of a public place on which the
_popinarii_, or tavern-keepers, claimed rights, Alexander gave
judgment in favor of the former, saying it was preferable that the
_place_ should serve for divine worship, rather than for the sale of
drinks.[11]

[Illustration: Portrait Bust of Philip the Younger.]

There can scarcely be any doubt that the emperor Philip the Arab
(Marcus Julius Philippus, A. D. 244), his wife Otacilia Severa, and
his son Philip the younger were Christians, and friends of S.
Hippolytus. Still, in spite of these periods of peace and freedom of
the Church, we cannot be blind to the fact that for a Christian
nobleman wishing to make a career, the position was extremely
hazardous. Hence we frequently see baptism deferred until mature or
old age, and strange situations and even acts of decided apostasy
created by mixed marriages.

The wavering between public honors and Christian retirement is
illustrated by some incidents in the life of Licentius, a disciple of
S. Augustine. Licentius was the son of Romanianus, a friend and
countryman of Augustine; and when the latter retired to the villa of
Verecundus, after his conversion, in the year 386, Licentius, who had
attended his lectures on eloquence at Milan, followed him to his
retreat. He appears as one of the speakers in the academic disputes
which took place in the villa.[12] In 396, Licentius, who had followed
his master to Africa, seduced by the hopes of a brilliant career,
determined to settle in Rome. Augustine, deeply grieved at losing his
beloved pupil, wrote to call him back, and entreated him to turn his
face from the failing promises of the world. The appeal had no effect,
and no more had the epistles, in prose and verse, addressed to him for
the same purpose by Paulinus of Nola. Licentius, after finishing the
course of philosophy, being scarcely a catechumen, and a very unsteady
one at that, entered a career for public honors. Paulinus of Nola
describes him as aiming not only at a consulship, but also at a pagan
pontificate, and reproaches and pities him for his behavior. After
this, we lose sight of Licentius in history, but a discovery made at
S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura in December, 1862, tells us the end of the
tale. A marble sarcophagus was found, containing his body, and his
epitaph. This shows that Licentius died in Rome in 406, after having
reached the end of his desires, a place in the Senate; and that he
died a Christian, and was buried near t