The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · ¶110

The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the money, plate, and jewels, were diligently laden on the backs of horses, asses, and mules; and the holy robbers returned in triumph to Damascus. The hermit, after a short and angry controversy with Caled, declined the crown of martyrdom, and was left alive in the solitary scene of blood and devastation.

Edward Gibbon · Project Gutenberg #735 (Milman edition) — public domain
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