§2.31.1ταῦτα δὲ γενέσθαι τινὲς μὲν γράφουσι κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον ἐνιαυτὸν τῆς Ῥωμύλου ἀρχῆς, Γναῖος δὲ Γέλλιος κατὰ τὸν τέταρτον· ὃ καὶ μᾶλλον εἰκός.
Some writers indeed write that these things took place during the first year of Romulus' rule, but Gnaeus Gellius says it was in the fourth year, which is indeed more likely.
νέον γὰρ οἰκιζομένης πόλεως ἡγεμόνα πρὶν ἢ καταστήσασθαι τὴν πολιτείαν ἔργῳ τηλικούτῳ ἐπιχειρεῖν οὐκ ἔχει λόγον.
For it is unreasonable that the leader of a newly founded city, before establishing the constitution, should attempt so great an enterprise.
τῆς δὲ ἁρπαγῆς τὴν αἰτίαν οἱ μὲν εἰς σπάνιν γυναικῶν ἀναφέρουσιν, οἱ δʼ εἰς ἀφορμὴν πολέμου, οἱ δὲ τὰ πιθανώτατα γράφοντες, οἷς κἀγὼ συγκατεθέμην, εἰς τὸ συνάψαι φιλότητα πρὸς τὰς πλησιοχώρους πόλεις ἀναγκαίαν.
As for the cause of the abduction, some attribute it to a scarcity of women, others to a pretext for war, while those who write the most probable accounts, with whom I myself agree, attribute it to the necessity of contracting a friendship with the neighboring cities.
§2.31.2τὴν δὲ τότε ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου καθιερωθεῖσαν ἑορτὴν ἔτι καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ ἄγοντες Ῥωμαῖοι διετέλουν Κωνσουάλια καλοῦντες, ἐν ᾗ βωμός τε ὑπόγειος ἱδρυμένος παρὰ τῷ μεγίστῳ τῶν ἱπποδρόμων περισκαφείσης τῆς γῆς θυσίαις τε καὶ ὑπερπύροις ἀπαρχαῖς γεραίρεται, καὶ δρόμος ἵππων ζευκτῶν τε καὶ ἀζεύκτων ἐπιτελεῖται.
And the Romans have continued to celebrate down to my time the festival then instituted by Romulus, calling it Consualia, at which an underground altar, established near the greatest of the hippodromes, is honored, after the earth has been cleared away, with sacrifices and burnt offerings of first-fruits, and a race of horses, both yoked and unyoked, is performed.
καλεῖται δὲ ὁ θεός, ᾧ ταῦτʼ ἐπιτελοῦσι, Κῶνσος ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, ὃν ἐξερμηνεύοντες εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν γλῶτταν Ποσειδῶνα σεισίχθονά φασιν εἶναί τινες καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὑπογείῳ τετιμῆσθαι βωμῷ λέγουσιν, ὅτι τὴν γῆν ὁ θεὸς οὗτος ἔχει.
And the god to whom they perform these things is called Consus by the Romans; whom some, translating into our tongue, say is Poseidon the Earth-shaker, and they say he is honored with an underground altar for this reason, because this god holds the earth.
§2.31.3ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ἕτερον οἶδα λόγον ἀκούων, ὡς τῆς μὲν ἑορτῆς τῷ Ποσειδῶνι ἀγομένης καὶ τοῦ δρόμου τῶν ἵππων τούτῳ τῷ θεῷ γινομένου, τοῦ δὲ καταγείου βωμοῦ δαίμονι ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ βουλευμάτων κρυφίων ἡγεμόνι καὶ φύλακι κατασκευασθέντος ὕστερον· Ποσειδῶνι γὰρ ἀφανῆ βωμὸν οὐδαμόθι γῆς οὔθʼ ὑφʼ Ἑλλήνων οὔθʼ ὑπὸ βαρβάρων καθιδρῦσθαι· τὸ δʼ ἀληθὲς ὅπως ἔχει χαλεπὸν εἰπεῖν.
But I also know of another story that I have heard, namely that while the festival is celebrated in honor of Poseidon and the race of horses is held for this god, the underground altar was constructed later in honor of a certain unspeakable deity, the leader and guardian of secret counsels; for they say that an invisible altar has been established to Poseidon nowhere on earth, neither by Greeks nor by barbarians; but how the truth stands is difficult to say.