A. Urb. 697. Cic. 51. Coss.---Cn. Corn. Lent. Marcellinus. L. Mar. Philippus. 66 and the senate consulted the haruspices, who were the public diviners or prophets of the state, skilled in all the Tuscan discipline of interpreting portentous events; who gave the following answer in writing :"That supplications must be made to Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and the other gods: that the solemn shews "and plays had been negligently exhibited and pol"luted sacred and religious places made profane: " ambassadors killed, contrary to right and law: faith "and oaths disregarded: ancient and hidden sacrifices carelessly performed and profaned :-That the gods gave this warning, lest, by the discord and dis"sension of the better sort, dangers and destruction "should fall upon the senate and the chiefs of the city; by which means the provinces would fall under "the power of a single person; their armies be beaten, 66 66 66 66 great loss ensue; and honours be heaped on the unworthy and disgraced *.". One may observe, from this answer, that the diviners were under the direction of those who endeavoured to apply the influence of religion to the cure of their civil disorders: each party interpreted it according to their own views: Clodius took a handle from it of venting his spleen afresh against Cicero; and, calling the people together for that purpose, attempted to persuade them," that this divine admonition was design"ed particularly against him; and that the article of "the sacred and religious places referred to the case * Vid. Argum. Manutii in Orat. Harusp. respons. Dio, 1. 39. P. 100. แ A. Urb. 697. Cic. 51. Coss.--Cn. Corn. Lent. Marcellinus. L. Mar. Philippus. "of his house; which, after a solemn consecration to religion, was rendered again profane; charging all "the displeasure of the gods to Cicero's account, who affected nothing less than a tyranny, and the oppression of their liberties *." Cicero made a reply to Clodius the next day in the senate; where, after a short and general invective upon his profligate life, " he leaves him," he says, " a "devoted victim to Milo, who seemed to be given to "them by heaven, for the extinction of such a plague ; as Scipio was for the destruction of Carthage: he "declares the prodigy to be one of the most extraor dinary which had ever been reported to the senate; "but laughs at the absurdity of applying any part of "it to him; since his house, as he proves at large, was "more solemnly cleared from any service or relation "to religion, than any other house in Rome, by the "judgment of the priests, the senate, and all the or"ders of the city +." Then, running through the se"veral articles of the answer, "he shews them all to tally so exactly with the notorious acts and impieties "of Clodius's life, that they could not possibly be applied to any thing else that as to the sports, * "said to be negligently performed and polluted, it clearly denoted the pollution of the Megalensian play; the most venerable and religious of all other "shews; which Clodius himself, as ædile, exhibited "in honour of the mother of the gods; where, when "the magistrates and citizens were seated to partake * Dio. Ibid. VOL. II. + De Haruspic. responsis. A. Urb. 697. Cic. 51. Coss.---Cn. Corn. Lent. Marcellinus. L. Mar. Philippus. "of the diversions, and the usual proclamation was "made, to command all slaves to retire; a vast body "of them, gathered from all parts of the city, by the "order of Clodius, forced their way upon the stage, "to the great terror of the assembly; where much "mischief and bloodshed would have ensued, if the "consul Marcellinus, by his firmness and presence of "mind, had not quieted the tumult and in another "representation of the same plays the slaves, encouraged again by Clodius, were so audacious and suc"cessful in a second irruption, that they drove the "whole company out of the theatre, and possessed it entirely themselves that as to the profanation "of sacred and religious places; it could not be in"terpreted of any thing so aptly, as of what Clodius " and his friends had done: for that in the house of 66 66 : Q. Seius, which he had bought after murthering the "owner, there was a chapel and altars which he had "lately demolished; that L. Piso had destroyed a "celebrated chapel of Diana, where all that neigh"bourhood, and some of the senate, used annually to perform their family sacrifices: that Serranus also “had thrown down, burnt, and profaned several con"secrated chapels, and raised other buildings upon "them that as to ambassadors killed contrary to "law and right; though it was commonly interpreted "of those from Alexandria, yet other ambassadors had "been murthered, whose death was no less offensive A. Urb. 51. Coss, 697 Cic.---Cn. Corm. Lent. Marcellinus. L.Mar. Philippus. "to the gods; as Theodosius, killed with the privity *and permission of Clodius; and Plato, by the order * of Piso *: As to the violation of faith and oaths, that "it related evidently to those judges who had absolv"ed Clodius; as being one of the most memorable "and flagrant perjuries which Rome had ever known; that the answer itself suggested this interpretation, "when it subjoined, that ancient and occult sacrifices "were polluted; which could refer to nothing so properly as to the rites of the Bona Dea; which were "the most ancient and most occult of any in the city; " celebrated with incredible secrecy to that goddess, "whose name it was not lawful for men to know; 46. and with ceremonies, which no man ever pried into, but Clodius . Then as to the warning, given by "the gods, of dangers likely to ensue from the dissensions of the principal citizens; that there was no man so particularly active in promoting those dis"sensions, as Clodius; who was perpetually enflaming "one side or the other; now pursuing popular, now "aristocratical measures; at one time a favourite of the Triumvirate, at another of the senate; whose "credit was wholly supported by their quarrels and "animosities: He exhorts them therefore in the con"clusion, to beware of falling into those miseries, of which the gods so evidently forwarned them; and "to take care especially, that the form of the repub"lie was not altered; since all civil contests between * Ibid. 16. Ibid. 17. 18. A. Urb. 697. Cic, 51. Coss.Cn. Corn. Lent. Marcellinus. L. Mar. Philippus. great and powerful citizens must necessarily end, "either in an universal destruction, or a tyranny of "the conqueror: that the state was now in so totter 66 ing a condition, that nothing could preserve it but "their concord: that there was no hope of it's being "better, while Clodius remained unpunished; and but 86 one degree left of being worse, by being wholly “ruined and enslaved; for the prevention of which, "the gods had given them this remarkable admoni"tion; for they were not to believe, what was some"times represented on the stage, that any god ever "descended from heaven to converse familiarly with 66 66 66 men; but that these extraordinary sounds and agi"tations of the world, the air, the elements, were the only voice and speech which heaven made use of; "that these admonished them of their danger, and pointed out the remedy; and that the gods, by in"timating so freely the way of their safety, had shewn "how easy it would be to pacify them, by pacifying only their own animosities and discords among them"selves." 66 About the middle of the summer, and before the time of chusing new consuls, which was commonly in August, the senate began to deliberate on the provinces which were to be assigned to them at the expiration of their office. The consular provinces, about which the debate singly turned, were the two Gauls, which Cæsar now held; Macedonia, which Piso, and Syria, which Gabinius possessed. All who spoke before Cicero, excepting Servilius, were for taking one or both the Gauls from Cæsar; which was what the |