^ 
 
 REESE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. | 
 
 Received ,^^Ai- ' "^° ' 
 
 ^ccessionNo.^^^y/   Class No. 
 
Q. S. F. 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 THE 
 
 APOLOGY OF 
 
 TERTULLIAN, 
 
 WITH ENGLISH NOTES AND A PREFACE, 
 
 INTENDED AS AN 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF PATRISTICAL 
 AND ECCLESIASTICAL LATINITY. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY ANNESLEY WOODHAM, Esq. A.M. F.S.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 ^ OF THK 'T^P^ 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 TRINTSD AT THE VNtrSBSlTY PRSSS, 
 
 FOR DEIGHTONS', CAMBRIDGE; 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 RIVINGTONS', LONDON, AND PARKER, OXFORD. 
 
 M.D€CG.XtUI. 
 
1- 
 
 ■/ '\ 'i 
 
 ga ^ 7 / 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAQft 
 
 Of THE Plan op the Edition i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 On the Latinity op the African Fathers xi 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On the Apologetic Writings of the Early Christians . . . xxiv 
 
 TERTULLIANI LIBER APOLOGETICUS 1 
 
 Index Vocabulorum 171 
 

 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. 
 
 It was through a series of designs successively adopted 
 and abandoned that I arrived at the idea of the short 
 work which I here lay before the public, and although 
 I shall not detain the reader with a history of discarded 
 projects, yet I must request his attention through a 
 few pages to an explanation of that which has been 
 persevered in, in order that I may anticipate any charge 
 of omission by declaring at the outset the character of 
 the undertaking. The attention which has of late been 
 drawn to the writings of the Fathers is matter of noto- 
 riety to every person of ordinary information, and various 
 methods have been employed to place their sentiments 
 and doctrines within reach of all who were likely to 
 benefit by the knowledge. A very competent society 
 in the sister University, has consulted the habits of two 
 classes of readers by publishing an accurate text and 
 a faithful translation of the several authors in question, 
 and amongst ourselves, the resident members have not 
 only been instructed on the subject by the authority of 
 public lectures, but they have received a stimulus to 
 private exertion, and there will probably be many who 
 will carry into country retirement the advice of their 
 
U OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. 
 
 CHAP, teacher^, and after his suggestion, apply themselves to 
 
 the pursuit of that satisfactory knowledge, which nothing 
 
 but individual toil and patient study can secure. But 
 neither a translation nor a text of the patristic writings 
 is sufficient for the wants of the ordinary student. Of 
 the first it need only be said, that all the well-known 
 objections to versions even the most laboured and careful, 
 apply with double force to the writings of the Fathers, 
 which less than any remains of antiquity will bear to 
 be transferred into a strange language; and as to the 
 second ; the confession of the committee themselves with 
 respect to the author, whose works we are about to 
 enter upon, will shew how much more remains to be 
 done before the bare text of an African presbyter can 
 be made available for reference or research. Nor is there 
 any thing strange in the fact, that so much difficulty 
 should be experienced in decyphering the Latin Fathers. 
 It is quite impossible that the authors, whose age, or 
 country, or contents make them serviceable to the illus- 
 tration of TertuUian or Cyprian, should enter into the 
 system of our classical studies or examinations ; of those 
 who devote themselves afterwards to the prosecution and 
 advancement of their early labours, many prefer science 
 to learning, and even to those who choose the latter, 
 there is naturally more attraction in early Greek, than 
 in late Latin. This subdivision of scholars leaves a very 
 small number who can bring the requisite aid to the 
 critical perusal of the Fathers, or who can master their 
 style without very considerable trouble and delay ; while 
 with the less proficient class of students, who have no 
 other preparatory information than that furnished by 
 a respectable classical degree, or a good school educa- 
 tion, and who, with an interval perhaps of three years 
 from the one, and six from the other, commence the 
 ^ Introductory Lecture of the Lady Margaret Professor, pp. 13 — 15. 
 
OF THE PLAN OP THE EDITION. Ill 
 
 study of these writers, the perplexities are so great as -CHAP. 
 
 to be almost effectually discouraging. Yet to these 
 originals we must be sent, for it will hardly be said, 
 that in this single department of learning we are to 
 acquiesce in the information of others when we have the 
 power of satisfying ourselves. And especially at this 
 period, when a wider scheme of theological study is 
 about to be put in operation, which embraces in some 
 degree, and to a certain extent, the early patristic re- 
 mains, it seems not inopportune to call attention to the 
 language of those writers whose historical, and whose 
 doctrinal information have been so earnestly insisted on, 
 and so lucidly extracted, and to apply to this branch also 
 of literature, that critical exactness and accuracy which 
 has always so peculiarly characterised the classical scho- 
 larship of our University. It is this object which I 
 have proposed to myself in the following pages ; and in 
 pursuing it, I have neglected many other points, not 
 because they were not eminently important, but because 
 they have been urged and investigated elsewhere. I have 
 seldom drawn notice to any record, however remarkable, 
 or to any narrative, however equivocal, as all this has 
 been done by one^ who has left little to be gleaned on 
 this head from this particular writer, and to whose works 
 I have contented myself with briefly referring. I have 
 even passed over, or very sparingly illustrated, the nume- 
 rous allusions to customs of antiquity and intricacies 
 of mythology which this author supplies, for these will 
 be readily recognized, or easily discovered. I have con- 
 fined myself (at least as far as is consistent with the 
 ordinary completeness of an edition) to the literal expla- 
 nation of the text, as that is an aid which is not given 
 
 ^ The Ecclesiastical History TertuUian by John, bishop of 
 of the second and third centuries Bristol, 
 illustrated from the writings of 
 
 a — 2 
 
IV OP THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. 
 
