es by the name of the Emperor on their
forehead, and soldiers by his name on their hand. Mr. Elliott proves this
by quotations from Valerius, Maximus, AElian, Ambrose, and others. The
devotees of particular gods gained admittance to the secret meetings of
the worshippers of their respective deity, by a _mark_ by which they
identified each other. At the present day the Hindoos are marked on the
forehead by the hieroglyphic of the god they are consecrated to.

The mark of the beast, is its _name_, or the _number_ of its name. The
ancients often used numbers to indicate names. "Among the Pagans, the
Egyptian mystics spoke of Mercury, or Thouth, under the number 1218,
because the Greek letters composing the name Thouth, when estimated
according to their numerical value, together made up that number. By
others, Jupiter was invoked under the mystical number 717; because the
letters of {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}, _the beginning_, or _first origin_, which was a
characteristic title of the supreme deity worshipped as Jupiter, made up
that number: and Apollo under the number 608, as being that of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, or
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, words expressing certain solar attributes. Again, the
pseudo-Christian or semi-pagan Gnostics, from St. John's time downwards,
affixed to their gems and amulets, of which multitudes remain even to the
present day, the mystic word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}, or {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, under the idea of some
magic virtue attaching to its number 365, as being that of the days of the
annual solar circle; and equal moreover with that of {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, or Mithras,
the Magian name for the sun, whom they identified also with Christ. On