‘And these,’ he said, ‘are the men whom they charge with every kind of atrocity! Surely, Pomponia, the world is rife with lies! Would it be too dangerous for you to let me see and speak to some of the Christian teachers? You might disguise me; it is quite easy. Even Pudens need not know; he never feels dull,’ he added with a smile, ‘if he may talk to Claudia, who is staying with you now.’ ‘There was an excellent Jewish workman here named Aquila of Pontus,’ she said. ‘You might have talked to him, but he left Rome when the Jews were banished in your father’s days. He used to mend the awning over the viridarium, and those which kept the sun from blazing too hotly into our Cyzicene room.[24] He sometimes brought with him his still more excellent wife, Prisca. They knew Paulus, and said that he had promised some day to come to Rome. I am obliged to be very careful; but perhaps you can speak to Linus, who is the Elder of the Christians in Rome.’ ‘But, Pomponia, the Christians believe, you tell me, in a leader named Jesus; is he the same as Christus or Chrestos?’ ‘He is.’ ‘Is there any one in Rome who has seen him?’ ‘He was put to death,’ said Pomponia, bowing her head, ‘more than twenty years ago, when Tiberius was Emperor. But His disciples, who lived with Him, whom He called Apostles or messengers, were many of them young men, and they are living still.’ ‘Had Paulus of Tarsus ever seen him?’ ‘In heavenly vision, yes; but not when He was teaching in Palestine. But there was one disciple whom He loved very dearly, and who is now living in Jerusalem, though Agrippa I. beheaded his elder brother. Perhaps he may some day come to Rome.’ ‘But you, Pomponia, must have heard much about Christus. Tell me, then, something about him. How could a Judæan peasant be, as you say Jesus was, divine?’