It is written in the form of a dialogue between the pagan Caecilius Natalis and the Christian Octavius Januarius, a provincial lawyer, the friend and fellow-student of the author.
The scene is pleasantly and graphically laid on the beach at Ostia on a holiday afternoon, and the discussion is represented as arising out of the homage paid by Caecilius, in passing, to the Cult image of Serapis.
His arguments for paganism (possibly modelled on those of Celsus) are taken up one at a time by Octavius, with the result that the assailant is convinced.
[citation needed] Arnobius of Sicca's Adversus nationes survived in a single ninth-century manuscript in Paris (and a bad copy of it in Brussels).
[2] This work was referenced in 1751 by Pope Benedict XIV in his apostolic constitution 'Providas' against freemasonry by quoting Caecilius Natalis: 'Honest things always rejoice in the public, crimes are secret'.