Anicetus was an early pope who was the first to vigorously oppose heresies, especially the dualist beliefs such as Gnosticism and Marcionism which were popular in the second century. Lesser known but equally hated by Anicetus was the "trivialist" heresy of Pescatarianism promoted by one Rodax of Dalmatia. In addition to the good God and evil God, this belief posited a neutral God.
This diety, customarily called Shrug, was most often depicted as sitting in a cloud, fishing for humans, and then depositing them elsewhere purely for his own amusement. In fact, Rodax himself claimed to have come from Iberia and then arrived in Dalmatia after being "thrown back." Anicetus clearly saw this heresy being based on rather dodgy apocrypha, in which Jesus had himself learned about being a "fisher of men" from his uncle Shrug before passing it on to his disciples. The pope sought to stamp this out, and there was no better time to do it than at the triennial Festival of Shrug of 165 AD, taking place in the city of Salona.
Anicetus arrived in a city that reeked strongly of fish, as one of the main tenets of Pescatarianism was the consumption of fish to the exclusion of other foodstuffs. Before Rodax was due to speak, Anicetus climbed on the stage and made a speech about the errors of heresy, promising that no good could befall those who believed in Shrug. As expected, he was pelted with fishbones and had to escape under guard; however, his words had had their effect. As Rodax began to speak, many of his followers looked down to find that their fish had been transformed into beef! Naturally, many of them had never tried beef, and the taste changed their theological perspective entirely. The Pescatarian heresy was soon forgotten.
