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to the giver of all things, both good and bad, who also for those being born sets a limit on their time of life, having mixed the mortal body with base and noble things. Whoever might win over those spirits with his wisdom, and might have knowledge of in what deeds they rejoice, would excel all in mind and in noble actions, bearing noble gifts from a noble source and shunning base ones. 4.102 Julius. One might take the month of Julius as the fifth from the civil year, but the seventh from the sacred year; for from March—and that was the one established by Romulus as the beginning of the civil year—it is the fifth, whence it was also formerly called Quintilis; but the seventh from January; and this is the sacred one according to Numa. Caesar, therefore, being adorned not only with fortune, but also with priesthood—for he was also pontifex, as it were a bridge-building high priest or theurge, because of his lineage from Aphrodite— finding the month Quintilis, changed its name, not only because of the perfection of the number, but also because he himself was born on the fourth day before the Ides of this month. And he was named Caesar, not as the ancients say, from the cutting of the womb of Aurelia his mother, from whom, supposedly having died while pregnant, he was taken when she was cut open; but the truth judged by the historians concerning this name of his is as follows: during the Punic war, when Syphax was allied with Hannibal, it is said that Gaius Rutilius—and he was an ancient ancestor of Caesar—fighting in the battle line itself hurled his spear with such force against the Moor, that he struck down the elephant on which the enemy was riding, and from that he received the surname of Caesar, since among the Phoenicians the animal elephant is called *caesar*. But Vales, who also himself wrote the deeds of Caesar, says that he was the best and most comely in size, and moreover had long hair; for the Romans in their ancestral tongue call hair *caesaries*, and he says that because of the beauty of his hair he was called Caesar. And his given name was Gaius, and Julius was indicative of his noble birth, from Iulus the son of Aeneas the son of Aphrodite, and Caesar of his virtue. 4.103 Theodosius the Younger, making innovations, erased the name of the Olympiad from the annals. 4.104 That they say Caesar fell into an epileptic fit from an endless chill; and that he was cured later by drawing in the juice of the Heraclean plant with the rennet of a seal. And as for Caesar, it is not yet wondrous if he procured seal rennet; but Aretas the phylarch of the Scenite Arabs, writing a letter to Claudius Caesar concerning healing by means of birds says, that a vulture's liver roasted with its blood, given with honey for three weeks, rids one of epilepsy, and likewise also the heart of a vulture, when it has been dried, given in water, is effective in the same way. 4.105 That many of the historians say that Caesar was born a seven-month child, and for this reason he changed the seventh month of the sacred year to his own name. And no one else performed such manly deeds as he did. 4.106 An oracle was given to the Romans by the Mother, to not engage in sexual pleasures at all throughout the whole month of July, if their bodies were to remain healthy. 4.107 When the sun is in Leo the Nile floods. Hylas was the name for the Nile formerly, then Aegyptus from Aegyptus, then Chrysorrhoas and finally Nilus from a king so called; for the opinion of the grammarians that the Nile was named from the new silt looks to etymology. Concerning the increase of the waters in summer, Anaxagoras says, that the melting snows of Ethiopia send forth the Nile. And of this opinion are Aeschylus and Sophocles and Euripides. But Seneca, the greatest among Roman philosophers, contradicts this, saying that Ethiopia is very fiery, whence also bodies are scorched

