---
title: "On Divination · De divinatione"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "William Armistead Falconer"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 2 of 9
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-divinatione/2/
cite: "Cicero, tr. William Armistead Falconer, On Divination · De divinatione, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-divinatione/2/"
---

# On Divination · De divinatione

*Cicero, tr. William Armistead Falconer*

Can the future be known? Cicero’s brother Quintus defends omens, dreams and oracles; Cicero takes them apart.

> Latin: ed. William Armistead Falconer, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi053, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: William Armistead Falconer, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi053.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 2. Book I · sections 34–65

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-divinatione/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-divinatione/2/#p-N

[¶0] 34. "I agree, therefore, with those who have said that there are two kinds of divination: one, which is allied with art; the other, which is devoid of art. Those diviners employ art, who, having learned the known by observation, seek the unknown by deduction. On the other hand those do without art who, unaided by reason or deduction or by signs which have been observed and recorded, forecast the future while under the influence of mental excitement, or of some free and unrestrained emotion. This condition often occurs to men while dreaming and sometimes to persons who prophesy while in a frenzy—like Bacis of Boeotia, Epimenides of Crete and the Sibyl of Erythraea. In this latter class must be placed oracles—not oracles given by means of' equalized lots' —but those uttered under the impulse of divine inspiration; although divination by lot is not in itself to be despised, if it has the sanction of antiquity, as in the case of those lots which, according to tradition, sprang out of the earth; for in spite of everything, I am inclined to think that they may, under the power of God, be so drawn as to give an appropriate response. Men capable of correctly interpreting all these signs of the future seem to approach very near to the divine spirit of the gods whose wills they interpret, just as scholars do when they interpret the poets.

> Latin: 34. “Eis igitur assentior, qui duo genera divinationum esse dixerunt, unum, quod particeps esset artis, alterum, quod arte careret. enim ars in eis qui novas res coniectura persequuntur, veteres observatione didicerunt. autem arte ei qui, non ratione aut coniectura observatis ac notatis signis, sed concitatione quadam animi aut soluto liberoque motu, futura praesentiunt, quod et somniantibus saepe contingit et non numquam vaticinantibus per furorem, ut Bacis Boeotius, ut Epimenides Cres, ut Sibylla Erythraea. generis oracula etiam habenda sunt, non ea, quae aequatis sortibus ducuntur, sed illa, quae instinctu divino afflatuque funduntur; etsi ipsa sors contemnenda non est, si auctoritatem habet vetustatis, ut eae sunt sortes, quas e terra editas accepimus; quae tamen ductae ut in rem apte cadant, fieri credo posse divinitus. omnium interpretes, ut grammatici poetarum, proxime ad eorum, quos interpretantur, divinationem videntur accedere.”

[¶1] 35. "What sort of cleverness is it, then, that would attempt by sophistry to overthrow facts that antiquity has established? I fail—you tell me—to discover their cause. That, perhaps, is one of Nature's hidden secrets. God has not willed me to know the cause, but only that I should use the means which he has given. Therefore, I will use them and I will not allow myself to be persuaded that the whole Etruscan nation has gone stark mad on the subject of entrails, or that these same people are in error about lightnings, or that they are false interpreters of portents; for many a time the rumblings and roarings and quakings of the earth have given to our republic and to other states certain forewarnings of subsequent disaster.

> Latin: 35. “Quae est igitur ista calliditas res vetustate robustas calumniando velle pervertere? reperio causam. fortasse obscuritate involuta natura; non enim me deus ista scire, sed his tantum modo uti voluit. igitur nec adducar aut in extis totam Etruriam delirare aut eandem gentem in fulguribus errare aut fallaciter portenta interpretari, cum terrae saepe fremitus, saepe mugitus, saepe motus multa nostrae rei publicae, multa ceteris civitatibus gravia et vera praedixerint.”

[¶2] 36. Why, then, when here recently a mule (which is an animal ordinarily sterile by nature) brought forth a foal, need anyone have scoffed because the soothsayers from that occurrence prophesied a progeny of countless evils to the state? "What, pray, do you say of that well-known incident of Tiberius Gracchus, the son of Publius? He was censor and consul twice; besides that he was a most competent augur, a wise man and a preeminent citizen. Yet he, according to the account left us by his son Gaius, having caught two snakes in his home, called in the soothsayers to consult them. They advised him that if he let the male snake go his wife must die in a short time; and if he released the female snake his own death must soon occur. Thinking it more fitting that a speedy death should overtake him rather than his young wife, who was the daughter of Publius Africanus, he released the female snake and died within a few days. Let us laugh at the soothsayers, brand them as frauds and impostors and scorn their calling, even though a very wise man, Tiberius Gracchus, and the results and circumstances of his death have given proof of its trustworthiness; let us scorn the Babylonians, too, and those astrologers who, from the top of Mount Caucasus, observe the celestial signs and with the aid of mathematics follow the courses of the stars; let us, I say, convict of folly, falsehood, and shamelessness the men whose records, as they themselves assert, cover a period of four hundred and seventy thousand years; and let us pronounce them liars, utterly indifferent to the opinion of succeeding generations.

> Latin: 36. “? qui irridetur, partus hic mulae nonne, quia fetus extitit in sterilitate naturae, praedictus est ab haruspicibus incredibilis partus malorum?” “Quid? Ti. Gracchus P. F., qui bis consul et censor fuit, idemque et summus augur et vir sapiens civisque praestans, nonne, ut C. Gracchus, filius eius, scriptum reliquit, duobus anguibus domi comprehensis haruspices convocavit? qui cum respondissent, si marem emisisset, uxori brevi tempore esse moriendum, si feminam, ipsi; aequius esse censuit se maturam oppetere mortem quam P. Africani filiam adulescentem; feminam emisit, ipse paucis post diebus est mortuus. haruspices, vanos, futiles esse dicamus, quorumque disciplinam et sapientissimus vir et eventus ac res comprobavit, contemnamus; contemnamus etiam Babylonios, et eos, qui e Caucaso caeli signa servantes numeris stellarum cursus persequuntur., inquam, hos aut stultitiae aut vanitatis aut impudentiae, qui quadringenta septuaginta milia annorum, ut ipsi dicunt, monumentis comprehensa continent, et mentiri iudicemus, nec saeculorum reliquorum iudicium quod de ipsis futurum sit pertimescere.”

