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The Romans And Me
I was not around when the Romans first took over Jerusalem; it was about 50 years ago. From the stories Id been told, I am glad I wasnt. Most of the resistance had been stamped out, although from time to time one group or other would rise up and cause trouble, there was still two or three groups bucking against them.
You would think that people in a country, with an occupying army, would all rise up and kick them out, the Romans however were postmasters of suppression and anti-subversion, and it wouldn’t have been very long, before any opposition, would have become splinted, and eventually stamped out.
Personally, I preferred the bowing and scrapping to the fighting. Maybe if we all go along with them and don’t cause them any problems they will get bored and go back to Rome, or were ever it is Romans come from.
I decided the best way of keeping out of trouble was to get a job in which I could see trouble before it arrived, so I got a job in a Roman district office.
The top Roman in Jerusalem was Punches Pilot under him the rest was divided into districts, one of which was mine and was under the charge of Gallus.
Life wasn’t that bad under the Romans, they were good organisers good builders (they didn’t do actual building them selves obviously, the good thing about occupying a country was it came lots of really cheap labour) and crime was low.
The down sided was the curfew (dawn till dusk) the taxes and the bullying, and the Roman patrols stamping about the place all the time.

Simon
I was at a family wedding (a cousin was getting married) when another cousin who I hadn’t seen for a while, Simon, started talking to me. We went through the usual things like the bride was fat and lucky to get the overbearing pompous pratt who had decided to take her as his bride. It was more political then anything, he had a good business and could be useful, and despite him being twenty years older, the poor bride wouldn’t have had to much of a say in anything. What a wedding night that promised to be.
I had actually heard that Simon belonged to a group that didn’t particularly like the Romans, so to speak, that was lead by a man named Ben Yusef, who the Romans would have took a particular delight talking to.
"Why didn’t they go around to his house and arrest him" I asked,
Simon told me he moved around a lot and his description was six foot tall usually dressed in white with a beard and that covered about half the male population of Jerusalem.
"I believe you work in Galus, s office"? He asked.
"Yes." I replied. "It doesn’t pay much but it keeps me out of mischief".
"You deal with most of the Roman dignitary stuff dot you, who’s visiting and were they are going and other bits"?
"The Romans think that as long as they know were everyone and everything is, then if there are any problems ,they know were to look". I replied.
"Most of it isn’t particularly secret or anything, any visiting Romans have to leave a description of were they are going and who they were going to see for their own safety". "All so, it’s were they would come for their escorts".
It wasn’t a good idea for rich Roman to go wandering around Jerusalem on his own or he would have stayed rich or alive for very long. So all Visiting dignitaries would pick up an escort at the beginning and end of each district they passed through, each district head would be responsible for their wellbeing while they were in his district. All these things had to be arranged.
"We could use information you can get, you know". He quizzed.
I thought, was this person mad, people have been beheaded for less, and I just about said as much.
"We would pay you" he added, "and they wouldn’t know it was you". Like you said most of this stuff isn’t particularly secret anyway".
Hold on a minute pros and cons. Pros..... I would get money and they wouldn’t know it was me. Cons ...
"What sort of information would you want". I asked.
"Oh, only little things, like were any Roman ceremonies are being held, it doesn’t do, if you are running away from one bunch of Romans, to run around a corner and bump into another bunch". He said.
"Give me a couple of days and I will see what I can do". I replied.

Meeting Yusha
Simon came round to pay me some money he owed me, but said he didn’t have it with him and also said he was going there now and asked if I would like to go with him. I wasn’t that enthusiastic about this and asked "What about the curfew"
He said "That’s two hours away, we will be there and back before that".
Curiosity was probably what made me agree I hadn’t met any of these people before but had heard quite a lot about Yusha (Ben Yusef), so I went.
It was about twenty minutes away, we had gone about a fifteen minutes when we came accross a problem, which some Romans were trying to sort out, a dispute between two neighbours. As we didn’t want to get involved, and there was no other way round, we decided, we would have to wait.
"It shouldn’t take two long," Simon said, so we waited.
It took what seemed like an eternity, by the time it had finished, it had dark and most of the people who had been watching had disappeared because of the curfew. I had argued earlier with Simon, that we should go back before it got to dark
And he had said "Stop worrying, I have been out after curfew lots of times, we will be OK".
In my entire life I hadn’t, fines and imprisonment were the penalty.
Eventually it all cleared and we carried on.
"Keep close the wall" Simon told me.
We hadn’t gone very far when Simon stopped me and said "Shh",
And listened, in the distance we could here the sound of stamping feet, quite a lot of them, it was a Roman patrol. We carried on until we realised we going in the same direction the noise was coming from.
"Hide" Simon shouted.
He didn’t have to ask twice, I jumped over a three-foot wall and he disappeared on the other side of the street.
