Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: The first time I read this book, I was about 12 years old and really loved it. At the time I was a regular church goer. Today, many years later, my religious views have become much weaker and I am no longer a regular church goer. However. I still love this book. It is the story of a young Roman and his slave who search for the truth about Christ. The hero, Marcellus had been ordered to crucify Christ and had felt that
he had crucified an innocent man. He and his slave gradually
come to believe in Christ and have to suffer because of it.
This book is extremely well written and difficult to put down.
I highly recommend it regardless of your religious beliefs. It will teach you a great deal about the Christian movement and
about life in the 1st century. My only qualm about the book is
that Mr. Douglas does take some liberties with history. For
instance,Julia had been exiled before Tiberius became emperor and her son Gaius was long dead.
Rating:
Summary: a compelling journey
Review: This novel, "The Robe," was recommended to me by several classmates and I will now recommend it to others. The compelling story of a young tribune Marcellus and the obstacles he encounters are a great read for a Christian like me. His powerful journey of faith and seeking inner peace can be compared to the hardships and journeys that we conquer today.Douglas'story has vivid images that help to recreate the story of Jesus. The way he wrote this story was an interesting approach to help us better understand and learn about the life of Jesus. It is different approach unlike most accounts of Jesus because it is told in the point of view of a convert. Marcellus' Roman upbringing and skeptical father further this interesting plot because he would be more unlikely a convert. "The Robe" also displays the idea of human cruelty and injustice. When the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' garment, they have no sympathy for another human life. Marcellus' guilty feeling when he puts on the robe also show human frailty and conscience. Minor characters such as Demetrius, Marcellus' loyal slave, and Diana are also important to the book. They go through personal changes as Marcellus did and eventually convert to Christianity. Demetrius is immediately attracted to the stories of "the miracle worker" while Diana is a bit more skeptical. In the end though they all give their lives for a greater existance in heaven. This book shows God's willingness to forgive and the power of faith. This insightful and religiously enlightning book is truely a work of art. I recommend this book to anyone, any religion or race. It is a story of life's journies and can be enjoyed by all.
Rating:
Summary: Jesus still surprises us
Review: The Robe probably has transcended its original scope of reconstructing the life of Jesus and his stamping on the mind of many about the coming of his new kingdom. Douglas has not only added new touch and sentiment to the story of Jesus, but also invigorated the historical period a skein of unforgettable characters whose lives were touched and thus inevitably changed their lives by Jesus' teaching. It might be difficult to conceive that Marcellus Gallio, son of a prestigious Senator and a Tribune; Diana, the granddaughter of the Emperor Tiberias; and Demetrius, the Greek slave from Corinth, to believe Jesus' miracles and his resurrection. Lloyd Douglas has written truly a religious classic, one whose appeal is not limited to a particular time or a particular place, through the delineation of the characters' own struggle to cross that arbitrary line beyond which the credibility should go. . Marcellus was a Roman soldier who by a fortuity executed Jesus' crucifixion and subsequently won Jesus' robe as a gambling prize. The robe symbolized his crime, the crime of recklessly crucifying an innocent man who exhausted him life in advocating love, kindness, and goodwill. The memory of the crucifixion, had been an interminable torture that plunged Marcellus into a deep melancholy. Demetrius could never tell when his master was hit by a capricious seizure that sent sweat streaming his face. The robe miraculously healed the inconsolable Marcellus as he touched it. From there Marcellus set off on a quest to seek the truth about the robe and the Nazarene who claimed to own his kingdom somewhere not in the world. Testimony about Jesus' miraculous power, which to a large extent agrees with my nostalgic memories from the bible, had been cumulative and that it had been coming at Marcellus from all directions. Jesus' teachings and the marks he left on those whose lives changed had penetrated Marcellus' skeptical mind and descended in him a sense of duty and mission. He had killed this man who had spent his life doing kind things for needy people, and the only way he could square up for it was to spend his life like Jesus did. It dawned on Marcellus that a thorough understanding of Jesus and his teachings required faith and surrender rather than a recondite knowledge. This point bespeaks the minds of modern-day Christians who involuntarily proceed to push the intrusive concept away no matter how convincing the evidences of supernatural power in the miracles are. His slave Demetrius, who had been inebriated by Jesus long before his master, had such an indomitable faith in the truth of Jesus' resurrection though his master had vaunted his frustration and indignation over him. Quest for the robe also accents the beauty of a master-slave relationship. Demetrius' life had become so inextricably related to the life of Marcellus that his freedom, if it was offered him, indeed by the Senator as he was to take Marcellus to Athens, might cost him more in companionship than it was worth in liberty of action. When offered his freedom, Demetrius magnanimously denied it at the peril of his master's recovery. The witty slave also directed to have Marcellus disguised as a fabric connoisseur in order to penetrate inconspicuously into Galilee to capture wind of the savior. It was not surprising to see that the whole quest for the robe made the master-slave relationship difficult to sustain. Ancient Rome against which the book sets accents the significance and validity of men's faith. The quest for the mysterious truth allowed Marcellus to take on a different perspective with the world, especially Rome with which he felt so out of place. He began to despise its injustice, to pity its tragic unhappiness, and to shun the avarice of the influential ones. Marcellus felt his own obligation to associate with a movement that the Government had outlawed, had labeled seditionists, and unflinchingly preached the word to everyone. He embarked on the defense of a good cause Jesus started and had yet to finish. 2004 (10)
Rating:
Summary: Best seller for 10 straight years!!
