The Redemption of Pontius Pilate by Lewis Ben Smith

Author:Lewis Ben Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical fiction, biblical fiction
Publisher: eLectio Publishing
Published: 2015-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Pilate kept a low profile for the next couple of months. He had been humiliated—a sensation he had not felt in a long, long time—and he did not want to give those who had beaten him a chance to gloat. He drilled his soldiers till they were exhausted, tended his correspondence and official duties, and avoided casual contact with everyone that he could. It was an unhappy existence, and it made him an unhappy man. To counter the depression that gripped him, he took to drinking more than he ever had before. However, he discovered that over-indulgence in alcohol made it much harder to control the savage creature that lurked within him—when he was in his cups, his natural instinct for cruelty tended to come to the fore, as a couple of his soldiers learned to their intense regret!

The only bright spot during that dreadful Judean autumn was the news that Porcia had conceived. Pilate’s gloom was lifted for a few days, and he even threw a banquet for his officers and all Roman citizens visiting Caesarea. But, a week after the party, a letter from Tiberius arrived. It was short and to the point:

Gaius Julius Tiberius Caesar, Princeps and Imperator, to Prefect Lucius Pontius Pilate, Proconsul of Judea; greetings!

My sources tell me, dear Pilate, that you have done an admirable job in whipping the Judean legion into shape and have led a successful campaign against the Zealots who have been plaguing the land. This, of course, is the kind of performance that I have come to expect from you in the past. What I had not expected, and what is most vexing to me, is your blatant disregard for the religious beliefs of the Jews I sent you to govern. I need not remind you that Judea is a most troubled province, prone to rebellion at the slightest provocation. Please endeavor to be more diplomatic in your future dealings with the Jews. NO GRAVEN IMAGES are to be displayed in Jerusalem at any time, under any circumstances.

The High Priest is Rome’s partner in governing the province, and is instrumental in keeping the peace. Please treat his wishes with greater respect in the future. I do not expect to have to communicate with you again on this subject. It pains me to take this tone with an old friend. Do not pain me again.

Pilate cursed Tiberius in three different languages as he rolled the scroll up and slid it into a small compartment of his desk. After all he had suffered at the Emperor’s hands, the thought that Tiberius would take the side of the Jews against Pilate was infuriating. But there was nothing he could do—at this point, speaking in his own defense would merely exacerbate the matter. Pilate was bored—colossally, incredibly bored. After years of being at the epicenter of Roman politics, engaging in that drive to excel in all things that lay at the core of every Roman nobleman’s being, finding himself exiled to this lonely backwater was the worst punishment he could imagine.

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