The stamping feet got louder and louder, until it stopped.
"You", came a shout.
My blood froze, I could feel sweat running down the side of my face, I was absolutely terrified, then I had one of those moments. What the hell am I doing out after curfew, not to long ago I had been at home, trying to decide what I would spend my money on, and now, I am about to be dragged of to jail, or even killed on the spot.
I opened my eyes and started to look up, expecting to see a smiling Roman, with a sword in his hand, looking down. There was no one there, it must be Simon they had seen "Excellent" I thought, followed by, "Well not excellent really, well, rather him than me."And. " How am I going to get home without him", ran through my mind. Then I heard the voice of a man grovelling.
"Please master, I really do have a good reason". He shouted.
It wasn’t Simon, the voices went quieter as the man got closer to the patrol, so I couldn’t hear what the excuse was. After a minute or so, what sounded like four or five sets of stamping feet, peeled off, and stamped off in a different direction, and the rest carried on the direction they had originally been going. There are reasons, which you would be allowed out after curfew, for reporting a crime or for a medical emergency. However, they wouldn’t let you wander about by yourself.
As the stamping feet got quieter, Simon popped his head over the wall and said "I thought they had got you then".
I just flashed an annoyed look at him, and then we carried on.
We hadn’t been to far away; two streets later and down an ally, Simon stopped at a back gate.
"Shh" he said.
And listened intensely for a few seconds, after which he peered between the planks of the gate, He then said
"Seems OK", and knocked on the gate.
"What do you want" came a voice
"Its Simon" was the reply,
Then the gate opened, and the face of a man appeared, looking at Simon, he was smiling , when he looked at me, it changed to a glare. Simon went through, then with the man still glaring, I inched nervously passed. We went through a small yard, then through a back door and into what looked like a kitchen.
There were two men in the room one said
"Hello Simon", "Hello Baracus" Simon replied.
"Is Yusha in" Simon asked,
"Yes, he’s upstairs".
As we wandered through the house, there seemed to be quite a lot of people milling about. We went up the stairs to the second level, were I followed Simon into a room, there were two men in the room one was a huge man standing with his arms folded, and there was another man, sitting on a bed, Simon spoke to him , and introduced me.
"Hello master, this is Judas... Judas Iscariot" he said,
as he ushered me forward. I was quite nervous, I hadn’t quite recovered from the horrors of the stamping feet.
"Hello Judas" he said "I believe you have been very helpful to us, do you think we will ever remove the Romans from our lands" he asked.
At this point in spite of being in front of what appeared to be a leader of men, my thoughts went to "I hope he doesn’t include me in the "we" in all this".
"Its possible" I nervously replied.
Then he turned to Simon and said "Simon, take Judas down and give him his money, and see he gets something to eat and drink".
Then he looked back at me and said.
"Its nice to meet you Judas". I gave him a slight smile then turned and went out of the room.
After we ate and drank, we decided it would probably be better if we spent the night. I was a bit nervous about being surrounded by lunatic people, so I picket a spot by an exit, just in case.
As I settled down to go to sleep the horrors of the stamping feet had started to fade a little, I did feel quietly pleased about getting one over on the Romans. Although I did make a mental note, never ever to try it again.
He was quite a religious man, Yusha, by all accounts. I think if we hadn’t been occupied by the Romans, he would probably ended up being a priest. He used to like going down to the temple and arguing with priests. His opinion was that the priests at the temple, seemed to have their own agendas, not necessarily religious, and this really annoyed him. He also liked going out of Jerusalem, and getting a crowed gathered, and preaching to them. Telling them what worthless sinners they were, but saying they could be saved. He couldn’t do this in the city, because public gatherings were not allowed.
The Tax collector
Simon called around to see if I fancied go for a walk down by the old section, as some of the lads were there. It wasn’t far, about ten minutes or so.
We emerged from a side street on to a main street, and I could see some of the others a bit further down, but I couldn’t see Yusha. We use to travel in two’s or three’s so as not attract attention.
Coming along the street was a sort of procession, which I recognised as being a tax collector. Which always consisted of a one Roman on horseback, with two more either side, and another two bringing up the rear ,with a small (usually) fat man on a donkey, in the middle.
As I was thinking Yusha and company must be checking up on the information I was given them. When, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a huge lump of wood, with ropes tied either end, like a swing, come flying through the air. It smashed into the front Roman, sending him catapulting backwoods from his horse, and it had the size and momentum to crash into the two in the middle, and sent them flying as well.
Behind, I could see the some of the others, with their faces half covered, pulling the remaining Romans from their horses, and were setting about them with clubs.
I looked at the tax collector, who had a look on his face, that looked like he was even more horrified than I was(if that was possible).It was then I realised I had a club in my hand. (I didn’t have the slightest idea how that had got there).
