sentences:  In this Roman city, each year on the first day of January, a ceremony of self-immolation took place to assure the health and salvation of the Empire.A young man was pampered with material delights and fulfilled in all his wishes for eight months; then he was obliged to mount on a richly harnessed horse, climb up to the summit of city's cliff and throw himself into the void, with the recalcitrant horse, to crash against the rocks and perish in the waves in honour of the god Apollo, as an expiatory offering for the prosperity of the state and the emperors.The deacon Caesarius denounced this pagan custom and protested