Adrianus orders his army to worship him. He declares that within three years he will capture the Temple. Three philosophers dispute with him. One says how can a new king be recognised in the very house of the other, so he must first go out of God's house. The second asks him to create heaven and earth, the third asks for a ship which had foundered in the midst of the sea. And his wife tells him to return to the owner the property which had been entrusted to him (i. e., the soul); only then can he be recognised as a god. Upon this he relinquishes his design.