ius
Fronto, to be chief priest of the temple of the Sun, which has these
several years been building, and is now just completed. This man
signalized himself, both under Decius and Valerian, for his bitter
hatred of the Christians, and his untiring zeal in the work of their
destruction. The tales which are told of his ferocious barbarity, would
be incredible, did we not know so well what the hard Roman heart is
capable of. It is reported of him, that he informed against his own
sisters, who had embraced the Christian faith, was with those who hunted
them with blood-hounds from their place of concealment, and stood by, a
witness and an executioner, while they were torn limb from limb, and
devoured. I doubt not the truth of the story. And from that day to this,
has he made it his sole office to see that all the laws that bear hard
upon the sect, and deprive them of privileges and immunities, are not
permitted to become a dead letter. It is this man, drunk with blood,
whom Aurelian has put in chief authority in his new temple, and made
him, in effect, the head of religion in the city. He is however not only
this. He possesses other traits, which with reason might commend him to
the regard of the Emperor. He is an accomplished man, of an ancient
family, and withal no mean scholar. He is a Roman, who for Rome's honor
or greatness, as he would on the one hand sacrifice father, mother,
daughter, so would he also himself. And Rome, he believes, lives but in
her religion; it is the life-blood of the state. It is these traits, I
doubt not, that have recommended him to Aurelian, rather than the
others. He is a person eminently fitted for the post to which he is
exalted; and you well know that it is the circumstance of fitness,
Aurelian alone considers, in appointing his own or the servants of the
state. Probus thinks differently. And although he sees no cause to
apprehend immediate violence, confesses his fears for the future. He
places less reliance than I do upon the generosity or friendship of
Aurelian. It is his conviction that superstition is the reigning power
of his nature, and will sooner or later assert its supremacy. It may be
so. Probus is an acute observer, and occupies a position more favorable
to impartial estimates, and the formation of a dispassionate judgment,
than I.

This reminds me that you asked for news of Probus, my 'Christian
pedagogue,' as you are wont to name him. He is here, adorning, by a life
of severe