After this time, Titus of Gascony finds himself disfigured by cancer of the mouth while his father Vespasian has leprosy and a hive of wasps in his nose.
When a Jewish ship bound for Rome is driven ashore in Gascony, Titus asks its captain, Nathan, to cure their afflictions. Titus rages about the Passion and is immediately healed.
There his father also professes his faith in Christ and, on the advice of St Peter, sends for Veronica and her veil. The cloth is processed through the town, and glows miraculously as Peter uses it to heal Vespasian. Meanwhile, Nathan informs Nero that the Jews will no longer pay him tribute. Enraged, the Emperor sends Titus and Vespasian to Judea to extract his payment. Their ships arrive in Jaffa and as they wreak havoc, the Jews flee to Jerusalem.
The Romans pitch their tents around the walls and after their envoys are humiliated, both sides prepare for battle. The Jews issue from the city riding on camels and fortified elephants: one carries a tabernacle in which Caiaphas and his clerks sing Psalms. The battle is violent, but the Romans force the Jews back into the city and begin their siege in earnest, erecting battle engines and brutally executing the captive Caiaphas.
He is foiled, however, and the siege continues. Meanwhile in Rome, the wicked Nero commits suicide. A number of ineffective successors also die, until the Senate sends for Vespasian. Leaving Titus in charge of the siege, he returns to Rome to be crowned.
