Chapter 48: THE MATRON FULVIA SCANDAL

The years pass with unconscious speed, with the siblings not realizing how different their lives have become from one another: Haman the assassin, Maai the healer, Judas the accountant. They note governmental and Temple changes through the passing seasons—not because of personal hardships—but because of their impact upon the ‘am ha’aretz who daily face the added stressors of overall higher prices and food scarcity. Maai, Judas, and Haman assist with the populace’s problems according to their unique abilities.

Haman and his sicae dagger receive assignments whenever and wherever Palestinian Jews are guilty—in the Zealots’ eyes—of having political, financial, or social allegiances with Rome. Haman finds he is busier than he ever thought possible. He never questions ‘why’ someone needs assassination. He looks upon these Jewish men as greedy, uncaring of the nation, Faith, and family. Haman shows no mercy. He kills without feeling, with satisfaction of ridding the Land of traitors who keep their Faith in sinful bondage. As he plunges the sicae dagger into the traitor’s body, Haman believes he has killed an enemy to the Zealot cause—which is rational enough for him. ‘How’ is always his trusty dagger. He never kills in any other manner, and he always kills, never maims. Death is the only proper punishment for collaborators. The ‘when’ he sets up with care.  

In time, Haman becomes knowledgeable in the layout of his Homeland. He discovers where best, with safety and quiet, to cross brooks, and what dunes lead to short cuts across the barren terrains. Caves offer excellent advantages: shelter from the elements, unseen escape routes, and they present excellent spy points because of height or angle. Empty caves hidden among the ends or edges of the ancient rocks are scarce, but worth their search. Haman can track his quarry for miles without ever moving a step.

Maai has likewise become knowledgeable, not on the makeup of her Homeland, but on the diseases brought on by starvation and the devastating way frost damages or kills human tissue. People of the Land, ‘am ha’aretz, suffer daily from creeping malnutrition. With weakened bodies, they often succumb to the chilled nights. Maai works hard to save starving people with severe colds and limbs suffering from the frosty weather. Soon it becomes a daily task to supply warm food and ointments to lines of people. Her servants learn how to make enormous pots of steaming broth, whose nutritional value is questionable, but its true importance is the warmth it provides. 

Across the Land, dwindling food supplies make trading difficult in the shrunken economy, and everyone looks for an edge. Judas’s genius serves him well these days, as both his accounting accuracy and his ability to cheat the tax and toll collectors make him a professional in enormous demand. Moreover, he notes transformations sooner than either Haman or Maai, as his travels throughout Palestine bring him into intimate contact with the flux of political and secular changes. 

Judas’ temperament is still deepening. As a child, he believed in right or wrong, with no sin or questioning allowed between the two extremes. Judas failed to see ‘right’, ‘wrong’ in its true forms as extreme. As an adult, Judas has become even more convinced in the black and whiteness of his Faith. Sin is black. It can never become gray, no matter how many or how wide the manmade ‘fences’. One does not bargain with ′el ′elohe yisrael. One obeys—with honest intention, and without question. 

Judas believes the Jewish people brought much of their present-day problems on themselves. He tries to be merciful towards the hungry, but finds he has pity only for the children. For the adults, he feels nothing but contempt. They need saving from themselves. They need a miracle to correct society’s errors. Judas does not know how it will take shape. He only knows of the need for a miracle, and, with further thought, he thinks that maybe a Messiah could be part of the solution. But as Judas observes current events, he doubts anyone ‘pure’ and ‘righteous’ will come their way, at least not in his lifetime. Judas can point to real-time rationales for feeling the way he does. He can rightfully begin his litany with Rome.

Roman Emperor Tiberius began his reign in 14 CE. The following year, Valerius Gratus, a friend of the Emperor, became the Roman Prefect of Judaea. His first official action was to accept bribe money and appoint Ismael bar Phiabi to the Temple’s Highpriest, making the House of Phiabi happy. But their joy was short-lived, for Eleazar bar Ananus paid a higher price the following year and received the coveted appointment of Highpriest, to the great delight of Gratus. In no time, Prefect Gratus realized he had fallen into an excellent money-making source. He looked forward to the following year, and he was not disappointed. More coin arrived through the graft of Simon bar Camithus, making yet another House happy. 

