§27.23.1praetores in provincias profecti; consules religio tenebat, quod prodigiis aliquot nuntiatis non facile litabant. §27.23.2et ex Campania nuntiata erant, Capuae duas aedes, Fortunae et Martis, et sepulcra aliquot de caelo tacta, Cumis — adeo minimis etiam rebus prava religio inserit deos — mures in aede Iovis aurum rosisse, Casini examen apium ingens in foro consedisse, et Ostiae murum portamque de caelo tactam, §27.23.3Caere vulturium volasse in aedem Iovis, Vulsiniis sanguine lacum manasse.
The praetors set out for their provinces; religious scruples held back the consuls, because, after several prodigies had been reported, they could not easily obtain favorable omens. And from Campania it had been reported that at Capua two temples, of Fortune and of Mars, and several tombs had been struck by lightning; at Cumae—to such an extent does superstitious fear introduce the gods even into the most trivial matters—mice had gnawed gold in the temple of Jupiter; at Casinum a huge swarm of bees had settled in the forum; and at Ostia the wall and a gate had been struck by lightning; at Caere a vulture had flown into the temple of Jupiter; at Volsinii the lake had flowed with blood. Because of these prodigies, a supplication was held for one day.
§27.23.4horum prodigiorum causa diem unum supplicatio fuit. per dies aliquot hostiae maiores sine litatione caesae, diuque non impetrata pax deum.
For several days larger victims were sacrificed without obtaining favorable omens, and for a long time the peace of the gods was not secured.
in capita consulum re publica incolumi exitiabilis prodigiorum eventus vertit. §27.23.5ludi Apollinares Q. Fulvio Ap. Claudio consulibus a P. Cornelio Sulla praetore urbano primum facti erant; inde omnes deinceps praetores urbani fecerant; sed in unum annum vovebant dieque incerta faciebant.
While the state remained unharmed, the destructive outcome of the prodigies turned upon the heads of the consuls. The Apollonian Games had first been celebrated by the urban praetor Publius Cornelius Sulla in the consulship of Quintus Fulvius and Appius Claudius; from then on, all successive urban praetors had celebrated them; but they would vow them for a single year and hold them on an uncertain date.
eo anno pestilentia gravis incidit in urbem agrosque, §27.23.6quae tamen magis in longos morbos quam in perniciabiles evasit. §27.23.7eius pestilentiae causa et supplicatum per compita tota urbe est, et P. Licinius Varus praetor urbanus legem ferre ad populum iussus, ut ii ludi in perpetuum in statam diem voverentur.
In that year a severe pestilence fell upon the city and the fields, which, however, turned out to be lingering illnesses rather than fatal ones. Because of this pestilence, supplications were made at the crossroads throughout the entire city, and the urban praetor Publius Licinius Varus was ordered to propose a law to the people that those games should be vowed in perpetuity for a fixed day.
ipse primus ita vovit, fecitque ante diem tertium idus Quintiles.
He himself was the first to vow them in this manner, and he celebrated them on the third day before the Ides of July.
is dies deinde sollemnis servatus.
That day was thereafter kept as a solemn festival.