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τοι δωτὴρ πάντων ἀγαθῶν τε κακῶν τε, ὃς καὶ τικτομένοισι χρόνον ζωῆς ἀφορίζει καμμίξας φαυλοῖσι καλοῖσι τε σῶμα βροτεῖον. κείνους δαίμονας ὅστις ἑῇ σοφίῃ προσέλοιτο, γνώμην τε σχοίη, ποίοις χαίρουσιν ἐν ἔργοις, πάντων ἂν προφέροιτο νόῳ καὶ πράξεσιν ἐσθλαῖς, ἐσθλὰ παρ' ἐσθλοῦ δῶρα φέρων καὶ φαῦλα προφεύγων. 4.102 Ἰούλιος. Τὸν Ἰούλιον μῆνα πέμπτον μὲν ἄν τις ἀπὸ τοῦ πολιτικοῦ, ἕβδομον δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ λάβοι ἐνιαυτοῦ· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ Μαρτίου-ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἦν ὁ παρὰ Ῥωμύλου τεθεὶς εἰς ἀρχὴν τοῦ πολιτικοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ-πέμπτος ἐστίν, ὅθεν καὶ Κυντίλιος τὸ πρὶν ὠνομάζετο· ἕβδομος δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰανουαρίου· ἱερατικὸς δὲ οὗτος κατὰ τὸν Νουμᾶν. ὁ τοίνυν Καῖσαρ οὐ τύχῃ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἱερωσύνῃ κοσμούμενος-καὶ γὰρ πόντιφεξ ἦν, οἱονεὶ γεφυραῖος ἀρχιερεὺς ἢ θεουργός, διὰ τὴν ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης σειράν- εὑρὼν τὸν Κυντίλιον μῆνα τὴν προσηγορίαν μετέβαλεν, οὐ διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ μόνον τελειότητα, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον κατὰ τὴν πρὸ τεσσάρων Εἰδῶν τοῦ μηνὸς τούτου τεχθῆναι. Καῖσαρ δὲ ὠνομάσθη, οὐ καθώς φασιν οἱ παλαιοί, ἐκ τῆς ἀνατομῆς τῆς γαστρὸς Αὐρηλίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἧς δῆθεν ἀποβιούσης ἐγκύμονος αὐτὸν ἀνατμηθείσης ἐκείνης ληφθῆναι· τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς κεκριμένον τοῖς ἱστορικοῖς περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης αὐτοῦ προσηγορίας τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· ἐπὶ τοῦ Φοινικικοῦ πολέμου, ὅτε ὁ Σύφαξ Ἀννίβᾳ συνεμάχει, λέγεται Γάϊον Ῥουτίλιον-πρόγονος δὲ οὗτος παλαιὸς τῷ Καίσαρι γέγονε-ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ παρατάξει μαχόμενον τοσαύτῃ δυνάμει ἐπαφεῖναι τὸ δόρυ κατὰ τοῦ Μαυρουσίου, ὥστε τὸν ἐλέφαντα, ᾧ ἐπωχεῖτο ὁ πολέμιος, καταβαλεῖν, κἀκεῖθεν τὴν Καίσαρος ἐπωνυμίαν λαβεῖν, ἐπεὶ παρὰ Φοίνιξιν ὁ ἐλέφας τὸ ζῶον καῖσαρ λέγεται. Οὐάλης δὲ, ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ Καίσαρος ἔγραψε, φησὶν ἄριστον μὲν αὐτὸν καὶ πρεπωδέστατον ἐν μεγέθει γενέσθαι, ἔτι μὴν καὶ κομήτην· τὴν γὰρ κόμην πατρίως οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καισάριεν προσαγορεύουσι, καί φησιν, ὡς διὰ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς κάλλος Καῖσαρ προσηγορεύετο. κύριον δὲ αὐτῷ ὄνομα Γάϊος, εὐγενείας δὲ σημαντικὸν Ἰούλιος, ἀπὸ Ἰούλου τοῦ Αἰνείου τοῦ Ἀφροδίτης,ἀρετῆς δὲ ὁ Καῖσαρ. 4.103 Θεοδόσιος ὁ μικρὸς νεωτερίζων τὸ τῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐκ τῶν χρόνων ἀπήλειψεν ὄνομα. 4.104 Ὅτι τὸν Καίσαρά φασιν ἐξ ἀπείρου χειμῶνος ἐπιληψίᾳ περιπεσεῖν· θεραπευθῆναι δὲ ὕστερον ἡρακλείου βοτάνης χυλὸν σὺν πυτίᾳ φώκης ἑλκύσαντα. καὶ Καῖσαρ μὲν οὔπω θαυμαστὸν εἰ καὶ φώκης πυτίας ηὐπόρησεν· Ἀρέτας δὲ ὁ τῶν Σκηνιτῶν Ἀράβων φύλαρχος Κλαυδίῳ Καίσαρι γράφων ἐπιστολὴν περὶ τῆς δι' ὀρνέων θεραπείας φησίν, ἧπαρ γυπὸς σὺν τῷ αἵματι ὀπτὸν μετὰ μέλιτος διδόμενον ἐπὶ ἑβδομάδας τρεῖς ἀπαλλάττειν ἐπιληψίας, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ γυπός, ὅτε ξηρανθῇ, ἐν ὕδατι διδομένην τῷ ἴσῳ τρόπῳ ἰσχύειν. 4.105 Ὅτι οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἱστορικῶν φασι τὸν Καίσαρα ἑπτάμηνον τεχθῆναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἕβδομον μῆνα τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν μεταβα λεῖν προσηγορίαν. οὐδεὶς δὲ ἄλλος ἠνδραγάθισεν ὡς οὗτος. 4.106 Χρησμὸς ἐδόθη Ῥωμαίοις πρὸς τῆς Μητρός, μηδ' ὅλως ἀφροδισίοις χρῆσθαι ἀνὰ πάντα τὸν Ἰούλιον μῆνα, εἴπερ αὐτοῖς ὑγιαίνειν τὰ σώματα μέλλοι. 4.107 Κατὰ τὸν ἐν λέοντι ἥλιον ἀναχεῖται ὁ Νεῖλος. Ἰλὰς ὄνομα τῷ Νείλῳ πρότερον, εἴτα Αἴγυπτος ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, εἶτα Χρυσορρόας καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν Νεῖλος ἀπὸ βασιλέως οὕτω καλουμένου· τὸ γὰρ δόξαν τοῖς γραμματικοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς νέας ἰλύος ὠνομάσθαι τὸν Νεῖλον πρὸς ἐτυμολογίαν ὁρᾷ. περὶ τῆς ἐν θέρει τῶν ὑδάτων ἐπιδόσεως Ἀναξαγόρας φησί, τὰς τῆς Αἰθιοπίας τηκομένας χιόνας ἀποστέλλειν τὸν Νεῖλον. καὶ ταύτης ἐστὶ τῆς δόξης ὅ τ' Αἴσχυλος καὶ Σοφοκλῆς καὶ Εὐριπίδης. ὁ δὲ μέγιστος ἐν φιλοσόφοις Ῥωμαίοις Σενέκας ἀντιλέγει φάσκων ἐμπυροτάτην εἶναι τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν, ἔνθεν καὶ διακαίεσθαι τὰ σώματα