The Quiet Centurion — Michael Vetter

The year is 35 A.D. and Centurion Linius Crispus Valerius is a Christian in the Roman Army who is assigned to a garrison in the coastal city of Caesarea Maritima in the Province of Judea. Linius stands out as an exceptional officer admired by his men and his legionary commander for his moral character and integrity. When an imperial edict from Rome orders every soldier to swear an oath to Emperor Tiberius as deity or face severe punishment, the province's highest military authority is in a quandary. He know that Linius would never take the oath, so he transfers his best centurion to an outpost in the Province of Asia where the governor of northern Galatia ignores reckless imperial pronouncements. After he settles his family in a large estate in Galatia, Centurion Linius Crispus learns that Emperor Tiberius is dead. Soon after learning of a new emperor, Linius receives a summons to report to a certain senator in Rome. After sailing from Ephesus to Rome, Linius is stunned when he is appointed a senatorial legate and ordered to escort the payroll for four legions waiting in the Province of Pontus on the Black Sea. The mission turns treacherous when pirates capture Linius, his military guard, and the enormous cargo of gold and silver coins. The payroll is recaptured and Linius finally reaches Pontus only to find that the four legions are gone! The Quiet Centurion begins a multi-volume fictional series that traces the lives of a Christian centurion, his family, and a host of characters during the first-century period of 35-74 A.D. These years overlap and intertwine with missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul, authoring of the New Testament, and the spread of Christianity when the Roman Empire is turned upside down.