Deo Volente! (God Willing): Love in the First Century—The Christian Centuries, Book 1

By Giselle Aguiar

- Italy, 69 AD -

A Romeo & Juliet story set in 1st Century Italy with an awesome ending!

Claudia: The twenty-year-old daughter of the Roman Magistrate attends a Christian church where she meets and falls in love with the son of the bishop.

Anthony: The son of the bishop and a local merchant, he falls in love with Claudia as he teaches her about Christianity.

Marcus: Claudias father betroths her to his assistant, Darius.

Aurelia: Claudias aunt arrives after serving as a Vestal Virgin for thirty years with hopes of marrying her childhood love, Darius.

Step back in time and experience what it would have been like to be the daughter of the Roman magistrate, curious about the new sect of Christianity. Betrothed to a man she doesn't love, in love with a man her family would disapprove of, told that the gods she grew up believing in are false, Claudia learns to seek and follow Gods will while coping with her tyrannical fathers plan for her future and his goal of maintaining his dignitas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449718299

Giselle Aguiar

Puerto Rican born and raised in New York, Giselle Aguiar has traveled all over the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Alaska, and Italy. Her tour of Italy took her to Rome, Naples, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, where she first experienced the ancient Roman culture. She wrote several articles on romance and single living for the Singles Resource Guide and has spoken at several Christian singles groups. Published in various newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and a former "Examiner," she resides in Phoenix, Arizona, where she works freelance as an Internet marketing and social media strategist. She’s an avid blogger and is currently writing the next book in the Christian Centuries series, "Follow Me." She is an active member of First Christian Church of Phoenix, where she volunteers at the food pantry. Connect with Giselle and read her blogs at www.giselleaguiar.com. Twitter: @giselleaguiar;

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Copyright © 2011 Giselle Aguiar

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-1828-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1830-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1829-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011930629

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/06/2011

Contents

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

Acknowledgements

Historical Notes

Chronology

Preface

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Chapter XXI

Chapter XXII

Chapter XXIII

Chapter XXIV

Chapter XXV

Chapter XXVI

Glossary

A Guide to Roman Time*

NEXT IN THE SERIES

Author’s Note

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

To God Alone be the Glory

In memory of three teachers without whose influences in English and Theatre, this book could not happen.

Terrance Duval, English Teacher,

Chester High School, Chester, NY;

Janet Bush, Associate Professor of English and Drama,

and Robert Marsh, Associate Professor of English

Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT

Acknowledgements

There are many people to thank, but ultimately, the gratitude goes to God for His inspiration and giving us His Son, Jesus, my Lord and Savior and the amazing people of the early churches who took Jesus’ Good News and ran with it.

I have to first thank one of my pastors, the Reverend Alicia Spring, former pastor of Riviera United Church of Christ of Palm Bay, Florida. Without her guided bible studies I would not have had the yearning to experience what it was like to live in the early years of the first century Christian.

The Reverend Doctor Daniel Gilbert of Peace Lutheran Church of Palm Bay, Florida, a scholar of the bible, who allowed me to work on the novel while in the employ of the church and answered many questions on church history.

Nancy Love, my first editor, who, tenderly set me straight grammatically.

The ladies of the Brevard County Florida Library - Palm Bay Branch who helped me find the materials for my research (it was not all online).

Joyce Henderson and the members of the Space Coast Writers Guild who taught me all about the publishing industry.

My literary agent, Blythe Daniel, for being the only agent after seven years who believed in my story. She also told me that the novel was too short and encouraged me to write the Ten Years Later addition which led to the awesome ending. (And God, for giving me that awesome ending!)

The Reverend Scott Pixler, former pastor and resident bible scholar at my church home, First Christian Church of Phoenix, Arizona, who proofed for biblical accuracy.

The Reverend Jon Taylor, Lead Pastor of First Christian Church of Phoenix for giving me the title Deo Volente! (If it’s God’s Will) during one of his sermons.

Kathy Foreman, who invited me to join her at the Women of Faith Conference in Phoenix in October 2010, where I saw the announcement of the writing contest.

