After gaining this victory over Maximus

After gaining this victory over Maximus, and after the arrival of Theodosius at Rome, when the emperor was on the point of taking his departure thence, a new and strange star was seen in the sky, which announced the coming of very great calamities upon the world. It appeared first at midnight, near the east, in the very circle which is called the Zodiac. It was large and bright, and in brilliance it was not much inferior to the morning star. After this, a concourse of stars gathered around it on every side, like a swarm of bees gathering in a cluster round their queen. Then, as if impelled, by some mutual collision, the light of all the stars mingled  together, and shone forth in a single flame, assuming the shape of a double-edged sword, huge and terrible. But that one star which first appeared seemed like the hilt of the sword above mentioned, or rather like a root shooting up the large body of light, from what appeared to be a star, surmounted with flowers darting up like the flame from a lamp. Such was the novel and wondrous sight exhibited by the star which then appeared. Its course, moreover, was very different from that of the rest of the stars ; for from the time of its first appearing in the place where we have said, and moving on from thence, it began to rise and set together with the morning star. Afterwards, however, receding by little and little, it went up towards the north, advancing slowly and gradually, and following its own course with a slight deflection towards the left of those who beheld it, but in reality it pursued in the same course as the other stars, with which it came into contact from time to time. At length, having completed its course in the space of forty days, it suddenly passed on into the sign of the Great Bear, and was last seen in the very centre of it, where, soon afterwards, it was extinguished. In addition to these particulars, Philostorgius gives us many other wonderful details concerning this star in the shape of a sword.

Focio. Epítome de la Historia eclesiástica de Filostorgio, XI, 7.

At the time that Cyril administered the church

At the time that Cyril administered the church of Jerusalem after Maximus, the sign of the cross appeared in the heavens. It shone brilliantly, not with divergent rays like a comet, but with the concentration of a great deal of light, apparently dense and yet transparent. Its length was about fifteen stadia from Calvary to the Mount of Olives, and its breadth was in proportion to its length. So extraordinary a phenomenon excited universal terror. Men, women, and children left their houses, the market-place, or their respective employments, and ran to the church, where they sang hymns to Christ together, and voluntarily confessed their belief in God. The intelligence disturbed in no little measure our entire dominions, and this happened rapidly; for, as the custom was, there were travelers from every part of the world, so to speak, who were dwelling at Jerusalem for prayer, or to visit its places of interest, these were spectators of the sign, and divulged the facts to their friends at home. The emperor was made acquainted with the occurrence, partly by numerous reports concerning it which were then current, and partly by a letter from Cyril the bishop. It was said that this prodigy was a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy contained in the Holy Scriptures. It was the means of the conversion of many pagans and Jews to Christianity.

Hermias Sozomen. Historia eclesiástica, IV, 5.

He says that a Heliopolis

'He says that at Heliopolis in Syria Asklepiades made the ascent of Mount Libanos and saw many of the so-called baitylia or baityloi concerning which he reports countless marvels worthy of an unhallowed tongue. He declares too that he himself and Isidoros subsequently witnessed these things with their own eyes....

I saw, he says, the baity los moving through the air. It was sometimes concealed in its garments, sometimes again carried in the hands of its ministrant. The ministrant of the baity los was named Eusebios^. This man stated that there had once come upon him a sudden and unexpected desire to roam at midnight away from the town of Emesa as far as he could get towards the hill on which stands the ancient and magnificent temple of Athena. So he went as quickly as possible to the foot of the hill, and there sat down to rest after his journey. Suddenly he saw a globe of fire leap down from above, and a great lion standing beside the globe. The lion indeed vanished immediately, but he himself ran up to the globe as the fire died down and found it to be the batty los. He took it up and asked it to which of the gods it might belong. It replied that it belonged to Gemiaios., the "Noble One." (Now the men of Heliopolis worship this Gennaios and have set up a lion-shaped'' image of him in the temple of Zeus.) He took it home with him the self-same night, travelling, so he said, a distance not less than two hundred and ten furlongs. Eusebios, however, was not master of the movements of his baitylos, as others are of theirs ; but he offered petitions and prayers, while it answered with oracular responses.

Having told us this trash and much more to the same effect, our author, who is veritably worthy of his own baitylia, adds a description of the stone and its appearance. It was, he says, an exact globe, whitish in colour, three hand- breadths across. But at times it grew bigger, or smaller ; and at other times it took on a purple hue. He showed us, too, letters that were written on the stone, painted in the pigment called tingdbari, "cinnabar." Also it knocked on a wall ; for this was the means by which it gave the enquirer his desired response, uttering a low hissing sound, which Eusebios interpreted.

After detailing these marvels and many others even more remarkable concerning the baitylos this empty-headed fellow continues : " I thought the whole business of the baitylos savoured of some god; but Isidoros ascribed it rather to a daimon. There was, he said, a daitnon who moved it — not one of the harmful nor of the over-material kind, yet not of those either that have attained to the immaterial kind nor of those that are altogether pure." He adds in his blasphemous way that different baityloi are dedicated to different deities — Kronos, Zeus, Helios, etc'

Arthur Bernard Cook. Zeus: a study in ancient religion, III. Cambridge: University Press, 1940.

In Antioch a star appeared

In Antioch a star appeared in the eastern part of the sky during the day, emitting much
smoke as though from a furnace, from the third to the fifth hour.

Teófanes. Cronografía, A.C. 326.

