midnight
` Whither tends all this ? ' ` To this -- that the omens of the day bear not upon your eastern expedition , but upon the new religion ! You are warned as the great high priest , by these signs in heaven and on earth -- not against this projected expedition , which is an act of piety , -- but against this accursed superstition , which is working its way into the empire , and threatening the extermination and overthrow of the very altars on which you laid your costly offerings . What concern can the divinities feel in the array of an army , destined to whatever service , compared with that which must agitate their sacred breasts as they behold their altars cast down or forsaken , their names profaned , their very being denied , their worshippers drawn from them to the secret midnight orgies of a tribe of Atheists , whose aim is anarchy in the state and in religion ; owning neither king on earth nor king in heaven -- every man to be his own priest -- every man his own master ! Is not this the likeliest reading of the omens ? ' ` I confess , Fronto , ' the Emperor replied , the cloud upon his brow clearing away as he spoke , ` that what you say possesses likelihood . I believe I have interpreted according to my fears .