And the oak, in
truth, is the tree which bears the most and the prettiest of any
that grow wild, and is the strongest of all that are under
cultivation; its acorns were the principal diet of the first
mortals, and the honey found in it gave them drink.
In this battle it is stated that Castor and Pollux appeared, and,
immediately after the battle, were seen at Rome just by the
fountain where their temple now stands, with their horses foaming
with sweat, and told the news of the victory of the people in the
Forum. The fifteenth of July, being the day of this conquest,
became consequently a solemn holiday sacred to the Twin Brothers.
It may be observed, in general, that when young men arrive early
at fame and repute, if they are of a nature but slightly touched
with emulation, this early attainment is apt to extinguish their
thirst and satiate their small appetite; whereas the first
distinctions of more solid and weighty characters only stimulate
and quicken them, and take them away, like a wind, in the pursuit
of honor; they look upon these marks and testimonies to their
virtue not as a recompense received for what they have already
done, but as a pledge given by themselves of what they will
perform hereafter, ashamed now to forsake or underlive the credit
they have won, or, rather, not to exceed and obscure all that is
gone before by the lustre of their following actions.
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