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to color as if from soot and to burn some of the things that fall under it, with bulbs and fig-trees and seals and hyenas remaining unharmed, and it is said that the masts of ships are covered with their skins because of lightning. However, the ancients left the bodies of those struck by lightning unburied, remaining incorruptible; for since the moisture in them is snatched away by the fire, they are wont to remain as if dried up. spur. 2 The scholars of the Hebrews divide the discourse concerning foreknowledge into two, into signs and wonders; and they wish signs to be things that take place in the heavens, and wonders to be things that appear on earth as contrary to nature, such as that which is related about Moses himself at the time of the so-called exodus of the Hebrews: "and he saw that the bush was burning, but the bush was not consumed." And again: "Moses threw the rod on the ground and it became a serpent." And again: "Moses put his hand into his bosom, and his hand became as snow." Then again: "And God said to Moses: You will take from the water of the river onto the dry land and it will be blood." Then, a little further on: "And the Lord said to Moses: If Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Show a sign or a wonder,' take your rod, and cast it on the ground, and it will become a serpent." And not only these things, but another more terrifying wonder was the change of all the water of Egypt into gore, and the multitude of frogs and the so-called gnats and the gadflies, which they themselves call dog-flies, and the destruction of the cattle and the festering dust, boils and locusts, all these might rightly be called wonders. But signs are those that appear from above, such as that which is related in the same scripture: "And the Lord rained the hail upon all the land of Egypt; and the hail was there, and the fire flaming in the hail." And again: "And Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was darkness, gloom and tempest over all the land of Egypt." Such, then, for the Hebrews is the discourse concerning signs, from which, I think, the other nations also came to call these signs 'portents from Zeus'; for according to the natural philosophers, Zeus is said to be the air, because he is life-giving, so that a 'portent from Zeus' is a sign of the air, just as 'fair weather' is the name given to the gentle and calm state of the air. The more simple, therefore, being disturbed by the names, should not shrink from learning; "For I will give," he says, "signs in the heaven above, and wonders on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke; the sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood." spur.3 Sabaoth, of the creator; for so among the Phoenicians the creative number is named. spur. ΄ 4 Thunder occurs when wind is enclosed in a thick and rather moist cloud and is forced violently through it, from which the continuous compressed parts of the cloud are broken, and they produce a rumbling, that is, a sound and a great crash, which is called thunder, just like wind driven violently in water. And during the bursting of the cloud, the wind, having been set on fire and flashing, is called lightning. spur.5 That Februarius, envying Camillus, accused him of plotting tyranny; but when he was exiled and then obtained his return, because he had helped his besieged fatherland during his exile, Februarius is brought to trial and prosecuted, and Camillus shortened his eponymous month compared to the others. spur.6 For they say that Nemesis turns the polished things of life to the opposite through excesses of fortune, as Numenius says, bringing equality on the same wheel, whence Mesomedes somewhere says thus to her: beneath your unstable, untrodden wheel, the bright-eyed fortune of mortals turns.

