Pliny reported to the emperor that “the temples, which had been well-nigh abandoned, are beginning to be frequented again” and “fodder for the sacrificial animals, too, is beginning to find a sale again.” And he sums up his success by saying: “From all this it is easy to judge what a multitude of people can be reclaimed, if an opportunity is granted them to renounce Christianity.”12 A similar outcome was reported in Alexandria in the mid-third century during the persecution under Emperor Decius.