Review: Lloyd Douglas was one of the most amazing writers of his day, and has probably yet to be surpassed as one of the greatest novelists of all time. His book The Robe was the #1 best seller for 10 years in a row in the 1940's right behind the Bible. His life is just as inspiring as his novels. After finishing this novel he soon became ill, but knew that God wanted him to write another novel. Despite being on his death bed and also battling arthritis he typed his next novel "The Big Fisherman" with only his pointer finger. After writing out 22 chapters he realized that he wanted to change the storyline a bit so he started over! Despite the efforts of his family to stop him, he did indeed start over. I believe that if you take the time to read the Robe, you will definitely want to follow up by reading the Big Fisherman! I hope that you not only enjoy this book as entertainment, but that it will challenge you to re-evaluate who Jesus Christ is, and that it will ultimately change your life!
Rating:
Summary: Touching, inspiring tale of early Christianity
Review: Marcellus, a young and entitled Roman Tribune during the reign of Tiberius insults a social better and is sent to Judea as punishment to command a remote outpost. While stationed there, he travels to a festival in Jerusalem, and his detail of Legionnaires is required to execute a Galilean troublemaker. Marcellus wins the convict's robe in a dice game, but upon wearing it for the first time, is strangely changed forever. What follows is Marcellus' seemingly inexplicable compulsion to understand and know the man whose robe he had won. Wandering in the Holy Land, he discovers more than he ever imagined about Jesus of Nazareth and the small-but-growing community of belivers in His prophesied Kingdom. Marcellus and those around him come to understand the promises and prophesies of the crucified Christos and await his return. As history records, however, not all around him share his profound faith. My father told me about this book after he had given me a copy of another of Douglas' famous books, The Magnificent Obsession. I was truly enthralled by the vivid descriptions and characters. The story gives a depth to early Christianity which I had never known before. The book is written in a literary style that is unusual and somewhat unfamiliar to audiences of the current day, but I found that its unrushed elegance gave every page a quiet dignity that fit perfectly with the book's subject matter. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone. This story was made into a movie (a modest testament to its power) in 1953 and was the first movie filmed in CinemaScope.
Rating:
Summary: The Robe ¿ A captivating, Must Read!!!!
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it. The book was overall well written and had a well developed plot. I would recommend this book to people, like myself, of faith. The Robe, being based on and around the time of Jesus' birth, life and death, provided me insight into what might have happened during this time period. Although, the book doesn't give in-depth details of the actual events surrounding Jesus' life and death, it provides an interpretation of the events from both a believer and non-believers point of view.
Rating: 
Summary: normswanted101
Review: This is a very, very good book. It does two things at once. It teaches people about historical evnets, and it also is a story about people who go through trials trying to find answers their looking for. It's a good book for someone who likes their history, but who also enjoys a touch of romance. I feel that this is a good learning and teaching tool.
Rating: 
Summary: Faulty history
Review: Douglas has two characters living in Rome in the reign of Tiberius: a "Prince Gaius" and Caligula, the future emperor. At first I was puzzled as to who this Gaius was, or why Douglas felt the need to introduce such a fictional character - - until I realized that he obviously wasn't aware that they are the same person! Caligula ("little boot") was Gaius's nickname. My impression is that Douglas read the main ancient sources, Tacitus's "Annals" and Suetonius's "Lives of the Caesars". Tacitus refers to Caligula as "Gaius" throughout, but the the part of his work dealing with his reign is lost. So Douglas apparently did not realize that the "Gaius" playing a crucial role in the last years of Tiberius's reign was the same person as the later emperor Caligula. Sorry, but if Douglas can't get right something as basic as *that*, then I really can't take seriously any of his claims of having conducted a serious historical research. From this point of view, the movie is actually much better.
Rating:
Summary: "For the Big Fisherman!"
Review: Indeed this is, without a doubt, one of the best books ever written. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make your heart sing, it will strengthen your faith and give you the encouragement that life is really worth living--and even giving up--if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone I have lent this book to cannot believe how good it is, and they say, "No wonder Becca says it is one of her favorites!" because it's now one of theirs too!
Rating:
Summary: Passionate and Tear-Jerking
Review: I found The Robe to be the most wonderful book about not only the life of Christ, but the surrounding people and how His miracles changed them. Marcellus is a young Tribune who runs across the story of Jesus, and meets several people who have been affected by His life. Marcellus searches for the truth and must soon make a life-changing decision. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to see Christ's miracles through a new perspective, or just simply what it was like to live as a Christian around 32 A.D. Wonderful insight into the past and VERY dramatic ending!
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