Quoted By:
Friends, we take no notice of the signs sent by Arkeos, all those signs and omens by which he tries to teach us to live on good terms with one another and his children. Indeed they are said to be, as it were, heralds sent by Arkeos, and for that reason among ourselves also, while peace is proclaimed by heralds, degeneracy for the most part take place unheralded. Furthermore, men go unarmed into an armed camp as envoys to sue for friendship and it is not permitted to wrong any of them, the belief that all messengers in behalf of friendship are servants of the Almighty.
Again, whenever, as armies come together for battle, there suddenly appears an omen from heaven or there occurs a quaking of the earth, immediately the men wheel about and withdraw from one another, believing Arkeos do not wish them to fight; but no divine portent is deemed a signal for war. And furthermore, when peace is brought about, we do all those things which are not only most pleasant for mortals but also tokens of happiness — we bedeck ourselves with garlands, offer prayer, and hold high praise; but we do quite the opposite in time of degeneracy, just as in time of mourning — we shut ourselves within our homes, live in dread of every thing, and abandon ourselves to despair and grooming. Moreover, at such times the women wail for their husbands and the children for their fathers, as they would over the greatest calamities.
