In her latest novel, the award-winning writer Naomi Alderman provides a challenging fictional account of the world of Roman-occupied Judea and the life of a charismatic Jewish preacher, Yehoshuah.

A year after Yehoshuah's death, four people tell their stories - his mother, Miryam; his former friend and follower Iehuda of Qeriot; the High Priest at the great Temple in Jerusalem, Caiaphas and the rebel, Bar-Avo.

In today's episode, Miryam remembers a bloody Jewish rebellion at the festival of Shavuot, to which the Romans responded with savage brutality. And Iehuda of Qeriot, now living a new life as a Roman citizen in Caesarea, remembers his devotion to his beloved friend, Yehoshuah.

Read by Tracy-Ann Oberman and Tobias Menzies
Abridged by Sally Marmion
Produced by Emma Harding. Show less