INTRODUCTION 
 
					Plutarch’s essay on the Fortune of the Romans , like
					the following essays, is very plainly an epideictic
					oration. Where and when it was delivered, or
					whether it was ever delivered at all, we have no means
					of ascertaining. Hartman feels very sure that it was
					delivered to a Roman audience in the early days of
					Plutarch’s sojourn at Rome, and was intended to
					commend the speaker to other Romans besides his
					personal friends there.
				 
 The thesis that Fortune was responsible for the
					great Roman empire would hardly be pleasing to
					Romans, but Plutarch is careful to point out that the
					high character of many individual Romans also contributed to the Roman success. In fact the essay
					might well bear the double title of Fortune or Virtues , 
					as does the essay on Alexander. Plutarch was
					thoroughly familiar with the interpretations of
					Roman history then fashionable, and in this essay he
					gives a colourful sketch of as much as will serve his
					purpose. Much that is here may also be found
					elsewhere in Plutarch’s writings.
				 
 The essay comes to a somewhat abrupt conclusion,
					and many have thought it unfinished ; the same is
					true of the essays immediately following. One may
					
					 
					
					wonder whether a time limit was set for these orations,
					as in the courts at Athens where the time allowed
					was measured by the water-clock or clepsydra. We
					may note, however, that these orations are of quite
					unequal length.
				 
 The text is fairly good, and the majority of the ms.
					mistakes have been corrected by the various editors
					and commentators. The essay is No. 175 in Lamprias’s
					list of Plutarch’s works.

Virtue and Fortune, who have often engaged in
					many great contests, are now engaging each other in
					the present contest, which is the greatest of all; for
					in this they are striving for a decision regarding
					the hegemony of Rome, to determine whose work it
					is and which of them created such a mighty power.
					For to her who is victorious this will be no slight
					testimonial, but rather a defence against accusation.
					For Virtue is accused of being a fair thing, but
					unprofitable; Fortune of being a thing inconstant,
					but good. Virtue’s labours, they say, are fruitless.
					Fortune’s gifts untrustworthy. Who, then, will not
					declare, when Rome shall have been added to the
					achievements of one of the contestants, either that
					Virtue is a most profitable thing if she has done such
					good to good men, or that Good Fortune is a thing
					most steadfast if she has already preserved for so
					long a time that which she has bestowed?
				 
 The poet Ion in his prose works observes that
					Fortune is a thing very dissimilar to Wisdom, and yet
					she becomes the creator of things very similar : they
					both bring increase and added honours to men, they
					lead them on to high repute, to power, to dominion.
					What need to be tedious by enumerating the many
					examples? Even Nature herself, who creates and
					
					 
					
					produces all things for us, some think to be Fortune,
					others Wisdom. Wherefore our present discourse
					does, in a measure, bestow a fair and enviable dignity
					upon Rome, if we raise the question over her, even
					as we do over earth and sea, heaven and stars, whether
					she has come to her present state by Fortune or by
					Forethought.

I believe myself to be right in suspecting that,
					even if Fortune and Virtue are engaged in a direct
					and continual strife and discord with each other, yet,
					at least for such a welding together of dominion and
					power, it is likely that they suspended hostilities and
					joined forces ; and by joining forces they co-operated
					in completing this most beautiful of human works.
					Even as Plato asserts that the entire universe arose
					from fire and earth as the first and necessary elements,
					that it might become visible and tangible, earth contributing to it weight and stability, and fire contributing colour, form, and movement ; but the medial
					elements, water and air, by softening and quenching
					the dissimilarity of both extremes, united them and
					brought about the composite nature of Matter
					through them ; in this way, then, in my opinion, did
					Time lay the foundation for the Roman State and,
					With the help of God, so combine and join together
					Fortune and Virtue that, by taking the peculiar
					qualities of each, he might construct for all mankind
					a Hearth, in truth both holy and beneficent, a steadfast cable, a principle abiding for ever, an anchorage
						from the swell and drift, as Democritus says, amid
					the shifting conditions of human affairs. For even as
					
					 
					
					the physicists assert that the world was in ancient
					days not a world nor were the atoms willing to coalesce
					and mix together and bestow a universal form upon
					Nature, but, since the atoms, which were yet small
					and were being borne hither and thither, kept eluding
					and escaping incorporation and entanglement, and the
					larger, close-compacted atoms were already engaging
					in terrific struggles and confusion among themselves,
					there was pitching and tossing, and all things were
					full of destruction and drift and wreckage until such
					time as the earth, by acquiring magnitude from the
					union of the wandering atoms, somehow came to be
					permanently abiding herself, and provided a permanent abode in herself and round about herself for
					the other elements ; even so, while the mightiest
					powers and dominions among men were being driven
					about as Fortune willed, and were continuing to
					collide one with another because no one held the
					supreme power, but all wished to hold it, the continuous movement, drift, and change of all peoples
					remained without remedy, until such time as Rome
					acquired strength and growth, and had attached to
					herself not only the nations and peoples within her
					own borders, but also royal dominions of foreign
					peoples beyond the seas, and thus the affairs of this
					vast empire gained stability and security, since the
					supreme government, which never knew reverse, was
					brought within an orderly and single cycle of peace ;
					for though Virtue in every form was inborn in those
					who contrived these things, yet great Good Fortune
					was also joined therewith, as it will be possible to
					demonstrate as the discourse proceeds.

