Divine Institutes 2.4.1–2.6.16
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 2, chapter 4
2.4.1CSEL 19:107–108
Quid igitur maiestatis possunt habere simulacra, quae fuerunt in homunculi potestate uel ut aliud fierent uel ut omnino ne fierent? idcirco aput Horatium Priapus ita loquitur: olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum cum faber incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum, maluit esse deum. deus inde ego, furum auiumque maxima formido.
What majesty, then, can images have, which were in the power of a puny man either to become something else or not to be made at all? That is why in Horace Priapus speaks thus: "Once I was a fig-tree trunk, a useless log, when the carpenter, unsure whether to make a stool or a Priapus, preferred that I be a god. So a god I am, the greatest terror of thieves and birds."
Notes and citation
Summary: Horace's Priapus admits he was a log that happened to be carved into a god.
- Horace, Satires 1.8.1–4; no id for Horace in the list.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (a for u)): cam faber → cum faber.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.1 (CSEL 19:107–108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-1).
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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).
2.4.2CSEL 19:108
quis non sit hoc tanto custode securus? fures enim tam stulti sunt, ut Priapi tentiginem timeant, cum aues ipsae, quas terrore falcis aut inguinis abigi existimant, simulacris fabre factis id est hominum plane similibus insidant nidificent inquinent.
Who would not feel safe with so great a guardian? For thieves are so foolish as to fear Priapus' lust, while the very birds which they think are driven off by the terror of his sickle or his groin settle on skilfully made images, that is, ones plainly like men, and nest on them and foul them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even birds nest on and foul these supposed guardian gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.2 (CSEL 19:108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-2).
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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).
2.4.3CSEL 19:108
sed Flaccus ut satirici carminis scriptor derisit hominum uanitatem, uerum ii qui faciunt, seriam rem facere se opinantur.
But Flaccus, as a writer of satirical verse, mocked the vanity of men; yet those who do these things think they are doing something serious.
Notes and citation
Summary: Horace mocked this, but worshippers take it seriously.
- Flaccus is Horace.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for ii)): uerum u qui faciunt → uerum ii qui faciunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.3 (CSEL 19:108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-3).
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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).
2.4.4CSEL 19:108
demque poeta maximus, homo in ceteris prudens, in hoc solo non poetice, sed aniliter desipit, cum in illis emendatissimis libris etiam fieri hoc iubet: et custos furum atque auium cum falce saligna Hellespontiaci seruet tutela Priapi.
And the greatest poet, a man prudent in other things, in this alone is foolish, not as a poet but as an old woman, when in those most polished books he even commands this to be done: "And let the guardianship of Hellespontine Priapus, keeper against thieves and birds with his willow sickle, protect them."
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Virgil foolishly recommends Priapus as a guardian of gardens.
- Virgil, Georgics 4.110–111. The first word of the Latin ("demque") is garbled; translated "and".
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (n for ri)): in cetens → in ceteris.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Georg. 4.110–111 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.4 (CSEL 19:108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-4).
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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).
2.4.5CSEL 19:108
adorant ergo mortalia aut a mortalibus facta: frangi enim cremari perire possunt. nam et tectis uetustate labentibus saepe comminui solent et consumpta incendio dilabuntur in cinerem et plerumque, nisi sua illis magnitudo subuenerit aut custodia diligens saepserit, in praedam furibus cedunt.
They adore, then, things mortal or made by mortals: for they can be broken, burned, destroyed. For when roofs collapse with age they are often smashed, and when consumed by fire they fall into ashes, and often, unless their size saves them or careful guarding protects them, they become the prey of thieves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Idols can be broken, burned, or stolen.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.5 (CSEL 19:108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-5).
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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).
2.4.6CSEL 19:108–109
quae igitur insania est ea timere, pro quibus aut ruinae aut ignes aut furta timeantur? quae uanitas ab iis aliquam sperare tutelam, quae tueri semet ipsa non possunt? quae peruersitas ad eorum praesidia decurrere, quae ipsa cum uiolantur inulta sunt, nisi a colentibus uindicentur? ubi ergo ueritas est?
What madness is it, then, to fear things for which ruin or fire or theft must be feared? What vanity to hope for any protection from things that cannot protect themselves? What perversity to run for help to things which, when violated, remain unavenged unless their worshippers avenge them? Where then is truth?
Notes and citation
Summary: It is absurd to seek protection from idols that cannot protect themselves.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.6 (CSEL 19:108–109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-6).
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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).
2.4.7CSEL 19:109
ubi nulla uis adhiberi potest religioni, ubi nihil quod uiolari possit apparet, ubi sacrilegium fieri non potest. quidquid autem oculis manibusque subiectum est, id uero quia fragile est, ab omni ratione immortalitatis alienum est.
Where no force can be applied to religion, where nothing appears that can be violated, where sacrilege cannot be committed. But whatever is subject to the eyes and hands, because it is fragile, is foreign to every notion of immortality.
Notes and citation
Summary: Truth is where religion cannot be violated; visible things are fragile and not immortal.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.7 (CSEL 19:109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-7).
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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).
2.4.8CSEL 19:109
frustra igitur homines auro ebore gemmis deos excolunt et exornant, quasi uero ex his rebus ullam possint capere uoluptatem.
In vain, then, do men adorn and deck out their gods with gold, ivory, and jewels, as if they could take any pleasure in these things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Adorning idols with riches is useless.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.8 (CSEL 19:109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-8).
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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).
2.4.9CSEL 19:109
qui usus est pretiosorum munerum nihil sentientibus? an ille qui mortuis? pari enim ratione defunctorum corpora odoribus ac uestibus pretiosis inlita et conuoluta humi condunt qua deos honorant, qui neque cum fierent sentiebant neque cum coluntur sciunt; nec enim sensum consecratione sumpserunt.
What use are costly gifts to things that feel nothing? The same as to the dead? For by the same reasoning they bury the bodies of the dead, smeared with perfumes and wrapped in costly garments, as they honour the gods, who neither felt anything when they were made nor know when they are worshipped; for they did not acquire sense by consecration.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gifts to idols are like perfumes on corpses, useless to the senseless.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point (OCR)): inlita. et conuoluta → inlita et conuoluta.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.9 (CSEL 19:109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-9).
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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).
2.4.10CSEL 19:109
non placebat Persio quod aurea uasa templis inferantur, superuacuum putanti esse inter religiones quod non sanctitatis, sed auaritiae sit instrumentum.
Persius did not like golden vessels being brought into temples, thinking it superfluous in religion to have what is an instrument not of holiness but of greed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persius objected to golden vessels in temples as instruments of greed.
- Persius, Satires 2.69–70; no id for Persius in the list.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (c for e); stray point (OCR)): placcbat → placebat; aurea. uasa → aurea uasa.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.10 (CSEL 19:109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-10).
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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).
2.4.11CSEL 19:109
illa enim satius est deo, quem recte colas, inferre pro munere compositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. egregie sapienterque sensit.
For it is better to bring to God, if you would worship him rightly, as a gift, "justice and right well blended in the mind, holy recesses of the soul, and a breast steeped in noble honour." He thought excellently and wisely.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persius says the best gift to God is a just and holy heart.
- Persius, Satires 2.73–74.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.11 (CSEL 19:109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-11).
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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).
2.4.12CSEL 19:109
uerum illut ridicule subdidit, hoc esse aurum in templis, quod sint Veneri donatae a uirgine pupae; quas ille ob minutiem fortasse contemserit.
But he added that ridiculously: that gold in temples is what dolls given to Venus by a girl are; which he perhaps despised for their smallness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persius compared temple gold to a girl's dolls offered to Venus.
- Persius, Satires 2.70.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.12 (CSEL 19:109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-12).
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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).
2.4.13CSEL 19:109–110
non uidebat enim simulacra ipsa et effigies deorum Polycleti et Euphranoris et Phidiae manu ex auro atque ebore perfectas nihil aliut esse quam grandes pupas non a uirginibus, quarum lusibus uenia dari potest, sed a barbatis hominibus consecratas.
For he did not see that the very images and likenesses of the gods, completed in gold and ivory by the hand of Polyclitus, Euphranor, and Phidias, are nothing else than large dolls, consecrated not by girls, whose play can be pardoned, but by bearded men.
