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At the solicitation of Theophilus bishop of Alexandria the emperor
issued an order at this time for the demolition of the heathen temples
in that city; commanding also that it should be put in execution under
the direction of Theophilus. Seizing this opportunity, Theophilus
exerted himself to the utmost to expose the pagan mysteries to
contempt. And to begin with, he caused the Mithreum to be cleaned
out, and exhibited to public view the tokens of its bloody mysteries.
Then he destroyed the Serapeum, and the bloody rights of the
Mithreum he publicly caricatured; the Serapeum also he showed full of
extravagant superstitions, and he had the phalli of Priapus carried
through the midst of the forum. The pagans of Alexandria, and
especially the professors of philosophy, were unable to repress their
rage at this exposure, and exceeded in revengeful ferocity their
outrages on a former occasion: for with one accord, at a preconcerted
signal, they rushed impetuously upon the Christians, and murdered
every one they could lay hands on. The Christians also made an
attempt to resist the assailants, and so the mischief was the more
augmented. This desperate affray was prolonged until satiety of
bloodshed put an end to it. Then it was discovered that very few of
the heathens had been killed, but a great number of Christians; while
the number of wounded on each side was almost innumerable. Fear then
possessed the pagans on account of what was done, as they considered
the emperor's displeasure. For having done what seemed good in their
own eyes, and by their bloodshed having quenched their courage, some
fled in one direction, some in another, and many quitting
Alexandria, dispersed themselves in various cities. Among these were
the two grammarians Helladius and Ammonius, whose pupil I was in my
youth at Constantinople. Helladius was said to be the priest of
Jupiter, and Ammonius of Simius. Thus this disturbance having been
terminated, the governor of Alexandria, and the commander-in-chief
of the troops in Egypt, assisted Theophilus in demolishing the
heathen temples. These were therefore razed to the ground, and the
images of their gods molten into pots and other convenient utensils for
the use of the Alexandrian church; for the emperor had instructed
Theophilus to distribute them for the relief of the poor. All the
images were accordingly broken to pieces, except one statue of the god
before mentioned, which Theophilus preserved and set up in a public
place; ' Lest,' said he, 'at a future time the heathens should
deny that they had ever worshiped such gods.' This action gave great
umbrage to Ammonius the grammarian in particular, who to my knowledge
was accustomed to say that 'the religion of the Gentiles was grossly
abused in that that single statue was not also molten, but preserved,
in order to render that religion ridiculous.' Helladius however
boasted in the presence of some that he had slain in that desperate
onset nine men with his own hand. Such were the doings at Alexandria
at that time.
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