The Testimonium
The
TESTIMONIVM
Lewis Ben Smith
eLectio Publishing
Little Elm, TX
www.eLectioPublishing.com
The Testimonium
By Lewis Ben SMith
Copyright 2014 by Lewis Ben Smith
Cover Design by eLectio Publishing, LLC
ISBN-13: 978-1-63213-045-7
Published by eLectio Publishing, LLC
Little Elm, Texas
http://www.eLectioPublishing.com
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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“And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.”
— Justin Martyr,
writing to Emperor Antoninus Pius, circa 150 AD
The Roman prefect eased his weary frame onto a stone bench, the folds of his toga bunching up around him. His exhausted body finally relaxed, but his mind remained full of turmoil. What was any civilized man to make of the behavior of barbarians? And was there any tribe, nation, or tongue in all of the
gens humana
more maddeningly barbaric than the Jews? Forever carping about how their unnamable, unknowable, invisible God was going to take offense at this or that. “Chosen people,” indeed! What god in his right mind would choose them? But for all their insufferable self-righteousness, they could be as vicious as a hyena if anyone threatened to upset their
mos maorum—
or, as they referred to it, the “traditions of their elders.” The governor was still not sure which god he had offended to merit such a disgraceful posting, although he knew why the vindictive Emperor Tiberius had sent him there. Judea, the armpit of the Empire!
His body ached for a good massage and a long nap, but he knew that he should record the events of the entire week while they were still fresh in his mind, lest he forget important details. He did not know what to make of the matter himself, at this point, and if any further unpleasantness came of this whole sordid affair—Jupiter! They might report him to Caesar—again! He had to record it all now, then. Sleep would have to wait. So, rubbing his eyes, Lucius Pontius Pilate called for his scribe.
EARTHQUAKE STRIKES ITALIAN COAST
(AP) A moderate earthquake, measuring about 6.3 on the Richter scale, struck the coast of Italy last night, according to the Italian Geological Bureau. The epicenter of the quake was approximately a mile off the coast of the scenic Isle of Capri, once a resort of Roman emperors, and now a popular tourist destination. No tsunami warnings were issued, and only minor damage has been reported thus far. No injuries have been reported.
CHAPTER ONE
Giuseppe Rossini looked sadly at the floor of his study before reaching for the broom and dustpan. The lovely Etruscan vase that had decorated his bookshelf for years had been knocked off by the tremor and lay in a hundred pieces at his feet. Several of his books had also tumbled to the floor, but the broken crockery was a safety concern, so he slipped on a pair of sandals to protect his feet. The vase was only a replica—a conscientious archeologist, Rossini did not collect real artifacts other than a few common items that he used as part of his teaching presentations on Capri’s Roman era. But it was a high-quality replica that had cost him a good many lira, back when Italy still used the lira, and it would be hard to replace. On the other hand, though, his roof was still attached, and the spiderweb cracks in his wall plaster were more aesthetically than structurally damaging. Some of his neighbors were not as lucky—one house had a collapsed balcony, and the local market had suffered some serious damage. At least, since the quake had struck at 3 AM, no one was inside the building to be hurt. All in all, it could have been much worse.
It took him the better part of an hour to go through his house and pick up all the debitage of the quake. Overall, he had fared quite well—the vase was the most expensive loss, although several picture frames had fallen from the wall, and there was broken glass where they landed. Earthquakes were not uncommon in parts of Italy, although this was the first one to strike Capri since he had moved there a number of years before. By midmorning he was done cleaning up his house and finished getting dressed. He pulled on some sturdy hiking boots and donned his hat, as the early spring day was already warm and he had a good hike ahead of him. He did not think the massive stones of the Villa Jovis would have taken much damage, but as the on-site curator of the ancient ruin, he knew that he would have to go see for himself. At least it was a beautiful Sunday morning for a stroll—and he had not planned on attending Easter Mass anyway.