[¶3] 37. Come, let us admit that the barbarians are all base deceivers, but are the Greek historians liars too? "Speaking now of natural divination, everybody knows the oracular responses which the Pythian Apollo gave to Croesus, to the Athenians, Spartans, Tegeans, Argives, and Corinthians. Chrysippus has collected a vast number of these responses, attested in every instance by abundant proof. But I pass them by as you know them well. I will urge only this much, however, in defence: the oracle at Delphi never would have been so much frequented. so famous, and so crowded with offerings from peoples and kings of every land, if all ages had not tested the truth of its prophecies. For a long time now that has not been the case.

> Latin: 37. “Age, barbari vani atque fallaces; num etiam Graiorum historia mentita est?” “Quae Croeso Pythius Apollo, ut de naturali divinatione dicam, quae Atheniensibus, quae Lacedaemoniis, quae Tegeatis, quae Argivis, quae Corinthiis respondent, quis ignorat? innumerabilia oracula Chrysippus nec ullum sine locuplete auctore atque teste; quae, quia nota tibi sunt, relinquo; defendo unum hoc: Numquam illud oraculum Delphis tam celebre et tam clarum fuisset neque tantis donis refertum omnium populorum atque regum, nisi omnis aetas oraculorum illorum veritatem esset experta. iam diu non facit.”

[¶4] 38. Therefore, as at present its glory has waned because it is no longer noted for the truth of its prophecies, so formerly it would not have enjoyed so exalted a reputation if it had not been trustworthy in the highest degree. Possibly, too, those subterraneous exhalations which used to kindle the soul of the Pythian priestess with divine inspiration have gradually vanished in the long lapse of time; just as within our own knowledge some rivers have dried up and disappeared, while others, by winding and twisting, have changed their course into other channels. But explain the decadence of the oracle as you wish, since it offers a wide field for discussion, provided you grant what cannot be denied without distorting the entire record of history, that the oracle at Delphi made true prophecies for many hundreds of years.

> Latin: 38. “igitur nunc minore gloria est, quia minus oraculorum veritas excellit, sic tum nisi summa veritate in tanta gloria non fuisset. Potest autem vis illa terrae quae mentem Pythiae divino afflatu concitabat evanuisse vetustate, ut quosdam evanuisse et exaruisse amnes aut in alium cursum contortos et deflexos videmus. ut vis acciderit, magna enim quaestio est, modo maneat id quod negari non potest, nisi omnem historiam perverterimus, multis saeclis verax fuisse id oraculum.”

[¶5] 39. "But let us leave oracles and come to dreams. In his treatise on this subject Chrysippus, just as Antipater does, has assembled a mass of trivial dreams which he explains according to Antiphon's rules of interpretation. The work, I admit, displays the acumen of its author, but it would have been better if he had cited illustrations of a more serious type. Now, Philistus, who was a learned and painstaking man and a contemporary of the times of which he writes, gives us the following story of the mother of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse: while she was with child and was carrying this same Dionysius in her womb, she dreamed that she had been delivered of an infant satyr. When she referred this dream to the interpreters of portents, who in Sicily were called ' Galeotae,' they replied, so Philistus relates, that she would bring forth a son who would be very eminent in Greece and would enjoy a long and prosperous career.

> Latin: 39. “Sed omittamus oracula; veniamus ad somnia. De quibus disputans Chrysippus, multis et minutis somniis colligendis, facit idem quod Antipater ea conquirens, quae Antiphontis interpretatione explicata declarant illa quidem acumen interpretis, sed exemplis grandioribus decuit uti. mater, eius qui Syracosiorum tyrannus fuit, ut scriptum apud Philistum est, et doctum hominem et diligentem et aequalem temporum illorum, cum praegnans hunc ipsum Dionysium alvo contineret, somniavit se peperisse Satyriscum. interpretes portentorum, qui Galeotae tum in Sicilia nominabantur, responderunt, ut ait Philistus, eum, quem illa peperisset, clarissimum Graeciae diuturna cum fortuna fore.”

[¶6] 40. "May I not recall to your memory some stories to be found in the works of Roman and of Greek poets? For example, the following dream of the Vestal Virgin is from Ennius:
The vestal from her sleep in fright awoke
And to the startled maid, whose trembling hands
A lamp did bear, thus spoke in tearful tones:
'O daughter of Eurydice, thou whom
Our father loved, from my whole frame departs
The vital force. For in my dreams I saw
A man of beauteous form, who bore me off
Through willows sweet, along the fountain's brink,
To places strange. And then, my sister dear,
Alone, with halting step and longing heart,
I seemed to wander, seeking thee in vain;
There was no path to make my footing sure.

> Latin: 40. “Num te ad fabulas revoco vel nostrorum vel Graecorum poëtarum? enim et apud Ennium Vestalis illa:
excita cum tremulis anus attulit artubu’ lumen,
talia tum memorat lacrimans exterrita somno:
‘Eurydica prognata, pater quam noster amavit,’
‘vires vitaque corpu’ meum nunc deserit omne’.
‘nam me visus homo pulcher per amoena salicta’
‘et ripas raptare locosque novos; ita sola’
‘postilla, germana soror, errare videbar’
‘tardaque vestigare et quaerere te neque posse’
‘corde capessere; semita nulla pedem stabilibat.’
” “
‘exin compellare pater me voce videtur’
‘his verbis: “O gnata, tibi sunt ante gerendae”’
‘“aerumnae, post ex fluvio fortuna resistet.”’

