This short story, written for a college creative writing class, was inspired by one of my favorite historical fiction books, The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas. It was made into a movie in 1953, starring Jean Simmons, Richard Burton, and Victor Mature. If you like the old Hollywood epics, definitely look this up.

	“Diana! Where are you off to at this late hour?” Her father stopped her as she was half-way across the villa atrium. Her attempt to tip-toe down the stairs and out the door undetected had failed. Her black hair hanging in a curled ponytail, and her pale blue toga was swaying as she moved briskly. The tall sand-colored marble arches supported by the matching marble columns cascaded shadows from the moon “It is three hours after sunset.” 
	“I was…I am…going to see my friends Sir.”
	“At this hour?” 
	“We are meeting at the Forum, by the Curia.”
	“You wish to run for senate? You can’t young lady, merely because I am part of the senate.” Her father put down his book of Stoic Philosophy and looked up at her with one eye-brow raised. He had stopped her only feet from the door.
	“How can you read in this dim light, Pater? You will strain your eyes.”
	“Diana, I asked you a question. Do not be disrespectful by ignoring me.” 
	“No Sir. I am going to meet my friends.”
	“Do I know these friends?” 
	“No sir, I do not believe so.”
	Diana’s father stood up from his Moroccan wood mosaic chair, which was positioned by one of the columns. He limped over to his young daughter, favoring the leg he wounded in the Battle of Carrhae, when Caesar Caligula was still a young boy. The physicians had not been able to set his bone until they returned to Rome. Diana shivered every time she thought of the story. He grasped her shoulders and looked into her green eyes. 
	“Diana, stop talking without telling me anything. Who will you meet, and why at this hour?”
	She was so nervous and afraid about what to say, no matter what she told her father, he would not let her go. He was very strict with those under his authority, even with his children. He would not let Messala, Diana’s brother, go out at night until he became a Centurion, or had orders from his authorities. 
	“I will meet Julius halfway to the forum. Then when we arrive, the two of us will meet Stephanos, Naomi, and Zechariah.”
	“You and Julius will meet who…? Diana, you better not be doing anything to spoil the honor of this family?” 
	“May I go see my friends, Sir?” 
	“Julius, is that Gallio’s boy?”
	“Yes sir. Senator Gallio’s son.”
“Oh yes, Tribune Julius Gallio.”
Ex-tribune in Julius’ mind; he no longer wants to fight.
Her father began to pace back and forth across the atrium. The moonlight kept getting higher and higher in the sky, reflecting in the water of the impluvium that rippled from the warm breeze. 
	“Diana, I want to know what you are doing other than meeting your friends as you call it. It seems like there is something more, for you have been sneaking out for six to eight months now without telling me. You are hiding something.”
	Diana looked down at the floor which was picking up the moonlight even more than before. She tried to avoid her father’s eyes. She wanted to get away from his interrogating questions and his soul piercing glance.
	“They are waiting Pater. They will think I’ve been arr-” Diana looked back down at the floor as she stopped herself in mid-sentence, and bit her lip to catch herself before the words arrested and Caesar came from her lips.
	“What was that Diana? Arrested? Is that what you were going to say?”
	“Yes Sir.
	“Explain yourself.”
	“My friends are waiting Sir.” Diana tried to avoid her father’s questions and remind him that she needed to go. 
	His voice was raised, “Diana…”	
	“No, Sir.” Her father glared at her in shock “Pardon…I didn’t mean to say anything. ”
	“How dare you say that to me. I am Senator Maximus and esteemed veteran, an honored citizen of Rome! You are just my daughter. The gods are punishing me for not arranging a marriage for you sooner.” Her father turned his back to Diana. 
	“Pater, you heard me correctly. I…I only meant-“
	“Yours words can have deep meaning Diana. You did not finish your sentence, but your actions show you are doing something that requires extreme secrecy. Come now speak.” 
	Diana closed her eyes. Jesus Christ, Please give me your strength to tell my father what I believe. 
	“I am… I…I believe in the Nazarene. He is Lord.” 
