AIUS LOCUTIUS, ARA
an altar erected in 390 B.C. by order of the senate at the north corner of the Palatine in infima Nova via, opposite the grove of Vesta. It was dedicated to the deus indiges, Aius Locutius (Loquens, Cic. de div. ii. 69), the speaking voice. Tradition agreed in relating that in 391 a plebeian, M. Caedicius, heard at night at
this point a voice that warned the Romans of the invasion of the Gauls. No attention was paid to this warning until after the event, when the altar was built in expiation (Cic. de div. i. 101 ;
ii. 69; Varro ap.
Gell. xvi. 17;
Liv. v. 32. 6, 50. 5, 52. I I; Plut. Cam. 30:
ϝεὼν φήμης καὶ κληδόνος: de fort. Rom. 5:
ἕδη). Besides ara, this altar is also referred to as saceUum (
Liv. v. 32) and templum (ib. v. 50, 52), but there is no doubt that it was an enclosed altar in the open air. This altar has no connection with that found on the south-west slope of the Palatine near the Velabrum, dedicated
sive deo sive deivae (CIL i 2. 801 =vi. 110 =30694)
1 with which it has sometimes been identified (HJ 46;
RE i. 1130;
Roscher ii. 191, and literature cited).
