THE MISTAKE

A young Roman Jew is torn between assimilation and rebellion in Schiffren’s debut historical novel.

Marcus’ conception was a mistake. His mother is Miriam, the daughter of a Jewish merchant family in the Asian Minor city of Sardis; his father is Julius, a centurion stationed with the Roman legion garrisoned there. They do not marry until Marcus is 3 years old—even then, it is more out of their mutual love for Marcus rather than their tumultuous feelings for one another. They finally wed according to the Roman rite. Julius, the proud Roman, refuses to be circumcised and convert to Judaism, but Miriam insists on raising Marcus according to the traditions of her people. As a child, Marcus does not have too much trouble navigating his dual identity. At home, he follows the Jewish law of his mother and grandfather, Daniel, while outside he trains in the Roman martial traditions of his father. With his father’s connections, Marcus will have the opportunity to pursue a career in the Roman army, which comes with the benefit of Roman citizenship, a benefit rarely extended to Jews. However, when his father is relocated to Caesarea, the capital of the Roman province of Judea, the contradictions of Marcus’ identity become heightened. The Jews there regard the Romans as an occupying force—it wasn’t that long ago that the Romans destroyed the Second Temple to bring the Jews to heel—and some are actively fomenting rebellion. Marcus begins to learn his Jewish family’s trade from his Uncle Yehonatan, a wealthy merchant who has spent many years in Babylon. In addition to commerce, Yehonatan introduces Marcus to the mystical traditions of his faith…and to the revolutionary politics simmering at the Jewish academy in Yavneh. “You think you have the soul of a soldier,” a revered rabbi tells Marcus. “But that’s not entirely so. Be careful, lest you find your true self neither in one place nor the other. A soldier kills. And what for?” If war is inevitable, it will surely pit his mother’s family—indeed, his entire people—against the Roman army, Julius included. Marcus will be forced to fight one side of himself or the other, but which will he choose?

Schiffren illuminates the world of second century Judea in vivid detail, from the competing religious traditions to the period-specific material concerns. For example, Yehonatan is involved in trade for the shells of the murex snail, which are used to make the royal purple dye “popular everywhere, inside the empire and out of it.” (Tyre, the capital of the trade, is described as “stinking of fishy commerce.”) Against this backdrop, the author explores the competing influences in young Marcus’ life. The dichotomy extends even to the young man’s romantic interests: He is drawn to both Devorah, the dutiful daughter of his rabbi mentor, and Helen, a beautiful gentile widow. The push-and-pull will no doubt speak to many contemporary readers who find themselves similarly caught between cultures. Even those who do not personally relate will find themselves swept up in Marcus’ story, which dramatizes a fascinating time and place in antiquity.

A richly rendered tale of divided loyalties in a colonized land.