Apollo at Daphne and the Holy Babylas

Julian, wanting to make war on the Persians, sent the most trusted of his officers to all the oracles throughout the Roman Empire, while he himself went as a suppliant to beg the Pythian oracle at Daphne to reveal the future to him. The oracle answered that the corpses lying close by were getting in the way of its divination; they must first be moved to another place, and then he would give his prophecy. “For,” said the god, “I can say nothing unless the grove is purified.” Now at that time the relics of the victorious martyr Babylas lay there, with those of the boys who had suffered gloriously with him; and the lying prophet was plainly prevented from uttering his usual lies by the holy power of Babylas. Julian knew this, for his former piety had taught him the power of the victorious martyrs. So he moved no other body from the place, but only ordered the worshipers of Christ to move the relics of the victorious martyrs. They marched joyfully to the grove, put the coffin on a cart, and went ahead of it, leading a vast crowd of people and singing the psalms of David. At every pause they shouted, “Shame on all who worship cast images!” For they took the moving of the martyr to mean defeat for the demon. [a]