Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, John C. Rolfe (Translator), 22.14.7

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[7] About this matter it will be in place to give a brief explanation. Among the animals consecrated by ancient religious observance, the better known are Mnevis and Apis.¹ Mnevis² is consecrated to the Sun, but about him there is nothing noteworthy to be said; Apis to the moon.³ Apis, then, is a bull distinguished by natural marks of various forms,⁴ and most of all conspicuous for the image of a crescent moon on his right side. When this bull, after its destined span of life,⁵ is plunged in the sacred fount⁶ and dies (for it is not lawful for him to prolong his life beyond the time prescribed by the secret authority of the mystic books), there is slain with the same ceremony a cow, which has been found with special marks and presented to him. After his death another Apis is sought amid public mourning; and if it has been possible to find one, complete with all its marks, it is taken to Memphis, famed for the frequent presence of the god Aesculapius.

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

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Current edition Perseus

History (English) (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Res Gestae Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 22.14.7 focus

[7] Super qua re pauca conveniet expediri. Inter animalia antiquis observationibus consecrata, Mnevis et Apis sunt notiora: Mnevis Soli sacratur, super quo nihil dicitur memorabile; sequens Lunae. Est enim Apis bos diversis genitalium notarum figuris expressus, maximeque omnium corniculantis lunae specie latere dextro insignis, qui cum post vivendi spatium praestitutum, sacro fonte immersus e vita abierit (nec enim ultra eum trahere licet aetatem, quam secreta librorum praescribit auctoritas mysticorum), necatur choragio pari,¹ bos femina, quae ei² inventa cum notis certis offertur, quo perempto alter cum publico quaeritur luctu, et si omnibus signis consummatus reperiri potuerit, ducitur³ Memphim, urbem praesentia frequenti⁴ numinis Aesculapii claram.

Notes on the current edition

History

1. Cf. Diod. Sic. i. 21, 10; Hdt. iii. 27, 28; Strabo, xvii. 1, 31; Pliny, N.H. viii. 184 ff.

2. Older than Apis, but later neglected; his shrine was in Heliopolis.

3. Later also to the Sun; Macrob. i. 21, 20.

4. There were twenty-nine in all.

5. Twenty-five years.

6. Its location was a secret known only to the priests.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.14.7

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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