The episode reminds one of the futile denunciation of Aristarchus by Cleanthes; it seems to indicate that even in this period of benightedness, orthodoxy in matters of natural philosophy (as distinct from matters theological) was maintained less by threats than by inner compulsion. At least I am not aware of any recorded instance of a cleric or layman being indicted for heresy in this heresy-ridden age because of his cosmological views.
