Casca (series)

''Casca'' is a series of historical fantasy novels created by author Barry Sadler in 1979. The stories revolve around the exploits of Casca Rufio Longinus, the Roman legionary who drove the Holy Lance into the side of Jesus Christ on Golgotha. As a result of this action, Casca is cursed with immortality, and he is to wander the Earth aimlessly, always as a soldier, until the Second Coming. The character is loosely based on the Longinus legend of Christianity.

Sadler wrote some of the early novels in the series while the others were assigned to ghostwriters. When Sadler died in 1989, his estate continued the series with other writers. Two subsequent novels, ''The Liberator'' and ''The Defiant'', were written by Paul Dengelegi. The current author, Tony Roberts, has written every new entry in the series since 2006, excluding ''Immortal Dragon'' and ''The Outlaw'', which were written by Michael B. Goodwin. ''Immortal Dragon'' and ''The Outlaw'' were removed from the series in 2013 over allegations of plagiarism. An unauthorized audiobook, ''Casca: The Outcast'', was written by Paul Dengelegi in 2004.

Characters

Casca Rufio Longinus

Casca Rufio Longinus grew up in Etruria in the village of Falerno. After his family dies of plague, he enlists in the 7th Legion at either Messilia or Livorno. He is sent to the Jerusalem garrison where eventually he is assigned to the execution detail for three prisoners, one of whom is Jesus.

At Golgotha, Casca stabs Jesus with his spear in an attempt to relieve Jesus of his pain and suffering. Jesus condemns Casca by saying, "Soldier, you are content with what you are. Then that you shall remain until we meet again. As I go now to My Father, you must one day come to Me." As He dies, blood from his wound trickles down Casca's spear and onto his hand, and when Casca unthinkingly wipes his mouth, he tastes the blood. His body begins to convulse in pain but he recovers.

Some time later, in an altercation with his superior officer over the affections of a dancing girl, Casca is stabbed in the stomach. Thinking himself mortally wounded, Casca kills the officer, and is promptly arrested and imprisoned. The next morning, when he appears to be merely scratched, he is sentenced to be caned, then thrown out of the legion, and sentenced to slavery as a miner. Years pass, and Casca realizes he does not age. He feels all the pain of the many beatings he endures, and is soon covered with scars, but his internal damage heals, often overnight.

After many years in the mine, he is then sold to be a gladiator. Concealing his ability to heal miraculously, Casca rises through the gladitorial ranks, eventually gaining his freedom from Emperor Nero himself. However, after insulting Nero's effigy during a drunken rant, he is sold as a galley slave. Eventually he is put on a war galley, and during a sea battle, his vessel begins taking on water. Desperate to escape lest he be chained to a sunken ship for eternity, Casca breaks free, and in the confusion, manages to escape.

With no marketable skills but those of battle, Casca is doomed to remain a soldier until the Second Coming. He finds himself joining one armed force after another, always moving on before his immortality is discovered. For the rest of the series, Casca is seen fighting in numerous wars and famous engagements, including Cortez's conquest of Mexico and the battle of Điện Biên Phủ. He fights most often as a mercenary; for ideals, rather than nationalism, having joined the Wehrmacht, the Confederate States Army, the French Foreign Legion, the Byzantine Empire, the Red Army, and more, as the years go by.

A secret cult of zealots, the Brotherhood of the Lamb, plague him throughout history. Having witnessed the Crucifixion and managing to acquire Casca's spear, which they worship, they are devoted to two things: keeping track of Casca, so they can be present to meet Jesus when He returns, and torturing Casca whenever they can, for killing Jesus in the first place.

Over the course of the series, Casca meets numerous famous historical figures, such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Adolf Hitler, Attila the Hun, Blackbeard, Genghis Khan, Marco Polo, Robert E. Lee, George Washington, and Muhammad, among others.

Julius Goldman

Julius Goldman was a surgeon in the United States Army with the rank of Major, stationed at the 8th Field Hospital in Nha Trang during the Vietnam War. He first meets Casca in ''The Eternal Mercenary'' when the latter was brought into the hospital with multiple fatal injuries he should not have survived. Dr. Goldman discovered Casca's immortality and decided to become his biographer and chronicler. He is often visited by Casca for updates on his life and experiences throughout the ages. Dr. Goldman later leaves the Army and establishes his own practice. As Goldman ages, he introduces Casca to Danny Landries, the son of one of his former army comrades. Danny first meets Casca in ''Devil's Horseman'' and takes over from Goldman as his biographer.

The Brotherhood of the Lamb

The Brotherhood of the Lamb is a fanatical militant religious sect and the main antagonists of the series. It is run by the Inner Circle, the sect's hierarchy, composed of an elder and twelve "brothers". They preach force and power over traditional virtues of piety and compassion. The Brotherhood worships the Holy Lance, which forms the central focus at prayers. On holy days, the Brotherhood recreates the crucifixion in a reenactment involving the killing of one of the brothers, who has been selected to act the part of Jesus, using the Holy Lance.

