48. Paul, the deacon of Aquileia (de Gestis Langobardorum,
l. i. c. 4, p. 745, 746, edit. Grot.), who lived towards the
end of the eighth century, has placed in a cavern under a
rock on the shore of the ocean the Seven Sleepers of the
North, whose long repose was respected by the barbarians.
Their dress declared them to be Romans; and the deacon
conjectures that they were reserved by Providence as the
future apostles of those unbelieving countries.