The Greeks name these stars comets, we name them Crinit?, as if shaggy with bloody¹ locks, and surrounded with bristles² like hair. Some of them have a mane hanging down from their lower part, like a long beard, some vibrate like a dart³ with a very quick motion. It was one of this kind which the Emperor Titus described in his very excellent poem, as having been seen in his fifth consulship⁴; and this was the last of these bodies which has been observed. Some are short and pointed⁵, of a pale color, and shine like a sword without any rays; others of an amber⁶ color emit a few rays from their margin⁷ only. One kind exhibits the figure of a cask, appearing convex and emitting a smoky light; another has the appearance of a horn; it is like the one which was visible when the Greeks fought at Salamis. Occasionally you see one like a burning torch; and again one like a horse’s mane; the latter often has a very rapid motion, like a circle revolving⁸ on itself. There is also a white comet, with silver hair, so brilliant that it can scarcely be looked at, exhibiting, as it were, the aspect of the Deity⁹ in a human form. There are some also that are shaggy, having the appearance of a fleece, surrounded by a kind of crown. There was one, where the appearance of a mane was changed into that of a spear; it happened in the 109th olympiad, in the 398th year of the City.[16] The shortest time during which any one of them has been observed to be visible is seven days, the longest one hundred and eighty days.

 

Rome is the only place in the whole world where there is a temple

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