot. Heavily loaded carts and donkeys transported the -supplies, gear, and tents. The journey had been made without -incident; another day of uninterrupted progress would bring the -caravan to the Sea of Galilee, or, if they were lucky, perhaps even -as far as Tiberias.</p> -<p>Cornelius stood up and signaled the approaching rider. The -horseman rode straight up to him, reined in his mount, and -saluted. “Centurion,” he reported, “up ahead at the river crossing -there’s a motley crowd of about a hundred persons, most of -them men. Judging by their appearance, they must have traveled -a long way. They appear to be peaceful, but there’s a wild-looking, -hairy fellow haranguing them, and they’re drinking in his -every word; they hardly noticed me when I joined them.”</p> -<p>“What was the fellow saying, Lucilius?”</p> -<p>“I couldn’t understand him, Centurion. I’m not familiar with -the speech of this region, which I presume it was. But I thought -<span class="pb" id="Page_75">75</span> -he might be one of those Galilean revolutionaries trying to incite -the crowd against our Roman rule.”</p> -<p>“One of those zealots, you mean? No, hardly, Lucilius. Those -rebels don’t stand up delivering speeches; their way is to thrust -a knife between somebody’s ribs and then slink quickly away. -More than likely this fellow’s a religious fanatic, and I would -guess his language is Aramaic. There’s probably no harm in him, -but you did well to report. I understand Aramaic; I’ll return with -you and investigate.”</p> -<p>“I believe I know who the man is, Centurion,” the Tetrarch -volunteered. “There was a desert fellow from the Wilderness -country beginning to cause a stir here when I was leaving for -Rome. I had reports then that he was thundering invectives -against everything, even the Tetrarch and his house. He may be inciting -the people against Rome. At any rate, I want to hear him, -and perhaps you should, too.”</p> -<p>Mary of Magdala, seated near-by, had overheard. “I, too, would -like to hear the strange prophet.”</p> -<p>“But surely even your irresistible charms would not tempt this -mad Wilderness preacher.” Antipas winked at the centurion.</p> -<p>“I am not interested in charming him. But if this is the man you -think he is I have heard much about him. I would like to observe -him for myself.”</p> -<p>Cornelius turned back to Antipas. “If the Tetrarch wishes, I’ll -send up a patrol to be near-by in case of any trouble. But I think, -Sire, you should disguise yourself. Then you will be able to mingle -safely with the throng, and the preacher, not knowing the Tetrarch -is hearing him, will talk freely.”</p> -<p>Antipas, agreeing, quickly exchanged his purple mantle for the -simple Galilean garment of one of his servants and wrapped about -his Roman-style cropped head a bedraggled scarf to form an effectively -concealing headdress. The servant cut a reed to serve as a -walking staff. Mary, too, changed garments and veiled her face in -the manner of a Galilean peasant woman.</p> -<p>Cornelius sent a patrol ahead. “Stop this side of the ford,” he -instructed Lucilius, “and try to avoid being noticed by the throng -down there. But keep on the alert for any commotion that might -<span class="pb" id="Page_76">76</span> -develop.” Then he, Antipas, and Mary all mounted horses and -rode toward the place where the multitude had assembled. At a -bend in the road some two hundred paces from the ford the three -riders dismounted behind screening thick willows that came up -from the river bank; from there they quietly made their way down -to the ford and slipped unobtrusively into the crowd.</p> -<p>Every burning dark eye seemed to be focused on the gesticulating, -fiercely intent preacher. He stood in the center of the circled -throng on the river bank, and his words came to them clear and -sharply challenging, angry and pleading, denunciatory and promising.</p> -<p>“You generation of vipers!” he thundered, shaking a gnarled fist -in their teeth, “have I not warned you to escape from the wrath -that is coming? Do you contend that because you are Abraham’s -seed you are secure from the judgment of a righteous God?” He -lowered his voice, strode two steps forward, and dramatically -wheeled about. “What are Abraham’s descendants to God? Could -he not raise up from these very stones”—he pointed toward the -smoothly rounded small rocks lining the water’s edge—“children -for Abraham? And is not the ax ready at the foot of the tree to -cut down every one that does not bear fruit?”</p> -<p>Cornelius nudged a bent Jew, his face streaked with perspiration -that ran down in soiled small beads into his grizzled beard, his -whole frame seemingly so absorbed in the speaker’s thundering -words that he had not even noticed the centurion’s arrival beside -him. “That man, who is he?”</p> -<p>The old fellow turned incredulously to stare. “Soldier, you have -been in Galilee long enough to speak our tongue, and yet you do -not know <i>him</i>?”</p> -<p>“But for many weeks I have not set foot in Galilee,” Cornelius -replied. “I am just now returning, by way of Jerusalem, from -Rome.”</p> -<p>“He is the Prophet John, soldier, the one sent of God to warn -Israel to repent and be baptized.” The old man turned back to -give his attention for the moment to the preacher. Then, his face -earnest, he confronted Cornelius again. “He is not concerned with -Rome, soldier. He preaches only that men should cleanse their -<span class="pb" id="Page_77">77</span> -hearts of evil and walk in the way of our Yahweh.” Once more he -turned to stare at the prophet whose eyes were wildly flaming in -his burnt dark face; ignoring Cornelius, the old man leaned forward -and raised a knotted hand to cup his ear.</p> -<p>John was tall, and his leathery leanness accentuated his height. -The prophet, it was immediately evident to the centurion, was not -a man of the cities and the synagogues; he was a son of the desert -and the wastelands of Judaea, and the sun and wind had tanned -his skin to the color and hardness of old harness. Nor did he appear -any more afraid of the proud and opulent Pharisees and -Sadducees who confronted him with their disdainful smiles than -he must have been of the wild animals of his Wilderness haunts.</p> -<p>“Repent! I say unto you. And bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. -Try not further the patience of God. Forswear evil and -do good.”</p> -<p>“But what are for us fruits worthy of repentance? What must -we do?”</p> -<p>The questioner, his countenance heavy with pain, stood at the -river’s edge facing the prophet. His garb revealed him to be a man -of means, but it was evident also that the thundering words of -the baptizer had stirred him deeply and that he had asked the -question in all humility.</p> -<p>John thrust forth a lean forefinger and shook it sternly. “You -are of a calling unloved in Israel, and justly so. You have sold your -birthright as a son of Israel to join your heel to the conqueror’s to -grind Abraham’s seed into the earth. You are a publican; I know -you, and I know the publican’s heart.” His voice was almost a hiss, -and around the clearing beards nodded in agreement with the -prophet’s harsh appraisal. “I call upon you to repent!”</p> -<p>“But what, Rab John, are the fruits of my repentance?” The -perspiration was running freely down the man’s face and dripping -into his beard. “What must I do?”</p> -<p>“Demand only that which is legally due you.”</p> -<p>“I swear that this I shall henceforth do, Yahweh being my -helper. By the beard of the High Priest, I swear it.” The man -sighed deeply, and from the fold of his robe pulled forth a kerchief -<span class="pb" id="Page_78">78</span> -with which he mopped his forehead, his whiskered cheeks, -and the dampened long beard.</p> -<p>“But we are not great ones,” ventured a gnarled and grizzled -fellow who leaned twisted on his staff, “neither are we publicans. -We are the plain and the simple and the poor of Galilee. What -shall we do worthy of repentance?”</p> -<p>“You have two coats, though they be worn and patched with -much wearing? Then give one to him who has none. And you have -food, though it be coarse and not plentiful? Share what you have -with him who is hungry.”</p> -<p>Cornelius had noticed, standing not far from the prophet but -somewhat withdrawn from the throng as if to avoid contamination -with these men of earth such as the one who had just questioned -John, a knot of resplendently robed Israelites, their beards oiled -and combed and carefully braided, their fingers heavily ringed. -Now one of these men, his hands clasped in front of his rounded, -sagging paunch, stepped forward a pace and bowed. “Rabbi, we -are priests and Levites sent by the rulers in Jerusalem to hear and -observe your teaching. We perceive that you speak with great authority. -Tell us, Rabbi”—his smile was as unctuous as his beard -was oiled—“are you that great One for whom we are looking?”</p> -<p>“I am not the Messiah,” John answered evenly.</p> -<p>“Are you then the Prophet Elijah returned to us?”</p> -<p>“I am not he.”</p> -<p>“Then, Rabbi, who are you? We have been instructed to come -and see and carry back our report to the Temple rulers. What -then shall we say of you, who you are?”</p> -<p>“Say that I am:</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,</p> -<p class="t0">“Prepare ye the way of the Lord,</p> -<p class="t0">“Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.</p> -<p class="t0">“Every valley shall be exalted,</p> -<p class="t0">“And every mountain and hill shall be made low:</p> -<p class="t0">“And the crooked shall be made straight,</p> -<p class="t0">“And the rough places plain:</p> -<p class="t0">“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,</p> -<p class="t0">“And all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<p>“You speak the words of the great Isaiah,” the pompous questioner -declared.</p> -<p>“Yes,” John agreed. “And other words he said also.</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“The voice said, ‘Cry,’</p> -<p class="t0">“And he said, ‘What shall I cry?</p> -<p class="t0">“‘All flesh is grass,</p> -<p class="t0">“‘And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.</p> -<p class="t0">“‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth....</p> -<p class="t0">“‘But the word of our God shall stand forever.’”</p> -</div> -<p>“Then you, like we, yet look for the coming of the Messiah of -God?”</p> -<p>John raised a lean and burnt arm and the haircloth robe slid -down along it to his shoulder. He pointed a darting forefinger -toward the Temple’s emissary, and his countenance was solemn. -“I tell you, that One is now among us, though you have not recognized -him as the Messiah of God. And though he comes after me -in time, he ranks before me; indeed, I am not worthy to stoop down -and unloose his sandal straps. I baptize you with water, but He -will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!”</p> -<p>“Then, Rabbi, why do you baptize with water?” The unctuous -one smiled broadly and, pleased with his cleverness, looked from -one member of the delegation to another.</p> -<p>“It is a sign that those who enter upon it have repented and -been cleansed in their hearts.” He looked the man in the eyes. -“Have you repented, my brother? Is your heart changed? Are you -ready for the coming of Him of Whom I have this moment -spoken?” John whirled about, and his lean arm described an arc -that embraced the multitude. “Repent, ye men of Israel! Ye who -dwell in great houses, repent! Ye men of earth who know not -where your next mouthful will be found, repent. For the clean in -heart do not all dwell in palaces or attend upon the Temple worship, -nor do they all go about hungry and naked and shelterless.”</p> -<p>As the prophet paused, he looked toward the centurion and the -<span class="pb" id="Page_80">80</span> -disguised Tetrarch, who stood beside Mary and within a few paces -of the portly questioner from Jerusalem. Cornelius wondered what -Herod was thinking of this strange Wilderness preacher, this fiery -denouncer of evildoers. But in that same moment John resumed -his discourse. “No, sin and wickedness abide in the high places; -evil reigns even in the great marble pile built above the graves at -Tiberias where the Idumaean pawn of the conqueror despoils and -seduces the people of Israel! He, too, my brothers, even he must -repent his wicked ways; he must seek the Lord while yet He may -be found, or he and his evil associates will be cast into outer darkness!”</p> -<p>The fleeting thought came suddenly to the centurion that the -prophet had recognized the large man in the soiled Galilean robe, -and perhaps the notorious woman of Magdala as well. But then -would he have dared utter such a denunciation? Was the desert -preacher really a man of dedication and courage, as people said? -Perhaps. Cornelius scrutinized Herod’s face. The Tetrarch’s normally -pale complexion had turned an ugly shade of red beneath -the twisted turban, while beads of perspiration ran down his heavy -jowls. But Mary, though little of her face showed because of the -veil, appeared more amused than angered.</p> -<p>The prophet’s interrogator from Jerusalem was still unsatisfied. -“But, Rabbi,” he began again, “you say that the Messiah of God -is already among us. Why then has he not declared himself, why -has he not consumed with holy fire the Edomite who possesses us -and tramples into the dust of utter subjection our ancient land?”</p> -<p>John’s eyes flashed angrily, but he controlled his tongue. When -he spoke his voice was calm. “It is not for me to explain or defend -the will and works of the Messiah. I am but His messenger who -goes ahead to announce His coming, to call upon His people -Israel to repent that their eyes might be whole to see Him when -He comes, that their hearts might be clean to know Him!” With -bronzed fist he smote the palm of his left hand, his ardor mounting. -“You leaders of the people”—he stabbed a lean forefinger -toward the haughty group from Jerusalem—“cleanse your own -hearts; let fall from your eyes the scabs of greed and hypocrisy so -that when He comes you may recognize Him!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div> -<p>Cornelius felt a gentle tug on his arm; it was Mary. “The Tetrarch -is going back,” she whispered. “He’s furious at the man’s -denunciation of him. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he would -have had to reveal his identity in doing it, Antipas would have had -him arrested. But he didn’t want those puffed toads”—she inclined -her head to indicate the Jewish delegation—“carrying stories back, -and he wished to avoid provoking a commotion; so he overlooked -the....”</p> -<p>“Behold, the Lamb of God!”</p> -<p>Cornelius and the woman, her report to him startlingly interrupted -by the prophet’s ejaculation, faced about quickly to look -in the direction toward which he was pointing. In that instant -the others had whirled about, too. Cornelius and Mary strained -forward, trying to see above the heads of the multitude.</p> -<p>“He is the One of Whom I have been speaking!” shouted John. -“Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. -Yonder is the Messiah of God!”</p> -<p>They saw coming along the path that led down from the road -above the river, walking with long, easy stride as he descended the -grade toward the clearing at the ford, a tall, sunburned young man, -well-muscled but lithe, broad of shoulders, erect. He wore a plain, -brown, homespun robe, belted at the waist with a length of rope, -and coarse, heavy sandals. He was bareheaded; his reddish brown -hair fell away from a part in the center of his head in locks that -curled almost to his shoulders. In his right hand he gripped a long -staff cut from a sapling. As he strode down the pathway and across -the open space toward the prophet, he seemed deep in thought, -almost insensible to the throng about him. He walked straight up -to John. Cornelius and Mary could see the two talking in subdued -tones, but they could understand nothing of what was being -said by either man.</p> -<p>“What are they saying?” It was the bent old Jew; he still stood -near-by, and he had cupped his palm to an ear lost in grizzled -earlocks. “Soldier, can you hear them?”</p> -<p>“No, not a word,” Cornelius answered. “They aren’t talking -loudly enough for us up here.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div> -<p>At that moment a youth who had been down at the water’s edge -standing a few feet away from the prophet approached them. He -heard the old man’s question. “They are arguing about baptizing -the tall one,” he explained. “He wants the desert preacher to -baptize him, but the preacher claims it should be the other way -around; he says he isn’t worthy to baptize the Messiah.”</p> -<p>“The Messiah!” The old man had been peering intently at the -tall young man standing calmly beside the prophet. “Is that the -one the prophet called the Lamb of God, the one long expected of -Israel?”</p> -<p>“Yes, the tall one.”</p> -<p>“Why do you ask?” Cornelius inquired of the bent one. “Do -you know the man?”</p> -<p>“Do I know him?” The old man chuckled. “Soldier, I come -from Nazareth. Many’s the day I have worked with Joseph, that -boy’s father, planing one end of a beam while he was shaping the -other end. But Joseph’s dead now, been dead a long time. That -boy there lives with his mother, the widow Mary.”</p> -<p>“What does he do?”</p> -<p>“He’s a carpenter, too, like his father before him. And he’s a -good boy and a hard-working boy, soldier. But Jesus ben Joseph -the Messiah of Israel....” The old fellow, both hands braced -on his gnarled stick, shook his head incredulously. “Soldier, my -faith in that John the Baptizer is weakening. He must be”—he -removed one hand from the stick and with bent forefinger tapped -his forehead—“a little touched.”</p> -<p>Cornelius laughed. “I don’t know much about this Messiah -business, but, I agree, he must be.” Then he turned to Mary. “Are -you ready to go? I mustn’t let Herod get too far ahead. I’m -responsible for his arriving in Tiberias, you know.”</p> -<p>They started retracing their way along the path to the road; -where it joined the broader way, they turned southward. When a -moment later they came out from behind a clump of shrubs -grown up in an outcropping of small boulders, Cornelius glanced -over his shoulder toward the ford and the throng. He caught -Mary’s arm and pointed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div> -<p>The haircloth mantle and the brown homespun robe had been -thrown across small bushes at the river’s edge. In the center of -the little stream, with the water up to their loincloths and their -faces lifted heavenward, stood the gaunt Wilderness prophet and -the tall bronzed young man from Nazareth.</p> -<h2 id="c12">12</h2> -<p>The Procurator’s Palace sat high on a promontory overlooking the -harbor at Caesarea. A marble-paved esplanade led from the cobblestoned -street up to the palace, and on its west side facing the Great -Sea an immense terrace of colored, polished stones went out from -the peristylium.</p> -<p>In the days when King Herod, father of Antipas, determined -to build here on the Palestinian coast a fabulous port city to honor -his patron, the Emperor Augustus, the place was an insignificant -town called by the unusual name of Strato’s Towers. Then there -was virtually no harbor. But at tremendous cost in the lives of -slaves and artisans and money wrung in taxes from his already poor -subjects, Herod built of huge stones sunk in twenty fathoms of -often rough water a tremendous mole that went out and around -like a protecting arm to form a safe shelter for countless ships of -every type.</p> -<p>Quickly old Herod had transformed Strato’s Towers into a beautiful -and busy city more Roman than Jewish. A stranger unfamiliar -with the region and just landed from a trireme in the -harbor at Caesarea, in fact, would hardly realize that he was in a -Palestinian city. Not only were its great public buildings and lavish -homes Roman—its Procurator’s Palace, its immense hippodrome -for athletic sports and gladiatorial combats, its theater, its gleaming -marble temples to pagan gods—but Roman, too, were many of its -people. Its population actually was of varied nationalities—Roman, -<span class="pb" id="Page_84">84</span> -Greek, Syrian, Idumaean, Ethiopian, and many others; there were -countless slaves from conquered provinces—Germania, Gaul, Dalmatia, -even here and there one from Britannia—a motley multitude -from every region on the rim of the Great Sea and even from -lands farther away. Caesarea was a metropolitan city set down -upon the coast of this ancient homeland of the Samaritans and -their more peculiarly Hebrew cousins the Judaeans.</p> -<p>Today the newly arrived Procurator Pontius Pilate and his wife -sat in the warming sunshine on the terrace and looked down upon -the busy harbor and the Great Sea stretching westward into the -blue haze. Obliquely facing them, so that he could see both the -harbor and a portion of the maze of buildings pushing one upon -the other from it, sat their guest, the Centurion Longinus.</p> -<p>Claudia pointed to a large merchant ship being tied up at one -of the docks below. “This is a tremendous harbor, rivaling Ostia’s, -isn’t it? Look at all those vessels, and that one that has just sailed -in. Judging by its size, I’d say it was an Alexandrian grain ship.”</p> -<p>“It is a great harbor, and wonderfully protected. In fact, I was -amazed to find Caesarea such a modern city.” Pilate smiled -broadly. “I had feared that it would be another typical provincial -outpost.”</p> -<p>“On the contrary, Excellency, it’s quite a metropolis,” Longinus -observed. “You’ll discover people here from every part of the -world, and far fewer Jews, I suspect, than you had anticipated -finding. Of course, you’ve hardly had time yet to learn much about -the city.”</p> -<p>Pilate laughed, but with little humor. “The fewer Jews the -better. I’m glad the capital of the province is here rather than at -Jerusalem; it would be galling, I suspect, to be forced to spend -most of one’s time in that nest of Jews. Speaking of Jerusalem, -Centurion, I plan to visit the city shortly and have a straight talk -with that High Priest. I wish it known at the very beginning of my -Procuratorship that I intend to demonstrate clearly and forcefully, -if that be necessary, that Rome cannot be trifled with by these -obstinate and pestiferous Jews. You, of course, have been to Jerusalem?”</p> -<p>“Not since I came out this time. But on many occasions previously, -<span class="pb" id="Page_85">85</span> -including visits during the festivals. If you go there during -Passover week, you’ll see Jews from every part of the world.”</p> -<p>“I have already seen enough of them for a lifetime,” Pilate said, -scowling. But quickly he smiled again. “Centurion, I am going to -the cohort’s headquarters; I wish to talk with Sergius Paulus.” He -clapped his hands, and a slave came running. “Summon my sedan -bearers,” he commanded. “May I take you to your quarters,” he -asked Longinus, “or will you stay longer and entertain Claudia?” -He turned to his wife and smiled warmly. “A familiar face, and a -Roman one, is particularly welcome in this strange outpost of the -Empire, isn’t it, my dear Claudia?”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed, Pilate.” She reached over and put her hand lightly -on the centurion’s arm. “Longinus, do stay and talk. You can give -me instructions on how to act out here in this strange region, -strange to Pilate and me, at any rate.”</p> -<p>In a few minutes the servant announced that the sedan bearers -were awaiting him, and Pilate excused himself. When he was gone, -Longinus moved his chair nearer Claudia. “I wonder why he invited -me to stay,” he said. “Does he suspect us, do you suppose? -Or,” he added with a wry smile, “is there no longer any occasion -for his doing that?”</p> -<p>“I don’t think he suspects us, although I haven’t yet learned -how to weigh his words or actions. But what if he does?” She -shrugged. “With me everything is just as it was before you left -Rome. But maybe”—coyly she looked up at him from beneath her -long lashes—“you have discovered some woman out here....”</p> -<p>“No. And I haven’t looked. But I wonder how much he knows -or suspects.” He told her of his last conversation with the Prefect, -of the determination of Sejanus to keep her happily away from -Rome, of that wily rascal’s invitation—in fact, almost command—to -do whatever might be necessary, including the invasion of the -Procurator’s bed, to detain her in contented exile. “But I don’t -think he suspected then that we were planning to get married almost -immediately. And I’m sure Pilate didn’t.” His forehead -wrinkled in deep study. “By any chance, Claudia, have you let -slip...?”</p> -<p>“About us, to him? Of course not.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div> -<p>“To anyone... Herodias maybe, the gods forbid. I wouldn’t -trust that woman as far as I could throw that grain ship over there. -Could you, without realizing it, have let slip...?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I did tell Herodias. She does know that you and I were -planning to marry and come out to Palestine. But I’m sure neither -she nor Antipas has said anything to Pilate about it ... if they’ve -even seen him since. And certainly they haven’t talked with -Sejanus.”</p> -<p>“Anyway, Claudia, we must be doubly careful. So long as -Sejanus thinks I’m simply keeping you ... satisfied, he called it, -it’s all right. But should he get the notion that I might be planning -to take you away from Pilate and back to Rome ...” he -broke off, scowling. “And here there’ll be other eyes and ears -watching and listening, too. But when Pilate goes to Jerusalem, -can’t we arrange...?”</p> -<p>“I’ll be going, too,” she interrupted. “And so must you. We can -contrive some excuse for your accompanying us.” Her eyes were -bright with smoldering fires, he saw, and her lips warm, he knew, -and red and eager, and he remembered the taste of the Falernian -upon them. But adamantly he turned his eyes away to look toward -the great harbor. “And in Jerusalem, Longinus, beloved”—her -hand had caught his arm and was squeezing hard—“we’ll find -some way.”</p> -<h2 id="c13">13</h2> -<p>Sergius Paulus, who commanded the legionaries escorting Procurator -Pontius Pilate and his party to Jerusalem, halted his -column several hundred paces west of the great market square outside -the Joppa Gate.</p> -<p>“Sheathe the cohort’s emblems!” he commanded, and quickly -down the line of march the soldiers began covering the banners -<span class="pb" id="Page_87">87</span> -of the Second Italian—the likenesses of the Emperor Tiberius, the -screaming eagles, the fasces with their bundled arrows and axes, -everything that flaunted the proud victories of this cohort of -Rome’s conquering armies.</p> -<p>“But Commander Sergius,” Pilate began to protest, “by whose -orders must Rome thus bow to these haughty Jews? Is this, by any -chance, <i>your</i> scheme for forestalling possible disorder?”</p> -<p>“No, Excellency, the sheathing of the emblems in Jerusalem is -not of my devising; it follows a long established custom, started, -I believe, by the Emperor Augustus as a result of a pact with the -Jewish leaders and continued by the Emperor Tiberius through -orders transmitted to us by the Prefect Sejanus.” His smile was -coldly professional. “I assure you, sir, covering our emblems before -the gates of Jerusalem is as distasteful to me as it must be to the -Procurator, but this is an order I dare not violate.”</p> -<p>The round face of the helmeted Procurator reddened with fury. -He shook his head angrily and banged his heavy fist against the -apron of the chariot in which he stood beside his wife. “I am not -accustomed to seeing Rome display humility—abject humility—which -is what this action seems to me to be. But I shall not -countermand the order you have given, though to me it is both -humiliating and exasperating that our legionaries are forced thus -to yield to these outrageous Jews.” He raised his hand to signal. -“When you are ready, Commander, let us proceed into the city.” -Then he turned to address Longinus, who had halted near the -Procurator. “Centurion, will you exchange places with my driver? -Claudia and I are entering Jerusalem for the first time; would you -be our guide and point out the principal places of interest?”</p> -<p>Quickly the exchange was accomplished, and the detachment, -its emblems shielded now from view, resumed its march. Crossing -the market place at the gate, a suddenly stilled large square that -a moment before the Romans’ arrival had been a hubbub of shouts -and shrill cries of bargaining, the procession moved through the -gateway to enter a narrow cobblestoned street also strangely deserted.</p> -<p>“But where are the people to welcome us?” Pilate inquired, his -<span class="pb" id="Page_88">88</span> -balding high forehead creased in anger and consternation. “Why -this unnatural calm?”</p> -<p>“They have retreated inside their shops and houses and closed -the shutters; right now they are peering at us through lattices and -from the roof tops, Excellency. This is the way they show their -scorn for their conquerors. It will be our good fortune if we are -not pelted with rotten vegetables and fruit thrown from the house -tops, or even tiles from the roofs.” He smiled, not too happily. -“The Jews, Excellency, don’t have much affection for us Romans.”</p> -<p>The veins in the Procurator’s neck swelled as though they might -burst, and his countenance was livid. “In every province in which -I have formerly entered with our troops,” he declared, “the populace -has welcomed us thunderously, often with flowers and -branches of trees thrown in our way, and many times they have -even prostrated themselves before us.” He knotted his fist again. -“By all the gods, I shall teach these Jews better manners. Nor -shall I delay long in setting them to their lessons!”</p> -<p>Claudia laid a soothing hand on her husband’s arm; with the -other she pointed to the right. “Those huge buildings! Longinus, -they appear to be towers. And what tremendous stones. I didn’t -know these Jews were capable of raising such structures.”</p> -<p>“Yes, on the contrary, the Jews are good artisans, and old Herod, -who built many great edifices here as well as at Caesarea and other -cities, also employed many foreign workers of great skill. He evidently -wished to emulate Augustus in raising magnificent public -buildings.” They were coming now to a great square tower, one -of those to which Claudia had pointed. “This first one is the Hippicus -Tower, named, I have heard, for a friend of Herod. The -next one, in the middle, is Phasael, called that in honor of Herod’s -brother. But that one”—he pointed in the direction of a third—“is -the most famous, perhaps because he built it to the memory -of the only wife he really loved. It’s called the Mariamne Tower, -after the one he had killed. They say that the old reprobate almost -went insane with grief after he’d executed her. Claudia, this Mariamne -was the grandmother of Herodias and her spendthrift -brother Agrippa. Mariamne was a member of the ancient Hasmonean -<span class="pb" id="Page_89">89</span> -line of Israelite rulers. Very soon now we’ll be passing the -old Hasmonean Palace; it’s over near the viaduct that connects -Zion Hill with the Temple.”</p> -<p>“But, Longinus, where is the Procurator’s Palace?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Centurion, I’d be interested in seeing it.”</p> -<p>“It’s behind that wall joining the three towers, sir. And it’s a -tremendous place, too, with fountains and flowers and grass and -trees—you will love it, Claudia—it serves as headquarters of the -Procurator when he visits Jerusalem, though it’s called Herod’s -Palace. When the Tetrarch is in Jerusalem, especially if the Procurator -is here at the same time—for instance, during Passover -feasts—the Tetrarch usually stays at the Hasmonean Palace. Excellency”—he -faced the Procurator again, for he had been busy -with the reins in an attempt to dodge a heavily loaded cart being -pulled by a trudging donkey—“do you plan to stop here at Herod’s -Palace, or will you stay in the Procurator’s quarters at the Tower -of Antonia?”</p> -<p>“What was the custom of Valerius Gratus? Where did he stay?”</p> -<p>“He usually lodged here, I believe. It’s more comfortable, of -course, and perhaps will be quieter than the quarters at Antonia.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps”—Pilate faced Claudia, his expression questioning—“then -we should stay at Herod’s Palace. But, pray the gods, why -should it be called Herod’s Palace now? The Herods no longer -have authority in Judaea.”</p> -<p>“It was built by old Herod, sir, and the name persists. Things -change slowly out here; tradition and custom rule in Judaea. I’m -sure you’ll realize that more the longer you remain in Palestine.” -They were nearing a gate in the high wall that gave admittance -to the palace. Several guards at the gate, seeing the procession of -Roman troops, straightened and raised their arms in salute. Longinus -lifted the reins to halt the chariot.</p> -<p>“No, not yet,” Pilate said. “Claudia wishes to see the Temple -and Antonia Tower before we stop. Don’t you, my dear?”</p> -<p>“I do. Then, after I’ve had a look at them, we can return, can’t -we? And if the Procurator is kept at Antonia Tower longer than -he expects to be, perhaps the centurion would fetch me back -here?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div> -<p>Longinus smiled. “Of course,” he murmured, then turned to -Pilate. “But, sir, you won’t be able to proceed far with the chariots. -You’ll have to change to horseback or be borne in a sedan chair. -These Jerusalem streets are very narrow, and many of them ascend -and descend stairs that a chariot could scarcely manage.”</p> -<p>Pilate nodded. “Thank you, Centurion. In that case we’ll leave -the chariots here, and I’ll ride horseback. Claudia can take a sedan -chair.” He looked toward his wife, and his eyes were questioning. -“That is, if she still wishes to go on to Antonia.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I’d particularly like to see the Temple; I’ve heard stories -of what a marvelous structure it is. I’ll go on, and Longinus can -bring me back.” She smiled. “Would you?”</p> -<p>“As you wish,” he said.</p> -<p>Pilate nodded. “If you will, Centurion. Or I can send someone -to bring you here, Claudia, if the centurion finds that he cannot -get away from his duties. I’ll probably be detained for some time -at the Tower. I am determined to see the High Priest before the -sun sets. I had planned to call on him at his palace, but now, after -the reception Jerusalem has given me, by all the gods”—his face -was reddening again—“I shall summon him to come to me!”</p> -<p>So the column was halted along the narrow way in front of -the sprawling Herod’s Palace. The chariots were driven inside the -palace grounds and left there, and a sedan chair was brought out -by bearers quickly recruited from the palace’s staff of servants.</p> -<p>“Centurion, if you will ride in the sedan chair with Claudia,” -the Procurator said, “you can point out to her the places of importance -in this nest of obstinate Jewry.” He mounted a gaily -caparisoned horse and rode forward to the head of the column.</p> -<p>“Perhaps, Excellency, it would be best for me to go ahead with -the advance guard”—Sergius Paulus smiled grimly as Pilate came -abreast of him—“to absorb the stones that may be hurled at the -new Procurator, not that there is any personal animosity toward -you, sir, but because you are a symbol of Rome’s dominion....”</p> -<p>“No! I’m not afraid of them!” the Procurator angrily interrupted. -“And, by great Jove, I’ll teach them to respect the dominion -of Rome!” He spurred his horse several paces ahead of the -cohort commander.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<p>Meanwhile Claudia and Longinus had settled themselves in the -sedan chair. As it moved off, they did not draw the curtains. “It -isn’t because I am afraid to draw them,” Claudia said to him. “I’m -not afraid of Pilate, nor am I afraid of the people out there. It’s -because I want to see Jerusalem.”</p> -<p>“You don’t think Pilate might become suspicious, do you, or -even jealous?”</p> -<p>“Pilate thinks only of Pilate and how he can advance his own -fortune. He’s ambitious and egotistical; he craves authority, and -he covets riches. He’ll do nothing to displease me, not because of -affection for me, but because I’m the stepdaughter of the Emperor -and because our marriage was arranged by the Prefect. If he’s ever -jealous of me—and I think he never will be—I’m quite certain he -will make every effort not to show it.”</p> -<p>“Which means?”</p> -<p>“That it should not be difficult for us to contrive to see each -other....”</p> -<p>“Tonight?”</p> -<p>Claudia laughed. “Are you, I hope, that eager?”</p> -<p>“I’ve been that eager for many weeks, Claudia.” He leaned across -to take her hand. She drew it back.</p> -<p>“Not now, Centurion. The soldiers, you know....”</p> -<p>“Then you are afraid of the Procurator’s knowing....”</p> -<p>“Not afraid, Longinus. Say, rather, discreet.”</p> -<p>Now they were being borne down a flight of stone steps. The -hoofs of the horses in front of and behind them clattered and -slipped, and sometimes an animal would go to its knees, though -the heavily burdened donkeys coming up the stairs and keeping -close to the buildings managed to scramble forward on nimble, -sure feet. Sometimes a swaying load piled high on a donkey’s back -would be overbalanced and topple as its containing straps burst, -and in a moment the merchandise would be trampled to bits by -the soldiers’ steeds.</p> -<p>When they reached the bottom of the steps and began to move -along a level portion of the street where there was an open space -between the buildings on the right, Claudia suddenly pointed. -<span class="pb" id="Page_92">92</span> -“That must be the old Hasmonean Palace where the ancestors of -Herodias’ mother lived.”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>She scowled. “It’s a stern and forbidding pile of stones.”</p> -<p>“You’ll find that most Jewish public buildings are that way, the -palaces especially. But once you get inside them, you’re bound to -find them enchanting. Herod’s Palace has a sumptuous array of -grass and flowers and fountains; you should enjoy your stay there.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps.” She smiled coyly. “It depends.” Then she pointed. -“What on earth is that next building? It, too, looks like a fortress.”</p> -<p>“That place is called the Xystus; it’s a Roman-style gymnasium -built by King Herod, who also constructed down this way”—he -pointed off toward the south—“an open-air theatre and”—he -nodded in the opposite direction—“northeast of the Temple area -a large hippodrome where he held games and gladiatorial sports -modeled after ours at home. But the orthodox Jews will have -nothing to do with any of these things; they won’t even go near -the places. To do so would violate some of their religious laws.”</p> -<p>The sound of the horses’ hoofs pounding ahead suddenly -changed.</p> -<p>“Are we on a bridge?” Claudia asked, as she leaned out left. -She rode facing forward, while Longinus sat opposite her, his back -to the streets unwinding ahead of them. “Yes, I see we are,” she -answered her own question. “And it’s a high one. Look, Longinus, -by the Bountiful Mother! That structure across there! It’s ... -it’s unbelievable!”</p> -<p>“That’s the Temple,” he announced. “It’s the Jews’ temple to -their Yahweh. And it is one of the most gorgeous—if that’s the -proper word, Claudia—and costliest buildings in the world. It’s -made of white marble, the finest cedarwood, and untold bronze -and other materials of the most extravagant quality, and trimmed -with sheet gold and precious gems. You’ll see when we cross the -bridge and enter its walls.” Their sedan chair was nearing the -middle of the viaduct now. “See, it’s a high bridge. It connects -Zion Hill, which we’ve just left, with the Temple region. Over -there”—he twisted about to point to the Temple on his right -and behind him—“is Mount Moriah. Between the two hills is this -<span class="pb" id="Page_93">93</span> -sharp drop called the Tyropoeon Valley; some call it the Valley -of the Cheesemongers. In festival times these hillsides swarm with -pilgrims coming from all over the world to worship at the Temple, -which they consider the residing place of their Yahweh.” He -laughed, then gestured with outflung hands. “But we should have -Cornelius here to be your guide. He knows far more about the -religious customs and beliefs of the Jews than I do; in fact, we -had quite a talk about it on the boat coming out, and I charged -him with being a worshiper of the Jews’ god himself.”</p> -<p>Near the end of the towering viaduct the procession stopped, -and the soldiers dismounted. Quickly a litter was provided for the -Procurator, and then the marching column, with Pilate’s sedan -chair in the vanguard and Longinus and Claudia some paces behind -him, moved off the viaduct and passed beneath a great arch.</p> -<p>“This is called the Gate Shalleketh,” Longinus told her. “It’s -the main gate into the Temple area from the Zion section of the -city.”</p> -<p>“I’m amazed that you know so much about Jerusalem,” Claudia -began, then suddenly stopped as, startled, she caught sight of a -veritable forest of marble columns, gigantic, reaching upward out -of her range of vision from within the constricting sedan chair. -“Bona Dea! Longinus, this is unbelievable! What a majestic structure! -And look how far it extends! It’s mammoth, breath-taking!”</p> -<p>“And that’s only one of the porches, as they call it,” Longinus -hastened to explain. “This one is styled the Royal Portico of -Herod. Its marble columns, as you can see, are more than a hundred -feet high. And look, Claudia”—he pointed behind, over his -shoulder—“the colonnade itself runs almost a thousand feet. Have -you ever seen anything so fantastic?”</p> -<p>“No, and I’m sure the High Priest couldn’t be a bit more effective -than you in singing the Temple’s praises,” Claudia declared, -laughing. “But it really is a marvelous structure these Jews have -built to their superstition.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I agree. And that’s exactly what I told Cornelius.”</p> -<p>The procession turned squarely to the left and started to emerge -from beneath the great roofed colonnade into the strong sunlight -of an immense open square.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_94">94</div> -<p>“This is called the Court of the Gentiles,” Longinus explained. -“And over there is the Temple proper. Inside it is a place they -call the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest himself, they say, is -permitted to enter it, and then only on a feast day, maybe once -a year.”</p> -<p>“I’ve heard that inside that room there’s a golden head of an -ass and that the Jews actually worship this ass’s head.”</p> -<p>Longinus smiled. It was an old story he had heard many times, -he explained, though never from a Jew. Perhaps it started, so far -as Rome was concerned at any rate, with the time that Pompey, -searching for treasure, invaded the holy shrine of the Jews. “But -he found no golden head of an ass. He found only an empty -chamber, severe and forbidding, with nothing in it but a few -golden vessels and some furniture that was probably used as an -altar. That’s the story the Jews tell, anyway.”</p> -<p>“But this one god, Longinus, what did you say they call him?”</p> -<p>“Yahweh, or Jehovah.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I remember. But where is he? Don’t they have any statues -of him somewhere in the Temple, Centurion?”</p> -<p>“No, according to what I’ve heard from the Jews themselves -and from what Cornelius has told me—and he knows far more -about their religious customs and beliefs than I do—statues are one -thing they definitely do not have. They declare that their god is a -spirit without body and to them any sort of representation in -physical form—whether it be statues, carvings, or whatnot—would -be sacrilege. That’s why they were so violently opposed to our -bringing in unsheathed emblems. They have the strange belief that -our army emblems are what they call ‘graven images,’ and their -laws expressly forbid any such thing. They won’t even engrave the -head of a man or an animal on any of their coins.” He shook his -head, as though scarcely able to believe his own words. “Strange, -these Jews. But you will discover that for yourself before you’ve -been out here many weeks.”</p> -<p>They were coming opposite the eastern face of the Temple -proper. “Look at that gate, or door!” Claudia pointed again. -“Whatever it is, it’s tremendous! And it shines as though it were -gold!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div> -<p>“They call it the Beautiful Gate. It’s made of Corinthian brass -and plates of gold, and it’s so heavy it takes a score of strong men -to open and close it. They say it was given by a rich foreign Jew. -It must have cost many a sesterce, don’t you think?”</p> -<p>“I’m sure it did.” Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “The whole -place is magnificent; why I’ve never seen anything like....” Suddenly -she clamped a hand to her nose. “By all the gods, Longinus, -what an odor!” She leaned her head out. “Bona Dea, all that -cattle. No wonder that awful stench. What on earth are cattle and -sheep doing in this beautiful place, Longinus? Can it be for -sacrificing, by all the great and little gods!”</p> -<p>“Yes, it’s for sacrificing.” Longinus grimaced. “The Jews think -that slitting an animal’s throat and throwing the blood on that -great altar somehow cleanses them of their sins. I don’t understand -how it could....”</p> -<p>The young woman’s laugh was derisive. “Bringing all those poor -animals in here to befoul this beautiful place, these gorgeous mosaics, -to pollute the very air, and they call that cleansing themselves. -Bona Dea, their Yahweh, if he demands this sort of worship, must -be a bloodthirsty god. It just goes to prove, Centurion, that this -one-god religion has less sense to it than even our silly superstitions.”</p> -<p>“That’s what I told Cornelius. I see no efficacy in slitting the -throats of poor beasts and slaughtering countless doves and pigeons -in order to serve some god. Of course, so far as the priests are -concerned, it’s a highly profitable business. But, of course, why -should we criticize the Jews when we do it in Rome, too, though -not on such a grand scale?”</p> -<p>A few paces farther on, the procession turned squarely to the -left again and proceeded along a third side of the Temple enclosure, -past the stalls of the lowing, frightened cattle and the -cages of birds and the money-changers seated behind their tables. -From the long portico the marchers pivoted to the right, then -ascended steps that led to a wide, paved esplanade.</p> -<p>“This is the platform before the Tower of Antonia. We’re coming -to it now.” He motioned behind him. “It’s the Roman military -<span class="pb" id="Page_96">96</span> -headquarters in Jerusalem. But Pilate must have told you all -about it.”</p> -<p>She leaned out and looked westward along the platform. “Pilate -tells me very little,” she answered. “By the gods, it’s a tall structure -and a grim-looking one. Doubtless overrun with soldiers, too, -even in the Procurator’s private apartments.” She winked and -smiled. “I’m glad Pilate decided to stop at the Herod Palace during -our visit to Jerusalem. He’ll probably be here at Antonia much -of the time. It should be easier then to arrange things over there.”</p> -<p>“Things?”</p> -<p>“Well”—her tone was playful, her eyelids fluttered teasingly—“yes, -things for people to do ... two people.”</p> -<h2 id="c14">14</h2> -<p>It was past midnight when Longinus returned at last to the now -quiet Tower of Antonia. Before leaving Caesarea he had arranged -with Sergius Paulus to have little more than token duty during -the stay in Jerusalem. In the weeks since his arrival in Palestine, -he and the cohort commander had come to an understanding; although -Sergius knew little of the centurion’s reasons for being in -this far eastern province, he did know that Longinus had been -sent out by the Prefect Sejanus, and Sergius was not disposed to -challenge, or even question actions of the Prefect.</p> -<p>Pontius Pilate had not returned to the palace; presumably he -had eaten his evening meal at the tower with the officers there. At -any rate, Longinus and Claudia had not been disturbed.</p> -<p>But when Longinus was admitted by the guards at the tower’s -outer gate, he deliberately walked past the stairs leading to the -southwest tower, where the administrative offices, including the -Procurator’s quarters, were situated. Going by the southeast tower -would take him a bit out of his way, Longinus reasoned, but he -<span class="pb" id="Page_97">97</span> -would be less likely to run into the Procurator at this late and -embarrassing hour.</p> -<p>The centurion had been assigned quarters in the officers’ section -on a floor level with a great gallery along the Temple side of -Antonia; a protective rampart ran the length of this gallery, and a -door opened onto the gallery from each officer’s quarters.</p> -<p>The air in the small chamber was musty and warm, and Longinus, -too, was warm from the exertion of his walk back to the -tower. He sat on the side of his bed for a moment, then stood up -and opened the outer door. When the draft of fresh air swept in, -he stepped out onto the gallery to wait there until his chamber -had cooled.</p> -<p>As he stood leaning on the rampart, Longinus heard a door open -behind him. Turning, he saw a soldier coming out. Another man -too warm to fall asleep, he thought, as he turned back to stare -at the still and almost deserted Temple enclosure. Fires smoldered -on the great altar, and flickering lamplight from the region of the -cattle and sheep stalls gave a look of eeriness to a scene that just -a few hours before had been a bedlam of sound and movement.</p> -<p>The other soldier halted near him to look down also on the -somnolent Temple. The man pointed over the parapet. “Still an -amazing picture, even in the nighttime, isn’t it?”</p> -<p>“Cornelius!” Longinus said, recognizing the voice and whirling -around to face the other. “By all the gods, man, I thought you -were in Galilee!” He clapped a heavy hand on his friend’s shoulder. -“But I’m glad to see you, Centurion.”</p> -<p>“And I had no idea you were in Jerusalem, Longinus!” Cornelius -responded with a shoulder-shaking slap. “How long have you been -here? Did you come today with the Procurator?”</p> -<p>“Yes, we arrived here a little past midday; we marched out of -Caesarea at daybreak day before yesterday. But, by Jove”—he -pointed to a stone bench set against the rampart—“let’s sit down, -Cornelius. I’ve had a hard day, and I’m sure you have, too. When -did you get into Jerusalem, and did you bring your century?”</p> -<p>“We came only an hour before sunset. Yes, I had orders from -the new Procurator to meet him here with my century.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_98">98</div> -<p>“But why, pray Jove? It’s no festival occasion. Can Pilate be -expecting trouble? He didn’t indicate any such thing to me.”</p> -<p>“There’s no reason why he should be anticipating any trouble, -so far as I can see ... unless he’s planning to provoke it himself.”</p> -<p>“But why would he do that? He must know that Tiberius and -Sejanus are determined to keep our conquered dominions at peace, -if for no other reason than to insure the uninterrupted flow of -revenue. But”—Longinus shrugged—“maybe Pilate wants to make -a show of force in the hope of increasing that very flow—with the -increase going into his own pockets, of course—which might be -why he’s been conferring at such length with Caiaphas and old -Annas.” He pointed toward a lighted window high in the southwestern -tower. “Look, they’re still up there. Pilate didn’t even go -to the Herod Palace for the evening meal with his new wife.”</p> -<p>“New wife? I didn’t know Pilate was married.”</p> -<p>“Yes. Since we left Rome. And you’ll be surprised to learn who -she is.”</p> -<p>“Who?”</p> -<p>“Claudia.”</p> -<p>“By all the great gods! Longinus, I thought you would be marrying -Claudia.”</p> -<p>“We had planned to be married.” Longinus paused. “But Tiberius -and Sejanus made this other arrangement.”</p> -<p>Cornelius shook his head. “But what does Claudia say about it?”</p> -<p>“What can she say? To them, I mean. But to me she declares -that nothing has changed between us. And judging by this afternoon -and tonight—I’ve been with her ever since we reached Jerusalem -until a few minutes ago—nothing has.”</p> -<p>“But couldn’t that be dangerous for you two?”</p> -<p>Longinus shook his head. “I hardly think so. Their marriage was -an entirely arranged one, and furthermore, I’m convinced Pilate -would do nothing to offend Claudia.”</p> -<p>“Tell me”—Cornelius leaned forward and tapped his friend’s -knee—“you knew before we left Rome that this arrangement had -been made?”</p> -<p>“Yes, but I couldn’t say anything about it then, Cornelius.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_99">99</div> -<p>“I understand. You were in some kind of cross fire, weren’t -you?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“And you have an understanding or arrangement with Sejanus, -don’t you—I don’t mean about Claudia? Wait....” He held up -his hand. “Don’t answer that. But I do want you to remember, -Longinus, that regardless of what may happen, I’m on your side -... yours and Claudia’s.”</p> -<p>“I know that, my friend. And I’m on your side ... regardless. -And it may be that sometime we’ll need one another’s support. -With old Tiberius and crafty Sejanus on the one hand and this -vain and ambitious Pilate on the other, and perhaps Herod Antipas....” -With mention of the Tetrarch’s name, he paused. “I -assume you got him delivered to Tiberias in safety. What did his -Arabian Tetrarchess say about Herodias?”</p> -<p>“She had heard about it before we reached Tiberias, perhaps -from some of that fellow Chuza’s servants, the ones who fetched -the furnishings from Ptolemaïs, you remember. But that was only -the beginning. Now they’re wondering at the palace what she’ll -do when Antipas gets back with his new wife; he’s already left for -Rome, they say, to fetch her, and when Herodias arrives, she’ll -probably be taking over as Tetrarchess.”</p> -<p>They sat for a long time in the coolness of the gallery high -above the sleeping Temple, and Cornelius related his experiences -in escorting the Tetrarch up the narrow defile of the Jordan River -and their encounter that day with the strange Wilderness -preacher. He described the man’s bitter denunciation of Herod -and his sudden and dramatic pointing out of a tall young Galilean -carpenter as the Jews’ long looked for Messiah, the man foretold -by the ancient Israelite prophets as he who would redeem their -historic homeland from its bondage.</p> -<p>“As we were leaving the place, I turned and looked back,” -Cornelius added. “The strange prophet and the tall Galilean were -standing in the river with the water up to their loincloths; the tall -one had asked to receive something they call baptism, a symbolic -cleansing of one’s sins, as I understand it.” Cornelius paused and -stared thoughtfully at his hands. “I shall never forget the look on -<span class="pb" id="Page_100">100</span> -that man’s face, Longinus. Ever since that day I have been wondering -about him. The Jewish Messiah.” He said it slowly, as -though he were talking more to himself than to his friend. “Do -you remember that day on the ‘Palmyra’ when we were talking -about this Yahweh of the Jews, this one-god spirit? You said then -that you would never be able to imagine a being without a body.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I remember it quite clearly. But what are you going to -say,” Longinus demanded, “that this tall fellow might have been -a god turned into a man? By all the gods, Cornelius, you don’t -mean to tell me you think this Galilean could be the Messiah of -the Jews? Their Messiah, if I understand it correctly, will be a -great military leader who will drive us pagan Romans out of Palestine -and re-establish the ancient Israelite kingdom. Even the Jews -don’t believe he’ll be a god, do they?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know, Longinus. I think most Jews believe he’ll be a -great earthly king, as you say. But listening to that wild fellow -and seeing the look on that young man’s face”—he paused, then -ventured a hesitant grin—“well, those strange words, the prophet’s -evident sincerity, his intense manner....”</p> -<p>“Jewish gibberish.” Longinus shook his head and scowled. “This -superstition has captured you, my friend. This eastern mysticism -that comes to a head in that cruel and extravagant circus down -there.” He pointed toward the great Temple, whose gold-plated -roof shone brilliantly in the light of the moon now emerging from -behind a cloud. “A carpenter from Galilee to overthrow imperial -Rome! What with, pray great Jove! A hammer and a chisel and a -flat-headed adz?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<h2 id="c15">15</h2> -<p>For two days after his long meeting with the High Priest Caiaphas -and the former High Priest Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas, the -Procurator Pontius Pilate was in a sullen mood. He said little and -kept close to his quarters in the Antonia Tower. Now and then -he would walk out onto the gallery overlooking the Temple enclosure -and, leaning upon the parapet, would stare balefully at the -magnificent structure and the stir of life within and around it.</p> -<p>The orderly movements of the priests, set through the long years -into an inexorable pattern as they followed the prescribed routine -of their duties, seemed almost to infuriate him. “Look at them, -Centurion!” he snapped to Longinus on one of these occasions -when the centurion happened to be sunning himself on the gallery. -“See how smugly they go about their mummery, as if it were -the most important thing in the world. They seem studiously to -ignore our all-powerful Rome and lavish every attention upon their -Yahweh.” He doubled his fist and banged it upon the parapet. -“Yet one lone Roman century ordered into that hive of impudent, -arrogant busy bees could send them all flying, one Roman century, -Longinus. And by the great Jove, I’m tempted to dispatch -soldiers down there to clean out that insubordinate, traitorous -nest!”</p> -<p>Fortunately, though, the Procurator issued no such order, and -the day passed without the Romans’ becoming involved in the -religious ceremonies of the Jews. The next morning, however, -Pilate called together all his officers on duty in Jerusalem, including -Longinus and Cornelius. Immediately it was evident that the -Procurator’s hostility toward the Temple leadership had not diminished.</p> -<p>“We are in a war of wits with these obstinate, proud Jews,” he -<span class="pb" id="Page_102">102</span> -declared, “and I cannot defeat them by remaining on the defensive. -It’s been a war of words and gestures thus far, but I have -been forced to the opinion that we can have no victory over them -until we have had some blood.” His blue eyes swept coldly over -the unsmiling faces before him. “So I have determined upon a -bold plan in which we shall take the offensive.”</p> -<p>Pilate revealed that Caiaphas and Annas had rebuffed, though -with unctuous smiles and sugared words, his every effort even to -discuss the possibility of using Temple funds for the improvement -of Jerusalem, particularly the health of its residents, through the -construction of facilities to enlarge and improve the city’s water -supply.</p> -<p>“They insist that this money has been dedicated to their god -and belongs to him and that for me to use one denarius of it, even -in promoting their welfare, would be a profanation and a sacrilege. -Old Annas, may Pluto burn him, even suggested that the people—he -emphasized the fact that he was not himself suggesting it—might -even believe that <i>I</i> had seized the money for my own use.” -Pilate’s anger had turned his face an ugly crimson. His voice rose -to a shout. “A profanation indeed! To these insufferable Jews -everything they do not wish to do or to have done is a profanation. -Yet their priestly caste is sucking the very lifeblood of the -people in the name of religion.” He paused for a moment, then -continued more calmly. “So I have determined to initiate a bold -new plan. I shall have these Temple leaders crawling to me, and -on their bellies, cringing!”</p> -<p>When it was clear that Pilate had, at least temporarily, finished, -Sergius Paulus ventured to speak. “But, Excellency, do you plan to -raid their Temple’s treasury, to commandeer the gold the Jews -have stored there? Such a course, you must realize, might provoke -the wrath of the Emperor and the Prefect, since they have made -a compact with....”</p> -<p>“No, Commander, I am planning no raid on their treasury,” -Pilate interrupted. “On the contrary, they will bring their treasure -to me and urge me to use it in providing a new water supply for -Jerusalem. In so doing they will admit to me and, more importantly, -<span class="pb" id="Page_103">103</span> -to their fellow religionists that Rome is master and that -their puny Yahweh is a lesser god than our Emperor.”</p> -<p>Quickly and more calmly the Procurator unfolded his plan. -When three days ago he had come into Jerusalem at the head of -the troops, he reminded them, he had suffered the humiliation, -for the first time in his military career, of marching with the proud -ensigns of Rome all sheathed. This was done, he pointed out, to -appease the Jews, to mollify their Yahweh.</p> -<p>“You recall the stony silence with which we were greeted, -even the hostile looks of the people peering from behind their -screens or down from their housetops; you remember the hatred -in their eyes as we crossed through the Temple court on our way -here, the taunting remarks flung at us. Rome has lost prestige -in Palestine. We must recover it, and this I am determined to do.” -The trace of a malevolent smile spread across his round Roman -face. “The Emperor must not be made to yield to Yahweh; our -eagles and our fasces must no longer be hidden from view as -though we were ashamed of them.”</p> -<p>Longinus was watching Sergius Paulus. He saw the commander’s -face blanch, but Sergius said nothing. And Pilate continued outlining -his plan.</p> -<p>“On top of this tower”—Pilate pointed upward—“is a perpetual -flame that burns while the vestments of the High Priest are held -safe here in Antonia. Rome therefore is providing and tending a -flame that, to my mind, is a memorial of Rome’s yielding. No ensign -with the Roman eagle flies above the fortress or hangs from -its ramparts. A further testimony to our surrender to the stubborn -Jews and their jealous god.” A humorless smile wrote thin lines -at the corners of his mouth. “Of course I am telling you what -you who are stationed in Jerusalem already know. Perhaps to me -it is more galling because it is new.” He paused, as if to consider -carefully his next words. “Tomorrow, with Centurion Longinus -and his century escorting my party,” he began again, “I shall leave -Jerusalem on my return to Caesarea. Centurion Cornelius with -his century from Galilee will remain here until after my departure; -how long he will stay will be determined by the situation.” His -thin smile blossomed into a baleful grin. “During the night, after -<span class="pb" id="Page_104">104</span> -I have left, the troops stationed here at Antonia will extinguish -the flame atop the tower and hang out from the ramparts the ensigns -of Rome, including the eagles, the fasces, and the likenesses -of the Emperor.”</p> -<p>“But, Excellency”—Sergius’ face was pale, and his expression -mirrored alarm—“do you realize how this action will provoke the -Jews, how it will inflame them against us, lead perhaps even to -bloodshed...?”</p> -<p>“I fully realize that, Commander. That is why I am ordering -it. I wish to provoke them. It is only by provoking them that -we can demonstrate forcefully to them that Rome is master.”</p> -<p>“But, sir, the Emperor and the Prefect....”</p> -<p>“Are you not aware that since my arrival at Caesarea I represent -the Emperor and the Prefect Sejanus in Judaea?” The words were -almost a snarl. “If you wish to dispute my authority or my judgment....”</p> -<p>“But I do not, Excellency. The Procurator’s commands to me -naturally will be carried out fully.”</p> -<p>“I expected as much, Commander. You will have charge of our -forces in Jerusalem in carrying out my orders. If it comes to -bloodshed, do not hesitate to shed Jewish blood if the Jews assail -you; your only concern will be to prevent the shedding by them -of Roman blood. I am confident that they will yield before offering -violence to Rome; I think they haven’t the courage to challenge -us. What they will do”—his cold, calculating smile overspread -his florid face—“is send their priests, including old Annas -no doubt, whining to me at Caesarea and imploring me to rescind -my orders. Then I will have a lever with which to move them. -And thereafter, you may be sure, the legionaries and their ensigns -will be respected by the Jews as they are respected by all other -conquered peoples. Our Emperor, as he rightfully should, will -then take his place, even in Jerusalem, above their vengeful and -jealous Yahweh.”</p> -<p>He dismissed the group with instructions to begin at once -their preparations for putting his orders into effect.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_105">105</div> -<h2 id="c16">16</h2> -<p>For five days the roads into Caesarea from Jerusalem and central -Judaea were clogged with a motley throng of Jews pushing relentlessly -toward the Procurator’s Palace. Here and there in the -multitude rode a man or woman on a donkey, but countless hundreds -trudged on foot, dust-covered and weary in every bone -but more outraged in spirit.</p> -<p>Then the dam that was Caesarea’s gates was inundated, and -the flood of disgruntled Jewry, sweating, travel-soiled, frightened -but still undaunted in its anger despite the long and tiresome -journey, poured through the city to fill its market squares and -surge upward toward Pilate’s house. The angry flood had burst -upon the port city hardly two days behind the messengers sent by -Sergius Paulus to warn the Procurator of the multitude’s approach.</p> -<p>The Jews, the messengers informed Pilate, were swarming toward -Caesarea to protest with all the vigor they could command -his profanation, they called it, of their holy city through the display -at the Tower of Antonia of the Roman army’s ensigns, including -even the likenesses of the Emperor Tiberius. The morning -after the Procurator’s departure, they revealed, the Jews had -awakened to behold with horror the flaunted banners. But their -vehement protests to the commander of the fortress had been -unavailing. Sergius Paulus had told them with firmness that only -a command of Pilate could restore the flame above the tower -and once again sheathe the offending ensigns.</p> -<p>So, alternately beating their breasts with loud lamentations and -angrily calling down their Yahweh’s curses upon the invading -Edomites, as they termed the Romans, they had surged into the -roads and pushed northwestward to demand of the Procurator himself -an end to the profanation of their Jerusalem.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_106">106</div> -<p>Five days ago these Jews had arrived at Caesarea, but five days -of protesting, of threatening, of pleading, and of threatening again -had not moved Pontius Pilate. “Rome is master,” declared the -stubborn and proud Procurator to the Jews’ spokesmen; “the emblems -of Rome’s mastery will not be removed or sheathed. My -orders stand.”</p> -<p>But the sons of Israel, too, were unyielding in their demands. -“Your Emperor Augustus, your Emperor Tiberius”—Pilate took -notice that they did not say “our” Emperor—“have respected our -laws, which forbid the display of such emblems, and have been -strict in honoring our religion,” the spokesman insisted. “Your -Emperor Tiberius cannot but be angered by the refusal of the -Procurator to respect in the same manner our ancient traditions.”</p> -<p>“Go home!” Pilate ordered. “Get you back to Jerusalem. I, not -you, speak for Tiberius. I was sent out by him to govern this -province, and by the great Jove, I will govern it!”</p> -<p>But the Jews did not go home. Hungry, discouraged, exhausted, -they were not defeated. They swarmed about Pilate’s palace, they -fell in their tracks on the marble of the esplanades to sleep fitfully -when sheer exhaustion overtook them; they crowded the -market places, they slept in rich men’s doorways. But they would -not turn their backs on Caesarea.