e reported, occasioned great alarm. It was the beginning of autumn,
and the summer now ending had, to all observation, been neither rainy
nor much troubled with southern winds; and of the many lakes, brooks,
and springs of all sorts with which Italy abounds, some were wholly
dried up, others had very little water in them; all the rivers, as is
usual in summer, ran in a very low and hollow channel. But the Alban
lake, which is fed by no other waters but its own, and is on all sides
encircled with fruitful mountains, without any cause, unless it were
divine, began visibly to rise and swell, increasing to the feet of the
mountains, and by degrees reaching the level of the very tops of some of
them, and all this without any waves or agitation. At first it was the
wonder of shepherds and herdsmen; but when the earth, which, like a
great dam, held up the lake from falling into the lower grounds, through
the quantity and weight of water was broken down, and in a violent
stream it ran through the ploughed fields and plantations to discharge
itself in the sea, it not only struck terror into the Romans, but was
thought by all the inhabitants of Italy to portend some extraordinary
event. But the greatest talk of it was in the camp that besieged Veii,
so that in the town itself, also, the occurrence became known.

As in long sieges it commonly happens that both parties on both sides
meet often and converse with one another, so it chanced that a Roman had
gained much confidence and familiarity with one of the besieged, a man
versed in ancient prophecies, and of repute for more than ordinary skill
in divination. The Roman, observing him to be overjoyed at the story of
the lake, and to mock at the siege, told him that this was not the only
prodigy that of late had happened to the Romans; others more wonderful
yet than this had befallen them, which he was willing to communicate to
him, that he might the better provide for his private interests in these
public distempers. The man greedily embraced the proposal, expecting to
hear some wonderful secrets; but when, little by little, he had led him
on in conversation, and insensibly drawn him a good way from the gates
of the city, he snatched him up the middle, being stronger than he, and,
by the assistance of others who came running from the camp, seized and
delivered him to the commanders. The man, reduced to this necessity, and
sensible now that destiny was not to be avoided, discovered to