CHAPTER XVIII.

The statue of Serapis, a figure of colossal size, carved by the master-
hand of Bryaxis, out of ivory overlaid with gold, sat enthroned in the
inner chamber of the great Temple of Serapis, with the kalathos crowning
his bearded face, and the three-headed Cerberus at his feet, gazing down
in supreme silence on the scene around. He did not lack for pious
votaries and enthusiastic admirers, for, so long as Caesar was his guest,
the curtain was withdrawn which usually hid his majestic form from their
eyes. But his most devoted worshipers thought that the god's noble,
benevolent, grave countenance had a wrathful look; for, though nothing
had been altered in this, the finest pillared hall in the world; though
the beautiful pictures in relief on the walls and ceiling, the statues
and altars of marble, bronze, and precious metals between the columns,
and the costly mosaic-work of many colors which decked the floor in
regular patterns, were the same as of yore, this splendid pavement was
trodden to-day by thousands of feet which had no concern with the service
of the god.

Before Caesar's visit, solemn silence had ever reigned in this worthy
home of the deity, fragrant with the scarcely visible fumes of kyphi; and
the worshipers gathered without a sound round the foot of his statue, and
before the numerous altars and the smaller images of the divinities
allied to him or the votive tablets recording the gifts and services
instituted in honor of Serapis by pious kings or citizens. On feast-
days, and during daily worship, the chant of priestly choirs might be
heard, or the murmur of prayer; and the eye might watch the stolists who