Ill] ON VARIOUS KINDS OF VILLAS 247 



which we share between us, provided by a private 

 candidate. Well, I answered, I am of opinion that, 

 true as is the proverb " bad ' advice is worst for the 

 adviser," it is equally true that good advice must 

 be considered good both for the adviser and the 

 advised. And so to the People's Hall we went. 

 2 There we found the augur- Appius Claudius sitting 

 on one of the benches, ready for the consul in case 

 any circumstance should call for his services. On 

 his left sat Cornelius Merula (Blackbird), belonging 

 to a consular house, and Fircellius Pavo (Peacock) 



provide some sort of shelter for his personal friends who were 

 there to support him. But then what is to be made of aedifi- 

 cemus? and dtmtdiata? Viderint doctiores ! 



' Malum consilium^ etc. In explanation of the proverb 

 Gellius (iv, 5) tells a story which, he says, he found in the 

 Annales Magni : A statue of Horatius Codes had been 

 struck by lightning — a prodigy concerning which the Etruscan 

 haruspices were consulted as usual. But at that time the 

 Etruscans were bitterly hostile to Rome, and the haruspices 

 purposely gave bad advice to the Romans. The former were 

 arrested, confessed the crime, and were executed. Whereupon 

 this witty verse was composed and sung by boys all over 

 the city : Malum consilium consultori pessimumst. Gellius also 

 notes that the verse is a translation of Hesiod's t) U kukt) /3ou\i) 

 Ttp (iovXivaavTi KaKiaTt] (tpyojv koI y'lfitfjutv, i, 264). 



'" Augurem. An augur, or augurs, was always present at 

 the Comitia to take the auspices, etc. For an excellent account 

 of their duties cf. Alexander ab Alexandre, v, 19. Varro, at 

 the end of Bk. vi (L.L.) speaks of the augur attending on the 

 Consul at the Comitia Centuriata : Hoc nunc fit aliter atque olim^ 

 quod augur consuli adest tum cum exercitus imperatur {when the 

 people were ordered to assemble for the Comitia) ac praeit quid 

 eum dicere oporteal. 



