And when this was collected before his eyes, greater in quantity and in the value of the effects than he had hoped or expected, the dictator, raising his hands to heaven, is said to have prayed, "that, if his success and that of the Roman people seemed excessive to any of the gods and men, it might be permitted to the Roman people to appease that jealousy with as little detriment as possible to himself and the Roman people."[166] It is recorded that, when turning about during this prayer, he stumbled and fell; and to persons judging of the matter by subsequent events, that seemed to refer as an omen to Camillus' own condemnation, and the disaster of the city of Rome being akin, which happened a few years after.

And that day was consumed in slaughtering the enemy and in the plunder of this most opulent city.
[Footnote 163: "This vow frequently occurs in Grecian history, like that made of the Persian booty, but this is the only instance in the history of Rome."-- _Niebuhr_, vol.ii.

239.] [Footnote 164: _Evocatos_.

When the Romans besieged a town, and thought themselves sure of taking it, they used solemnly to call out of it the gods in whose protection the place was supposed to be.] [Footnote 165: The idea of the Romans working a mine, even through the soil of Veii, so as to be sure of reaching not only the town and the citadel, and even the temple, is considered by Niebuhr as extremely ridiculous.

He deems the circumstance a clear proof of the fiction that attaches to the entire story of the capture of Veii.