Notes and citation
Summary: The great statues of the gods are only large dolls consecrated by grown men.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray point (OCR)): quaj-um → quarum; consecra.tas → consecratas.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.13 (CSEL 19:109–110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-13).
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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).
2.4.14CSEL 19:110
merito igitur etiam senum stultitiam Seneca deridet. non inquit bis pueri sumus ut uulgo dicitur, sed semper: uerum hoc interest, quod maiora nos ludimus.
Rightly, then, Seneca too mocks the folly of old men: "We are not twice children," he says, "as is commonly said, but always; only there is this difference, that we play at greater things."
Notes and citation
Summary: Seneca says adults are always children, only playing with bigger toys.
- Seneca (fragment).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (R for s)): etiam Renum stultitiam → etiam senum stultitiam.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.14 (CSEL 19:110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-14).
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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).
2.4.15CSEL 19:110
ergo his ludicris et ornatis et grandibus pupis unguenta et tura et odores inferunt, his opimas et pingues hostias immolant, quibus est quidem os, sed carens officio dentium, his peplos et indumenta pretiosa, quibus usus uelaminis nullus est, his aurum et argentum consecrant, quae tam non habent qui accipiunt quam qui illa donarunt.
So to these playthings, these adorned and large dolls, they bring ointments, incense, and perfumes; to these they sacrifice fat and choice victims, which have a mouth indeed but without the use of teeth; to these they offer robes and costly garments, which have no use for covering; to these they consecrate gold and silver, which those who receive them possess no more than those who gave them.
Notes and citation
Summary: People lavish offerings on idols that can use none of them.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen (OCR)): dona-runt → donarunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.15 (CSEL 19:110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-15).
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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).
2.4.16CSEL 19:110
nec inmerito Dionysius Siciliae tyrannus post uictoriam Graecia potitus deos tales contempsit spoliauit inlusit, siquidem sacrilegia sua iocularibus etiam dictis prosequebatur.
Not without reason did Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, having won control of Greece after a victory, despise, plunder, and mock such gods; for he even accompanied his sacrileges with jokes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius of Sicily plundered and mocked the gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.16 (CSEL 19:110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-16).
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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).
2.4.17CSEL 19:110
nam cum Ioui Olympio aureum amiculum detraxisset, laneum iussit inponi dicens aestate graue esse aureum, hieme frigidum, laneum uero utrique tempori aptum.
For when he had taken a golden cloak from Olympian Jupiter, he ordered a woollen one to be put on him, saying that a golden one was heavy in summer and cold in winter, but a woollen one suited both seasons.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius took Jupiter's golden cloak, joking that wool was more practical.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.17 (CSEL 19:110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-17).
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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).
2.4.18CSEL 19:110
idem auream barbam detrahens Aesculapio incongruens et iniquum esse ait, cum Apollo pater eius inberbis adhuc esset ac leuis, priorem filium quam patrem barbatum uideri.
The same man, taking a golden beard from Aesculapius, said it was unsuitable and unfair that the son should appear bearded before the father, since his father Apollo was still beardless and smooth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius removed Aesculapius' golden beard with a joke.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (in for m)): barbain → barbam; inicum → iniquum.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.18 (CSEL 19:110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-18).
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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).
2.4.19CSEL 19:110–111
item pateras et exuuias et parua quaedam sigilla, quae simulacrorum protentis manibus tenebantur, detrahebat et accipere se illa, non auferre dicebat: perquam enim stultum esse et ingratum nolle accipere ab iis ultro porrigentibus, a quibus bona sibi homines precarentur.
Likewise he took away the bowls and spoils and certain small figures held in the outstretched hands of the images, and said he was receiving them, not carrying them off: for it was very foolish and ungrateful to be unwilling to receive from those who offered them of their own accord, from whom men prayed for good things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius took offerings from idols' hands, saying he was only accepting their gifts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.19 (CSEL 19:110–111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-19).
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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).
2.4.20CSEL 19:111
haec ille fecit inpune, quia rex et uictor fuit, quin etiam secuta est eum solita felicitas: uixit enim usque ad senectutem regnumque per manus filio tradidit. in eo igitur, quia homines sacrilegia uindicare non poterant, oportuit deos ipsos sui uindices esse.
He did these things with impunity, because he was king and victor; indeed, his usual good fortune followed him: he lived to old age and handed on his kingdom to his son. In his case, then, since men could not avenge the sacrileges, the gods themselves ought to have been their own avengers.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius prospered unpunished, so the gods should have avenged themselves.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.20 (CSEL 19:111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-20).
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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).
2.4.21CSEL 19:111
at si humilis quid tale commiserit, huic praesto sunt flagella ignes eculei cruces et quidquid excogitare iratis ac furentibus licet. sed cum puniunt deprehensos in sacrilegio, ipsi
But if a lowly man commits anything of the kind, for him are ready scourges, fire, the rack, crosses, and whatever angry and raging men may devise. But when they punish those caught in sacrilege, they themselves
Notes and citation
Summary: Lowly people are cruelly punished for sacrilege.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray marks (OCR)): ipsi (! → ipsi.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.21 (CSEL 19:111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-21).
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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).
2.4.22CSEL 19:111
se deorum suorum potestate diffidunt. cur enim non ipsis potissimum relinquant ulciscendi sui locum, si eos posse aliquid arbitrantur?
distrust the power of their own gods. For why do they not leave the place of vengeance above all to the gods themselves, if they think they can do anything?
Notes and citation
Summary: Punishing sacrilege shows distrust of the gods' power.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (lost letter at the start of the section (OCR); stray hyphen (OCR)): e deorum → se deorum; arbitra-ntur → arbitrantur.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.22 (CSEL 19:111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-22).
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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).
2.4.23CSEL 19:111
quin etiam putant illorum numine accidisse, ut praedones rerum sacrarum conprehensi tenerentur, et saeuiunt non tam ira quam metu, ne si deorum iniuriam non uindicauerint, in ipsos expetant poenae: incredibili scilicet uanitate, qui nocituros sibi deos putent ob aliena scelera, qui ipsis a quibus uiolati spoliatique sunt per se ipsos nihil nocere potuerunt. at enim saepe ipsi quoque in sacrilegos uindicauerunt.
They even think it happened by the gods' power that robbers of sacred things were caught and held, and they rage not so much from anger as from fear that, if they do not avenge the wrong done to the gods, the punishment may fall on themselves: with incredible vanity, surely, thinking the gods will harm them for others' crimes, when the gods could do no harm by themselves to those by whom they were violated and robbed. "But they themselves have often taken vengeance on the sacrilegious."
Notes and citation
Summary: People punish sacrilege for fear the gods will blame them, though the gods cannot harm the robbers.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (! for l) and stray point; OCR slip (p for e); stray point (OCR); stray point and hyphen (OCR)): prapdones → praedones; incredibi!i scilicet. → incredibili scilicet; uiola.ti spolia-tique → uiolati spoliatique; uindica.uerunt → uindicauerunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.23 (CSEL 19:111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-23).
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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).
2.4.24CSEL 19:111
potest id uel casu accidisse, quod aliquando, non semper, sed tamen paulo post quomodo id acciderit ostendam.
That can have happened by chance, since it happened sometimes, not always; but a little later I shall show how it happened.
Notes and citation
Summary: Occasional punishment of the sacrilegious may be chance, as will be explained.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (p for e)): potpst → potest.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.24 (CSEL 19:111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-24).
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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).
2.4.25CSEL 19:111–112
nunc interim quaero cur illi tot ac tanta sacrilegia in Dionysio non uindicauerint, qui non furtim, sed palam ludibrio deos habuit. cur hunc tam potentem sacrilegum a templis a caerimoniis ab imaginibus suis non arcuerunt? cur etiam sacris rebus ablatis prospere nauigauit? quod ioco ipse testatus est, ut solebat.
Meanwhile I ask why they did not avenge so many and such great sacrileges in Dionysius, who mocked the gods not secretly but openly. Why did they not keep so powerful a sacrilegious man away from their temples, ceremonies, and images? Why did he even sail prosperously after carrying off sacred things? He himself bore witness to this jokingly, as was his habit.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods did not stop Dionysius, who even sailed safely with their treasures.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.25 (CSEL 19:111–112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-25).
