“The Jews love freedom, and they will fight for it with their blood,”
Marcus Aurelius told his military aide Flavius as the hexareme ship
Oceanus, with troops on board, was plying the Mediterranean Sea, the new
lake of the Roman Empire.
Marcus Aurelius was the newly designated
chief centurion in Jerusalem. He was personally chosen by the Roman
Emperor Caesar Tiberius, successor of Caesar Augustus. Marcus Aurelius
was a former infantry soldier of Tiberius who was known for his bravery
and boldness in battle. Tiberius always took him in his military
campaigns, and often included him in surprise assaults against the
enemy.
After the death of Caesar Augustus, the Roman Senate
unanimously voted for Tiberius to be the new emperor, succeeding Caesar
Augustus, Tiberius’ father-in-law. His mother, the beautiful Livia,
married Augustus when the father of Tiberius died.
Tiberius was not
the real choice of Emperor Augustus, who had no son as his heir
apparent. But Livia influenced her husband to put Tiberius in the line
of successors to the emperor.
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Other Books In The Shadow Of The Roman Empire Series:
Book II : Farewell Darkness!
