More plagues and social change from Cassius Dio, this time, around 44 BCE …

“In addition to omens like these, a bright light moved across across the sky from east to west and a new star was seen for many days.* And at times the light of the sun seemed to grow dim and even disappear, at other times it appeared in three circles, and one of these was even enclosed in a fiery wreath of sheaves, a thing which, for those people, very evidently came true if ever a prophecy did: for there were three men in power—Caesar, Lepidus and Antony, I mean—and of them Caesar afterwards secured his victory.

“Now, when these things occurred, there were all kinds of oracles predicting the destruction of the Republic. Crows flew into the temple of the Dioscuri and pecked out the names of the consuls Antony and Dolabella, which were somewhere inscribed on a tablet. During the night, many dogs would gather in the city and howl, especially near the house of Lepidus, the high priest. Meanwhile, the Eridanus (i.e., the Po) flooded a large part of the surrounding countryside, and when it receded it left behind a huge number of serpents on the land; and from the sea, untold numbers of fish were thrown onto the shore at the mouth of the Tiber.

“What came next was a virulent plague, which affected practically all of Italy, and because of it, it was voted that the Curia Hostilia would be rebuilt and the place where the naumachia** had taken place would be filled in. But it seemed not even this could put a stop to the horror, since, among other things, when Vibius was performing the sacrificial rite at for New Year’s day, one of his lictors suddenly fell down and died.”

πρὸς δὲ δὴ τούτοις τοιούτοις οὖσι λαμπὰς ἀπ' ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου πρὸς δυσμὰς διέδραμε, καί τις ἀστὴρ καινὸς ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ὤφθη. τότε φῶς τοῦ ἡλίου ἐλαττοῦσθαί τε καὶ σβέννυσθαι, τοτὲ δὲ ἐν τρισὶ κύκλοις φαντάζεσθαι ἐδόκει, καὶ ἕνα γε αὐτῶν στέφανος σταχύων πυρώδης περιέσχεν, ὥστ' εἴπερ τι ἄλλο, καὶ τοῦτο ἐναργέστατα αὐτοῖς ἐκβῆναι· οἵ τε γὰρ ἄνδρες οἱ τρεῖς ἐδυνάστευον, λέγω δὲ τὸν Καίσαρα καὶ τὸν Λέπιδον καὶ τὸν Ἀντώνιον, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ Καῖσαρ μετὰ τοῦτο τὴν νίκην ἔλαβεν.

τότε δ' οὖν ταῦτά τε ἐγένετο, καὶ λόγια πρὸς κατάλυσιν τῆς δημοκρατίας φέροντα παντοῖα ᾔδετο. κόρακές τε ἐς τὸ Διοσκόρειον ἐσπετόμενοι τὰ τῶν ὑπάτων τοῦ τε Ἀντωνίου καὶ τοῦ Δολοβέλλου ὀνόματα, ἐνταῦθά που ἐν πινακίῳ ἐγγεγραμμένα, ἐξεκόλαψαν. καὶ κύνες πολλοὶ νυκτὸς κατά τε τὴν ἄλλην πόλιν καὶ πρὸς τῇ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως τοῦ Λεπίδου οἰκίᾳ μάλιστα συστρεφόμενοι ὠρύοντο. ὅ τε Ἠριδανὸς ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς πέριξ γῆς πελαγίσας ἐξαίφνης ἀνεχώρησε, καὶ παμπληθεῖς ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ ὄφεις ἐγκατέλιπε. καὶ ἰχθῦς ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ἀμύθητοι κατὰ τὰς τοῦ Τιβέριδος ἐκβολὰς ἐς τὴν ἤπειρον ἐξέπεσον.

ἐπεγένετο μὲν οὖν καὶ [ὁ] λοιμὸς ἐπ' αὐτοῖς πάσῃ ὡς εἰπεῖν τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ ἰσχυρός, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τό τε βουλευτήριον τὸ Ὁστίλιον ἀνοικοδομηθῆναι καὶ τὸ χωρίον ἐν ᾧ ἡ ναυμαχία ἐγεγόνει συγχωσθῆναι ἐψηφίσθη· οὐ μέντοι καὶ ἐνταῦθα στήσεσθαι τὸ δεινὸν ἐδόκει, ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐπειδὴ τοῦ Οὐιβίου τὰ ἐσιτήρια τῇ νουμηνίᾳ θύοντος ῥαβδοῦχός τις αὐτοῦ ἔπεσεν ἐξαίφνης καὶ ἀπέθανεν.

Cassius Dio, Roman History, 45.17.4–9

*a comet is reported to have appeared after Julius Caesar’s assassination.

**ναυμαχία (naumachia): a massive trench, commissioned by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE, was dug near the Tiber and filled with water. He had thousands of prisoners of war fight a staged sea-battle in it. What connection the senate saw between the sea battle and the ensuing plague isn’t clear to me, and my books are at the office.