Nero: Wine…

(Lights go up. Three men sit at a table, one at one end on a throne, the other two on one side near the opposite side. There is a meal before Nero, on the throne, the two men have nothing. Two guards stand off to one side at attention. Two servant girls bring wine for Nero and the two men. Nero drains his glass, the others do not drink.)

Nero: Drink, Drink. I shall be insulted if you do not.

Marcus: I am sorry, Caesar, we do not drink wine.

Nero: Why? Do you fear that I would poison you? (Grins)

Marcus: We have heard of you poisoning your nobles, but that is not why we refuse you. I assure you that if we were free to do so, we would certainly drink your wine. But it is the month before our remembrance of the death of our Lord, and we have foresworn wine in honor of that time.

Nero: Do you know why I have brought you here?

Antonius: Yes.

Nero: You have been accused of defying my orders, of ignoring MY mandate of Roman Worship, and instead bowing your pitiful skulls to some carpenter from Judea who died over thirty years ago. (Stands, angry, paces the room) Do you know the penalty for your actions?

Antonius: The penalty is death. That is what you will do to us.

Nero: You are not so stupid. Yes, I am going to kill you. You and your kind are a vermin that plague the whole of my empire, and must be exterminated. But how shall I do it? There are so many ways to end a man’s life, it is difficult to choose. Shall I boil you in oil? Or perhaps crucify you? No you would like that too much, to die as did your leader. I could feed you to lions in the Colosseum. I could have you executed quickly, speared to death, or hung, or I could order you dismembered, torn limb from limb by elephants. I could allow you to rot in my dungeons. Or I could burn you alive. So many possibilities. But no, I know you Christians, you delight in pain and death. You must be dealt with in the perfect way, so that you derive no honor from it.

Marcus: If our Lord wishes us to die, then we will die. If He wishes that we should live, then we will live.