Athene's Prophecy (Gaius Claudius Scaevola Trilogy) (44 page)

"That, I doubt," Jonathon said, but he did begin to walk towards the tree. When the official tried to follow, a Centurion took him by the arm and held him back. Immediately soldiers stepped forward and began moving the people so that nobody was closer than fifty meters from the tree.

"So?" Jonathon stared at Gaius.

"It occurred to me," Gaius replied, "that if I were in your shoes, I would probably be angry . . ."

"I am angry," came the cold reply.

". . . and I might say something which could be construed as seditious. Now, if you were to say such things in front of witnesses, I would be forced to act, whereas this way if you can restrain yourself from shouting, we can overlook them."

"Very thoughtful," came the scowling remark. "You think you can talk me around."

"I hope we can find some sort of compromise," Gaius said.

"I doubt it," came the reply.

"You know the price of failure to compromise?"

"You will try to kill us."

"I will succeed," Gaius said coldly. "Your temple will be a river of blood, and there will be crosses from here to Caesarea."

"Perhaps," Jonathon shrugged. He looked almost disinterested in taking advice, and Gaius could see a man that might even organize rebellion.

"If you recall Carthage and Corinth, you will know that Rome is very good at killing," Gaius said in an even colder tone, "and you know very well it does not permit sedition."

"What do you mean?" Jonathon replied, this time with a mixture of bluster and fear.

"I seem to recall that your Caiaphas demanded of Pilate that a preacher be crucified for such sedition as requiring that Caesar's taxes be paid," Gaius' eyes bored into Jonathon. "You saw an innocent man chastised and crucified, did you not?"

"He was a heretic!" came the defiant but very frightened response.

"Believe me, you fight Rome and you will find out what his last day or so felt like," Gaius continued. He paused for a moment, then continued, "You know that I will crucify you if you fight the
Princeps
' will?"

"If you have to," Jonathon muttered, a little above a whisper.

"Nevertheless, that is the very last outcome I wish to see," Gaius added calmly.

"Then destroy that statue."

"I can't do that, and you know it," Gaius replied.

"Then you will have to kill us all," Jonathon replied coldly, his courage now beginning to return, "because that statue is blasphemy. Your Caesar wishes us to worship a statue of him in our temple? Never!" The priest began to get up.

"Sit down!"

"Why?" Jonathon asked. "Our temple will not be defiled."

"The other way would be to persuade the
Princeps
to order its removal," Gaius replied.

"That's not very likely," Jonathon said, although he did show slightly more interest in Gaius' comments.

"It's not entirely impossible," Gaius shrugged. "When the
Princeps
is made aware of the seriousness of the situation . . ."

"He simply won't care! You Romans think you rule the world, and . . ."

"I care," Gaius said. "Under this tree, where nobody can hear, I agree with you, and furthermore, the Senate has more than once guaranteed religious freedom. Roman citizens have been executed for damaging a copy of the Talmud."

"That's true," Jonathon conceded, "but if . . ."

"It would be wrong of me to state that this order will be overturned," Gaius shrugged, "but I have hopes. In any case, can it hurt to try?"

"And the statue?"

"Governor Petronius has ordered that it be made as slowly as possible."

"Good for him," came the sceptical response.

"He has told the
Princeps
that all construction will have to stop while the workers go home and bring in the harvest," Gaius continued.

"That does not correct the problem!"

"No, but it delays the problem and it gives me time to at least try to correct it."

"And why should I believe you will succeed?"

"I make no guarantee of success at all," Gaius said, "but does it cost to remain within the law until the statue is actually produced before the Temple?"

"I have sworn to stop the statue entering the Temple," Jonathon said.

"Currently, it is elsewhere, and will be elsewhere for as long as possible."

"Please yourself," Jonathon said, as he stood up. "What you do with that statue is your business. All I require is that it is not in my temple."

"In Jehovah's temple," Gaius corrected in a firm tone.

