In my first book I set out that Pompeius Trogus and Cornelius Tacitus had recorded, though not fully, while our own Moses — faithful even by their testimony — told faithfully and sufficiently, that the Egyptians and their king, when, out of an impulse to hinder their devotion, they were calling back to clay and straw the people of God, intent and ready to serve their God, were afflicted with ten most bitter plagues;1
1 In primo libello expositum a nobis est, Pompeium Trogum et Cornelium Tacitum commemorasse non plene quidem, nostrum uero Moysen, etiam ipsorum testimonio fidelem, fideliter sufficienterque dixisse, Aegyptios et regem eorum, cum populum Dei seruire intentum et paratum Deo suo, impediendae deuotionis instinctu ad lutum paleasque reuocarent, decem acerbissimis plagis fuisse uexatos.
1Orosius 1.10. The Exodus is told by Pompeius Trogus (in Justin’s epitome, 36.2) and by Tacitus, Histories 5.3.
that then, tamed by the violence of their evils, they not only forced them to hasten away but even loaded them with their own vessels of silver and gold; and that afterwards, forgetting their plague and greedy for plunder not owed them, envious too of another’s religion, while they eagerly pursued the innocent, they were at last swallowed up by the Red Sea and all utterly perished. This I now relate and announce — even if perhaps it is not accepted on faith, it is nevertheless to be proved by the outcome — because these things were done as a figure of us.
2 deinde uiolentia malorum edomitos non solum coegisse festinantem sed etiam propriis suis argenteis et aureis uasis accumulauisse. post, oblitos plagae suae et cupidos praedae indebitae, inuidos etiam religionis alienae, dum innocentes auide persequuntur, mari Rubro ultime receptos omnes funditus interisse. quod ego nunc refero ac renuntio, etsi forte fide non acceptatum, exitu tamen probandum, quia haec in figura nostri facta sunt.
Both peoples belong to the one God; the cause of both peoples is one. The synagogue of the Israelites was subject to the Egyptians; the Church of the Christians is subject to the Romans. The Egyptians persecuted; the Romans persecuted too. There, ten refusals against Moses; here, ten edicts against Christ. There, diverse plagues of the Egyptians; here, diverse calamities of the Romans.
3 uterque populus unius Dei est, una populi utriusque causa. subdita fuit Israhelitarum synagoga Aegyptiis, subdita est Christianorum ecclesia Romanis. persecuti sunt Aegyptii, persecuti sunt et Romani. decem ibi contradictiones aduersus Moysen, decem hic edicta aduersus Christum; diuersae ibi plagae Aegyptiorum, diuersae hic calamitates Romanorum.
For — to compare the plagues themselves with one another, so far as a figure can be compared with its form — there, the first chastisement made blood ooze everywhere from the wells or run in the rivers; here, the first plague, under Nero, brought it about that everywhere there was the blood of the dying, either corrupted by diseases in the City or poured out by wars throughout the world.
4 nam, ut etiam ipsas inter se plagas, in quantum tamen figura formae conparari potest, conferam, ibi prima correptio habuit sanguinem uulgo uel manasse de puteis uel in fluminibus cucurrisse: hic prima sub Nerone exegit plaga, ut ubique morientium sanguis esset uel morbis in urbe corruptus uel bellis in orbe profusus.
There, the following plague brought forth frogs, croaking and leaping about in the innermost chambers, to be a cause of near-starvation and of exile for the inhabitants; here, the following punishment, under Domitian, likewise showed nearly all the citizens of Rome driven to want and scattered in exile by the wicked and unbridled raids of his henchmen and soldiers as they carried out the orders of that most bloodthirsty prince.
5 ibi sequens plaga prodidit perstrepentes persultantesque in penetralibus ranas inediae propemodum causam habitatoribus atque exilii fuisse: hic sequens sub Domitiano poena similiter ostendit satellitum militumque eius improbis effrenatisque discursibus cruentissimi iussa principis exsequentum ad inopiam paene omnes ciues Romanos adactos exilioque dispersos.
There, the third affliction brought the gnats — tiny and most savage little flies, that is, which often in the midst of the summer heat, massed together in quivering swarms over squalid places, usually glide in with a whining flight and bury themselves, with a burning bite, in the hair of men and the bristles of cattle; here, likewise, the third plague, under Trajan, roused the Jews, who, though previously scattered everywhere and keeping as quiet as if they no longer existed, were all stirred by a sudden heat and raged throughout the world against the very peoples among whom they lived — besides the great ruin of many cities which frequent earthquakes overthrew at the same time.
