After Julia’s death, Pompey and Caesar’s alliance began to fade, which resulted in Caesar's civil war. It was allegedly remarked, as a singular omen, that on the day Augustus entered Rome as Caesar's adoptive son (in May 44 BC), the monument of Julia was struck by lightning. Caesar himself vowed a ceremony to her manes, which he exhibited in 46 BC as extensive funeral games including gladiatorial combats. The date of the ceremony was chosen to coincide with the "ludi Veneris Genetricis" on September 26, the festival in honor of Venus Genetrix, the divine ancestress of the Julians.