Just then, Simon, with his face covered, ran over to the tax collector and grabbed two bags that were hanging across the shoulders of his donkey and tore off up the street. Before I new it, I had dropped the club and was tearing of after him, I could hear people behind, chasing us. How the hell had I got involved in this, ten minuets ago I had been happily walking along without a care in the world, now, people, who, if they were to catch me, would probably kill me, was chasing me.
I wasn’t that far behind Simon at this point (remember he was carrying two bags).
He turned right into another street then after about fifty yards he turned left through an open door. As I turned to go through the door, I had a chance to look back, and realised we were being chased by our own people. Although that didn’t ease the fear very much. The house we had ran into looked pretty empty, some bits of furniture but no people, we ran straight through.
After a few more rights and lefts, and through two more houses, we had got quite a long way away, from the robbery and apart from the lack of energy, we had started to slow down a bit. Although I had had to follow Simon, I would have still had enough energy, for a short sprint, if was needed. I swear that the look of horror that was on my face, felt like it was going to be etched there permanently.
We had stopped in a yard of a house we had ran through and were getting our breath back, when I realised Simon, no longer had the bags, I thought he must have dumped them so he could run faster.
"Its OK" he gasped "We should be clear now".
Just then couples of more of our gang came through, stopped and were panting heavily.
I found out later Simon had "dropped the bags off" somewhere along the way.
"Did everyone get away". Asked Simon, "I think so". One of them replied.
I wasn’t very pleased with Simon about all this, when I told him so, he said that in future, if they were up to no good, he would tell me and I wouldn’t have to be there. Needless to say after this the money stopped.
Many of the locals, over the years, had worked out, when these types of events happened, and knowing the Romans response would be to come round, and beat the hell out of everybody based on the "Someone must know something" rule, would decide this would be a good time to visit relatives.
So as when the Romans turned up, the place would be deserted.
I did wonder if the odd merchant, had been coming down the street, without realising what had gone on and thinking "Its awfully quiet around here". Then realising why it was so quiet, had turned and stepped lively in the opposite direction with "Don’t run, don’t run." Going through his mind.

The Romans and me (Again)
I dont know why, but I was arrested and dragged before a Centurion.
They had picked me up in the street and dragged me off.
I was hit across the kidneys, then the backs of my legs, until I was in a kneeling position, with my hands tied behind my back.
"You have some information I want" The Centurion barked.
"Information master...what information, I dot know anything".
That was when I felt a whip handle across the back of my neck.
"Your name is Judas Iscariot, you have been seen hanging around with one or two other people who are connected to a group loosely referred to as the fishermen".
"I dont know any fishermen master.... I am just a simple Jew who is honest and works hard"
At this I felt the whip handle again. My pain tolerances has never been very high, an over firm handshake, would be all it would take to have me confessing to anything, but despite this I still persisted.
"Will you ask him to stop doing that" I begged,
"We have had you followed for the past week".
"Two days ago you were outside the Temple when a disturbance broke out, we saw you leaving that Temple with three other people we believe also may belong to that group. The leader of that group we believe is Ben Yusef and I believe you know him, in fact I believe it was he who started the fracas".
"I dot know who you are talking about master, I don’t know any Ben Yusef".
There he was again, the man with the whip handle.
"A couple of months ago there was an attack on a tax collecting party, this attack was pre-planned, there were only a few people who knew about this party and you were one of them, in fact you were probably the only Jew, that information came through the office were you work".
"I dot know what you are talking about. Lots of people would have known about that".
"Wrong.... Most of this sort of information is on a need to know basis".
It was then someone kicked me in the back.
"I dot think you realise how much trouble your in"
"Please, please master... I dot know what you are talking about"
"Take him away and lock him up".
"Will give you some time to think" Was his parting remark.
It was at this two large Romans started dragging me out with my feet burly touching the floor.
I was dragged along a couple of corridors, down a couple of flights of stairs and tossed into a cell.
I remember when I was first placed in the cell, seeing a pot in the corner and wondered if it was for urinating in or eating my food out of, I decided I would wait until I got desperate then flip a coin. The things, that go through your mind, when you are in trouble.
I couldn’t believe this, how the hell could they have linked me with Yusha, there was a rumpus when Yusha was thrown out of the Temple, but that wasn’t the first time. Who else have they got, it can’t be just me.
I was stooped cowering in the corner in the dark wandering how I got into this mess; I have never been in trouble with the law before or been in trouble with the Romans.
I remember thinking if I get out of this I going keep to myself, work hard and don’t bother with anybody, if I get out of this.
I must have fallen asleep, shortly after I awoke two roman guards came ,bound my hands and dragged me back upstairs, back into the Centurions office, and hurled me to the floor.
