October 7, Rienzi’s foes yielded to his power.
7 months Rienzi reigned as tribune.
7 years he was absent in exile.
7 weeks of return saw him without an enemy (Oct. 7).
7 was the number of the crowns the Roman convents and the Roman council awarded him.
Seven Sleepers (The). The tale of these sleepers is told in divers manners. The best accounts are those in the Korân xviii., entitled, “The Cave, Revealed at Mecca;” The Golden Legends, by Jacques de Voragine; the De Gloria Martyrum, i. 9, by Gregory of Tours; and the Oriental Tales, by Comte de Caylus (1743).
Names of the Seven Sleepers. Gregory of Tours says their names were: Constantine, Dionysius, John, Maximian, Malchus, Martinian or Marcian, and Serapĭon. In the Oriental Tales the names given are: Jemlikha, Mekchilinia, Mechlima, Merlima, Debermouch, Charnouch, and the shepherd Keschetiouch. Their names are not given in the Korân.
Number of the Sleepers. Al Seyid, a Jacobite Christian of Najrân, says the sleepers were only three, with their dog; others maintain that their number was five, besides the dog; but Al Beidâwi, who is followed by most authorities, says they were seven, besides the dog.
Duration of the Sleep. The Korân says it was “300 years and nine years over;” the Oriental Tales say the same; but if Gregory of Tours is followed, the duration of the sleep was barely 230 years.
The Legend of the Seven Sleepers. (1) According to Gregory of Tours. Gregory says they were seven noble youths of Ephesus, who fled in the Decian persecution to a cave in Mount Celion, the mouth of which was blocked up by stones. After 230 years they were discovered, and awoke, but died within a few days, and were taken in a large stone coffin to Marseilles. Visitors are still shown, in St. Victor’s Church, the stone coffin.
If there is any truth at all in the legend, it amounts to this: In A.D. 250, some youths (three or seven) suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Decius, “fell asleep in the Lord,” and were buried in a cave of Mount Celion. In 479 (the reign of Theodosius) their bodies were discovered, and, being consecrated as holy relics, were removed to Marseilles.
(2) According to the Oriental Tales. Six Grecian youths were slaves in the palace of Dakiānos (Decianus, Decius). This Dakianos had risen from low degrees to kingly honors, and gave himself out to be a god. Jemlikha was led to doubt the divinity of his master, because he was unable to keep off a fly which persistently tormented him, and being roused to reflection, came to the conclusion that there must be a god to whom both Dakianos and the fly were subject. He communicated his thoughts to his companions, and they all fled from the Ephesian court till they met the shepherd Keschetiouch, whom they converted, and who showed them a cave, which no one but himself knew of. Here they fell asleep, and Dakianos, having discovered them, commanded the mouth of the cave to be closed up. Here the sleepers remained 309 years, at the expiration of which time they all awoke, but died a few hours afterwards.
The Dog of the Seven Sleepers. In the notes of the Korân, by Sale, the dog’s name is Kratim, Kratimer, or Katmir. In the Oriental Tales it is Catnier, which looks like a clerical blunder for Catmer, only it occurs frequently. It is one of the ten animals admitted into Mahomet’s paradise. The Korân tells us that the dog followed the seven young men into the cave, but they tried to drive him away, and even broke three of its legs with stones, when the dog said to them, “I love those who love God. Sleep, masters, and I will keep guard.” In the Oriental Tales the dog is made to say, “You go to seek God, but am not I also a child of God?” Hearing this, the young men were so astounded, they went immediately, and carried the dog into the cave.
The Place of Sepulture of the Seven Sleepers. Gregory of Tours tells us that the bodies were removed from Mount Celion in a stone coffin to Marseilles. The Korân, with Sale’s notes, informs us they were buried in the cave, and a chapel was built there to mark the site. (See Sleeper.)