[502] This apocryphal story ran that the Sibyl prophesied of Christ, and that Augustus erected an altar to him.
[503] The Temple of Peace was built by Vespasian and was not destroyed until it was burned down in the time of Commodus.
[504] This episode in the Gesta, or Actus, or Vita, Silvestri, as may be gathered from Valla’s subsequent discussion, involves an enormous serpent, dwelling in a cave under the Tarpeian rock, devastating the entire city of Rome with his poisonous breath, appeased only by maidens being given him to devour, and finally bound forever in his cave by Sylvester. For references, cf. Coleman, Constantine, etc., pp. 161, 168.
[505] Apparently Valla assumes that the Gesta Silvestri was written by a Greek named Eusebius, but not Eusebius of Caesarea, author of the Church History. Cf., however, Coleman, Constantine, pp. 161-168.
[506] Satura, x, 174-175.
[507] Cf. the story of Bel and the Dragon in the Apocrypha.
[508] Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri novem, V, vi, 2.
[509] Ibid., I, viii, 3.
[510] Livy, VII, 6, incorrectly summarized.
[511] Livy, Preface, 7.