Athene's Prophecy (Gaius Claudius Scaevola Trilogy) (33 page)

"Answer that and you're starting to come to grips with this part of the world."

"So, this
Cristus
. What happened to him?"

"He was accused of sedition, and taken before the Prefect Pilate. Tell me, what do you know of Prefects?"

"Not a lot," Gaius said. Now was not the time to report his experience with Flaccus.

"How long do you think a Prefect holds his position?"

"Usually, eighteen months to four years," Gaius replied. He was pleased to be able to show that he knew something. It was then that he remembered Flaccus, and he started wondering whether Vitellius was going to embarrass him.

"Guess how long Pilate held his?" Vitellius asked with a penetrating stare.

"Six months?" Gaius hazarded.

"Try ten years." Vitellius smiled at his newest charge's clear discomfort, so he added, "In this part of the world, such appointments are filled by people who tend to be forgotten by Rome. In this case, you can reasonably assume that Tiberius really didn't care."

"How could you say that?" Gaius said, then clearly wished he had not.

"Tiberius appointed Senator Lamia as Governor of Syria," he shrugged, "and then he ordered the Governor to stay in Rome. Accordingly for quite some time, Syria didn't even have a Governor."

"But surely someone was in charge?"

"Oh yes," Vitellius nodded. "If it cheers you up any, even if someone is grossly negligent in his duties, even to the extent of not turning up, someone steps into the breach and the Roman Empire still works. Doesn't that make you feel good?"

"I'm not sure I follow." Where was this going?

"You have already noted your Legate might as well be somewhere else," Vitellius said. "If you show any signs of life, you'll step up and take as much responsibility as you can."

"I'll do my . . ."

"Yes, I thought you might be eager. Beginners always are! The question is, can you do what is required?" He paused, and his eyes bored into Gaius. Gaius stood his ground, and said nothing. Vitellius nodded, and continued, "For that we shall have to see. Anyway, back to this Pilate. Let's see what you make of this. When Pilate arrived in Judea, he landed in Caesarea. He went to Jerusalem, ordered two newly arrived cohorts to come to Jerusalem for the winter, then he went back to Caesarea. What do you make of this so far?"

"He should have at least met the Jewish king, um, isn't it Herod?"

"Yes, he should, and in fact he did. I forgot to mention that. He did that immediately, then he went to Caesarea," Vitellius nodded.

Gaius thought for a moment. It almost seemed that what Pilate did was not the issue, because Vitellius had not bothered to let him know the correct things he had done. It must be something else. He should not have left, but why not? His knowledge of the region was not good, but he knew there had not been a major uprising. It was then that he had an inspiration. It was what Vitellius had said.

"I think Pilate should have stayed in Jerusalem until his troops had arrived," he said at last.

"Why?" Vitellius asked tartly. But Gaius had seen his eyes flicker, and he knew he was on the right track.

"So that he could make clear to his troops not to carry out some sort of religious insult, and better still, consult with the priests and find out what comprised a religious insult."

"Ha! You've been listening! You pass the first test. You shall be rewarded, although whether you think what I'm going to give you is a reward is another matter. Guess what happened?"

"There was a religious insult."

"Hmmph!" Vitellius grunted, then after a short pause he shook his head slightly and continued, "I suppose you could hardly be expected to guess. This shows what it's like in this part of the world. The cohorts marched into Jerusalem, as usual bearing their standards, and they stopped somewhere near this wretched temple the Jews seem to get so excited about. Their religion forbids 'graven images' of other Gods, and these standards were considered images. There was nearly a riot, and it took six days before Pilate ordered them removed. Why do you think it took so long?"

"Three days to Caesarea, three days back," Gaius said confidently.

"Correct," Vitellius nodded. Although Gaius could not know this, for Vitellius' face gave no clue, he was rather pleased. This young man might be green, and who was not when they started their career, but he was alert, he could accept subtle clues, in short, he might be useful. His nightmare had been that in addition to a drunken Legate he would have to put up with an ostentatious Claudian bungler. "So, because of this perceived religious slight, we nearly had an open revolt. I hope you're taking this on board, because I really do not wish to have a revolt on my hands caused by your incompetence."

