As we go north epitaphs of this description become much rarer, which seems to indicate that as the influence of the Celtic element, and, perhaps, the Greek Massilia, decreases, there is a decrease also in the ‘ubertas Gallici sermonis’.[929] We can hardly realize to-day how enormous the power and the extent of rhetoric was. In all parts of the Empire it was the mark of a cultured gentleman. As we have seen, it was the basis of education, the condition of imperial appointments, a tremendous factor in the policy of the emperors. ‘If we lose our eloquence’, said Libanius,[930] ‘what will be left to distinguish us from the barbarians?’ and again, ‘If you know the art of speaking you know the art of commanding.’[931] From Isocrates to Libanius Persuasion (Peitho) cast her spell with unfailing charm, nor was it Gaul alone that was bound by the chains of the tongue. Beyond the Graeco-Roman world the influence went: Sidonius, the conservative, could compliment an Arbogast on his eloquence,[932] and it was the rhetoric of pagan Gaul, as well as the religion of Christian Gaul, that led captive her fierce conquerors. So, too, beyond the pagan world, rhetoric invaded the Church and left its manifold traces on Christian education. Kaufmann estimates that by the year 450 pagan schools in Gaul were disappearing under the influence of the Church militant.[933] Now it is true that the Church considered it a duty to condemn the rhetoricians, but their system persisted nevertheless through the monasteries up to our own day both in the matter and in method. The Christian literature of the period shows this clearly. In poetry (except in a few cases like the _Ad uxorem_, and the _De providentia Dei_) the fetters of the tradition are still strong, and in trying to force biblical subjects into unsuitable forms, men like Sedulius, Marius Victor, and Paulinus of Nola produce mere lifeless paraphrases; in prose, where there were fewer rules to check naturalness and freshness of thought, the results are much more gratifying. In the schools it is recognized that the rhetorical system is indispensable. Tertullian[934] allows Christian children to attend pagan schools, though he will not permit Christians to teach in them, and Jerome, while he complains that the clergy are too fond of Vergil and the Comedies, is constrained to add ‘in pueris necessitatis est’.[935] The Church did not create a new educational system.