Page:Early Christianity in Arabia.djvu/93

Rh from Anatolius, the prefect of the east, who restored him to the same rank under the emperor which he had before held under his enemies. The monks appear to have been in some measure the physicians of the desert; Euthymius in this capacity had been serviceable to the family of the Arab, and, actuated by gratitude and by the convincing persuasions of the pious monk, he embraced the belief in the Redeemer. The whole of his family were also baptized, and their example was followed by numbers of the wandering tribes. Aspebetus himself embraced a monastic life, and left the command of his tribe to his son Terebon. Afterwards, the same Aspebetus, whose name at his baptism had been changed to Peter, was consecrated by Juvenal patriarch of Jerusalem, and became the first bishop of the wandering tribes in the neighbourhood of Palestine. The name of Peter soon became famous through the desert, and the Saracen wanderers, flocking in crowds to receive the rite of baptism at