"Were will I find Ben Yusef" He growled.
"I dot know any Ben Yusef master" I replied.
That got me a kick in the face.
"I no you were involved in the tax collector attack and that’s more than enough to have you executed".
"All right I admit I was there, but I didn’t know that was going happen, I had gone out for a walk, I certainly wasn’t involved.
"If you were there you were involved." He stated. "Were will I find Ben Yusef". He again asked.
"I dot know master he moves around" I answered.
That got me a kick in the ribs.
"I will ask you again, were is Ben Yusef"
" I really don’t know master, please, please, I am telling you the truth." I replied.
"You know what, I think I believe you, I think you are too much of a snivelling coward to lie".
He motioned to the two guards and said, "Get him up".
At this I was dragged to my feet, I could feel the blood from my nose and mouth
,running down under my chin.
The Centurion then said "I will tell you whets going to happen, you are going to leave here, you are going to find out were Ben Yusef is then you are going to come back here and tell me".
"But master they will kill me if I do that" I replied.
At this he came over and pushed his face up to mine and said "I will kill you of you don’t". Followed by "You will be followed, you will be watched, if you try to hide you will die, if you try to run you will die, is you tell anyone about this you will die, in fact if I get into a bad mood you will die, do you understand".
"Yes master". I replied.
"You have one day". He told me.
At this he told the guards to un-tie me and let me out the back way.
Well it was a start, I was out.
I covered my nose and mouth and made my way home, looking round to see if anyone looked like they might be following me.
After I had cleaned myself up, I found myself pacing up and down trying to decide what I was going to do next, "I know I will tell Simon what had happened" I thought, followed by "No, that would be stupid, I cant do that".
It was still relatively early in the day, I had already decided I wasn’t going to work, well my face was swollen and sore. How was I going to explain that to everyone, how was I going to explain it to Simon?
I decided I would say it was an argument with someone at work, that would explain why I wasn’t at work, hold on a minute may be beat up and robbed would get more sympathy, yes, that’s the one I would go with, then I added things like were and when and that it was dark so didn’t see who it was, and they didn’t get much, because I didn’t have much on me, and obviously there was more than one of them.
I even added I had put up a sterling fight.
The day dragged on and on until eventually just as I had decided I was going to go and look for Simon, he turned up.
"Whet the hell happened to you"? Was his first question.
I told him the story I had made up including the sterling fight I had put up. I am not sure he believed the last part that much.
The hole of my being was screaming at me to ask were Yusha was, but I resisted.
"Do you fancy a walk down by Western Wall". He asked
"No. I don’t really feel that good, I think it would be better if I stayed home for tonight.
"Well you seem a bit edgy and jumpy, not to surprising I suppose". He replied.
His next remark must have been heaven sent, as he was leaving he said.
"Some of the lads are leaving Jerusalem for a while so we are all getting together for a meal before they go, its the day after tomorrow, do you fancy coming".
Oh dear what could I say to that.
"Were is it" I asked"?
"Its at Mustafa, s house, he lives two streets from were you work, right next door to the bakery".
"I will be there if I can." I told him.
OK that’s got the who and the were, what do I do now, make my own way back to the Centurions office and tell him, he’s probably going to throw me back in a cell again. Then I wondered if he might forget me. Well he might he is probably very busy, maybe someone else had already told which would mean he wouldn’t need me.I decided I would wait until someone came for me.
Well, I didn’t have to wait to long, a couple of hours after I had dragged my poor sore body out of bed, after spending most of the night trying to figure a way out of all this, some people turned up and carted me off.
After I had given the information he wanted I was thrown back into my cell. My cell, that’s what I thought of my immediate future, or even longer, probably.
For the rest of that day, and the next couple of days, I was fed and watered two or three times, but other than that hadn’t seen or heard anybody.
The following morning, I was guessing it was, by the feeding, watering and sleeping, two guards came down, tied my hands and dragged me back up to the Centurions office, as I came through I saw three men, two were kind of short and scruffy looking, and between them was Yusha , I also saw a Roman Tribonus sitting in the corner.
As I saw Yusha I averted my eyes , so as to avoid eye contact.
The Centurion spoke to me.
"Which of these men is Yusha Ben Yusef"?
Why the hell would he be asking me which one was Yusha, a blind beggar could have pointed him out.
"Sorry master" I aimed in Yusha,s direction.
"It’s the man in the middle".
"Thank you" Came from the Centurion.
At which I was dragged out put back in my cell.
A number of days past before, other than with food or water, I saw anyone. Then I was taken back up to the Centurions office, this time, though, my hands weren’t tied.
As I walked into his office I was greeted with.
" Iscariot, this could be a good day for you, I am going to release you and in a couple of days, after Ben Yusef,s execution you are going to come back here and collect the reward".