And now, methinks, from my lofty look-out, as
					it were, from whence I survey the matter in hand, I
					can descry Fortune and Virtue advancing to be judged
					and tried one against the other. The gait of Virtue
					is unhurried, her gaze unwavering ; yet the flush of
					ambition lends to her countenance some intimation
					regarding the contest. She follows far behind
					Fortune, who makes great haste, and in a throng
					conducting her and guarding her person are
					 Heroes slain in the conflict, wearing their blood-stained
					armour, 
 
					men befouled with wounds in front, dripping blood
					with sweat commingled, trampling upon battered
					spoils. Is it your desire that we inquire what
					men are these? They declare themselves to be
					the Fabricii, the Camilli, the Decii, the Cincinnati,
					the Fabii Maximi, the Claudii Marcelli, and the
					Scipios. I see also Gaius Marius showing anger at
					Fortune, and yonder Mucius Scaevola is exhibiting
					his burning hand and crying, Do you graciously
						attribute this also to Fortune? And Marcus
					Horatius, the hero of the battle by the Tiber, weighed
					down by Etruscan shafts and showing his limping
					limb, cries aloud from the deep whirl of the waters,
					 Then am I also maimed by Fortune’s will? Of
					such character is Virtue’s choir that advances to the
					lists,
					 Sturdy contender in arms, baleful to all that oppose.

But swift is the pace of Fortune, bold is her spirit,
					and most vaunting her hopes ; she outstrips Virtue
					and is close at hand. She does not raise herself in
					the air on light pinions, nor advance poised on tip-toe
						above a globe, in a precarious and hesitant posture,
					and then depart from sight. But even as the Spartans
					say that Aphroditê, as she crossed the Eurotas, put
					aside her mirrors and ornaments and her magic
					girdle, and took a spear and shield, adorning herself
					to please Lycurgus, even so Fortune, when she had
					deserted the Persians and Assyrians, had flitted
					lightly over Macedonia, and had quickly shaken off
					Alexander, made her way through Egypt and Syria,
					conveying kingships here and there ; and turning
					about, she would often exalt the Carthaginians. But
					when she was approaching the Palatine and crossing
					the Tiber, it appears that she took off her wings,
					stepped out of her sandals, and abandoned her untrustworthy and unstable globe. Thus did she enter
					Rome, as with intent to abide, and in such guise is she
					present to-day, as though ready to meet her trial.
					 For stubborn is she not, 
					as Pindar says,
					 Nor is the rudder double that she plies ; 
					but rather is she
					 
 The sister of Good Order and Persuasion, and
					 
 The daughter of Foresight, 
 
					
					 
					
					as Alcman describes her lineage. And she holds
					that celebrated Horn of Plenty in her hand, filled not
					with fruits of everlasting bloom, but as many as are
					the products of the whole earth and of all the seas,
					rivers, mines, and harbours, these does she pour forth
					in unstinted abundance. Not a few splendid and
					distinguished men are seen in her company : Numa
					Pompilius from the Sabine country and Priscus from
					Tarquinii, whom as adventitious and foreign kings she
					set upon the throne of Romulus ; and Aemilius
					Paulus, leading back his army without a wound 
					from Perseus and the Macedonians, triumphing for a
					tearless victory, magnifies Fortune. There magnifies
					her also the aged Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, 
					borne to his grave by four sons of consular rank,
					Quintus Baliaricus, Lucius Diadematus, Marcus
					Metellus, Gaius Caprarius, and by two sons-in-law of
					consular rank, and by grandsons made distinguished
					by illustrious deeds and offices. Aemilius Scaurus, a
					 novus homo , was raised by her from a humble station
					and a humbler family to be enrolled as the first man
					of the Senate, Cornelius Sulla she took up and
					elevated from the embraces of his mistress, Nicopolis, 
					and designated him for a monarchy and dictatorship
					which ranked far above the Cimbrian triumphs and
					the seven consulships of Marius. Sulla used openly
					to declare himself, together with his exploits, to be
					
					 
					
					the adopted child of Fortune, loudly asserting in the
					words of Sophocles’ Oedipus, 
					 And Fortune’s son I hold myself to be. 
					In the Latin tongue he was called Felix, but for the
					Greeks he wrote his name thus : Lucius Cornelius
					Sulla Epaphroditus. And the trophies at my home
					in Chaeroneia and those of the Mithridatic Wars are
					thus inscribed, quite appropriately ; for not Night, 
					as Menander has it, but Fortune has the greater
						share in Aphroditê. .

