Herodotus found the Oracle of Dionysus in the land of the Satrians remarkable: “[…] it is a prophetess who utters the oracles, as at Delphi.” Other sources provide evidence of at least two of those oracles which left a mark on world history.
Undoubtedly, the most important record in this regard is Suetonius’ account of the visit paid by the first Roman Emperor’s father to the Temple of Dionysus in the Rhodope. The prophets sat in a roofless oval chamber and, as the Roman historian tells us: ” … When Octavian, father of Augustus, at the head of his army, came upon the Holy Mount of Dionysus, he consulted the oracle about his son, and the prophets said to him that his son was to rule the world, for as the wine was spilt onto the altar, the smoke rose up above the top of the shrine and even unto heavens, as had happened when Alexander the Great himself had sacrificed upon that same altar.”
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