find Iras. A Samaritan uprising in Judaea is harshly suppressed by Pontius Pilate, and he is ordered back to Rome a decade after authorizing the crucifixion of Jesus. In the 10th year of Emperor Nero's reign, Ben-Hur is staying with Simonides, whose business has been extremely successful. With Ben-Hur, the two men have given most of the fortunes to the church of Antioch. Now, as an old man, Simonides has sold all his ships but one, and that one has returned for probably its final voyage. Learning that the Christians in Rome are suffering at the hands of Emperor Nero, Ben-Hur and his friends decide to help. Ben-Hur, Esther, and Malluch sail to Rome, where they decided to build an underground church. It will survive through the ages and comes to be known as the Catacomb of Callixtus. Characters Judah Ben-Hur is a Jewish prince of Jerusalem who is descended from a royal family of Judaea, son of Ithamar, enslaved by the Romans, and later becomes a charioteer and follower of Christ. (See article Judah Ben-Hur for a discussion of the name etymology.) Miriam is the mother of Judah Ben-Hur. Tirzah is Judah's younger sister. Simonides is a loyal Jewish servant to Ithamar, Judah's birth father; he becomes a wealthy merchant in Antioch. Esther, the modest daughter of Simonides, becomes Judah's wife and the mother of his children. Wallace named this fictional character after his own mother, Esther French (Test) Wallace. Malluch, Simonides's servant, becomes Judah's friend. Amrah is an Egyptian slave and former maid in the Ben-Hur household family. Messala is a Roman nobleman and the son of a Roman tax collector; he is Judah's boyhood friend and rival. Ishmael – Roman governor Valerius Gratus is the fourth imperial (Roman) procurator of Judea. Judah is falsely accused of attempting to assassinate him. Quintus Arrius is a Roman warship commander; Judah saves him from drowning; Arrius adopts Judah as his son, making him a freedman, a Roman citizen, and Arrius's heir. Balthasar, an Egyptian, is one of the biblical magi, along with Melchior, a Hindu, and Gaspar, a Greek, who came to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Iras, the beautiful daughter of Balthasar, is one of Judah's love interests, who later betrays and rejects him; she becomes Messala's mistress and eventually kills him. Sheik Ilderim – an Arab who agrees to let Judah race his chariot