Might one, then, after proffering this as a suitable
					introduction, bring on the Romans once more as
					witnesses in behalf, of Fortune, on the ground that
					they assigned more to Fortune than to Virtue? At
					least, it was only recently and after many years that
					Scipio Numantinus built a shrine of Virtue in Rome ;
					later Marcellus built what is called the Temple of
					Virtue and Honour ; and Aemilius Scaurus, who lived
					in the time of the Cimbrian Wars, built the shrine of
					 Mens (Mind) so-called, which might be considered
					a Temple of Reason. For at this time rhetoric,
					sophistry, and argumentation had already found their
					way into the City ; and people were beginning to
					
					 
					
					magnify such pursuits. But even to this day they
					have no shrine of Wisdom or Prudence or Magnanimity or Constancy or Moderation. But of Fortune
					there are splendid and ancient shrines, all but coeval
					with the first foundations of the City. For the first
					to build a temple of Fortune was Ancus Marcius, the
					grandson of Numa and king fourth in line from
					Romulus. He, perchance, it was who added the title
					of Fortis to Fortuna 
 ; for in Fortune Manly Fortitude
					shares most largely in the winning of victory. They
					erected a temple of Fortuna Muliebris 
 before the
					time of Camillus, when, through the offices of their
					women, they had turned back Marcius Coriolano,
					who was leading the Volsci against the City. For a
					delegation of women, together with his mother and
					his wife, went to the hero and besought him and
					gained their request that he spare the City and lead
					away the foreign army. It is said that at this time,
					when the statue of Fortune was consecrated, it spoke
					and said, Women of the city, you have dedicated
						me by the holy law of Rome. 
				 
 And it is a fact that Furius Camillus likewise, when
					he had quenched the Gallic conflagration and had
					removed Rome from the balance and scales when her
					price was being weighed in gold, founded no shrine
					
					 
					
					of Good Counsel or of Valour, but a shrine of Report
					and Rumour by New Street, where, as they assert,
					before the war there carne to Marcus Caedicius, as he
					was walking by night, a voice which told him to
					expect in a short time a Gallic war.
				 
 The Fortune whose temple is by the river they call
					 Fortis , that is, strong or valiant or manly, as having
					the power to conquer everything. And her temple
					they have built in the Gardens bequeathed by Caesar
					to the People, since they believed that he also
					reached his most exalted position through good
					fortune, as he himself has testified.

Yet I should hesitate to say of Gaius Caesar
					that he was raised to his most exalted position by
					good fortune, if he’ had not himself testified to this.
					For when on the fourth day of January he put out
					from Brundisium in pursuit of Pompey, though it
					was the time of the winter solstice, yet he crossed the
					sea in safety ; for Fortune postponed the season.
					But when he found that Pompey had a compact and
					numerous army on land and a large fleet on the sea,
					and was well entrenched with all his forces, while he
					himself had a force many times smaller, and since his
					army with Antony and Sabinus was slow in coming,
					he had the courage to go on board a small boat and
					put out to sea in the guise of a servant, unrecognized
					by the captain and the pilot. But there was a violent
					
					 
					
					commotion where heavy surge froni without encountered the current of the river, and Caesar, seeing
					the pilot changing his course, removed the cloak
					from his head and, revealing himself, said, Go on,
						good sir, be brave and fear nothing! But entrust
						your sails to Fortune and receive her breeze,
						confident because you bear Caesar and Caesar’s
						Fortune. Thus firmly was he convinced that
					Fortune accompanied him on his voyages, his travels,
					his campaigns, his commands ; Fortune’s task it was
					to enjoin calm upon the sea,summer weather upon the
					winter-time, speed upon the slowest of men, courage
					upon the most dispirited, and (more unbelievable
					than these) to enjoin flight upon Pompey, and upon
					Ptolemy the murder of his guest, that Pompey should
					fall and Caesar should escape the stain of his blood.

What then? Caesar’s son, who was the first to
					be styled Augustus, and who ruled for fifty-four years,
					when he was sending forth his grandson to war, did
					he not pray to the gods to bestow upon the young
					man the courage of Scipio, the popularity of Pompey,
					and his own Fortune, thus recording Fortune as the
					creator of himself, quite as though he were inscribing
					the artist’s name on a great monument? For it
					was Fortune that imposed him upon Cicero, Lepidus,
					Pansa, Hirtius, and Mark Antony, and by their
					displays of valour, their deeds, victories, fleets, wars,
					armies, raised him on high to be the first of Roman
					citizens ; and she cast down these men, through
					whom he had mounted, and left him to rule alone.
					
