r their cavalry horses!

IV

ASTORGA

The Asturica Augusta of the Romans was the capital of the northern
provinces of Asturias and the central point of four military roads which
led to Braga, Aquitania, Saragosse, and Tarragon.

During the Visigothic domination, and especially under the reign of
Witiza, Astorga as well as Leon, Toledo, and Tuy were the only four
cities allowed to retain their walls.

According to some accounts, Astorga was the seat of the earliest
bishopric in the peninsula, having been consecrated in the first century
by Santiago or his immediate followers; historically, however, the first
known bishop was Dominiciano, who lived about 347 A. D.

In the fourth and fifth centuries several heresies or false doctrines
were ripe in Spain. Of one of these, _Libelatism_, Astorga was the
centre; the other, _Priscilianism_, originally Galician, found many
adherents in the fortress-town, more so than elsewhere, excepting only
Tuy, Orense, and Palencia.

_Libelatism._--Its great defender was Basilides, Bishop of Astorga.
Strictly speaking, this faith was no heresy, but a sham or fraud which
spread out beyond the Pyrenees to France. It consisted in denying the
new faith; those who proclaimed it, or, in other words, the Christians,
who were severely persecuted in those days, pretended to worship the
Latin gods so as to save their skins. With this object in view, and to
be able to prove their sincerity, they were obliged to obtain a
certificate, _libelum_ (libel?), from the Roman governor, stating their
belief in Jupiter, Venus, etc. Doubtless they had to pay a tax for this
certificate, and thus the Roman state showed its practical wisdom: it
was paid by cowards for being tyrannical. But then, not all Christians
are born martyrs.

_Priscilianism._--Of quite a different character was the other heresy
previously mentioned. It was a doctrine opposed to the Christian
religion, proud of many adherents, and at one time threatening danger to
the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Considering that it is but little known
to-day (for after a lingering life of about three or four centuries in
Galicia it was quite ignored by philosophers and Christians alike), it
may be of some use to transcribe the salient points of this doctrine, in
case some one be inclined to baptize him or herself as prophet of the
new religion. It was preached by one Prisciliano in the fourth century,
and was a mixture of Celtic mythology and C