I was fascinated to find out that Lactantius’s poem takes place in a sacred, untouched grove. If you have been following the evolution of this project, you will know that I was unaware of this when I began creating the Vale of Araluen, and that incorporating the phoenix as a character came along very late in the concept phase. It is only while I was researching the mythology in more depth for this page that I found this poem — a lovely piece of synchronicity.