					 
					
					It was, in fact, for him that Cicero governed the State,
					that Lepidus commanded armies, that Pansa conquered, that Hirtius fell, that Antony played the
					wanton. For I reckon even Cleopatra as a part of
					Caesar’s Fortune, on whom, as on a reef, even so
					great a commander as Antony was wrecked and
					crushed that Caesar might rule alone. The tale 
					is told of Caesar and Antony that, when there
					was much familiarity and intimacy between them,
					they often devoted their leisure to a game of
					ball or dice or even to fights of pet birds, such as
					quails or cocks ; and Antony always retired from
					the field defeated. It is further related that one
					of his friends, who prided himself on his knowledge of divination, was often wont to speak freely
					to him and admonish him, Sir, what business have
						you with this youth? Avoid him ! Your repute
						is greater, you are older, you govern more men,
						you have fought in wars, you excel in experience ;
						but your Guardian Spirit fears this man’s Spirit.
						Your Fortune is mighty by herself, but abases herself
						before his. Unless you keep far away from him,
						your Fortune will depart and go over to him !

But enough ! For such important testimonies
					from her witnesses has Fortune to support her. But
					we must also introduce the testimony of the very
					events of history, taking as the beginning of our
					account the beginning of Rome. To begin with,
					who would not at once declare touching the birth,
					the preservation, the nurture, the development of
					Romulus, that Fortune laid the foundations, and
					that Virtue finished the building? In the first place,
					
					 
					
					then, it appears that the circumstances surrounding
					the origin and the birth of the very founders and
					builders of Rome were of a marvellous good fortune. 
					For their mother is said to have consorted with a god ;
					and even as they relate that Heracles was conceived
					during a long night (for the day was retarded in
					contrariety to nature, and the sun delayed), so
					regarding the generation and conception of Romulus
					they record that the sun was eclipsed and carne into
					exact conjunction with the moon at the time when
					Mars, a god, consorted with the mortal Silvia. And
					this same thing, they say, happened to Romulus also
					at the very time of his translation from this life ; for
					they relate that he disappeared during an eclipse of
					the sun on the Capratine Nones, on which day, even
					to the present time, they hold high festival.
				 
 Later, when the children were born and the despot
					gave orders to do away with them, by the decree
					of Fortune no barbarous or savage servant but a
					compassionate and humane man received them, with
					the result that he did not kill them ; but there was a
					margin of the river, bordering upon a green meadow, 
					shaded round about with lowly shrubs ; and here the
					servant deposited the infants near a certain wild
					fig-tree, to which people later gave the name
					Ruminalis. Then a she-wolf, that had newly
					whelped, with her dugs distended and overflowing
					with milk because her young had perished, being
					
					 
					
					herself in great need of relief, circled around the
					infants and then gave them suck, thus ridding herself
					of the pain caused by the milk as if it had been a
					second birth-pang. And a bird sacred to Mars, which
					they call the woodpecker, visited them and, perching
					near on tiptoe, would, with its claw, open the mouth
					of each child in turn and place therein a morsel,
					sharing with them a portion of its own food. Wherefore they named this wild fig-tree Ruminalis, from the
					teat ( ruma ) which the wolf offered to the children as
					she crouched beside the tree. And for a long time
					the people who dwelt near this place preserved the
					custom of never exposing any of the new-born infants,
					but they acknowledged and reared them all, in
					honour of Romulus’s experience and the similarity of
					the childrens’ case with his.
				 
 And, in truth, the fact that they were not discovered while they were being reared and educated
					in Gabii, and that it was unknown that they were
					the sons of Silvia and the grandchildren of king
					Numitor surely appears to have been a furtive and
					shrewd device of Fortune, so that they might not,
					because of their lineage, be put to death before
					performing their tasks, but that they might in their
					very successes be discovered, by bringing to notice
					their noble qualities as tokens by which to recognize
					their high birth.
				 
 At this point there occurs to me the remark of a
					great and prudent general, Themistocles, which was
					made to certain of the generals who came into favour
					at Athens after him and felt that they deserved to be
					rated above him. He said that the Day-After contended
					
					 
					
					with the Feast-Day, saying that the Feast-Day was full of wearying tasks and labours, but on the
					Day-After men enjoyed in quiet all things that had
					been made ready. Then the Feast-Day said, What
						you say is true ; but if I had not been, where would
						you be? 
 And so, said Themistocles, if I had
							not been at the time of the Persian Wars, what
							benefit would now come from you? And this,
					methinks, is what Fortune says to the Virtue of
					Romulus : Brilliant and mighty are your deeds, and
						in very truth you have proved yourself to be divine in
						blood and birth. But do you observe how far you
						fall behind me? For if, at the time of his birth, I had
						not accompanied him in a helpful and humane guise,
						but had deserted and abandoned the infants, how
						could you have come into being and whence had you
						derived such lustre? If on that occasion there had
						not come to them a female beast swollen with the
						abundance and the burden of her milk, and in need of
						some creature to be fed rather than of something to
						yield her sustenance, but if instead there had come
						some utterly savage and ravening creature, would not
						even now these fair palaces and temples, theatres,
						promenades, fora, and public buildings be herdsmen’s
						huts and folds of shepherds who paid homage to some
						man of Alba or Etruria or Latium as their lord? 
					The beginning, as every one knows, is of supreme
					importance in everything, and particularly in the
					founding and building of a city ; and this Fortune
					provided, since she had preserved and protected the
					founder. For Virtue made Romulus great, but
					Fortune watched over him until be became great.

