Commentary 341

Ratkiller—this is Bulgakov's witty Russian translation of the Latin term of abuse for a cowardly soldier muricidus —literally, mousekiller.

turma—the Latin term is used in Russian here. Bulgakov is careful to use precise Roman terms for parts of the army throughout the Pilate chapters. A maniple was made up of 120 to 200 men. The term ala, which will be encountered later, refers to the cavalry in general, numbering either 1, 000 or 500 men. These were then divided into 24 or 16 turmae. These units usually had names indicating ihe source country of the recruits, the emperor or general who had raised them, and sometimes were named in honor of their weapons. The infantry was organized into cohorts (rohon), with there being ten cohorts in a legion, which were then divided into centuries. The majority of the troops described carefully in the Pilate chapters are auxilia —troops raised outside of Italy and lightly armed. Over time they lost their native character, but at this point they were important in controlling the empire. Their commanders were either prefects or tribunes, and under them were centurions. Bulgakov, who had briefly been in the military (on several sides) during the Cavil War. had an especial fondness for the cavalry troops.

Idlstaviso— (Idistavisus Campus) literally, this translates as Valley of the Maidens, as Bulgakov periphrastically refers to it, or female spirits (elves) of the lakes and rivers. This is a reference lo the location of a famous battle between the Roman leader Cermanicus, who triumphed over the German tribes led by Arminius in A.D. 16.

On top of this bald head was a gold crown—the old man at Capreae who appears to Pilate as he hears the second charge is the Emperor Tiberius, who suffered from leprosy according lo one of Bulgakov's sources. This little section has a strong connection to a story about death at sea (also mentioned in Bulgakov's first novel), Bunin 's " The Gentleman from San Francisco, " in which there is also a reference to Capri and Tiberius. Heads are important throughout this novel, which features a prominent beheading. In apocalyptic thought the head was often a symbol for Rome itself.

Judos of Keriolh—Following the French writer Renan (La Vie de Jesus), Bulgakov is at pains to use an explanatory name, instead of the more usual Judas Iscariot.

Lit the candles... —according to Jewish law, a trap for criminals had to be well-lit, to avoid mistaken identity. By this Bulgakov is indicating an entire subtext in Pilate's understanding of who Judas really is, and who has employed him.

Dlsmos, Gestos—these names are mentioned in the Apocryphal New Testament of Nicodemus, which Bulgakov drew on in addition to the historically acceptable sources.

Bar-rabban—Bulgakov uses this instead of the Varawa of the Russian Bible; again, Renan is the likely source. This name means simply " son of the father, " another messianic reference; both Bar-rabban and Yeshua are thus seen as messianic figures by their followers, and the authorities simply have to decide which is the more dangerous.

Knight—Pilate is a member of the ordo eauester (equestrian class), the usual category for a man who became a procurator (prefect) in Roman times. This word, vsad-nth, may be translated as horseman, cavalryman, rider or knight. In the sense that it means belonging to an elile group, it is normally translated as knight. The figure of the cavalryman or knight is encountered in many of Bulgakov's works, and clearly had a special autobiographical meaning, as well as a clear connection lo the famous four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Solomon's Pool... Insignia... —these are old wounds between the two antagonists. This entire conversation between Pilate and the high priest is saturated with references to previous struggles between the Jews and the Roman government. Philo of Alexandria and FlaviusJosephus (two of Bulgakov's main sources) describe these in-