“We’re thinking the same thing. Don’t get your hopes up, though. She’s convinced they’re destined to marry. He’s not sure.” He paused to let this thought linger. Then he shook his head and changed the subject.
“Have you heard anything further about the two prisoners?”
“All I know is Boadicea ran by the hut, saying she was on her way to tell Winna important news from you. So what’s the news?”
“I hope the news is that we’ll soon be negotiating with the Romans.”
“Negotiating what?” Her eyes were wide open in surprise.
Wiglaff shook his head. Onya had not been involved in all the discussions of this busy day. He simply told her, “Everything.”
Then he laughed, and she laughed with him. He rose and took her in his arms and kissed her. They hugged for a while. Then she pushed him back.
“I’ve got a hundred things to do today. So have you. Anyway, I’m glad to see Mornow and Alma are looking happy. I don’t really care that she’s half a Roman. If they can be happy together, they’ll be all right. Are you coming down for dinner?”
His mouth was half open when, with her hands fluttering, she hurriedly said, You don’t have to answer. The meal will be served at sundown if you want it. If you can’t or won’t come down, I’ll bring something up for you to eat later. Maybe that’ll give us a moment’s privacy. Wouldn’t that be a treat?” Without waiting for his answer, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. Then she walked back down the mountain, happily humming a familiar tune.
Chapter Six
The Pax Deorum and the Threat of Christianity
“The Romans were a religious people, but many saw Christianity as a threat to their religious system. Unlike members of other new religions, Christians refused to sacrifice to the gods, proclaiming instead that there was only one God. Pagan Romans were not only offended by this, but also felt it threatened their society. They believed that society was protected by the pax deorum: the peace or agreement with the gods. The gods protected cities, towns and empires in exchange for sacrifice and worship. Since Christians refused to do these things, the pagans believed that the Christians endangered themselves and everyone around them.”
- Christianity and the Roman Empire, Saylor.org
Boadicea returned to Wiglaff’s cave four weeks after she had left to deliver her message about negotiations with the Romans. Wiglaff noticed right away that his daughter was a changed person on account of her month-long experience establishing the tribunal. She had become much more reflective than she had been, and even, he thought, wise. Having participated in an historical process, she was not as quick to suggest that every problem be solved with her sword. The Romans agreed to broad negotiations with the Caledonian Confederacy.
As a direct result of her and Winna’s efforts, supported by Ista the wife of the powerful chieftain Argentocoxos, a formal Roman tribunal had been established by the Roman Emperor to hear all grievances from Caledonian villages and clans north of the Wall. In turn, the Romans made a comprehensive list of their own grievances against the Caledonians, including particularly border raids that continued to plague northern Britannia. Near the bottom of the Roman list were the disappearances of two Roman scouts, named Vulgus and Crucifer, and the capture and imprisonment of two others, named in the list as the brothers Peter and Simon.
The Emperor made the tribunal the impetus for accountability of all Roman losses north of the Wall. This extremely broad charter, for reasons of practicality, was finally limited to prisoners of war and soldiers on special missions killed or missing in action during the time following the cessation of general war. Septimius Severus’s propagandists made this tribunal a major accomplishment of his reign, and this had the detrimental effect that the Emperor thought the tribunal to be a panacea, perhaps including in its mechanics a casus belli that would justify his pushing forces north to eradicate the troublesome barbarians once and for all.
Boadicea had seen diplomacy at first hand beside Winna, wife of Morfor, and Ista the chieftainess and wife of Argentocoxos. The three women worked hard to shape the architecture of the negotiations so that they did not immediately touch on the messy business of the killings of the would-be-rapists. They were surprised to discover that the two scouts who had been imprisoned by Winna were not as valuable as they might have been if they were not Christians.
