In the early hours of that morning, before the break of dawn, Lazarus was suddenly woken, unsure by what, he left his tent and ventured out into the darkness of the desert. Ephraim found his brother at day break sitting beside the grave of Rachel with one of the Magi. In one hand his sword, in the other the scrolls. The other two Magi were preparing their camels for the return journey to their homeland. Some yards away lay two more of Herod’s mercenaries, who had crept into camp in the twilight hours searching for the daughters of Rachel. Ephraim inspected their bodies, his brothers sword had been swift and true. Their death would have been quick. They would not of suffered. Ephraim collected up their weapons, noting that they had been well made, they were Roman.
‘Will they ever stop coming’, thought Ephraim, as he stared out into the hazy light. He looked over his shoulder at Lazarus. His brother was weeping. “You did well last night my brother, but tell me, who do you weep for”?
Lazarus stood up and brushed the desert sand from his clothes. “I weep for our parting, for I have to leave you Ephraim. I have to protect the daughters of Rachel. I have to…”.
“The Magi have you spooked brother", interrupted Ephraim. " We can protect them until we return home”.
“No Ephraim. It is writen, here in the scrolls. I have to search for Babili”. Lazarus placed the two scrolls inside his tunic and thanked the Magi for his guidance. “I travel with the Magi to the source of the Euphrates and then I will go my own way with the daughters of Rachel”. Ephraim knew it would be futile to argue with his brother so he helped him prepare the wagon and chose a good horse for their journey. After the brothers had private words and embraced they said their farewell. With the little possessions they had, Lazarus and the daughters of Rachel set out on a journey, to find a sanctuary from the murdering mercenaries who had hunted them across the Syrian dessert. A journey that would take them from the River Euphrates to the River Doura. To the City of Homs and then to Antioch, but still they were hunted. They crossed the sea to the island of Cyprus and across the sea again to the City of Smyrna. Then to Greece, where finally the predators lost the scent. They settled in Greece and as the years passed Lazarus watched them grow from frail children into fine young women. He was proud of his ‘daughters’. They had the ability to heal the sick, and the wealthy paid them well to cure their ailments. Their reputation preceded them and they became sought after by rich Romans eager for their knowledge and healing powers. They were summond to Rome. Lazarus was convinced they had been guided all these years by their god Yahweh, but surely not to serve Rome.
But he knew that what Rome desired, Rome would have, and he had no choise but to accept its demand.
It is now early summer 14AD.
The morning sun cracked the eastern skyline and lit the horizon like a silver fan that sent diamonds dancing across the pale blue Mediterranean Sea. The gentle sea breeze filled the salty air with the aromas of fresh fruit, spices and herbs. Freshly caught fish were being gently cooked over hot embers. Cold wine that had been chilled in the sea overnight was being sold by the cup. The rich and the poor mingled with Roman military. Carts, loaded with goods rumbled along the boardwalk. Noisy children pestered the busy Dealers. Beggars, blind and crippled, called out for compassion as money changed hands for the rare and exotic.
The port of Caralis in Southern Sardinia was alive.
The rich merchants had moored their ships throughout the night. They had arrived form all corners of the empire, and beyond. There were ships from the Africa’s with carved ivory, linen and wool. Others had spices form the Far East. Silver from Spain. Perfumes from the orient. Papyrus paper from Egypt. Wild horses from Gaul. Slave ships from India. Tin from the Cassiterides.
The merchants were trading.
Young Titus had arrived early, firstly to watch the sunrise and admire one of the wonders of his world, and then to watch the vast array of goods being unloaded at the dockside. Titus was the son of a Roman Tribune. But he had not the makings of a soldier, but of a scholar. He was an apprentice of the great ‘Strabo’ the famous Greek geographer. He had read all his books. He had also studied the readings of ‘Aristodemus’ and the early philosophers, he enjoyed the writings of Philo Judeas and Titus Livius, and, much to his fathers distaste, even studied the early writings of the Hebrew faith. His Cretian mother had encouraged his learning’s, but she had been left behind in Crete when his father had been posted to Sardinia. He yearned to see her again, and the island he loved so much. But felt his duty was to Rome, and his studies. As he passed a slave ship, Titus looked away in disgust. He believed that life and freedom were gifts from the gods and should be respected. The young Titus had reached one the many ships owned by Joseph of Arimathea. He knew the ship and the captain well. For he had sailed on her several times form his native Crete. He had made friends with the ships carpenter, a young man named Jesus. They had talked of all things, long into the night, and Titus was amazed at the knowledge and wisdom of his young friend.
“Captain it is I, Titus of Khania. Is Jesus aboard?”
“ Not on this voyage, but come aboard for we have much to interest you today Titus, I have been to Gaul and the Cassiterides”. The Young Titus stepped aboard, curious about the island of tin, where the Phoenicians had traded over 1000 years ago. He had heard many stories of this barbaric island where the great Julius Caesar had been defeated some 60 years earlier.
“Is it true what they say about….what’s this ?” The young man fell to his knees and picked up the rough edged cubic crystal. Yellow, white and purple colours radiated in the sunlight, and one side had been so highly polished that the concentrated patterns could be clearly seen.
“ Is this from the Casiterides, are there more?”. He asked eagerly. The captain threw up his hands and laughed, “Slow down young Titus, Yes it is and yes there are, but I only have the one. And that has been taken in payment for passage to Rome” The young man held the crystal to his chest, “Rome! I must show this to the great ‘Strabo’.” Titus held the crystal up to the sunlight, and the mass of colours formed the sphere of a crown and he whispered under his breath.
“Flour-Spar”!
