They were shut for the first time in the reign of Numa; again, after the first Punic war; and Augustus closed the temple the third time when he had given peace to the world. […] Prometheus had, at one time, rendered Jupiter a service. […] Osiris became from that time the tutelar deity of the Egyptians. […] At the end of this time, he began his career as a religious teacher. […] They maintain, however, that pure spirits, from time to time, assume our human nature voluntarily, in order to promote the welfare of mankind.