"No sir," Gaius agreed. There was little else he could say.

"On the other hand, I do not wish you to be petrified by inaction," Vitellius continued. "Here's one for you. King Herod, a Jewish king, you note, ordered the building of an aqueduct to bring water to Jerusalem, and he and the priests authorized the use of sacred money known as the
Qorban
to build it. Pilate helped organize things, and eventually as progress continued, the Jews encircled his headquarters and almost revolted."

"I'm not sure I follow," Gaius said, after Vitellius had clearly stopped to invite a comment. "I can't see what Pilate did wrong."

"I can't either," Vitellius shrugged. "It seems that his advisor, the senior priest called Caiaphas, had had his nose put out of joint for something. Anyway, it was probably more out of joint a little later. Pilate had a cohort of soldiers dressed as Jews, and they suddenly started laying into the real Jews with clubs. They killed a number, broke a lot of bones, and generally put down the riot quite brutally. What do you think of that?"

Gaius thought for a moment, and then said, "Pilate knew this riot was coming fairly well in advance, otherwise the troops wouldn't have been able to have the disguises available in time, without everybody knowing how they got them."

Now Vitellius was surprised. He had raised the question more as one of morality and ethics, and he had always accepted the account at face value. It had never occurred to him that there might have been an undercurrent.

"Quite so," Vitellius nodded. "So, back to this
Cristus
. Caiaphas now brings this Galilean before Pilate and accuses this
Cristus
of wanting to be King of the Jews. You can assume Caiaphas would have corrupted Pilate and there was an angry crowd outside."

"Surely something could be done about that . . ."

"Added to which," Vitellius interrupted, "he has access to one cohort of auxiliaries close by, and can call on another, and maybe some cavalry, within a month. What should Pilate have done?"

"Presumably he could call on legionary help?"

"To try a Jew for crimes the local religious leaders had already found him guilty of?"

"To enforce Roman law," Gaius corrected.

"In which case evidence of his corruption would have been made public. In any case, Tiberius was hardly likely to be interested in one Jew with a religious bent."

"He might have been interested in getting his taxes paid," Gaius countered.

"There was never a question of their not being paid," Vitellius smiled at the fact that the young man had finally answered back. "Fighting that would bring in a legion."

"So the local religious leaders have found this
Cristus
guilty of . . . what?"

"Sedition, or more likely, guilty of not directing his attention towards getting rid of the Roman occupation."

"Which is hardly a crime," Gaius muttered, "but I presume finding him not guilty was not an option for our Pilate."

"Of course it was an option," Vitellius snorted. "It might have started another riot, but he had put down riots before."

"But this might have been a bigger one?"

"Would you back down before such a threat?"

"I'd have told this Caiaphas that accusing an innocent person of sedition was sedition," Gaius replied coldly. "Someone was going to be crucified if he proceeded, and offer him the opportunity to back out."

"That'd get a riot going," Vitellius snorted.

"And I'd have to put it down," Gaius replied. "I may have played for time first, to ensure I had enough troops on hand. So what did Pilate do?"

"He apparently decided that since Caiaphas wanted this so badly, he would sacrifice this man for the greater good, at least the greater good of Pilate. There will be little doubt that he made sure Caiaphas acknowledged that this was an important debt. Anyway, to get back to our tale, eventually Pilate got around to finding this
Cristus
guilty of claiming to be King of the Jews, hence of wishing to have his own unauthorized kingdom within the Roman empire. There were about a hundred thousand witnesses."

"And they all testified against him," Gaius muttered in disgust.

"So, you're Pilate. You find him guilty. What now?"

"I suppose crucifixion."

"Exactly. Now, ask yourself why the hundred thousand bore witness?"

"Because they're pathetic . . ."

"Wrong! Because they knew this
Cristus
had no intention whatsoever of leading a revolt against Rome."

