Longinus marched into the
open hall of the Praetorium. He was accompanied by three soldiers representing
major legions that belonged to Judah, a significant province of Roman Empire.
He was the chosen one to be crowned as Centurion of the newly created group of
legionaries, the fearless infantry men.
After Caesar, the Roman
Governor alone is authorized to crown the new Centurion. As the custom was,
Longinus stepped forward and knelt down in front of the Governor. A silver tray
was brought to the Governor on which a beautiful crown rested, made of red
flowers of Euphorbia milli. The red appeared quite intense. Longinus remained
kneeling.
The Governor lifted the
delicate crown and placed it right on his head which appeared to fit well. To
ensure that the crown stays safe, Governor pushed it down. Longinus writhed in
pain! Right in the middle of the crown along with blood red flowers of the
beautiful Euphorbia milli, there was a sharp thorn which pierced directly into
his flesh.
Help arrived in no time.
Before Longinus was further affected, they removed the crown and tossed it
aside. A soldier brought another crown made of a different set of flowers. The
crowning ceremony went ahead without any further interruptions.
The Praetorium was soon empty
with the Governor returning to his palace. The guests had all gone back. The
hall was cleared of everything unwanted including the crown with the thorn. The
trash was dumped behind the Praetorium near the scourging pillars, including the
crown.
It was destined to rest there,
adjacent to the wall for the next three years and grew itself into a plant with
sharp thorns all over. A man was brought in one fine day for scourging,
apparently of no fault of his. Longinus was the Centurion still and one of the
soldiers took a long stem from the same plant and made a befitting crown, but
this time instead of one, it was covered in thorns.
The man cried in pain
as Longinus pressed the crown on to his forehead, precisely the way he cried three
years ago. They mocked at him and gave him the name ‘Rex Judah’…
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