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Andrew used a stick to draw an outline of the city’s streets in the dirt. He placed a rock to signify the location of the Temple, a larger rock adjacent to it to signify the Antonia, the Romans’ fort, and yet another farther away to mark Herod’s Palace. He placed pebbles around the perimeter of the city to show the location of each of the gates.
He had a pile of small twigs at his side. He placed a few twigs at a time at various points of his makeshift map. “We’ve seen men with swords or long knives here,” he placed a few twigs near the Damascus Gate, “as well as here, over there, and this spot. They act like pilgrims, but they don’t move from their positions. Other men walk from one location to the next on a circuit of all the spots you see here, so I assume they are relaying messages.”
Philip asked the question that was on my mind. “Do we have any idea what their plans are yet? If they strike, do we have any idea where it will be?”
Andrew held his palms outward to show he did not yet fully embrace what he was about to say. “I am only guessing here. But looking at the positions they are holding, they could join the streams of pilgrims coming in from all directions and encircle a target. If I were planning a long siege, I would take control of the area around the Siloam Pool down here,” he pointed at the lower right corner. “But if I was going to strike quickly and then retreat before the soldiers could respond, I would go here to the Royal Portico, where the steps lead up to the Temple. Then I would have my fellow Zealots divide the Romans’ forces by fleeing to each of the different gates of the city, and regroup outside a day later.”
Some of the others grunted in agreement. But I cleared my throat loudly.
“Another possibility occurs to me,” I said, picking up another long stick so I could point. “The soldiers are headquartered here,” I pointed at the Antonia, “but during the festival they are scattered throughout the city. What if the rebels staged big disturbances outside of each of the gates simultaneously? The soldiers would run outside to quash the riots. Then the rebels, having moved back inside, would close and fortify the gates, locking the Romans out of the city.”
Andrew whistled. “Simon, you could be right. If I wanted to take control of the city, what better way than to lure the foreigners outside? Then, if they have a large number of archers, they could even fire on the Romans from the city walls.”
That thought scared me. “Have any of you seen any indication that they have archers among them?”
“No, but they would keep such weapons hidden anyway.”
Philip spoke up. “If they were concentrating on firing arrows, they could not defend themselves in close combat. We could knock them down.”
I faced a dilemma. The wrong decision here could prove disastrous.
“Look,” I said, “we can’t ignore the obvious targets. As Andrew said, they would most likely either try to seize the Siloam Pool for a long siege or create a riot at the Royal Portico. We have to guard those two areas closely. But they might instead lure the Romans outside, so we need to guard each of the gates also. That means we will be spread pretty thin.”
I looked at each of them. “Any thoughts?”
“I think we have to guard the gates,” Andrew said. “The more I think about it, the more likely they would try to lure the Romans outside.”
The others nodded agreement.
“Okay then, let’s divide our forces. We’ll put a nominal number at the Pool and the Portico, and concentrate on the gates.”
“Agreed.”