By order of Empress and Domina Livia in the name of Autokrator Dominum Nostrum Imperator Caesar Augustus in the year 759, I hereby invest Annaus Iacobus-ben-Flavius as Lord High Priest of the Judeans, under the auspices of Governor Coponius.
The objectives of Annaus are as follows:
1. Build relations with assimilated Sadducees as countervailing force to Pharisee fanatics, with tax credits and housing inducements to greater observance of Jewish faith in Roman supervised ritual practice, involving more involved synagogue participation, more frequent temple tributes and sacrifices, and the cultivation of a rabbinate more amenable to secular influence that will moderate the more fanatical rulings of Pharisee rabbis like Shammai, against whom Rabbi Hillel's opposition is insufficient to be meaningful.
2. As Hillel and Shammai have proven themselves incapable of being assassinated--Shammai having emerged unburnt from a stake, Hillel having walked off a crucifix--further attempts to assassinate them may encourage the perception of weakness in Rome's standing, therefore rather than assassination, they must be watched without cease and their ordinances countermanded vigilantly.
3. A rumor has gripped the land that Herod died because Hillel stabbed him while Shammai held him down. Irregardless of this rumor's veracity, intelligence must propagate an alternate rumor into city speculation which elucidates the probable truth: that Herod died from overwhelming natural causes which long threatened his life. Rumor goes about Judea that Hillel had frequent bouts of septicemia first acquired when Imperator Augustus demanded a blood oath, but surely Rome cannot be held responsible for the misfortunes of its colonized, and therefore mention of this rumor must be punishable by crucifixion.
4. While Governor Coponius is
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