The Brotherhood was founded by Izram, a man who proclaimed himself the thirteenth Disciple in the wake of Jesus's death, supposedly as a result of Casca stabbing him with the Holy Lance. Izram purchased the Holy Lance from some of Casca's comrades as a relic and symbol for the events on Golgotha. Izram then went into the wilderness for forty days before a revelation came to him that when Jesus returned at the Second Coming, he would meet Casca. The Brotherhood keeps Casca in their sights until the Second Coming; though they may hate Casca for his actions at Golgotha, they must not prevent him from meeting Jesus. They occasionally inflict severe pain on Casca, such as an elder cutting Casca's hand off or an acolyte arranging to burn Casca at the stake. In ''The Sentinel'', Elder Gregory murders Casca's adopted son, Demos, and his wife, Ireina, for which Casca crucifies Gregory to death. Casca was also a prisoner of the Brotherhood in ''The Cursed'' and ''Panzer Soldier''.

Notable real-life historical figures depicted as elders of the Brotherhood of the Lamb include Heinrich Himmler and Hassan al-Sabah.

Publication history

''Casca'' is not written in chronological order, with many later novels being sequels or prequels to earlier ones.

A similar popular historical fiction parallel may be found in the Harry Flashman series in which a skilled man-at-arms and rascal raconteur of the 19th Century finds himself in parlous combat in distant lands but always manages to survive to reappear in another novel. Unlike Casca, Harry Flashman ages normally.

Other countries and languages

; UK

In 1984, Star Book, a paperback division of W. H. Allen & Company, published ''The Eternal Mercenary'', ''God of Death'', and ''The Warlord''.

; Sweden

Beginning in 1983, Swedish publisher Popular Pocket printed the first eleven titles of the series. In 1993, ''Tryck'' Scandbook published four hardcover omnibus editions consisting of the first eleven titles in the series.

; Japan

''The Eternal Mercenary'' was published in Japan by Tokyo Sogensha in 1988.

Audiobook

The audiobook versions of the series were published by various publishers beginning in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. DH Audio, Americana Audiobooks, and Books In Motion were the only publishers.

The audiobooks were available in CD or cassette tape in either abridged or unabridged versions. The known narrators are: Gene Engene, Bruce Watson, David Elias, and Tim Nelson.

Currently, onl
Books In Motion
continues to offer the Casca titles in CD or on Amazon's Audible platform.

E-books

From January 2014, the series was put into e-book format, and all existing books in the series up to 2014 (with the exception of ''The Liberator'', ''The Defiant'', ''Immortal Dragon'' and ''The Outlaw'') were available in Kindle format by June 2014.

As of 2025, all Tony Roberts editions are available on Kobo eBooks.

Controversy

For years following Sadler’s death in 1989, allegations of ghostwriters having written some, if not all, of the Casca series have circulated within many fan circles. The theory has been put forth that Charter Ace originally intended to use Sadler’s fame as a house name for the Casca series. Many fans and literary aficionados often mention Kenneth Bulmer, a prolific science fiction author, as one author who may have penned ''Panzer Soldier'' and ''Mongol'', according to his book biography list. Although mentioned in his biography online, there is no evidence to support this claim.

Currently, no evidence has come to light to deny or confirm the use of ghostwriters within the Casca series.

In 2004, without permission from the Sadler estate, former ''Casca'' autho
Paul Dengelegi
wrote an unauthorized non-canonical story titled ''Casca: The Outcast''.

The story follows Casca as a prizefighter in Victorian era England with acquaintances Ike and Ulysses. After an encounter with police and a slave trader selling a female slave to a wealthy man, Casca is shot, impaled on a bayonet, and placed on a prison hulk where fights are staged between prisoners (including Ike and Ulysses, led by Scottish prisoner Simon) for the vessel's captain. Eventually, Ulysses kills the captain and orders the female slave to be freed. The prison hulk arrives in Tasmania, where Casca becomes famous as Australia's champion prizefighter. While on a ship to the United States, the ship Casca and his acquaintances are on is attacked by Royal Marines who mistake their ship for pirates, and Ike is killed while Casca is mortally wounded. The story ends with Ulysses substituting Casca's coffin for one full of rocks and hiding Casca's body from the burial party.

Dengelegi contracted with Americana Audio to have it published as a three-disc audiobook CD and an abridged version presented in a two-cassette tape set. This was subsequently withdrawn in 2006 following the closure of Americana Audio.

In 2007, Michael B. Goodwin was hired as a secondary writer for the Casca series. He wrote number 29, ''Immortal Dragon'', in 2008, and number 33, ''The Outlaw'', in 2010. In 2012, it was discovered that ''Immortal Dragon'' was plagiarized from David Morrell’s 1988 novel, ''Rambo 3''. This discovery led to a closer analysis of ''Outlaw'' and soon revealed that it was plagiarized from Andrew J. Fenady’s western novel, ''The Tresspassers''.https://www.paperbackwarrior.com/2020/06/paperback-warrior-podcast-episode-48.html

Goodwin's services as a writer within the series were terminated, and both novels were removed permanently from the series. Dengelegi's novel ''Outcast'', along with Goodwin's novels ''Immortal Dragon'' and ''Outlaw'', are not considered canon entries in the series.

See also

* Wandering Jew
* Saint Longinus the Centurion
* Barry Sadler

References

External links

Official Casca website


Marc Leepson - Ballad of the Green Beret, The Life and Wars of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler
offers a look into the creation of the Casca series.

Casca Series, Goodreads

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casca
Book series
Novelistic portrayals of Jesus
War novels set in the Roman Empire
Depictions of Jesus in literature
Fiction about curses
Fiction about Christianity
Book series introduced in 1979
Historical fantasy novels
American fantasy novel series
Holy Lance