And in truth, it is generally agreed that a
					
					 
					
					marvellous good Fortune guided the reign of Numa
					which endured for so many years. For the tale that a
					certain Egeria, a dryad and a wise divinity, consorted
					in love with the man, and helped him in instituting
					and shaping the government of his State, is perhaps
					somewhat fabulous. For other mortals who are said
					to have attained divine marriages and to have been
					beloved of goddesses, men like Peleus and Anchises,
					Orion and Emathion, by no means lived through their
					lives in a satisfactory, or even painless, manner. On
					the contrary, it appears likely that Numa had Good
					Fortune as his true wife, counsellor, and colleague ;
					and she took the city in charge when it was being
					carried hither and yon amid the enmity and fierceness
					of bordering tribes and neighbours, as in the midst of
					turbulent billows of a troubled sea and was inflamed
					by countless struggles and dissensions; and she calmed
					those opposing passions and jealousies as though they
					had been but gusts of wind. Even as they relate
					that the sea, when it has received the brood of
					halcyons in the stormy season, keeps them safe and
					assists in their nurture, even such a calm in the affairs
					of Rome, free from war or pestilence or danger or
					terror, Fortune caused to overspread and surround
					the city, and thus afforded the opportunity to a newly
					settled and sorely shaken people to take root and to
					establish their city on a firm foundation where it might
					grow in quiet, securely and unhindered. It is as with a
					merchantman or a trireme, which is constructed by
					blows and with great violence, and is buffeted by
					hammers and nails, bolts and saws and axes, and, when
					it is completed, it must remain at rest and grow firm for
					
					 
					
					a suitable period of time until its bonds hold tight and
					its fastenings have acquired affinity; but if it be
					launched while its joinings are still damp and slippery,
					these will all be loosened when they are racked by the
					waves, and will admit the sea. Even so the first
					ruler and artificer of Rome, in organizing the city
					from rustics and shepherds, as though building up
					from a stout keel, took upon himself no few labours,
					nor of slight moment were the wars and dangers that
					he withstood in warding off, of necessity, those who
					opposed the creation and foundation of Rome.
				 
 But he who was the second to take over the State
					gained time by good fortune to consolidate and make
					assured the enlargement of Rome ; for much peace did
					he secure for her and much quiet. But if at that time
					a Porsenna had pressed hard upon the city and had
					erected an Etruscan stockade and a camp beside the
					new walls which were still moist and unstable, or if
					from the Marsi had come some rebellious chief filled
					with warlike frenzy, or some Lucanian, incited by
					envy and love of strife, a man contentious and warlike, as later was Mutilus or the bold Silo b or Sulla’s
					last antagonist, Telesinus, arming all Italy at one
					preconcerted signal, as it were - if one of these had
					sounded his trumpets round about Numa, the lover of
					wisdom, while he was sacrificing and praying, the
					early beginnings of the City would not have been
					able to hold out against such a mighty surge and billow,
					nor would they ever have increased to such a goodly
					and numerous people. But as it is, it seems likely
					that the peace of Numa’s reign was a provision to equip
					
					 
					
					them for their subsequent wars, and that the people,
					like an athlete, having, during a period of forty-three
					years following the contests of Romulus’s time, trained
					themselves in quiet and made their strength staunch
					enough to cope in battle with those who later arrayed
					themselves against them. For they relate that no
					famine nor pestilence nor failure of crops nor any unseasonable occurrence in either summer or winter vexed
					Rome during that time, as if it were not wise human
					counsel, but divine Fortune that was Rome’s guardian
					during those crucial days. Therefore at that time the
					double door of Janus’s temple was shut, which the
					Romans call the Portal of War; for it is open when there
					is war,but closedwhen peace has beenmade. But after
					Numa died it was opened, since the war with the
					Albans had broken out. Then countless other wars
					followed in continuous succession until again, after
					four hundred and eighty years, it was closed in the
					peace following the Punic War, when Gaius Atilius
					and Titus Manlius were consuls. After this year it
					was again opened and the wars continued until
					Caesar’s victory at Actium. Then the arms of Rome
					were idle for a time, but not for long ; for the tumults
					caused by the Cantabri and Gaul, breaking forth at
					the sanie time with the Germans, disturbed the peace.
					These facts are added to the record as proofs of
					Numa’s good fortune.

