Ancient & Medieval Traitors

by Kerr, Gordon

  THE LAST SUPPER

  Jesus knew that he had been sent to Earth by God in order to die for the world’s sins. He expected that the final betrayal in which he would be handed over to the Romans would come from one of those closest to him. The night before he was crucified, Christ drew all of his disciples close to him. This evening has been termed as ‘The Last Supper’ because it was Jesus’ final chance to say goodbye to his greatest friends. Judas was also in attendance and had made a secret agreement with the Roman army to trade Jesus for thirty silver coins. He sat uneasily at the gathering, knowing what was to come and waiting for the ominous knock on the door that would signal the beginning of his great betrayal.

  Before Jesus was ready to eat he called upon the devoted Mary Magdalene. She came to his feet and began to tenderly wash them with an expensive oil. When she had finished she gently used her own hair to wipe off the excess and wept silently at his feet. For Jesus this symbolised a ritual cleansing and held a profound biblical significance, but Judas stood back in disbelief. Such was his own greed that he had the gall to upbraid Jesus for supposedly wasting such a luxurious oil on the simple washing of his feet. As usual the corrupt man was motivated by money and could think of nothing else. The other disciples did not question the sacred rites performed that night but Judas had clearly learned nothing from these teachings. As Jesus broke up the bread and poured the wine he announced that he knew that there were traitors within his midst. Instead of accusing anyone in particular he asked them simply to sit with him and partake of the emblems of his body and blood, the bread and the wine. Aware of what he was about to do, Judas could not bear to drink the wine, knowing that it was because of his treachery that Jesus’ blood would be shed.

  The guards entered the room quickly and looked to Judas to give them the sign they had agreed on previously. He slowly made his way over to Jesus and kissed him on the cheek. The action which normally denotes love was used to hand over a man who had shown nothing but kindness to Judas and can surely be judged as one of the greatest and most unwarranted betrayals of all time.

  JUDAS’ GRIEF

  Judas was not alone in his betrayal of Jesus; his fellow disciple Peter denied that he knew him three times, but this was barely comparable to handing their teacher over to the authorities. As Christ was being crucified the seriousness of his crime dawned on Judas. He knew that the pile of silver coins he had earned was not worth a man’s life and in desperation he chose to end his own life.

  The general consensus is that Judas hung himself, but there is also an account in Revelations of him hanging himself off a clifftop and crashing down to his death when the branch which was supporting him broke off. He chose to end his own life as a form of compensation for the one that he had traded in. Perhaps it was always fated for Judas to betray the son of God, though even after all he had been taught he continued to be motivated by greed and it was this flaw in his personality which ultimately led to his own death.

  Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio

  Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio, or the infamous Brutus as he is often known, was born into a noble Roman family in 85 BC. His early life was shrouded in tragedy as his politician father was killed by the great general Pompey in 78 BC. Luckily for Brutus, this tragedy actually benefited him. Not only was he adopted by his uncle Quintus Servilius Caepio, but he was also privileged with connections from his mother’s side of the family. Brutus’ interest in politics had sprung from the political sympathies of his other uncle, Marcus Porcius Cato, who acted as both a teacher and mentor to his young nephew. In his later life Brutus was also able to build a strong relationship with Caesar himself, by virtue of the fact that Caesar was having an affair with Brutus’s mother. This relationship acted as a form of protection for Brutus throughout his military career, but unfortunately for Caesar, Brutus did not reciprocate this loyalty and was continually plotting against him.

  One of Brutus’s closest friends was Gaius Cassius Longinus, who was married to Brutus’s half sister. Not as much is written about his early life but his entrance into politics came in 53 BC as he was made quaestor under Marcus Licinius Crassus. Cassius and Brutus remained firm friends up to the point of their deaths and they each had a large role to play in the violent demise of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

  At this time the city of Rome was in a state of political unrest as Caesar had removed all traces of the once effective democracy in order to take power as a dictatorial figure. There was much dissatisfaction among the senators of Rome, who refused to accept this radical change to the government and gradually began to plot Caesar’s assassination. Brutus and Cassius acted as a constant reinforcement to the plotting and sought to reinstate the government as it had been before Caesar had seized power.

  RIVALRY BETWEEN POMPEY AND CAESAR

  The rivalries between the two generals laid the foundation for the bad feeling that ultimately led to Caesar’s downfall. In 59 BC, Brutus and a number of other soldiers were accused of attempting to assassinate Pompey, then Caesar’s ally. He was once again fortunate enough to exploit his connection with Caesar who worked tirelessly to clear his name and absolve him from committing any crime. Presumably to be kept out of trouble, Brutus was posted to Cyprus for the next two years. He showed himself to be a man of no scruples as he offered a loan to the floundering town of Salamis and demanded an extortionate 48 per cent interest repayment rate from them! Needless to say, he was a very wealthy man when he returned to Rome in 57 BC.

