Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. IV. vi., quoting Aristo of Pella. Jerome in Ezek. i. 15. It is here that the famous passage of Jerome occurs, which describes the Jews as “buying their tears.” Cf. also Itiner. Burdigal. (Hierosolymitanum), I. v. 22. Footnote 375: Vopiscus, Vita Saturn. viii.; Reinach, Textes, p. 326. The authenticity of this letter has been questioned, but the transmission, although indirect, is better documented than in most such cases. Hadrian is known to have written an autobiography, and Phlegon, his freedman, who also wrote his life, no doubt used it. Spartianus, Hadr. i. 1; xiv. 8. Footnote 376: The writers Spartianus, Capitolinus, etc., dedicate their work to Diocletian or Constantine. It was suggested by Dessau, Hermes, 24, 337, that these writers never existed, and were invented by a forger of a century later. Mommsen, Hermes, 25, 298, assumed their existence, but regarded the extant works as revised at the time mentioned by Dessau. Other investigators, except H. Peter, accept Mommsen’s conclusions. Whether they are authentic or not, these biographies are alike wretched in style and thought. Footnote 377: Paul, Sent. V. xxiii. 14; Dig. 48, 8, 3, 2; 8, 8. The date is not certain; Dig. 48, 8, 3, 4. Footnote 378: B. G. U. 347, 82. Footnote 379: Dig. 48, 8, 11. pr. Footnote 380: Paul, Sent. V. xxii. 3. Footnote 381: Lampridius, Vita Alex. 22. Footnote 382: Jews made converts even after the prohibition of Theodosius (Jerome, Migne Patrol, 25, p. 199; 26, p. 311). One further ground for doubting the statement of Paul as it appears in the extant texts is the following: In the Digest (48, 8, 4, 2) it is only the physician and the slave that are capitally punished for castration. The owner of the slave (_ibid._ 48, 8, 6) is punished by the loss of half his property. Further, the penalty for circumcision is stated to be the same as that for castration. That was the case not only in Modestinus’ time, who lived after Paul, but as late as Justinian, since it is received into the Digest. Yet Paul, according to the extant text, makes the circumcision of alien slaves a capital crime (V. xxii. 4). The discrepancy can scarcely be reconciled. Footnote 383: Capitol. Antoninus Pius, 5. Footnote 384: 193 C.E. It was on this occasion that the Pretorians offered the imperial purple to the highest bidder. Footnote 385: Josephus, Ant. XIV. x. Footnote 386: The legend of Polycarp assumes a large and powerful Jewish community. In late Byzantine times, the Jews of Asia Minor were still a powerful factor. The emperor Michael II, a Phrygian, was suspected of Jewish leanings; Theophanes (Contin.), ii. 3 ff. CHAPTER XXI THE LEGAL POSITION OF THE JEWS IN THE LATER EMPIRE Footnote 387: