Note 226 — Chapter I · THE EARLIEST CONSTITUTION OF ROME (continued 2)
Reading edition
Sometimes, the better to secure divine assistance, the enemy, his cities, and his lands were all devoted to the gods. For the incantation see Macrob. iii. 9, 10 “Dis pater Vejovis Manes, sive quo alio nomine fas est nominare ... uti vos eas urbes agrosque capita aetatesque eorum devotas consecratasque habeatis ollis legibus, quibus quandoque sunt maxime hostes devoti; eosque ego ... do devoveo.” The site of such cities was cursed, as in Republican times that of Fregellae, Carthage, and Corinth.