A Roman Lawyer in Jerusalem

First Century

By

W.W. Story





A ROMAN LAWYER IN JERUSALEM


Marcus, abiding in Jerusalem,
Greeting to Caius, his best friend in Rome!
_Salve!_ these presents will he borne to you
By Lucius, who is wearied with this place,
Sated with travel, looks upon the East
As simply hateful--blazing, barren, bleak,
And longs again to find himself in Rome,
After the tumult of its streets, its trains
Of slaves and clients, and its villas cool
With marble porticoes beside the sea,
And friends and banquets--more than all, its games--
This life seems blank and flat. He pants to stand
In its vast circus all alive with heads
And quivering arms and floating robes--the air
Thrilled by the roaring _fremitus_ of men--