This story had its setting in the city of Antioch in ancient Rome, two thousand years ago, when the great city of Jerusalem and all the land of Judea were under the oppressive heel of Rome.
The star figure of the story was a young Jewish man by the name of Ben Hur, who was falsely accused of crime and sentenced to hard labor at the gallery's oar. Chained to a bench in the gallery, and being forced to tug wearily at the oars, Ben Hur developed a powerful body. Little did his tormentors know that out of his punishment would grow the strength with which he would one day gain his freedom. Perhaps Ben Hur had no such hopes.
Then came the day of the chariot races. One span of horses was without a driver. In desperation the owner sought the aid of the young slave because of his mighty arms, and begged him to take the place of the missing driver.
As Ben Hur picked up the reins, a great cry went up from the onlookers. "Look! Look! Those arms! Where did you get them?" they howled, and Ben Hur answered, "At the gallery's oar!"
The race was on. With those mighty arms Ben Hur calmly drove that charging span of horses on to victory- a victory that won for him his freedom.
Life is a chariot race, and the victory goes only to those who have developed the strength of character and determination and will power to win. It doesn't matter if we develop this strength through cruel confinement at the gallery's oar, as long as we use it so that it brings us, finally, to victory and freedom.
(Hill, pg. 77-78 ~ The Law of Success series - Volume III by Napoleon Hill)
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