21. For when he comes he will say falsely that he is Christ, and he will fight against him, and will oppose the sacraments of Christ, in order to destroy the Gospel of truth.

22. For he will try to repair the temple at Jerusalem and to restore all the ceremonies of the old law; moreover he is Antichrist who denies that Christ is God, for he is opposed to Christ; all who go out of the church and are cut off from the unity of faith are themselves Antichrist.

An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of Seville — Part 143

37. They say that _Janus_ is the gate (_janua_), as it were, of the universe, or the heavens or the months; they make Janus with two faces because of the East and the West; when they make him with four faces and call him the double Janus they refer this to the four quarters of the universe or to the four elements or seasons. But when they make this pretence they make a monster, not a god.

An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of Seville — Part 143

56. They say that Diana [Apollo’s] sister is at the same time Luna and the divinity of roads. And they represent her as a maiden because nothing grows on a road. And both [Apollo and Diana] are falsely represented as having arrows because the sun and moon send their rays from heaven down to the earth.

An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of Seville — Part 143

81. _Pan_ is a Greek name; the Latin is _Silvanus_; the god of the country people whom they invented to represent nature, whence he is called Pan, that is, _all_. For they pretend that he is made out of every kind of element.

82. For he has horns to represent the rays of the sun and moon; he has a skin, marked by spots, because of the stars of heaven; his face is red to represent the ether; he carries a Pan’s-pipe of seven reeds because of the harmony of the heavens in which are seven sounds, and the seven notes of the voice.

89. These[320] and others are the fabulous imaginations of the heathen, and, being rightly understood, they are such that their worship, though in ignorance, brings damnation.

100. They say _manes_ are the gods of the dead, whose power, they assert, is between the moon and the earth....

101. _Larvae_ they say are demons made from men who have been wicked. It is said to be their nature to terrify little ones and to gibber in dark corners.

ON LANGUAGES, RACES, EMPIRES, WARFARE, CITIZENS, RELATIONSHIPS

In spite of the apparent lack of unity indicated by the title, the subject of Book IX may be fairly described as mankind. It is true that language is the first topic, but it is brought in merely because Isidore believed that differences of race were based on differences of language. It is followed by a survey of the races of mankind, ending with an account of the races that had won military prominence. Isidore then turns to man within the state and treats of him first as a soldier and then as a citizen. Finally man is taken up as a member of the family, and an account of family relationship and of marriage is given.[321]