Note 138 — TRANSLATION
Clayton Morris Hall translation
Compare Appian 3, 28; Dio 45, 6; Suetonius, Caes., 88; Plutarch, Ant., 16; Pliny, N. H., 2, 23. Since both Appian and Nicolaus refer to two controversies between Octavian and Antony, of which the second was at the time of the festival of Venus Genetrix in July, the question has arisen as to what the earlier occasion could have been. The ‘ludi Cereales’ are precluded, for Octavian was in Campania during the period in which they were held, April 12-19 (Cic., Att., 14, 12, 2). The ‘ludi Florales’ were given April 28-May 3, and since Cicero on May 22 referred to the episode of the throne (Att. 15, 3, 2) these must have been the games at which Octavian experienced his difficulty for the first time, unless it can be shown that the ‘ludi Cereales’ were postponed for a month, in which event they would have also been completed just prior to Cicero’s letter of May 22.