"Nay, cruel as you are I grieve that you, a great captain, should have come to this." "I grieve also, maiden.

Your grandsire, old Benoni, chose the better part." Then the soldiers separated them and they spoke no more.
An hour passed and the procession began its march along the Triumphal Way.

Of it Miriam could see little.

All she knew was that in front there were ranks of fettered prisoners, while behind men carried upon trays and tables the golden vessels of the Temple, the seven-branched candlestick and the ancient sacred book of the Jewish law.

They were followed by other men, who bore aloft images of victory in ivory and gold.