st debtor, rejoice in giving back my life to
Nature, and feel in my soul neither pain nor fear; nothing but
cheerfulness, and a presentiment of eternal repose.... I have done
my duty, and have nothing to repent. From the days when, like a
hunted animal, I awaited death in the palace of Marcellum, in
Cappadocia, up to the time when I assumed the purple of the Roman
Caesars, I have tried to keep my soul spotless. If I have failed to
do all that I desired, do not forget that our earthly deeds are in
the hands of Fate. And now I thank the Eternal Ruler for having
allowed me to die, not after a long sickness nor at the hands of an
executioner, but on the battlefield, in full youth, with work ahead
of me still to be done.... And, my dear friends, tell both my
friends and my enemies, how the Hellenes, endowed with divine
wisdom, can die....'"

* * * * *

Revenge for the dying emperor was long in coming. But now, after
eleven centuries, the prophecy of Julian is accomplished: heroic
antiquity, everlastingly young, arises from the grave. On all sides
the gods are resurrected. Their marble effigies, so long buried,
reappear. Both the powerful and the humble receive them with
enthusiasm and rejoice at seeing them. It is an irresistible
outburst which carries with it all classes of the Italian people.
Like a wind-blown flame, Greek genius inspires a new life in the
world. But, while a sweeter and more humane moral feeling tries to
liberalize the church, the sombre voice of Savonarola, hardened by
the terrible corruption of manners, mounts ever more menacingly:

"Oh, Italy! oh, Rome! I am going to deliver you up into the hands of
a people who will efface you from among the nations. I see them, the
enemies who descend like hungry tigers.... Florence, what have you
done? Do you want me to tell you? Your iniquity has heaped up the
measure; prepare for a terrible plague! Oh, Lord, thou art witness
that I tried to keep off this crumbling ruin from my brothers; but I
can do no more, my strength is failing me. Do not sleep, oh, Lord!
Dost Thou not see that we are becoming a shame to the world? How
many times we have called to Thee! How many tears we have shed!
Where is Thy providence? Where is Thy goodness? Where is Thy
fidelity? Stretch forth Thy helping hand to us!"

And thus the antagonism between the "God-man" and the "man-God" of
Hellenic paganism expresses itself more strongly than ever before.