That, when Domitian persecuted them, Not without tears of mine were their laments; And all the while that I on earth remained, Them I befriended, and their upright customs Made me disparage all the other sects. And ere I led the Greeks unto the rivers Of Thebes, in poetry, I was baptized, But out of fear was covertly a Christian, For a long time professing paganism; And this lukewarmness caused me the fourth circle 967 To circuit round more than four centuries. Thou, therefore, who hast raised the covering That hid from me whatever good I speak of, While in ascending we have time to spare, Tell me, in what place is our friend Terentius, 968 Caecilius, Plautus, Varro, if thou knowest; 969 Tell me if they are damned, and in what alley.” “These, Persius and myself, and others many,” 970 Replied my Leader, “with that Grecian are 971