Naturalis Historia

C. Plinius Caecilius

Fuit ubi nunc Roma est iam cum conderetur, quippe ita traditur, myrtea verbena Romanos Sabinosque, cum propter raptas virgines dimicare voluissent, depositis armis purgatos in eo loco qui nunc signa Veneris Cluacinae habet: cluere enim antiqui purgare dicebant.

At the time of the foundation of Rome myrtles grew on the present site of the city, as tradition says that the Romans and Sabines, after having wanted to fight a battle because of the carrying off of the maidens, laid down their arms and purified themselves with sprigs of myrtle, at the place now occupied by the statues of Venus Cluacina, cluere being the old word meaning ' to cleanse.'

Reprinted by permission of the publishers and the Trustees of the Loeb Classical Library from C. Plinius Caecilius: Natural History (Volume IV. Books 12-16), Loeb Classical Library Vol. 370, translated by H. Rackham, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, © 1945, by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. The Loeb Classical Library ® is a registered trademark of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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