[¶7] 41. And then I thought my father spoke these words
“Great sorrows, daughter, thou must first endure
Until thy fortune from the Tiber rise.”
When this was said he suddenly withdrew;
Nor did his cherished vision come again,
Though oft I raised my hand to heaven's dome
And called aloud in tearful, pleading voice.
Then sleep departing left me sick at heart.'

> Latin: 41. ‘haec effatu’ pater, germana, repente recessit’
‘nec sese dedit in conspectum corde cupitus,’
‘quamquam multa manus ad caeli caerula templa’
‘tendebam lacrumans et blanda voce vocabam.’
‘vix aegro tum corde meo me somnus reliquit.’
” “Haec, etiamsi ficta sunt a poëta, non absunt tamen a consuetudine somniorum.

[¶8] 42. "This dream, I admit, is the fiction of a poet's brain, yet it is not contrary to our experience with real dreams. It may well be that the following story of the dream which greatly disturbed Priam's peace of mind is fiction too:
When mother Hecuba was great with child,
She dreamed that she brought forth a flaming torch.
Alarmed at this, with sighing cares possessed,
The king and father, Priam, to the gods
Did make a sacrifice of bleating lambs.
He, seeking peace and answer to the dream,
Implored Apollo's aid to understand
What great events the vision did foretell.
Apollo's oracle, with voice divine,
Then gave this explanation of the dream:
Thy next-born son forbear to rear, for he
Will be the death of Pergamos and Troy.

> Latin: 42. sane etiam illud commenticium, quo Priamus est conturbatus, quia
máter gravida párere se ardentém facem
visá est in somnis Hécuba; quo factó pater
rex ípse Priamus sómnio mentís metu
percúlsus curis súmptus suspirántibus
exsácrificabat hóstiis balántibus.
tum cóniecturam póstulat pacém petens,
ut se édoceret, óbsecrans Apóllinem,
quo sése vertant tántae sortes sómnium.
ibi éx oraclo vóce divina édidit
Apóllo, puerum, primus Priamo quí foret
ílla natus, témperaret tóllere;
eum ésse exitium Tróiae, pestem Pérgamo.”

[¶9] 43. Grant, I repeat, that these dreams are myths and in the same category put Aeneas's dream, related in the Greek annals of our countryman, Fabius Pictor. According to Pictor everything that Aeneas did or suffered turned out just as it had been predicted to him in a dream. "But let us look at examples nearer our own times. Would you dare call that famous dream of Tarquin the Proud a myth? He describes it himself in the following lines from the Brutus of Accius:

> Latin: 43. “haec, ut dixi, somnia fabularum, hisque adiungatur etiam Aeneae somnium, quod in nostri Fabi Pictoris Graecis annalibus eius modi est, ut omnia. quae ab Aenea gesta sunt quaeque illi acciderunt, ea fuerint, quae ei secundum quietem visa sunt.” “Sed propiora videamus. modi est Superbi Tarquini somnium, de quo in Bruto Acci loquitur ipse?”

[¶10] 44. At night's approach I sought my quiet couch
To soothe my weary limbs with restful sleep.
Then in my dreams a shepherd near me drove
A fleecy herd whose beauty was extreme.
I chose two brother rams from out the flock
And sacrificed the comelier of the twain.
And then, with lowered horns, the other ram
Attacked and bore me headlong to the ground.
While there I lay outstretched and wounded sore,
The sky a wondrous miracle disclosed:
The blazing star of day reversed its course
And glided to the right by pathway new.

> Latin: 44. “
quom iám quieti córpus nocturno ímpetu
dedí sopore plácans artus lánguidos,
visúst in somnis pástor ad me appéllere
pecús lanigerum exímia puchritúdine;
duós consanguineos árietes inde éligi
praeclárioremque álterum immoláre me;
deinde eíus germanum córnibus conítier,
in me árietare, eoque íctu me ad casúm dari;
exín prostratum térra, graviter saúcium,
resupínum in caelo cóntueri máximum ac
miríficum facinus: déxtrorsum orbem flámmeum
radiátum solis líquier cursú novo.”

[¶11] 45. Now observe how the diviners interpreted this dream:
It is not strange, O king, that dreams reflect
The day's desires and thoughts, its sights and deeds,
And everything we say or do awake.
But in so grave a dream as yours we see
A message clearly sent, and thus it warns:
Beware of him you deem bereft of wit
And rate no higher than a stupid ram,
Lest he, with wisdom armed, should rise to fame
And drive you from your throne. The sun's changed course
Unto the state portends immediate change.
And may that prove benignant to the state;
For since the almighty orb from left to right
Revolved, it was the best of auguries
That Rome would be supreme o'er all the earth.

> Latin: 45. “igitur somnii a coniectoribus quae sit interpretatio facta, videamus:
réx, quae in vita usúrpant homines, cógitant, cuŕánt, vident,
quaéque aiunt vigilántes agitantque, éa si cui in somno áccidunt,
mínus mirum est; séd in re tanta haud temere visa se ófferunt.
óin vide ne, quém tu esse hebetem députes aeque ác pecus,
is sapientiá munitum péctus egregié gerat
téque regno expéllat. nam id quod dé sole ostentúm est tibi,
pópulo commutátionem rérum portendít fore
pérpropinquam. haec béne verruncent pópulo. nam quod ad dexteram
cépit cursum ab laéva signum praépotens, pulchérrime
aúguratum est rém Romanam públicam sumám fore.”

[¶12] 46. "But come now and let us return to foreign instances. Heraclides Ponticus, a man of learning, and both a pupil and a disciple of Plato's, relates a dream of the mother of Phalaris. She fell asleep and dreamed that, while looking at the consecrated images of the gods set up in her house, she saw the statue of Mercury pouring blood from a bowl which it held in its right hand and that the blood, as it touched the ground, welled up and completely filled the house. The truth of the dream was subsequently established by the inhuman cruelty of her son. "Why need I bring forth from Dinon's Persian annals the dreams of that famous prince, Cyrus, and their interpretations by the magi? But take this instance: Once upon a time Cyrus dreamed that the sun was at his feet. Three times, so Dinon writes, he vainly tried to grasp it and each time it turned away, escaped him, and finally disappeared. He was told by the magi, who are classed as wise and learned men among the Persians, that his grasping for the sun three times portended that he would reign for thirty years. And thus it happened; for he lived to his seventieth year, having begun to reign at forty.

