The tragic deaths of the 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult who took their lives in response to comet Hale-Bopp provide a grim reminder of what comets were once thought to be--messengers of doom from the Great Beyond.

Until quite recently, comets were usually read as signs announcing the advent of war, the onset of pestilence or floods, but most especially the death of rulers. Hence the famous lines of Shakespeare, uttered by Julius Caesar's wife on the fateful morning of his murder: "When beggars die there are no comets seen. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." So well established was the sinister connection between comets and the death of rulers that even when no comet appeared, one was invariably invented by chroniclers; as for instance at the time of Charlemagne's death in 814.

The evil repute of comets makes it all the more remarkable that one comet in particular came to be regarded by the ancient Romans not as a sign of doom and disaster but rather as proof of Julius Caesar's elevation to godhood. In a new book The Comet of 44 BC and Caesar's Funeral Games, published by Scholars Press this spring appropriately on the Ides of March, two UIC professors, John Ramsey of Classics and Lewis Licht of Physics, attempt to explain the puzzle posed by this ancient comet. Their account ranges far and wide, drawing upon Chinese astronomical records, ice cores from the glaciers of Greenland, and astrological texts from Greek and Roman antiquity to unlock the secrets of this mystery. The clues are presented one after the other, much like the steps in the solution of a good "whodunit" mystery, until the reader is inevitably led to the solution of this fascinating puzzle.

Part of the explanation, the authors reveal, lies in the expectation on the part of the Romans that a "New Age" was about to dawn in 44 BC. In this regard, Comet Caesar presents a striking similarity to the way in which Hale-Bopp influenced the members of the Heaven's Gate cult. Imagine, if you will, what the reaction might have been if Hale-Bopp had appeared not this year or next or the year after, but in 2000 or 2001. With the approach of the Millennium, we can expect a spate of prophecies and a heightened expectation on the part of some that the end of the world is upon us. Such people will be looking for signs. As it is, we learn that even in 1997 millennial fever was a prominent element in the reaction of the Heaven's Gate cult to Hale-Bopp.

The Romans were likewise primed for such an interpretation of Comet Caesar. Approximately every 100 years the Romans held a celebration known as the "Secular Games" to mark the advent of each new age (or "saeculum"), with prior celebrations in 249, and 146 BC. By 44 BC, therefore, the time was ripe for the next celebration and for a new age to begin.

And so, when a bright, daylight-visible comet was seen in 44, for seven days in July (the month of Caesar's birth), there were those who claimed that it was the overdue sign announcing the dawning of the 10th and Final Age of the world. This view did not ultimately prevail, being countered by a masterful job of spin control on the part of the future emperor Augustus. Instead, the comet came to be regarded as a sign of Julius Caesar's deification. The book by Ramsey and Licht reveals the stages in this reinterpretation of the comet's message and shows us a side of Roman propaganda and the manipulation of political symbolism that is truly amazing, even by modern standards.

e-mail to authors: comet@uic.edu