h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The section in this article on the death of Hypatia could be given considerably more punch by quoting the description of the tragic event given by Edward Gibbon in "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire":

"..torn from her chariot, stripped naked, dragged to the church... her flesh was scraped from her bones with sharp oyster shells and her quivering limbs were delivered to the flames".

Now that Gibbon dude could write a death scene!

I first came across this quote many years ago in the Life Science Library volume "Mathematics", by David Bergamini, 1965. It has stuck in my mind ever since and given me a life-long interest in Hypatia (I am writing this message on a machine named after her) and is the reason I so often snort with derision when I hear someone described as "saintly" - I just keep thinking of Hypatia and her encounter with the followers of Saint Cyril...

--
Dshan.

I've been diddling with Gibbon for the past month or so, and I think I've managed to miss the bit about Hypatia. Do you have any idea where in the work the scene occurs?

Hypatia has started cropping up in unexpected places lately. Hm.

Leu