ABSTRACT
LET the audacious committers of sacrilege, then, consider it has not been in vain that popes have decreed harsh canons and emperors themselves issued severe laws against those who violate ordinary burial-places; and how much more against those who venture to rob the tombs of the holy martyrs? 2 They should therefore read carefully and reflect on ancient and modern histories, for nowhere will they find that the sacrilegious have died in any other way than ignominiously. This is sufficiently proved by Pompeius Trogus and his epitomizer, Justin. From their work I have thought it proper to cite a few individual cases, so that Christians may dread the act of sacrilege, since this kind of audacity turned out so unluckily even for those who worshipped idols.
