Lucius; On the Footpath to Grace

by

Bob Shimer, StoryVent

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Chapter 4

Roman soldiers were not encouraged to mix with the locals. Even families were discouraged, so Lucius, like the other soldiers, found his friends among the Army.

There were a few exceptions. One day Lucius had been enjoying the Temple Courtyard. He was looking at a pretty pair of doves. The markings and the tameness of the birds caught his attention. They strutted and cooed, oblivious to the fate that was in store for them. They even let Lucius touch them. Lucius had never in his life touched a live bird. He was fascinated.

"Now what's a bright Roman soldier like you going to do with a fine pair of doves." The old voice came from behind and startled him.

Lucius turned. "Why, uhf, I mean." he stammered.

An old Jewish merchant, his face lined with age, was standing there. "No mind young man. Its OK to touch them, they're tame. I'm called Cleopus. I sell these birds."

"What do they do with them?" Lucius asked.

"They buy them to be offerings to God."

"We have sacrifices to our Gods also."

"No son, I said God, not Gods. There is only one God, Jehovah."

"But what about Jupiter, and Saturn, and...."

"One God young man, one God. Those are not real!" the old man interrupted.

"Easy old man. I don't want a fight. How many do you sell in a day".

"Enough!" the old man replied, "Enough to pay for food, and a place to stay. Oye ve life is tough, but we get along." The old man looked around. "Hey Samuel, come here."

Another man came over to join them. The newcomer, a man not much older than Lucius, was dressed well, obviously better off them Cleopus. "Ho! Cleopus. How's business?"

"Never get rich I suppose. Here, I want you to meet my young friend."

"Ah Cleopus, everybody's your friend." He turned to Lucius. "A soldier eh! From Rome I'll wager. I'm Samuel."

"Hi. Do you sell birds too?"

"Oh my no! I change money." replied Samuel.

"What do you mean you change money?"

"Ha!" Cleopus exclaimed, "He changes it from their hand to his ! "

"Now Cleopus," a soft women's voice said, "that's not nice. Samuel has an important job."

They turned to see a young woman with black hair and dark eyes standing there. Cleopus apologized. "Ruth! I didn't see you come up. Just kidding your husband. You know I love him like a son."

"I know, I know." said Ruth. "Who is your friend?"

Cleopus turned toward Lucius, a questioning look in his face. Lucius realized he had never told Cleopus his name. He turned to Ruth. "I'm called Lucius," he said.

"Lucius. That is a good Roman name. Are you from Rome?"

"Well yeah, but I guess I won't be back there for quite a while."

Samuel asked, "You have a family there? wife? children?"

"Just my parents; and sister. Roman soldiers don't have families. The army is our family."

Samuel spoke up, "You'll never lack for company with a family like that, but I'll take a fine woman like my Ruth here over a bunch of soldiers any day!"

"You're embarrassing me Samuel." Ruth said, "Lucius, how long have you been in the army?"

"Not long," Lucius answered. "Jerusalem is my first post."

"What does your family do?" Cleopus asked.

"They sell cloth, well, my parents do. My sister married a wine maker. She has a couple of children. I miss them but now I have the army."

"Yeah but that's not like real family." Samuel said.

"You're right I guess." For a fleeting moment there was a far away look in Lucius' eyes. "But that's in the past. I'm here now."

"I like you Lucius," Cleopus said. "You're not like most of the soldiers here. I've watched you before. You just come visit us if you're lonely."

"Yes do," Ruth said. "We will be your family while you are here."

Lucius looked at them for a moment. "But you're Jews. Jews aren't supposed to like soldiers."

"We don't," Samuel said. "We like you for you, not as a soldier."

"What don't you like about soldiers? We do a lot for you." Lucius said indignantly.

"What do you do besides enslave us?" Cleopus asked.

"Well, we protect you. We build roads. The Roman Empire brings civilization to the whole world!" Lucius said proudly.

"Ha! You Romans are what we need protection from! How are you going to protect us from that?" Samuel was starting to anger.

Ruth put her hand on Samuel's arm. "Calm down dear. Lucius is just doing his job. And he's proud of it. We all should take pride in our jobs. Samuel you above all should understand. There are a great many who don't like what you do!"

Samuel blurted, "But, but what I do is needed!"

Cleopus looked at Samuel. "Yeah, by you and the High Priest; not the rest of us."

"Yeah and I suppose that your animals..."

Lucius interrupted, "I don't want to start a fight. I think we all do important work. Maybe everybody doesn't appreciate us but we do it well; and are proud of it."

"The wisdom of Solomon," Cleopus said. "The young man is wise. Heed his words."

"Who is Solomon?" Lucius asked.

Samuel seemed to stand taller. "Only one of the greatest of our leaders! A wise King. A very wise King indeed" He paused. "Someday we will have another King like him."

"That's what the prophet said," Cleopus said.

"Ho, I've got people at my table. I've got to go. Come again Lucius." Samuel moved toward his table, "Sirs, in here...." he called.

Lucius looked briefly at the sky to note the position of the sun. "I've got to go too. I've got duty shortly.

"It was nice meeting you Lucius. I enjoyed talking to you. You have a good head on your shoulders. You'll go far."

"Yes stop again Lucius," Ruth said.

He returned often, stopping to chat with his three new friends. They tried to avoid talking about things that would get them into an argument but Cleopus and Samuel seemed to delight in aggravating each other. It was all good natured but sometimes things really heated up. Lucius often intervened and became known as a peacemaker, a role he cheerfully accepted.