[10,2] Τότε δ´ αὐτὸ παραλαβόντες οἱ περὶ Αὖλον Οὐεργίνιον δήμαρχοι τελειῶσαι ἐβούλοντο· ἵνα δὲ μὴ τοῦτο γένοιτο μηδὲ κατὰ νόμους ἀναγκασθεῖεν πολιτεύεσθαι, πάντα ἐπιμηχανώμενοι διετέλουν οἵ τε ὕπατοι καὶ ἡ βουλὴ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν οἱ πλεῖστον ἐν τῇ πόλει δυνάμενοι· βουλαί τε πολλαὶ καὶ ἐκκλησίαι συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο πεῖραί τε παντοῖαι ταῖς ἀρχαῖς κατ´ ἀλλήλων, ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ἄδηλον ἅπασιν ἦν, ὅτι μεγάλη τις καὶ ἀνήκεστος ἐξ ἐκείνης τῆς φιλονεικίας ἀναστήσεται τῇ πόλει συμφορά. συνήπτετο δὲ τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις λογισμοῖς καὶ τὰ θεῖα δείματα προσγενόμενα, ὧν ἔνια οὔτ´ ἐν δημοσίαις εὑρίσκετο γραφαῖς οὔτε κατ´ ἄλλην φυλαττόμενα μνήμην οὐδεμίαν. ὅσα μὲν γὰρ ἐν οὐρανῷ σέλα φερόμενα καὶ πυρὸς ἀνάψεις ἐφ´ ἑνὸς μένουσαι τόπου γῆς τε μυκήματα καὶ τρόμοι συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο, μορφαί τ´ εἰδώλων ἄλλοτ´ ἀλλοῖαι δι´ ἀέρος φερόμεναι καὶ φωναὶ ταράττουσαι διάνοιαν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ πάντα ὅσα τούτοις ὅμοια συνέπιπτεν, εὑρίσκετο καὶ πάλαι ποτὲ γεγονότα ἧττον τε καὶ μᾶλλον· οὗ δὲ ἄπειροί τε καὶ ἀνήκοοι ἔτι ἦσαν καὶ ἐφ´ ᾧ μάλιστα ἐταράχθησαν, τοιόνδ´ ἦν· νιφετὸς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατέσκηψεν εἰς γῆν πολὺς οὐ χιόνα καταφέρων, ἀλλὰ σαρκῶν θραύσματα ἐλάττω τε καὶ μείζω. τούτων τὰ μὲν πολλὰ μετάρσια προσπετόμεναι πτηνῶν ὅσαι εἰσὶν ἀγέλαι τοῖς στόμασιν ἥρπαζον, τὰ δ´ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐνεχθέντα ἐν αὐτῇ τε τῇ πόλει καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ἀγροὺς μέχρι πολλοῦ χρόνου κείμενα ἦν οὔτε χρόαν μεταβάλλοντα, οἵαν ἴσχουσι παλαιούμεναι σάρκες, οὔτε σηπεδόνι διαλυόμενα, ὦζέ τε ἀπ´ αὐτῶν οὐδὲν πονηρόν. τοῦτο τὸ τέρας οἱ μὲν ἐπιχώριοι μάντεις οὐχ οἷοί τ´ ἦσαν συμβαλεῖν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς Σιβυλλείοις εὑρέθη χρησμοῖς, ὅτι πολεμίων ἀλλοεθνῶν παρελθόντων εἰς τὸ τεῖχος ἀγὼν ὑπὲρ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ καταλήψεται τὴν πόλιν, ἄρξει δὲ τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοεθνεῖς πολέμου στάσις ἐμφύλιος, ἣν χρῆν ἀρχομένην ἐξελαύνοντας ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ θεοὺς παραιτουμένους θυσίαις τε καὶ εὐχαῖς ἀποτρέψαι τὰ δεινά· καὶ κρείττους ἔσεσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν. ὡς δ´ ἐξηνέχθη ταῦτ´ εἰς τὸ πλῆθος, ἱερὰ μὲν πρῶτον ἔθυσαν, οἷς ἡ τούτων ἐπιμέλεια ἀνέκειτο, θεοῖς ἐξακεστηρίοις τε καὶ ἀποτροπαίοις, ἔπειτα συναχθέντες εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον οἱ σύνεδροι παρόντων καὶ τῶν δημάρχων ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας τε καὶ σωτηρίας τῆς πόλεως ἐσκόπουν.

[10,2] At the time in question Aulus Verginius and the other tribunes took up the measure and wished to carry it through. But in order to prevent this from happening and that the magistrates might not be compelled to conduct the government in accordance (p167) with laws, the consuls, the senate and all the rest of the citizens of greatest influence in the commonwealth kept resorting to all manner of devices. There were many sessions of the senate and continual meetings of the assembly, and attempts of all kinds were made by the magistrates against one another; from all of which it was manifest to everyone that some great and irreparable mischief to the commonwealth would arise out of this contention. To these human reasonings were added the terrible portents sent by the gods, some of which were neither found recorded in the public archives nor were the memory of them preserved by any other means. As for all the flashes shooting through the sky and outbursts of fire continuing in one place, the rumblings of the earth and its continual tremblings that occurred, the spectres, now of one shape and now of another, flitting through the air and voices that disturbed men's minds, and everything else of that nature which took place, all these manifestations were found to have occurred in times past as well, to either a greater or lesser degree. But a prodigy which they were unfamiliar with as yet and had never heard of, and the one which caused them the greatest terror was this: There descended upon the earth from heaven what appeared to be a heavy snowstorm, only it brought down, instead of snow, pieces of flesh, some smaller and some larger. Most of these while still in mid air were seized by flocks of birds of every kind, which flew up and snatched them in their beaks; but those pieces which fell to the ground, both in the city itself and in the country, lay there a long time without either changing to such a colour as pieces of flesh (p169) acquire with time, or becoming rotten, and no bad smell was given off by them. The native soothsayers were unable to conjecture the meaning of this prodigy; but in the Sibylline books it was found that the city would be involved in a struggle to prevent the enslavement of its citizens after foreign enemies had penetrated inside the walls, and that this war against the foreigners would begin with civil strife, which they must banish from the city in its inception, invoking the gods by sacrifices and prayers to avert the dangers; then they would gain the victory over their enemies. When this had been announced to the multitude, the priests who were in charge of such matters first sacrificed victims to the gods who remedy and avert evils; after which the senate assembled in the senate-house, the tribunes being also present, and considered means of safeguarding and preserving the commonwealth.