Cheers G'Don. I was going to google 'Caesar, Comet' but forgot to. That Wikipedia page also hasGakuseiDon wrote: ↑Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:02 pmNitpick only: It couldn't have been Halley's Comet, which flew by in 12 BCE. Caesar's comet was seen around 44 BCE. Halley's Comet may have been the inspiration for the Star of Bethlehem.
The [July 44 BC]] Comet became a powerful symbol in the political propaganda that launched the career of Caesar's great-nephew (and adoptive son) Augustus. The Temple of Divus Iulius (Temple of the Deified Julius) was built (42 BC) and dedicated (29 BC) by Augustus for purposes of fostering a "cult of the comet". (It was also known as the "Temple of the Comet Star" [Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia 2.93-4]. At the back of the temple a huge image of Caesar was erected and, according to Ovid, a flaming comet was affixed to its forehead:
..........To make that soul a star that burns forever
..........Above the Forum and the gates of Rome.
..........[Ovid, Metamorphoses; XV, 840]
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