Alien Space Gods Of Ancient Greece and Rome (37 page)

Lycosthencs paraphrases Livy and adds:

‘The apparitions of ships were seen in the sky. Dreadful earthquakes shook the ground.... In that year
Hannibal
invaded
Etruria
. The Romans were routed in the bloody battle at
Lake
Trasimene
.’

With brilliant tactics,
Hannibal
extricated his army from ambush in the wooded hills near
Lake
Trasimene
and smashed the Romans under Caius Flaminius, hardly a man survived. Such a battle would probably attract Spacemen implied by Livy and Lycosthenes.

Rome in panic appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus as Dictator, he hoped to defeat Hannibal by delaying tactics; his name in modern times was adopted by our Fabian Society, whose philosophy was to achieve progress slowly but surely. Never bad the Romans met such a dazzling strategist. In 216 BC
Hannibal
annihilated the great Roman army at
Cannae
in the most shattering defeat in their history. It was said that 'so great a multitude of Romans fell that Hannibal, the General, filled many bushels and quart measures with the finger-rings of the Generals and the other prominent men and sent them to Sicily.'

Hannibal
with
Rome
at his mercy did not enter the City; like Hitler failing to invade
Britain
after
Dunkirk
; perhaps the magnitude of this historic prize daunted his soul, more probably he feared his victorious troops would be trapped. During the next few years he rampaged somewhat frustrated up and down
Italy
, while the Romans under Scipio won back
Spain
.

Livy in Book XXIV, X, mentions startling sightings in the skies.

214 BC 'Prodigies in large numbers and the more they were believed by men, simple and devout, the more of them used to be reported, were reported that year. The river Minucius appeared bloody.... At Cales it rained chalk. ... If Hadria an altar was seen in the sky and about it the forms of men in white garments ... certain men asserting that they saw armed legions on the Janiculum aroused the City to arms.'

An altar in the sky with men in white seems surely a classic description of a Spaceship! 

213 BC 'In the river at Terracina forms of warships which had no existence had been seen. In the
temple
of
Jupiter Vicilinus
in the
territory
of
Compsa
was a sound of clashing arms, the river at Amiternum ran blood.' (Livy, Book XXIV, XUV).

Hannibal
continued to win several victories but lacked the strength to smash
Rome
; when expected reinforcements were crushed by the defeat and death of his brother, Hasdrubal, in
Northern Italy
in 207 BC the war for the Carthaginians was virtually lost. For four years,
Hannibal
roamed the mountainous regions unable to launch an offensive, then in 203 BC returned to
Africa
; a year later he suffered decisive defeat by Scipio at
Zama
. Rejected by his own people
Hannibal
fled to
Antioch
and continued to struggle against
Rome
; in 183 BC rather than fall into Roman bands this aged lion took poison.

Intriguing celestial phenomena haunted Italian skies Livy reports:

206 BC 'At Alba they said two suns were seen and at Fregellac that light had appeared in the night.'

204 BC 'Two suns had been seen and at Setia a meteor had been seen shooting from east to west.'

During the same year a curious event occurred which strangely illumines Roman superstition concerning the Gods. While Crassus reconquered part of
Bruttium
in
Southern Italy
direful prodigies sent by Jupiter terrified
Rome
; the decemviri consulted the Sibylline Books which said that something would soon fall from heaven at Pessinus in
Phrygia
, which should be brought to
Rome
. Shortly afterwards came the news that the Image of the Mother of the Gods had fallen there. The ship bringing it to
Rome
stuck in the mud of the
Tiber
, the soothsayers swore it could only be moved by a woman who had never committed adultery. Claudia Quintia under suspicion for such offence protested her innocence, she called to the ship which freed from the mud followed her, thus Claudia's immoral reputation changed to shining virtue. 

This Image from the skies recalled that 'Shield' falling from heaven, five hundred years earlier during the reign of Numa Pompilius. Could these objects have dropped from Spaceships?

203 BC 'At Anagnia there were at first shooting-stars at intervals, then a great meteor. At Frusino a halo encircled the sun with its slender circumference and then the ring itself had a greater circle bright as the sun circumscribed about it. At Arpinum in an open meadow the earth settled into a huge depression.' (See 163 BC and 82 BC.)

