Cassiodorus : "And when there arose a great dissension, the tribune fearing lest Paul should be pulled in pieces. "When a great dissension arose between Pharisees and Sadducees, the tribune, fearing lest Paul should be pulled in pieces by the Sadducees, ordered him to be taken back to the castle. In the night, the Lord said to Paul: "Be constant, Paul; for as thou hast testified of me here, so must thou preach my name also in the city of Rome." On the following day, forty Jews made a conspiracy and resolved to kill Paul. Paul's sister's son heard of it and told Paul in the castle. Paul asked the guards to bring the young man to the tribune. When the young man had told the tribune everything in order, the tribune commanded him to let no one know it had been told to him. — Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles John Chrysostom : "And when there arose a great dissension, the tribune, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle." The tribune is afraid of his being pulled in pieces, now that he has said that he is a Roman: and the matter was not without danger. Do you observe that Paul had a right to profess himself a Roman? Else, neither would the tribune have been afraid now. So it remains that the soldiers must bear him off by force. — Homily on Acts 49