The Women of Faith Conference Writing Contest judges who chose my novel as second place winner out of over 750 entries.

The folks at Westbow Publishers who guided me through the publishing and marketing process.

All my friends and relatives who prayed and encouraged me during the 9 years it took for this novel to go from heavenly inspiration to a published work.

Soli Deo Gloria!

To God Alone be the Glory!

Historical Notes

Because of the writings of Pliny the Younger, we know exactly what happen that fateful night in 79 A.D. when Vesuvius erupted. Volcanic eruptions like that are now called Plinian eruptions.

A quarter of the population of Pompeii perished that day.

Herculaneum and Pompeii lay buried for hundreds of years. People digging a well discovered Herculaneum and people digging a trench for water discovered Pompeii. Parts of Herculaneum are still buried and the modern city of Ercolano was built on top of it.

Both cities preserved under pumice, hardened magma and ash, now tell a detailed story of what life was like in 79 A.D. No other archeological find has been as valuable.

There was no word in Latin for volcano. Vesuvius erupted again in 1631 and in 1944. It is alive, but dormant. It can awaken at any moment. 3.5 million people live in the shadow of Vesuvius, over 700,000 in what’s called the red zone.

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After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

The Acts of the Apostles 28:11-14 (NIV)

Chronology

All dates are A.D.

c. 29 – Jesus Christ is crucified; Pentecost

c. 30 – Conversion of the Apostle Paul

c. 46 – Beginning of Paul’s missionary journeys

54-68 – Rule of Nero; first persecution of Christians

c. 58 – The Gospel of Mark is written

c. 60 – The Gospels of Luke and Matthew are written

64 – Persecution of Christians begins with the burning of Rome

c. 65 – The apostle Paul lands in Puteoli, Italy on his final trip to Rome

c. 66 – The Acts of the Apostles is written

66 – Jews begin their revolt against Rome

c. 67 – The apostles Paul and Peter are executed in Rome

June 68 – Nero commits suicide and Servius Sulpicius Galba becomes emperor

January 69 – Marcus Salvius Otho is named emperor

April 69 – Otho commits suicide and Aulus Vitellius becomes emperor

December 69 – Flavian army enters Rome and kills Vitellius and Titus Flavius Vespacianus (known as Vespasian) becomes emperor

70 – Vespasian’s son Titus leads the Roman army in destroying the third temple of Jerusalem.

79 – Monte Vesuvio erupts burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Preface

First-century Italy was the center of the Roman Empire, which extended from Hispania and Britain in the west through Greece, Asia Minor and Syria in the east, then Egypt and all of North Africa in the south. The big lake in the midst of the empire was their mare nostrum or the Mediterranean.

Our story takes place in Puteoli, Italia (today’s Pozzuoli, Italy) south of Rome on the Via Appia. Puteoli was a busy maritime city on the Bay of Neapolis (Naples). It was one of Rome’s main commercial ports serving many ships from all over the Roman Empire. Settled in 520 BC by the Greeks, Rome took control in 194 BC and made it a citizen colony.

The Romans called the days of the week Solis, Lunae, Martis, Mercurii, Iovis, Veneris and Saturni. The daylight hours were divided into twelve equal parts starting with Hora Prima, which started at sunrise, and ending with Hora Duodecima, which ended at sunset. They divided the night into eight watches: Vespera, Prima Fax, Concubia, Intempesta, Inclinatio, Gallicinium, Conticinium and Diluclum. In Italy, just before the summer solstice of 69, sunrise, or Hora Prima, was around 4:30 a.m.

A glossary of Latin and Roman terms and a guide to Roman timekeeping is included in the back of the book.

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Note: Biblical quotations within the main text are the author’s own paraphrase or free translation. Scripture quotations outside of the text are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, QuickVerse for Windows copyright ©1992-1994 by Craig Rairdin and Parsons Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. And the New International Version from http://bible.crosswalk.com others noted.

