§18.1ταῖς μὲν οὐν πύλαις ἐπέστησε τοὺς τὸν ἐκπίπτοντα καὶ προλείποντα τὴν πόλιν ὄχλον ἀπείρξοντας, πένθους δὲ καὶ τόπον καὶ χρόνον ὥρισε, κατʼ οἰκίαν ἀποθρηνεῖν κελεύσας ἐφʼ ἡμέρας τριάκοντα τὸν βουλόμενον· μετὰ δὲ ταύτας ἔδει πᾶν πένθος λύεσθαι καὶ καθαρεύειν τῶν τοιούτων τὴν πόλιν.
Accordingly, he stationed at the gates men who were to prevent the crowd that was fleeing and abandoning the city; and he defined both the place and the time of mourning, ordering anyone who wished to lament in their own houses for thirty days; but after these days, all mourning had to be ended and the city purified of such things.
§18.2ἑορτῆς τε Δήμητρος εἰς τάς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας καθηκούσης βέλτιον ἐφάνη παραλιπεῖν ὅλως τάς τε θυσίας καὶ τὴν πομπήν ἢ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς συμφορᾶς ὀλιγότητι καὶ κατηφείᾳ τῶν συνερχομένων ἐλέγχεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ τὸ θεῖον ἥδεσθαι τιμώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν εὐτυχούντων.
And since the festival of Demeter fell in those days, it seemed better to omit the sacrifices and the procession altogether, rather than that the magnitude of the calamity should be exposed by the small number and the dejection of those who assembled; for indeed, the divine nature rejoices in being honored by those who are prosperous.
§18.3ὅσα μέντοι πρὸς ἱλασμοὺς θεῶν ἢ τεράτων ἀποτροπὰς συνηγόρευον οἱ μάντεις ἐπράττετο.
Nevertheless, whatever the seers recommended for the propitiation of the gods or the turning away of portents was performed.
καὶ γὰρ εἰς Δελφοὺς ἐπέμφθη θεοπρόπος Πίκτωρ, συγγενὴς Φαβίου, καὶ τῶν Ἑστιάδων παρθένων δύο διεφθαρμένας εὑρόντες, τὴν μὲν, ὥσπερ ἐστὶν ἔθος, ζῶσαν κατώρυξαν, ἡ δʼ ὑφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἀπέθανε.
For Pictor, a kinsman of Fabius, was sent to Delphi to consult the oracle; and of the Vestal Virgins, two having been found to have been corrupted, one was buried alive according to the custom, while the other took her own life.
§18.4μάλιστα δʼ ἄν τις ἀγάσαιτο τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὴν πρᾳότητα τῆς πόλεως, ὅτε τοῦ ὑπάτου Βάρρωνος ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς ἐπανιόντος, ὡς ἄν τις αἴσχιστα καὶ δυσποτμότατα πεπραχὼς ἐπανίοι, ταπεινοῦ καὶ κατηφοῦς, ἀπήντησεν αὐτῷ περὶ τάς πύλας ἥ τε βουλὴ καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἅπαν ἀσπαζόμενοι.
But most of all, one might admire the high spirit and the magnanimity of the city, when, as the consul Varro returned from his flight—returning like one who had fared most shamefully and most disastrously, humble and dejected—both the Senate and the entire populace went out to meet him near the gates, welcoming him.
§18.5οἱ δʼ ἐν τέλει καὶ πρῶτοι τῆς γερουσίας, ὧν καὶ Φάβιος ἦν, ἡσυχίας γενομένης ἐπῄνεσαν, ὅτι τὴν πόλιν οὐκ ἀπέγνω μετὰ δυστυχίαν τηλικαύτην, ἀλλὰ πάρεστιν ἄρξων ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα καὶ χρησόμενος τοῖς νόμοις καὶ τοῖς πολίταις ὡς σῴζεσθαι δυναμένοις.
And the magistrates and the leaders of the senate, of whom Fabius also was one, when silence was made, praised him because he had not despaired of the state after so great a misfortune, but was present to administer affairs and to make use of the laws and the citizens as being still capable of being saved.