Early One Morning

* historical figure

() deceased

Priestesses

Aliyah: (16 CE) the youngest of the priestesses, Aliyah ran away from home rather than have her bat mitzvah. (17)

Aurelia: (c. 11 BCE) the assistant chief healer, who hails from Egypt. (44)

Claudia: (c. 9 BCE) one of the priestesses who has mixed Roman and Jewish blood. (24)

Hadas: (10 CE) chief healer; the only Gentile[1] the Jews will see. (23)

Julia: (5 CE) High Priestess of the Temple of Isis, Jerusalem and a second generation Jerusalemite.[2] (28)

Livia: (7 CE) the maiden; Julia’s second. Unlike Julia, Livia was born in Rome. (26)

Sabrina: (11 CE) one of the priestesses who has mixed Roman and Jewish blood. (22)

Tatiana: (12 CE) one of the priestesses who has mixed Roman and Jewish blood. (21)

Ziva: (6 CE) priestess who is best at interpreting dreams.[3] (27)

Romans

*Pontius Pilatus: (c. 21 BCE) a member of the Pontii clan, Pilatus was the Roman prefect in charge of Judea from 26 – 36 CE.[4] (53)

*Drusilla Claudia Procula: (9 BCE) his wife, a distant relation of Emperor Tiberius.[5] (47)

Mihalis: Claudia’s chamberlain.

Caius: Claudia’s master of the wardrobe.

Calista: Claudia’s slave in charge of cosmetics.

Nadia: Claudia’s jeweler.

Melinda: Claudia’s hairstylist.

Mikel: administrator in the prefect’s absence.

Jacobus: centurion in the prefect’s personal guard.

Lucius: a scribe who works for Domus Pilatus.

Constantina: wife of Lucius.

Analenya: (c. 9 BCE) chief priestess of Jerusalem’s College of Vestals. (32)

Gaia Julia Gregoria: Julia’s full Roman name.

Gaia Minerva Claudia: (11 BCE – c. 33 CE) Julia’s mother. If Minerva is still alive, she has probably moved back to Rome. (49)

(Gaia Paulina Severide): (45 BCE – c. 7 CE) Julia’s grandmother, who got the format of her surname changed after rendering great services to the Old Republic. Paulina retired in Jerusalem at age 45.[6] (83)

Jews

*Yeshua ben Miriam: (1 BCE – 33 CE) teacher and healer who stirs the interest of the Sanhedrin. (33)

*Caiaphas: (26 BCE) high priest and leader of the Sanhedrin. (64)

*Mary Magdalene: (10 CE) follower of Yeshua, sometimes known as the thirteenth disciple. (23)

[1] Hadas is culturally a Jew, but since she joined the Temple of Isis, she has been considered a Gentile.

[2] Like Hadas, Julia is Jewish only by descent.

[3] A fourth Jew-to-Gentile.

[4] I could not find any historical information referring to the ages of Pontius and Claudia, so I set them for the purposes of this novel.

[5] Claudia has been referred to biblically and historically as “Claudia Procula”. It is unknown if she had a prenomen.

[6] Formerly “Gaia Paulina Severina”.