Forthwith a conclave of the godhead meets, Where Juno in the shining senate sits. Remorse for past revenge the goddess feels; Then thundering Jove the almighty mandate seals; Allots the prince of his celestial line An apotheosis, and rites divine. The crystal mansions echo with applause, And, with her Graces, love’s bright queen withdraws, Shoots in a blaze of light along the skies, And, born by turtles, to Laurentum flies: Alights, where through the reeds Numicius strays, And to the seas his watery tribute pays. The god she supplicates to wash away The parts more gross and subject to decay, And cleanse the goddess-born from radical allay. The horned flood with glad attention stands, Then bids his streams obey their sire’s commands.

His better parts by lustral waves refined, More pure, and nearer to ethereal mind, With gums of fragrant scent the goddess strews, And on his features breathes ambrosial dews. Thus deified, new honours Rome decrees, Shrines, festivals; and styles him Indiges.