  Both Brutus and Cassius were able to display an impressive amount of military prowess throughout their early years in the armed forces and developed many skills that proved invaluable to their plotting of Caesar’s murder. Cassius in particular showed his prowess as a leader at the Battle of Carrhae, where after being defeated he managed to preserve not just his own life but also the lives of 500 cavalrymen.

  At this time the frictions between Caesar and Pompey were at their peak. Pompey was in control of Rome and Hispania, whilst Caesar had recently gained the territory of Gaul and with it a reputable army and lots of popularity. As a result of great military successes on both sides, the two men decided to wage civil war upon each other. Brutus’s sympathies still did not lie with Caesar, and he and Cassius continued to side against him with politicians such as Cicero and Cato who wanted to restore a republic. Despite their obvious allegiances with his opponent, Caesar continued to support them. He even unwisely granted the pair clemency after they had backed Pompey up to his ultimate defeat in 49 BC.

  Whether Caesar was trying to build a relationship of trust is one question that could be asked, but more likely he was just trying to buy their allegiance with exoneration from their previous sympathies as a token gift. The ruler then proceeded to try to bribe them with influential positions and persuade them that they were considered to be amongst his closest friends and advisors. The first to benefit from these honours was Brutus. As he was keenly working behind the scenes to try to stir up bad feeling about Caesar, he was also traitorously maintaining an amicable friendship with the man. He was appointed as governor for Cisipine Gaul and bestowed with great priviliges. He effectively became Caesar’s right hand man and was trusted implicitly with his thoughts and plans. Cassius did not receive the same extent of privileges but was in turn promoted to the office of Praetor peregrinus and promised the governorship of the Syrian province in 43 BC.

  Despite these improvements to their station, the men were still driven by their desire to destroy Caesar. They had been secretly gathering support for their cause against him for months and as he became more like a king and less like a member of a democracy, they gathered together and started to put their plan into action. After Caesar’s clear and final revocation of democracy in 44 BC it became even easier to gather opponents to the newly enforced form of government.

  THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR

  On the morning of 15 March 44 BC, Caesar was not feeling his usual self. Despite his inclinations to stay at home he was persuaded by devious
Brutus that his duty was to attend and talk at the meeting which had been scheduled for that day. He reluctantly left his house and made his way to the assembly. The plan had been perfectly masterminded by Brutus and he was careful to behave as normal so that nothing out of the ordinary would be suspected.

  Upon arrival, Caesar was greeted with a seer who presented him with a number of fearful and dangerous omens. In an effort to convey himself as fearless and totally in control, Caesar mocked the omens and ridiculed the seer’s prophecy. As soon as he entered the assembly the plan came into action. One of the senators came towards him as if to ask a question and promptly used the opportunity to stab him violently in the neck. No time was wasted as he was pounced upon by the men and stabbed over twenty times. As Brutus lifted a knife to strike his own blow, Caesar is said to have uttered the immortal words et tu, Brutus? (even you, Brutus?). Clearly he felt most betrayed by one of the men that he had felt closest to and considered almost as a son. After all that he had done for Brutus, furthering his career and offering him protection, it was hard to think of him as one of his killers. Whether or not it was out of determination to believe that Brutus would eventually support him, Julius Caesar had made a poor judgement of character in Brutus.

  OCTAVIAN’S RESISTANCE

  Following his death, Caesar’s legacy fell upon his great-nephew to continue. The boy Octavian had been adopted from boyhood as Caesar’s son and stood to inherit three quarters of his large estate. As he was only young when his adoptive father died he could not be expected to make the important decisions that were needed for Rome and so the consul, Mark Anthony, stepped into the breach. Although he knew that some action would have to be taken against Caesar’s murderers, Marc Anthony decided that the best course of action to take was to grant an amnesty to those who were implicated within the plot, but to insist on granting Julius Caesar posthumous deification. Brutus and Cassius both fled from Rome and began to assemble armies overseas. As soon as Octavian came to power, Brutus and Cassius began to combine their forces together. What ensued were the two battles of Philippi and eventual defeat of their forces in 426 BC. Brutus could not face defeat and he fled with four of his legions to the nearby hills and ended his life at his own hands. Things were not going much better for Cassius and he too was forced to admit defeat. Assuming that Brutus had suffered the same fate, he commanded his slave to slay him and his body was buried at Thasos.

  After years of plotting against Caesar and his successor Octavian, the two men took their own lives. They had never been loyal to Caesar but were sure in their conviction that a republic needed to be restored in Rome. They were so convinced by this that they chose not just to end the life of a man who had bestowed great favours upon them, but also to end their own lives when they realised that there was no chance of restoring a republic in Rome.

  Salome

  As with many biblical stories, the fate of the prophet John the Baptist was decided by someone heavily influenced by lust. The tale of Salome is not very different from those of other women who have tempted powerful leaders, take for example Delilah who has been referred to earlier in this book. Her motivation for betraying Samson was money, but in this instance it seems to have been Salome’s desire to appease and obey the will of her mother that led to the gruesome death of Saint John the Baptist.

