Gaius Cassius Longinus, the Immortal Centurion, has had a hard couple of centuries. When he saw Jesus suffering on the Cross, he tried to lessen His suffering and hasten His death by piercing him in the side with his spear. The centurion and his weapon were changed forever. Longinus cannot die, and the spear, which became known as the Spear of Destiny, brings victory to whoever possesses it. It did not take him long to work out, however, that immortality and invincibility are great responsibilities, and that victory always comes at a price.
Between the fifth and eighth centuries Longinus criss-crossed the Mediterranean, and witnessed the transformation of the Roman world. Waves of barbarian tribes migrated into Europe, the Roman Empire fell in the West, but continued in the East, and a new religion, Islam, spread out of Arabia – and Longinus was there to see it all.
Over the centuries Longinus was a soldier, a monk, a merchant sailor, a consul, a nurse, a husband and a friend to many different peoples. He came to realize that it was his mission not to fight for one side or another, but to try to use peaceful means to bring the greatest good to the greatest number. But above everything else, the Spear of Destiny had to be kept out of the wrong hands.
Between the fifth and eighth centuries Longinus criss-crossed the Mediterranean, and witnessed the transformation of the Roman world. Waves of barbarian tribes migrated into Europe, the Roman Empire fell in the West, but continued in the East, and a new religion, Islam, spread out of Arabia – and Longinus was there to see it all.
Over the centuries Longinus was a soldier, a monk, a merchant sailor, a consul, a nurse, a husband and a friend to many different peoples. He came to realize that it was his mission not to fight for one side or another, but to try to use peaceful means to bring the greatest good to the greatest number. But above everything else, the Spear of Destiny had to be kept out of the wrong hands.