And even the kings who succeeded Numa
					honoured Fortune as the head and foster-parent of
					
					 
					
					Rome and, as Pindar has it, truly the Prop of the
						State. 
 And Servius Tullius, the man who of all
					the kings most increased the power of his people, and
					introduced a well-regulated government and imposed order upon both the holding of elections and
					military procedure, and became the first censor and
					overseer of the lives and decorum of the citizens,
					and held the highest repute for courage and wisdom,
					of his own initiative attached himself to Fortune
					and bound his sovereignty fast to her, with the result
					that it was even thought that Fortune consorted with
					him, descending into his chamber through a certain
					
					 
					
					window which they now call the Porta Fenestella. 
					He, accordingly, built on the Capitoline a temple of
					Fortune which is now called the Temple of Fortuna
					Primigenia (which one might translate as First-Born ) and the Temple of Fortuna Obsequens, 
					which some think means obedient and others
					 gracious. However, I prefer to abandon the Latin
					nomenclature, and shall endeavour to enumerate
					in Greek the different functions of the shrines of
					Fortune. There is, in fact, a shrine of Private Fortune
					on the Palatine, and the shrine of the Fowler’s
					Fortune which, even though it be a ridiculous name,
					yet gives reason for reflexion on metaphorical
					grounds, as if she attracted far-away objects and held
					them fast when they come into contact with her.
					Beside the Mossy Spring, as it is called, there is even
					yet a temple of Virgin Fortune ; and on the Esquiline
					a shrine of Regardful Fortune. In the Angiportus
					Longus there is an altar of Fortune of Good Hope ;
					and there is also beside the altar of Venus of the
					Basket a shrine of the Men’s Fortune. And there
					are countless other honours and appellations of
					Fortune, the greater part of which Servius instituted ;
					for he knew that Fortune is of great moment, or
						rather, she is everything in human affairs, 
 and particularly since he himself, through good fortune, had
					been promoted from the family of a captive enemy
					to the kingship. For, when the town of Corniculum
					
					 
					
					was taken by the Romans, a captive maiden Ocrisia, 
					whose fortune could not obscure either her beauty or
					her character, was given to be a slave to Tanaquil, the
					wife of king Tarquin ; and a certain dependent, one
					of those whom the Romans call clientes , had her to wife;
					from these parents Servius was born. Others deny
					this, but assert that Ocrisia was a maiden who took
					the first-fruits and the libations on all occasions from
					the royal table and brought them to the hearth ; and
					once on a time when she chanced, as usual, to be
					casting the offerings upon the fire, suddenly, as the
					flames died down, the member of a man rose up out
					of the hearth ; and this the girl, greatly frightened,
					told to Tanaquil only. Now Tanaquil was an intelligent and understanding woman, and she decked the
					maiden in garments such as become a bride, and shut
					her up in the room with the apparition, for she judged
					it to be of a divine nature. Some declare that this love
					was manifested by the Lar of the house, others that
					it was by Vulcan. At any rate, it resulted in the birth
					of Servius, and, while he was still a child, his head
					shone with a radiance very like the gleam of lightning.
					But Antias and his school say not so, but relate that
					when Servius’s wife Gegania lay dying, in the presence
					of his mother he fell into a sleep from dejection and
					grief; and as he slept, his face was seen by the
					women to be surrounded by the gleam of fire. This
					was a token of his birth from fire and an excellent
					sign pointing to his unexpected accession to the kingship, which he gained after the death of Tarquin, by
					
					 
					
					the zealous assistance of Tanaquil. Inasmuch as he
					of all kings is thought to have been naturally the
					least suited to monarchy and the least desirous of it,
					he who was minded to resign the kingship, but was
					prevented from doing so ; for it appears that Tanaquil
					on her death-bed made him swear that he would
					remain in power and would ever set before him
					the ancestral Roman form of government. Thus to
					Fortune wholly belongs the kingship of Servius, which
					he received contrary to his expectations and retained
					against his will.

That we may not, however, appear to be
					retreating and withdrawing from illuminating and
					perspicuous testimonials into the dim past, as into a
					place of darkness, let us now leave the kings and
					transfer our discourse to the most notable deeds
					and the most celebrated wars. And in these wars,
					who would not acknowledge that much daring and
					courage was needed and also, as Timotheüs has it,
					 Shame, the helpmate of warring Valour? 
					Yet the smooth flow of events and the impelling
					swiftness of Rome’s progress to so high a pinnacle of
					power and expansion demonstrates to all who reason
					aright that the progress of Rome’s sovereignty was
					not brought about by the handiwork and urging of
					human beings, but was speeded on its way by divine
					escort and the fair wind of Fortune. Trophy upon
					trophy arises, triumph meets triumph, and the first
					blood, while still warm on their arms, is overtaken
					and washed away by a second flood. They count
					
