The Senate gave him also the charge of the treasury. They
made him consul for ten years. Statues were to be erected to him in the
temples, on the Rostra, and in the Capitol, where he was to stand as an
eighth among the seven Kings of Rome. In the excess of their adoration,
they desired even to place his image in the Temple of Quirinus himself,
with an inscription to him as [Greek: Theos animaetos], the invincible
god. Golden chairs, gilt chariots, triumphal robes were piled one upon
another with laurelled fasces and laurelled wreaths. His birthday was made
a perpetual holiday, and the month Quinctilis[5] was renamed, in honor of
him, July. A temple to Concord was to be erected in commemoration of his
clemency. His person was declared sacred, and to injure him by word or
deed was to be counted sacrilege. The Fortune of Caesar was introduced
into the constitutional oath, and the Senate took a solemn pledge to
maintain his acts inviolate. Finally, they arrived at a conclusion that he
was not a man at all; no longer Caius Julius, but Divus Julius, a god or
the son of god. A temple was to be built to Caesar as another Quirinus,
and Antony was to be his priest.
Caesar knew the meaning of all this. He must accept their flattery and
become ridiculous, or he must appear to treat with contumely the Senate
which offered it.
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