Chapter 03
It took a while to track down a shrine to Eros and even when they finally found one down a narrow alley near the port it took even longer to find the priest and wake him up. As Publius watched the priest prepare the sacrifice and made ready to pray for a successful end to his quest he reflected that most worshippers of the god probably did so much later in the day and were probably in the company of some girl from the port. By the time the priest had killed the animal and recited his prayers the freshness of the morning was long gone and the sun was fiercely hot when Publius and Geta arrived at the house of Ephraim the horse dealer by the north gate. Geta laid down the bundles he was carrying and knocked on the door.
"Door! Door!" Geta shouted between blows.
An elderly man with a hooked nose opened the door. "Good morning, sirs."
"Ephraim the horse dealer?" Publius stepped forward.
"At your service, my lord." The man looked at him appraisingly. "Centurion?"
"Yes." Publius looked surprised. "How did you know?"
The old man pointed to the bundles that Geta had placed on the ground. "Your vine rod, my lord."
Publius laughed. "Very observant. I suppose you can also guess our business."
The old man nodded. "Yes, you are on leave and you have come to buy two horses cheap."
"Well, I guess the horses part is obvious," Publius conceded. "How do you know I am on leave?"
"If you were travelling on official business, my lord, the garrison would have supplied you with mounts. If you didn't want cheap, you would have gone to Androcles."
Publius nodded. "Clearly you are a man who uses his head as well as his eyes. Now, can you tell me how much I want to spend?"
The man Ephraim stared at them steadily for a long moment and shrugged. "No, I can't tell you that. However I can tell you how much you will have to pay. I've got a couple of good horses here for once. Come and have a look at them."
"I'll stay here with the baggage, Master," Geta said.
Ephraim led the way round the back of the house to where a couple of scrawny horses pulled wearily at a manger of hay.
"These are good horses?" Publius asked.
"No," Ephraim said. "The good ones are in the stable behind them. You'll see."
A groom came out of the stable as they approached and halted, watching them. Ephraim beckoned to him.
"Bring out the two we got from that Syrian."
The groom touched his forhead and turned back into the stable.
"Wait here a moment," Ephraim said. "I must admit that I don't usually deal in beasts of this quality, but a Syrian traveller on his way to Rome called in here and wanted me to buy them. I told him that Androkles would give him a better price but he insisted that he wanted to sell them to me."
"Why?" Publius asked.
Ephraim looked at him thoughtfully. "Have you heard of the Therapeutae?" he asked.
"Those philosophers who live in the desert?" Publius looked interested.
"That's right - except that they don't all live in the desert, only the stricter ones. Others live in various places, including a colony of them up in Damascus. This fellow was one of them and, naturally, he preferred to deal with a Jew - even though I am not an Essene - than with a gentile."
"You're not a what?"
"An Essene," Ephraim explained. "They go by various names. In Egypt they are called Therapeutae, but here their more common name is Essene. I'm not surprised that you have heard of them, for one of their number has recently caused quite a stir. John, called the Baptiser. Have you heard of him?"
"No," Publius shook his head. "I can't say that I have. What has he been doing? Stirring up rebellion against us?"
"No. His message is that the Messiah is coming and that he is the one sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. However the way to do that, apparently, is not by gathering weapons or engaging in military training, but by washing away your sins in a ceremony called 'baptism'. You go down into the water and he pronounces a blessing over you while you duck beneath the surface."
"Have you heard him yourself?" Publius asked.
Ephraim shook his head. "No, nor am I likely to now. He had the temerity to rebuke Herod Antipas for stealing his brother's wife and last year Herod arrested him and carried him off to Machaerus."
Publius nodded. "Hardly surprising. From all I hear, these Herods are tough babies. I wouldn't want to get in the bad books of any of them."
Ephraim grimaced. "I fear that you are right and that we shall not see John the Baptiser again. Anyway," he said, gesturing to the groom who had brought two fine horses up behind him, "that is why I have these two horses. Do you like them?"
Publius stood back and looked over the animals carefully, then went forward and examined them more closely, running his hand over them, peering at their teeth and lifting their legs to look at their feet. Finally he stood back.
"They are good animals. How much do you want?"
"Fifty drachma each," Ephraim said.
"Fifty?" Publius looked startled. "But . . . but . . ."
"You were expecting to pay more?" Ephraim asked.
Publius opened his mouth and then shut it again. After a moment he said, "Well, I certainly expected you to ask more."
Ephraim nodded. "Six months ago I would have, but at the Passover in Jerusalem last year I listened to a rabbi called Joshua. Many think that he is the Messiah, but whether he is or not, he convinced me that I should live a righteous life. One of the things he said has stuck in my mind: he said, 'Let your yes be yes and your no be no', which I understand to mean that I must tell the simple truth at all times."
"Yes," Publius looked puzzled. "So?"
"So I am asking from you just ten drachmae more than I paid for the animals. You would not deny me some profit from the transaction?"
"Well, if you're going to be honest, I will be too," Publius heard himself saying. "These animals are worth at least eighty drachmae each."
"You may well be right," Ephraim said. "However seeing as I didn't pay their proper value, it would not be right for me to demand it."
"All right," Publius said, pulling out his money bag. "You may not demand it and I cannot afford to pay it, but I insist on showing my gratitude for your honesty. We'll split the difference. I want to pay you sixty-five drachmae each."
"No, no," Ephraim exclaimed, but Publius counted out the money and forced it into his hand.
"If you don't want to keep the extra money you can give it to this Rabbi Joshua of yours. Holy men are always in need of money and someone who can make a horse-dealer honest deserves encouragement!"
