György Spiró - Captivity

“I have no grasp of that sort of thing.”

“But your father’s an influential man,” said Matthew. “He knows well enough how to land a good line of business. The bigger the investment, the more you can pinch. That’s why it pays to work on as big an investment as possible. Building harbors is just like trading in silk behind everyone else’s back; for example, taking the trouble with the Illyrians to bring it through Dalmatia…”

Uri clammed up. These people were privy to all his father’s secrets, and if they wanted, they could ruin him. But they didn’t know his father too well, because he didn’t steal; he worked hard for his money.

“So what did they say? Where the material comes from? Puteoli?” Matthew asked. “How far is that from Rome?”

“I have no idea,” said Plotius.

“One hundred and forty-three stadia,” interjected Uri.

“Really?”

“According to Iustus,” said Uri.

“That material was on someone’s property then, and that property must belong to somebody today,” said Matthew. “Herod the Great would have paid informers; he had the money. You are not going to have that sort of money, my dear Plotius. You’ll never get near that material.”

Plotius held his tongue.

“I’ll give you a sure tip,” said Matthew. “Build a synagogue in Ostia! The land on the seashore is mine… I’ve already got four exquisite Greek columns for it; all that’s left is to rustle up a building around them… I want a house of prayer bigger than the one at Delos!”

There was a mad gleam in Matthew’s eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’ve planted four small columns in the garden of your house,” Plotius retorted, “and watered them, and now they’re sprouting like palm trees!”

“They’re not standing, because they were on their sides when I dug them up in my garden,” said Matthew. “The shore is sandy, so it’s easy for things to get buried. It was pure fluke that I managed to procure them without paying a penny. Turns out that a consignment of columns had arrived from Greece, but the customer who placed the order went bust shortly beforehand. He killed his family, and then himself. The captain was able to dump about thirty of them at half price but was still left with four. He didn’t want to take them back, they took up a lot of room, and he was in a hurry, so he didn’t have time to rustle up a buyer. So I told him: I’ll take them off your hands. He gave them to me for free; all I had to do was pay for their removal. I buried them in front of my house.”

“How tall are they?”

“Twelve cubits, plus two feet on account of the capitals.”

“You don’t say!” said Plotius.

A servant came out from the house to ask if they wanted anything. Matthew asked for some wine.

“They’re made of the finest marble,” Matthew said.

“So where are you going to put them in your synagogue?” Plotius asked.

“Does it matter? The main thing is that it should be at least as big as the house of prayer at Delos.”

The servant brought a jug of wine and three delicate glasses.

Matthew poured a glass for Uri as well. There was a fire in Matthew’s eyes; he was drunk in advance on the idea of his prayer-house-to-be.

“Mosaic floor,” he continued. “Circles of stone benches… Wonderful murals… A mikveh… Near the sea, as it should be… A well can be dug… The water will run from the cistern into the kitchen…”

“What kitchen?” Plotius inquired.

“It will have a hostel for Jewish seamen. At present there is nowhere for them to eat and sleep; they have to be put up at private houses, six or seven to a room. It’s like trying to sleep in the belly of a ship. My house of prayer will be their house of prayer, so they won’t even have to go into town. They’ll need something to eat, so we shall cook for them for a modest fee, and not just on the Sabbath. Plenty of sailors, plenty of small payments — a huge return.”

“Is that the reason you built your villa outside the town wall? So you could have a house of prayer near at hand?”

“That’s right!” said Matthew. “And once it’s built I shall be the archisynagogos.”

“If I build it, I shall be the archisynagogos,” said Plotius. “That’s the condition, apart from the fee, which of course is priceless.”

They laughed and quaffed the wine.

“I’m serious,” said Matthew. “It’s a fantastic business, but a realistic one.”

“So how will you finance it?” Plotius quizzed.

“I throw in the four columns,” said Matthew. “Each of them is worth several thousand sesterces. The rest will be raised by Jewish seamen; it’s for them that it will be built. I’ll milk the Jews of Ostia as well; after all, it will be theirs as well. There has been just one congregation in Ostia so far; now there’ll be two.”

“It won’t come together just from that,” said Plotius. “To say nothing of the fact that it’s not going to be in their interest to create another congregation.”

“As soon as we get to Jerusalem, I’m going to have a word with the high priest; I’ll get him to make a donation from the treasury.”

“Complete nonsense,” said Plotius. “The priests have never given backing to the construction of synagogues. Each and every house of prayer that is built detracts from the weight of the Temple, and thereby their own weight too.”

“It’s worth a try anyway.”

They drank the wine. Uri was touched that they were speaking so openly in front of him. It meant that they accepted him and considered him a grown man.

Plotius sketched in the air.

“Let’s say we have the southeastern wall here, facing Jerusalem. That is the entrance… You have to go straight, into the house of prayer… The bimah is opposite the entrance… That needs a platform with benches around it… Where am I going to put your columns? Over the bimah? The sanctum is here, opposite the entrance… On the left or the right is a big hall for the school and the court…”

“On the left,” said Matthew firmly.

“Why?” Plotius asked.

“Because that way it will fit in, due to the seashore.”

“It’s all the same to me,” said Plotius. “Let the other hall be on the right… But then if the four pillars are so attractive, then you need to be able to see them from the sanctum and from the second hall… Shall we place the columns right between them?”

“Let’s,” said Matthew.

“But then what kind of roof am I going to build? Are you going to have these idiotic columns, which are two and a half stories high, punching through the roof?”

“Let the whole roof be as high as the columns.”

“Are you out of your mind? I’ve never seen a synagogue that tall. Twelve cubits and two feet?”

“That’s what will be good about it,” said Matthew. “Ours will be the tallest.”

“You’re a maniac, Matthew!” said Plotius admiringly.

“That’s me,” said Matthew. “And I’m going to get the money together. I’ll tap the Jews in Rome as well.” At this he turned to Uri: “Your father too. A lot more of them as well.”

Uri kept quiet.

“Agrippa will also give,” said Matthew. “I’ll wring something out of him.”

“If Agrippa is going to be involved,” said Plotius, “that’s when I get out. A dirty swine if ever I saw one!”

“He’s never short of a penny.”

“To bribe senators and the emperor, but he’s never given a red cent to the Jews. He wants to be king of a Greater Israel bigger than his grandfather’s was.”

“Agrippa will never be a king,” Matthew asserted. “Too many people loathe him.”

“But the Jews of Alexandria want that,” said Plotius. “Nothing is too dear for them… They couldn’t care less whether Agrippa stirs up the am ha’aretz, those wretched ignoramuses, throughout Judaea!”