This was engraved on a _cippus_ of white marble found about three miles from Rome in the Via Latina and is now in the Kircher Museum. Renan’s translation is given in _Marc Aurèle_, p. 147. That the lady’s name was Flavia seems evident from the acrostic contained in the first verse. She must also have been a pneumatic or spiritual from her husband’s confident expectation that she would be raised to the Heavenly Jerusalem and by his assertion of her deathlessness. Hence it may be inferred that Valentinus’ disciples even when of the highest spiritual rank were allowed to marry. Cf. Clem. Alex. _Strom_. Bk III. c. 17. The name “Angel of the Great Council” is applied to Christ by Justin Martyr (_c. Tryph._ c. 126) who says that He is so called by Ezekiel. The passage does not appear in the Canon. Footnote 452: Matter, _Hist. du Gnosticisme_, t. II. p. 126, quoting St Jerome. Footnote 453: Epiphanius, _Haer._ XXXIII. c. 3, pp. 401-413, Oehler. Cf. “the Elect Lady” to whom 2 John is addressed. Footnote 454: It should be remembered that Valentinus had been dead some 50 years when Irenaeus and Hippolytus wrote. Footnote 455: Amélineau, _Gnost. Ég._ Chap. V., pp. 281-320 _passim_. Footnote 456: Julian, _Ep._ 43, tells Hecebolius that the Arians of Edessa, “puffed up by their riches,” have maltreated the Valentinians, and that he has therefore ordered the confiscation of the estates and treasure of the Church of Edessa. It is doubtful whether the edict can have been enforced before the emperor’s death abrogated it. Footnote 457: We get at a sort of minimum date for its persistence from the career of St Ambrose, who had been a Valentinian in his youth (see Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._ Bk VI. c. 18), and was made bishop of Milan in 374 A.D., he being then 34 years old. The sect therefore had adherents in Italy about 360 A.D. Footnote 458: It may be news to some that an attempt has lately been made to revive in Paris the heresy of Valentinus. See the _Contemporary Review_ for May, 1897, or Jules Bois’ _Les Petits Religions de Paris_, where a full account of the services and hymns of “L’Église Gnostique” is given. Its founder, Jules Doinel, was reconverted to Catholicism some time before his death. Its present head is M. Fabre des Essarts. CHAPTER X THE SYSTEM OF THE PISTIS SOPHIA AND ITS RELATED TEXTS[459]