Then for a few days there was a great running to and fro among the pagan priests throughout the city, and especially among those who were connected with the great temple of Serapis. Great processions were had, at different places, in honor of various gods, the people were vehemently exhorted to greater diligence in their worship, and the Christians were vehemently denounced, so that there was an uproar throughout Rhacotis, and crowds of people rioting through the streets, accompanied by squads of soldiers, and seeking for the dwellings of those who were suspected of being Christians. And, in the language of the historian of those times: "A certain prophet and poet, inauspicious to the city, whoever he was, excited the mass of the heathen against us, stirring them up to their native superstition. Stimulated by him, and taking full liberty of exercising any kind of wickedness, they considered this the only piety and the worship of their demons--viz., to slay us. First, then, seizing a certain aged man named Mitra, they called upon him to utter impious expressions, and, as he did not obey, they beat his body with clubs, and pricked his face and eyes; after which they led him away to the suburbs, where they stoned him. Next they led a woman called Quinta, who was a believer, to the temple of an idol, and attempted to force her to worship; but, when she turned away in disgust, they tied her by the feet and dragged her through the whole city, and over the rough stones of the paved streets, dashing her against the millstones, and scourging her at the same time, until they brought her to the same place, when they stoned her. Then, with one accord, they all rushed upon the houses of the pious, and whomsoever of their neighbors they knew, they drove thither in all haste, and despoiled and plundered them, setting apart the more valuable articles for themselves, but the more common and wooden furniture threw about and burned in the roads, presenting a sight like a city taken by the enemy. But the brethren retired and gave way, and, like those to whom Paul bears witness, they also regarded the plunder of their goods with joy." And, on the third evening of this rioting against the Christians, a crowd of people, with soldiers, assembled about the vast temple of Serapis, and the high-priest harangued them against the Christians, and especially against Am-nem-hat, whom he called the renegade of Ombos, a seducer of youth, and a plunderer of orphans; and, the house having been pointed out unto them, the mob surged thitherward, yelling and shouting, and calling upon their idols for vengeance against the Christians, and chiefly against Am-nem-hat, the renegade of Ombos. And they struck with violence upon the door, insomuch that the domestics were frightened, and the old man himself opened the door and said unto them, "What seek ye?" And they yelled out: "We seek Am-nem-hat, the traitor to the gods! Am-nem-hat, the renegade high-priest of Ombos!"