“English? Why? Who speaks English here when that language doesn’t even exist yet?”

“No, no, not English,” he replied patiently. “So far as everyone here will be concerned you are an old friend of mine—a writer of history and prose—from Rome!”

This was all getting more and more unbelievable by the minute. “I can speak Aramaic and Greek and Hebrew and Latin?”

“Whichever you need for any particular occasion. Actually, Aramaic and Greek should suffice in most cases. They are both in common use here.”

“And I’m a friend of yours from Rome,” I repeated uncertainly, “a writer of prose and history?”

“We are completely within the truth, Matthias,” Joseph assured me. “You are already a fine writer of many volumes of prose; your long unfinished manuscript, ‘The Christ Commission,’ most assuredly deals with history; and your late mother’s roots, believe me, go back to where she said they did—Rome.”

“And how do we explain my reason for being here?”

“Very easily. Many noble citizens of Rome visit this humble place in the course of a year, usually on business involving my trade caravans. So far as everyone need be concerned, you are here researching a history of the people of the eastern provinces and visiting with me because we have mutual friends in the capital. We will explain that your history is also to include the story of Israel’s great men and that I had suggested you should include the story of Jesus in your work. Those who were close to Jesus will gladly confide in you, on my recommendation, in the hope that they can convert you to their cause as many other Romans of influence have been converted, both in and out of the military.”

“What about the high priest of the Jews, Caiaphas?”

Joseph smiled cynically. “I am, as you probably know from your work, a member of the Sanhedrin, and my contributions to the Temple treasury each year are of some magnitude. He and his subordinates will be eager to meet with you, since they probably will suspect that you are an agent of Vitellius, or even the emperor, here under the subterfuge of writing a history but actually to review the general conditions and current relationships between them and Pilate. They will go to great lengths to keep Vitellius and Tiberius satisfied that everything here is peaceful and under control.”

“How about Pilate? Why should he talk with me?”