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The Lvdi Apollinares were instituted after consulting the Sibylline Books (and a seer named Marcius) during the War Against Hannibal. After a plague four years later, the Games were made a permanent fixture of the calendar. Two days of the Games are given to races and contests in the Circus (horse races and beast hunts, but not gladiatorial games), the rest being devoted to staged plays. The Praetor Urbanis is in overall charge of the celebrations. On the final day sacrifices are held, overseen by the Qvindecemviri Sacris Faciundis-- all of which are made according to the Greek rite, that is, with head uncovered-- an ox and two white she-goats to Apollo and a cow to Latona, all with gilded horns. Celebrants wear garlands and feast in the open air courts in their homes, while the matron of the house offers prayers to Apollo.