Twice Loved at Armageddon

Twice Loved at Armageddon, Part XI

It's in Greece that Farah shows herself the take-charge genius Scott orignally fell in love with.  In Athens a Sophist challenges her to a traditional debate in the Agora.  He's no match for her.  She later vanquishes the best debater in Greece. After her host recalls whether the Battle of Thermopylae (if you remember the movie The 300), she supervises an arahaeoligical dig that proves it.  Arrows heads were so thick where the last Spartans retreated that the untouched ground formed images where they died.

Chapter Twenty-Two

   Before Flavius resumed his routine business with Governor Antonius, they discussed what kind of punishment he had in mind for Menepta.

      “Menepta will stand trial for a laundry list of crimes. I will step down as judge to testify against him. I have sent for Pontius Pilate, who is soon to be appointed governor in Judea, to dispense Roman justice.  With the overwhelming evidence against Menepta, he will have no choice but to find him guilty and sentence him to death. However, as a courtesy Pilate will turn him over to me for final punishment.”

   “Will you let him go free?”

   “No and yes.  I will set Menepta’s crucifixion date with more than enough time for his followers to determine if he is worth saving.  I’ll turn down their first two or three appeals to spare his life until they are desperate.  Eventually they will negotiate in my favor.  They will hail me as magnanimous, just.”

   “What demands will you make?”

   “I will demand a huge ransom for his life and double tribute for ten years.  If I may have the specifications on Scott’s weapon, we will make some dummy rifles for Menepta’s spies to discover. Scott made an indelible impression on his followers. Once they bring back word to him that my soldiers are parading around with them, they will be intimidated for some years to come. I will send word that if Menepta gets out of line, my whole legion will return so armed and destroy everyone. Nature will claim Menepta’s life before they discover the weapons are a bluff.”

   “I’ll get you the specifications from Scott, and we can get back to our usual business.”

   After Flavius finished examining Alexandria’s Roman garrison and was satisfied with their defensive preparations, he made arrangements to leave at first tide the next day.  They would proceed to Tarsus, Rhodes, and then on to Athens.  Scott and Farah had their own cabin on this ship.  As they took their customary walks on deck, he continued telling her of the wonders of the ancient world.

   Whenever they made port, they wandered the markets where Farah continued examine market wares, trash pits, and the locations of a city’s pagan temples.  In several temples, Scott pointed out that some stone and bronze images had voice conduits to their mouths through which a priest could speak. A voice would be heard by worshippers, who therefore believed their gods were speaking. At Tarsus Scott was intrigued by a statue of Venus.  Something seemed different as he examined her for several minutes.

   At length he said, “So that’s what she looks like with her arms.”

   At Rhodes, there was still quite a bit of broken-up copper left from the old gigantic statue called Colossus. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was said to have stood with its feet spread out over the harbor’s entrance where all ships passed in and out. In its hands some scholars believed it held a bowl of Greek fire or a load of boulders. Someone inside Colossus could rain down destruction on enemy ships trying to sneak into the harbor.

   Whether it stood over its harbor entrance or not would be debated for centuries.  All of this great quantity of copper would be gone in two thousand years.  While in port Flavius arranged for better food on board ship.  Whenever the wind was favorable, Flavius at Farah’s insistence made sure the rowers were able to walk around on the deck and enjoy good food for a change.