The captain looked up at the crystal, “What’s that you called it? What is it?”. Titus handed the crystal back to its owner, “That stone is special. I must sail with you for Rome”. The Captain looked around him, then spoke quietly to young Titus, “I think you should meet the man who gave me the stone, for he has a strange story to tell, and he speaks in two tongues, that of our tongue and that of the Cassiterides, he claims to have lived among them for many years”. Titus readily agreed, and followed the captain below deck to the dark and musty hold where he was introduced to a very frightened and nervous old man, who called himself Hogard. Titus coaxed Hogard above deck into the warm sunlight, paid for the mans breakfast of fresh bread, fruit and water and listened to his amazing story…….
I was fifteen when I joined the army, I looked older so I lied about my age. My father was a trusted slave. A house builder who had much knowledge of his trade. One day the soldiers came looking for recruits. I wanted adventure and excitement. I would be paid and fed well, and no longer be a slave, so I enlisted. Six months later I was aboard a ship on the coast of Northern Gaul, ready to invade the Cassiterides. We meet little resistance at first and advanced swiftly north. I was part of an advanced cavalry unit that travelled by night, and surveyed the land by day. We mapped out the rivers, valleys and surrounding hills, we searched for natural resources, like minerals, food and fresh water and also any hostile resistance. We were always a day ahead of the advancing force. One of our unit would report back to Caesar every night. One night our runner did not return. They always returned, always. We knew there was something wrong. We were ordered to rest for the day and we would return at nightfall. As we slept that day we came under attack from Iceni warriors. They outnumbered us, and were fierce fighters. Our whole Turma were slaughtered….. forty men. I took a wound to the head from a sword, and the last thing I remember was my Prefect coming to my aid and then….I woke up naked, they had taken every thing, weapons, clothes, nothing was left. Everyone was dead. My hair was wet, matted with my blood. I staggered to the nearest river, one that we had mapped out, to wash my wounds, but I was very weak, I must have passed out. The next time I awoke my wounds were being treated by a woman. I was in a house made of wood and mud with a thatched roof. Her two sons had found me at the riverside and brought me to her home by boat. They were the people of the Wetlands…Lake dwellers. They were peaceful folk and I owed them my life. As the days past I grew stronger. They taught me to fish using line and hook and to hollow trees to make boats. I built my own house. I learnt their language. I kept fowl and sheep. I grew wheat,barley,flax and poppy. I dyed my skin blue and became one of them. A young woman looked upon me with favour and we kept house together and she bore me two children. They were happy years and I had no memory of my past life, until….We had to leave our village, for pirates who sailed inland from the coast were constantly attacking us. There was word of great lakes in the northwest of the country where the hunting and fishing was abundant, so the decision was made for our village to move. It was on this journey that I found the white crystal stone. Rising from the ground like giant columns of marble. Visions of Rome came flooding back to me. The nightmares and dreams I’d had for many years, began to make sense. I remembered building houses for rich senators in Rome, with marble columns, and my father teaching me how to carve and cut the marble. My other life returned to me in painful visions. The Invasion, the battle, the wound on my head where the hair never grows. Suddenly I remembered everything. What is a man to do? I had a woman and children to care for and I enjoyed my life, but I always felt that my duty was to return to Rome. About a year later, after much torment, the decision was made for me……. I had been out hunting and fishing with my son and some other men from the village. When we returned, the village was almost destroyed. Only the old folk and the children were left, most of the men had been killed by red haired warriors that had taken the women folk away to the mountains in the far north. We searched for months, but never found them, and when we returned to our village it was empty. Those who were left had decided to return to the lakes in the south east , when I reached the hills where I had first found the white crystal I decided to return to Rome. With my son, we loaded our cart with the crystal….I knew it was something special…. And we headed south. We had a good strong oxen so the journey went well and after two full moons we arrived at the tin mines in the south west, that’s where I boarded this ship”…….
“The crystals, where are all the crystals?” Titus looked about the ship, “Are they on board?” “Only what I could carry, my son has the rest, and he decided to stay in the Cassiterides, for it is his home”. “Would you be prepared to return to the Cassiterides, and show me where you found the crystal”, said Titus. The old man nodded, “Yes, but what will become of me, for I have deserted Rome and….”.
Titus put up his hand, “You died many years ago, and that’s the way you shall stay for on the next tide we sail for...".
"Rome”.
Two months later the cubic crystal of ‘Fluor-Spar’ was a chalice and sat on the dinning table of Augustus, Emperor of Rome.
It had been admired by many for its fluorescent beauty, and Augustus, who loved rarities, had no hesitation in sanctioning an expedition to the Cassiterides. For the past forty years Augustus had befriended the Kings of Southern Britannia with exotic gifts, so it would be a mission of trade and goodwill. They were to trade, and mine for minerals.
Eight ships were to set sail from the naval base at ‘Misenum’ in the Bay of Naples for the island of tin on the 9th August 14AD.
Three of the ships were 100 foot Trireme’s owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a rich merchant that Emperor Augustus trusted. Joseph himself was aboard, and with him, his adopted son, the ships carpenter, a man known as Jesus of Nazareth, also, Titus of Khania, Hogard, and Markus the Greek, a young scholar of the historian writer Philo Judaeus, who had been ordered by Augustus to record the journey. The other five ships were Roman Liburnians, smaller and faster, they carried Roman military and engineers, and they were to protect the three merchant ships from pirates.
The evening before they sailed a stranger had limped aboard the ship of Joseph and begged a safe passage for himself and his seven daughters. The stranger said he was a sailor who had knowledge of the sea. He promised Joseph he would work hard to pay his passage, and introduced himself as Lazarus of Smyrna.
Joseph of Arimathea knew he was lying.
He had been expecting him.