"Indeed," came the sour reply.

"In return for your promising not to carry out any seditious acts, and return as near as possible to normality, I promise to give you adequate warning of when the statue is finished. That way, everything can be defused until confrontation cannot be averted."

"How can I trust you not to sneak it in while our guard is down?" Jonathon asked.

"Read this," Gaius said, handing over the document he had been given in Alexandria.

"Do you know what this says?" Jonathon frowned as he looked at Gaius again, this time with a more penetrating stare.

"I cannot read the writing," Gaius admitted. "It could say almost anything, but the man who gave it to me wished to thank me, so I hope it says what I think it does."

"It virtually requires me to trust you," Jonathon continued to frown, as he handed the document back. "I find it hard to see how you could have earned this."

"Then trust me anyway," Gaius said. "I also wish you to do something else."

"And that is?" came the impassive response.

"You must write a statement to the
Princeps
, as diplomatically as you can, stating why you think the statue should be moved. Do not threaten, just simply state your religious beliefs."

"I can do that."

"You will show it to me first," Gaius commanded.

"To use as evidence against me?" Jonathon gave a hollow laugh.

"To remove from it any evidence of sedition," Gaius replied evenly. "You should be pleading, stating fact, and not making threats."

"As you wish. All I wish to do is see the end of that statue."

"If you really want that, you should make a significant donation to Caesar's coffers."

"That's extortion!"

"On the contrary, I know you have been bribing the local Roman officials. This time, you can make a donation to the greatest Roman official, as is your way, to get what you want. Not only that, it won't be a bribe, but it does seem to put Caesar in a good mood if it's obviously a significant donation."

"And you think a letter from me will change Caesar's mind?" Jonathon said with almost a despairing look.

"No, it won't," Gaius replied, "but it will help reinforce the rest." He paused, then added wryly, "I personally think the donation could be the greatest single influence."

"What is this rest?" Jonathon asked doubtfully. He was keen to avoid the issue of the donation, although Gaius knew quite well that the point had been made.

"Caesar has shown an interest in the metaphysical," Gaius shrugged. "The Alexandrian philosopher Philo is in Rome. Besides his acknowledged wisdom, he has a firm knowledge of Judaism and he has at least some respect from Caesar. I have met him more than once when I was in Alexandria, and I believe I can persuade him to plead on your behalf. I also have word from Governor Petronius that he will officially request that Caesar reverse this decision. Finally, I have a friend who happens to be a member of the Imperial house, who will at the very least arrange the most propitious time."

"Why should I believe this?"

"Because it costs nothing," Gaius replied. "If the statue isn't in the Temple, does it really matter? Or is there more to this?"

"If the statue stays away from the Temple, that will be the end of the matter."

"Then there should be no protest until the statue is to be put in place," Gaius shrugged, "to give us every chance to avert confrontation."

"There is truth in that," Jonathon stated.

"Then go back, and persuade your people to keep the peace," Gaius said. "If Caesar believes you are basically law-abiding, then you may well get your way. If he believes this is a symptom of an incipient revolt, the legions will be deployed, and many people will be killed, quite unnecessarily."

"The legitimate citizens of Jerusalem will give you no trouble," Jonathon said. This time, as he got up, Gaius made no effort to stop him.

* * *

Gaius made further dispatches to Damascus. Petronius replied that after spending forty days in Tiberias listening to Jewish complaints, he had sent a document and a personal plea to Caesar to reverse this decision.

Gaius also sent dispatches to Philo, reminding him of their previous meetings. He explained his understanding of Caesar's views on divinity and added that while he, Philo, may not agree with Caesar, he should humour him since saving tens of thousands of lives was more important than a day's philosophical purity. He also advised Philo to take advice from Claudius, who was knowledgeable about the workings of the Principate. He then wrote to Claudius and explained in detail what he had done, whom he was hoping would arrive and what the consequences of failure were. He sent the messages then he felt like praying. It was then, he thought wryly to himself, that here, in the hotbed of religious fervour, he had nobody to pray to.

