e would inevitably offend the victor. However, the struggle
was still undecided, and the father's adherence to the successful
party would excuse the conduct of the son. Or if Vespasian himself
assumed sovereignty, they would have to plan war and forget all about
giving offence.

Such considerations held him balanced between hope and fear; but 2
ultimately hope prevailed. Some people believed that his longing to
get back to Queen Berenice[205] fired him to return. True, the young
man's fancy was attracted by Berenice, but he did not allow this to
interfere with business. Still his youth was a time of gay
self-indulgence, and he showed more restraint in his own reign than in
his father's. Accordingly he sailed along the coasts of Greece and
Asia Minor, and, skirting the seas which lay upon his left, reached
the islands of Rhodes and Cyprus, whence he made a bolder crossing to
Syria.[206] On his way he conceived a desire to visit the temple of
Venus at Paphos,[207] which is famous among all the inhabitants and
visitors. It may not be tedious to give here a short account of the
origin of this worship, the ritual of the cult, and the
shape--unparalleled elsewhere--in which the goddess is depicted.

According to an old tradition the temple was founded by King 3
Aerias, and some people maintain that the goddess bears the same name.
A more modern version states that the temple was consecrated by
Cinyras,[208] on the spot where the goddess landed when the sea gave
her birth. The method of divination,[209] however, according to this
account, was imported from elsewhere by the Cilician Tamiras, and an
arrangement was made that the descendants of both families should
preside over the rites. Later, however, it seemed wrong that the royal
line should have no prerogative, so the descendants of the
foreigner[210] resigned the practice of the art which they had
themselves introduced, and now the priest whom you consult is always
of the line of Cinyras. They accept any victim that is offered, but
males are preferred. They put most faith in kids' entrails. Blood
must not be poured on the altar, at which they offer only prayers and
fire untainted by smoke. Although the altars stand in the open air
they are never wetted by rain. The goddess is not represented in human
form; the idol is a sort of circular pyramid,[211] rising from a broad
base to a small round top, like a turning-post. The reason of this is
unknown.