> Latin: 46. “Age nunc ad externa redeamus. Phalaridis scribit Ponticus Heraclides, doctus vir, auditor et discipulus Platonis, visam esse videre in somnis simulacra deorum, quae ipsa domi consecravisset; ex eis Mercurium e patera, quam dextera manu teneret, sanguinem visum esse fundere; qui cum terram attigisset, refervescere videretur sic, ut tota domus sanguine redundaret. matris somnium inmanis fili crudelitas comprobavit.” “Quid ego, quae magi Cyro illi principi interpretati sint, ex Dinonis Persicis proferam? cum dormienti ei sol ad pedes visus esset, ter eum scribit frustra appetivisse manibus, cum se convolvens sol elaberetur et abiret; ei magos dixisse, quod genus sapientium et doctorum habebatur in Persis, ex triplici appetitione solis triginta annos Cyrum regnaturum esse portendi. ita contigit; nam ad septuagesimum pervenit, cum quadraginta natus annos regnare coepisset.”

[¶13] 47. "It certainly must be true that even barbarians have some power of foreknowledge and of prophecy, if the following story of Callanus of India be true: As he was about to die and was ascending his funeral pyre, he said: 'What a glorious death! The fate of Hercules is mine. For when this mortal frame is burned the soul will find the light.' When Alexander directed him to speak if he wished to say anything to him, he answered: 'Thank you, nothing, except that I shall see you very soon. So it turned out, for Alexander died in Babylon a few days later. I am getting slightly away from dreams, but I shall return to them in a moment. Everybody knows that on the same night in which Olympias was delivered of Alexander the temple of Diana at Ephesus was burned, and that the magi began to cry out as the day was breaking: 'Asia's deadly curse was born last night.' But enough of Indians and magi.

> Latin: 47. “Est profecto quiddam etiam in barbaris gentibus praesentiens atque divinans, siquidem ad mortem proficiscens Callanus Indus, cum inscenderet in rogum ardentem, ‘O praeclarum discessum,’ inquit, ‘e vita, cum, ut Herculi contigit, mortali corpore cremato in lucem animus excesserit!’ Cumque Alexander eum rogaret, si quid vellet, ut diceret, ‘Optime,’ inquit; ‘propediem te videbo.’ Quod ita contigit; nam Babylone paucis post diebus Alexander est mortuus. parumper a somniis, ad quae mox revertar. nocte templum Ephesiae Dianae deflagravit, eadem constat ex Olympiade natum esse Alexandrum, atque, ubi lucere coepisset, clamitasse magos pestem ac perniciem Asiae proxima nocte natam. de Indis et magis.”

[¶14] 48. "Let us go back to dreams. Coelius writes that Hannibal wished to carry off a golden column from Juno's temple at Lacinium, but since he was in doubt whether it was solid or plated, he bored into it. Finding it solid he decided to take it away. But at night Juno came to him in a vision and warned him not to do so, threatening that if he did she would cause the loss of his good eye. That clever man did not neglect the warning. Moreover out of the gold filings he ordered an image of a calf to be made and placed on top of the column.

> Latin: 48. “Redeamus ad somnia. Hannibalem Coelius scribit, cum columnam auream, quae esset in fano Iunonis Laciniae, auferre vellet dubitaretque, utrum ea solida esset an extrinsecus inaurata, perterebravisse; cumque solidam invenisset, statuisse tollere; ei secundum quietem visam esse Iunonem praedicere, ne id faceret, minarique, si fecisset, se curaturam, ut eum quoque oculum, quo bene videret, amitteret. ab homine acuto non esse neglectum; itaque ex eo auro quod exterebratum esset buculam curasse faciendam et eam in summa columna collocavisse.”

[¶15] 49. Another story of Hannibal is found in the history written in Greek by Silenus, whom Coelius follows, and who, by the way, was a very painstaking student of Hannibal's career. After his capture of Saguntum Hannibal dreamed that Jupiter summoned him to a council of the gods. When he arrived Jupiter ordered him to carry the war into Italy, and gave him one of the divine council as a guide whom he employed when he began the march with his army. This guide cautioned Hannibal not to look back But, carried away by curiosity, he could refrain no longer and looked back. Then he saw a horrible beast of enormous size, enveloped with snakes, and wherever it went it overthrew every tree and shrub and every house. In his amazement Hannibal asked what the monster was. The god replied that it was the desolation of Italy and ordered him to press right on and not to worry about what happened behind him and in the rear.

> Latin: 49. “item in Sileni, quem Coelius sequitur, Graeca historia est (is autem diligentissime res Hannibalis persecutus est): Hannibalem, cum cepisset Saguntum, visum esse in somnis a Iove in deorum concilium vocari; quo cum venisset, Iovem imperavisse, ut Italiae bellum inferret, ducemque ei unum e concilio datum, quo illum utentem cum exercitu progredi coepisse; tum ei ducem illum praecepisse, ne respiceret; illum autem id diutius facere non potuisse elatumque cupiditate respexisse; tum visam beluam vastam et immanem circumplicatam serpentibus quacumque incederet omnia arbusta, virgulta, tecta pervertere; et eum admiratum quaesisse de deo quodnam illud esset tale monstrum, et deum respondisse vastitatem esse Italiae praecepisseque, ut pergeret protinus, quid retro atque a tergo fieret ne laboraret.”

[¶16] 50. "We read in a history by Agathocles that Hamilcar, the Carthaginian, during his siege of Syracuse heard a voice in his sleep telling him that he would dine the next day in Syracuse. At daybreak the following day a serious conflict broke out in his camp between the troops of the Carthaginians and their allies, the Siculi. When the Syracusans saw this they made a sudden assault on the camp and carried Hamilcar off alive. Thus the event verified the dream. "History is full of such instances, and so is everyday life.

