The second separation is vouched for by the two last elegies of book iii.
It appears but little in history, though its importance is vouched for by numerous inscriptions, the majority of which belong to the early Empire.
The custom is vouched for by travellers as still observed in Borneo, Burma, Uganda and elsewhere, the animal chosen being a pig or a fowl.
Its importance is vouched for by the many remains of antiquity which it possesses, of which the most famous is the triumphal arch erected in honour of Trajan by the senate and people of Rome in A.D.
The facts would seem incredible were they not vouched for by Theodoret, who knew him personally (Historia religiosa, c. 26).