den to do any act of heathen worship.
And I may now tell you what took place as to the idols of Egypt in this
reign.

It was in the year 391 that an old heathen temple at Alexandria was
given up to the bishop of the city, who wished to build a church on the
spot. In digging out the foundation for the church, some strange and
disgusting things, which had been used in the heathen worship, were
found; and some of the Christians carried these about the streets by way
of mocking at the religion of the heathens. The heathen part of the
inhabitants were enraged; a number of them made an uproar, killed some
Christians, and then shut themselves up in the temple of one of their
gods called Serapis, whom they believed to be the protector of
Alexandria. This temple was surrounded by the houses of the priests and
other buildings; and the whole was so vast and so magnificent, that it
was counted as one of the wonders of the world.

The rioters, who had shut themselves up in the temple, used to rush out
from it now and then, killing some of the Christians who fell in their
way, and carrying off others as prisoners. These prisoners were desired
to offer sacrifice: if they refused, they were cruelly tortured, and
some of them were even crucified. A report of these doings was sent to
Theodosius, and he ordered that all the temples of Alexandria should be
destroyed. The governor invited the defenders of the temple of Serapis
to attend in the market-place, where the emperor's sentence was to be
read; and, on hearing what it was, they fled in all directions, so that
the soldiers, who were sent to the temple, found nobody there to
withstand them.

The idol of Serapis was of such vast size that it reached from one side
of the temple to the other. It was adorned with jewels, and was covered
with plates of gold and silver; and its worshippers believed that, if it
were hurt in any way, heaven and earth would go to wreck. So when a
soldier mounted a ladder, and raised his axe against it, the heathens
who stood by were in great terror, and even some of the Christians could
not help feeling a little uneasiness as to what might follow. But the
stout soldier first made a blow which struck off one of the idol's
cheeks, and then dashed his axe into one of his knees. Serapis, however,
bore all this quietly, and the bystanders began to draw their breath
more freely. The soldier worked away manfully, and, after a while, the
huge head of the idol came c