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.

Nero: Silence, slave! (Pauses, pondering, looks at Antonius) You were both centurions in my military were you not?

Antonius: Yes, Caesar Nero, we were.

Nero: You were both fighting men, friends from childhood, grew up and trained together, correct?

Antonius: It is true.

Nero: (smirking) Then I know what your fate will be. You will become gladiators, to kill for the pleasure of Rome, and my entertainment.

Marcus: My lord Nero, this is folly. We do not fear death, we will not fight.

Nero: I TOLD YOU TO BE SILENT! Folly you say, you will not fight you say? You would die a martyr, a pacifist? It is too late for that now, you are both killers already, and you will fight, oh yes, and at least one of you will die in my arena.

Marcus: One?

Nero: You will not only be fighting as gladiators, you will be fighting each other! One will die in the arena, swift and, relatively, painless. For the other, I have something a little more, shall we say, difficult in mind.

Antonius: (anger breaking loose) You will not do this! You cannot!

Nero: I will. I certainly will, unless… I feel lenient. You may recant, now, this once. Speak. Bow to me now and tell me that the Nazarene was a fool, and all will be forgiven.

Antonius: Jesus the Christ is God!

Nero: I AM GOD! I choose who lives and who dies! I am Caesar, God of Rome!

Both: Blasphemy! You cannot say-

Nero: Guards! Remove these rebels from my sight!

(Guards knock them out with spear butts, and drag them away. Enter advisor)

Advisor: Lord, are you certain that they will fight, these two?

Nero: Yes, yes, they will fight.

Advisor: I hope so sire.

Nero: When I say they will fight, they will fight!

Advisor: If they refuse, the crowd might get angry. There might be trouble.

Nero: Damn the crowd! Burn them all, I say, and let them roast forever in Hades! Ha! I can see them now, all Rome, on spits turning over eternal fires for the devil to feast on! I wish they would all just die so that I needn’t trouble with them any more! (Guards return)

Advisor: I do not think it wise to so lightly dismiss the citizens of Rome.

Nero: Dismiss? No, I said burn them, send them all to hell, especially the damned Christians! I am the Emperor! If I say they will fight, then the pitiful fools will fight, yes, and die, and the crowd can drink their blood at the end for all I care! Slaves, more wine!

Advisor: Sire-

Nero: Get out of my sight, puling wretch!

(Advisor hurries out. Nero finally calms down when his wine arrives, sits)

Nero: (waves guard over) (softly) See to it that my advisor does not reach his home alive.

Guard: Yes, sire. It will be done. (Guard exits)

(Nero sits a while, drains cup. Looks at servants.)

Nero: What are you staring at? More wine!

End scene one. Blackout.

(Scene two. A prison yard, with a bench or log to sit on, and a crude cross upstage. Stage right is a sign that says “God’s Feast hall” and stage left is a sign that reads “Holy Sanctuary,” with an arrow pointing each direction. Marcus and Antonius sit on the bench, another person sits on the ground near the cross, and a couple of other people stand near the right hand sign, Miriam among them. Two Guards stand upstage left, watching.)

(Miriam walks up to Antonius and Marcus)

Miriam: My but don’t you two look joyful.

Antonius: Go away, woman.

Miriam: Oh, and friendly too. I am Miriam.

Antonius: And I am a dead man. I told you to leave.

Marcus: I apologize for my friend’s behavior. I am Marcus and this is Antonius, we have been sentenced to death by the Emperor, and are depressed by our troubles. Give us peace.

Miriam: Peace? No, peace is the last thing a depressed person needs. What you really need is someone to talk to. Tell me your troubles.

Marcus: We have been closest friends since birth. We grew up together in the Legion, fighting for Rome, and finally became centurions. Then God changed us. Antonius first came to Christ, and then told me about him. Finally we realized the evil of war and quit the Legion. That is when Nero learned of us, of our faith. Now, we are sentenced to kill each other in the gladiators pit. We will not do it, and will die torturous deaths because of our refusal.

Miriam: You think not to fight?

Marcus: How can we? We are the closest of friends, how can we kill one another?

Miriam: Everyone dies eventually, it doesn’t matter how. For us, death is a gateway, leading us to better things. It is a joy to die for our savior.

Antonius: I see little joy here.

