The Gladiators. A Tale of Rome and Judæa

by G. J. Whyte-Melville

  CHAPTER IX

  THE PAVED HALL

  [Initial A]

  All eyes were now turned on Eleazar, who sat unmoved in his place,affecting a composure which he was far from feeling. His mind, indeed, wastortured to agony, by the conflict that went on within. Should he standboldly forward and confess that he had sent his own brother into the Romancamp, with proposals for surrender? Well he knew that such a confessionwould be tantamount to placing his neck at once under John of Gischala'sfoot. Who amongst his most devoted partisans would have courage to professa belief in his patriotic motives, or allow that he was satisfied with theexplanation offered for such a flagrant act of treason? The condemnationof the Sanhedrim would be the signal for his downfall and his death. Whenhe was gone who would be left to save Jerusalem? This was theconsideration that affected him, far more than any personal apprehensionsof danger or disgrace. On the other hand, should he altogether renouncehis brother, and disavow the authority he had given him? It has alreadybeen said, that as far as he loved any living being, he loved Calchas;perhaps had it not been so, he might have shrunk from the disgrace ofabandoning one who had acted under his own immediate orders, and risked somuch in obeying them; but in the depths of his fierce heart, somethingwhispered that self-sacrifice was essentially akin to duty, and that_because_ he loved him, therefore he must offer up his brother, as a manoffers up a victim at the altar.

  Nevertheless, he ran his eye hastily over his seventy-two colleagues, asthey sat in grave deliberation, and summed up rapidly the score of friendsand foes. It was nearly balanced, yet he knew there were many who wouldtake their opinions from the Nasi; and from that stern old man he couldexpect nothing but the severity of impartial justice. He dared not look atCalchas, he dared not cover his face with his hand to gain a brief respitefrom the cold grave eyes that were fixed upon him. It was a bitter moment,but he reflected that, in the cause of Jerusalem, shame and suffering andsorrow, and even sin, became sacred, and he resolved to sacrifice all,even his own flesh and blood, to his ascendency in the town.

  He was spared the pain, however, of striking the fatal blow with his ownhand. Matthias, scrupulous in all matters of justice, had decided thatuntil the accusation against him was supported by some direct evidence, nomember of the Sanhedrim could be placed in the position of a culprit. Hetherefore determined to interrogate the prisoners himself, and ascertainwhether anything would be elicited of so grave a nature as to causeEleazar's suspension from his present office, and the consequentreassembling of the whole Sanhedrim; a delay that in the present criticalstate of matters it was desirable to avoid, the more so that the day wasalready far advanced, and the morrow was the Sabbath. He therefore orderedthe two prisoners to be placed in the centre of the hall; and, lookingsternly towards the accused, began his interrogations in the severeaccents of one who is an avenger rather than a judge.

  The mild eye and placid demeanour of Calchas afforded a strong contrast tothe frowning brows and flashing glances of the Nasi.

  "Your name, old man," said the latter abruptly. "Your name, lineage, andgeneration?"

  "Calchas the son of Simeon," was the reply, "the son of Manahem, of thehouse of Manahem, and of the tribe of Judah."

  "Art thou not the brother of Eleazar Ben-Manahem, who is sitting yonder inhis place as a member of the Sanhedrim, before whom thou hast to plead?"

  Ere he replied, Calchas stole a look at Eleazar, who forced himself toreturn it. There was something in the elder brother's face that caused theyounger to turn his eyes away, and bend them on the ground. The fierce oldpresident, impatient of that momentary delay, broke out angrily--

  "Nay, look up, man! no subterfuges will avail thee here. Remember the fateof those who dare to lie in the presence of the Sanhedrim!"

  Calchas fixed his eye on the president's in mild rebuke.

  "I am in a higher presence than thine, Matthias son of Boethus," said he;"neither need the children of Manahem be adjured to speak truth before Godand man!"

  "Hast thou heard the accusation brought against thee by John of Gischala?"proceeded the Nasi. "Canst thou answer it with an open brow and a cleanheart?"

  "I heard the charge," replied Calchas, "and I am ready to answer it formyself, and for him who is in bonds by my side. Have I permission to clearmyself before the Sanhedrim?"

  "Thou wilt have enough to do to slip thine own neck out of the yoke,"answered Matthias sternly. "Colleagues," he added, looking round, "ye haveheard the accuser--will ye now listen to the accused?"

  Then Phineas, speaking for the rest, answered: "We will hear him, Nasi,without favour, we will judge him without mercy."

  Thus encouraged, Calchas shook the white hair from his brow, and enteredboldly on his defence.