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Note: Quote from The Aenid by Virgil (19 BC) translated by John Dryden from The Internet Classics Archive http://classics.mit.edu.

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Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Isaiah 40:4-5 (KJV)

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Cast of Characters

In Puteoli:

The Metellus Family:

Marcus Varilius Metellus –the City Magistrate of Puteoli, Italy

Julia Paulina of the Julii – Marcus’s wife

Stephanus Dominicus Metellus – eldest son

Nilus Secundas Metellus – second son

Claudia Placidia of the Metelii – daughter, & youngest child

Paolo Metellus – Marcus’s nephew

Aurelia Verina of the Julii – Julia’s sister

Olivia Pomeia of the Flavii – Stephanus’ wife

Silas Metellus – Stephanus & Olivia’s son

In the Metellus Domus:

Catalina – The Metellus’ Egyptian cook and housekeeper

Yanni – Silas’ Greek tutor

Luciano – The Metellus’ houseman

Linus – the cat

The Supreus Family:

Emilius Supreus – merchant and bishop of the Christian church of Puteoli

Silvia Supreus – Emilius’ wife

Anthony Supreus – son, church deacon

Carina Supreus – daughter

The Karankinos:

Stavros Karankinos – Greek Physician to the Metellus family

Dimitra Karankinos – Stavros’ wife

Other Characters:

Darius Strabos Serranos – assistant to the Magistrate

Caius – a Christian, freed slave now a baker and friend of Emilius Supreus

Aulus Vitellius – Emperor of Rome (69 A.D.)

In Pompeii:

Iulius Polybius – a well-known politician

Livius Quintus – a baker and head of the Christian Church of Pompeii

Chapter I

Puteoli, Italia, Imperium Romano

Dies Mercurii, Idus Maius, LXIX Anno Domini

(Wednesday, May 13, 69 AD)

Vespera

Where are you taking me? Claudia Placidia Metellus asked her cousin. She pulled her dark blue palla tighter against the cool, night air. A sweet, salty breeze blew in from the bay. It was unusually cold for late spring and the wool cloak didn’t seem to warm her at all.

You will see, answered Paolo Metellus, as he led her down the cobblestone street.

Claudia trusted her cousin. For weeks, he had been so persuasive—insisting she attend one of his clandestine meetings. Tonight, he had finally convinced her to go with him. Trust me, he had said. You will not be disappointed.

Every city in Italia had a forum that was the main marketplace and meeting area. Here colorful buildings housed stores of all kinds. During the day, merchants opened their doors and displayed their goods for the populace. Paolo led Claudia through the silent forum and past the front of a five-story aedificium made of concrete painted white with blue trim. A large store and warehouse encompassed the first floor of the building with apartments above. Written on the wall next to the wooden double doors in blue paint were the words Quendam Rarus —Rare Items.

He guided her through an arched, narrow alleyway leading to a central garden area planted with olive and ficus trees, onions, lettuce, beets and artichokes. The scent of basil, oregano, sage and thyme filled the air. Between a border of knee-high blooming oleander shrubs were paths of pressed sand. In the center of the courtyard was a small piscina with a fountain in the center. As part of the Roman aqueduct and cistern system, it collected rain and provided drinking water to the apartments that overlooked the courtyard.

Standing by a wooden door to the right of the courtyard was a muscular man with skin the color of ebony. As Paolo and Claudia approached, he drew an arc in the sand with a stick. Paolo, in turn, took the stick and drew another arc to complete the shape of a fish.

How odd! Claudia thought. What could that mean?

Welcome in the name of Jesus, said the man as he hugged Paolo.

You are new, Paolo said to the man. I am Paolo and this is my cousin, Claudia. This is her first time.

The man bowed. Welcome, my name is Kaleb. I am from Carthage.

It is good to have you here. Has there been any trouble?

No, Paolo, things have been quiet tonight. Yet, one never knows. Please go in and enjoy the meeting. Kaleb opened the door and motioned for them to enter what appeared to be a storage room of the store.

