Est enim Apis bos diversis genitalium notarum figuris expressus, maximeque omnium corniculantis lunae specie latere dextro insignis, qui cum post vivendi spatium praestitutum, sacro fonte immersus e vita abierit (nec enim ultra eum trahere licet aetatem, quam secreta librorum praescribit auctoritas mysticorum), necatur choragio pari, bos femina, quae ei inventa cum notis certis offertur, quo perempto alter cum publico quaeritur luctu,
Apis, then, is a bull distinguished by natural marks of various forms, and most of all conspicuous for the image of a crescent moon on his right side. When this bull, after its destined span of life, is plunged in the sacred fount and dies (for it is not lawful for him to prolong his life beyond the time prescribed by the secret authority of the mystic books), there is slain with the same ceremony a cow, which has been found with special marks and presented to him. After his death another Apis is sought amid public mourning;
final_alignments\Ammianus_Marcellinus_Book22.json