Aius Locutius

In the year 389 BCE, a short time before the invasion of the Gauls, a certain Caedicius heard, during the silence of the night, a mysterious voice coming from a grove at the Via Nova. It warned that the Gauls were approaching and advised to reinforce the city walls.

Caedicius went to the authorities but was not believed, and the Gauls were able to take Rome several days later without much difficulty. After the enemy had withdrawn from the city, the Romans remembered the prophetic voice and erected a templum — an altar with a sacred enclosure around it — on the spot in the Via Nova where the voice had been heard, and dedicated it to Aius Locutius, or the "Announcing Speaker."

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References

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Cicero. On Divination i, 45; ii, 32.
  • Livy. The History of Rome v, 50, 52.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Varro ap. Gellius, xvi, 17.