The Roman History · Amm. 22.9.15

It happened that just at that time, the annual period for the celebration of the festival of Adonis, according to the old fashion, came round; the story being, as the poets relate, that Adonis had been loved by Venus, and slain by a boar's tusk, which is an emblem of the fruits of the earth being cut down in their prime. And it appeared a sad thing that when the emperor was now for the first time making his entrance into a splendid city, the abode of princes, wailing lamentations and sounds of mourning should be heard in every direction.

Ammianus Marcellinus · translated by C. D. Yonge · 1911 reprint
C. D. Yonge translation (preface dated February 1862); G. Bell and Sons, 1911; Project Gutenberg #28587
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