The Wolf and the Lamb (11 page)

Chapter XXI

The Antonia Fortress’ southeast tower provided a panoramic view of the city to the south and west. Below and to the south, smoke from the Temple’s altar drifted across toward the Mount of Olives. Beyond that, in the old City of David, people scurried about preparing for the day’s conclusion. To the west, Jerusalem spread like a gaudy carpet, filled with activity, buying, selling, and bartering. The two men watched as Gamaliel and Loukas disappeared into the crowd.

“There they go. Tribune, it appears the Emperor’s fortune-teller, or whoever it was who got his ear this time, had it right. I deem that as near a miracle as anything I have experienced. I would like a denarius for every time some charlatan pulls the fleece over that old fool’s eyes.”

“If I were you I would bridle that tongue of yours, Cassia. To whom the Emperor listens is something one should criticize only with great care and not openly.”

“There are only the two of us.”

“I have found that in places like this, where servants and slaves seem to jump out of the wall when you least expect them, there is never ‘just the two of us.’ Cassia, we are friends and have been for a long time, but with this Emperor, who is given to abusing anyone who seems to look at him cross-eyed, discretion is not just the better part of valor, it is essential if you wish to survive. I don’t think you want to be tossed off a tower by the Emperor. Even a hint of disloyalty, no matter how facetiously stated, could send you sailing.”

“I see no foreign ears way up here, and we are a long way from Capri and Imperial sycophants, Grex, unless I am to count you among their number. Would you report me?”

“Not unless it came to choosing between saving my life or yours. At that point, self interest would displace friendship. I expect you would do the same if our positions were reversed. I said it only as a caution. I do not wish to lose you. Not with so much in flux. Tiberius can’t last forever. Who will replace him, do you think?”

“Replace the Divine Presence? One can only guess. Who is your choice?”

“If I had a choice to make, I would have tapped Germanicus were he alive. Someone like him would do nicely, but the Senate will not want another Julius. The betting is on Germanicus’ son, Little Boots.”

“Not Claudius?”

“Apparently not, but then who can say for certain which mistress’, or former wife’s, or rival’s son, or surviving cousin, nephew, or general, might eventually emerge as our newest Caesar? It is best not to choose or at least not to show an interest in favorites.”

“Returning to our Prefect, Tribune, it seems clear he colludes with the Jews, and even with a death sentence hanging over his head, he persists. Why do you suppose that is?”

“It is possible he believes that the god of the land, this strange Jewish deity, can catapult him into power. Maybe he has Marc Antony ideas and wishes to be the King of Judea and all surrounding states.”

“That, or something equally grandiose or why would he go on?”

“Perhaps it is all he has left.”

“Do you have someone watching that strange person…what’s his name?”

“He is called Gamaliel. He holds an honored place in their governing body, the Sanhedrin. We must handle him with discretion for the nonce, and yes, I have him in sight at all times.”

“Will your discretion have a terminus?”

“That will depend on what our soon-to-be deposed Prefect tells us. Now, it is enough to keep him in sight. Happily for us, you found Pilate with a murdered Aurelius. His business with their god is now no longer relevant.”

“But may be needed later.”

“True enough and either will guarantee we have him in place until we deliver him to Tiberius. Then he will either learn to fly or end his days on the rocks of Capri, and we will have disappeared from the Emperor’s view. I hope permanently.”

“Pilate has a well known capacity for survival. That is one horse I want in the stall before I cease betting on it. Did he really believe Aurelius lusted after his office?”

“Possibly. What he believed or what he did not believe, no longer matters. We have him and we will deliver him. Then, the gods willing, we will be clear of this quagmire into which the Emperor has dropped us.”

***

“Where are we going? Did you say a jeweler’s shop?”

“Agon crafts jewelry and is an old acquaintance of mine. I had his son as a pupil briefly. Nice boy, but a trifle thick. He has decided to take up something less demanding of his powers of reasoning.”

“I see.”

“Probably not, but you shall. Agon owns a shop in the Souk. He specializes in creating items from precious metals and stones, usually on order although he has an array of pieces to sell for the occasional drop-in. More importantly, he once served as a legionnaire in Cappadocia. He was badly wounded and very nearly died. The legions of Rome have no use for cripples and particularly alien ones, so they abandoned him where he fell. Somewhere along the way, he found refuge and healed and then learned the jeweler’s trade. He has become skillful enough at it to attract the wealthier segment of the city who desire to have individual, one-of-a-kind, pieces. He manages to support himself and his family comfortably with his shop.”

They pushed their way into the narrow store. Loukas, a man Gamaliel knew had a keener nose than most, tested the air. He nodded. “He plates as well as forges.”

“He does. Greetings in the Name, Agon.”

“Rabban.
Ha Shem.
It has been some time. Have you another puzzle for me?”

“Not a puzzle this time. I seek information.”

“What sort of information? The word on the streets or what the mysterious Tribune, Grex, is doing in the city? Or maybe the latest on the Prefect’s troubles? I have all sorts of gossip. How much is truly news and how much is news that is true I cannot say.”