</p> -<p>On the morning of the sixth day, Pilate called Longinus to the -Palace. “Centurion,” he said, his face livid with anger, “since -Sergius Paulus continues at Jerusalem, I wish you to take command -of the troops here and put into execution the orders I am about -to give you. Send out couriers to summon these Jews to come -together in the Hippodrome; say that I will meet them there. In -the meantime, disguise a sufficient number of your soldiers and -place them about the amphitheater in advantageous positions so -that should disorder arise among the Jews, you will be ready -immediately to put it down.”</p> -<p>Claudia had been listening to her husband. “But, Pilate, aren’t -you creating a situation that will produce fighting between our -troops and these Jews?”</p> -<p>“And if there is bloodshed?” Pilate’s eyes flashed sudden anger. -“Haven’t I been patient with these obstinate rebels? If they choose -<span class="pb" id="Page_107">107</span> -to get themselves run through with swords, isn’t it their own -doing?” Then quickly he recovered his poise. “Claudia,” he said -quietly, “I have given them every opportunity to return peaceably -to Jerusalem. Have I not?”</p> -<p>“Yes. But you have not agreed to have the ensigns sheathed. -And until you do....”</p> -<p>He turned upon her, his countenance flaming, his mood changed -completely. “Do you stand with these stubborn provincials against -Rome? Are you with them, or are you with me?”</p> -<p>“Before you interrupted me, Procurator,” Claudia’s voice was as -cold as her smile, “I was going to observe that in displaying the -army’s emblems, you are really breaking a tradition, so far as I have -been able to understand it, and this tradition may very well be a -long-standing order of the Emperor and, indeed, of Augustus before -him. I care not a fig about these Jews. Nor do I care about their -High Priest or their Yahweh. I am concerned only with what -will be the attitude of the Emperor and the Prefect Sejanus toward -the Procurator as a result of this unprecedented breach of -the established order.” She turned away, her head high. Pilate -seemed taken aback; he looked at her somewhat sheepishly and -licked his lips as though he were about to speak. But he said -nothing. Instead, he turned abruptly to Longinus. “I take responsibility -for the orders I give,” he said tersely. “My orders to -you are unchanged.”</p> -<p>Longinus saluted, then without a word turned on his heel and -withdrew.</p> -<p>By early afternoon the great concourse had filled with excited, -chattering Jews. Their determined stand, they felt confident, had -defeated the Procurator; their reminder that the Emperors had -honored the Jews and their Yahweh and that Tiberius might not -approve a course taken in defiance of the long-established tradition -had frightened Pilate. He was calling them together, wasn’t -he, to announce that he was withdrawing the hated emblems and -to ask them to return home victors?</p> -<p>But they had judged the Procurator wrongly. And they discovered -their mistake as soon as he began to address the throng -from his box high in the stands of the great oval.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_108">108</div> -<p>“For five days, and this is now the sixth, you have kept our -Caesarea in turmoil. You have been obstinate and insubordinate -and have shown little respect to the Procurator, who represents -the Emperor and in this province personifies the power and -majesty of the Empire. You have threatened him with reprisal, -saying that he has flouted the orders of our Emperor. You were -not only inhospitable in refusing to welcome the Procurator to -Jerusalem, you were actually hostile. In being hostile to us, you -have shown yourselves contemptuous of Rome and enemies of -our Empire; in being stubbornly hateful to me, you have shown -yourselves no friends of the Emperor.”</p> -<p>Pilate paused, his face suffused with color as his anger grew -with his listing of their offenses. Then he stood back on his heels, -squared his shoulders, and held up his tightly clenched fist. “Now -hear me, men of Judaea!” he shouted. “I have asked you to disperse -and return to your homes. Stubbornly you have refused to -heed my command. I am asking you again to abandon this unreasonable, -senseless, and ill-advised effort and get yourselves outside -the gates of Caesarea and on the roads that lead homeward. -Hear me, by great Jove! This is my last command to you.” He -leveled a shaking forefinger toward the multitude. “I have stationed -my soldiers in disguise among you, and they are heavily armed. -They have been instructed, upon my next command, to spring -upon you and run you through with their swords.”</p> -<p>But in the vast oval of the colosseum not an Israelite moved to -obey him. Stolidly, calmly, they faced the Procurator; silence -was heavy upon the great throng.</p> -<p>Pilate’s face was twisted with wrath. “Then I must give the -order, men of Judaea?” He shouted the question.</p> -<p>Not a man moved.</p> -<p>Then from the ranks nearest Pilate a man stepped forward a -pace and held up his hand to speak. By his dress it was evident -that he was one of the Temple leaders. “O noble Procurator,” he -said in a loud voice, “though your soldiers run us through with -swords until each of us has perished, we cannot submit to the -profanation of God’s holy Temple; we cannot countenance without -protest the treading into the dust of our God’s commandments. -<span class="pb" id="Page_109">109</span> -Before we agree to Rome’s profanation of our holy places -and her flouting of our God’s laws, O Procurator, we will bow -our necks to the Procurator’s soldiers. We will die, and gladly, -for our God!”</p> -<p>“Profanation! Profanation! All I hear is Rome’s profanation of -your traditions. By all the gods, in every other land our Emperor -is honored, his banners and his emblems, his likenesses paraded -on our staffs, all these are hailed with shouts and acclamations! -And yet you Jews....”</p> -<p>Suddenly Pilate paused. The priestly leader who had just addressed -him had fallen on his face in the dust of the great stadium, -and beside him and behind him others now were prostrating -themselves. Within moments every Jew in the place was lying face -down upon the ground before the Procurator of Judaea. Mouth -open, eyes darting from one area of the great concourse to another, -aghast, Pilate stood silent. Then quietly he spoke to Longinus, -who was standing near him. “Centurion, I cannot order men -on their faces ran through with swords. It would be massacre.”</p> -<p>“So it would be, Excellency, on their faces or standing, since -they are defenseless.”</p> -<p>Pilate turned back to face the prostrated multitude. “Stand -on your feet!” he commanded. “I shall withhold for the moment -at least my command to the soldiers.”</p> -<p>Without a word being said, without a change of countenance -even, the Jews rose to their feet and faced the Procurator. “Now -send me your High Priest and his father-in-law the former High -Priest Annas,” Pilate commanded. “No harm will be done them; -this I swear by the great Jove.”</p> -<p>Hours later Caiaphas and Annas returned from the conference -with the Procurator at the palace. Mounting the rostrum from -which Pilate had previously addressed them, Caiaphas held up his -hand for silence. “Men of Israel, we have just concluded our -meeting with the Procurator Pilate,” he announced. “An agreement -has been reached. Now you may return in peace to your -homes. The offensive emblems of Rome, the Procurator has assured -us, will be removed so that they will no longer profane our -holy places. The God of Israel, He is One!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_110">110</div> -<p>“The God of Israel, He is One!” The multitude of suddenly -exultant Jews echoed his words in a great chorus, and a hosanna -of shouts swept wave upon wave across the immense arena. Then, -laughing and chattering, the people began pushing toward the -Hippodrome’s exits.</p> -<p>And in all the throng not a man ventured to inquire of the -High Priest what the terms of the agreement with Pilate had -been.</p> -<h2 id="c17">17</h2> -<p>An hour before the “Actium” was to sail out of the harbor at -Caesarea on the return voyage to Rome, Centurion Longinus -went aboard and handed the captain a heavily sealed communication -addressed to the Prefect Sejanus.</p> -<p>“This is an army message of great importance,” he announced. -“It must be delivered in person to the Prefect. He is expecting -it, and if it is not delivered immediately after the docking of -your ship, he will begin to inquire why he has not received it.” -Actually, the centurion knew that Sejanus was not expecting a -message from him on the returning “Actium,” but telling the -captain so would insure the message’s getting quickly into the -hands of the Prefect. The captain might well think that the -centurion’s letter was in reply to a message brought him from -Sejanus by the Tetrarch Herod Antipas.</p> -<p>The “Actium” two days before had brought the Tetrarch and -his new wife Herodias and her daughter Salome to Caesarea, and -from the wharf they had been escorted by Longinus and a detachment -of his century to the Procurator’s Palace to be guests of -Pilate and Claudia while resting a few days after the long voyage -out from Rome. From Caesarea they planned a short visit to -Jerusalem, and then they would travel northward through the -<span class="pb" id="Page_111">111</span> -Jordan Valley to the Tetrarch’s gleaming white marble palace at -Tiberias.</p> -<p>It was when Longinus learned that the “Actium” would be -returning directly to Rome that he decided to dispatch a report -to the Prefect. The report related in considerable detail the events -of the Procurator’s recent visit to Jerusalem, his flaunting, in disregard -of Sergius Paulus’ warning, of the cohort’s banners from -the Antonia ramparts, the subsequent storming of Caesarea by -the irate Jews, and Pilate’s yielding to them, after a conference -with Caiaphas and Annas. Longinus advanced no suggestion concerning -the probable terms of the agreement between the Procurator -and the Temple leaders. The centurion was confident, -however, that the astute and suspicious Sejanus would infer from -what he had left unwritten that Pilate had profited handsomely. -Longinus concluded the message with an avowal that the report -was factual and uncolored.</p> -<p>From the “Actium” Longinus returned to the headquarters of -the cohort and that evening was a guest, along with Sergius Paulus, -of the Procurator and his wife at a small, informal dinner honoring -the Tetrarch, his wife, and her daughter. When they had finished -the meal, Herodias and her hostess retired to Claudia’s apartment, -and Salome went to her chamber. The four men remained reclining -at the table, where after a while, as they drank wine and -nibbled grapes and figs, the inhibitions of Pilate and Antipas, -each vain and domineering and jealous of the other’s authority, -began slowly to disappear. Gently at first Antipas chided the Procurator -for his profanation of Jerusalem by flaunting the ensigns -of Imperial Rome from the Tower of Antonia.</p> -<p>“Profanation! Profanation! All I hear in this contentious province -is profanation. I am sick of the word.” Pilate wiggled a forefinger -at the Tetrarch. “Do you consider Rome’s display of her -honored emblems profanation of Jerusalem and this province, I -ask you, Tetrarch?”</p> -<p>Antipas studied the fig he held between finger and thumb. -“I don’t consider it profanation, nor do the Emperor and the -Prefect, but I do agree with the Emperor and the Prefect that it -is a wise course not to offend unnecessarily the people of Israel -<span class="pb" id="Page_112">112</span> -who do so hold.” It was a clever answer, and Antipas, knowing -it, pressed the point. “It would be politic if the new Procurator -learned to uphold the traditions of this land,” he continued, “so -long, of course, as they do not seriously conflict with the interests -of the Empire and certainly”—he smiled—“so long as the Emperor -and the Prefect uphold them.”</p> -<p>Pilate was quick to strike back. “I was sent out to this province -to rule it,” he declared, his eyes flashing indignation. “I was not -sent here to cower and truckle, to lower Rome’s ensigns at the demands -of your obstinate, cantankerous Jews,” he hissed. “I came -to rule....”</p> -<p>“But you did lower Rome’s ensigns when those obstinate—Jews -bared their necks to your swordsmen and refused to obey your -command to return home,” Antipas interrupted. Then suddenly, -as though seeking a truce, he changed his tone. “But I don’t blame -you, Procurator. In fact, I admire you; you’re a very intelligent -man. Living in this province must be trying to one who has never -lived here before, and of course it’s unrewarding unless there are -... ah ... extra benefits, shall we say ... not provided by Rome. -And there is much gold in the Temple’s coffers, I am told. It seems -that no matter how much is withdrawn, a great deal still remains -for the use of the Temple leaders, hmm?” He smiled appreciatively. -“And no doubt the Prefect will approve, too, provided....” -Grinning, he left the observation unfinished. “And with no Jewish -blood shed by your soldiers, there will be nothing to explain -to Tiberius, Excellency.”</p> -<p>Pilate glared, mouth open. But he did not deny the Tetrarch’s -thinly veiled charge. “Profanations! Violated traditions!” He hurled -across the room the grape he had selected from the silver dish -of piled fruit and pointed a quaking finger at the Tetrarch. “And -how dare you, Antipas, speak of my violating the traditions and -offending the religion of the Jews, when you have just taken to -bed your brother’s wife! Is that not a heinous offense for a Jew -himself...?”</p> -<p>“Excellency!” Sergius Paulus, palpably fearful of what the exchange -might quickly be leading to, jumped to his feet. “The hour -is growing late, and the Centurion Longinus and I must be getting -<span class="pb" id="Page_113">113</span> -back to headquarters. Please excuse us, sir. We’ve enjoyed -your hospitality, and we beg you to express our thanks to your -wife.” He glanced toward Longinus, who nodded agreement. “And -I thought, Excellency, that the Tetrarch perhaps might honor us -by going with us—we have a sedan chair at the door—to inspect -our cohort headquarters, should you, sir, be willing to excuse him.” -He looked questioningly toward the Procurator and then the -Tetrarch.</p> -<p>“Should the Tetrarch wish....”</p> -<p>“I shall be happy to accompany you,” Antipas interrupted. -Carefully he pulled the stem from the fig. “It will be a change of -air.” But he was smiling, and his manner was jovial; the tension -of the moment had been dispelled.</p> -<p>“When you have finished with him, Sergius”—Pilate had calmed, -too, and no rancor was revealed in his tone—“have him brought -back, properly attended. He and the Tetrarchess are always welcome -at the Procurator’s Palace.”</p> -<p>But Longinus knew, as the three prepared to leave the great -dining hall, that relations between the Tetrarch and the Procurator -were still strained; he suspected that they would remain -so. The temperaments of the two men, coupled with the situations -in which they had been placed, would demand it. In his own dealings -with them, in his observation and appraisal of them and their -activities, he told himself, he must bear this always in mind.</p> -<p>Meanwhile, lounging comfortably on Claudia’s large couch, -pillows at their backs, the two women had been exchanging news -of their own activities since they had last seen one another in -Rome, and, more interesting to Claudia, Herodias had been revealing -tidbits of gossip involving the more lively set in the Empire’s -capital city. But soon the discussion narrowed to their own -changed circumstances. Claudia was frank. “Yes, it’s just as I told -you it would be that day you came to return my call. I said marrying -Pilate would make no difference. Remember? Well, it hasn’t.” -A cloud passed across her countenance. “Of course, we will have -to be patient, though, and wait for things to work out.”</p> -<p>“But until they do, must you never...?” Herodias paused.</p> -<p>“No, it isn’t that bad,” Claudia hastened to reply, smiling. -<span class="pb" id="Page_114">114</span> -“We can see each other and we can be together ... more -and more hereafter, I hope. We have been together already, for -hours, in fact, both here at Caesarea and in Jerusalem at the -Herod’s Palace, while Pilate conveniently, I do believe, busied himself -at the Antonia Tower.” She shook her head. “Really, Herodias, -I don’t know whether the man is stupid, quite wise, or just indifferent. -But whatever he is, his being the way he is will help -Longinus and me to arrange things.”</p> -<p>Herodias’ large dark eyes were bright now with scheming. “My -dear, you have never been in Galilee, have you? It’s a beautiful -land, especially now that spring is beginning to break, so much -more interesting than this barren Judaea. We have so many flowers, -and willows and oleanders and bright-blooming shrubs along -the watercourses. I remember Galilee in the spring from my -childhood days and on occasional visits since. So”—her eyes were -dancing now—“you must go with us to Tiberias. We can contrive -to have Longinus escort us. And in the Palace there”—her voice -dropped to an intimate whisper—“you will have no one to disturb -you.”</p> -<p>“But Antipas’ other wife? What would she say if I should go -with you?”</p> -<p>“<i>I</i> am the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea,” she said evenly. -“As soon as we get there, Antipas is going to divorce her and send -her back to old Aretas.”</p> -<h2 id="c18">18</h2> -<p>Before they reached the bend in the road roughly paralleling the -Jordan, whose banks were beginning to color now with the awakening -of willows and oleanders to advancing spring, the Tetrarch -recognized the voice.</p> -<p>“By the beard of the venerable High Priest!” Antipas exclaimed. -<span class="pb" id="Page_115">115</span> -“This isn’t the place where he was making his stand when I came -this way before, but it’s the same fellow, that mad prophet of the -Wilderness. I’d know his haranguing anywhere.”</p> -<p>Longinus was riding beside the Tetrarch. Herodias and Claudia, -with lively Salome a few paces back, were following in the narrow -column, and just behind them rode Neaera, Tullia, and several -other servants of the two households. Soldiers were in the vanguard -and at the rear.</p> -<p>Antipas turned to Longinus. “Centurion, I wonder if we -shouldn’t go another way and avoid encountering this fellow. -I’d rather not see him or hear more of his ranting.”</p> -<p>“But <i>I</i> want to see him.” Herodias had ridden abreast of the -Tetrarch. “He must be the one I’ve just been hearing so much -about in Jerusalem. Everybody was talking of his ability to sway -the multitudes and his fearlessness in denouncing the Temple -priests.”</p> -<p>“Yes, he’s the one. But, my dear Herodias,” the Tetrarch began -to protest, “he’s likely to say something that will offend you, too. -The fellow has no respect for the Tetrarch’s office or authority -and no bridle on his loose tongue.”</p> -<p>“By the gods, then, that’s all the more reason I want to hear -him.” She laughed gaily, then quickly grew sober. “And certainly -the Tetrarch should be concerned,” she added, “if the man flouts -the Tetrarch’s authority.” She signaled to Longinus to resume the -march. “Let’s ride down and join his audience. After the boredom -of our journey, this should at least provide a diversion.”</p> -<p>Antipas shook his head grudgingly but offered no further protest. -“She’ll regret it as soon as she hears him, by the gods,” he -muttered to the centurion as they started. “But I warned her.”</p> -<p>At the bottom of the slope the group dismounted, and on Longinus’ -summons, soldiers came up to hold the horses. The servants -remained behind with them except for Neaera and Tullia who -followed their mistresses as the Tetrarch’s party quietly slipped -around a screening clump of willows to join the throng about the -gaunt and weathered speaker. To Antipas, John seemed little -changed since that day when they had come upon him at the ford -farther up the Jordan. His clothes looked the same; fleetingly the -<span class="pb" id="Page_116">116</span> -Tetrarch wondered if the haircloth mantle had ever been cleaned -since he had last seen it.</p> -<p>Although the Tetrarch’s group had slipped unobtrusively into -the rim of the crowd, Antipas was quickly recognized, and soon a -murmur moved through the multitude and heads began to nod -as intent black eyes shifted from the fiery prophet to study the -newly arrived ruler of Galilee and Peraea.</p> -<p>“It’s old Herod,” Longinus heard a beak-nosed, thin Jew whisper -to the man beside him. “And that woman, she must be the new -wife he’s fetched from Rome, the one he took away from his -brother, and that must be the brother’s daughter beside her.” -Both men turned to stare, then smile. “I wonder what John will -say to that!” one said to the other as they turned back to peer -again at the thundering prophet.</p> -<p>John, too, had recognized the Tetrarch, Longinus was sure; yet -the prophet made no immediate reference to his presence. Instead, -he continued preaching on the necessity of repentance and on the -use of baptism as a sign of Yahweh’s forgiveness. The man was a -powerful speaker; he had native ability, Longinus immediately perceived, -to command attention and sway his hearers. The crowd -listened, entranced, to his every word; now and then one would -step forward and, crying loudly in repentance, ask for baptism.</p> -<p>Sometimes a man would interrupt the prophet to seek an answer -to some deeply perplexing problem. But no one yet had spoken -openly of the Tetrarch’s presence among them.</p> -<p>Then a tall, narrow-faced Jew, unkempt, ill-clothed, evidently -a man of the earth, stepped forward and held up his hand. “This -repentance of which you speak,” he questioned, “is it necessary -for the rich man in the same manner as it is for the poor and -dispossessed, for the man of authority as well as for the servant? -I ask you, does the measuring rod measure the same for all men, -or is there one rule for one man and another rule for another?”</p> -<p>“Repentance is necessary for all men, my brother,” John replied -calmly. “The same measuring rod measures for both the -man of authority and the servant who serves him, for both the -rich man and the man of earth.”</p> -<p>John paused. Then slowly his dark eyes moved from the face -<span class="pb" id="Page_117">117</span> -of his questioner to that of the Tetrarch. “The same measuring rod -measures for the Tetrarch of Galilee, my brother, that measures -for you, and it is the same for even the lowliest servant in that -iniquitous marble pile above the graveyard in Tiberias!” The -prophet’s eyes were blazing now, and he raised his gaunt, sun-bronzed -arm to point a lean forefinger directly at Herod Antipas. -“Repent, O Tetrarch, repent!” His voice was thunderous now, -and the finger darted forward like the tongue of a serpent. “Repent -while yet there is time! Repent of the evil you have done, -and seek in true penitence the forgiveness of our God Whom you -have scorned and despised!”</p> -<p>Antipas stood silent and stared straight ahead, looking as though -suddenly he had been turned to stone. But Herodias, though -amazed, had not been rendered speechless by the torrent of the -prophet’s denunciation. Calmly she turned to her husband. “Do -you intend to stand here and allow this madman to vilify you? -Are you going to stand patiently while...?”</p> -<p>“And you! You evil woman!” John’s shout interrupted her. Now -the angry hand was pointed directly at her. “You call me a madman,” -he said. “Yes, I am a madman. I am a madman for our -God. And I call upon you, too, to repent. Repent before our God -turns His face from you forever. I call upon both you sinners to -fall on your faces and cry out to the God of Israel, imploring Him -for forgiveness.” Then the prophet’s stern eyes turned again toward -the Tetrarch. “Herod, cast this foul woman from you! Have -you not stolen her away from the bed of your brother? You cannot -have her, O Tetrarch! Does not God’s holy law forbid a man -from taking to bed the wife of his living brother in the flesh? -Adulterer! Repent! And you, evil woman, you adulteress”—John’s -eyes were fiery now with a wild zeal as he faced Herodias, whose -flushed cheeks and lips drawn into thin lines revealed her fury—“neither -shall you have him! Get you back to the bed you have -deserted, if the husband you have abandoned has the grace to -forgive and receive you! O Tetrarch”—John lifted his gaunt arms -toward the heavens—“cast her from you before your grievous sinning -brings ruin down upon the land. Send her back to your -<span class="pb" id="Page_118">118</span> -brother, and humbly beseech the forgiveness of our God! Repent, -O Tetrarch, repent! Repent!”</p> -<p>Still Herod Antipas stood staring, unmoving, rooted.</p> -<p>“By all the great and little gods, Antipas”—Herodias, infuriated, -whirled upon the Tetrarch, grabbed his arm and shook him—“will -you stand there like a statue and permit that fanatic to insult -and intimidate you and your wife before this crowd?” Scornfully -she measured him, and her lips curled with disgust. “Are you -indeed the Tetrarch of Galilee, or are you a frightened mouse?” -She stood back, taunting him with her shrill laugh.</p> -<p>Her challenging words and her mirthless laughter broke the -spell the prophet had cast. “No, I am not afraid of him,” Antipas -replied slowly, as though he were arguing with himself. “Nor can -I any longer permit this abuse to go unpunished. He has not -only vilified your Tetrarch and his wife”—Antipas was now addressing -the crowd rather than Herodias—“but he has challenged -my honor and authority. His words are a call to insurrection. I -can no longer permit the preaching of rebellion.” He turned to -confront Longinus. “Centurion, arrest this man. Have him taken -at once to the Fortress Machaerus and there placed in its dungeon. -Order him held until I pronounce judgment.”</p> -<p>Without even a glance toward the now silent but calm and -seemingly untroubled prophet of the Wilderness, Herod turned -and started along the gentle rise toward the horses.</p> -<h2 id="c19">19</h2> -<p>As they approached the southern shore line of the Sea of Galilee, -Longinus sent riders ahead to notify Chuza of the impending -arrival of the Tetrarch and his party at Tiberias. So the steward, -with household servants to handle the baggage, was waiting at the -palace gate when the caravan entered the grounds.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_119">119</div> -<p>But Chuza, though he greeted them warmly and with profuse -smiles, was obviously troubled, and Antipas quickly drew the -man aside to question him. “Sire, you will not find the Tetrarchess -here to welcome you,” the steward explained, his tone apologetic -and his expression patently pained. “She has departed from -Tiberias. I suggested that she might wish to delay her leaving, -Sire, until your return, but she insisted on going at once.”</p> -<p>She had received a message, she told Chuza, that her father, -King Aretas of Arabia Petraea, was desperately ill and that he had -summoned her to his bedside. Although the steward had seen no -messengers, he had not been disposed to question the Tetrarchess. -She had prepared for the journey very quickly. The Centurion -Cornelius had provided her with a detachment of soldiers to escort -her to her father’s capital in the country southeast of the Dead Sea, -beyond the Fortress Machaerus; she had taken with her, in addition, -her best raiment and many of her choicest personal possessions.</p> -<p>“Then you think that she is not planning to come back to me? -Is that what you’re suggesting, Chuza?”</p> -<p>“Sire, I am suggesting nothing. I am relating only what I -saw and heard. I have no opinion as to what plans the Tetrarchess....”</p> -<p>“The Princess Herodias is Tetrarchess now, Chuza,” Antipas -interrupted.</p> -<p>“Indeed, Sire”—Chuza bowed to the Tetrarch and then to -Herodias—“the former Tetrarchess....”</p> -<p>“But when did she depart, Chuza?” Antipas interrupted again.</p> -<p>“A week ago, Sire. The escorting soldiers have not yet returned.”</p> -<p>“Had she heard that I was returning from Rome with a new -Tetrarchess?”</p> -<p>“She said nothing to me about it, Sire, but I am confident that -she knew of the Tetrarch’s marriage. Passengers coming ashore at -Ptolemaïs from the vessel on which you and the Tetrarchess sailed -out from Rome brought to Tiberias word of the new Tetrarchess. -I myself heard it, and surely the report must have come also to -her ears here at the palace.”</p> -<p>“Very well, Chuza; think no more of it.” By now they had -entered the lofty, marble-columned great atrium. A faint smile -<span class="pb" id="Page_120">120</span> -crossed his heavy face. “Do you know, I believe she must have -suspected all along?” He turned to Herodias. “By all the gods, my -dear, she has made our course all the easier.”</p> -<p>Longinus declined the invitation of the Tetrarch and Herodias -to take a chamber in the palace during his stay at Tiberias. He -had promised Cornelius that he would be his guest when next he -came to Galilee. Tempting though the Tetrarch’s invitation had -been, Longinus reasoned that it might be wise to assume that the -watched might also be the watching.</p> -<p>Besides, Claudia had been assigned an apartment which, the -centurion had observed, looked out upon a broad terrace facing -the Sea of Galilee. A door from Claudia’s bedroom conveniently -opened onto the terrace. Longinus smiled as he reviewed the details -of the arrangement.</p> -<p>The sentry at the palace gate, he also knew, would be a Roman -soldier.</p> -<h2 id="c20">20</h2> -<p>Cornelius shook his head solemnly. “Herod will regret it. Arresting -the prophet was unwise, Longinus.”</p> -<p>“But the fellow is an insurrectionist, Cornelius; certainly it -can’t be denied that he’s been inciting rebellion against the -Tetrarch’s rule. You should have heard what he called Antipas -and Herodias.” A wry smile twisted the corners of his mouth. -“Of course, just between you and me, I think he was right. But -that doesn’t absolve him from agitating against the Tetrarch, and -in this province, of course, the Tetrarch represents Rome.”</p> -<p>“But I don’t think that the prophet’s a revolutionary,” Cornelius -insisted. “He lambasted the Tetrarch that day we came on him at -Bethabara, too, but he wasn’t challenging Herod’s authority as -Tetrarch; he was denouncing his wickedness as a man and calling -<span class="pb" id="Page_121">121</span> -upon him as a man to repent just as others were repenting. There’s -a difference, Longinus, even though it’s hard for us Romans to -understand that. We bundle our religion—if we have any, which -few of us do, I suspect—and our imperial government into one -packet. But the Jews keep their religion and their government, or -rather our enforced government over them, separate. And their religion -is predominant. In ordering John imprisoned, therefore, -Herod is allowing the government to invade the Jews’ religious -precincts, just as Pilate did when he had the army’s ensigns flown -from the ramparts of Antonia. He’s likely to find himself in the -same sort of situation that Pilate faced. It will do him no good; -John at Machaerus will likely have more power over the people -than he would have had if Herod had left him unmolested.” He -glanced quizzically toward his friend. “Don’t you think so?”</p> -<p>“I’ve never thought of it. Nor do I care, by the gods, what becomes -of that Wilderness fellow, or....” He paused and glanced -about.</p> -<p>“There’s no one to hear us.”</p> -<p>Nor was there. From the early evening meal, eaten in the stuffiness -of the garrison’s mess hall at a table with the other officers, -Cornelius had brought his guest to the flat roof. Up here they -would escape the heat and the heavy odors of food and wine and -sweating soldiers and at the same time catch any vagrant breeze -that might be stirring from the sea. Nor would there be any ears -to overhear.</p> -<p>“I was going to say that I cared little what happened to him -or Antipas ... or, by great Jove, even Pontius Pilate.”</p> -<p>“Both Herod and Pilate have blundered. And I’m sure Sejanus -will be hearing about it; that is, if he hasn’t heard of it already.”</p> -<p>Longinus nodded, then casually changed the subject. “By the -way,” he commented, “that reminds me; what ever became of -that carpenter you said the desert preacher hailed as the Jews’ -Messiah? Has he begun yet the task of wrecking the Roman Empire -with his hammer and chisels?”</p> -<p>“It’s just possible that he has, though not with any hammer and -chisel.” His smile was enigmatic. “Certainly the Empire, if I -understand him, isn’t built on any plan that he approves.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_122">122</div> -<p>“By all the gods, Cornelius!” Longinus, who had been sprawled -in his chair with his feet propped on the low rampart, sat up with -a start. “What do you mean?”</p> -<p>Cornelius held up his hand. “Now wait,” he said calmly. -“There’s nothing to be alarmed about. You won’t need to report -to Sejanus about the carpenter. But since I saw you last he has -gained a great following, even among some of the more influential -people. You remember that beautiful woman Herod took with him -to Jerusalem, the one called Mary of Magdala?”</p> -<p>“Who could forget her?”</p> -<p>“I agree. Well, she’s a disciple of the carpenter now, and a -different woman, they say; she’s forsworn the Tetrarch’s bedchamber.”</p> -<p>“Maybe”—Longinus grinned—“that’s because Herodias has -moved in.”</p> -<p>“Could be; I don’t know. But the report is that she’s given up -all her amatory pursuits in order to follow him. All up and down -the seaside, in fact, the people are swarming to hear him and beseech -his help.”</p> -<p>“But insurrection, Cornelius....”</p> -<p>“Oh, it isn’t that, Longinus. The Galilean isn’t concerned with -the government, as I understand his teachings, though I’ve seen -little of him myself; I get my information from some of the Jews -in the synagogue at Capernaum”—he smiled—“who secretly, I -suspect, are followers of the man, though many others among -the Jews are hostile. I think he wants to change people as individuals, -not their governments; he wants to help them. I’m sure -he’s never given any thought to fomenting rebellion against Rome.”</p> -<p>Longinus relaxed and sat back. “Then he’s just another of these -religious fanatics, isn’t he? Well, I’m relieved to hear that, though -Palestine seems to have more than its share of these charlatans.”</p> -<p>“Charlatan? I wouldn’t say that. Let me tell you a story, and -then you can deduce what you wish. It happened only a few -weeks ago. When you see Chuza, Herod’s steward....”</p> -<p>“I saw him today.”</p> -<p>“When you see him again, ask him to tell you what happened -to his son. Everybody in this part of the country has heard about -<span class="pb" id="Page_123">123</span> -it; the news swept through Galilee like flames across a parched -grassland.”</p> -<p>“Well, by the gods, Cornelius, what did happen?”</p> -<p>“Chuza’s young son had come down with a fever. In this low -country along the lakeside, you know, fevers are pretty common, -but they’re not often dangerous. So Chuza and Joanna—she’s his -wife—weren’t alarmed at first. But when days passed and the boy -didn’t improve—in fact, his condition grew worse—they became -concerned. One physician after another was called in, and they -exhausted all the treatments they knew how to give. But the -child was failing fast, and Chuza and Joanna were frantic; it looked -as though their son wouldn’t live much longer. The fever was -consuming him. What could they do? Where could they get help?</p> -<p>“It happened that on the last day, when it appeared that the -boy was about to die, a Jewish fisherman who had occasionally -been supplying the palace came to Chuza. He and his brother -and two other brothers with whom he frequently fished had made -a heavy catch, and this Simon had come to inquire if Chuza -would buy a mess for the Tetrarch’s household.</p> -<p>“But a servant came to the door and told him his master could -not discuss business; the steward’s son, he explained, was dying.</p> -<p>“‘In that case, I must see him,’ the fisherman said to the servant. -‘I can tell him how his son’s life may be saved.’</p> -<p>“But the servant told him that the physicians had despaired -of saving the child and that the parents were momentarily awaiting -his death. He ordered Simon to leave.</p> -<p>“The fisherman, a headstrong fellow, insisted, however, on being -shown into the chamberlain’s presence, and the argument grew -so loud that Chuza heard and came out to discover what was taking -place. The fisherman Simon then told the Tetrarch’s steward -of the Galilean carpenter’s amazing ability to effect miraculous -cures, and he suggested that a servant be sent on horseback to find -this young man, whom Simon referred to as ‘the Master.’ ‘And -when the servant finds him,’ he said ‘have him bring the Master -here, and he will heal your son.’</p> -<p>“Of course Chuza protested,” Cornelius continued, “that skilled -physicians had been unable to cure the child. ‘Only try the Master,’ -<span class="pb" id="Page_124">124</span> -Simon then implored him. ‘Only have faith in him and ask him -to heal your son, and he will heal him.’</p> -<p>“And suddenly the thought came to Chuza that surely he had -nothing to lose by seeking out the Galilean mystic. The child was -already on the verge of death; certainly this Jesus ben Joseph, -whatever he might do, wouldn’t further endanger the boy’s life. -So he asked Simon where his master might be found and whether -he would come at once to his son’s bedside.</p> -<p>“The Galilean was visiting friends at Cana, a village a few miles -west of the little sea. And Simon assured Chuza that he would -come.</p> -<p>“So Chuza decided to seek the carpenter’s aid. But he sent no -servant for him. Instead, he had three horses saddled, one for -Simon, one for himself, and one for this Jesus ben Joseph.</p> -<p>“‘As we rode westward toward Cana,’ Chuza told me, ‘I felt -a growing hope that the strange Galilean might really be able to -restore my son to health, and I was possessed by an overpowering -urge to find the man. Soon Simon and I were racing along the -dusty road. When we reached Cana and found the house, we discovered -this Jesus seated with his friends at the noonday meal.’”</p> -<p>Cornelius got up from his chair, sat down again on the rampart, -and looked out toward a small fleet of fishing boats coming in to -shore with the day’s catch.</p> -<p>“By the gods,” Longinus asked, “what happened then? Go on; -it’s a good story.”</p> -<p>“When he looked into the understanding eyes of the young -man from Nazareth, Chuza told me, a strange warmth, not physical -warmth from the hard riding but a sense of eased tension, of -peace, perhaps, something he said he couldn’t describe to me and -didn’t entirely understand himself, took possession of him. He -knew then, he was utterly certain, he said, that the young man -smiling at him had the power to heal his son, if he could but get -him to Tiberias in time!”</p> -<p>Once more Cornelius paused in his recital to study a fishing -boat unloading a heavy catch. Then he resumed the narrative.</p> -<p>“Chuza said he didn’t remember what he said to the man, except -that he blurted out his plea for help and begged the stranger -<span class="pb" id="Page_125">125</span> -to return with him to the boy’s bedside. He and his wife loved their -son so much, he pleaded, and the little fellow was dying. If only -the carpenter would intervene to save him, he knew the child’s life -would be spared.</p> -<p>“Then,” Cornelius went on, “the Nazareth carpenter said a -strange thing. He turned his intent, kindly gaze from Chuza to -glance at those at the table with him. ‘Always you must have -signs and wonders,’ he said. ‘Can’t you believe without actually -seeing these things done before your eyes?’</p> -<p>“Chuza didn’t understand the man’s words, but he didn’t try -to find out what they meant. His son was dying, his need was -desperate. Once more he begged the carpenter for his help. ‘O, -sir, my boy is dying,’ he pleaded; ‘he won’t last out the day unless -you go to him. Won’t you leave with us now, sir, and restore -him?’”</p> -<p>Cornelius paused again. Longinus, his forehead creased in heavy -concentration, seemed absorbed in the doings of several fishermen -down at the water’s edge as they struggled with a heavy net. But -he turned quickly to confront his friend. “Pluto blast you, Cornelius! -Why do you keep stopping? Did the carpenter return with -him or didn’t he?”</p> -<p>“No, he didn’t. He laid his hand on Chuza’s shoulder. ‘Return -to your son,’ he said. ‘The fever has left him. He has been restored.’”</p> -<p>“And I suppose when Chuza and the fisherman got back, they -found that the boy’s fever had actually broken?”</p> -<p>“Yes, he was fully recovered. And when Chuza asked Joanna -what time it was when the fever broke, she said it was the seventh -hour, which was exactly when the carpenter had told Chuza that -the boy had been restored.” Cornelius smiled and stood up. -“That’s the story, Centurion ... Chuza’s story, not mine. What -do you make of it?”</p> -<p>“A good story, and ably told by you. I’d call it an entertaining -account of a remarkable coincidence.”</p> -<p>“Only a coincidence?”</p> -<p>“What else could it be? Surely you don’t believe that this carpenter -fellow, without even going to the sick boy, drove out the -<span class="pb" id="Page_126">126</span> -fever? You know that fever victims either get well or die and that -once the fever reaches a certain point, it goes one way or the -other; it’s either death or a very rapid recovery, and the odds are -about the same.” He shrugged his shoulders. “After hearing -Chuza’s story the carpenter probably calculated it was time for -the fever to break, and he simply gambled on the outcome.” Then -he was suddenly serious, his eyes questioning. “Cornelius, don’t -tell me you believe the carpenter actually cured the boy?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know, Longinus. But I’ll say this: I don’t disbelieve -it. And I do know that the boy is alive and well today.” Cornelius -stood up and stretched. “After all, to Chuza and Joanna that’s -the important thing. When you see Chuza, you might ask him -what he thinks of the Galilean.”</p> -<p>“If that carpenter did cure the boy in the manner you described, -Cornelius, then he’s bound to be a god. And would a carpenter be -a god, and a Galilean carpenter, at that? To me the whole idea -is preposterous. But I’m just a Roman soldier; I haven’t been -exposed, like you, to these eastern workers of magic.”</p> -<p>“This Jesus is no magician. In fact, he seems reluctant to perform -these—what did he call them—‘signs and wonders.’ But the -sick and the crippled continually besiege him to heal them, and -his sympathies for the unfortunate appear to be boundless.” -Cornelius sat down again on the parapet. “Tell me, do you remember -that day we were sailing down the Tiber, standing at the -‘Palmyra’s’ rail talking about the various gods, and you said that -you could never comprehend a spirit god, something that was -nothing, you said, a being without a body?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and I still feel that way.”</p> -<p>“But what about a god that does have a body, a god-man? If a -god should have a physical body and be in every physical respect -like a man, would that make sense to you? Could you comprehend -such a god?”</p> -<p>“By Jove, Cornelius, you’ve been out here with these Jews for -much too long. You’ve been listening to too much prattle about -their Yahweh. A god without a body, a body that houses a god. -Bah! I put no credence in any of these notions. As for that carpenter, -I’d say he’s another Wilderness preacher, not as fanatical perhaps, -<span class="pb" id="Page_127">127</span> -not as desert-parched and smelling of dried sweat as John, -but certainly no god—whatever a god is, if there is such a thing, -which I most seriously doubt. A carpenter from Nazareth, that hillside -cluster of huts! Cornelius, I’ve been to Nazareth, as I’m sure -you have. I ask you, would a god choose Nazareth to come from?” -He stood up. “Nevertheless, the story you told was entertaining. -Maybe to some it would be convincing. To me, though....” He -shook his head slowly. Then suddenly a wide grin lighted his grim -countenance. “How is it that you and I inevitably get around -sooner or later to a discussion of the gods? And where do we invariably -end? Nowhere. Talk, that’s all. And talk is all it can ever -be, isn’t it? It’s all too nebulous, intangible....”</p> -<p>“But, Longinus, if this all-powerful, all-wise, all-good god that -old Pheidias envisioned, this supreme one god, in order to communicate -with his earthly creatures”—Cornelius held up his hand -to stop Longinus, who had been about to interrupt—“should decide -to take the form of a man, an ordinary man....”</p> -<p>“By all the small and great gods,” Longinus did interrupt, “do -you think then that he would choose to be a carpenter from -Nazareth?”</p> -<p>Cornelius stared at the fishing boats, now pulled up on the -beach; the lengthening shadows had already begun to obscure -them. “I wonder,” he said.</p> -<h2 id="c21">21</h2> -<p>Herod Antipas was in a bad mood; he said little and appeared -preoccupied during the meal. When they had finished he announced -that he planned to spend the remainder of the evening -conferring with his ministers. “I’ve been out of the country for -a long time,” he explained casually. “I suspect there will be many -trying problems awaiting consideration.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_128">128</div> -<p>When the Tetrarch withdrew from the lofty dining chamber, -Herodias had servants place couches at the eastern edge of the -terrace beside the bordering balustrade of faintly rose-hued marble, -and with Neaera and Tullia hovering discreetly near them, the -new Tetrarchess and her guest lay back comfortably to relax after -the heavy meal. Out here it was cooler than it had been in the -great chamber, for the white marble palace of Herod Antipas had -been built on an upflung spit of land that pushed out like a flattened -giant thumb into the Sea of Galilee, and whenever there -was a breeze from off the water it swept unobstructed across the -spacious terrace.</p> -<p>This terrace had been built seaward from an immense glass-covered -peristylium, paved with tiny marble blocks in colors -that had been laid to form an intricate but pleasing mosaic pattern -and alive with fountains, flowers, and luxuriant tropical plants. -Predominantly Roman in architecture, decoration, and furnishings, -the palace reminded Claudia of the Procurator’s Palace at -Caesarea. “Except that it’s more pretentious,” she told Herodias.</p> -<p>“Yes, it is,” Herodias agreed. “Antipas was determined for once -to outdo his father. He had always lived in the shadow of old -Herod, and I think he resented it. But even so, he has never -had the ambition or the courage that his father had.”</p> -<p>“But surely, Herodias, you don’t see any virtue in your grandfather. -Didn’t he have your grandmother and your father killed?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and my father’s brother Alexander. No, he was a monster, -particularly in his last years when I think he must have been demented. -But he was an able man, and he had courage. He never -would have permitted that desert fellow to stand there and insult -him and his wife, for example, even if the man had had all the -Jews in Galilee at his side. Nor would he have yielded, as your -Pilate did, to those Jews at Caesarea. He would have had them -run through with swords and would have roared with laughter at -their agonized dying. But perhaps I offend you.”</p> -<p>“No, you don’t offend me, my dear. Nor do I defend Pilate. -But you must remember, he has Sejanus to deal with and also -my beloved stepfather. Neither of those pillars of the Empire -<span class="pb" id="Page_129">129</span> -would have sanctioned the massacre of thousands of Jews. Pilate -does have a difficult role to play.”</p> -<p>Herodias smiled and pointed a ringed forefinger. “And are you -going to help him play it, my dear Claudia, or will you...?” She -paused and allowed her question to hang in mid-air.</p> -<p>“Or will I conspire with Longinus to lead Pilate into making -further wrong moves, thereby getting him recalled and perhaps -banished and permitting me to divorce him and marry Longinus?” -Laughing, Claudia sat up and swung her feet to the floor. “You -are so subtle, my dear, so very subtle.” Now she shook an accusing -finger at her hostess. “But tell me, what will you do when -Aretas’ daughter returns to Tiberias and demands her place as -Tetrarchess?”</p> -<p>“She won’t return; Antipas is sending her a bill of divorcement. -Surely you must know that I would see to that. In fact, I think -she left with her mind made up that she was finished as Tetrarchess. -My only thought—and that isn’t concern—is what old Aretas -will do about it.”</p> -<p>Behind them now the lamps had been lighted in the palace. -A brilliant full moon slowly climbed the sky above the little sea; -both women lay back luxuriously to watch the moon mount -higher, and before long their talk had slowed into silence. Suddenly -Herodias realized that she had become almost senseless. She -sat up with a start.</p> -<p>“By the gods, Claudia, we’re almost asleep!”</p> -<p>“We’re tired from the journey,” Claudia said, rubbing her eyes.</p> -<p>“Yes. Maybe we should go to bed. Can I have Neaera bring -you something? Some wine and wafers, fruit, or a glass of hot -milk?”</p> -<p>“No, not a thing. I’m still stuffed from the wonderful dinner. -I only want to get to bed and to sleep. I am really quite tired.”</p> -<p>“You must be indeed.” Her smile, Claudia saw plainly in the -brightness of the full moon, was positively devilish. It was impossible -to mistake its meaning.</p> -<p>“Oh, that,” she laughed, then added, “but surely you heard him -tell the Tetrarch he would spend the night with Cornelius?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I heard him tell the Tetrarch.” She stood up. “Let’s go -<span class="pb" id="Page_130">130</span> -to bed.” They crossed the terrace and entered the palace. “I’ll see -you to your chamber,” she said.</p> -<p>An inner room that opened into Claudia’s had been prepared -for Tullia. Herodias glanced quickly around the apartment, then -turned to go. At the door opening onto the corridor she paused. -“I hope you will be comfortable and sleep well.” Her eyes brightened. -“You won’t be disturbed. And you’ll discover”—she swept -her hand in an arc to embrace Claudia’s chamber—“that all your -doors have bolts opening from the inside, including,” she added -with a knowing smile, “the one to the terrace. Good night, -Claudia. And, by all the gods”—her dark, wanton eyes had burst -into dancing flames—“I envy you!”</p> -<h2 id="c22">22</h2> -<p>Claudia sat up in bed, instantly and fully awake. She knew that -she had been dreaming, a confused, wandering, disconnected, -senseless sort of dream, though now with her awakening it had -vanished completely, dissolved into nothing. But the gentle tapping -that had been mixed with the dreaming, had not been a part -of it; the tapping at the door to the terrace was real and repeated -and insistent.</p> -<p>She kicked her feet free of the sheet and swung them to the -floor. From the waist down, as she arose, she stood in the narrow -band of silver-cold moonlight spearing through the tall window -behind her to cut diagonally across the foot of the bed; quickly she -stepped into the less revealing shadows at the doorway.</p> -<p>“Longinus?” she whispered, her face close to the panel.</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“One minute until I can draw the bolt.”</p> -<p>When he was inside and she was closing and bolting the door, -he slipped his toga off and, stepping past the shaft of moonlight, -<span class="pb" id="Page_131">131</span> -dropped it on a chair against the wall near the head of the bed. -As he turned around, she came toward him, her arms outstretched; -crossing the bright beam, her white body stood plainly revealed -through the sheerness of the black gown.</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus”—she flung herself into his arms—“I thought -you really had decided to stay with Cornelius.”</p> -<p>He lifted her to her toes and held her, almost crushingly, -against him, and then he caught her chin and raising her face so -that he could look into her eyes, bent down and kissed her red and -warmly eager lips.</p> -<p>“Didn’t you know,” he asked when he released her after a long -while, “that those words were for Antipas and not you? Didn’t -you know that nothing could possibly keep me from you tonight?”</p> -<p>Gently, almost carrying her, he led her the two or three steps -to the bed. They sat down beside each other, and he bent forward -to unbuckle his sandals. When he sat up again, she twisted her -feet around and lifted them to the bed, doubled up her knees, and -lay with her head and right shoulder pressed hard against his -side. “Are you tired from the journey and anxious to get to sleep?” -she asked, turning her head to look into his face.</p> -<p>“Tired maybe, and warm from walking from the Antonia”—he -pulled his tunic open at the throat and to his waist—“but sleepy, -no.” He laughed, but not loudly, for the palace was as quiet as a -sepulcher. “Do you think any man in my present situation could -be sleepy?”</p> -<p>“Yes, by all the gods, I know one.” She sat up and swung -her feet to the floor. “Pontius Pilate.”</p> -<p>“No, Claudia, he couldn’t be that cold-blooded.” He pulled her -to him, and drew her warm body into the closing circle of his -arms. She lifted her feet again to the bed and slid down into the -brightness of the moonlight.</p> -<p>“But, I tell you he is, Longinus. All the man ever thinks of is -guarding and extending the powers and authority of the Procuratorship -and piling up Jewish shekels. To him my only attraction -is being the Emperor’s stepdaughter.”</p> -<p>“Then he’s an even bigger fool than I thought.” Gently he -<span class="pb" id="Page_132">132</span> -pushed her chin down to pull her lips slightly apart and, bending -over her, crushed his mouth upon them.</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus,” she cried out, when finally, breathing heavily, -he raised his head, “do take me away from him! Do, Longinus, -oh, do, do! I cannot endure him! By all the gods, I simply cannot!”</p> -<p>“But where would we go?” He looked deeply into her troubled -eyes, luminous even in the shadows. “How could we escape the -Emperor and the Prefect, my dear girl? How could we?”</p> -<p>“We couldn’t, of course. If we attempted it, they would soon -find us, and Tiberius would do to you what my grandfather did -to my poor father. I know that, Longinus. But it’s so long from -one time with you to another, from one night so quickly passed -to the gods only know when again.” She slipped her hand beneath -his tunic and caressingly ran her fingers across the damp, -warm expanse of his chest. “It’s so hard waiting for these few -stolen hours,” she murmured. “Must we be forever waiting, Longinus?”</p> -<p>“No, Claudia, no. Pluto burn him! One of these days he’ll go -too far with the Emperor and Sejanus. But we’ve got to give -him time to be caught in his own trap. Then when he’s ruined -himself, the Emperor will permit you to divorce him. But in the -meantime, we must steal all the hours we can”—his words were -blurred as he buried his face in her lustrous, fragrant hair—“and -not be too concerned with Pilate or our future.” They remained -silent side by side for a while, then Longinus raised his head. -Claudia lay stretched out full length upon the bed, and from -the waist down now her scarcely concealed body came within the -rapidly widening band of moonlight. “We mustn’t try to anticipate -things,” he said quietly. “We must seize the opportunities -as they come. Carpe diem, that’s all.” He bent lower to look into -her eyes. “More to the point, let’s enjoy the night while we -have it.”</p> -<p>He stood up quickly and in the shadows hastily stripped off his -clothes.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_133">133</div> -<h2 id="c23">23</h2> -<p>As he drifted up slowly out of the depths of slumber he fancied -he was hearing the early cockcrow from Castra Praetoria; surely -he was sharing Claudia’s bed in her apartment in the Imperial -Palace, for he could smell her perfume, he could feel the satiny -texture of her hair spread fan-like across his chest.</p> -<p>The trumpet was insistent. He would have to open his eyes. He -twisted up on his elbow and squinted toward the window; light -sifting into the chamber revealed the crumpled sheer nightgown -dropped across his clothes on the chair near the bed. Looking -down, he studied Claudia’s sleeping face—rouge-smeared, half-open -mouth, cheeks, forehead, and even her neck splotched with the -smudged prints of his lips from her own lipstick.</p> -<p>He glanced around the room again; no, this time he was not in -Rome, and the trumpet call came only from the post headquarters -in Tiberias. This time there was no threat of immediate separation. -Immensely relieved, he pulled up the sheet that had fallen -away and snuggled back down beside her.</p> -<p>“Must you be going so soon?” she asked sleepily, for his movement -had aroused her. “Must you always be leaving me?”</p> -<p>“That’s the cockcrow at Castra Praetoria, and I have early duty,” -he said. “Maybe this morning I’ll be summoned before the Prefect.”</p> -<p>“You aren’t deceiving me. The Prefect is in Rome, and we are -in Tiberias,” she replied. “And you have no morning duty at the -post’s quarters.” Smiling, she added, “I’m not that sleepy, Centurion.” -She slid forward and sat up, then just as quickly slipped -back beneath the protecting sheet. “I forgot,” she said, grinning. -“But I’m so glad that you don’t have to leave now.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_134">134</div> -<p>“But I’ll have to be going soon,” he declared. “I’d like to get -away before the palace is too much astir.”</p> -<p>“But why, Longinus? Must you sneak away as though you were -a thieving intruder? Don’t you know that Herodias was expecting -you? She even admitted that she was envious of me; I’m sure she -was anticipating a far less interesting evening with Antipas.” She -paused, and her eyes widened. “Surely you aren’t afraid of his -knowing ... about us?”</p> -<p>“You know I’m not afraid of the Tetrarch’s knowing”—his tone -was gently scolding—“or, by the gods, of Pontius Pilate’s.”</p> -<p>“Then could it be Cornelius?” Now she was teasing. “But -doesn’t he know? Surely....”</p> -<p>“Of course,” he interrupted. “He knew last night I was coming -here. He gave me the password for the sentry at the palace gate.”</p> -<p>“But did he know you were going to be spending the night ... -with me?”</p> -<p>“I didn’t tell him that. But I’m sure that anybody with the intelligence -of a centurion would arrive at such a conclusion.” He -was grinning. “Wouldn’t you think so?”</p> -<p>“Yes. But maybe he doesn’t approve, now that he’s become so -interested in the Jews’ religion. And judging by that desert fanatic’s -tirade against Herodias and Antipas, even the most innocent -adultery is frowned upon by these Jewish religionists.”</p> -<p>“Whatever he may think about it, Cornelius knows very well -that what you and I do is none of his business, and I’m sure he -won’t try to make it his affair.”</p> -<p>“Then I’m the one.” Her smeared lips were pushed out in a -feigned pout. “You’re bored with me. I know, you’re just trying -to get rid....”</p> -<p>“Silly girl.” He pulled her close, for she had coquettishly twisted -away. “Did I say I was leaving right now?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_135">135</div> -<h2 id="c24">24</h2> -<p>Two soldiers from his own century at Caesarea who had ridden -into Tiberias during the night were awaiting Longinus when he -returned to the garrison headquarters. They had been sent by -Sergius Paulus with a message from the Prefect Sejanus. A note -from the Prefect had been attached to the carefully sealed message, -emphasizing the importance of the communication and ordering -Sergius Paulus, should Longinus not be in Caesarea on its arrival, -to have it dispatched to him wherever he might be and as speedily -as possible.</p> -<p>The message from Sejanus had arrived on an Alexandrian grain -ship that had sailed into the harbor at Caesarea several days after -Herod Antipas and his new wife, with their party and their guest, -the Procurator’s wife, had departed for Jerusalem on their way to -Tiberias. The cohort commander had dispatched the two horsemen -at once in the hope that they might overtake the centurion -before Herod’s party had started on the journey up the Jordan -Valley toward the Galilean capital. But the caravan had been two -days on the way before the horseman rode into Jerusalem; from -there they had started almost immediately for Tiberias.</p> -<p>Quickly and with considerable apprehension Longinus broke the -seals. Why was the message so urgent? What could have happened? -He knew that Sejanus was not replying to the report he -himself had dispatched to the Prefect by the hand of the “Actium’s” -captain; that vessel had probably not even reached Rome -yet.</p> -<p>Longinus hurriedly scanned the message; then, relieved, he read -it again more slowly. The Prefect was summoning him to return -to Rome to report in detail on the situation in Judaea and Galilee. -But first he was to go immediately to Senator Piso’s glassworks in -<span class="pb" id="Page_136">136</span> -Phoenicia. There he would receive a package which he would then -convey to Rome.</p> -<p>The package would be highly valuable, the Prefect warned; it -would contain a large sum of money, revenue from sales of glassware, -and he was to exercise every precaution in seeing to it that -he got it to Rome intact. Impress as many soldiers as he thought -necessary to serve as guards while the package was being transported -from the glass plant to the ship that would bring it to -Rome, the Prefect ordered; take no risk of being waylaid by robbers -or some band of zealots. He suggested that to minimize this -danger, the centurion should go aboard ship at Tyre, the seaport -nearest the plant.</p> -<p>Longinus explained to the two soldiers who had brought him -the message that he was being ordered to Rome by the Prefect -Sejanus and instructed them to bear to Sergius Paulus a message -he would write. In this note he informed the cohort commander -of the assignment Sejanus had given him to come to Rome, although -he made no mention of the money he would be delivering. -He added that the Prefect had given him no details of the new -assignment; he would write later from Rome. When he finished -writing the communication, Longinus dismissed the two to return -with it to Caesarea.</p> -<p>Cornelius had been aware of the arrival of the two men sent by -Sergius Paulus; Longinus told him what the Prefect’s instructions -had been.</p> -<p>“Cornelius, I want you to pick a small detachment from your -century to go with me to Phoenicia for the package and then on -over to Tyre,” he said. “If by any chance I should let that money -be stolen....” He shrugged and drew his fingers across his -throat. “I suspect a large portion of it, if not all, is destined to -find its way into the Prefect’s private coffers.”</p> -<p>Cornelius agreed to accompany him. His men would leave early -on the morrow and meet the two centurions at the home of -Cornelius at Capernaum where they would spend the evening. -From there the party would start northwestward for the senator’s -glassworks in Phoenicia.</p> -<p>“And now,” said Cornelius when they had made the arrangements, -<span class="pb" id="Page_137">137</span> -“you’ll be wanting to return to the palace; after today it -may be a long time before you see Claudia again.”</p> -<p>Only last night he and Claudia had talked of how they might -remain in Tiberias for perhaps two weeks; he had even considered -taking her with him on a hurried visit to the glassworks, which -he had not inspected for the last several months. And they would -manage to spend every evening together, to be with each other -every night through.</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus, let me go with you to Rome! Take me, please,” -she pleaded an hour later as they sat on the terrace outside her -bedchamber. “Do you dare, Longinus? Or, should I say, do we -dare?”</p> -<p>“No,” he said, “though by all the gods, I wish we did.” He -shook his head slowly. “No, Claudia, we mustn’t attempt it. You -might be able to hide from the Prefect and the Emperor. But not -for long. Pilate would report your disappearance—he would have -to for his own protection—and immediately Sejanus would suspect -me. He might even think you and I were plotting to upset the -rule of Tiberius, which would mean, of course, the overthrow of -the Prefect. You would be discovered within a matter of days. And -then in all probability it would be the imperial headsman for me, -and for you ... well, for you it would probably be a fate much -like your mother’s, Pandateria or some other far-off place. And for -the friends who tried to hide you, death, too. You see, Sejanus -and the Emperor married you off to Pilate to get you far away -from Rome. They intend for you to remain away. Until”—he -shrugged—“there’s a violent change in Rome, you must not return.”</p> -<p>They sat quietly and looked out at the fishing boats plying the -sea.</p> -<p>“I won’t remain long in Rome, I think,” he said after a while. -“If the gods are good, Claudia, it will be only a few months -until....”</p> -<p>“If the gods are good!” she interrupted, harshly. “There are no -good gods, Longinus. There are no gods!” She scowled and looked -away. “If there are, how can they be so perverse?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div> -<p>“I don’t dispute it. Call it what you like, gods, fate, chance, -luck....”</p> -<p>“Ill luck, perversity of fate. Bona Dea, Longinus, if there are -gods, they are evil, and the most evil of all is old Sejanus, may -Pluto transfix him with his white-hot fork! Why must he forever -be doing us ill?”</p> -<p>“Perhaps, who knows, he may be serving us well in calling me -to Rome. It may lead to the Emperor’s banishing Pilate or, if not -that, his removal from the Procuratorship.”</p> -<p>“May the gods grant it!” she said fervently.</p> -<p>“But now, my dear”—he smiled—“there are no gods.”</p> -<p>They sat for a long time on the sunlit terrace and talked, though -they knew their future was a difficult one to predict. They walked -down to the beach and strolled along the sands; once they paused -to sit for a while on the rotting hull of a half-buried fishing boat. -Before the sun dropped westward behind the palace they climbed -the steps and crossed the esplanade; in the peristylium he said -good-by to the Tetrarch and Herodias. Claudia walked with him -back to the terrace, where he quickly bade her farewell.</p> -<p>“I’ll see you before many months in Caesarea,” he said and -gently pinched her cheek. He bent down for a last kiss. “Pray the -gods for the winds to bring me quickly ... and with good news. -Pray the silly little no-gods.”</p> -<p>“I would, if I thought it would bring you back any sooner,” she -said. “I’d even say a prayer—and offer a lamb—to the Jew’s grim -Yahweh. But I have more faith in the charity of the winds themselves.”</p> -<p>An hour later he and Cornelius set out for Capernaum. The -squad from the Tiberias century that would escort them to the -glassworks and then to the harbor at Tyre had been selected and -equipped for the journey; the soldiers would join the centurions -the next morning at the home of Cornelius.</p> -<p>As they were nearing the house, Cornelius turned to question -his friend. “Longinus, do you remember Lucian?”</p> -<p>“Lucian? Your son?”</p> -<p>“Well, you could probably call him our son, although he’s actually -my slave. He was given me by his father, just before he -<span class="pb" id="Page_139">139</span> -died, when Lucian was only three or four years old. He’s the -grandson of old Pheidias, the tutor I was telling you about some -time ago.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I do remember the boy. But he is more like a son than a -slave, isn’t he?”</p> -<p>“He is. We’re devoted to the boy. We couldn’t love him more, -I’m sure, nor could he love us more, if he were really our own -flesh and blood.”</p> -<p>“But why are you asking me about him?”</p> -<p>“Well, some time ago I promised Lucian that the next time I -went on a journey I’d take him along. I wonder if you would object -to his going with us up into Phoenicia?”</p> -<p>“Of course not. Why don’t you take him?”</p> -<p>“Then I shall. We’ll get an early start in the morning. We -ought to be ready to begin the journey when the detachment arrives -from Tiberias.”