 CHAP, elsewhere, and which I hope may be found supplementary 
 
 ! — to the more important efforts of others. This is the 
 
 key too, which will give access afterwards to whatever 
 treasures are needed. I may here add the reasons which 
 induced me to select for my operations this writer, and 
 this especial treatise. 
 
 TertuUian is not only one of the most renowned, 
 but he is the earliest of all the Latin Fathers, and 
 this priority of date is of even more than usual conse- 
 quence from the influence which his singular powers 
 exerted on his successors, and which perpetuated certain 
 characteristics through the writers of the African church 
 for many years after him. His works too are the most 
 important, excepting those of S. Augustine, both as re- 
 gards the period at which they were written, and the 
 mass of various information which they convey. More- 
 over, they are incomparably the most difficult, they shew 
 the student the worst at once, and tell him what he has 
 to expect; at the very outset he meets all the pecu- 
 liarities of a declining language, of provincial, theological 
 and polemical Latin, and he can, at all events, console him- 
 self with the reflection that he will not be much perplexed 
 with any other pages after mastering these. It may be ob- 
 served, though, that TertuUian has a double style, one for 
 each of two distinct species of composition — his controver- 
 sial, and his ethical, or apologetic tracts ; and the first of 
 these forms of itself a separate study, and a serious one 
 too. Not only has his method of argument to be traced, 
 his fidelity to be tested, and the worth of his witnesses 
 to be weighed — which indeed are requisite preparations 
 in most other cases — but his very language and its 
 structure assume a new and peculiar character; strange 
 words are compounded to express strange and mystical 
 things, till at length the Latin tongue seems to fail 
 absolutely in finding terms for the metaphysics or cos- 
 
OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. V 
 
 CHAP, 
 mogony of Marcion or Valentinus — ordinary words are I. 
 
 stamped with a new superscription, and made- current 
 in dialectical negotiations with a certain value, which may 
 indeed be preserved throughout, but which is received 
 nowhere else — grammatical and logical subtleties are 
 urged in the phraseology of the schools, and the figures 
 of rhetoric are so pressed into service, irony especially, 
 that it is exceedingly unsafe to acquiesce at once in what 
 may appear the plain and literal acceptation of a sentence. 
 And all this is superadded to the original impracticability 
 of a style, which no one has ever studied without re- 
 gistering his protest against it. I was led by these 
 circumstances to take one of the apologetic treatises as 
 a subject for my attempts, as it was obviously advisable 
 to investigate the natural sentiments and ordinary style 
 of a writer before entering on any adventitious aggra- 
 vations of character which circumstances might have 
 induced; there is quite enough to engage us in Ter- 
 tullian, considered as an African of the age of Severus, 
 without at once introducing him also as a theologian, 
 a schismatic, and a controversialist. I hope for a 
 future opportunity of illustrating his tracts of this more 
 obscure class, for they are vastly important both in 
 extent and information, but at present, the Apology 
 offered the best field for my own efforts, and the least 
 disagreeable prospect to the reader. On the general 
 utility of these Apologies, I shall offer a few remarks 
 in a subsequent part of this introduction, and I am 
 now speaking only of the comparative advantages which 
 this one possesses over the other productions of its au- 
 thor. It is extremely interesting, not only as a glowing 
 picture of the church and her fortunes at the com- 
 mencement of the third century, but even in the lower 
 light of an eloquent and powerful composition ; it carries 
 us irresistibly with it, and would do so if instead of 
 
VI OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. 
 
 CHAP, defending the Christians, it were pleading the cause of 
 "Scythians or Hindoos, and it is singularly free from the 
 peculiar asperities and difficulties which have been alluded 
 to above : it cannot be useless, for it is a piece of au- 
 thentic history ; it cannot be injurious, for it recommends 
 nothing but justice; it cannot be offensive, for it de- 
 precates nothing but cruelty ; it advances no doctrine, 
 it urges no discipline, it attacks no sect but Pagans, 
 and inveighs against no characters but persecutors and 
 murderers. It is no theological work, though written 
 by a Christian and a presbyter ; we may consider it as 
 a valuable narrative composed in a most vigorous spirit, 
 evidently by an eye witness and an actor in the scenes 
 it describes, abounding with rich information and leaving 
 indirectly a clearer and less questionable record of the 
 state of things, than a direct history could have done. 
 In one chapter only (the twenty-first) is there any ap- 
 proach to theological language or style; the rest is like 
 any ethnical composition of the age, and capable of 
 illustration in precisely the same manner, while at the 
 same time it affords such copious exemplification of Ter- 
 tullian'*s ordinary habits of thought and expresssion that 
 no other single tract could serve better to introduce the 
 rest. 
 