“I will have it all, but most pressing at this moment, I would like you to tell me about Hebrews serving in the Imperial legions.”

“You need to know this because…?”

“Because my friend Loukas, here, has a new servant who once served, because it seems the city is currently overstocked with legionnaires, and because I wish to know the who, the what, and where of them. Finally, I wish to know because something has become dislocated in my mind and I cannot reconnect it.”

“Something is…you lost me on that last one. Are you saying you have a feeling, a tickle, that there is a connection between Hebrew legionnaires and whatever problem you clearly have but are keeping to yourself?”

“Yes, that is it exactly. There, you see, Loukas, wisdom drawn from experience and surviving to a reasonable age. How are your old wounds, by the way, Agon? Loukas here is a Physician. He has been known to work miracles. Perhaps he can restore you to the man you once were.”

“That is a happy thought, but unless he can reverse time, it will not be possible.”

Loukas studied the jeweler for a moment. “You received a severe wound in your leg?”

“Yes. How can you tell? I haven’t budged since you arrived.”

“But you did as we entered, and your posture tells me you still suffer from the effects. If it involves sinews and the internal scarring is not too deep and extensive, I might be able to restore something. It will not be a miracle, however, just practical medicine.”

“Physician, you should know that miracles are claimed by the recipients, not by the performers. Maybe, when the Rabban has finished with me and the problem that obviously is eating at him, you will have a look.”

“There, you see, Loukas,” Gamaliel said with a smile. “You should stop complaining about having to work on our problem. I have brought you a paying client. Now, Agon, tell me about Jewish legionnaires. Oh, and if there are any, Jewish mercenaries.”

“There is a difference?”

“Point taken. And Pilate? What’s the latest on our Prefect? What do you hear?”

“Ah, that is a great mystery. Always in the past, the news leaks from the Fortress like water from the mythical Danaids’ sieve. But beyond the original news that there had been a murder and that Pilate is implicated, nothing new has emerged.” Agon seemed uncomfortable as he spoke.

“What is it you are not telling me, my friend?”

Agon waved his hand dismissively. “It is nothing, but—”

“But?”

“Rabban, there are some who say you are in the Prefect’s employ. That makes no sense, but you have been seen coming and going from the Praetorium. Are you part of a plan to cover up the crime? I know it is foolishness on their part, but people will gossip and the truth will suffer. Your visits raise dangerous questions in people’s minds.”

“And well they should. Do not worry, Agon, if I am seen going in and out of the lion’s den it should be understood in terms of the book of Daniel. It is to be party to the Lord’s work. I am not changing my allegiance from
Ha Shem
to
Panthera leo
.
Also, you may tell your friends that Loukas has been called to attend the Prefect’s wife. Thus, we are both seen for different reasons.”

“I was sure it would be something like that.”

Chapter XXII

The sun hovered above the western walls as Gamaliel and Loukas left Agon’s shop. Most, but not all of the hours they’d spent there had been taken up with Agon’s lengthy discourse on legionnaires in general and Hebrew ones in particular, the delegation and the latest rumors concerning Pilate. To the first, Agon declared most Jewish legionnaires had been recruited from the Italian peninsula. Recruited, he said, did not accurately define the process, however. They joined rather than be harassed and/or persecuted. The few survivors of twenty years of war and hardship usually scattered throughout the Empire seeking a respite or at least a measure of peace in their declining years. It would not be usual for them to migrate to Jerusalem.

When Gamaliel had asked why, Agon explained that few, if any, were recruited from Judea, much less Jerusalem. Most recruits came from the more distant enclaves of the Empire. Further, they spent the bulk of their adult lives living more like pagans than Jews. They would have no immediate connection with either the city or its people. In addition, when the practice of their beliefs, however marginal to begin with, was proscribed, they would find it difficult to enter the rigidly structured society the City of David required.

“Even so, some do come to Jerusalem,” Gamaliel said, “Besides yourself, and Yakob, how many others would you say there are?”

Agon thought that it would be difficult to estimate an actual number. At best he could only venture a guess. He received visits from old legionnaires now and then, most of whom might have been Jewish at one time or another. Gamaliel had snorted at “might have been” and explained that as a practical matter, if one were born a Jew, he or she was a Jew forever. It was not something one could shed like an old cloak. Whether orthodox, observant, a High Holy Days-only believer, or if he had decided to reject his heritage altogether and pour out libations to Pan, when the Empire mounted a program to persecute Jews, as they sometimes did, no one would escape no matter what he or she declared about their Jewishness. A Jew’s reality is simple. It is bestowed by
Ha Shem
and it is indelible.

