a sect of heretics in the second century, so called on account of their great respect for Cain. They pretended that the virtue which produced Abel was of an order inferior to that which had produced Cain; and that this was the reason why Cain had the victory over Abel and killed him; for they admitted a great number of genii, which they called virtus, of different ranks and orders. They made profession of honouring those who carry in Scripture the most visible marks of reproduction, as the inhabitants of Sodom, Esau, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They had, in particular, a very great veneration for the traitor Judas, under the pretence that the death of Jesus Christ had saved mankind. They had also a forged gospel of Judas, to which they paid great respect.