Throughout antiquity, some phallic cults took the serpent as their central symbol. Scipio, Aristomenes, Alexander, and Augustus claimed to be the offspring of a serpent.
In his "Life of Augustus," the Roman historian Suetonius (70-160 AD) tells the story of the engendering of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. One night, the wife of Octavius went to the temple of Apollo. When she fell asleep, she was approached by a serpent who slid to her side. After a while, it left her. As she awoke, she noticed a mark in the image of a dragon on her body. Ten months later, Augustus was born.
