BOOK XV. xL. 135-137 



placeof honour has been assigned to it in triumphs, 

 rather than because it was employed, as Masurius 

 records, for the purpose of fumigation and purifica- 

 tion from the blood of the enemy. And it is so 

 strongly forbidden to poUute the laurel and the oHve 

 in profane uses, that they must not be employed even 

 for kindhng a fire at altars and shrines in propitiating 

 the deities. The laurel indeed manifestly expresses 

 objection to the appHcation of fire by crackUng and 

 making a solemn protest, the timber actually giving 

 a twist to the cracks in its intestines and sinews. It is 

 stated that the emperor Tiberius used to put a ^\Teath 

 from this tree on his head when there was a thunder- 

 storm as a protection against danger from Hghtning. 



There are also occurrences related to the laurel Historicai 

 that are worth recalHng in connexion with his late^o,£' 

 Majesty Augustus. When Livia DrusiHa, who after- ^"'"«^- 

 wards received the name of Augusta on her marriage, 

 had been betrothed to Caesar, while she was seated 

 an eagle dropped into her lap from the sky a hen 

 of remarkable whiteness, without hurting it ; she 

 rcgarded it with wonder, but undismayed, and there 

 was a further miracle : it was holding in its beak a 

 laurel branch bearing its berries. So the augurs 

 ordered that the bird and any chickens it produced 

 should be preserved, and that the branch should be 

 planted in the ground and guarded with reHgious 

 care. This was done at the country mansion of the 

 Caesars standing on the banks of the river Tiber about 

 nine miles out on the Flaminian road ; the house is 

 consequently caHed The Poidtry, and the laurel grove 

 so begun has thriven in a marveHous way. After- 

 wards the Emperor when going in a triumph held a 

 laurel branch from the original tree in his hand and 



381 



