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.

Qnaeris nt dvis ad bonum commnne genitns, qnid snper rebns anxiis vero proxi- mnm nnntietnr. certis indieibns secnnda cognovimns; debinc mnlti silentii snspicio 5 sollicitis mmoribns locum fecit. sed mihi opinionnm talium, qnae sine anctore pro- deont, nnlla cnratio est. inpendio angor animi, qnod sacrificiis multiplicibns et per singnlas potestates saepe repetitis necdnm publico nomine Spoletinnm piatur ostentnm. nam et lovem vix propitiavit octava mactatio, et Fortunae publicae multiingis hostiis neqniquam undecimns honor factus est. quo loci simns, intellegis. nunc sententia 10 est in coetum vocare collegas. curabo, nt scias, si quid remedia divina promo- verint. vale. L (XXXXnn) ante a. 377.