Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [19]
Yet at other times he is cast as a meek and sorrowful outsider, disowned even by his own people. Some Jewish scholars regard the entire concept as nothing more than a metaphor for their perpetual struggles. But most Jews of my acquaintance do actually believe that the messiah is, or was, or shall be hereafter, a real person.'
An impatient Calaphilus gave a harsh laugh which caused both Gemellus and Thalius to turn their heads in his direction.
`Superstitious nonsense,' said the solider with great sarcasm.
`What do you expect from a race that only believes in one God?'
Gemellus continued, undeterred, with his precise little essay on the Roman perception of the Christian cult. 'Over the centuries there have been numerous men who have claimed to be this messiah. Indeed, thirty or forty years ago, during the reigns of the God Augustus and of his son, Tiberius, there were a positive slew of them cropping up all over Judaea and Syria. The authorities in the region used to have a saying: "every week, a new messiah". The Christians, as I am given to understand, basically believe that one of these men who claimed to be the messiah was, indeed, the Christ from whom their name derives.'
`By Jove,' said Thalius with a fascinated amusement. 'Was this Christ known to us?'
'Indeed he was, praefectus. He was a maverick rabbi named Joshua-bar-Joseph, also more popularly known to his followers as
Jesus of Nazareth, his name meaning, literally "saviour" in Greek. He was the son of a poor carpenter and a native of the province of Galilee. He had a considerable following amongst the uneducated masses in that area and preached to some very large crowds. He was, by all accounts, a man of striking appearance, extremely handsome, charismatic and persuasive. As a boy, he had been something of an infant prodigy, which is quite common amongst the children of the region, preaching at the temple from an early age. He is said to have found Judaism intellectually limited and to have openly criticised its inadequacies for use in everyday living.'
'That sounds like many of the Jews that I know,' interjected an irritated Calaphilus.
Gemellus laughed, and nodded his approval to the general, who seemed to take the compliment in the spirit in which it was
intended.`This Jesus,' continued
Gemellus,'gathered around him a sizeable group of fanatical followers from amongst the fishermen and farming communities along the shores of Lake Galilee. They were a kind of personal bodyguard and set about spreading his teachings. Delivering his gospel, that is, "good news", in the form of simple parables, most of which had a nice moral twist at the end. He was good. Very good.'
`Not so good that he could avoid ending his days nailed to a stauros,' said Calaphilus, chuckling to himself.
'Ah, I see that you are aware of his story?' Gemellus asked.
Thalius Maximus was merely intrigued. 'What happened to this messiah?' he asked.
'The Jewish religious authorities of the area grew suspicious of this man and of his teachings,' noted Gemellus.
'He became a threat to their authority. They questioned him repeatedly on obscure aspects of the law of Moses, but he was a clever man and always had an answer for them, chapter and verse from their holy texts. Eventually, however, he was betrayed by one of his inner circle of followers to the Pharisee, who had the procurator of the region, Pontius Pilate, arrest the man as a heretic.'
'Pontius Pilate,' said Calaphilus wistfully. ‘Now there was an official one could so easily respect.’
Thalius gave Gemellus an unimpressed smile. 'He was an acquaintance of my father,' he said. 'A man of somewhat limited