This did take a little while to sink in, collect the reward, this means I am not going to die, it also means I going to be extremely rich. Well, it was me who pointed him out. All this sounded absolutely brilliant. The reward was five hundred pieces of silver.
Then he said "Remember the rules, if you run you will die, if you try to hide you will die, if you don’t do exactly what I tell you, you will die".
Why would I want to run, why would I want to hide, why would I not want to came back and collect five hundred pieces of silver. I could live like a king; I wouldn’t have to work anymore.
In front of him was a piece of parchment and a quill. He handed the quill to me and said.
"Make your mark here and you will be free to go".
Which I did.
"Out the back way," I asked.
"No, out the front". He replied.
As you can probably tell I was extremely puzzled by all this, I was expecting a lengthy trial followed by a long prison sentence or a more likely execution.
All of a sudden I was out on the street, free as a bird and about to become extremely rich. Then I had a sudden attack of reality, everyone probably knows I gave Yusha up to the Romans. That took the wind out of my sails, all of a sudden I found myself covering my face and ducking in and out of the shadows.
I was travelling in the direction of my home, then I thought I cant go there, but I had nowhere else to go, so I would have to sneak in and hope that no one sees me.
After I had had something to eat and got cleaned up, I decided I would have to back out, I needed to find out when Yusha,s execution was, so with my face covered I wanded around the local market, listening to the general chatter, to see what I could find out. It wasn’t much; there were plans for three executions the following day, but no names were mentioned. It must involve Yusha, I thought. He couldn’t have been executed already, because of the conversation I had had with Centurion earlier.

Yusha,s Execution
The trial would probably have been a formality, with Yusha pleading guilty, without even being there, and found guilty and sentenced, all in under an hour. The preferred method of execution was crucifixion, all out in the open, so as everyone could see. Thieves and the like were tied, murders and the like were nailed, Id discovered the two thieves and "one other". I hoped the "one other" was Yusha.
The next day I got myself all covered up and went out to see what I could see or what I could find out. I heard there was a procession heading for Fishersgate and it would then be going up Calvary hill, that’s one of the places they like to stage executions, so I headed in that direction.
By the time I caught the procession up, it was the middle of the afternoon and it had already started up Calvary hill, it was moving quite slowly so it didn’t take me long to get to the front, on the way up I overheard people saying that Yusha had claimed he was the son of god, and the Romans had mockingly called him the King of Kings, and had placed a crown of some sort on his head.
When I got to the front, I saw Yusha, the crown was a crown of thorns and it didn’t look like it had been placed on his head. It looked like it had been rammed on his head, his garments were torn and tattered and his face was covered with blood caused by the thorns, what was odd was the Romans were making him carry his own cross, up the hill, he looked totally exhausted, as he slowly and painfully, inched his way up.
One woman had wiped his face and a man tried to help him but was beaten back by the Roman guards. Why he had carried on up the hill, carrying the cross was beyond me, I think if it had been me, I would have dropped to the floor and been happy to let them beat me to death were I lay.
Calvary hill starts as a road with houses either side then ends up as a path, the procession hadn’t quite reached the end of the houses, so I couldn’t go to far in front or I would have stuck out, so I had to hang back, the last thing I wanted, was for Yusha to recognise me, although he looked as though he couldn’t have recognised anybody.
I looked around to see if there was anyone I knew, or more important any other members of the gang. Would they stage a daring rescue, on second thoughts they were all probably picked up the same night Yusha was.
After what seemed a very long time we reached the top of the hill, the two thieves were in the process of being tied to their crosses, Yusha had collapsed from exhaustion. The Romans took the cross from him and started to get it ready to attach him to it. I don’t know why, it must be human nature, I was compelled to stay and watch, all the people had gathered round to get a good view, some were shouting out one obscenity or another, I could have left if I had wanted, but couldn’t pull myself away. Some seemed to be settling in for the night.
The nails went through one hand then the other, then his feet were placed one on top of the other so it would only take one nail, one blow bludgeoned it through the feet, the next drove it into the wood, then, three or four Romans with the aid of some rope hoisted the cross vertical and dropped the end into a ready made hole, that had been dug between the crosses of the two thieves. Yusha moaned loudly as the weight of his body was transferred to the nails through his hands and feet. This was one form of dying that I wouldn’t like to have gone though, it was far to messy and looked far.far two painful.
Well Yusha had been executed, which meant I could now go and collect all that lovely money.
I made my way back down the hill, trying as much as possible, to avoid people coming from the other direction. It was almost dark by now but I wasn’t to concerned, if a Roman patrol did find me they could escort me to the Centurions office.

