The Secundus Papyrus
by Albert Noyer

November, A.D. 439, at Ravenna, Italy: surgeon Getorius Asterius and his wife Arcadia examine the body of Behan, a monk seemingly drowned in a penitential rite. A prophecy text they find in his hut suggests that a document of earthshaking importance will soon be revealed. Shortly after, during a visit with Galla Placidia, the emperor's mother, to a new mausoleum, a hidden niche violently reveals "the Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ." The stunning terms of the will, if implemented by the Bishop of Rome, will bring apocalyptic chaos to the twin Roman empires.
      Placidia suppresses the papyrus while authenticity is tested. After three witnesses are murdered, Getorius suggests that Rabbi David ben Zadok evaluate the text. His prediction of what will occur if the papyrus is released: empire-wide civil war. When Getorius is arrested on a false charge of dissecting the body of a monk, Arcadia is left alone to deal with the papyrus.
     Late in December, Brenos, abbot of Behan's monastery, delayed by winter storms, arrives from Gaul, ostensibly to bury his dead monk but actually to reveal the will at the Nativity Mass. Frantic at discovering that the papyrus has been permanently discovered, Brenos meets with "Smyrna" his mysterious contact in Ravenna, in an effort to locate the document.
     In the last late hours December 24, it is still not certain that fanatical members of a religious order will not succeed in establishing a theocracy designed to supplant the dying Western Empire.
Villa of the Surgeon

October 2003
Paperback ISBN 1-59264-034-6 300 pages US$14.95
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Other Publisher & Reader's Comments

"Albert Noyer is a novelist who knows how to make history come alive and seem important. [He] has an artist's eye for color and a scholar's passion for accuracy."
     DR. RONALD MODRAS / ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY

"Noyer has an almost musical yet tight style of writing. Building suspense. . . he leads the reader to a surprise ending. Noyer, an art historian, uses a detailed knowledge of the Romans to entice the reader with descriptive passages on the religions, politics, food, medicine and day-to-day life of the time."
     THE ALBQUERQUE SUNDAY JOURNAL

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