Octavius 4.6

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

Summary: Marcus sits between the two as the judge of the debate.

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Latin text · CSEL 2:6

et cum dicto eius adsedimus, ita ut me ex tribus medium lateris ambitione protegerent: nec hoc obsequi fuit aut ordinis aut honoris, quippe cum amicitia pares semper aut accipiat aut faciat, sed ut arbiter et utrisque proximus aures darem et disceptantes duos medius segregarem.

English · Claude translation

And at his word we sat down, so that they placed me in the middle of the three, protecting me on either side; nor was this done out of deference or rank or honour, since friendship always either finds or makes men equal, but so that as arbiter, and nearest to both, I might give them my ears and, sitting in the middle, keep the two disputants apart.

About this passage

Source: CSEL 2:6 · 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.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 4.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/4/6/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 4.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/4/6/).

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