	He turned back around to face her, his long tunic swished from his harsh move. Diana’s father stared into her eyes.
	“How can you believe in that Jewish myth, in that crazed Jesus? You are destroying your life.” 
	“He was very wise.” Her eyes were not meeting his harsh gaze.
“I do not have time for your foolishness. Caesar Caligula is Lord, Diana; please say that  you believe this because all other views are treason. Despite you are a woman, you were born into a Roman family of privilege.”
	Diana’s conscience inside her head was a raging, nomadic, tribal battle. She knew the words she had to speak. She wanted to force them from her own mouth. 
	“Pater, Jesus Christ is Lord. Caligula is a man.” She was shocked by the resonance of her words, she just denied her father’s authority, but most of all, that of the Imperial Roman Empire.
	“I do not want my daughter tried before the Courts of Rome,” his voice was beginning to become louder as he spoke, “I as part of it, for the sake of the gods and Caesar. And why of all places are you going to meet in such a public place, the forum. You’re asking for arrest. I will not try my daughter for the sake of honor, my position, or as a father.”
	Diana’s father limped closer to her.
“Do you have anything else to confess to me Diana? You are not a part of some evil cult as well are you?”
“May I go now Sir?”
	He stepped away from her and looked at her with deep disapproval. The moonlight was directly ahead casting a large shadow inside the room. Her father faced away again and his voice boomed. 
“I have every right to tell the authorities on you. I could be charged with high treason for hiding a fanatic Christian in my home. This could destroy the family, especially your brother and mother who are very comfortable with their role in society. Why, Why Diana, Why? When I even honored with to sacred name.”
	“I am seen as an equal person, Sir. I am respected with my friends.” 
	Diana could see her father’s chest moving up and down. He was avoiding eye contact.
	“Go, leave my house now. Get out of my sight. Do anything foolish and I will disown you.
.	“But...”
	“Now.” Her father was fuming.
	Diana turned from her father and fled out the door. As soon as she closed the door, salty tears began to fall. She could feel the warm humid breeze drying her tears that would not end. Julius will be waiting for me at the end of the street. I just need to get there…
	Diana ran down the street to where she always met Julius. Her feet stomped on the cobblestone. The crowded streets of Rome were dark except from the shadows cast by the streets lights. The street was lined with terracotta colored buildings, and the awnings of merchants and artisans shops. She tried to hold back the tears that kept forming.  
Before she had come to her normal place at the end of the street, Julius saw her and jogged the extra distance.
	“Diana! Are you alright? When you took so long I feared the worst.” 
	She collapsed into his arms, and the tears fell more steadily. As he saw her green eyes welling with tears, he gently whispered into her ear, “Hush, calm yourself.” he held her tightly in his arms. “Come we need to go see the others, and tell me what is wrong Diana?” his Tribune-voice in command. 
	“Father knows Julius, he tried to stop me from coming tonight.”  
	“Let’s go meet Stephanos, Naomi, and Zechariah. I hope they are not waiting any more. It is dangerous.” Julius grabbed her hand guiding her through the narrow alleyways and backstreets lit with the flaming night lamps. They walked in silence, and finally came to the steps leading down into the forum. “Watch where you step.”  The steep boulder-steps winded down the hill. Diana walked behind Julius and held his hand in front of her. 
	They came to the curia and didn’t see anyone waiting. 
	“They must have gone ahead. We are late, come let’s go.”
	They walked through the forum passed the temples with large columns and arches to the other side, and up the steps outside of the forum. 
	“Julius what will I do if my father tells me I must leave? He threatened to disown me. I am a woman with no husband, and thus worthless.” Diana stopped and looked at Julius, her eyes big. 
	“Perhaps you can live with one of us. It is most safe in the catacombs. Many of us stay there for protection.” Julius continued to lead her on as he whispered very quietly. “We must go to Vinicius house. The others will think we are not coming.”
	Some of the wiser Christians will know what I can do. I am to give whatever I can for Christ and His kingdom.