he fleet of Timoleon until it arrived off the coast
of Sicily."

The comet of 43 B.C. was generally believed to be the soul of Caesar on
its way to heaven.

Josephus tells us that in A.D. 69 several prodigies, and amongst them a
comet in the shape of a sword, announced the destruction of Jerusalem.
This comet is said to have remained over the city for the space of a
year!

A comet which appeared in A.D. 336 was considered to have announced the
death of the Emperor Constantine.

But perhaps the most celebrated comet of early times was the one which
appeared in A.D. 1000. That year was, in more than one way, big with
portent, for there had long been a firm belief that the Christian era
could not possibly run into four figures. Men, indeed, steadfastly
believed that when the thousand years had ended, the millennium would
immediately begin. Therefore they did not reap neither did they sow,
they toiled not, neither did they spin, and the appearance of the comet
strengthened their convictions. The fateful year, however, passed by
without anything remarkable taking place; but the neglect of husbandry
brought great famine and pestilence over Europe in the years which
followed.

In April 1066, that year fraught with such immense consequences for
England, a comet appeared. No one doubted but that it was a presage of
the success of the Conquest, and perhaps, indeed, it had its due weight
in determining the minds and actions of the men who took part in the
expedition. _Nova stella, novus rex_ ("a new star, a new sovereign") was
a favourite proverb of the time. The chroniclers, with one accord, have
delighted to relate that the Normans, "guided by a comet," invaded
England. A representation of this object appears in the Bayeux Tapestry
(see Fig. 19, p. 263).[26]

[Illustration: FIG. 19.--The comet of 1066, as represented in the Bayeux
Tapestry.

(From the _World of Comets_.)]

We have mentioned Halley's Comet of 1682, and how it revisits the
neighbourhood of the earth at intervals of seventy-six years. The comet
of 1066 has for many years been supposed to be Halley's Comet on one of
its visits. The identity of these two, however, was only quite recently
placed beyond all doubt by the investigations of Messrs Cowell and
Crommelin. This comet appeared also in 1456, when John Huniades was
defending Belgrade against the Turks led by Mahomet II., the conqueror
of Constantinople, and is said to have paralysed both armies with f