More especially they dwelt upon the omen of the
newly severed head which had been found when the foundations of the
Capitol were dug, by which it was proved that that spot was fated to
become the head of Italy, and the fire of Vesta which the virgins had
relighted after the war, and which it would be a disgrace for them to
extinguish, and to abandon the city, whether they were to see it
inhabited by foreigners or turned into fields for cattle to feed in.
While persistently urging these considerations both in public speeches
and in private interviews with the people, they were much affected by
the lamentations of the poor over their helpless condition. The people
begged that, as they had, like people after a shipwreck, saved their
lives and nothing else, they might not, in addition to this misfortune,
be compelled to put together the ruins of a city which had been utterly
destroyed, while another was standing ready to receive them.
XXXII. Under these circumstances, Camillus determined to debate the
question publicly. He himself made a long appeal on behalf of his native
place, and many other speeches were delivered. Finally he rose, and bade
Lucius Lucretius, whose privilege it was, to vote first, and then after
him the rest in order. Silence was enforced, and Lucretius was just on
the point of voting when a centurion in command of a detachment of the
guard of the day marched by, and in a loud voice called to the
standard-bearer: "Pitch the standard here: here it is best for us to
stay.
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