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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).
2.4.26CSEL 19:112
uidetisne inquit comitibus suis naufragium timentibus quam prospera sacrilegis nauigatio ab ipsis diis inmortalibus tribuatur? sed hic fortasse a Platone didicerat deos nihil esse.
"Do you see," he said to his companions, who feared shipwreck, "how prosperous a voyage is granted to the sacrilegious by the immortal gods themselves?" But perhaps he had learned from Plato that the gods are nothing.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius joked that the gods gave sacrilegious men good voyages.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (leaked section number (OCR)): 26 uidetisne → uidetisne.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.26 (CSEL 19:112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-26).
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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).
2.4.27CSEL 19:112
quid Gaius Verres, quem Tullius accusator eius eidem Dionysio et Phalaridi et tyrannis omnibus comparat? nonne omnem Siciliam compilauit sublatis deorum simulacris ornamentisque fanorum?
What of Gaius Verres, whom Tullius, his accuser, compares to the same Dionysius and to Phalaris and all tyrants? Did he not plunder all Sicily, carrying off the images of the gods and the ornaments of the shrines?
Notes and citation
Summary: Verres plundered Sicily's temples and images.
- Cicero, Against Verres.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Verr. (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.27 (CSEL 19:112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-27).
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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).
2.4.28CSEL 19:112
otiosum est persequi singula, unum libet commemorare in quo accusator omnibus eloquentiae uiribus, omni denique conatu uocis et corporis deplorauit de Cerere uel Catinensi uel Hennensi: quarum alterius tanta fuit religio, ut adire templi eius secreta penetralia uiris nefas esset, alterius antiquitas tanta, ut omnes historiae loquantur ipsam deam fruges in Hennae solo primum repperisse filiamque eius uirginem ex eodem loco raptam.
It is idle to follow up each case; I wish to mention one, in which the accuser lamented with all the powers of eloquence, with every effort of voice and body, about Ceres, whether of Catina or of Henna: of whom the one had such sanctity that it was unlawful for men to approach the secret inner sanctuary of her temple, the other such antiquity that all histories say that the goddess herself first found grain on the soil of Henna and that her virgin daughter was carried off from that same place.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero lamented Verres' theft of the sacred statues of Ceres at Catina and Henna.
- Cicero, Against Verres 2.4.99–107.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point (OCR)): tanta., → tanta,.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Verr. 2.4.99–107 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.28 (CSEL 19:112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-28).
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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).
2.4.29CSEL 19:112
denique Gracchanis temporibus turbata re publica et seditionibus et ostentis cum repertum esset in carminibus Sibyllinis antiquissimam Cererem debere placari, legati sunt Hennam missi.
Indeed, in the times of the Gracchi, when the state was disturbed by seditions and portents, and it was found in the Sibylline verses that the most ancient Ceres ought to be appeased, envoys were sent to Henna.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the Gracchan crisis Rome sent envoys to appease Ceres of Henna.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray points (OCR)): turbata. re publica. → turbata re publica.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.29 (CSEL 19:112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-29).
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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).
2.4.30CSEL 19:112–113
haec igitur Ceres uel religiosissima, quam uidere maribus ne adorandi quidem gratia licebat, uel antiquissima, quam senatus populusque Romanus sacrificiis donisque placauerat, ex arcanis ac uetustis penetralibus a Gaio Verre inmissis latronibus seruis inpune sublata est.
This Ceres, then, whether the most sacred, whom males were not allowed to see even for the purpose of adoring her, or the most ancient, whom the senate and Roman people had appeased with sacrifices and gifts, was carried off with impunity from her secret and ancient sanctuary by slaves sent in as robbers by Gaius Verres.
Notes and citation
Summary: Verres' slaves stole the most sacred and ancient Ceres with impunity.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (m for ru)): latronibus semis → latronibus seruis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.30 (CSEL 19:112–113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-30).
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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).
2.4.31CSEL 19:113
idem uero cum adfirmaret se a Siculis ut causam prouinciae susciperet oratum, his usus est uerbis: sese iam ne deos quidem in suis urbibus ad quos confugerent habere, quod eorum simulacra sanctissima Gaius Verres ex delubris religiosissimis sustulisset: quasi uero si Verres ex urbibus delubrisque sustulerat, de caelo quoque sustulisset.
The same Cicero, when he declared that he had been asked by the Sicilians to take up the cause of the province, used these words: that they no longer had even gods in their cities to whom they might flee, because Gaius Verres had carried off their most sacred images from the most religious shrines; as if, when Verres had carried them off from the cities and shrines, he had carried them off from heaven too.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero said the Sicilians had no gods left to flee to, as if Verres had robbed heaven.
- Cicero, Against Caecilius (Div. Caec.) 3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray point (OCR)): pronmciae → prouinciae; ia.m → iam.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Div. Caec. 3 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.31 (CSEL 19:113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-31).
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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).
2.4.32CSEL 19:113
unde apparet istos deos nihil habere in se amplius quam materiam de qua sint fabricati.
From this it is clear that these gods have nothing in them beyond the material from which they were made.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such gods are nothing but their material.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.32 (CSEL 19:113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-32).
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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).
2.4.33CSEL 19:113
nec inmerito ad te, Marce Tulli, hoc est ad hominem Siculi confugerunt, quoniam triennio sunt experti deos illos nihil ualere: essent enim stultissimi, si ad eos ob defendendas iniurias hominum confugissent, qui Gaio Verri nec pro se ipsis irati esse potuerunt. at enim Verres ob haec facinora damnatus est.
And not without reason did the Sicilians flee to you, Marcus Tullius, that is, to a man, since for three years they had found that those gods had no power; for they would have been most foolish to flee for defence against men's wrongs to those who could not even be angry with Gaius Verres on their own behalf. "But Verres was condemned for these crimes."
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sicilians turned to Cicero because their gods had proved powerless.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.33 (CSEL 19:113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-33).
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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).
2.4.34CSEL 19:113
non ergo dii uindicauerunt, sed Ciceronis industria, qua uel defensores eius oppressit uel gratiae restitit.
Then it was not the gods who avenged them, but Cicero's diligence, by which he either overcame Verres' defenders or withstood their influence.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's diligence, not the gods, secured Verres' condemnation.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for ii)): du uindicauerunt → dii uindicauerunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.34 (CSEL 19:113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-34).
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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).
2.4.35CSEL 19:113
quid quod aput ipsum Verrem non fuit illa damnatio, sed uacatio, ut quemadmodum Dionysio deorum spolia gestanti dii inmortales bonam dederant nauigationem, sic etiam Verri bonam quietem tribuisse uideantur, in qua sacrilegiis suis tranquille frui posset?
What of the fact that for Verres himself that condemnation was not a punishment but a holiday, so that, just as the immortal gods had given Dionysius a good voyage while he carried their spoils, so they seem to have granted Verres a good rest in which he could enjoy his sacrileges in peace?
Notes and citation
Summary: Verres' exile was a comfortable retirement to enjoy his loot.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (m for in) and stray point): tri})uisse → tribuisse; m qua. sacrilegiis → in qua sacrilegiis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.35 (CSEL 19:113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-35).
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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).
2.4.36CSEL 19:113–114
nam frementibus postea bellis ciuilibus sub obtentu damnationis ab omni periculo ac metu remotus aliorum graues casus ac miserabiles exitus audiebat et qui cecidisse solus uniuersis stantibus uidebatur, is uero uniuersis cadentibus stetit solus, donec illum et opibus sacrilegio partis et uita satiatum ac senectute confectum proscriptio triumuiralis auferret, eadem scilicet quae Tullium uiolatae deorum maiestatis ultorem.
For when civil wars later raged, removed under cover of his condemnation from every danger and fear, he heard of the heavy misfortunes and miserable deaths of others; and he who alone seemed to have fallen while all stood, alone stood while all fell, until, sated with the wealth gained by sacrilege and with life, and worn out by old age, he was carried off by the proscription of the triumvirs, the same, of course, that carried off Tullius, the avenger of the violated majesty of the gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Verres lived safely through the civil wars until the proscription that also killed Cicero.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (p for e)): frpmentibus → frementibus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.36 (CSEL 19:113–114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-36).
