t to lie in the
columns of infantry, and for that reason the dictator ought to remain
always with them, or else because, while in all other respects the
dictator's power is equal to that of a king, it was thought well that in
this one point he should have to ask leave of the people. Next, however,
Fabius, wishing at once to show the greatness and splendour of his
office, and so make the citizens more ready to obey him, appeared in
public with all his twenty-four lictors at once; and when the surviving
consul met him, he sent an officer to bid him dismiss his lictors, lay
aside his insignia of office, and come before him as a mere private
citizen. After this he began in the best possible way, that is, by a
religious ceremony, and assured the people that it was in consequence of
the impiety and carelessness of their late general, not by any fault of
the army, that they had been defeated. Thus he encouraged them not to
fear their enemies, but to respect the gods and render them propitious,
not that he implanted any superstitious observances among them, but he
confirmed their valour by piety, and took away from them all fear of the
enemy by the hopes which he held out to them of divine protection. At
this time many of the holy and mysterious books, which contain secrets
of great value to the State, were inspected. These are called the
Sibylline books. One of the sentences preserved in these was said to
have an evident bearing on contemporary events; what it was can only be
guessed at by what was done. The dictator appeared before the people and
publicly vowed to the gods a _ver sacrum_, that is, all the young which
the next spring should produce, from the goats, the sheep, and the kine
on every mountain, and plain, and river, and pasture within the bounds
of Italy. All these he swore that he would sacrifice, and moreover that
he would exhibit musical and dramatic shows, and expend upon them the
sum of three hundred and thirty-three _sestertia_, and three hundred and
thirty-three _denarii_, and one-third of a _denarius_. The sum total of
this in our Greek money is eighty-three thousand five hundred and
eighty-three drachmas and two obols. What the particular virtue of this
exact number may be it is hard to determine, unless it be on account of
the value of the number three, which is by nature perfect, and the first
of odd numbers, the first also of plurals, and containing within itself
all the elements of the qualities of numb