  "It is true," said he, "that I have been outside the walls. It is truethat I have been in the Roman camp, nay, that I have been in the verypresence of Titus himself. Shall I tell the assembly of the strength ofRome, of the discipline of her armies, of the late reinforcement of herlegions? Shall I tell them that I saw the very auxiliaries eating wheatenbread and the flesh of kids and sheep, whilst my countrymen are starvingbehind the walls? Shall I tell them that we are outnumbered by our foes,and are ourselves weakened by dissensions, and wasting our strength andcourage day by day? Shall I tell them that I read on the face of Titusconfidence in himself and reliance on his army, and, even with aconviction that he should prevail, a wish to show pity and clemency to thevanquished? All this they already know, all this must make it needless forme to enter into any defence beyond a simple statement of my motives. Nay,I have gathered intelligence from the Roman camp," he added, now fixinghis eyes on his brother, to whom he had no other means of imparting theanswer, which the prince had confided to him through Licinius by word ofmouth,--"intelligence, the importance of which should well bear meharmless, even had I committed a greater offence than escaping from abeleaguered town to hold converse with the enemy. Titus," he spoke now ina loud clear voice, of which every syllable rang through thebuilding--"Titus bade me be assured that his determination was unalterable,to grant no further delay, but, surrender or no surrender, to enterJerusalem the day after the Sabbath, and if he encountered resistance, tolay waste the Holy City with fire and sword!"

  Eleazar started to his feet, but recollected himself, and resumed his seatinstantaneously. The action might well be interpreted as the mere outbreakof a soldier's energy, called, as it were, by the sound of the trumpet tothe wall. This, then, was what he had gained, a respite, a reprieve of oneday, and that one day he had purchased at the dear price of his brother'slife. Yet even now the fierce warrior reflected with a grim delight, howjudiciously he had used the time accorded him, and how, when the proudRoman did make his threatened assault, he would meet with a receptionworthy of the warlike fame so long enjoyed by the Jewish nation.

  The rest of the Sanhedrim seemed scared and stupefied. Every man looked inhis neighbour's face, and read there only dismay and blank despair. Thecrisis had been long threatening, and now it was at hand. Resistance washopeless, escape impossible, and captivity insupportable. The prevailingfeeling in the assembly was, nevertheless, one of indignation against thebearer of such unwelcome tidings. The Nasi was the first to recoverhimself, yet even he seemed disturbed.

  "By whose authority," said he--and every eye was turned on Eleazar while hespoke--"by whose authority didst thou dare to enter the camp of the enemy,and traffic with the Gentile who encompasseth the Holy City with bow andspear?"

  The chief of the Zealots knew well that he was the observed of all hiscolleagues, many of whom would triumph at his downfall, whilst even hisown partisans would detach themselves from it, each to the best of hisabilities, when his faction ceased to be in the ascendant. He knew, too,that on his brother's answer hung not only his life--which indeed he hadrisked too often to rate at a high value--but the stability of the wholefabric he had been building for months--the authority by wh
ich he hoped tosave Jerusalem and Judaea, for which he grudged not to peril his immortalsoul; and knowing all this, he forced his features into a sedate andsolemn composure. He kept his eye away from the accused indeed, but fixedsternly on the president, and sat in his place the only man in the wholeof that panic-stricken assembly who appeared master of the situation, andconfident in himself. Calchas paused before he answered, waiting till thestir was hushed, and the attention which had been diverted to his brothersettled once more on his own case. Then he addressed the Nasi in boldsonorous accents, his form dilating, his face brightening as he spoke--

  "By the authority of Him who came to bring peace on earth--by the authoritythat is as far greater than that of Sanhedrim, or priest, or conqueror, asthe heavens are higher than the sordid speck of dust on which, but forthat authority, we should only swarm and grovel and live one little hour,like the insects dancing in the sunbeams, to die at the close of day--I ama man of peace! Could I bear to see my country wasted by the armed hand,and torn by the trampling hoof? I love my neighbour as myself. Could Ibear to know that his grasp was day by day on his brother's throat? I havelearned from my Master that all are brethren, besieger and besieged, Romanand barbarian, Jew and Gentile, bond and free. Are they at variance, andshall I not set them at one? Are their swords at each other's breasts, andshall I not step between and bid them be at peace? By whose authority,dost thou ask me, Matthias son of Boethus? By His authority who came toyou, and ye knew Him not. Who preached to you, and ye heeded Him not. Whowould have saved you in His own good time from the great desolation, andye reviled Him, and judged Him, and put Him to death on yonder hill!"

  Even the Prince of the Sanhedrim was staggered at the old man's boldness.Like other influential men of his nation, he could not ignore theexistence of a well-known sect, which had already exchanged its title ofNazarenes for that of Christians, the name in which it was hereafter tospread itself over the whole earth; but the very mention of these self-devoted men was an abomination in his ears, and the last house in which hecould have expected to find a votary of the cross, was that of EleazarBen-Manahem, chief of such a party as the Zealots, and grounding hisinfluence on his exclusive nationality and strict adhesion to the verybigotry of the Jewish law. He looked on Calchas for a space, as ifscarcely believing his eyes. Then there came over his features, alwaysstern and harsh, an expression of pitiless severity, and he addressed hiscolleagues, rather than the accused.

