While the auxiliary was riding down the street, Gaius signalled for the Prime Centurion. He watched as the rider approached the crowd, then turn around and canter backwards. He turned towards the Centurion.
"Trouble," he said. "Five centuries should advance quietly and surround the temple area. Form lines, and do not permit organized groups to pass through, but if individuals wish to leave, let them. If anyone's armed, disarm them. Keep this street clear."
The centurion nodded, and turned towards the cohort. Whether he approved was beside the point. He had clear orders.
Gaius turned towards the cavalry commander.
"All your men, ready to charge down this street, if I so order, which I shall do with a command like this," and he waved his right arm, which held a gladius. "If I wave without the sword, I want a slow orderly canter together with the rest of the cohort marching to intimidate. Understand?"
"Of course," the soldier nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"Ride down there and see if I can work out what's going on," Gaius replied, in the tone of someone not wishing to hear anything further on this matter.
The cavalry commander clearly suspected Gaius was too green around the ears to know what he was letting himself in for, but then, if Gaius wished to get himself killed, he could rely on Vibius' support, or so he believed. In any case, he had the refuge of clear orders.
As Gaius' horse approached the crowd at a moderate canter, people began to notice the red of his cloak, and his purple flashing. A silence descended, and people began to make way for his horse. An invitation to the centre of the trouble, Gaius noted wryly, and a path that might quickly close if he needed a fast exit. Nevertheless, there was no going back. Remembering Libo's advice, he had to look as if he was in charge, even if he felt anything but in charge. He carefully brought his horse to a stop far enough away from anybody that there could be no accident.
"Good evening!" Gaius offered, in what he hoped was an authoritative tone, then as he directed his glance towards the temple doors, "What's happening?"
The essence was a confrontation between a group of hot-headed men, who appeared to be Christians, and the equally hot-headed keepers of the Temple. The original reason for the confrontation was obscure, so much so that probably neither side knew what it was. The Christians wanted something back, and they wished to exercise their rights as Jews to enter the temple, while the priests denied they took it, and anyway it was appropriate penance for non-compliance with some religious orders, and no, the Christians had to keep out of the Temple. That was the extremely oversimplified situation, and Gaius tried to sit as impassively as he could on his horse as the more complicated version eddied around him.
"You!" Gaius said, turning towards the head priest when a lull finally arrived. He realized he had to establish some sort of authority without antagonizing anyone. The easiest way to do this was to ask an obvious question that would give a non-troublesome answer. "Would you say that a good Jew recognizes Jewish religious orders?"
"Of course!" This was followed by a long tirade that Gaius cut short.
"And Jewish religious law does not recognize this Cristus as the Jewish Messiah?"
That was obvious, and the essence of the tirade that followed was, definitely not. So far, so good. He had to buy more time to think.
"Then it seems to me," Gaius shrugged as he turned towards the Christians, "that you must either deny Cristus as your Messiah, or accept Cristus in which case you must admit you're Christians and not Jews."
There was a stunned silence, and Gaius saw a way through this morass.
"Do you deny your Messiah?" Gaius asked firmly.
"Never!" came the roar, followed by another roar from the Jews.
"Your master," Gaius continued, "said render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. Agreed?"
"What do you know about. ."
"Agreed?" Gaius interrupted imperiously. He felt he had the ascendancy, as they could not deny their master.
"Agreed," came the sullen response.
"Good. By the same token, render unto the Jews that which is theirs, which in this case is their temple. Caesar has imposed the Pax Romana. That means Caesar demands you will live in peace. Your master also instructed you to love your neighbour!"
There were jeers from the Jews.
"That may be a little difficult," Gaius laughed derisively, "but you will at least refrain from fighting them. You recall your master said that the meek would inherit the Earth? Prefer not to remember the inconvenient ones? Never mind. I suggest you leave here and go away and be meek. You're not Jews, so stay away from their temple."
"But we have nowhere to. ."
"You'll have to build something of your own," Gaius shrugged. "Please, go away, now! If you don't, my troops will remove you on the end of swords, and that does nobody any good. Agreed?"
There was a muttering, and the Christians began to turn away.
"Now, you," Gaius said, turning towards the priests. "They are not Jews, therefore they are not subject to Jewish law. They may live as they wish, subject only to Roman law. That which you have taken from them will be returned."
"But. ."
"Failure to do so will be taken as evidence of open revolt against Caesar. There is no punishment other than crucifixion."
There were stares of fear. Before self-confidence could return, Gaius shrugged and added, "I don't want that, but you don't either. You may wish to become martyrs, but think of this. If I have you all crucified, the Christians'd get your temple, and you really don't want that do you?"
After a pause, he added, "Of course you don't. Give them back their property, and they will leave you alone. Those are Caesar's orders." He then turned slightly so he could address both groups. "Rome does not expect you to like each other," he said coldly, "but Rome requires you to respect each other's property. While you consider yourselves separate you will each remain away from the other's property. Consider this to have the power of Caesar's words. Disobey and be crucified."
With that he wheeled his horse and cantered gently back towards his troops, and unseen by any, he let out a sigh of relief.
* * *
"You realize," a disgruntled Vitellius remarked later, "that if that had got out of hand, I would have had to back you up and order the crucifixions?"
"I felt that a strong dose of fear was required," Gaius explained, "or one of those revolts you are so keen to avoid would have sprung up. I was very sure that I would not have to order such executions."
"Then perhaps you read the situation very well," Vitellius shrugged, "and then again, perhaps it was plain dumb luck."
"Even if I were lucky," Gaius replied, "good luck should not be turned down."
"Nor squandered. Some people ride their luck, others make their luck. Try to be one of the latter." There was a pause, as Gaius decided that there was no reply. Vitellius stared at him, then changed topic, "So, what did you think of your fellow Tribune?"
"He seemed very efficient."
"As a person?"
"Vibius seemed to want to keep to himself," Gaius replied. He knew fine well that Vibius had wanted Gaius to fail, but he understood why. In any case it did him no good to attack Vibius. "He was efficient, and he suggested we split up once we arrived in Judaea, so as to get more work done more quickly. As long as we were not fighting major battles, the idea seemed to be a good one, so I agreed."
"Thus leaving you to your own devices. He was supposed to help you, including by supplying you with background knowledge."
"I had alternatives," Gaius replied, then suddenly deciding that this was not the time to involve Timothy he quickly added, "The centurions are a rich source of practical information."