					 
					
					their victories, not by the multitude of corpses and
					spoils, but by captive kingdoms, by nations enslaved,
					by islands and continents added to their mighty
					realm. In one battle Philip lost Macedonia, with one
					stroke Antiochus was forced to withdraw from Asia,
					by one defeat the Carthaginians lost Africa. One
					man in the swift onset of one campaign added to
					the Roman dominion Armenia, Pontus, the Euxine,
					Syria, Arabia, the Albanians, the Iberians, and all the
					territory to the Caucasus and the Hyrcanians ; thrice
					did the Ocean which encircles the inhabited world
					see him victorious, for in Africa he drove back the
					Numidians to the strands of the southern sea; even
					as far as the Atlantic Ocean, he subdued Iberia, 
					which had joined in the distemper of Sertorius;
					the kings of the Albanians were pursued until he
					brought them to a halt near the Caspian Sea. 
					All these successes he won through enjoying the
					Fortune of the Roman commonwealth ; then he was
					overthrown by his own fate.
				 
 But the great Guardian Spirit of Rome sent a
					favouring breeze, not for one day, nor at its height for
					a brief time only, like the Macedonian, nor but a land
					breeze, like the Spartan, nor but a sea breeze, like the
					Athenian, nor late to rise, like the Persian, nor quick
					to cease, like the Carthaginian ; but this Spirit,
					from its first creation, grew in maturity, in might, and
					
					 
					
					in polity together with the City, and remained constant to it on land and on sea, in war and in peace,
					against foreigners, against Greeks. This it was that
					dissipated and exhausted in the confines of Italy, like
					a mountain torrent, Hannibal the Carthaginian, since
					no fresh aid flowed to him from home because of
					jealousy and political enmities. This it was that
					separated and kept apart by great intervals of
					space and time the armies of the Cimbri and of the
					Teutons, that Marius might avail to fight each of
					them in turn, and that three hundred thousand men
					of irresistible and invincible arms might not simultaneously invade and overwhelm Italy. Through
					the agency of this Spirit Antiochus was fully occupied
					while war was being waged against Philip, and
					Philip had been vanquished and was falling when
					Antiochus was making his venture ; the Sarmatian
					and Bastarnian wars restrained Mithridates during
					the time when the Marsian war was blazing up
					against Rome ; suspicion and jealousy kept Tigranes 
					from Mithridates while Mithridates was brilliantly
					successful, but he joined himself to Mithridates
					only to perish with him in defeat.

And why not admit that Fortune also retrieved
					the city in times of the greatest disaster? When
					the Gauls were encamped round about the Capitol
					and were besieging the citadel,
					 Baneful the plague that she brought on the host, and
					the people were dying. 
 
					And as for the Gauls’ nocturnal assault, though they
					
					 
					
					were noticed by none, yet Fortune and Chance
					brought about the discovery.
				 
 Concerning this assault of the Gauls it will perhaps not be unseasonable to give some additional
					details, however briefly. After the great defeat
					of the Romans at the river Allia, some in their
					flight found a haven in Rome and filled the
					people with consternation and terror, and caused
					them to scatter far and wide, although a few went
					to the Capitol and prepared to stand a siege. 
					Others, immediately after their defeat, gathered
					together at Veii and appointed as dictator Furius
					Camillus, whom the people in their prosperity and
					lofty pride had rejected and deposed because he
					had become involved in a suit concerning the appropriation of public property. But now, cowed and
					humbled after their defeat, they were for recalling
					him, and offered to hand over to him the supreme
					command, accountable to no one. Accordingly, that
					he might not be thought to be obtaining office because
					of the crisis, but in accordance with the law, and that
					he should not, as if he had given up all hope for the
					city, be elected by soldiery in a canvass of the remnants of the army, now scattered and wandering, it
					was necessary that the senators on the Capitolino
					should vote upon the matter after they had been
					informed of the decision of the soldiers. Now there
					was a certain Gaius Pontius, a brave man, who, by
					volunteering personally to report these resolutions
					to the Senate on the Capitol, took upon himself great
					danger. For the way led through the midst of the
					enemy, who encompassed the citadel with sentries and
					
					 
					
					palisades. When, accordingly, he had come by night
					to the river, he bound broad strips of cork beneath
					his breast and, entrusting his body to the buoyancy
					of this support, committed himself to the stream.
					Encountering a gentle current which bore him slowly
					down stream, he reached the opposite bank in safety,
					and, climbing out of the river, advanced toward the
					section void of lights, inferring from the darkness
					and quiet that no one was there. Clinging to the
					precipitous cliff and entrusting himself to the support
					of sloping and circuitous ways and jagged surfaces of
					the rock which would allow a foothold or afford a
					clutch for his hand, he reached the top of the rock ;
					he was received by the sentries, and made known to
					those within the decision of the army, and having obtained the decree of the Senate, he returned again
					to Camillus.
				 
