Divine Institutes 1.6.1–1.10.14
Latin text: CSEL 19 (Latin text: S. Brandt (CSEL 19, 1890), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886).
Divine 1, chapter 6
1.6.1CSEL 19:18–19
Nunc ad diuina testimonia transeamus. sed prius unum proferam, quod est simile diuino et ob nimiam uetustatem et quod is quem nominabo ex hominibus in deos relatus est. apud Ciceronem
Now let us pass to divine testimonies. But first I shall bring forward one that is like a divine one, both because of its very great antiquity and because the man I shall name was transferred from among men to the gods. In Cicero,
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius first cites a witness who was deified: Hermes Trismegistus.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (doubled point and stray letter (OCR)): est.. apud Ciceronem U. → est. apud Ciceronem.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.1 (CSEL 19:18–19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.2CSEL 19:19
Cotta pontifex disputans contra Stoicos de religionibus et uarietate opinionum quae solent esse de diis, ut more Academicorum omnia faceret incerta, quinque fuisse Mercurios ait et enumeratis per ordinem quattuor quintum fuisse eum a quo sit Argus occisus; ob eamque causam in Aegyptum profugisse atque Aegyptiis leges ac litteras tradidisse.
the pontiff Cotta, disputing against the Stoics about religion and the variety of opinions usually held about the gods, in order to make everything uncertain after the manner of the Academics, says that there were five Mercuries; and having listed four in order, he says the fifth was the one by whom Argus was killed, and that for this reason he fled into Egypt and gave the Egyptians their laws and letters.
Notes and citation
Summary: In Cicero, Cotta lists five Mercuries, the fifth of whom fled to Egypt and gave it laws and letters.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 3.56.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 3.56 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.2 (CSEL 19:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.3CSEL 19:19
hunc Aegyptii Thoyth appellant, a quo apud eos primus anni sui mensis id est September nomen accepit. idem oppidum condidit, quod etiam nunc graece uocatur Mercurii ciuitas, et Pheneatae colunt eum religiose. qui tametsi homo fuit, antiquissimus tamen et instructissimus omni genere doctrinae adeo, ut ei multarum rerum et artium scientia Trismegisto cognomen inponeret.
The Egyptians call him Thoth, and from him the first month of their year, that is, September, took its name. He also founded a town which is still called in Greek the city of Mercury, and the people of Pheneus worship him devoutly. Although he was a man, he was yet most ancient and so thoroughly instructed in every kind of learning that his knowledge of many things and arts gave him the surname Trismegistus.
Notes and citation
Summary: This Mercury, called Thoth by the Egyptians, was so learned that he was named Trismegistus.
- Trismegistus means "thrice-greatest".
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.3 (CSEL 19:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.4CSEL 19:19
hic scripsit libros et quidem multos ad cognitionem diuinarum rerum pertinentes, in quibus maiestatem summi ac singularis dei asserit isdemque nominibus appellat quibus nos dominum et patrem. ac ne quis nomen eius requireret, άνώνυμον esse dixit, eo quod nominis proprietate non egeat, ob ipsam scilicet unitatem. ipsius haec uerba sunt: ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἷς, ὁ δὲ είς όνόματος οὐ προσδέεται· ἔστι γὰρ ὁ ὢν ὰνώνυμος.
He wrote books, and indeed many, pertaining to the knowledge of divine things, in which he asserts the majesty of the supreme and only God and calls him by the same names as we do, Lord and Father. And lest anyone should ask his name, he said he was "nameless," because he does not need the distinction of a name, by reason, namely, of his very oneness. These are his own words: "God is one, and the one has no need of a name; for he who is, is nameless."
Notes and citation
Summary: Hermes Trismegistus called the one God Lord and Father and said he needs no name, being one.
- Hermetic fragment, quoted in Greek; the Greek of the digital text is partly garbled (Latin letters) and has been corrected.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek garbled into Latin letters (marked sic in the digital text)): o se Oso; είς, b δὲ → ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἷς, ὁ δὲ; ou προσδέεται έστι ykp o wv → οὐ προσδέεται· ἔστι γὰρ ὁ ὢν.
Extrabiblical texts: Corp. herm. (Hermetic writings; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.4 (CSEL 19:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.5CSEL 19:19–20
deo igitur nomen (non) est, quia solus est, nec opus est proprio uocabulo, nisi cum discrimen exigit multitudo, ut unam quamque personam sua nota et appellatione designes. deo autem, quia semper unus est, proprium nomen est deus.
God therefore has no name, because he is alone; nor is a proper name needed, except when a multitude requires a distinction, so that you may mark each person by his own sign and title. But for God, because he is always one, his proper name is God.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Because God is one, he needs no proper name other than God.
- The editor adds "non" ("no") in round brackets; translated.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.5 (CSEL 19:19–20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.6CSEL 19:20
Superest de responsis sacrisque carminibus testimonia quae sunt multo certiora proferre. nam fortasse ii contra quos agimus nec poetis putent esse credendum tamquam uana fingentibus nec philosophis, quod errare potuerint, quia et ipsi homines fuerint.
It remains to bring forward testimonies from oracles and sacred verses, which are much more certain. For perhaps those against whom we are arguing think that neither the poets should be believed, as inventing vain things, nor the philosophers, since they could have erred, because they too were men.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius now turns to oracles and sacred verses as more certain witnesses.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.6 (CSEL 19:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.7CSEL 19:20–21
M. Varro, quo nemo umquam doctior ne apud Graecos quidem uixit, in libris rerum diuinarum quos ad C. Caesarem pontificem maximum scripsit, cum de quindecimuiris loqueretur, Sibyllinos libros ait non fuisse unius Sibyllae, sed appellari uno nomine Sibyllinos, quod omnes feminae uates Sibyllae sint a ueteribus nuncupatae uel ab unius Delphidis nomine uel a consiliis deorum enuntiandis. σιοὺς enim deos, non θεούς, et consilium non βουλήν, sed βούλλαν appellabant Aeolico genere sermonis. itaque Sibyllam dictam esse quasi θεοβούλην.
Marcus Varro, than whom no more learned man ever lived, not even among the Greeks, in the books on divine things that he wrote to Gaius Caesar, the chief pontiff, when speaking of the Fifteen Men, says that the Sibylline books were not the work of one Sibyl but were called by one name "Sibylline" because all women prophets were called Sibyls by the ancients, either from the name of the one at Delphi or from their announcing the counsels of the gods. For in the Aeolic dialect they called the gods "sioi," not "theoi," and counsel not "boulē" but "bulla"; and so the Sibyl was so called as if "Theoboulē" (divine counsel).
Notes and citation
Summary: Varro explains that "Sibyl" was a name for many women prophets, meaning one who declares the gods' counsel.
