Book 13
14
Therefore it has been, and even now continues to be, inquired why it is that when the other six of the seven hills of the city are within the pomerium, the Aventine alone, which is neither a remote nor an unfrequented district, should be outside the pomerium; and why neither king Servius Tullius nor Sulla, who demanded the honour of extending the pomerium, nor later the deified Julius, when he enlarged the pomerium, included this within the designated limits of the city.
14
Messala wrote Fr. 3, Huschke; id., Bremer (ii, p. 265). that there seemed to be several reasons for this, but above them all he himself approved one, namely, because on that hill Remus took the auspices with regard to founding the city, but found the birds unpropitious and was less successful in his augury than Romulus. Therefore, says he, all those who extended the pomerium excluded that hill, on the ground that it was made ill-omened by inauspicious birds.
14
But speaking of the Aventine hill, I thought I ought not to omit something which I ran across recently in the Commentary of Elys, The name is obviously corrupt; see critical note. an early grammarian. In this it was written that in earlier times the Aventine was, as we have said, excluded from the pomerium, but afterwards by the authority of the deified Claudius it was admitted and honoured with a place within the limits of the pomerium.
