Nicolaus selected a bench against the wall of the council chamber, sat down, and patted the stone surface beside him. Amyntas obliged, and the two of them found themselves facing out toward the temple of Dea Roma and the divine Augustus in the civic forum. “We have to be smarter now. The return of the Christ appears more and more to be an event that we should not count on happening anytime soon. We have to position ourselves to play a much longer game.” Nicolaus paused for a moment and looked straight