Octavius 5.12

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

Summary: If providence ruled, tyrants would not reign nor good men suffer.

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Latin text · CSEL 2:8–9

quod si mundus diuina prouidentia et alicuius numinis auctoritate regeretur, numquam mereretur Phalaris et Dionysius regnum, numquam Rutilius et Camillus exilium, numquam Socrates uenenum.

English · Claude translation

But if the world were ruled by divine providence and by the authority of some deity, Phalaris and Dionysius would never have deserved a kingdom, nor Rutilius and Camillus exile, nor Socrates poison.

About this passage

Source: CSEL 2:8–9 · 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.

Notes

Translation notes

Phalaris of Acragas and Dionysius of Syracuse were proverbial tyrants; Rutilius Rufus and Camillus were upright Romans exiled; Socrates was condemned to drink hemlock.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 5.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/5/12/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 5.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/5/12/).

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