BOOK VIII. Lxxxii. 220-223 



neither wild nor tame but of a character inter- 

 mediate between each, for instance among winged 

 things swallows and bees," in the sea dolphins. 

 Many people have also placed in this class these 

 denizens of our homes the mice, a creature not to be 

 ignored among portents even in regard to pubhc 

 affairs; they foretold thewar* with the Marsians by 

 gnawing the silver shields at Lanuvium, and the death 

 of General Carbo by gnawing at Chiusi <^ the puttees 

 that he wore inside his sandals. There are more 

 varieties of mice in the district of Cyi-ene, some with 

 broad and others with pointed heads, and others 

 hke hedgehogs with prickly bristles. Theophrastus 

 states that on the island of Chiura"^ when they had 

 banished the inhabitants * they even gnawed iron, 

 and that they also do this by a sort of instinct in the 

 iron foundries in the country of the Chalybes/: 

 indeed, he says, in gold mines because of this their 

 belHes get cut away and their theft of gold is always 

 detected, ? so fond are they of thieving. The Pubhc 

 Records relate that during the siege ^ of Casilinum by 

 Hannibal a mouse was sold for 200 francs, and that 

 the man who sold it died of hunger while the buyer 

 lived. The appearance of white mice constitutes a 

 joyful omen. For we have our Records full of 

 instances of the auspices being interrupted ' by the 

 squeaking of shrews. Nigidius states that shrews 

 themselves also hibernate as do dormice, which 

 sumptuary legislation and Marcus Scaurus the 

 Head of the State during his consulship '' ruled out 



" Or perhaps ' their bellies are cut open and some stolen 

 gold is always found.' 



* 216 B.C., after the battle of Cannae. 



* I.e. the squeaking during the taking of auspices was a 

 bad omen. * 115 b.o. 



