In his very infirmities Caesar
manifested his greatness; his very littlenesses were noble.
"Nec licuit populis parvum te, Nile, videre."
That he placed some confidence in dreams, for instance, is certain;
because, had he slighted them unreservedly, he would not have dwelt
upon them afterwards, or have troubled himself to recall their
circumstances. Here we trace his human weakness. Yet again we are
reminded that it was the weakness of Caesar; for the dreams were noble
in their imagery, and Caesarean (so to speak) in their tone of moral
feeling. Thus, for example, the night before he was assassinated, he
dreamt at intervals that he was soaring above the clouds on wings, and
that he placed his hand within the right hand of Jove. It would seem
that perhaps some obscure and half-formed image floated in his mind of
the eagle, as the king of birds; secondly, as the tutelary emblem
under which his conquering legions had so often obeyed his voice; and,
thirdly, as the bird of Jove. To this triple relation of the bird his
dream covertly appears to point. And a singular coincidence appears
between this dream and a little anecdote brought down to us, as having
actually occurred in Rome about twenty-four hours before his death. A
little bird, which by some is represented as a very small kind of
sparrow, but which, both to the Greeks and the Romans, was known by a
name implying a regal station (probably from the ambitious courage
which at times prompted it to attack the eagle), was observed to
direct its flight towards the senate-house, consecrated by Pompey,
whilst a crowd of other birds were seen to hang upon its flight in
close pursuit.
Pages:
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67