</p> -<p>But the next morning Lucian was ill. Perhaps, Cornelius -thought, it came from the great excitement of the anticipated -journey. With his palm the centurion felt the boy’s forehead, -cheeks, under his chin. They were feverish.</p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Phoenicia</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div> -<h2 id="c25">25</h2> -<p>The old man, smoke-blackened and naked except for a frayed and -soiled loincloth, tottered forward and collapsed at their feet.</p> -<p>“He almost fell into the fire chamber,” explained one of the two -young slaves who had dragged him from the furnace shed.</p> -<p>A beetle-browed, scowling overseer with a long leather whip -came running from an adjacent section of the sheds. “Get back -to your work!” he shouted, as he slashed viciously at the slaves. -The two fled inside; the burly fellow strode across to the old man -on the ground.</p> -<p>“Water! O Zeus, mercy. Water! Water!” the old slave gasped.</p> -<p>The overseer raised his whip. “Stand up, you, or by the gods, -I’ll cut you in strips!” he hissed. “Get back to the furnace!” He -stood poised to strike the inert man.</p> -<p>“Hold!” Cornelius commanded. “Strike him once, and by the -great Jove, you’ll have me to deal with!” Suddenly furious, his -eyes blazing, the centurion stepped forward to confront the overseer.</p> -<p>“Who, by the gods, are you?” the fellow demanded insolently. -“By whose authority do you interfere with the operation of this -plant?”</p> -<p>“By the great gods, my own, if the centurion”—he glanced -coldly toward Longinus—“is little enough interested to stop you.”</p> -<p>“Don’t touch him!” Longinus pointed. “And get back to your -duties.”</p> -<p>“And who”—the fellow was glowering, his heavy jaw thrust -out—“are you, by the gods, to be giving me orders?”</p> -<p>Aroused by the angry words outside the fire chamber, a man -rushed from the near-by furnace-shed office. “Porcius, you insolent, -blundering fool, put down that whip!” he bellowed. “Don’t you -<span class="pb" id="Page_144">144</span> -know the centurion”—he gestured toward Longinus—“is the son -of Senator Piso, who owns this plant? And the other one is his -friend. Now you get back to your work!”</p> -<p>“But first let him get this poor old slave some water.”</p> -<p>“Yes, Centurion.” He turned fiercely to the overseer. “You heard -the centurion. Go! And bring a cloth, too, to bathe his face.”</p> -<p>“O Zeus, mercy. Water.” The old man’s plea was hardly a whisper. -“Mercy, O....”</p> -<p>Longinus pointed. “Water will do him no good now, Cornelius.”</p> -<p>The wizened, gaunt slave’s eyes, wide-open, were setting in an -agonized, frightened stare; his head was stretched back, and Cornelius, -looking into his blackened and bony face, saw that it was -pitted and scarred from innumerable small burns; the eyebrows -and eyelashes were completely gone, singed away in the intolerable -heat of the glass furnaces.</p> -<p>The overseer returned with the water and a smudged cloth.</p> -<p>“No need now,” the plant superintendent said. “He’s dead.”</p> -<p>The overseer nodded. “Shall we....?” He paused. “The usual -way?”</p> -<p>“Not for the moment. Put him over there under the shed. -Later, when....”</p> -<p>“When we have left, eh?” Cornelius was pointedly sarcastic. -“What is the usual way?”</p> -<p>The superintendent hesitated.</p> -<p>“I’ll tell him, Lucius,” Longinus spoke out unconcernedly. -“Usually, Cornelius, they are thrown into the furnaces they have -been tending, provided, of course, that the heat is so intense that -such disposition of the cadaver will not endanger the mixture in -the glassmaking. Oftentimes they end up over there, in the deserted -area behind that sand dune, with the vultures picking their -ill-padded bones. But every now and then, when they do drag one -over there, particularly if the breeze is from the land, they shovel -a bit of sand over him.” He shrugged and thrust out his hands -solemnly. “Of course, doing it that way provides a more pleasant -atmosphere for working.”</p> -<p>Cornelius appeared not to have heard his friend’s poor attempt -<span class="pb" id="Page_145">145</span> -at humor. He stared at the dead slave on the ground and slowly -shook his head. “He was calling upon Zeus, a Greek. He might -have been another Pheidias.” He shook his head ruefully. “Slaves -both, but what a difference in their lots.”</p> -<p>“And what is the difference?” Longinus demanded. “They’re -both dead. Your old tutor was put away honorably in a tomb, no -doubt. But when this fellow’s carcass has become a handful of -ashes or is completely dissolved into the sand and water and sea -winds, won’t they both be gone to nothingness, ended without a -trace?”</p> -<p>“They’re both dead, yes. But gone to nothingness, I can’t say. -It might be that their spirits, their souls....”</p> -<p>“Oh, come now, Cornelius.” Longinus turned to the plant superintendent, -“My friend has been too long in Palestine,” he commented -wryly. “He has come to believe what those Jews believe, -that the death of a man is not his end. In other words”—he -pointed to the stiffened slave now being borne to the shed—“that -that fellow’s soul, whatever a soul is—if there is such a thing, -which I find it impossible to believe—is floating around somewhere -in a world filled with other disembodied beings.”</p> -<p>“If you will excuse me, sir,” the manager said, evading comment, -“I have some work....”</p> -<p>“Go ahead, Lucius. We will be leaving early tomorrow for Tyre. -Everything, you say, is ready?”</p> -<p>“Everything, the reports, the revenue, everything, sir.”</p> -<p>Earlier Longinus had shown Cornelius through the various departments -of the glassmaking plant, and Cornelius had marveled -at the skill of the glassblowers, slaves whose lot was incomparably -more fortunate, he saw, than that of those who fired the roaring -furnaces. When he had remarked about this to Longinus, his -host had observed casually that the blowers were valuable property, -while the laborers in the furnace chambers were easily replaced -when after a few weeks or months they literally burned -themselves out. The two had just completed their tour when the -old Greek was dragged out to die before them.</p> -<p>From the plant they strolled toward the beach some two hundred -paces below it. “I can’t get that slave out of my mind,” -<span class="pb" id="Page_146">146</span> -Cornelius said, as they sat in the bow of a small boat that had -been pulled up on the sands. “By all the gods, I thought those -on the docks of the Emporium were having a hard time, but -these slaves that fire your glass furnaces”—he grimaced—“Jupiter -pity them. Certainly nobody else does.”</p> -<p>“But if we are to have beautiful glass in the mansions of Rome, -or at the Tetrarch’s Palace, or the Procurator’s at Caesarea, or in -countless other great places of the wealthy and the privileged, if -revenue from the glass factories is to continue flowing into the -coffers of the Empire and the Prefect, then, Cornelius, the furnaces -must be stoked and the molten glass must be blown. So”—he -shrugged—“slaves will die and be replaced. But remember, -Cornelius, they are slaves, and slaves are easy to come by; fresh -ones are always being sent out here by Sejanus. And we only put -those of least value into the furnace chambers.”</p> -<p>“So, Longinus, the value of a slave is to be measured in direct -proportion to the value of the merchandise—in your case, glassware—he -is able to produce? And when tomorrow you leave for Rome -with the profits made from your glassware, you will be carrying the -lives of many slaves in your package, won’t you? And when at the -markets of Rome and Antioch and Alexandria you sell those beautiful -goblets with their slender, rose-tinted stems, you will know -that you are selling glass colored with the lifeblood of men such -as that old Greek, that slave who perhaps by now has been consumed -in the very furnace that exacted his life? Isn’t that true?”</p> -<p>“Cornelius, you’re a good soldier, but you’re in the wrong profession.” -Longinus leaned forward and cracked his bronzed -knuckles. “You should be writing poetry or lecturing classes in -philosophy, or even”—he paused, and a grin spread across his -face—“be acting as a priest in the Temple at Jerusalem.” Suddenly -the smile was gone. “Of course a slave is valuable in proportion -to what he can produce or the service he can provide. -Aren’t we all valuable in that same proportion? We live awhile, -work, love, hate, die. What do we leave? Only what we have produced. -Everything else is gone, including us. So, in the end, we -and the dead slave are the same ... nothing. But you don’t -agree, do you?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_147">147</div> -<p>“I don’t want to agree, Longinus. What you say makes sense. -But something within me says just as emphatically that you are -wrong. Yet I can’t prove it.” Cornelius dug his sandaled heels -into the sand at the bottom of the long abandoned boat. “I keep -thinking of the old Greek up there. I don’t know what life gave -him, of course, before some invading Roman soldiers destroyed -his home—if he had a home—certainly his way of life, and dragged -him to Rome, where he simply had the bad luck to fall into the -hands of the Prefect. But there’s no mystery about what life has -offered him since his enslavement. And this man may have been -another Pheidias, Centurion, a man more intelligent, more cultured, -a better man, my friend, than nine out of ten of the equestrians -in Rome. Obviously, then, life has been unfair to him. And -you say he is finished, done for, nothing. You say there will never -be any chance of his getting a better throw of the dice.”</p> -<p>“Exactly. And throw of the dice is right, too. He shook them in -the cup and rolled them, and they rolled wrong; we rolled ours, -and they stopped with the right numbers up. That’s all there is -to it. Fate, chance, luck, call it what you will. It’s a few years or -many, a good life or one of pain ... and then nothing. Isn’t it -just that simple, Cornelius? How else could it possibly be? Isn’t -any other idea simply superstition?” Longinus leaned over and -picked up a small shell. “Look at this,” he said. “What happened -to the mollusk who lived here? Did he live out his span of life happily, -or was he eaten in his prime? And is his unshelled spirit now -swimming about in some sea heaven?” He tossed the shell into -the surf. “That old slave up there, I maintain, is just as dead and -gone—or will be when his corpse is disposed of—as the mollusk -who once inhabited that shell. And both of them are gone for -good.”</p> -<p>“Then you put men and mollusks in the same category?”</p> -<p>“Yes, as far as having immortal spirits is concerned. But you -don’t, Centurion; you hold with your Pharisee friends—it’s the -Pharisees who believe in immortality, isn’t it—that man is a -different sort of animal in that he survives in a spirit world....”</p> -<p>“I’d like to; I want to. It’s a damnably unfair world if he -doesn’t.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_148">148</div> -<p>“And it’s just as unfair if he does. Look.” Longinus leaned forward -again. “You say that this all-powerful, all-wise, all-good god, -this Yahweh, will see to it that in the next world, the spirit world, -that old slave up there will get justice. But I insist that such a -god does not exist; if he did, as I argued that day we were sailing -down the Tiber, you remember, he wouldn’t permit such unfairness -and injustice in this present life. Isn’t that a logical contention, -Cornelius? How can a good god, I ask you again, decree, -or permit, so much evil?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” Cornelius replied. “I’m no nearer an answer -to your question now than I was that other day. But I am confident -that if this god exists—and I believe he does, Longinus; in fact -I’m even stronger now in that belief than I was then—he does not -decree evil, he simply permits evil men sometimes to rule in the -affairs of this earthly, physical life. It may be that he doesn’t want -to restrict man’s freedom. Do you see? That wouldn’t mean he -approves of the evil acts of men.”</p> -<p>Longinus slowly shook his head. “No, Cornelius, I don’t see. -Your argument seems completely fatuous to me. I cannot comprehend -an all-powerful, good god who would permit men to do one -another evil. I am convinced that the fact that the world is filled -with men who are unjust and cruel and evil indisputably proves -that no such god exists.”</p> -<p>“And I would answer that it is strong evidence but not indisputable -proof.” For a long moment Cornelius stared out in the -direction of a merchant ship sailing southward toward towering -Mount Carmel. “You see, Longinus,” he said, turning to face his -companion, “we have so little information on which to base an -opinion. If there is such a god—if there is, remember—how can -we even comprehend his nature, what he is like, unless?...” He -paused and looked back to the sea.</p> -<p>“Unless?”</p> -<p>“Unless someone reveals him to us, interprets him to men, -shows his works and thoughts....”</p> -<p>“The Jewish Messiah, eh? The carpenter who is about to overthrow -Rome?”</p> -<p>“I don’t think he’s ever indicated that he was seeking to overthrow -<span class="pb" id="Page_149">149</span> -Rome. I think that idea has come down from the old -Jewish prophets, who foresaw a great political and military savior -of their land. Several times I’ve been in the crowds listening to -him talking, and so far as I could tell, he was only trying to explain -to the people the nature of this god whom he refers to as -his father. He was attempting to interpret this Yahweh to them -sometimes even to the extent of utilizing some of this father god’s -power. That’s apparently what he did when he restored Chuza’s -son.”</p> -<p>“You mean he was clever enough to figure out when nature -would do the restoring. But we won’t go into that again.” Longinus -twisted around in the boat and stood up. “No, my friend, -I insist that your reasoning is not sound, that you have been overcome -by this eastern mysticism which seems to fill the very air -out here.” He clapped his hand on Cornelius’ shoulder; his friend -had risen with him. “Centurion, come with me to Rome; I suspect -that you need to be indoctrinated again in the ways of modern -thought.”</p> -<p>“I wish I could go with you.” Cornelius stepped from the boat -and kicked the sand from his sandals. “But sometimes I wonder -just what sort of thinking could properly be termed modern.”</p> -<p>They walked back to the inn to await the loading of the ship -on which Longinus would sail for the capital. No further mention -was made of the Roman gods, the Greek gods, Yahweh, or the -Galilean carpenter. And early in the forenoon the next day the -vessel spread its sails for Rome. Two hours later Cornelius and his -men started on their return to Tiberias.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_150">150</div> -<h2 id="c26">26</h2> -<p>One of the household servants was waiting for Cornelius when -he returned to the garrison’s quarters at Tiberias.</p> -<p>“Centurion, Lucian is desperately ill,” he reported. “In the last -few days he has developed a palsy. Your wife bade me tell you that -she fears him near death. You must come back with me, sir; she’s -greatly frightened and in much distress about the boy.”</p> -<p>“But the physicians? Haven’t they been able to help him?”</p> -<p>The man shook his head. “She has had them all with him, sir, -all she could find in this region, and they have done what they -could; but the paralysis has spread, and his fever does not abate. -All their efforts have been useless. She prays that you hurry, sir.”</p> -<p>As fast as their horses could take them the two raced toward -Capernaum. When Cornelius entered the house, his wife rushed -to him and fell into his arms. “Oh, I thought you would never -get here,” she cried. “Lucian is near death, I know; I don’t see how -he can live much longer. And the physicians have despaired of -saving him.”</p> -<p>“But there must be something we can do,” he said, as he turned -toward the sick boy’s chamber. “Are there no other physicians we -could call?”</p> -<p>“None,” she said. “And the paralysis seems to be growing worse. -He is deathly ill, Cornelius. Oh, by all the gods, if there were -something....”</p> -<p>“‘By all the gods.’ The carpenter! Didn’t he restore Chuza’s -son? And though Lucian is a slave, isn’t he just as much a son to -us? Wouldn’t the carpenter just as willingly restore a slave boy, -even of a Roman soldier?” He had said the words aloud, but they -had been addressed more to himself than to his wife.</p> -<p>He turned smiling, to face her. “Do you remember how that -<span class="pb" id="Page_151">151</span> -young carpenter of Nazareth healed the son of Herod’s chamberlain? -Don’t you think...?”</p> -<p>“But he’s a Jew, Cornelius, and we are Romans.”</p> -<p>“No matter.” He turned to the servant who had gone to Tiberias -in search of him. “Get me a fresh horse, and quickly!” he ordered. -“I’m going out to find that carpenter!”</p> -<p>A few minutes later he stopped to inquire of a shopkeeper if -the man had seen the young Nazarene rabbi. “Has he been around -today?” Cornelius asked. “Can you tell me how to find him?”</p> -<p>“He passed here this morning,” the shopkeeper answered, “with -Simon and the Zebedees and some of those others who are usually -with him. They went out the gate in the western wall, and -judging by the poor trade I’ve had all day, the whole city’s gone -out after them. I hear the carpenter’s been speaking to them from -the side of that little mountain over there.” With his head he -motioned toward the west. “In all likelihood you’ll find him -there, soldier.” Suddenly his face fell; his hands shook as he -grasped his scraggly beard. “Now wait a minute,” he sputtered, -“this fellow, this Nazarene, he hasn’t run afoul of you Romans, -has he?”</p> -<p>“No. No, indeed. It’s on a personal mission that I seek him.” -Cornelius smiled reassuringly. “I’m his friend.”</p> -<p>The shopkeeper looked relieved. “Then if you station yourself -at the western gate, you’ll surely see him as he returns to the city. -Or you might ride out toward the mountain, soldier.”</p> -<p>Cornelius rode on through the gate. He was halfway to the little -eminence in the plain west of the city when he began to meet the -throng returning. Soon he spotted the rabbi walking in the company -of the Capernaum fishermen. Boldly he rode up to them and -dismounted.</p> -<p>The men with Jesus formed a circle about him.</p> -<p>“I am unarmed, and I intend no one harm,” Cornelius said, -holding out his hands. “I am seeking the rabbi of Nazareth.”</p> -<p>Jesus stepped forward and held up his staff in salute. His brown -eyes were warmly bright. Cornelius, closer to him than he had -ever been before, saw sparkling in the beads of perspiration rolling -down his bronzed smooth forehead the long rays of the setting -<span class="pb" id="Page_152">152</span> -sun. He saw them, too, in the beads clinging to the thick mat of -reddish-brown hair on the carpenter’s chest, for in the sultry stillness -of the dying day, Jesus had thrown open his robe half way -to his rope-belted waist.</p> -<p>“What would you have of me, my brother?” he asked the centurion.</p> -<p>“Sir, I pray you to restore my little servant boy whom I greatly -love; I fear he is near death of a palsy. If, sir, you would but say -the word....” He paused, suddenly hesitant.</p> -<p>The rabbi reached out and with strong brown fingers grasped -the centurion’s arm. “I will go with you and restore the boy,” he -said gently. “Show me to your house.”</p> -<p>“But, sir, I am a Roman soldier”—a feeling of embarrassment, -deep humility, strange to the centurion, possessed him as he looked -into the face of the young rabbi—“and unworthy that you should -enter my house. But if you would only command that my little -servant boy be healed, while we stand here, sir, then I know that -he would be restored to health.” He smiled, weakly, he thought. -“You see, sir, I understand authority, for I am a centurion and -when I give a command, it is obeyed.”</p> -<p>For an instant the rabbi said nothing, but his warm eyes lighted -with a rapture plain to see. He turned to his friends. “Nowhere -in Israel have I seen such faith. I tell you that many will come -from the east and the west and with our fathers Abraham and -Isaac and Jacob sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many -of the chosen likewise will be cast out, and there will be great -wailing and mourning, for their faith shall not be as the faith of -this Roman.”</p> -<p>Then he turned again to confront the centurion, and Cornelius -saw that his face was radiant. “You may go on your way, my -brother,” he said. “As you have believed that it might be done, -so has it been accomplished. Return in peace to the little boy.”</p> -<p>“Oh, sir....” But the centurion’s eyes were blinded with tears, -and he bowed his head, and no words would come. Then he felt -a warm hand on his shoulder and strong fingers once more gently -squeezing his arm, then the fingers released it. When after a moment -he looked up, Cornelius saw that the Nazarene and his -<span class="pb" id="Page_153">153</span> -friends had resumed walking toward the city gate. In that same -instant Jesus turned and looked over his shoulder, his face still -alight with a glowing happiness, and raised his hand high in a -parting salute. Then he quickly turned eastward again, and the -little group disappeared around the bend.</p> -<p>Cornelius stood unmoving, his left hand still clutching the -bridle rein, and then he mounted and rode toward the western -gate. A few paces ahead he went around the bend and shortly -passed the rabbi and his friends, who had overtaken several men -who evidently had been out with them at the mountainside; Jesus -smiled and once more lifted his hand in friendly greeting.</p> -<p>The centurion, reaching the gate, rode through it and toward -the center of the city, where he turned left and followed a cavernous -road to the gate in the southern wall. He was in no hurry as -his horse picked its way along the cobblestones and out upon -the coast road southward. His fright, his sudden hysteria had gone; -it had vanished completely as he had looked into the eyes of the -young rabbi. Cornelius knew that Lucian would be well; not the -shadow of a doubt darkened his thoughts.</p> -<p>When he reached home and turned into his courtyard, a servant -came running to take his horse. “Lucian, sir, is well again!” -the man declared, almost breathless with the excitement of being -the first to give his master the thrilling news.</p> -<p>“Yes, I know it.” Cornelius smiled.</p> -<p>“But, sir, it was only an hour ago that....”</p> -<p>“A man over at Capernaum told me then,” he said and strode -toward the house as the servant, mouth open, stared after him.</p> -<p>As he stepped inside from the courtyard, his wife, who had -heard him ride in from the roadway, rushed to him and flung her -aims about his waist. “Oh, Cornelius, Lucian has been restored! -Not only has his fever gone, but so has the paralysis. He can use -his arms and hands, and he can walk as though nothing had ever -been wrong with his legs!”</p> -<p>She stood back from him, her eyes wet with the sudden surging -of her emotion. “Isn’t it wonderful, Cornelius! And it happened -so quickly, too; he was low, Cornelius, desperately sick, much -sicker than when you left, I’m sure, and the fever was consuming -<span class="pb" id="Page_154">154</span> -him. I had turned aside from his bed a moment to wet a cloth -to spread on his forehead; then, as I wrung it out and turned back -to him, suddenly he sat up. I caught him under his arms and -discovered that he was no longer feverish; in a moment he was -talking and using his hands, and then quickly he stood up and -walked toward the table where I had set the pitcher of cool water. -‘I’m so thirsty,’ he said, grinning at me, ‘and hungry, too.’”</p> -<p>“Yes, I knew about it. It happened about an hour ago. Where -is Lucian now?”</p> -<p>“He went out to the stables. He wanted to see his horse; he -hadn’t....” Abruptly she broke off and stared at her husband, -incredulous. “Cornelius, how did you know when it happened? -Did one of the servants tell...?”</p> -<p>“Yes, when I rode in a moment ago. But I knew when it happened.”</p> -<p>“But how, Cornelius?” Her amazement was evident.</p> -<p>“Have you forgotten that I went in search of the carpenter of -Nazareth? Well, an hour ago I came upon him beyond the western -gate of Capernaum. I implored him to heal Lucian, and he did. -He told me so. And I knew he had; I had not the slightest doubt. -Nor am I in the least surprised to find him well.” His serious -expression relaxed into a warm smile. “Did you feed the young -imp?”</p> -<p>“Yes. And he was famished. Literally, Cornelius, the boy ate -like a horse.”</p> -<p>“Well, he hadn’t had anything in days; he was bound to be -empty.”</p> -<p>“But, Cornelius, this carpenter from Nazareth....” She paused, -her forehead furrowed in perplexity.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, not waiting for her to finish her question, “and, -by all the gods, I’d like to see Longinus try to explain this one -away!”</p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Rome</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_157">157</div> -<h2 id="c27">27</h2> -<p>When the vessel eased in to dock just below the Sublicious Bridge, -almost at the spot from which the “Palmyra” had started its voyage, -Longinus went ashore. Quickly he engaged a loitering freed -slave to help with his luggage. He had brought little from Phoenicia, -only his clothing and a few small presents for his mother, -principally some choice pieces of glass, and the package he was delivering -to Sejanus.</p> -<p>“I’ll carry this,” he said to the fellow; “it’s glass and fragile.” -He picked up the bundle, heavily wrapped. “And I’ll take this -spare toga, too. You can carry the remainder. I don’t want any -sedan chair; I’d rather walk. I want to get my land legs back.”</p> -<p>The toga had been wrapped about the money packet, which -Longinus had kept securely under his arm as he descended from -the ship. But it was an innocent looking bundle and only its -weight would have excited a bearer’s suspicion. Longinus had determined -not to let it get out of his possession until he had locked -it in his father’s safe to await its delivery to the Prefect.</p> -<p>They walked from the pier along the way that went eastward -from the bridge into the dense, traffic-jammed heart of the city. -At the foot of Palatine Hill they turned left and walked northward -past the western front of the Imperial Palace. Glancing over -his shoulder as they reached the northwest corner of the sprawling -great structure, Longinus had a glimpse of the wing that had -been Claudia’s apartment; once again he picked out the bedroom -window through which that morning he had heard the rising bugle -at Castra Praetoria.</p> -<p>“I wonder....”</p> -<p>“Sir, did you say something?” His helper, trudging behind, -paused.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_158">158</div> -<p>“No.” Longinus turned to face him. “I was just thinking, talking -to myself.”</p> -<p>All the way from the dock area Longinus had been retracing the -route he had come with his century from Castra Praetoria the day -they sailed for Palestine. But a hundred paces farther on, instead -of continuing past the Forum of Augustus on their left, he turned -abruptly westward. “I want to walk through the Forum Romanum,” -he explained. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been -there. I’ve lost touch with Rome. What’s been happening lately?”</p> -<p>“Very little, sir, as far as I’ve seen.” The fellow shook his head -resignedly. “No triumphs, as I recall, no big ones anyway, and -precious few games.”</p> -<p>“Why haven’t there been more?”</p> -<p>“Oh, I don’t know, sir. They say the Emperor gets no enjoyment -out of such things, and he’s not here in Rome most of the -time anyway, and I hear it told that the Prefect doesn’t want to -spend the money....”</p> -<p>“They do say that?”</p> -<p>“Now, sir, I have heard such talk. Understand, I don’t know -anything about it; I don’t know anything about them, the Emperor -and the Prefect. Not a thing. I don’t even know whether -I’d recognize either one of them if he came right up to us now.” -The fellow’s fear that he had spoken too boldly was obvious. “All I -ever get done, sir, is work; I have to struggle hard to make a living. -Seems that it’s just like it’s always been in Rome, the way I see it, -which is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” He -grinned good-naturedly. “I’m meaning no offense to you, Centurion; -likely you’re one of the rich ones.”</p> -<p>“I understand, and I suspect it’s a sound observation, that the -rich do get richer and the poor get poorer, I mean. But it’s not -true of Rome alone; it’s that way everywhere, isn’t it, throughout -the world?”</p> -<p>“I couldn’t say as to that, sir. Rome’s pretty much my world.”</p> -<p>Rome was his world, too, Longinus told himself a moment later -as the two were propelled suddenly from the shaded cavern of the -cobblestoned narrow street into the widened stir and commotion -of a veritable forest of marbled columns and statuary.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_159">159</div> -<p>The centurion’s heart lifted as he strode once more into the -Forum Romanum, that busy, marble-crowded flat between the -Tiber’s westward bend and the mansion-crowned hills. He took -a deep breath, and his chest swelled.</p> -<p><i>... This is the veritable beating, pulsing heart of Rome, and -Rome is the world. Here is reality. Here are solidity, strength, planning -made real, dreams hewn in enduring stone. Here are wealth, -accomplishment, power, might. Not twenty paces across there is -the Millenarium Aureum, the resplendent bronze column set up -to mark the center of the Roman world, the point from which -miles are counted along the highways and their joining sea lanes -stretching to the ends of the known earth to bind Rome into one -colossal, unconquerable, enduring Empire!...</i></p> -<p>They paused to catch their breath. Longinus set down the glass, -but he continued to clutch the toga-wrapped packet under his arm. -In another moment they would push once more into the jostling, -shoving multitude milling through the Forum’s crossways. Suddenly -the centurion remembered Cornelius and their discussion -that afternoon as the two men had sat in the wrecked rowboat -near the glassworks. He smiled grimly.</p> -<p><i>... But this is Rome. This is reality. This is accomplishment, -creation. I can reach out and run my hand over the stone and feel -these marbled creations of men; a thousand years from now, were -I to live so long, I could rub my hands across their imperishable -cold faces. These are tangible things, and Rome is tangible, her -power, her strength, her wealth, her dominance over the world. -Cornelius may prate of his old tutor’s preachments about the imperishability -of the intangibles and the reality of things unseen. -But these statues, these temples, this Millenarium Aureum, are -tangible. Rome is carved statuary and fluted marble magnificence; -Rome is spacious mansions and marching great armies flaunting -their ensigns. Rome is poverty, too, and injustice and ugliness at -times and in places, but Rome is no pale intangibles, no vaporous -conjurations of an eastern philosopher. Rome is not even her gods. -This is Rome, this marbled splendor of the Forum; Rome is here -and now and touchable and real, and Rome, by all the gods or no -gods, will endure.</i></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_160">160</div> -<p><i>... Rome is something else. Rome is strength and power and -substance, but Rome is also grace and beauty. Examine these graceful -columns, these elegant pediments. Rome is feminine, a beautiful -woman. Rome, by the great Jove, is Claudia. Indeed! What is -more Rome than Claudia; what is more Claudia than Rome? -Rome is beauty and pleasure, tangible, real, to be experienced, -enjoyed.</i></p> -<p><i>... And Rome will endure. That carpenter of Galilee, wandering -up and down the seacoast with his little band of poor working -people, talking of intangibles to illiterate fisherfolk and the dwellers -in Jerusalem’s festering Ophel, that fellow to overcome Rome! -Even under the silvery softness of a full moon beside the sea in -Galilee, it was a preposterous notion. But here in the middle -of the Forum, with confirmation of Rome’s might everywhere -around....</i></p> -<p>“By all the gods, Cornelius. Can’t you see?”</p> -<p>The man carrying Longinus’ belongings whirled suddenly -around. “I beg your pardon, sir,” he asked, “did you command -anything of me?”</p> -<p>Longinus laughed. “No,” he answered. “I was just thinking -aloud again. I must be growing old.” He reached down and picked -up the glassware package. “But let’s be moving on. I’m anxious -to get to my father’s house.” He pointed the directions. “Out that -way and on through the Forum of Augustus to Via Longa. The -house is on Quirinal Hill.”</p> -<h2 id="c28">28</h2> -<p>Longinus placed the package on the desk in front of the Prefect. -“Sir, I’m delivering this to you just as I received it at the glassworks,” -he said. “I have not seen the contents; I don’t know what’s -inside. The package when it was handed to me was sealed as you -see it now; the seals have not been broken.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_161">161</div> -<p>“Thank you, Centurion, for bringing it; it has been quite a -responsibility, I know.” The Prefect’s darting eyes, Longinus saw, -had examined the package already. The centurion, appraising -Sejanus in the short moment he had been in the ornate chamber, -had observed no change in the Prefect’s appearance. Judging by -the man’s looks and demeanor, it might well have been only yesterday -that they had last met. The small, cold eyes were just as -carefully calculating as they had been the day the Prefect had -given Longinus his orders and sent him and Cornelius eastward -aboard the “Palmyra.” Now the eyes were disarmingly friendly. -“My purpose in having it so well sealed was not because I didn’t -trust you, Longinus, but because I wished the manager at the glassworks -to know that no one but himself could be blamed in the -event that the contents were subsequently found short. I knew -that he would therefore make sure that the packet left Phoenicia -intact.” The blinking, small eyes narrowed. “So actually, you see, -it was a protection for you.” With a flourish of the hand he motioned -to the chair in front of the massive desk. “Sit down, Centurion.”</p> -<p>“Thank you, sir.” Longinus took the seat and faced the Prefect.</p> -<p>Sejanus leaned forward and crossed his hands on the desk. “In -all likelihood, Centurion, you’ve been wondering why I summoned -you to Rome.”</p> -<p>“I have wondered, sir.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I’m sure you have. And I’m sure you’ve also guessed that -I dispatched my message to you before receiving your report.”</p> -<p>“I had presumed so, sir.”</p> -<p>“And right you were. Had I received the report but a few days -earlier I would not have summoned you here. But once I’d received -your communication, I had no way of countermanding -my order to you so that you would get it before sailing for Rome.” -He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest; his entire -attitude radiated good humor. “But I’m glad it happened as it -did, Longinus. I’d rather like to hear in person from you concerning -the situation in Palestine. It was a good report, Centurion, and -comprehensive, so far as such written reports go. But I had the -feeling in reading it that you might have had further information -<span class="pb" id="Page_162">162</span> -to give had you been able to talk with me directly. Perhaps discretion -had cramped your writing hand.” Now his smile was disarming. -“But here, with no ears to hear us but our own, we can talk -with complete freedom. I, too, can say things that I would not -dare write.”</p> -<p>The Prefect unfolded his arms and, leaning forward, drummed -his fingers on the desk. He studied the centurion briefly through -narrowed eyes, then sat back again.</p> -<p>“How did you leave the Procurator, Longinus?”</p> -<p>“He was quite well, sir, when I left him at Caesarea. But your -message overtook me at Tiberias, and I had then been away from -Caesarea for some time. I went on to the glassworks and sailed -from Tyre, as you suggested.”</p> -<p>“Then you have seen Herod Antipas quite recently?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir. I saw the Tetrarch and Herodias and told them -good-by just before leaving Tiberias. I had escorted them to Galilee -from their landing at Caesarea.”</p> -<p>“And how did the daughter of King Aretas accept Herod’s new -wife?”</p> -<p>“She didn’t, sir. She has left him and returned to her father. -She....”</p> -<p>“By winged Mercury!” Sejanus lunged forward and slammed -his fist against the desk. “Gone, you say? Fled to Aretas? By great -Jupiter! But this you did not report, Longinus!”</p> -<p>“Sir, Herod didn’t know she was gone until we arrived at his -capital. I was preparing to dispatch a report to you when I received -your summons, and then I decided I would bring the report in -person, instead.” He ventured a wan smile, and the Prefect himself -relaxed.</p> -<p>“I understand; you did right, Centurion.” Then his countenance -darkened, and his narrow forehead wrinkled. “This is a matter of -considerable moment; I shall come back to it presently.” He shook -his head. “Yes, it could have dire repercussions. But for the moment, -let us speak of more pleasant things.” His small weasel-like -face lighted with a thin but suggestive smile. “Longinus, when did -you last see Claudia? How is the Procurator’s wife?”</p> -<p>“I saw her in Tiberias the day before I left there for Phoenicia, -<span class="pb" id="Page_163">163</span> -sir. Herodias and Herod Antipas had invited her to accompany -them to Tiberias for a visit.”</p> -<p>“And Pilate didn’t object to her going up into Galilee with -them ... and you?” He licked his lips and drew them in thin -lines across his teeth.</p> -<p>“If he did, sir, he did not indicate anything of the sort to me.”</p> -<p>“I’m sure the Procurator would do nothing that he thought -might displease the Emperor’s stepdaughter. But what he thinks, -however, is a different matter, isn’t it?”</p> -<p>“I’m sure it is, sir.” Longinus expected momentarily that the -Prefect would begin plying him with intimately personal questions -concerning his relations with the Procurator’s wife, and he wondered -desperately how he should answer. But, happily, Sejanus -turned away from the Procurator’s affairs to return to a discussion -of the Tetrarch’s.</p> -<p>“You were saying a moment ago, Longinus”—the familiar scowl -had returned to the Prefect’s face—“that Herod’s wife has gone -back to old Aretas. Have you had any reports concerning his feelings -toward Herod for the way his daughter has been treated?”</p> -<p>“He was greatly angered, according to reports coming back to -Galilee, sir.”</p> -<p>Sejanus shook his head slowly. “No doubt.” He reflected a moment. -“Has there been any talk of possible reprisal?”</p> -<p>“There has been some talk that Aretas might attempt to punish -Herod. But that would mean war, sir, and war with us Romans. -So I feel that Aretas would hardly be so foolhardy as to attempt -to send an army against Herod.”</p> -<p>“I hardly think so, either, Centurion. But a father will sometimes -do foolish things when his daughter’s honor is at stake. If -Aretas should challenge Herod, that will mean war, and war is expensive, -Longinus. The cost in terms of both men and money is -exorbitant ... and useless. War would also mean loss of work -and production and loss of revenue in addition to the expenditure -of revenue already collected.” His frown deepened. “By the great -gods, I should never have permitted Herod to have Herodias. He -has not only offended his own people; he has now set King Aretas -against him ... and us!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_164">164</div> -<p>Angrily the Prefect drummed his fingers on the desk again. -Then quickly his anger seemed to disappear. He arose, and the -centurion stood with him. “But we need not anticipate events,” -Sejanus said. “When you go back to Palestine, however, I want -you to make a careful investigation of the situation. It might be -well for you to contrive some reason for visiting our fortress at -Machaerus; it’s over beyond the Dead Sea on the borders of -Arabia; perhaps by going there you may learn whether Aretas is -actually planning to attack Herod.”</p> -<p>“I’m familiar with the place, sir. I was there several years ago.”</p> -<p>“Yes. By the way, in your report of Herod’s arrest of that desert -preacher, you indicated that he may have displeased a large number -of the Jews.”</p> -<p>“I’m confident he did, sir. Many of them hold that John in the -highest regard. I think Herod made a mistake, sir, and I felt it my -duty to inform you so.”</p> -<p>“But wasn’t Herod justified in believing him to be an insurrectionist?”</p> -<p>“At first, sir, I confess I thought so. But Cornelius, who understands -the Jews, insisted that he was just a harmless religious -fanatic, and nothing more. Frankly I soon came to the same conclusion. -The fellow is deluded, of course, but so are most of the -Jews in respect to their foolish one-god religion; other than that, -I’m convinced that he’s entirely harmless. And he has many followers -who were deeply offended when Herod, at the insistence of -Herodias, had him arrested.”</p> -<p>“By the gods, that headstrong woman! She will be Herod’s -ruination!” He was thoughtfully silent. “Perhaps, Centurion, -Rome might profit if I had the man liberated. At any rate, look -into the matter, and let me hear as quickly as you can”—his scowl -deepened—“if it will wait that long ... and if Aretas isn’t precipitate -in sending an army against Herod.”</p> -<p>“But, sir....”</p> -<p>“I haven’t told you, Longinus,” the Prefect interrupted. “You -aren’t returning at once to Palestine. Now that you’re here, I have -another mission, quite urgent, that I’m sending you on into Gaul. -<span class="pb" id="Page_165">165</span> -When you have accomplished this—and it should require only a -few months—you will go out to the east again.”</p> -<p>Sejanus pushed out his lips into a round pucker, and once more -his eyes began to catch fire and his narrow face lighted sensually. -Then he twisted his lips again into the thin semblance of a smile. -“I hope, Centurion, that you can wait that long ... before getting -back to Claudia!” Then quickly the smile was gone. “Remember, -Longinus, she must be kept away from Rome, and it will -continue to be your task to keep her happily occupied.” The lips -twisted again. “That task, I should think, will not be an unpleasant -one.”</p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Machaerus</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_169">169</div> -<h2 id="c29">29</h2> -<p>Someone knocked on the door to Claudia’s apartment, and Tullia -was sent to answer it. She ran quickly back into the tepidarium.</p> -<p>“Tertius says there’s a soldier to see you, Mistress, a centurion. -He’s waiting in the atrium.”</p> -<p>“Longinus! Oh, by the Bountiful Mother!” But quickly -Claudia’s elation subsided. “He must still be in Gaul, though, -according to the information Sergius Paulus had from Rome. -Still”—her face lighted—“he might have returned early, perhaps, -and caught a fast vessel to Caesarea. Bona Dea, Tullia, help me -finish dressing! The perfume, that vial”—she pointed—“the Tyrian. -And do hurry, Tullia!”</p> -<p>A few minutes later she scurried breathlessly into the atrium. -But the soldier was not Longinus. The Centurion Cornelius arose -and advanced to meet her. He saw her disappointment and smiled -understanding. “I’m sorry, Claudia, but Longinus hasn’t returned -to Palestine, nor have we heard at Tiberias when he expects to -arrive. I’ve come to bring you a message from the Tetrarch Herod -Antipas and the Tetrarchess.”</p> -<p>“I’ll confess I was hoping Longinus had surprised me, Cornelius,” -she said, “although I’d heard that he was still in Gaul. -Did you know about his assignment out there?”</p> -<p>Cornelius nodded. “Yes. But we understood it was not to be a -lengthy mission.”</p> -<p>Claudia motioned to a seat; she sat down and Cornelius sat -facing her. She summoned Tertius to bring wine and wafers. “And -now, Centurion,” she said, “what is the message you fetch me -from Tiberias?”</p> -<p>“They are inviting you and the Procurator to go with them -down to Machaerus to spend a holiday season there. And if the -<span class="pb" id="Page_170">170</span> -Procurator’s duties will not permit his leaving his post, the Tetrarchess -hopes that you will join them anyway, together with your -servants and any guests you may wish to bring.”</p> -<p>“To Machaerus? That’s the fortress castle on the other side of -the Dead Sea, isn’t it, on the southern border of Peraea?”</p> -<p>“Yes, it’s on a high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, some -way south of Mount Nebo.”</p> -<p>“A wild and desolate country, isn’t it? I’ve never been there.”</p> -<p>“I understand so; I’ve never been there myself. A good place, -they say in Tiberias, for the sort of holiday the Tetrarch particularly -enjoys ... wild, uninhibited, like himself.”</p> -<p>Claudia laughed appreciatively. “It promises to be interesting -at any rate. But”—her face clouded perceptibly—“I know that -Pilate won’t go. In the first place, he loathes Antipas—and I do, -too, as a matter of fact—and in the second place, he wouldn’t venture -that far from provincial headquarters. But he might let me go. -And it would be a change from this dreary existence.” She brightened. -“When are they planning to make this holiday excursion?”</p> -<p>“As a matter of fact, they’ve probably already started. They sent -me on ahead in the hope that you might agree to join them; if -you should, I’m to escort you and your party to the Jordan, -where they plan to meet us. They were to start this morning from -Tiberias. If we could leave by tomorrow morning, we would be -able to reach the Jordan at about the same time they do. From -there we would continue down the Jordan Valley to the Dead -Sea and around its eastern shore at the foot of Mount Nebo to -Machaerus.”</p> -<p>“How long do they plan to be there?”</p> -<p>“A week or longer, probably longer”—Cornelius smiled glumly—“if -the Tetrarch has to recover from one of his usual drunken -orgies. But if you should wish to leave earlier, I’d be glad to -escort you back to Caesarea. And we’ll see that you don’t ran -afoul of Bar Abbas or any of those other zealot cutthroats.”</p> -<p>“I really would like to go, and I see no reason why I shouldn’t, -even if Pilate won’t. If I only knew that Longinus would be there.” -... She broke off, laughing. “Cornelius, why do you suppose old -Sejanus recalled him to Rome? Do you think it was because of”—she -<span class="pb" id="Page_171">171</span> -shrugged—“well, us? And do you suppose he’ll continue to -provide assignments that will keep him away from Palestine?”</p> -<p>Cornelius shook his head. “I hardly think so, Claudia. The Prefect, -in my opinion, summoned him to Rome to inquire about the -situation out here. I think he wanted to learn about the temper -of the people, how the Jews were taking to Antipas and his new -wife, and to the new Procurator; that was one reason, I’m sure. -But he was mainly interested in learning whether the revenue was -flowing into his treasury without being diverted in part into the -coffers of....” He paused.</p> -<p>“Pilate and Antipas?”</p> -<p>“That’s my opinion, Claudia. I don’t believe the Prefect is -really concerned with anything beyond keeping the province peacefully -paying its taxes. So I’m confident Longinus will be sent back -to Palestine, he’s the man Sejanus needs for the job he gave -him ... and still needs; he’ll be back, though I’d hesitate to predict -when.” He shrugged his shoulders. “For a soldier, I’ve been -speaking very freely, and to the wife of the Procurator, at that.”</p> -<p>“And for the wife of the Procurator, so have I. But I’m not -naïve enough to think, Cornelius, that you don’t know just how -little I am Pilate’s wife. You must feel free to talk with me in -complete frankness, just as I feel free to talk that way with you. -And tomorrow, by the gods, Pilate willing or Pilate grumbling—and -he won’t grumble at me, by the Great Mother—I’ll start with -you for Machaerus.”</p> -<h2 id="c30">30</h2> -<p>The two sat in a protected spot of warming sunshine on the terrace -at Machaerus. A week ago as the caravan bringing the Tetrarch’s -party had moved down the low trough of the Jordan, the -faintly greening willows and oleanders bordering the twisting -stream had hinted of spring. But here on this desolate, upflung -<span class="pb" id="Page_172">172</span> -headland, barren and granite-capped, the March winds were crisply -chill.</p> -<p>“Are you cold?” Herodias asked. “Would you like to go inside?”</p> -<p>“No, it’s wonderful out here, as long as we’re sheltered from -the wind. It’s so bracing, so invigorating after all our dissipating....”</p> -<p>“But, my dear, I haven’t been aware of your dissipating at -Machaerus. With Longinus not here....”</p> -<p>“Pluto roast old Sejanus! But too much wine, nevertheless, and -entirely too much rich food.” Claudia looked out from beneath -long eyelashes. “After all, isn’t more indulging done in banquet -halls than in bedrooms?”</p> -<p>“As far as I’m concerned, yes, certainly.”</p> -<p>“But the Tetrarch is here with you, Herodias, and he appears -to be in a gay holiday mood.”</p> -<p>“Here with me? Hah!” She tossed her head disdainfully. “With -his women, you mean, those dark, fat, greasy, perfume-reeking -Arabian women old Aretas gave him. And his little girls.”</p> -<p>“Little girls?”</p> -<p>“Yes. Hadn’t you noticed? They seem at the moment to be an -important part of the Machaerus staff. As Antipas gets more senile—and -I’m sure he’s getting that way—he tries more and more to -ape the Emperor. At least, that’s what I believe he thinks he’s -doing. It’s disgusting, of course, but I welcome being relieved of -his crude attentions.”</p> -<p>“But in Rome, Herodias, weren’t you eager to marry Antipas?”</p> -<p>“Yes, but you know why. I wanted to marry the Tetrarch of -Galilee and Peraea so that I could make him a king and myself a -queen. I sought the office, my dear, not the man.” She pulled her -lips into a determined grim line. “And I still expect to see him -on a king’s throne, with me seated beside him. But as a man -Antipas has as much attraction for me as ... as I suppose Pilate -has for you.”</p> -<p>Claudia laughed understanding, but made no observation. Instead, -she pointed westward. “Look how high we are here. The -Dead Sea seems almost below us, and it must be several miles -away.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_173">173</div> -<p>“The surface of the Dead Sea is a quarter of a mile below the -surface of the Great Sea. And we’re a half mile above the Great -Sea; that would make us, where we sit now, about four thousand -feet above the Dead Sea, wouldn’t it? Jerusalem, of course, is almost -this high.” Herodias twisted around slightly to point northwestward. -“See, across there, almost straight west of the top of the -Dead Sea, that’s Jerusalem. It’s too far away, of course, for us to -distinguish any of the buildings, but the city’s on that rise, just -there. Sometimes of a late afternoon, when the angle is just right, -they say, one can see the sunlight flashing from the golden roof -of the Temple.”</p> -<p>Claudia looked off to her left and settled back in her chair. -“Herodias, why did they ever build this palace in such a desolate, -rockbound region so far from everything?”</p> -<p>“I asked Antipas the same question. He said it was built more as -a fort than a palace. This is near the southern boundary of the -tetrarchy. Down there”—she pointed southward above a narrow -valley fast greening with luxuriant vegetation—“beyond that -stream with its banks lined with willows is the kingdom of Aretas. -The Herods originally came from that region at the southern end -of the Dead Sea, which was called Idumaea. So this fortress up -here was built as a defense post.”</p> -<p>“Then Aretas isn’t far away, is he? By the way, what became of -his daughter, the woman you displaced?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know, and what’s more, I don’t care!” She realized that -she had spoken petulantly. “I didn’t mean to be short, Claudia. -I have no reason to hate her, after all. And I have no idea that -she or her father will attempt reprisal against Antipas. Any attack -upon him would be an attack upon Rome, and surely they -wouldn’t risk that.”</p> -<p>“I think you need have no apprehensions. But, of course, I -know absolutely nothing about this King Aretas or his daughter. -Generally, though, I understand, these eastern peoples are impulsive -and vindictive.”</p> -<p>“But they’re also known to be very shrewd. Surely he would -know he couldn’t defeat Rome.”</p> -<p>“If he calmly considered the situation, yes.” She shrugged. “I -<span class="pb" id="Page_174">174</span> -hope so. If Rome should be involved in war with the Arabian -king, Sejanus and the Emperor would both be infuriated, and -Sejanus, I’m sure, would place the blame for it upon Antipas ... -and you.” She had been looking downward beyond the descending -outcroppings of granite and limestone and sand to the great -sluggish salt sea far below them. But now she confronted Herodias, -her countenance plainly concerned. “Herodias, if Aretas should -seek vengeance against the Tetrarch and you, what would the -Israelites do? Would they fight him? Have they become reconciled -to your being Tetrarchess? Do many of them still hold with -that wild fellow we encountered that day on the river bank?” She -paused, and suddenly her eyes were roundly questioning. “Wasn’t -it to Machaerus that Antipas sent him? By the gods, is he here -now?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and still a troublemaker. They say his followers have been -coming here all the time since he’s been imprisoned. Haven’t you -noticed all the Jews coming and going while we’ve been here? -Look.” She indicated a point far down the slope where the trail -to Machaerus led from the road paralleling the lakeside. “That -group down there, I’d wager they’re coming here to listen to the -fellow’s haranguing. And they’ll try to see Antipas and petition -him to free the madman.” For a moment she watched the men -coming slowly up the slope. “If Antipas had done as I said and had -the man beheaded, he could have prevented all this; while that -fellow’s alive there’ll be more and more agitation against us.” She -hunched up a shoulder. “But what can one do with a person,” she -said indifferently, “who is not only fearful and woefully superstitious -but is horribly obstinate as well?” She stood up. “Excuse -me, Claudia; you stay out here and sun yourself as long as you -like. But I have some things to do before we sit down to Antipas’ -birthday banquet, one of which, no doubt”—her brittle laugh -echoed across the terrace—“will be to get him sobered sufficiently -to attend it himself.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_175">175</div> -<h2 id="c31">31</h2> -<p>The Tetrarch, mouth open, his thick lips grease-smeared and wine-purpled, -snored sonorously; his round, closely cropped head, -cradled in his hand, swayed in precarious balance on the column -of his forearm which was pressed into the heavy cushion.</p> -<p>Herodias, reclining at his left, had changed position to rest her -head on her right arm and thereby avoid somewhat breathing the -heavily alcoholic exhalations of her spouse; she lay facing her -daughter.</p> -<p>Claudia, Herod’s guest of honor, was at his right, and next to -her, as the ranking Roman soldier at Machaerus, Herod had placed -the Centurion Cornelius. Other guests, in various stages of intoxication, -sat or reclined on their elbows or had fallen inert on their -couches to the right and left of the Tetrarch.</p> -<p>The banquet had begun in the daylight of late afternoon, and -by the time the sun had dropped behind the western headlands -the Tetrarch and his guests had begun to be surfeited with the -richly tempting food, the wine, and the wildly sensual dancing of -Herod’s darkly handsome Arabian women, who, nude but for -gossamer thin, gaily colored loincloths, writhed and twisted in the -open square before the tables to the oriental, whining insistence of -the strings and the maddeningly rhythmical beat of the drums.</p> -<p>But now the dancers, their copper-hued perspiring bodies shining -as though they had been rubbed with olive oil, had retired to -a chamber adjoining the banquet room. From there they could -come prancing out barefoot, with lewd twistings and contortings, -at the first summons of the musicians. Until Antipas should arouse -from his stupor, though, and call for them, they would be free to -relax.</p> -<p>Cornelius, who had been eying the Tetrarch, nodded in his -<span class="pb" id="Page_176">176</span> -direction. “If we could get his head down flat,” he said to Claudia, -“he’d be asleep until morning, and we could leave. Wouldn’t you -like to get away?”</p> -<p>“Yes. I’m gorged. And I’d like to have a breath of fresh air on -the terrace. Perhaps Herodias would excuse us. I had no idea that -Antipas....”</p> -<p>But at that instant the Tetrarch’s head slipped from its cradling -hand, and he fell face downward upon the cushion. The sudden -drop awakened him, and he twisted his legs around heavily and -sat up. The leader of the musicians, seeing him, signaled his men -to begin playing and motioned to the dancers to return.</p> -<p>“No! No!” shouted the Tetrarch. “We have had enough of their -dancing! But now, my friends”—Antipas faced right and left to -look along the couches, as his guests began to sit up—“I shall -provide you with more novel entertainment.” He paused and -reached for his wine goblet. “I ask your pardon for having gone to -sleep, although I’m sure a number of you did likewise. During our -stay at Machaerus I have been overindulging in food and wine and, -for a man of my age, certainly, other more strenuous pleasures.” -He ran his thick tongue over his greasy lips and smiled lewdly. -“But now”—he signaled two of the guards standing at the doorway -opening upon the terrace—“go into the dungeon and fetch to our -birthday feast the Wilderness prophet.”</p> -<p>Herodias whirled about to confront him, her countenance betraying -both anger and amazement. “Why should the Tetrarch -bring that depraved madman here to insult his guests, his wife, -and himself? Has the Tetrarch permitted too much wine and too -many women...?”</p> -<p>“Patience, my dear! And be calm. I am not having him brought -before us to insult us. On the contrary, he will ask our pardon -for his intemperate words, and we shall release him.”</p> -<p>“Release him! By all the gods, can the Tetrarch be speaking -seriously? Does he for one moment contemplate giving this notorious -insurrectionist his freedom to resume his agitating against us, -against Rome...?”</p> -<p>“But, my dear Tetrarchess, Rome, as represented by the Centurion -Cornelius,” he interrupted, as he glanced toward the centurion -<span class="pb" id="Page_177">177</span> -and then turned his head the other way to address his wife, -“thinks that releasing this man will be not only an evidence of the -Tetrarch’s magnanimity but also a politic act greatly pleasing to -a countless number of our Jewish brothers. It was he who suggested....”</p> -<p>“But are not you Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea? Was it not -your wife and you, not the centurion, whom this revolutionary -castigated so bitterly? And has he not sought to inflame the -people even against Rome?”</p> -<p>Claudia had turned to confront Cornelius; she said nothing, -but her eyes were sharply questioning. He bent forward and spoke -quietly, so that none of the others would hear.</p> -<p>“I did suggest that it would be a good idea—especially in so far -as Sejanus is concerned—for him to free the man, since it would -please the Jews and the man is plainly no insurrectionist against -Rome. But I didn’t know he meant to have the fellow brought -before us. The man should have been freed quietly, with no fanfare.”</p> -<p>“Frankly, I think he would have done better,” Claudia whispered -to Cornelius, “to have had the fellow beheaded, but quietly.” -She leaned nearer the centurion. “Antipas craves attention; he tries -to be dramatic. He’s always....”</p> -<p>But suddenly she stopped, for the guards, flanking the manacled -prisoner, were entering the great hall. They escorted John into the -open square before the Tetrarch’s table.</p> -<p>“Unbind him,” the Tetrarch commanded, “and step back from -him.”</p> -<p>In an instant the guards had removed the shackles about the -prophet’s wrists and retreated to their former places at the doorway.</p> -<p>Though not all the Tetrarch’s guests had completely sobered, -every eye was on the Wilderness preacher. In the months he had -been imprisoned in the Machaerus dungeon, John had lost the -leathery deep burn of the desert, but otherwise he was little -changed. He was tall and erect and perhaps even more gaunt than -he had appeared to be the day Antipas had ordered his arrest; his -coarse brown robe, belted with a woven rope at the waist, hung -<span class="pb" id="Page_178">178</span> -loosely about him. But his eyes still blazed with the zealot’s fire as, -relaxed and silent, he stood calmly facing the Tetrarch.</p> -<p>“You are the Prophet John of the Wilderness and the Jordan -Valley?” Antipas asked, his tone and manner almost friendly.</p> -<p>“Have I been so long in your dungeon, O Tetrarch, that you -can’t be sure you know me?”</p> -<p>The question and the tone in which it was framed were sarcastic, -even patronizing, but the Tetrarch appeared to take no -offense.</p> -<p>“It was an idle query, and you have been a long time in prison. -Perhaps your intemperate words to the Tetrarch and the Tetrarchess -have been sufficiently punished.” Antipas smiled blandly -and rubbed his fat hands together. “Our banqueting this day is -an occasion of joy and merriment; it is our birthday and to mark -it further the Tetrarch is happy to demonstrate before these our -honored guests, including even the wife of the great Procurator -Pontius Pilate”—he bowed toward Claudia, who had been listening -avidly—“and our honored Centurion Cornelius, his softness -of heart toward his subjects. Today a group of the prophet’s followers”—now -he bowed toward John—“has petitioned the Tetrarch -to liberate him. These men assured us that you”—he spoke directly -to the gaunt preacher—“have never had any thought of insurrection -against the government of Rome or the Tetrarch but -that you were concerned only with the promulgation of our true -religion. I agreed I would grant their petition. Now as soon as you -satisfy me that you will cause us no further trouble and express -your regret for the intemperate and malicious words with which -you castigated the Tetrarch and his beloved Tetrarchess, as soon -as you assure us that you have repented of your evil words....”</p> -<p>“Repented!” John’s eyes blazed. “I have nothing for which to repent -to you, O Tetrarch! My repentance is to the God of Israel -against whom I have sinned and continue to sin. But I have done -you no evil. I call upon you to repent, O you of evil and lustful -heart, you robber of your brother’s bed!” The prophet lifted himself -upon his sandaled toes and pointed with lean forearm straight -upward toward the ceiling dome. “Repent! Repent! Repent, for -your days are numbered! The Messiah of God, Him of Whom I -<span class="pb" id="Page_179">179</span> -spoke in the Wilderness and along the Jordan lowlands, had come! -Even now He walks up and down Galilee preaching of the coming -of the Kingdom and bringing blessed salvation to those whose -ears are bent to hear Him. The time of repentance, O Tetrarch, -is now!” He lowered his gaunt arm, and the robe fell about it, -and he swept it in an arc in the faces of the diners on the square -of couches. “Repent! Repent! Cast away your sins and be cleansed, -and be baptized!”</p> -<p>Suddenly the preacher paused, and his blazing eyes settled upon -the Tetrarchess. He thrust out his arm and held it before the -startled woman’s face. “And you, repent, you evil woman, you deserter -of your lawful bed, return to your husband, forswear your -adulterous cohabiting....”</p> -<p>“Hold your tongue!” Herodias, eyes flashing her uncontrollable -rage, her cheeks flaming, had sprung to her feet. She leaned across -the food-covered, disordered table. “By all the gods, O Tetrarch”—she -turned to grasp her husband’s shoulder as he sat upright -on the couch—“I will hear no more of this evil madman’s prattle. -Send him away—have him shot with arrows, or order him beheaded, -or throw him again into the dungeon—by the great Jove, -I don’t care what you do with him, but I will not remain here with -him and be further insulted!” She shook his shoulder furiously. -“Do you understand, Antipas? Do you understand, by the Great -Mother Ceres?”</p> -<p>The Tetrarch stumbled to his feet, swayed, but clutched the -table edge to steady himself. “Take your seat, my dear,” he said -evenly. “I understand very well what you say. And you speak the -truth.” He turned from her to face the desert preacher. “I had -meant to hand you your freedom, Wilderness prophet; I had meant -to give you into the care of your friends who remained here tonight -to take you back into Judaea. But your vicious tirade against -us forces me to change my plans for you.” He beckoned to the -two guards. “Manacle him, and return him to the dungeon,” he -commanded.</p> -<p>Quickly they fettered his wrists and, grasping him by the arms, -led him toward the door through which moments ago they had -brought him into the chamber. John walked silently, head erect -<span class="pb" id="Page_180">180</span> -and unafraid. But as they were about to go out through the doorway, -he jerked his arms free, and whirled about to face the -Tetrarch and his guests. Raising the manacled hands, he pointed -toward the Tetrarch. “Repent, adulterer!” His blazing eyes sought -the still incensed Herodias. “And you, whore of Rome, get you -back to your Babylon!”</p> -<p>The guards jerked their prisoner through the doorway, and the -door closed heavily behind them. The banqueters, silenced by the -bitter exchange between Herodias and the prophet, listened to -the retreating footsteps of the three along the corridor.</p> -<p>“The fellow’s a fool,” Claudia observed in a low aside to Cornelius, -“but he does have courage.”</p> -<p>“Yes, he must believe that he’s serving his Yahweh and Yahweh’s -Messiah,” the centurion agreed; “that faith must be the source of -his courage.”</p> -<p>“Amazing. I cannot understand how these Jews can be so -swayed by such silly superstition. I do wonder what Antipas will -do with him; Herodias, if she could, would have his head off in a -minute. And so would I, if he had talked to me as he did to her.” -She tossed her head and smiled indifferently. “But why should I -be concerned about this Jewish fanatic? I don’t care one green -Campanian fig what happens to him.”</p> -<p>As she reached for her wine goblet, which a servant had refilled, -Antipas set his down and stood up. The servant hastened to -fill the Tetrarch’s. Antipas licked his thick lips. “By the beard of -the High Priest,” he said, “I really intended to liberate the prophet. -His imprisonment is on his own head.” He clutched the table’s -edge to steady himself again. Then he grasped his wine goblet -and drained it in one gulp. The servant raced around the table -to refill the empty glass. Antipas picked it up and twirled it -slowly on its slender stem, “Drink, my friends! Let us dispel this -sudden gloom. Isn’t this the Tetrarch’s birthday? Drink! Drink!” -He downed the wine as his guests, lifting their goblets, drank to -their host. Antipas clapped his hands. “And now, music and the -dancing women!”</p> -<p>The leader signaled to his men, and the musicians began their -lively playing, as the Arabian dancers came scampering again into -<span class="pb" id="Page_181">181</span> -the hollow square before the tables. Antipas sat down, rested his -head on the palm of his left hand, and with his right reached -for the glass.</p> -<p>“Soon now he’ll be very drunk, and we can escape,” Cornelius -whispered to Claudia. “He’s still afraid of the Wilderness preacher, -and he will try to drown his fears in wine.”</p> -<p>“But he just ordered the fellow back to the dungeon.”</p> -<p>“He also fears Herodias. He’ll free John, though, as soon as he -can do so without his wife’s knowing about it.”