s said, "you must let me do more for you. Have you
ambition? I will push you forward to high position, and dignity. Do
you care for wealth? I have the treasures of Rome in my gift. Would
you serve in the army? Many of the Alexandrian Jews had high rank
in the army of Anthony. Two of Cleopatra's best generals were your
countrymen. I know your bravery, and your military talents, and
will gladly push you forward."

"I thank you, Caesar, for your offers," John said, "which far
exceed my deserts; but I would rather pass my life as a tiller of
the soil, in Galilee. The very name of a Jew, at present, is
hateful in the ear of a Roman. All men who succeed by the favour of
a great prince are hated. I should be still more so, as a Jew. I
should be hated by my own countrymen, as well as yours, for they
would regard me as a traitor. There would be no happiness in such a
life. A thousand times better a home by the Lake of Galilee, with a
wife and children."

"If such be your determination, I will say nought against it,"
Titus said; "but remember, if at any time you tire of such a life,
come to me and I will give you a post of high honour and dignity.
There are glorious opportunities for talent and uprightness in our
distant dependencies--east and west--where there will be no
prejudices against the name of a Jew.

"However, for the present let that be. Tomorrow I will have
prepared for you an imperial order--to all Roman officers, civil
and military, of Galilee and Judea--to treat you as the friend of
Titus; also the appointment as procurator of the district lying
north of the river Hieromax, up to the boundary of Chorazin, for a
distance of ten miles back from the lake. You will not refuse that
office, for it will enable you to protect your country people from
oppression, and to bring prosperity upon the whole district.

"Lastly, you will receive with the documents a sum of money. I know
that you will not use it on yourself, but it will be long before
the land recovers from its wounds. There will be terrible misery
and distress; and I should like to think that in the district, at
least, of my friend, there are peace and contentment. Less than
this Caesar cannot give to the man who spared his life."

John thanked Titus, most heartily, for his favours; which would, he
saw, ensure his family and neighbours from the oppression and
tyranny to which a conquered people are exposed, at the hands of a
rough soldiery. Titus ordered an