By summer, the situation around Myra had grown desperate. The dry spell affected most of the east, and wheat became more valuable than the gray denarius coins that Rome called silver. The two capitals of the empire—Rome in the west, and Nicomedia in the east—bought up most of the grain that made it out of Alexandria. What remained, never made it to sale in Myra’s merchant stalls as people hurried out to meet the carts heading in from the port, calling out their bids along the way until the whole load was auctioned off along the way.
The Christiani took what money they had and pooled it together to buy some of the cartloads of grain. With it, they managed to feed one another and offer aid to the near-skeletons who staggered out of the city begging for a meal. The rich in the city had stopped giving to the poor for fear that they too would run out of food. Every day, carts would carry more dead out to be buried.
The drifter camp soon became known as the Christiani camp. The believers who lived there helped each other find whatever food they could, and they had few deaths there except those who came to them from the city. The people in Myra did not dare venture out to the Christiani unless they were on the verge of death because they risked being counted as one of them. So while the people in the city fought each other for food, the Christiani were left to care for the dying and the dead.
Most days Nicholas had funerals to attend to, and he would always take the time to offer a word from the writings of the apostles and prophets over whomever they laid to rest. Each day, he could spot a spy from Silvanus, a Roman soldier dressed in plain clothes. He might be sitting on a boulder at the edge of the camp or standing by the wayside to keep watch over his comings and goings. By this, he knew that Silvanus remained alive and eager to snatch away what remained of the treasury of Christus. Though the law forbid Christianus assemblies in cemeteries, the spies never stood in the way of the burial parties. They had little interest in enforcing the law since the Christiani were doing the city the favor of disposing their dead.
Lucas would bring fish to the camp from his work on the ships. He privately said to Nicholas, “We could buy much more food if the Lord supplied us from his treasury.”
“We could,” said Nicholas. “And don’t think I haven’t considered it. But now is not the time. Once his treasury is known, there will be no closing it again. Desperation and greed will snatch away what remains. We must wait and use it only when absolutely necessary.”
Lucas nodded and said no more.
The Christiani took what money they had and pooled it together to buy some of the cartloads of grain. With it, they managed to feed one another and offer aid to the near-skeletons who staggered out of the city begging for a meal. The rich in the city had stopped giving to the poor for fear that they too would run out of food. Every day, carts would carry more dead out to be buried.
The drifter camp soon became known as the Christiani camp. The believers who lived there helped each other find whatever food they could, and they had few deaths there except those who came to them from the city. The people in Myra did not dare venture out to the Christiani unless they were on the verge of death because they risked being counted as one of them. So while the people in the city fought each other for food, the Christiani were left to care for the dying and the dead.
Most days Nicholas had funerals to attend to, and he would always take the time to offer a word from the writings of the apostles and prophets over whomever they laid to rest. Each day, he could spot a spy from Silvanus, a Roman soldier dressed in plain clothes. He might be sitting on a boulder at the edge of the camp or standing by the wayside to keep watch over his comings and goings. By this, he knew that Silvanus remained alive and eager to snatch away what remained of the treasury of Christus. Though the law forbid Christianus assemblies in cemeteries, the spies never stood in the way of the burial parties. They had little interest in enforcing the law since the Christiani were doing the city the favor of disposing their dead.
Lucas would bring fish to the camp from his work on the ships. He privately said to Nicholas, “We could buy much more food if the Lord supplied us from his treasury.”
“We could,” said Nicholas. “And don’t think I haven’t considered it. But now is not the time. Once his treasury is known, there will be no closing it again. Desperation and greed will snatch away what remains. We must wait and use it only when absolutely necessary.”
Lucas nodded and said no more.
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