MMCCCXCIVth anniversary of the Capitoline geese

[ASCLEPIADES]

Salve.

 

III Nones Sextilis CCCLXVII AUC, two weeks after the Allia River defeat from the Gauls of Brennus, it's when the Legend states that the geese did what the dogs couldn't.

 

Here comes Livy, Ab Urbe Conditia, Book V, Ch. XXXVII:

 

"nocte sublustri cum primo inermem qui temptaret uiam praemisissent, tradentes inde arma ubi quid iniqui esset, alterni innixi subleuantesque in uicem et trahentes alii alios, prout postularet locus, [3] tanto silentio in summum euasere ut non custodes solum fallerent, sed ne canes quidem, sollicitum animal ad nocturnos strepitus, excitarent. [4] anseres non fefellere quibus sacris Iunonis in summa inopia cibi tamen abstinebatur. quae res saluti fuit; namque clangore eorum alarumque crepitu excitus M. Manlius qui triennio ante consul fuerat, uir bello egregius,"

 

"Choosing a night when there was a faint glimmer of light, they sent an unarmed man in advance to try the road; then handing one another their arms where the path was difficult, and supporting each other or dragging each other up as the ground required, they finally reached the summit. So silent had their movements been that not only were they unnoticed by the sentinels, but they did not even wake the dogs, an animal peculiarly sensitive to nocturnal sounds. But they did not escape the notice of the geese, which were sacred to Juno and had been left untouched in spite of the extremely scanty supply of food. This proved the safety of the garrison, for their clamour and the noise of their wings aroused M. Manlius, the distinguished soldier, who had been consul three years before."

 

I have read in an unsourced website that every year on August 3, the Romans crucified a dog and paraded the sacred geese in honor. Is something of this true? Thanks in advance for your replies.

Edited August 5, 2007 by ASCLEPIADES

[M. Porcius Cato]

I have read in an unsourced website that every year on August 3, the Romans crucified a dog and paraded the sacred geese in honor. Is something of this true?

 

How one crucifies a dog is beyond me. Impaling seems more likely.