- Varro, Divine Antiquities (lost). The Fifteen Men were the Roman priestly college in charge of the Sibylline books.
- The Greek words in the digital text are garbled (Latin letters); "sioi" (σιοί) is corrected by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek garbled into Latin letters (marked sic in the digital text)): atouq enim deos, non Osouc → σιοὺς enim deos, non θεούς.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.7 (CSEL 19:20–21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.8CSEL 19:21
ceterum Sibyllas decem numero fuisse, easque omnes enumerauit sub auctoribus qui de singulis scriptitauerint. primam fuisse de Persis, cuius mentionem fecerit Nicanor, qui res gestas Alexandri Macedonis scripsit; secundam Libyssam, cuius meminerit Euripides in Lamiae prologo;
He says further that there were ten Sibyls, and he listed them all, with the authors who wrote about each. The first was from Persia, mentioned by Nicanor, who wrote the deeds of Alexander of Macedon; the second the Libyan, whom Euripides mentions in the prologue of the Lamia;
Notes and citation
Summary: Varro counted ten Sibyls, beginning with the Persian and the Libyan.
- Euripides' Lamia is lost.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion); Euripides (Euripides (plays and fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.8 (CSEL 19:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.9CSEL 19:21
tertiam Delphida, de qua Chrysippus loquatur in eo libro quem de diuinatione conposuit; quartam Cimmeriam in Italia, quam Naeuius in libris belli Punici, Piso in annalibus nominet; quintam Erythraeam, quam Apollodorus Erythraeus adfirmet suam fuisse ciuem eamque Grais Ilium petentibus uaticinatam et perituram esse Troiam et Homerum mendacia scripturum; sextam Samiam, de qua scribat Eratosthenes in antiquis annalibus Samiorum repperisse se scriptum;
the third the Delphic, of whom Chrysippus speaks in the book he composed on divination; the fourth the Cimmerian in Italy, whom Naevius names in his books on the Punic War and Piso in his annals; the fifth the Erythraean, whom Apollodorus of Erythrae asserts was his fellow citizen, and who prophesied to the Greeks as they sailed for Ilium both that Troy would perish and that Homer would write lies; the sixth the Samian, of whom Eratosthenes writes that he found her mentioned in the ancient annals of the Samians;
Notes and citation
Summary: The list continues with the Delphic, Cimmerian, Erythraean, and Samian Sibyls.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (o for e)): repperisse so scriptum → repperisse se scriptum.
Extrabiblical texts: Chrysippus (Chrysippus; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.9 (CSEL 19:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.10CSEL 19:21–22
septimam Cumanam nomine Amaltheam, quae ab aliis Herophile uel Demophile nominetur, eamque nouem libros attulisse ad regem Tarquinium Priscum ac pro iis trecentos philippeos postulasse regemque aspernatum pretii magnitudinem derisisse mulieris insaniam; illam in conspectu regis tris combussisse ac pro reliquis idem pretium poposcisse; Tarquinium multo magis insanire mulierem putauisse;
the seventh the Cumaean, named Amalthea, who is called by others Herophile or Demophile. She brought nine books to King Tarquinius Priscus and asked three hundred gold pieces for them; the king scorned the greatness of the price and laughed at the woman's madness. In the king's sight she burned three and asked the same price for the rest; Tarquinius thought the woman much madder still.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Cumaean Sibyl offered King Tarquin nine books, burning three when he refused her price.
- "Philippei": gold coins (originally of Philip of Macedon).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.10 (CSEL 19:21–22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.11CSEL 19:22
quae denuo tribus aliis exustis cum in eodem pretio perseueraret, motum esse regem ac residuos trecentis aureis emisse; quorum postea numerus sit auctus, Capitolio refecto, quod ex omnibus ciuitatibus et Italicis et Graecis praecipueque Erythraeis coacti adlatique sunt Romam cuiuscumque Sibyllae nomine fuerunt;
When she burned three more and still held to the same price, the king was moved and bought the remaining books for three hundred gold pieces. Their number was later increased, after the Capitol was rebuilt, because the verses of any Sibyl whatever were collected from all the cities, Italian and Greek, and especially from Erythrae, and brought to Rome.
Notes and citation
Summary: Tarquin finally bought the last three books, and more Sibylline verses were later collected for Rome.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.11 (CSEL 19:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.12CSEL 19:22
octauam Hellespontiam in agro Troiano natam, uico Marmesso circa oppidum Gergithium, quam scribat Heraclides Ponticus Solonis et Cyri fuisse temporibus; nonam Phrygiam, quae uaticinata sit Ancyrae; decimam Tiburtem nomine Albuneam, quae Tiburi colatur ut dea iuxta ripas amnis Anienis, cuius in gurgite simulacrum eius inuentum esse dicitur tenens in manu librum.
The eighth was the Hellespontine, born in the territory of Troy, in the village of Marmessus near the town of Gergithium, whom Heraclides of Pontus writes lived in the times of Solon and Cyrus; the ninth the Phrygian, who prophesied at Ancyra; the tenth the Tiburtine, named Albunea, who is worshipped as a goddess at Tibur beside the banks of the river Anio, in whose depths her statue is said to have been found holding a book in its hand.
Notes and citation
Summary: The last three Sibyls are the Hellespontine, the Phrygian, and the Tiburtine.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.12 (CSEL 19:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.13CSEL 19:22–23
harum omnium Sibyllarum carmina et teruntur et habentur, praeterquam Cymaeae, cuius libri a Romanis occultantur nec eos ab ullo nisi a quindecimuiris inspici fas habent. et sunt singularum singuli libri: quos, quia Sibyllae nomine inscribuntur, unius esse credunt, suntque confusi nec discerni ac suum cuique adsignari potest nisi Erythraeae, quae et nomen suum uerum carmini inseruit et Erythraeam se nominatum iri praelocuta est, cum esset orta Babylone.
The verses of all these Sibyls are both in circulation and possessed, except those of the Cumaean, whose books are kept secret by the Romans, and they hold it unlawful for anyone but the Fifteen Men to look into them. Each Sibyl has her own book; but because they are inscribed with the name "Sibyl," they are believed to be the work of one, and they are mixed together and cannot be distinguished and assigned each to its own author, except that of the Erythraean, who both inserted her true name into her poem and foretold that she would be called Erythraean, though she was born at Babylon.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibylline verses circulate mixed together, except the hidden Cumaean books and the signed Erythraean verses.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (words run together, letter lost); OCR slips (lost initial h, nm for mn)): arum onmium → harum omnium; nominatuiri → nominatum iri.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.13 (CSEL 19:22–23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.14CSEL 19:23
sed et nos confuse Sibyllam dicemus, sicubi testimoniis earum fuerit abutendum. omnes igitur hae Sibyllae unum deum praedicant, maxime tamen Erythraea, quae celebrior inter ceteras ac nobilior habetur, siquidem Fenestella diligentissimus scriptor de quindecim uiris dicens ait restituto Capitolio rettulisse ad senatum C. Curionem consulem, ut legati Erythras mitterentur, qui carmina Sibyllae conquisita Romam deportarent: itaque missos esse P. Gabinium M. Otacilium L. Valerium, qui descriptos a priuatis uersus circa mille Romam deportarunt. idem dixisse Varronem supra ostendimus.