As the whole skein of decisions unraveled during the negotiations, it became clear that the two would-be-rapists were actually clandestine operators who had been accustomed to committing any crime under the veil of imperial immunity. The Roman negotiators were secretly happy that those two hardened men had finally disappeared. On the other hand, the same negotiators wished that the two prisoners, both regular Roman soldiers of the Auxiliary forces, had also disappeared because they were an embarrassment to the Empire on account of their Christian beliefs.
During the reign of Emperor Nero, the first persecutions of Christians had occurred, but fear and resentment towards the pernicious sect continued. The two men had been discovered when one was caught carving an acrostic SATOR-ROTAS square in which the word TENET formed a cross in the center, the N standing for Nazareth, birthplace of Jesus. Under torture, the soldier Peter confessed to being a Christian. He also named his brother Simon as a fellow Christian. Instead of making the matter public, the army decided to send the two brothers on an impossible mission into Caledonia. During the mission, their officers expected, both would die at the hands of the Caledonian savages. When the two men’s names appeared among others in the grievance list, the Romans were in a quandary. They would have preferred for the men to be killed, but they could not say that publicly.
Under pressure from operatives within the imperial court, the disappearance of the would-be-rapists became a priority element of negotiating strategy. The release of the two Christians sank to the lowest priority on the agenda. That, in turn, meant that Peter and Simon would remain in Winna’s custody indefinitely while the web work of lies about what really happened to the would-be rapists had to be stridently defended. By the Caledonians’ accounts, the two men had wandered off to be devoured by wild beasts, but their remains were never recovered.
Unbeknownst to anyone on the negotiation teams, Boadicea the warrior maiden and Alma the priestess of Mercury were the killers of those men. Even though their actions might have been justified on grounds of self-defense, the imperial interest guaranteed a bad end in the event of their discovery. Starting to become on edge and nervous, Winna and Wiglaff decided they would not jeopardize either woman as the tribunal’s futile deliberations continued with increasing frustration on both sides.
Wiglaff, having been informed of the details of the negotiations by his daughter Boadicea, decided to talk with the two Christian prisoners directly. Alma and he had discussed the Christian sect briefly because the first inklings of the powerful new religion had first appeared in the scrolls of the imperial historian Tacitus. Alma’s opinion of the fanatical sect conformed to the standard imperial view as well as the view of her Temple: the new sect violated every fundamental tenet of the pax deorum.
Wiglaff sent Boadicea to Winna with the request to send the two prisoners to his cavern, taking care to blindfold them for the passage. Boadicea arrived with the two men as Wiglaff had directed.
“Father, Winna said you can keep these men for at most a week. Any longer than that would violate the terms of the negotiations.”
“How would it do that?”
Boadicea rolled her eyes and explained, “The terms specify that all persons named in the negotiation list are to be always situated within one day’s travel of the Wall.”
“I don’t think I’ll need to talk with these men for more than five days, but I’ll have them escorted back to Winna’s camp by you within the allotted time. You may take their blindfolds off now. Don’t take off their arm and leg restraints until later.”
Boadicea took of the men’s blindfolds. Then she stood back and examined t
hem for the first time. She liked what she saw. Both men were large, strong and well built. They were also very handsome. One, the warrior woman’s favorite, had gentle eyes. The other had a fiery disposition.
“What are your names?” Wiglaff asked them.
“My name’s Peter,” the man with the gentle eyes said.
“My name’s Simon. I’m Peter’s brother,” the man with the fiery eyes added.
“Make yourselves comfortable on the floor. Do you need water or food?”
Both men nodded that they did.
“Boadicea, please have Onya bring food and water for these men. Tell her they’ll be staying in the vacant hut in the village for five days. They’re to have breakfast and dinner in the village and lunch here in the cavern. You’re to bring them here and take them back again in the late afternoon before twilight. If you see Alma, tell her to come to the cavern as soon as possible. I may need her services.” The warrior departed on her mission.
Wiglaff turned to the two men with a smile.
“I’m glad you’re here. I understand you’re followers of a man named Jesus of Nazareth. Is that right?”