</p> -<p>The tempo of the music was increasing, and the women, refreshed -by the long intermission they had been having and the -food and wine they had been served, were fast approaching a -frenzy of abandon in their wild convolutions and sensual writhings. -For a few moments the jaded Tetrarch, watching the brazenly -lewd gyrations of the dancing women, appeared to be gaining -renewed stimulation. But quickly his interest faded; he sat up on -his couch and straightened himself. “Hold!” he commanded, waving -his hand aloft. “Enough of this. We are surfeited on dark -women.”</p> -<p>The music stopped. “Let them go,” said Antipas, nodding -toward the leader of the musicians. The man bowed to the -Tetrarch and, turning, waved his dismissal to the dancers, who -went tripping out. Once again the great triclinium was as still and -the guests as suddenly silent as they had been at the dramatic -entrance of the gaunt prophet.</p> -<p>Now the Tetrarch, beaming, looked to his left beyond his -Tetrarchess. “It is our wish that our beloved daughter Salome -honor our birthday by dancing for the Tetrarch and his guests,” -he declared in honeyed tones. “Will you not dance for us, my -dear child?”</p> -<p>Cornelius leaned forward to watch Herodias’ daughter. Salome -seemed amazed at her stepfather’s request. “But, Sire,” she ventured -to protest, as she turned on her couch to face the unctuously -smiling Tetrarch, “doesn’t my dear father know that I am not a -dancer? Surely he prefers the dancing of women trained in the -art.” She shook her head firmly. “Sire, I would not wish to display -before this company just how poorly....”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_182">182</div> -<p>“Oh come now, my child, your dancing will delight the Tetrarch -and his guests. Do not let maidenly modesty deny us the pleasure -of seeing you perform.” The Tetrarch’s eyes were beginning -to flame. “We would delight in your dancing, my dear. After all -that dark flesh, a flashing before us of firm, white, youthful....”</p> -<p>“But Salome, the Tetrarch well knows, is not accustomed to -dancing before companies such as this.” Herodias, her eyes challenging, -caught her husband’s arm in protest. “And has not the -Tetrarch seen enough already of both white and dark female -flesh? Is he not surfeited with women? Why should he wish to -see a child...?”</p> -<p>“I wish to see her dance, my dear Tetrarchess. I have never seen -her dance. And is this not my birthday? Shouldn’t one be indulged -on his birthday?” He leaned past his wife to plead again with -Salome. “Won’t you, my dear Salome, dance just this once, to -please and flatter your doting father?”</p> -<p>Claudia leaned close to Cornelius. “I don’t believe ‘doting’ is -the word,” she whispered; “I’d say ‘drooling’ is more like it.”</p> -<p>Antipas was still pleading with the girl. “If you will but dance -this once for us, Salome, my child,” he said, his voice soft and -sugared, his round face disarmingly friendly, “I will grant any request -you make of me.”</p> -<p>“If I could dance well, Sire, I would be happy to dance for the -Tetrarch, but I am not skilled in that art, nor do I have the mature -charms of the Arabian women nor the....”</p> -<p>“But you have the tender charms, my dear Salome, the virginal -charms of the bud about to open to full flowering. And I am -satiated with these wide-open flowers ready to shatter.” He stood -up and braced himself against the table, then turned toward her -with renewed pleading. “Dance for us, my dear. Dance for us, and -I will reward you what you will, I swear by the High Priest’s beard, -even to the half of our tetrarchy!”</p> -<p>“But, Sire, even were I able to please the Tetrarch with my -poor efforts, I am not suitably dressed....” The girl paused, -for her mother had leaned over to whisper in her ear. She listened, -solemn-faced, and then, suddenly smiling, she turned back to address -the Tetrarch. “Sire, if the Tetrarch would not unmercifully -<span class="pb" id="Page_183">183</span> -censure my stumbling attempts, and”—she hesitated, and her smile -was demure—“does the Tetrarch really intend seriously to grant -any request I might make of him?”</p> -<p>“I’ve never been more serious in my life, my dear child. I fully -intend to keep my promise. Anything you want, a marble palace, -a pleasure barge to rival Cleopatra’s, gold, precious gems, silks -from the Orient, anything; it is yours but for you to name it ... -after you have danced for the Tetrarch and his guests.”</p> -<p>“Very well, Sire.” The girl stood up. “I shall do my best to -please the Tetrarch and his guests on his birthday. But, first, I -must change my costume.” Herodias arose unsteadily to stand beside -her. “Mother will help me dress.”</p> -<p>Claudia leaned to her right to whisper to Cornelius. The Tetrarch, -absorbed in watching his wife and stepdaughter, would -hardly have heard her had she spoken aloud. “It’s Herodias who’s -told her to dance for him. She’s got some sort of scheme in mind, -and I’m sure it hinges on that request. I wonder what it will -be....”</p> -<p>Cornelius nodded. “Something, I would say, that bodes the -Tetrarch no good. I’ll be interested myself to see what Salome -will ask.”</p> -<p>A few minutes later Herodias reappeared in the doorway. She -signaled to the leader of the musicians, and he went over to her; -she talked with him a moment, and then, as he rejoined his group, -she made her way around the couches to resume her place beside -the Tetrarch. Immediately the leader raised his hand, and the -musicians began to play.</p> -<p>“By the great Jove!” Cornelius, who had turned momentarily -to reply to something Claudia had said, glanced back toward the -doorway through which the Tetrarchess had returned. At his murmured -exclamation Claudia looked in the same direction.</p> -<p>“By Bona Dea! what a transformation!” she exclaimed.</p> -<p>Salome was standing just inside the doorway. When she had left -the chamber a few minutes ago she had been wearing a shimmering -white silken stola, held at the waist by a wide girdle of interlaced -narrow strips of green and gold, and golden sandals. Her -raven-black hair had been combed back from a part in the center -<span class="pb" id="Page_184">184</span> -and bound in a loose knot at the back of her neck where it was -held neatly in place by a net. Her hair, like her mother’s and -Claudia’s, had been arranged in the style currently popular among -Roman women of the equestrian class.</p> -<p>But now the girl, immobile and statuesque, stood stripped of -every garment she had worn in leaving the chamber. At first -glance the centurion thought Salome had returned completely in -the nude, save for the few thin veils she had draped about her -shoulders. But looking more closely, he saw that her loins were -bound, though scantily, with a carefully folded flesh-colored veil. -To the casual observer and certainly to the aging Tetrarch, the girl -appeared to be standing before them divested of all her clothing. -The brightly colored veils even heightened the illusion. She was -barefoot, and her hair, freed from the restricting net and unbound, -fell past firm, outthrust breasts almost to her slim waist in a -tumbling dark cascade of curls. Salome looked as though, finding -herself unclad, she had pushed her black tresses suddenly through -a small wispish rainbow that had settled about her white shoulders -and slipped downward to her dimpled knees.</p> -<p>“Her charms seem quite mature,” Cornelius whispered to -Claudia, grinning.</p> -<p>“And I suspect they’re no longer virginal,” she replied. “But, -by the gods, she must be sixteen, and”—she leaned nearer and -spoke into his ear—“whoever could imagine a Herodian virgin any -older!”</p> -<p>Claudia’s caution had not been necessary, for the Tetrarch’s dark -eyes, smoldering as though at any moment they might burst into -flame, were measuring and exploring and savoring the girl. Claudia, -following Cornelius’ eyes, glanced toward the entranced ruler and -then, turning back to the centurion, whispered again, “Soon he’ll -be drooling. He’s mad, stark, raving mad.”</p> -<p>The music had been soft and slow, but now Salome, with a -quick upward flexing of her fingers and a nod to signal the musicians, -stepped forward a pace and with shoulders twisting and -hips undulating came slithering into the opening between the -tables.</p> -<p>From high on a pilaster a shaded lamp cast a circle of bright -<span class="pb" id="Page_185">185</span> -light in the center of the hollow square. As she tripped on the -balls of her bare feet, Salome held the sheer veils lightly to her -white body, arms crossed over her breasts, taking care to avoid the -full brightness of the illuminated circle. Once she ventured, -whirling and twisting, to come as close to the Tetrarch as the -position directly in front of Cornelius, but then teasingly she -doubled back the other way. When a moment later she reversed -her direction and came prancing between the bright circle and the -Tetrarch’s couch, Antipas lunged forward to grasp her, but laughingly -she slipped from his reach and sped away.</p> -<p>“Magnificent! Wonderful!” he shouted, unabashed, as he sank -again to his couch and reached for his goblet. “My child, you -restore the sap of youth to my aging limbs!”</p> -<p>At the edge of the circle and straight across it from the Tetrarch, -Salome stopped, and as the drums ceased their throbbing -and the strings subsided to a whisper, she turned deliberately to -face the Tetrarch and his guests.</p> -<p>“Bountiful Ceres!” Claudia kept her voice low. “Is she going -to discard those veils?”</p> -<p>But Salome, with her arms still pressed across her chest, continued -to clutch the colored gauze protectively before her. The -music began to increase in volume, and hardly discernible at first -above the harmony of the strings and the flutes, the drums added -their insistent throbbing. Now the girl in the square before the -diners slowly withdrew her right arm, which had been crossed -underneath the left one, and lifted it high; at the same time she -pushed forward her left leg, so that the gossamer veils fell to -either side to expose it from toes to hip, and leaned back; the -leg, torso, and lifted arm to ringed forefinger made one continuous -straight line of vibrant, glowing, suddenly stilled flesh, veiled -but scantily by the diaphanous colored silks.</p> -<p>Cornelius ventured a glance toward the Tetrarch. Antipas, upright -on his couch, was leaning forward, mouth half open, dark -eyes staring unblinking at his stepdaughter and grandniece. The -centurion gently nudged Claudia. “Any moment now,” he whispered, -“he’ll be lunging over the table again.” But his eyes darted -quickly to the girl.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_186">186</div> -<p>Her head was back, in line with the rest of her body, and her -sultry eyes looked upward to her extended forefinger. Now it began -to move, almost imperceptibly, so that few of the Tetrarch’s -guests were aware of the beginning of its motion. But Cornelius, -intrigued, saw the finger’s movement widening and speeding; like -a serpent it was coiling and uncoiling, twisting sideways, darting, -writhing, all in perfect rhythm with the music. As he watched, -the motion of the finger appeared to flow like liquid downward to -involve the hand and then the forearm. Now along the graceful -length of her slender bare arm the smooth, unknotting muscles, -rippling and twisting, seemed to have transformed it into an -oriental adder swaying and bobbing to the compelling strains of -the charmer’s flute.</p> -<p>“The child’s amazing, I must agree with the Tetrarch,” Cornelius -said. “Do you suppose Herodias trained her?” He leaned forward -to glance past Antipas to the intent Tetrarchess who seemed -absorbed completely in her daughter’s performance. “What a -symphony of motion and movement!”</p> -<p>“And when that movement begins to gyrate in the region of -the hips, Centurion, you’ll realize Salome’s no longer a child!”</p> -<p>Nor was the flowing, rhythmical motion long in attaining that -region. In synchronized rolling and lifting and falling, the right -shoulder joined the twisting, gently writhing arm, and then the -rounded stomach undulated, freed now of the teasing veils. -As the tempo of the music speeded and the volume swelled and -the throb of the drums grew deeper, the hips began their undulating -motion. Grinding, thrusting, withdrawing, thrusting, they -moved faster and faster in an abandon of voluptuous movement. -Then the music slowed again and the frenzied gyrations with it, -and quickly the movement ran downward from the stilled hips -and disappeared in a restrained tapping of bare toes on the mosaic -of the triclinium’s marble floor.</p> -<p>The Tetrarch’s guests, inspired by his shouted acclamations, applauded -wildly. And before they had settled to silence again, -Salome dextrously transferred to her right hand the thin veils -that throughout her dancing, even in the abandon of its most -voluptuous last moments, she had held clutched snugly against her -<span class="pb" id="Page_187">187</span> -breasts, and lifted high her left arm as she extended her right foot. -Then she began anew the routine she had just finished; she followed -it, motion for motion, until in the midst of the most -lascivious portion of the dance she suddenly turned her back to -the Tetrarch and his company, and lowering her arm, without -missing one wanton movement of her writhing, weaving hips, -she thrust her arms, shoulder high, straight out to the sides. In -each hand, completely away from her perspiration-dampened, shimmering -white body, she clutched several of the bright-hued wisps -of silk.</p> -<p>From where the diners sat across the bright circle from her, the -girl appeared to be entirely nude, despite the thin bit of flesh-toned -silk that bound her loins. Her curling long black hair hanging unrestrained -down her back and across her shoulders added to the -illusion.</p> -<p>“But, my dear daughter, don’t you know that one never turns -his back upon the Tetrarch?” Antipas shouted, as he leaned out -across the table, his black eyes bulging as though they might leap -from the sockets.</p> -<p>The girl’s only response was to draw in her hands slightly and -then thrust them outward again in the pantomime of unveiling -herself anew as, in an ecstasy of voluptuous simulations, she rotated -her slim hips to the mounting frenzy of the music.</p> -<p>“Wonderful! Wonderful!” Antipas clapped his fat hands together. -“Marvelous, my dear child! But must you continue to give -your back to the Tetrarch? Will you continue thus to tease us?”</p> -<p>Still Salome made no reply to her stepfather. But slowly, as -Antipas clutched the table edge to pull to his feet, the girl, without -breaking the rhythm of her seductive undulations, began -slowly to turn herself about, her arms still outthrust from her -sides. The Tetrarch, seeing it, let go his prop and sank heavily to -the couch; once more his screamed approval signaled the guests to -new applause, as every eye in eager anticipation followed the gracefully -suggestive motions of their royal host’s stepdaughter.</p> -<p>But hardly had the girl done a quarter turn toward the diners -when suddenly she drew the gossamer scarves protectively to herself, -and, whirling the remainder of the turn to face them, paused -<span class="pb" id="Page_188">188</span> -in her dancing. Then with head tossed back and laughing, she -scampered across the spotlighted circle almost to the Tetrarch’s -table. A pace from it she stopped, turned her head, and with a -nod signaled the musicians. As they resumed the dancing rhythm, -she began again her voluptuous gyrations.</p> -<p>Claudia was close enough now to Salome to see that the girl’s -half-closed eyes, peering through slits beneath the darkly shadowed -lids, were glancing from the Tetrarch to her mother beside him. -Salome, she was suddenly convinced, was performing for Antipas -not out of her own volition but through Herodias’ devising. -And what, Claudia wondered again, could the crafty Tetrarchess be -planning to accomplish through this brazen flaunting of her daughter’s -physical charms.</p> -<p>But the Procurator’s wife had only a moment for conjecture; -Salome suddenly ceased her rhythmical writhings and stepped -forward to lean above the Tetrarch’s still burdened table. Teasingly, -and before the musicians were aware of her changed routine, -she fumbled with the veils still held pressed against her, and -as Antipas, in a new frenzy of excitement, sought to rise from his -couch, she thrust her hands apart and then, with a high squeal -of laughter, crossed them again in front of her. In the brief moment -that her youthful but fully matured bosom had been completely -exposed to them, the Tetrarch had lunged out to clutch -her, but he had shattered his wine goblet instead and the girl, -screaming with laughter, had darted backward into the illuminated -circle to evade him.</p> -<p>As a servant came running up to mop the spilled wine and remove -the broken glass, Antipas settled back on his couch. “Aha! -The clever little vixen was too quick for me,” he said, turning -to face his wife. “But I’ll....” He said no more. Herodias, -Claudia saw, was unsmiling, grim. But evidently she hadn’t meant -for Antipas to see her in such a mood, for quickly she affected -a cloaking smile. “By the gods,” she said to her husband, “the -child is clever, isn’t she?”</p> -<p>Salome was now in the center of the bright light. The music -had died away as the leader awaited his new instructions. The girl -stood quietly facing the Tetrarch and his guests, the colored veils -<span class="pb" id="Page_189">189</span> -clutched in her crossed hands as though she were trying to cover -herself in a chilling breeze. Then she turned her head and lifted -one veil-holding hand to signal resumption of the dance music; -the musicians swung quickly into a fast rhythm that sent Salome -dipping and prancing around the lighted circle. As she came -within inches of the Tetrarch’s table, Antipas once more lunged -toward her, but she had anticipated his attempt to catch her and -had darted out of reach. Laughing, she danced to the center of -the lighted spot; soon she was whirling around on the balls of her -bare feet, and as the tempo of the drums and the strings and the -brasses increased and the volume swelled, she circled as she pirouetted. -Opposite the Centurion Cornelius she released one of -the veils and it sailed across the table to be caught by the diner -at his right.</p> -<p>“Another!” shouted Antipas as she whirled past his couch but -safely beyond his reach. “Another! Let another one fly!”</p> -<p>She was wheeling before the diners at her mother’s left when -she loosed a second veil; a man grabbed for it and thrust it beneath -his pillow. When she had spun around to the other side of the -circle she held out her arm and a yellow one sailed above the table. -A man and a woman grabbed for the floating gossamer; he caught -it but laughingly surrendered it to her.</p> -<p>“More! More!” screamed the Tetrarch, and around the square -of the tables others joined in chorus. And when the girl let two of -the shimmering scarves sail away together, they screamed again. -“More! More! Let them fly!”</p> -<p>Salome, her head back, laughing, began now to tease the Tetrarch -and his guests. Whirling around the rim of the patch of -light, she would sweep one hand with its veils outward with a -flourish and then, without releasing them, fold the arm back -across the other one, which all the while she had kept pressed -close to her pirouetting white body.</p> -<p>“She’s an actress, the little coquette!” Cornelius observed. “She -knows how to build up suspense. She understands how to please -Antipas, too; she’s got a good sense of the dramatic.”</p> -<p>“Yes, and in another moment or so, unless I’m entirely wrong -about her, her dramatics will have Antipas—and maybe you, -<span class="pb" id="Page_190">190</span> -too—groveling.” But quickly her expression changed to one of perplexity. -“Still I wonder, Cornelius, what Herodias is scheming. -Surely she’s getting no pleasure out of seeing her daughter make -a spectacle of herself in public. There must be something behind -it; yet I can’t imagine what. What on earth could she want so -badly that she would go to such great...?”</p> -<p>But her question remained unfinished, for the girl had pranced, -still pirouetting, into the center of the bright spot. She paused -in her turning and with both hands clutching the remaining veils -modestly across her chest, signaled with a motion of her head to -the leader of the musicians. Immediately the volume of the music -began to increase and the tempo to speed, and Salome whirled -faster and faster in time with the music’s crescendo. As she spun -on the balls of her bare feet, the veils that had been hanging to -her knees streamed out in a kaleidoscope of whirling color. The -flutes more insistently joined their whining pleas to the deeper -invitations of the harps and the dulcimers and the rhythmical -throaty demands of the drums; the girl’s black hair, standing out -from her head as she whirled, made a dark spinning disk above the -circular rainbow of the scarves.</p> -<p>Now Salome lifted one arm above her head, while she held the -other protectively before her, so that the dark whirling of her hair -had above it as well as beneath it a spinning rainbow of color.</p> -<p>“I think I know what she’ll do next,” Claudia said, leaning to -her right to speak to Cornelius above the steadily mounting volume -and frenzy of the music.</p> -<p>Antipas, too, must have anticipated it. “The other arm!” he -shouted, as he leaned forward, his eyes blazing with lechery. “Raise -the other arm, my dear child!”</p> -<p>But Salome did not obey the Tetrarch. Instead, as she came -pirouetting nearer him, she lowered the arm she had just raised, -and the two whirling circles of color merged into one fast, revolving -gossamer flame. Faster the girl spun, and faster, faster the musicians -played, and higher swelled their instruments’ invitation -to abandoned revelry.</p> -<p>Antipas, who had sat back when the girl failed to heed his demand, -reached for his goblet, gulped his wine, and was replacing -<span class="pb" id="Page_191">191</span> -the slender-stemmed glass when suddenly Salome, whirling -hardly two paces from his table, lifted both arms high into the air. -The transparent veils twisted upward with them to form above -the girl’s swirling black hair a spinning canopy of weaving and -shifting bright colors.</p> -<p>Once more the Tetrarch overturned his goblet, and the wine -spilled across the table. But when a servant came racing to his -aid, Antipas waved him away. The Tetrarch’s amazed eyes had -focused upon the dancing girl; he would permit nothing to obstruct, -even for an instant, his view of her.</p> -<p>The spinning Salome in the circle of light from the wall lamp -was nude from the small gossamer triangle of her loins’ covering -to the crown of her head, and in the rapidity of her turning she -appeared to be entirely divested of clothing.</p> -<p>Antipas caught at the edge of the table and pushed himself, -swaying, to his feet. “Nearer, child, nearer!” he shrieked. “Come -closer! Come closer to us! Come....” But his frenzied words -were choked in a swirling cloud of silken transparencies, for his -stepdaughter had let go all her veils and one had dipped full -into the flushed, round face of the Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea.</p> -<p>As Antipas struggled to free himself of the clinging, vision-obscuring -fluff of silk, the guests around the tables grabbed merrily -for the descending veils. But by the time the Tetrarch had jerked -the scarf away from his face, Salome had already disappeared; she -had darted across the spotlighted mosaic floor into the enfolding -privacy of the triclinium’s antechamber. Behind her, her audience -thundered its applause.</p> -<p>Moments later, before the birthday celebrants had settled completely -from the excitement of her dramatic exit, Salome, dressed -as she had been when she left to prepare for her dance, returned -to the great chamber and took her place beside her mother. -Claudia, watching discreetly, saw the Tetrarchess lightly squeeze -the girl’s hand and bend over to whisper into her ear.</p> -<p>Antipas sat up and beaming turned to face his stepdaughter. -“My child, you have pleased the Tetrarch immensely,” he said, -as he rubbed his plump hands together. “I had no idea that you -could dance with such grace and charm. Your dancing has far -<span class="pb" id="Page_192">192</span> -excelled the finest efforts of the women of Arabia; it has added -immeasurably to the pleasure of the Tetrarch and his guests.” He -reached for his goblet, swallowed the wine, then wiped his mouth -with the back of his hand. “And now, my dear daughter, you have -but to name your reward for thus having entertained so pleasantly -the Tetrarch and our friends. Speak out, Salome. What shall it -be? A palace of your own beside the sea? A great pleasure yacht -with servants in shining livery and galley slaves to row it? Perchance -a long visit to Rome to renew your friendships in the -capital, with a handsome allowance to cover every gift your fancy -may envision? Speak up, now. Let your wish be known, and it shall -be granted.”</p> -<p>“Even, Sire, to the half of your tetrarchy?”</p> -<p>Antipas blinked, hesitated a moment, and then his round face -brightened. “Yes, if you ask it, even to the half of the tetrarchy, -though I should think a marble palace or a yacht....”</p> -<p>“Have no fear, Sire,” Salome interrupted. “I wish not the half -of your tetrarchy or any part of it. Nor do I need or desire a -marble palace or a pleasure boat, or a trip at this time to Rome.”</p> -<p>“Ah, but I know what will please you,” Antipas spoke up. “A -new wardrobe, full of beautiful garments fashioned of the finest -silks brought from the Orient or woven on the looms in Phoenicia....”</p> -<p>“No, not gowns or shoes or houses or yachts or journeys to Rome -or gold and silver....”</p> -<p>“But come, my dear child, you must be repaid for the pleasure -you have given us. I beg of you, name your any desire....”</p> -<p>“And the Tetrarch will grant it?” Salome stood up, facing the -ruler of Galilee and Peraea, just beyond her mother. “You swear it, -Sire?”</p> -<p>“By the beard of the High Priest, I swear it, Salome. I shall -grant whatever you ask of me, even to the half of the tetrarchy.”</p> -<p>“Then, Sire,” she said, smiling demurely, “my request is simple -and will rob the Tetrarch’s treasury of not one denarius. It is my -wish”—she paused and looked the happily smiling Antipas full -in his round face—“that the Tetrarch present to me on a silver -<span class="pb" id="Page_193">193</span> -platter the head of the Wilderness preacher called John the Baptizer.”</p> -<p>Claudia and Cornelius had been leaning out over their plates, -avidly following the conversation of the girl and her stepfather.</p> -<p>“By all the gods!” Claudia whispered, without taking her eyes -from the still calmly smiling Salome. “Now I understand. Herodias, -by the Bountiful Mother....”</p> -<p>But she said no more, for Antipas was pulling to his feet. -“Surely, child, I have not heard you correctly. Surely you would -not wish to have the head of a man....”</p> -<p>“But you did hear correctly, Sire. And you have sworn to grant -me my wish. I ask only for the head of the Prophet John.”</p> -<p>The Tetrarch, braced against the table’s edge, looked to his -right and then left along the tables. The eyes of his guests were -fastened on their plates; not one face was raised to help him. Antipas -stood, drained of all levity; the impact of the girl’s inhuman -request, so simply and heartlessly presented, had sobered him. He -turned again to Salome and tried to affect a smile.</p> -<p>“Were you a man, a soldier, perhaps, seeking revenge upon an -enemy ... but for a beautiful young woman of such charm and -culture, who has danced for us so delightfully”—he shook his head -sadly—“such an utterly strange request for a beautiful woman.” -He seemed to be thinking aloud, talking more to himself than to -the girl. “To want the head of a prophet of Israel, a man held in -such esteem by so many of our Jewish subjects, a prophet who -may indeed have been sent of Israel’s God....” He broke off, -shaking his head as if in deep perplexity.</p> -<p>Claudia, watching Salome now, saw Herodias reach out and -gently grasp her daughter’s arm. The girl, still standing, smiled -cynically and tossed her head. “Nevertheless, Sire, that is my request. -If, however, the Tetrarch wishes to dishonor his oath before -this company and refuse me....”</p> -<p>The Tetrarch banged his fist on the table top. “The Tetrarch -never dishonors an oath!” he shouted. “He withdraws no promises -he makes.” He turned to face the two guardsmen at the door, the -soldiers who had brought the Wilderness prophet into the banquet -room and had escorted him back to the dungeon. “Guardsmen, -<span class="pb" id="Page_194">194</span> -you have heard the request of the Princess Salome. Go you now -into the dungeon and carry out her request.” He paused. They -stood stiffly at attention, awaiting his final command. “Do you -understand?”</p> -<p>The men glanced at one another, then faced the Tetrarch. -“We understand, Sire,” one said.</p> -<p>“Then go.”</p> -<p>Quickly the two strode out of the chamber; their footsteps -echoed as they marched down the hall. Antipas slumped on his -couch, then lowered his head between his hands. Salome took -her seat. She smiled as she and her mother whispered. The guests -kept their places and were silent; the servants, moving about to -replenish the wine goblets, walked noiselessly.</p> -<p>“The Tetrarch is making a monstrous mistake,” Cornelius said.</p> -<p>“Because he’s giving in to Herodias?” Claudia inquired.</p> -<p>“Because he’s ordering the prophet’s death.”</p> -<p>“Then you”—a faint smile crossed her face—“are afraid of the -Jews’ one god?”</p> -<p>“I could be,” he answered unhesitatingly. “But that’s not my -reason. I’m sure it’s....” He stopped. A servant had approached -the Tetrarch’s couch.</p> -<p>“The Centurion Longinus?” The Tetrarch raised his bulky frame -to a sitting position. “Indeed, bring him to us.”</p> -<p>At the sound of the Tetrarch’s words, Claudia looked up; her -eyes followed the retreating servant. Antipas turned to her. “The -Centurion Longinus has just arrived at Machaerus,” he said; “I’ve -sent for him. Shall we make a place for him between you and -Centurion Cornelius perhaps, my dear?” He grinned. “He must -be famished from the long journey to this forsaken outpost.”</p> -<p>A moment later the servant escorted the centurion to the -Tetrarch’s couch. Antipas greeted him cordially, presented him -to the diners, and ordered the servants to set him a place at the -table. When after a minute he was settled beside her, Claudia -found his hand on the couch and squeezed it hard. “It’s so wonderful -to have you here,” she said. “I can hardly wait to hear -the news from Rome.”</p> -<p>“I can hardly wait to be with you ... alone,” he said. “It’s -<span class="pb" id="Page_195">195</span> -been so long, and I had no idea I’d find you here.” He turned to -Cornelius at his right. “I’ve got much to tell you, Centurion,” -he announced, “and, no doubt, much to hear from you too.”</p> -<p>“But what on earth are you doing at Machaerus, Longinus? -Where have you been before this?”</p> -<p>“Tiberias,” he answered, “I came there after landing at Caesarea. -I had orders from Sejanus to convey to the Tetrarch. When I -reached Tiberias and found that he and his guests had departed -for Machaerus, I set out to follow. It was urgent that I see the -Tetrarch as quickly as possible; I didn’t dare await his return to -his palace.”</p> -<p>Antipas had overheard. “We are happy that you came, Centurion, -but what mission could you have that would be so urgent?” -He smiled, and his manner was most agreeable. “A new style of -glassware, perhaps, that you wish to sell to the Tetrarch?”</p> -<p>“No, Sire, nothing to sell you ... now, at any rate. It’s a more -important mission. I’m coming to you from the Prefect Sejanus -who is sending you instructions in the name of the Emperor, for -whom he is acting in this case and after conferring with Tiberius -at Capri. I assure you it is important and urgent, and I desire -an audience with you at the first moment you may be available, -Sire, in order to transmit to you the instructions from Rome.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, Centurion”—the Tetrarch’s flippant manner had disappeared; -his countenance, at the centurion’s mention of Sejanus -and the Emperor, was suddenly grave—“if it is that urgent, we can -leave the dining chamber at once. But that would cause a lot of -talk, I suppose. Must you confer with me in secret, Centurion? -These are all dear friends, my wife, the Procurator’s wife, Centurion -Cornelius. Is it necessary that the information you bring -me from Rome be kept from them?”</p> -<p>“Indeed, no, Sire. In fact, they would know soon anyway, as -quickly as you acted. And the Prefect desires that you act immediately.” -He paused. Antipas nodded. “In fact, Sire, it is fortunate -that you are here at Machaerus; your orders can be put -into effect within minutes after they have been issued. The Prefect’s -instructions to you have to do with that strange fellow we -encountered along the Jordan as we were going to Tiberias, the -<span class="pb" id="Page_196">196</span> -one you had arrested and brought here to be imprisoned, you -remember, the Wilderness prophet called John the Baptizer.”</p> -<p>“John the Baptizer!” The Tetrarch’s face had paled. Herodias, -who had been listening, leaned forward; her countenance was a -mask. “But what of John,” the Tetrarch began, “what...?” He -paused, licked his dry lips, and swallowed.</p> -<p>“Sire, it’s nothing to be unduly concerned about,” Longinus -replied. “It’s only a policy matter. You know that Sejanus and -Tiberius are always stressing the importance of keeping the Jews -happy, at least to the extent that they won’t attempt to revolt. -And since John is so popular among them, the Prefect believes -that your release of the prophet will be pleasing to the Jews and -will, to that extent, strengthen Rome’s rule ... and the Tetrarch’s. -There’s no point in needlessly offending them, you see. -That’s why he sent me to you with the suggestion, Sire, that you -release John at once. He has prepared notices, to be signed by -you, for posting in Tiberias, Jerusalem, Caesarea....”</p> -<p>The Tetrarch said nothing but buried his face in his hands. -Herodias, erect and unmoving, stared straight ahead.</p> -<p>“But, Sire....”</p> -<p>Longinus said no more, for Claudia had suddenly grasped his -arm. He turned and stared toward the doorway through which, a -moment before the centurion’s arrival, the two palace guardsmen -had disappeared. Now the two were returning. They advanced -straight toward the Tetrarch. One man was carrying, chest high -and at arms’ length, a large silver tray of the type used by servants -at Machaerus for serving food. On the tray was a rounded, -gory mass.</p> -<p>“But that can’t be for me, surely,” Longinus whispered to her. -“It looks like raw meat, bloody.... Great Jove!” The man bearing -the tray had come close enough for them to see his ghastly -offering. “By all the great and little gods!” He twisted to face the -girl, his expression suddenly aghast. His voice, when at last he -spoke, was hoarse and unbelieving. “The Wilderness prophet?”</p> -<p>She nodded. “Yes, the Tetrarch had him beheaded ... just -a moment ago, perhaps even after you arrived here.” She turned -her head to look away from the guardsman’s horrifying burden.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_197">197</div> -<p>But Longinus saw. The prophet’s head, with blood dripping -from the stump of the severed neck, lay on one ear in the tangled, -gore-smeared mat of his long, black hair. His beard, too, was blood-streaked, -and his face and forehead were smeared; blood had run -down into the corners of his eyes. Wide-open and set in staring -rigidity, the eyes seemed to be trying to communicate with him.</p> -<p>“Sire,” the guardsmen said, as he reached the table and held out -the profaned tray, “the Tetrarch’s orders have been carried out. -The head of the desert preacher....”</p> -<p>“No! No!” screamed Antipas, as he held up his right hand before -his eyes and pointed with the other toward his wife and her -daughter. “Not here! It’s ... it’s theirs! Put it there!”</p> -<p>The guardsman set the tray down in front of Salome, who -glanced at it idly and then lowered her head. Herodias stared -unabashed at the pitiful profanation before them, and then after -a moment she, too, looked away.</p> -<p>Now the Tetrarch lowered his shielding hand and calmly turned -to his left to face Herodias and his stepdaughter. His demeanor, -Longinus saw, was suddenly changed. When he spoke his voice -was calm, modulated. “The Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea does -not dishonor a promise made,” he said. “My daughter, you have -the reward you sought. Now what will you do with it?”</p> -<p>The girl turned to stare an instant at her questioner. Then she -glanced again toward the head on the tray. Shock, nausea, sudden -fear, horror curdled her countenance, and she threw up a protecting -hand to shut out the fearful sight. “Give it to Mother!” -she cried out, her voice shrill, and tense. Jumping to her feet, she -fled from the great chamber.</p> -<p>“Take it away!” Herodias screamed to a servant at her elbow. -“Dispose of it ... quickly!” Without a word to her husband, -she reached for her wine goblet and drank; then she drew up her -feet, smoothed the skirt of her glistening stola, and settled herself -comfortably on her elbow.</p> -<p>Equally calm, Antipas leaned over to speak to Longinus. “I regret, -Centurion, that you didn’t reach Machaerus a few minutes -earlier. But....” He gestured with resignation, then sat back -on his couch. He was reaching for his wine glass when a palace -<span class="pb" id="Page_198">198</span> -servant approached, bowing. The Tetrarch nodded to him. “Yes?”</p> -<p>“Sire, a delegation has just arrived; the men declare they were -sent by King Aretas. They maintain their mission is most urgent -and they petition—indeed, Sire, they demand—that the Tetrarch -give them audience this evening.”</p> -<p>“From King Aretas?” A heavy scowl darkened the Tetrarch’s -full, round face. “Most urgent, they say?” He was thoughtfully -silent a moment. Then he turned, glaring, to the obeisant servant. -“Then bring them to us.”</p> -<p>“But, Sire”—the bowing man was rubbing his hands together -nervously, palpably fearful—“they suggested that perhaps the -Tetrarch would wish to receive them privately in his council -chamber....”</p> -<p>“No! Who are they to tell the Tetrarch where he must receive -them! Bring them to us, at once!”</p> -<p>“Yes, Sire. Yes, immediately.” The timorous fellow was backing -away, bowing, as he rubbed his knuckles in his palm.</p> -<p>“Did you hear what the servant said?” Claudia whispered to -Longinus, as the Tetrarch twisted his heavy hulk the other way to -watch the retreating fellow. “I wonder....”</p> -<p>“Yes, so do I. And I’m sure Herodias does, too.” He turned to -speak to Cornelius on his right. “You heard the servant?” Cornelius -nodded. “Sounds like more trouble for the Tetrarch, doesn’t -it?”</p> -<p>“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Cornelius agreed. “This seems to be -a bad night for the old fellow, a tough night, indeed.”</p> -<p>The representatives of the Arabian king were formally polite, -rigidly reserved.</p> -<p>“It is no pleasant mission on which we have been sent here, O -Tetrarch Herod,” the spokesman of the visiting Arabians announced, -once they had been presented to Antipas, “and we regret -that we must speak as we have been ordered to speak, Sire, -and particularly that ears other than the Tetrarch’s will hear the -message we have been commanded to bring you from His Majesty, -King Aretas. But the Tetrarch has so ordered it, and we must -obey.” He paused, and from the fold of his robe pulled forth a -rolled document.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_199">199</div> -<p>“Go on, speak,” Antipas told him. “The Tetrarch wishes on his -birthday”—he affected a grim smile—“that nothing be withheld -from his beloved wife and his guests. The Tetrarch is prepared -to hear the King’s message.”</p> -<p>The man nodded, and unrolled the document. “Sire, I have here -the King’s message to the Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. But -would not the Tetrarch prefer to have it read to him privately and -then later, if the Tetrarch might still wish it, have it read to this -assembled group?”</p> -<p>“Read it, now. Go on with it. Let us all hear the King’s message.”</p> -<p>“Very well, Sire.” He bowed and then, shifting his position so -that the light from the wall lamps fell more directly on the parchment, -held it out from him and began to read. But when the stiffly -formal greeting was concluded, he raised his eyes questioningly.</p> -<p>“Continue,” said the Tetrarch.</p> -<p>The man nodded, and once more his eyes returned to the out-held -document. “‘King Aretas declares that the Tetrarch Herod -Antipas in sending his faithful wife, the King’s beloved daughter, -a bill of divorcement, after having deprived her of the honors and -privileges of the Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea, which honors -and privileges without right he conferred upon her successor, has -grievously injured and insulted the King’s daughter, his royal -house, and the person of the King himself.’”</p> -<p>Claudia gently squeezed Longinus’ hand beside hers on the -couch, but she dared venture no whisper. Slyly, though, they both -glanced toward Herodias who sat eying the Arabian, a malevolent, -frozen smile on her plainly flushed face.</p> -<p>The reader looked up again, but only for an instant, and then -resumed his reading of the Arabian ruler’s grievances. “‘Now, -therefore’”—he cleared his throat—“‘King Aretas demands that -the Tetrarch Herod Antipas seek to make what amends he can -by providing certain reparations to King Aretas, the terms of which -shall be agreed upon in conference of the Tetrarch and his ministers -with the King’s ministers who bear this message. But King -Aretas further demands that before such negotiations are entered -into, the Tetrarch Herod Antipas must put away or reduce to second -<span class="pb" id="Page_200">200</span> -wife the woman he now calls Tetrarchess and restore to her -rightful place as Tetrarchess and first wife the King’s beloved -daughter. He further demands....’”</p> -<p>“‘<i>He</i> demands!’ Everything is ‘<i>He</i> demands’!” Herodias had -sprung to her feet, her eyes blazing, her shaking finger extended -across the table toward the suddenly interrupted Arabian. Now -she turned fiercely upon the Tetrarch. “Didn’t you hear him, O -Tetrarch? ‘<i>He</i> demands!’ That old goat of Arabia demands of you, -Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. He writes you an evil, insulting -message abusing you and your wife, and you sit here calmly -listening while that man reads it before these your guests and me -your Tetrarchess....”</p> -<p>“But, my beloved Herodias”—Antipas clutched the table’s edge -as he straggled to get to his feet—“these men are only the messengers -of King Aretas. What you hear are not this man’s words, -they are the King’s.”</p> -<p>“Of course I know that, Antipas; I am not entirely a fool. I -know they are the King’s words, but don’t they say that Aretas has -empowered these men to represent him in your negotiations over -me? Over me, do you hear? Negotiations designed to force me -from the palace in Tiberias, to return <i>her</i>....”</p> -<p>Gently Antipas caught his wife’s arm and tried to calm her, to -get her to take her seat. “Of course not, my dear, of course you’ll -not be sent away, you’ll never be supplanted....”</p> -<p>She jerked her arm free, turned upon him, eyes blazing now in -utter fury. “Then send them back to her doting old father! Send -them packing, Antipas!” She shook her finger under his nose. “Or -else, by all the great and little gods, I myself will go away!”</p> -<p>Antipas faced the still shocked Arabian. “Perhaps you had best -excuse yourself,” he said evenly. “Tomorrow, in the calm of our -council chamber, we shall be able....”</p> -<p>“No!” shouted Herodias. “Let them leave tonight, immediately. -I can abide their insulting presence here no longer!”</p> -<p>The Tetrarch, ignoring his wife’s outburst, beckoned to a servant -hovering nearby. “Escort these men into a suitable chamber, and -see that they are adequately provided for with our best food and -wine,” he commanded, “and after they have dined, show them to -<span class="pb" id="Page_201">201</span> -their bedchambers. They must be in need of replenishment and -rest after their arduous journey to Machaerus.” He bowed to the -delegation’s leader. “We shall defer further consideration of the -matter until the morning. We are all greatly fatigued and agitated.”</p> -<p>The servant stepped forward and bowed to the visitors. They in -turn, without any further word from their spokesman, bowed to -the Tetrarch and turned with the escorting servant to withdraw -from the triclinium.</p> -<p>Herodias, seated now and apparently calm, twisted around to -watch them depart. But when at the doorway Aretas’ spokesman -glanced over his shoulder toward the Tetrarch, she suddenly -grabbed the goblet beside her plate. “Go!” she screamed. “Go! -Go!” With all her strength she hurled the goblet toward the man; -it shattered on the wall near the door. As a servant came running -to pick up the broken bits of glass, she sank to the couch, pulled -up her sandaled feet, and, sobbing wildly, buried her face in the -pillow.</p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Judaea</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_205">205</div> -<h2 id="c32">32</h2> -<p>The Tetrarch’s caravan had reached the flatland where the narrow -Plain of Esdraelon pushing eastward between Mount Gilboa and -Little Hermon touched the Jordan valley. There Longinus and -Claudia had taken leave of the returning group.</p> -<p>Cornelius had wanted to send a detail of guardsmen to escort -them the remainder of the way to Caesarea. “You never know -when one of these zealot gangs may come swooping down on -you,” he had protested to Longinus. “And if the Emperor’s stepdaughter -should be captured, with Senator Piso’s son, and held for -ransom ... well, by Jove, Longinus, you can imagine the uproar -there’d be in Rome.”</p> -<p>But Longinus had refused the offer. He had assured Cornelius -that their little party, he, Claudia, and the two servants she had -brought with her, would join the first caravan headed toward -Caesarea; until one came along they would remain at the nearby -inn.</p> -<p>Though the Tetrarch’s parting words had been polite, he had -seemed deeply meditative, still mired in the haze of introspection -into which the startling twist of his birthday celebration had -plunged him. Nor had the results of his meeting the next day with -the representatives of King Aretas enlivened him, for though he -had yielded nothing to his former father-in-law’s demands, he -knew that the Arabians had departed in a bitter mood that for -him boded no good. That this unfortunate series of events was -known to two Roman centurions and the Procurator’s wife, and -particularly to Longinus, who had come to Machaerus on a mission -from the Prefect Sejanus whose accomplishment had been -so disastrously thwarted by the Tetrarch himself, made the situation -all the more distressing.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_206">206</div> -<p>Herodias, on the other hand, apparently had recovered completely -from the loss of presence suffered at the Tetrarch’s banquet. -She spoke with her usual polished ease. “Soon you must visit -us again at Tiberias, my dear,” she said to Claudia, as the Tetrarch’s -caravan prepared to resume its journey, “and bring Longinus -to protect you from our plundering zealots.” She smiled -pertly. “Longinus, help her arrange it. Let’s try to get together in -Jerusalem, perhaps during the Feast of Tabernacles.”</p> -<p>They had ridden at once to the inn, which sat at the edge of -the road that led from the Jordan ford straight westward past -Mount Gilboa to the Samaria highroad from Galilee.</p> -<p>“We will require two rooms,” Longinus told the proprietor, a -beak-nosed Jew with an unkempt, wine-stained beard. “The manservant -will wish to sleep near the horses; if there is a place in the -stables....”</p> -<p>“Yes, soldier”—the innkeeper had observed immediately that his -guest was wearing a Roman military uniform—“he can bed down -comfortably there. And for you and your wife”—he paused, questioning, -and Longinus nodded—“one of the larger chambers, yes, -and for the maid a smaller one, adjoining yours, perhaps?”</p> -<p>“It will not be necessary that it adjoin ours; wherever you can -conveniently place her will be satisfactory.”</p> -<p>So a small room down the narrow hallway from theirs had been -assigned to Tullia, and now the maid had retired to it, and the -manservant to a mat at the stable. Claudia and Longinus had supper -and, fatigued from the journey down from Machaerus to the -Jericho plain, they retired to their chamber.</p> -<p>Longinus, seated on a low stool, was unbuckling his sandals. “I -do hope a caravan for Caesarea comes along soon,” he said. “I’m -anxious to get there; I’m almost tempted to venture the journey -on our own. But with so many of those zealots in the hills....”</p> -<p>“Then you have tired of me this quickly, you can’t wait to return -me to the Procurator?” she asked innocently.</p> -<p>“I’m getting tired of returning you <i>to</i> the Procurator,” he said.</p> -<p>“And after every time with you I’m more loath to go back to -him myself.” The mask of innocence was gone; she was entirely -serious now. “Longinus, isn’t there something we can do, some -<span class="pb" id="Page_207">207</span> -solution? We simply can’t go on like this indefinitely.” She had -finished undressing; walking over to the bed, she pulled down -the cover, slid beneath it, and pulled it up to her chin. “By all -the gods, Longinus, there must be a better fate for us. Surely the -granddaughter of an Emperor, the stepdaughter of another Emperor....”</p> -<p>“But that’s exactly why there is a problem,” he interrupted. -“If you were just a Roman equestrian, you wouldn’t have been -forced to marry Pilate in the first place.” He kicked off one of -his sandals and twisted about to face her. “Claudia, you could -slip away from him and we could go away somewhere, but that -would hardly be a solution, though for me certainly it would be -a permanent one.” He smiled vapidly. “Also you could ask Tiberius—and -that means, of course, Sejanus, too—to permit you to -divorce him; I hardly think, however, that they would allow you -to do it, and then the situation would be worse than it is now; -they would watch us all the more and doubtless send us to separate -far distance provinces, the gods only know where.” He considered -a moment. “There’s the possibility, though—probability, I -hope—that Pilate will soon do something that will so infuriate -Sejanus that he will depose him as Procurator and perhaps banish -him to another remote province. Then they might allow you to -divorce him and marry me, provided we went off to Gaul or”—he -shrugged—“Britannia or Hispania or some other faraway place. -But I’m not sure of that.” He removed the other sandal and placed -it beside the first one. “That is probably our best chance, Claudia, -maybe our only one as long as Tiberius and Sejanus stay in power. -But even then I can’t proceed too fast against Pilate, because then -Sejanus would surely suspect that you and I....”</p> -<p>“But doesn’t he think already that you want to marry me?”</p> -<p>“At first he did, I suspect. But now I think he’s convinced that -our interest in each other is ... well, a purely physical one. And -Antipas, I’m sure, has the same notion.”</p> -<p>“Certainly Antipas isn’t likely to cause us trouble. He’s in -enough trouble himself to keep occupied with his own affairs.”</p> -<p>“Yes. Between Sejanus and Aretas he’s likely to be very busy for -the next few months. And that gets me back—after you started me -<span class="pb" id="Page_208">208</span> -on another tack—to why I’m so eager to be in Caesarea. I’ve got to -get off a report to Sejanus. I want him to hear from me what happened -at Machaerus before someone else gets the chance to tell -him. He may think my dallying allowed Antipas to behead the -Wilderness fellow, and also he may wonder why I didn’t prevent -the trouble between Antipas and Aretas from coming to such an -acute crisis. So I want to get my report off as quickly as possible, -do you understand?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I do understand. You’re quite right, it’s very important. I -wouldn’t be surprised if Antipas got into a war with Aretas because -of Herodias. And that would bring the Roman legionaries -into the fighting, of course, and surely Pilate would be drawn in, -and you.”</p> -<p>“Very probably, yes. Certainly it would involve Pilate sooner or -later. And, of course, the Legate Vitellius would be implicated. -Sejanus will certainly call on him to defend Galilee should Aretas -attack Antipas.”</p> -<p>“Then the Tetrarch’s marrying Herodias may ruin him ... and -Pilate, too,” Claudia said thoughtfully. She lay, head back, watching -him finish his preparations for bed.</p> -<p>“You sound as though you hope it will.”</p> -<p>She stretched herself seductively under the light covering. -“Well?” Her quick smile revealed a suddenly changed mood. “But -for tonight at least let’s think no more of Antipas or Pilate. Tomorrow -perhaps there’ll be a caravan along, and we’ll be starting -for Caesarea.” Gingerly she turned down the covering beside her -and held out white, bare arms to him. “Hurry, Longinus,” she -said softly. “The night is wasting.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_209">209</div> -<h2 id="c33">33</h2> -<p>Well ahead of his caravan returning to the palace at Tiberias raced -the startling and, to many, the highly provocative report of the -Tetrarch’s beheading of John the Baptist in fulfillment of a rash -promise made to his wife’s dancing daughter.</p> -<p>The delegation that had gone down to Machaerus to intercede -for the prophet’s release had brought back the tragic news; quickly -the story had spread to Jerusalem and to Ophel, the teeming -Lower City into which countless poor were squalidly compressed, -and beyond there on past the villages of Judaea and Samaria, all -the way down into Galilee. Along the shores of the little sea and -in many a huddle of modest homes, and here and there in the -pretentious houses of the rich, Israelites were shaking their heads -sadly and muttering imprecations upon the Idumaean ruler of -Galilee and Peraea.</p> -<p>With the account of the Wilderness prophet’s execution went -the story, too, of how King Aretas of Arabia had sent his couriers -to Machaerus to threaten Herod Antipas with war because of the -Tetrarch’s having divorced the King’s daughter and made her supplanter -Herodias his Tetrarchess. Soon rumors began to spread -that war with Aretas was imminent and that the Arabian ruler was -likely any day to bring his army surging across the borders of Israel -to punish his former son-in-law.</p> -<p>Even before the arrival at Caesarea of Claudia and Longinus, the -stories from Machaerus had reached the Procurator Pontius Pilate. -Their lateness, she explained to Pilate, had been unavoidable; they -had waited to join a caravan journeying westward rather than risk -the hazards of traveling with only two servants through a region -frequented by robbers and zealot revolutionaries.</p> -<p>Pilate appeared to accept without reservation her explanation; -<span class="pb" id="Page_210">210</span> -he indicated in no way that he might be jealous of the centurion. -His attitude exasperated Claudia all the more.</p> -<p>“He can’t be that stupid,” she fumed one day to Tullia, with -whom she had long come to talk frankly and in utter confidence. -“He surely knows about Longinus and me. Yet if he’s in the least -bit jealous of the centurion, he’s careful not to let me know. It’s -insulting, Tullia, his indifference to me. It’s humiliating. Why do -you suppose he acts that way?”</p> -<p>“But you are the stepdaughter of the Emperor, Mistress. What -could he do, even though he is the Procurator?”</p> -<p>“He could be a man!” Claudia snapped. “He could kill Longinus, -or try to, and give me a lashing!”</p> -<p>The maid shook her head. “No, Mistress, not even a Procurator -would dare lay a hand on you, or anyone for whom you held high -regard.”</p> -<p>“But I’m his wife, Tullia.”</p> -<p>“Yes, but you are also the Emperor’s stepdaughter, Mistress.”</p> -<p>Immediately upon their return to Caesarea from Machaerus, -Longinus had prepared a comprehensive report to Sejanus in which -he related the unfortunate events that had come to such a dramatic -climax at the Tetrarch’s birthday banquet. The message was -dispatched to Rome on an Alexandrian grain ship that had paused -for a day in the harbor at Caesarea.</p> -<p>In the several weeks that followed he saw little of Claudia. During -that period he went on a mission for Sergius Paulus to Jerusalem -and upon his return took command while Sergius was away -at Antioch in response to a summons from the Legate Vitellius, -who commanded the Roman forces in that entire eastern region. -Sergius, Longinus was sure, had been ordered to Antioch because -of the Arabian king’s threat to attack Herod Antipas. The Legate, -he reasoned, was planning to have his forces ready for action in -the event that Aretas should challenge Rome by sending his army -against the Tetrarch. The centurion presumed that Vitellius had -summoned all military leaders stationed in Galilee—and possibly -even the Tetrarch himself—to meet him at Antioch. Longinus -learned that his guesswork had been correct; the meeting had -<span class="pb" id="Page_211">211</span> -been held, and the Legate, Sergius said, had been blunt in his -conversations with the Tetrarch.</p> -<p>Shortly after the Caesarea garrison commander resumed his post, -a message from Senator Piso for his son arrived. It instructed Longinus -to set out as quickly as he could for the glassworks. Production -had decreased, and the quality of the ware being manufactured -was deteriorating. Morale among the slaves, his father -reported, seemed at its lowest point. Longinus was to do whatever -might be necessary to speed up the plant’s production and improve -the quality of the glassware. The Prefect, his father added, -was in complete concurrence with these instructions. A fresh supply -of slaves, said the senator, was being sent out to Phoenicia by -the Prefect; the slaves were being shipped aboard a government -trireme that was leaving Rome within a week after the vessel bearing -this letter would sail for Joppa. Longinus, the letter suggested, -might even go aboard this letter-bearing vessel when it put in at -Caesarea.</p> -<p>Little had happened in Rome since his departure for Palestine, -his father reported. The Emperor was still at Capri, and Sejanus -was directing the government of the Empire. His mother sent her -love; she was quite well, though of late she had been disturbed at -the indisposition of her little Maltese dog. But the animal, thanks -be to Jove and the patient ministrations of Longinus’ mother, was -now recovered.</p> -<p>“Try to achieve as quickly as possible a new production record -at the glassworks,” his father concluded. The Prefect was keeping -an eye on the figures, and it would be good business to earn the -Prefect’s early approval. “Don’t spare the slaves; they are the -cheapest item in the operational cost; replacements can be made -quickly available.”</p> -<p>His eyes scanned the letter, hardly seeing the words. Ever the -patrician Romans, his parents ... his mother concerned with -the indisposition of that pampered, silken-haired pet, his father -thinking only of pleasing Sejanus and building up for the Prefect -and himself more millions of sesterces. Don’t spare the slaves; the -life of a slave is the cheapest item in the production of beautiful -glassware for the tables of patrician Rome and Alexandria and -<span class="pb" id="Page_212">212</span> -Antioch and Athens. Work them until they fall dead, and heave -them into the flaming furnaces.</p> -<p>Longinus thought of the old slave. What would Cornelius think -of his father’s letter, his father’s philosophy? But Cornelius’ father, -too, is of the equestrian class; perhaps he shares the views of -Senator Piso. Cornelius, of course, would disapprove. He would -say that men are not the cheapest items in the making of glassware -or anything else. He would hold with the Galilean carpenter -that every man, Roman senator or Gallic slave or black savage from -Ethiopia, is a son of that jealous Yahweh of the Jews and possessor -of an immortal spirit.</p> -<p>And I, suddenly thought Longinus, do I hold with my father or -with Cornelius and the Galilean?</p> -<p>The day after Herod’s birthday banquet Cornelius had related -to him in dramatic detail what he contended was the Galilean’s -miraculous healing of Lucian, but Longinus had shrugged off his -friend’s fervor with the observation that once more, as in the case -of Chuza’s son, the clever carpenter from Nazareth had successfully -judged the hour at which the fever would break.</p> -<p>Of course his urbane, affluent father, rather than his Jewish-influenced -friend the centurion and the Galilean mystic, was right. -Even without using a stylus and tablet one can prove that a slave -is the cheapest of the several things involved in the making of -fine glassware; his father’s statement to that effect was quickly -demonstrable. And yet....</p> -<p>Longinus shrugged and put away the letter. The ship, he discovered -some moments later, would be at the Caesarea port only -long enough to load supplies and freight; it would sail for Tyre -within four or five hours.</p> -<p>He packed quickly and sent his bags to the dock to be put -aboard. Then he rushed to the Procurator’s Palace to tell Pilate -and his wife good-by. Happily, the Procurator had gone out. But -Longinus could have only a few minutes with Claudia.</p> -<p>“I won’t be up in Phoenicia long,” he reassured her. “It -shouldn’t take many days before I get the operation of the plant -reorganized. And even before I finish the task, if I find it takes -longer than I now think it will, I may be able to board a vessel -<span class="pb" id="Page_213">213</span> -and come down here for a visit. Claudia, why couldn’t you arrange -a journey”—his tone was eager—“over to Tiberias for another stay -in the Tetrarch’s Palace? That is, if in the meantime”—his grin -lightened the tenseness of the moment—“Aretas hasn’t driven -him and Herodias away? But if they’re still around, well, then I -could just by chance select that same time to visit Cornelius.”</p> -<p>When he could stay with her no longer she summoned the -palace sedan-chair bearers and rode with him down to the dock. -After he had embarked and the ship was moving across the harbor -to gain the open sea beyond the long breakwater, she stepped -again into the sedan chair and was borne to the palace.</p> -<h2 id="c34">34</h2> -<p>But the biting, sharp winds of spring, sweeping down from the -mountains of Judah across the lower Shefelah and the region of -the coast, had subsided into the still and enervating heat of summer, -and the Centurion Longinus had not yet returned to his post.</p> -<p>Nor had Claudia received any message from him. Sergius Paulus, -too, had heard nothing, as she found when on several occasions -she had discreetly inquired about the centurion. The Procurator’s -wife began to wonder if Longinus had been recalled to Rome and -sent away by Sejanus on a mission to some remote province of the -Empire, perhaps even as far, the gods forbid, as Brittania.</p> -<p>Then one day in late summer Cornelius appeared at the Procurator’s -Palace. Pilate, it happened, had ridden down the coast -to Joppa; Claudia and the centurion could talk freely. Hardly were -they seated on the terrace overlooking the Great Sea when she -confronted him, eyes solemnly inquiring, her forehead wrinkled.</p> -<p>“Cornelius, what can have happened to Longinus? I haven’t -had a word from him or concerning him since he left here for the -glassworks so many weeks ago. I can’t understand....”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_214">214</div> -<p>“You’ve no cause to be worried,” he interrupted, laughing. “He -is still at the glassworks, or at any rate he was when I was there -recently. He’s been working hard. The plant had deteriorated considerably; -he said it required more work than he had anticipated -to restore its operation to normal. He’s been hoping all along to -get back to Caesarea to see you, but he just hasn’t had the opportunity. -And he thought it best not to send any written messages; -unfortunately, there’s been no one coming this way with whom -he dared entrust a spoken one ... except for me, of course. He -gave me a message for you, but I’ve been delayed getting here. He -thinks you heard from him weeks ago.”</p> -<p>“And what was the message he sent?”</p> -<p>“Just what I’ve told you.” He grinned. “That he was well, working -hard, and hoped he would soon be in position to return to -Caesarea.”</p> -<p>“That was all?”</p> -<p>“Should there have been more?” His eyes were teasing. “Yes, he -said to tell you that as far as he was concerned, nothing has -changed. He’s still looking to the future. Is that the message you -sought?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and expected. And should you see him before I do, you -may tell him that my message to him is the same. But, Cornelius”—her -expression suddenly was earnest, almost pained—“things -move so slowly; the future seems so far ahead, and the waiting is -so long.”</p> -<p>“Maybe not, Claudia. Maybe just around the turn of the road -you’ll....”</p> -<p>“But I can see no turn.”</p> -<p>“The situation out here just now is so explosive that any moment -could bring great changes,” he insisted, “and overnight the -problem you and Longinus have could be solved. Pilate and Herod -both could lose their favored positions and, conceivably, their -heads. And speaking of Herod reminds me that I was to give -you another message, too.”</p> -<p>“From whom, Herodias?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“She wants me to return with you to Tiberias?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_215">215</div> -<p>“No, not that. But she does want you to meet her in Jerusalem -in October at the Feast of Tabernacles. Pilate undoubtedly will go -again this year, and Herod too; after beheading the Wilderness -prophet and possibly involving Galilee in a war with Aretas, Antipas -will surely want to go up to the Temple to worship the -Jewish Yahweh; it’s the only way left—aside from dropping Herodias—for -him to strengthen himself with his subjects.” He paused -and leaned forward, smiling. “I’ll have to take my century up to -Jerusalem, Claudia, as I do on all such occasions when multitudes -of Jews assemble there, and I’ll try to bring Longinus over to -Tiberias to make the journey to Jerusalem with me. If you’ll -promise to join us there, I’m sure I can promise you I’ll have the -centurion with me when I come.”</p> -<h2 id="c35">35</h2> -<p>Almost overnight Jerusalem had been transformed.</p> -<p>Through the long drought of the summer months the ancient -city had grown more drab with the deepening of fine dust upon -its houses, its public buildings, and even upon the resplendent -Temple itself.</p> -<p>But now, with the coming of autumn and the annual great -Feast of Tabernacles, Jerusalem had bloomed into a veritable forest -of greenery. As far as Claudia could see from her perch high on a -balcony of the Tower of Antonia—down into the adjoining -Temple area, along the terraced rise of Mount Zion, southward -to sweltering Ophel and beyond the always smoking gehenna of -Hinnom’s vale to the bluffs above it on the Bethlehem road, and -eastward past the Brook Kidron and the Garden of Gethsemane -up the slope of the Mount of Olives—stretched an almost unbroken -canopy of green boughs now beginning to wilt. Balconies, -roof tops, the grounds about the Temple walls, every unfilled -<span class="pb" id="Page_216">216</span> -small plot of the cluttered soil of Jewry’s holy city, were covered -with these improvised, temporary dwellings.</p> -<p>The Feast of Tabernacles, Tullia had explained to her mistress, -was the Hebrew festival marking the end of the harvesting season -and the early beginning of the rains. It was an occasion of national -thanksgiving to Yahweh, one that commemorated the Israelites’ -years of wandering in the desert wilderness where, after their escape -from Egyptian bondage, under the leadership of their great law-giver -Moses, they had dwelt in booths—they called them tabernacles—made -of branches hastily woven together.