“It may be that I have.” Crispus spoke with the grave air of one who believes in the truth of his words. For a moment the princess gazed at him, speechless with consternation. Recovering her voice, she cried indignantly: “What good could come from such a deed?” “Much--to Rome!” “How?” “That temple,” said Crispus, speaking in a cold, deadly tone that set Berenice shivering with terror, for she loved her temple more than her life, “that temple draws annually to its courts three million Jews, all animated by a fierce hatred of Rome, and all fanatically persuaded that One born in Judæa shall obtain the dominion of the world. You know it is so, princess; you cannot deny it. Your temple is a perpetual menace to the safety of the empire. Destroy the temple, and we put an end to these annual gatherings with their vain and treasonable hopes.” CHAPTER V SIMON THE ZEALOT Early on the morning after the banquet there flew through Cæsarea the surprising news that the notable Zealot, Simon the Black, was to be put on his trial on the noon of that same day. Eager to witness the scene, a motley crowd, composed of Jews and Greeks, Romans and Syrians, flocked, long before the appointed time, into the basilica, or court of justice, till the numbers were such that the building would hold no more. A Roman basilica presented an appearance very similar to that of a modern parish church, consisting as it did of a nave, and two aisles divided from it by a row of columns. At one end a portion, elevated like a daïs and railed off like a chancel, formed the _bema_ (the word had passed from the Greek into the Syro-Chaldaic) or tribunal, where the judges sat and orators pleaded. The whole of the interior was further surrounded by an upper gallery raised upon the columns that divided the aisles. The ground floor and the galleries were for the accommodation of the public. In the middle of the bema, which was paved with tesselated marble, stood the governor’s curule chair, and on each side of it were rows of seats intended for the assessors, it being the custom for a provincial governor to be assisted in his judgments by a sort of informal council consisting of distinguished citizens. Shortly before noon there was a movement on the bema, caused by the arrival of persons interested in the trial. Among them was the priest Theomantes, who, in virtue of his dignity as priest of Jupiter Cæsarius, proceeded to ensconce himself in the seat immediately upon the right of the curule chair, an act that caused murmurs among the Jews and applause among the Gentiles. Ananias now entered, and seeing his own action anticipated, scowled, hesitated for a moment, and then deliberately sat down upon the lap of his rival. “’Tis mine to sit upon the right of Florus,” he cried. Thereupon, Theomantes, exerting all his strength, flung him off, amid mingled laughter and hooting from the two factions.