Note 428 — ROMAN PEOPLE (continued 4)

By Deubner in Archiv, 1905, p. 69 foll. This touching of the chin seems to be an example of that personal contact which makes a man or thing holy; see, e.g., Westermarck, op. cit. i. 586. Decius makes himself holy for the sacrifice (as victim) by touching (as priest) the only part of his person which was exposed. For the magic touch of the hand see O. Weinrich, Antike Heiligungswünder, p. 63 foll., and Macrobius iii. 2. 7, for the touching of the altar by a sacrificing priest.