The Roads to Golgotha

By: Leonard Gill

Narrated by: Boyd Barrett

Six lives. One moment. The world changed forever.

Jerusalem — a city on edge. Empires collide, faiths clash, and one execution will alter the fate of the world.

But this isn’t the story you think you know.

In The Roads to Golgotha, the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth forms the backdrop to an epic human drama. Through the eyes of six ordinary people, we witness history unfolding — not in prophecy or miracle, but in duty, politics, and survival.

Two rulers — Caiaphas, the high priest guarding tradition, and Pilate, the governor torn between power and conscience.

Two soldiers — Shmuel, the temple guard caught between loyalty and fear, and Cornelius, a Roman centurion bound by honor.

Two spies — Judah ben Simon, driven by belief, and Simonius the Praetorian, ruled by ambition.

Each walks a different road to Golgotha — unaware that their choices, made in the shadow of a cross, will echo through eternity.

The Roads to Golgotha is not a tale of saints or sinners, but of people — flawed, faithful, and human — standing at the heart of history’s most extraordinary moment.

©2025 Leonard Gill (P)2026 Leonard Gill

The Road to Golgotha and those seeking to maintain the Pax Romana

There is no doubt that the research, including visits to the historical locations, has allowed the author to inhabit the different characters and develop their personalities, as they are influenced by their upbringing and individual experiences, and then brought together at the pivotal, historical event of Golgotha.
He is also able to vividly describe the sights, the sounds and the smells of the different places as they transit through the Roman Empire to Jerusalem.
They have various goals, informed by personal, professional or religious imperatives, that they wish to achieve but are aware that they are not completely free agents, buffered by peripheral events/persons, and the constraints of the ‘organizations’ to which they are loyal and those to whom they need to appease.
The only person who seems to be unhindered in carrying out his plan or mission is Jesus.
However, Jesus remains mainly as the back story, or canvas onto which the narrative is drawn, only occasionally coming to the front of the stage.
The portrayal of Jesus is not, in my opinion, one that would prevent a believer, or non-believer, from throughly relating to the machinations of the characters as they reacted to another public order problem, in a line of similar problems, which threatens the ‘Pax Romana’ with major disorder and interruption of tax revenue.
In describing such the author draws on his 30 years as a front line police officer and Operational Commander.
I highly recommend the book and also the available audible edition