13. It is practically certain that Dionysius returned to Alexandria as
soon as Gallienus's edict came into operation there. But almost
immediately fresh disturbances were felt in the city, followed by one of
those frequent outbreaks of pestilence to which the East was always
liable, and these hindered for a time his work of bringing the brethren
together again. The disturbances are with good reason thought to have
been those connected with the attempt of Macrianus to overturn the power
of Gallienus in Egypt, though that country was so often the scene of
tumults and civil wars for the next twelve years and more that it is
almost impossible to identify any particular disturbances with certainty
during this period.