Arnuphis (ca. 174 C.E.)

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Arnuphis (ca. 174 C.E.)

An Egyptian general credited with magical powers. He is said to have saved the army of Marcus Aurelius from defeat by the Quadi (a German tribe) when entangled in a pass which had been closed by the enemy. According to the writer Dio Cassius, the troops of Aurelius were dying of thirst when Arnuphis caused a miraculous storm that confounded the enemy and allowed the Romans to quench their thirst and win the battle. Their triumph was known as "The Miracle of the Thundering Legion," although Christians ascribed the victory to their own prayers rather than to the aid of Mercury and other gods invoked by Arnuphis.