ot. Thereupon some of the cows that were driven away,
lowed, as they usually do, when they missed those that were left; and
the lowings of those that were shut in being heard in answer from
the cave, caused Hercules to turn round. And when Cacus attempted
to prevent him by force as he was advancing toward the cave, he was
struck with a club and slain, while vainly calling upon the shepherds
to assist him. At that time Evander, who was an exile from the
Peloponnesus, governed the country more by his personal ascendancy
than by absolute sway. He was a man held in reverence on account
of the wonderful art of writing, an entirely new discovery to men
ignorant of accomplishments,[7] and still more revered on account of
the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom those peoples had
marvelled at as a prophetess before the arrival of the Sybil in Italy.
This Evander, roused by the assembling of the shepherds as they
hastily crowded round the stranger, who was charged with open murder,
after he heard an account of the deed and the cause of it, gazing
upon the personal appearance and mien of the hero, considerably more
dignified and majestic than that of a man, asked who he was. As soon
as he heard the name of the hero, and that of his father and native
country, "Hail!" said he, "Hercules, son of Jupiter! my mother,
truthful interpreter of the will of the gods, has declared to me that
thou art destined to increase the number of the heavenly beings, and
that on this spot an altar shall be dedicated to thee, which in after
ages a people most mighty on earth shall call Greatest, and honour in
accordance with rites instituted by thee." Hercules, having given him
his right hand, declared that he accepted the prophetic intimation,
and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by building and
dedicating an altar. Thereon then for the first time sacrifice was
offered to Hercules with a choice heifer taken from the herd, the
Potitii and Pinarii, the most distinguished families who then
inhabited those parts, being invited to serve at the feast. It so
happened that the Potitii presented themselves in due time and the
entrails were set before them: but the Pinarii did not arrive until
the entrails had been eaten up, to share the remainder of the feast.
From that time it became a settled institution, that, as long as the
Pinarian family existed, they should not eat of the entrails of
the sacrificial victims. The Potitii, fully instruct