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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).
2.4.37CSEL 19:114
quin etiam felix in eo ipso fuit, quod ante suam mortem crudelissimum exitum sui accusatoris audiuit, diis uidelicet prouidentibus ut sacrilegus ac praedo ille religionum suarum non ante moreretur quam solacium de ultione cepisset.
Indeed, he was fortunate even in this, that before his own death he heard of the most cruel end of his accuser: the gods, evidently, providing that that robber and despoiler of their religions should not die before he had taken the comfort of revenge.
Notes and citation
Summary: Verres even outlived Cicero, as if the gods granted him revenge.
- The sentence is ironic.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.4.37 (CSEL 19:114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-4-37).
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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 2, chapter 5
2.5.1CSEL 19:114
Quanto igitur rectius est omissis insensibilibus et uanis oculos eo tendere ubi sedes, ubi habitatio est dei ueri, qui terram stabili firmitate suspendit, qui caelum distinxit astris fulgentibus, qui solem rebus humanis clarissimum ac singulare lumen in argumentum suae unicae maiestatis accendit, terris autem maria circumfudit, flumina sempiterno lapsu fluere praecepit, iussit et extendi campos, subsidere ualles, fronde tegi siluas, lapidosos surgere montes.
How much more right it is, then, to leave senseless and empty things and turn our eyes to where the seat and dwelling of the true God is, who hung the earth in stable firmness, who adorned the heaven with shining stars, who kindled the sun as the brightest and unique light for human affairs as a sign of his unique majesty, who poured the seas around the lands, commanded the rivers to flow in everlasting course, and "ordered the plains to stretch out, the valleys to sink, the woods to be covered with leaves, the rocky mountains to rise."
Notes and citation
Summary: People should look to the true God who made earth, sky, sun, sea, and land.
- The last clause is Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.43–44.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point (OCR)): ha.bitatio → habitatio.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.43–44 (Ovid; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.1 (CSEL 19:114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-1).
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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).
2.5.2CSEL 19:114
quae utique omnia non Iuppiter fecit, qui ante annos mille septingentos natus est, sed ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo, qui uocatur deus, cuius principium quoniam non potest conprehendi, ne quaeri quidem debet.
All these things Jupiter certainly did not make, who was born seventeen hundred years ago, but that "maker of things, the origin of a better world," who is called God, whose beginning, since it cannot be grasped, ought not even to be sought.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not Jupiter but God, the maker of all, created the world; his beginning cannot be grasped.
- The quoted phrase is Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.79.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.79 (Ovid; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.2 (CSEL 19:114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-2).
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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).
2.5.3CSEL 19:114–115
satis est homini ad plenam perfectamque prudentiam, si deum esse intellegat. cuius intellegentiae uis et summa haec est, ut suspiciat et honorificet communem parentem generis humani et rerum mirabilium fabricatorem.
It is enough for man, for full and perfect prudence, to understand that God exists. The force and sum of this understanding is this: that he look up to and honour the common Parent of the human race and the maker of wonderful things.
Notes and citation
Summary: True prudence is to know God exists and to honour him as Father and Creator.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips (p for e; t for l)): satis pst homini ad ptenam → satis est homini ad plenam.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.3 (CSEL 19:114–115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-3).
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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).
2.5.4CSEL 19:115
unde quidam hebetis obtunsique cordis elementa, quae et facta sunt et carent sensu, tamquam deos adorant.
Hence some of dull and blunted heart adore the elements, which were both made and lack sense, as if they were gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some foolishly worship the senseless elements.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.4 (CSEL 19:115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-4).
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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).
2.5.5CSEL 19:115
qui cum dei opera mirarentur id est caelum cum uariis luminibus, terram cum campis et montibus, mare cum fluminibus et stagnis et fontibus, earum rerum admiratione opstupefacti et ipsius artificis obliti, quem uidere non poterant, opera eius uenerari et colere coeperunt nec umquam intellegere quiuerunt, quanto maior quantoque mirabilior sit qui illa fecit ex nihilo.
For when they admired the works of God, that is, the heaven with its various lights, the earth with its plains and mountains, the sea with its rivers, lakes, and springs, they were stunned with admiration of these things and, forgetting the Maker himself, whom they could not see, began to venerate and worship his works; and they could never understand how much greater and more wonderful is he who made them out of nothing.
Rom 1:25 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Admiring creation, people forgot the unseen Creator and worshipped his works.
- Compare Rom 1:25 and Wis 13:1–3; no allusion is certain.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 13:1–3 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; echo)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.5 (CSEL 19:115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-5).
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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).
2.5.6CSEL 19:115
quae cum uideant diuinis legibus obsequentia commodis atque usibus hominis perpetua necessitate famulari, tamen illa deos existimant esse, ingrati aduersus beneficia diuina, qui deo et patri indulgentissimo sua sibi opera praetulerunt.
Though they see these things obeying divine laws and serving by perpetual necessity the advantage and use of man, they nevertheless think them gods, ungrateful toward the divine benefits, since they have preferred God's own works to God, the most indulgent Father.
Notes and citation
Summary: People ungratefully prefer God's works, made to serve them, to God himself.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.6 (CSEL 19:115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-6).
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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).
2.5.7CSEL 19:115
sed quid mirum si aut barbari aut inperiti homines errant, cum etiam philosophi Stoicae disciplinae in eadem sint opinione, ut omnia caelestia quae mouentur in deorum numero habenda esse censeant? siquidem Lucilius Stoicus aput Ciceronem sic loquitur:
But what wonder if barbarous or unlearned men err, when even philosophers of the Stoic school hold the same opinion, judging that all the heavenly bodies that move are to be counted among the gods? For Lucilius the Stoic speaks thus in Cicero:
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Stoic philosophers held the heavenly bodies to be gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (h for b)): barhari → barbari.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.7 (CSEL 19:115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-7).
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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).
2.5.8CSEL 19:115
hanc igitur in stellis constantiam, hanc tantam in tam uariis cursibus in omni aeternitate conuenientiam temporum non possum intellegere sine mente ratione consilio. quae cum in sideribus esse uideamus, non possumus ea ipsa non in deorum numero reponere.
"This constancy, then, in the stars, this great agreement of times through all eternity in such varied courses, I cannot understand without mind, reason, and purpose. And since we see these in the stars, we cannot but place them among the gods."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's Stoic speaker argues that the stars' order shows they are gods.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.54.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (b for h)): bane igitur → hanc igitur; i!i sideribus → in sideribus.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.54 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.8 (CSEL 19:115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-8).
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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).
2.5.9CSEL 19:115–116
item paulo superius: restat inquit ut motus astrorum sit uoluntarius: quae qui uideat, non indocte solum, uerum etiam inpie faciat, si deos esse neget.
Likewise a little earlier: "It remains," he says, "that the motion of the stars is voluntary; and whoever sees this would act not only ignorantly but impiously if he denied that they are gods."
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic says the stars move by will and are therefore gods.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.44.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.44 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.9 (CSEL 19:115–116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-9).
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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).
2.5.10CSEL 19:116
nos uero et quidem constanter negamus ac uos, o philosophi, non solum indoctos et inpios, uerum etiam caecos ineptos deliros probamus, qui ignorantiam inperitorum uanitate uicistis. illi enim solem atque lunam, uos etiam sidera deos putatis.
But we deny it, and firmly, and we prove you, O philosophers, not only ignorant and impious, but also blind, foolish, and deranged, who have surpassed the ignorance of the unlearned by your vanity. For they think the sun and moon gods; you think even the stars are.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians deny the stars are gods; the philosophers are more foolish than the common people.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.10 (CSEL 19:116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-10).
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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).
2.5.11CSEL 19:116
tradite igitur nobis stellarum mysteria, ut aras ac templa singulis erigamus, ut sciamus quo quamque ritu, quo die colamus, quibus nominibus, quibus precibus aduocemus: nisi forte nullo discrimine tam innumerabiles, tam minutos deos aceruatim colere debemus.
Hand down to us, then, the mysteries of the stars, so that we may set up altars and temples to each, so that we may know with what rite and on what day to worship each, and by what names and prayers to call on them; unless perhaps we ought to worship such countless and tiny gods in a heap without distinction.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius mocks the idea of worshipping each of the innumerable stars.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.11 (CSEL 19:116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-11).
