Book 1, Chapter 32

68 “I seem to be talking of tragedies and fables. Yet from you yourself I heard an event of the same kind, not invented but real. Gaius Coponius, a man of exceptional judgment and learning, came to you at Dyrrhachium while commanding the Rhodian fleet with a praetor's authority. He said that a rower in one of the Rhodians’ quinqueremes had prophesied that in fewer than thirty days Greece would be drenched in blood; that there would be plundering at Dyrrhachium, a flight to the ships, and, for the fugitives, a pitiful backward view of fires; but that the Rhodian fleet was granted an early return and homecoming. You yourself were shaken, you said, and Marcus Varro and Marcus Cato, learned men who were there at the time, were profoundly alarmed. And indeed, only a few days later Labienus arrived, fleeing from Pharsalus. Once he had reported the army's destruction, the rest of the prophecy was soon fulfilled.

69 “For grain plundered and spilled from the storehouses had carpeted every street and alley. Suddenly stricken with terror, you boarded the ships, and at night, looking back toward the town, you saw cargo vessels blazing: the soldiers had set them on fire because their crews had refused to follow. Finally, when the Rhodian fleet deserted you, you realized that the man had been a true prophet.

70 “I have set out as briefly as I could the oracles of dreams and frenzy, which I said involved no art. Both kinds have a single explanation, the one our friend Cratippus commonly gives. Human souls have in some measure been drawn and taken from outside themselves; this implies the existence outside us of a divine soul from which the human soul is derived. The part of the human soul that possesses sensation, movement, and desire is not detached from the body's activity; but the part that shares in reason and understanding is most vigorous when it is furthest removed from the body.

71 “Accordingly, after giving examples of truthful prophecies and dreams, Cratippus generally concludes his argument in this way: ‘If the task and function of eyes cannot exist without eyes, while eyes may sometimes fail to perform their function, anyone who has used his eyes even once so as to see truly possesses the visual faculty that sees truly. In the same way, then, if the task and function of divination cannot exist without divination, while someone who possesses divination may sometimes go wrong and fail to see truly, a single instance of a prediction made in such a way that nothing seems to have happened by chance is enough to establish divination. There are, however, countless instances of this kind. We must therefore acknowledge that divination exists.’

68 “I seem to be talking about tragedies and stories. But I heard from you yourself about an actual event of the same kind, not an invention. Gaius Coponius came to you at Dyrrhachium. He commanded the Rhodian fleet with the authority of a praetor, and was an exceptionally sensible and learned man. He said that a rower from a Rhodian quinquereme had prophesied that in less than thirty days Greece would be soaked in blood. There would be looting at Dyrrhachium, a rush to board the ships and escape, and a heartbreaking sight of fires as the fugitives looked back. But the Rhodian fleet was granted an early return and a journey home. You told me that you yourself were disturbed, while the two learned men present there, Marcus Varro and Marcus Cato, were terrified. Sure enough, a few days later Labienus arrived, fleeing from Pharsalus. He reported the army's destruction, and the rest of the prophecy soon came true.

69 “Grain looted and spilled from the storehouses covered every street and alley. You suddenly boarded the ships in panic. In the darkness you could see burning cargo ships as you looked back at the town; soldiers had burned them because the crews would not follow. Finally the Rhodian fleet deserted you, and you realized that the prophet had spoken the truth.

70 “I have described as briefly as I could the revelations that come through dreams and frenzy. As I said, these do not depend on a learned skill. Both kinds have a single explanation, which our friend Cratippus often uses. Some part of the human mind is drawn and taken from outside us. This implies that there is a divine mind outside us from which the human mind comes. The part of the human mind that has sensation, movement, and desire is not separate from the body's activity. But the mind's reasoning, understanding part is at its strongest when it is most distant from the body.

71 “So, after giving examples of true prophecies and dreams, Cratippus usually finishes his argument like this: ‘The eyes cannot perform their proper work and function without eyes existing. But eyes may sometimes fail to do their work. Anyone who has used his eyes even once to see things as they really are has the power of true sight. The same applies to divination. Its proper work and function cannot exist without divination existing. But someone who has the power of divination may sometimes make a mistake and fail to see the truth. So one prediction that comes true in a way that seems to rule out chance is enough to establish divination. There are countless cases of that kind. We must therefore admit that divination exists.’