angelic doctor 826 We come to Philip, second to none among kings, by both the greatness of his son, and his own strength.10 Once in a dream he impressed a seal in the form of a lion on the womb of his wife Olympias, and soon after, an event proved him not to have dreamt in vain. For his wife Olympias bore him a son who by his greatness surpassed all lions.11 One cannot ignore here Atia, a woman famous in [her] offspring, who in the quiet of night once sensed her bowels rise upwards and spread over the earth. The empire, victories, triumphs and glory of Caesar Augustus, who was born from her, demonstrate that this mystery in sleep was not a trifle. For gaining rule over the whole world, with virtue as a leader [and] fortune as companion, he surpassed all his successors in the Roman Empire, by [his] fame and success.12 This truly may be seen as ridiculous, which a writer of the esteemed name Fulgosius13 passed on to the memory of posterity, concerning a certain British woman, the wife of a simple man. When sleep had closed her eyes, she saw herself to give birth to a moon that went around and illuminated the whole of the Kingdom of Britain. What truth do you think was contained in this dream? Of this woman was born a girl, who later became the mother of Athelstan, the most celebrated of the British kings.14 But let us not any longer wander around the fence. Who, Learned Hearers, gave origin to this holy family15 of which I speak? Was it not he, who before being born, was seen by his dreaming mother as an evangelical dog carrying a torch in his mouth to illuminate the whole world? We see how a blessed event corresponds to this blessed dream; since we see that by the most holy patriarch Dominic and his sons who followed him, 10 Cf. Momigliano, Arnaldo, art. Filippo de Macedonia: EI XV, 310-313. 11 This refers to Alexander the Great. Cf. Giannelli, Giulio, art. Alessandro III di Macedonia, Magno: EI II, 328-336. Cf. Plutarchus op. cit., p. 322 (s.v. Alexander). 12 Cf. Colini, Antonio M., art. Augusto, Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano (Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus Augustus): EI V, 346-357 13 Cf. Vitale, Vito Antonio, art. Fregoso: EI XVI, 54. 14 Cf. Fulgosius, op. cit., p. 73. Cf. Gordon E. V., art. Inghilterra: EI XIX, 233. 15 This refers to the “family” of the Order of Preachers (i.e., Dominicans).
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