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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).
2.5.12CSEL 19:116
quid quod argumentum illud, quo colligunt uniuersa caelestia deos esse, in contrarium ualet? nam si deos idcirco esse opinantur, quia certos et rationabiles cursus habent, errant. ex hoc enim apparet deos non esse, quod exorbitare illis a praestitutis itineribus non licet.
What of the fact that the argument by which they conclude that all heavenly bodies are gods proves the opposite? For if they think they are gods because they have fixed and regular courses, they err. For from this it appears that they are not gods, because they are not permitted to leave their appointed paths.
Notes and citation
Summary: The stars' fixed courses show they are not gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (i for l)): iliud → illud.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.12 (CSEL 19:116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-12).
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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).
2.5.13CSEL 19:116
ceterum si dii essent, huc atque illuc passim sine ulla necessitate ferrentur sicut animantes in terra, quarum quia liberae sunt uoluntates, huc atque illuc uagantur ut libuit, et quo quamque mens duxerit, eo fertur.
Otherwise, if they were gods, they would be carried here and there at random without any necessity, like living creatures on earth, which, because their wills are free, wander here and there as they please, and each goes wherever its mind has led it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods would move freely, not by fixed laws.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen (OCR)): anima-ntes → animantes.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.13 (CSEL 19:116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-13).
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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).
2.5.14CSEL 19:116
non est igitur astrorum motus uoluntarius, sed necessarius, quia praestitutis legibus officiisque deseruiunt.
The motion of the stars, then, is not voluntary but necessary, because they serve fixed laws and duties.
Notes and citation
Summary: The stars move by necessity, not by will.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips (p for e; n for u; rms for rius)): non pst igitur astrorum motus noluntarms → non est igitur astrorum motus uoluntarius.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.14 (CSEL 19:116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-14).
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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).
2.5.15CSEL 19:116–117
sed cum disputaret de cursibus siderum, quos ex ipsa rerum ac temporum congruentia intellegebat non esse fortuitos, existimauit uoluntarios esse, tamquam non possent tam disposite, tam ordinate moueri, nisi sensus illis inesset officii sui sciens.
But when he was discussing the courses of the stars, which he understood from the very agreement of things and times not to be fortuitous, he thought they were voluntary, as if they could not move so orderly and so regularly unless there were sense in them aware of their duty.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic wrongly concluded that orderly motion must be voluntary.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.15 (CSEL 19:116–117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-15).
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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).
2.5.16CSEL 19:117
o quam difficilis est ignorantibus ueritas et quam facilis scientibus! si motus inquit astrorum fortuiti non sunt, nihil aliut restat nisi ut uoluntarii sint. immo uero ut non esse fortuitos manifestum est, ita nec uoluntarios.
O how difficult is truth to those who do not know it, and how easy to those who know! "If the motions of the stars are not fortuitous," he says, "nothing remains but that they are voluntary." On the contrary: as it is clear that they are not fortuitous, so neither are they voluntary.
Notes and citation
Summary: The stars' motions are neither chance nor voluntary.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (c for e)): scicntibus → scientibus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.16 (CSEL 19:117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-16).
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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).
2.5.17CSEL 19:117
quomodo igitur in conficiendis itineribus constantiam suam seruant? nimirum deus uniuersi artifex sic illa disposuit, sic machinatus est, ut per spatia caeli diuina et admirabili ratione decurrerent ad efficiendas succedentium sibi temporum uarietates.
How then do they keep their constancy in completing their journeys? Clearly, God, the Maker of the universe, so arranged and contrived them that they should run through the spaces of heaven by a divine and wonderful plan, to produce the varieties of the seasons succeeding one another.
Notes and citation
Summary: God arranged the stars' courses to produce the seasons.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen (OCR)): uarieta-tes → uarietates.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.17 (CSEL 19:117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-17).
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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).
2.5.18CSEL 19:117
an Archimedes Siculus concauo aere similitudinem mundi ac figuram potuit machinari, in quo ita solem lunamque composuit, ut inaequales motus et caelestibus similes conuersionibus singulis quasi diebus efficerent et non modo accessus solis ac recessus uel incrementa deminutionesque lunae, uerum etiam stellarum uel inerrantium uel uagarum dispares cursus orbis ille dum uertitur exhiberet, deus ergo illa uera non potuit machinari et efficere quae potuit sollertia hominis imitatione simulare?
Could Archimedes of Sicily contrive a likeness and figure of the world in hollow bronze, in which he so arranged the sun and moon that they produced unequal motions, like the heavenly revolutions, as if in single days, and that sphere, as it turned, displayed not only the approach and withdrawal of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon, but also the unequal courses of the stars, both fixed and wandering; and could God not contrive and make the real things which the skill of man could simulate by imitation?
Notes and citation
Summary: If Archimedes could model the heavens, God can certainly make and move them.
- Archimedes' sphere is described by Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.63 and On the Republic 1.22.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips; stray mark (OCR)): Sicu-!ns → Siculus; uel! inerrantium → uel inerrantium.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Tusc. 1.63 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.18 (CSEL 19:117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-18).
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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).
2.5.19CSEL 19:117
utrumne igitur Stoicus si astrorum figuras in illo aere pictas effictasque uidisset, suo illa consilio moueri diceret ac non potius artificis ingenio? inest ergo sideribus ratio ad peragendos meatus suos apta, sed dei est illa ratio qui et fecit et regit omnia, non ipsorum siderum quae mouentur. nam si solem stare uoluisset,
Would the Stoic, then, if he had seen the figures of the stars painted and fashioned in that bronze, say that they moved by their own purpose and not rather by the skill of the craftsman? There is, then, in the stars a reason fitted to accomplishing their courses, but it is the reason of God, who both made and rules all things, not of the stars themselves which are moved. For if he had wished the sun to stand still,
Notes and citation
Summary: The order in the stars is God's reason, not theirs.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split across sections with a stray mark (OCR); completed here): stare uo! → stare uoluisset,.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.19 (CSEL 19:117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-19).
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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).
2.5.20CSEL 19:117–118
perpetuus utique dies esset. item si motus astra non haberent, quis dubitat sempiternam noctem futuram fuisse?
there would certainly be perpetual day. Likewise, if the stars had no motion, who doubts that there would have been everlasting night?
Notes and citation
Summary: Without God's ordering of motion there would be endless day or night.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (remainder of a word split across sections (OCR); joined in the previous section): uisset, perpetuus → perpetuus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.20 (CSEL 19:117–118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-20).
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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).
2.5.21CSEL 19:118
sed ut diei ac noctis uices essent, moueri ea uoluit et tam uarie moueri, ut non modo lucis atque tenebrarum mutuae uicissitudines fierent, quibus laboris et quietis alterna spatia constarent, sed etiam frigoris et caloris, ut diuersorum temporum uis ac potestas uel generandis uel maturandis frugibus conueniret.
But so that there might be alternations of day and night, he willed them to move, and to move so variously that there should be not only mutual alternations of light and darkness, by which alternating periods of labour and rest are formed, but also of cold and heat, so that the force and power of the different seasons might suit either the producing or ripening of crops.
Notes and citation
Summary: God made the heavens move to give day and night and the seasons.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (n for u)): sed nt diei → sed ut diei.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.21 (CSEL 19:118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-21).
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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).
2.5.22CSEL 19:118
quam sollertiam diuinae potestatis in machinandis itineribus astrorum quia philosophi non uidebant, animalia esse sidera putauerunt, tamquam pedibus et sponte, non diuina ratione procederent.
Because the philosophers did not see this skill of the divine power in contriving the paths of the stars, they thought the stars were living creatures, as if they advanced on feet and of their own accord, not by divine reason.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not seeing God's design, philosophers thought the stars were alive.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (m for in)): machmandis → machinandis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.22 (CSEL 19:118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-22).
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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).
2.5.23CSEL 19:118
cur autem illa excogitauerit deus, quis non intellegit? scilicet ne solis lumine decedente nimium caeca nox taetris atque horrentibus tenebris ingrauesceret noceretque uiuentibus. itaque et caelum simul mira uarietate distinxit et tenebras ipsas multis minutisque luminibus temperauit.
