"And it is true; men could no longer resist us, but is there no mightier power on earth?" "Certainly; the Roman gods. But I hope you did not draw their wrath upon you, and that your augurs had favorable omens. Your uncle, the world-renowned Quaterquartus, was with you." "Yes, he was with us, and there was no lack of victims or of the entrails of beasts, and plenty of crows were caught." "Manlius, you speak of these sacred things in a very profane way." "I have every reason to do so. Our soldiers once captured a man clad partly in skins who, according to his statement, had retired into the wilderness to mortify his body in honor of an invisible God. He had built a pillar of stones, on whose top he had already spent thirty winters and summers, exposed to frost and scorching heat. There he stood all day long, with arms outstretched like a cross, bending forward and striking his head against his knees. Several legionaries were curious to learn the number of these bows, but when they had counted nineteen hundred they grew weary, dragged him from his pillar, and killed him."[1] [Footnote 1: Simeon the Stylite.] "And did you pity this Nazarene?" "Let us speak lower, Mesembrius. It is dangerous to utter and to hear my words. Do not think that I am intoxicated and invent this tale. I saw this man breathe his last; for I came too late to save him. He did not curse his murderers. An expression of supernatural bliss rested upon his face, he raised his eyes rapturously toward heaven, and died blessing those who slew him. I drove them away and, to relieve his suffering, gave him some cold water. He thanked me and, with his last strength, whispered in my ear: 'Roman! do not cross the Tigris, for there lies the Eden of the invisible God, who is not to be offended.' I repeated the warning to the Caesar's younger son, Numerian, who was the friend of every good soldier, and he carried it to the Augustus, who, struck by the ascetic's words, asked Quaterquartus to hold an _augurium_. My uncle's skill in announcing oracles which no one can contradict is well known." "Your words are very bold, Sinister." "Thus he once predicted to Probus that, after a thousand years, his family would restore the ancient glory of Rome." "After a thousand years!" "At the end of a long mummery we learned from my uncle's muttering lips that God would fight in the next battle." "Without adding whether with or against us?"