each other, and not being able to refuse a request which was in agreement with rabbinical law, Shimon told them that as their wedding was marked by a feast they should mark their separation in the same way. The result was that both changed their minds, and, owing to Shimon's prayer, God granted them a child. Shimon often returned to Akiva, and once he conveyed a message to him from his fellow pupil Hanina ben Hakinai. Shimon's love for his great teacher was profound. When Akiva was thrown into prison by Hadrian, Shimon (probably through the influence of his father, who was in favor at the court of Rome) found a way to enter the prison. He still insisted upon Akiva's teaching him, and when the latter refused, Shimon jestingly threatened to tell his father, Yochai, who would cause Akiva to be punished more severely. After Akiva's death Shimon was again ordained, with four other pupils of Akiva, by Judah ben Baba. Legends of persecution and hiding The persecution of the Jews under Hadrian inspired Shimon with a different opinion of the Romans than that held by his father. Shimon often demonstrated his anti-Roman feeling. When, at a meeting between Shimon and his former fellow pupils at Usha, probably about a year and a half after Akiva's death (c. 126), Judah ben Ilai spoke in praise of the Roman government, Shimon replied that the institutions which seemed so praiseworthy to Judah were for the benefit of the Romans only, to facilitate the carrying out of their wicked designs. Shimon's words were carried by Judah b. Gerim (one of his own pupils) to the Roman governor, who sentenced Shimon to death (according to Grätz, this governor was Varus, who ruled under Antoninus Pius, and the event took place about 161). Shimon was compelled to seek refuge in a cavern, where he remained thirteen years, till the emperor, possibly Antoninus Pius who reigned until 161, died. Shimon, accompanied by his son Eleazar, hid in a cavern near Gadara, where they stayed thirteen years, living on dates and carob fruit. Their whole bodies thus became covered with eruptions. One day, seeing that a bird had repeatedly escaped the net set for it by a hunter, Shimon and his son were encouraged to leave the cavern, taking the escape of the bird as an omen that God would not forsake them. When outside the