</p> -<p>“And to this day,” Tullia had concluded, “in accordance with -the instructions in our sacred writings, every Jew during the Feast -of Tabernacles must leave his house and for eight days live in a -hut made of the branches of pine or myrtle or olive or palm.” -The festival occasion, she further pointed out, was one of rejoicing -for Yahweh’s deliverance of His children from slavery and His -establishment of them in their promised land. To honor Yahweh, -the celebrants would offer sacrifices each day and follow a prescribed -order of worship and praise and thanksgiving. These ceremonies, -Tullia declared, were carried out in great dignity and with -reverence. Nothing she had ever seen in Rome, the maid was certain, -would excel them in pageantry.</p> -<p>“Mistress,” she pleaded, “why don’t you move from the Palace -of the Herods for a day or two to the Procurator’s apartment in -the Tower of Antonia? From there you could look down on the -ceremonial rites being performed at the Temple, and no one would -need know that you were watching. And though it would have no -interest to you as a service of worship, it should prove entertaining -in the same way that the theater in Rome is diverting.”</p> -<p>“It might be amusing at that,” Claudia had agreed. “And -there’s nothing else to do in Jerusalem anyway. But how is it, -Tullia,” she asked, and her expression clearly revealed her puzzlement, -“that you know so much about these festival customs? Even -if your forebears were Jewish, you were brought up in Rome, and -surely you couldn’t have learned all this at the synagogue on -Janiculum Hill.”</p> -<p>“But, Mistress, through the years I have read our sacred scriptures, -<span class="pb" id="Page_217">217</span> -and I have heard much talk of our laws and customs. And -you must know that an Israelite, though he may never set foot in -Israel, if he is a true child of the faith, is loyal to our one God.”</p> -<p>“I know little about Israelites or their Yahweh, and I care less -about either”—she smiled—“except for you, and I have never considered -you a Jew except perhaps by blood. But as for loyalty, by -all the gods, little one, I know you are loyal to me, just as your -mother was to mine. All this Yahweh and Temple business, -though, confuses rather than interests me. To me it seems the -sheerest nonsense. How could any being worthy of being called a -god appreciate the sight of poor cattles’ throats being slit; how -could he enjoy the smell of warm blood and broiling fat? Certainly -it nauseates me.”</p> -<p>“I have wondered that myself, Mistress,” Tullia answered. “But -I believe He is pleased because we are seeking to please Him, even -though our form of worship may not be too pleasing. Do you -understand me, Mistress?”</p> -<p>“Yes, but I believe still that your worship is nothing more than -superstition, just as our worship of the innumerable Roman and -Greek gods is superstition. But”—she reached over and gently -pinched the slave girl’s cheek—“I’ll do as you suggest; I’ll venture -to watch the ceremonial at the Temple, and you can tell me what -they are doing.”</p> -<p>So they had gone up to Antonia and from the balcony had -watched the busy movement of the priests and the assembled -throngs, many of them pilgrims returned from every province in -the Empire, as these earnest Israelites performed the traditional -rites of the ancient festival of worship. On her first morning, -Claudia had arisen early and had stepped out onto the balcony. -The sun was just lifting above the Mount of Olives, but already -the Temple was astir, and pilgrims in their many colored robes -were swarming into the Court of the Gentiles, the nearer Court -of the Women, and the other more sacred precincts permitted to -them. In their hands they carried leafed branches.</p> -<p>Claudia stared in rapt fascination at the spectacle below. As she -leaned out over the balcony, she scarcely heard Tullia’s footsteps -approaching behind her.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_218">218</div> -<p>“Good morning, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“Good morning,” Claudia replied, turning to greet the girl. She -pointed downward. “You were right about this offering much in -the way of entertainment. It’s nearly as good as our Roman -games.”</p> -<p>Tullia laughed. “Who knows, perhaps you, too, Mistress, may -become a convert to our ways.”</p> -<p>“Hardly.” Claudia shook her head with a wry smile. Then she -turned and looked thoughtfully down again at the bustling crowds -in the Temple courts. “There’s one thing in particular, you know, -that I can’t understand about the Jewish religion, little one.” The -half-smile had been replaced by a perplexed frown. “Unless I’m -mistaken, the Jews contend that their Yahweh is all-powerful, -that he’s the only god there is, and that he rules over all peoples; -yet they call him the God of Israel and seem to believe that he -has no interest in anyone else. Down there, for example”—she -pointed toward the Temple—“there are signs warning foreigners -not to enter, under pain of death, certain of the sacred places. -How do the Jews explain that? It seems to me that they make -their Yahweh a sort of tribal god, one having less authority even -than our Jupiter. If Yahweh is the god of all the world, how can -the Jews claim him as exclusively theirs? And on the other hand, -if he is the god and father of all peoples, doesn’t that make all -peoples brothers?” She shrugged. “I see little sense to ... all -this.” She broke off with a quick sweep of her hand toward the -procession of priests and pilgrims moving down the slope toward -the waters of Siloam.</p> -<p>“They do say that such is the teaching of Jesus, that our Yahweh -is the father of all peoples, even the pagans who have never heard -of Him, that....”</p> -<p>“Jesus?”</p> -<p>“The Galilean. The carpenter, Mistress, of whom the Prophet -John declared himself to be the forerunner, you know. He’s been -teaching down there at the Temple; he came up from Galilee, -though he wasn’t here at the beginning of the feast, it was said. -The priests are bitter toward him, especially Annas and Caiaphas -and the Temple leaders; they say he is corrupting our religion.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_219">219</div> -<p>“Hah! Annas and Caiaphas talk of corruption! I should think -they wouldn’t have the nerve. But have you seen this Galilean, -little one?”</p> -<p>“No, Mistress, but I should like to. They say he speaks with -great charm and clarity.”</p> -<p>“By the gods, I would like to hear him myself. He’s the one, -isn’t he, who Cornelius contends healed his little servant boy? -Maybe we could prevail on him to do some other feats of magic.”</p> -<p>“But his followers, so I hear, deny that he works magic. They -say he does such things of his own power and authority, as the -Messiah of God.”</p> -<p>“So Cornelius believes, according to Longinus; he thinks the -Galilean is a man-god and that he really healed the little boy, but -Longinus wasn’t that naïve. I wish Longinus were here to see -the carpenter and hear his discoursing; I’d like to know <i>his</i> opinion -of the man.”</p> -<p>But Longinus was not in Jerusalem. Cornelius had failed in his -promise to bring the centurion to the Feast of Tabernacles. Hardly -a week before they were to leave Tiberias, Cornelius had received -a message from Longinus saying that the Prefect Sejanus had sent -him instructions to board ship at Tyre for Antioch, where he -would have business with the Legate Vitellius. What the nature -of the business was, Cornelius told Claudia, had not been revealed. -Nor had Longinus indicated how long he would be away. Had she -known he would not be in the Judaean capital, Claudia told her -maid, she herself would have remained in the provincial capital -on the coast. That would have given her two weeks of freedom -from Pontius Pilate, at any rate, for Pilate, with a maniple of -soldiers and a retinue of servants, had come up with her to the -festival and would probably remain in Jerusalem until the final -ceremonies were completed and all the withered booths had been -removed.</p> -<p>In late afternoon the Procurator’s wife ate an early dinner, and -as the sun dropped behind the western walls, she stood again with -Tullia at the balcony’s parapet and looked down upon the animated -movement within the Temple’s courts.</p> -<p>“See, Mistress!” Tullia pointed. “They all carry unlighted -<span class="pb" id="Page_220">220</span> -torches. It will be beautiful, the illumination of the Temple. This -is the great event of the festival; it is called the ‘Joy of the Feast.’ -When the sun goes down, a watchman on the western wall of -the Temple will give the signal and the candelabra will be lighted. -See how high they are, perhaps thirty cubits. The light from them -will illuminate the whole Temple area. It will be like nothing you -have seen, Mistress!”</p> -<p>“Yes, Bona Dea, I agree it will be different. And in Jerusalem, -Tullia, you’re different. I do believe I’ve never before seen you -so excited.”</p> -<p>The service began with a great company of priests and Levites -alternating in the antiphonal chant of the Psalms and other sacred -Hebrew scriptures. Then, as the shadows lengthened and the quick -murk of descending night began to envelop the vast edifice and -the thousands massed within it, one of the priests, bearing a long -lighted taper, moved through the Court of the Priests and down -the steps to the Court of the Women.</p> -<p>“Look, Mistress! See the priest carrying the lighted taper,” -Tullia said, her enthusiasm mounting. “With it he will light the -great candelabra.”</p> -<p>The advancing priest paused. “Arise, shine!” his voice suddenly -rang out, “for thy Light is come! And the glory of the Lord is -risen upon thee!” Deliberately, with all eyes upon him, he lighted -first the central candle in the great stand, and then as quickly as -he could with the uplifted long taper he touched the flickering -flame to each of the three on either side of the central one; when -he had finished his task before the first great candelabrum, he -crossed with measured tread to the other and lighted it. As he -touched the last candle and the flame caught, a great welling up -of excited, triumphant song was lifted to the two on the balcony -above, one the pagan daughter of Roman emperors and the other, -her slave maid, daughter of ancient and buffeted Israel.</p> -<p>“What does the song mean, Tullia?” Claudia asked. “It seems -to have a tone of triumph, of victory. Yet how can the people of -Israel boast of their victories, if that is what they are doing?”</p> -<p>“It <i>is</i> a song of triumph, Mistress,” she replied. “It speaks, like -the Feast of Tabernacles itself does, of the days when our fathers -<span class="pb" id="Page_221">221</span> -were led by the God of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. The song -recalls, like the flaming candelabra, the long and wearisome journey -upward into the promised land when the pillar of cloud led by -day and the pillar of fire by night. It is more of the lore of our -people. But look! The procession of light is beginning! See the -torches!”</p> -<p>First came the Levites. In procession they passed the flaming -candelabra, and as each man came opposite the blazing, darting -fire, he mounted the steps, lifted high his torch, and touched it to -the flame. Soon the torches of the Levites, followed by those of the -pilgrims, had transformed the entire mountain of the Temple into -a blaze of fire.</p> -<p>For a long moment, silent, Claudia stood at the balcony’s parapet -and studied the procession of torchbearers; their voices, raised -in song, filled the night. “It’s amazing,” she said finally. “I’ve -always thought that the Jewish religion had no joy in it; I thought -it was the worship of a stern, vengeful, morose god who was quick -to punish any violator of his strict and senseless laws, who demanded -bloody sacrifices and fasting and permitted no indulgence -in pleasures. But these Jews seem to be having a grand time, almost -as though they were devotees of Isis or Moloch.”</p> -<p>“Yes, but without the orgies of Isis and Moloch,” Tullia explained. -“Many persons who are not of our faith do have that -opinion of the God of Israel. But we believe that although He is -stern and demands that we uphold His laws, He is also a loving -God who wants His people to be happy. Some will be dancing -here as long as their torches burn, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“Well, you may stay out and watch them as long as you like, -Tullia, but I’m going to bed.”</p> -<p>“One more thing, Mistress,” the slave girl asked. “If I may, I -should like at sunrise tomorrow to slip down into the Temple -courts for the early service.”</p> -<p>“Of course, little one,” Claudia smiled. “But be careful. And -perhaps it would be best if you made no mention of being in the -Procurator’s household.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_222">222</div> -<h2 id="c36">36</h2> -<p>Faintly at first and from afar off the silvery notes of a trumpet -floated into her bedchamber. As she seemed to rise slowly upward -out of a deep cavern of slumber, she sensed a stirring beside her.</p> -<p>“The morning watch at Castra Praetoria,” he said, as in the dim -light of breaking day he raised himself on an elbow to look into -her face, “and I have early duty.”</p> -<p>“But, Longinus,” she began a murmured protest, “must you forever -be leaving...?”</p> -<p>“Today is very important,” he went on, unheeding. “I must -meet the Prefect there to begin our journey down to Capri for an -audience with the Emperor. Sejanus is going to recommend that -Tiberius recall Pontius Pilate and banish him to Gaul and then -name me as Procurator. But you are not to go with him into banishment. -Instead, you will marry me and....”</p> -<p>“By all the gods! Longinus! Oh, by the Bountiful Mother! So -long have we waited....”</p> -<p>She sat up from her pillow. The light was seeping through the -narrow window beyond the foot of the bed; the chamber was -bursting now with the sound of trumpets. Sleepily, though she -was fast coming awake, she felt for the centurion and sought to -hold on to the dream, but she knew he was not there. And in a -moment’s hush between the trumpetings she heard from the room -adjoining hers, through the doorway connecting the chambers, the -sonorous, heavy snoring of Pontius Pilate.</p> -<p>“Tullia!” she called, keeping her voice down. But the door to -the maid’s smaller chamber on the side opposite the Procurator’s -was open; she had hardly expected Tullia to be there. The trumpets -below were calling Israel to the sunrise worship, and somewhere -in the milling throng of Jerusalem dwellers and pilgrims -was her devoted maid.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_223">223</div> -<p>She pushed down the covering, swung her feet around to the -floor, and stood up. Drawing her robe about her, she stepped into -her sandals and tiptoed out onto the balcony. Down below in -the Temple courts a few torches sputtered sporadically in the -strengthening light, and several still burning in the two giant -candelabra offered more twisting blue-black smoke than illumination.</p> -<p>But there was a glory in the east; behind the rounded crest of -the Mount of Olives a giant hand spread fingers of orange and -gold and salmon and pink, and as the aureole fanned out higher -and wider and its vivid colors swam together in one blazing -brightness, the sun ventured to peek above the hilltop. In that -instant the golden dome of the Temple flamed, and the topmost -stones around the city’s western wall caught fire.</p> -<p>A blast of trumpets, silvery, melodious, triumphant, saluted the -sun’s rising. And then another, and another. Looking down into -the Court of the Priests, from which the sound had come, Claudia -saw two lavishly caparisoned priests, carrying trumpets and walking -abreast, marching toward the lower Court of the Women. -They were going down the steps between the two courts when -suddenly they paused and, lifting their instruments to their lips, -once again blew three blasts. Then they moved austerely down -the remaining steps and into the court, where they paused and -blew three blasts again.</p> -<p>“Can they be sun worshipers, by all the gods?” Claudia murmured -as she watched the priests offering what appeared to be -homage to the newly risen monarch of the heavens.</p> -<p>The two priests, pacing steadily eastward through the great -Court of the Women, stopped near its center and once more blew -sharp blasts and then, lowering their trumpets, marched straight -toward the Beautiful Gate, the eastern entrance to the court. But -before the huge portal they stopped and faced about, so that now -their backs were toward the sun.</p> -<p>“Our fathers, who worshiped likewise in this place, turned their -backs upon the sanctuary of the Lord and their faces to the sun,” -they said in chorus, and the words came up distinctly to Claudia, -<span class="pb" id="Page_224">224</span> -who was able to understand their meaning though she could not -comprehend their significance. “But our eyes are turned toward -the Lord!”</p> -<p>“Then at least they do not worship the sun,” she said to herself, -“although I look upon the sun as being more godlike than their -puny spirit one god.”</p> -<p>She stood another moment watching the pageantry below; then -her eyes swept beyond the Temple walls to survey the tabernacled -city and the area outside its protective walls. Today, she remembered, -would see the ending of the Jewish autumn festival, the -Israelites’ traditional Feast of Tabernacles. And it was well that it -should. Already the little green bough shelters were beginning to -wilt in the October sun. The pageantry, too, must be losing its -luster, even to the people of Israel.</p> -<p><i>... And Longinus could not come to Jerusalem....</i></p> -<p>Turning from the parapet, she crossed the balcony and entered -her chamber. Taking off her robe, she slipped back into the inviting -warmth of the bed.</p> -<h2 id="c37">37</h2> -<p>The opening of the bedchamber door awakened Claudia; she sat -up in bed.</p> -<p>“I’m sorry, Mistress,” Tullia said apologetically as she closed the -door behind her. “I thought perhaps you had gone out.”</p> -<p>“It’s all right. I’ve slept enough. Those early trumpets awoke -me, and I went out on the balcony and watched the services beginning. -That was probably just a short while after you left. Then -I came back to bed. But why have you returned so soon? Surely -that water-pouring ceremony isn’t finished yet.” She paused and -studied the slave maid. “By the gods, Tullia, something’s happened. -<span class="pb" id="Page_225">225</span> -I can see stars in your eyes. And you’re all out of breath; -you’ve been running. Quickly, tell me, what is it?”</p> -<p>“Oh, Mistress,” Tullia burst out happily, “he’s down there! He’s -down there right now, in the Court of the Gentiles. I ran back -to tell you.”</p> -<p>“Longinus!” Claudia scrambled to her feet.</p> -<p>The stars dimmed. “I’m sorry, Mistress, I hadn’t meant to disappoint -you. But yesterday you said you’d like to see him....”</p> -<p>“The Galilean?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mistress, and he’s down there right now. Do you remember -that woman who came with the Tetrarch Herod to Rome, the -beautiful one called Mary of Magdala?”</p> -<p>“Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”</p> -<p>“I was in the Court of the Women, Mistress, during the early -service, when I came upon her. I recognized her, and I knew she -was a follower of the Galilean. So I asked her to tell me if he had -come to the Feast. She said he had and that even then he was in -the Court of the Gentiles over near the Shushan Gate; today, she -said, he would be teaching there, no doubt as soon as the service -of the water pouring is finished. Soon the procession will return -from the Pool of Siloam; it may be that it’s already back. If you’d -like to eat, Mistress, and then go down to the Court of the -Gentiles....”</p> -<p>“But I need not eat just this minute, Tullia. We’ll go now. -Here,” she said, holding out her robe, “help me get dressed. I -really would like to see that man and hear him speak”—she smiled—“and -witness any feats of magic he might be prevailed upon to -perform.” But quickly her expression sobered. “Tullia, you’ll have -to fix me so that no one would even dream he was looking at the -Procurator’s wife.”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mistress, but a veil and simple stola will serve that purpose.”</p> -<p>Claudia peeked into the adjoining bedchamber. It was empty. -“Pilate no doubt has gone to the Praetorium,” she said. “He -needn’t know I’m going down into the Temple precincts.”</p> -<p>With Tullia’s aid, she dressed, and they descended to the -ground level and went out through the great vaulted doorway on -<span class="pb" id="Page_226">226</span> -the south side of the Tower. A moment later the two women, -heavily veiled, entered the Temple enclosure through the North -Gate of Asuppim and headed toward the Soreg, a lacy latticework -of carefully carved and interwoven stones four and a half feet -high surrounding the Temple itself. From there they turned left -and strode eastward through the vast Court of the Gentiles with -its jam of worshipers and the idly curious.</p> -<p>“Mary said that he usually sits over there”—Tullia pointed -toward the cloisters along the eastern wall of the Temple—“near -the Shushan Gate.” The Shushan Gate was at the northern end -of the wall, directly east of the Beautiful Gate. Steps led up from -the Court of the Gentiles to the Chel, a corridor running between -the Soreg and the walls of the Temple proper, in which sat the -resplendent, great Shushan Gate. The Court of the Women, in -turn, was several feet higher than the Chel. At the western end -of the Court of the Women, centering the wall, was another large -opening, the Gate of Nicanor, and directly west of this gate and -on a still more uplifted platform, stood the Great Altar. A person -at the Gate of Shushan could look above marble steps ascending -from one court level to another to the priests performing their -orders before this tremendous and imposing pyramidal altar of -burnt offerings.</p> -<p>As Claudia and Tullia neared the eastern end of the Soreg they -could see the Shushan Gate, but no group was knotted about it. -They could look across the cloister and out through the gate to -the rise of the Mount of Olives beyond the Brook Kidron far -below. “He’s not there,” Tullia said, her tone revealing disappointment. -“Perhaps he went with the procession to the Pool of Siloam -and has not yet returned. Surely he will be here soon.”</p> -<p>But as they turned the corner to their left, the two women saw -a motley throng pushed together in a half circle about the steps -that led up to the Chel. “Maybe Jesus is there,” Tullia exclaimed, -keeping her voice low, for now they were nearing the outer edge -of this crowd. She turned to confront a lean and bearded tall -Israelite. “We have just come here,” she said. “We wonder why -all these people are gathered about. Is some rabbi expounding the -law?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_227">227</div> -<p>“Yes, the Galilean whom some hold to be the Messiah of God. -The priests and the scholars have been trying to confuse him, but -he has thrown their words back into their teeth.”</p> -<p>They moved forward into the outer fringe of the group and -eased their steps toward the man sitting before the Beautiful Gate -until soon they had an unobstructed view of him. From where -they stood they could also see through the wide portals of the -Beautiful Gate across the Court of the Women and the Gate of -Nicanor to the Great Altar, upon which the High Priest Caiaphas, -with two other Temple dignitaries assisting him, had tipped the -golden ewer of water from the Pool of Siloam as a libation to -Yahweh. Many of those now listening to the discourse of the -Galilean had been present for the ceremonies of the water pouring, -including a small knot of lavishly robed Israelites whom Tullia -immediately recognized as the men who had been attempting to -confound Jesus with their hate-inspired but politely phrased questions.</p> -<p>Evidently one of these men, a stout Pharisee from the looks of -his garb, had just so challenged the Galilean. But if Jesus was -perturbed, he did not indicate it. He was speaking calmly, and his -resonant but gentle Galilean Aramaic came clearly to them above -the din of the cattle in the stalls along the northern cloisters. “He -doesn’t speak with the fire and thunder of that Wilderness -prophet,” Claudia observed in whispered comment. “He seems not -to be the fanatical type, and I’m surprised. He’s handsome, too, -and I’m even more surprised at that. I thought he would be another -lean and burnt, arm-waving, shouting fanatic, one with a -long messy beard, flaming eyes, and soiled clothing—a generally -anemic look. But this one’s a strong fellow, though his manner’s -gentle enough. Even so, there’s something odd about this. I wonder....”</p> -<p>But suddenly she stopped speaking, for the rabbi had raised -his bronzed hand, long forefinger extended, to point to one of the -Pharisees who had been questioning him. “You say that I am but -testifying to myself and that therefore my testimony is invalid. -But I say unto you, my brother, that my testimony is valid. Is it -not written in the law that the testimony of two witnesses establishes -<span class="pb" id="Page_228">228</span> -the fact? Then my testimony is true, for I bear witness and -likewise my Father that sent me bears witness. That makes two -witnesses; that establishes the truthfulness of the testimony I have -borne.”</p> -<p>“Who is this father of whom he speaks?” asked a man standing -near the two women. “Is he not the son of a carpenter of Nazareth -long dead? How then does he say that his father’s testimony corroborates -his own?”</p> -<p>“He’s not speaking of his natural father,” another man standing -near-by replied. “He means the God of Israel as his father.”</p> -<p>“But isn’t that blasphemy? How can a man call himself the son -of Israel’s God?”</p> -<p>“But if indeed he is the Messiah....” The second man paused, -his hand on the questioner’s arm, for Jesus had arisen and, turning, -was pointing toward the high altar before the Holy of Holies. -“Behold, I am the water of life! If any man thirst, let him come -unto me and drink.” The Galilean spoke in calm tones but with -warmth of feeling, and in the pause that followed none of his -hearers spoke. Again he pointed, this time toward the giant candelabra -below the Gate of Nicanor in the Court of the Women; -last night the great court and all the environs of the Temple had -been ablaze with light from the candelabra and the hundreds of -flaming torches. “I am the light of the world!” he declared. “He -that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the -light of life!”</p> -<p>Claudia nudged her maid. “What does he mean, Tullia?” she -whispered.</p> -<p>“I’m not sure I know, Mistress,” the girl answered. “But I take -it he’s using a kind of symbolism that the Jews can understand. -He must be referring to the ceremony of water pouring and to -last night’s illumination of the Temple.”</p> -<p>But the carping Pharisees and the other Temple leaders pretended -likewise not to understand.</p> -<p>“The water of life, the light of the world. And your father -being a witness to the truthfulness of the testimony you present. -These things are incomprehensible to us,” one of them declared. -“Rabbi, wasn’t your father a carpenter in Galilee? And where is he -<span class="pb" id="Page_229">229</span> -to support your witness? Isn’t he dead? How then can you say -that you and your father make two witnesses? We have not seen -your father, nor have we heard him speak.”</p> -<p>“You speak the truth when you say that you have not seen my -Father.” His voice was calm, even gentle, but his eyes were filled -with fire. “Neither have you seen me. For if you had seen me, you -would likewise have seen my Father, for the Father is in me and -I am in the Father. My Father and I are one.”</p> -<p>“Is he speaking of the God of Israel as his father?” A portly -Pharisee near the two women had turned to speak with one of his -colleagues. “Is that the meaning of his strange utterance?”</p> -<p>“I think so.”</p> -<p>“Blasphemy!” declared the questioner. “He makes himself one -with God!”</p> -<p>But Jesus had heard.</p> -<p>“No,” he declared, looking the fat one full in the face. “Only -truth. And if you knew me and were willing to live by my teaching, -you would know the truth, and the truth would make you -free. You would not walk in darkness, but in the light of the world, -in the fullness of life.”</p> -<p>“But, Rabbi, we are free. We are children of Abraham. We are -not slaves. How can you say that we would be made free? We have -never been slaves to any man.”</p> -<p>“Any man who sins is a slave, and no slave is a son of the house; -yet if the son of the house sets him free, he is no longer a slave.”</p> -<p>“But we <i>are</i> sons of Abraham. We are no bastards. We are the -children of the God of Israel.”</p> -<p>Jesus leveled his forefinger at the protesting Pharisee. “No, you -are not the sons of the Father; you are rather sons of the Evil One, -for he is the enemy of truth and you likewise are its enemies.” His -words were uttered in calmness, but they were emphatic, and his -eyes flashed. “You will neither hear the truth nor comprehend it.”</p> -<p>“But, Rabbi, you must be mad.”</p> -<p>Jesus smiled, and Claudia, who had been watching him in complete -fascination since her first sight of him, thought she detected a -hint of restrained amusement in his dark eyes. “No,” he said, “I -<span class="pb" id="Page_230">230</span> -am not mad; I speak the truth, and whoever lives by the truth, my -brother, will not even see death.”</p> -<p>“But haven’t all the fathers in ages before—Abraham, Isaac, -Jacob, Isaiah, all the righteous ones of old—haven’t they all met -death? Then how can you say that others will not die?”</p> -<p>“I dare say, he is not speaking of physical death,” Tullia whispered. -“It’s obvious he’s referring to the afterlife of the spirit. -But these sniveling Pharisees don’t even want to understand him.”</p> -<p>Yet Jesus did not answer the Temple leader, for in the rear of -the press about him a commotion had arisen and the Galilean had -turned from the questioning Pharisee to look out over the heads -of the people now craning their necks to see the cause of the -tumult. The questioner and his little knot had turned, too; the -Galilean’s inquisitor, Tullia surmised, was quite willing for the exchange -to be ended, for he had not been faring well in matching -wits and words with the tall one from Nazareth.</p> -<p>Tullia and Claudia, too, had twisted about to look eastward -toward the sounds that so precipitately had disturbed the strangely -inspiriting discourse and the carping questions of the Nazarene’s -challengers. In that same instant they saw, out in front of the -gate of Shushan, several coarse men half-dragging, half-carrying a -bedraggled Jewish woman toward the throng ringed about Jesus. -As the crowd opened a lane inward to the Galilean, the men -rushed the poor creature toward him and savagely thrust her to -the ground at his feet. A man who had been walking in the rear -of the pitiful procession, whom Tullia took to be a minor Temple -priest, stepped in front of Jesus.</p> -<p>“Rabbi, this woman has been taken in the act of adultery, in -the very act, Rabbi, as the witnesses will testify. Now the law of -Moses says that such a woman must be stoned.” He paused, and -his eyes surveyed the half circle of intent, set faces. Along the -rim heads nodded in agreement.</p> -<p>“Is that really the law of the Israelites?” Claudia whispered. -“Stone to death a woman for such offense, by all the gods!”</p> -<p>“Yes, it’s the old Mosaic law, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“That is barbarous, Tullia. By all the gods, if I were a Jew, -then they....” But she paused, for the man had turned back -<span class="pb" id="Page_231">231</span> -to question the Galilean. “You, however, Rabbi, have been teaching -a new law. What would you say to her punishment? Must -she be stoned in accordance with our ancient laws or not?”</p> -<p>Jesus was eying the poor woman, who had scrambled to her -feet and was trying to smooth out her disordered robe. Frightened -and humiliated, she kept her eyes on the ground; then, as the -man finished his question and the suddenly quiet throng listened -for the reply, she raised them and looked, with a mixture of defiance, -contempt, and fright, at the tall bronzed man before her.</p> -<p>“But what can he say?” Claudia whispered. “Aren’t they trying -to trap him into advocating violation of their laws?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mistress. And they know, too, that they have no authority -to stone anyone to death unless the person is first condemned by -the Procurator. Either way, it’s a trap they’re trying to set.”</p> -<p>“Then I shall speak to Pilate....” She stopped; Tullia had laid -a gently restraining hand on her arm, for Jesus had bent down suddenly -and without offering to answer the Jew who had questioned -him had begun to trace with extended forefinger certain -markings in the dust of the marble pavement.</p> -<p>About him stood the silent crowd. Some seemed fearful of the -horror they might soon be witnessing; others, their cold smiles -attesting to their sadistic natures, were waiting expectantly to witness -the woman’s death agonies; only a few solemn faces revealed -concern and deep pity. But the little knot of Pharisees stood with -arms folded across their rounded paunches; their smug smiles betrayed -their confidence that at last, on the final day of the great -festival, they had run to earth this annoying and dangerous young -Galilean who had been so cleverly eluding them.</p> -<p>Then, raising his head, Jesus faced the man who had questioned -him. “You have testified aright as to the law of our father Moses,” -he said, his voice calm, deliberate. “The law of Moses commands -that the woman ... and the man ... taken in adultery be -stoned. But you ask me my interpretation of this law?”</p> -<p>“We do, Rabbi. What will you do with this woman?” The man -looked about the semicircle of cold, hard faces, and one by one -the Pharisees nodded approval of his questioning. “Rabbi, what -is your law in this case?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_232">232</div> -<p>“I answer you, my brother, in this wise, and this is my interpretation -of the law. Let him that is without sin among you cast the -first stone.” His quiet, dark eyes rested a moment on the startled -countenance of the man who had just propounded the question, -and then quickly they moved along the line of the challenging -Temple leaders.</p> -<p>Now once more he bent forward and with stiffened forefinger -traced symbols in the dust.</p> -<p>For a long moment his eyes remained fixed upon the pavement. -When he looked up, the little group of sneering Pharisees had -departed. The others in the ring about him had fallen back from -the steps on which he sat and stood regarding him with frank -amazement; some of them revealed their delight at his having -confounded his enemies, and on the faces of others could be seen -a heightened responsiveness to the young man’s teachings and -for the Galilean himself a strengthened affection.</p> -<p>“Woman, where are your accusers?” he asked the amazed poor -creature, from whom in the swift moment of his answer had fled -all trace of defiant insolence. “Does no man remain to condemn -you?”</p> -<p>She lifted her tear-streaked face to him. “No man, Lord.”</p> -<p>“Neither do I condemn you. Go now, and sin no more.”</p> -<p>Claudia could not understand the woman’s murmured reply, -but on her face clearly discernible was a look of radiance as she -bowed to the Galilean and, turning, slipped away out of the -crowd. At the same time the Procurator’s wife noticed a large, -bushy-bearded fellow, wide of shoulders and heavily muscled, pushing -through the throng from the direction of the Gate Shalleketh. -He walked up to Jesus, who had stood up as the woman was leaving. -“Master, you have been here a long while; you must be weary. -Let us go over to Bethany to rest a spell.”</p> -<p>“That’s the fisherman I saw one day at Tiberias,” whispered -Tullia. “He is of the Galilean’s company; his name, I think, is -Simon.”</p> -<p>The crowd now began to disperse, for Jesus and the big fisherman -were moving off toward the Gate Shushan. They came past -the two women, so close to them that Claudia could have reached -<span class="pb" id="Page_233">233</span> -out and touched the tall Galilean. Their eyes met; he smiled and -passed on. She stood rooted, watching the two until they had -passed out of sight down the slope toward the Brook Kidron. -“He seemed to recognize me,” she said to herself, as suddenly -a fanciful thought crossed her mind. “But of course he didn’t; -he’s never in all his life seen me before.”</p> -<p>With the two men’s disappearance, however, the spell was -broken. Claudia caught her maid’s arm. “We’d better be going -now,” she said. But she was still lost in her own thoughts; they -had rounded the corner of the Soreg and were nearing the North -Gate of Asuppim before she spoke again. “By the gods, what a -man! What a marvelous, strange Jew. And he didn’t do any feats -of magic either. Little one, I’m so glad you brought me down -here.”</p> -<p>“Mistress, now that you’ve seen him and heard his discourse, -even though for but a few minutes, what is your opinion of him? -Do you think that perhaps he really is the Messiah of Israel?”</p> -<p>“I know nothing of the Messiah of Israel ... and care nothing. -And this idea of a man’s being a god, even though we Romans -are supposed to believe that the gods come to earth in the form of -men, is just as incomprehensible to me as it is to Longinus. Maybe -that’s because I don’t believe in the gods in the first place.” They -were going through the great North Gate of Asuppim when -Claudia stopped and caught Tullia’s arm. “Nevertheless, little -one—and you asked me my opinion of him—there is something -tremendously different about that man. I’m sure I have never encountered -another like him. He’s a quick thinker and able to out-wit -his enemies, and he’s evidently a good and just man. But there’s -something else”—she paused, her forehead creased in a frown—“something -to me, at any rate, mystifying. The way he looked at -me, Tullia....” Her solemn expression relaxed into a quick, -warming smile. “Perhaps he <i>is</i> your Messiah of the Jews, little one, -whatever that means!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_234">234</div> -<h2 id="c38">38</h2> -<p>On her return to Caesarea from the Feast of Tabernacles, Claudia -learned from Sergius Paulus that Longinus had sailed for Rome. -The message from the centurion to the commander of the Roman -constabulary had been brought by a ship’s master who had sailed -southward from the Antioch port of Seleucia shortly after Longinus -had gone aboard a ship there for his voyage to the capital.</p> -<p>The message had been brief, the commander said; its purpose -was to let him know that Longinus had been sent to Rome by the -Legate Vitellius on what the legate must have considered an -urgent mission, probably to the Prefect Sejanus.</p> -<p>“Longinus must have sailed from Seleucia on one of the last -boats out,” Sergius observed. “From now until spring there’ll be -few crossings; any ship attempting to make it will be braving the -heavy winds.” He smiled wryly. “It must have been important -business the legate was sending him on.”</p> -<p>Claudia suspected that Longinus was going to the capital to relay -the legate’s report on the situation in Palestine. Particularly -important, she knew, would be the question of whether or not -King Aretas was planning to attack Herod and thereby involve -the whole Palestinian region in war. But she had no direct message -from the centurion.</p> -<p>Longinus was acting wisely, she realized, in sending her no written -communication. He could hardly evolve any innocent appearing -reason for writing her, and it would be impossible to send -her such a message without Pilate’s learning about it, and possibly -even the Prefect. And any message sent would of necessity be -innocuous. But as the weeks pushed deeper and deeper into winter -and no word of him came to her at all, she began to wonder if -he would return to Palestine or if, the gods forbid, Sejanus might -<span class="pb" id="Page_235">235</span> -have sent him once more to Germania or Gaul or to some other -post far remote from the now increasingly dreary Palestine.</p> -<p>Despite the fact that it was Herodias who had urged her to -go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, the two women -had hardly seen one another during those days in Israel’s capital. -Claudia recalled that even then the Tetrarchess had seemed somewhat -reserved. And once when mention was made of the journey -of Longinus to Antioch in response to the summons of the Legate -Vitellius, Herodias had appeared to grow even more coldly formal. -Perhaps the Tetrarchess suspected, Claudia thought at the time, -that Longinus was reporting on Herod’s visit to Machaerus and -the appearance there of the ambassadors from King Aretas, and -even of her own bizarre conduct at the Tetrarch’s birthday banquet. -Nor had Herodias, as they were preparing to leave Jerusalem, -invited her to come to Tiberias.</p> -<p>And at the Feast neither she nor Pilate had seen Antipas. She -wondered if perhaps he, too, might have suspected that Longinus -was even then in Antioch reporting what he had seen and heard -at Machaerus. But her failure to be honored by the Tetrarch in -Jerusalem troubled her not at all. She had less respect for him, -she confessed to herself, than she had for the Procurator. And she -hoped that Longinus was finding opportunity for dropping some -poisoned, if discreet, words into the ears of Sejanus concerning -Pontius Pilate and his continuing difficulties with the Jews.</p> -<p>Nor was the Procurator’s administration of affairs in Judaea, as -the winter advanced, serving to establish him in better favor with -the people he was governing. Stubborn and unimaginative, he -steadfastly refused either to learn anything or forget anything. -Scorning his subordinate officials and refusing to give consideration -to their counseling, fearful of his superiors, including the -Legate Vitellius and particularly the Prefect Sejanus, Pilate provided -no stable rule of Judaea; his administration vacillated from -fierce oppression and arbitrary action to cowardly yielding to -priestly demands. His tax gatherers, working through the despised -publicans, those native hirelings of Rome whom the Israelites -looked upon with loathing as traitors to Israel and Israel’s Yahweh, -demanded and received exorbitant tribute in money and produce -<span class="pb" id="Page_236">236</span> -of the land; this did not add to the Procurator’s popularity among -the Jews. Both the people and the Temple leaders were growing -increasingly enraged.</p> -<p>The natural breach between the Procurator and the Tetrarch, -too, was widening as the weeks went by; an incident at the Temple -during one of the great festival occasions in which Pilate’s soldiers -had slain a group of roistering Galileans had infuriated Herod -Antipas. And Pilate’s effort to use Temple funds in the building of -an aqueduct to bring water into Jerusalem had evoked the bitter -animosity of the Temple leadership. On all sides, then, the Procurator, -beginning with his flaunting of the Roman ensigns in -Jerusalem shortly after his arrival in Judaea, had been strengthening -rather than weakening the natural hostility the Israelites had -for the representatives of conquering Rome.</p> -<p>All this Claudia had observed; she wondered how long this -mounting burden of tension and hate could continue to build -upon the broad shoulders of Pontius Pilate before inevitably it -should topple him from the Procuratorship. The answer, she was -confident, lay not in Judaea, but in Rome. Pilate would last only so -long as he did not too greatly displease Sejanus. And from the -moment the tribute from Judaea to Rome ... and Sejanus ... -began to shrink, she reasoned, her spouse’s days as Procurator -would be numbered.</p> -<p><i> ... Perhaps Sejanus may have begun to suspect already that -Pilate’s fingers have become sticky, that too large a proportion of -the revenues are failing to reach Rome; perhaps he has revealed, -or hinted, his suspicions to Longinus, and Longinus will tell me -everything when he returns.</i></p> -<p><i>... If he does return. But surely he will be back in Caesarea -when winter relents and calming weather permits the ships to resume -their sailing. Surely he will arrive in time to go with us to -Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover....</i></p> -<p>Thinking one day of the coming Feast, she recalled her earlier -visit with Tullia to the Temple. “Do you remember that last day -of the Feast of Tabernacles?” she asked, turning to her slave maid. -The girl nodded and smiled. “That Galilean,” Claudia continued, -<span class="pb" id="Page_237">237</span> -“your Messiah of the Jews, I wonder what has become of him. Do -you suppose he’ll return to the Jewish capital for the Passover -festival?”</p> -<p>“I would say so, Mistress,” Tullia answered. “Every devout Jew -tries to go up for the Passover Feast. And certainly the Galilean is -a devout Jew. Even though the Temple priests are bent on destroying -him, I’m sure he will wish to go there to worship.”</p> -<p>“If he does, maybe we’ll have an opportunity to hear him again -... and perhaps this time he will perform some feat of magic.”</p> -<p>“But, Mistress, those who hold him to be the Messiah insist -that he does not work magic; they declare he does his miracles of -healing by the will of God.”</p> -<p>She smiled. “Well, however he does them—and even from you, -little one, I’ve heard reports that he does—is no concern of mine. -But should he come up to the Temple and perform some such -feat, either by his own cleverness or with the aid of your Yahweh, -I would like to be there when he did it.”</p> -<p>“But, Mistress, you saw him that day they dragged the woman -before him....”</p> -<p>“Yes, but his saving her from that mob was not magic, little one. -That was only the working of a quick intelligence and a good -heart. But they say he can make lame persons walk again and -blind persons see. And Cornelius, you remember, declared he -healed his little servant boy, though Longinus thinks it was only -a coincidence that the boy’s fever broke just at the same time the -Galilean supposedly was curing him. Cornelius even believes that -the carpenter once actually restored to life the son of a widow; he -told me they were bearing the young man to the tomb when the -Galilean happened along and brought him back to life. Of course, -the boy may have been in a trance; certainly no sensible person -can believe that he was really dead and then came back to life -when the Galilean said some mysterious words and made some -queer motions over him.” She paused and looked Tullia in the -eyes. “Or do you, little one?”</p> -<p>“But if he is actually the son of our God....”</p> -<p>“Oh, you gullible Jews, even you, Tullia.” Her countenance revealed -<span class="pb" id="Page_238">238</span> -an amused tolerance. “And Cornelius. A soldier of Rome. -But how, by all the gods, Tullia, can any present-day person of -education and culture embrace such blatant superstition to believe -that a man could come to earth as a god, even if he could believe -that there are gods in the first place?”</p> -<p>But Tullia skillfully evaded answering the question. “If you saw -him restore to life a man who you knew was dead, what would -you say about him then, Mistress?”</p> -<p>“When I see him do that, little one, I’ll tell you then.”</p> -<p>Nevertheless, Claudia had not dismissed the Galilean from -her thoughts, for that night she dreamed about him. It was a -confused and illogical arrangement of stories she had heard about -Jesus, interwoven with the experience she and Tullia had had that -day at the Temple during the final exercises of the Feast of Tabernacles. -In the dream she and Longinus had strolled with Cornelius -down from the Tower of Antonia into the Court of the Gentiles. -Rounding a corner of the Soreg, the three had come upon a -throng ringed about the Galilean. They had pushed forward to -the inner circle, and there, they had discovered on the stones -of the court at the carpenter’s feet a crushed and bloody woman.</p> -<p>“Rabbi,” a burly fellow beside the woman was saying, “this -woman is dead. We caught her in the act of adultery, and in accordance -with the law of our father Moses we stoned her to death. -I ask you, Rabbi, did not we do well in thus upholding the ancient -law of Israel?”</p> -<p>“It is the law that the woman and the man taken in adultery be -stoned to death,” the Galilean replied, and then his eyes flamed -and his voice took on a new intensity, “but you who stoned her, -were you without sins?” Then he lowered his eyes to the stones -beside the dead woman and began with his forefinger to trace -symbols in the dust. After a moment he stood up and, bending -down, caught the stiffened body underneath his arms and raised -it, unbending, until it stood upright.</p> -<p>“Remember,” said Cornelius, “she is dead, completely dead; see -her mangled face, her crushed skull. Watch the Galilean.”</p> -<p>Jesus was steadying the rigid corpse with one hand. Now he -<span class="pb" id="Page_239">239</span> -raised his other hand to a position above her head and began -to intone words that to Claudia were strange and utterly incomprehensible.</p> -<p>“Watch now,” said Cornelius. “Keep your eyes on him. And, -remember, the woman is dead; there is no life in her, none.”</p> -<p>Incredulous, their eyes straining, they saw the stiffened limbs -beginning to relax and the head bend forward slightly; the crushed -bones of the shattered face rounded outward, the torn and bruised -flesh smoothed, the clotted blood melted away, and the desecrated -ghastly countenance was restored to a calm beauty; the woman, -looking now into the serene face of the Galilean, smiled.</p> -<p>“By all the great gods ...” But Longinus hushed precipitately, -for Jesus was speaking to the woman, now fully alert. “No man -condemns you, my sister, and neither do I,” Jesus said, as he -pointed toward her executioners, now slinking away toward the -Gate of Shushan. “Go, and sin no more.”</p> -<p>Longinus turned now to the Procurator’s wife, and on his face -she saw an expression of utter amazement. “But, Claudia, the -woman was dead! Her head was crushed; her face was a bloody -pulp. And now, look! She is walking away, around the corner -of the Soreg! The Galilean, Claudia, he must be a god! By all the -gods, Claudia, this man must be a god! He must be....”</p> -<p>But Longinus’ voice was fading, and he was receding, slipping -away, and so were Cornelius and the Galilean and the woman....</p> -<p>Claudia opened her eyes; her chamber was flooded with light. -She closed them again, trying to recapture the scene in the great -court of the Temple. But the dream had fled. “Bona Dea,” she -said aloud. “It was so real. That woman. And the Galilean. And -Cornelius and Longinus. So vivid. Maybe”—the notion suddenly -occurred to her—“I’m dreaming now, maybe I’m dreaming that I -was dreaming.”</p> -<p>She sat up, swung her feet around to the floor, stretched and -yawned. Then quickly she arose and crossing to the window, looked -down at the ships in the harbor. Bright sunlight flashed from the -hulls and the billowing sails. On the docks slaves struggled with -casks and crates as they loaded and unloaded vessels. The world she -was seeing was real; she stood looking through her window upon -<span class="pb" id="Page_240">240</span> -things tangible and comprehensible. The dream, with all its implications -of the inscrutable, was gone, vanished.</p> -<p>But she was not to forget it entirely. One day Tullia revealed -that while at the market place she had encountered some travelers -from Galilee who had gone up to Jerusalem and were returning -by way of Caesarea. On their journey, they told her, they had come -upon the Galilean and several of his band in a hamlet in the mountains -of Ephraim. Jesus had returned to Galilee from the Feast -of Tabernacles, but after several weeks he had gone back for the -Feast of Dedication. From Jerusalem he had retired into Peraea.</p> -<p>As Tullia related the story she had been told, her eyes began to -shine. “While he was on the other side of the Jordan,” she went -on, “he received a message from Bethany....”</p> -<p>“Bethany?”</p> -<p>“It’s a small village a few miles—a mile or so—just west of -Jerusalem, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“What was the message?”</p> -<p>“Jesus had three friends who lived there, a man and his two sisters. -While he was over beyond the Jordan he had word that the -man was near death. So he and his band returned to Bethany. -When they got there, they found that his friend had been dead -four days.”</p> -<p>“And the Galilean brought him back to life?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mistress! That’s what the travelers said.”</p> -<p>Claudia laughed. “Cornelius should have been there. No doubt, -though, he’s already heard about it. And, of course, he believes the -story.”</p> -<p>“But you don’t, Mistress?”</p> -<p>Claudia wasn’t sure that the servant woman was teasing. “No, -Tullia, I don’t,” she replied. “Very probably this story has been -repeated many times and has been added to by each teller. No -doubt it was like the one Cornelius was telling about the widow’s -son, or even the incident in which his own little slave boy was -supposed to have been cured by the Galilean. Obviously, the man -at Bethany was not dead; no doubt they thought he was....”</p> -<p>“But, Mistress, they said he had been in the tomb four days.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_241">241</div> -<p>“They said it, yes. Perhaps he hadn’t been entombed that long; -but if he had, what of it? He wouldn’t have suffocated; tombs -aren’t sealed that securely. In all probability the man was in a -trance when they put him away; no doubt the carpenter roused -him from the trance into which he had fallen.”</p> -<p>“Mistress, you have little faith in the Galilean.” Tullia’s dark -eyes were serious now. “You cannot see how he could be the -Messiah of the Jews and armed with unearthly power, can you?”</p> -<p>“I don’t believe that any man can restore life to another man, -if that’s what you mean, little one. I cannot believe that any -human possesses supernatural power; in fact, as I have told you -many times, I doubt the existence of supernatural beings, including -your Yahweh.” She laughed again. “But you and Cornelius -outnumber me. I should have Longinus here to support me.”</p> -<p>But when a few weeks later the Centurion Longinus did sail -into the harbor at Caesarea, Claudia had no longer a thought for -the Galilean mystic and his reported wonder-working.</p> -<p>The centurion journeyed on a coastal vessel bound from Seleucia -to Alexandria. He had sailed from Rome as soon as weather conditions -permitted; from Seleucia he had moved on to Antioch to -report to the Legate Vitellius. Returning a few days later, he had -boarded another vessel destined for the Palestinian ports and Alexandria.</p> -<p>On coming ashore at Caesarea the centurion went first to the -garrison headquarters and reported to Sergius Paulus. That duty -completed, he visited the Procurator’s Palace, ostensibly to pay his -respects to Pontius Pilate. The Procurator, polite but coldly formal, -talked with him for only a moment before excusing himself -and leaving the palace. Longinus, remarking about it to Claudia, -wondered if the Procurator was finally becoming jealous.</p> -<p>“No, he isn’t jealous, by all the gods, and that makes me furious -with him!” Claudia had answered. “But he may suspect that you’ve -been spying on him and that Vitellius called you to Antioch to -report on his administration of affairs in Judaea and then sent you -to Rome to relay information and suggestions to Sejanus.”</p> -<p>“He would be entirely right, too, in thinking so. And you can -<span class="pb" id="Page_242">242</span> -add old Herod Antipas to my watched list.” He thought, with -sudden amusement, of the third name on the list given him by -Sejanus when first the Prefect sent him out to Palestine, but he -did not comment. “And what I told the Prefect about both of -them, for the Legate Vitellius and from my own observations, -didn’t make them any more secure in their positions, by the gods!”</p> -<p>Quickly he related his experiences in Rome; he had met several -times with Sejanus, once to discuss ways of increasing the output -of the glassworks in Phoenicia. On another occasion the two had -gone out to Capri for an audience with Tiberius. “The Emperor -asked about his beloved stepdaughter,” he said, “but I professed -to have little information about you. Sejanus also quizzed me—I’m -sure he still suspects us—but he, too, learned nothing.”</p> -<p>“But what is going to happen, Longinus—about us, I mean—and -when? Is there any likelihood still of Pilate’s being recalled -... soon?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I’d say there was. I know Sejanus is losing patience with -Pilate; he seems to hear everything that happens out here, and -Pilate’s inability to rule Judaea without continually provoking -turmoil and protesting by the Jews angers the Prefect. The only -thing that’s kept Pilate as Procurator this long, I suspect, is the -fact that Sejanus apparently doesn’t suspect that Pilate is dipping -too heavily into the taxes, if he is ... and I can’t say yet that he -is. That was one question he kept coming back to in talking with -me, if there was any evidence that the Procurator was not sending -to Rome all the revenues he was supposed to.”</p> -<p>“Did the Prefect indicate that he might call Pilate to Rome -for questioning?”</p> -<p>“I couldn’t say that he did. But if the Procurator should be -ordered to the capital to justify his administration of Judaea, he -won’t be returned, you can be sure. The same thing is true of -Herod Antipas. I believe the Procurator and the Tetrarch stand -in precarious positions; the next few months could determine -the fate of both.”</p> -<p>Longinus left the palace soon after Pilate had departed; he and -Claudia, they agreed, would meet again when the opportunity was -afforded. But that opportunity did not come quickly; he did not -<span class="pb" id="Page_243">243</span> -return to the palace until the Procurator summoned him there to -discuss plans for the forthcoming journey to Jerusalem.</p> -<p>A week later the Procurator and his party, with Longinus commanding -one of the escorting centuries, set out for Israel’s capital -and the great Feast of the Passover.</p> -<h2 title=""><span class="sc">Jerusalem</span></h2> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/rose.jpg" alt="decorative glyph" width="78" height="77" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_247">247</div> -<h2 id="c39">39</h2> -<p>The caravan from Galilee had halted on the plain before Jericho -for rest and the midday meal, and now the Tetrarch’s party and -the escorting soldiers of Cornelius’ century were preparing to resume -their journey. Two days and a half of steady traveling southward -had brought them from Tiberias through the rapidly greening -gorge of the Jordan, and soon they would face the most grueling -and dangerous part of the journey, the steep and boulder-locked -climb to Jerusalem.</p> -<p>Centurion Cornelius, who had been making a quick inspection -of the assembled legionaries, approached Herod Antipas and -saluted. “Sire, I need now to determine your wishes”—he bowed -to Herodias—“and the wishes of the Tetrarchess, for the remainder -of our journey up to Jerusalem. If you wish to rest awhile, we -could make camp here and leave early in the morning for Jerusalem. -Or we could move on now and camp for the night where the -Jericho road begins its ascent to Jerusalem. But if you prefer, we -can set out now and not stop until we reach the capital, though -it will probably be well past nightfall before we enter the city.”</p> -<p>“Are you fearful of traveling the Jericho road after the sun has -set, Centurion?” Antipas inquired. “Do you think that perhaps -robbers or zealot bands might sweep down on us from the rocks?”</p> -<p>“I have no fear, Sire; certainly none, if they knew our strength, -would attempt it. And before we enter that region, I’ll rearrange -our order of march to strengthen our guard against a surprise attack.”</p> -<p>“Then I suggest that we continue on to Jerusalem today,” -Herodias spoke up. “We can rest better tomorrow in the palace -than we can here in camp, even though”—she turned malevolent -eyes on the Tetrarch, and her tone was bitterly sarcastic—“we shall -be lodging in the old Hasmonean Palace in order that our Palace -<span class="pb" id="Page_248">248</span> -of the Herods may be occupied by the Procurator and his wife.”</p> -<p>“Yes, the Tetrarchess is right, Centurion,” Antipas agreed complaisantly. -“Let’s push on to Jerusalem today.” He ignored his -wife’s caustic remark. “We’ll have tonight and all tomorrow to rest -before the start of the Passover celebration.”</p> -<p>Beyond Jericho, where the Peraean road joined the road up from -Galilee and one that came down along the western side of the -Jordan from the region of Ephraim, the way began to fill with pilgrims -going up to Israel’s capital for the annual great spring festival -of the Passover. As the caravan neared the point where the -road began its steep climb, Cornelius called a halt. While the -Tetrarch and Herodias were having a brief respite from their -saddles, he called in his legionaries and changed the pattern of -their advance. Down through the Jordan valley they had been -moving in column along the roadway with guards ahead of and -behind the Tetrarch’s party and only now and then a few soldiers -on the flanks.</p> -<p>But now Cornelius gave orders to Decius to divide the century -into three groups, the largest of which would continue along the -Jericho road, while the other two would move forward with the -Tetrarch’s group, one on its right flank, the other on the left, and -each several hundred yards from the road.</p> -<p>“I’m not expecting any trouble,” he explained, “but if there -are any Zealots lying in wait for us, in all probability they’ll be up -there in that defile where the road cuts through the rocks. You -men out on the flanks will be able to beat them off; if they’re -crouched beside the road, we’ll trap them between your columns -and us.”</p> -<p>When the division of the century had been completed, the centurion -had a final warning. “Stay abreast of us, and keep in contact. -And now, let’s get moving. Men, keep your eyes open. These -Zealots are bent on killing every Roman in Palestine. They’re -clever, and they know every foot of ground in this region.”</p> -<p>The steep rise of the narrow Jericho road and the push of pilgrims -trudging ahead slowed the progress of the caravan, and it was -nearing sunset when once more Cornelius halted the column. “It’s -been a hard climb, and the animals are laboring,” he explained to -<span class="pb" id="Page_249">249</span> -the Tetrarch. “A short rest will refresh us for the last few miles -into Jerusalem. Soon we’ll be past the boulders and can move -faster. And with danger of assault by robbers ended, we can pull -in our flanking files. So we should be approaching Jerusalem by -nightfall.”</p> -<p>But the centurion had spoken too quickly. They went hardly a -mile farther and were moving slowly through the last narrow defile -in the ascending road before it veered sharply around screening -boulders to come on a level plateau extending to the vicinity -of Bethany; the caravan was strung out in a long column and the -advance guard had disappeared around the turn in the gorge-like -roadway. In the instant that Herod and the Tetrarchess, with -Cornelius and several of the escorting legionaries just ahead of or -behind them, had advanced into the narrowest portion of the rock-walled -canyon, they heard a sudden commotion above them. Looking -up, they saw on each side of the pass, glaring down upon them -and with spears poised, a group of grizzled, fierce-eyed insurgents.</p> -<p>“Halt, Roman dogs!” shouted a hulking, reddish-bearded fellow, -as he drew back his spear menacingly. “Get down from your -beast before I nail you to his belly like a thief to his cross! And -you”—with his free hand he gestured toward the Tetrarch—“you -traitor to Israel, you fawning puppet of evil Rome, stay where you -are! You, too”—his angry black eyes were studying Herodias—“you -adulterous sharer of your uncle’s bed, don’t you move!”</p> -<p>“Who are you? What do you want?” Cornelius demanded -loudly, in the hope that his soldiers in the flanking columns would -hear.</p> -<p>“You needn’t be screaming, soldier,” the burly fellow said -calmly. “There’s nobody to help you. We have you surrounded. -See?” He pointed to his men in the rocks on the other side of the -road. “One wrong move and we’ll stick your carcasses full of spears. -And you needn’t be hoping for help from those up ahead”—he -motioned—“or down there.” He threw back his bearish great head -and roared his laughter. “We have them cornered, too.” Then -suddenly he was scowling again. “You dogs of Rome! Throw down -your weapons! Quickly, before we forget ourselves and let our -spears fly!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_250">250</div> -<p>“Do as he says, men,” Cornelius commanded, dropping his -sword. “But what do you want?” he asked the highwaymen’s -leader again. He had decided that the safest course would be to -pretend that he knew nothing of the rebel group, that ruthless -party of guerrilla-fighting revolutionaries known as Zealots who -had sworn not to rest until every imperialist Roman had been -vanquished from their nation’s soil. “We have brought little -money,” he said casually. “We aren’t Jews, you know; we aren’t -going up to Jerusalem to purchase animals for the Passover sacrifices.”</p> -<p>The centurion’s thrust at the Israelites seemed to incense the -fellow. “No, you mongrel of a Roman,” he roared, “nor would -your sacrifice be acceptable to Israel’s God were you of a mind to -offer it! Now get down, all you Romans! We’re taking your horses. -But you and your woman, Herod, stay where you are. We’re taking -you with us for ransom, and if the money isn’t quickly forthcoming -to redeem you”—he tugged at his flaring dirt-caked beard -and once again laughed uproariously—“we’ll skin you and one dark -night pin your worthless hides to the door of old Herod’s Palace.” -But quickly his demeanor changed again. He turned to glare at -his comrades. “Get down there and pick up their weapons,” he -commanded, “and mount the horses. We’ve got to be getting -back into the hills. And you, Bildad and Achbor, I’ll hold you accountable -for the Tetrarch. Dysmas and Cush, you take charge -of the woman.” His sneering countenance softened into an evil -grinning. “And see that no harm comes to her. I may wish myself -to examine her seductive charms.”</p> -<p>Antipas sat staring stonily ahead, his countenance a frozen mask -of fear. But anger added a flush to the cheeks of the frightened -Tetrarchess. She did not venture, however, to challenge the man’s -insulting remark.</p> -<p>The revolutionaries scampered like sure-footed mountain goats -down from the rocks and quickly assembled the swords that Cornelius’ -soldiers had thrown to the ground. The leader, who had -stayed in his position atop an overjutting boulder, watched eagle-eyed -along with several of his band who had continued to stand -guard. “Issachar, you and Nadab see to the weapons those frightened -<span class="pb" id="Page_251">251</span> -dogs have thrown down,” he called. “See that not one remains -to them when we’re gone. Now, Achbor and you, Bildad, -get started with the Tetrarch, and let the woman follow. Men, -mount the horses”—he paused an instant to watch one of his men -who was having trouble getting into the saddle—“all you who -know how to ride a horse ... and Coz, you don’t, I see.”</p> -<p>“But you can’t get away into the rocks with these horses. You -have our swords; why don’t you leave us the horses...?”</p> -<p>“And let you fly into Jerusalem and have old Pilate’s soldiers -combing through the hills for us? Oh, no, Roman dog, we aren’t -fools. You’ll stand in your tracks until we’re gone, or we’ll come -charging back and slit your throats and leave you here for the vultures -to clean your bones.” He suddenly whirled about, for from -behind him came the sound of men running through the rocks -back from the road.</p> -<p>“Romans! Romans!” Cornelius heard someone shouting in -Aramaic. “Fly! Roman soldiers!” In the next instant a bearded, -coarse fellow burst into view above the deep-cut trail. “We can’t -stand against them, Bar Abbas; there are too many of them!” he -shouted. “We’d better get across the road and into those rocks!” -He looked down and spied his companions and their captured -party. “The Romans!” he yelled. “Fly men! There are too many -for us to fight them!”