Re-enactment of Our Lord's Passion - Good Friday: Roman Centurion and Optio

Centurion Longinus and Optio Marcus watching the arrest

This year we focussed a bit more of the role of the Centurion Longinus and his Optio Marcus (Roman Sergeant).
They are there to do the bidding of Pontius Pilate and enforce the mandate of Rome in Jerusalem, this unforgiving backwater of the Roman Empire. The Re-enactment has the story arc whereby you can see how Longinus and Marcus both react to the events of this 24 hours in differing ways.
In the beginning they are present at the arrest scene, representing the power of Rome while the Jews take care of their own problems. They freely ridicule the difficulties that occur in what should be a simple arrest of another Jewish self proclaimed holy man.

Supervising the scourging

"But don't kill him" was the instruction

Longinus sees the potential for trouble and they go back to tell Pontius of what is coming.
They both assist with the movement of prisoners and Longinus oversees the instructions of Pontius Pilate to scourge Jesus - but not to kill him.
Jesus's reaction not to rant and rave or remonstrate and bear the indignities and violence without complaining affects Longinus as he ponders the man he escorts to his doom.
Marcus meanwhile just concentrates on his job, keeping back the Jewish rabble and wanting for the day to be over.
Longinus is at the front of the Way of the Cross next to Jesus as he meets his Mother, the Women of Jerusalem and Veronica. He "volunteers" a spectator to help Jesus carry the cross and contemplates all he witnesses.
At the end when he is at the foot of the cross and Jesus has died and the earth has shaken he is driven to exclaim, "Truly, this man was the Son of God."