330 Elbert N. S. Thompson 
lieutenants who fight under Satan are sexless, but they are truly 
allegorical, and must have given precedent for the symbol of the 
besieged soul. 
Despite the influence of Prudentius, no ecclesiastic for many years. 
adopted for extensive treatment the idea here expressed. It may 
be just as significant for the future, however, that it 1s found per- 
vading a great work like Gregory’s Morals of the Book of Job, as 
naturally as though it were essential to the Christian faith. In his 
preface Gregory explains that Job was beset from without by mis- 
fortune, and from within by the insidious counsel of wife and 
friends—Satan, as it were, leading an army to assail him with the 
battering-ram of temptation. Again and again he recurs to the 
idea! Each separate sin, he asserts, lays siege against the mind, 
as its enemies besieged Jerusalem. Even if only one point is left 
unguarded Satan will find entrance, as he did in the heart of the 
proud Pharisee. But to fall in that way is really inexcusable; for 
to combat each vice man may find a specific virtue that will 
keep the city of the soul unshaken. Thus Gregory perpetuated 
the idea that Cyprian and Prudentius expressed, without the use of 
allegorical figures, to be sure, such as appear in the Hamartigenia, 
but with an increased emphasis laid on the distinctive character of 
the allegory—the siege. 
We can not hope to trace the development of this branch of the 
allegory. Two instances will show how Gregory’s teaching was 
given a more dramatic and sustained treatment by great churchmen 
of the twelfth century. Hugo of Saint Victor, in preaching on the 
watchfulness that the Christian should maintain against temptation, 
likens the goodman of the house, whom Luke mentions, to the 
mind; his home to the conscience; and his family to his five 
senses and his outward and inward acts. The great enemy or 
thief is the Devil, who, however, is not alone, for in opposition to 
each virtue is a vice. It therefore behooves the goodman to 
fortify his house against these thieves, placing at the first gate 
Prudence, then Bravery, and, well within the walls, Justice. These 
three must maintain a constant watch, lest the thief assail them 
unawares.” 
The dramatic possibilities of this theme were much enhanced 
by combining it with the parable of the Prodigal Son. Especially 

1 Bk. 3. par. 12, Bk. 8. par. 8, Bk. 20. par. 53. 
2 Patr. Lat., 177. 185. On Luke 12. 39. See also Bernard, De Tribus 
TInimicts Hominis, 5. 528-29. 