"But . . ?"

"This
Cristus
died because he was gaining enough popularity that he was becoming a leader, he was filling the role of Messiah, and he refused to revolt against Rome."

"I see," Gaius nodded. In fact he did not see at all, but he felt he had to say something.

"I really doubt it," Vitellius shrugged. "I don't. You know what his followers are saying?"

"I doubt I could guess," Gaius shrugged.

"They say he died because he had to, so he could fulfil the prophecy."

"He could have left it until later," Gaius frowned. "It's not as if it wasn't going to happen."

"You can't apply that Roman style of thinking to these people," Vitellius said, as he wagged a finger at his young Tribune. "The key is that he had to die, so he could rise from the dead."

"What??" Gaius gasped.

"You heard," Vitellius said impassively.

"Well," Gaius said in disbelief. "That's really taking prophecy seriously." He paused, then added, "Did he?"

"And what do you think?"

"Nobody survives a good crucifixion," Gaius replied in a flat tone. Here, at last, was something he could state without fear of contradiction.

"Not even the son of God?" Vitellius immediately contradicted him.

"You're not saying . . ?"

"His followers are," Vitellius said in a tired fashion. "They say he was seen walking around weeks later."

"And where is he now?" Gaius suddenly realized that this issue might well be resolved with clear evidence.

"He rose to heaven," Vitellius replied evenly, then added, "Oh, and his tomb, following the crucifixion, is empty."

"What tomb?" Gaius frowned. Crucifixion was for extreme criminals, and the bodies were left for the scavengers.

"Pilate seemed to know he was crucifying an innocent person . . ."

"How do we know Pilate thought he was innocent?" Gaius interrupted.

"Because if you believed that there was a planned revolt, wouldn't you round up his accomplices?"

"Of course."

"Pilate didn't. Not only did he leave this man's disciples strictly alone, he even let them continue their preaching. He specifically permitted the body of this
Cristus
to be given to his mother for burial."

"That's convenient," Gaius remarked.

"Extremely," Vitellius snorted. "The Gods alone know what was rattling around in Pilate's head."

"What do you mean?"

"This
Cristus
apparently died on the cross after a matter of hours, and was cut down on the same afternoon and the body was given to his family."

"You mean . . ?" This was unbelievable.

"What I mean, young Claudius, is that whatever Pilate thought he was doing, he was ambiguous. This
Cristus
did not receive the mallet to the legs, yet he apparently died on the cross in a matter of hours, and in a time in which crucifixion could well be survivable. His body was then given away, and it apparently disappeared into a tomb. Accordingly, the Jewish prophecy was fulfilled, no matter what. So, we have another religious movement gathering steam like nothing you've ever seen."

"Perhaps Pilate was punishing the Jews?" Gaius offered. "By fulfilling one of their prophecies, they can no longer be waiting for it. They have to change religion, and to rub in further insult, the Messiah they have to worship is the one they detest the most."

"Well, that didn't work," a puzzled Vitellius replied. It had never occurred to him that Pilate might have even planned this. "They're still going strong, and another religion's sprouting up."

"Does another one matter?" Gaius asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," Vitellius shrugged, "but it might to you. I've made a decision. This is a direct order which over-rides anything your Legate might give you, in the event he can ever sober up enough to be bothered. You'll take two cohorts, yours and the third, and march down to Judea. Once there, your job is to impress on the locals that Rome and Roman rule still exists, ensure Roman law is imposed, and try not to start a revolt. Your job is to be diplomatic but firm. Can you do it?"

"Yes, Governor."

"You're rather sure of yourself?" Vitellius stared at him.

"There're only two answers," Gaius responded. "Yes, or no. I assume you didn't wish to hear the other option."

"Correct!" Vitellius nodded, as a slight smile crossed his face. "Any questions?"

"Supplies? What am I authorized to . . ."

"There'll be another Tribune with you. He's had years of experience in the area. Delegate."

"Suppose something happens," Gaius said. "What are the limits to my options?"