DECREE OF THE PONTIFFS ON A DEDICATION
   
( 123 BC )
 
 
( Johnson, Coleman-Norton & Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin, 1961, p. 38, n. 44 ).
 
 
     In 58 B.C. Publius Clodius Pulcher consecrated to Liberty (Libertas) the site of Cicero's house on the Palatine Hill after Cicero had entered into exile. In 57 B.C., soon after his return from exile, Cicero pleaded before the pontifical college for the restoration of the site to himself. He reminded the pontiffs of some of their decrees governing dedicatory ceremonies and he quoted the following decree, delivered by Publius Mucius Scaevola when pontifex maximus in 123 B.C., in the case of a vestal virgin, who had dedicated an altar and a chapel and a sacred couch on a slope of the Aventine Hill. The Senate raised the question about the sanctity of this dedication, which was related to public law, says Cicero, and Sextus Julius, a praetor, was instructed to refer the question to the pontiffs for decision.
 
 
ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
 
 
     What Licinia, daughter of Gaius, has dedicated in a public place without the people's authority does not appear to be sacred.