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20Caesar, as I have said, received the name of Augustus, and a sign of no little moment to him occurred that very night; for the Tiber overflowed and covered all of Rome that was on low ground, so that it was navigable for boats. From this sign the soothsayers prophesied that he would rise to great heights and hold the whole city under his sway. 2And while various persons were trying to outbid one another in different kinds of flattery toward him, one Sextus Pacuvius, or, as others say, Apudius, surpassed them all. In the open senate, namely, he dedicated himself to him after the fashion of the Spaniards and advised the others to do the same. 3And when Augustus hindered him, he rushed out to the crowd that was standing near, and, as he was tribune, compelled first them and then the rest, as he went up and down the streets and lanes, to dedicate themselves to Augustus. 4From this episode we are wont even now to say, in appealing to the sovereign, “We have dedicated ourselves to you.”
Pacuvius ordered all to offer sacrifice in view of this occurrence, and before the multitude he once declared that he was going to make Augustus his heir on equal terms with his own son,—not that he had much of anything, but because he hoped to receive still more; and so it actually turned out.
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