Marcus Gratus
Marcus Gratus is one of the four faction legionaries at the gates of Jerusalem on the day after the triumphant entry of Jesus (Palm Sunday). He is doubtless part of the Roman garrison stationed at the Antonia, that fortress overlooking the Temple. It is midnight and Jesus wants to enter the city to join his mother.
The eldest of the four soldiers, doubtless an officer, lets him enter despite orders:
"Actually, according to insructions, we should not let anybody pass. But You would pass just the same. He who forces the doors of Hades,[1] can easily force the gates of a closed town. And You are not a man who will provoke rebellions. So the prohibition does not apply to You. Try not to be seen by the patrol in town. Open the gate, Marcus Gratus. And You, go in noiselessly. We are soldiers and we must obey…"[2]
Vital, the youngest of the four soldiers, expresses his admiration for Jesus. Marcus Gratus, "in the full strength of age" mocks: "A God on a donkey?" And he argues his atheism:
"Believe me. The gods are idle stories. Olympus is empty and the Earth has none. [...]
Are you still childish to the extent of not being a candidate and not knowing that Caesar himself does not believe in the gods, neither do the pontifices,[3] the augurs,[4] the haruspices,[5] the Arval brethren,[6] the vestal virgins,[7] or anybody else? [...]
Why the rites? Because people like them, they are useful to the priest and Caesar avails himself of them to be obeyed, as if he were an earthly god held by the hand by the Olympian gods. But the first not to believe are those whom we venerate as ministers of the gods. I am pyrrhonian.[8] I have traveled around the world. I have had many experiences. My hair has become grey at my temples and my way of thinking has matured. My personal code consists of three sentences. To love Rome, the only goddess and the only certainty, to the extent of sacrificing my life for her. To believe nothing, because everything around us is an illusion, with the exception of our sacred immortal Fatherland. We must doubt even ourselves, because it is not certain whether we live.
Senses and reason are not sufficient to make us know for certain that we have succeeded in knowing the Truth and to live and to die are of the same value, because we do not know what it is to live and what is to die» he says, affecting the philosophic skepticism of a superior mind…"[9]
As Vital maintains his desire to listen to Jesus, Marcus Gratus pushes him:
"May Aesculapius[10] save you! You are ill! You came up to town from the valley only a short time ago, and those who make that journey and are not acclimatised to these surroundings become easily feverish. Your mind is wandering. Come. Only warm wine with spices can make you sweat the poison of Jordan fever…"[9]
And he pushes him toward the guardhouse, but Vital frees himself. He will wait for Jesus.
Remarkable points[edit | edit source]
This testimony of Marcus Gratus is part of the remarkable historical knowledge of Maria Valtorta, but above all illustrates the shift from the skepticism of agnostics to atheism.
His name[edit | edit source]
Gratus means "thankful". An echo is found in the word "gratitude". Marcus Gratus shows none in his speech.
Where is it mentioned in the work?[edit | edit source]
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ The place of the dead. This is an allusion to the resurrection of Lazarus which caused a great stir and left a strong impression.
- ↑ GRM 592.1.
- ↑ The Roman pontiffs (3 to 5) were responsible for public worship and the religious calendar. The supreme authority was held by the Pontifex maximus.
- ↑ The augurs were responsible for observing the will of the gods through signs such as the flight of birds. They consecrated temples and fields.
- ↑ The (h)aruspicers were diviners charged with reading the future in the entrails of animals, notably.
- ↑ The arval brothers were a college of twelve priests dedicated to worship of Ceres. It was celebrated at the full moon of May and guaranteed good harvests.
- ↑ The vestal virgins were priestesses dedicated to Vesta, goddess protector of hearths and the City. They were responsible for maintaining the sacred fire.
- ↑ Pyrrho of Elis (360–270 BC): Greek philosopher, founder of skepticism. He was agnostic and refrained from giving his opinion on any subject. He denied that anything was good or bad, true or false in itself. He doubted the existence of everything.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 GRM 592.2.
- ↑ Aesculapius: God of medicine. Originally worshipped at Epidaurus. One of his symbols is the snake coiled around a staff. It is still found today in the caduceus of pharmacists and nurses.