> Latin: 50. “Apud Agathoclem scriptum in historia est Hamilcarem Karthaginiensem, cum oppugnaret Syracusas, visum esse audire vocem, se postridie cenaturum Syracusis; cum autem is dies illuxisset, magnam seditionem in castris eius inter Poenos et Siculos milites esse factam; quod cum sensissent Syracusani, inproviso eos in castra irrupisse, Hamilcaremque ab eis vivum esse sublatum. res somnium comprobavit.” “Plena exemplorum est historia, tum referta vita communis.”

[¶17] 51. And yet let me cite another: the famous Publius Decius, son of Quintus, and the first of that family to become consul, was military tribune in the consulship of Marcus Valerius and Aulus Cornelius while our army was being hard pressed by the Samnites. When, because of his rushing too boldly into the dangers of battle, he was advised to be more cautious, he replied, according to the annals, 'I dreamed that by dying in the midst of the enemy I should win immortal fame.' And though he was unharmed at that time and extricated the army from its difficulties, yet three years later, when consul, he devoted himself to death and rushed full-armed against the battle line of the Latins. By this act of his the Latins were overcome and destroyed; and so glorious was his death that his son sought the same fate.

> Latin: 51. “At vero P. Decius ille Q. F., qui primus e Deciis consul fuit, cum esset tribunus militum, M. Valerio A. Cornelio consulibus, a Samnitibusque premeretur noster exercitus, cum pericula proeliorum iniret audacius monereturque, ut cautior esset, dixit, quod extat in annalibus, sibi in somnis visum esse, cum in mediis hostibus versaretur, occidere cum maxima gloria. tum quidem incolumis exercitum obsidione liberavit; post triennium autem, cum consul esset, devovit se et in aciem Latinorum irrupit armatus. eius facto superati sunt et deleti Latini; cuius mors ita gloriosa fuit, ut eandem concupisceret filius.”

[¶18] 52. But let us come now, if you please, to the dreams of philosophers. "We read in Plato that Socrates, while in prison, said in a conversation with his friend Crito: 'I am to die in three days; for in a dream I saw a woman of rare beauty, who called me by name and quoted this verse from Homer:
'Gladly on Phthia's shore the third day's dawn shall behold thee.'
And history informs us that his death occurred as he had foretold. That disciple of Socrates, Xenophon—and what a man he was!—records the dreams he had during his campaign with Cyrus the Younger, and their remarkable fulfilment.

> Latin: 52. “veniamus nunc, si placet, ad somnia philosophorum.” “Est apud Platonem Socrates, cum esset in custodia publica, dicens Critoni, suo familiari, sibi post tertium diem esse moriendum; vidisse enim se in somnis pulchritudine eximia feminam, quae se nomine appellans, diceret Homericum quendam eius modi versum:
tertia te Phthiae tempestas laeta locabit., ut est dictum, sic scribitur contigisse. Xenophon Socraticus (qui vir et quantus!) in ea militia, qua cum Cyro minore perfunctus est, sua scribit somnia, quorum eventus mirabiles exstiterunt.”

[¶19] 53. Shall we say that Xenophon is either a liar or a madman? "And Aristotle, who was endowed with a matchless and almost godlike intellect,—is he in error, or is he trying to lead others into error in the following account of his friend, Eudemus the Cyprian? Eudemus, while on his way to Macedonia, reached Pherae, then a very famous city of Thessaly, but groaning under the cruel sway of the tyrant, Alexander. There he became so violently ill that the physicians despaired of his recovery. While sick he had a dream in which a youth of striking beauty told him that he would speedily get well; that the despot Alexander would die in a few days, and that he himself would return home five years later. And so, indeed, the first two prophecies, as Aristotle writes, were immediately fulfilled by the recovery of Eudemus and by the death of the tyrant at the hands of his wife's brothers. But at the end of five years, when, in reliance upon the dream, he hoped to return to Cyprus from Sicily, he was killed in battle before Syracuse. Accordingly the dream was interpreted to mean that when his soul left the body it then had returned home.

> Latin: 53. “Xenophontem an delirare dicemus?” “Quid? singulari vir ingenio Aristoteles et paene divino ipsene errat an alios vult errare, cum scribit Eudemum Cyprium, familiarem suum, iter in Macedoniam facientem Pheras venisse, quae erat urbs in Thessalia tum admodum nobilis, ab Alexandro autem tyranno crudeli dominatu tenebatur; in eo igitur oppido ita graviter aegrum Eudemum fuisse, ut omnes medici diffiderent; ei visum in quiete egregia facie iuvenem dicere fore ut perbrevi convalesceret, paucisque diebus interiturum Alexandrum tyrannum, ipsum autem Eudemum quinquennio post domum esse rediturum. ita quidem prima statim scribit Aristoteles consecuta, et convaluisse Eudemum, et ab uxoris fratribus interfectum tyrannum; quinto autem anno exeunte, cum esset spes ex illo somnio in Cyprum ilium ex Sicilia esse rediturum, proeliantem eum ad Syracusas occidisse; ex quo ita illud somnium esse interpretatum, ut, cum animus Eudemi e corpore excesserit, tum domum revertisse videatur.”

[¶20] 54. "To the testimony of philosophers let us add that of a most learned man and truly divine poet, Sophocles. A heavy gold dish having been stolen from the temple of Hercules, the god himself appeared to Sophocles in a dream and told who had committed the theft. But Sophocles ignored the dream a first and second time. When it came again and again, he went up to the Areopagus and laid the matter before the judges who ordered the man named by Sophocles to be arrested. The defendant after examination confessed his crime and brought back the dish. This is the reason why that temple is called 'the temple of Hercules the Informer.'