But we too shall speak of "the Sibyl" without distinction wherever we have to use their testimonies. All these Sibyls, then, proclaim one God, and above all the Erythraean, who is held more celebrated and noble among the rest. For Fenestella, a most careful writer, speaking of the Fifteen Men, says that after the Capitol was restored the consul Gaius Curio proposed to the senate that envoys be sent to Erythrae to seek out the Sibyl's verses and bring them to Rome; and so Publius Gabinius, Marcus Otacilius, and Lucius Valerius were sent, who brought to Rome about a thousand verses copied out by private persons. That Varro said the same we have shown above.
Notes and citation
Summary: All the Sibyls proclaim one God, especially the Erythraean, whose verses envoys brought to Rome.
- Fenestella, Roman antiquarian (lost).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (IlO for no); OCR slip; the construction requires fuerit): IlOS confuse → nos confuse; ruent → fuerit.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.14 (CSEL 19:23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.15CSEL 19:23–24
in his ergo uersibus quos Romam legati adtulerunt de uno deo haec sunt testimonia: εἷς θεός, ὂς μόνος ἄρχει, ὐπερμεγέθης ἀγένητος. hunc esse solum summum deum, qui caelum fecerit luminibusque distinxerit: ἀλλὰ θεὸς μόνος εἶς πανυπέρτατος, ὃς πεποίηκεν οὐρανὸν ἡέλιὸν τε καὶ ἀστέρας, ἠδέ σελήνην, καρποφόρον γαῖαν τε καὶ ὕδατος οἴδματα πόντου.
In these verses, then, which the envoys brought to Rome, there are these testimonies about one God: "One God, who alone rules, exceedingly great, unbegotten." That this one is the only supreme God, who made heaven and adorned it with lights: "But God alone is one, highest over all, who made heaven and sun and stars and moon, the fruitful earth and the swelling waters of the sea."
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyl proclaims one unbegotten God who made heaven, sun, stars, earth, and sea.
- Sibylline Oracles, fragments 1.7 and 1.5–7 (numbering uncertain); quoted in Greek.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. frag. 1 (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.15 (CSEL 19:23–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.16CSEL 19:24–25
qui quoniam solus sit aedificator mundi et artifex rerum uel quibus constat uel quae in eo sunt, solum coli oportere testatur: αὐτὸν τὸν μόνον ὄντα σέβεσθ᾽ ἡγήτορα κόσμου. ὃς μόνος εἰς αἰῶνα καὶ ἐξ αἰῶνος ἐτύχθη. item alia Sibylla quaecumque est cum perferre se ad homines uocem dei diceret, sic ait: μοῦνος γὰρ θεὸς εἰμὶ καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἄλλος.
And since he alone is the builder of the world and the maker of things, both those of which it consists and those which are in it, she testifies that he alone ought to be worshipped: "Worship him who alone is, the ruler of the world, who alone was made from age to age." Likewise another Sibyl, whichever she is, when she said that she was carrying to men the voice of God, speaks thus: "For I alone am God, and there is no other God."
Isa 45:5 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyls say that only the one God, the maker of all, is to be worshipped.
- Sibylline Oracles, fragment 1.15–16 and 8.377 (numbering uncertain); quoted in Greek. The last line echoes Isa 45:5.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.16 (CSEL 19:24–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.6.17CSEL 19:25
Exequerer nunc testimonia ceterarum, nisi et haec sufficerent et illa opportunioribus locis reseruarem. sed cum defendamus causam ueritatis aput eos qui aberrantes a ueritate falsis religionibus seruiunt, quod genus probationis aduersus eos magis adhibere debemus quam ut eos deorum suorum testimoniis reuincamus?
I would now go through the testimonies of the others, were not these enough and were I not reserving those for more suitable places. But since we are defending the cause of truth before those who have strayed from the truth and serve false religions, what kind of proof ought we to use against them rather than to refute them by the testimonies of their own gods?
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius will now refute his opponents with the testimony of their own gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (t for f)): sufticerent → sufficerent.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.6.17 (CSEL 19:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-6-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 7
1.7.1CSEL 19:25–26
Apollo enim, quem praeter ceteros diuinum maximeque fatidicum existimant, Colophone residens, quo Delphis credo migrauerat amoenitate Asiae ductus, quaerenti cuidam quis aut quid esset omnino deus, respondit uiginti et uno uersibus, quorum hoc principium est: αὺτοϕυὴς ἀδίδαϰτος ὰμήτωρ ἀστυϕέλιϰτος, οὔνομα μηδὲ λόγῳ χωρούμενός, ἐν πυρὶ ναίων, τοῦτο θεὸς, μικρὰ δὲ θεοῦ μερὶς ἄγγελοι ἥμεῖς,
For Apollo, whom they consider divine beyond the rest and the greatest prophet, residing at Colophon, where I suppose he had moved from Delphi, drawn by the pleasantness of Asia, when someone asked him who or what God was at all, replied in twenty-one verses, of which this is the beginning: "Self-grown, untaught, motherless, unshaken, not contained in a name, not even in reason, dwelling in fire: this is God; and we angels are a small portion of God."
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's oracle at Colophon described God as self-existent and called the lesser beings angels.
- An oracle of Apollo at Claros near Colophon, also known from other ancient sources; quoted in Greek.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.1 (CSEL 19:25–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.2CSEL 19:26
num quis potest suspicari de Ioue esse dictum, qui et matrem habuit et nomen? quid quod Mercurius ille Termaximus, cuius supra feci mentionem, non modo ἀμήτορα ut Apollo, sed ἀπάτορα quoque appellat deum, quod origo illi non sit aliunde?
Can anyone suspect that this was said of Jupiter, who had both a mother and a name? What of the fact that that Mercury Thrice-Greatest, whom I mentioned above, calls God not only "motherless," as Apollo does, but also "fatherless," because he has no origin from elsewhere?
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracle cannot mean Jupiter, and Hermes calls God both motherless and fatherless.
Extrabiblical texts: Corp. herm. (Hermetic writings; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.2 (CSEL 19:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.3CSEL 19:26
nec enim potest ab ullo esse generatus qui ipse uniuersa generauit. Satis ut opinor et argumentis docui et testibus confirmaui quod per se satis clarum est, unum esse regem mundi, unum patrem, unum dominum.
