Of Numa Pompilius.
To return to the law-givers, there were none who, having attributed
their laws to Divinity, did not endeavor to encourage the belief that
they themselves were more than human.
Numa, having tasted the delights of solitude, did not wish to leave
it for the throne of Rome, but being forced by public acclamation,
he profited by the devotion of the Romans. He informed them that
he had talked with God, and if they desired him for King they must
observe the Divine laws and institutions which had been dictated to
him by the nymph Egeria. [33]
Alexander wished to be considered a son of Jupiter. Perseus pretended
to be a son of the same God and the virgin Danae; Plato, of Apollo,
and a virgin, which, perhaps, is the cause of the belief among the
Egyptians that the Spirit of God Lne [34] could get a woman with
child as the wind did the Iberian mares. [35]