[119]
Conclusive proof of this fact, sufficient to put it
beyond the possibility of doubt, is afforded by
incidents which happened just before Caesar's
death. While he was offering sacrifices on the day
when he sat for the first time on a golden throne
and first appeared in public in a purple robe, no
heart was found in the vitals of the votive ox.1
Now do you think it possible for any animal that
has blood to exist without a heart? Caesar was
unmoved by this occurrence, even though Spurinna2
warned him to beware lest thought and life should
fail him—both of which, he said, proceeded from
the heart. On the following day there was no head
to the liver of the sacrifice. These portents were
sent by the immortal gods to Caesar that he might
foresee his death, not that he might prevent it.
Therefore, when those organs, without which the
victim could not have lived, are found wanting in
the vitals, we should understand that the absent
[p. 355]
organs disappeared at the very moment of immolation.
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