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“Jesus was a penniless teacher who wandered about the dusty sun-bit country of Judea, living upon casual gifts of food; yet he is always represented clean, combed, and sleek, in spotless raiment, erect, and with something motionless about him as though he was gliding through the air. This alone has made him unreal and incredible to many people who cannot distinguish the core of the story from the ornamental and unwise additions of the unintelligently devout.”
― H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Vol. 1

“Judea is, for all intents and purposes, a temple-state.”
― Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

“Why not now?�� Horgias said. ‘We could go back in now and take it.��
‘You can certainly try.��
Pantera rolled his tongue around his teeth and then said something in the native tongue that neither of us understood. When we made no response, he repeated it, more slowly, louder.
We looked at each other, and at him. He smiled tightly. ‘I said, “You are Roman and we of Eleazir’s party take great pleasure in slaughtering your countrymen. We took five days to skin alive a man who tried to join you. Imagine what we can do now, when we have all winter.”��
‘Very funny.�� I wasn’t smiling.
Nor was Pantera. ‘If you want to go, I won’t stop you. But without fluency in both Aramaic and Hebrew, you will die.”
― M.C. Scott, Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth

“Seeking more information, I walked through the market listening to the gossip and discovered that our new general, the man sent to quell the unrest in the east, was the second son of a provincial tax collector whose only claims to recognition were that he had commanded some legions in Britain in the heady, early days of the invasion, that his brother had once stood for consul, and that he had been a governor in some African province, where the locals had thrown turnips at him.
Despairing, I returned to the house, and that despair deepened later when Horgias came home with the news that our new paragon of martial virtue had until recently been hiding in Greece, in disgrace for having fallen asleep during one of Nero’s recitals in the theatre.”
― M.C. Scott, Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth

“It would have been easy to ask, then, ‘What of this Eagle?��, to have wheedled out of them all they knew: where it was kept, when and where paraded through the streets.
I was halfway to asking when Pantera, swaying a little, trod on my foot and I bit the words back and glanced at Horgias, who had seen and gave the barest nod and continued to grin in the mindless manner of a man who only understands one word in every dozen that he hears. The Hebrews didn’t
notice; they were too busy reminding each other of their victories, of the men killed, the stones dodged, the slingstones hurled.”
― M.C. Scott, Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth

“He bared thick teeth. ‘I am Zacchariah. My price will be right. You show me now?��
In that moment, ten generations of horse-traders counted for more than half a lifetime in the legions. I was my father made young again, itching to make a sale. Abandoning the Eagle �� I was a horse-trader, what did I care for a gold bird on a stick, however venerated by the Hebrews? �� I gathered Pantera and Horgias about me, and trekked back to the inn of the Cedar Tree.
Along the way, we collected Zacchariah’s well-muscled younger relatives, three other, unrelated, horse merchants who gazed at him with undisguised venom, a woman who claimed she could more accurately assess the sex of the foal our pregnant mare carried, a bone-setter who set to arguing with Horgias but gave up when his poor Greek met Horgias�� worse Greek �� and Nicodemus and his seven zealots who stood about as we conducted our business, obviously waiting for a chance to inflict violence upon us.”
― M.C. Scott, Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth

“He (her son) is just like his father, doesn't listen to a word I say!”
― Logan Crowe, Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls

“Bible is a window into the life and practices of the people who lived in Israel and bordering nations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and Judea.”
― Sudhir Ahluwalia, Holy Herbs : Modern Connections to Ancient Plants

“Wakati Yuda ikiongozwa na kiongozi mzuri na mwenye haki kama Yosia, taifa lilistawi. Lakini ilipokuwa chini ya mwovu Manase, taifa lilisambaratika. Katika karne hii, Uingereza ilipata msukosuko mkubwa mwaka 1936 juu ya uamuzi wa Edward VIII kuoa mwanamke wa Kimarekani aliyekuwa mtalaka Wallis Simpson. Uamuzi huo ulisababisha matatizo makubwa ya kikatiba, na nusura serikali ya Uingereza ijiuzuru. Hata hivyo, kaka yake mdogo, George VI, kwa mapenzi makubwa na nchi yake, huku akikataa katakata kuondoka London wakati wa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia, aliliongoza taifa hilo katika kipindi kigumu zaidi kuliko vyote katika historia ya Uingereza. Kanuni hii ya uongozi ina ukweli katika jambo lolote kubwa na hata dogo la ujasiri.”
― Enock Maregesi