The Heads Found at Antioch and the Rejoicing There

It is said that at Antioch a number of chests filled with human heads were found in the palace, and also many wells full of corpses. Such is the teaching of the evil gods.

When Antioch heard of Julian’s death, the city gave itself up to rejoicing and festivity. Exultant joy was shown not only in the churches and in the shrines of the martyrs; even in the theaters the victory of the cross was proclaimed and Julian’s prophecies were held up to ridicule. Here I will record the admirable saying of the people of Antioch, so that it may be kept in the memory of generations yet to come. With one voice they raised the shout, “Maximus, you fool, where are your oracles? For God has conquered, and his Christ!” They said this because there lived at that time a man named Maximus, who claimed to be a philosopher but was really a practitioner of magic, and who boasted that he could foretell the future. But the people of Antioch, who had received their divine teaching from those glorious yokefellows Peter and Paul, and were full of warm affection for the Master and Savior of all, went on cursing Julian to the end. The man they hated knew their feelings perfectly well, and so he wrote a book against them and called it Misopogon. [a]

This rejoicing at the death of the tyrant will close this book of my history, for to my mind it would be unfitting to join the impious reign of Julian to a righteous reign. [d]