§2.60.1ὁ δὲ Νόμας ἀφικομένων ὡς αὐτὸν τῶν καλούντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, τέως μὲν ἀντέλεγε καὶ μέχρι πολλοῦ διέμεινεν ἀπομαχόμενος μὴ λαβεῖν τὴν ἀρχήν, ὡς δὲ οἵ τε ἀδελφοὶ προσέκειντο λιπαροῦντες καὶ τελευτῶν ὁ πατὴρ οὐκ ἠξίου τηλικαύτην τιμὴν διδομένην ἀπωθεῖσθαι, συνέγνω γενέσθαι βασιλεύς· §2.60.2τοῖς δὲ Ῥωμαίοις πυθομένοις ταῦτα παρὰ τῶν πρεσβευτῶν, πρὶν ὄψει τὸν ἄνδρα ἰδεῖν πολὺς αὐτοῦ παρέστη πόθος, ἱκανὸν ἡγουμένοις τεκμήριον εἶναι τῆς σοφίας, εἰ τῶν ἄλλων ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτριον ἐκτετιμηκότων βασιλείαν καὶ τὸν εὐδαίμονα βίον ἐν ταύτῃ τιθεμένων μόνος ἐκεῖνος ὡς φαύλου τινὸς καὶ οὐκ ἀξίου σπουδῆς πράγματος καταφρονεῖ, παραγενομένῳ τε ὑπήντων ἔτι καθʼ ὁδὸν ὄντι σὺν ἐπαίνῳ πολλῷ καὶ ἀσπασμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις τιμαῖς παραπέμποντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν. §2.60.3ἐκκλησίας δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο συναχθείσης, ἐν ᾗ διήνεγκαν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὰς ψήφους αἱ φυλαὶ κατὰ φράτρας καὶ τῶν πατρικίων ἐπικυρωσάντων τὰ δόξαντα τῷ πλήθει καὶ τελευταῖον ἔτι τῶν ὀρνιθοσκόπων αἴσια τὰ παρὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου σημεῖα ἀποφηνάντων παραλαμβάνει τὴν ἀρχήν. §2.60.4τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα Ῥωμαῖοί φασι στρατείαν μηδεμίαν ποιήσασθαι, θεοσεβῆ δὲ καὶ δίκαιον γενόμενον ἐν εἰρήνῃ πάντα τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς χρόνον διατελέσαι καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἄριστα πολιτευομένην παρασχεῖν, λόγους τε ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πολλοὺς καὶ θαυμαστοὺς λέγουσιν ἀναφέροντες τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σοφίαν εἰς θεῶν ὑποθήκας. §2.60.5νύμφην γάρ τινα μυθολογοῦσιν Ἠγερίαν φοιτᾶν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἑκάστοτε διδάσκουσαν τὴν βασιλικὴν σοφίαν, ἕτεροι δὲ οὐ νύμφην, ἀλλὰ τῶν Μουσῶν μίαν.
When those who were calling him to the sovereignty arrived at his house, Numa for a time refused, and for a long time persisted in his opposition to accepting the rule; but when his brothers urged him with importunity and at last his father thought it not right to reject so great an honor when offered, he consented to become king.\n And when the Romans learned this from the ambassadors, even before seeing the man with their own eyes, a great longing for him arose in them; for they thought it a sufficient proof of his wisdom that, while other men valued kingship beyond measure and placed the happy life in it, he alone despised it as a worthless thing and not worthy of serious concern. And when he arrived, they met him while he was still on the road with great praise and greetings, and escorted him into the city with all other honors.\n After this an assembly was gathered, in which the tribes cast their votes for him by curiae, and when the patricians had ratified the decisions of the multitude, and finally when the augurs declared the omens from the deity to be favorable, he took over the government.\n The Romans say that this man made no military campaigns, but being devout and just, spent the whole time of his rule in peace and provided the city with the best government; and they tell many wonderful stories about him, attributing his human wisdom to the suggestions of the gods.\n For they mythologize that a certain nymph, Egeria, used to visit him each time to teach him kingly wisdom, while others say it was not a nymph but one of the Muses.
καὶ τοῦτό φασι γενέσθαι πᾶσι φανερόν.
And they say this became clear to everyone.
ἀπιστούντων γὰρ, ὡς ἔοικε, τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατʼ ἀρχὰς καὶ πεπλάσθαι νομιζόντων τὸν περὶ τῆς θεᾶς λόγον, βουλόμενον αὐτὸν ἐπιδείξασθαι τοῖς ἀπιστοῦσιν ἐναργές τι μήνυμα τῆς πρὸς τὴν δαίμονα ὁμιλίας διδαχθέντα ὑπʼ αὐτῆς ποιῆσαι τάδε· §2.60.6καλέσαντα Ῥωμαίων πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, ἐν ᾗ διαιτώμενος ἐτύγχανεν, ἔπειτα δείξαντα τοῖς ἐλθοῦσι τὰ ἔνδον τῇ τε ἄλλῃ κατασκευῇ φαύλως κεχορηγημένα καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν εἰς ἑστίασιν ὀχλικὴν ἐπιτηδείων ἄπορα, τότε μὲν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι κελεύειν, εἰς ἑσπέραν δὲ §2.60.7καλεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον· παραγενομένοις δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀποδειχθεῖσαν ὥραν ἐπιδεῖξαι στρωμνάς τε πολυτελεῖς καὶ τραπέζας ἐκπωμάτων γεμούσας πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἑστίασίν τε αὐτοῖς παραθεῖναι κατακλιθεῖσιν ἁπάσης ἐδωδῆς, ἣν οὐδʼ ἂν ἐκ πολλοῦ πάνυ χρόνου παρασκευάσασθαί τινι τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων ῥᾴδιον ἦν.
For when people at first disbelieved, as it seems, and thought the story about the goddess was a fiction, Numa, wishing to show to the unbelievers a clear proof of his intercourse with the deity, having been instructed by her, did as follows:\n having invited many of the noble Romans to the house in which he happened to live, and then having shown to those who came that the interior was poorly furnished with other equipment and indeed lacked the necessities for a large banquet, he then ordered them to depart, but for the evening\n invited them to dinner; and when they came at the appointed hour, he showed them luxurious couches and tables laden with many beautiful cups, and set before them as they reclined a feast of every kind of food, which it would not have been easy for any man of that time to prepare even in a very long time.
τοῖς δὲ Ῥωμαίοις κατάπληξίν τε πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ὁρωμένων ὑπελθεῖν καὶ δόξαν ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου παραστῆναι βέβαιον, ὅτι θεά τις αὐτῷ συνῆν.
And a state of astonishment came upon the Romans at each of the things they saw, and from that time a firm belief was established in them that some goddess was with him.