 It is to this work that I have applied such ability 
 as I possess, with the simple object, it may be repeated, 
 of rendering assistance to the student of patristic Lati- 
 nity, and of recommending that accurate examination of 
 language in the case of the Fathers which we never 
 lose sight of in other cases, and which we know to be 
 the only safe foundation on which a store of knowledge 
 can be raised. In prosecuting this design I have first 
 observed the fundamental rule of criticism, that every 
 author is his own best interpreter, and T have illus- 
 trated any peculiar idiom pretty freely from the rest of 
 
OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. Vll 
 
 this writer's remains, especially from those ethical and CIIAP. 
 
 other tracts which form this particular division of 
 
 his works. I have then compared the authors of the 
 nearest age, the same country, and the like profession, 
 especially Cyprian, Arnobius, and Lactantius, and a cir- 
 cumstance which would otherwise increase nothing but 
 the tedium of their perusal, has made these latter writers 
 remarkably interesting and serviceable to this purpose. 
 They all to a greater or less extent exerted themselves 
 as the apologists of their fellow Christians ; and as the 
 absurdities of ancient polytheism, the passions of the 
 dominant, and the sufferings of the persecuted, party 
 continued from reign to reign with little mitigation or 
 change, so the arguments of their defenders could not 
 be expected materially to differ ; the consequence is, that 
 we find not only the pleas of TertuUian taken as the 
 theme or burden of subsequent pieces, but even his lan- 
 guage paraphrased and explained, and an obscure hint, 
 a dark allusion, or an extraordinary idiom, amplified by 
 the irregular redundance of Arnobius, or illustrated by 
 the open translation of Minutius Felix. But T have 
 not stopped here ; when the language only is the sub- 
 ject of investigation, the works of any contemporary and 
 fellow-countryman, however different may be his profes- 
 sion and his character are valuable in the extreme, and 
 second only to those who unite to such recommendations 
 the additional qualifications of similar aims and views; 
 nor are we so well acquainted with African literature 
 of the second and third centuries, that we can dispense 
 with all aid from the writings of one who in the first 
 of those periods was the greatest and the most celebrated 
 of its profane and luxurious representatives. From the 
 writings of Apuleius, to whom I am here alluding, we 
 may collect the most important information concerning 
 Carthage and the provinces ; we learn the domestic habits 
 
Vlll OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. 
 
 CHAP, which TertuUian lashes, we see the theatres and spec- 
 
 tacles against which he declaims, we attend the pomps 
 
 and festivals of the deities which he exposes, and are 
 introduced to the dark practices and magical arts to which 
 he so frequently refers. And though it will be readily 
 perceived how much even the knowledge of these cir- 
 cumstances is calculated to illustrate peculiarities of 
 phraseology, yet still more apposite aid can be procured 
 from the remains I speak of. Not only are all these 
 communications conveyed in the same provincial dialect, 
 and what is more, by a writer of similar education and 
 analogous literary taste, but we have actually a coun- 
 terpart composition, an apology of Apuleius, as well as 
 of TertuUian, written indeed in a widely different spirit, 
 pleading for private acquittal instead of pubhc justice, 
 refuting dirty scandal, instead of popular calumnies, sa- 
 vouring vastly more of ingenuity than innocence, but 
 still written by an eloquent African, spoken before a 
 Roman pro-consul in a Carthaginian court, addressed to 
 the same ears to which the Christians pleaded, and 
 possibly to many who might afterwards have read the 
 apology of TertuUian. The very difference of these two 
 productions is interesting and instructive, and while seiz- 
 ing a parallel idiom or a corresponding term it is edi- 
 fying to contrast the confident complacency of an absolute 
 rhetorician, with the serious and passionate tone of a 
 man pleading for his life and for the truth. I have 
 availed myself much and often of this author's aid on 
 points of verbal criticism. In order too, that the pecu- 
 liarities of the language which we are considering might 
 be more exactly apprehended, I have frequently quoted 
 the earlier or the intermediate Latin writers, either for 
 an identical or an analogous expression, so that the 
 transition sense of a word might be occasionally shewn, 
 and the various changes exhibited which it experienced 
 
OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. IX 
 
 in its passage from Rome to Carthage, from Cicero to CHAP. 
 
 TertuUian. I have been less sparing in my illustrations - 
 than I perhaps otherwise might have been, because my 
 object was as much an introduction to the ordinary 
 style of the Latin Fathers, and a general recommen- 
 dation to accuracy in their perusal, as an explanation 
 or, commentary on this particular treatise, which indeed 
 I only took because I thought that general assistance 
 would be best given through the medium of a parti- 
 cular example, and because, as I before stated, this ap- 
 peared to me especially eligible for the purpose. To 
 carry out this plan a little further I have added a 
 chapter on the Latinity of the African Fathers, in which 
 I have briefly adverted to the characteristics of the class, 
 and touched upon the distinctive properties of each in- 
 dividual, and I hope that this in conjunction with the 
 notes at the foot of the text will enable the student 
 to proceed with a little more ease through one portion 
 of Tertullian's works, and through most of the remains of 
 the other writers. I have observed, that in confining 
 myself particularly to the verbal difficulties of the text, 
 I have omitted the usual notices of mythological al- 
 lusions, or doctrinal implications, but I have occasionally 
 given a paraphrase of an intricate passage, or pointed 
 out, to the best of my judgment, the thread of the 
 argument where it appeared to be obscure, and I have 
 thrown into a third chapter of this preface some re- 
 marks on the Apologetic writings of the early Christians, 
 which include a special examination of the divisions, the 
 arguments, and the spirit, of the present tract. Most 
 readers will probably be aware that TertuUian composed 
 two books ad Nationes for the same purpose as the 
 Apology, and which correspond so closely with it that 
 they must be either a rough draught of it, or an im- 
 perfect copy; these of course are peculiarly valuable in 
 
