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,
AESCULAPIUS 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
Judaea. 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.

Tiberius, our great and glorious emperor, was on the throne, and an
officer of the name of Pontius Pilatus was governor of Judaea 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 755 or 756 (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 Rom