Desperate Measures

To gain leverage in negotiations, the zealots decide to kidnap General Tiberius. Macky isn’t sure if this is the right thing to do, and recalls the story of Solomon and the baby, envying Solomon’s great wisdom. Ultimately, Macky decides to go along with the plot, but once he and the other zealots have sneaked into the Roman camp, he gets a nasty surprise: the zealots don’t want to kidnap Tiberius, they want to assassinate him. Macky refuses to go along with it; a fight starts, and in the resultant confusion, Macky is captured by the Romans. When Portia hears about this, she goes to Lucius, who tells her how Paul, a Roman citizen, claimed his right to be tried in Rome. Thinking that a trial in Rome would be preferable to a summary execution here in Jerusalem, Portia tries the same ploy with Macky – only to learn that Macky is not a Roman citizen.