For he who himself begot all things cannot have been begotten by anyone. I have, I think, sufficiently taught by arguments and confirmed by witnesses what is in itself clear enough: that there is one King of the world, one Father, one Lord.
Notes and citation
Summary: Arguments and witnesses show there is one King, Father, and Lord of the world.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.3 (CSEL 19:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.4CSEL 19:26
sed fortasse quaerat aliquis a nobis idem illut quod aput Ciceronem quaerit Hortensius, si deus unus est, quae esse beata solitudo queat. tamquam nos quia unum dicimus, desertum ac solitarium esse dicamus. habet enim ministros, quos uocamus nuntios.
But perhaps someone may ask of us the same thing Hortensius asks in Cicero: if God is one, what blessed solitude can there be? As if, because we say he is one, we were saying he is deserted and alone. For he has ministers, whom we call messengers.
Notes and citation
Summary: God is not lonely, for he has ministers, the angels.
- Cicero, Hortensius (lost; fragment). "Messengers" translates nuntii, the Latin for "angels".
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (lost ft)): orasse quaerat → fortasse quaerat.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Hortensius (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.4 (CSEL 19:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.5CSEL 19:26
et est illut uerum quod dixisse in Exhortationibus Senecam supra rettuli, genuisse regni sui ministros deum. uerum hi neque dii sunt neque deos se uocari aut coli uolunt, quippe qui nihil faciant praeter iussum ac uoluntatem dei. nec tamen illi sunt qui uulgo coluntur, quorum et exiguus et certus est numerus.
And that is true which I reported above that Seneca said in the Exhortations, that God begot ministers of his kingdom. But these are not gods, nor do they wish to be called or worshipped as gods, since they do nothing except by the command and will of God. Nor are they those who are commonly worshipped, whose number is both small and fixed.
Notes and citation
Summary: God's ministers are not gods and do not wish to be worshipped as gods.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.5 (CSEL 19:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.6CSEL 19:26
quodsi cultores deorum eos ipsos colere se putant, quos summi dei ministros appellamus, nihil est quod nobis faciant inuidiam, qui unum deum dicamus, multos negemus.
But if the worshippers of the gods think that they worship those very beings whom we call ministers of the supreme God, there is no reason for them to raise ill will against us, who say there is one God and deny that there are many.
Notes and citation
Summary: If pagans worship God's ministers, they have no reason to resent Christians' belief in one God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.6 (CSEL 19:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.7CSEL 19:26–27
si eos multitudo delectat, non duodecim dicimus aut trecentos sexaginta quinque ut Orpheus, sed innumerabiles esse. arguimus errores eorum in diuersum, qui tam paucos putant. sciant tamen quo nomine appellari debeant, ne uiolent uerum deum, cuius nomen exponunt, dum pluribus tribuunt.
If a multitude delights them, we do not say there are twelve, or three hundred and sixty-five as Orpheus did, but that they are innumerable. We charge them with error in the opposite direction, for thinking there are so few. Yet let them know by what name these ought to be called, lest they wrong the true God, whose name they expose while they assign it to many.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians count God's ministers as innumerable, but they must not be called gods.
- The 365 gods are attributed to Orpheus (Orphic fragments).
Extrabiblical texts: Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.7 (CSEL 19:26–27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.8CSEL 19:27
credant Apollini suo, qui eodem illo responso ut Ioui principatum, sic etiam ceteris diis abstulit nomen. tertius enim uersus ostendit ministros dei non deos, uerum angelos appellari oportere.
Let them believe their own Apollo, who in that same response took away the chief rule from Jupiter and the name from the other gods as well. For the third verse shows that the ministers of God ought to be called not gods but angels.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's own oracle says God's ministers should be called angels, not gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.8 (CSEL 19:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.9CSEL 19:27
de se quidem ille mentitus est, qui cum sit e numero daemonum, angelis se dei adgregauit: denique in aliis responsis daemonem se esse confessus est. nam cum interrogaretur quomodo sibi supplicari uellet, ita respondit: πάνσοφε παντοδίδακτε πολύστροφε κέκλυθι, δαῖμον. item rursus cum precem in Apollinem Sminthium rogatus expromeret, ab hoc uersu exorsus est: ἁρμονίη, ϰόσμοιο, ϕαεσϕόρε, πάνσοϕε δαῖμον.
About himself, indeed, he lied: though he is of the number of the demons, he enrolled himself among the angels of God. In fact, in other responses he confessed that he was a demon. For when he was asked how he wished to be prayed to, he answered thus: "All-wise, all-taught, many-turning, hear, O daemon." And again, when he was asked to compose a prayer to Apollo Smintheus, he began with this verse: "Harmony of the world, light-bearer, all-wise daemon."
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo, really a demon, falsely counted himself among the angels, but in other oracles called himself a daemon.
- Oracles of Apollo, quoted in Greek; source unidentified.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.9 (CSEL 19:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.10CSEL 19:27–28
quid ergo superest nisi ut sua confessione uerberibus dei ueri ac poenae subiaceat sempiternae? nam et in alio responso ita dixit: δαίμονες οἳ ϕοιτῶσι περὶ χθόνα ϰαὶ περὶ πόντον ἀϰαμάτου δαμνῶνται ὑπαὶ μάστιγι θεοῖο. de utrisque generibus in secundo libro disseremus.
What then remains but that by his own confession he lies subject to the scourges of the true God and to eternal punishment? For in another response he said: "Daemons who roam about the earth and about the sea are subdued under the tireless scourge of God." We shall discuss both kinds in the second book.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo himself admitted that demons are subject to God's scourge and punishment.
- Oracle of Apollo, quoted in Greek; source unidentified.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.10 (CSEL 19:27–28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.11CSEL 19:28
nunc interim nobis satis est quod dum honorare se uult et in caelo conlocare, confessus est, id quod res habet, quomodo sint appellandi qui deo semper adsistunt.
Meanwhile it is enough for us that, while he wished to honour himself and place himself in heaven, he confessed, as the fact is, how those who always stand beside God ought to be called.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even in self-praise Apollo admitted what God's attendants should be called.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.11 (CSEL 19:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.12CSEL 19:28
retrahant ergo se homines ab erroribus et abiectis religionibus prauis parentem suum dominumque cognoscant, cuius nec uirtus aestimari potest nec magnitudo perspici nec principium conprehendi. cum ad illum mentis humanae intentio et acumen et memoria peruenerit, quasi subductis et consumptis omnibus uiis subsistit haeret deficit nec est aliquid ulterius quo progredi possit.
