Etruscan Mater Mutata 450 BCE

April 11, 2020

Etruscan Mater Mutata 450 BCE

"The games and the Latine festival had now been performed anew, the water from the Alban lake* discharged on the fields and the fates demanded the ruin of Veii. Accordingly a general, selected both for the destruction of that city, and the preservation of his native country, Marcus Furius Camillus, was nominated dictator, and he appointed Publius Cornelius Scipio his master of the horse. The change of the commander at once produced a change in every particular: even the fortune of the city seemed to have assumed a new face; so that men felt themselves inspired with different hopes and different spirits. He first of all put in force the rules of military discipline against such as had fled from Veii, on the alarm excited there, and took effectual care that the enemy should not be the principal object of the soldier’s fears. Then having, by proclamation, appointed a certain day for holding a levy of troops, he made, in the mean time, a hasty excursion in person to Veii, in order to strengthen the courage of the soldiers. From thence he returned to Rome to enlist the new army, and not a man declined the service. Young men came even from foreign states, Latines and Hernicians, offering their service in the war: to whom the dictator returned thanks in the senate. And now, having completed all necessary preparations for the campaign, he vowed, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, that he would, on the capture of Veii, celebrate the great games: and would repair and dedicate the temple of Mother Matuta, which had been formerly consecrated by king Servius Tullius. Marching out of the city at the head of his army, while people’s anxiety was stronger than their hopes..."

-Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome by Titus Livius. Translated from the Original with Notes and Illustrations by George Baker, A.M.. First American, from the Last London Edition, in Six Volumes (New York: Peter A. Mesier et al., 1823). Vol. 1. 10/3/2020.