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will tolerate all forms of worship, and surely there are temples enough in Rome to give an outward sign of that tolerance, but that is illusion. You have shown yourself to be utterly opposed to those who have chosen to worship the only true manifestation of God on earth, and have set the might of the Roman state against us.
    Perhaps you still confuse us with the rebellious Jews who have risen in revolt against your rule in their land. It is true enough that we follow the teachings of a man who was a Jew, but it is wrong to condemn us along with them, for we do not question political rule, and we do not share their objections to Roman presence. We who follow the teachings of Jesu-bar-Joseph and his disciples are not in agreement with other Jews. There are, it is true, a great many Jewish sects, and often there is little accord between them, but in one critical issue we differentiate ourselves from all Jews: most Jews, in reading the prophecies of the great teachers of the past, believe that there is one coming to free them from the bonds of this world, an anointed master who will be the path to all liberty. We who call ourselves Christians believe that this prophecy was fulfilled with the birth of Jesu-bar-Joseph sixty-five years ago. We do not reject his salvation, as do the rest of the Jews, but accept him as our redeemer, and worship him as the living presence of God.
    If you are determined to persecute us, there is little we can do to oppose you, but I beg for myself and my brothers that you do not continue to identify us as Jews, since we are not Jews. Many of us languish in prisons and at the oars of triremes because you and your deputies have not taken the time to learn the difference between us and Jews.
    I beseech you to examine your heart and take heed of your own laws, O Caesar, so that those innocent of rebellion may not continue to suffer for your ignorance and the ignorance of other Romans. You have accepted without prejudice all the false gods of the world, all the evil worship done anywhere that Roman troops have trodden. Why, then, do you forbid us, who have the promise of true salvation to offer you, and the one path to God, to practice our faith with the same openness and freedom as you allow to the misguided women who frequent the Temple of Isis? Certainly Egyptian Isis is no more foreign than we are. Why is it impossible for you to extend her protection to us? If you continue to deny us, then all will know that Roman justice is a lie, and you will be hated in this life and cast into darkness when you die, for your abuse of those who willingly follow the rule of the True God.
    Though you kill my body in this world, still I will pray for you, here and before the Throne of God.
    Most humbly, and in the Name of Christ,
    Philip, freeman of Rome
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    ON THE FAR side of the luxurious room Arnax lay snoring, his discarded clothing tucked under his head for a pillow.
    The room was softly perfumed, and hanging lamps gave it a soft glow, showing the rumpled bed and the two figures who faced each other there.
    Atta Olivia Clemens watched her husband, dismay on her bruised face. “Justus...” she said cautiously. Her hands were unsteady, and had Cornelius Justus Silius not chosen that moment to cover her with his now-urgent body, she would have clenched them. As it was, her fingers hooked into the silken sheets. Her flesh was newly marked by Arnax's lust, and it took more of an effort than usual for her to keep from crying out as her husband pushed into her.
    "Lie still!” he commanded thickly as she flinched.
    She was pitifully glad to obey. She stared past his shoulder toward the ceiling, and wished, as she had almost every night for the past two years, that she would die and at last be free of this hated marriage.
    A little while later, Justus moved off her, grunting his displeasure. “You weren't doing it right,” he muttered as he looked down at his flaccid