Octavius 37.2

Minucius Felix · Octavius · ca. 197–250 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: A soldier fights bravely under his general's eye, though the general cannot give life.

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Latin text · CSEL 2:52

quis non miles sub oculis imperatoris audacius periculum prouocet? nemo enim praemium percipit ante experimentum. et imperator tamen quod non habet, non dat: non potest propagare uitam, potest honestare militiam.

English · Claude translation

What soldier would not challenge danger more boldly under the eyes of his general? For no one receives the reward before the trial. And yet a general does not give what he does not have: he cannot prolong life, he can only honour military service.

About this passage

Source: CSEL 2:52 · 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; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
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: Martyrdom

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/37/2/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/37/2/).

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