“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

In fact, for a period he led a double life as a member of the Zealots. He turned against them vehemently, however, as he was later to turn against the Romans to join the Christians. Before his conversion, he knew he had a purpose and mission, and flung himself with all the passion of his being into whatever answers he thought he had found.

(10:11.) While I was not literate, I was shrewd and lively of mind. Special bells, I discovered, were used by various sects of Jews, both within Rome and without. While I was a Roman and a citizen, my citizenship meant little except for providing me with minimal safety as I went about my daily way, and in my business I encountered as many Jews as Romans. I was not too far above them socially. (This was Seth’s first bit of humor in the chapter.)

The Romans had no clear idea of the number of Jews in Rome at that time. They went by guesswork. The bells on donkeys belonging to the Zealots had upon them the symbol of an eye (Jane, as Seth, pointed to one of her eyes). They came secretly into town, hiding as much from other Jews as from Romans. They were good bargainers and often did me out of more than I deserved to lose.

The Christians, generally speaking, did not want Roman converts. I was later one of these, and because of my nationality was never trusted. My part in that drama was simply to acquaint myself with its physical foundation; to be a participant, however small, in that era. Much later in your terms I would end up as a minor pope in the third century, meeting again some of those I had known — and, if you will forgive a humorous note, once more familiar with the sound of bells.