Thev left nothing behind which fire or sword could destroy. X V. The Rise of the ,alb二Lake.----During this period many Ao rtents were announced, but as they rested on the testimony of single individuals,, and there were no soothsayers to consult as to 'how to expiate there, owing to the hostile attitude of the Etruscans, these reports Were generally disbelieved and dis-. ,regarded one incident, however, caused universal anxiety. The Lake rose to an unusual hei ght, without any rainfall or cause which could prevent the phenomenon from appearing supernatural. Envoys were sent to the oracle of Delphi to ascertain why the gods sent the portent. But an exp lanation was afforded nearer at ha ,nd. .An aged Veientine was impelled by destiny to announce, amidst the jeers of the Roman an d Etruscan outposts, in pro Phetic strain, that the Romans would never got possession of Veii until the water had been d 0任 from the .Alban Rake. This was at first treated a e口 a wild utterance, but afterwards it began to be talked about. Owing to the length of the war, there were frequent conversations between the troops on both sides, and aRoman 呱outp ost duty asked one of the townsmen who was nearest fn him who the man was who was throwing out such dark hints about the a 1 kn n T .,.k p: _ When he heard that he was a soothsayer, being himself a man. not尽evoid olreligious f e( ;。he invited the prophet to an interview on the pretext of wishing to consult hint, if he had time, about a portent which demanded his own personal expiation. When the two had’gone some distance from their respective lines，unarmed，auprehendinz no dancer. the长oman, a young man of immense strength, seized the feeble outcry of the Etruscans, carried him off to his own side. He was brought before the commander-in-chief and then sent to the senate in Rome. In reply to inquiries as-,to what he wanted people tounderstand by his remark about the Alban Lake, he said thatthe gods must certainly have been wroth with the people ofveii on the day when they inspired him with the resolve todisclose the ruin which the Fates had prepared for his nativecity. What he had then predicted under divine inspiration hecould not nova recall or unsay, and perhaps he would incur asmuch guilt by keeping silence about things which it was thewill of heaven should be revealed as by uttering what ought to be concealed It stood recorded in the Books of Fate, and had been handed down by the occult science of the Etruscans, that whenever the water of the Alban the Romans drew it off in the‘ appointed way;nr } . . . w w } '1 . } 1 v eientines一ould.be granted华em万Tom.平; gods wou坦即t desert一呼鸭is“气v严。 'then he explained the prescribed.. .，mode“气drawing.w，orr rn住 water. The senate, however, did not‘ regard .tnQir xnxormanti .as sufficiently trustworthy in a matter of such importance, and determined to wait