Nilus of Ancyra→Apollodorus|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted
To Apollodorus, rhetor.
You have said on this account, many times, that multitudes of barbarians invade the Roman realm because not all are willing, nor are they eager, to worship the gods of the Greeks with sacrifices. Know, then, more plainly, and without any veil, that both the inroads of barbarians, and earthquakes, and conflagrations, and all the other grievous things, happen for no other reason than the wickedness and stupidity of the superstitious and impious men of your sort, who do not cease from idolatry, but sacrifice in the suburbs to the destroying demons every single day, and who, even after the saving advent and shining-forth of Christ, walk in darkness and grope along the walls at midday like blind men [cf. Deuteronomy 28:29; Isaiah 59:10]. But would that you might at some point, even if later, be able to recognize the divine Moses as he holds up to public ridicule the soul that hemorrhages again after its menstrual discharge [cf. Leviticus 15:25, the woman with a chronic flux of blood]; for lately, having seemed for a few days to be cleansed of your idol-mania by the preaching of Christ, now, changing back again, you are evilly stained red with the loathsome sacrifices of carved images.
You have said on this account, many times, that multitudes of barbarians invade the Roman realm because not all are willing, nor are they eager, to worship the gods of the Greeks with sacrifices. Know, then, more plainly, and without any veil, that both the inroads of barbarians, and earthquakes, and conflagrations, and all the other grievous things, happen for no other reason than the wickedness and stupidity of the superstitious and impious men of your sort, who do not cease from idolatry, but sacrifice in the suburbs to the destroying demons every single day, and who, even after the saving advent and shining-forth of Christ, walk in darkness and grope along the walls at midday like blind men [cf. Deuteronomy 28:29; Isaiah 59:10]. But would that you might at some point, even if later, be able to recognize the divine Moses as he holds up to public ridicule the soul that hemorrhages again after its menstrual discharge [cf. Leviticus 15:25, the woman with a chronic flux of blood]; for lately, having seemed for a few days to be cleansed of your idol-mania by the preaching of Christ, now, changing back again, you are evilly stained red with the loathsome sacrifices of carved images.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.