X OF THE PLAN OF THE EDITION. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 J. the assistance which I noticed as suppHed from other 
 apologists, and I have placed marginal references to the 
 coiTesponding passages both in these and in the Apo- 
 logy of Justin Martyr, that they may be thus compared. 
 I believe I have only one more remark to add respect- 
 ing the notes. Dr Ashton, Master of this college through 
 the first half of the last century, bequeathed to the 
 library several volumes enriched with his MS. notes, and 
 amongst them the Leyden edition of this treatise by 
 Havercamp, 1718. These notes are principally occupied 
 in refuting and exposing the views of Havercamp (which 
 indeed was no difficult matter) but they shew very good 
 scholarship and clear perception of the author's true 
 meaning. A few of these annotations by the permission 
 of the college, I have selected ; they are given in the 
 original Latin of the Master, enclosed within brackets 
 and distinguished by the initial A at the foot. The 
 text has been taken mainly from the small Leipsic edi- 
 tion of 1841, by Leopold, with some few emendations 
 of other editors; I have made no alteration or addi- 
 tion myself. 
 
 The whole of the sheets containing the text and 
 notes had passed through the press, when the English 
 translation of this Apology appeared amongst the peri- 
 odical volumes of the Anglo-Catholic Society; I have 
 not yet had time to read it, but if it should prove 
 that any of my interpretations of disputed passages coin- 
 cide with the translator s views, I shall be very 
 of the sanction and support of such publications. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 It was my belief, when I commenced investigating chap. 
 
 this subject, that I should be able to collect certain cha 
 
 racteristics from the language of these writers, peculiar 
 to them as a class, but common to all of them amongst 
 themselves, and that, by carefully comparing the dialects 
 of other authors of the same country, such as Apuleius 
 and Macrobius, I might approximate to a general illus- 
 tration of African Latinity. But, the further I advanced, 
 the less practicable appeared the completion of any such 
 scheme, and the fewer points of character could I finally 
 select which fulfilled the conditions mentioned above, 
 the greater number of them appearing always, when 
 strictly examined, to be either common to writers of 
 other schools, or not common to all writers of this. I can- 
 not therefore offer to the reader such systematic aid as 
 I had hoped in his prosecution of the studies in question, 
 but he may possibly derive advantage from the obser- 
 vations which I made during my researches, and I there- 
 fore subjoin some of them, though in a form unconnected 
 and incomplete. 
 
 The first point to which our consideration is na- 
 turally directed in such enquiries as these, is the influ- 
 ence which the vernacular language of an author's native 
 country may have exerted on the language in which 
 he writes, and if we happen to be acquainted with both 
 of these, we have little difficulty in tracing the opera- 
 tions of the former. The Syro-Chaldaisms of the New 
 Testament Greek, are nearly as perceptible and intelligible 
 
Xll ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 CHAP, as the Hebraized Latinity of the Vulgate; we recognize 
 
 easily a Jewish author in one, and the closeness of a 
 
 literal translation in the other. But, in the present 
 case, we know little or nothing of the ordinary dialects 
 of Africa, and when its writers come before us, and 
 we detect in their works any novelties or singularities 
 of expression, our only ground for concluding them to 
 be Africanisms^ must be either scholastic tradition, or 
 the fact that we cannot account for them in any other 
 way ; and if, in their several remains any analogy be 
 discoverable between . such singularities, this conclusion 
 is of course strengthened. 
 
 But there are peculiarities of style, as well as of 
 idiom, and these are not only more readily detected 
 and compared, but more generally traceable to their 
 causes. As early as the time of Juvenal, Africa was 
 celebrated for its schools of rhetoric, and though they 
 were probably not distinguished for their purity or 
 elegance, yet it was a matter of notoriety, that the 
 study and practice of eloquence met with greater en- 
 couragement in this province than at Rome\ Nor 
 does it appear at all to have declined during the second 
 or third centuries, for most of the ecclesiastical writers 
 of these times, who were not Christians born, seem to 
 have been members of this profession. TertulHan had 
 most obviously more than an ordinary knowledge of 
 its technicalities, Cyprian devoted his youth and much 
 of his manhood to it'"^ ; Arnobius and Lactantius taught 
 rhetoric for their living. We can conjecture pretty 
 accurately what would be the result of such a state of 
 things as this, when, with a declining language and a 
 
 * Juv. VII. 147. ° See Mr Evans in his life 
 
 ....accipiatte ^^ Cyprian, Theol. Lib. xv. 
 
 Gallia, vel potius nutricula causidicorum p. 141. 
 Africa,siplacuitmercedemponere linguae. 
 
ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. XHl 
 
 corrupt age, the ordinary years of study were mono- CHAP, 
 polized by the exercises of the schools. An overwhelm- 
 
 ing importance would be attached to such proprieties 
 or beauties of speech as the fashion of the day had 
 sanctioned, to the comparative exclusion of thought, or 
 even truth, as objects of consideration. Apuleius says 
 ^n one of his speeches, that he knows his audience 
 will not pardon him a single mistake, or excuse a single 
 solecism, or overlook a single mispronunciation^, and he 
 exhibits in his own productions a most remarkable por- 
 trait of the character formed under this system, and 
 a most complete picture of what was demanded by an 
 African audience. His celebrated apology, the master- 
 piece of the day, the admiration of even Christian writers % 
 is a deliberate display of all the arts, powers, and 
 subtleties of rhetoric ; truth, though repeatedly appealed 
 to, is virtually put out of the question; the orator 
 plays with the charges against him like a master of 
 fence with a couple of raw antagonists, after rebutting 
 an accusation he offers to acknowledge it, and clear 
 himself on another ground, his opponents may take as 
 many points as they like to make the game even, he 
 has no objection to plead guilty, or not guilty, his 
 final exculpation of himself will be just as successful in 
 either case. We can be at no loss after reading the 
 apology of Apuleius, to understand the meaning of Ter- 
 tuUian, when he says, Quis nos remncere audebit, non 
 arte terborum^ sed eadem forma qua prohationem consti- 
 tuimus de veritate? It is not the least singular point 
 about this extraordinary speech, that one of the charges 
 against the speaker was his eloquence. 
 
 ^ " Quis enim vestnim unum delirantibus oborientia, permise- 
 
 mihi solaecismum ignoverit ? quis rit blatterare V Florid, i. 9. 
 vel unam syllabam barbare pro- * S. Augustine, Ep. v. ad Mar- 
 
 nuntiatam donaverit ? quis incon- cell, and elsewhere, 
 dita et vitiosa verba temere, quasi 
 
XIV ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 CHAP. It is clear that the Christian writers, as a body, 
 
 notwithstanding their original education, fell short of 
 
 the standard which the polished taste of the provincial 
 public had fixed upon, nay, it appears from Arnobius, 
 that a crime no less heinous than that of using false 
 concords had been laid at their doors, and so completely 
 does this writer forget the grammarian in the apologist, 
 that he does not hesitate to urge the revolutionary 
 argument that all tenses and cases are equal, that gen- 
 ders are but conventionally, and not essentially, different, 
 and that hcec paries and hie sella may be written with 
 as much moral accuracy as liwc sella and hie paries'^. 
 He opens his own treatise with the preface, that he has 
 come to the determination of defending his cause pro 
 captu ac mediocritate sermonis, and Lactantius, as will 
 be observed in another place (c. iii.) remarks specially 
 of Tertullian, and generally of all the apologists, that 
 they failed in the elegance of speech requisite to re- 
 commend their works. 
 
 Yet they have undoubtedly one or two features 
 common to the more successful candidates for popular 
 admiration among their countrymen, and which are owing 
 to the same influence of fashion on both. When a 
 language, already advanced in its decline, is made the 
 subject of fastidious study for the purposes which have 
 been spoken of, its early monuments will be naturally 
 resorted to as models, by men who are quite able to 
 detect the faults of a later age; but other examples 
 besides the present, shew us that this practice is likely 
 both to be pursued in a wrong spirit and carried too 
 
 ^ "Quid enim officii, o ! quseso sermo natura est integer, vitiosus 
 
 aut qui minus id quod dicitur similiter nuUus. Qusenam est enim 
 
 verum est, si in numero peccatur, ratio naturalis, aut in mundi con- 
 
 aut casu, prsepositione, participio, stitutionibus lex scripta, ut hia 
 
 conjunctione ? " i. 34. " Quan- paries dicatur," &c. ib. 35. 
 quam (si verum spectes) nullus 
 
ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. XV 
 
 far. It is pursued in a wrong spirit when men, in- chap. 
 
 stead of imitating chasteness of description, or vigour 
 
 of thought, or severity of style, from the early writers, 
 content themselves with borrowing isolated words, often 
 without preserving even the regimen ; and it is carried 
 too far when antiquity alone is made a sufficient re- 
 commendation, for a language may be as barbarous in 
 its origin as in its dechne. Both the passion and its 
 excesses are fully exemplified in the writers before us, 
 almost every page of them will supply specimens of 
 archaisms of the most extraordinary nature, which the 
 reader at first imagines must necessarily be the coinage 
 of the writer, but which he perhaps will be able to 
 trace clearly beyond the age of Ennius ^. This character 
 runs through all the African writers, and is remarkably 
 stamped on Apuleius, where its artificial nature may be 
 readily seen. The celebrated novel of this author is com- 
 posed in a most singular dialect ; if it were not that 
 it goes on so smoothly and equably from beginning to 
 end, it would seem to be in a forced or feigned hand; 
 it is not like any other prose, and yet it is not verse, 
 but runs on in a kind of chant, like that said to 
 be used by eastern story-tellers ; almost every noun 
 has an epithet, and frequently both are diminutives^; 
 
 ^ This has more than once body of old Latinity is contained 
 
 been the subject of remark. Bi- in TertuUian, Apuleius, and Ar- 
 
 shop Kaye says, " When I have nobius, ventures on the ingenious 
 
 myself been obliged to consult but somewhat equivocal experi- 
 
 the dictionaries for the meaning ment of amending his own text 
 
 of some strange and portentous with words taken from these au- 
 
 word which crossed me in my thors, and thus employing, as it 
 
 perusal of Tertullian's works, I were, an unattested copy to restore 
 
 have occasionally found that it a decayed original, 
 had been used by Plautus." Eccl. ^ The constant use of these 
 
 Hist. p. 68. Gilbert Wakefield, forms might perhaps seem pe- 
 
 in his edition of Lucretius, after culiar to African Latin, but, 
 
 expressing his belief that a vast though TertuUian employs them 
 
XVI ON THE LATINITY OP THE APRfCAN PATHERS. 
 