> Latin: 54. “Adiungamus philosophis doctissimum hominem, poëtam quidem divinum, Sophoclem; qui, cum ex aede Herculis patera aurea gravis subrepta esset, in somnis vidit ipsum deum dicentem, qui id fecisset. semel ille iterumque neglexit. idem saepius, ascendit in Areopagum, detulit rem; Areopagitae conprehendi iubent eum, qui a Sophocle erat nominatus; is, quaestione adhibita, confessus est pateramque rettulit. facto fanum illud Indicis Herculis nominatum est.”

[¶21] 55. "But why am I dwelling on illustrations from Greek sources when—though I can't explain it —those from our own history please me more? Now here is a dream which is mentioned by all our historians, by the Fabii and the Gellii and, most recently, by Coelius: During the Latin War when the Great Votive Games were being celebrated for the first time the city was suddenly called to arms and the games were interrupted. Later it was determined to repeat them, but before they began, and while the people were taking their seats, a slave bearing a yoke was led about the circus and beaten with rods. After that a Roman rustic had a dream in which someone appeared to him and said that he disapproved of the leader of the games and ordered this statement to be reported to the Senate. But the rustic dared not do as he was bid The order was repeated by the spectre with a warning not to put his power to the test. Not even then did the rustic dare obey. After that his son died and the same vision was repeated the third time. Thereupon he became ill and told his friends of his dream. On their advice he was carried to the Senate-house on a litter and, having related his dream to the Senate, his health was restored and he walked home unaided. And so, the tradition is, the Senate gave credence to the dream and had the games repeated.

> Latin: 55. “Sed quid ego Graecorum? nescio quo modo me magis nostra delectant. hoc historici, Fabii, Gellii, sed proxime Coelius: Cum bello Latino ludi votivi maximi primum fierent, civitas ad arma repente est excitata, itaque ludis intermissis instaurativi constituti sunt. ante quam fierent, cumque iam populus consedisset, servus per circum cum virgis caederetur furcam ferens ductus est. cuidam rustico Romano dormienti visus est venire, qui diceret praesulem sibi non placuisse ludis, idque ab eodem iussum esse eum senatui nuntiare; illum non esse ausum. esse idem iussum et monitum, ne vim suam experiri vellet; ne tum quidem esse ausum. filium eius esse mortuum, eandem in somnis admonitionem fuisse tertiam. illum etiam debilem factum rem ad amicos detulisse, quorum de sententia lecticula in curiam esse delatum, cumque senatui somnium enarravisset, pedibus suis salvum domum revertisse. somnio comprobato a senatu ludos illos iterum instauratos memoriae proditum est.”

[¶22] 56. "According to this same Coelius, Gaius Gracchus told many persons that his brother Tiberius came to him in a dream when he was a candidate for the quaestorship and said: 'However much you may try to defer your fate, nevertheless you must die the same death that I did.' This happened before Gaius was tribune of the people, and Coelius writes that he himself heard it from Gaius who had repeated it to many others. Can you find anything better authenticated than this dream? "And who, pray, can make light of the two following dreams which are so often recounted by Stoic writers? The first one is about Simonides, who once saw the dead body of some unknown man lying exposed and buried it. Later, when he had it in mind to go on board a ship he was warned in a vision by the person to whom he had given burial not to do so and that if he did he would perish in a shipwreck. Therefore he turned back and all the others who sailed were lost.

> Latin: 56. “C. vero Gracchus multis dixit, ut scriptum apud eundem Coelium est, sibi in somnis quaesturam petenti Ti. fratrem visum esse dicere, quam vellet cunctaretur, tamen eodem sibi leto, quo ipse interisset, esse pereundum., ante quam tribunus plebi C. Gracchus factus esset, et se audisse scribit Coelius et dixisse illum multis. somnio quid inveniri potest certius?” “Quid? illa duo somnia, quae creberrime commemorantur a Stoicis, quis tandem potest contemnere? unum de Simonide: Qui cum ignotum quendam proiectum mortuum vidisset eumque humavisset haberetque in animo navem conscendere, moneri visus est, ne id faceret, ab eo, quem sepultura affecerat; si navigasset, eum naufragio esse periturum; itaque Simonidem redisse, perisse ceteros, qui tum navigassent.”

[¶23] 57. "The second dream is very well known and is to this effect: Two friends from Arcadia who were taking a journey together came to Megara, and one traveller put up at an inn and the second went to the home of a friend. After they had eaten supper and retired, the second traveller, in the dead of the night, dreamed that his companion was imploring him to come to his aid, as the innkeeper was planning to kill him. Greatly frightened at first by the dream he arose, and later, regaining his composure, decided that there was nothing to worry about and went back to bed. When he had gone to sleep the same person appeared to him and said: 'Since you would not help me when I was alive, I beg that you will not allow my dead body to remain unburied. I have been killed by the innkeeper, who has thrown my body into a cart and covered it with dung. I pray you to be at the city gate in the morning before the cart leaves the town.' Thoroughly convinced by the second dream he met the cart-driver at the gate in the morning, and, when he asked what he had in the cart, the driver fled in terror. The Arcadian then removed his friend's dead body from the cart, made complaint of the crime to the authorities, and the innkeeper was punished. What stronger proof of a divinely inspired dream than this can be given?

> Latin: 57. “Alterum ita traditum clarum admodum somnium: Cum duo quidam Arcades familiares iter una facerent et Megaram venissent, alterum ad cauponem devertisse, ad hospitem alterum. ut cenati quiescerent, concubia nocte visum esse in somnis ei, qui erat in hospitio, illum alterum orare, ut subveniret, quod sibi a caupone interitus pararetur; eum primo perterritum somnio surrexisse; dein cum se collegisset idque visum pro nihilo habendum esse duxisset, recubuisse; tum ei dormienti eundem illum visum esse rogare, ut, quoniam sibi vivo non subvenisset, mortem suam ne inultam esse pateretur; se interfectum in plaustrum a caupone esse coniectum et supra stercus iniectum; petere, ut mane ad portam adesset, prius quam plaustrum ex oppido exiret. vero eum somnio commotum mane bubulco praesto ad portam fuisse, quaesisse ex eo, quid esset in plaustro; illum perterritum fugisse, mortuum erutum esse, cauponem re patefacta poenas dedisse. hoc somnio dici potest divinius?”