And why God devised them, who does not understand? Namely, so that when the sun's light departed, night might not grow too blind and heavy with foul and dreadful darkness and harm the living. So he both adorned the heaven with wonderful variety and tempered the darkness itself with many small lights.
Notes and citation
Summary: God made the stars so night would not be utterly dark.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (i for l); OCR slip (lost i)): ilia excogitauerit → illa excogitauerit; luminbus → luminibus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.23 (CSEL 19:118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-23).
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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).
2.5.24CSEL 19:118
quanto igitur Naso prudentius quam illi qui sapientiae studere se putant, qui sensit a deo lumina illa ut horrorem tenebrarum depellerent instituta! is eum librum quo Phaenomena breuiter conprehendit his tribus uersibus terminauit: tot numero talique deus simulacra figura inposuit caelo perque atras sparsa tenebras clara pruinosae iussit dare lumina nocti.
How much more prudent, then, was Naso than those who think they pursue wisdom, since he perceived that those lights were established by God to drive away the horror of darkness! He ended the book in which he briefly covered the Phaenomena with these three verses: "So many in number and of such form God placed likenesses in the sky, and, scattered through the black darkness, commanded them to give bright light to the frosty night."
Notes and citation
Summary: Ovid rightly said God set the stars to light the night.
- Ovid's Phaenomena is lost; this is a fragment.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for n); stray point (OCR)): sapieutiae → sapientiae; Phaenomena. breuiter → Phaenomena breuiter.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Phaen. (Ovid; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.24 (CSEL 19:118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-24).
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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).
2.5.25CSEL 19:118
quodsi fieri non potest ut stellae dii sint, ergo ne sol quidem ac luna dii esse possunt, quoniam luminibus astrorum non ratione differunt, sed magnitudine. quodsi hi dii non sunt, ergo ne caelum quidem in quo illa omnia continentur.
But if the stars cannot be gods, then neither can the sun and moon be gods, since they differ from the lights of the stars not in kind but in size. And if these are not gods, then neither is the heaven in which all these are contained.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the stars are not gods, neither are the sun, moon, or heaven.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.25 (CSEL 19:118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-25).
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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).
2.5.26CSEL 19:118–119
simili modo si terra, quam calcamus, quam subigimus et colimus ad uictum, deus non est, ne campi quidem ac montes dii erunt: si hi non sunt, ergo ne tellus quidem uniuersa deus uideri potest.
In the same way, if the earth, which we tread on, which we subdue and cultivate for food, is not a god, neither will the plains and mountains be gods; and if these are not, then neither can the whole earth seem a god.
Notes and citation
Summary: The earth and its parts are not gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; the sense requires uictum (food)): ad nidum → ad uictum.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.26 (CSEL 19:118–119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-26).
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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).
2.5.27CSEL 19:119
item si aqua, quae seruit animantibus ad usum bibendi aut lauandi, deus non est, ne fontes quidem ex quibus aqua profluit; si fontes non sunt, ne flumina quidem quae de fontibus colliguntur; si flumina quoque dii non sunt, ergo et mare quod ex fluminibus constat deus haberi non potest.
Likewise, if water, which serves living creatures for drinking or washing, is not a god, neither are the springs from which the water flows; if the springs are not, neither are the rivers gathered from the springs; if the rivers too are not gods, then the sea, which is made up of rivers, cannot be held a god either.
Notes and citation
Summary: Neither water, springs, rivers, nor sea are gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.27 (CSEL 19:119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-27).
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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).
2.5.28CSEL 19:119
quodsi neque caelum neque terra neque mare, quae mundi partes sunt, dii esse possunt, ergo ne mundus quidem totus deus est, quem idem ipsi Stoici et animantem et sapientem esse contendunt et propterea deum. in quo tam inconstantes fuerunt, ut nihil ab iis dictum sit quod non ab isdem fuerit euersum.
But if neither heaven nor earth nor sea, which are parts of the world, can be gods, then neither is the whole world a god, which the same Stoics contend is both living and wise and therefore a god. In this they were so inconsistent that nothing was said by them that was not overturned by the same men.
Notes and citation
Summary: If its parts are not gods, the world is not a god, as the inconsistent Stoics claim.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.28 (CSEL 19:119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-28).
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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).
2.5.29CSEL 19:119
sic enim argumentantur: fieri non posse ut sensu careat quod sensibilia ex se generat; mundus autem generat hominem, qui est sensu praeditus: ergo et ipsum esse sensibilem;
For they argue thus: it cannot be that what generates sentient beings from itself lacks sense; but the world generates man, who is endowed with sense; therefore it too is sentient.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics argue the world must be sentient because it produces sentient man.
- Compare Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.22.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.22 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.29 (CSEL 19:119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-29).
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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).
2.5.30CSEL 19:119
item, sine sensu esse non posse cuius pars habeat sensum: igitur quia homo sensibilis est, etiam mundo cuius pars est homo inesse sensum.
Likewise: that cannot be without sense of which a part has sense; therefore, since man is sentient, there is also sense in the world, of which man is a part.
Notes and citation
Summary: They argue the world has sense because man, its part, has sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for n)): nou posse → non posse.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.30 (CSEL 19:119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-30).
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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).
2.5.31CSEL 19:119
propositiones quidem uerae sunt, et sensibile esse quod sensu praeditum gignat et habere sensum cuius pars sensu aucta sit, sed adsumtiones falsae quibus argumenta concludunt, quia neque mundus generat hominem neque homo mundi pars est. nam hominem a principio idem deus fecit qui et mundum, et non est pars mundi homo sicut corporis membrum:
The propositions indeed are true, both that what begets a being endowed with sense is sentient and that that has sense of which a part is endowed with sense; but the minor premises by which they conclude the arguments are false, because the world does not beget man, nor is man a part of the world. For the same God who made the world made man from the beginning, and man is not a part of the world as a limb is of a body.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic premises fail: the world does not beget man, and man is not its part.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.31 (CSEL 19:119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-31).
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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).
2.5.32CSEL 19:119–120
potest enim mundus esse sine homine sicut urbs et domus. atquin ut domus unius hominis habitaculum est et urbs unius populi, sic et mundus domicilium est totius generis humani: et aliut est quod incolitur, aliut quod incolit.
For the world can exist without man, as a city or a house can. Rather, as a house is the dwelling of one man and a city of one people, so the world is the home of the whole human race; and what is inhabited is one thing, what inhabits another.
Notes and citation
Summary: The world is humanity's house, distinct from those who live in it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen (OCR)): incolitur-, → incolitur,.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.32 (CSEL 19:119–120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-32).
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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).
2.5.33CSEL 19:120
sed illi dum student id quod falso susceperant confirmare, et sensibilem esse mundum et deum, non uiderunt argumentorum suorum consequentia.
But while they were eager to confirm what they had wrongly adopted, that the world is both sentient and a god, they did not see the consequences of their own arguments.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics did not see where their arguments led.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.33 (CSEL 19:120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-33).
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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).
2.5.34CSEL 19:120
nam si mundi pars est homo et sensibilis est mundus, quia homo sentit, ergo quia mortalis est homo, mortalis sit et mundus necesse est nec tantum mortalis, sed et omnibus morbis passionibusque subiectus.
For if man is part of the world and the world is sentient because man feels, then, since man is mortal, the world too must be mortal, and not only mortal but subject to all diseases and sufferings.
Notes and citation
Summary: By their logic the world would also be mortal and subject to disease.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.34 (CSEL 19:120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-34).
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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).
2.5.35CSEL 19:120
et e contrario si deus est mundus et partes eius utique inmortales sunt, ergo et homo deus est, quia pars est ut dicitis mundi. si homo, ergo et iumenta et pecudes et cetera genera bestiarum et auium et piscium, quoniam et illa eodem modo sentiunt et mundi partes sunt.
And conversely, if the world is a god and its parts are certainly immortal, then man too is a god, since he is, as you say, a part of the world. If man, then also beasts of burden and cattle and all other kinds of beasts, birds, and fish, since they too feel in the same way and are parts of the world.
Notes and citation
Summary: Conversely, man and every animal would be gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.35 (CSEL 19:120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-35).
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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).
