The Persecutor Struck Down

Such was the state of things all through the persecution. It ceased completely in the tenth year, by the grace of God, though it had begun to slacken after the eighth. For when the divine and heavenly grace showed its kindly and gracious care for us, then indeed our rulers, the very men by whom the war against us had long been waged, changed their minds in the most astonishing way and sang a recantation, quenching with kindly proclamations and most gentle ordinances about us the fire of persecution that had blazed so high. [a] No human cause brought this about, nor, as one might suppose, the pity or humanity of the rulers. Far from it: from the beginning until that very time they had been devising more and harsher measures against us every day, inventing new outrages against us with ever more varied devices, now one way, now another. It was the plain visitation of divine Providence itself, reconciling itself to its own people and pursuing the author of the evils, angry with the man who had led the wickedness of the whole persecution. [b] For even if these things had to happen by divine judgment, still the word says, ‘Woe to the one through whom the stumbling block comes.’ So a punishment sent by God came upon him, beginning in his very flesh and going on to his soul. [c]

All at once an abscess appeared in the middle of the private parts of his body, then a deep, burrowing ulcer, and these spread incurably into his innermost bowels. From them swarmed an indescribable mass of worms, and a deathly stench rose from them; for even before his sickness the whole bulk of his body had turned, through gluttony, into a vast mass of fat, which now rotted and made a sight unbearable and most horrible to those who came near. [d] Of the physicians, some could not bear the overwhelming foulness of the stench at all and were slaughtered; others, since the whole mass had swollen and was past all hope of recovery, could give no help and were put to death without mercy.