6 ibi tertia uexatio habuit sciniphes, musculas scilicet paruissimas ac saeuissimas, quae mediis saepe aestibus per loca squalida coadunatim uibrando densatae tinnulo uolatu adlabi solent capillisque hominum ac pecudum saetis cum urente morsu interseri: hic itidem tertia sub Traiano plaga Iudaeos excitauit, qui cum antea ubique dispersi ita iam quasi non essent quiescerent, repentino omnes calore permoti, in ipsos, inter quos erant, toto orbe saeuierunt, absque magnis multarum urbium ruinis, quas crebri terrae motus isdem temporibus subruerunt.
There, in the fourth plague, there were dog-flies, truly the nurslings of rottenness and the mothers of worms; here, likewise, the fourth plague, under Marcus Aurelius — a pestilence poured over very many provinces — gave over to rottenness and worms alike the whole of Italy too, with the city of Rome, and the Roman army scattered along distant frontiers and in various winter quarters, dissolved in death.2
7 ibi in quarta plaga muscae caninae fuerunt, reuera alumnae putredinis uermiumque matres: hic itidem quarta sub Marco Antonino plaga, lues plurimis infusa prouinciis Italiam quoque cum urbe Roma uniuersam exercitumque Romanum, per longinquos limites et diuersa hiberna dispersum, in mortem dissolutum putredini simul ac uermibus dedit.
2Orosius writes Marcus Antoninus. The Antonine Plague broke out in 165–166, carried west by the army returning from Lucius Verus’s Parthian war.
There, the fifth chastisement was fulfilled in the sudden death of flocks and beasts of burden; here, similarly, by the fifth vengeance, under Severus the persecutor, through very frequent civil wars, the commonwealth’s own vitals and supports — that is, the common people of the provinces and the legions of soldiers — were broken to pieces.
8 ibi quinta correptio pecorum ac iumentorum repentino interitu expleta est: hic similiter quinta ultione sub Seuero persecutore creberrimis ciuilibus bellis propria uiscera et adiumenta reipublicae, hoc est plebes prouinciarum et legiones militum, comminutae sunt.
There, the sixth affliction brought seething blisters and running sores; here, equally, the sixth punishment, which came after the persecution of Maximinus — who had ordered that the bishops and clergy in particular, that is, the leaders of the churches, be slaughtered, the common crowd being passed over — swelling up repeatedly with anger and envy, was vented not through a slaughter of the common people but through the wounds and deaths of princes and men of power.3
9 ibi sexta uexatio intulit uesicas efferuescentes ulceraque manantia: hic aeque sexta punitio, quae post Maximini persecutionem fuit, qui specialiter episcopos et clericos omissa turba populari, hoc est ecclesiarum primates, trucidari imperauerat, intumescens crebro ira atque inuidia non per uulgi caedem sed per uulnera mortesque principum ac potentium exhalata est.
3Maximinus Thrax (235–238), not the Maximinus (Daia) of 7.28.
There, the seventh plague is counted as the hail poured out from the condensed air, which was the ruin of men, beasts of burden and crops; here, similarly, the seventh plague arose under Gallus and Volusianus, who had succeeded Decius the persecutor when he was killed soon afterwards: a pestilence poured out from the corrupted air, which throughout all the expanses of the Roman realm, from east to west, not only gave over to death nearly every kind of man and beast but also “corrupted the lakes and tainted the pastures with its poison.”4
10 ibi septima plaga numeratur coacto aere grando profusa, quae hominibus iumentis satisque exitio fuit: hic similiter septima sub Gallo et Volusiano, qui persecutori Decio mox interfecto successerant, plaga extitit corrupto aere pestis infusa, quae per omnia Romani regni ab oriente in occidentem spatia cum omne propemodum genus hominum et pecudum neci dedit tum etiam Corrupitque lacus, infecit pabula tabo.
4Virgil, Georgics 3.481, from the description of the cattle plague in Noricum.
There, the eighth crushing of Egypt was brought about by locusts roused from every side, holding, wearing down and covering everything; here, likewise, the eighth was brought on, to the overthrow of the Roman world, by nations roused from every side, which devastated all the provinces with slaughter and fire.
