Book 1, Chapter 34
Original Latin
74 Quid? Lacedaemoniis paulo ante Leuctricam calamitatem quae significatio facta est, cum in Herculis fano arma sonuerunt Herculisque simulacrum multo sudore manavit! At eodem tempore Thebis, ut ait Callisthenes, in templo Herculis valvae clausae repagulis subito se ipsae aperuerunt, armaque, quae fixa in parietibus fuerant, ea sunt humi inventa. Cumque eodem tempore apud Lebadiam Trophonio res divina fieret, gallos gallinaceos in eo loco sic adsidue canere coepisse, ut nihil intermitterent; tum augures dixisse Boeotios Thebanorum esse victoriam, propterea quod avis illa victa silere soleret, canere, si vicisset.
75 Eademque tempestate multis signis Lacedaemoniis Leuctricae pugnae calamitas denuntiabatur. Namque et in Lysandri, qui Lacedaemoniorum clarissimus fuerat, statua, quae Delphis stabat, in capite corona subito exstitit ex asperis herbis et agrestibus, stellaeque aureae, quae Delphis erant a Lacedaemoniis positae post navalem illam victoriam Lysandri, qua Athenienses conciderunt, qua in pugna quia Castor et Pollux cum Lacedaemoniorum classe visi esse dicebantur, eorum insignia deorum, stellae aureae, quas dixi, Delphis positae paulo ante Leuctricam pugnam deciderunt neque repertae sunt.
76 Maximum vero illud portentum isdem Spartiatis fuit, quod, cum oraclum ab Iove Dodonaeo petivissent de victoria sciscitantes legatique <vas> illud, in quo inerant sortes, collocavissent, simia, quam rex Molossorum in deliciis habebat, et sortes ipsas et cetera, quae erant ad sortem parata, disturbavit et aliud alio dissupavit. Tum ea, quae praeposita erat oraclo, sacerdos dixisse dicitur de salute Lacedaemoniis esse, non de victoria cogitandum.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks and reviewed throughout against it. Both books, all 130 chapters and 282 numbered sections; no historical English translation used. Latin transcription credited to the Perseus Project under CC BY-SA 4.0, Müller’s 1915 Teubner edition.
74 “And what a warning the Spartans received shortly before the disaster at Leuctra, when weapons clattered in Hercules' shrine and the statue of Hercules streamed with sweat! At the same time in Thebes, according to Callisthenes, the doors of Hercules' temple, though bolted shut, suddenly opened of their own accord, and the weapons that had been fastened to the walls were found on the ground. At that same time, too, when a sacrifice was being offered to Trophonius at Lebadea, the roosters there began crowing so persistently that they never stopped. The Boeotian augurs then declared that victory belonged to the Thebans, because that bird usually falls silent when defeated, but crows when victorious.
75 “In that same period many signs foretold to the Spartans the disaster of the battle at Leuctra. A crown of rough, wild plants suddenly appeared on the head of the statue at Delphi of Lysander, their most illustrious countryman. There were also golden stars at Delphi, dedicated by the Spartans after Lysander's naval victory that crushed the Athenians. Because Castor and Pollux were said to have appeared with the Spartan fleet in that battle, the golden stars I have mentioned were set up at Delphi as those gods' emblems. Shortly before the battle at Leuctra they fell down and could not be found.
76 “But the greatest portent for those same Spartans came when they sought an oracle from Jupiter at Dodona, inquiring about victory. Their envoys had set out the vessel containing the lots, when a pet monkey belonging to the king of the Molossians upset both the lots themselves and everything else prepared for the drawing, scattering them in all directions. The priestess in charge of the oracle is then said to have declared that the Spartans should be thinking of survival, not victory.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation, made independently and directly from the Latin, never from the Musean edition. Both books and every numbered section; a separate Latin-source model review covered the entire text. No human specialist review is claimed.
74 “And what about the warning given to the Spartans shortly before the disaster at Leuctra? Weapons rattled in Hercules' shrine, and his statue ran with sweat. Callisthenes reports that at this same time in Thebes, Hercules' temple doors suddenly swung open by themselves despite their bars, and the weapons previously attached to its walls lay on the ground. Meanwhile at Lebadea a sacrifice was being offered to Trophonius when the local roosters started to crow without a pause. Then the Boeotian augurs said the Thebans would win, because that bird normally falls silent when beaten and crows when it wins.
75 “At that time many signs warned the Spartans of their coming disaster in the battle at Leuctra. On the head of the statue of Lysander, their most famous man, which stood at Delphi, a crown of rough wild plants suddenly appeared. There were also the gold stars that the Spartans had set up at Delphi after Lysander's naval victory, in which the Athenians were crushed. During that naval battle, people reportedly saw Castor and Pollux accompanying the Spartans' fleet. So the gold stars I mentioned were set up at Delphi as emblems of those gods. No one could find them after they fell, shortly before the fighting at Leuctra.
76 “But the greatest warning for those same Spartans was this. They had consulted Jupiter's oracle at Dodona to ask about victory. Their envoys had set out the container holding the lots. The Molossian king's pet monkey scattered not only the lots but all the equipment for drawing them, sending things in every direction. According to the account, the oracle's presiding priestess then warned the Spartans that survival, rather than victory, should concern them.
About this section
Book 1, Chapter 34 is part of On Divination by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 34 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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