Miriam: Then open your eyes! Lift your chin above the ground! Of course you don’t see any joy here, you’re staring at dirt, and that is not a joyful prospect. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves, every person here is being punished the same way you are. Do you see them moping on benches? No, they sing praises to God all night long, as loud as they can. Grates on the guards something awful. They smile and laugh with joy. You see true joy has nothing to do with circumstances. It is a decision you make, in your own heart. I have heard people sing while the guards beat them, in time with the lash. And if you stay joyful, and trust to God, then the circumstances will improve. Look at my back. (Pulls up the back of her shirt) No scars, see? And I was whipped this morning. Didn’t even feel it. That’s what God can do for you. I’ll be killed any time now, I don’t even know how. Part of my punishment was the anticipation, the wondering how I would die. But I don’t even care. No, friends, it is here, not out there that there is freedom and joy. You just need to open your eyes.

Marcus: I am glad we met. You are right of course, we were wrong to despair.(Guard approaches)

Antonius: I still do not think that I shall fight, but I did need the encouragement. Thank you, woman.

Miriam: It’s Miriam. Come, let’s get some food. Best gruel you’ll ever taste, I assure you.

(they stand to leave, guard grabs Miriam’s arm.)

Guard: Not so fast, wench, you are mine for today! (Miriam struggles free, slaps guard, he strikes her back.)

Miriam: (As guard grabs her again, with forced smile) Sorry to leave you so soon, but I have a rather demanding claim on my time. (Struggles as she is dragged offstage left.)

Antonius: Let her go you filthy- (other guard hits him with spear butt. Antonius goes down.)

Guard Captain’s voice: (from off left, leading the guards onstage) Claudius, what have I told you about Christian women?

Guard: Sir, I…

Captain: You want it to shrivel and turn green, is that what you said? (Guards laugh)

Claudius: Captain, it’s…

Captain: It’s that way already? Well, then have all the Christians you want. Just remember what happened to poor Proculus, his got so bad that they had to cut it off. I hear life as a eunuch is treating him well though.

Claudius: No sir, I mean yes sir, I… (more laughter. Miriam is released, calmly brushes herself off, with a smile. Claudius stands to one side, embarrassed, hanging head)

Miriam: The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.

Antonius: Are all here Christian, Miriam?

Miriam: Finally, he uses my name. No, there is one here that is not a believer, although they usually send those to other prisons. It is that man over there. He’s a stubborn one. You should talk to him (indicates man near cross). But for me, it is time to eat.

Marcus: I am hungry, so I’ll join you.

(Antonius crosses to man, Marcus and Miriam continue chatting as they leave stage right.)

Antonius: Sir. (Man looks up)

Jason: Yes?

Antonius: You are not a believer.

Jason: No.

Antonius: Then who are you?

Jason: I am a former advisor to Nero, called Jason.

Antonius: Named for a great hero.

Jason: I am here because I disagreed with his slaughter of Christians. I worship the roman gods, but I see nothing wrong with Christianity. Those who practice it do no harm to the empire, in fact many of them are our most loyal subjects. The Emperor, however, found my advice not to his pleasure. He accused me of conspiracy with your people, and sent me here. Soon, I too will be executed, for asking him to tolerate you.

Antonius: You are not despondent? Could you not recant?

Jason: No, no. I knew this would happen sooner or later. Even if I did recant, I would still be killed eventually. Nero has a habit of doing away with his advisors. Price I expected to pay for success. We all die eventually, so why not get it over with? Besides, I like the company here. Noplace else are the people so kind.

Antonius: I would ask you to join us, become Christian, but you must have already been asked that a hundred times. Besides, I am not an evangelist, I don’t speak well enough.

Jason: You are right. I’ve heard countless pleas for my soul, it is the only thing I dislike about this place. Aside form the beatings of course. But I’ve been healing very fast lately.

Antonius: (smiling knowingly) Perhaps God is protecting you.

Jason: Which god? Perhaps Jupiter is protecting you, or Mars. It could be any of them.

Antonius: I will pray for your soul.

Jason: I will pray that the gods will bless you with freedom.

Antonius: I am free. (Walks away)

End scene two. Blackout.