11 ibi octauam Aegypti contritionem fecere excitatae undique lucustae, tenentes terentes tegentesque omnia: hic octauam aeque in subuersionem Romani orbis excitatae undique intulere gentes, quae caedibus atque incendiis cunctas prouincias deleuerunt.
There, the ninth confusion brought a long-lasting, thick and almost palpable darkness, which threatened altogether more danger than it caused; here, likewise, the ninth chastisement came when, as Aurelian was decreeing a persecution, a terrible and grim thunderbolt fell amid dreadful whirlwinds at his very feet, showing what so great an avenger could do, when such vengeance was required, were he not both merciful and patient — although within six months from then three emperors in succession, that is, Aurelian, Tacitus and Florianus, were killed for various reasons.5
12 ibi nona turbatio diuturnas crassas ac paene tractabiles tenebras habuit, plus omnino periculi comminata quam fecit: hic itidem nona correptio fuit, cum Aureliano persecutionem decernenti diris turbinibus terribile ac triste fulmen sub ipsis pedibus ruit ostendens, quid, cum ultio talis exigeret, tantus possit ultor, nisi et clemens esset et patiens; quamquam intra sex abhinc menses tres succidui imperatores, hoc est Aurelianus Tacitus et Florianus, diuersis causis interfecti sunt.
5Aurelian was murdered in 275 and Florianus in 276; the three deaths took nearer a year than six months.
There, finally, the tenth plague, which was also the last of all, was the killing of the sons whom each had begotten first; here, no less, the tenth — that is, the last — punishment is the destruction of all the idols, which they had made from the first and loved above all.
13 ibi postremo decima plaga, quae et nouissima omnium fuit, interfectio filiorum, quos primos quique genuerant: hic nihilo minus decima id est nouissima poena est omnium perditio idolorum, quae primitus facta in primis amabant.
There, the king felt, proved and feared the power of God, and therefore allowed the people of God to depart free; here, the king felt, proved and believed the power of God, and therefore allowed the people of God to be free. There, the people of God was never afterwards dragged back into slavery; here, the people of God was never afterwards forced into idolatry. There, the precious vessels of the Egyptians were handed over to the Hebrews; here, the chief temples of the pagans passed to the churches of the Christians.
14 Ibi rex potentiam Dei sensit probauit et timuit ac per hoc populum Dei liberum abire permisit: hic rex potentiam Dei sensit probauit et credidit ac per hoc populum Dei liberum esse permisit. ibi numquam postea populus Dei ad seruitutem retractus: hic numquam postea populus Dei ad idololatriam coactus est. ibi Aegyptiorum uasa pretiosa Hebraeis tradita sunt: hic in ecclesias Christianorum praecipua paganorum templa cesserunt.
Yet this, as I said, I think must be proclaimed: just as, after these ten plagues, eternal destruction fell upon the Egyptians through the sea drawn over them as they strove to pursue the Hebrews who had been set free, so for us too, as we journey freely as pilgrims, a persecution by the pagans is in store, which will come upon us at some time, until we cross the Red Sea — that is, the fire of judgement — with our Lord Jesus Christ himself as our leader and judge.
15 sane illud, ut dixi, denuntiandum puto, quia, sicut Aegyptiis post has decem plagas dimissos Hebraeos persequi molientibus inruit per superductum mare aeterna perditio, ita et nos quidem libere peregrinantes superuentura quandoque persecutio gentilium manet, donec mare Rubrum, hoc est ignem iudicii, ipso domino nostro Iesu Christo duce et iudice transeamus.
But those into whom the figure of the Egyptians has been passed on, raging with a power granted them for a time, will indeed, by God’s permission, persecute the Christians with the heaviest tortures; yet all these same enemies of Christ, together with their king Antichrist, taken into the lake of eternal fire — which, because a great darkness hinders the sight, is entered before it is seen — will receive as their lot perpetual perdition, to burn in undying torments.
16 hi uero, in quos Aegyptiorum forma transfunditur, permissa ad tempus potestate saeuientes grauissimis quidem permissu Dei Christianos cruciatibus persequentur; uerumtamen idem omnes inimici Christi cum rege suo Antichristo accepti stagno ignis aeterni, quod magna impediente caligine dum non uidetur intratur, perpetuam perditionem immortalibus arsuri suppliciis sortientur.