Book 1, Chapter 27

56 “Gaius Gracchus, as the same Coelius records, told many people that, when he was hesitating over standing for the quaestorship, his brother Tiberius appeared to him in a dream and said that he might delay as long as he wished, but he must nevertheless perish by the same death as Tiberius himself. Coelius writes that he heard this before Gaius Gracchus became tribune of the plebs, and that Gracchus told it to many people. What could be found more certain than this dream?

“And those two dreams the Stoics so often recount—who could possibly dismiss them? One concerns Simonides. He had found the body of an unknown man lying abandoned and buried it. When he was planning to board a ship, the man he had buried appeared to him in a dream, warning him not to do so: if he sailed, he would die in a shipwreck. Simonides therefore turned back; the others who sailed then were lost.

57 “The other, a very famous dream, is handed down in this form. Two Arcadian friends were traveling together and reached Megara. One lodged with an innkeeper, the other with a guest-friend. After supper they went to bed. In the dead of night, the man staying with his guest-friend dreamed that the other begged him to come to his aid: the innkeeper was plotting his death. At first he rose, terrified by the dream. Then, recovering himself and deciding that the vision should be disregarded, he lay down again. As he slept, the same man appeared and begged him, since he had not helped him while alive, not to let his death go unavenged. The innkeeper had murdered him and thrown him into a wagon, he said, then piled manure over him. He asked his friend to be at the city gate in the morning before the wagon left town. This dream truly moved him. In the morning he met the ox-driver at the gate and asked what was in the wagon. The man fled in terror, the body was uncovered, and the innkeeper’s crime was exposed and punished.

56 “Gaius Gracchus told many people, as the same Coelius records, that when he was hesitating about running for quaestor, his brother Tiberius appeared in a dream. He said Gaius could delay as long as he liked, but he would still die the same violent death that he himself had suffered. According to Coelius, he himself heard the story, and Gracchus shared it widely, before Gaius Gracchus ever became tribune of the people. What could be found more reliable than this dream?

“And who can really dismiss those two dreams the Stoics mention so often? One is about Simonides. He saw the dead body of a stranger lying abandoned and buried it. When he later intended to sail, he dreamed that the dead man he had buried was telling him to stay ashore: the voyage would end in his death by shipwreck. So Simonides turned back, and all the others who sailed then died.

57 “The second is a very famous dream, handed down like this. Two friends from Arcadia were traveling together and arrived at Megara. One stayed with an innkeeper; the other went to a friend's house. After dinner they went to bed. Late in the night, the friend lodging in the house had a dream: his companion was pleading for help, saying the innkeeper meant to murder him. At first, frightened by the dream, he got up. Once he had calmed down, he dismissed the dream and returned to bed. In sleep he again saw his companion, now begging him to avenge his death, since he had given no help before the murder. The innkeeper had killed him and thrown him into a cart, then piled dung on top. He asked his friend to be at the gate in the morning, before the cart left the town. This dream really moved him. At the gate that morning, he was there to meet the man driving the oxen and questioned him about the cart's contents. The driver fled in terror, the dead man was dug out, and the innkeeper's crime was exposed and punished.