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györgy spiró
because he was in a position
to whisper or suggest anything
to a community leader at any
time; he could be of some
use and also do a great deal
of harm. Fortunatus, the
previous grammateus, had
been ill and forgetful when he
died, but nevertheless many
members of the congregation
had accompanied his body
to the catacomb, located on
the Appian Way. Joseph and
Uri too had been present at
the burial ceremony at the
terraced entrance to the
cemetery, as if it were a tiny,
semicircular amphitheater.
A Jewish assembly like this
was not large by Roman
standards, and if one of its
number should die, the five or
six hundred menfolk, a small
town’s worth, would be there
at his burial, and it was also
permitted for women and
children to attend, because in
Rome women were of virtually
equal rank to men, unlike in
Palestine, where women were
of no account.
The route was a long one,
not because of the distance,
for there could have been no
more than three or four stadia,
a mile or so, between Far Side
and the cemetery, which lay
just beyond the city gate, but
because it was necessary to
stop seven times on the way,
first at the Jewish bridge, the
Pons Cestius, as the section
on the near side of the island
was officially known, or the
Pons Fabricius, further away;
at each stop, someone, each
time a different person, seven
times over, would expound at
length on the virtues of the
deceased.
Not that the burial was
notable for this, but in the
congregation that day there
also happened to be a priest
from Jerusalem by the name