</p> -<p>“Fly!” yelled the gang’s leader. “Go out through that ravine!” -He pointed. “Get yourselves lost in the rocks, and hurry!” He -turned to the man who had just rushed up to him. “How many -did there appear to be, Hamor?”</p> -<p>“Many. I could not count them. We speared several before they -discovered us....”</p> -<p>“Fools! If you’d held your peace and stayed under cover, they -wouldn’t have known you were there. Now you’ve caused us to be -flushed out. By the beard of the High Priest, Hamor, haven’t I -warned you...?”</p> -<p>“But we thought there were only a handful....”</p> -<p>“Through that way!” Bar Abbas turned his back toward the -road and was signaling the revolutionaries racing toward him. -Cornelius, who since his first sight of the burly fellow had suspected -<span class="pb" id="Page_252">252</span> -he was the notorious Zealot marauder, couldn’t see the -fleeing Israelites, but he could hear their sandals slapping against -the loose stones. And close behind them—he was able distinctly to -distinguish the sound of their heavy boots crunching the gravel and -scattering the pebbles—came the pursuing legionaries of his flanking -file on the west.</p> -<p>Already the assailants in the defile of the road were fleeing. -Some clambered up the steep sides of the little ravine that opened -into the gulch of the roadway and disappeared into the sheltering -boulders above; others ran down the road to the end of the -canyon and turned eastward; several went the other way along the -narrow trail and then turned off in the same direction the others -had taken. But before they had all cleared the road, Bar Abbas and -his companions on the boulders above, still clutching their spears, -had dropped into the defile and without a glance toward their now -liberated prisoners had scampered into the converging ravine.</p> -<p>Hardly had the burly Bar Abbas disappeared before the pursuing -Romans were plunging into the boulders beside the road. In another -moment several of them were peering down into the narrow -roadway. In that same instant Cornelius, looking up, spied Decius. -“Here!” the centurion called out. “Down that way!” He pointed. -“Hurry!”</p> -<p>“Cornelius, by all the gods, you aren’t going to let them get -away, are you!” screamed Herodias, having suddenly found her -voice.</p> -<p>“But, my dear Herodias”—Antipas turned ponderously in his -saddle to face his spouse—“certainly the centurion knows -what....”</p> -<p>“Hah! The Tetrarch has come to life! He speaks, now that Bar -Abbas and his revolutionaries have fled,” she observed sneeringly.</p> -<p>“Bar Abbas,” Cornelius said, ignoring the Tetrarchess and Herod, -as Decius and several of his detachment clambered down into the -road. “They pounced on us from the rocks there”—he pointed—“and -had us disarmed. I was hoping you would hear the commotion.”</p> -<p>“They jumped us the same way, Centurion,” Decius said. “I -<span class="pb" id="Page_253">253</span> -think they killed two of our men. I left some men with them. We -got several of the revolutionaries, though.”</p> -<p>“It’s a poor exchange. But get after him, Decius. Here, Galba, -Licinius, Mallius”—Cornelius called out a half dozen of the men -who had been in his detachment—“go with them; you saw Bar -Abbas; you’ll know him.” Already the men were grabbing up their -swords from the pile Bar Abbas’ men had left in their rush to get -away. “They were headed east, toward the Wilderness. In a moment -they’ll be running into Lucius on the flank over there. If he -can turn them back, we’ll have them in a bag. But they may break -through him. Stay after them, Decius; get that Bar Abbas, and -try to take him alive.” He turned to another of his men. “Livius, -take a detachment and go down the road; you saw where the -revolutionaries turned off left. Marius, take your squad and go -that way”—he pointed up the Jericho road toward Jerusalem—“and -run down those that fled in that direction; you saw where -they turned off. Follow them. And all of you be careful; we want -no more ambushes.” He called out several more names. “You men -stay here with me,” he said. “We’ll see that no harm comes to the -Tetrarch and his lady.” He smiled wryly as he looked toward -Herodias. “We almost didn’t do that awhile ago.” Then he turned -again to Decius. “We’re moving out of this trap in here, though,” -he said. “We’ll be up there a thousand paces. And hurry, men; it -will soon be dark in those rocks.” He signaled for them to be off. -“I want that Bar Abbas.”</p> -<p>Less than half an hour later Marius and his men returned. They -were leading a manacled Israelite. “We saw only five men,” Marius -reported. “Two of them we killed, and this one we cornered between -two big rocks. The other two slipped away; we searched, but -we’re sure they’re gone now. This fellow is a Galilean, named -Gesmas, he says.”</p> -<p>“And you had nobody hurt?” Marius nodded. “Good. Keep a -sharp eye on this fellow.” Cornelius pointed. “Livius is coming in. -No prisoners, I believe.”</p> -<p>Livius reported that his men had killed or wounded several of -the fleeing revolutionaries. He had had only one man cut slightly -by an Israelite’s desperately wielded spear; the weapon had grazed -<span class="pb" id="Page_254">254</span> -the soldier’s shoulder. “We saw no signs of Lucius’ flanking file,” -Livius revealed. “They must have been up ahead, and the revolutionaries -we were pursuing must have slipped around their rear. -They know this country; they simply disappeared like conies into -those big rocks. But maybe Lucius intercepted some of those -that Decius went after.”</p> -<p>“Look!” One of the Romans pointed. “There’s Decius.” Having -moved up from the narrow defile through the boulders, they could -see out on both sides of the road. “And he has two prisoners.”</p> -<p>“Yes. And one of them, by all the gods”—Cornelius was straining -to see more clearly in the gathering dusk—“is Bar Abbas! Great -Jove, he caught the big prize!”</p> -<p>The other Israelite, too, they discovered in a moment, was a -much wanted revolutionary, one of Bar Abbas’ principal lieutenants, -a Galilean named Dysmas.</p> -<p>Lucius had stayed out on the flank, Decius explained, to prevent -any sudden desperate attempt of the Zealots to rescue their -leader. They were still no doubt in the rocks back from the road, -perhaps regrouping their scattered forces.</p> -<p>“From here into Jerusalem the road is clear, and they won’t -be able to prepare any ambush.” The centurion called out four -soldiers standing near him. “Go tell Lucius to come in nearer. We -can move faster that way, and in the deepening darkness it will -be safer for everybody. Tell him we’re starting at once for Jerusalem.” -As they were leaving, he turned again to Decius. “See that -the prisoners are bound securely, and manacle each one between -two of our men. And box them in with guards. Give them no -chance of getting away from us or being rescued.”</p> -<p>Herodias had been watching silently but with evident interest. -“It seems to me, Centurion,” she observed petulantly, “that you -could prevent either eventuality by executing these rebel scum -right now.”</p> -<p>“I am a Roman soldier, Tetrarchess. These men have had no -trial.”</p> -<p>She pointed to her silent spouse, glumly sitting his horse. “He is -the Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. These revolutionaries are -Galileans. He is the proper one to try them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_255">255</div> -<p>“No, my dear Herodias,” Antipas spoke out. “This is neither the -time nor the place to conduct any trial. Centurion, let us proceed -with your plans to go on into Jerusalem.”</p> -<p>Herodias lifted her head haughtily, but she made no reply. As -soon as the caravan re-formed and was ready for the march, Cornelius -gave the command to move forward. Less than two hours -later he led the Tetrarch and Tetrarchess through the gate and let -them and their servants into the gloomy pile of the old Hasmonean -Palace. From there he marched his century to the Fortress of Antonia, -where he surrendered his three prisoners to the dungeon -jailer, who locked them, still bound securely, in the darkness and -squalor of one of the lowest-level cells.</p> -<p>When he had seen to the quartering of his men in their Antonia -barracks, he climbed the stone stairway in the southwestern tower -and walked along the corridor to the room he had been assigned -in the officers’ quarters. He had decided he would have a steaming -bath and put on fresh clothing before going down to the mess -for a late evening meal.</p> -<p>The chamber, the centurion found, was close and warm. He -pushed open the window; then he unbolted the door and walked -out onto the balcony. Down below lights blazed in the Temple -courts, and men scurried to and fro, already in a frenzy of Passover -preparations.</p> -<h2 id="c40">40</h2> -<p>Once again the household of Procurator Pontius Pilate was settled -in the magnificent great Palace of the Herods; once again -the ancient capital of Israel was teeming with countless Jews come -up for the Feast of the Passover.</p> -<p>From every region and hamlet, almost from every home, in -<span class="pb" id="Page_256">256</span> -Judaea, Samaria, Peraea, and Galilee, from Antioch, Damascus, -Tarsus, Alexandria, Memphis, and Cyrene, from Ephesus, Athens, -and Corinth, from all provinces rimming the Great Sea, even to -Rome and beyond, from the islands of Cyprus and Sardinia and -Sicily and Crete and those numerous smaller ones dotting the -Aegean, devout Israelites had swarmed into Jerusalem’s crowded -narrow ways and squares before the gates.</p> -<p>Every Jewish home, whether pretentious stone residence crowning -Mount Zion or squalid malodorous hovel burrowed beneath -the city’s walls in noisome Ophel, was overflowing with pilgrim -kinsmen returned for this greatest annual feast of Israel. For every -person living in Jerusalem, Centurion Longinus casually estimated -as he stood on Fortress Antonia’s balcony outside his chamber, -perhaps ten pilgrims had squirmed themselves inside the walls -of the old city. And countless other thousands had been unable -to find living quarters within the walls. Throngs of Passover celebrants -overflowed the slope downward to the Brook Kidron and -up the eastern rise past Gethsemane to the summit of the Mount -of Olives and as far as Bethany. To the south, beyond the ever -smoldering fires of the refuse dumps in the Hinnom valley, and -to the west, tents and brush arbors of Passover pilgrims dotted the -untilled areas through which ran the Bethlehem road. Northward, -too, though Longinus could not survey that section of Jerusalem -and its environs because of the great tower at his back, and to his -right over beyond the massive pile of the Palace of the Herods, -for many furlongs past the Ephraim and Joppa Gates, thin curlings -of grayish-white smoke spiraled upward from small fires over which -Passover pilgrims were bending now in preparation of the evening -meal.</p> -<p>Longinus had been quartered near the Centurion Cornelius, but -he had hardly seen his friend. The night of Cornelius’ arrival from -Galilee with the Tetrarch’s party and his three Zealot prisoners, -they had talked briefly in the mess hall, but they were both weary -from the traveling and soon retired to their beds. The next day -Pontius Pilate, greatly pleased at the capture of the wily zealot -chieftain, had ordered Cornelius to take his century and scour the -rocks above the Jericho road into which the evening before the -<span class="pb" id="Page_257">257</span> -marauders had disappeared. He had commanded the centurion -to ferret out every member of Bar Abbas’ band and either capture -or kill him. “And follow them as far as Galilee if need be, Centurion,” -the Procurator had instructed him. “Capture any you can, -and bring them back here; we will crucify them during the Passover -festival, and for the thousands of rebellious, stubborn Jews -who will see them dying on the crosses it will be a salutary lesson. -It may help them realize what fate awaits those who thus oppose -Rome’s authority and power.”</p> -<p>Longinus wondered what success Cornelius was having. Evidently -he had been forced to pursue the fleeing revolutionaries -a long way, perhaps even as far as Galilee, where they might expect -to find haven among kinsmen and friends. No doubt the attackers -of the Tetrarch’s party had separated in their flight from -the soldiers of Cornelius. It would be particularly difficult, virtually -impossible, in fact, to round up all the revolutionaries Bar Abbas -had been leading, Longinus felt. In all probability, he reasoned, a -number of them had slipped into Jerusalem a few minutes after -Cornelius had entered the city, perhaps even ahead of his caravan, -and were now safely lost among the tens of thousands deluging -the ancient capital.</p> -<p>Nor had Longinus had an opportunity thus far to spend any -considerable time alone with Claudia. Though Pilate had been -keeping close to his headquarters in the fortress during the day-time, -he had been returning to the palace at night, and his bedchamber -was beside Claudia’s and connected with it by a doorway. -The Procurator, too, had issued orders for all officers not on active -duty to be quickly available; Pilate seemed unusually restive. Longinus -felt that Pilate was determined to prevent any small turmoil -among the Jews from developing into a crisis whose handling by -him might further jeopardize his standing with the Prefect Sejanus -and the Emperor. With so many Jews congregated in Israel’s holy -city on a festival occasion so characteristically Jewish and one that -so emphasized the peculiarly nationalistic spirit of the Jews, the -situation was always highly inflammable. A small spark, if not -snuffed quickly, could blaze into a holocaust.</p> -<p>One such minor incident that had taken place on the first day -<span class="pb" id="Page_258">258</span> -of the Jewish week might have provided such a spark, had the -principal actor in it been of a mind to cause trouble. And, strangely, -without having known what he was seeing, Longinus had witnessed -this small happening.</p> -<p>He had breakfasted early with several fellow officers and had -come up to his chamber this particular morning, when, to enjoy -a stirring of the already warming April air, he had stepped out onto -the balcony. Down below him the Court of the Gentiles was a -hive of bustling activity. Out beyond the eastern wall in the direction -he happened to be looking the slopes were alive with pilgrims -preparing for the great festival. But up on the balcony he was safe -from the stir and seething and the interminable chattering of excited -Jewry, and a gentle breeze fanned him. He sat on the wide -stone railing of the rampart, and idly his gaze went down the -nearer slope to the Brook Kidron and along the meandering road -on the other side as it climbed past Gethsemane’s olive grove -toward the hill’s summit.</p> -<p>It was then that he noticed a procession moving slowly but with -evident enthusiasm downward over this road toward the city from -the direction of Bethany. Immediately his interest was attracted -to the motley parade. Above the harsh cries of the hawkers in -the Temple courts, the quarrelsome tones of bargaining, and the -dull lowing of the cattle in the stalls awaiting sacrificing on the -Great Altar, Longinus could distinguish the screamed hosannas -of this unrestrained movement of dancing, singing, joyous people. -Many of them were waving green branches they must have torn -from trees and shrubs along the roadside. Occasionally the centurion -would catch sight of an erect, tall man astride a white -donkey. He adjudged the man to be tall, because his feet were -not far from the gravel of the road as he sat astride the beast. And -then he would lose sight of the rider as the shouting celebrants -swirled about him.</p> -<p>Some popular rabbi with his people coming up to Jerusalem -for the Passover, Longinus surmised, as he watched the writhing -column approach the Brook Kidron crossing. Soon it disappeared -under the walls down near Dung Gate, but presently it emerged -again into his sight; he followed its progress through the cavernous -<span class="pb" id="Page_259">259</span> -alleys of Ophel, sometimes seeing it crossing a narrow opening -between huddled buildings but hearing without interruption its -lively shouts and chantings, until it came into clearer view at -a stairway in the street pushing upward along Mount Moriah -toward the Temple now resplendent in the morning sunshine.</p> -<p>Inside the Court of the Gentiles, which the strange little caravan -of one rider and his evidently unorganized but plainly joyous -adherents had reached by coming in through the Gate Shalleketh, -the tall man dismounted, and someone quickly led the little animal -away. In another moment the shouting and hosannas had -ceased, and soon the centurion lost the rider in the press of the -Temple throng.</p> -<p>Later that day in crossing the Court of the Gentiles to go out -through the Gate Shalleketh and onto the bridge over the Tyropoeon, -which was the easiest way to Mount Zion from the fortress, -Longinus learned that the man on the donkey was the rabbi from -Galilee. Many of his followers had expected the rabbi, whose fame -by now had spread throughout Judaea, to come into the precincts -of the Temple, proclaim himself Yahweh’s Messiah and the ruler -of the world, and call down legions of heavenly angels utterly to -destroy every vestige of Rome’s dominion. Now these followers -were deeply disappointed and utterly chagrined. The tall one -from Galilee in whom they had put their trust, the one who -would be Israel’s new David to deliver it from its mighty enemy, -had failed them.</p> -<p>But what if this Jesus had really fancied himself a man ordained -to lead his little nation in throwing off the yoke of Rome? What, -reasoned the centurion, if he had been as visionary, as passionately -though unwisely patriotic as countless other Jews assembled here -in Rome for Israel’s great celebration? In this tense, highly inflammable -atmosphere of Passover week in Jerusalem, with great -numbers of his followers believing that he possessed supernatural -authority and powers, the rabbi’s willingness to allow himself to be -proclaimed Israel’s king would have resulted in fearful bloodshed. -But this Jesus at the last moment had either lost his courage, or -else he had never contemplated leadership of Israel except in some -vague, religious sense that Cornelius perhaps would term spiritual. -<span class="pb" id="Page_260">260</span> -At any rate, Longinus concluded, the Galilean was no threat to -Rome and of no concern to the Empire. In his report to Sejanus, -he would make no mention of the rabbi, unless in some manner -Pontius Pilate might become involved with the man from Galilee. -He wondered if Pilate had even been informed of the little procession -that had come to such an inglorious ending within the -Temple court. He wondered if Pilate, in fact, in his harried administration -of the affairs of Judaea had ever heard of this Jesus.</p> -<h2 id="c41">41</h2> -<p>Claudia sat on a small stone bench facing one of the fountains -in the garden of the Palace of the Herods. All about her the -grass was a luxuriant green and the flower beds, fed, she had been -told, with blood drained through subterranean pipes from the overflow -of the Great Altar, were already ablaze with color. Birds -skipped and twittered in the rich foliage, and now and then some -venturing small animal would skitter across an open patch of -bright sunshine to disappear beneath the branches of a flowering -shrub. The bench, shaded by a gnarled great olive, was invitingly -cool despite the day’s warmth and heaviness, and the gentle babble -of the spraying water ordinarily would have lulled one sitting there -into a mood of peaceful contemplation, if not pleasant slumber.</p> -<p>But this afternoon the wife of the Procurator felt neither peaceful -nor pleasant. She watched the fountain’s waters lifting and -arching and falling and draining away in an undeviating pattern -of movement and allowed her own thoughts to wander with it.</p> -<p><i>... There is the picture of my living. Like the water that is the -thrust-along prisoner of the pump, or the ram which again and -again lifts it and sends it spurting upward only to fall back and -sink down and be forced up again, I am the prisoner of some -malign power that pushes me along through a dull monotony of</i> -<span class="pb" id="Page_261">261</span> -<i>days that I am powerless even to protest against; I am swirled -about but held fast like that water in a routine of existence I -dare not even challenge....</i></p> -<p>She leaned forward with her head upon her hands and glared, -hardly seeing it, at the captive, dancing water. How, by Bona Dea -and all the good and gentle gods, the kind and happily ministering -gods, how, by Pluto and all his evil soot-begrimed and blackened -imps, could she escape the treadmill of this deadening monotony, -this unending, bedeviling frustration? Granddaughter of the great -god Augustus, stepdaughter of the great god Tiberius, granddaughter -of the almost-great god Mark Antony and the great great goddess -Cleopatra, wife of the mighty Procurator of Judaea, daughter -through Augustus of Jove himself, princess of the blood....</p> -<p>“Bah!” She said it aloud. But there was nobody near-by in the -garden. She sat back against the coolness of the stone. “By all the -gods, why couldn’t I have been a wench serving tables in a tavern, -a strumpet down in the Subura, and had my freedom!”</p> -<p><i>... Why, by all the gods, can’t old Tiberius die? He’s past -seventy now, and of what service is he to the Empire? And Sejanus, -the old rake, must be past sixty. If someone would give the Prefect -a neat sword thrust....</i></p> -<p>She stood up and walked over to the fountain, held out her -hands to the spraying water and lifted wet palms to her flushed -cheeks. The afternoon was still and depressing. She raised her eyes -and saw above the trees and the turreted nearest corner of the -great palace rounded soft white puffs of clouds, like newly lifted -fresh curds in a deeply blue overturned bowl. “A storm,” she said -to herself, “one of those swiftly arrived, quickly gone, fierce -Judaean storms. But it will clear the air of this blanket of heat, and -it will serve to break for a while the monotony of another fruitless -day.”</p> -<p>But she did not go inside. She sat down again and watched the -gathering puffs of clouds. Never had she been afraid of storms, even -ominous thunder and the swift, sharp streaks of lightning. She -remembered that once in her early childhood when a governess -had warned her against staying outdoors and running the risk of -being struck by one of Jove’s hurled mighty bolts, she had remarked, -<span class="pb" id="Page_262">262</span> -“If old Jove is clever enough to strike me with a bolt -outdoors, why can’t he throw one right through the roof and hit -me while I’m inside? I don’t believe he can hit me whether I’m -outside or inside.”</p> -<p>Her blasphemous words had woefully shocked the governess, but -Claudia had never seen cause to retract them. One thing had led -to another; from denying Jove’s power she had soon come to deny -his very existence, and with his, the existence likewise of the entire -pantheon of lesser gods and goddesses.</p> -<p>She was still seated on the bench when a palace servant came -out to announce that a soldier had arrived from Fortress Antonia -with a message for her.</p> -<p>“Then bring him here,” she instructed the servant. Could it be, -she wondered, that the man is bringing a message from Longinus?</p> -<p>But the legionary had been sent to her by the Procurator. Pilate, -he reported, would not be returning to the palace either for the -evening meal or to spend the night. He begged to explain to his -wife that he had had a very trying day and that he would be engaged -until late in the evening. He had agreed to give an audience -to the High Priest Caiaphas, and their meeting might well be -extended into the night. He had decided, therefore, to forego the -privilege and pleasure of dining with the Procuratoress; he would -have supper in his quarters and after he had ended his long day’s -duties would spend the remainder of the night there.</p> -<p>Her first thought was of getting a message to Longinus. She -would write it, seal it fast, and send it by the legionary.</p> -<p>“Thank you,” she said to the soldier. “I shall want you to carry -a message to the Fortress.” She stood up. “I’ll go inside and prepare -it.” But would it be a discreet thing to do, sending a message -to Longinus by this legionary? What if by chance it should fall -into other hands, even Pilate’s? “No, there’s no need of my writing -it,” she said. “Just tell the Procurator that I thank him for informing -me and that I shall see him at his pleasure tomorrow.”</p> -<p>But she would find a way of notifying Longinus. Tullia. Of -course. Tullia was one person upon whose loyalty and good judgment -she could always depend. When Tullia returned, she would -send her to Longinus.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_263">263</div> -<p>A soft breeze had sprung up and was pushing the storm clouds -gently away; the air had cooled; the storm seemed to have been -averted for the day. Claudia rose from the bench and returned to -her apartment in the palace.</p> -<p>When a few minutes later her maid returned, she was carrying -a small wicker basket. “Mistress, I found these in one of the markets -near the Temple,” she said, beaming as she held out the -basket to Claudia. “I thought you might enjoy them.”</p> -<p>“Fresh figs? And so early?” She picked one up. “It really is a -fresh one, isn’t it?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and I’ve washed them. You can eat it right now. I was -surprised to find any this early, but the man explained that in -some of the warm coves on the protected side of Olivet they often -have figs ripening in early April.”</p> -<p>Claudia pulled the fig open and nibbled at the firm reddish -flesh inside. “It’s delicious,” she said, “and such a surprise.” She -saw that Tullia’s eyes were ablaze with an excitement, however, -that no discovery of fresh figs could have provoked. “What is it, -little one? What happened? Whom did you see?”</p> -<p>“Mistress, I was looking at the figs when I heard a familiar voice -speaking to the merchant. I looked around; it was Mary of Magdala.”</p> -<p>Jesus and his little group, she had told Tullia, had come down -from the Ephraim hills for the Passover. Her master was spending -his nights with Martha and Mary and Lazarus out at near-by -Bethany; during the day he came into the Temple courts to teach.</p> -<p>“Perhaps, then, he will proclaim himself the Messiah of Israel -and establish a new government,” Tullia said she had said to Mary. -But the Magdalene had answered that Jesus seemed to be insisting -instead that he would not become Israel’s temporal ruler, that -he would even die as a sort of Passover sacrifice, an offering for the -salvation of his people.</p> -<p>“But surely,” Claudia commented, “you Jews would never so -debase yourselves as to offer a human sacrifice, as do those who -worship Moloch.”</p> -<p>“It wouldn’t be that way, Mistress. But ... I don’t believe it -will ever happen anyway.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_264">264</div> -<p>Mary had asked Tullia to spend the night with her in a cottage -out at Bethany near the modest home of Lazarus and his sisters. -She might be able to see Jesus and even talk with him. They would -meet, if Claudia should be agreeable, at Shushan Gate before sunset -and go out to Bethany.</p> -<p>“Then you’d best be going soon,” Claudia observed. “But before -you meet Mary, I want you to go by Fortress Antonia and -tell Longinus that the Procurator will be spending the night -there.” She told the maid of the message Pilate had sent her. “And -tell Longinus I’ll accept no excuse for his failing to come.”</p> -<h2 id="c42">42</h2> -<p>The lean, blue-jowled ascetic face of Joseph Caiaphas, High Priest -of Israel, warmed into a disarming smile, and the flames from the -chamber’s wall lamps danced in his sharp, dark eyes.</p> -<p>“Excellency,” he said, “you must be exasperated at my coming -to you at this late hour.” He faced the Procurator across the ornate, -heavy desk. “I know you are tired, and I appreciate the fact that -the strain you’ve been undergoing ever since your arrival in Judaea -has been intensified during these recent inflammable days of the -Passover season.” He leaned nearer Pilate. “I realize, too, Excellency, -that you must be determined to prevent the repetition of -events in Palestine that might result in the dispatching to Rome of -further damaging reports”—the Procurator’s florid round face -darkened, but Caiaphas pretended not to notice—“challenging the -excellence of the Procurator’s administration of the affairs of this -province.”</p> -<p>“I am tired; I’ve had a long day.” Pilate’s tone revealed irritation. -“Perhaps if the High Priest would proceed at once to the -business he had in coming....”</p> -<p>“Indeed, Excellency,” the High Priest interrupted, “and I shall -<span class="pb" id="Page_265">265</span> -require little of your time, so that shortly you may go to your -well-earned couch. A fortunate event of the day has facilitated the -early satisfactory disposition of the business; if the Procurator will -co-operate in disposing of it we shall quickly rid ourselves of a -grievous threat both to Israel’s peace and to the Procurator’s rule. -I have just come from a lengthy session of the elders of Israel, -Excellency—that explains my late arrival here—at which we have -agreed....”</p> -<p>“But what is the business you would lay before me? And how -would it affect the Procurator’s administration of the government -in Judaea?” Pilate’s impatience had put a sharp edge on his voice. -“If it is a question of the alleged violation of certain religious laws -of the Jews....”</p> -<p>“It is that, Excellency, but it is more.” Caiaphas leaned forward, -and the light of the lamps flashed in the gems of his rings. “Not -only would this man destroy our religion, but likewise would he -destroy the rule of Rome in Palestine.”</p> -<p>“This man? Are you speaking of one Bar Abbas? He has been -seized, with two of his fellow revolutionaries. They go to the cross -tomorrow.”</p> -<p>The High Priest shook his head. “It is not that one, Excellency. -The man is a Galilean, one Jesus bar Joseph, not a robber like -Bar Abbas, but a far more dangerous revolutionary, whom his misguided -followers—and their number is growing, Excellency—are -proclaiming not only the Messiah of God but also the next King -of Israel. Were noise to get back to the Prefect Sejanus or the -Emperor that such a person was being permitted to advocate and -plan Rome’s overthrow and your Excellency’s supplanting....”</p> -<p>“But does the High Priest know where this man is? Does the -Sanhedrin have him in its custody?”</p> -<p>Calmly Joseph Caiaphas stroked his oiled and braided long -beard. “He is in Jerusalem at this moment, Excellency, or within -the close environs of the city. It is possible that already he has -been seized by the Temple guard. He has been at the Feast since -the first day of the week when he entered Jerusalem riding on a -white donkey, which among the Jews is a symbol of royalty, Excellency. -It was then that he had planned to enlist the Passover -<span class="pb" id="Page_266">266</span> -pilgrims, led by his fellow Galileans, in proclaiming him the new -David, the King of Israel suddenly freed of Rome’s domination. -He lost his courage, though, or in some manner his plans failed of -materialization. But”—his hand stabbed out again at the Procurator—“the -fellow is still intent on seizing power, and his countless -misguided followers are determined to see him established on the -throne as King of Israel. They will plunge our ancient land into -revolution, Excellency. Blood will flow freely throughout Judaea -and Galilee. Many Roman soldiers will die before the rebellion is -crushed, unless”—his forehead wrinkled in heavy concern—“this -fellow is quietly slain, Excellency, before his followers can rally.”</p> -<p>“You say that perhaps he has been arrested already. How could -he be taken without alarming these supporters of whom you -speak?”</p> -<p>The High Priest leaned back in his chair and folded his long -arms across his chest. “The God of Israel has favored us, Excellency. -He has delivered this blasphemer into our hands through -his betrayal by one of his own band. This man came to us and -after seeking pay told us he would point out where the man might -be found and taken with little commotion. We gave the fellow -thirty pieces of silver. By now no doubt he has delivered his leader -into the hands of the guardsmen....”</p> -<p>“You say this man’s a blasphemer. Don’t you know that the -Procurator is not concerned with violations of your religious code? -What is it to Rome if your Yahweh is blasphemed? We will not -enter into the religious quarrels of the Jews. I presume you have -come here to ask me to try the man and find him guilty. I say, O -High Priest, try the man yourself.”</p> -<p>Caiaphas smiled indulgently, but then his brow furrowed again -and he scowled darkly. “That is true, Excellency. Rome has no -concern with Israel’s worship of our God. But is not Rome concerned -when a man, under the guise of teaching a new religion, -declares openly that he will establish a new government in Israel? -Would not Sejanus and the Emperor consider then that Rome was -concerned ... and deeply concerned?”</p> -<p>The High Priest’s clever thrust had made its mark; Pilate’s face -flushed; his tone, when he replied, was petulant. “Of course, the -<span class="pb" id="Page_267">267</span> -Prefect and the Emperor would be concerned; so would the Legate -Vitellius, and so would the Procurator; so, in fact, would any loyal -Roman.” Now the Procurator extended his own finger to point. -“But how do you know that this Galilean advocates the overthrow -of Rome? Has he come to trial? Has he faced witnesses -against him? What would the High Priest have me to do, send a -man to his death without trial? Certainly the High Priest must -know that Rome is ruled by law, that no man under the rule of -Rome may suffer death until he has been adjudged guilty, and -that any such judgment can come only after a fair trial in which -the man has been confronted by witnesses against him.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, O Procurator”—Joseph Caiaphas held up a soothing -palm—“we well know that and approve. We, too, would never -consent to sending this revolutionary to his death without trial, -even though his crimes against Israel and against Rome have already -been conclusively established. But he is being brought to -fair trial, Excellency, before the great Sanhedrin of Israel. Perhaps -he has already been apprehended in the Garden of Gethsemane, -where he had planned to conceal himself with certain of his followers, -as we learned from the traitor who came to us. He will be -examined, no doubt before my beloved father-in-law Annas, known -for his piety and his wisdom, learned in the laws of Israel”—he -smiled warmly—“and strong in his devotion to the Prefect and the -Emperor. And then, Excellency, as soon as the dawn of the new -day makes it legal under our laws to conduct such a trial, the Galilean -will be brought before the Sanhedrin, confronted by witnesses -against him, and given proper trial.”</p> -<p>“Then why has the High Priest,” Pilate asked in exasperation, -“come to me?”</p> -<p>“O Excellency, the Procurator must know that the ancient laws -of Israel, now that Rome has become master, no longer apply in -every detail. Should our Sanhedrin find this revolutionary Galilean -guilty of base crimes and sentence him to death, it would still be -powerless to carry out its sentence without the approval of Rome. -I am here, O Excellency, to petition the Procurator to approve -our verdict and sentence. And I urge you to do this quickly, in -order that the man may be executed while it is yet early and -<span class="pb" id="Page_268">268</span> -before all Jerusalem, and the Galileans in particular, are astir. Then -much commotion and bloodshed would be prevented and,” he -added with a suggestive smile, “there would be no necessity of any -report’s going to Rome.”</p> -<p>“But you wish me to condemn a man to death <i>before</i> he has -been tried?” Pilate’s anger showed plainly in his frown.</p> -<p>“Indeed, no, Excellency,” the High Priest replied calmly. “We -only wish you to approve and order into execution the sentence -of the Sanhedrin in the event that <i>after</i> he has been tried, he is -judged guilty.”</p> -<p>Pilate shook his head. “No, I shall send no man to the cross -or to death by stoning until <i>I</i> have tried him. To do so would be -an unspeakable breach of Rome’s system of justice.”</p> -<p>“But, Excellency, would you show your scorn of Israel’s highest -court?”</p> -<p>“I would show only my determination to uphold Rome’s laws -and procedures. If you wish this man tried, then bring him before -me at the Procuratorium.” He bowed coldly. “And now, if -the High Priest will excuse me....”</p> -<p>The High Priest stood up as though to leave. “Indeed, Excellency, -I too am greatly fatigued,” he said, “but one more point -detains me. A moment ago, Procurator Pilate, did I not hear you -say that on the morrow you were sending Bar Abbas to the cross? -If so, Excellency, have you not already convicted him?”</p> -<p>Pilate’s smile was contemptuous as he, too, rose to his feet. “I -did say that, and I have no doubt that he will go to the cross. But -not, O High Priest, until he has been given trial, before he has -been confronted by witnesses who will testify to what they saw and -heard as concerns those charges that will be placed against him. -I presume that many will appear against this Bar Abbas and that -he will be convicted. But I do not say now that he will. I say -only that he will be given a fair trial.” He lifted a heavy fist and -brought it forcefully down upon the surface of his desk. “And so, -by all the gods, will your Galilean!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_269">269</div> -<h2 id="c43">43</h2> -<p><i>... The knocking is insistent. Can it be that the Praetorian -Guardsman has been there a long time pounding on the door between -the atrium and the peristylium while I slowly awakened? -Bona Dea, what can old Sejanus want this time? Will he never -cease hounding Longinus and me?</i></p> -<p><i>... Longinus. By the Bountiful Mother, maybe it’s Longinus -returned from Germania. Maybe he’s at the bedroom door opening -on the peristylium....</i></p> -<p>“Just a moment, Centurion, until I get my robe!” Claudia sat -up in bed, rubbed her eyes, and shook her head to clear it. A -narrow slash of natural light showed through the not completely -drawn draperies. It was dawn. And burrowed in the pillow beside -her was the close-cropped head of the Centurion Longinus.</p> -<p>Now the knocking had begun again. But it came, Claudia -realized, from the other side of the door between her bedroom -and Tullia’s. And though insistent, the knocking was not loud. -“Mistress! Mistress! Oh, Mistress!”</p> -<p>She recognized her maid’s voice; Tullia was trying to awaken -her without making too much noise in the early morning stillness -of the Palace of the Herods. “Just a moment, little one,” she -called out softly. At the door she slid back the bolt. “But, Tullia,” -she demanded, keeping her voice low so that she would not awaken -Longinus, “what are you doing back so early? It must be hardly -daylight. Why, little one....” she paused, seeing the maid on -the verge of tears.</p> -<p>“Oh, Mistress, he’s in grave danger!” Tullia burst out. “They’ve -seized him. We fear great harm may befall him. That’s why I have -come back to seek your help for him.” She was making an obvious -effort to gain control of herself; somewhat calmed, she continued. -<span class="pb" id="Page_270">270</span> -“I started from Bethany at the first glimmering of light, almost as -soon as we heard that he had been taken. We’re so afraid, Mistress, -that great harm will come to him unless....”</p> -<p>“Let’s sit down”—Claudia’s tone was soothing—“and then -quietly you can tell me why you’re so afraid he’s going to suffer -great injury. And who, Tullia? You haven’t even told me his -name.”</p> -<p>“The Galilean, Mistress; I thought you knew. Sometime during -the night some Temple guardsmen came and seized him in the -Garden of Gethsemane; he’d gone there with his little band to -rest after eating the Passover meal at the home of Mary of Cypress. -They say it was one of his own band who betrayed him, -who told the Temple priests where he could be found and arrested -without there being a big stir. Of course there would have -been a great commotion if they had tried to take him anywhere -near the Temple; they wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing -if....”</p> -<p>“But how do you know all this?” Claudia interrupted. “Maybe -you’re getting yourself upset without good reason.”</p> -<p>“No, it’s true, Mistress. Jesus and those of his immediate company, -along with his mother and certain other relatives, have been -staying in the Bethany neighborhood during the festival period,” -Tullia revealed. “Jesus himself lodged at the home of Lazarus and -his sisters. But yesterday afternoon the Master and the twelve -men of his band went into Jerusalem. That’s the last time Mary -of Magdala saw him.” Her face was a mask of pain and apprehension. -“Then, early this morning, we were awakened by several of -his band who had come running back to Bethany in great panic -to report what had befallen him. All of them forsook him in the -garden when the soldiers appeared; even Simon, after he had -slashed out with his sword at one of the guardsmen, turned on his -heel and ran, too, they said.”</p> -<p>“But where did the soldiers take him?” Claudia asked. “And -why have you come to me?”</p> -<p>“They said there was talk that he was being taken before the -High Priest or else old Annas, Mistress. And we’re afraid that he -may suffer a terrible fate if he falls into the hands of the Temple -<span class="pb" id="Page_271">271</span> -priests. They’re determined to kill him, Mistress.” She paused, -eyes tearful. “I knew no one else to whom I could turn for help, -no one but you. I thought that you might speak to the Procurator -and he might rescue the Galilean before they have him killed.”</p> -<p>“But don’t you know that they have no authority to execute the -death sentence until the Procurator has given approval?”</p> -<p>“Yes, but they’re so inflamed against him, Mistress, that they -might risk it. But if you could send a message to the Procurator....”</p> -<p>“He was probably up late into the night. To awaken him now -with a message might offend him, and that would be doing the -Galilean more harm than good. But Pilate usually returns to the -palace before beginning his morning duties; as soon as he does, -I’ll lay before him this matter of the Galilean’s arrest. Certainly no -harm can come to him before Pilate has had an opportunity to sit -in judgment on him.”</p> -<h2 id="c44">44</h2> -<p>This Passover season there would be only three burdened crosses -on top of the desolate Hill of the Skull, but they would be -enough. The ugly spectacle would provide a frightful ending to -the Jews’ annual great festival.</p> -<p>In other times in Palestine, Centurion Cornelius had been told, -Rome had moved swiftly—and with far more terrifying effectiveness—to -dramatize the utter futility of any province’s attempt to -contend against the mighty conqueror. In Galilee they still talked, -though even now in carefully guarded conversations, of that dreadful -day at Sepphoris hardly more than twenty years ago when the -Roman general Varus had crushed a rebellion and crucified two -thousand Jewish insurrectionists.</p> -<p>Perhaps Pontius Pilate, who a week ago had sent him chasing -the rebels of the now leaderless Bar Abbas band, had tired of -<span class="pb" id="Page_272">272</span> -awaiting the centurion’s return with more captives for the crosses; -perhaps he had already ordered to slow and agonizing deaths the -revolutionaries’ leader and the two followers captured with him. It -might be that even now countless pilgrims up for the Passover, -drawn by a morbid fascination, were gawking at the scourged, torn, -and broken, unimaginably desecrated bodies of the captured robber-Zealots. -But Cornelius would provide no additional victims for -those crosses on the Hill of the Skull.</p> -<p>“And I’m glad,” he said aloud.</p> -<p>“What, Centurion? Glad?” Decius, riding beside him, had -heard.</p> -<p>“I was just thinking aloud about this business of crucifying -slaves and depraved criminals. I was glad those four revolutionaries -we cornered in the Ephraim hills chose to fight to their deaths -rather than surrender. It’s better not having to take anybody back -to Jerusalem to be nailed up on a cross.”</p> -<p>“It’s not one of the most pleasant assignments a soldier gets, being -on a crucifixion detail,” Decius agreed. “I’ve been on three, and -I’ll never forget those poor devils, the first one especially, maybe -just because he was my first. He was a boy in Germania, hardly -sixteen, but a sturdy, strong fellow. I can still see him, Centurion. -He was fair and his hair was the color of ripened grain, and -his eyes were as blue as the sky. He had killed one of our soldiers, -they said.”</p> -<p>“Probably after our soldier had killed the boy’s parents and -raped his sister.”</p> -<p>“I can’t say as to that; you could be right, Centurion. But our -commander ordered him to the cross, and I was put on the detail. -We took that boy and tied him to the low stake and scourged him -until he was a bloody pulp, Centurion. I can still see those bone-tipped -whips slashing that white skin and flicking off bits of flesh, -and one of them got him in the eye and knocked the ball out of -the socket; it was hanging down when we nailed him up.” Decius -shook his head ruefully. “By the gods, Centurion, do you know -that boy even then fought us and cursed us as long as he had a -hand or foot loose, and when we got all four spiked down he -tried to butt us with his head. He was a strong one, that fellow; -<span class="pb" id="Page_273">273</span> -I remember he didn’t die until well along in the second day, and -then he was spitting at us and cursing us almost to his last breath.” -Decius stared thoughtfully for a moment at the road unwinding -ahead. “Many times I’ve dreamed about that boy, Centurion, and -I can still see him plainly and hear his screaming and cursing. It’s -not a pleasant dream. I’d rather dream about those yellow-haired -women in Germania.”</p> -<p>Cornelius nodded his head solemnly. “Yet we Romans call ourselves -modern and civilized people.” They rode on in silence for -a few moments. “Maybe we did well in being away from Jerusalem -most of the week of the feast,” Cornelius finally commented. -“Maybe we escaped being assigned by the Procurator to -a crucifixion detail.”</p> -<p>“I hope so; I’ve no stomach for serving on one again,” Decius -agreed. “You know, Centurion, I’ve just been thinking that very -likely many of Bar Abbas’ cutthroats are right up there in Jerusalem -in that Passover crowd. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of -them should try to rescue those three Zealots.”</p> -<p>Cornelius nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me either. I suspect -that most of them, in fact, doubled back that night and beat us -into Jerusalem and got themselves quickly lost in the surge of -Passover pilgrims. And only the gods know how many other Zealots -are swarming all over the city with their daggers sharpened for -our throats.”</p> -<p>It was almost midday when they moved through the defile between -the boulders where a week before they had been waylaid -by the Zealot chieftain. This time Cornelius sent a scouting party -ahead to reconnoiter. But no marauder was encountered.</p> -<p>In the level beyond the rocks the century paused to eat and -rest. But not for long. Soon Cornelius gave the order to reassemble -in marching formation. The sun was straight overhead, and the -air was warm and heavy; a stifling stillness presaged a violent storm. -“I’d like to get into Antonia before it breaks,” the centurion observed -to Decius, as they mounted their horses. “Look.” He -pointed off toward the southwest where an immense angry black -cloud hovered low. “By mighty Jove, it must be already dark in -Jerusalem.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_274">274</div> -<h2 id="c45">45</h2> -<p>The tall Galilean arose from the steps before the Beautiful Gate -and bending over, caught the hand of the prostrate, frightened -woman. “Neither do I condemn you, my sister,” he said gently, as -he helped her to her feet and she lifted tearful, penitent eyes to -him. “Go, and sin no more.”</p> -<p>“He is truly a good man, Tullia, a noble man of warm heart, a -generous, forgiving, good man. But a god? No, little one.” They -were watching the woman as she neared the corner of the Chel -toward the Fortress of Antonia. “There are no gods.”</p> -<p>The woman went out of their sight around the Soreg. They -turned to look again toward the Galilean at the marble steps.</p> -<p>But the steps had disappeared, and the Beautiful Gate, and beyond -it the Great Altar. Only the man stood there, and his arms -were bound behind him now, and where the Chel had been was -the Procurator’s tribunal. Solemn but unafraid, he faced the judge. -At his back the Temple leaders who a moment ago had dragged -the poor woman before him were shouting execrations upon him -and demanding of the Procurator his crucifixion. “Crucify him!” -they were screaming. “Crucify him!”</p> -<p>And in the magistrate’s chair ... by the Great Mother, there -was Pontius Pilate!</p> -<p>Pilate, his round face livid with anger, was remonstrating with -the priests. “But shall I crucify your King? Shall I crucify the -King of the Jews?”</p> -<p>Crucify Jesus of Galilee?</p> -<p>“No, Pilate! No! No!” She was running toward the Procurator -to stand beside the Galilean. “No, my husband, have nothing to -do with this good man!”</p> -<p><i>... But Pilate does not see me or hear me. Nor does the Galilean. -<span class="pb" id="Page_275">275</span> -Am I a disembodied spirit? But there are no spirits. Oh, -Tullia. But Tullia neither hears nor sees me....</i></p> -<p>“Then take him yourselves and crucify him. His death be your -responsibility.” Pilate was speaking again. “I am free of his blood.”</p> -<p>“No! No! No, Pilate! You are sending an innocent man to his -death! You can never disavow responsibility! Oh, hear me, my -husband! Hear me!”</p> -<p>But the Praetorium and its tribunal, the tall, bound Galilean, -the railing priests and their blood-hungry supporters were suddenly -vanished.</p> -<p>The great throne room of the Imperial Palace in Rome was -strangely darkened. She could hear the voice of the Emperor, but -she could hardly distinguish his features. Was he her stepfather -Tiberius, incredibly old now, or a younger Emperor? The voice was -somewhat strange, too. “You have failed miserably,” the voice was -saying. “You have been rash and stubbornly determined to govern -in accordance with your own whims, you have not only permitted, -but you have, through your intemperate governing, created much -turmoil and insurrection within your province; in short, your rule -has been a travesty of Roman administration.” The voice paused. -“But I shall not order you executed, as you deserve. Instead, I -decree that you be banished, forthwith and forever....”</p> -<p>The voice had faded out as the light came up, and she saw standing -with bowed head, old and bent and his once round face -thinned and haggard and hopeless, Pontius Pilate.</p> -<p>“No! No! If you had only listened....”</p> -<p>But no one heard her, and the great chamber was dark, and not -a sound came to her out of the stillness.</p> -<p>“Oh, by the Great Mother! By all the gods, great and small. Oh, -Galilean!”</p> -<p>Now as she stood immobile and weightless in the blackness and -silence, she began to sense a luminosity thinning the darkness -below, and looking down she saw a great way off a point of light -that spread and lifted and came up in ever widening circles to -illuminate the heights about her. For she was standing on the -summit of a great mountain, higher even than the sun-baked -granite bluffs on which Machaerus sat above the Dead Sea, and -<span class="pb" id="Page_276">276</span> -far below she could discern the imprisoned, restless waters of a -mountain-rimmed small lake.</p> -<p>Then, as she raised her eyes from the waters and looked across -toward an opposite peak, she saw him. He stood, bent and -shrunken and old with the weight of centuries, on a jagged thrust -of rock that came out from the mountain to overhang the agitated -surface of the lake. He was looking down at the waters; the -light was reflected from a head completely bald, and it played on -cheek bones guarding cheeks long sunken, so that his head even -in life appeared to have dried away to a skull, and only long dewlaps -hanging down showed signs of animation.</p> -<p>“No! No! It cannot be!”</p> -<p>But she knew it was, though Pontius Pilate had shriveled into -a pitiful husk of the vain and pompous Procurator he had been.</p> -<p>In the same moment she heard voices, and looking around, she -saw people on the slopes of the mountain, coming up, pushing -outward, swelling, and growing until all the mountain was filled -with people, and they were of all races and times and colors and -tongues. But strangely enough, she could understand their words, -Roman and Greek and Egyptian and the tongues of the yellow-haired -sons of Germania and the dark-haired women of Gaul, and -even the babblings of the barbarians in faraway Britannia, and -the curious utterances of the many unborn strange peoples of -places beyond the as yet uncharted seas. And each in his own -way was saying what all the others were saying.</p> -<p>The man on the precipice appeared not to see or hear the -people; he seemed preoccupied, fearful, oblivious of everything -about him, and struggling with the burden of some monstrous -inner distress. He raised his hands and held them before his face, -and then it was that she saw they were red to the wrists with the -color of blood freshly spilled; he rubbed them together, as though -struggling fiercely to scrub the blood away; he lowered them as if -to dip them in a basin, then lifted them again to study them, his -bloodless face, in contrast to the hands, a shade of ashen horror.</p> -<p>But the frenzied washing had done no good; the hands shone -fiery red. Despairing, Pilate dropped them to his sides and stepped -to the very edge of the yawning gulf. “I didn’t know!” he cried. -<span class="pb" id="Page_277">277</span> -“By all the gods, I didn’t know.” He raised his cavernous face and -with eyes wide looked into the void. “O God of the Jews”—his -shrunken head swayed on the wrinkled neck—“had I but known. -Had I but known....” His words whispered into silence, and he -closed his eyes.</p> -<p>“Don’t! No! No!” she screamed. “No, don’t!”</p> -<p>She forced herself to look down.</p> -<p>Pilate’s lean frame was dropping, slowly turning and twisting, -toward the angry waters; his bony arms and legs were thrust out -stiffly from the shroud of his too large toga, which streamed above -the plummeting body, flapping furiously in the wind. Rigid with -horror, staring into the abyss, she saw the body strike, heard the -sickening blob, and watched it gradually disappear.</p> -<p>But the waters would not grant oblivion. Angrily they flung -the broken, thin body back to the surface, and to Claudia, watching -in frozen fascination, it seemed to be twisting and eddying -in continuous agitation above the seething waters. Looking more -closely, her eyes rooted to the scene in morbid horror, she saw -white arms thrust upward and hands still reddened, cleansed not -one tint by their plunge into the watery depths. Now suddenly -the hands seemed detached from the stiffening arms, and alive; -like wounded rodents seeking haven in a dark fissure among the -rocks, they were feeling their way along the ascending stony slope -toward her, and in that dreadful instant there lifted to her also -the babble of countless voices in many tongues blending once -again into a swelling chorus. The light breaking slowly above the -mountain showed the plain below and the steep rises teeming -with a multitude drawn from all races and nations.</p> -<p>On the faces of some she read swift anger and deep hate, and -their fists were lifted skyward and their voices raised in execrations; -others revealed only indifference, and their words were but the -prattled monotony of chanted creed; but here and there on the -level and along the slopes she saw those whose words fitted without -disharmony into the growing chorus but whose faces as they -uttered them revealed sorrow, deep pity, and a forgiving spirit.</p> -<p>She closed her eyes against the vision of the myriad chanting -faces, but she heard their voices and she understood their many -<span class="pb" id="Page_278">278</span> -tongues ... “Crucified by Pontius Pilate ... Crucified ... suffered -under Pontius Pilate ... suffered ... suffered ... Pontius -Pilate....”</p> -<p>“No! No!” She opened her eyes to see the mountain cleared of -the people, the vision gone, the voices silenced. But there on the -ledge at her feet, rubbing one against the other, endlessly, eternally, -fruitlessly seeking to be cleansed, were the two gory, dismembered -hands.</p> -<p>“No! Back! Back! Go back!” She whirled about to rid herself of -the frightening apparition, and burying her face, eyes shut, against -her crossed arms, she leaned down upon the cool hardness of the -boulder beside her. “No! No!” she sobbed. “Get back! Go! Please -go!” Would those hands, the horrible thought came suddenly to -her, come closer? Would they attempt to exact vengeance upon -her? Might they even now be creeping upon her to fasten cold, -bloody fingers about her neck, to choke the life...?</p> -<p>“Get back! No! No!” she screamed, as she freed an arm to beat -frantic fist against the stone. “Don’t touch me! Tullia! Longinus! -Oh, Longinus....”</p> -<p>“Claudia! By great Jove!” The centurion, sitting up fully awake, -shook her hard. “Claudia! Wake up, woman! Wake up! Come out -of it! What on earth....”</p> -<p>She opened her eyes. “Longinus! Oh, by all the gods, it was -terrible, terrible!” Nor was the terror completely dispelled; in her -eyes, wide, staring, her fear still spoke. Her shoulders shook in an -involuntary shudder.</p> -<p>He pulled her up into a sitting position and grasped her hand. -“But it was only a nightmare, Claudia. You’re all right. You were -just dreaming.” She blinked and ventured a thin smile. “You -were screaming like a wild woman and beating the bed with your -fist.” His excited concern gave way to a grin. “It must have been -a bloodcurdling dream.”</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus”—she clenched her eyelids tightly against the -light streaming in through the window—“it was the most horrible -dream I ever had, the most frightful thing anyone could imagine. -I dreamed ... oh, it’s too horribly near; I can’t tell you now.” -<span class="pb" id="Page_279">279</span> -Still shaking, she turned to snuggle within the haven of his arms. -“Bona Dea....”</p> -<p>A sudden light knocking on the door interrupted her. Tullia -entered to ask softly if anything was wrong.</p> -<p>“It was only a nightmare, little one,” Claudia answered, leaning -back on her pillow. “It was so vivid, so frightening. But I’m all -right now. I’ll call you when I need you.”</p> -<p>“Was it about what I told you, Mistress, the Galilean?” Her -question and tone of voice betrayed Tullia’s deep concern.</p> -<p>“Yes ... about him and Pilate; horrible, horrible. I....”</p> -<p>“Oh, Mistress, could it have been a message to you, a vision -sent...?”</p> -<p>“From your Jewish Yahweh, perhaps?” Claudia affected an uneasy -laugh. “No, it was a dream, little one, that’s all. Get back to -your bed; you must still be weary.”</p> -<p>Claudia saw Longinus’ look of puzzlement. “Tullia returned -late in the night from Bethany and reported that the High Priest -had schemed the arrest of the rabbi of Galilee. She was afraid he -might prevail on Pilate this morning to agree to the crucifixion of -the Galilean.”</p> -<p>“Crucifixion? By all the gods, on what charge?”</p> -<p>“That he seeks to overthrow Rome.”</p> -<p>“The Galilean? But he’s no revolutionary. Surely Pilate knows -that.”</p> -<p>“Yes, surely he must.” She frowned. “But you know how Pilate -fears the High Priest and his Temple crowd, how he’s always -afraid they’ll send reports to Sejanus.”</p> -<p>“And you dreamed that he had sent the Galilean to the cross?”</p> -<p>“Yes. It was all confused, all horrible.” She sat up precipitately -and looked toward the window. “Bona Dea, it must be late. And -Pilate begins his trials soon after daybreak. Mother Ceres, I do -wonder....” She sprang from the bed and drew on her robe. -“Tullia!” she called. “Fetch me a wax tablet and stylus! Hurry, -little one! I must send Pilate a message.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_280">280</div> -<h2 id="c46">46</h2> -<p>The sun was lifting above the Mount of Olives when Pilate’s -orderly awakened him from heavy sleep. “Sir, the High Priest -Caiaphas and others of the Temple leadership,” he said apologetically, -“insisted that I inform you that they have arrived with -the prisoner about whom he spoke with you last night. They said -that they were most anxious for you to proceed at once to dispose -of the case.”</p> -<p>The Procurator sat up in bed and blinked his heavy-lidded eyes. -“Insolent Jew!” he muttered. “He would not only tell the Procurator -what to do, but when to do it! By the great Jove, I may -surprise him!” He threw back the covering and rose ponderously -to his feet. “Go tell the High Priest to have his witnesses ready. -I shall be there shortly.”</p> -<p>The great Fortress of Antonia, Rome’s bastion in the Jerusalem -region, consisted actually of four straight-walled, high buildings -joined together by corner towers to compose an impregnable stone -structure some fifty by one hundred paces on the outside walls. -The space within the inside four walls had been paved with great -stone slabs to form a tremendous courtyard reached by huge gateways, -one on each of the edifice’s four sides. Massive gates guarded -the fortress against sudden attack; when opened, they admitted a -flow of nondescript traffic into the courtyard.</p> -<p>Along the southern side of the fortress there was another paved -court from which a wide flight of stone steps led up to a terrace; -the terrace, in turn, led into the interior courtyard. In a high-ceilinged -chamber on the ground floor of this structure, Pontius -Pilate had set up his Praetorium. A Roman praetorium, or trial -place of a praetor, consisted of a semicircular dais on which the -curule, or magistrate’s chair, had been placed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_281">281</div> -<p>In the rear of this chamber was a small doorway, and it was -through this doorway that Pilate, shortly after the orderly had -reported to High Priest Caiaphas, came into the Praetorium.</p> -<p>The Procurator strode straight to the dais, mounted its several -steps, and sat down on the curule. Frowning, he glanced toward -the tall, manacled prisoner. Flanking the man on both sides were -several guards, all Roman soldiers, who had been assigned to the -Temple detail. Though a throng had already assembled in the -court beyond the gateway, the Procurator could see from where he -sat on the tribunal that not a Jew had followed the prisoner inside -the vaulted chamber. “What charge is brought against this man?” -Pilate snapped. “And where are his accusers?”</p> -<p>The captain of the guard saluted. “High Priest Caiaphas commanded -me, Excellency, to bring the prisoner before you with instructions -that he has been tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin and -found guilty of crimes punishable by death. He said you, O Excellency, -were to confirm the verdict of the Jewish court and order -its sentence put into execution.”</p> -<p>Anger suffused the Procurator’s round, usually bland face. “And -why hasn’t the High Priest come himself to bear witness to the -Sanhedrin’s action? Why has this man no accusers confronting -him?”</p> -<p>The captain was plainly ill at ease. He shifted his weight from -one foot to the other, started to speak, then swallowed. “The -Jews, O Excellency, will not enter the Praetorium for fear that to -do so will be a profanation, that it will render them unfit to eat -of their Passover evening meal,” he finally revealed. “They will -come no nearer than the steps”—he pointed—“out there.”</p> -<p>Pilate, as the captain had expected, was furious. “Profanation! -Profanation! All I hear in this rebellious, proud province is profanation! -Hah! They would profane themselves by entering a -Roman hall of justice!” His already flushed cheeks were purpling. -He stood up quickly, strode down the steps of the tribunal, and -stalked forward to the stairway; from there he could survey the -mass of excited, chattering Jews, who quieted perceptibly on seeing -him emerge from the Praetorium.</p> -<p>“The prisoner,” he said, motioning with his head toward the -<span class="pb" id="Page_282">282</span> -chamber from which he had just come, “what charge do you bring -against him? And where are his accusers?”</p> -<p>The multitude was silent. Eyes turned toward a group near the -foot of the steps; in the center of the knot stood the High Priest. -He advanced a pace and bowed to the Procurator. “O Excellency, -this man has been tried by our Sanhedrin and found guilty of -grievous crimes. If he had not been found to be a criminal of -desperate wickedness, then we would not have brought him before -the Procurator to be sentenced.”</p> -<p>The bold insolence of the High Priest’s reply did not escape -Pilate. “If you have tried him then and found him guilty, why -don’t you also take him and execute upon him your sentence?”</p> -<p>Caiaphas stood silent for a moment. “But the Procurator must -know, O Excellency,” he replied at length, a humorless smile lifting -the corners of his mouth, “that under the dominion of Rome -the Sanhedrin has not the authority, however heinous the criminal’s -deeds may have been, to execute upon him the sentence of -death. Therefore, O sir, we petition the Procurator to order executed -upon this vicious criminal the sentence of death which the Sanhedrin -has found him so fully to deserve.”</p> -<p>But Pilate was obdurate. “You would ask a Roman magistrate -to find a man guilty and send him to the cross, even though no -accusation had been made against him and no witnesses had confronted -him,” he declared. “Don’t you know that were I to do so -I would violate every principle of Roman justice?” He jabbed a -pudgy forefinger toward Caiaphas. “Would you, O High Priest, -ask the Procurator thus to violate his oath as Rome’s regent in -Judaea?”</p> -<p>The Procurator, however, had failed to gauge the High Priest’s -cunning. “Indeed, O Excellency, of course I would not seek to -lead the Procurator into violating his oath to uphold Roman justice.” -He smiled and bowed, mockingly. “Nor would I stand -silent and unprotesting while the Procurator released a clever -though iniquitous criminal who seeks not only the demoralization -of Israel’s religion and the perversion of her people but also the -overthrow of Rome in this province and the establishment of himself -as King of Israel.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_283">283</div> -<p>The High Priest’s answer was not only a skilful parry of the -Procurator’s question but it was, moreover, a well-aimed thrust -of his own most effective weapon. Caiaphas knew that Pilate lived -always in mortal fear of being reported to Rome; he knew that -the Procurator would not dare to ignore any situation in Judaea, -or even the hint of it, that might be fostering incipient revolt -against Roman rule.</p> -<p>But Pilate maintained his composure; he would not yield obsequiously -to this hateful symbol of Jewry’s stubborn pride of race -and nationality and her cold scorn of everything Roman. He -studied the group for whom the High Priest professed to be speaking; -it was a nondescript assemblage, Temple hirelings, a knot -of Pharisees, and surrounding the High Priest himself, his own -Sadducean coterie; the others were, for the most part, sunburnt -fellows who might well be, the thought came to him suddenly, -Galilean and Judaean revolutionaries come in for the Passover -feast from their mountain and Wilderness strongholds. Scowling, -Pilate confronted the cynically smiling Caiaphas. “You say this -man is guilty of heinous crimes, you declare he would set himself -up as King of Judaea, but, O High Priest, you have made before -me no accusation, you have brought no witnesses to testify against -him.” He turned to point with a sweep of his arm toward the -Galilean, standing calmly beside his guards. “There stands the -prisoner before the tribunal. I ask you again, O High Priest, what -charges do you bring against him? Where are his accusers?”