, he was but twenty-eight years of age
when he was ranked among the tutelar Divinities by all the cities of
the empire.

The Romans, who deduced their origin from AEneas, were flattered at
the idea of Venus interesting herself in behalf of her posterity,
and securing the honours of an apotheosis for Julius Caesar. The
historical circumstances which Ovid here refers to were the
following:--After Julius Caesar had been murdered in the Senate
house, Augustus ordered public games to be instituted in his honour.
We learn from Suetonius, that during their celebration a new star,
or rather a comet, made its appearance, on which it was promulgated
that the soul of the deified Julius had taken its place among the
stars, and that Venus had procured him that honour. It was then
remembered, that the light of the Sun had been unusually pallid the
whole year following the death of Caesar; this which is generally
supposed to have been caused by some spots which then appeared on
the disk of the sun, was ascribed to the grief of Apollo. Various
persons were found to assert various prodigies. Some said that it
had rained blood, others that the moon and stars had been obscured;
while others, still more imaginative, asserted that beasts had
uttered words, and that the dead had risen from their graves.

The sorrow of the Gods and of nature at the untimely death of Julius
being thus manifested, Augustus proceeded to found a temple in his
honour, established priests for his service, and erected a statue of
him with a star on its forehead. He was afterwards represented in
the attitude of ascending to the heavens, and wielding a sceptre in
his hand. While flatterers complimented Augustus upon the care which
he had taken to enrol his predecessor among the Deities, there were
some, the poet Manilius being of the number, who considered that
heaven was almost over-peopled by him. Augustus, however, was not
the sole author of the story of the apotheosis of Julius Caesar. The
people had previously attempted to deify him, though opposed by
Cicero and Dolabella. In the funeral oration which was delivered
over Julius Caesar by Antony, he spoke of him as a God, and the
populace, moved by his eloquence, and struck at his blood-stained
garments and his body covered with wounds, were filled with
indignation against the conspirators, and were about to take the
corpse to the Capitol,