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98 Mela congratulated the proconsul.

"You were right, brother mine, in sending those wretched litigants about their business."

"Could I do otherwise?" replied Gallio. "How could I have decided between that Sosthenes and that Paul who are the one as stupid and as rabid as the other? ... If I treat them with contempt, do not, my friends, think that is because they are poor and humble, because Sosthenes reeks of salted fish, or for the reason that Paul's fingers have become worn in weaving carpets and tent-cloth. No, Philemon and Baucis were poor, yet worthy of the highest honours. The gods did not disdain being entertained at their frugal board. Wisdom raises a slave above his master. Nay, a virtuous slave is superior to the gods. If he is their equal in wisdom, he surpasses them in the beauty of the accomplishment. Those Jews are to be despised simply because they are boorish, and that no image of the divinity is reflected in them."

A smile overspread the countenance of Marcus Lollius at these word.

"Truly, the gods," he said, "would hardly frequent the Syrians who infest the harbours, amid the sellers of fruit and the strumpets."

"The Barbarians themselves," resumed the proconsul, "possess some knowledge of the gods. Not to mention the Egyptians, who, in the olden days,