Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/482

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

S. N 24., JUNE 14. '56.

wings, seized his arms ; gave the alarm, and, run- ning to the wall, struck down the Gaul who had already reached the parapet (v. 47.). It seems to be here intimated that the Romans owed their deliverance to their piety, in preserving the sacred geese during the privations of a siege.

Plutarch, in his " Life of Camillas," describes the same event. The Gauls (he says) climbed the Capitol so silently, that neither man nor dog perceived them. But there were (he continues) some sacred geese, at the Temple of Juno, which in ordinary times were plentifully fed ; but as food was now scanty, they were neglected, and in bad plight. Naturally, indeed, the goose is quick in its perceptions, and sensitive to sounds : these birds moreover being rendered wakeful and noisy by hunger, speedily perceived the approach of the Gauls, and, running towards them with screams, aroused the garrison. Manlius, at the head of the defenders, attacked the two foremost Gauls ; he cut off the right hand of one, and with his shield pushed the other down the wall (Camill., 27.) This narrative is repeated by Plutarch in his Treatise de Fort. Rom. 12., and is abridged by Zonaras (vii. 23.).

The account of Dionysius (xiii. 10.) is, that none of the sentinels perceived the ascent of the Gauls ; but that some sacred geese, which were kept in the precinct of the Temple of Juno, run- ning towards the Gauls with screams, gave the alarm. No allusion is made to the silence of the dogs. The encounter of Manlius with the Gauls is described as taking place within the Capitol. Manlius cuts off the arm of the foremost Gaul at the elbow, throws him down with his shield, and kills him on the ground. According to Diodorus (xiv. 116.) the Gauls scaled the Capitol at mid- night ; the guards had relaxed their vigilance on account of the steepness of the ascent, and did not perceive their approach ; but some geese, sacred to Juno, which were feeding on the spot, saw them ascending, and made a noise. The sentinels ran to the place ; Manlius cut off the hand of the leading man with his sword, and hurled him down the rock by striking him on the breast with his shield. Dio. Cassius (Fragm., xxv. 8. edit. Bekker) says, that the Gauls would have taken the citadel, if some sacred geese, which were kept there, had not announced the attack of the enemy, and awakened the Romans within the walls.

_ According to Servius (JEn. viii. 652.), Man- lius drove the Gauls down from the Capitol, having been wakened by the screams of a goose, which some private person had presented as a donation to the goddess Juno. Florus (i. 13. 15.) also says that Manlius, wakened by the screams of a goose, threw the Gauls from the top of the rock, during a nocturnal assault. A similar statement is in Victor de Vir. illust. (c. 24.). Vegetius (De

re Milit., iv. 26.) likewise speaks of Manlius having been roused from sleep by the screams of a goose. He remarks on the wonderful stroke of fortune, that a single bird should have preserved a nation which was destined to conquer the world. Virgil's description of this event, introduced as one of the subjects on the shield of -<Eneas, men- tions only a single goose : *

" Atque hie auratis volitans argenteus anser Porticibus, Gallos in limine adesse canebat ; Galli per dumos aderant, arcemque tenebant, Defensi tenebris et dono noctis opacae."

^En. viii. 655-8.

2Elian, De Nat. Anim. (xii. 33.) says, that the Romans discovered, by a practical example, that the goose is a more effective guardian than the dog. When the Gauls scaled the Capitol, thej threw food to the dogs, which ate it in silence ; but the geese, as is their nature, made a noise during the same operation ; which awoke Man- lius, and saved the Capitol. This explanation of the noise made by the geese differs from that of the other writers. It may be observed that ^Elian confounds Marcus Manlius, the saviour of the Capitol, who was executed in 384 B.C., with Titus Manlius Torquatus, who executed his son in 340 B.C., forty-four years afterwards.

The vigilance of the goose is alluded to more than once by Ovid. He describes the goose of Baucis and Philemon, as the guardian of their cottage :

" Unicus anser erat, minimal custodia villa, Quam dis hospkibus domini mactare parabant." Met. viii. 686-7. Of the Cave of Sleep, he says :

" Non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris Evocat Auroram, nee voce silentia rumpunt Sollicitive canes, canibusve sagacior anser."

Met. xi. 597-9.

Lucretius mentions the acute perceptions of the goose, and attributes them to its sense of smell :

" Humanum longe pra:sentit odorem, Eomulidarum arcis servator, Candidas anser."

iv. 686-7.

According to Columelln, de Re Rust. (viii. 13.) the goose is a peculiar favourite with farmers, be- cause it does not require much care, and it is a more effective guardian than the dog ; for it gives notice of the movements of ill-disposed persons by its noise ; as is reported to have happened in the siege of the Capitol, when it screamed at the ap- proach of the Gauls, although the dogs were silent. Michael Glycas, a writer who lived not earlier than the twelfth century, speaks likewise of the watchfulness of the goose, and the quickness of its perceptions, when persons approach by stealth : and in support of this assertion, he refers to its preservation of the imperial city, when certain enemies were about to seize the Capitol, having entered it by concealed mines (Annal. lib. i. vol. i.