What I tell you of my life, is it truth? I will now speak of events that were told and retold hundreds of times in many languages. These stories would gain their greatest significance a thousand years after the events they relate. But after another thousand years, it is time for my story as I shall tell it.
It was easier than I had anticipated to gain an audience with the Emperor Maxentius. In fact, I was summoned the day after I arrived.
He sat facing a giant open window overlooking a beautiful garden. I was made to kneel before his profile.
"Will you worship me as a god?" he asked, still gazing into his garden.
"No," I replied.
Sunlight was playing on his face as though it were a projection of his own visions. Finally, he spoke. "Of course not. Being the Emperor is not what it used to be."
I said nothing. I was not to speak unless asked a question.
"So, I hear you are a friend of Constantinus?"
"We spoke twice," I answered.
"You had dinner together. Scandalous."
I felt myself blush. That was my only response.
"And what was it you spoke of?" he asked.
"Christianity."
Maxentius laughed. "Funny, he never struck me as being very spiritual. More the outdoorsy type. Why do you think he was so interested?"
"People are drawn to Christianity, even if they don't understand why."
"Do you understand why?" he asked me, glancing my way for the first time.
"Yes."
"Do tell."
"There is only one God. He came to earth as Christ. He suffered as one of us."
"A suffering god? I know how he feels!" I saw the shadow of a bird fly across his face. "I have a sad truth for you, Catherine. One that all Emperors and Caesars know. One that Constantinus knows as well.
"There cannot be one God. Do you know how many peoples there are in this world? How many lands? And these just the ones we know of. They all have their own gods. The Jews have narrowed their gods down to one. A fine bit of conservation, I admire them for it. But he is still their god. Why would the one God pick the Jews? The Jews in all their forms, including yours, are a tiny minority. Why would a creature so sublime and supreme also be so perverse and arbitrary? No, no, no. The sad truth is that this world is full of gods. Small, bickering gods."
"That is your truth?" I asked. "Is your truth the only truth?"
Maxentius was a little startled to be asked a direct question. "I'm afraid so," he replied.
"Because I have another truth. Behind all those small, bickering gods is one God. He is available to everyone and he died on the cross not to choose one people but to save all people. He did not choose a people, he became a person. Jesus Christ. And as that person he sacrificed Himself so there would be no bickering, no smallness. He died to prove that no one is Chosen, no one is privileged above anyone else."
"So you and I are equal?" he asked.
"You have the power of life and death over me. But we are the same. We were both given life by God. We are both ruled by God's will and God's law."
Maxentius laughed. "You overestimate me. I can't kill you. You have no idea how complicated it is to be an Emperor. And you have no idea how important you are."
"What importance could I have to you?" I asked.
"Why, you are the prophet of Constantinus!"
"What?"
"You told Constantinus to fight the Britons."
"I did no such thing."
"What? But what of the grand visions you had? The seizures? The wild dancing?"
"Visions? Constantinus has his own visions. I'm just a traveling preacher."
"A-ha! I knew it! I knew he didn't require any visions. It was an excuse to consolidate their power."
I was disgusted. "This is terrible. My work is for Christ alone. Who dares to spread this gossip?"
"You know, I like you," said Maxentius. "And based on what I've just heard, I would say that these rumors started with none other than Constantinus himself."
I sighed. "I suppose a man of such worldly ambition could never be trustworthy."
The Emperor laughed at my boldness. "You are staying in my villa. Let's see what rumors we can start!"
I suppose it was negligent of me not to say this earlier, but I was no great beauty. Still, I had a dark, curvy body that men looked at as though they wanted to consume it. Not Maxentius, though. He was impassioned by something else.
"I will do as you say," I replied. "But you must hear why I have come to you in the first place."
"Go ahead," he said impatiently.
"The persecution of Christianity must stop."
"Yes, yes, we'll talk about that later. But I have a party to plan!"
END OF CHAPTER