The Emperor consulting an Oracle, the Demon gives no Response, being awed by the Nearness of Babylas the Martyr.

Chapter XVIII.—The Emperor consulting an Oracle, the Demon gives no Response, being awed by the Nearness of Babylas the Martyr.

Having ordered that the pagan temples at Antioch should be opened, he was very eager to obtain an oracle from Apollo of Daphne. But the demon that inhabited the temple remained silent through fear of his neighbor, Babylas ⁵³⁸ the martyr; for the coffin which contained the body of that saint was close by. When the emperor was informed of this circumstance, he commanded that the coffin should be immediately p. 89 removed: upon which the Christians of Antioch, including women and children, transported the coffin from Daphne to the city, with solemn rejoicings and chanting of psalms. The psalms ⁵³⁹ were such as cast reproach on the gods of the heathen, and those who put confidence in them and their images.

Footnotes

88:538

See Euseb. H. E. VI. 20 and 39; also Chrysostom, de S. Babyl. According to these authorities Babylas was bishop of Antioch, succeeding Sabrinus, and was beheaded in prison during the reign of Decius. His remains were transferred to a church built over against the temple of Apollo of Daphne (Sozom. V. 19) by Gallus, Julian’s brother.

89:539

Psa. 97.7 (LXX).