2.5.36CSEL 19:120
at hoc tolerabile est; nam et haec colunt Aegyptii. sed res eo peruenit ut et ranae et culices et formicae dii esse uideantur, quia et ipsis inest sensus et ex parte mundi sunt. ita semper argumenta ex falso petita ineptos et absurdos exitus habent.
But this is tolerable; for the Egyptians worship these too. But the matter comes to this, that frogs, gnats, and ants seem to be gods, since they too have sense and are part of the world. So arguments drawn from a false premise always have foolish and absurd outcomes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The argument would make even frogs, gnats, and ants gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.36 (CSEL 19:120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-36).
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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).
2.5.37CSEL 19:120
quid quod idem ipsi aiunt deorum et hominum causa mundum esse constructum quasi communem domum? ergo mundus nec deus est nec animans, si constructus est: animans enim non construitur, sed nascitur, et si est aedificatus, sic utique tamquam domus, tamquam nauis. est ergo aliquis artifex mundi deus et seorsum erit mundus qui factus est, seorsum ille qui fecit.
What of the fact that these same men say the world was built for the sake of gods and men as a common house? Then the world is neither a god nor a living being, if it was built: for a living being is not built but born; and if it was constructed, it was surely like a house, like a ship. There is, then, some God who is the Maker of the world, and the world which was made will be separate from him who made it.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the world was built like a house, it has a Maker distinct from it.
- Compare Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.133 and 2.154.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.133 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.37 (CSEL 19:120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-37).
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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).
2.5.38CSEL 19:120–121
iam illut quam repugnans et absurdum, quod cum caelestes ignes ceteraque mundi elementa deos esse adfirment, idem mundum ipsum deum dicunt! quomodo potest ex multorum deorum aceruo unus deus confici?
Now how contradictory and absurd is this, that while they affirm the heavenly fires and the other elements of the world to be gods, they also call the world itself a god! How can one god be made out of a heap of many gods?
Notes and citation
Summary: Calling both the elements and the whole world gods is contradictory.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.38 (CSEL 19:120–121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-38).
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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).
2.5.39CSEL 19:121
si astra dii sunt, mundus ergo non deus, sed domicilium deorum est. si uero mundus deus est, ergo illa omnia quae sunt in eo non dii sunt, sed dei membra, quae utique sola dei nomen accipere non possunt. nec enim recte quis dixerit membra
If the stars are gods, then the world is not a god but the dwelling of gods. But if the world is a god, then all the things in it are not gods but limbs of a god, which cannot by themselves receive the name of god. For no one would rightly say that the limbs
Notes and citation
Summary: Either the stars are gods and the world their house, or the world is a god and they are its limbs.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (doubled point (OCR); stray point before the section break (OCR)): possunt.. nec → possunt. nec; dixerit membra. → dixerit membra.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.39 (CSEL 19:121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-39).
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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).
2.5.40CSEL 19:121
hominis unius multos homines esse. sed tamen non est similis comparatio animalis et mundi. animal enim quia sensu praeditum est, etiam membra eius habent sensum nec nisi a corpore diuulsa brutescunt. cuius igitur rei similitudinem gerit mundus?
of one man are many men. But the comparison between a living creature and the world is not alike. For a living creature, since it is endowed with sense, has sense in its limbs too, and they become senseless only when torn from the body. What, then, does the world resemble?
Notes and citation
Summary: Limbs are not separate persons, and the world is not like a living body.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.40 (CSEL 19:121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-40).
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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).
2.5.41CSEL 19:121
nimirum ipsi docent, cum factum esse non diffitentur, ut esset diis et hominibus quasi communis domus. si ergo est constructus ut domus, nec ipse deus est nec elementa, quae sunt partes eius, quia neque domus habere dominium sui potest neque illa de quibus domus constat.
They themselves teach it, of course, when they do not deny that it was made to be, as it were, a common house for gods and men. If, then, it was built like a house, neither is it a god, nor are the elements, which are its parts, since neither a house nor the things of which a house consists can have dominion over itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: A world built like a house is not a god, and neither are its parts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.41 (CSEL 19:121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-41).
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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).
2.5.42CSEL 19:121
non tantum igitur ueritate, sed etiam uerbis suis reuincuntur. sicut enim domus in usum habitandi facta per se nihil sentit dominoque subiecta est, qui eam fecit aut incolit, ita mundus per se nihil sentiens factori deo subiacet, qui eum in usum sui fecit.
They are refuted, then, not only by the truth but also by their own words. For as a house made for dwelling feels nothing of itself and is subject to the master who made it or lives in it, so the world, feeling nothing of itself, is subject to God its Maker, who made it for his own use.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like a house, the world is subject to God who made it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (c for e)): ucritate → ueritate.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.5.42 (CSEL 19:121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-5-42).
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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 2, chapter 6
2.6.1CSEL 19:121
Duplici ergo ratione peccatur ab insipientibus, primum quod elementa id est dei opera deo praeferunt, deinde quod elementorum ipsorum figuras humana specie conprehensas colunt. nam solis lunaeque simulacra
The foolish, then, sin in two ways: first, in that they prefer the elements, that is, the works of God, to God; next, in that they worship figures of the elements themselves represented in human form. For images of the sun and moon
Notes and citation
Summary: The foolish prefer the elements to God and worship them in human form.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point before the section break (OCR)): simulacra. → simulacra.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.1 (CSEL 19:121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-1).
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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).
2.6.2CSEL 19:121–122
humanum in modum formant, item ignis et terrae et maris, quae illi Vulcanum Vestam Neptunum uocant, nec elementis ipsis in aperto litant. tanta homines imaginum cupiditas tenet, ut iam uiliora ducantur illa quae uera sunt: auro scilicet et gemmis et ebore delectantur.
they shape in human fashion, and likewise of fire, earth, and sea, which they call Vulcan, Vesta, and Neptune; and they do not sacrifice to the elements themselves in the open. Such a desire for images holds men that the things which are real are now held cheaper: they delight, of course, in gold and gems and ivory.
Notes and citation
Summary: They make human images of the elements and love the costly images more than reality.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (lu for in)): humanum lu modum → humanum in modum.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.2 (CSEL 19:121–122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-2).
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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).
2.6.3CSEL 19:122
horum pulchritudo ac nitor praestringit oculos nec ullam religionem putant ubicumque illa non fulserint. itaque sub obtentu deorum auaritia et cupiditas colitur. credunt enim deos amare quidquid ipsi concupiscunt, quidquid est propter quod furta et homicidia et latrocinia cottidie saeuiunt, propter quod bella per totum orbem populos urbesque subuertunt.
The beauty and splendour of these dazzle the eyes, and they think there is no religion wherever these do not shine. So under the cover of gods avarice and greed are worshipped. For they believe the gods love whatever they themselves covet, whatever it is for which thefts, murders, and robberies rage daily, for which wars overturn peoples and cities throughout the world.
Notes and citation
Summary: Under the guise of religion people worship the wealth that drives crime and war.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.3 (CSEL 19:122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-3).
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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).
2.6.4CSEL 19:122
consecrant ergo diis manubias et rapinas suas, quos certe necesse est inbecillos esse ac summae uirtutis expertes, si subiecti sunt cupiditatibus.
So they consecrate their spoils and plunder to the gods, who surely must be weak and without the highest virtue, if they are subject to desires.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods who welcome plunder must be weak and greedy.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.4 (CSEL 19:122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-4).
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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).
2.6.5CSEL 19:122
cur enim caelestes eos putemus, si desiderant aliquid de terra, uel beatos, si aliqua re indigent, uel incorruptos, si uoluptati habent ea in quibus adpetendis cupiditas hominum non inmerito damnatur?
For why should we think them heavenly, if they desire anything from the earth; or blessed, if they need anything; or incorruptible, if they take pleasure in the things for which men's greed is rightly condemned?
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods who desire earthly wealth cannot be heavenly, blessed, or incorruptible.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point (OCR)): indigent., → indigent,.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.5 (CSEL 19:122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-5).
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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).
2.6.6CSEL 19:122
ueniunt igitur ad deos non tam religionis gratia, quae nulla potest esse in rebus male partis et corruptibilibus, quam ut aurum oculis hauriant, nitorem leuigati marmoris aut eboris aspiciant, ut insignes lapillis et coloribus uestes uel distincta gemmis fulgentibus pocula insatiabili contemplatione contrectent. et quanto fuerint ornatiora templa et pulchriora simulacra, tanto plus maiestatis habere creduntur: adeo religio eorum nihil est aliut quam quod cupiditas humana miratur.
