d by Serapis, besought Vespasian
to imprint his footmark on it. At first Vespasian laughed at them and
refused. But they insisted. Half fearing to be thought a fool, half
stirred to hopes by their petition and by the flattery of his
courtiers, he eventually told the doctors to form an opinion whether
such cases of blindness and deformity could be remedied by human aid.
The doctors talked round the question, saying that in the one case the
power of sight was not extinct and would return, if certain
impediments were removed; in the other case the limbs were distorted
and could be set right again by the application of an effective
remedy: this might be the will of Heaven and the emperor had perhaps
been chosen as the divine instrument. They added that he would gain
all the credit, if the cure were successful, while, if it failed, the
ridicule would fall on the unfortunate patients. This convinced
Vespasian that there were no limits to his destiny: nothing now seemed
incredible. To the great excitement of the bystanders, he stepped
forward with a smile on his face and did as the men desired him.
Immediately the hand recovered its functions and daylight shone once
more in the blind man's eyes. Those who were present still attest both
miracles to-day,[450] when there is nothing to gain by lying.

This occurrence deepened Vespasian's desire to visit the 82
holy-place and consult Serapis about the fortunes of the empire. He
gave orders that no one else was to be allowed in the temple, and then
went in. While absorbed in his devotions, he suddenly saw behind him
an Egyptian noble, named Basilides, whom he knew to be lying ill
several days' journey from Alexandria. He inquired of the priests
whether Basilides had entered the temple that day. He inquired of
every one he met whether he had been seen in the city. Eventually he
sent some horsemen, who discovered that at the time Basilides was
eighty miles away. Vespasian therefore took what he had seen for a
divine apparition, and guessed the meaning of the oracle from the name
'Basilides'.[451]

The origins of the god Serapis are not given in any Roman 83
authorities. The high-priests of Egypt give the following account:
King Ptolemy, who was the first of the Macedonians to put the power of
Egypt on a firm footing,[452] was engaged in building walls and
temples, and instituting religious cults for his newly founded city of
Alexandria, when there appear