Today such sudden depressions in fields arouse speculation as to the landings of Spaceships. This swift transmission of news apparently by divine Messengers greatly impressed the Roman writers. Cicero in
'De Natura Deorum
’ Book I, Chapter 11, discussing the intervention of Castor and Pollux, at Lake Regillus in 498 BC also mentioned how two young men on white horses brought news of the battle of Pydna and the capture of the Macedonian King Perseus to Rome in 168 BC.

Plutarch in
'Aemilius Paulus'
, XXIV, states:

'For it was only the fourth day after Perseus had been defeated at Pydna and at Rome the people were watching equestrian contests when suddenly a report sprang up at the entrance of theatre that Aemilius had conquered Perseus in a great battle and reduced all Macedonia.'

Dio Cassius in
'Roman History'
, Book 4, mentions how in 48 BC 'two young men' in Syria announced Caesar's defeat of Pompey at Pharsalia in Thessaly. Today we are naturally sceptical as to whether the news on these occasions was actually conveyed by Spacemen, however the importance surely lies in the fact that the Romans themselves believed that the Gods had brought remarkably prompt news of the victories, proving the Romans quite accepted the reality of Extraterrestrials and their occasional intervention in the affairs of
Rome
. Who are we two thousand years later to disagree?

167 BC 'Lanuvium. A burning torch was seen in the sky.' (Obsequens.)

166 BC 'In the territory of
Veii
wool grew from trees. (Note: was this substance 'Angel Hair', evidence of Spaceships?) Lanuvium, a Torch was seen in the sky, at Cassini the sun was seen for a few hours at night." (Obsequens.)

163 BC 'At
Capua
the sun was seen by night. At Forini two suns were seen by day. The sky was afire. In Cephaloriia a trumpet seemed to sound from the sky. There was a rain of earth. A windstorm demolished houses and laid crops fiat in the fields. By night an apparent sun shone at Pisaurum.' (Obsequens.)

Similar phenomena in 203 BC and 82 BC may suggest the landing of a Spaceship.

154 BC 'At Compsa weapons appeared to fly through the sky.' (UFOs?) (Obsequens.) in the sky. At Privemo grey wool covered the ground.’ (Obsequens)

A similar fall of wool in
Central Italy
in 49 BC is reported by Pliny. Associated with UFO activity appears a gossamer-like substance known throughout history as 'Angel's Hair' or 'Threads of the Virgin', silvery filaments apparently synthesized in extremely high voltage discharges; these strands like nylon drape the ground, only to vanish when the temperature rises. 'Grey wool' following the 'appearance of a great fleet in the sky' suggest the manifestation of many Spaceships.

171 BC ‘In the Roman Forum three suns were shining at the same time.' (Lycosthcncs.)

170 BC The great fleet seen over Lanuviura in 173 BC was succeeded three years later by a celestial army massed over
Jerusalem
. According to the Second Book of Maccabees, Chapter V, v. 1-5:

'About this time Antiochus prepared his second voyage into
Egypt
. And then it happened through all the city for the space of almost forty days, there were seen horsemen running in the air in cloth of gold, and armed with lances running like a band of soldiers. And troops of horsemen in array encountering and running one against another with shaking of shields and multitude of pikes, and drawing of swords, and casting of darts and glittering of golden ornaments and harness of all sorts.'

An array in the sky in 103 BC is reported by Julius Obsequens. This intriguing spectacle dazzled the English in AD 1236. Matthew of Paris in
'Historia Anglorum'
writes:

'Also about this lime in the month of May along the boundaries of
England
and
Wales
portents appeared in the sky of armed soldiers superbly although hostilely congregated. This is seen to be incredible to all who hear this unless the same thing is read in the beginning of Maccabees. The same thing was seen however assembled in
Ireland
, of which apparition we are taught by a certain close relative of the Duke of Gloucester.’

168 BC 'Rumours of the successful Roman victory in
Macedonia
swept
Rome
before the messengers arrived. The Magistrates were astonished. The news was proclaimed by Castor and Pollux.' (Livy, Book XLV, I.)

Latin literature apparently did not begin until five centuries after the founding of
Rome
, an astonishing illiteracy compared with the literary glories of
Greece
. The first important writer, Plautus (255-184 BC), wrote about a hundred and thirty plays of which only twenty survive; in 'Rudens' Arcturus descends from the skies to mingle among mortals, in '
Amphitryo
' Jupiter and Mercury wing down to frolic in bawdy comedy showing that the Romans accepted celestial lovers more readily than we would today.