It is a shock, and amazing, to realize the amount of coin that passes between the wealthy in a time when the entire Palestinian populace sinks deeper into debt. It was more than gobbling up landholdings; now, men were losing their trade, their equipment liquidated for debt. Entire families begged from relatives, lived in the streets, or found caves for shelter. In 17 CE, a large Jewish delegation pleaded with Herod Antipas to reduce the burden of taxes. Antipas refused; agreeing with Gratus and those sitting in Rome, he, too, sees Palestine as a gold mine.

More and more delegations plead their cause until Herod Antipas refuses to see them anymore. There is no relief forthcoming for the people. Shortly thereafter, a severe earthquake shook the Middle East, destroying the cities of Ephesus and Sardis. The people saw this catastrophe as a sign that the Messiah would soon appear! Their salvation is on the way. Thus, despair and hope, hunger and dreams lived side by side throughout the districts of Palestine.

Perfect Gratus continues with his greed, as Joseph Caiaphas bought his way into the Highpriest position in 18 CE. At least one could say each House had equal opportunity to add to Gratus’s coffers. As two peas in a pod, Herod Antipas enjoys his new power. On his own accord, he built a new capital to ingrain himself in the emperor’s favor further. Around 19 CE, he begins construction of a new city. Ever eager to please Rome, before completion, Herod Antipas moves the Galilean capital from Sepphoris to his new city, Tiberias, in 24 CE—once again, a Roman name on Palestinian soil. Not that Antipas cared, for now, he could call Tiberias by his nickname, ‘biberius’ (love of drinking).  

Both Roman and Hebrew societies rapidly change during the first century, notably within the first and second decades. As a result, Palestinians become more aware of the interconnection between their two cultures. The months between 19 and 20 CE are turbulent in Rome and, what happens in Rome—particularly when involving the Roman Jewish population—affects events in Palestine. Emperor Tiberius’ dislike and distrust of the Jewish people and their religion made it inevitable.

While the Palestinian leaders welcomed graft, no one practiced it better than Rome, known worldwide by its nickname ‘the city of robbers’. Residents of Rome suffer just as deeply at the hands of the Roman hierarchy. The government rules with an iron hand, but—with irony—is one of the most unstable institutions as Roman emperors are murdered, driven to suicide, or violently deposed. 

Rome equaled Palestine in how the wealthy abused the poor socially and economically. Communications were nonexistent between the two economic classes. A vast nonunderstanding occurred in the differences between family attitudes. Unlike the Jewish people, the Romans did not value extended family members as their concern and interest were only within the nuclear family. This limited vision caused five significant problems to spring up within the Roman families, each stemming from their self-interested lifestyle. 

First, female newborns were of no value, considered worthless. Parents, or their slaves, took the infants to dumps and left them to starve or die from exposure. Their salvation came from barren women and slave dealers looking for discarded infants. They needed to be quick before starvation, the crisp weather, or the dogs descended upon these tiny, helpless babies. Sadly, no second chances existed for deformed or ill female babies. Only male offspring brought upper class congratulations, as they secured a better future for their parents through liked-named offspring, political and social positions, and increased wealth. 

Four other destructive forces occurred among the wealthy members of Rome. Top of this list is how the problem of how constant inbreeding caused large-scale genetic deformity. The wealthy families found the ranks thinning, as men legally disclaimed any deformed or mentally disabled child. Second, lead pipes bringing water into their homes caused sterility, along with the potential for lead poisoning. Third, Roman civil wars decimated the male population in the first century CE, even among the upper classes. And a final and fourth unknown destructive issue occurred among males of every class, especially for affluent males who conducted business and spent countless hours in the ‘baths’. Daily soaking in the hottest of water caused a decrease in their sperm count. It is no surprise then to learn that, at an alarming rate, family names disappeared from census rolls, as the...