And there is nothing like hearing how these things stood, somewhat in this manner: “He, then, having abandoned the one of the emperors before him and set himself against the other, was quickly and utterly blotted out, root and stock, with all his kindred; whereas Gallienus was proclaimed and acknowledged by all—at once an old emperor and a new, being both first, and present after them.
For according to that which was spoken to the prophet Isaiah, ‘Behold, the things from the beginning are come, and new things which now shall spring up.’ For just as a cloud, running beneath the sun’s rays and overshadowing it for a little while, cast its shadow and appeared in its stead, but then, when the cloud had passed or melted away, the sun that had risen before shone forth again, having risen anew—so Macrianus, having set himself forward and drawn near to the established sovereignty of Gallienus, is now no more, since indeed he never was; but the other is, just as he was.
And as though having laid aside its old age, and having cleansed away its former wickedness, the empire now blossoms in fuller vigour, and is seen and heard farther off, and ranges everywhere.
Then next he also signifies the time at which he wrote these things, by these words: “And again it occurs to me to consider the days of the imperial years. For I see how the most impious, though they were named, after no long time became nameless; whereas the more holy and more God-loving, having passed beyond the seven-year period, is now completing his ninth year, in which let us keep festival.”