58 plittt's katueal history. [Book II. 
thing unfavourable respecting music ; if it appears in tlie I 
parts of the signs referred to the secret members, something | 
respecting lewdness of manners ; something respecting wit . 
and learning, if they form a triangular or quadrangular ; 
figure with the position of some of the fixed stars ; and that ] 
some one will be poisoned, if they appear in the head of either | 
the northern or the southern serpent. 
Eome is the only place in the whole world where there is 
• a temple dedicated to a comet ; it was thought by the late 
Emperor Augustus to be auspicious to him, from its appear- 
ing during the games which he was celebrating in honour of 
Venus Grenetrix, not long after the death of his father Caesar, 
in the College which was founded by him\ He expressed j 
his joy in these terms : " During the very time of these games | 
of mine, a hairy star was seen during seven days, in the part 
of the heavens which is under the Great Bear. It rose about j 
the eleventh hour of the day^, was very bright, and was con- \ 
spicuous in all parts of the earth. The common people sup- i 
posed the star to indicate, that the soul of Caesar was admitted 
among the immortal Gods ; under which designation it was j 
that the star was placed on the bust which was lately conse- i 
crated in the forum^." This is what he proclaimed in public, 
but, in secret, he rejoiced at this auspicious omen, interpreting ^ 
it as produced for himself; and, to confess the truth, it really 
proved a salutary omen for the world at large^. 
' Some persons suppose that these stars are permanent, and ; 
that they move through their proper orbits, but that they are I 
only visible when they recede from the sun. Others suppose » 
that they are produced by an accidental vapour together I 
wdth the force of fire, and that, from this circumstance, they | 
are liable to be dissipated^. l| 
^ " A Julio Csesare. Is enim panlo ante obitmn coUegiiim his ludis j 
feciendis instituerat, confecto Veneris templo ; " Hardouin in Lemaire, i. j: 
299. Jul. Obsequens refers to a "stella crinita," which appeared during | 
the celebration of these games, cap. 128. ' | 
2 " Hoc est, hora fere integra ante sohs occasum ; " Hardouin in Le- ji 
maire, i. 299. j 
3 All these circumstances are detailed by Suetonius, in Juho, § 88. p. 178. \ 
* " terris." 
s Seneca remarks, " . . . . quidam nullos esse cometas existimant, eed I 
species iUorum per repercussionem vicinorum siderum, . . . . Quidam aiunt | 
esse quidem, sed habere cursus suos et post certa lustra in conspectuin 
1 