Let men, then, draw themselves back from their errors and, casting away perverse religions, acknowledge their Parent and Lord, whose power cannot be estimated, whose greatness cannot be seen through, whose beginning cannot be grasped. When the effort, sharpness, and memory of the human mind have reached him, as though all roads had been cut off and used up, it halts, sticks, and fails, and there is nothing further to which it can advance.
Notes and citation
Summary: People should turn from error to their Father and Lord, whose greatness the mind cannot comprehend.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.12 (CSEL 19:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.7.13CSEL 19:28–29
uerum quia fieri non potest quin id quod sit aliquando esse coeperit, consequens est ut quoniam nihil ante illum fuit, ipse ante omnia ex se ipso sit procreatus, ideoque ab Apolline αὐτοϕυής, a Sibylla αὺτογενής et ἀγένητος et ἀποίητος nominatur. quod Seneca homo acutus in Exhortationibus uidit. nos inquit aliunde pendemus. itaque ad aliquem respicimus, cui quod est optimum in nobis debeamus. alius nos edidit, alius instruxit: deus ipse se fecit..
But since it cannot be that what exists did not at some time begin to exist, it follows that, since nothing was before him, he was brought forth from himself before all things; and therefore he is called by Apollo "self-grown," and by the Sibyl "self-begotten," "unbegotten," and "unmade." Seneca, an acute man, saw this in the Exhortations: "We," he says, "depend on another. So we look to someone to whom we owe what is best in us. Another brought us forth, another furnished us; God made himself."
Notes and citation
Summary: God, having nothing before him, exists from himself, as Apollo, the Sibyl, and Seneca attest.
- The claim that God "was brought forth from himself" is Lactantius' own formulation, translated as written.
- Seneca, Exhortations (fragment).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and line-break hyphen in the Greek): αἀτο- ϕυής → αὐτοϕυής.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles; allusion); Seneca (Seneca; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.13 (CSEL 19:28–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-7-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 8
1.8.1CSEL 19:29
His igitur tot ac tantis testibus conprobatur unius dei potestate ac prouidentia mundum gubernari, cuius uim maiestatemque tantam esse dicit in Timaeo Plato, ut eam neque mente concipere neque uerbis enarrare quisquam possit ob nimiam et inaestimabilem potestatem.
By so many and such great witnesses, then, it is proved that the world is governed by the power and providence of one God, whose force and majesty Plato in the Timaeus says is so great that no one can either conceive it in mind or tell it in words, because of its exceeding and inestimable power.
Notes and citation
Summary: Many witnesses prove one God rules the world, whose power Plato says cannot be conceived or expressed.
- Plato, Timaeus 28c.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray bracket (OCR)): ob) nimiam → ob nimiam.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 28c (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.1 (CSEL 19:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.2CSEL 19:29
dubitet uero aliquis an quicquam difficile aut inpossibile sit deo, qui tanta tamque mirifica opera prouidentia excogitauit, uirtute constituit, ratione perfecit, nunc autem spiritu sustentet, potestate moderetur, inexcogitabilis ineffabilis et nulli alii satis notus quam sibi?
Can anyone doubt whether anything is difficult or impossible for God, who devised such great and wonderful works by his providence, established them by his power, completed them by his reason, and now sustains them by his spirit and governs them by his might, inconceivable, ineffable, and sufficiently known to none but himself?
Notes and citation
Summary: Nothing is impossible for God, who made and sustains all things.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.2 (CSEL 19:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.3CSEL 19:29
unde mihi de tanta maiestate saepius cogitanti qui deos colunt interdum uideri solent tam caeci, tam incogitabiles, tam excordes, tam non multum a mutis animalibus differentes, qui credant eos qui geniti sint maris ac feminae coitu aliquid maiestatis diuinaeque uirtutis habere potuisse, cum Sibylla Erythraea dicat: οὐ δύνατ ἀνδρὸς ἑϰ μηρῶν μήτρας τε θεὸς τετυπωμένος εἶναι.
So when I think often about such great majesty, those who worship the gods sometimes seem to me so blind, so thoughtless, so senseless, so little different from dumb animals, that they believe that beings born from the union of male and female could have had anything of majesty and divine power, when the Erythraean Sibyl says: "God cannot be fashioned from the thighs of a man and from a womb."
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans foolishly think beings born of man and woman can be gods, though the Sibyl denies it.
- Sibylline Oracles, fragment 1 (numbering uncertain); quoted in Greek.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray Latin-letter duplicate of οὐ (marked sic in the digital text)): ou οὐ δύνατ → οὐ δύνατ.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.3 (CSEL 19:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.4CSEL 19:29–30
quod si est uerum, sicuti est, apparet Herculem Apollinem Liberum Mercurium Iouemque ipsum cum ceteris homines fuisse, quoniam sunt ex duobus sexibus nati.
If this is true, as it is, it is plain that Hercules, Apollo, Liber, Mercury, and Jupiter himself, with the rest, were men, since they were born of the two sexes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods born of two parents were therefore men.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.4 (CSEL 19:29–30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.5CSEL 19:30
quid est autem a deo tam remotum quam id opus, quod ipse ad propagandam subolem mortalibus tribuit et quod sine substantia corporali nullum potest esse? dii ergo si sunt inmortales et aeterni, quid opus est altero sexu — nimirum ut generent? ipsa progenie quid opus est, cum successione non egeant qui semper sunt futuri?
What is so far removed from God as that work which he himself gave to mortals for propagating offspring, and which cannot exist without bodily substance? If the gods are immortal and eternal, what need is there of the other sex? Evidently, so that they may beget? What need of offspring itself, when those who will always exist do not need succession?
Notes and citation
Summary: Immortal gods would have no need of sexual reproduction or offspring.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.5 (CSEL 19:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.6CSEL 19:30
nam profecto in hominibus ceterisque animantibus diuersitas sexus et coitio et generatio nullam habet aliam rationem nisi ut omnia genera uiuentium, quoniam sunt condicione mortalitatis obitura, mutua possint successione seruari, deo autem, qui est sempiternus, neque alter sexus neque successio necessaria est.
For certainly among men and the other animals the difference of sex, and union, and generation have no other purpose than that all kinds of living things, since by their mortal condition they will die, may be preserved by mutual succession; but God, who is everlasting, needs neither another sex nor succession.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sex and generation exist so mortal creatures can continue; the eternal God needs neither.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.6 (CSEL 19:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.7CSEL 19:30
dicet aliquis ut habeat uel ministros uel in quos possit ipse dominari. quid igitur sexu opus est feminino, cum deus, qui est omnipotens ut uocatur, sine usu et opera feminae possit.
