In the early Homilies on the Gospels which Gregory preached at the Roman basilica and in the Homilies he gave on the Book of Ezekiel when he was deeply afraid of a Lombard invasion, the fearsome happenings of the times occupied his thoughts constantly. ‘We see groaning everywhere,’ he says; ‘cities are destroyed, fortifications overthrown, the fields bare of men … almost no one remains in city or countryside … we see some led into captivity, others beheaded, others slain’ (Ez. ii.vi.22, pp. 310.524–311.532). The Tiber is flooded; there is plague and pestilence (Ev. 1.1, pl 76.1077C–8B). There has been nothing like this in recorded history. Gregory believes that these were happenings which Christ foretold in his description of the end of the world (Luke 21.25–32), so that the people will not be distressed when they occur, just as he told the disciples in advance about his crucifixion so that they would not see it as the end of their hopes. Christ instructed his faithful to rejoice when they saw these signs, for it would mean that the redemption they sought was at hand (Ev. 1.2, pl 76.1079A).