Claudia looked around the large room. Shelves filled with merchandise covered the interior brick walls from floor to ceiling. There were bolts of cloth, pottery, glassware, barrels of grain, sacks of flour and racks of amphorae filled with wine and olive oil labeled with names like Gaul, Carthage and Macedonia and Puteoli, their places of origin or destination.

Twenty or so people of various ages sat in rows of wooden benches, crates and bales of straw. Claudia could tell that they were both servants and nobles by the way they were dressed—nobles wore togas over tunics and the lower, working class wore only tunics.

Near one wall stood a wooden table with a basket of fruit, loaves of bread, some cheese, dishes, cups and a large jug filled with wine and one with water. Heat drifted from a bronze, wood-burning brazier in the center of the room. In addition to the fire, candles on the table and an oil torch in the corner lit the room.

A man stood up and started singing and the crowd joined in:

O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.

His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.

The Lord has made known his victory;

he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations

He has remembered his steadfast love

and faithfulness to the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre

and the sound of melody.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who live in it.

Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy

at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

When the song was over, a hum of anticipation circulated among the people as though they were waiting for someone or something.

What is this? Claudia asked her cousin.

Again, he answered, You will see, and led her to two empty places on a bench. They sat down and waited.

Just then, a good-looking, dark-haired young man rushed in, out of breath. I’m so sorry I’m late, but I felt that someone was following me and I had to be careful. He wore a long-sleeved tunic made of natural-colored wool. He had a pouch hanging from a leather belt.

Taking a deep breath he said, Christus Regnat!

Everyone echoed, Christus Regnat!

Let us begin with a prayer. He closed his eyes, bowed his head and folded his hands in front of him, which the others in the room, including Paolo, copied. The young man prayed, Thank you, dear Father, for allowing us to meet here tonight. Your blessings are upon us because we know that when we are together in your name, you are present. Please give us the strength to speak and teach your Word to all who seek it. Amen.

Amen, the group responded.

He looked around the room. His eyes stopped briefly and connected with Claudia’s. Timidly, she lowered her head. Smiling, he continued, "Thank you for coming tonight. I see many new faces. This is fantastic! It means that the Word of the Lord is spreading just as Jesus commanded when he appeared to his disciples in Galilee after his resurrection. ‘Go into the entire world and proclaim the Good News to all the nations.’ Jesus said to them. ‘The one who believes and is baptized will be saved and will live forever with God in his kingdom.’

We asked our church members to bring a friend or neighbor with them tonight, and it gives me great joy to welcome you in the name of the Lord. He coughed and walked over to the table and poured himself some water and drank a bit.

Claudia was mesmerized. Here was this striking, very attractive and fascinating man with piercing dark eyes, wavy hair and chiseled features. He spoke with such a charismatic passion, which intrigued her so, that she couldn’t help but want to watch him and hear more.

Who is that? she whispered to Paolo.

Anthony, he smiled. He is the son of the bishop of the church. He was a missionary for the last two years—preaching throughout the countryside.

Is he a priest? she asked.

No, he is a deacon in the church. His father is the head of the church—

Someone motioned for quiet, as Anthony was about to speak again.

There is no longer Roman, Greek or Jew, Anthony resumed. "There is no longer slave or freeman, there is no longer male or female; for all who believe are one in Christ Jesus. That is what is so magnificent! We are all equal in Christ! God loves you—every one of you—no matter who you are! His great commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength. He also commanded that ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ This is all that you need.

"When Paul of Tarsus, the greatest teacher I have ever known, came to Puteoli on his final trip to Rome, he helped start this church with my family and a few other believers. Now, at each meeting, we grow larger and larger and we’ve had to spread the meetings to other times and locations.

Paul said, ‘You must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds, misunderstanding, and alienated from the life of God because of ignorance and hardness of heart. You must depart from your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and, with the Holy Spirit, clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Do not lie—let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.’

Someone spoke out, Do you have to become a Jew to be Christian?

Anthony turned to him and said, "No, my friend, all you need to do is believe that Jesus Christ died for mankind on the cross so that everyone may live eternally in