Someone will say: so that he may have either ministers or those over whom he may rule. What need is there, then, of the female sex, when God, who is almighty as he is called, can without the use and work of a woman
Notes and citation
Summary: God does not need a female partner to have ministers or subjects.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.7 (CSEL 19:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.8.8CSEL 19:30–31
filios procreare? nam si quibusdam minutis animalibus id praestitit, ut sibi e foliis natos et suauibus herbis ore legant, cur existimet aliquis ipsum deum nisi ex permixtione sexus alterius non posse generare? illos igitur quos inperiti et insipientes tamquam deos et nuncupant et adorant, nemo est tam inconsideratus quin intellegat fuisse mortales. quomodo ergo inquiet aliquis dii crediti sunt? nimirum quia reges maximi ac potentissimi fuerunt, ob merita uirtutum suarum aut munerum aut artium repertarum, cum cari fuissent iis quibus inperitauerant, in memoriam sunt consecrati. quod si quis dubitat, res eorum gestas et facta consideret, quae uniuersa tam poetae quam historici ueteres prodiderunt.
beget sons? For if he granted to certain tiny creatures that they gather their young with their mouths from leaves and sweet herbs, why should anyone think that God himself cannot beget except by union with another sex? Those, then, whom the ignorant and foolish both name and adore as gods, no one is so thoughtless as not to understand were mortals. How then, someone will say, were they believed to be gods? Evidently because they were very great and powerful kings, and because of the merit of their virtues or gifts or the arts they discovered, since they had been dear to those over whom they ruled, they were consecrated in memory. If anyone doubts this, let him consider their deeds and actions, which both the poets and the ancient historians have all handed down.
Notes and citation
Summary: God can beget without a female; the pagan gods were powerful kings deified out of gratitude.
- The "tiny creatures" are bees; the words about gathering their young with their mouths from leaves and sweet herbs are adapted from Virgil, Georgics 4.200–201.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Georg. 4.200–201 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.8.8 (CSEL 19:30–31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-8-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 9
1.9.1CSEL 19:31
Hercules, qui ob uirtutem clarissimus et quasi Africanus inter deos habetur, nonne orbem terrae, quem peragrasse ac purgasse narratur, stupris adulteriis libidinibus inquinauit? nec mirum, cum esset adulterio genitus Alcimenae. quid tandem potuit in eo esse diuini, qui suis ipse uitiis mancipatus et mares et feminas contra omnes leges infamia flagitio dedecore adfecit?
Hercules, who is held most famous for his virtue and, as it were, the Africanus among the gods, did he not pollute with debauchery, adultery, and lusts the world which he is said to have travelled through and cleansed? No wonder, since he was begotten of Alcmena in adultery. What divinity, after all, could there be in one who, himself enslaved to his own vices, inflicted infamy, outrage, and disgrace on both males and females against all laws?
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules, born of adultery, defiled the world with lust and could not be divine.
- Scipio Africanus was the Roman model of a great hero.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.1 (CSEL 19:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.2CSEL 19:31
sed ne illa quidem quae magna et mirabilia gessit talia iudicanda sunt, ut uirtutibus diuinis tribuenda uideantur. quid enim tam magnificum, si leonem aprumque superauit, si aues deiecit sagittis, si regium stabulum egessit, si uiraginem uicit cingulumque detraxit, si equos feroces cum domino interemit? opera sunt ista fortis uiri, hominis tamen.
But not even his great and wonderful deeds are to be judged such that they seem to belong to divine powers. For what is so magnificent if he overcame a lion and a boar, if he shot down birds with arrows, if he cleared out a king's stable, if he conquered a warrior-maiden and took away her girdle, if he killed fierce horses together with their master? These are the works of a brave man, but of a man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules' labours were the deeds of a brave man, not of a god.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (lost d)): iudicana → iudicanda.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.2 (CSEL 19:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.3CSEL 19:31
illa enim quae uicit fragilia et mortalia fuerunt. nulla est enim quod ait orator tanta uis, quae non ferro ac uiribus debilitari frangique possit:
For the things he conquered were fragile and mortal. For there is no force so great, as the orator says, that it cannot be weakened and broken by iron and strength.
Notes and citation
Summary: What Hercules conquered was mortal, and any force can be broken.
- Cicero, For Marcellus 8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray colon, hyphen, and capital (OCR)): quae: uicit fragilia et mort-alIa → quae uicit fragilia et mortalia.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Marcell. 8 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.3 (CSEL 19:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.4CSEL 19:31–32
animum uincere, iracundiam cohibere fortissimi est: quae ille nec fecit umquam nec potuit. haec qui faciat, non ego eum cum summis uiris comparo, sed simillimum deo iudico. uellem adiecisset de libidine luxuria cupiditate insolentia, ut uirtutem eius inpleret, quem deo similem iudicabat.
"But to conquer one's mind, to restrain anger, is the mark of the bravest man": these things Hercules never did and never could do. "Whoever does these things I do not compare with the greatest men, but judge him most like God." I wish Cicero had added something about lust, luxury, greed, and insolence, to complete the virtue of the one he judged like God.
Notes and citation
Summary: True bravery is self-mastery, which Hercules never achieved.
- Cicero, For Marcellus 8.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Marcell. 8 (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.4 (CSEL 19:31–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.5CSEL 19:32
non enim fortior putandus est qui leonem quam qui uiolentam et in se ipso inclusam feram superat, iracundiam, aut qui rapacissimas uolucres deiecit quam qui cupiditates auidissimas cohercet, aut qui Amazonem bellatricem quam qui libidinem uincit pudoris ac famae debellatricem, aut qui fimum (de) stabulo quam qui uitia de corde suo egerit, quae magis sunt perniciosa quia domestica et propria mala sunt, quam illa quae et uitari poterant et caueri.
For he is not to be thought braver who overcomes a lion than he who overcomes the violent beast shut up within himself, anger; or he who shot down the most rapacious birds than he who restrains the most greedy desires; or he who conquers the warlike Amazon than he who conquers lust, the destroyer of modesty and good name; or he who cleared the dung from a stable than he who has cleared the vices from his own heart, which are more destructive because they are domestic and personal evils, than those which could have been avoided and guarded against.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Conquering one's own anger, greed, and lust is braver than Hercules' labours.
- The editor adds "de" ("from") in round brackets; translated.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.5 (CSEL 19:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.6CSEL 19:32
ex quo fit ut ille solus uir fortis debeat iudicari, qui temperans et moderatus et iustus est. quodsi cogitet aliquis quae sint dei opera, iam haec omnia quae mirantur homines ineptissimi ridicula iudicabit. illa enim non diuinis uirtutibus, quas ignorant, sed infirmitate suarum uirium metiuntur.