[¶24] 58. "But why go on seeking illustrations from ancient history? I had a dream which I have often related to you, and you one which you have often told to me. When I was governor of Asia I dreamed that I saw you on horseback riding toward the bank of some large river, when you suddenly plunged forward, fell into the stream, and wholly disappeared from sight. I was greatly alarmed and trembled with fear. But in a moment you reappeared mounted on the same horse, and with a cheerful countenance ascended the opposite bank where we met and embraced each other. The meaning of the dream was readily explained to me by experts in Asia who from it predicted those events which subsequently occurred.

> Latin: 58. “Sed quid aut plura aut vetera quaerimus? tibi meum narravi, saepe ex te audivi tuum somnium: me, cum Asiae proconsul praeessem, vidisse in quiete, cum tu equo advectus ad quandam magni fluminis ripam provectus subito atque delapsus in flumen nusquam apparuisses, me contremuisse timore perterritum; tum te repente laetum exstitisse eodemque equo adversam ascendisse ripam, nosque inter nos esse complexes. coniectura huius somnii, mihique a peritis in Asia praedictum est fore eos eventus rerum, qui acciderunt.”

[¶25] 59. "I come now to your dream. I heard it, of course, from you, but more frequently from our Sallustius. In the course of your banishment, which was glorious for us but disastrous to the State, you stopped for the night at a certain country-house in the plain of Atina. After lying awake most of the night, finally, about daybreak, you fell into a very profound sleep. And though your journey was pressing, yet Sallustius gave instructions to maintain quiet and would not permit you to be disturbed. But you awoke about the second hour and related your dream to him. In it you seemed to be wandering sadly about in solitary places when Gaius Marius, with his fasces wreathed in laurel, asked you why you were sad, and you replied that you had been driven from your country by violence. He then bade you be of good cheer, took you by the right hand, and delivered you to the nearest lictor to be conducted to his memorial temple, saying that there you should find safety. Sallustius thereupon, as he relates, cried out, 'a speedy and a glorious return awaits you.' He further states that you too seemed delighted at the dream. Immediately thereafter it was reported to me that as soon as you heard that it was in Marius' temple that the glorious decree of the Senate for your recall had been enacted on motion of the consul, a most worthy and most eminent man, and that the decree had been greeted by unprecedented shouts of approval in a densely crowded theatre, you said that no stronger proof could be given of a divinely inspired dream than this.

> Latin: 59. “Venio nunc ad tuum. equidem ex te ipso, sed mihi saepius noster Sallustius narravit, cum in illa fuga nobis gloriosa, patriae calamitosa, in villa quadam campi Atinatis maneres magnamque partem noctis vigilasses, ad lucem denique arcte et graviter dormire te coepisse., quamquam iter instaret, se tamen silentium fieri iussisse neque esse passum te excitari; cum autem experrectus esses hora secunda fere, te sibi somnium narravisse: visum tibi esse, cum in locis solis maestus errares, C. Marium cum fascibus laureatis quaerere ex te, quid tristis esses, cumque tu te patria vi pulsum esse dixisses, prehendisse eum dextram tuam et bono animo te iussisse esse lictorique proximo tradidisse, ut te in monumentum suum deduceret, et dixisse in eo tibi salutem fore. et se exclamasse Sallustius narrat reditum tibi celerem et gloriosum paratum, et te ipsum visum somnio delectari. illud mihi ipsi celeriter nuntiatum est ut audivisses in monumento Mari de tuo reditu magnificentissimum illud senatus consultum esse factum referente optimo et clarissimo viro consule, idque frequentissimo theatro incredibili clamore et plausu comprobatum, dixisse te nihil illo Atinati somnio fieri posse divinius.”

[¶26] 60. "'Ah,' it is objected, 'but many dreams are untrustworthy.' Rather, perhaps, their meaning is hidden from us. But grant that some are untrustworthy, why do we declaim against those that are trustworthy? The fact is the latter would be much more frequent if we went to our rest in proper condition. But when we are burdened with food and drink our dreams are troubled and confused. Observe what Socrates says in Plato's Republic: "'When a man goes to sleep, having the thinking and reasoning portion of his soul languid and inert, but having that other portion, which has in it a certain brutishness and wild savagery, immoderately gorged with drink and food, then does that latter portion leap up and hurl itself about in sleep without check. In such a case every vision presented to the mind is so devoid of thought and reason that the sleeper dreams that he is committing incest with his mother, or that he is having unlawful commerce indiscriminately with gods and men, and frequently too, with beasts; or even that he is killing someone and staining his hands with impious bloodshed; and that he is doing many vile and hideous things recklessly and without shame.

> Latin: 60. “At multa falso. obscura fortasse nobis. sint falsa quaedam; contra vera quid dicimus? quidem multo plura evenirent, si ad quietem integri iremus. onusti cibo et vino perturbata et confusa cernimus., quid Socrates in Platonis Politia loquatur. enim:” “‘Cum dormientibus ea pars animi, quae mentis et rationis sit particeps, sopita langueat; illa autem, in qua feritas quaedam sit atque agrestis immanitas, cum sit immoderato tumefacta potu atque pastu, exsultare eam in somno immoderateque iactari. huic omnia visa obiciuntur a mente ac ratione vacua, ut aut cum matre corpus miscere videatur aut cum quovis alio vel homine vel deo, saepe belua, atque etiam trucidare aliquem et impie cruentari multaque facere impure atque taetre cum temeritate et impudentia.’”

