Bab Bab 23 · Joshua Of Nazareth

THE STORY OF JOSHUA OF NAZARETH, WHOM THE GREEKS CALLED JESUS

In the autumn of the year of the city 815 (which would be 62 A.D., in

our way of counting time) Æsculapius Cultellus, a Roman physician,

wrote to his nephew who was with the army in Syria as follows:

My dear Nephew,

A few days ago I was called in to prescribe for a sick man named

Paul. He appeared to be a Roman citizen of Jewish parentage, well

educated and of agreeable manners. I had been told that he was here

in connection with a law-suit, an appeal from one of our provincial

courts, Cæsarea or some such place in the eastern Mediterranean.

He had been described to me as a “wild and violent” fellow who had

been making speeches against the People and against the Law. I

found him very intelligent and of great honesty.

A friend of mine who used to be with the army in Asia Minor tells

me that he heard something about him in Ephesus where he was

preaching sermons about a strange new God. I asked my patient if

this were true and whether he had told the people to rebel against

the will of our beloved Emperor. Paul answered me that the Kingdom

of which he had spoken was not of this world and he added many

strange utterances which I did not understand, but which were

probably due to his fever.

His personality made a great impression upon me and I was sorry

to hear that he was killed on the Ostian Road a few days ago.

Therefore I am writing this letter to you. When next you visit

Jerusalem, I want you to find out something about my friend Paul

and the strange Jewish prophet, who seems to have been his teacher.

Our slaves are getting much excited about this so-called Messiah,

and a few of them, who openly talked of the new kingdom (whatever

that means) have been crucified. I would like to know the truth

about all these rumours and I am

Your devoted Uncle,

ÆSCULAPIUS CULTELLUS.

Six weeks later, Gladius Ensa, the nephew, a captain of the VII Gallic

Infantry, answered as follows:

My dear Uncle,

I received your letter and I have obeyed your instructions.

Two weeks ago our brigade was sent to Jerusalem. There have been

several revolutions during the last century and there is not

much left of the old city. We have been here now for a month and

to-morrow we shall continue our march to Petra, where there has

been trouble with some of the Arab tribes. I shall use this evening

to answer your questions, but pray do not expect a detailed report.

I have talked with most of the older men in this city but few have

been able to give me any definite information. A few days ago a

pedler came to the camp. I bought some of his olives and I asked

him whether he had ever heard of the famous Messiah who was killed

when he was young. He said that he remembered it very clearly,

because his father had taken him to Golgotha (a hill just outside

the city) to see the execution, and to show him what became of the

enemies of the laws of the people of Judæa. He gave me the address

of one Joseph, who had been a personal friend of the Messiah and

told me that I had better go and see him if I wanted to know more.

This morning I went to call on Joseph. He was quite an old man. He

had been a fisherman on one of the fresh-water lakes. His memory

was clear, and from him at last I got a fairly definite account of

what had happened during the troublesome days before I was born.

[Illustration: THE HOLY LAND]

Tiberius, our great and glorious emperor, was on the throne, and

an officer of the name of Pontius Pilatus was governor of Judæa

and Samaria. Joseph knew little about this Pilatus. He seemed to

have been an honest enough official who left a decent reputation

as procurator of the province. In the year 783 or 784 (Joseph had

forgotten when) Pilatus was called to Jerusalem on account of a

riot. A certain young man (the son of a carpenter of Nazareth) was

said to be planning a revolution against the Roman government.

Strangely enough our own intelligence officers, who are usually

well informed, appear to have heard nothing about it, and when

they investigated the matter they reported that the carpenter

was an excellent citizen and that there was no reason to proceed

against him. But the old-fashioned leaders of the Jewish faith,

according to Joseph, were much upset. They greatly disliked his

popularity with the masses of the poorer Hebrews. The “Nazarene”

(so they told Pilatus) had publicly claimed that a Greek or a Roman

or even a Philistine, who tried to live a decent and honourable

life, was quite as good as a Jew who spent his days studying the

ancient laws of Moses. Pilatus does not seem to have been impressed

by this argument, but when the crowds around the temple threatened

to lynch Jesus, and kill all his followers, he decided to take the

carpenter into custody to save his life.

He does not appear to have understood the real nature of the

quarrel. Whenever he asked the Jewish priests to explain their

grievances, they shouted “heresy” and “treason” and got terribly

excited. Finally, so Joseph told me, Pilatus sent for Joshua (that

was the name of the Nazarene, but the Greeks who live in this

part of the world always refer to him as Jesus) to examine him

personally. He talked to him for several hours. He asked him about

the “dangerous doctrines” which he was said to have preached on

the shores of the sea of Galilee. But Jesus answered that he never

referred to politics. He was not so much interested in the bodies

of men as in Man’s soul. He wanted all people to regard their

neighbours as their brothers and to love one single God, who was

the father of all living beings.

Pilatus, who seems to have been well versed in the doctrines of the

Stoics and the other Greek philosophers, does not appear to have

discovered anything seditious in the talk of Jesus. According to my

informant he made another attempt to save the life of the kindly

prophet. He kept putting the execution off. Meanwhile the Jewish

people, lashed into fury by their priests, got frantic with rage.

There had been many riots in Jerusalem before this and there were

only a few Roman soldiers within calling distance. Reports were

being sent to the Roman authorities in Cæsarea that Pilatus had

“fallen a victim to the teachings of the Nazarene.” Petitions were

being circulated all through the city to have Pilatus recalled,

because he was an enemy of the Emperor. You know that our governors

have strict instructions to avoid an open break with their foreign

subjects. To save the country from civil war, Pilatus finally

sacrificed his prisoner, Joshua, who behaved with great dignity and

who forgave all those who hated him. He was crucified amidst the

howls and the laughter of the Jerusalem mob.

That is what Joseph told me, with tears running down his old

cheeks. I gave him a gold piece when I left him, but he refused

it and asked me to hand it to one poorer than himself. I also

asked him a few questions about your friend Paul. He had known

him slightly. He seems to have been a tent maker who gave up his

profession that he might preach the words of a loving and forgiving

God, who was so very different from that Jehovah of whom the Jewish

priests are telling us all the time. Afterwards, Paul appears to

have travelled much in Asia Minor and in Greece, telling the slaves

that they were all children of one loving Father and that happiness

awaits all, both rich and poor, who have tried to live honest lives

and have done good to those who were suffering and miserable.

I hope that I have answered your questions to your satisfaction.

The whole story seems very harmless to me as far as the safety of

the state is concerned. But then, we Romans never have been able to

understand the people of this province. I am sorry that they have

killed your friend Paul. I wish that I were at home again, and I

am, as ever,

Your dutiful nephew,

GLADIUS ENSA.