Reluctantly wearing the garment, Marcellus apparently suffers a nervous breakdown and returns to Rome. During the banquet, a drunken centurion insists that Marcellus wear Jesus' robe. Marcellus wins and asks Demetrius to take care of the robe.įollowing the crucifixion, Marcellus takes part in a banquet attended by Pontius Pilate. Marcellus and some other soldiers throw dice to see who will take Jesus' seamless robe.

In Jerusalem during Passover, Marcellus ends up carrying out the crucifixion of Jesus but is troubled since he believes Jesus is innocent of any crime. Prince Gaius, in an effort to rid Rome of Marcellus, banishes Marcellus to the command of the Roman garrison at Minoa, a port city in southern Palestine. The book explores the aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus through the experiences of the Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio and his Greek slave Demetrius. Douglas and McCann finally met in 1941, and it is to her that Douglas has dedicated the book. Douglas immediately began working on a novel based on this concept, sending each chapter to McCann as he finished it. Hazel McCann, a department store clerk from Ohio, wrote to Douglas asking what he thought had happened to Christ's garments after the crucifixion. One of these letters provided the inspiration for The Robe. At the height of his popularity, Douglas was receiving on average 100 letters a week from fans. All of his novels, essays, and short stories relied on his spiritual background for thematic and creative inspiration. Douglas began his literary career after leaving the ministry at the age of 52. The Robe remained on the list for another two years, returning several other times over the next several years including when the film adaptation (featuring Richard Burton in an early role) was released in 1953. 1, and held the position for nearly a year. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, four weeks later rose to No. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. The Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus, written by Lloyd C.

The robe by lloyd c douglas 1942