Peter was at Jerusalem as late as A.D. 52; then at Antioch; also in Babylon: according to the most ancient testimonies he was at Rome about A.D. 63; but the tradition, that he resided as bishop in the city of Rome for twenty-five years, first related by Jerome, seems questionable.[187] Among the legendary incidents which marked his sojourn in Rome, the first and the most important is the story of Simon Magus. Simon, a famous magician among the Jews, had astonished the whole city of Jerusalem by his wonderful feats; but his inventions and sorceries were overcome by the real miracles of Peter, as the Egyptian magi had been conquered by Aaron. He offered the apostles money to buy the secret of their power, which Peter rejected with indignation. St. Augustine tells us, as a characteristic trait of the fiery-spirited apostle, that ‘if he had fallen on the traitor Simon, he would certainly have torn him to pieces with his teeth.’ The magician, vanquished by a superior power, flung his books into the Dead Sea, broke his wand, and fled to Rome, where he became a great favourite of the Emperor Claudius, and afterwards of Nero. Peter, bent on counteracting the wicked sorceries of Simon, followed him to Rome. About two years after his arrival he was joined there by the Apostle Paul. Simon Magus having asserted that he was himself a god, and could raise the dead, Peter and Paul rebuked his impiety, and challenged him to a trial of skill in presence of the emperor. The arts of the magician failed; Peter and Paul restored the youth to life: and on many other occasions Simon was vanquished and put to shame by the miraculous power of the apostles. At length he undertook to fly up to heaven in sight of the emperor and the people; and, crowned with laurel, and supported by demons, he flung himself from a tower, and appeared for a while to float thus in the air: but St. Peter, falling on his knees, commanded the demons to let go their hold, and Simon, precipitated to the ground, was dashed to pieces. This romantic legend, so popular in the middle ages, is founded on some antique traditions not wholly unsupported by historical testimony.