< Page:Plutarch's Lives (Clough, v.1, 1865).djvu
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CAMILLUS. 301

fled abroad, together with their wives and children, ac- companied him as he rode in ; and those who had been shut up in the Capitol, and were reduced almost to the point of perishing with hunger, went out to meet him, embracing each other as they met, and weeping for joy, and, through the excess of the present pleasure, scarce believing in its truth. And when the priests and min- isters of the gods appeared, bearing the sacred things, which in their flight they had either hid on the spot, or conveyed away with them, and now openly showed in safety, the citizens who saw the blessed sight felt as if with these the gods themselves were again re- turned unto Rome. After Camillus had sacrificed to the gods, and purified the city according to the direction of those properly instructed, he restored the existing temples, and erected a new one to Rumour, or Voice,* informing himself of the spot in which that voice from heaven came by night to Marcus Csedicius, foretelling the coming of the barbarian army. It was a matter of difficulty, and a hard task, amidst so much rubbish, to discover and re-determine the conse- crated places ; but by the zeal of Camillus, and the inces- sant labor of the priests, it was at last accomplished. But when it came also to rebuilding the city, which was wholly demolished, despondency seized the multitude, and a backwardness to engage in a work for which they had no materials ; at a time, too, when they rather needed relief and repose from their past labors, than any new demands upon their exhausted strength and impaired for- tunes. Thus insensibly they turned their thoughts again towards Veii, a city ready-built and well-provided, and gave an opening to the arts of flatterers eager to gratify

  • Aius Loquens, in Cicero, Aius cause " aiebat et loquebatur."

Locutius, in Livy, so entitled be-

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