Octavius 31.5 · Sophia Scriptura

Latin text · CSEL 2:45

at nos pudorem non facie, sed mente praestamus: unius matrimonii uinculo libenter [inhaeremus, cupiditatem procreandi aut unam scimus aut nullam, conuiuia non tantum pudica colimus sed et sobria: nec enim indulgemus epulis aut conuiuium mero ducimus, sed grauitate hilaritatem temperamus: casto sermone, corpore castiore plerique inuiolati corporis uirginitate perpetua fruuntur potius quam gloriantur: tantum denique abest incesti cupido, ut nonnullis rubori sit etiam pudica coniunctio.

English · Claude translation

But we show modesty not in appearance but in mind: gladly bound by the tie of a single marriage, in the desire for children we know either one woman or none; we keep banquets not only modest but also sober: for we do not indulge in feasts or prolong a banquet with wine, but temper cheerfulness with gravity. With chaste speech, and chaster body, very many enjoy, rather than boast of, the perpetual virginity of an unviolated body; indeed, so far is the desire for incest from us that for some even a chaste union is a cause of blushing.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:45 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in CSEL 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.

Topics

Marriage, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

"A single marriage" (unius matrimonii) may mean one wife at a time or one marriage in a lifetime; Minucius does not say which. The editor deletes "inhaeremus" ("we cling"; its bracket is unclosed in the digital text), so it is not translated and "by the tie of a single marriage" goes with what follows.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/31/5/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/31/5/).