"The last period sung by the Sibylline prophetess is now arrived; and the grand series of ages. That Series which recurs again and again in the course of our mundane revolution begins afresh. Now the Virgin Astrea returns from heaven; and the primeval reign of Saturn recommences; now a new race descends from the celestial realms of holiness. Do thou, Lucina, smile propitious on the birth of a boy who will bring to a close the present age of iron and introduce throughout the whole world, a new age of gold. Then shall the herds no longer dread the fury of the lion, nor shall the poison of the serpent any longer be formidable. Every venomous animal and every deleterious plant shell perish together. The fields shall be yellow with corn, the grape shall hang its ruddy clusters from the bramble, and honey shall distil spontaneously from the rugged oak. The universal globe shall enjoy the blessings of peace, secure under the mild sway of its new and divine sovereign." There is no lack of evidence to prove that for several centuries great numbers of Christians regarded Christ as a solar incarnation similar to those which from time to time were born in the valleys of the Nile and the Ganges. By the fathers in the church Jesus Christ was named the New Sun, and in the early days of Christianity the Egyptians struck a coin representing O. B. or the holy Basilisk, with rays of light darting from his head, on the reverse side of which was figured "Jesus Christ as the New Solar Deity." The similarity if not the actual identity of the religion of Christ and that of the pagans in the second century is shown by various writers. The Emperor Hadrian writing to his friend Servianus says: "Those who worship Serapis are also Christians; even those who style themselves the Bishops of Christ are devoted to Serapis.. .. There is but one God for them all; him do the Christians, him do the Jews, him do all the Gentiles also worship." It has been said that the head of Serapis supplied the first idea of the portrait of Christ. Before the figure of Serapis, in his temple, used to stand Isis, the Celestial Virgin, with the inscription "Immaculate is our Lady Isis." In her hand she bore a sheaf of grain. As Serapis, or Pan, finally became Christ, so Isis, or the Queen of Heaven, became his mother, and to the latter were transferred all the titles, ceremonies, festivals, and seasons which from the earliest time had belonged to the great Goddess of Nature. Subsequently, probably about the close of the second century, Christianity began slowly to emerge from the worship of Mithras and Serapis, "changing the names but not the substance."