§12.16.1Αἰνείαν λέγουσι τὸν ἐξ Ἀγχίσου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης, ὅτε κατέσχεν εἰς Ἰταλίαν, θῦσαι προαιρούμενον ὅτῳ δή τινι θεῶν, μετὰ τὴν εὐχὴν μέλλοντα τοῦ παρεσκευασμένου πρὸς τὴν θυσίαν ἱερείου κατάρχεσθαι, τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἰδεῖν τινα πρόσωθεν ἐρχόμενον, εἴτε Ὀδυσσέα, ὅτε τῷ περὶ τὸν Ἄορνον μαντείῳ χρῆσθαι ἔμελλεν, εἴτε Διομήδην, ἡνίκα Δαύνῳ §12.16.2σύμμαχος ἀφίκετο· ἀχθόμενον δὲ τῷ συγκυρήματι καὶ πολεμίαν ὄψιν ἐφʼ ἱεροῖς φανεῖσαν ὡς πονηρὸν οἰωνὸν ἀφοσιώσασθαι βουλόμενον, ἐγκαλύψασθαί τε καὶ στραφῆναι· μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τοῦ πολεμίου χερνιψάμενον αὖθις ἐπιτελέσαι τὴν θυσίαν.
They say that Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Aphrodite, when he had landed in Italy, intending to sacrifice to some god or other, and being about to begin, after the prayer, the preparatory rites with the victim prepared for the sacrifice, saw one of the Achaeans coming from afar, whether it was Odysseus, when he was about to consult the oracle near Aornus, or Diomedes, when he arrived as an ally to Daunus; and that, being vexed at this coincidence and wishing to avert the evil omen of an enemy's face appearing over the sacrifices, he covered himself and turned away; and after the departure of the enemy, having washed his hands again, he completed the sacrifice.
§12.16.3γενομένων δὲ τῶν ἱερῶν κρειττόνων ἡσθῆναί τε τῷ συγκυρήματι καὶ φυλάττειν ἐπὶ πάσης εὐχῆς τὸ αὐτὸ ἔθος, τούς τε ἀπʼ ἐκείνου γενομένους ὡς ἕν τι τῶν περὶ τὰς ἱερουργίας νομίμων καὶ τοῦτο διατηρεῖν.
And they say that when the entrails proved to be more favorable, he was pleased with the coincidence and observed the same custom at every prayer, and his descendants also preserved this as one of the rules concerning sacred rites.
§12.16.4ἑπόμενος δὴ τοῖς πατρικοῖς ὁ Κάμιλλος νόμοις, ἐπειδὴ τὴν εὐχὴν ἐποιήσατο καὶ κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς εἵλκυσε τὸ ἱμάτιον, ἐβούλετο μὲν στραφῆναι, τῆς δὲ βάσεως ὑπενεχθείσης οὐ δυνηθεὶς ἀναλαβεῖν αὑτὸν ὕπτιος ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν φέρεται.
Camillus, then, following his ancestral customs, when he had made his prayer and drawn his toga over his head, wished indeed to turn around, but his footing slipping and being unable to recover himself, he was thrown on his back upon the ground.
§12.16.5τοῦτον τὸν οἰωνὸν οὔτε μαντείας οὔτʼ ἐνδοιασμοῦ δεόμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ φαυλοτάτῳ ῥᾴδιον ὄντα συμβαλεῖν, ὅτι πεσεῖν αὐτῷ πᾶσα ἀνάγκη πτῶμα ἄσχημον, οὔτε φυλακῆς οὔτε ἀφοσιώσεως ἄξιον ὑπέλαβεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ κεχαρισμένον ἑαυτῷ μετήνεγκεν, ὡς ὑπακηκοότων αὐτοῦ ταῖς εὐχαῖς τῶν θεῶν καὶ τὸ κακὸν ἐλάχιστον παρεσκευακότων γενέσθαι.
This omen, which required neither divination nor hesitation, but was easy even for the simplest person to understand, namely that a disgraceful fall was absolutely inevitable for him, he did not regard as worthy of precaution or of expiation, but interpreted it in a way pleasing to himself, as though the gods had heard his prayers and had arranged for the evil to be as small as possible.