March 14th | Fastorum Liber Tertius: Martius

A • EQVIR • NP | Pr. Eid. | III.517-522, Ovid announces the second set of Equirria horse races.

Sex ubi sustulerit, totidem demerserit orbes,

purpureum rapido qui vehit axe diem,

altera gramineo spectabis Equirria Campo,

quem Tiberis curvis in latus urget aquis. 520

qui tamen eiecta si forte tenebitur unda,

Caelius accipiet pulverulentus equos.

517 When he who bears the purple day on his swift car shall six times have lifted up his disc and as often sunk it low, thou shalt a second time behold horse races (Equirria) on that grassy plain whose side is hugged by Tiber’s winding waters. But if perchance the wave has overflowed and floods the plain, the dusty Caelian hill shall receive the horses.