My Reward
Since I was released I have had an extremely nagging feeling right at the back of my mind, all this cant be this simple. I was arrested, beaten up, thrown into a cell, bought back up, told I was going to be rich and released. All of a sudden things were starting to get a bit scary, as I was making my way back to the Centurions office, I was trying to work things out, the thought to just run and forget the reward, bought back the warning from the Centurion, was he going to give me a bag full of money, and let me walk away. I didn’t thing he would have had me killed in his office.
The conclusion I came to, was, I was going to have to put my head in the lion’s mouth, and see what happens. I hadn’t really give a thought to this until now, every time I had thought of it, I saw myself walking out of the Centurions office with a smile on my face and a bag full of money. The closer I was getting the more nervous I was becoming.
As I got closer, reasonable amounts of panic had started to set in, what was going through my mind was "Which is the more dangerous, running, or staying". Running would have meant running flat broke, staying meant I could become very rich or dead. Its the money thing, five hundred pieces of silver was more than I could earn in ten life times, at this point, collecting the reward, still seemed the safer option.
After going through all this, I suddenly realised I was outside the Centurions office, the two guards were in the doorway. I plucked up all my courage and walked up. "I’m here to see Centurion Silanus"
"Name". One asked sternly.
"Judas Iscariot" I nervously replied."Wait there"
At this he went into the Centurions office. Moments later he came back out.
"Follow me".
I followed one guard and the other guard followed me.
The Centurion was leaning against his desk.
"Iscariot, your are two early, I haven’t had conformation of the execution yet. And I certainly haven’t received the money yet. Come back tomorrow morning". He said. At this, inspite of my protests, I was ushered back out of the office then back into the street.
What the hell do I do now, I had suddenly decided it was dangerous round here for me. The curfew was on. In the end I decided to sneak home and pack some things in case I had to run. The things that were running through my mind meant I was probably going to have to leave Jerusalem anyway. So I started bundling things up with that in mind.
You know, if I had any intelligence, I would have sorted all this stuff out before now. I hadn’t thought any of this, until now. How was I going to leave Jerusalem I couldn’t just walk, maybe the Centurion would throw in a horse. I had imagined myself buying a big house, with servants and all that sort of stuff. What would I have done with all the money while all this was being sorted, every thief and robber would have known about my sudden wealth.
I did manage to catch a small amount of sleep, its amazing how sinister and frightning noises in the dark are, I must have jump up in panic at least half a dozen times.
Eventually it got light, the sun began to rise, I tried to wait as long as I could,I didnt want to get to Silanus,s office too early.
I sneaked round to Silanus, s office around mid morning, the guards recognised me and took me into Silanus. As we got in, Silanus dismissed the two guards, after this he handed me a quill and pointing to a parchment and said, "Make your mark here". Which I did. He then opened a draw and placed a small bag of coins on the desk.
"What’s this, master". I asked.
"Your reward" He replied.
"This doesn’t look like five hundred pieces of silver, master".
"No, it’s thirty". He replied.
"What about the rest" I asked.
"You have exchanged that for your life". Was his reply.
Well, there had to be a catch, this is till quite a large amount, Thirty is no were near five hundred. The big house and servants started to float from my imagination. Feeling hugely deflated I had started to become angry, but I stopped myself before I said anything.
What entered my mind then, was the idea I wasn’t going to die.
Silanus hadn’t quite finished. "You are going to leave, and your not going to say anything to anybody, then you are going to leave Jerusalem and never come back, if I ever set eyes on you again, you will die. Do you understand this."
"Yes master". I replied.
At this he summoned one of the guards back and told him to show me the way out.
Back outside, feeling reasonably stunned, I drifted down the street, until it struck me, it was still dangerous, at which I covered my face up and went back to ducking in and out of the shadows again.
All of a sudden everything had become clear, that’s why he had wanted me to point Yusha out in his office, they were fiddling the reward money, and I was the stooge.
Well they weren’t going to get away with it that easy, but when I thought it through, there wasn’t really, anything I could do.
I clutched my thirty pieces of silver and sneaked back home again. Although the threat from the Romans had been partly lifted, Yusha, s people were probably still looking for me. On the way I decided I was going to need some help getting out of Jerusalem, so when I got home, I went to see one of my neighbours, Ali, someone I got on particularly well with. I told him the Romans were after me for selling information to someone, and I had to leave Jerusalem, like most Jews he didn’t like the Romans either.
He told me his brother in-law had a horse and cart, he would probably help, but it would cost me.
"Well, you know". I said." I don’t have much, but he’s welcome to what I do have".
At this he left telling me to wait here until he got back. I decided I would go home again and finished getting things ready.
As I reached my back door, a knife came whistling past my ear and thumped into the door, I looked round and saw two men in brown cloaks.
