Portents and Famine in Rome

Translation

Many portents happened in that year. The Capitol was occupied by birds of ill omen, houses were destroyed by frequent earthquakes, and while fear spread more widely, every weak person was trampled in the panic of the crowd; shortage of crops also, and the famine which arose from that, were regarded as a portent. There were not only hidden complaints, but when Claudius was dispensing justice, people surrounded him with turbulent shouts, and having driven him to the furthest part of the forum, they pressed upon him with violence, until he broke through the hostile crowd with a band of soldiers. It was established that there were provisions for fifteen days left for the city, no more, and that the desperate situation was relieved by the great kindness of the gods and the mildness of the winter. But, by Hercules, in the past Italy used to export provisions for the legions to distant provinces, and the difficulty now is not because of infertility, but we cultivate Africa and Egypt instead, and the life of the Roman people has been entrusted to ships and chance.