Series 3 Characters

Like Lucius, the Roman Centurion Macky met in Jerusalem, Senator Antonius is also a Roman who is a Friend of Jesus. Antonius seems to be a well-intentioned man, but he is also rather timid and soft-spoken. Antonius’s conversion came about because of his wife’s involvement with the Friends.

Though his wife is now dead, Antonius keeps the flame burning brightly, but he must be careful. If his fellow Senators find out that he is a Friend of Jesus, he would lose his seat in the Senate, and probably his life as well.

Felix and Sophia are Senator Antonius’s young children.

Felix, the younger of the two, is mute, unable – or unwilling – to speak ever since his mother died. In most other ways, he’s a pretty normal kid; he likes sports and dotes on his dog, Dudemus. He even likes Macky’s occasionally obnoxious pet, Pontius the parrot.

When Felix needs to say something, he uses sign language and relies on his older sister, Sophia, to translate for him. Sophia obliges, but occasionally translates to her own advantage. Despite this tendency, she is a devoted sister who always protects Felix from the taunts of the local bullies.

Both Sophia and Felix are fascinated by the Bible stories their father tells them, and they also follow Macky’s relationship with Portia with great interest.

Absolom is a young man Macky meets in gladiator school. Unlike most of his fellow students, though, Absolom isn’t unhappy about being there. A bold, tough warrior, Absolom believes he has a future in the arena. He knows that the most successful charioteers and gladiators are able to retire as wealthy men, and he fully intends to be one of them.

Absolom comes from a Jewish background and, like Macky, knows the stories of his people’s heroes well. He often shares them with Macky and the others.

Despite the brutal profession he’s chosen, Absolom is a good-natured young man, always eager for adventure and always willing to help a friend.

Dudemus (Dude) is a Molossian dog, and a much-loved, extremely loyal family pet to the household of Antonius and his children. The Molossian was an ancient breed of dog which no longer exists in its pure form today; they were powerful beasts, often used for hunting.

But the truth is that Dudemus is really a big softie! He dotes on Felix and Sophia, and loves playing chasing games in the garden of their lovely Roman home. If Dudemus doesn’t like someone, though, they’d better watch out! Toadie never seems to hit it off with Dude, and when this dog barks – he barks loudly!

Unfortunately, Dudemus also doesn’t like Pontius the parrot. But perhaps this is just some friendly rivalry as the two pets vie for attention from Macky and the gang?

Senator Marcus is a flamboyant political figure, who truly believes the Friends of Jesus are a serious threat to Rome’s authority, and he’s willing to do anything he can to keep them oppressed.

Often, he’ll stoop to dangerous, illegal schemes; he’s even willing to lose innocent lives in his campaign against the Friends.

In the Senate, Antonius occasionally speaks up against Marcus, but his words seem devoid of passion, and have little effect. However, the Masked Rebel is a constant thorn in Marcus’s side, and he’ll do anything to find out who he is and stop him. He’ll even bring in Tobias and Brutacus to help – a big mistake…

Luciana is Tobias’s mother, a once-beautiful patrician (someone of high birth) who still has many influential friends and a substantial amount of money.

It was through her influence that Tobias got his job with Tiberius in the first place, and now he is in Rome, Luciana is constantly trying to find her son a new position.

Luciana seems to know everybody, but it’s Marcus who has the warmest feelings for her, and Luciana doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of him any way she can, either on her own behalf or on behalf of Tobias.

Aemelia, a veteran of the arena, which she survived for ten long years, now owns a school for gladiators – the school that Macky is brought to.

Wearing a fashionable tunic and gold jewellery nothing tells you that she was once a ferocious Amazon gladiator. She is incredibly strong and can still fight as well as she could when she was a gladiator.

The Masked Rebel always seems to be on hand when the Friends of Jesus need help.

In disguise, the Masked Rebel conducts daring raids and rescues for the benefit of the Friends of Jesus – whisking Christians destined for the lions out of Rome, or helping others escape brutal slave-masters.

The Romans never know where and when he is going to appear next. But who is this mysterious masked figure?

When Macky arrives in Rome, one of the first people he meets is Babatunji. Like Isaac and Devorah, Babatunji is African, but he’s no Friend of Jesus.

He’s a warrior who was brought to Rome to be a gladiator. He survived the arena and then went to work for Aemelia. Babatunji is her chief trainer, the man who must prepare young slaves for their often-short career in the arena.

Babatunji is tough, almost cruel, but he’s always fair. His philosophy is simple: fight or die. And his belief system is even more simple: he tells Macky he believes only in himself, his sword and his will to fight.