The Centurion's Servant

Tiberius Caesar rules most of the known world. Palestine under Roman occupation is a seething cauldron of unrest, as young preacher Jesus of Nazareth attracts increasingly large crowds and the watchful Zealots under leadership of Barabbas, await chance to acclaim Jesus as Messiah in planned attempt to raise the country against Rome. Centurion Claudius commanding the fort at Capernaum treats Simeon ben Ezra, a lame Jewish lad put in his charge by Tribune Marcus, with rough kindliness, their lives to be strangely entwined. Although rigorously loyal to the Emperor and Rome, Claudius respects the Jews for the sake of his lovely wife Miriam. He is attracted by the teaching of Jesus, belief kindled until Miriam is raped by member of the Sicarii and loses their child. Relentless in his anger Claudius seeks revenge...rejects his young wife who joins with women following Jesus. He denies his growing faith in God. Stationed now at the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem, ambition rules his heart-until he stands on a hillside in deadly confrontation with Barabbas... The story continues in TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.