Other prodigies from Italian towns were reported: lightning struck the temple of
Iuppiter at Minturnae and at Atella the city wall and a gate, a river of blood was seen
at Minturnae, at Capua a wolf had entered the city and killed a guard. These prodigies
were expiated by sacrifices and a one-day supplicium. Then again a rain of stones led
to another novendiale sacrum. After that, a four-year-old hermaphrodite was discovered
at Frusino and expiated according to the advice of the haruspices: it was put into a
chest, carried out to the sea and drowned. But this was not enough. The pontiffs
declared that 27 maidens should sing a hymn during a procession through the
city of Rome. While they were learning the hymn in the temple of Iuppiter Stator,
the temple of Juno Regina was struck by lightning. In order to expiate this prodigy,
the matrons resident in the city of Rome or within 10 miles thereof brought a con-
tribution from their dowries. This was made into a golden basin as a gift and carried
to the temple of Juno Regina by 25 matrons. Then the decemvirs appointed the day
for another sacrifice to Juno Regina: a procession went from the temple of Apollo
through the porta Carmentalisinto the city to the temple of Juno Regina on the
Aventine hill. Livy describes a route containing a number of landmarks, such as the
forum and the forum boarium. The procession halted in the forum and, passing a rope
from hand to hand, the maidens advanced and accompanied their singing of the hymn
by stamping their feet (Livy 27.37.7–15). As a result, the procession did not take
the shortest way from the temple of Apollo to the temple of Juno Regina. The advant-
age of this route was that the procession lasted longer and that a larger part of the
city was covered: more people could watch the procession and thus take part in it.
The expiation rituals of 207 lasted an extraordinarily long time: the two nine-day
rituals, the supplication in between, and the one-day procession all added up to at
least 20 days. If we take into account the fact that the priests needed some time to
find the appropriate rituals, there must have been a substantial delay. According to
Livy, the consuls waited with all other business until the rituals had ended. And they
had good reason to wait. In 209, when a hermaphrodite was reported for the first
time, no rituals were performed. Two years later, in 207, the Romans came up with
a religious innovation due to the potentially problematic domestic situation. The two
new consuls, Gaius Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator, were enemies.
Furthermore, Marcus Livius Salinator, consul for the first time in 219, had been exiled
after quarrels over the distribution of booty from a successful war with the Illyrians:
in 207, the outcast, consul again, had to be re-integrated into society. The rituals
can be interpreted as a representation of harmony between the consuls and between
Salinator and the people. Besides, the military situation was giving some cause for
alarm: in early 207 the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal was on his way to Italy in
order to bring fresh troops to his brother Hannibal. Performing the rituals might
have provided the time to find the fitting strategy to deal with Hasdrubal. If this
hypothesis is correct, the delay had been worth it. The two consuls defeated
Hasdrubal in the battle at the river Metaurus in the same year and weakened Hannibal’s
position in Italy.
About 50 percent of all known prodigies happened in Rome. Almost all remain-
ing prodigies occurred in Italy, most of them in towns along the important roads,
for example along the Via Appia and Via Latina between Rome and Capua. Only
Republican Nobiles 297