39.22
At the
time when this intelligence was received from Spain, the "Taurii" Games
were celebrated as a special religious observance. These were followed by
the Games which M. Fulvius had vowed in the Aetolian war and were
exhibited for ten days. Many actors from Greece came to do him honour,
and athletic contests were witnessed for the first time in Rome. The hunting
of lions and panthers formed a novel feature, and the whole spectacle
presented almost as much splendour and variety as those of the present day.
A shower of stones, lasting three days, fell at Picenum, and fire from the sky
was said to have appeared in various places and singed many persons'
garments. In consequence of these portents, special religious services were
held for nine days. An additional day's service was ordered by the pontiffs
owing to the temple of Ops on the Capitol being struck by lightning. The
consuls sacrificed full-grown victims and purified the City. Almost at the
same time a report came from Umbria of the discovery of a child there, nine
years old, who was a hermaphrodite. Horrified at such a portent the
auruspices gave orders for it to be removed from Roman soil as speedily as
possible and put to death.
During the year some transalpine Gauls moved into Venetia
without doing any damage or attempting hostilities. They took possession of
some land not far from where Aquileia now stands on which to build a town.
Roman envoys were sent across the Alps to inquire about this proceeding,
and they were informed that the migration had taken place without the
authority of their tribe, nor did they know what they were doing in Italy. L.
Scipio now exhibited for ten days the Games which he said that he had
vowed in the war with Antiochus; the cost was met by money contributed by
the kings and cities of Asia. According to Valerius Antias, he was sent, after
his condemnation and the sale of his property, as special commissioner to
settle the differences between Antiochus and Eumenes, and whilst he was on
this mission contributions in money were made for him, and actors gathered
together from all parts of Asia. He had made no mention of these Games
after the war in which he said that he had vowed them; it was only after his
mission that they came before the senate.
