A garment plays into the story as well – a garment that seems to hold peculiar powers of its own and brings both trouble and healing to Marcellus over the course of his journey to discovering what he believes about Jesus, the Christ. Marcellus, through some interesting twists, ends up playing a key role in the most pivotal event in history – an event that changes his life forever. The Robe centers around Marcellus Gallio, son of a Roman senator, Tribune. I’m still trying to decide if I agree with his explanation of the feeding of the five thousand. He does take some liberties with fleshing out the miracles of Jesus, and while I’m not sure I agree with all of his conclusions, they were definitely thought-provoking. While he does have some of his details wrong (like the whole thing with Peter and “upon this rock I will build my church” – which most likely was not actually referring to Peter but rather to the place where they were standing…long story…check out Ray Vanderlaan’s DVD clip called “The Gates of Hell” if you’re interested in more details), I think most of Douglas’s cultural references are accurate.
I was impressed with a lot of the cultural detail that Douglas put into The Robe. You can definitely find lots of vivid imagery, well-thought-out lines, gorgeously big words, and quotable quotes in The Robe. Don’t worry – The Robe still has a lot of deep information in it, but Douglas presents it in an easier-to-digest format than Wallace does in Ben Hur.
There were two main reasons for this: a) The Robe is just plain easier reading and not quite as deep as Ben Hur, and b) this book contains what I feel is a much more accurate portrayal of Jesus (Wallace feminized Him in Ben Hur). In all honesty, I think I enjoyed The Robe better than I did Ben Hur. Michaela was right – I did enjoy it – very much indeed. I found an old copy of The Robe at a thrift store and finally got around to reading it several months after finishing Ben Hur. This spring I took Ben Hur with me on a week long choir tour ( you can see my review of that book here), and Michaela, who had read Ben Hur before, told me that if I enjoyed that book I would probably also enjoy The Robe (by Lloyd C.
This particular book was suggested to me by my friend Michaela. It was rather as if he had confronted his tragedy! – had gone to meet it! ( The Robe, pg.143)
The best that ‘fortitude’ could accomplish was courageous endurance. He had borne his pain with admirable fortitude Was ‘fortitude’ the word? No – murmured Marcellus – the Galilean had something else besides that. He had been unfairly tried, unjustly sentenced, and dishonorably put to death. The man who wore it had been innocent of any crime. First of all, the Robe had symbolized that whole shameful affair at Jerusalem. Marcellus gave himself to serious reflection. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
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