ppodrome. All this he had already considered and discussed with the
Bishop and Cynegius; nay, that zealous destroyer of heathen worship
had come to Alexandria with the express purpose of overthrowing the
Serapeum; but, as a prudent statesman, he had first made sure that the
time and circumstances were propitious for the work of annihilation. All
that he had here seen and heard had only strengthened his purpose; so,
after suggesting a few possible difficulties, and enjoining moderation
and mercy as the guiding principles of his sovereign, he commanded, in
the Emperor's name, that the sanctuary of Serapis should be seized by
force of arms and utterly destroyed, and that the races should be held
on the morrow.

The assembled council bowed low; and when Theophilus had closed the
meeting with a prayer he withdrew to his ungarnished study, with his
head bent and an air of profound humility, as though he had met with a
defeat instead of gaining a victory.

.......................

The fate of the great god of the heathen was sealed, but in the wide
precincts of the Serapeum no one thought of surrender or of prompt
defeat. The basement of the building, on which stood the grandest temple
ever erected by the Hellenes, presented a smooth and slightly scarped
rampart of impregnable strength to the foe. A sloping way extended up
over a handsomely-decorated incline, and from the middle of the grand
curve described by this road, two flights of steps led up to the three
great doors in the facade of the building.

The heathen had taken care to barricade this approach in all haste,
piling the road and steps with statuary-images of the gods of the finest
workmanship, figures and busts of kings, queens, and heroes, Hermes,
columns, stelae, sacrificial stones, chairs and benches-torn from their
places by a thousand eager hands. The squared flags of the pavement and
the granite blocks of the steps had been built up into walls and these
were still being added to after the besiegers had surrounded the temple;
for the defenders tore down stones, pilasters, gutters and pieces of the
cornice, and flung them on to the outworks, or, when they could, on to
the foe who for the present were not eager to commence hostilities.

The captains of the Imperial force had miscalculated the strength of
the heathen garrison. They supposed a few hundreds might have entrenched
themselves, but on the roof alone above a thousand men were to be seen,
and