A period of waiting followed. Definitely a problem for those who wished to conquer the world, Gaius thought. Bearing in mind the size of the world, messages from the far side could take a year to get to the capital, at which time the original problem would have passed. For all practical measures, other than the matter of the swearing of allegiance, whatever that really meant, a place far enough away had to be independent. On the other hand, if Rome did not conquer any more, then it had to do something more with what it had, or eventually 'the rest' would catch up militarily, and then Rome really could fall. Maintaining that lead had to involve more than running enormously expensive games for the masses.

Chapter 39

Jerusalem was one of the more distant districts, and currently one of the more troublesome. At present the city was so tense that it was becoming unbearable. All the citizens knew the legion was there for one purpose, to spill blood if required, and despite what the hotheads said, everyone knew that it would be Jewish blood that was spilt. The stares of fear mixed with hatred and religious self-righteousness forced Gaius to keep the legion from the city. The last thing he needed was for insults after one too many cups of wine to be the match to ignite a holocaust.

All the same, it was never desirable that soldiers spend their time doing nothing uncomfortably. Besides the continual drills, Gaius ordered squads of soldiers to march to various Jewish centres, to show the Roman presence, so that each soldier maintained marching fitness. Invariably they did nothing but march around, get hot, and suffer the disgruntled stares of the local population. As a consequence, the soldiers were continually grumbling about the waste of time and effort. This did not worry Gaius: grumbling soldiers meant that the legion was still functional.

It was then that he received a message from Caesar. As he took it his hands were trembling. This message could seal everybody's fate. He broke the seal, opened the page, and stared in disbelief.

Since you are in such a hotbed of religious fervour, inform me of your views on the Gods. G.

What was all this? He could make a guess, and it gave him a chilling feeling. Fortunately he had received warnings through his correspondence with Claudius. It was then that he remembered the prophecy. Was this the time to deny, or the time to assert? Perhaps both! He took a piece of papyrus and a pen, and after putting down the suitable heading he wrote,

For me, there is no power above Caesar. However, I have had one experience. Following the orders of the divine Tiberius, I was sent to Rhodes, where, at a temple dedicated to Athene, I had a vision in which Athene promised me I would lead a legion that would be the most loyal of all. Legio III awaits your orders. G. Claudius Scaevola.

He then folded the paper, and arranged for it to be sent. He was quite apprehensive throughout the day; somehow he had come to the front of Little Boots' attention, and that was perhaps the most dangerous thing that could happen to him.

It was as much to avoid boredom as anything else that Gaius personally led the next squad out on an excursion. Most of these excursions were simple route marches through this depressingly parched land, but they did have the effect, Gaius noted as time wore on, of reminding the citizens that they were a conquered people. In many ways this was bad, but when they were considering insurrection it was, perhaps, helpful.

Usually nothing much happened, but this time Gaius ran into yet another potential religious flare-up. He led the two centuries to the outskirts of a small village, to see a mob in the central square. Backed against a tree a man was sheltering a young woman, while he was presumably preaching. A stone was thrown from of the mob and this just missed its target. The preacher continued, which obviously antagonized the mob, because another stone was thrown, this time striking the young woman on the arm. Gaius signalled the first century to advance, and he rode quickly ahead towards the mob.

The man seemed to be inviting the mob to throw more stones, saying something about when struck, you should turn the other cheek and let the sinner strike again. The predictable happened; another stone was thrown, striking the girl on the head, and drawing blood.

"I forgive you your sins!" the preacher said. Someone laughed and reached down for another stone.

"He might," Gaius roared, "but I am inclined not to."

The crowd turned to stare at him.

"One of your preachers once said," Gaius continued, "'He who is without sin, cast the first stone.' What more can I say, but add that in my opinion, casting the stone against a defenceless woman is a sin itself, and by so casting you negate any claim to perfection."