Soldier of Rome: Journey to Judea: Book Five of the Artorian Chronicles Paperback – May 3, 2013

Glad to see in this latest episode that the grammatical and spelling has improved greatly. The story is quite good, especially the political and personal factors and circumstances surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus bar Joseph, of Nazareth. Mace gives some unique insight into Pilate's quandary regarding the event.Readers should be cautious in taking the events in the book, as in previous segments of this series, as historical gospel. While it is a good tale I continue to find a number of historical inaccuracies. The more obvious ones:A. Pilate is referred to interchangeably as procurator and governor of Judea as a province. This is incorrect since Judea became a fully realized province much later. At this time it was part of the province of Syria and under the control of its governor, Valerius Gratus - not Lamia who was governor at the time of Germanicus' death some years earlier. The control of a sub-province such as Judea was typically given to a prefect who may also serve as procurator.. Almost nothing is known of Pilate other than a mention of him in Tacitus (as procurator), an inscription found in an archaeological excavation and, of course, the Gospels.B. The fortress of Antonia has been determined to lie at the northwest corner of the Temple complex in Jerusalem - not the northeast. The cohort would not be entering the city through the east gate. The accepted size of the Antonia would not have allowed for an internal space of 600 feet. Josephus describes a 600 foot separation between the Antonia and the Temple complex which, if true, creates some difficulty with the currently accepted location.C. The third name of one of Artorius' fellow soldiers in "Dominus" which is an honorific title that means "Lord". Probably not a name.D. The Roman administrative center for Judea was in fact Caesarea. Reference to it as the "capitol" is premature given the status of a Judea as a sub-province of Syria.E. The armorer's name - Cicero - may not have been descended from the Roman statesman of that name. However, Cicero himself was not a noble in that he belonged to an equestrian family (not patrician) which was not wealthy, obscure, and not from Rome. Cicero was a "new" man in that he rose through ability to the rank of Consul and Senator.F. Tiberius Caesar's "surprise" regarding his realization regarding Caligula's character of his deathbed is charitable. In fact he is reported to have known exactly what his nephew Caligula was in saying about the young deviant that he held him close beside him on Capri because he was breeding a viper for the heart of Rome. The book's conjecture is an interesting assumption, but does not fit the character of either Tiberius or Caligula.G. It is generally accepted that Tiberius died of illness not murder. Among Roman historians, only Tacitus tells the murder story. It is a fact that Tiberius died on the Italian mainland at Misenum - not at Villa Jovis on Capri. Beautiful place - I've been there.I admire Mace's command of all having to do with the Roman army of this period. However, it might have been nice to have an editor fact check historical content. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading about his take on the invasion of Britannia - an event that is well documented.

The fifth series of the Artorian Chronicles leads us to Judea where Artorius is summoned by his colleague Pontius Pilate to lead a legionary cohort to help to maintain order in this rebellious part of the Roman Empire.When you recognize that this book starts in 31AD, I think that anyone who has read the Bible knows where it is going to lead. The author handles that portion of the story very well - essentially following the Bible's New Testament regarding the major characters in the Passion Play - Jesus, Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, etc. Artorius makes a famous, well known comment in that section - "Surely this Man was the Son of God".What is further interesting in this book is the lead up to this event, the capture of Barabbas, the attack of the zealots on the Roman fort prior to this event, and the travels of Artorius and his band to Judea - facing the storm in the Mediterranean Sea and the fight with the pirates.What I really liked about this book and the other James Mace books in this series is his depiction of the main characters. They come across as very human - with their strengths and weaknesses. In this book, Pilate is especially shown as a weak individual who is unwilling to buck the rioters when they called for the death of Jesus. Artorius and his legionaires were ready and he asked Pilate to give the order to push back the rioting crowd, but Pilate was a coward, concerned about the impact on his career (reminds me of a lot senior executives that I've known over the years who make the wrong decisions in order to guard their careers.) Further, Artorius and his men are mostly humane and very likable and not the killers that most stories depict Roman soldiers as - it seems that James Mace is depicting modern US soldiers in these roles (maybe ones that James knows during his military career). These men mostly are very upset with the events surrounding the death of Jesus and the auxiliaries are the individuals who put Jesus to death. Maybe these depictions are not correct, but this is fiction and I liked what James Mace has done with these characters.At the end of the book, there is a fight with a self proclaimed "messiah" who is leading his people to kill and overthrow Roman rule. Also, the book ends with an Artorius lead in to the next book in the chronicles.Like all of Mace's books, this one is well written and researched and it is very reverent in its handling of the events surrounding Jesus' death. I recommend it for anyone interested in Roman history, and I look forward to the next book in the series.

I am a long time reader of this genre of books, the Roman legions. I have been a Christian for even longer. The way the author dealt with this touchy and delicate (the "trial" and crucifixion of Christ) subject is the best I have read yet!! It really gives insight to how it honestly might have happened. The author has given humanity to all subjects involved. This book is a continuation of the story of Artorius and as has been the case throughout the series, it is well written and draws the reader into the story. Let's face it though, in this book we knew we were going to get to the situation of the crucifixion. The build up, the actual event and the aftermath were all masterfully done. I obviously have purchased the last book in the series as well as book one of his new trilogy. I am so looking forward to reading both but will approach the last book of this series with sadness. Thank you Mr. Mace for many, many hours of enjoyment, sadness, intensity, and satisfaction. I thank you as a long time reader (about 50 years) and for this one book I also thank you as a Christian!

Easy to read the author elected to write this book without resorting to out dated language suggestive of the age the story reflects. The words used to express the thoughts and actions of the characters are in keeping with today, mostly it works and the author didn't allow the story to bog down. I would recommend this book to readers more interested in story then in historical truths.

I have read the other three books and while they are not the greatest historical fiction they were readable enough, probably 3 star books but this book was awful.Around a third of the book is padded out with the main character reminiscing about events from the first three books, another probably 20% of the book is basically the bible. This in its self while being annoying could have been forgiven. However the unnecessary detail the author goes into about the rape and execution of a 9 year old girl, an event that does not even take place anywhere near where the book is set! I have read several books set around the time of Sejus death and non of them go into this level of detail and they were set in Rome were it actually happens. I might have been able to let this one go if weren't for the excessive level of detail the author goes into about the process of crucifixion it could be claimed it is used to set the seen but the several pages over which it spans makes it seem more like the author is enjoying it.The other major issue with this book is the way in the closing chapter the author chooses to push his religion down our throats, I know this to be his region as he thanks God for his writing ability in the foreword of the first book!Oh and the book is still littered with typos! Optio keeps becoming Option. He also favours the use of very modern military language which might be common to him from his time in the forces but jars badly in the fights.

I have read 4 of the 5 Soldier of Rome books and while I would not call them great pieces of literature I did enjoy reading them. This latest in the series was no exception although I think it is perhaps the weakest of the series.Riches characters are all well thought out and the stories are very well researched but I think that getting our hero mixed up with the life and death of Jesus was pushing ones luck a bit. That said I enjoyed the book and found it easy reading even though the outcome was (very) predictable. So 4 stars for good but not great.

James Mace creates a fascinating adventure with accurate historical context his writing style is punchy andfast with believable characterisation. The series draws you in and leaves you needing to know what happens next,I have read them all and look forward to more.Would definitely recommend

Reasonably accurate account of actions of legionaries at the beginnings of Christianity. A little poetic licence by the author was acceptable and made for an enjoyable read.