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8Such was the enthusiasm of the two sides and such were their preparations; meanwhile many and divers rumours were noised abroad by men, and many clear portents were shown by the gods. For example, an ape entered the temple of Ceres during a service and upset everything in it; 2an owl flew first into the temple of Concord and then to practically all the other most holy temples, and finally, when it had been driven away from every other place, it settled upon the temple of the Genius Populi, and it was not only not caught, but did not depart until late in the day. The chariot of Jupiter was demolished in the Circus at Rome, and for many days a torch would rise over the sea toward Greece and dart up into the sky. 3Much damage was also caused by storm; thus, a trophy which stood upon the Aventine fell, a statue of Victory fell from the back wall of the theatre, and the wooden bridge was utterly demolished. And many objects were destroyed by fire also, and moreover there was a huge flow of lava from Aetna which damaged cities and fields. 4Now when the Romans saw and heard about these things, they recalled also the incident of the serpent, realising that it too had given them a sign which bore upon the present situation. A little before this, it seems, a two-headed serpent, so huge that its length came to eighty-five feet, had suddenly appeared in Etruria, and after doing much damage had been killed by lightning. 5Now all these signs had significance for the whole people; for it was the Romans on whom would fall the brunt of the fighting on both sides alike, and it was fated that many should perish in each army at this time and that afterward all the survivors should belong to the victor. 6In the case of Antony, an omen of his defeat was given beforehand by the children in Rome; for although nobody suggested it, they formed two parties, of which one called itself the Antonians and the other the Caesarians, and they fought with each other for two days, when those who bore Antony’s name were defeated. And his death was portended by what happened to a statue of him that stood on the Alban Mount beside that of Jupiter; for in spite of its being of marble it sent forth streams of blood.
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