The Shadow of the Galilean

Andreas, Timon, and another enslaved man named Malchus travel together toward the Dead Sea to look for the Essenes. Andreas has no idea how they will convince the Essenes to speak to them. Along the way, they encounter a man by the side of the road who appears to need help, though the man is reluctant to speak to Andreas. Eventually, the man introduces himself as Baruch. He was an Essene, but he was cast out, and now the rules of his community forbid him from accepting any help from other people. Doing so would ruin his only hope of one day being accepted into the Essene community again. He has been taught to distrust anyone outside the community, but Andreas eventually wins him over. They eat together, and Baruch explains why he was ousted from the Essenes. 

Members of the community take a vow of poverty, but the leaders of the Essenes claim to have a stash of buried treasure. Baruch questioned why that treasure was not being used to help the poor, and that question got him exiled. Baruch agrees to travel with Andreas and the others. He tells them more about the Essenes. Andreas writes a brief report on the Essenes for Metilius, emphasizing that they pose no danger to Jerusalem and downplaying their radical religious views, including their belief in the imminent arrival of a Messiah.