From this it follows that he alone ought to be judged a brave man who is temperate, moderate, and just. And if anyone considers what the works of God are, he will at once judge ridiculous all these things that the most foolish men admire. For they measure them not by divine powers, of which they are ignorant, but by the weakness of their own strength.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only the temperate and just are truly brave; beside God's works Hercules' feats are trivial.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.6 (CSEL 19:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.7CSEL 19:32
nam illut quidem nemo negauit, Herculem non Eurystheo tantum seruisse regi, quod aliquatenus honestum uideri potest, sed etiam inpudicae mulieri Omphalae, quae illum uestibus suis indutum sedere ad pedes suos iubebat pensa facientem. detestabilis turpitudo!
For no one has denied that Hercules served not only King Eurystheus, which may seem honourable to some extent, but also the shameless woman Omphale, who used to order him, dressed in her clothes, to sit at her feet doing his task of spinning. Detestable baseness!
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules even served Omphale, sitting at her feet in women's clothes, spinning.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.7 (CSEL 19:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.8CSEL 19:32
sed tanti erat uoluptas. quid tu? inquiet aliquis poetisne credendum putas? quidni putem? non enim Lucilius ista narrat aut Lucianus, qui diis et hominibus non pepercit, set ii potissimum, qui deorum laudes canebant.
But pleasure was worth that much to him. "What?" someone will say. "Do you think the poets should be believed?" Why should I not? For it is not Lucilius who tells these things, or Lucian, who spared neither gods nor men, but above all those who sang the praises of the gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: These stories come not from mockers like Lucilius or Lucian but from the gods' own admirers.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.8 (CSEL 19:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.9CSEL 19:32–33
quibus igitur credemus, si fidem laudantibus non habemus? qui hos mentiri putat, proferat alios quibus credamus auctores, qui nos doceant qui sint isti dii, quomodo, unde orti, quae sit uis eorum, qui numerus, quae potestas, quid in iis admirabile, quid cultu dignum, quod denique certius ueriusque mysterium. nullos dabit.
Whom then shall we believe, if we do not trust those who praise them? Whoever thinks these poets lie, let him bring forward other authorities for us to believe, who may teach us who these gods are, how and from where they arose, what their force is, what their number, what their power, what is admirable in them, what worthy of worship, and finally what mystery is more certain and truer. He will produce none.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the poets who praise the gods are not believed, no better sources exist.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.9 (CSEL 19:32–33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.10CSEL 19:33
credamus igitur istis, qui non ut reprehenderent sunt locuti, sed ut praedicarent. nauigauit ergo cum Argonautis expugnauitque Troiam iratus Laomedonti ob negatam sibi pro filiae salute mercedem. unde quo tempore fuerit apparet. idem furore atque insania percitus uxorem suam cum liberis interemit.
Let us therefore believe these men, who spoke not to find fault but to proclaim. Hercules sailed, then, with the Argonauts and stormed Troy, angry with Laomedon because the reward promised him for saving his daughter was refused. From this it is clear at what time he lived. The same man, driven by fury and madness, killed his wife together with his children.
Notes and citation
Summary: The poets place Hercules at the time of the Argonauts and Troy and say he killed his wife and children in madness.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.10 (CSEL 19:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.9.11CSEL 19:33
hunc homines deum putant! sed Philocteta heres eius non putauit, qui facem supposuit arsuro, qui artus eius ac neruos cremari ac diffluere uidit, qui ossa eius et cineres in Oetaeo monte sepeliuit, pro quo munere sagittas eius accepit.
Men think this man a god! But Philoctetes his heir did not think so: he put the torch to him when he was about to burn, he saw his limbs and sinews burned and melted, he buried his bones and ashes on Mount Oeta, and for this service he received his arrows.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philoctetes, who burned and buried Hercules, knew he was mortal.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.9.11 (CSEL 19:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-9-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 10
1.10.1CSEL 19:33
Aesculapius et ipse non sine flagitio Apollinis natus quid fecit aliud diuinis honoribus dignum nisi quod sanauit Hippolytum? mortem sane habuit clariorem, quod a deo meruit fulminari.
Aesculapius, himself born of Apollo not without disgrace, what did he do worthy of divine honours except that he healed Hippolytus? His death, indeed, was more famous, in that he deserved to be struck by lightning by a god.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aesculapius did nothing divine and was killed by a thunderbolt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.1 (CSEL 19:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.2CSEL 19:33–34
hunc Tarquitius de inlustribus uiris disserens ait incertis parentibus natum, expositum et a uenatoribus inuentum, canino lacte nutritum, Chironi traditum didicisse medicinam; fuisse autem Messenium, sed Epidauri moratum. Tullius etiam Cynosuris ait sepultum.
Tarquitius, discussing famous men, says that he was born of uncertain parents, exposed, found by hunters, nursed on dog's milk, handed over to Chiron, and learned medicine; that he was a Messenian but lived at Epidaurus. Tullius also says he was buried at Cynosura.
Notes and citation
Summary: Tarquitius and Cicero describe Aesculapius as an exposed child who became a physician and was buried.
- Tarquitius' work is lost. Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 3.57.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 3.57 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.2 (CSEL 19:33–34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.3CSEL 19:34
quid Apollo pater eius? nonne ob amorem, quo flagrabat, turpissime gregem pauit alienum et muros Laomedonti extruxit mercede conductus, quae illi negari potuit inpune? ab eoque primo rex perfidus quidquid cum diis pepigisset didicit abnegare. idem formonsum puerum et dum amat, uiolauit et dum ludit, occidit.
What of Apollo his father? Did he not, for the love with which he burned, most shamefully pasture another man's flock, and build walls for Laomedon, hired for a wage which could be refused him with impunity? From him first the treacherous king learned to deny whatever he had agreed with the gods. The same Apollo, while he loved a beautiful boy, violated him, and while he played with him, killed him.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo served as a herdsman and a hired builder, and violated and killed a boy he loved.
- The boy is Hyacinthus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.3 (CSEL 19:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.4CSEL 19:34
homicida Mars et per gratiam caedis crimine ab Atheniensibus liberatus, ne uideretur nimis ferus et inmanis, adulterium cum Venere commisit.
Mars was a murderer, freed by the Athenians from the charge of killing by favour; and lest he seem too fierce and savage, he committed adultery with Venus.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mars was a murderer and an adulterer.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.4 (CSEL 19:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.5CSEL 19:34
Kastor et Pollux dum alienas sponsas rapiunt, esse gemini desierunt. nam dolore iniuriae concitatus Idas alterum gladio transuerberauit: et eosdem poetae alternis uiuere, alternis mori narrant, ut iam sint non deorum tantum, sed omnium mortalium miserrimi, quibus semel mori non licet.
Castor and Pollux, while carrying off other men's brides, ceased to be twins; for Idas, stirred by the pain of the injury, ran one of them through with a sword. And the poets relate that they live and die by turns, so that they are now the most wretched not only of the gods but of all mortals, since they are not allowed to die once for all.
