Letter 1055: You ask — like a good citizen born for the common welfare — what reliable reports say about the current crisis.
You ask — like a good citizen born for the common welfare — what reliable reports say about the current crisis. We received favorable signs at first, but then a long silence bred suspicion among the anxious rumormongers.
For my part, I pay no attention to rumors that arrive without a credible source. What truly distresses me is this: despite repeated sacrifices, performed in full for each deity in turn, the prodigy at Spoletium [modern Spoleto] has still not been expiated on behalf of the state. Jupiter was barely appeased after an eighth offering; Fortune of the People received eleven slaughtered victims and was still unsatisfied.
You understand the position we're in. My plan now is to call the priestly college together. I'll let you know if the divine remedies make any progress. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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