The Life of Levi

Levi is a man beset by problems. While he is wealthy his riches are always being threatened in many different ways. As a Tax Collector for the Roman Empire he is shunned by his fellow Jews as being ritually impure and so all Jews want to cheat him out of tax money. Being shunned deeply wounds Levi because he had once dreamed of being a Rabbi. He had studied in Jerusalem under the great teacher Gamaliel but was out-shone by a fellow student whom he hated Paul. Compounding things Levi also knows that the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate is soon to come to visit him probably with the intention of charging him much more money to purchase the tax contracts for the toll booth at Capernaum. His brother James who is a fisherman with his partner Peter keeps nagging him to come and listen to an itinerant preacher Jesus whose message is that the wealthy should give all their riches to the poor. Finally his wife Miriam who loves to spend money on luxury items and dreams of visiting Rome probably married him only for his wealth and may have a roving eye. Meanwhile there are bandits led by Iscariot in the desert threatening the caravans hauling spices silk and other precious luxury goods which produce the enormous tolls at Levis toll booth. When his best friend a Greek merchant named Maes arrives in Capernaum with his huge caravan which arrival should have solved most of Levis problems everything in Levis life comes apart. What can put Levis life together again?