</p> -<p>Caiaphas realized that the Procurator was refusing to admit -what he had assumed, at last night’s meeting, had been a tacit -agreement, that a retrial of the prisoner would be unnecessary; -perhaps he was fearful that Rome would disapprove such a disposition -of the case. At any rate, reasoned the High Priest, further -verbal sparring would mean delay in sending the upstart -Galilean to the cross, and he wished this Jesus dead and taken -down before the beginning at sunset of the sacred Sabbath. Too, -the longer they delayed, the more likely it was that other hot-blooded -Galileans would get noise of the trial and come storming -to their leader’s support; they might even succeed in effecting -<span class="pb" id="Page_284">284</span> -the fellow’s release. He would not, therefore, challenge Pilate further.</p> -<p>“O Excellency”—Caiaphas raised his hand and the rays of the -morning sun flashed in the gems of his rings—“we charge that this -fellow not only sought to lead astray the people from the true worship -of our God of Israel, but that he did also forbid them to pay -tribute to Caesar, and that he did declare that he himself was -rightful King of Israel and would so establish himself!”</p> -<p>Pilate would give no consideration to the first charge, the High -Priest was sure, but, he reasoned, the Procurator could not ignore -the other two. And the soundness of his reasoning was immediately -demonstrated. Pilate turned his back upon Caiaphas and -the crowd and returned to the Praetorium, where he mounted -the tribunal and sat down. “Are you”—he pointed toward the -prisoner, who still, though weary, stood erect and calm—“the King -of the Jews?”</p> -<p>“Do you ask this of your own desire to know”—the trace of a -smile lightened the solemn countenance—“or has someone else -said it of me?”</p> -<p>The Procurator shrugged his heavy shoulders. “Am I a Jew?” he -asked sarcastically. “Your own nation, your High Priest, and the -others of the Temple leadership have delivered you unto me. -What have you done?”</p> -<p>“I am a King,” Jesus replied calmly. “But my Kingdom is not a -worldly kingdom; if it were, then my servants would fight against -my being delivered to these leaders of the Jews. The Kingdom -I rule is not of this world.”</p> -<p>Pilate’s round face betrayed bafflement. “Then you profess to be -a king, but in another realm, the world of magic, spirits...?”</p> -<p>“I was born into this world to bear testimony to the truth,” -Jesus answered. “Everyone who is of the truth will understand and -acknowledge my Kingship.”</p> -<p>Then this man was, as Pilate had suspected all along, in no sense -a revolutionary planning Rome’s overthrow; he was but another -of these eastern mystics, dreaming of the imponderable and intangible. -Hadn’t Herod Antipas beheaded another such fellow -because of his slurs against Herodias, slurs undoubtedly deserved -<span class="pb" id="Page_285">285</span> -at that? The man before him, Pilate realized, was simply a religious -leader, someone whom, perhaps, Caiaphas feared as a possible -rival, who Caiaphas felt might even supplant him in the -office of High Priest. Of course, reasoned the Procurator, the fellow -might well be a little addled through too long immersion in -this utterly foolish and depraved one-god religion of Israel. “Those -who know the truth,” the fellow had just proclaimed, “will recognize -me, acknowledge me as their king.” Hah!</p> -<p>“Truth”—Pilate shot forth his finger toward the prisoner—“what -is truth?” He hunched his shoulders and waved his hands, palms -up, in a gesture he had borrowed from the Jews. And without -looking toward the man of whom he had asked the question, he -stepped down from the tribunal and strode out to the High Priest -and his restive throng.</p> -<p>“I have examined the prisoner as to the charges you have brought -against him,” he announced to Caiaphas. “I find nothing criminal -in him. He’s a religious man, a dreamer, but he is no revolutionary.” -He was glad to be rid of the man, though, he confessed to himself; -he was happy to wash his hands of this Jesus, Caiaphas, and -the rest of them; if he could only be freed of all Palestine, if he -could never lay eyes again upon another Jew. “I find no fault in -the man; I shall release him.”</p> -<p>“No! No! O Excellency, no!” Hands were waving wildly in the -air. “No! O Pilate!” The Procurator, scanning the throng, saw -the priests fomenting the agitation into a swell of shouted disapproval -of his verdict. Once more the High Priest stepped forward -a pace or two from the front ranks. “The man is amazingly clever, -O Excellency,” he declared, smiling agreeably, “as he has just -demonstrated in thus deceiving the Procurator. But he is a criminal, -and one of the most vicious and depraved order, O sir. And -he is a revolutionary. Beginning in his native Galilee, he has deceived -and perverted the people, and by his dangerous and evil -perverting, his criminal teachings in opposition to our religion -and Rome’s government, he has brought into Peraea and Judaea....”</p> -<p>“Beginning, you say, in Galilee? Then this man is a Galilean?”</p> -<p>“Indeed, O Excellency, and one of the worst of the Galilean -<span class="pb" id="Page_286">286</span> -revolutionaries, one of the most dastardly clever,” He smiled sardonically. -“He smites with words rather than a dagger.”</p> -<p><i>... A Galilean, by great Jove! Then send him to Herod Antipas. -Let the Tetrarch dispose of this case. He assumed jurisdiction -over that fanatical Wilderness prophet and ordered him beheaded. -Well, this man, too, is a Galilean. Let Herod stand between this -persistent, obstinate High Priest and old Sejanus. Let the Tetrarch, -for once, bear the brunt of any reports sent back to Rome; this -time Sejanus may not overlook what he considers a mistake of administration -in this gods-abandoned province. If there’s to be a -mistake, let the Tetrarch make it....</i></p> -<p>“Then this man,” he said to the High Priest, “is a subject of the -Tetrarch Herod Antipas. He should be remanded to the Tetrarch -for trial.”</p> -<p>Pilate returned quickly to the Praetorium. “Captain of the -Guards,” he commanded, “conduct this prisoner to the Tetrarch -Herod Antipas. Bear to the Tetrarch the Procurator’s compliments -and say to him that the Procurator is sending him the King of the -Jews”—a sneering smile for an instant pushed away the scowl on -his round face—“a Galilean. It may be that the Tetrarch will wish -to examine the prisoner concerning the charges that have been -brought against him by the High Priest Caiaphas. At any rate, -the prisoner, being from Galilee, is a subject of the Tetrarch and -under his jurisdiction.” He nodded curtly. “Go.”</p> -<p>Quickly the guards formed about the tall prisoner and led him -from the Praetorium, down the steps into the Court of the Gentiles. -Leaving the Temple area through the Gate Shalleketh, they -crossed the bridge above the Valley of the Tyropoeon and arrived -shortly in front of the sprawling Xystus. A few moments later -they paused before the gate giving admittance to the gloomy and -forbidding ancient stone residence of the Hasmonean kings.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_287">287</div> -<h2 id="c47">47</h2> -<p>Perhaps it was the thin slash of early sunlight venturing across her -bed that had aroused her; perhaps she had awakened early because -she had retired early. Pleading weariness and an aching head, -Joanna had stayed away from the Tetrarch’s lavish dinner, the -preparation of which she had directed. She had felt certain that -the banquet, safely hidden within the old palace’s thick walls from -the prying, sanctimonious eyes of the priests, would turn into -a drunken debauch, and the Feast of the Passover, she held -strongly, was no occasion for such frivolity.</p> -<p>The drafty old palace and the grounds about it were quiet. With -the exception of the servants, she surmised, there was likely to be -no one astir in the Tetrarch’s household, particularly Herod Antipas -himself. No doubt he would arise late, in time to bathe and -dress for his ceremonious partaking of the Passover meal.</p> -<p>Joanna, who had come up from Tiberias with her husband -Chuza and others of the Tetrarch’s staff, lay still and listened to -the small sounds of early morning in old Jerusalem: birds twittering -on the sill of her open window, cattle lowing in the stalls at -the Temple, the rising hum of the densely packed city’s coming -alive.</p> -<p>So, lying quiet and keenly awake now, she heard in the court -below her window a babble of men’s voices and the uncadenced -slap and shuffle of sandaled feet on paving stones. Quickly she -slipped from the bed and crossed her chamber. Peering out from -behind the draperies, she saw, hardly twenty paces from the palace -wall, a motley throng that numbered several Temple priests resplendently -robed, with their luxuriant beards fastidiously plaited -and oiled. One of the elegant ones, she was surprised to discover, -was the High Priest Joseph Caiaphas himself. But why, she wondered, -<span class="pb" id="Page_288">288</span> -would the High Priest and his Temple aristocracy be coming -with such a nondescript mob as this into the palace courtyard?</p> -<p>She ventured to open wider the slit between the draperies and -the window frame and lean further forward. Ahead, leading the -strangely discordant procession, was a detachment of Roman soldiers, -currently assigned, no doubt, as guardsmen in the Temple -service, since they were in the vanguard of the High Priest and -others of the Temple leadership.</p> -<p>Then, in the center of the marching soldiers, she saw the manacled -prisoner. Bareheaded, he was half a head taller than his -guards; his reddish-brown hair fell straight to curl at his shoulders. -He held his head erect, but he seemed to be walking with labored -stride to keep in step with his captors; his wide shoulders sloped as -though pulled down by the weight of his long arms and the -pinioned hands; his brown homespun robe, already sweat-stained, -hung awry and loosely open at the neck.</p> -<p>Though his back was toward her, there was something vaguely -familiar about the tall one, his carriage, manner of walking, the -way he arched his back, weary though he must have been for -a long while. Then he turned his head to look over his shoulder, -and she saw the twin-spiked short beard and the curling earlocks.</p> -<p>“By the beard of the High Priest!” She had almost screamed -it aloud, but she restrained herself. “The rabbi of Nazareth!” The -man who had healed her son of the deadly fever, who had also -cured the Centurion Cornelius’ Lucian, the good teacher whom -many believed—and she, too!—to have in those fettered hands -the veritable healing power of God Himself.</p> -<p>The procession stopped. A soldier stepped to the entrance way -and spoke to the sentry on duty there. Now the sentry was talking -with a manservant who had appeared at the portal. In another -instant the servant disappeared inside.</p> -<p>“It’s the High Priest’s doing!” she said aloud. “He’s bringing -the Nazarene here for the Tetrarch to condemn; he’s determined -to destroy Jesus.”</p> -<p>She stepped back from the window and began quickly to dress. -As she pulled on her clothes she tried desperately to evolve some -plan that might thwart the High Priest’s evil scheme. Certainly -<span class="pb" id="Page_289">289</span> -Antipas, incredibly fearful of displeasing Caiaphas and his fellows -in the Temple leadership, would be disposed to yield to the High -Priest’s demands, even to beheading the Galilean. Had he not -beheaded the Wilderness prophet? Had he not yielded then, -against his better judgment, to Herodias? Herod would be more -inclined to give way to Caiaphas than would the Procurator Pontius -Pilate. But if Herodias would intervene....</p> -<p>The Tetrarchess indeed! Hurriedly Joanna finished dressing and -rushed downstairs as quickly as she could without exciting undue -attention, to find the palace servant with whom the sentry -a moment ago had spoken.</p> -<p>“They have brought the Galilean wonder worker to the Tetrarch -for trial,” the servant revealed. “The High Priest is charging him -with many crimes, the soldier said. They took him first before the -Procurator, but when Pilate discovered he was a Galilean, he -ordered him delivered here for trial before Tetrarch Herod. Now -they are in the judgment hall awaiting the Tetrarch’s arrival.” He -smiled glumly. “Herod, I suppose, was fit to burst at being awakened -so early.”</p> -<p>Next, Joanna went in search of Herodias. She found her in her -apartment; the Tetrarchess had finished her bath and now Neaera -was doing her hair. In a few words Joanna revealed that Pilate had -just sent the Galilean teacher and miracle worker to the Tetrarch -for trial and that the High Priest Caiaphas and other Sadducean -leaders were awaiting Herod’s arrival in the judgment hall; they -planned to present charges that Jesus was guilty of crimes deserving -of death.</p> -<p>Herodias listened patiently. When Joanna finished her recital, -the Tetrarchess shrugged. “But what do you wish me to do? How -does this Galilean’s fate concern me? Just because he beguiled you -and Chuza into believing that he drove out the fever and healed -your son....” She broke off with a patronizing smile.</p> -<p>“He concerns you, Tetrarchess, in that the Tetrarch is greatly -concerned, though he may not suspect it. The High Priest schemed -this man’s arrest and carried him before the Procurator, who rules -in Judaea. But Pilate, realizing that whatever judgment he might -render, whether to release the prisoner or execute him, would -<span class="pb" id="Page_290">290</span> -cause a great outcry in the province and be reported to the rulers -in Rome, has cleverly sought to evade his responsibility and put -it upon the Tetrarch. Thus, the Tetrarch in trying the Galilean, -will be the one to be judged both in Israel and in Rome.”</p> -<p>The smile on the face of the crafty Herodias had vanished, and -her forehead wrinkled in sudden concern. “But the man is a -Galilean, and Pilate in sending him before Antipas recognizes the -Tetrarch’s authority and compliments him....”</p> -<p>“He professes to do that, but what he’s really doing is shifting -the burden onto the Tetrarch. And when this commotion develops -into a great storm in Rome, then the Tetrarch, too late, -I’m afraid, will know he’s been tricked. Let him free this prisoner, -and the High Priest will inform the Emperor that the Tetrarch -has released someone who was plotting to overthrow Rome. On -the other hand, let him execute the Galilean and the report will -go by fastest ship to Rome that another prophet in the Wilderness....”</p> -<p>“No! No! Joanna, never mention that man!” Herodias cried -out. But quickly she recovered her poise and smiled weakly. “You -see, mere mention of that Wilderness fellow still frightens Antipas. -When he began to get reports of this Nazarene’s appearance -before throngs in Galilee and other places, Antipas was obsessed -with the idea that this one was the Wilderness preacher returned to -life. Lately he seems to have returned to his senses, but, as you -know, he’s a very superstitious person. And frankly, Joanna, I myself -don’t like to be reminded of the Wilderness prophet.” She relaxed -somewhat. “You’re right about Pilate, I daresay. He probably -does wish to evade trying the Galilean. Claudia, though, would -want him to get himself involved in further difficulty; that would -make it easier for her and Longinus.” She turned to speak to her -maid. “Hurry, Neaera,” she ordered, “I’ve got to get out of here -quickly. We can finish all this later. I must see the Tetrarch before -he goes.” Then she spoke again to the wife of Herod’s steward. -“Thank you, Joanna; you have done Antipas and me a great -service.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_291">291</div> -<h2 id="c48">48</h2> -<p>As the Temple guardsmen withdrew with their prisoner from the -Praetorium, Pilate beckoned to one of the Antonia soldiers.</p> -<p>“I wish to proceed with the trials of the revolutionaries captured -last week by Centurion Cornelius,” he announced. “If the centurion -has returned with any other captives, have them brought -in too.”</p> -<p>“He has not returned, sir,” the soldier said.</p> -<p>“Then we shall try the three we have.”</p> -<p>Bar Abbas and his two henchmen had already been brought up -from their cells deep under Antonia; the witnesses who would -testify against them, including several soldiers from Cornelius’ century, -were waiting in an anteroom. In the group of witnesses were -several Temple priests, elegantly robed, their beards elaborately -braided and oiled, their plump fingers weighted with rings.</p> -<p>The prisoners, shackled at wrists and ankles, were led shuffling -into the chamber to stand before the tribunal. After a week in the -blackness of the dungeon, their eyes were unaccustomed to light; -they stood blinking in the growing brightness of the chamber. -Then from an anteroom on the other side of the courtroom another -soldier escorted the witnesses to a position facing Pilate’s -curule several paces across from the three bound men.</p> -<p>Quickly the prisoners were identified: one Bar Abbas, long -sought chieftain of a Zealot band preying upon travelers in various -sections of the province, particularly the boulder-bordered steep -ascent of the Jericho road, and two others of his fellow revolutionaries, -one Dysmas and one Gesmas, all three of Galilee.</p> -<p>“With what crimes are these men charged?” the Procurator -asked. He made no reference to their being Galileans, nor did he -<span class="pb" id="Page_292">292</span> -question his jurisdiction over them, though he had just sent -another Galilean to the Tetrarch.</p> -<p>The accusations were made. As members of a notoriously desperate -Zealot gang of revolutionaries, they had pillaged caravans, -waylaid tax collectors and robbed them of their revenues, descended -from the hills upon merchants’ pack trains and looted -them, even assailed detachments of Roman soldiers and slain -some. Then the witnesses confronted them. One of the priests, -accompanied by fellow priests of the Temple, was returning from -Caesarea when the party was set upon and robbed. He identified -the three as among his assailants; he declared he was positive the -shackled men standing there were the culprits. Then another -lavishly robed priest was called upon to give testimony.</p> -<p>“O Excellency,” he began, “it was on the Jericho road that -these men, this Bar Abbas and these other two”—he pointed to -each in turn—“came down from the rocks and seized me. I was -bearing a large pouch of gold and silver, funds of the Temple I -was taking to be put in its coffers, when this big fellow here....”</p> -<p>“He was coming <i>from</i> the Temple!” screamed Bar Abbas, interrupting -the testimony, as he lifted his pinioned hands and shook -them so that the chains rattled loudly. “He had stolen the money -from its coffers! But we took it from him and gave it to feed the -poor and those dispossessed by the traitorous publicans!”</p> -<p>“Silence!” commanded Pilate. “You will have your turn to -speak.”</p> -<p>Next, two soldiers, one after the other, who had been coming -to Jerusalem the past week as members of the century commanded -by Centurion Cornelius, testified that the three were among the -marauders who had swept down from the rocks beside the Jericho -road to capture for a few minutes the detachment that was escorting -Tetrarch Herod Antipas and his wife and to assail the -near-by flanking columns put out by the centurion. In this assault, -the witnesses testified, several of the Roman soldiers had been -killed.</p> -<p>The three offered no evidence in rebuttal. The one called -Dysmas, who looked both grave and resigned, seemed to be studying -the pattern of the mosaic at his feet; Gesmas glared sullenly -<span class="pb" id="Page_293">293</span> -at the smirking priests who had witnessed against him; and Bar -Abbas stood, as wide-legged as his chains would permit, with his -sharp black eyes fixed in defiance on the round face of his judge -and his lips above the tangle of his beard twisted in a sneer.</p> -<p>“I adjudge you guilty,” Pilate said, looking in turn toward each -of the prisoners. He called to one of the soldiers on courtroom -duty. “Go tell the commander to send me three centurions.”</p> -<p>When after a short wait the soldier returned with the three -officers and they had reported to the Procurator, Pilate faced the -convicted revolutionaries. “I sentence each of you to the lash -and the cross. And may all such dastardly wicked enemies of Rome -so perish!” He turned again to the tribunal attendant. “Prepare -a titulus for each,” he commanded, “and write thus: robber-assassin-revolutionary.” -He leaned forward. “Take them now into -the courtyard and scourge them, and then conduct them outside -the walls to the Hill of the Skull, and crucify them. Each of you -centurions will choose a quaternion to assist, and each will have -charge of the scourging and execution of one of the prisoners. -And do not dally. I wish them on the crosses quickly, so that the -Passover crowds may see what becomes of those who plot revolution -against Rome. It should have a salutary effect.” He waved -his arm imperiously. “Take them away!”</p> -<h2 id="c49">49</h2> -<p>Hardly had the Procurator climbed the stairs to his apartment and -ordered his long delayed breakfast to be brought in, when a soldier -assigned to the Praetorium reported to him.</p> -<p>“Sir, the Galilean whom you sent to the Tetrarch Herod has -been returned to you,” he announced. “The High Priest and his -Temple associates, together with a throng of excited Jews, are -<span class="pb" id="Page_294">294</span> -down there awaiting your return to the Praetorium to resume trial -of the prisoner.”</p> -<p>“By great Jove!” The Procurator’s scowl was heavy. Why had -Herod sent him back? Surely the bumbling Tetrarch hadn’t been -clever enough to comprehend Pilate’s scheme to evade responsibility.</p> -<p>He did not question the soldier, however, and a few moments -later he mounted the tribunal again and sat down upon the -curule. From the pavement before the Praetorium the captain of -the Temple guards and his detachment, forming a square about -the Galilean, advanced to the tribunal. Jesus, Pilate saw, was wearing -a bedraggled, purple-bordered robe. One of the soldiers was -carrying the folded brown homespun robe which the prisoner had -been wearing before.</p> -<p>Pilate, color mounting, pointed to Jesus and glared at the -officer. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. “Why is he -wearing this emblem of authority? Speak up! Who is responsible -for this mockery?”</p> -<p>“Not I, sir,” the captain hastened to declare. “The Tetrarch -ordered one of his old robes to be placed upon the prisoner; he -said he appreciated the Procurator’s raillery in calling the man -the King of the Jews, and he ordered him arrayed in the purple -in order to further your joking, sir.”</p> -<p>“Didn’t he examine the prisoner?”</p> -<p>“He questioned him, sir, and sought to have him work some -tricks of magic, but the prisoner made no reply.”</p> -<p>Once again Pilate descended from the tribunal and went out -upon the pavement before the Praetorium. At first sight of him -the mob began to raise a clamor. “Bar Abbas!” a man toward the -rear of the multitude screamed. “Bar Abbas! Give us Bar Abbas!” -Others joined in the uproar. Pilate seemed not to understand them. -“They want to see the revolutionaries’ leader,” he said to the soldier -who had accompanied him. “They will see him as the condemned -men start for the Hill of the Skull. But not until I have disposed -of this Galilean. There is already too much commotion. Go into -the courtyard, and tell the centurions not to start to the execution -ground until I give the order.” He turned back to face Caiaphas -<span class="pb" id="Page_295">295</span> -and the priests and behind them the motley crowd. “You brought -me this man and charged that he was a revolutionary, that he -sought to overthrow the rule of Rome in this province, but I -found no guilt in him, and when I sent him to the Tetrarch -Herod, ruler of Galilee, he, too, found nothing worthy of death. -So I shall discharge him. And now, disperse and let us have no -more of this tumult.”</p> -<p>“No! No! O Procurator, crucify him! Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!”</p> -<p>“Crucify the King of the Jews!” Pilate looked toward the High -Priest as he said it, as though he were jesting, but he could not -effectively conceal the scorn in his voice and on his face. “I must -let him go free!”</p> -<p>His words provoked another storm of shouted entreaties and demands. -“Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas! Give us Bar Abbas!”</p> -<p>“When I have disposed of this Jesus of Galilee, you shall get -to see that revolutionary”—he smiled glumly—“as Bar Abbas goes -to the cross.”</p> -<p>“The Passover release! It’s the long-established custom, O Procurator. -Give us the Passover release!”</p> -<p>Pilate stared in surprise at the crowd shouting below him. Could -it be, then, as he had first suspected, that this throng hated the -Temple priests and especially Caiaphas and wanted the release of -the Galilean? But he had found Jesus not guilty and technically -had already released him. If, however, he should find him guilty -of some minor crime, such as causing a great disturbance and -commotion among the people, for example, and punish him for -that, then he might logically release him as the Passover recipient -of the Procurator’s pardon. At the same time he would dull considerably -any report concerning this case that might find its way -to Rome.</p> -<p>“I find no serious fault in this Galilean,” he declared, as he -held up his hand to signal for silence, “but because of his indiscretions -and his provocation of tumults and unrest and much -bickering among the people, I shall have him scourged before I -release him.”</p> -<p>He returned to the tribunal and gave the formal order for the -scourging of Jesus. Then once again he climbed the stone stairway -<span class="pb" id="Page_296">296</span> -to his apartment and called for his breakfast. His food was -placed on a small table by the window, for already the morning -sun was warm and out beyond the smoldering Vale of Hinnom -dark, thickening clouds had begun to form. But the Procurator -was not permitted to relax calmly over his morning meal. The -din below not only continued, but the shoutings grew increasingly -loud. After awhile, Pilate pushed back his plate and stood up.</p> -<p>“I’ll abide this no longer!” he shouted to his orderly standing -near the doorway. “The obstinate, cantankerous provincials! -They’ll end this disgraceful tumult, or I’ll have the Antonia garrison -on them with their swords!” He caught up his toga and -started once more for the Praetorium.</p> -<p>“Bring out to the pavement the robber Bar Abbas and the -Galilean miracle worker,” he commanded, when he arrived in his -tribunal chamber.</p> -<p>“Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas! Bring forth Bar Abbas, O Procurator!” -the multitude began to shout, as Pilate appeared on the mosaic in -front of the Praetorium. “The Passover release! Give us Bar -Abbas!” The Procurator, studying the vociferous throng, saw that -the cries for the release of the robber chieftain seemed to be coming -from a group of wild-eyed, fanatical-looking rough fellows -bunched behind the High Priest and his clique. The thought came -to him that they might be Zealots, even some of the escaped members -of the Bar Abbas band broken up a week before by the Centurion -Cornelius. But the supporters of the Galilean mystic, he -reasoned, would outnumber these men screaming for the release -of Bar Abbas.</p> -<p>The multitude calmed perceptibly as the scourged revolutionary -appeared on the pavement before them and then, recovered somewhat -from the shock the man’s sad state had caused, burst into a -new clamoring for his release. Bar Abbas stared stonily ahead, as if -indifferent to the screams and yelling of the people, no doubt still -half dazed from the ordeal from which he had that moment been -delivered. Although his coarse robe had been returned to him after -the scourging and was thrown loosely about his shoulders, the milling -crowd saw at once that the leather-thonged whip had stripped -and torn the flesh of his shoulders and back; already the robe was -<span class="pb" id="Page_297">297</span> -reddening into a gory, clinging covering like that which a butcher -might have worn to carry on his shoulder a freshly slaughtered -lamb.</p> -<p>But Jesus, when he was led forth from the courtyard to the pavement -before the Praetorium to stand near the robber chieftain, -made an even more pitiable figure. The purple robe he had been -wearing when he was brought back from Herod’s judgment hall -was once again about his sagging shoulders, and it was soaked -with blood. His long hair was matted with drying blood where it -curled above his flayed and bruised shoulders, and his naked upper -arms were crisscrossed with bleeding cuts and great reddened -welts. But more shocking than the lacerations and the bleeding -flesh, the blood-soaked purple robe, the mercilessly flayed, drooping -shoulders burdened beyond human strength to endure, was the -evidence he wore upon his head of a sadism past comprehending. -Pressed down hard against his skull, so that the sharp points in -some places actually had pierced the skin of his forehead and -temples, was a circlet hastily fashioned from a long thin branch -torn from a rhamnus thorn.</p> -<p>Pilate noticed it immediately. “Why the victor’s wreath?” he -asked the soldier guarding the Galilean.</p> -<p>“It’s not a victor’s wreath,” he answered. “Sir, it’s the royal -crown of the King of the Jews.” He ventured a smile. “The soldiers -made it from a shrub growing near the scourging post and crowned -him with it.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, the crown goes well with the Tetrarch’s purple.” Pilate -smiled humorlessly. Then he held up his hand to command -silence. “It must be well known to you that each year at the Feast -of the Passover it is the custom of the Procurator to release a -prisoner. Here before you are the revolutionary and murderer and -robber, one Bar Abbas, who has been sentenced to the cross, and -the prisoner brought by the High Priest, one Jesus of Galilee”—he -paused and looking directly at the group of Temple priests, -smiled appreciatively—“the King of the Jews....”</p> -<p>“We have no king!” shouted Joseph Caiaphas, and a chorus of -angry voices supported him, “no king except Tiberius. This man is -not our king; he is a blasphemer, an enemy of Israel’s God; he -<span class="pb" id="Page_298">298</span> -stirs up the people; he declares himself to be king in Israel; he -calls himself the Son of God!” He paused, as if fearful at having -uttered the ineffable name.</p> -<p>“Crucify him! Crucify him!” The mob renewed its angry demanding. -“He claims to be the Son of God, the blasphemer! -Crucify him!”</p> -<p>But Pilate paid them little heed. Turning his back upon the -High Priest and the clamoring throng on the esplanade below, he -withdrew into the Praetorium. “Bring him inside,” he said, motioning -with his head as he looked back. And then he spoke to the -soldier guarding Bar Abbas. “And remove that one from the sight -of the multitude. But presently I shall call for him again.”</p> -<p>The Procurator had hardly mounted the tribunal when a soldier -entered the chamber from the courtyard and handed a tablet to -one of the attendants. The two whispered, heads together, for a -moment. Then the attendant strode quickly to the tribunal, saluted, -and presented Pilate the wax tablet. “A message, sir, from the -Procurator’s wife,” he explained. “The messenger reported it was -urgent.”</p> -<p>Hastily Pilate scanned the tablet. He scowled, then beckoned -to the man. “Fetch me the soldier who brought this tablet.”</p> -<p>In another moment the soldier was standing stiffly before the -tribunal. “Soldier,” Pilate inquired, “did you bring this message -from the hand of the Lady Claudia?”</p> -<p>“No, sir,” he answered. “It was handed to me in the courtyard -over there.”</p> -<p>“By whom?”</p> -<p>“The Centurion Longinus, sir; he had just come, I understood, -from the Palace of the Herods.”</p> -<p>A quick frown darkened the Procurator’s countenance. “And -where is the Centurion Longinus now?”</p> -<p>“Sir, I think he went up to his apartment in the fortress.”</p> -<p>Pilate nodded and waved the man aside; his face was heavy -as once again he read his wife’s message:</p> -<blockquote> -<p><i>Hear me, Pilate</i>:</p> -</blockquote> -<p><i>Take no responsibility for that righteous man’s blood, for in -the night I had a frightful dream concerning him.</i></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_299">299</div> -<p>What on earth, he wondered, could Claudia have dreamed about -this Galilean fanatic? And how did she know that the man had -been brought before the Procurator’s tribunal? Yes, and by all the -gods, why had the message come from Longinus, and why, moreover, -had Longinus not delivered it himself?</p> -<p>Still frowning, Pilate turned once again to question the prisoner -standing calmly before the tribunal, his face streaked with drying -sweat and blood, his robe turned deep crimson from the whip’s -fearful wounds, his matted hair still crowned with the circlet of -thorns. “They say you claim to be the son of their god,” he said. -“What do they mean? Tell me, where <i>do</i> you come from?”</p> -<p>Jesus appeared lost in introspection. If he heard the Procurator’s -question, he ignored it. An infinite sadness seemed to possess him.</p> -<p>But Pilate, still scowling, perhaps upset further because of his -wife’s message and the manner in which it had been brought to -him, revealed his impatience. “Will you answer me?” he asked -testily. “Don’t you know that I have the power either to release -you or to condemn you?”</p> -<p>Calmly, looking the Procurator in the eyes and with no tone -of rancor, Jesus replied. “You would have no power over me were -it not granted you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me -to you”—he pointed toward the esplanade where the High Priest -and his cohorts awaited—“has a greater guilt than you.”</p> -<p>Once again the Procurator stepped down from the tribunal and -strode out to the pavement in front of the Praetorium. “Bring -forth the prisoner,” he commanded. “And have Bar Abbas brought -to me, too.”</p> -<p>“I shall release to you a Passover prisoner,” he announced to -the multitude when the two scourged prisoners stood before him. -“Here stand a robber and assassin”—he pointed toward Bar -Abbas—“and”—he smiled grimly as he waved his hand toward the -Galilean—“your King of the Jews. Which shall I release?”</p> -<p>“Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!” the people howled, and Pilate could -see the priests exhorting them to shout their demands. “Release -Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas!”</p> -<p>“But what shall I do with the King of the Jews?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_300">300</div> -<p>“Crucify him! Crucify him!” they stormed. “Release unto us -Bar Abbas!”</p> -<p>“He is not our king!” shouted Caiaphas. “We have no king but -Caesar!”</p> -<p>Grudgingly, Pilate nodded to the robber chief’s guards. “Release -him.” The Procurator had lost. He had been sure the Galilean’s -followers would outnumber the vociferous Zealots. But Caiaphas -had been the better schemer.</p> -<p>Quickly the soldiers freed the hulking Bar Abbas, and in another -moment he disappeared with a tumultuously happy group of his -supporters, probably members of his own band, in the mass of -people thronging the Court of the Gentiles. But the High Priest -and his hirelings kept their places on the pavement before the -Praetorium. Now the Procurator, pointing toward the Galilean, -spoke to them.</p> -<p>“What then shall I do with the King of the Jews?” His tone -was sarcastic. “<i>I</i> find no fault in him. I shall release him, just as -I have already released your robber.”</p> -<p>“No! No! Crucify him! He is not our king! He is a blasphemer -who would destroy us!”</p> -<p>“Crucify your king?” A cold smile lifted the corners of the -Procurator’s heavy lips. “Crucify the King of the Jews?”</p> -<p>“We have no king, O Procurator,” Caiaphas declared evenly, -when he had lifted his hands to still the clamor, “no king but -Caesar. And if you are a friend of Caesar, O Excellency, you will -rid us of this one who not only seeks to destroy our religion but -also to set himself upon the restored throne of King David. Should -word get to Tiberius or Sejanus in Rome....” The High Priest -shrugged and smiled suggestively.</p> -<p>Word would certainly reach the capital. And the story would -be of the High Priest’s coloring. The Procurator Pontius Pilate, -despite repeated warning and ample testimony establishing the -guilt of the accused, it would be told, had released a dangerously -clever revolutionary intent upon restoring the ancient kingdom of -the Jews in Palestine with himself as king.</p> -<p>“But he declares that his kingdom is not of this world,” Pilate -<span class="pb" id="Page_301">301</span> -tried to protest. “He’s nothing but a harmless babbler, a religious -fanatic whom too much reasoning has driven mad....”</p> -<p>“So he would have you think, O Procurator. The man is cunning, -amazingly clever, captivating.” Caiaphas smiled indulgently. -“Has he not already deceived even the wise and discerning Procurator?”</p> -<p>The High Priest Joseph Caiaphas had won. Already too many -reports of the conduct of the Procurator’s office had gone to -Rome; one more might be sufficient to arouse the wrath of the -Prefect Sejanus. Nevertheless, since the High Priest had forced -the verdict, the responsibility would rest on him. He clapped his -hands and when a servant came running, called for a basin of water. -A moment later, as the servant held the basin before him, the -Procurator plunged his hands into the water and rubbed them together -vigorously. “Let the people heed,” he said loudly and with -ostentation, “that I wash my hands of the blood of this man. I -am guiltless. His blood is not upon me.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, O Procurator”—the High Priest’s smile was scornful, -his tone sneeringly derisive—“let his blood be upon us, yea, and -our children!”</p> -<p>“Then take him, and crucify him.” Pilate glanced toward the -prisoner, standing tall and calm and regal in the blood-drenched -discarded purple. But when their eyes met, Pilate’s shifted in that -same instant to the mosaic at the Galilean’s feet, so that momentarily -the judge’s head was bowed to the prisoner. Then, in a voice -that was scarcely more than a whisper, Pilate spoke to the guard -who held the fetter binding Jesus’ wrists. “Lead him into the -courtyard.”</p> -<p>As they were going out he summoned an attendant. “Fetch -a tablet that I may prepare the titulus.” His eyes fell upon the -wax tablet that his wife had sent him. “Wait,” he said. “This one -will suffice. There’s space enough on it for what I have in mind.” -The soldier picked up the tablet with the attached stylus. “Write -this,” Pilate commanded, “and when you have written it, take the -tablet into the courtyard and have the words inscribed on the -headboard in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.” He paused, reflecting. -<span class="pb" id="Page_302">302</span> -“Write what I say: <i>This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the -Jews</i>.”</p> -<p>Joseph Caiaphas had heard. “No, O Procurator! Write that he -says he is King of the Jews!”</p> -<p>Pontius Pilate stared in stony silence at the furious High Priest. -“What I have written,” he said after a moment, “I have written.” -He turned to the soldier. “Go prepare the titulus board.” Then, -without a glance toward the High Priest and his group, he returned -to the Praetorium and mounted the tribunal. Only the few -soldiers in attendance remained in the vaulted great chamber. -Pilate sat down upon the curule; his eyes, unseeing, were fixed on -the pattern of the mosaic at the foot of the tribunal steps.</p> -<p><i>... Great Rome’s vaunted justice. But must not justice yield -sometimes to expediency, the expediency of the greater good for -the greater number? Will not his death end a developing tumult -in Palestine that might have brought even bloodshed and death -for many Jews and perhaps even Roman soldiers? And now no -report will go to Sejanus from Joseph Caiaphas.</i></p> -<p><i>... The Galilean. A dreamer, a devotee of the Jewish religion, -a visionary ... a righteous man, Claudia said. “Take no responsibility -for that righteous man’s blood.” Claudia’s dream, bah. Superstition, -astrology maybe, foolishness. Calpurnia had a dream, -and Caesar laughed at her warning. Caesar laughed, and Caesar -died.</i></p> -<p><i>... But no report will go to Rome of the Procurator’s releasing -a dangerous revolutionary who was planning to establish himself -on the restored throne of ancient Israel. Joseph Caiaphas has been -silenced....</i></p> -<p>Suddenly a cold, numbing fear clutched Pontius Pilate. “By -great Jove!” But he had not exclaimed aloud. No report would -go to Rome from the High Priest, no fawning spies would tell -how the Procurator had freed a cunning revolutionary, but Claudia -had warned him not to judge the Galilean. Could his wife, by all -the gods, be a secret follower of this mystic? Didn’t many high-placed -women of Rome become devotees of this strange Jewish -one-god religion? Could the Emperor’s stepdaughter, by great -Jove, have become, of all persons, interested in religion, in any -<span class="pb" id="Page_303">303</span> -religion? Could Claudia really feel strongly about this Nazarene -fellow?</p> -<p><i>... And Longinus had fetched her message. Longinus, yes, by -all the gods....</i></p> -<p>The soldier who had led Jesus forth from the pavement into -the courtyard had returned to the Praetorium. “Sir, the titulus -board is complete. They are ready to proceed with the crucifixions, -except....”</p> -<p>“Then start at once with the three prisoners to the Hill of the -Skull.” He paused. “Except? What were you going to say?”</p> -<p>“You have assigned no centurion, sir, to have charge of the -crucifixion of this fellow whom you have just condemned. Do -you wish Porcius, who was to have crucified Bar Abbas....”</p> -<p>“No.” Then, in a flash came an idea. Pilate maintained a sternly -impassive countenance, but inwardly he exulted in the suddenly -revealed manner of solving his dilemma. Now <i>no one</i> would be -sending stories to Rome, for certainly nobody would be foolish -enough to reveal to Sejanus the execution of an innocent Jew if -<i>he himself</i> had participated with the Procurator in that Jew’s -crucifixion. “I wish Porcius for another duty today.” He pointed -upward. “Go at once to the apartment of the Centurion Longinus -and inform him that the Procurator assigns him to take charge -of the quaternion and orders him to proceed immediately with -the crucifixion of the Galilean.”</p> -<h2 id="c50">50</h2> -<p>Beside a cluster of gnarled olive trees along the Bethany road -Centurion Cornelius halted his weary cavalcade. They had attained -the summit of the Mount of Olives. Steady climbing from -the Jericho plain had lathered the laboring horses, and the dust-grimed -faces of the men were streaked with perspiration. Since the -<span class="pb" id="Page_304">304</span> -passing of midday the heat had grown increasingly oppressive; now, -as they approached Jerusalem in the eerie half-darkness, it weighed -upon them like a heavy blanket.</p> -<p>The dark cloud over the city that hardly two hours ago they had -seen from the narrow defile between the boulders had grown to -envelop them, and as they came over the rise and looked across -toward the walled density of flat-roofed stone structures, they -could scarcely make out the usually dominating mass of the -Temple. Ordinarily on an early afternoon in April the sun would -have been reflected brilliantly in the gold plates of the Temple’s -roof, but today it was barely able to penetrate the overcast. In the -strangely thickening gloom the resplendent plates had taken on -a dull coating of bilious green. Faintly discernible to the right -were the darker masses of the Fortress Antonia towers upthrust in -the cloaking shadows; but westward, beyond Antonia, the great -Palace of the Herods and the other splendid abodes of the privileged -were completely shrouded; Mount Zion and the Ophel -shared equally in oblivion.</p> -<p>“What is it, Centurion?” Decius shook his head perplexedly. -“I’ve been out here a long time, but I’ve never seen anything like -it. This strange darkness, this stillness, and the peculiar blue-green -cast. Centurion, this isn’t just another storm coming up, -another thunderstorm following excessive heat. It’s got a queer, -ghastly look, as if the gods might be angry ...”</p> -<p>“The gods, Decius?”</p> -<p>The soldier laughed uneasily. “I use the term broadly, for want -of one more accurate.” He waved an arm in the direction of the -darkened city. “But it does have a sort of supernatural look, doesn’t -it, Centurion?”—he smiled—“though of course I have little belief -in the supernatural.” He shrugged. “How do you explain it?”</p> -<p>“It does have a strange, unearthly look,” Cornelius agreed. “But -I don’t believe it’s a manifestation of the gods’ anger, though I’ve -never seen one before like this. Could it be a heavy mass of sand -borne in from the desert? If that’s it, then maybe the sun shining -through the concentration of sand accounts for this strange greenish -color.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_305">305</div> -<p>“That’s probably it,” Decius agreed. “But then, where is the -wind?”</p> -<p>“It may be the lull before the wind. This unseasonable heat is -bound to bring on a storm. Look!” He pointed. “The sun.”</p> -<p>High above the city, beyond its southern wall and past the -ever smoldering refuse heaps in the Vale of Hinnom, the sun -rode like a pale copper disk behind a thinning portion of the veiling -cloud. In the same instant its rays found a rift in the mantle -covering the city and shot a pinpoint of light to bathe in sudden -brilliance a small eminence just beyond and slightly to the right of -the Fortress Antonia.</p> -<p>“By all the gods! Bar Abbas and the two henchmen we captured -last week!”</p> -<p>On the summit of the little hill stood three crosses, and -stretched upon each cross was the body of a man. A staring throng -of spectators stood scattered about below.</p> -<p>Then suddenly the rift in the covering cloud was healed; darkness -swallowed the burdened crosses.</p> -<p>“Poor devils,” Cornelius said. “That’s an assignment I’m glad I -didn’t get. Being late returning may have saved me.” He looked -up again toward the lowering sky. “But we’d better be getting on -to Antonia. This storm may break at any moment, and when it -does, I don’t want to be in it.”</p> -<p>Quickly the cavalcade moved down the slope toward the Garden -of Gethsemane and the Brook Kidron beyond. Entering the walled -city by Dung Gate, it went through Ophel and ascended the slope -westward to move along the lower level of Mount Zion and cross -the bridge spanning the Tyropoeon Valley. At the eastern end of -the bridge the procession turned northward and marched along the -way paralleling the Temple’s wall to the entrance gate of the Antonia.</p> -<p>When Cornelius had dismissed his men, he went up at once -to his apartment in the officers’ quarters on the south side of the -fortress. He had been looking forward eagerly to a refreshing bath -and a short nap before dressing in fresh clothing for the evening -meal. But as he was about to enter his quarters he encountered -<span class="pb" id="Page_306">306</span> -a centurion coming into the corridor from the apartment next to -his.</p> -<p>“By Hercules, Cornelius!”</p> -<p>“Porcius!” He clapped a hand on the other’s shoulder. “I didn’t -know you were quartered here.”</p> -<p>“I’ve come since you left, Cornelius. I heard you were out pursuing -a gang of those Zealots. Did you overtake any of them?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and killed several. But we didn’t capture any.”</p> -<p>“This morning they crucified two of the ones you captured -last week.”</p> -<p>“Three, you mean, don’t you? Bar Abbas and two of his company.”</p> -<p>“But Pilate released Bar Abbas.”</p> -<p>“Released him? Bar Abbas?”</p> -<p>“Yes, released him. It’s amazing, isn’t it? But the mob demanded -his release as the Passover prisoner—you know, don’t you, that the -Procurator each year, in accordance with tradition, releases one -prisoner at Passover time?”</p> -<p>Cornelius nodded. “But weren’t there three men crucified?”</p> -<p>“Yes. I was supposed to have had charge of the crucifixion of -Bar Abbas. Pilate had already condemned him to the cross when -the demand for his release was made. So he released him, and I -was relieved of a most unpleasant task.”</p> -<p>“You were fortunate, Porcius. But if three men were crucified, -who was the third? I didn’t know another revolutionary had been -captured.”</p> -<p>“He was no revolutionary, Cornelius. Pilate knew he wasn’t -and wanted to free him. But the High Priest insisted that the fellow -was a troublemaker who planned to attempt to set himself up -as King of Israel. So, rather than run the risk of having the Temple -leaders report him to Rome as protector of the Emperor’s enemies, -Pilate yielded and sent the fellow to the cross. And luckily for me, -he assigned Centurion Longinus the task of conducting the man’s -execution.”</p> -<p>“Longinus! By all the gods, Porcius, who was the fellow?”</p> -<p>“A Galilean. A religious fanatic, I judged him to be, but entirely -<span class="pb" id="Page_307">307</span> -harmless. His name, if I recall it correctly, was Jesus, I think, -one Jesus from a place in Galilee called Nazareth, they said.”</p> -<p>“Jesus! Oh, by all the gods, when....”</p> -<p>“But do you know the man, Centurion?”</p> -<p>“When did they lead him to the Hill of the Skull?” Cornelius -ignored the centurion’s question. “How long...?”</p> -<p>“It was in mid-morning. He’s been on the cross for several hours -now. And he was unmercifully scourged before they started with -him to the crucifixion ground.” He stared at his companion’s suddenly -ashen face. “But, Cornelius, why...?”</p> -<p>“Jesus! Oh, great Jove!” Anger, utter amazement and pain were -written in swift succession on his still sweating, dust-covered face. -“O God of Israel! O his God! O <i>my</i> God, Jesus!”</p> -<p>Turning, he raced along the corridor toward the steps that a -moment ago he had ascended, stone stairs that went down to the -ground-floor open area just inside the great western entrance to the -fortress.</p> -<h2 id="c51">51</h2> -<p>Cornelius had reached the gate in the north wall when the storm -broke with sudden fury. He darted beneath the flimsy awning of a -fish stall to wait out the blast.</p> -<p>“Here, let me help,” he said to the frantic shopkeeper as he -caught a side of the filthy cloth with which the squat Jew was trying -desperately to cover his malodorous fish to protect them from -the dust and powdered dung swirling along the cobblestones. -“You’re lucky your market has the protection of the wall, or everything -would be blown away. This is one of the worst storms I’ve -ever.... By all the gods!” The ground had begun to tremble.</p> -<p>“An earthquake!” the shopkeeper shouted. “Wind and torrents -of rain, and now the earth shakes!” His eyes were round and -<span class="pb" id="Page_308">308</span> -frightened. But in another moment the tremors subsided, and the -man regained his calm. “I’m not surprised, soldier,” he observed, -lifting his hands, palms up, and shaking his head solemnly. “And -it makes no difference, I’m thinking, that my stall sits in the lee -of the great wall. By the beard of the High Priest, it, too, will be -leveled to the ground!”</p> -<p>“What do you mean? Hasn’t this wall survived many an earthquake -before this one?”</p> -<p>“Indeed, soldier. But we’ve never had anything like that before.” -He indicated with a quick nod of his head the hill beyond -the gate’s square. “Never <i>him</i> on a cross.” He looked the centurion -in the eyes, and Cornelius fancied he saw a sudden hostility. -“Soldier, have you been up there?”</p> -<p>“No, I’ve just come from the Fortress Antonia, and only an hour -ago I arrived in Jerusalem. What do you mean?”</p> -<p>“I mean that one up there, soldier, on the middle cross.” He -pointed. “It’s that rabbi from Galilee. Your Pilate tried him this -morning and sent him to the cross, and unjustly, too, it’s my -opinion. And I heard it said that the Galilean told how he would -cause the Temple to be destroyed and in three days raise it up -again.” He dabbed a greasy forefinger against the centurion’s -soiled toga. “And I’m of the opinion, soldier, he’s got the power -to do it. Didn’t he raise that fellow over at Bethany from the dead? -This storm and this earthquake”—he paused and on his countenance -was an expression of understanding suddenly gained—“soldier, -maybe he’s doing it now! Nor could I blame him.” He shook -his head slowly. “I’d hate to be in Pilate’s sandals, or those soldiers’ -up there!”</p> -<p>Almost as quickly as it had burst upon them, the storm was -ended. The rain ceased with the blowing away of the clouds, the -winds quieted, and the great blazing disk of the sun, still high in -the sky toward the Great Sea, shone down bright and searing. The -shopkeeper rolled back the grimy cloth, crumpled it into a heap, -and with it dabbed lightly at several fish it had failed to protect; -then he hurled it into a corner and turned to wait upon pilgrims -in the vanguard of a procession Cornelius saw coming down the -slope of the Hill of the Skull.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_309">309</div> -<p>“The Galilean, is he...?”</p> -<p>“He’s dead,” the man answered before the fish merchant could -complete his question. “He died just as the storm broke. This -fish”—he pointed—“where was it caught?”</p> -<p>“No earlier than the day before yesterday, and fetched by fast -cart from the Sea of Galilee. Good, fresh carp, perches, bream.” -With grimy fingers he poked at now one and now another of -his offerings. “The finest fish in Jerusalem, and the most weight -for your money!”</p> -<p>Cornelius stepped away from the stall into the warmth of the -freshly cleansed air. As he walked quickly along the road he could -now see plainly revealed the three crosses and their inert, mutilated -burdens. The pause in the fish market during the raging of the -storm had given him time to catch his breath after racing over -the cobblestones from the square in front of Antonia.</p> -<p>But why had he come on the run to the Hill of the Skull? Why -had he come at all? Porcius had said that Jesus had already been -nailed to the cross for several hours. Had the centurion hoped in -some mysterious manner to save the Galilean, to get him down -from the cross and revive him? Had he thought he might countermand -Pilate’s judgment and sentence?</p> -<p>He hadn’t thought. He had acted on his emotions. He had -wanted to see Jesus, to protest to Longinus, to scream out his denunciation -of everyone who’d had a hand in this abominable act. -He hadn’t reasoned any course of action. He had only come as -fast as he could to the place of horrors, his whole being seething -with resentment and anger and a terrible bitterness.</p> -<p>And now Jesus was dead. The good man who had done no man -ill, who had done countless men good, who had restored Lucian, -and Chuza’s son. Or had he really?</p> -<p>Would he be up there now, perhaps already dead on a Roman -cross, if he had had the power to heal Chuza’s little boy, if he had -been able by his own mighty will to rid Lucian of the fever that -was consuming him? Would he?</p> -<p>Longinus had been right. Those “miracles” had been only remarkable -coincidences. The Galilean wonder worker, the good -man, the son of the Jews’ one god—Cornelius ventured to raise -<span class="pb" id="Page_310">310</span> -his head from the ascending path and look upward toward the -central cross—was hanging spiked to a crossbeam, crumpled and -lifeless, as dead, or soon to be, as those two revolutionaries -who hung there with him. And Longinus, though unhappy that -Pilate had required him to crucify an innocent man, would remind -him that all along he had been right in denying that Jesus -of Galilee had been anything more than a good man.</p> -<p>He found Longinus seated not far from the crosses on a low -stone outcropping. His head was bent forward, cradled in his hands, -and his eyes were fastened to the ground.</p> -<p>“I’ve been expecting you, Cornelius,” he said, looking up as his -friend spoke. “I knew you would be coming.”</p> -<p>“We didn’t get into Jerusalem until a short time before the -storm. As soon as I heard at Antonia, I came running; I was at -the gate down there when the storm struck.”</p> -<p>“I knew you would come.” He shook his head slowly; his eyes -were fixed, unseeing. “And I deserve everything you’re going to -say.” He lifted his face, and Cornelius saw on it fear and sorrow -and a great revulsion. “I’m undone, my friend.” He arose slowly -to his feet, and his eyes, for an instant before he looked away, -encompassed the crosses behind Cornelius.</p> -<p>“But, Longinus, you didn’t ... it was Pilate....” He reached -out to put his hand on his comrade’s arm, but Longinus drew -back, hand raised.</p> -<p>“No, Cornelius, Pilate condemned him, but I <i>killed</i> him! I, -this hand. Look!” He held it before him and turned it slowly. -“His blood! His innocent blood! I tortured to his slow death an -innocent man, a good man, Cornelius, a perfect man, yes, and by -all the gods, even more than a perfect man!”</p> -<p>“I’d thought that he was more, that perhaps he possessed powers -no man could have, I’d hoped so; I’d hoped that he had called -upon a supernatural power to heal Lucian. But would a god, would -the son of <i>the God</i>, if there is one, my friend”—Cornelius’ countenance -was darkly pained—“allow himself to be put to death, to -accept the tortured death of the cross?”</p> -<p>“I know that my saying it sounds strange, Cornelius, but ever -since this morning I’ve had the feeling that he was <i>allowing</i> himself -<span class="pb" id="Page_311">311</span> -to be crucified and that at any moment, if he had wished, he -could have destroyed us all. Yet in the midst of his agonies, while -we were spiking him to the crossbeam, he prayed to his god to forgive -us. To forgive us, Centurion!” He shook his head sadly. “To -forgive <i>me</i>. But I killed him. By all the gods, let me show you.”</p> -<p>They walked over to the foot of the center cross. The body of -Jesus, naked except for a bloody loincloth, hung out from the -upright at a grotesque angle, held by heavy spikes through the -palms of the hands and supported by a narrow wedge between the -legs. The head had slumped forward so that the twin points of his -short beard splayed out across his chest. Other large spikes through -his purpling feet held them to the upright.</p> -<p>“See?” Longinus pointed to a gaping wound from which blood -and body fluid still dripped slowly. Blood had gushed forth when -the wound was made, for below it the tortured flesh was wide -streaked and the loincloth was gore-soaked; his blood had run down -the length of one leg, and even as Cornelius stared, a crimson -bead swelled at the end of the great toe and dropped to the bloodstained -ground.</p> -<p>“But why this wound?” Cornelius asked. “Did you...?”</p> -<p>“Yes, it was my lance that did it. He must have been already -dead, but I didn’t know. And I couldn’t bear for him to have to -endure any more agony.”</p> -<p>“You did it in mercy, Longinus.”</p> -<p>“Yes, but I killed him, Cornelius. He’s dead, and I can never -have his forgiveness. And I’m soiled, ruined, undone. I can never -cleanse myself”—he studied his hands—“of this man’s death.” -He lifted his eyes to stare at his friend. “Strange, Cornelius, but -... well you know what I’ve always thought of the gods, Roman, -Greek, Jewish, any of them, and of the survival of the spirit or -whatever you want to call it. And you know what I thought of”—he -gazed a moment at the dead man stiffening above them—“him.... Well -today I’ve been with him for several hours, <i>long</i>, -terrible hours of torture for him, and for me, too.” He paused, -trying painfully to choose his words. “Now I don’t know, Cornelius; -I’m confused, my smug assurance is gone. I’m not sure any -<span class="pb" id="Page_312">312</span> -more. But he”—he looked up again—“by all the gods, Cornelius, -he was!”</p> -<p>“Then you think now he may have been...?”</p> -<p>“If there are any gods, Cornelius”—he stared into the blood-drained -face of the Galilean, and his voice was infinitely sad—“if -there exists any being like the one your old Greek tutor spoke of, a -good, all-wise, all-powerful one god, then this man must have -been the son of that god.”</p> -<h2 id="c52">52</h2> -<p>As soon as Longinus left the palace with her message, Claudia -went back to bed in the hope of finding relaxing sleep after the -terrifying dream. But sleep would not come; she was almost afraid -to close her eyes for fear the nightmare would return. And even as -she lay sleepless, staring wide-eyed at the high ceiling of her bed-chamber, -she began to envision a pair of disembodied blood-red -hands feeling their way stealthily around and across the intricate -plastered figures and medallions of its surface.</p> -<p>“Tullia, it’s no use trying any longer,” she called to her maid, as -she swung her feet around to stand up. “I just can’t seem to shake -off the dream. Maybe if I dress and busy myself at something, I’ll -think no more of it. Thank the gods, though, I sent the Procurator -that warning.”</p> -<p>But as the morning hours went by the dream did not go away; -it persisted in all its horrible detail in the forefront of her consciousness, -and the harder she tried to dispel it, the more determinedly -it stayed with her. “Why, by the Great Mother, little -one, am I so disturbed by a dream?” she at length demanded of -her maid. “I put no faith in dreams. I must have had thousands, -and not one has ever before bothered me. I know they’re nothing -but rearrangements, often fanciful and sometimes, like this one, -<span class="pb" id="Page_313">313</span> -frightening, of things that have happened to us, people we’ve -seen, places we’ve visited. You can always explain them. Even -this one I understand. You came in late from Bethany with the -fearful news of the Galilean’s arrest and the High Priest’s plotting -to have Pilate condemn him. Then soon afterward I went to -sleep and dreamed about it. It’s simple enough to understand....” -She paused, silent in thought. “Or is it?” she asked softly. -“Are people ever warned in dreams? Is there really some power...?” -The question was unfinished.</p> -<p>“I don’t doubt it, Mistress. Our ancient scriptures tell of many -instances in which God spoke to His prophets in visions, which -must have been dreams or the like.” She paused. “And there’s the -story of Julius Caesar’s wife, you know.”</p> -<p>“Yes,” Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “But if your god wished to save -the Galilean’s life, why didn’t he let Pilate have the dream?”</p> -<p>Tullia shook her head thoughtfully. “I can’t say. I can’t fathom -the mind of God, Mistress.” A suggestion of a smile crossed her -face. “Maybe He thought you might have more influence on the -Procurator than He Himself could.”</p> -<p>Claudia smiled. “Certainly I’m more real to Pilate—and threatening, -no doubt—than your Yahweh.” With a quick lifting of her -shoulder, she changed her tone. “But why talk of it further? I’m -sure my message warned him sufficiently. And I want to forget -the dream and the Galilean. This terrific heat is exhausting enough. -Still, I do wonder....” She scowled and said no more.</p> -<p>The heat grew more intolerable. Longinus did not return, nor -did any news come from Antonia. Midday passed, and as she had -done the day before, Claudia retreated into the garden and sat on -the stone bench before the spouting fountain. But today, unlike -yesterday, there were no white puffs of clouds. Instead, from noon -on, a thick overcast began to settle upon Jerusalem, so that inside -the palace servants lighted lamps, which added, it seemed to -Claudia, to the oppressiveness. As she sat staring introspectively -at the spray of water, the heat, despite the covering of clouds -screening off the sun’s rays, seemed to be mounting as the skies -darkened; in the thickening gloom the air grew still; yesterday’s -singing, twittering birds had taken cover under the heavy, drooping -<span class="pb" id="Page_314">314</span> -foliage, and all nature seemed silently expectant of a coming -upheaval. But maybe, thought Claudia, the impending storm will -not descend; maybe the winds, like yesterday, will spring up and -blow the clouds away and bring welcome relief from this oppressive -heat.</p> -<p>It was during this foreboding lull, some two hours past midday, -that a sedan chair entered the palace grounds, and when the -bearers set it down at the doorway, the Tetrarchess of Galilee and -Peraea emerged and was admitted to the sumptuous edifice. A -moment later, with much bowing and murmured directing, servants -conducted her to the wife of the Procurator. But the two -had done little more than exchange greetings and sit down together -when the winds did come, and with a suddenness and -severity that sent them scurrying for the protection of the palace. -This time the clouds were not immediately blown away; crash -after crash of lightning sundered them, and for a few wild moments -they poured a deluge upon the steaming, crowded capital -of ancient Israel.</p> -<p>“Claudia, I know you wonder why I have come,” Herodias said, -when they were settled in one of the inner chambers into which -little of the noise of the storm penetrated. “But soon the Feast of -the Passover will be ended, and we will be going back to our posts; -I’m sure you, at any rate, are unwilling to consider Caesarea home. -So we may have little further opportunity to talk together alone, -Herod’s engaged at the palace, and Pilate, I presume, will be busy -at Antonia.” Claudia nodded. “Yes. Well, you remember once -in Rome when you came over to see me and we were talking about -Antipas and Longinus, and you wondered why I was interested in -the Tetrarch....” Herodias paused, and Claudia, smiling, -nodded again. “You may recall, too, I told you that I was interested -in what the Tetrarch could become, in the position he might -attain, rather than in Antipas as a man....”</p> -<p>“Yes, I recall. You said he might become a king like his father.”</p> -<p>“I did. Some day he might, I believe I said, with my conniving.” -She leaned forward and looked Claudia directly in the eyes. “The -time has come,” she said quietly, “for us to begin our determined -conniving.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_315">315</div> -<p>“<i>Our?</i>” Claudia queried, her tone intent.</p> -<p>“Yes. What I’m scheming will concern you, and Longinus, as -much as it will Antipas and me.” Her brow suddenly furrowed. -“You still feel the same way about the centurion, don’t you, as -you did when you left Rome to come out here?”</p> -<p>“Well, yes, but....”</p> -<p>“Oh, I know, Claudia, you must be careful, must guard your -tongue. But you needn’t worry about my making indiscreet remarks, -you know.” She shrugged. “I haven’t thus far, have I? And -I’ve known all along. And now”—she did not wait for Claudia to -answer her question—“the time has come for us to strike out for -what both of us want. Soon Longinus will be going back to Rome, -and more than likely this time he’ll have much to tell the Prefect.”</p> -<p>“But, Herodias....”</p> -<p>The Tetrarchess laughed and shrugged. “Oh, nobody has told -me anything,” she said, “but I do have eyes and ears and an ability -to put things together. I know that Senator Piso and Sejanus are -more than friends; they’re bound to be business partners, for -Sejanus, you may be sure, has his fingers in any enterprise that has -been operating with considerable success. I know that Longinus -has had unusual freedom for a centurion presumably on active -duty and that he has made trips back to Rome, to Antioch, and to -many another place that no centurion ordinarily would be called -on to visit in the course of duty. And you told me, remember, -that he was being sent out to Palestine on a special mission.” She -paused, and when Claudia made no comment, she smiled and gestured -with outflung hands. “Well, it makes little difference -whether he was sent out to watch Pilate or not, and maybe Antipas -and me ...” she paused, grinning, “and possibly even you, -Claudia. He’ll probably be called back to Rome soon to make -some sort of report, even about the operation of the Senator’s -glassworks....”