Frontier Man
Ebook
Overview
Somewhere along the coast of ancient Asia Minor, Batos quietly slips a rope off the neck of a captive goat and watches the goat disappear into the heat. His memories of the desert heat are never far behind him, even though he no longer serves in the Roman cavalry on the North African frontier. Now traveling with a theater troupe as their watchman, Batos rides along the dusty roads with a new mission. He is to keep the troupe safe as they proclaim the good news of Jesus of Nazareth. When a play erupts into a riot in Pergamum, he encounters Domitia, a wealthy widow, and Virgos, an intersex person known to most as Eunuch. The troupe urges the three of them to go to Thessalonica, where they can hear Paul’s teachings for themselves. Saddling three trusted horses, Batos agrees to travel with them. Along the way, his mysterious past will be revealed. Each traveler will see new visions of freedom and community. And each will discover that resisting Roman rule and following Jesus might be one and the same.
What a joy to read Flessen’s creative and poetic work! There is nothing like this book—beautifully evocative and fully grounded historical fiction in the first-century Roman Empire. Flessen invites readers into a richly detailed world down to the kind of glue that holds a broken jar together. At the same time, she tells a great story! Her characters sparkle with humanity as they grow in the face of the adversities of that time. By creatively exploring the legend of Kainis/Kaineus, she helps us better know the complexity of the ancient world and address our own complicated times, too. I hope Flessen writes more like this!
——Peter S. Perry, affiliate assistant professor of New Testament, Fuller Seminary
Bonnie Flessen has penned a fascinating and engaging story. A trio of unlikely compatriots, fleeing from family and evading Roman troops, journey across Asia Minor as nascent followers of Jesus wanting to meet the Apostle Paul. They travel through rough country and encounter many dangers, escaping in part by a kind of underground network of followers of Jesus. Along the way they use troubadour plays to express their radical understanding of a crucified messiah. Frontier Man is good historical fiction that will be of interest to any who study the New Testament period.
——David Rhoads, emeritus professor of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
- Title: Frontier Man
- Author: Bonnie J. Flessen
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2025
- Logos Release Date: 2025
- Pages: 144
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9798385239177, 9798385239160, 9798385239153
- Resource ID: LLS:9798385239177
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-23T00:24:07Z
Bonnie J. Flessen is the author of An Exemplary Man: Cornelius and Characterization in Acts 10. Her research explores the intersection of masculinity and resistance to the Roman Empire. This is her first work of fiction.