e:
Caesar, 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 Caesar'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 Caesars, 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]

_Ptolemy_, who was one of Alexander's generals in his Eastern campaigns,
and into whose hands Egypt fell at the death of Alexander, was also
believed to have been of divine origin. At the siege of Rhodes, Ptolemy
had been of such signal service to its citizens that in gratitude they
paid _divine honors_ to him, and saluted him with the title of _Soter_,
_i. e._, Saviour. By that designation, "_Ptolemy Soter_," he is
distinguished from the succeeding kings of