Under Constantine, a number of persons who had applied to the oracles were punished with cruel tortures. Under Valens, a certain Palladius was the agent of a terrible persecution. Everyone found himself exposed to being denounced for having relations with soothsayers. Traitors slipped secretly into houses magic formulae and charms, which then became so many proofs against the inhabitant. The fear was so great in the East, says Ammienus Marcellinus, that a great number burned their books, lest matter should be found in them for an accusation of magic or sorcery. One day in anger, Vitellius commanded all the astrologers to leave Italy by a certain day. They responded by a poster, which impudently commanded the prince to leave the earth before that date, and at the end of the year Vitellius was put to death; on the other hand, the confidence accorded to astrologers led sometimes to the greatest extremes. For instance, after having consulted Babylus, Nero put to death all those whose prophecies promised the elevation of Heliogabalus. Another instance was that of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina. The latter was struck with the beauty of a gladiator. For a long time she vainly strove in secret with the passion that consumed her, but the passion did nothing but increase. At last Faustina revealed the matter to her husband, and asked him for some remedy that should restore peace to her troubled soul. The philosophy of Marcus Aurelius could not suggest anything. So he decided to consult the Chaldaeans, who were adepts at the art of mixing philters and composing draughts. The means prescribed were more simple than might have been expected from their complicated science; it was that the gladiator should be cut in pieces. They added that Faustina should afterwards be anointed with the blood of the victim. The remedy was applied, the innocent athlete was immolated, and the empress afterwards only dreamed of him with great pleasure. The first Christians were as much addicted to astrology as the other sects. The Councils of Laodicea (366, A.D.), of Arles (314), of Agdus (505), Orleans (511), Auxerre (570), and Narbonne (589), condemned the practice. According to a tradition of the commencement of our era, which appears to have been borrowed from Mazdeism, it was the rebel angels who taught men astrology and the use of charms.