He cast down his eyes and drew a deep breath.

'I scarce know what that religion is, O Aurelia,' came from him
stammeringly. 'I am no theologian; I never cared to puzzle my head
about the mysteries which men much wiser than I declare to pass all
human understanding. Ask Decius if he can defend the faith of
Athanasius against that of the Arians; he will smile, and shake his
head in that droll way he has. I believe,' he added after a brief
hesitancy, 'in Christ and in the Saints. Does not Veranilda also?'

The temptress drew back a little, seated herself; yielded to
troublous thought. It was long since she had joined in the worship
of a congregation, for at Cumae there was no Arian church. Once only
since her captivity had she received spiritual comfort from an Arian
priest, who came to that city in disguise. What her religion truly
was she could not have declared, for the memories of early life were
sometimes as strong in her as rancour against the faith of her
enemies. Basil's simple and honest utterance touched her conscience.
She put an end to the conversation, promising to renew it before
long; whilst Basil, for his part, went away to brood, then to hold
converse with Decius.

Through all but the whole of Theodoric's reign, Italy had enjoyed a
large toleration in religion: Catholics, Arians, and even Jews
observed their worship under the protection of the wise king. Only
in the last few years of his life did he commit certain acts of
harshness against his Catholic subjects, due to the wrath that was
moved in him by a general persecution of the Arians proclaimed at
Byzantium. His Gothic successors adhered to Theodoric's better