Thus he encouraged them not to
fear their enemies, but to respect the gods and render them propitious,
not that he implanted any superstitious observances among them, but he
confirmed their valour by piety, and took away from them all fear of the
enemy by the hopes which he held out to them of divine protection. At
this time many of the holy and mysterious books, which contain secrets
of great value to the State, were inspected. These are called the
Sibylline books. One of the sentences preserved in these was said to
have an evident bearing on contemporary events; what it was can only be
guessed at by what was done. The dictator appeared before the people and
publicly vowed to the gods a _ver sacrum_, that is, all the young which
the next spring should produce, from the goats, the sheep, and the kine
on every mountain, and plain, and river, and pasture within the bounds
of Italy. All these he swore that he would sacrifice, and moreover that
he would exhibit musical and dramatic shows, and expend upon them the
sum of three hundred and thirty-three _sestertia_, and three hundred and
thirty-three _denarii_, and one-third of a _denarius_. The sum total of
this in our Greek money is eighty-three thousand five hundred and
eighty-three drachmas and two obols. What the particular virtue of this
exact number may be it is hard to determine, unless it be on account of
the value of the number three, which is by nature perfect, and the first
of odd numbers, the first also of plurals, and containing within itself
all the elements of the qualities of number.
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