I got through the door and fastened the bolt just before I heard someone slam against it, I started to head for the front, but then thought they will probably be running round to the front thinking I would be going that way, so I waited a few seconds, until I heard some noise at the front, at this I re-opened the door and flew off down the alley.I heard them giving chase.
As I was running, Id recognised the face of one of the two men, the one I recognised was a guard at Silanus,s office from when I had been locked in the cell.
Why were the Romans trying to kill me, maybe these two were just trying to steel the reward money, or, what suddenly made more sense, Silanus was making sure I didn’t talk to anyone or didn’t come back permanently.I took out some pieces of silver and tossed them over my shoulder, to see if that would satisfy them.
I wasn’t running, trying to hide myself, at this point, I was running with more of an air of "Look everybody, someone’s trying to kill me".
After I decided I had covered a fair amount of ground, I slowed to a walk to try to get my breath back, I covered my face and looked around to see if I could see either of the two men, who had been chasing me, I had run around lots of corners, and down lots of streets and alleys. I stopped altogether and stood in a corner to have a good look around. I couldnt see anyone chasing me. There wasn’t any sign of them.
I wonded what I was going to do next, I decided I would have to take a chance and sneak back home again, there was a good chance the two Romans, would think I would not go back there. So that’s what I did.
As I got to within seeing distance I hid around a corner and just watched for a while. As it started to get dark, I decided to make a move, I wasn’t going to my house I was going to Ali,s.
I snook around the back and lightly rapped on the door. After a second or two Ali opened it.
"Were did you go," he asked
"Someone came sneaking round, so I left for a while" I replied.
"My brother-in-law is going to help but its going to cost ten pieces of silver"
"Ten pieces of silver, I haven’t got ten pieces silver, were would I get ten pieces of silver from". I stormed.
"There are posters all over the place saying you got a five hundred pieces of silver reward for something". He replied.
Well would you believe it, I wasn’t expecting the Romans to do that. It took about half an hour to convince Ali I had only got thirty pieces of silver, which involved searching me, then, sneaking next door and searching my, belongings. After which he generously decided to accept five. Five pieces of silver, I could have bought ten horses and carts for that. But, as Ali pointed out, I had no other choice.
Ali told me that his wife and kids had been visiting her sister and were staying there for the night, so it would be better if I stayed here.
We spent half the night reminiscing, about better days. He said his brother-in-law would be picking me up at first light and just as it got light he was there he and Ali had a quiet little about...money probably, after which we threw my bundle on the cart ready to go.
The cart was filled with crates and jars of different sizes and a hole had been left in the middle for me.
"Which way out of the city are we going to use". I asked, "I would like to go north"
"Well" He replied "We wont be going straight out, I have deliveries to make".
"How long will that take". I asked.
"Most of the day". He replied.
"Most of the day, take the day off, your getting five pieces of silver for this " I stormed.
"I’m sorry". He said "But my customers depend on me, I have to make these deliveries, I cannot let them down".
So after some shouting and swearing and foot stamping from me. (Which didnt change anything), we set out.
It was another hot dry day, I had water in the back with me, and we ate some bread half way through.
In case your wondering, wasn’t the cart going to get emptier and emptier, when he delivered a full crate or jar he bought back an empty.
As the day wore on I got dustier and as the cart started to loose its weight it got bouncier and bouncier.
Finally he said, "That’s the last delivery. Which way out of the city did you want to go".
"I want to go north". I replied.
"That’s way accross the other side of the city". He replied.
"That’s the way I want to go". I told him.
"That’s a fair distance, we will be pushing it making curfew". He replied.
"Well the curfew only extends to the edge of the city, so if we get a move on I might make it.
At last I was finally going to get out of the city. Probably the only good thing at this point was that the Romans who had tried to kill me, will have given up, thinking I was miles away by now.

We didn’t get all the way across the city before it had got dark and we were a couple of hundred yards away, when we encounter a Roman patrol.
We could see the city gate. But we hadn’t reached it.
I was still hiding in the back, when the cart stopped.
"It’s a Roman patrol". Ali,s brother-in-law whispered back to me.
Followed by." Stay there".
I heard the lead Roman approach the cart.
"I’m going out of the city" Ali,s brother-in law told him.
"You know there is a curfew on". He said, as he walked around the cart.
"Oh dear what’s going to happen now". I was thinking.
I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea, jumping from the cart and making a run for the gate. Just getting out of the gate wouldn’t have been enough.
Ali,s brother-in-law offered him a bribe of two pieces of silver. I couldn’t believe my ears, as if I wasn’t in enough trouble.
"Get down from the cart". The Roman demanded.
At this Ali,s brother-in law jumped down.
I could just about hear what was being said.
"What’s a Jew like you, doing with pieces of silver, let me see what’s in the bag".
Ali,s brother-in-law obliged.
"Well, you can leave the city but it is going to cost you, how many have you got there, its going to cost you five".
