his condemnation to death and secure his execution. I answered him that as Jesus was a Galilean, the affair came in Herod’s jurisdiction, and ordered him to be sent thither. The wily tetrarch professed humility, and protesting his preference to the Lieutenant of Caesar, he committed the fate of the man to my hands.

Soon my palace assumed the aspect of a besieged citadel. Every moment increased the number of the seditiousists. Jerusalem was inundated with crowds from the mountains of Nazareth. All Judea appeared to be pouring into the devoted city.

I had taken a wife—a girl from among the Gauls, who pretended to see into futurity, and weeping and throwing herself at my feet, said to me, “Beware and touch not that man, for he is holy. Last night I saw him in a vision. He was walking on the waters. He was flying on the wings of the wind. Behold! The torrent in Mount Kedron flows with blood; the statues of Caesar are filled with the filth of Germoniae; the columns of the Interium have given way and the sun is veiledin mourning like a vestal in the tomb. O, Pilate, evil awaits thee if thou will not listen to the prayers of thy wife. Dread the curse of the Roman Senate, dread the powers of Caesar.”

By this time the marble stairs groaned under the weight of the multitude. The Nazarene was brought to me. I proceeded to the hall of Justice, followed by my guard and asked the people in a severe tone what they demanded. “The death of the Nazarene,” was their reply. “For what crime?” “He has blasphemed. He has prophesied the ruin of the Temple. He calls himself the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of the Jews.” “Roman justice,” said I, “punishes not such offences with death.” “Crucify him, crucify him!” belched the relentless rabble. The vociferations of the infuriated mob shook the palace to its foundations.

There was but one who appeared calm in the midst of the vast multitude. It was the Nazarene. After many fruitless attempts to protect him from this fury of his merciless persecutors, I adopted a measure which at that moment appeared to me to be the only one that could save his life. I ordered him to be scourged; then calling for an ewer, I washed my hands in the presence of the multitude, thereby signifying to them my disapproval