96 PLINY THE ELDER. 



in that very city where many brave and noble per- 

 sons have died without having their obsequies 

 solemnized^ and which afforded not one individual 

 to revenge the undeserved death of the renowned 

 Scipio ^milianus, after he had conquered both 

 Carthage and Numantia. 



Cocks, he says, which are our sentinels by night, 

 and destined by nature to rouse us from sleep and call 

 us up to our work, have also, like the peacock, a 

 sense of glory, and a love of approbation. They are 

 astronomers too, and know the course of the stars ; 

 they divide the day by their crowing, which is per- 

 formed at the end of every three hours ; they go to 

 roost when the sun sets, and before he rises again 

 they warn us of the approach of day by clapping their 

 wings and crowing. They are rulers in their own com- 

 munity, whether consisting of other males or females. 

 Their sovereignty is obtained by combat, as if they 

 knew that they had weapons on their heels for the 

 purpose, and the battle is often protracted until one 

 is killed. The conqueror proclaims his victory by 

 crowing, while the vanquished hides his head in si- 

 lence, although it goes hard with him to be beaten. 

 Not only are these fighting cocks thus high-minded, 

 but even the common dunghill kind are equally proud, 

 marching in a stately manner, their neck erect, 

 with a comb on the head like the crest of a soldier's 

 helmet. There is no other bird that so often looks 

 aloft to the sun and sky, and as he moves he carries 

 his tail in an arched form. Even the lion, the most 

 courageous of animals, stands in awe of the cock. 

 Some of these birds are made for nothing else than 

 fighting, and are never satisfied unless when en- 

 gaged in a quarrel; and to them the emperors 



