Apollodorus.

"Adonai! help us Adonai!" murmured the old man and he clung more closely
to his nephew, who overtopped him by a head and who held him clasped in
his right arm as if to protect him.

The danger which threatened Apollodorus and his guests was indeed
imminent, and it had been provoked solely by the indignation of the
excited mob at seeing the wealthy Israelite's house unadorned for the
feast.

A thousand times had it occurred that a single word had proved sufficient
to inflame the hot blood of the Alexandrians to prompt them to break the
laws and seize the sword. Bloody frays between the heathen inhabitants
and the Jews, who were equally numerous in the city, were quite the order
of the day, and one party was as often to blame as the other for
disturbing the peace and having recourse to the sword. Since the
Israelites had risen in several provinces--particularly in Cyrenaica and
Cyprus--and had fallen with cruel fury on their fellow-inhabitants who
were their oppressors, the suspicion and aversion of the Alexandrians of
other beliefs had grown more intense than in former times. Besides this,
the prosperous circumstances of many Jews, and the enormous riches of a
few, had filled the less wealthy heathen with envy and roused the wish to
snatch the possessions of those who, it cannot be denied, had not
unfrequently treated their gods with open contumely.

It happened that just within a few days the disputes regarding the
festival that was to be held in honor of the Imperial visit had added
bitterness to the old grudge, and thus it came to pass that Apollodorus'
unlighted house in the Canopic way had excited the populace to attack