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2
the miracles of antichrist
night. The grass did not grow, the dew fell not and
the flowers dared not breathe out fragrance.
During this night the beasts of prey did not hunt,
the serpents did not bite, nor did the dogs bark.
And, what was still more glorious, no inanimate
thing would have disturbed the sanctity of the night
by lending itself to an evil deed. No pick-lock would
have opened a door, and no knife had been capable
of shedding blood.
That same night there came from the imperial
dwelling on the Palatine in Rome, a little group of
people, who took the way across the Forum up
towards Capitolium Hill. During the day which
had just expired, the senators had asked the emperor
if he had anything against their erecting a temple to
him on Rome’s holy hill. Augustus, however, had
not immediately given his assent. He did not know
if it were pleasing to the gods that he should own a
temple by the side of theirs, and he had answered
that he first wished to ascertain their will in the
matter by a nightly sacrifice to his genius. It was
he who, accompanied by a few faithful friends, now
went to perform \he sacrifice.
Augustus suffered himself to be carried in aseclan
chair, for he was old, and the long stairs of the
Capitolium inconvenienced him. He himself held the
cage containing the doves, which he was to sacrifice.
No priests, soldiers or senators attended him, only
his nearest friends. Torch-bearers went before him
as if to make a path through the darkness, and behind
him followed slaves, carrying the three-footed altar,
the coals, the knives and the sacred fire, and
everything else needed for the sacrifice.
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