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The man who stood before me now had dark hair and complexion, and his clothing suggested Persian. He spoke Greek with a heavy accent but did not appear to understand Aramaic. He showed no doubt regarding my age but rather whether my suggested level of security was necessary. “Why do I need twenty of your men?” he asked. “I would have thought five would be sufficient.”
I made a throwaway gesture with my left hand and gave a small shrug. “Suit yourself,” I answered, as if I didn’t care whether he hired us or not. Dad had always taught me that the key to negotiation was to make it clear that I was willing to walk away from a deal, no matter how much I really wanted it. “Perhaps you can find someone else to send five men out on the road with you. But I will not put my own men in danger by sending an insufficient force. And I would be lying and stealing your money if I said only five were enough to protect you.
“Have you ever traveled the road from here to Caesarea?” I asked. When he shook his head, I pulled out a map and spread it on my table. “Look here. A caravan was attacked in the hills here last week,” I pointed to a spot west of our location. “Another was attacked over here two weeks prior to that. There are at least five areas of vulnerability on the road between here and the coast of the great sea. In most cases the thieves only steal merchandise and money, but they have caused harm to some of those who tried to resist. One man was killed.”
The man leaned over the map, studying it. “But Caesarea is a Roman city. Surely there are Roman soldiers protecting the roads?”
“Absolutely, you will encounter many Roman soldiers.” I smiled. “And if it looks like you cannot defend yourself, they might demand payment from you for the privilege of traveling on the splendid road they built. If you cannot pay, they might seize one or more members of your party and sell them into slavery to pay your toll. And let us pray that you do not have any women or girls traveling with you.”
I was watching his face closely, and saw a twitch of fear when I mentioned women and girls. Ah, I realized, he does have females. He might even be foolish enough to have his wife or daughters traveling with him.
He stroked the whiskers on his chin as he contemplated the situation. “I do not think I can feed twenty extra men with the provisions I have brought,” he said, apparently trying to haggle on my price.
“My men will bring and prepare their own food. You are accustomed to that which you have eaten all your life, but my men may not do well on food that is strange to their stomachs. In the same manner, you might find their food strange, and it could cause you to become ill for a day. Such illness presents a risk on the road, where we cannot afford any unnecessary weakness. My men will feed themselves.”
The man still appeared to be struggling with the cost, so I changed the subject. “Tell me, after you deliver your goods to Caesarea, will you be traveling back this way or proceeding along the coast to another city?”
He shook his head. “No, we will not return. It is our plan to sail on to Rome when we reach the port.”
Excellent, now I had a bargaining chip. “Then that means you will be leaving your wagons and oxen,” I said. “Do you have a buyer there who will give you a fair price for them?”
“No, I have not yet contemplated that portion of our journey.”
“Then let me make a proposal,” I said, leaning forward. “I will buy your wagons and beasts from you, and deduct the price from what I am charging you for my men’s protection. That way the trip to the coast will be less expensive for you, and you can be assured that my men will protect you because they are also protecting what will become my property. And when you reach Caesarea, you won’t face the burden of trying to find an honest buyer.”
The relieved look on his face told me that I had him. “Andrew,” I called to the next room, “come here for a moment.” When he appeared in the doorway, I said. “I need you and nineteen of your best men to accompany this man and his party to Caesarea on the coast. You will need to take food sufficient for the trip there and back. On the way home, you will be driving oxen pulling several wagons.” I turned for a moment to the Persian man. “When were you hoping to leave? My men can be ready tomorrow morning, or in a few days if you have business that will keep you here in Sepphoris.”
“Tomorrow would be excellent,” he said, reaching out to shake my hand.