§16.1.1Ῥωμαίων εἰς τὸν κατὰ Σαυνιτῶν τελευταῖον πόλεμον ἐξιόντων κεραυνὸς εἰς τὸν ἐπιφανέστατον τόπον κατασκήψας πέντε μὲν στρατιώτας ἀπέκτεινε, δύο δὲ σημείας διέφθειρεν, ὅπλα δὲ πολλὰ τὰ μὲν κατέκαυσε, τὰ δʼ ἐσπίλωσε.
When the Romans were setting out for the last war against the Samnites, a thunderbolt, having fallen on the most conspicuous place, killed five soldiers, destroyed two military standards, and as for many weapons, some it burned up, and others it tarnished.
κεραυνοὶ δὲ κατηνέχθησαν τοῖς ἔργοις ἔτυμον φέροντες τοὔνομα· κεραϊσμοὶ γάρ τινές εἰσι καὶ μεταβολαὶ τῶν ὑποκειμένων εἰς τἀναντία τρέποντες τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας τύχας.
And thunderbolts fell, bearing a name true to their deeds; for they are certain destructions and changes of underlying things, turning human fortunes into the opposite.
§16.1.2αὐτὸ γὰρ πρῶτον ἠνάγκασται τὴν ἰδίαν ἀλλάξαι φύσιν τὸ κεραύνιον πῦρ, εἴτε δὴ αἴθριον εἴτε μετάρσιόν ἐστι, κάτω φερόμενον· οὐ γὰρ δὴ αὐτῷ θέμις ἐπὶ γῆν βρίθειν κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ γῆς ἄνω μετεωροπολεῖν· ἐν αἰθέρι γὰρ αἱ πηγαὶ τοῦ θείου πυρός.
For first, the thunderbolt fire itself, whether it is of the upper air or high in the air, is forced to change its own nature when it is carried downward; for indeed it is not natural for it to weigh down upon the earth according to its own nature, but to soar upward from the earth, since the sources of the divine fire are in the ether.
§16.1.3δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὸ πῦρ τὸ παρʼ ἡμῖν, εἴτε Προμηθέως εἴτε Ἡφαίστου δῶρόν ἐστιν, ὁπότε λύσειε τοὺς δεσμούς, ἐν οἷς ἠνάγκασται μένειν, διʼ ἀέρος ἄνω φερόμενον ἐπὶ τὸ συγγενὲς ἐκεῖνο καὶ πᾶσαν ἐν κύκλῳ περιειληφὸς τὴν τοῦ κόσμου φύσιν.
And this is shown also by the fire among us, whether it is the gift of Prometheus or of Hephaestus, whenever it breaks loose from the bonds in which it is forced to remain, being carried upward through the air toward that kindred element which encompasses the whole nature of the universe in a circle.
τὸ δὴ θεῖον ἐκεῖνο καὶ χωρισθὲν ὕλης φθαρτῆς διʼ ἀέρος ὀχούμενον, ὅταν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καταφέρηται, βιασθὲν ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης τινὸς ἰσχυρᾶς μεταβολὰς μαντεύεται καὶ §16.1.4τροπὰς ἐπὶ τοὔμπαλιν.
Therefore, that divine element, separated from corruptible matter and riding through the air, whenever it is brought down to the earth, being forced by some powerful necessity, portends changes and reversals to the contrary.
τοιούτου γοῦν τινος γενομένου καὶ τότε καταφρονήσαντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ ὑπὸ Ποντίου τοῦ Σαυνίτου κατακλεισθέντες εἰς ἀνεξόδους δυσχωρίας, μέλλοντες ἤδη τῷ λιμῷ διαφθείρεσθαι παρέδωκαν ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀμφὶ τοὺς τετρακισμυρίους ὄντες· καὶ καταλείψαντες τά τε ὅπλα καὶ τὰ χρήματα τὸν ζυγὸν ἅπαντες ὑπῆλθον· τοῦτο δὲ σημεῖον τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρας ἐλθόντων ἐστί.
At any rate, when some such thing occurred also at that time, the Romans, having disregarded it and having been shut up by Pontius the Samnite into impassable difficult terrains, being already about to perish of hunger, surrendered themselves to the enemy, being about forty thousand in number; and leaving behind both their weapons and possessions, they all passed under the yoke; and this is a sign of those who have come under the hand.
μετʼ οὐ πολὺ δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὁ Πόντιος ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἔπαθε, καὶ τὸν ζυγὸν ὑπῆλθον καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ.
But not long afterward, Pontius himself suffered the same things by the Romans, and both he himself and those with him passed under the yoke.