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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Gavin Richardson, post: 2868328, member: 83956&quot;]I think it’s very possible that this was a real medical condition—an ulcer, as the medical journal suggests. But as Doug has implied, I wonder if the Christian Eusebius is embellishing the details (esp. the worms bit). Believe it or not, I’ve researched and written a bit about evisceration tropes. (I have a lot of free time.) Thomas D. Hill has demonstrated that evisceration in medieval literature is associated with “the punishment of heretics, apostates, and traitors.” Hill cites, <i>inter alia,</i> the disembowelment of Bróðir in <i>Brennu-Njáls Saga</i>, the similar grisly death of the heretic Arius, Dante’s representation of Mohammed in <i>Inferno</i> 28.21-63, the bursting bowels of Error’s children in Spenser’s <i>Fairie Queene</i> 1.26, and of course, the death of Judas in Acts 1:18. See Thomas D. Hill, “The Evisceration of <i>Bróðir</i> in <i>Brennu-Njáls Saga</i>,” <i>Traditio</i> 37 (1981), 437-444, at 443.</p><p><br /></p><p>Galerius’s death also resembles the fate of what Robert Mills has termed “abject anti-bodies” in hagiographical narratives–bodies marked by “corporeal destructibility and distance from the sublime.”In other words, it’s sort of the opposite of the way a saint might die, to prove a point about opposing the Christian God. Compare the way Herod dies—eaten by worms: “20Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Their country depended on the king&#039;s country for food, so they came to him with a united front to make peace —they&#039;d been able to win over Blastus, the king&#039;s personal aide. 21On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and made a speech to them. 22The people shouted, &#039;The voice of God, and not of a man!&#039; 23Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn&#039;t give God the glory. He was eaten by worms and died.” (Acts 12:20-23).” Josephus adds that Herod had “gangrene of the private parts.” So genital/anal gangrene and worms. An awful lot like Galerius.</p><p><br /></p><p>So yes, an ulcer, maybe. But I also think Eusebius is making Galerius look like a modern-day Herod. The message might be that one opposes Christianity at one’s own risk.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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