Against the Persecutors, and the Captivity of Valerian

“I cannot believe, then, my brother, that I am wrong in acknowledging this one God, the author and father of all things. Many who held power before me, led astray by the madness of error, dared to deny him. But they were all visited with a punishment so terrible and so destructive that every generation since has held up their disasters as the most effective warning to anyone who wants to follow in their steps. Among these I count the one whom the lightning stroke of divine vengeance drove out from here and banished to your dominions, and whose disgrace added to the fame of your celebrated triumph. [a]