about noon
On the tenth day following , he visited the Market-place . Next day a detachment of legionaries went to the desolated palace , and , closing the gates permanently , plastered the corners with wax , and at the sides nailed a notice in Latin : In the haughty Roman idea , the sententious announcement was thought sufficient for the purpose -- and it was . The day after that again , about noon , a decurion with his command of ten horsemen approached Nazareth from the south -- that is , from the direction of Jerusalem . The place was then a straggling village , perched on a hill-side , and so insignificant that its one street was little more than a path well beaten by the coming and going of flocks and herds . The great plain of Esdraelon crept close to it on the south , and from the height on the west a view could be had of the shores of the Mediterranean , the region beyond the Jordan , and Hermon . The valley below , and the country on every side , were given to gardens , vineyards , orchards , and pasturage .