Sic factum ut Libero patri, repertori vitis, hirci immolarentur, proinde ut capite darent poenas; contra ut Minervae caprini generis nihil immolarent propter oleam, quod eam quam laeserit fieri dicunt sterilem; eius enim salivam esse fructuis venenum; hoc nomine etiam Athenis in arcem non inigi, praeterquam semel ad necessarium sacrificium, ne arbor olea, quae primum dicitur ibi nata, a capra tangi possit.
So it was that he-goats were offered to Father Bacchus, the discoverer of the vine, so that they might pay with their lives for the injuries they do him; while, on the other hand, no member of the goat family was sacrificed to Minerva on account of the olive, because it is said that any olive plant which they bite becomes sterile; for their spittle is poisonous to its fruit. For this reason, also, they are not driven into the acropolis at Athens except once a year, for a necessary sacrifice'to avoid the danger of having the olive tree, which is said to have originated there, touched by a she-goat.
final_alignments\Varro_Agriculture_Book1.json