Loukas started to say something and then thought better of it. He was no stranger to Gamaliel’s lecturing on the topic and he knew better than to interrupt. It would be useless to bring up the enclaves in the Empire’s other great cities again. Jerusalem served as an island of faith in the midst of heterodoxy elsewhere, as Gamaliel had often remarked, and nothing could shake his friend from a conviction that those other adherents to the Lord were but a temporary aberration, soon to disappear when the Lord saw fit. On the other hand he felt his friend was probably correct about the inclusiveness of the race when a persecution was launched. Agon smiled his agreement at the Rabban’s lecture and agreed that he was probably right. He also said he thought this opinion was shared by a majority of the city residents. That sentiment would be sufficient to persuade many war-weary, fall-away Jews to seek to settle elsewhere.

Gamaliel wondered how in spite of this, Agon had settled in Jerusalem. Agon shrugged and said, “Family.” He did not feel the discomfort some of his colleagues did in the presence of a smothering orthodoxy. Gamaliel had bristled at “smothering” but let it pass, although it had cost him to do so. Agon said there were others like him here, also. The question then was, if there were any other attractions beside family ties which would induce men to settle in Jerusalem.

There could be a few reasons, Agon suggested, but knowing the mind of a particular person was never easy. A few might wish to reconnect to their roots, so to speak. There is something about being denied a particular thing that makes one want it the more. Then there were the deserters. The thought that some of the renegade legionnaires might be deserters had not occurred to either Gamaliel or Loukas because they had been told that desertion was extremely rare, that deserters were severely punished. So severely that few attempted it, fewer succeeded. Agon said they should look around them. If a son of Abraham deserted his post wouldn’t it follow that Jerusalem would be the only place he could go and not stand out. A Jew in Rome would be noticeable. In Jerusalem, the reverse would be the case. In David’s city a Jew on the run could effectively disappear from the authorities and, more importantly, they would not bother to look. Finally, a man without a country or a real home would most likely gravitate to the one place he’d believe safe and feel familiar, if not comfortable.

Where did those whose arrival did not involve family disappear to, Gamaliel wondered. Agon thought some settled into society and found work. Others, he did not know how many others, found an outlet for their lingering animosity toward the Empire by joining one of the scattered groups which opposed Rome’s presence in the Promised Land. They might turn up with Barabbas in the wilderness or with another band led by someone like him. They’d bring their skills as disciplined soldiers to such a group, and for that they would be welcomed.

Gamaliel pointed out that Barabbas was in prison, a fact Agon did not know.

“Truly?” he said. “For how long?”

“Forever, I should say. You do not imagine he can escape from the Antonia Fortress?”

Agon shook his head and said that no, alone he couldn’t, but he had many followers and some of them had skills which might make it possible. As former legionnaires, they would not try storming the Praetorium, but they could abduct or imprison an important Roman official. Then, they might negotiate an exchange with the threat of death to the hostage if Barabbas were not released.

Gamaliel realized that that explained the flinty-eyed legionnaires guarding the visiting Tribune and Cassia Drusus. Agon reminded him that there were groups besides the bandits in the wilderness which had similar designs. Zealots would be happy to recruit a disillusioned legionnaire as would the
Siccori
.
Where did he suppose those assassins came from? They were not part of the culture until very recently.

“Ah, that is a very interesting thought, my friend.” Gamaliel said and shot Loukas a look.

Before they left, Agon entertained them with the news he’d gleaned from a traveling merchant who’d bought a gold chain with his profits which made transporting his earnings back to Corinth safer, as he could hide it under his belt. They listened with dismay at the retelling of the merchant’s tale about how Tiberius had taken into his head that
Ha Shem
posed such a threat to his Gods that a delegation of high-ranking officials was to be sent to investigate. Presumably they were to report back to the Emperor with a plan to depose
Ha Shem.

“Can you credit that?” Loukas said, later.

“Certainly not. Surely the merchant misheard.”

“More than likely. You know how news travels by word of mouth. Each set of ears hears a different story from the reporting mouth, and the distortion strays further and further from the truth like a ship which sets off just a hair’s breadth off course and continues on to the wrong port.”

***

Later that night, as he sat alone staring at, but not seeing, the papyrus sheets in front of him, Gamaliel wondered if his lies to Agon would be the last straw that would finally bring the Lord’s wrath down on him. Was he really doing this investigation because of an overriding need to see justice? Did the Lord expect him to impose his righteousness on everyone else, and moreover, was it necessary to apply it to a pagan culture which routinely ridiculed and despised it? He did not often yield to self doubt, but in this instance, he questioned his basic premise. When should one’s own code of conduct be applied to others, particularly those who did not share it? He cherished the Law as a lover cherishes his beloved, but the Roman Empire operated within its own set of strictures. Could he justify the use of Hebraic practice to exonerate one of them from a crime, particularly one as serious as murder? Was he on a path of self aggrandizement, and if so, wouldn’t the Lord be right to bring him down for it?

He shook his head. Sometimes he was stubborn as an ox and pestered by flies of doubt. Right or wrong, he had committed himself to this undertaking, and doubts notwithstanding, he would see it through. The Lord would decide his punishment or reward. What he needed now was sleep. He blew out his lamp and took himself off to bed and uneasy rest.