Casca's pre-curse life

Casca was about 30 when Jesus' curse condemned him to eternal life.  In the years leading up to that fateful moment, we know little except for the odd tantalizing clue in some of the novels.  He spent most of his adult life serving the Roman empire in the legions, and there are some scraps of information about his family.

He grew up in the hill country of Etruria, now known as Tuscany, to the north of Rome. The village name was Falerno (ref. Casca 15: The Pirate)                                              His father was called Tiberius Lazarius Longinus (see Casca 24: The Defiant) When he was a child, he saw the 10th legion march through his village en route to Gaul.                        His uncle, Tontine, enlisted into the army under Julius Caesar.   He had another uncle, Avo, who helped look after him when his father was away (see Casca #24) His family died of plague and the young Casca burned the family home as a result. He enlisted into the 7th legion at either Messilia (see Casca #2) or Livorno (see Casca #1)             His first battle under the eagle of the 7th was on the German border against the Suevii when 15,000 tribesmen attacked them at dawn.  Only 300 made it back into the forests of Germania. He joined the 10th legion and was sent to Jerusalem where he was assigned to the execution detail for three prisoners, amongst whom was Jesus.  The date for this can be reasonably fixed to 3 April 33AD.

Above:  Casca's training in the legion was one of the hardest he ever had to undertake in any army.

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