Praecesserat aliud scaevum; namque kalendis ipsis Ianuariis ascendente eo gradile Genii templum, e sacerdotum consortio quidam ceteris diuturnior, nullo pulsante, repente concidit animamque insperato casu efflavit, quod adstantes (incertum per imperitiam an adulandi cupiditate), memorabant consulum seniori portendi, nimirum Sallustio, sed (ut apparuit) non aetati sed potestati maiori, interitum propinquare monstrabat.
Another unlucky thing had happened before this; for just on the Kalends of January, as the emperor was mounting the steps of the temple of the Genius, one of the college of priests who was older than the rest suddenly, without being pushed, fell and died of the unlooked-for accident. The bystanders'whether through ignorance or desire to flatter is uncertain'said that this surely pointed to Sallustius, the elder of the two consuls; but (as was evident) it showed that death was approaching, not the man of greater age, but the higher in rank.
final_alignments\Ammianus_Marcellinus_Book23.json