On his way out the door, he grabbed his walking stick. His limp was almost indiscernible these days, but the hike up the steep Via Tiberio always made his leg ache. Once an active field archeologist, he had taken a bad fall fifteen years ago while conducting an excavation near Herculaneum. He suffered a severe compound fracture of the left femur, and that leg was now a full half inch shorter than the other. It had taken him several weeks in traction and a year of physical therapy to recover his mobility, and the pain never left completely. The Bureau of Antiquities had assigned him as an on-site curator and docent once he was able to return to work. He spent several years giving tours and lecturing students at Pompeii and Herculaneum before being posted to Capri. Capri was a less popular site than the two volcano-ravaged ancient cities, but Giuseppe had come to love the island over time. The folk were friendly, and the tourists were more likely to be serious students of history and not just the gawkers who had seen an article on Pompeii somewhere. He missed the thrill of discovery and the hard physical labor of excavation, but at sixty-two, he realized that those days were past him.
The Via Tiberio was built over an ancient Roman road, but it was still fairly steep. The view from the top was always worth the hike, though. Covering over an acre of land on the second highest point of the entire island, the former villa of the Emperor Tiberius must have been one of the most beautiful buildings in the Empire during its heyday. It was here that the reclusive Emperor had retired from Rome in 26 AD, leaving his corrupt henchman Sejanus to govern the Empire for him. According to Suetonius, a second-century historian, Tiberius had given free rein to his most twisted baser instincts at this luxurious retreat, engaging in wanton pedophilia with children from surrounding villages, and lavishly rewarding those who pleased him, while ordering those who did not flung from the island’s steepest cliffs to the rocks below. Personally, Giuseppe thought that Suetonius was a gossipy old busybody who had no way of knowing what went on at Tiberius’ villa a hundred years earlier, and thus decided to make up whatever salacious details would sell the most books. After all, journalism couldn’t have changed that much in two thousand years!
It took about forty-five minutes to hike up the narrow lane from Capri village to the ruins of Villa Jovis. As Giuseppe walked the steep trail, he was distressed to see signs that the quake had indeed slightly damaged the slopes of Mount Tiberio. Here and there were rockslides, and at one point a fissure cut across the road—only a few inches wide, but deep and black, showing that even the face of the mountain was not immune to the forces of nature. He began to worry that the magnificent ruin might have been damaged by the quake.
As he topped the rise, his initial reaction was a sigh of relief. The sprawling ruins seemed to be undamaged. But as he mounted the steps to the Emperor’s receiving hall, he saw that was not entirely correct. One of the remaining Corinthian columns had been toppled, and here and there new cracks and fissures showed where the ancient marble and limestone had split under the force of the violent tremor. Overall, though, the damage did not look too severe. He moved through the complex, checking all the remaining walls and staircases for further damage and finding none. He was almost done when he saw it.
Coming down the last staircase, he saw a scatter of masonry sprawled across the limestone floor of the level below, right alongside the stairs. Rounding the corner, he saw that a portion of the wall that held up the staircase had collapsed, leaving a gap about four feet tall and two feet wide. More than just a gap, in fact—there was a void beyond the wall revealed by the collapse, a blackness that even the noonday sun could not illuminate. Some sort of sealed chamber had been revealed by the collapsing wall!
As Giuseppe drew closer, he smelled a distinct aroma coming from the ancient chamber. It was the smell of dry, musty parchment, of dust and rat droppings and decay, the smell of ancient wood dried beyond the point of rot, the smell of air that had been sealed up on itself for centuries. It was the smell of history. He eased a small flashlight out of his jacket pocket and shone it inside the chamber, then let out a low gasp. He reached into his shirt pocket for his cell phone and hit speed dial.
“Bureau of Antiquities, how may I direct your call?” said the voice on the other end.
“Dr. Isabella Sforza,” he replied. “It’s urgent.”
* * *
Dr. Joshua Parker folded his long legs under him and settled into the pew after the last song ended. He picked up his well-worn New American Standard Bible and smiled as his father, Benjamin Parker, walked up to the pulpit. “Brother Ben,” as Baptists in one tri-state area referred to his father, was a towering man in his early seventies with a deep booming voice and an accent that had never left the Ozark ridges where he had been born at the end of the Great Depression. It was Easter Sunday, and Josh smiled at the thought that Dad’s new church was about to hear his signature sermon for the very first time. This message lay at the core of everything his father had believed and taught over a ministry that stretched nearly fifty years. Josh had heard the sermon many times growing up, and every year his father polished it a bit, updating the pop culture references to fit his current congregation before he let them have it on Easter Sunday.