§8.56.1εἴη δʼ ἂν ἁρμόττον ἱστορίας σχήματι καὶ ἐπανορθώσεως ἕνεκα τῶν οἰομένων μήτʼ ἐπὶ ταῖς τιμαῖς ταῖς παρʼ ἀνθρώπων χαίρειν τοὺς θεοὺς μήτʼ ἐπὶ ταῖς ἀνοσίοις καὶ ἀδίκοις πράξεσιν ἀγανακτεῖν, τὸ δηλῶσαι τὴν γενομένην ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς θεοῦ κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ καὶ δίς, ὡς αἱ τῶν ἱεροφαντῶν περιέχουσι γραφαί, ἵνα τοῖς μὲν εὐλαβεστέροις περὶ τὸ συνέχειν, ἃς παρὰ τῶν προγόνων δόξας ὑπὲρ τοῦ δαιμονίου παρέλαβον, ἀμεταμέλητος ἡ τοιαύτη προαίρεσις καὶ βεβαία διαμένῃ, τοῖς δʼ ὑπερορῶσι τῶν πατρίων ἐθισμῶν καὶ μηθενὸς ποιοῦσι τὸ δαιμόνιον τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων λογισμῶν κύριον μάλιστα μὲν ἀναθέσθαι ταύτην τὴν δόξαν, εἰ δʼ ἀνιάτως ἔχουσιν ἔτι μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς ἀπεχθάνεσθαι καὶ κακοδαιμονεστέροις εἶναι.
It would be fitting for the character of history, and for the correction of those who think that the gods neither rejoice at honors from men nor are angry at unholy and unjust deeds, to show the manifestation of the goddess that occurred at that time, not once but twice, as the writings of the pontiffs record, so that for the more pious, with respect to maintaining the opinions they received from their ancestors concerning the divine, such purpose may remain unregretted and secure, while for those who despise ancestral customs and consider the divine to be the master of none of human calculations, they should first of all retract this opinion, or if they are incurably diseased, they should be still more hated by them and be more wretched.
§8.56.2ἱστορεῖται τοίνυν, ὅτι τῆς βουλῆς ψηφισαμένης ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου πάσας ἐπιχορηγηθῆναι τὰς εἰς τὸν νεών τε καὶ τὸ ξόανον δαπάνας, ἕτερον δʼ ἄγαλμα κατασκευασαμένων τῶν γυναικῶν ἀφʼ ὧν αὐταὶ συνήνεγκαν χρημάτων, ἀνατεθέντων τʼ αὐτῶν ἀμφοτέρων ἅμα ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τῆς ἀνιερώσεως ἡμέρᾳ, θάτερον τῶν ἀφιδρυμάτων, ὃ κατεσκευάσανθʼ αἱ γυναῖκες, ἐφθέγξατο πολλῶν παρουσῶν γλώττῃ Λατίνῃ φωνὴν εὐσύνετόν τε καὶ γεγωνόν· ἧς ἐστι φωνῆς ἐξερμηνευόμενος ὁ νοῦς εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα διάλεκτον τοιόσδε· ὁσίῳ §8.56.3πόλεως νόμῳ γυναῖκες γαμεταὶ δεδώκατέ με. οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι περὶ τὰς παραδόξους φωνάς τε καὶ ὄψεις, πολλὴ ταῖς παρούσαις ἐνέπιπτεν ἀπιστία, μή ποτʼ οὐ τὸ ξόανον εἴη τὸ φθεγξάμενον, ἀνθρωπίνη δέ τις φωνή· μάλιστα δʼ ὅσαι πρὸς ἄλλῳ τινὶ τὸν νοῦν ἔχουσαι τηνικαῦτα ἔτυχον, οὐκ ἰδοῦσαι τὸ φθεγγόμενον, ὅ τι ποτʼ ἦν, ταύτην εἶχον τὴν πρὸς τὰς ἰδούσας ἀπιστίαν.
It is recorded, then, that when the senate had decreed that all expenses for the temple and the wooden image should be supplied from the public treasury, but the women had prepared another statue from the money they themselves had contributed, and when both of them had been dedicated together on the first day of the consecration, one of the two statues, the one which the women had prepared, spoke in the presence of many women in the Latin tongue with a voice clear and loud; the meaning of which voice, being translated into the Greek tongue, is as follows: "By the holy law of the city, married women, you have dedicated me." But as is wont to happen concerning extraordinary voices and sights, great disbelief fell upon the women present, lest indeed it was not the wooden image that had spoken, but some human voice; and especially those who happened at that time to have their minds on something else, not having seen what it was that spoke, held this disbelief toward those who had seen it.
ἔπειτʼ αὖθις πληθύοντος τοῦ νεὼ καὶ σιωπῆς πλείστης κατὰ δαίμονα γενομένης ἐν μείζονι φωνῇ ταὐτὸ ξόανον ἐφθέγξατο τὴν αὐτὴν λέξιν, ὥστε μηδὲν ἔτι εἶναι τὸ ἀμφίλογον.
Then, when the temple was full again and a profound silence had come about by divine providence, the same wooden image spoke the same sentence in a louder voice, so that there was no longer any room for dispute.
ἡ μὲν οὖν βουλὴ ὡς. §8.56.4ταῦτʼ ἔμαθεν ἐψηφίσατο θυσίας ἄλλας καὶ σεβασμούς, οὓς ἂν οἱ τῶν ἱερῶν ἐξηγηταὶ παραδῶσι καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος ἐπιτελεῖν.
Therefore the senate, when they learned this, decreed other sacrifices and honors, which the interpreters of sacred matters should hand down to be performed every year.
αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἐν ἔθει κατεστήσαντο τῇ τῆς ἱερείας χρησάμεναι γνώμῃ, τῷ ξοάνῳ τούτῳ μήτε στεφάνους ἐπιτιθέναι μήτε χεῖρας προσφέρειν γυναῖκας, ὅσαι δευτέρων ἐπειράθησαν γάμων, τὴν δὲ τιμὴν καὶ θεραπείαν αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν ἀποδεδόσθαι ταῖς νεογάμοις.
And the women established it as a custom, following the advice of the priestess, that women who had experienced second marriages should neither place wreaths upon this wooden image nor lay hands upon it, but all honor and service of it should be rendered to the newly married women.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων οὔτε παρελθεῖν τὴν ἐπιχώριον ἱστορίαν καλῶς εἶχεν, οὔτε πλείονα περὶ αὐτῆς ποιεῖσθαι λόγον.
But concerning these things, it was neither well to pass over the local history, nor to make a longer account of it.
ἐπάνειμι δʼ, ὅθεν εἰς τοῦτον ἐξέβην τὸν λόγον.
I will return to the point from which I digressed into this account.