The Miserable End of Balacius

A certain general named Balacius persecuted us Christians bitterly because of his regard for the Arians, that ill-omened name. His ruthlessness was so great that he beat virgins and stripped and flogged monks. At this time Antony wrote him a letter, which read as follows, and sent it to him: “I see wrath coming upon you. So stop persecuting the Christians, or wrath may take hold of you, for even now it is on the point of coming upon you.” But Balacius laughed, threw the letter on the ground and spat on it, and insulted the men who carried it, ordering them to take this message to Antony: “Since you are so concerned for the monks, I will soon come after you too.” Five days had not passed before wrath came upon him. Balacius and Nestorius, the prefect of Egypt, set out for the first stopping place from Alexandria, which is called Chaereu. Both were on horseback, and the horses belonged to Balacius and were the quietest in all his stable. But they had not gone far toward the place when the horses began to frisk with each other, as horses do. Suddenly the quieter one, on which Nestorius was riding, bit Balacius and brought him down from his horse, then attacked him and tore his thigh so badly with its teeth that he was carried straight back to the city, and in three days he died. And everyone wondered that what Antony had foretold had been fulfilled so quickly. [a]