BOOK VII. Lii. 178-L111. 181 



personal staff, as he had come back from the lower 

 world and had some news to tell him. Pompey sent 

 several of his friends, who were told by Gabienus that 

 the gods below approved Pompey's cause and the 

 righteous party, so that the issue would be what 

 Pompey desired ; that he had had orders to bring this 

 news, and that a proof of its truth would be that as 

 soon as his errand was accomphshed he would expire. 

 And this so happened. There are also cases of 

 persons appearing after burial — save that our 

 subject is the works of nature, not prodigies. 



LIII. But most miraculous and also frequent, are Suddm 

 sudden deaths (this is hfe's supreme happiness), ,3^^^^ o^ 

 which we shall show to be natural. Verrius has <<""• 

 reported a great many,but we will preserve modera- 

 tion with a selection. Cases of people who died of 

 joy are (besides Chilo about whom we have spoken)" 

 Sophocles and Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, in both 

 cases after receiving news of a victory with a tragedy : 

 also the mother who saw her son back safe from 

 Cannae in contradiction of a false messagc ; Diodorus 

 the professor of logic died of shame because he could 

 not at once solve a problcm put to him in jest by 

 Stilpo. Cases of men dying from no obvious causes 

 are : while putting on their shoes in the morning, 

 the two Caesars, the praetor and the ex-praetor, 

 father of the dictator Caesar, the latter dying at 

 Pisa and the former at Ilome ; Quintus Fabius 

 Maximus on 31 Dcccmber in the vear of his consul- 

 ship, in whose place Gaius Rcbihis obtained the 

 office for only a few hours ; also the senator 

 Gaius \'olcatius Gurges — all of these men so healthy 

 and fit that they were thinking of going out for a 

 walk ; Quintus Aeniilius Lepidus who bruised his great 



627 



