Before The Cross

In the tradition of Ben-Hur and The Robe, this is a Christian-themed epic of strife and conflict set in the Roman-occupied Mediterranean. Nicolaus, a young Syrian-Greek aristocrat, is falsely accused by the Roman authorities of sedition, condemned to slavery, and exiled from Syria. Although forcibly removed from his beloved family and friends, Nicolaus considers his greatest personal loss his separation from Helen, the beautiful Greek girl whom he has loved since childhood. While Nicolaus is placed in the servitude of a former Roman general residing in Northern Africa, Helen flees Antioch for Jerusalem to live with her brother,Theodore, an assistant architect to the master builder. Theodore is working on the great temple that is being erected at the direction of King Herod Antipas. Soon after her arrival in Judea, Helen hears of the teachings and the miracles of a young Jewish rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. She seeks Jesus out and soon becomes a devoted follower. Political pressure mounts on Metellus, the ambitious Roman legate in Syria, until he is compelled to reverse his earlier ruling and declare a death sentence against Nicolaus. After being warned of the new decree, and narrowly evading capture, Nicolaus flees to Egypt. There he remains a fugitive, increasingly desperate and alone, until he makes a fateful decision to journey to Jerusalem in an effort to reunite with Helen and confront his ultimate destiny.