  John the Baptist was a renowned preacher and a good friend of Jesus. He had invested years into learning and teaching the word of God and as a result he had mustered up a number of followers who were more than happy to support him and fight his cause. At this time the ruler of Galilee was Herod Antipas and it was the fifteenth year of the reign of the Roman Emperor, Tiberias Caesar. Herod had been appointed as a provincial governor of a subdivision of Palestine and was responsible for Galilee.

  THE ANGER OF HERODIAS

  It was at this time that Herod made a somewhat controversial decision. The ruler had recently chosen to marry the ex-wife of his half brother Philip, and with her came her exotic daughter Salome, also his niece. As a man of God, John the Baptist saw the king’s union as being deeply immoral and took it upon himself to warn those around him of what was going on in Herod’s palace. First of all, his new wife had broken the law by arranging the divorce herself and not waiting for her husband to divorce her. Herod had in fact also committed a crime against Jewish law by taking his brother’s ex-wife for his own, and he was not pleased to hear his name slandered around the land. However, Herod did not act against him as he revered the holy man and often went to him for advice on a range of matters.

  His wife Herodias on the other hand was not so passive. Enraged that her introduction as Herod’s wife would be met with such bad feeling, she persisted in pleading with her husband to execute John the Baptist. She told lies about the prophet, spread malicious rumours and did everything within her power to have him killed. At first Herod stood firm and would not allow any action to be taken against the man he both respected and feared, but as his wife’s pleas persisted he was forced to comply with her demands and unwillingly threw John into the fortress of Machaerus. Herod was already showing himself to be a very weak-willed man, which would explain a great deal of the reasons behind what happened next.

  SALOME’S DANCE

  Ever the manipulator and feeling exasperated about her husband’s reticence to put John to death, Herodias enlisted the help of her daughter, Salome. The girl would have been in her teens and strictly under the orders of her mother. When Herodias finally came to a decision about how to ensure the demise of John the Baptist, she realised that the only way to do this was to put Salome up to the job. As an unmarried woman in society, Salome was not faced with any alternative but to betray John the Baptist through seducing her own stepfather, Herod.

  The perfect opportunity arose when Herod sat down with his friends for a sumptuous feast to commemorate his birthday. Salome danced with remarkable grace and beauty and had the eyes of each of the men on her. None was more mesmerised than Herod, and he impulsively promised to fulfil any of her wishes. He was so taken with her that he even offered her half of his own kingdom! She paused for thought and went to confer with her mother. After a short period she returned and asked an utterly gruesome request; she demanded the head of John the Baptist to be served to her on a silver plate.

  Herod was disgusted by the demand and angry that he had left himself so vulnerable. He knew that he could not go back on his word after promising the girl so much, so he reluctantly summoned the executioner to deliver the gory reminder to Salome and the fellow banqueters. Her mother was thrilled to have finally accomplished her plan and considered John the Baptist a good example of how people who castigated her and her family would be punished.

  There was much sadness in Galilee when news broke out that John the Baptist had been murdered, and his followers came in droves to pay their last respects. What happened next to Salome has not been recorded but the date of her death has been placed at around 62–71 AD. John was firm in his convictions that Herod and Herodias were committing a grave wrongdoing through their marriage. He believed that his teachings were advocating the right way of life and that it was only through heeding the words of Jesus that one could be truly happy. John the Baptist died because he was not willing to stay quiet about what he believed in. Unfortunately for him he was powerless to counter the manipulative wife of Herod and was forced to suffer death at her own request.

  Judith

  Rarely in Jewish history has any woman had so much success in liberating her people and restoring faith in their God. The gospel of Judith was the fourth book of the Old Testament Apocrypha, a group of books not included in the Bible because they were written in Greek instead of the original Hebrew. Judith was clearly a very intelligent and shrewd woman, who really knew how to use her restricted abilities to fulfil the needs of her people.

  She originally acted as a traitor in order to convince the Assyrians that they could trust her and to gain control of the army by killing their chief commander. She was
able to double-cross the highest authority in her enemy’s land by making him desire her and pretending to have changed allegiances. Scholars have argued about the dates of the Israelites’ success over the Assyrians but most agree that the action took place after the end of the Babylonian captivity in 538 BC.

  THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL

  For many years there had been unrest in Israel as the nation had refused to join King Nebuchadnezzar’s forces in battle against Media. The Israelites strongly resisted becoming involved in such an economically damaging war and long after other nations had given in to the King, they began to incur the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar’s formidable general, Holofernes. This took its toll on the Israelites and they began to doubt their god, wondering why their nation in particular should repeatedly be forced to endure such difficulties.

  Judith thought that it was time that something was done. She decided to gain the trust of the general behind these campaigns and act as though she was informing on her own people. Judith, however, was dedicated to her people and determined to find a way to free them from further arduous years of war. She was a pious and very beautiful widow who had no plans to compromise her own principles. She knew that God had promised to defend the Israelites as long as they were faithful to him, and that after many years of war with the Abyssinians they really doubted their Lord’s presence.