-Matthew 27:35
The novel is basically the story of two men: Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio and his Greek slave Demetrius. Marcellus is a fun-loving, none too serious tribune- the son of a wealthy senator- until he makes the mistake of insulting Prince Gaius Julius Agrippa. In punishment he is sent to command an badly trained, ill-disciplined garrison of Roman soldiers in the remote port town of Minoa. He of course takes Demetrius with him. After taking command, Marcellus restores the garrison to order and whips the men into shape. Things are going more or less smoothly when, in Jerusalem at Passover, he is ordered to oversee the crucifixion of three criminals. His second-in-command, a grizzled veteran, advises Marcellus to get liquored up before the event, which he proceeds to do. This doesn't stop him from realising that they are executing an innocent man- Jesus. While He and the two thieves are dying slowly, Marcellus drunkenly engages in a dice game, eventually winning the simple spun robe belonging to Jesus. He can't bear to touch it and tells Demetrius to take it. When he picks it up, Demetrius is startled to feel a sense of well-being spread through him, as though the robe had some sort of residual power from the remarkable man who owned it. After the crucifixion, Pontius Pilate holds a feast which Marcellus, now sober but deeply ashamed and disgusted by what he has taken part in, must attend. During the feast, the drunken guests insist Marcellus put on the robe he won. He does so reluctantly, his hands shaking, and it seems to cause some sort of mental break. He is unable to make it back to his room without Demetrius' help.
Once in Athens, Marcellus seems to buck up a little and Demetrius, hopeful, brings out the robe. Marcellus recoils in horror and angrily orders Demetrius to get it out of his sight. Afterwards he's worse than ever and Demetrius begins to fear that his master will take his own life. One day while Demetrius is out, Marcellus can no longer bear who or what he has become. He forces himself to go into Demetrius' room and pick up the robe. To his astonishment, when he holds the thing he's dreaded for so long, a sense of comfort and well-being sweeps over him and he feels whole again for the first time since that terrible day in Jerusalem. When Demetrius returns from his outing, he is overjoyed to find Marcellus is himself once again. The two men acknowledge the effect that the robe has on both of them, and they embark on a journey of discovery, to learn all they can of the man who had owned it and in whose death they had participated.