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I hope Tim hasn't gone to bed yet...it is only 5:30 p.m. where I am, and I happened to be editing a selection from Symmachus' History of the Patriarchs, on the persecutions under Decius and the leadership of Dionysius, Patriarch of Alexandria. In that time, a certain "old man named Metras was seized; and his captors said to him 'Wilt thou worship the idols?' But he refused; and so they inflicted upon him a painful beating, and wounded his face with styli. Then they led him out of the city, and stoned him until he died." [sorry, no chicken bones in evidence]. For the curious, this is from the Patrologia Orientalis Tome 1 Fascicule 2, trans B. Evetts (from the Arabic). (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1948), p. 180. My publisher cannot locate copyrighters for this piece. My translation of Eusebius concerning Metras says they attacked him with pointed reeds. So punsters, have at it. I still have hours of daylight and of work ahead of me.... Karen Jolly History University of Hawai'i at Manoa [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%