[¶27] 61. But, on the other hand, when the man, whose habits of living and of eating are wholesome and temperate, surrenders himself to sleep, having the thinking and reasoning portion of his soul eager and erect, and satisfied by a feast of noble thoughts, and having that portion which feeds on carnal pleasures neither utterly exhausted by abstinence nor cloyed by over-indulgence—for, as a rule, the edge of thought is dulled whether nature is starved or overfed—and, when such a man, in addition, has that third portion of the soul, in which the fire of anger burns, quieted and subdued—thus having the two irrational portions under complete control—then will the thinking and reasoning portion of his soul shine forth and show itself keen and strong for dreaming and then will his dreams be peaceful and worthy of trust.' I have reproduced Plato's very words.

> Latin: 61. “‘At qui salubri et moderato cultu atque victu quieti se tradiderit ea parte animi, quae mentis et consili est, agitata et erecta saturataque bonarum cogitationum epulis, eaque parte animi, quae voluptate alitur, nec inopia enecta nec satietate affluenti (quorum utrumque praestringere aciem mentis solet, sive deest naturae quidpiam sive abundat atque affluit), illa etiam tertia parte animi, in qua irarum existit ardor, sedata atque restincta, tum eveniet duabus animi temerariis partibus compressis, ut illa tertia pars rationis et mentis eluceat et se vegetam ad somniandum acremque praebeat, tum ei visa quietis occurrent tranquilla atque veracia.’ Haec verba ipsa Platonis expressi.”

[¶28] 62. "Then shall we listen to Epicurus rather than to Plato? As for Carneades, in his ardour for controversy he asserts now this and now that. ' But,' you retort, 'Epicurus says what he thinks.' But he thinks nothing that is ever well reasoned, or worthy of a philosopher. Will you, then, put this man before Plato or Socrates, who though they gave no reason, would yet prevail over these petty philosophers by the mere weight of their name? Now Plato's advice to us is to set out for the land of dreams with bodies so prepared that no error or confusion may assail the soul. For this reason, it is thought, the Pythagoreans were forbidden to indulge in beans; for that food produces great flatulence and induces a condition at war with a soul in search of truth.

> Latin: 62. “Epicurum igitur audiemus potius? Carneades concertationis studio modo ait hoc, modo illud. ‘ait ille ait quod sentit.’ Sentit autem nihil umquam elegans, nihil decorum. ergo antepones Platoni et Socrati qui ut rationem non redderent, auctoritate tamen hos minutos philosophos vincerent? igitur Plato sic ad somnum proficisci corporibus affectis, ut nihil sit quod errorem animis perturbationemque afferat. quo etiam Pythagoricis interdictum putatur ne faba vescerentur, quod habet inflationem magnam is cibus tranquillitati mentis quaerentis vera contrariam.”

[¶29] 63. When, therefore, the soul has been withdrawn by sleep from contact with sensual ties, then does it recall the past, comprehend the present, and foresee the future. For though the sleeping body then lies as if it were dead, yet the soul is alive and strong, and will be much more so after death when it is wholly free of the body. Hence its power to divine is much enhanced by the approach of death. For example, those in the grasp of a serious and fatal sickness realize the fact that death impends; and so, visions of dead men generally appear to them and then their desire for fame is strongest; while those who have lived otherwise than as they should, feel, at such a time, the keenest sorrow for their sins.

> Latin: 63. “ergo est somno sevocatus animus a societate et a contagione corporis, tum meminit praeteritorum, praesentia cernit, futura praevidet; iacet enim corpus dormientis ut mortui, viget autem et vivit animus. multo magis faciet post mortem, cum omnino corpore excesserit. appropinquante morte multo est divinior. et id ipsum vident, qui sunt morbo gravi et mortifero affecti, instare mortem; itaque eis occurrunt plerumque imagines mortuorum, tumque vel maxime laudi student; eosque, qui secus quam decuit, vixerunt, peccatorum suorum tum maxime paenitet.”

[¶30] 64. "Moreover, proof of the power of dying men to prophesy is also given by Posidonius in his well-known account of a certain Rhodian, who, when on his death-bed, named six men of equal age and foretold which of them would die first, which second, and so on. Now Posidonius holds the view that there are three ways in which men dream as the result of divine impulse: first, the soul is clairvoyant of itself because of its kinship with the gods; second, the air is full of immortal souls, already clearly stamped, as it were, with the marks of truth; and third, the gods in person converse with men when they are asleep. And, as I said just now, it is when death is at hand that men most readily discern signs of the future.

> Latin: 64. “Divinare autem morientes illo etiam exemplo confirmat Posidonius, quod affert, Rhodium quendam morientem sex aequales nominasse et dixisse, qui primus eorum, qui secundus, qui deinde deinceps moriturus esset. tribus modis censet deorum appulsu homines somniare: uno, quod praevideat animus ipse per sese, quippe qui deorum cognatione teneatur; altero, quod plenus aër sit inmortalium animorum, in quibus tamquam insignitae notae veritatis appareant; tertio, quod ipsi di cum dormientibus colloquantur., ut modo dixi, facilius evenit appropinquante morte, ut animi futura augurentur.”

[¶31] 65. This is illustrated by the story which I related about Callanus and by Homer's account of Hector, who, as he was dying, prophesied the early death of Achilles. "It is clear that, in our ordinary speech, we should not have made such frequent use of the word praesagire, meaning ' to sense in advance, or to presage,' if the power of presaging had been wholly non-existent. An illustration of its use is seen in the following well-known line from Plautus:
My soul presaged as I left home that my leaving was in vain.
Now sagire means 'to have a keen perception.' Accordingly certain old women are called sagae, because they are assumed to know a great deal, and dogs are said to be 'sagacious.' And so one who has knowledge of a thing before it happens is said to 'presage,' that is, to perceive the future in advance.

> Latin: 65. “quo et illud est Callani, de quo ante dixi, et Homerici Hectoris, qui moriens propinquam Achilli mortem denuntiat.” “Neque enim illud verbum temere consuetudo approbavisset, si ea res nulla esset omnino:
praésagibat ánimus frustra me íre, cum exirém domo.
enim sentire acute est; ex quo sagae anus, quia multa scire volunt, et sagaces dicti canes. igitur, qui ante sagit, quam oblata res est, dicitur praesagire, id est futura ante sentire.”