So they come to the gods not so much for the sake of religion, which can have no place in things ill-gotten and corruptible, as to drink in gold with their eyes, to gaze at the gleam of polished marble or ivory, to handle with insatiable contemplation garments distinguished with jewels and colours or cups adorned with shining gems. And the more ornate the temples and the more beautiful the images, the more majesty they are believed to have: so true is it that their religion is nothing else than what human greed admires.
Notes and citation
Summary: People visit temples to admire riches; their religion is admiration of wealth.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for n)): ueniuut → ueniunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.6 (CSEL 19:122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-6).
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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).
2.6.7CSEL 19:122
hae sunt religiones, quas sibi a maioribus suis traditas pertinacissime tueri ac defendere perseuerant, nec considerant quales sint, sed ex hoc ueras ac probatas esse confidunt, quod eas ueteres tradiderunt, tantaque est auctoritas uetustatis, ut inquirere in eam scelus esse ducatur. itaque creditur ei passim tamquam cognitae ueritati.
These are the religions, handed down to them by their ancestors, which they persist in guarding and defending most stubbornly. They do not consider what they are like, but are confident they are true and proven from the fact that the ancients handed them down; and so great is the authority of antiquity that to inquire into it is considered a crime. So it is everywhere believed as if it were known truth.
Notes and citation
Summary: People defend ancestral religions without examining them, trusting antiquity alone.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for n); stray mark (OCR)): tra<ditas → traditas; uec considerant → nec considerant.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.7 (CSEL 19:122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-7).
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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).
2.6.8CSEL 19:122–123
denique aput Ciceronem sic dicit Cotta Lucilio: habes, Balbe, quid Cotta, quid pontifex sentiat. fac nunc ego intellegam quid tu sentias: a te enim philosopho rationem religionis accipere debeo, maioribus autem nostris etiam nulla ratione reddita credere.
Indeed, in Cicero, Cotta says this to Lucilius: "You have, Balbus, what Cotta, what a pontiff, thinks. Now let me understand what you think: for from you, a philosopher, I ought to receive a reason for religion, but our ancestors I ought to believe even when no reason is given."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's Cotta says he believes ancestral religion without reason but wants reasons from philosophers.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 3.6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point (OCR)): reddita. credere. → reddita credere..
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 3.6 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.8 (CSEL 19:122–123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-8).
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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).
2.6.9CSEL 19:123
si credis, cur ergo rationem requiris, quae potest efficere ne credas? sin rationem quaerendam putas, ergo non credis: ideo enim quaeris, ut eam sequare, cum inueneris.
If you believe, why then do you seek a reason, which can bring it about that you do not believe? But if you think a reason must be sought, then you do not believe: for you seek it in order to follow it when you have found it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seeking reasons is inconsistent with believing blindly.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.9 (CSEL 19:123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-9).
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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).
2.6.10CSEL 19:123
docet ecce te ratio non esse ueras deorum religiones: quid facies? maioresne potius an rationem sequeris, quae quidem tibi non ab alio insinuata, sed a te ipso inuenta et elata est, cum omnes religiones radicitus eruisti?
See, reason teaches you that the religions of the gods are not true: what will you do? Will you follow your ancestors rather than reason, which indeed was not instilled into you by another but found and brought out by yourself, when you tore up all religions by the roots?
Notes and citation
Summary: Cotta must choose between his ancestors and the reason that exposed their religion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips (c for e; u for n)): docet ecce tc ratio nou esse → docet ecce te ratio non esse.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.10 (CSEL 19:123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-10).
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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).
2.6.11CSEL 19:123
si rationem mauis, discedere te necesse est ab institutis et auctoritate maiorum, quoniam id solum rectum est quod ratio praescribit: si autem pietas maiores sequi suadet, fatere igitur et illos stultos fuisse, qui excogitatis contra rationem religionibus seruierunt, et te ineptum, qui id colas quod falsum esse conuiceris.
If you prefer reason, you must depart from the institutions and authority of the ancestors, since that alone is right which reason prescribes. But if piety persuades you to follow the ancestors, then confess both that they were foolish, who served religions devised against reason, and that you are absurd, who worship what you have proved false.
Notes and citation
Summary: Either follow reason and abandon the ancestors, or admit their and your own folly.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (c for e); stray point (OCR)): ct auctoritate → et auctoritate; suadet., → suadet,.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.11 (CSEL 19:123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-11).
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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).
2.6.12CSEL 19:123
sed tamen quoniam nobis tanto opere maiorum nomen opponitur, uideamus tandem qui fuerint maiores illi, a quorum auctoritate discedi nefas ducitur.
But since the name of the ancestors is opposed to us so strongly, let us see at last who those ancestors were from whose authority it is thought wicked to depart.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius examines who the revered ancestors were.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray point (OCR)): fuerint. maiores → fuerint maiores.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.12 (CSEL 19:123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-12).
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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).
2.6.13CSEL 19:123–124
Romulus urbem conditurus pastores inter quos adoleuerat conuocauit cumque is numerus condendae urbi parum idoneus uideretur, constituit asylum. eo passim confugerunt ex finitimis locis pessimi quique sine ullo condicionis discrimine.
Romulus, about to found the city, called together the shepherds among whom he had grown up; and when that number seemed too small for founding a city, he set up an asylum. To it fled from the neighbouring places all the worst men, without any distinction of condition.
Notes and citation
Summary: Romulus populated Rome with shepherds and fugitives from an asylum.
Extrabiblical texts: Livy, 1.8 (Livy, History of Rome; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.13 (CSEL 19:123–124; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-13).
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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).
2.6.14CSEL 19:124
ita conflauit ex his omnibus populum legitque in senatum eos qui aetate anteibant et patres appellauit, quorum consilio gereret omnia. de quo senatu Propertius elegiarum scriptor haec loquitur: bucina cogebat priscos ad uerba Quirites, centum illi in prato saepe senatus erat. curia, praetexto nunc quae nitet alta senatu, pellitos habuit, rustica corda, patres.
So from all these he formed a people, and chose for the senate those who were older and called them Fathers, by whose counsel he conducted everything. Of this senate Propertius, the writer of elegies, says: "The trumpet called the old Quirites to speeches; those hundred men in a meadow were often the senate. The senate house, which now shines on high with its purple-bordered senate, held fathers clad in skins, rustic hearts."
Notes and citation
Summary: Rome's first senators were rustic men clad in skins, as Propertius says.
- Propertius, Elegies 4.1.13–14, 11–12; no id for Propertius in the list.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.14 (CSEL 19:124; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-14).
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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).
2.6.15CSEL 19:124
hi sunt patres quorum decretis eruditi ac prudentes uiri deuotissime seruiant, idque uerum atque inmutabile omnis posteritas iudicet quod centum pelliti senes statutum esse uoluerunt: quos tamen, ut in primo libro dictum est, Pompilius inlexit, ut uera esse crederent sacra quae ipse tradebat.
These are the fathers whose decrees learned and prudent men most devotedly serve, and all posterity judges true and unchangeable what a hundred skin-clad old men wished to be established; whom, however, as was said in the first book, Pompilius enticed into believing that the rites he himself handed down were true.
Notes and citation
Summary: Posterity reveres decrees of rustic old men whom Numa deceived.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.15 (CSEL 19:124; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-15).
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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).
2.6.16CSEL 19:124
est uero quod illorum auctoritas tanti habeatur a posteris, quos nemo cum uiuerent neque summus neque infimus adfinitate dignos iudicauit.
There is good reason, surely, for the authority of these men to be so highly esteemed by posterity, whom, while they lived, no one, whether of the highest or the lowest rank, judged worthy of marriage alliance!
Notes and citation
Summary: These ancestors were once thought unworthy even to marry into.
- Ironic; alluding to the rape of the Sabine women (Livy 1.9).
Extrabiblical texts: Livy, 1.9 (Livy, History of Rome; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 2.6.16 (CSEL 19:124; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/2-4-1/#p-2-6-16).
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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).