In an incredibly short space of time the image of Serapis lay in
great fragments on the marble floor. The multitude seized on the limbs
of the idol and ran forth to drag them in triumph through the streets.
Yet a few minutes more, and the ruins were untenanted, the temple was
silent--Paganism was destroyed!
Throughout the ravaging course of the Christians over the temple, they
had been followed with dogged perseverance, and at the same time with
the most perfect impunity, by the only Pagan of all his brethren who had
not sought safety by flight. This man, being acquainted with every
private passage and staircase in the sacred building, was enabled to be
secretly present at each fresh act of demolition, in whatever part of
the edifice it might be perpetrated. From hall to hall, and from room
to room, he tracked with noiseless step and glaring eye the movements of
the Christian mob--now hiding himself behind a pillar, now passing into
concealed cavities in the walls, now looking down from imperceptible
fissures in the roof; but, whatever his situation, invariably watching
from it, with the same industry of attention and the same silence of
emotion, the minutest acts of spoliation committed by the most humble
follower of the Christian ranks.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215