Page:Secret History of the Court of the Emperor Justinian 1674.djvu/68

 Justinian seised upon the riches of all these Temples, and possest himself thereof, to the ut­ter ruine of many of them. He had likewise his Agents abroad, who went from one place to another, and obliged all they found to change their Religion; at which, the Countrey people being offended, as at an act of impiety, oppo­sed themselves against those Agents, but they had their revenge, and caused many of them to be slain. Some there were of them, who out of a deplorable superstition made away them­selves, while the rest, in great throngs, fled out of the Countrey. The Montanists in Phygia, betook themselves to their Churches, and put­ting fire to them, burnt themselves, their fami­lies, and all that they had; so that from that time, nothing was to be seen in the Roman Em­pire, but massacres and desolations, and peo­ple quitting their Houses. The Edicts of the Emperor put the Samaritans of Palestin into no less disorder; whereupon those where I was in Cesaria, and in other Towns, thinking it weak­ness and indiscretion, to expose themselves for so dangerous an opinion, quitted their Professi­on, and were called Christians; by which means they avoided their destruction, which otherwise would have been infallible; whilest others, whose Conscience was better informed, continued stedfast in their Faith: But a good party of the Samaritans (dissatisfied that they had been forced from the Religion of their Fore­fathers) a while after became Manicheans and Politheists. In the mean time, the Peasants took Arms