Both men nodded.
“I also understand that you’re not favored among Romans on account of your beliefs.”
They nodded that was true as well.
“I’m not a Roman, so I don’t share the prejudices you normally face. I won’t tell you that I don’t have prejudices. Mine are just different from your fellow Romans’. I wanted to talk with you about your faith. Since I know nothing about it, you can begin anywhere you like.” He was by no means interrogating; instead, he was sincerely interested in knowing more about their faith.
The man who called himself Peter began. He talked about the life of Jesus, including his miracles and his death by crucifixion. He said Jesus was the Son of God. He told of the God-man’s triumphant Resurrection. By the time he finished his account, he was weeping profusely.
“Why are you crying?” Wiglaff asked him.
“I’m weeping because the story is so beautiful. It means a great deal to me that the faithful will go to heaven after they die. I hope I’ll go to heaven.”
Wiglaff nodded, impressed by the apparent depth of Peter’s faith. Then he asked Simon if he had anything to add to Peter’s account.
Simon filled in details about Jesus’ life that his brother had omitted or not known. He spent a lot of time telling Wiglaff about a letter that a man named Paul, a follower of Jesus, had written to a handful of Roman Christians because they had asked for clarifications. Indeed, the letter addressed many details about how the religion worked, particularly about how God and his believers related to each other.
As Simon finished his account, Alma appeared in the entry of the cavern with Boadicea beside her. They brought food and water for the prisoners.
Wiglaff said, “Boadicea, will you please cut their restraints so these men can eat and drink?”
Boadicea did that, and the men first prayed silently and then partook of the feast. The woman warrior then stood by the entrance with her arms folded like the sentinel she was.
Alma had the opportunity to see the men at close quarters. She admired them because they were handsome and virile. Nothing about the outward bearing of these soldiers indicated that they belonged to an outlawed religious sect.
“So these men are followers of the God-man Jesus?”
“That’s what the Romans say. Peter and Simon, this is Alma. She’s a priestess of the god Mercury. She’s also a Roman citizen. I’m taking an enormous chance introducing you to her. If you divulge that you met her, I’m afraid you’ll die. Do you understand me?”
The two men acknowledged that they understood.
“Alma, I don’t know how much you know about this man Jesus they talk about.”
She thought for a moment. Then she said, “I know that the man was supposed to have died, but some believe he came to life again and ascended to heaven.”
At this point Mornow returned to the cavern and went back to his space to feed his crow. The crow hopped on his shoulder. Mornow stood beside Boadicea and watched as the discussion continued. Occasionally, he stroked the bird’s beak affectionately.
“Peter has just told me that Jesus performed miracles while he was among men. Isn’t that so, Peter?” Wiglaff asked.
Peter said, “Yes, it is.”
“Will you please say again what those miracles were?”
Peter told about the miracles, with more details than before. He spoke of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding. Peter dwelled on a miracle involving loaves and fishes, where Jesus fed a multitude with mere scraps garnered by his helpers.
Wiglaff listened carefully. He was not skeptical but curious about salient details. “I notice throughout your tale that Jesus was blameless, that he had a virgin mother who was also blameless and that the Roman who turned him over to the Sanhedrin said he could find no fault with the man. I find it fascinating that someone who was born in the reign of the Emperor Caesar Augustus should have led a blameless life. It’s true he died at the age of thirty-three years, but still. What do you think, Alma?”
She frowned. “I won’t dispute any of the facts these men have told you. My concern is different.”
“Tell us about your concern.”
Alma said, “Followers of Jesus don’t offer sacrifices as all other religions in Rome do.”
“What do you say to that, Peter?”
“I say that Jesus sacrificed himself for all believers.” Peter said this calmly without trying to defend his position.
“But you don’t offer sacrifices to the Emperor or to any of the other gods!” Alma exclaimed.
Peter looked at Simon. He took a deep breath. “May we speak freely without fear of penalty?”
