apostolicfathers0201clem - Carmel Apologetics

42 EPISTLES OF S. IGNATIUS.
near Daphne,' as if it were an appendage
of the far-famed shrine and
grove. No place was more highly favoured by nature than Daphne ;
none was more shamefully defiled by man. It was one of those socalled
sanctuaries, where the grossest profligacy was consecrated in
the name of religion. Its shameful immoralities are painted
in the
darkest colours by the contemporary historian Sozomen. Its fatal
allurements are better known to the modern reader through a vivid
description in the pages of the Decline and Fall, borrowed largely from
the account of this ancient writer. The bounties of nature, the umbrageous
foliage above, the flowery carpet beneath, the grottos and
streams, conspired with the works of man, the porticos and colonnades
and baths, to invest vice with a peculiar attraction'. It was thought
disgraceful, says the Christian historian, for any decent man to set
foot in this suburb". To these precincts Gallus translated the body of
Babylas. By so doing, says Chrysostom, he brought a physician to
the sick (p. 556). The presence of the martyr would purify the
place and invest it with higher associations, while his intrusion into
this chief sanctuary of the heathen religion would be a fatal blow
dealt at idolatry. So the bones of Babylas were laid hard by the
shrine of Apollo. A few years later (a.d. 362) the emperor Julian^,
then preparing for his fatal Persian expedition, paid a visit to Antioch.
He was assiduous in his attentions to Apollo of Daphne. He consulted
the oracle there, but no answer was vouchsafed. When pressed
for a response, the god replied that the contiguity of dead men's
bones was an offence to him and sealed his lips. No name was
mentioned. The demon was ashamed, so said S.
Chrysostom, to
utter the name of the holy martyr, and thus confess his defeat (pp.
560 sq, 566). But Julian could hardly misunderstand the bearing
of this dark hint. It was well conceived as an appeal to one whose
constant reproach against
the Christians was their reverence for dead
1
For a description of Daphne at this the temple and image: Julian Misop. 361
time see especially Sozom. H. E. v. 19, (p. 466, Hertlein); Liban. (;'. ill. p. 332
Chrysost. de S. Bab. c. Jul. 12 sq (li. p. sq ; Chrysost. de Hieroin. Bab., Op. II. p.
555 sq), Liban. Or. i. p. 303 sq, p. 351 53r sq, dc S. Bab. c. Jtd. 12 sq, Op. Ii.
sq, III. p. 332 sq (ed. Reiske). p. 555 sq ; Rufin. H. E. x. 35 sq; Sozom.
*
Sozom. I.e. €in.pau'ei.v rots eTrieLKeaiv H. E. v. 19 sq; Socr. H. E. iii. 18 sq;
alaxpov ivo/xl^eTo ; comp. Chrysost. p. Theodt. //. E. iii. 6 sq, Graec. Aff. Cuj:
555 sq.
X {Op. IV. p. 964, Schulze); Philostorg.
3
The following are the authorities for II. E. vii. 8 sq ; Evagr. H. E. i. 16;
the incidents connected with the removal Theophanes Ckronogr. p. 76 sq, ed.
of the reliques and the conflagration of Bonn.