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ἐπιχρῶσαι ὡς ἀπὸ αἰθάλης καὶ καῦσαι δέ τινα τῶν ὑποπεσόντων, βολβῶν καὶ συκῆς καὶ φώκης καὶ ὑαίνης μενόντων ἀβλαβῶν, ὧν καὶ ταῖς δοραῖς περιδιφθεροῦσθαι λόγος τοὺς ἱστοὺς τῶν νεῶν διὰ τοὺς κεραυνούς. τῶν μέντοι κεραυνοβλήτων τὰ σώματα ἄταφα κατελίμπανον οἱ πάλαι, ἀδιάφθορα μένοντα· τῆς γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑγρότητος ἀναρπαζομένης ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός, ὥσπερ ἀποπτηθέντα διαμένειν πέφυκε. spur. 2 Οἱ τῶν Ἑβραίων λόγιοι τὸν περὶ προγνώσεως λόγον διχῆ τέμνουσιν, εἰς σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα· καὶ σημεῖα μὲν εἶναι βούλονται τὰ ἐν μετεώροις συνιστάμενα, τέρατα δὲ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ὡς παρὰ φύσιν φαινόμενα, ὁποῖον ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς καλουμένης τῶν Ἑβραίων ἐξόδου ἀναφερόμενον περὶ Μωυσέως αὐτοῦ· «καὶ εἶδεν, ὅτι ἡ βάτος καίεται, ἡ δὲ βάτος οὐ κατεκαίετο.» καὶ πάλιν· «ἔρριψε Μωυσῆς τὴν ῥάβδον ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐγένετο ὄφις.» καὶ πάλιν· «εἰσήνεγκε Μωυσῆς τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸν κόλπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ χιών.» εἶτα αὖθις· «καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Μωυσῆν· λήψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξηρὸν καὶ ἔσται αἷμα.» εἶτα ὑποβάς· «καὶ εἶπε κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ἐὰν λαλήσῃ Φαραὼ πρὸς ὑμᾶς λέγων, ∆ότε σημεῖον ἢ τέρας, λαβὲ τὴν ῥάβδον σου, καὶ ῥίψον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔσται δράκων.» καὶ οὐ ταῦτα μόνον, ἀλλ' ἔτι τέρας ἄλλο φοβερώτερον ἡ τοῦ παντὸς Αἰγυπτίου ὕδατος εἰς λύθρον μεταβολὴ καὶ τῶν βατράχων τὸ πλῆθος καὶ οἱ λεγόμενοι σκνῖπες καὶ οἱ μύωπες, οὓς αὐτοὶ καλοῦσι κυνομύιας, καὶ ἡ τῶν κτηνῶν φθορὰ καὶ ὁ κονιορτὸς ὁ ἑλκώδης, φλυκταῖναι καὶ ἀκρίδες, ταῦτα πάντα τέρατα ἂν δικαίως λέγοιντο. σημεῖα δὲ τὰ ἐξ ὑπερτέρων φαινόμενα, οἷον ἐκεῖνο, ὃ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς φέρεται γραφῆς· «καὶ ἔβρεξε κύριος τὴν χάλαζαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν Αἰγύπτου· ἦν δὴ ἡ χάλαζα, καὶ τὸ πῦρ φλογίζον ἐν τῇ χαλάζῃ.» καὶ πάλιν· «ἐξέτεινε δὲ Μωυσῆς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐγένετο σκότος, γνόφος καὶ θύελλα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν Αἰγύπτου.» τοιοῦτος τοίνυν Ἑβραίοις ὁ περὶ σημείων λόγος, ἐξ ὧν οἶμαι καὶ τἄλλα τῶν ἐθνῶν διοσημείας ταῦτα καλεῖν ἔγνω τὰ σήματα· Ζεὺς γὰρ ὁ ἀὴρ κατὰ τοὺς φυσικοὺς λέγεται, ὅτι ζωοποιός ἐστιν, ὥστε διοσημεία τὸ τοῦ ἀέρος σημεῖον, ὥσπερ εὔδιον τὸ πρᾶον καὶ γαληνὸν τοῦ ἀέρος καλεῖται σχῆμα. οὐ χρὴ οὖν πρὸς τὰ ὀνόματα ταραττομένους τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους ἀποπηδᾶν τοῦ μαθεῖν· «δώσω γάρ, φησι, σημεῖα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ τέρατα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω, αἷμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἀτμίδα καπνοῦ· ὁ ἥλιος μεταστραφήσεται εἰς σκότος, καῖ ἡ σελήνη εἰς αἷμα». spur.3 Σαβαώθ, τοῦ δημιουργοῦ· οὕτω γὰρ παρὰ Φοινίκων ὁ δημιουργικὸς ἀριθμὸς ὀνομάζεται. spur. ΄ 4 Βροντὴ γίνεται εἰληθέντος πνεύματος ἐν νέφει παχεῖ τε καὶ νοτιωτέρῳ καὶ ἐξωσθέντος βιαίως δι' αὐτοῦ, ὅθεν ῥήγνυται τὰ συνεχῆ πιλήματα τοῦ νέφους, καὶ βρόμον ἤγουν ἦχον καὶ πάταγον μέγαν ἀπεργάζονται, ὅπερ βροντὴ λέγεται, ὥσπερ ἐν ὕδατι πνεῦμα σφοδρῶς ἐλαυνόμενον· κατὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ νέφους ἔκρηξιν πυρωθὲν τὸ πνεῦμα λάμψαν ἀστραπὴ λέγεται. spur.5 Ὅτι Φεβρουάριος φθονήσας Καμίλλῳ μελέτην τυραννίδος αὐτοῦ κατηγόρησε· τοῦ δὲ διωχθέντος καὶ αὖθις καθόδου τυχόντος, ὅτι πολιορκουμένῃ τῇ πατρίδι κατὰ τὴν φυγὴν ἐβοήθησεν, εἰς ἐξέτασιν Φεβρουάριος ἄγεται καὶ διώκεται, Κάμιλλος δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐπώνυμον αὐτοῦ μῆνα παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐκολόβωσε. spur.6 Φασὶ γὰρ τὴν Νέμεσιν τὰ γλαφυρὰ τῶν πραγμάτων εἰς τὸ ἔμπαλιν τρέπειν ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς τῆς τύχης, ὥς φησι Νουμήνιος, τῷ δὲ αὐτῷ τροχῷ τὴν ἰσότητα ἐπάγουσαν, ὅθεν ὁ Μεσομήδης οὕτω που πρὸς αὐτήν· ὑπὸ σὸν τροχὸν ἄστατον ἀστιβῆ χαροπὰ μερόπων στρέφεται τύχα.