Footnotes
45
Though some contend that some or all of these references refer to Azathoth himself.
29
This particular passage was most difficult to locate, as it is not included in extant original Latin texts of
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
. Why it has been excised, I do not know. The existence of a record of Caesar’s visit to the island that would become
Mont Saint-Michel
was widely known among historians, but thought lost. I was able to locate the following passage in a rare translation produced by a Dr. Charles DeWitt of Cambridge University in the early years of this century. I cannot, of course, vouch to the accuracy of the translation. The footnote contained herein describing the translator’s unfortunate prudishness is his own.
30
Caesar recounts various methods employed to disqualify the girls at the time of this reaping, including examples of incestuous debauchery which, for propriety sake, I do not include here. Those who wish to inquire into the matter further are invited to study the text in the original Latin.
1
While the best available sources transition at this point to other aspects of the Gallic campaign, there are some—of questionable authenticity—that maintain Caesar did not so easily abandon his assault on the myth-haunted island. In one likely apocryphal tale, Caesar is able to discern a path through the shifting sands by way of consultation with another local, an outcast shunned by his tribe for his ability to commune with dark spirits. Upon setting foot on the island, Caesar is then confronted by Nyarlatorix himself. This entity, whom Caesar refers to as “He Who Walks in Shadow,” makes unto the ambitious general a proposition—he will give him dominion over all the world as well as the eternal glory that comes with it if he will but perform one task—take his legions to Egypt and burn the library at Alexandria, destroying an ancient artifact sheltered therein, one of some esoteric power. Caesar agrees, and thus ends the story.
History tells us that the terms of the agreement were fulfilled. Alexandria burned, and Caesar’s name ascended to the heavens. And yet, the great man was struck down, on the eve of his complete triumph. Could it be punishment for some failing on his part? Indeed, one source records that before the great library was put to the flame, Caesar removed one item—a simple wooden staff that he intended to be an heirloom of his reign and his line. Perhaps this was the relic that Nyarlatorix sought to have destroyed, and thus also became the cause of Caesar’s ultimate downfall. But what became of the staff? Sadly, the texts are silent on this point, the answer lost to antiquity.
