Augustus Cæsar was also believed to have been of celestial origin, and had all the honors paid to him as to a divine person.[126:6] His divinity is expressed by Virgil, in the following lines:
"——Turn, turn thine eyes, see here thy race divine,
Behold thy own imperial Roman Sine:
Cæsar, with all the Julian name survey;
See where the glorious ranks ascend to-day!—
This—this is he—the chief so long foretold,
To bless the land where Saturn ruled of old,
And give the Learnean realms a second eye of gold!
The promised prince, Augustus the divine,
Of Cæsar's race, and Jove's immortal line."[126:7]
"The honors due to the gods," says Tacitus, "were no longer sacred: Augustus claimed equal worship. Temples were built, and statues were erected, to him; a mortal man was adored, and priests and pontiffs were appointed to pay him impious homage."[126:8]
Divine honors were declared to the memory of Claudius, after his death, and he was added to the number of the gods. The titles "Our Lord," "Our Master," and "Our God," were given to the Emperors of Rome, even while living.[126:9]
In the deification of the Cæsars, a testimony upon oath, of an eagle's flying out of the funeral pile, toward heaven, which was supposed to convey the soul of the deceased, was the established proof of their divinity.[127:1]
Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia (born 356 B. C.), whom genius and uncommon success had raised above ordinary men, was believed to have been a god upon earth.[127:2] He was believed to have been the son of Jupiter by a mortal mother, Olympias.
Alexander at one time visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was situated in an oasis in the Libyan desert, and the Oracle there declared him to be a son of the god. He afterwards issued his orders, letters, decrees, &c., styling himself "Alexander, son of Jupiter Ammon."[127:3]
The words of the oracle which declared him to be divine were as follows, says Socrates:
"Let altars burn and incense pour, please Jove Minerva eke;
The potent Prince though nature frail, his favor you must seek,
For Jove from heaven to earth him sent, lo! Alexander king,
As God he comes the earth to rule, and just laws for to bring."[127:4]