The Roman Read Online Free PDF

one thing I want to know. Can you return to Rome whenever you wish? Timaius maintained that you can never return to Rome because of your past.� My father stiffened, frowned and looked sternly at me. �I am Marcus Mezentius Manilianus,� he said, �and I can certainly return to Rome whenever I wish. I am not an exile and Antioch is no place of banishment. You should know that yourself. But I have my own private reasons for not going to Rome. Now I should be able to do so, if forced to, now that I am elderly and no longer as receptive to influences as I was when I was younger. Other reasons you need not ask about. You would not understand them.� I was pleased with his assurances and cried, �You spoke of a dividing of the ways and my future which I myself must choose. What were you thinking about?� My father wiped his forehead hesitantly, weighed his words carefully and finally said, �The men here in Antioch who know the way best have nowadays begun to realize that the kingdom does not belong only to the Jews. I suspect, or to be quite honest, I know, that even uncircumcised Greeks and Syrians have been baptized and allowed to take part in their meals. This has aroused many disputes, but at the moment there is a Jew here from Cyprus whom I once met in Jerusalem. He has with him, as his helper, a Jew called Saul, from Tarsus, whom I had also seen during his time in Damascus, once when he was led into the city. He had lost his sight during a divine revelation, but later it was returned to him. He is a man worth meeting. My dearest wish is that you should seek out these men and listen to their teachings. If they can convince you, they will baptize you as a subject of the kingdom of Christ and you will be allowed to partake in their secret meals, That is, without circumcision, for you need not fear coming under the jurisdiction of Jewish law.� I could not believe my ears. �You really wish me to be initiated into Jewish rites?� I cried.
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    �To worship some crucified king and a kingdom that doesn�t exist? What else can one call something one cannot see?� �The fault is mine,� my father said impatiently, �and I am sure I am using the wrong words, as I cannot convince you. Anyhow, you would have nothing to lose by listening to what these men have to say.� But the very thought filled me with fear. �I�ll never let the Jews sprinkle their consecrated water over me,� I cried. �And neither will I agree to drink blood with them. Then I�d lose the last remaining shreds of my good reputation.� Once again my father tried patiently to explain that in any case Saul was an educated man and a Jew who had been to the school of rhetoric in Tarsus, and not only slaves and craftsmen, but also many noble ladies in Antioch secretly went to listen to him. But I put my hands over my ears, stamped my foot, and cried shrilly and uncontrollably, �No, no, no!� My father returned to his senses and said in colder tones, �The choice lies with you. The learned Emperor Claudius has no doubt calculated that next spring it will be eight hundred years since the foundation of the city. To be sure, the god Augustus celebrated this centenary, and there are many people still alive who joined in. But another centenary feast will give us an excellent reason for going to Rome.� Before he even had time to finish, I had flung my arms around his neck, kissed him, cried aloud in delight and rushed round the room, for I was still but a boy. Then his freedmen began to arrive for the feast and he had to go out into the hall to greet them and receive their gifts. I stood beside my father as a sign that he meant to stand by me in all things. They were very pleased about this, stroked my hair, consoled me over the loss of my horse and admired my bandages. When they were lying at table and I was sitting on a stool at my father�s feet, since I was still a minor, my father explained that the point of this meeting was a family