 ^*j^^* the galliambics of Catullus, if printed in the shape 
 
 of prose, would give no bad idea of the rythm of 
 
 several passages in Apuleius. The same remarks ap- 
 ply, in rather a less degree, to his philosophical works, 
 and in all these the most obsolete archaisms meet us at 
 every step; but in the apology, and (of course) the 
 Florida \ it is evident that he has considered it neces- 
 sary to discard this fashion in a measure, and to use 
 more the language of every day life. But even here 
 obsolete words are very numerous. I have observed that 
 this is a character which is common to all the writers 
 in question, but it is not peculiar to them, it appears 
 as strongly in Aulus Gellius (who certainly had the 
 excuse of his subject) as in any of them, it seems the 
 character not of the school or the country, but of the 
 age. Another very striking feature in the African writers 
 is their bombastic style, which has even been distin- 
 guished by the title of tumor Africanus^ and unques- 
 tionably it prevails to a greater or less degree, — least in 
 Lactantius, greatest in Arnobius — throughout them all. 
 But, like the archaisms, it is no peculiar note of an 
 African; Ammianus exceeds all of them in luxuriance 
 of style or inflated language ^ The difference between 
 
 a good deal (see p. 158) yet tius than to the almost insensible 
 
 Arnobius but seldom uses them, allusions of the others, which in- 
 
 ^ The Florida are a collection timate not only their own perfect 
 of striking passages from speeches acquaintance with the poetiy, but 
 of Apuleius, a kind of Elegant Ex- a presumption of some such know- 
 tracts, probably compiled by some ledge in those whom they ad- 
 admirer of the author, and now dressed. For instance, Minutius 
 all that we possess of the original (c. 18) writes, " Quando unquam 
 compositions. regni societas aut cum fide coepit, 
 
 * I would not omit to mention aut sine cruore discessit 
 
 the great familiarity which all Generi et soceri bella toto orbe 
 
 these writers display with the diffusa sunt et tarn magni imperii 
 
 Roman poets, and I allude less to duos fortuna non cepit," which is 
 
 the copious quotations of Lactan- a paraphrase of Lucan (i. 92, 109.) 
 
ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. XYll 
 
 these and other writers of Latin which appears to me CHAP, 
 most idiomatic in character is not in words, nor in — 
 
 their government, but in the construction of sentences of 
 which the involution is sometimes so intricate and strange, 
 that it seems hardly possible to attribute it to any 
 fanciful collocation of words, but we are compelled to 
 refer it to some other influence, and, most probably, 
 that of another tongue. I had, at one time, collected 
 a few of these sentences to illustrate my remarks, but 
 I found that I could make no arrangement or classifi- 
 cation of them, and that I could give no general rule 
 towards their quicker comprehension ; and as their quo- 
 tation would thus be only a simple, specimen of what 
 the student will readily enough find for himself, I thought 
 they would be uselessly inserted. There are of course 
 many words and expressions occurring in the African 
 Fathers which will be new to a beginner, but I know 
 of no general formula by which these can be summarily 
 explained ; such as are most remarkable in the present 
 treatise are arranged in the index to the volume, and 
 if the corresponding notes be referred to, a short illus- 
 tration will be found of each, with occasional observa^ 
 tions on its usage and date. As I have quoted freely, 
 too, from other authors of this character, some idea 
 may be formed of their ordinary style and idiom, and 
 
 Nulla fides re^ni sociis, omnisque po- torical schools, and their phrase- 
 
 t^ *^ ,. .^ ologv and ornaments were trans- 
 
 Impatiens consortis ent ^-^ 
 
 ferred to the speeches of the day 
 
 populique potentis jn ^hich these florid decorations 
 
 Quas raare quae terras qiue totum possirtet . i c c t? • 'j. 
 
 orbem ^ *^ were now required. iliXigitur 
 
 Non cepit fortuna duos. enim Jam ab oratore etiam poeti- 
 Lucan indeed seems to have been «^s decor/' says either Tacitus or 
 a favourite author with them, and Quintihan, " non Attii aut Pa- 
 Lucretius even more especially so. cuvii vetemo inquinatus, sed et 
 The fact was that the poets ( Juv. Horatii et Virgilii et Lucani sa- 
 7) formed one of the principal ^^"^ prolatus." de Causs. Corr. 
 branches of study in the rhe- ^^^' ^' 20. 
 