(Scene Three, the prison yard. At opening, Marcus, Antonius, and Miriam are standing near center stage, Jason is still in his customary spot)

Miriam: Well, this is it. Today is the day for all three of us. I finally got word what is to happen to me. It has been a good two months with you two.

Marcus: What?

Miriam: I am to be fed to the lions in the Colosseum. Not the most pleasant of deaths, but it is certainly better than being burned, boiled, or crucified.

Antonius: In the Colosseum? Then you will be with us to the end.

Miriam: Yes I will. Won’t it be exciting, being in front of all those people who want to watch you die?

Marcus: Exciting is not the word I would use.

Miriam: Oh, you are so serious all the time. Brighten up! It isn’t every day one gets to see the Lord, and I intend to enjoy it. I’m going to heaven, why shouldn’t I be happy? Oh well, I’m off to say goodbye to the others, see you in the arena, and then at God’s throne. (Miriam exits)

Antonius: (after a pause) Let me kill you.

Marcus: What?

Antonius: The one of us who wins will be coated with tar and burned as a torch in Nero’s garden. If I kill you, it will be quick, and I can take the worse death. Let me send you to heaven. Go, live with God, and wait for me there.

Marcus: I will not! You deserve to see the Lord just as much as I do. You have just as much right to leave this world well as I. More, because you’ve been in it longer.

Antonius: By four days! I can handle a few more moments of this earth. Let me kill you, you owe me that.

Marcus: No, I will kill you, let that be my gift to you. Go ahead of me to heaven.

Antonius: I will not allow it.

Marcus: Neither will I allow you to kill me.

Jason: (Standing, walking over) Pardon the intrusion, I could not help but overhear. I have a suggestion. Since both of you wish to take the honor of a painful death, why don’t you fight for it? Your God will grant victory to the one who should stay. Let him decide.

Marcus: You were a wise advisor. Pity you aren’t Christian. I agree to this plan.

Antonius: And I. It is done then. We will fight. (Enter guard. Other prisoners come out to watch them go)

Guard: You two, get over here, it is time!

Marcus: Goodbye, Jason, goodbye friends. I shall see you again in heaven!

Antonius: Jason, may Jesus Christ bless you and your life.

Jason: Goodbye, may Jupiter and his fellows bless yours, however short or long.

Guard: Get moving! The Colosseum awaits you. (Shoves them roughly out)

End Scene three. Blackout.

(Scene four, the Colosseum. The stage is empty except for a few pennants on the wall, and perhaps a flag pole off to the left. In the right wing are Nero, a guard, and a servant with wine, in lavish surroundings. In the left wing are several spectators, no decoration. Antonius, Marcus, and Miriam are standing center stage, facing the audience. Antonius and Marcus have swords, and stand in military style, Miriam is in chains, with a guard at her back.)

Nero: (rising from seat) Gladiators, doomed, salute your emperor!

All Three: We who will soon die salute you!

Nero: Let the executions begin!

(Crowd cheers as Miriam is forced forward into the orchestra pit, she can hide under the walkway on the left. The crowd leans over to watch. Dunno what to do for lion noises, but Miriam must be silent. The cheers die as Marcus and Antonius hug center stage.)

Nero: What are they doing?

Marcus: Friend, I am sorry that it had to end this way.

Antonius: I too. I wish it could be different.

Marcus: I will not hold back. I will spare you the harder death.

Antonius: So ends our long friendship. (They draw their swords. The crowd cheers)

(A sword battle ensues, a good one. The crowd dies down enough to hear Nero)

Nero: Ha, I told you they would fight, with the right leverage. Didn’t I say they would fight?

Servant: Yes, my lord.

Nero: You can’t fight like that, eh guard? These were centurions for a reason! Hahahahahahaha! I love this, friends killing each other!

Guard: They are skilled lord Caesar.

(Antonius slaps aside Marcus’ sword, the crowd cheers as Antonius deals the final blow)

Nero: YES! Guard, get down there! Take him!

(Antonius throws down his sword, and falls on Marcus’ body, crowd goes silent, Nero has left)

Antonius: Marcus! Oh, Marcus, I am so sorry. I can no longer take care of you. You are in God’s hands now. (Guard grabs him, gently, and pulls him away. Now in tears, screaming) MARCUS! MAAARCUUUS!

Curtain.