Wiglaff said authoritatively, “What is said in this cavern stays here. That goes for everyone. We’ll not persecute anyone who contributes ideas, no matter how strange they may seem. I won’t guarantee that we’ll believe in what you say. As long as Caledonia is free, we can all say what we think. Just don’t lie.”
“There is only one God,” said Simon.
Alma gasped. She was about to object, but stopped when Wiglaff raised two fingers to silence her.
“This is not a new idea, Alma. You told me that most of the metals scientists that work with your Temple are Jews. They also believe in one God, don’t they?”
“That’s true.” Alma did not like admitting this truth. She scowled.
Simon added, “Jesus came to fulfill the law of the Israelites, so it’s natural that he’d lay his teachings on the same firm foundation as they did. The First Commandment in the testament is, ‘There is only one God.’”
Wiglaff saw Alma’s rising alarm and said, “Alma, for a moment, let’s accept the fact that one God is a possibility. Jupiter, Juno and the rest, including Mercury, have many attributes. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to understand how taking them all together is a possibility, at least in an imaginative mind.”
“But what about the pax deorum?” Alma asked, worried where the conversation was heading.
“I’ll answer that question, Alma.” Mornow took a step forward and spoke with confidence. “The pax deorum was a political settlement to the problem that the temples were fighting with each other for money and power. It both unified all religions under the Empire and made violations of the peace punishable. It put all religions on the DO ET DAS footing. What it didn’t do was sanction Judaism or Christianity or any other religion outside the pantheon. What it had no power to do was dictate what the people actually believed. In their homes, the citizens as well as the slaves worship their household gods, or lares. A Roman Senator, I’m told, said, ‘In public I believe in all the gods, but in private I believe in none of them.’”
“So where does this line of thought lead us, future husband?”
Hearing Alma’s insinuation, Wiglaff was stunned. Boadicea likewise colored beet red at Alma’s implying that she a
nd Mornow were betrothed. They looked at Mornow, who this time was unperturbed by Alma’s outburst. The others relaxed when they realized something had happened in the couple’s relationship that they knew nothing about.
Mornow answered Alma’s question patiently, in measured tones. “Rome has made a mockery of all religions. For faith they substitute form. For spirit they substitute money. For a supposed bond between men and gods, they make financial transactions the binding force. Ha! Imagine a binding force when nothing in Rome is binding, not even the word of the Emperor. In fact, in Rome no religion is worthy of belief, and putting them all together doesn’t make them more viable. To the contrary, it makes them laughable.”
“I don’t laugh at your shamanistic powers, Mornow,” Alma said, her eyes flashing in anger. She was clearly upset because he had implied that her god Mercury was risible.
“I don’t ask for money to exercise my powers. I do what I was born to do for my family, my village and my people.”
Simon, who had taken a keen interest in the exchange between Alma and Mornow, asked in rapid succession, “Can you perform miracles? Can you bring the dead back to life? When you die, will your soul go to heaven?”
Mornow looked at the man, at first with rising anger. Then he shrugged. “I don’t think I can do those things.”
Simon then directed the same questions to Alma, asking whether she or her god Mercury could do those things.
Alma struggled to stay calm as Mornow was, but a rising anger crept into her voice. “My god Mercury can enable men and other gods to do things they thought impossible, like disappear and travel great distances quickly. He cannot bring the dead back to life. When I die, my soul will not go to heaven, whatever that is. It may go to the Elysian Fields, perhaps, if I’m deserving. There I’ll be reunited with my family who died before me and greet those who die afterwards.”
Wiglaff sat back and observed, “I believe we’ve arrived at a crux. It’s time for our guests to go down to the village to clean up and get ready for dinner. Peter and Simon, do we need to restrain you? Or will you give us your word as followers of Jesus that you won’t try to escape?”
The WIglaff Tales (The Wiglaff Chronicles Book 1) Page 17