</p> -<p>“But how would that affect you and Antipas, and Pilate ... -and maybe me?”</p> -<p>“Longinus might be called back to Rome to report on Pilate’s -... well, shortcomings.”</p> -<p>“Even then I fail to understand how....”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_316">316</div> -<p>“This is the way I envision what might easily happen should he -be ordered to Rome,” Herodias interrupted. “Longinus certainly -must have strong influence with Sejanus, because he’s Senator -Piso’s son, for one thing. Should he point out, and with emphasis, -Pilate’s failures as an administrator—and certainly he’d have little -trouble supporting his charge—he might very likely cause the Prefect -to dismiss Pilate as Procurator or move him to another province. -And with Pilate disgraced, surely you would be permitted -to divorce him.” She smiled and airily lifted her hands. “Then, my -dear, you could marry Longinus and return to Rome to live.”</p> -<p>“Maybe so. But even then how would that affect you and -Antipas?”</p> -<p>Herodias leaned toward her hostess, her expression intent. “Suppose -Pilate is dismissed, transferred, even, by the gods, beheaded....” -Her eyes narrowed. “That would cause you no -grief, would it?” But she did not pause for Claudia’s comment. -“Then Sejanus, regardless of Pilate’s fate, might extend Antipas’ -realm to include Judaea, don’t you see, and elevate him to kingship. -And I”—she sat back and smiled felinely—“would be queen.” -Quickly the smile vanished. “And I shall never be content, -Claudia, until I’m a queen. Why, soon as Tetrarchess I’ll have -no higher station than little Salome.” She paused, her expression -suddenly questioning. “Did you know that she is marrying Herod -Philip?”</p> -<p>“<i>Her father?</i>” Claudia exclaimed, aghast. “By all the gods, -surely....”</p> -<p>“Of course not, my dear.” Herodias laughed. “The other Herod -Philip, her father’s half brother and”—she grinned—“my half -uncle. He rules the puny tetrarchy over east of us, Batanea and -Trachonitis. He’s considerably older than Salome, naturally, -but....”</p> -<p>“Then he’s Salome’s half great-uncle and half uncle as well as -half stepuncle, and ... well....” Claudia broke off with a -shrug. “You Herods really never let anything get out of the family, -do you?” Then she was serious. “But what about old King Aretas? -If he should attack Antipas....”</p> -<p>“Certainly he hasn’t attacked yet,” Herodias hastened to reply. -<span class="pb" id="Page_317">317</span> -“And he probably never will. But even if he does, that might just -strengthen Antipas with Rome. At any rate,” she added, “the -Arabian isn’t making trouble at the moment.”</p> -<p>“But, Herodias, what if Sejanus, instead of putting Judaea under -Antipas and making him king, should send out a new Procurator -to succeed Pilate?”</p> -<p>The Tetrarchess of Galilee and Peraea was not abashed. “In that -case,” she replied without hesitation, “he might even make Longinus -Procurator, although I’m sure he—and surely you too, -wouldn’t you—would prefer to be assigned a post in some province -other than Judaea. But in any event, Claudia, if Longinus -should very strongly recommend and urge the transfer of Pilate -and the extension of Antipas’ realm to embrace Judaea, then I’m -confident it would have great weight with Sejanus. That’s why I -came to see you, Claudia, the principal reason, I mean. I hope -you’ll suggest such a course to Longinus. It’s a way by which you -and Longinus and I—I’m not considering Pilate and indolent old -Antipas—can attain what all three of us want most.” She leaned -forward again, and her expression betrayed a malevolent cunning. -“Claudia, Longinus would have good reason to advise Sejanus to -withdraw Pilate from Judaea. Pilate from his first days out here -has failed to get along with the Jews, from the High Priest on -down. And now, today, the suddenly bitter hostility of the followers -of this Galilean fellow whom he tried this morning....”</p> -<p>“Galilean fellow?” Claudia’s expression was suddenly grave. -“Who...?”</p> -<p>“Maybe you haven’t heard of him. He has a large following devotedly -attached to him, so large that the Temple leaders are both -jealous and fearful of him. They brought him before Pilate this -morning, and the Procurator, wishing to evade responsibility”—her -tone was sarcastic—“sent him to Antipas for trial, since the -fellow was a Galilean, from the village of Nazareth, I believe. But -I learned about it in time to warn Antipas to have nothing to do with -the fellow....” She paused, and the bitter lines around her -mouth deepened in a scowl. “He’s never forgotten that Wilderness -fanatic at Machaerus. So he sent the Galilean back to Pilate.” -She smiled. “Whatever the Procurator does with him, or has done, -<span class="pb" id="Page_318">318</span> -will add to his troubles with the Jews ...” she paused—“or at -any rate, we hope so, don’t we?”</p> -<p>“Then you don’t know whether Pilate has tried the man?” -Claudia tried to conceal her anxiety.</p> -<p>“No. I only know that Antipas didn’t fall into Pilate’s trap.”</p> -<p><i>... Thank the Bountiful Mother I sent Pilate the message....</i></p> -<p>“You were always a clever one, Herodias. Antipas is fortunate.” -But she did not elaborate and quickly changed the subject.</p> -<p>With the same suddenness that it had begun, like the opening -and closing of a great door, the storm ended, and the sun shone -down through skies sparkling and refreshed. “I must be going,” -said Herodias. “I’ve much to do before we start back to Tiberias. -My dear”—she laid her hand affectionately on Claudia’s arm and -stood up—“do come to visit us again. And won’t you talk with -Longinus about this? You’ll be seeing him, of course, perhaps -tonight?”</p> -<p>“Perhaps.” But Claudia’s smile was thin.</p> -<p>Herodias’ visit and the dissipation of the storm clouds had done -nothing to dispel Claudia’s misgivings; the news brought by the -Tetrarchess had, in fact, served to deepen her foreboding. Why -hadn’t Pilate acknowledged receiving her message, if indeed he -had received it? Suddenly the desperate notion possessed her that -the Procurator had failed to get her hurriedly scribbled warning. -And why, if he had seen it, had he failed to reassure her that -Jesus would not be condemned? What, by the gods, had Pilate -done with him?</p> -<p>She summoned her maid. “You must go up to Antonia and discover -what’s happened to the Galilean, Tullia,” she said. “Until -I hear, I shall have no peace.” She hesitated, brow furrowed. “No, -wait. I’ll go myself. Call the sedan-chair bearers.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_319">319</div> -<h2 id="c53">53</h2> -<p>When Herodias returned to the Hasmonean Palace she learned -from Neaera that the Tetrarch had shut himself away from all -company in the seclusion of one of the inner chambers. He seemed -to be entering a period of depression, the maid reported, like the -one into which he had plunged after the beheading of the Wilderness -prophet.</p> -<p>The Tetrarchess found him sprawled in his chair, staring at -the wall, his heavy jowls sagging. For a moment he appeared unmindful -of her entrance. Then he turned ponderously to face -her. “The Galilean,” he said slowly, as though in pain, “is dead. -Crucified.”</p> -<p>“Dead already? How did you learn it?”</p> -<p>“Joanna. She was at the Hill of the Skull with some of his -friends, including Mary of Magdala. They saw him die. But she -declared she knew that the Galilean”—suddenly his dull eyes -brightened with the pain of sharpened fear—“would rise from the -dead and avenge himself upon his enemies. Herodias”—he got -heavily to his feet and flung out his hands in desperation—“why -did you make me do it? By the beard of the High Priest, Tetrarchess, -why, why?”</p> -<p>“Are you mad, Antipas?” Her dark eyes snapped. “You didn’t -kill him! By the gods, Pilate did. The Procurator tried him. You -sent him back to Pilate, don’t you remember?”</p> -<p>“Of course I sent him back to Pilate. But I had it in my power -to free him; instead, I sent him to his death. When he rises, he -will wreak upon me a double vengeance.”</p> -<p>“Double vengeance?”</p> -<p>“Yes, the vengeance of both the prophet of the Wilderness and -of the Nazarene.” His eyes glittered with incipient madness. “The -<span class="pb" id="Page_320">320</span> -Nazarene was the prophet returned to life. When he arises, he -will be the two returned.”</p> -<p>“Nonsense!” Herodias advanced, her eyes flaming, and grasped -her husband’s arm. “If the Galilean is dead, he’s dead, and you -know it. Must you give heed to Joanna’s superstitious drivel?” Her -scowl lightened into a crafty smile. “Pilate has served you well in -crucifying this fellow. Can’t you see that the Galilean’s followers -will be all the more determined to do the Procurator ill?”</p> -<p>“But how will his misfortune help me?” the Tetrarch asked.</p> -<p>“Your father ruled this whole province. Should Pilate’s mishandling -of his duties drive him from the Procuratorship, the -Emperor might elevate you to king of all the region. It’s not for -nothing that your father is called ‘Herod the Great.’” She shook -a ringed forefinger under his nose. “If you had one-fourth the -ambition and energy that he had, you’d already be wearing the -crown!”</p> -<p>“But I don’t want to wear a crown,” Antipas protested. “Crowns -often become greater burdens than they’re worth. We can live -out our lives at Tiberias, happy and unchallenged, and enjoy the -benefits of the royal prerogative without risking its dangers and -burdens, my dear, and with considerably less chance of drawing -the ire of old Sejanus.”</p> -<p>Herodias stamped her foot angrily. “Don’t you have any aspirations, -Antipas? Are you willing to continue being a mouse instead -of a man?” Her tone was coldly sarcastic, and she knotted her -hand into a fist to emphasize her stern words. “Well, by the -beard of the High Priest, Antipas, I’m going to see to it that you -sit on the throne of Judaea as your father did. I’ve just returned -from talking with Claudia about my plan ... and my determination -... to get you elevated to kingship. She will help; she -wants to see Pilate disgraced so that she can divorce him and marry -Longinus.”</p> -<p>“I don’t know about that, my dear Tetrarchess. What would -be the difference anyway, except in titles? Wouldn’t it be best to -let well enough...?”</p> -<p>“And spend the rest of our lives in an out-of-the-way poor district -of illiterate fishermen and grape growers! Never!” she stormed. -<span class="pb" id="Page_321">321</span> -“Would you be willing for me never to occupy a station higher -than Salome, by all the gods?” She studied him, her contempt -plainly revealed. “I do believe you <i>would</i>. Well, I’m not willing. -I’ll leave you first ... and go back to Rome!” She was silent for -a moment and when he made no retort, continued. “This is what -we’ll do,” she said, her tone even now. “We’ll return to Tiberias -and begin to assemble choice presents for the Emperor, and most -important, for Sejanus. And you will increase the revenue going -to the Prefect. The gifts will please and flatter him, and the increased -revenues from Galilee and Peraea may suggest to him that -if you were governing the whole province the increase in taxes -would be substantial. And we won’t send them to Rome, the gifts, -I mean, but we’ll take them ourselves, and then we can personally -petition Sejanus to make you king over the entire province.”</p> -<p>Herod Antipas shook his grizzled head slowly, and his countenance -was troubled. “But I foresee only disaster if....”</p> -<p>“I don’t care what you foresee or how agitated you may become,” -she said, with a defiant toss of her head, “we are going -to Rome to ask the Prefect to make you king, and I’m either coming -back to Palestine as queen or I’m not coming back at all!”</p> -<h2 id="c54">54</h2> -<p>As Claudia and her maid entered the anteroom adjacent to the -Procurator’s great chamber in the southwestern tower of Antonia, -two men of serious mien, well-dressed and with beards oiled and -carefully braided, emerged from Pilate’s room and walked quickly -into the corridor.</p> -<p>Claudia motioned Tullia to a seat and without pausing strode -past the attendant through the still unclosed doorway.</p> -<p>Pilate stood before one of the windows facing westward. His -long shadow reached out to her feet across the high-domed room; -<span class="pb" id="Page_322">322</span> -soon now the sun would be dropping beneath the wall of the -ancient city, and the solemnity of the Jewish Sabbath would still -the Passover festivities. He turned to face his wife, and she saw -that his expression was deadly serious. She questioned him with a -lift of her head. “Those men who just went out?”</p> -<p>“Wealthy Jews,” he replied. “One of them anyway, a merchant -from Arimathea. Both of them members of the Sanhedrin. They -came to petition me.” He saw that she was still not satisfied. “A -small matter; they asked for the body of one of the men crucified -today. They want to bury him.” He advanced toward her and -managed a thin smile. “Here, my dear Claudia,” he pointed, “have -this chair.” His smile warmed. “To what am I indebted for the -honor of your visit?”</p> -<p>“This man whose body they wished,” she asked, ignoring his -question, “could it be that he was the Galilean mystic?”</p> -<p>“Yes, they said he was from Galilee.” His eyes avoided her -probing stare.</p> -<p>“He was called Jesus?”</p> -<p>“I believe they called him that.”</p> -<p>“Then you did not receive my message ... about the dream -I had?”</p> -<p>She saw in his eyes a mounting panic. “Yes, Claudia, but it was -only a dream, and the High Priest demanded....”</p> -<p>“You condemned to the cross an innocent man”—she stood up -and pointed a trembling finger at the Procurator, and her eyes -blazed furiously—“because the High Priest demanded it! The -great Procurator, representative of imperial Rome, <i>crucified</i> an innocent -man because a jealous and mean little Temple strut-cock -<i>ordered</i> you to send him to the cross! By all the gods, Pilate, <i>and</i> -you condemned him after <i>I</i> sent you that warning!”</p> -<p>“But, Claudia, I was being pulled at from both sides. I didn’t -want to condemn him. I told them I found no fault in the man. -I had a basin of water fetched and before the multitude I washed -my hands of his blood, and....”</p> -<p>“You washed your hands of his blood! Never! Oh, by all the -gods, those hands! Those blood-red, crawling, slinking hands!” She -<span class="pb" id="Page_323">323</span> -held her palms before her face. “In the dream I saw them. Now -you’ll never be able to cleanse those foul, polluted hands.”</p> -<p>“But if I had released him, Claudia, and news had got back to -the Prefect that I had allowed a dangerous revolutionary to go -free....”</p> -<p>“You knew he was no revolutionary.” Her voice was almost a -hiss. “You knew he was an innocent man, and you sent him to -the cross.” She crossed the room quickly and looked out toward -the Hill of the Skull. The shadows were heavy in the square before -Antonia, but the sinking sun shone levelly upon the three -burdened crosses on the hill. “Which cross is his?” she asked, -without taking her eyes from the macabre scene.</p> -<p>“The one at the center,” he replied, his eyes fixed unseeing on -the polished surface of his desk.</p> -<p>“And he is dead, you’re sure of that?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know. I’ve sent for the centurion in charge of the -execution, and now I’m waiting for his report. I told the two -Jews I would not release the body until I was certain the Galilean -was dead. Should the body be taken down and the man revived, -and should word, as it would, get to Rome....”</p> -<p>“Are you concerned only with what sort of reports go to Rome?” -she demanded, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “Have you no interest -in seeing justice prevail even in Judaea?”</p> -<p>“I am interested, my dear Claudia”—he appeared somewhat to -have regained his composure—“in maintaining myself in the office -of Procurator. Perhaps I erred in the case of this Galilean. Perhaps -I should have given greater heed to the message you sent me. -But I’ve spent many hard years in the army, and I have long -dreamed of being the Procurator of a province of imperial Rome. -Now that I have attained it, I must not gain the further enmity of -the Temple leadership, or I might lose the post, you know.”</p> -<p>“Then your only concern is in remaining Procurator of Judaea?” -Her tone was coldly scornful. “And you might have the post taken -from you, at that. Much depends, you know, on the attitude of -the Prefect toward you.”</p> -<p>Pilate blanched. “But, my dear, surely you wouldn’t suggest to -<span class="pb" id="Page_324">324</span> -him that he carry to Sejanus an evil report about my conduct of -affairs....”</p> -<p>“To <i>him</i>? To whom, Excellency”—she paused, and her tone was -taunting—“do you refer?”</p> -<p>But once more he was evasive. “Perhaps you are tired, my dear,” -he said with a short, humorless laugh. “Perhaps you should return -to the palace. I can order the sedan-chair bearers....”</p> -<p>“Mine are outside,” she replied evenly. “But why are you trying -to get rid of me, Pilate? Does the Galilean haunt you already?”</p> -<p>“Indeed, no.” Again he attempted a laugh, but it lacked conviction. -“Any minute now the centurion will be reporting to me, -and I thought perhaps you would not wish to be reminded again -of the Galilean’s death or your strange dream....”</p> -<p>“No, I will stay. Perhaps it is you who do not wish to be reminded -that you condemned to a terrible death a man innocent -of the crime charged against him, innocent of any crime, and -known by you to be innocent!”</p> -<p>“But, my dear Claudia, had I freed....”</p> -<p>The Procurator’s protest was interrupted by a knock on the -door, and a moment later at Pilate’s bidding the attendant entered. -“The Centurion Longinus, Excellency,” he said, bowing, -“has arrived to make his report.”</p> -<p>“Longinus! By great Jupiter, did you send Longinus to crucify -the Galilean?” She whirled to face the centurion, who had entered -the chamber. “Surely, Longinus, you didn’t...” Abruptly she -stopped; her face, suddenly drained of fury, betrayed apprehension -and pain.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, “I killed him. I was ordered by the Procurator -to do so, but that doesn’t absolve me from guilt. I crucified an -innocent man”—his eyes shifted to level on Pilate—“as the Procurator -well knew when he condemned him to the cross.” He -paused, but Pilate did not challenge the statement. “Excellency, -you sent for me to report. The Galilean is dead. Your order has -been carried out.”</p> -<p>“Thank you, Centurion. Then I shall grant those Jews’ request -for the body for burial.” He spoke calmly, but his flustered manner -betrayed an inner stress. “You may return to your duty and -<span class="pb" id="Page_325">325</span> -notify the men, who will be at the execution ground, that I grant -their petition. You may have your quaternion help them remove -the body from the cross and ...”</p> -<p>He broke off suddenly. Through the slit in the doorway, which -Longinus had failed to close completely behind him, came the -insistent voice of a man talking with Pilate’s aide in the anteroom. -“By the gods, I’m glad to catch him. I’ve come from Caesarea with -a message for him from the Commander Sergius Paulus. And I was -given emphatic instructions to deliver it myself into his hands -with the seals unbroken,” they heard the man say. “I’ve been -searching all over Jerusalem for him; I even went out to the crucifixion -hill.” He lowered his voice. “It’s bound to be an important -message. It came from Rome, probably, by the gods, from the -Prefect or even the Emperor.”</p> -<p>“Centurion, perhaps you’d prefer to go out there”—Pilate’s face -had paled perceptibly—“to accept the message.”</p> -<p>Longinus nodded and left the room. As the door closed behind -him, Claudia turned with renewed fury upon her husband. “Why -did you assign Longinus to crucify the Galilean?” she cried. “Was -it because I sent my message by him and you suspected he had -spent the night with me and you finally did me the small honor -of being jealous? Well, by the gods”—her voice was tremulous as -her anger rose—“<i>that’s exactly what he did</i>!” With hatred in her -eyes she approached him, coming so close that their faces nearly -touched. “And, you fool, that wasn’t the first time,” she added -with a low, harsh laugh, “nor even, by Jupiter, the last!”</p> -<p>The Procurator stepped back and sank heavily into his chair. -For a long moment he sat silent, staring at the floor. Then he -raised his eyes to his wife’s bitter, scornful face. “Surely you cannot -believe me that stupid, Claudia my dear,” he said quietly, “to -think that I haven’t known. Surely you must know that I am not -entirely deaf and blind, that I have even contrived to spend many -an evening away so that you....” He paused, pensively contemplating -the woman before him. “But perhaps you don’t -know....”</p> -<p>“Oh, how I despise you!” she screamed. “I knew you were a -weakling, a coward, a ... yes, today, even a murderer. But I -<span class="pb" id="Page_326">326</span> -didn’t know you were a crawling worm who would willingly lend -his wife to another man! By all Pluto’s fire-blackened imps, I....”</p> -<p>“But perhaps you don’t know,” the Procurator went on, “that I -was commanded by the Prefect and the Emperor, at the time our -marriage was arranged, to do everything possible to keep you content -in this dismal province ... even to overlooking any indiscretions....”</p> -<p>“Then you’ve been willing to do anything, by the Great Mother, -in order to stay in the good graces of old Sejanus,” Claudia hissed. -“You’re willing to send a good and innocent man, maybe a god-man, -to the cross rather than displease a contemptible High Priest -who might complain against you to the Prefect!” She clenched her -fists and brought them down, hard, across the desk. “You’re even -willing to surrender your wife to another man’s enjoyment in -order—you said it—to keep her ‘content’ but <i>really</i> to keep that -man from reporting to Sejanus your bumbling incompetence, your -foolish provocations, your utter imbecility!” Her voice had risen -to a shout. Slowly she moved toward the window, and then she -whirled about to face him again. “Well, I’m not ‘content,’ and I -never will be ... with you! And by all the gods, I hope Longinus -will go to Rome and reveal to Sejanus how miserably you have -administered the affairs of the Empire in this province!” She -pointed at him from across the room. “And how you have dragged -in the dust Rome’s vaunted justice, how in all probability”—her -voice dropped to a menacing tone—“you have withheld funds -from the Empire’s treasury....”</p> -<p>“No! Oh, no, Claudia! I have kept back nothing due the Empire -or the Prefect! Nothing! Not one shekel, not a denarius! -Longinus knows it’s true.” He lowered his voice. “Hasn’t he been -watching; hasn’t he been reporting? Surely you don’t think I -haven’t suspected....” But suddenly he broke off his protests. -Quickly crossing the chamber, he opened the door and summoned -the centurion. “You have heard my wife’s words?” he asked, as he -closed the door behind them.</p> -<p>“I’ve heard excited words,” Longinus replied cautiously. “I -didn’t get the full import of them, though.”</p> -<p>“Claudia has been hurling accusations at me. She said she hoped -<span class="pb" id="Page_327">327</span> -you would report me to the Prefect when you go to....” He -paused, and both his face and voice revealed his fear. “The message -was from Rome, wasn’t it? From Sejanus? He asked you to -report to him on the situation out here, how I’m administering...?”</p> -<p>“He asked me to come at once to Rome, but he said only that -it was to meet with him on a matter of utmost concern, the nature -of which he did not indicate. Here, Excellency”—he handed the -letter to the Procurator—“you may read it yourself.”</p> -<p>Eagerly the Procurator accepted the message. His forehead -creased as he studied it. “True,” he said, handing it back to Longinus, -“there’s no mention in it of the Procurator. But surely the -Prefect will ask you how I’m administering affairs. I beg of you, -Centurion, don’t give him an unfavorable report; don’t make any -charges against....”</p> -<p>“What of the Galilean you’ve just crucified?” Claudia interrupted. -“Can you contend that you even thought you were acting -justly? Didn’t you just tell me you found no fault in the man? -What else could Longinus tell the Prefect concerning your -trial...?”</p> -<p>“But the centurion will say nothing of this Galilean, surely.” -The trace of a sickly smile flickered across his round face. “The -centurion will remember that it was <i>he</i> who crucified the man.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I shall never forget that I killed him,” Longinus said. “And -I suspect that to the end of his days the Procurator, too, will remember -the part he played in this horrible thing. But if this Galilean’s -case comes to the Prefect’s attention and he inquires of -me about it, I shall reveal fully what happened, and why I was -involved.”</p> -<p>“But surely, Centurion, unless you report it, Sejanus will never -know about it. Caiaphas is pleased. The illiterate, poor followers -of the Galilean didn’t even attempt to aid him at the trial; their -protests, if they offer any, can never reach as far as Rome. I beg -of you, Longinus, make no mention of it to the Prefect. The -Galilean is dead; soon he’ll be forgotten.”</p> -<p>“No!” Claudia protested. “I’ll never forget him! Longinus will -never forget him! Nor will <i>you</i>! Look at your hands, Pilate. Soon -<span class="pb" id="Page_328">328</span> -you will be seeing them as I saw them, cold, clammy, scurrying to -hide themselves under the rocks, foul and evil and reeking with -<i>his</i> blood! By all the gods, Pilate”—her voice was shrill in newly -mounting anger—“if Longinus doesn’t tell the Prefect of your -cowardly flouting of Roman justice, <i>I</i> will!”</p> -<p>The Procurator’s face blanched. He started to speak, then swallowed. -“Claudia, my dear, you wouldn’t. Surely you wouldn’t be -so....”</p> -<p>“Indeed, I would! I have lost all patience with you, Pilate. Today -I’ve seen you as I’ve never seen you before. You’re a small -man, Procurator, vain, self-seeking, pompous, and yet a sniveling -coward too fearful for his own skin to rule justly. And at the first -opportunity I shall so describe you to the Prefect ... and perhaps -to the Emperor.”</p> -<p>“No, my dear! No! Please....” His panic changed quickly into -abject pleading. “Please don’t, my dear. Why should you wish to -ruin me? What would it gain you ... and Longinus?” He sat -down wearily behind his desk. “Why can’t we continue as we -have been ...” he paused, “enduring this trying land and these -troublesome people? Centurion”—he faced Longinus—“for a long -time I have suspected, and known, the ... situation. But haven’t -I been understanding, even co-operative?” The suggestion of a smile -lifted the corners of his mouth. “Why, then, cannot the three of -us, understanding this and appreciating it, just continue to play the -roles as we have been? Why can’t we...?”</p> -<p>“Oh, by great Ceres!” Claudia shouted angrily, “you are indeed -a crawling worm! You <i>invite</i> another man to your wife’s bed! You -pander! You’re nothing but a procurer, a Spanish pimp! Gods, but -I detest you!” Turning, she strode to the door and opened it. -“Summon my sedan-chair bearers,” she ordered the attendant, -“and quickly!” Then she wheeled about to face the Procurator -again. “I’m going back to the palace. I cannot summon the patience -to remain longer in your presence. It would please me -greatly if I should never lay eyes on you again!” She stormed -through the doorway; the door slammed behind her.</p> -<p>Pilate sat unmoving and stared stonily into space.</p> -<p>“A moment ago, Excellency,” Longinus ventured, “you directed -<span class="pb" id="Page_329">329</span> -me to return to the Hill of the Skull. The Jewish Sabbath is fast -nearing. Perhaps I should go now.”</p> -<p>Without raising his eyes, Pontius Pilate nodded. Longinus -crossed the darkening chamber and went out. After a while the -Procurator stood up and walked to the window. Out beyond Antonia’s -front square and the squat stone structures flanking it, on -a wretched knoll beyond the city’s wall, the three crosses still -lifted their quiet burdens into the waning light. But already the -shadow of the wall was groping for the pinioned feet of the man -on the middle cross. For a long moment Pilate stood rooted before -the window; when the shadow had climbed to engulf the -man’s sagging knees, he turned slowly away and sat again in his -big chair. As the gloom thickened in the great chamber, the staring -Procurator leaned slowly forward to cross his arms on the desk -and, bending over, cradled his round head on their crossing.</p> -<h2 id="c55">55</h2> -<p>Late in the afternoon of the Jews’ Sabbath the Procurator Pontius -Pilate stood face to face once again with the High Priest Joseph -Caiaphas.</p> -<p>“My visit to you, Excellency, and the petition I bring,” he began, -“concern that impostor and revolutionary you crucified yesterday, -the one who was seeking to establish himself upon the restored -throne of Israel.”</p> -<p>“But the man is dead and buried,” Pilate spoke up irritably. -“Can’t you let him lie quietly in his tomb? Can’t you understand -that I wish to have no further mention made to me of that -Galilean?”</p> -<p>“Indeed I do understand, Excellency. That’s exactly what we -also wish, to allow him to lie quietly and undisturbed until his -body rots and his name is forgotten.” He leaned forward, and his -<span class="pb" id="Page_330">330</span> -black eyes lighted with new fires. “But, Excellency, as you may -have been told, that blasphemer was heard to declare that he -would destroy our Temple and in three days with his own hands -rebuild it. Now some of his deluded followers are saying that he -wasn’t speaking of the Temple yonder”—he nodded in the direction -of the great structure—“but rather of his own physical body. -They interpret his words as meaning that he would of his own -accord give his life and then on the third day claim it again and -walk forth from his tomb. Of course, Excellency, we know that the -fellow is dead and will never rise again”—with the tip of his -tongue he licked his thin red lips—“but many naïve ones may be -deluded into believing that he really did possess power to call -back his life. Even today a report has reached us that certain of -his followers are planning in the nighttime to visit the tomb and -steal away the body. Then with the tomb empty on the morrow, -which will be the third day since he died, they can publish abroad -the tidings that the blasphemer really did arise as he had declared -he would do.”</p> -<p>“But how am I concerned in this nonsense?” Pilate was plainly -annoyed. “What do you want me to do?”</p> -<p>“We would have you set a guard over the fellow’s tomb, Excellency, -to see that no one steals away the body.”</p> -<p>“What’s this but children’s prattle? Surely no one would seriously -expect a dead man to walk from his tomb.” Slowly Pilate’s -scowl gave way to a mocking half-smile. “What would the High -Priest do if the Galilean <i>did</i> rise? <i>You</i> contrived his crucifixion.”</p> -<p>“But what, Excellency, would the Procurator do? <i>You crucified</i> -him.”</p> -<p>Pilate was not amused by the High Priest’s retort. “Maybe it’s -as well,” he observed, “that neither of us will be so tested.” For a -moment he was silent, looking away. Then he turned back to -face Caiaphas. “You have your Temple guards. Can’t you use -some of them to guard that tomb?”</p> -<p>“But, Excellency, with the great surge of Passover pilgrims still -in the Temple courts and about the cattle stalls and the money -changers’ tables, our guards are all greatly needed. And, more important, -your placing a guard would lend greater prestige....”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_331">331</div> -<p>“The Antonia garrison is just as busy,” Pilate interrupted, “and -many of our soldiers are leaving Jerusalem. Maybe, though, I can -arrange yet again to humor the High Priest.” He beckoned to an -aide. “Summon the fortress commander.”</p> -<p>“Are there any centurions available for a special assignment beginning -at once and continuing into tomorrow?” he asked, when a -few moments later the officer appeared.</p> -<p>“Centurion Longinus, sir, is....”</p> -<p>“No, by all the gods!”</p> -<p>“The only other one not assigned at the present is Centurion -Cornelius. He’s preparing to return his....”</p> -<p>“Then call Cornelius in and instruct him to select from his -century a sufficient detail and mount a guard at the tomb of the -Galilean”—he paused and looked unsmiling toward the High -Priest—“rather, the ‘King of the Jews,’ to see that it is not disturbed.”</p> -<p>Caiaphas smiled grimly but made no comment.</p> -<p>“Now, O High Priest, you will have your guard, though I consider -a guard unnecessary. Once again your will has prevailed.” -He bowed, and his smile was cold. “I trust your sleep tonight -will be peaceful.”</p> -<h2 id="c56">56</h2> -<p>It was within two hours of midnight after the Jewish Sabbath, -which by Hebrew reckoning ended at sundown, when Longinus -came to the Palace of the Herods. Claudia was already in her -nightdress and prepared for bed. “Aren’t you going to spend the -night?” she asked eagerly, after he loosened her from their warm -embrace.</p> -<p>“With your permission,” he said, grinning wryly. “I have your -husband’s, remember.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_332">332</div> -<p>“Please, let’s not talk of him.” Her expression sobered. “Did I -speak too frankly yesterday, Longinus? Did I reveal too much to -him ... about us, I mean? Is that why you didn’t come last -night? You were annoyed with me?”</p> -<p>“You really spoke your feelings, didn’t you? But I wasn’t annoyed -with you,” he said. “In fact, I’m glad you spoke up. And I -suspect he was not surprised at what you told him, only that you -would say it, and with such fury.” She had sat down on the side -of her bed. He seated himself beside her and bent over to unfasten -his sandals. Then he straightened and faced her. “Claudia, I was -too depressed last night to be good company.” He shook his head -slowly. “I’ve never been in lower spirits.”</p> -<p>“Because of the Galilean?”</p> -<p>“Yes. Because of what I had done. It felt like a crushing load -on my back. I couldn’t get out from under it.” He stood up, and -laid his tunic across a chair. “After I left you and Pilate, I went -back out to the crosses and helped get him down, taking care to -see that in pulling the nails out we didn’t tear or further bruise -the flesh”—he paused in his narration, and his low laugh was hollow, -mirthless—“after I had seen the nails driven through the living -flesh and had plunged my lance into his side. Then we put -him in the rich Jew’s tomb; they had bound the body the way -the Jews prepare their dead for burial, although they didn’t have -time to anoint it with aromatic spices as they customarily do....”</p> -<p>“They are going to do that tomorrow,” Claudia interrupted him. -“Tullia has gone out to Bethany to go with Mary of Magdala and -Chuza’s wife Joanna and some other followers of the Galilean -early in the morning to the tomb to finish the burial rites.” She -paused. “But I interrupted your story. What did you do when -you had finished out there?”</p> -<p>“I came back to Antonia and sat for a long time on the balcony -looking out over the Temple courts. Then I went to bed and tried -to get some sleep, but I couldn’t, no matter how I tried. Every -time I closed my eyes I saw that man ... the death march out -to the hill, nailing him down, lifting him to the upright....” -He cupped his palm across his eyes. “By the gods, Claudia, it was -terrible, frightening. And his crying out to his god to forgive us.” -<span class="pb" id="Page_333">333</span> -His hand dropped listlessly to his side. “Well, I finally gave up and -walked out along the balcony again, and then I went to see Cornelius. -He was troubled, too. He hadn’t gone to bed. We sat and -talked, mostly about that man, until daylight.”</p> -<p>“Did you come to any conclusion ... about him, I mean?”</p> -<p>“Well, no, I suppose not, except that it was a monstrous crime -to crucify such a man, though Cornelius still held to the idea that -the Galilean probably was a god of some sort, that he had supernatural -powers, even the ability to heal people—he insisted that -he had healed his little Lucian—maybe to raise dead people to -life. Cornelius even said he thought it was possible that the -Galilean might come to life himself, as some of his followers say -he will, and walk out of that tomb.” He was silent for a moment. -“If he does,” he added after awhile, “he’ll have to move a tremendous -stone from the mouth of the tomb ... and <i>from the -inside</i>.” He sat down again beside her. “And under the noses of -the guards, too.”</p> -<p>“The guards?”</p> -<p>“Yes. At the insistence of the High Priest, Pilate has set a guard -at the tomb to prevent the Galilean’s followers from stealing the -body and claiming that he actually did come to life. The Procurator -put Cornelius in charge, and I went out there with him; in -fact, I’ve just come from there. Cornelius is going to stay until -daylight.”</p> -<p>“Then Pilate is still trying to appease the High Priest, even after -all I said to him yesterday?”</p> -<p>“Evidently. The Procurator isn’t likely to change his ways.”</p> -<p>“Maybe I was rash yesterday in losing my temper and speaking -with such boldness, but I’ve come to have such contempt for him, -to loathe him so. Oh, Longinus”—she clutched his arm in both -hands and clung to him—“how can I stay with him longer in this -dreary land? Please take me with you to Rome. Hasn’t the time -come...?”</p> -<p>“That’s why I’m here, Claudia.” Then his serious expression -softened, and his eyes teased. “And because it’s my last night.”</p> -<p>“Must you be leaving tomorrow?”</p> -<p>“Yes. I’m going with Cornelius as far as Tiberias. From there -<span class="pb" id="Page_334">334</span> -I’ll go across to Ptolemaïs and get a ship for Rome. Cornelius is -providing me an escort to the coast. I’ll have to get the first ship -leaving that port for the capital. But I had to see you before I -left. Claudia”—in the subdued light of the bedchamber the gentle -flame of the wall lamp was mirrored in his eyes as he looked -deeply into hers—“it may be that a way of escape is about to open -for us. By all the gods, it’s strange, and distressing, too, but the -death of the Galilean may actually save us.”</p> -<p>“You mean that Pilate in condemning the Galilean may have -condemned himself?”</p> -<p>“I believe he has ... in one way or another. And I think he -has given you a means of freeing yourself.” He paused. “You’re -sure no one can hear us?”</p> -<p>She nodded. But he went to the door anyway, listened with his -ear to the panel, and tried the bolt.</p> -<p>“This is dangerous, Claudia,” he said, as he sat down again. -“You mustn’t breathe a word of it to anybody, not even Tullia. -It could get us both killed.” He lowered his voice. “That message -I had yesterday. It brought startling news. I purposely showed it to -Pilate, but of course he had no idea what it was saying. But I -did. That ‘matter of utmost concern’ was the Prefect’s way of -notifying me that now he’s finally ready to proceed with his scheme -and wants me in Rome when he makes his move.”</p> -<p>“But this new scheme? What...?”</p> -<p>“It’s not a new one, Claudia. He gave me a broad hint concerning -his plans the last time I was home; he said that when I got a -message so worded it would mean he was ready to proceed with -the final step.” He leaned close to her. “Claudia, Sejanus is plotting -<i>to have the Emperor assassinated</i>; he is bidding for the -throne.”</p> -<p>“But surely”—her face had paled—“he doesn’t mean for you -to ...”</p> -<p>“Oh, no, not that. Some palace servant out at Capri will probably -attend to that. But he wants me in Rome when it’s done so -that I can help rally his supporters at the crucial moment and -make him Emperor.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_335">335</div> -<p>“But even if Sejanus should become Emperor, how would that -help us?”</p> -<p>“I would be much closer to him than I am now, one of his advisors,” -the centurion replied. “I’m sure I could poison him against -Pilate, and justly. This case of the Galilean will be just one more -example of his unfitness to administer Roman government. His -failure to conciliate, his forever keeping Judaea in a stir....”</p> -<p>“But, Longinus”—her face revealed sudden apprehension, fear—“what -if the Emperor’s supporters should discover the Prefect’s -plotting and kill <i>him</i> before he could have the Emperor killed?”</p> -<p>“Then I would have been on the Emperor’s side.” Longinus -smiled reassuringly and patted the back of her hand on his arm. -“Don’t worry about me; I’ll not let myself get trapped. And soon -now, either way the dice fall, we’ll be the winners.” He stood up -and quickly lifted her to her feet. Leaning over, he pulled down the -light coverlet. “But for now, my dearest,” he said, as he gently -pushed her down and lifted her legs to the bed, “let’s forget them -all; let’s make what’s left of it <i>our</i> night.”</p> -<h2 id="c57">57</h2> -<p>Once more she felt herself floating upward in a dark morass of -confused and tangled dreaming. Then as she seemed to burst -through the heavy waters to the surface and a sudden effulgent -light, she sat up, eyes blinking and sleep drained from her.</p> -<p>The knocking and calling were restrained but insistent from -Tullia’s side of the door. “Mistress! Oh, Mistress! Mistress!”</p> -<p>She sprang from the bed. “Just a moment, little one, until I -can draw back the bolt.” The movement and her exclamation awakened -Longinus; precipitately he sat up in bed. “Tullia’s returned,” -she explained to him, as he blinked sleepily. She opened the door. -“Bona Dea, you’re breathless,” she said to the girl. “What’s happened, -by great Ceres?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_336">336</div> -<p>“I’ve run all the way from the Hasmonean Palace where I left -Joanna....” She paused, breathing hard. “Mistress”—her face -flamed with new excitement—“Jesus is <i>alive</i>! He’s come from the -tomb alive! He did it, Mistress! He really did it!”</p> -<p>“Sit down, Tullia,” she said calmly. “You’re excited, little one. -Calm yourself. Longinus told me that the Galilean was not in a -trance; he said he knew he was dead; he said....”</p> -<p>“He was dead, Mistress, I know. But <i>now</i> he’s alive again! He’s -<i>alive</i>, Mistress, <i>alive</i>!”</p> -<p>Claudia shook her head dubiously. “I don’t doubt that you think -so, but when a man’s dead....” She paused. “And you’ve been -under such tension, so troubled....”</p> -<p>“But I’m no longer troubled, Mistress,” Tullia said calmly. -“Nor have I lost my reason. He <i>is</i> alive. Mary of Magdala talked -with him at the tomb. We’ve just come from there, Mistress.”</p> -<p>“But where were Cornelius and his soldiers? Surely they didn’t -all go to sleep and let the Galilean’s friends....”</p> -<p>“They had gone,” the maid answered. “But nobody stole the -body, Mistress. Jesus walked away. He told Mary to tell those of -his company that he would meet them down in Galilee.”</p> -<p>“Then Cornelius and his guards weren’t at the tomb when the -Galilean walked from it, Tullia?” Longinus, adjusting his tunic, -came through the doorway.</p> -<p>“Oh, no, Centurion, I meant they were gone when we got -there. But they had left only a few minutes before. In fact, we -met them coming in through the city gate as we were going out. -I recognized Centurion Cornelius, although I don’t think he noticed -me. He seemed greatly disturbed.”</p> -<p>“Then, by the gods, Claudia, I must go find him. This is amazing. -Tullia, by great Jupiter, do you know what you’re saying? Do -you realize that you are saying a dead man....?”</p> -<p>His question was interrupted by a knocking on the corridor door. -Quickly Tullia opened it. A palace servant announced that Centurion -Cornelius was trying to find Centurion Longinus.</p> -<p>“Tell him to come in,” Claudia had overheard. “The Centurion -Longinus is here.”</p> -<p>“I’ve been trying since daylight to locate you, Longinus,” he -<span class="pb" id="Page_337">337</span> -reported. “I went to your quarters, but I should have known....” -He didn’t finish the observation. “Something very strange has happened. -The Galilean disappeared from his tomb.”</p> -<p>“So Tullia has just told us,” Longinus said. “She contends that -he came to life and simply walked out.” His eyes narrowed. “By -the gods, Cornelius, did your guards go to sleep and allow his -friends to slip in and...?”</p> -<p>“No, Longinus, we weren’t asleep.” He shook his head slowly. -“Nobody was asleep. I can’t understand it. I had stationed my -men so that no one could slip past us to get to the tomb. And that -heavy stone ... Longinus, it had to be rolled uphill on its track, -and that requires the hard work of at least two or three strong -men.” His forehead wrinkled in a puzzled frown.</p> -<p>“Well, then,” Longinus pursued, “what <i>did</i> happen?”</p> -<p>“That’s what I don’t know. Nothing happened. At least, I saw -and heard nothing. I asked the men later if any of them had, and -they all insisted, to a man, that they hadn’t heard a sound or seen -anything the least bit unusual. Only a moment before I had -checked the tomb’s mouth. The seal hadn’t been disturbed. And -there was a dim light from a little fire we had kindled earlier to -keep off the night chill; it had burned down, but there was still -a light on the stone at the mouth. In fact, that’s how we noticed....”</p> -<p>“The Galilean?”</p> -<p>“Oh, no, we didn’t see him. But one moment the stone was in -place, and the next ... well, I looked over there, and it had -been rolled up the track and the mouth was wide-open.”</p> -<p>“What did you do then?”</p> -<p>“I lighted a torch from the smoldering fire and investigated. -The Galilean was gone, disappeared. The linen strips with which -the body had been wrapped were lying there, still in folds but -collapsed, just as though the body they had been enfolding had -melted away.” He shook his head, gestured with palms up. “Longinus, -I can’t figure it any other way.”</p> -<p>“You mean you actually believe he returned to life?”</p> -<p>“What else can I believe?”</p> -<p>“But what about the stone? How could he have rolled it back?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_338">338</div> -<p>“If he had the power to call back his life,” Cornelius said, “rolling -away the stone would surely have been no problem.”</p> -<p>“But, Cornelius,” Claudia interposed, “Tullia, too, has just -come from the tomb. She was there with Mary of Magdala and -Joanna and some other followers of the Galilean.”</p> -<p>“I didn’t see them....”</p> -<p>“They got there just after you left. They saw you at the city -gate as you were coming away, she said. But Mary of Magdala -saw the Galilean and talked with him.” She shrugged. “Or at any -rate that’s what she told Tullia.”</p> -<p>The centurion’s amazement was not feigned. “Then where did -he go? Where is he now?”</p> -<p>“According to Tullia, he told Mary that he was going down to -Galilee. He said he would meet his band there.”</p> -<p>“Then we may come upon him somewhere, beside the sea with -the fishermen or maybe in Capernaum.”</p> -<p>“But, Cornelius”—Claudia’s expression betrayed a sudden apprehension—“how -would he receive Longinus?”</p> -<p>“In a spirit of forgiveness, I hope ... and believe. It was really -not Longinus who did it. The guilt was Herod’s and Pilate’s ... -and, of course, even more, the High Priest’s.”</p> -<p>“Cornelius, does Pilate know ... about the empty tomb, I -mean?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Claudia. I reported to him first, before I started to look -for Longinus. He was still in his bedchamber.”</p> -<p>“What did he say? How did he act?”</p> -<p>“At first he was angry; he charged that the guards had gone to -sleep, said the High Priest would be greatly agitated, and threatened -to punish us severely. But when I stood my ground and insisted -that no one had stolen the body, he began to show concern, -and when I left him he was thoroughly frightened.” He turned to -Longinus. “That’s why I want to get started as quickly as possible -for Tiberias, before Pilate orders my century to remain in Jerusalem -to help protect him from the Galilean. Can you be ready to -start by midday?”</p> -<p>Longinus nodded. “Yes. I’m already packed. All I have to do is -pick up my bags at Antonia.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_339">339</div> -<h2 id="c58">58</h2> -<p>When Cornelius left the Palace of the Herods, Claudia and Longinus -walked out into the garden and sat on the stone bench before -the fountain. Already the sun was high in the cloudless heavens -and the air was growing warm. Birds chattered in the trees and -shrubs, and as they watched the spurting water, two small conies -skittered across a circle of sunlight to dark safety beneath a heavily -leaved fig bush.</p> -<p>“A glorious day.”</p> -<p>“Yes.” He tossed a twig toward the fountain. “You know, -Claudia”—he was looking, she saw, at some invisible point beyond -the trembling column of water—“a hundred years from now the -world may still remember this day, if....”</p> -<p>“If the Galilean really has come to life?” she finished softly. -“What do you think about it, Longinus? Cornelius and Tullia -seemed so certain he has.”</p> -<p>The centurion shook his head slowly, his eyes still on the lifting -and falling water. “I don’t know what to think. But”—he turned -to face her, and his forehead was furrowed in concentration—“how -else can you explain it? The guards awake, the heavy stone -sealing the tomb. By all the gods....”</p> -<p>“Are you afraid then?”</p> -<p>For a long moment he was silent. “No,” he answered finally, -“I’m not afraid. But I’m ... I’m ashamed, Claudia; I’m ashamed -for myself, Pilate, Herod, the contemptible High Priest, my quaternion, -everybody who had anything at all to do with this terrible -thing. If indeed he did come back to life, I hope I may see him -in Galilee and beg his forgiveness.”</p> -<p>“But what about Pilate? Do you think the Galilean will seek -vengeance on him? And on the High Priest, and even Antipas?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_340">340</div> -<p>“Up there on the hill as we were nailing him to the crossbeam, -that man prayed to his god to forgive us ... to forgive us, -Claudia. Didn’t he mean <i>all</i> his enemies?” Longinus stood up and -walked to the fountain; he held his palm against the upshooting -column. “A few days ago I was scoffing at him and even at the -very idea of gods, any god, or spirit being, or whatever you may -call it”—he smiled glumly—“and so were you, my dear. But since -day before yesterday”—he shrugged—“and this morning, well, I’m -... I’m changed. You know, I’ve been thinking about what Cornelius’ -old Greek tutor taught and how it might fit in with the -Jews’ notion of their Yahweh. And now, if the Galilean really has -taken on life again—and I <i>know</i> he was <i>dead</i> when we took him -down—it may be that he really was ... is ... a physical, tangible -manifestation of this all-wise and all-powerful spirit....” -Abruptly he broke off. “Oh, I don’t know, Claudia, it’s too deep -for me. But I do know”—his smile was warm—“if there’s ever -another testing, I’ll be on <i>his</i> side then.”</p> -<p>He strode over to the bench and helped her to her feet, and -they returned to her apartment where no other eyes could invade -the privacy of their last moments together.</p> -<p>“Has this morning changed things for us, beloved?” she asked, -as they sat on her couch. “Your plans, in Rome, I mean, do you -still intend to do what you were telling me last night?”</p> -<p>“Of course, my dearest. And it won’t be long before we’ll have -a new Emperor <i>or</i> a new Prefect. And in either case there’ll be a -new Procurator in Judaea and”—he smiled playfully—“a new husband -for the present Procurator’s wife. It’s even possible,” he added -with a studied air, “that the present Procurator’s wife will be the -wife of the new Procurator.”</p> -<p>“But, Longinus, you wouldn’t want to be Procurator in this -dreary province....”</p> -<p>“No,” he broke in, “but if the present Procurator’s wife went -with the assignment”—he shrugged—“I believe I could endure it.” -Then he was serious. “Before the summer is ended, Claudia, I -firmly believe that Tiberius or Sejanus will be dead—and little -I care which—or both of them even, and there’ll be a new regime -at Rome. By then, and maybe earlier, Pilate will have been banished -<span class="pb" id="Page_341">341</span> -to Gaul or Britannia or some other remote province, and -you and I will be together ... maybe living out at Baiae.”</p> -<p>“Oh, Longinus, I hope so, I do hope so.” She clung to him -tightly, for in a few minutes, she knew, he would be leaving her -to join Cornelius for the journey down into Galilee. “Already it -has been so long, and I am utterly weary of waiting. May the -beneficent gods grant you swift sailing and an early safe return.”</p> -<p>With an arm about her waist he lifted her to her toes. “But there -are no gods, remember?” Teasingly, he pushed her chin until her -eager lips parted, and then hungrily he bent once again to savor -them.</p> -<h2 id="c59">59</h2> -<p>Longinus and the orderly carrying his luggage had almost reached -the foot of the Antonia stairway when a soldier came hurrying -down the steps behind them. The Procurator Pontius Pilate, the -soldier announced, wished to speak immediately with the centurion.</p> -<p>“Take the bags to the pack train,” Longinus instructed his man, -“and tell Centurion Cornelius I’ll be there as quickly as the Procurator -dismisses me.” Then he went at once to the Procurator’s -chamber.</p> -<p>Pontius Pilate was standing before the window, staring in the -direction of the forlorn and frightful Hill of the Skull. When he -heard the centurion, he turned quickly and advanced toward the -center of the chamber. “Have a seat, Centurion,” he said, as he -pointed to a chair across the desk from his own. “I’ll detain you -only a moment.” His round face lighted with an unctuous -smile as he sat down heavily. “You’ll soon be leaving Jerusalem, -no doubt?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_342">342</div> -<p>“Yes, Excellency. I was on my way, in fact, when your aide -overtook me.”</p> -<p>“It occurred to me, though I haven’t seen her since we three were -here two days ago, that Lady Claudia might like to ride with you -as far as Caesarea. She is weary of Jerusalem, I know, but I’ll not -be able to leave here for several days. And at Caesarea you two -could enjoy one another’s company until your ship sails for Rome.”</p> -<p>“But I’m not going to Caesarea, Excellency. I’m going to accompany -Centurion Cornelius down into Galilee, and from there -I’ll cross to Ptolemaïs and get a vessel for Rome.”</p> -<p>“Oh. Well, then, yes.” Pilate’s honeyed smile vanished, and he -licked his lips. “I thought you two would welcome an opportunity....” -But he did not pursue the thought further. He leaned forward, -elbows on desk. “Centurion, this ‘matter of utmost concern’ -that takes you to Rome, I wonder if....”</p> -<p>“You read the Prefect’s message,” Longinus said, when the -Procurator paused. “And of course, Excellency, I’ve had no further -communication from him.”</p> -<p>“The Prefect must be calling you to Rome to discuss the situation -out here, Longinus. It would hardly be anything in Rome -that he’s concerned about, because you wouldn’t be familiar with -affairs there. I’ve been trying to think what it could be that commands -his attention here.” Pilate’s expression was grim now, his -shallow suavity gone. “It must be that he’s dissatisfied with my -governing, or even”—he swallowed, and his face was somber—“that -he’s planning to remove me as Procurator and extend -Herod’s domain to include Judaea, with that incompetent weasel -as king over the entire realm his father ruled.” He paused, his -expression questioning. “Herodias’ scheming, I’ll wager.”</p> -<p>“I can’t say, Excellency”—Longinus shook his head—“what the -Prefect may be planning for any of us.”</p> -<p>“Us? By all the gods, Longinus, I hadn’t thought that his plans -might concern you, too!” His expression suddenly brightened. -“Why, that’s it, great Jupiter, that would solve the dilemma!”</p> -<p>“But, Excellency, I don’t....”</p> -<p>“I beg you then, Centurion, in your report to the Prefect to -deal charitably....”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_343">343</div> -<p>“But, what....?”</p> -<p>“Petition him to transfer me, with comparable position and -emoluments, to some other post, Gaul, Spain, Alexandria maybe, -even Rome, and name you Procurator of Judaea, Longinus.” The -unctuous smile, patently contrived, momentarily relieved his grimness. -“And then, though the Prefect and the Emperor might not -permit Lady Claudia to go with me to a new post, particularly if -it should be at Rome or near the capital, I’m sure they would permit -her to divorce me and marry you.”</p> -<p>“But the day the Galilean died”—the discipline of long training -kept Longinus’ tone level, even though his fist ached to be -smashed against the stupidly grinning round face—“you appeared -to be most anxious to retain your post here.”</p> -<p>The mere mention of the Galilean made violence unnecessary; -the Procurator’s mask of laughter was instantly ripped away, and -the terror beneath it now lay exposed. “Yes, Centurion,” he began, -“but since then I ... I....” He threw out both hands as if in -desperation. “I’ve had no peace! It’s these insufferable Jews, Centurion. -And the arrogant, demanding, conniving High Priest, may -the great Pluto grill him to cinders! I must get away from these -Jews before they drive me mad, Longinus.” He stood up and -glanced toward the window, then shuddered and quickly turned -away. “That Galilean, the one you crucified....”</p> -<p>“The one you condemned to the cross, Excellency.”</p> -<p>“Yes, the one <i>I</i> condemned.” Pilate seemed suddenly very weary. -“I thought I’d purchase immunity by involving you. But I was -thinking of the High Priest on the one hand and the Prefect on -the other. I never thought of <i>him</i>. And now, now I can’t get away -from him. I can’t sleep, Centurion. He’s always there between me -and sleep, his calm face confronting me, his dark eyes studying -me. It’s as though <i>he</i> were trying <i>me</i>! I ... I can’t get away from -him, Longinus. He’ll haunt me as long as I remain in this abominable -province.” He leaned on the desk with fists clenched. “Nor -will they let him lie in his tomb and be forgotten. Have you heard -the foolish rumor”—his eyes narrowed as he hesitated, and then -he leaned nearer the centurion—“that the Galilean has walked -from his tomb and is on his way to Galilee?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_344">344</div> -<p>“Yes, Excellency, Cornelius told me the man had disappeared -under the noses of his guardsmen.”</p> -<p>“So he told me. But of course the guards were asleep. And since -Cornelius reported the man’s disappearance, I’ve been told some -of the guards were bribed by Caiaphas—Pluto take him—to say -that they permitted certain of his followers to steal the body to -make it appear that he had come to life, as they claimed he -would.” He shook his forefinger to emphasize his venom. “That -arrogant Jew never relents in his efforts to embarrass me and undermine -my administration of Judaea’s government.”</p> -<p>“But, Excellency, the body <i>wasn’t stolen</i>. Cornelius assured me -they were all wide-awake. And there was that heavy stone sealing -the mouth....”</p> -<p>“By great Jupiter, Longinus”—Pilate sank to his chair, and his -eyes were incredulous—“surely you don’t believe he had supernatural -power to restore himself to life and roll back the stone?” He -sat back; his eyes were fixed unseeing, it seemed, on the wall beyond -and above the centurion’s head. “He said that his kingdom -was not of this world. He said that were he to command it, a host -of his followers”—he paused, and his eyes, intent and fearful, -sought the centurion’s—“unearthly followers, Longinus, spirits, -demons....” Quickly he leaned forward. “Could he have been -in a trance after all? Could you have failed to take his life?”</p> -<p>“He was dead, Procurator; I assure you he was dead when we -put him in the tomb.” Longinus leaned nearer his questioner. -“But we didn’t <i>take</i> his life. When he was ready to die, he <i>surrendered</i> -it.”</p> -<p>“Centurion, do you realize what you’re saying?” A sickly smile -played at the corners of his mouth, and his usually florid face -was the shade of ashes. He braced his hands, palms down, on the -desk’s gleaming surface. “By great Jupiter, Longinus, do you believe -the Galilean really did return to life, that he’s <i>alive now</i>?”</p> -<p>“Excellency”—Longinus looked the Procurator straight in the -eyes—“what other explanation could I offer?”</p> -<p>Pilate opened his mouth, but no answer came. Instead, with the -tip of his thick tongue he circled his dry lips, and a heavy sigh -stirred his ponderous frame. “I should have had the courage to resist -<span class="pb" id="Page_345">345</span> -the High Priest and release the man,” he observed, more to -himself than to the centurion across the desk from him. “But I -condemned him. Then I tried to cleanse these hands”—he turned -them over and, palms up, studied them—“of his guiltless blood. -I <i>could</i> have freed him.” He glanced toward the window but -quickly turned back to face Longinus. “Centurion, do you suppose”—perspiration -was beading on the Procurator’s plainly -frightened face—“he will be coming back soon from Galilee ... -to Jerusalem, the Temple, to <i>Antonia</i>? By great Jupiter, Longinus”—he -did not pause for the centurion’s reply—“help me escape -him! Urge the Prefect to transfer me, send me to some post across -the world from this frightful Judaea, to Gaul, Germania, even, -by the gods, to Britannia!” His eyes were wild, his hands on the -desk were shaking, and he clenched them into white-knuckled -fists. “Tell him to give you Claudia; she’s been yours anyway all -along.” He attempted a feeble smile. “But I ... I mustn’t keep -you. Centurion Cornelius will be awaiting you, Longinus. Go, and -the gods give you good winds.” His voice had calmed. “And I beg -you, Centurion, say a good word to the Prefect.”</p> -<p>Longinus nodded and quietly left the chamber. As the door -closed gently behind him, Pilate sat motionless, frozen in his -chair. But some moments later, hearing the commotion in the -courtyard below, he went to the window and watched the century, -with Cornelius and Longinus leading the column and the -pack animals at the rear, until it disappeared around the bend of -the narrow street. Then as he raised his eyes from the cobblestones -to the huddled houses beyond the Damascus Gate, a sudden sharp -glint of sunshine was reflected to them from a white-painted -titulus board nailed to a heavy timber thrusting upward from a -forlorn scarred mound on the other side of the city wall.</p> -<p>“No! No!” Pilate whirled about hands before his eyes as though -the flash of sunlight had blinded him. “Flavius! Flavius!”</p> -<p>The startled attendant rushed in. “Yes, Excellency?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Go find the commander of Antonia and tell him I want every -cross upright out there on the Hill of the Skull pulled down, and -by great Jupiter, I want it done now!” Breathing heavily, Pilate -sat again at his desk. “Wait. Before you go, draw those draperies. -<span class="pb" id="Page_346">346</span> -I’m sick of the sight.” Flavius went to the window and busied himself -with the curtains, but when he had pulled one, he discovered -that he could not draw the other all the way until the bronze stand -and wine-colored vase on it had been moved. Quickly he shifted -them to the western window a few paces away and almost directly -behind the Procurator.</p> -<p>As he did so he saw that the sun shining through the vase shot -straight outward from the delicate glass a band of red light that -crossed the floor, climbed the back of Pilate’s chair, and went -obliquely over his shoulder to split evenly the polished surface of -the desk. Flavius turned back to the first window and pulled the -curtains together, so that not even a sliver of sunshine came -through. Then he came around in front of the Procurator. But -Pilate said nothing, and Flavius withdrew quietly, closing the door -behind him.</p> -<p>The Procurator leaned back in his chair; his arms were folded -across his middle, and his eyes appeared fixed upon a spot above -the door. But Pilate was not seeing the ornate panels; his eyes -were being held instead in the calm and untroubled gaze of another -pair of eyes....</p> -<p>Suddenly he shook his head, vigorously, as though to rid himself -of this haunting vision. “What’s this?” he said aloud. “The man’s -dead. Of course the guards dozed. Gods-come-to-earth, spirits, demons. -Woman dreaming. Jewish fanaticism. Bah! Cornelius and -Longinus wished to confuse and frighten me.”</p> -<p><i>... Even if he did walk from the tomb, he can cross no seas -to haunt me with pitying sad eyes. In Gaul or Germania, anywhere -but in this despicable land, I’ll be free of him. I’ll have escaped -him. By great Jupiter, I, afraid of a Galilean carpenter. Imagine, I, -a Roman soldier, I, by the gods, Procurator of Judaea....</i></p> -<p>“I’ll have an end to this foolishness, this child’s business,” he -said loudly. He sat up straight. “The other day I washed my -hands of that man’s death. Today, this moment, I wash them of -<i>him</i>, his circlet of thorns, his slashed back, his searching eyes, his -blood, by the gods of Rome. I’m free of him, do you hear?”</p> -<p><i>... And I’m not afraid to look through that window at his hill -of death....</i></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_347">347</div> -<p>“Flavius!” he shouted. “Come draw aside the draperies. I want -to see outside.”</p> -<p>He lifted his hands to the desk and, leaning forward, began to -rise.</p> -<p><i>... By great Jupiter, I’ll go look out the window now. I’ve -purged myself of the Galilean; I’ve washed my hands of that -man....</i></p> -<p>He glanced downward.</p> -<p>Flavius, entering the chamber in response to Pilate’s summons, -halted abruptly. Procurator Pontius Pilate, ruler of Judaea, his eyes -wide with terror, stood rigid in his tracks, staring at his hands.</p> -<p>From wrists to fingertips, in the fiery beam from the window, -they flamed a gory crimson.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_348">348</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/back.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="735" /> -<p class="caption">Ever since the publication of his best-selling novels, <i>Bold Galilean</i> -and <i>The Tree of Judas</i>, the name of LeGette Blythe has been synonymous -with the finest in historical fiction. <span class="sc">Hear Me, Pilate!</span> -demonstrates once again his amazing ability to recreate scenes from -the past with drama and authenticity. Mr. Blythe is a graduate of -the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is married, and -has three children.</p> -</div> -<h2 id="tn">Transcriber’s Notes</h2><ul><li>Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.</li> -<li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li> -<li>In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_.</li></ul> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Hear Me, Pilate!, by William LeGette Blythe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEAR ME, PILATE! *** - -***** This file should be named 52650-h.htm or 52650-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/6/5/52650/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Ron Box and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/52650-h/images/back.jpg b/old/52650-h/images/back.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a6871db..0000000 --- a/old/52650-h/images/back.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52650-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/52650-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7d3a446..0000000 --- a/old/52650-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52650-h/images/rose.jpg b/old/52650-h/images/rose.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 081f905..0000000 --- a/old/52650-h/images/rose.jpg +++ /dev/null |