And with that he took all five. Brilliant, that’s ten its cost me.
At this the Romans marched off, and we left the city.
We travelled a few miles down the road, at which we pulled off the road and behind a group rocks, were we spent the night.
When it got light we had some bread a drink and got ready to leave.
Ali,s brother-in-law took my bundle from the cart and dropped it next to me.
"What are you doing". I asked.
I’m leaving". He Replied." Going back home.
"But what about me, you cant just me hear".
"You paid me to get you out of the city, you are out of the city".
Well would you believe it, a bit more arguing and swearing and stamping of feet, and another five pieces of silver, we were heading in the direction of the next town.
Around four hours later we reached it.
"This is as far as I go, Iv got to get back before nightfall". He said.
There were a number of Romans milling about, so I asked him to see if he could get me some transport. He took two pieces of silver and left me with the cart.
As he was gone I thought I could take his, Iv paid him enough.
But then thought he would probably send the Romans after me.
While he was away I decided to have a quick count up, to see how much all this had cost me.
There was original five for AIi,s brother-in-law, plus five for the bribe, two (or hopefully less) for my transport and I worked out I had tossed four over my shoulder when I was being chased. Sixteen left. I don’t know how the rich stayed rich I wasn’t going to manage it.
He was gone about half an hour and when he returned, he had a horse and cart, well I say a horse and cart, the horse looked like its back was broken and the cart was falling apart.

"Is that the best you can find". I asked.

"That’s about the only horse and cart in the town that’s for sale". He replied.

I was tempted to grab the nearest horse and cart passing by and offer the owner lots of money. But then I thought it wasn’t a good idea as I could end up drawing attention to myself.
So I had to settle for what I had.
I waved goodbye to Ali,s –brother-in- law. (I never did find out his name. We were never actually introduced.)
I sneaked around and bought some food, then set of on the road north.
As I had been doing for a while, I had my hood up and my face partially covered. I was keeping a good lookout for any potential problems I might come across, the problem with this was I wasn’t looking for or expecting problems from behind.
All of a sudden a Roman on horseback appeared beside me. He looked at me. I looked around and saw there was about ten of them.
My half covered, face became uncovered.
"Judas Iscariot". He said. "Fancy seeing you here".
I new who he was, He was attached to Gallus,s office were I had worked.
"Hello". I reluctantly replied.
At this point we were all stationary.
"Haven’t you just received a huge reward". He asked.
Now, remembering Silanus,s warnings. How do I reply to this?. Because I new him, I decided the truth might work.
"I didn’t receive the hole reward, I only received thirty pieces of silver". I replied.
"What happened to the rest". He asked.
"Centurion Salnus kept it". I replied.
"You do realise, you are accusing a Roman officer of stealing money".
"No no, I’m not saying that ". I started to say.
"Alright turn your self around, lets go back to Jerusalem, and sort this out". He suggested.
"NO… no I don’t want to go back to Jerusalem". I begged him.
"OK… give me ten pieces of silver, and you can carry on going, to were ever it is your going". Was his reply.
Well, why didn’t I see that coming. As usual I didn’t really have any choice.
I gave him the ten pieces of silver, and was allowed to continue on my journey.
That was the last scare I had, really.

I carried on travelling for two more days, until I decided I was reasonably safe. Then, I changed my name, and found an Inn to stay at.
I stayed at this Inn for quite a long time. It was on a main road, so it had quite a lot of traffic coming and going.
I did here that when the Romans went to arrest Yusha, they didn’t realise the amount of people, that was going to be there, because of that, some of them had managed to escape.
I also heard a rumour, that the day after the execution, when they took Yusha down, he wasn’t quite dead, and they had managed to revive him. But I don’t put much store in that, as I have never seen or heard anything of him, from that day to this.
After I had got fed up sneaking around all the time, I moved to another town away from a main road, I found myself somewhere to live, paid someone to teach me how to make and repair sandals.
Today, I have a nice little business, a wife and three children (two girls and a boy). I’m never going to be rich, but it keeps me out of mischief.

I have still got two pieces of silver hidden away…Just in case.
THE END

P.S. In Islam it’s believed that besides Mohamed, there were twelve others. I think they were called “Sharman”. One of them went missing and it’s said the thirteenth Sharman was the messiah, and he would return.
Some time fter 911 some Moslems were suggesting that Bin Laden could be the thirteenth Sharman.
This to me, gives a really good indication of how the “Jesus” story got started.
The Jesus story,up to the crucifixion,was written by a man called “Paul” (Probably not his correct name). Who was not a “Disciple”.He was a man who lived in Turkey and never met Jesus in his entire life. His story was written using hear-say and rumour. This by the way, is how “Miracles” are invented.

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