Androcles and the Lion (play) run from his Roman persecutors. While hiding in the forest he comes upon a wild lion who approaches him with a wounded paw. His wife runs off. Androcles sees that the cause of the animal's distress is a large thorn embedded in its paw, which he draws out while soothing the lion in baby language. Androcles is captured and is sent to the Colosseum to be executed with other Christians in gladiatorial combat. They are joined by a new Christian convert called Ferrovius, who struggles to reconcile his Christian principles with his violent inclinations. The Roman captain guarding them is
The Slave-Girl from Jerusalem The Slave-Girl from Jerusalem The Slave-Girl from Jerusalem is a children's historical novel by Caroline Lawrence. The novel, the thirteenth in "The Roman Mysteries" series, was published in 2007. It is set in December AD 80 in and around Ostia, and deals with death, slavery and the Roman legal system. Jonathan's sister, Miriam, is approached by Hepzibah, a girlhood friend from Jerusalem. Hepzibah is in serious trouble. Formerly a slave owned by the wealthy landowner Dives, she claims that she was manumitted (set free), but Dives has just died, and his heir, Nonius Celer, says he has no proof of