The First Book of Samuel - SAREJESS (chrysanthemum read aloud TXT) 📗

100 AD Roman holiday
Rome at the end of the first century was a hive of activity. It had not taken Samuel long to settle in and find his bearings once more. Of the fire of forty years before which had devastated the city, there were few signs. The great marketplace on the edge of which the inn stood, it was always busy at all hours of the day. Here citizens and common men from all over the extended Roman Empire came to do business; buying and selling goods which showed the vast selection in the empire. In the center of the marketplace stood a great block on which slaves were sold daily. Samuel had often stood here in the crowd watching as people bid on a slave. The good natured ribbing in the crowd was a common thing in Rome.

Here Quintus Optimus would appear with a group of friends looking to buy a new batch of slaves. This group of which comprised mainly wealthy senators and citizens would out bid each other to buy the best merchandise which was on the block; a youth from Carpathia today, a woman from Arabia tomorrow. The bidding was done with much good-natured ribbing despite the obvious sufferings of the person on the block. When a mother was torn from her young son to be sold off to wealthy Roman, there would be gales of laughter. Much wine was sold and drunk round this block. Occasionally when he could, Samuel would try to buy a slave who was obviously of Hebrew extraction but not for any other purpose than to set the man or woman free. Having stated this practice upon his arrival, he was confronted with the fact that once he had set the former slave free he would in almost all the cases have to give the person shelter and a job, for the person would have no home to return to. Thus over the first few years he had set at liberty almost twenty people who in the end he had to accommodate. He found work for them round the inn. Seldom was he disappointed by these people who having been born into slavery or been very young when taken into slavery. They knew the great value of the gift which Samuel was giving them.

Today was a Roman holiday. The early morning air was filled with the sounds of barter as the busy farmers brought to the city their flocks and their grains which would they wanted to sell as soon as possible. For once their carts and wagons were empty they would find their way to the great coliseum to await the fun of the afternoon. The Coliseum hosted chariot races, gladiator fights and even the feeding to the lions of some poor soul who had fallen afoul of the Roman authorities. Samuel seldom attended these events as he found that his stomach and his conscience would trouble him in the night when he lay in his bed and replayed the events in his mind. However today being the emperor’s birthday, no one was excused and all of the citizens made a showing of attending the circus with great gusto.

Samuel and the small group from the inn had crossed the great square of the market and made their way to the coliseum. Here they stood patiently waiting to enter the great stadium. While they stood there, vendors would move among the crowd selling refreshments, which the crowd bought in great numbers knowing that the afternoon’s entertainment would take some time and no Roman wished to be without his or her refreshing wine or fruit juice for long under the hot Italian sun.

At midday there was a flurry of trumpets to announce that Caesar had arrived. The crowd waited for the great man to take his box, standing when Caesar stood, the crowd roared with one voice “Caesar, Caesar, hail Caesar”.

The first item on the day’s agenda was a fight between a number of gladiators who had been training for many months. The strong men of many nations entered the arena and proceeded to march towards the imperial box. Proud heads held high, these men marched. There was Aralias, the Nubian, a mighty strong man, he had fought and won many battles. If he won today, he would be set free. The crowd pointed to their favorites in the group. A number of individuals in the crowd began placing and taking bets on who would win and who would be vanquished. “I choose Reluis” said a man standing close to Samuel. “He is a good fighter. What odds am I given?” he asked a rather shady character who moved among the crowd with a scroll of Papyrus taking bets. “20 to 1” said the man, not favoring his client’s odds much.

In the mean time the gladiators had reached the foot of the box. Here they stopped. As the crowds grew quiet, they listened and waited for the traditional greeting which these men were obliged to offer up. “Hail Caesar, we who are about to die salute you” they shouted. Caesar rose and acknowledged their homage.

