An Incident on the Road to Rascia

[bartholomew]

Once on the road to the Roman city of Rascia a man was questioned by a company of the (regional under the Roman Emperor) king's guard who were passing in the opposite direction. As they approached he had looked up at them. They saw this, slowed then stopped. The man was dressed in simple clothing yet he wore a short sword in the Roman style of the times past. In those days such things did not denote any threatening stance on the part of the man. indeed it was quite the opposite.

The dangers of the road were well known. He who carried a sword in plain sight conveyed to criminals that he was willing to defend himself. The leader of the company noted this and asked, "who do you serve?" The man responded first with the accepted courtesy of the day then said "I serve the poor". The captain of the company then said "and how do you know who is poor and who is not. Here in our company there are no poor men yet we may demand that you serve us. We serve the king. Will you also?" The man replied "Yes. For God, in his wisdom has given it to be that the poor man of today will be the king of tomorrow and the king of today is only a poor man in training". He followed this statement again with the required common obescence. The captain of the company, who was an educated man, then responded "yes. You speak truth".

They each continued on their way. Later the captain of the company reflected on the words of the man. He thought "how is it that such a common man on the road can know things that a king has difficulty understanding. And the man, as he continued his journey reflected, asking, "how is it that a man in a position of authority must be reminded of the simplest of God's edicts? Yes. Although this story is from many centuries ago it could easily have happened recently. That we read now the accounts of old and reflect is one of the most important reasons for any man or woman to pay attention to scriptures. They speak truths which transcend times.

This account is a true story. It happened in the year 226CE in the present day land of Montenegro (black mountain(s)). It was well known to the Romans as it lay in the path between Rome across the Adriatic and Romania which lay to the east. As a reminder Romania was a land conquered by Rome where boons of land were made available for any citizens who were retired from the either the Roman military or the civil services. The road was well traveled by Italians of all means. It is a simple matter to recall such times. All one has to do is to, in reflection, send his or her mind to where the pictures are then write about what is seen. It is so simple and elegant a process.

Bartholomew