 The next day one of the barbarians was wandering
					idly about this place, when he saw in one spot
					prints of feet and marks of slipping, and in another
					the bruising and tearing off of the grass, which grew
					on the earth of the cliff, and marks of the zigzag
					dragging and pulling up of a body ; and this he told
					to the others. They, thinking that the way was
					pointed out to them by their enemies, attempted to
					rival them ; and waiting till the very dead of night,
					they made the ascent, unnoticed not only by the
					sentinels, but also by the dogs which shared guard
					duty and formed the outpost, but then were overcome
					by sleep.
				 
 Rome’s Fortune, however, did not lack a voice capable of revealing and declaring such a great mischance.
					Sacred geese were kept near the temple of Juno for
					
					 
					
					the service of the goddess. Now by nature this bird
					is easily disturbed and frightened by noise ; and at
					this time, since they were neglected, because dire
					want oppressed the garrison, their sleep was light,
					and was made uncomfortable by hunger, with the
					result that they were at once aware of the enemy as
					they showed themselves above the edge of the cliif.
					The geese hissed at them and rushed at them impetuously, and, at the sight of arms, became even more
					excited, and filled the place with piercing and discordant clamour. By this the Romans were aroused,
					and, when they comprehended what had happened,
					they forced back their enemies and hurled them over
					the precipice. And even to this day, in memory of
					these events, there are borne in solemn procession a
					dog impaled on a stake, but a goose perched in state
					upon a costly coverlet in a litter.
				 
 This spectacle exhibits the might of Fortune and
					the ease with which, whenever she busies herself and
					takes command, she provides from unexpected sources
					against all emergencies by implanting intelligence in
					the unreasoning and senseless, and prowess and daring
					in the craven. For who would not, truly, be struck with
					astonishment and amazement when he has come to
					learn and has embraced in his consideration the former
					dejection of the city and her present prosperity, and
					has looked upon the splendour of her temples, the
					richness of her votive offerings, the rivalry of her arts
					and crafts, the ambitious efforts of subject cities, the
					crowns of dependent kings, and all things which the
					earth contributes and the sea and islands, continents,
					
					 
					
					rivers, trees, living creatures, plains, mountains,
					mines, the first-fruits of everything, vying for beauty
					in the aspect and grace that adorns this place? And
					then comes the thought: how near did all this come to
					not being created and to not existing at all! When
					all things else were overcome by fire and frightful
					darkness and gloom, by foreign swords and murderous
					rage, it was poor, irrational, and timorous creatures
					that contributed the beginning of deliverance ; and
					those great heroes and commanders, the Manlii, the
					Servilii, the Postumii, the Papirii, the founders of future
					illustrious houses, whom naught separated from death,
					geese aroused to make defence for the god of their
					fathers and for their fatherland. But if it be true, as
					Polybius has recorded in his second book, concerning
					the Gauls who had at this time seized Rome, that,
					when news suddenly came to them that their domains
					at home were in danger of being lost to them at the
					hands of neighbouring barbarians who had invaded
					their land and were masters of it, they concluded a
					treaty of peace with Camillus and withdrew - if this
					be true, then there can be no contention with Fortune
					that she was not the cause of Rome’s preservation, by
					distracting the enemy, or rather, by abstracting them
					from Rome quite unexpectedly.

But what need is there to dwell on these
					matters, which offer nothing certain or definite
					because of the confusion of the events of Roman
					history and the destruction of contemporary
					chronicles, as Livy has recorded? Certainly the
					
					 
					
					later events, plainer and clearer as they are, exhibit
					Fortune’s benignity ; and to Fortune I ascribe also
					the death of Alexander, a man who by great good
					luck and brilliant successes, the result of his invincible
					daring and lofty aspirations, was sweeping swiftly
					through the world like a shooting star from East to
					West, and was already allowing the lustre of his arms to
					gleam upon Italy, since the destruction of Alexander
					the Molossian near Pandosia at the hands of the
					Bruttians and Lucanians served him as pretext for
					the campaign. But truly that love of glory which
					led him against all mankind embraced both an
					emulous desire for sovereignty and a wish to rival and
					to pass beyond the limits of Dionysus’s and Heracles’ 
					expeditions. He learned that Rome’s power and
					courage was arrayed for the protection of Italy like
					a firm-set battle-line ; for some account of their
					illustrious name and fame was often transmitted to
					him, as of athletes thoroughly practised in countless
					wars.
					 Not without spilling of blood could this matter, I deem,
					have been settled, 
 
					had the great aspirations of these two unconquered
					peoples with their invincible arms clashed with each
					other. For in numbers at this time the Romans
					were no fewer than an hundred and thirty thousand
					men ; and every one of them was warlike and
					intrepid, 
					 
 Knowing on horseback
					 
 How to do battle with men, and even, if need be,
					dismounted.