  "This is even a graver matter than I had thought for," said he, in a lowyet distinct voice, that made itself heard in the farthest corner of theCourt. "Princes of the house of Judah, elders and nobles, and priests andLevites of the nation, I am but the instrument of your will, the weaponwielded by your collective might. Is it not the duty of mine office that Ismite and spare not?"

  "Smite and spare not!" repeated Phineas; and the whole assembly echoed themerciless verdict.

  There was not one dissentient, not even Eleazar, sitting gloomy andresolved in his place. Then Matthias turned once more to Calchas, andsaid, still in the same suppressed tones--

  "Thou speakest in parables, and men may not address the Sanhedrim save inthe brief language of fact. Art thou then one of those accursed Nazareneswho have called themselves Christians of late?"

  "I am indeed a Christian," answered Calchas, "and I glory in the name.Would that thou, Matthias son of Boethus, and these the elders of Judah,were partakers with me in all that name affords."

  Then he looked kindly and joyfully in Eleazar's face, for he knew that hehad saved his brother. The corselet of the latter rattled beneath his longblack robe with the shiver that ran through his whole frame. The tensionwas taken off his nerves at last, and the relief was great, but it waspurchased at too dear a price. Now that it was doomed, he felt the valueof his brother's life. He was totally unmanned, and shifted uneasily inhis seat, not knowing what to do or say. They seemed to have changedplaces at last--Calchas to have assumed the bold unyielding nature, andEleazar the loving tender heart. He recovered himself, however, beforelong. The ruling passion triumphed once more, as he anticipated thediscomfiture of his rival, and the speedy renewal of his own ascendencyamongst his countrymen.

  The Prince of the Sanhedrim reflected for a few moments ere he turned hissevere frown on Esca, and said--

  "What doth this Gentile here in the Court of the Sanhedrim? Let him speakwhat he knoweth in this matter, ere he answer his own crime. Thy testimonyat least may be valid," he added scornfully, "for thou surely art not aChristian?"

  The Briton raised his head proudly to reply. If there was less of holymeekness in his demeanour than in that of Calchas, there was the same boldair of triumph, the same obvious defiance of consequences, usuallydisplayed by those who sealed their testimony with their blood.

  "I _am_ a Christian," said he. "I confess it, and I too, like my teacherthere, glory in the name! I will not deny the banner under which I serve.I will fight under that banner, even to the death."

  The Nasi's very beard bristled with indignation; he caught up the skirt ofhis mantle, and tore it asunder to the hem. Then, raising the pieces thusrent above his head, he cried out in a loud voice, "It is enough! Theyhave spoken blasphemy before the Sanhedrim. There is nothing more but topronounce immediate sentence of death. Phineas Ben-Ezra, bid thycolleagues adjourn to the Stone-paved Hall!"

  Then the assembly rose in silence, and, marching gravely two by two,passed out into an adjoining chamber, which was paved, and roofed, andfaced with stone. Here alone was it lawful to pass sentence of death onthose whom the Sanhedrim had condemned; and here, while their judges stoodround them in a circle, the prisoners with their guard fronting the Nasitook their position in the midst. The latter stooping to the ground wentthrough the form of collecting a handful of dust and throwing it into theair.

  "Thus," said he, "your lives are scattered to the winds, and your bloodrecoils on your own heads. You, Calchas the son of Simeon, the son ofManahem, of the house of Manahem, and you, Gentile, called Esca on thescroll which has been delivered into my hand, shall be kept in secure wardtill to-morrow be past, seeing that it is the Sabbath, and at morning'sdawn on the first day of the week ye shall be stoned with stones in theOuter Court adjoining the Temple until ye die; and thus shall be done, andmore also, to those who are found guilty of blasphemy in the presence ofthe Sanhedrim!"

  Then turning to Eleazar, who still retained his forced composurethroughout the hideous scene, he added--

  "For thee, Eleazar Ben-Manahem, thy name is still untarnished in thenation, and thy place still knows thee amongst thy brethren. The testimonyof a Nazarene is invalid; and no accusation hath yet been brought againstthee supported by any witness save these two condemned and accursed men.That thou hast no portion, my brother, with blasphemers scarcely needsthine own unsupported word in the ears of the Sanhedrim!"

  Eleazar, with the same fixed white face, looked wildly round him on theassembled elders, turning up the sleeves of his gown the while, and movinghis hands over each other as though he were washing them.

  "Their blood be on their own head," said he. "I renounce them from myfamily and my household--I abjure them, I wash my hands of them--their bloodbe on their own head!"

  And while he spoke, the warning voice was heard again outside the Temple,causing even the bold heart of the Nasi to thrill with a wild andunaccustomed fear--the voice of the wailing prophet crying, "Woe toJerusalem! Woe to the Holy City! Sin and sorrow and desolation! Woe to theHoly City! Woe to Jerusalem!"