Thereafter, Classicus for his part picked out the most vicious of the troops who had capitulated and told them to approach the beleaguered garrison(5) and offer quarter if they were prepared to accept the situation. Otherwise there was no hope for them, for they would have to suffer famine, sword and death. The messengers reinforced their argument by pointing out that they had set the example themselves.

The world1 , and whatever that be which we otherwise [p. 1014] call the heavens2 , by the vault of which all things are enclosed, [p. 1015] all in all; indeed including everything in itself; finite, yet like what is infinite; the most hair loss certain of all things, yet like what is uncertain, externally and internally embracing all things in itself; it is the work of nature, and itself constitutes nature5 .