Transformations of kiao into human shapes

Transformations of kiao (scaled dragon) into human shapes are the subjects of several tales. The Wu ki'" tells the following: "Under the Emperor Ta Ti of the Wu dynasty (A. D. 228—251), in the seventh month of the third year of the Ch'ih-wu era (A. D. 240), there was a certain Wang Shuh who gathered medicinal herbs on T'ieu Tai mountain. At the hottest time of the day he took a rest under a bridge, when suddenly he saw a little blue boy, over a foot long, in the brook. The boy held a blue rush in his hand and rode on a red carp. The fish straightly entered a cloud and disappeared little by little. After a good while Shuh climbed upon a high mountain top and looked to all four sides. He saw wind and clouds arising above the sea, and in a moment a thunderstorm broke forth. Suddenly it was about to reach Shuh, who terrified hid himself in a hollow tree. When the sky cleared up, he again saw the red carp on which the boy rode and the little boy returning and entering the brook. It was a black Kiao!"

M. W. De Visser. The Dragon in China and Japan. Amsterdam: Johannes Muller, 1913. P. 80-81.

235. Période Khien-Hing, 13e année

235 . Période Khien-hing, 13e année , pendant que les troupes du pays de Chou attaquaient le camp des Weï à Weï-nan (latitude 34° 29', Chen-si ), une grande étoile rouge, avec des pointes rayonnantes, et allant du N. E. au S. O. tomba dans le camp.

Edouard Biot. Catalogue général des etoiles filantes et des autres météores observés en Chine : pendant vingt-quatre siècles depuis le VIIe siècle avant J. C. jusqu'au milieu du XVIIe de notre ère. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1846. P. 15.

Our annals record that a large variety of prodigies

Our annals record that a large variety of prodigies had occurred in Albion a little before Galdus’ battle with the Romans. Flaming brands were seen to fly through the air, a great part of Caledonia appeared to be ablaze at night, but to be untroubled by fire in the daytime. Phantom ships appeared in the sky, in Athol it rained stones, and in Horestia there was a torrential downpour of frogs. At Tulina, a town I have already mentioned, a hermaphrodite was born, a foul monster in every respect, and was put to death lest it offend men’s eyes. These prodigies troubled many men’s minds and divided their opinions: as happens in such situations, some put a good interpretation on them, and others a bad. When these happy Roman success in Albion were reported to Domitian Caesar in dispatches of senior officers with the army, although he feigned a happy expression, they deeply troubled his fretful heart. For the emperor exceedingly disliked having a private man’s reputation, fame, and glory extolled above his own. And so, after many honors had been heaped on Agricola by decree of the senate, he sent a letter recalling him to Rome, as if to replace the dead Attilius Ruffus, a man of consular rank, as legate of Syria. But once in Rome, he died not long thereafter, as rumor had it, thanks to Caesar’s machinations. But while still alive, he had handed over the province to Gnaeus Trebellius, Domitian’s new appointee, prior to his departure. Up to this point, Roman affairs had been prosperous, but a little after Agricola’s departure they went into a decline.

Hector Boece. Historia gentis scotorum, IV, 58.

But further, when Thrasybulus

But further, when Thrasybulus was bringing back the exiles from Phyla, and wished to elude observation, a pillar became his guide as he marched over a trackless region. To Thrasybulus by night, the sky being moonless and stormy, a fire appeared leading the way, which, having conducted them safely, left them near Munychia, where is now the altar of the light-bringer (Phosphorus).

Clemente de Alejandría. Stromata, I, 24.

At the commencement of the ivory trade

At the commencement of the ivory trade great profits were made. The tusks were still lying about in the bush where they had lain for years. In many cases, of course, the annual grass fires had damaged the outer skin, but ivory is tough stuff. The price was then about eight shillings the pound at the base. The natives knew nothing about money and traded freely what they contemptuously called "elephant bones" for a few pennyworth of iron, brass, or copper wire or for a string of kauri shells or a handful of beads. At every camp in the bush all hands would be sent out to search the surrounding country for ivory. Frequently they were rewarded. Of course, all this was "dead" ivory, but it was so abundant that no one turned his thoughts to the living stores of the precious stuff. There was still the small annual crop of tusks from the native traps, but the amount was very small when compared with the pick-up of "dead" tusks.

Walter Bell. Karamojo safari. New York: Harper Brace, 1949. P. 26-27.

Breathes there the man

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my native land!

Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,

As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,

From wandering on a foreign strand!

If such there breathe, go, mark him well;

For him no Minstrel raptures swell;

High though his titles, proud his name,

Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;

Despite those titles, power, and pelf,

The wretch, concentred all in self,

Living, shall forfeit fair renown,

And, doubly dying, shall go down

To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,

Unwept, unhonor'd, and unsung. 

 

Walter Scott. The Lay of the Last Minstrel. Canto Sixth, I.

From Father Borie

From Father Borie, Cameron learnt that the Jakun (by whom M. Borie probably means the Mantra) have a fixed and singular superstition concerning tigers, ninety-nine men out of every hundred believing it, even in the face of their Christian teaching. They believe that a tiger in their paths is invariably a human being, who having sold himself to the Evil Spirit, assumes by sorcery the shape of the beast to execute his vengeance or malignity. They assert that invariably before a tiger is met, a man has been or might have been seen to disappear in the direction from which the animal springs. 

Walter William Skeat y Charles Otto Blagden. Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula, vol II. London: MacMillan, 1906.