The stadium was cleared and the first fighter entered. The two men, one a large Greek and the other, a medium sized Jew by the name of Zacharias, circled each other. One held a sword, the other a trident and net, facing each other in an unequal match. The writer would like to say the Jew came off best, but this was not the case. The two men flew at each other then withdrew. Here was a battle of wits against brawn but it was always an unfair contest. The smaller man tried many tricks to keep his larger opponent off balance but unfortunately the bigger man was of the solid type of man, who has a fast eye and easily able to judge the next move of his opponent. Eventually the man with the sword struck a lucky blow, downing the smaller man. The blood stained the sand of the stadium as the Greek looked up towards Caesar, waiting for the sign to spare the life of his worthy opponent. Caesar slowly lifted his hand. The crowd waited in silence. What would the decision be?
Ever so slowly the hand moved into the position with the thumb facing downward. The Greek turned once more standing over his fallen opponent. He raised the sword in front of him and drove it suddenly down into the throat of the dying man. The crowd cheered the decision. A cold hard place shivered in Samuel’s heart.


CHAPTER FOUR

210 AD The Gobi desert
As much as Samuel would liked to have stayed on the western edge of the empire, he sought out a traveling caravan of Hindu merchants who had been traveling for many months to the capital of China to sell there wares. One of the most prized of these possessions was the spice saffron which, was believed to have great healing qualities. Thus this flower that bloomed in India had its succulent center plucked and dried for delivery to the Chinese, who used this spice in many various ways. Samuel had joined the caravan early in the day and like most of the travelers who moved with these men from the west, he watched to make sure that things were going according to plan and so he turned away from this scene of horror and went back to the city.


The caravan had stopped for the day. Samuel adjusted the sword belt. It was best to rest at this hour until the sun began to set. Then in the cool of the day, it would be time to start off again. Samuel was worried. Since the first battle with the Mongolian bandits a lot had happened. The group’s leader Abraham had been killed. Samuel had barely escaped with his life, having managed to extract the dying Abraham from a circle of horsemen who were tormenting him, stabbing repeatedly with their long spears. This had so enraged Samuel that he had taken on of the few remaining horses and had led the charge towards the horsemen. The long Carpathian sword flashing in the sunlight as it rose and fell; its color changing from silver to red as he hacked at the horsemen. The men, taken off guard by the ferocity of the attack by this group of Hebrews withdrew for a time, waiting for another chance to attack. As Abraham, who had been a very charismatic leader, lay dying he had looked up into the eyes of Samuel and said "I leave the children of Israel to your protection. Take good care of them for I entrust to you a sacred duty, Samuel Ben Ezra."
Dying moments later, Samuel was filled with grief for this man had inspired him. Abraham had inspired many. If it had not been for this man and his wisdom, the group would not have been brought together. Had it not been for this man born in the dirty backward town of Antioch, they would not now be where they now were; seeking a place to start again. A place away from the influence of the Roman empire with its despot Caesars.
Now as Samuel checked on the camels and the men he thought almost continuously of the words of Abraham. "Fear not Abraham” Samuel said under his breath, “I will take good care of these who you have put in my charge". The rabbi approached him. This sickly little man had one enduring quality; it was his smile and the way his face lit up when he spoke of the Law of Moses and for this Samuel loved him. Though the Rabbi had a good life as a teacher of his people under the Romans, he had been caught like a moth in the flame by the vision of Abraham. Now with Abraham dead, he looked to Samuel, indeed the whole group now looked to Samuel, for leadership as he was the natural successor to Abraham.
"Samuel I was wondering, do you think they will come again?" He asked this thinking of the nomads who had brought destruction on the group. "I do not suppose they will give up until we have beaten them" said Samuel. "But Samuel do you not think it is the will of God that we perish here asked the man?” Samuel looked at him incredibly "Rabbi I have work to do. Go read the Torah or some thing. I have no time for idle speculation. The camels need to be watered and the men need to rest before…" The ominous words hung in the air. Samuel hurried away to see that the look outs were well positioned and ready to warn if they saw any thing.

Later when the sun was setting, the caravan began moving off towards the east. The journey was a long one with many dangers. Samuel had elected to travel at night, in this way hoping to avoid the danger of running into the nomads which so plagued the caravan and hoping to gain some time and distance as the nomads did not travel at night. The nomads had a fear of dying at night for it was said should a nomad of the desert die at night his soul would wander for all time in the desert of the night and no nomad wanted to do that. They wished to win and if mayhap they should fall in the heat of battle let it be in the light so they might find their way to the eternal garden, where there gods lived. Thus Samuel gained a certain security from knowing that by traveling at night his charges would put some distance between them and the nomads.

Traveling at night also had advantages in that the