Notes and citation
Summary: Castor and Pollux, killed for abducting brides, are said to live and die by turns.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.5 (CSEL 19:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.6CSEL 19:34–35
aus tamen Homerus ambos simpliciter, non ut poetae solent, mortuos esse testatur. nam cum faceret in muris adsidentem Priamo Helenam cunctos Graeciae principes recognoscere, solos autem se fratres suos requirere, subiecit orationi eius huiusmodi uersum: haec ait, ast illos retinebat terra sepultos.
Yet Homer testifies simply, not as poets usually do, that both were dead. For when he made Helen, sitting beside Priam on the walls, recognize all the chiefs of Greece and look in vain only for her own brothers, he added to her speech a verse of this kind: "So she spoke; but the earth already held them, buried."
Notes and citation
Summary: Homer says plainly that Castor and Pollux were dead and buried.
- Homer, Iliad 3.243, quoted in Latin.
- The opening word of the Latin ("aus") is garbled; translated "yet" by the sense.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 3.243 (Homer, Iliad; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.6 (CSEL 19:34–35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.7CSEL 19:35
fur ac nebulo Mercurius quid ad famam sui reliquit nisi memoriam fraudum suarum? caelo scilicet dignus, quia palaestram docuit et lyram primus inuenit.
Mercury, thief and scoundrel, what did he leave to his fame except the memory of his frauds? Worthy of heaven, no doubt, because he taught wrestling and was the first to invent the lyre.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercury is remembered for his frauds, not for anything divine.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.7 (CSEL 19:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.8CSEL 19:35
Liberum patrem necesse est in senatu deorum summae auctoritatis primaeque esse sententiae, quia. praeter Iouem solus omnium triumphauit, exercitum duxit, Indos debellauit. sed inuictus ille imperator Indicus maximus ab amore ac libidine turpissime uictus est.
Father Liber must be of the highest authority and the first to speak in the senate of the gods, because apart from Jupiter he alone of all celebrated a triumph, led an army, and subdued the Indians. But that unconquered commander, conqueror of India, was most shamefully conquered by love and lust.
Notes and citation
Summary: Liber conquered India but was shamefully conquered by lust.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.8 (CSEL 19:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.9CSEL 19:35
delatus enim Cretam cum semiuiro comitatu nanctus est inpudicam mulierem in litore ac fiducia uictoriae Indicae uir esse uoluit, ne nimium mollis uideretur, atque illam patris proditricem, fratris interemptricem, ab alio relictam et repudiatam in coniugium sibi uindicauit ac Liberam fecit et cum ea pariter ascendit in caelum.
For, carried to Crete with his half-man retinue, he found a shameless woman on the shore; and, confident from his Indian victory, he wished to be a man, so as not to seem too soft, and claimed as his wife her who had betrayed her father, caused her brother's death, and been abandoned and rejected by another; he made her Libera and ascended into heaven together with her.
Notes and citation
Summary: Liber married Ariadne, a betrayer abandoned by another, and took her to heaven.
- The woman is Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.9 (CSEL 19:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.10CSEL 19:35
quid horum omnium pater Iuppiter, qui in sollemni precatione Optimus Maximus nominatur? nonne a prima sua pueritia inpius ac paene parricida deprehenditur, cum patrem regno expulit ac fugauit nec expectauit mortem decrepiti senis cupiditate regnandi? et cum paternum solium per uim, per arma cepisset, bello est a Titanibus lacessitus, quod humano generi principium fuit malorum: quibus uictis et pace in perpetuum conparata reliquam suam uitam in stupris adulteriisque consumsit.
What of the father of all these, Jupiter, who in solemn prayer is named Best and Greatest? Is he not found from his earliest boyhood impious and almost a parricide, when he drove his father from the kingdom and put him to flight, and in his lust to reign did not wait for the death of a decrepit old man? And when he had seized his father's throne by violence and arms, he was attacked in war by the Titans, which was the beginning of evils for the human race; and when they had been conquered and peace secured forever, he spent the rest of his life in debauchery and adultery.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter overthrew his father, fought the Titans, and spent his life in debauchery and adultery.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.10 (CSEL 19:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.11CSEL 19:35–36
omitto uirgines quas imminuit: id enim tolerabile iudicari solet. Amphitryonem ac Tyndarum praeterire non possum, quorum domos dedecore atque infamia plenissimas reddidit.
I pass over the virgins whom he dishonoured, for that is usually judged tolerable. I cannot pass over Amphitryon and Tyndareus, whose houses he filled to the full with disgrace and infamy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter dishonoured virgins and brought disgrace on the houses of Amphitryon and Tyndareus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.11 (CSEL 19:35–36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.12CSEL 19:36
illut uero summae inpietatis ac sceleris, quod regium puerum rapuit ad stuprum. parum enim uidebatur, si in expugnanda feminarum pudicitia maculosus esset ac turpis, nisi etiam sexui suo faceret iniuriam: hoc est uerum adulterium, quod ut contra naturam.
But that was of the highest impiety and wickedness, that he carried off a royal boy for sexual abuse. For it seemed too little to be stained and base in assaulting the chastity of women, unless he also did injury to his own sex. This is true adultery, since it is against nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter's abduction of a royal boy was a crime against nature.
- The boy is Ganymede. "Sexual abuse" translates stuprum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.12 (CSEL 19:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.13CSEL 19:36
haec qui facit, uiderimus an Maximus, certe Optimus non est: quod nomen a corruptoribus ab adulteris ab incestis abest, nisi forte nos erramus homines, qui talia facientes sceleratos uocamus ac perditos: omnibusque poenis dignissimos iudicamus.
Whoever does these things, we may see whether he is "Greatest"; "Best" he certainly is not. That name is far from seducers, adulterers, and the incestuous, unless perhaps we men are wrong, who call those who do such things wicked and abandoned and judge them most deserving of every punishment.
Notes and citation
Summary: A seducer and adulterer cannot be called "Best".
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): uidenmus → uiderimus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.13 (CSEL 19:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.10.14CSEL 19:36
stultus autem Marcus Tullius, qui Gaio Verri adulteria obiecit: eadem enim Iuppiter quem colebat admisit; qui Publio Clodio sororis incestum: at illi Optimo Maximo eadem fuit et soror et coniunx.
Foolish, then, was Marcus Tullius, who reproached Gaius Verres with adulteries, for Jupiter, whom he worshipped, committed the same; and Publius Clodius with incest with his sister, for to that "Best and Greatest" the same woman was both sister and wife.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero condemned in Verres and Clodius the very crimes Jupiter committed.
- Cicero, Against Verres and speeches against Clodius (e.g. For Milo 73).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.10.14 (CSEL 19:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-6-1/#p-1-10-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).