nd had spread itself far and wide against the power of
kings and emperors, and he says that nobody but a Christian ever died
a martyr to the truth of his religion. He makes good use of the Jewish
prophecies; but he brings forward no proofs in support of the truth of
the gospel history; they were not wanted, as Celsus and the pagans had
not considered it necessary to call it into question.

Another proof of the number of Egyptian Christians is seen in the
literary frauds of which their writers were guilty, most likely to
satisfy the minds of those pagan converts that they had already made
rather than from a wish to make new believers. About this time was
written by an unknown Christian author a poem in eight books, named the
_Sibylline Verses_ which must not be mistaken for the pagan fragments
of the same name. It is written in the form of a prophecy, in the style
used by the Gnostics, and is full of dark sentences and half-expressed
hints.

Another spurious Christian work of about the same time is the
_Clementina_, or the _Recognitions of Clemens_, Bishop of Rome. It is
an account of the travels of the Apostle Peter and his conversation with
Simon Magus; but the author's knowledge of the Egyptian mythology, of
the opinions of the Greek philosophers, and of the astrological rules by
which fortunes are foretold from the planets' places, amply prove that
he was an Egyptian or an Alexandrian. No name ranked higher among the
Christians than that of Clemens Romanus; and this is only one out of
several cases of Christian authors who wished to give weight to their
own opinions by passing them upon the world as his writings.

Marcus Aurelius, who died in 181 A.D., had pardoned the children of the
rebel general Avidius Cassius, but Commodus began his reign by putting
them to death; and, while thus disregarding the example and advice of
his father, he paid his memory the idle compliment of continuing his
series of dates on his own coins. But the Egyptian coinage of Commodus
clearly betrays the sad change that was gradually taking place in the
arts of the country; we no longer see the former beauty and variety of
subjects; and the silver, which had before been very much mixed with
copper, was under Commodus hardly to be known from brass.

[Illustration: 125.jpg CARTOUCHE OF COMMODUS]

Commodus was very partial to the Egyptian superstitions, and he adopted
the tonsure, and had his head shaven like a priest of Isis, that he
migh