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The movie begins with the scene of the birth of our Lord in Jerusalem. The three wise men appear over the child and bring their gifts. The movie then shifts to the next day when the Roman Soldiers march into Jerusalem. Messala, second in command in the Roman army and childhood friend to Ben Hur, confronts Ben asking him to give up his fellow people who oppose Roman law. Because Ben refuses to give up his people, Messala becomes angry and vows revenge. Messala is able to gain that revenge when he blames the accident during the parade on Ben Hur, calling it an attempted assassination. The Romans then take Ben Hur prisoner along with his mother and sister. For his punishment he is sent to row in the galleys of ships. One day he is able to walk around the ship and confronts the captain. He has a chance to kill the captain easily, but does not. Being grateful for not killing him and for being a nice man, the captain rewards Ben by not chaining him up like every other rower when they go into battle. During battle they are rammed and the ship is sunk. Ben frees lots of the slaves after he kills the guard and takes the keys. Then Ben goes on to save the captain, gaining his trust and intriguing him to learn more about Ben. He takes Ben as