XVlll ON THE LATINITY OF 'l^jT HE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 CHAP. I cannot, at present, see any more compendious way of 
 
 arriving at the knowledge. I have drawn up, on the 
 
 opposite page, a short table of the writers whose works 
 may be mutually brought to bear upon each other, in 
 illustration either of language or subject ; those whose 
 names are mentioned in the first column are of course 
 most closely connected; in the second, Apuleius will be 
 found to supply very numerous parallelisms, and Ulpianus 
 and Paulus will be serviceable in explaining that large 
 class of words, in these authors, of forensic origin. 
 
 I have but a few words to add on the pecuharities 
 of each individual. Tertullian makes frequent use of 
 metaphors, which are drawn very often indeed from legal 
 and from military sources, his probable profession explain- 
 ing the first circumstance, and his father's the second ; he 
 is extremely fond of an antithetical play upon words, 
 for the sole sake of which the sentence appears some- 
 times constructed and inserted ; several instances will be 
 found in this treatise e.g. (p. 11), ut nolint scire pro 
 certo^ quod se nescire pro certo sciunt. (p. 170), ad leno- 
 nem poiius quam ad leonem damnando. (p. 17), merito 
 damnantur licet damnent^ &c. His passion for paradox 
 has been often remarked ; probably most readers will 
 recollect hearing of his celebrated argument certum est 
 quia impossihile, — and these facts should be the more 
 steadily kept sight of, that they influence not only his 
 assertions but his language. I feel convinced that some 
 of TertuUian's extraordinary expressions are to be pro- 
 perly explained by reference to other clauses of the 
 sentence, and that a word though somewhat inappro- 
 priate was used because it formed an exact antithesis 
 to another. But the most perplexing and perilous habit 
 of Tertullian is, as I have before hinted, his ironi/. In 
 the midst of the most serious argument, on the most 
 serious subject, without the warning of a word he slides 
 
ON THE LATIN [TY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 CO 
 
 6 
 
 > 
 
 ^ 32 
 
 CO Q 
 
 p2 
 
 oj ?; 
 
 c8 
 
 C5 
 
 <1 
 
 a s 
 
 «5 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 S 
 
 o 
 Q 
 
 % 
 
 CHAP. 
 11. 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 O 
 
 CO i-i CO 
 05 I— I iO 
 
 rH (M (^^ 
 
 O ^ ^ <M 
 
 |> X 00 Ci 
 
 (M (M G<I <M 
 
 CO 
 
 Oh 
 < 
 
 § 
 
 ^ 
 
 •i 3 1 
 
 •^ 
 
 o 
 
 50 
 
 .1 
 
 I 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 iO 
 
 t^ 
 
 Ci 
 
 OS 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 I ^ 
 
 cc 
 
 fe i 
 
 o 
 CO Q 
 
 50 
 
 
 »o o o o o 
 
 O r-t lO t^ O 
 rH (M (N (M CO 
 
 r— 1 
 CO 
 
 1> 
 
 CO 
 
XX ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 CHAP, into the gravest imaginable irony, and again returns to 
 his direct course so unexpectedly, and after such vari- 
 ous intervals, that nothing but the most habitual con- 
 versation with his writings can enable us to detect him. 
 I have noticed (p. 121) one instance in which even 
 Mosheim was strangely misled, and I have pointed out 
 in the notes the . examples of this singular practice as 
 they occurred. The young student of Tertullian can 
 never be too much on his guard on this point. 
 
 While speaking of Tertullian'*s style, there is one 
 singular circumstance to which I may allude. That 
 Semler surmised and endeavoured to prove that the 
 whole of Tertullian"*s works were spurious, and the pro- 
 duction of a joint-stock establishment at Rome, is pro- 
 bably known to many through Bishop Kaye's refutation 
 of the argument. (Eccl. Hist. p. 69, sqq.) But, apart 
 from all such reasoning, I am at a loss to conceive 
 how such an idea could ever have been entertained by 
 any one who had been accustomed to compare the 
 genuine and counterfeit writings of antiquity. Not to 
 mention the earnestness, the reality, of TertuUian's works, 
 could any rhetorician possibly have devised such a style 
 as this? or could he have preserved it throughout? or 
 could any body else successfully have imitated it ? It 
 is actually impossible. 
 
 There is nothing very peculiar about the language of 
 Cyprian ; neither his mind nor his style had the deeply- 
 cut features of Tertullian; he was thought eloquent in 
 his day, too eloquent indeed, by the heathen, for a sub- 
 ject so insignificant as religion ^ ; his sentences (compa- 
 ratively) run fluently and smoothly, and he often explains 
 some sententious dictum of Tertullian by a lucid para- 
 
 * " A doctis hujus sseculi, qui- gans ingenium, et melioribus re- 
 bus forte scripta ejus innotuerunt, bus aptum, ad aniles fabulas con- 
 derideri solet .... qujisi qui ele- tulissct." Lactant. D. I. v. i. 
 
ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. XXI 
 
 phrase. Amobius has some resemblance to Apuleius, CHAP 
 his descriptions are of the most astonishing luxuriance, - 
 
 they wander through page after page with all kinds of 
 rhetorical embellishments ; he has very frequent examples 
 of that involution of construction mentioned above, but 
 the general arrangement of his sentences and periods is 
 remarkably constant, so that after an attentive perusal 
 of a few chapters the reader may know exactly where 
 to expect the epithets and the verbs, and precisely an- 
 ticipate the rythm and the cadence. Lactantius is by 
 far the most free from the general faults of this age, 
 and by almost as much the most uninteresting of its 
 writers. His style, on which he so prides himself, and 
 which others have given him so much credit for, is the 
 most disagreeable of all styles, a spiritless imitation of 
 Ciceronian Latin, the weakness of wliich is particularly 
 apparent after the perusal of TertuUian. It happens 
 that there are several passages' in these two authors so 
 parallel in substance that they can be most advantage- 
 ously compared, and the student will thus easily learn 
 how little an affectation of conventional elegancies will 
 compensate for a total absence of vividness or vigour. 
 If Cicero must needs be the sole and exclusive exemplar 
 for modern composition, it is strange that his Orations 
 at least awe not sometimes resorted to, instead of those 
 philosophical treatises the style of which was never in- 
 tended to convey any sentiment more forcible than a 
 gentlemanly deference to a friend's opinion, or a polite 
 dissent from a self-evident absurdity. Many scholars 
 have stood up in defence of TertuUian's arguments, but 
 all, except Gilbert Wakefield, have joined in decrying 
 his Latinity as preeminently vicious. I can only say 
 that whatever may be its obscurities and deformities 
 on a first acquaintance, few readers after becoming well 
 ^ See note on c. 50. 
 
XXII ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. 
 
 CHAP, habituated to its peculiarities will quit it for more 
 
 -polished compositions of the same date without experi- 
 encing something unpleasant in the change, and some- 
 thing agreeable in the return to it ; some chapters of 
 this treatise even in point of structure and mechanism 
 are equal to any thing in ancient Latin, and it seems 
 really difficult to imagine that they were not actually 
 spoken, or at all events written for oral delivery. Some 
 allowance too must be made for the subjects on which 
 he is frequently employed. If Lucretius with all his 
 advantages was compelled to excuse his phraseology by 
 the rudeness of his theme, we may surely supply the 
 same apology to Tertullian ; Valentinus was at least as 
 intractable as Anaxagoras, and the oy^oa^ as un- 
 manageable a material as the o^oiojULepeia- At all events 
 I hope that not every student will agree in the denun- 
 ciations which a very favourite writer has thus heaped 
 on this unfortunate African. 
 
 '' Truly Roman rudeness and insolence which not 
 " even the power of Christian grace could thoroughly 
 " tame (so innately savage was the nature of this beast 
 " of prophecy) address us in the provincial roughness of 
 " an obscure and difficult language. From the natural 
 " heartlessness and treacherous reserve of its speakers 
 " the Latin delights in a vague phraseology and oblique 
 *' construction which hints rather than expresses, and 
 ** reminds us that the language of the robbers of the 
 " world was no unfit vehicle also for the sentiments of 
 " the crafty tyrants of the church ^" 
 
 To trace in an unfavoured language the faults of 
 an hundred generations, to visit on a solitary supine or 
 a double dative the rapacity of a host of Caesars and 
 the presumptions of a line of Popes, is surely as relent- 
 less an attack as any which Mr Evans himself has 
 ^ Theol. Lib. xiv. p. 358. 
 
ON THE LATINITY OF THE AFRICAN FATHERS. XXHl 
 
 reprehended in TertuUian, and the cut is the harder CHAP, 
 and unkinder from an implied contrast of the dialects 
 
 and temperance of the Greeks. Even admitting the 
 essential morality of the Ionic tongue, we may pause 
 before conceding to the countrymen of Alcibiades the 
 praise of continence or honesty. Few writers know 
 better than Mr Evans what portraits might be drawn 
 of Athenian philosophers, Athenian statesmen, or Athe- 
 nian citizens; if they did not rob the world it was 
 only because they could not, if they could have bound 
 the strong man they would speedily have spoiled his 
 goods; with all the propensity to plunder, they wanted 
 the steadiness to subdue. But especially must I differ 
 from any opinion that Latin is not a fitting language 
 for theological or ecclesiastical purposes ; this is not 
 a point for logical argument, but a question involv- 
 ing a variety of indefinite considerations ; very pos- 
 sibly TToXiyyeveaia may to many appear a harmonious, 
 and regeneratio a barbarous, term, but the man must be 
 strangely biassed by some previous influence who can 
 read or hear without something more than admiration 
 the magnificent Latin of the antient Liturgies. 
 
CHAPTER IlL 
 
 ON THE APOLOGETIC ^yRITINGS OF THE EARLY 
 CHRISTIANS. 
 
 CHAP. The ancient apologists for Christianity have been 
 
 divided into two classes, the first, of advocates who were 
 
 pleading their cause in times of persecution before em- 
 perors or provincial governors ; and the second, of di- 
 dactic and voluntary expositors of their creed and prac- 
 tice. But on closer examination it will appear, that 
 the two divisions are intimately connected, and that 
 the first, though composed of writers who certainly had 
 no idea of offering what, in the present day, would be 
 called evidences of Christianity, are nevertheless as avail- 
 able for such testimony as the other class, whose aim 
 was more avowedly the conversion of their fellow men. 
 An instance of this may be seen in the process by 
 which Grotius has proved the truth of the Christian 
 religion ; and as I ^may take occasion to compare his 
 scheme of evidence, as well as Paley's, with the earlier 
 writers now under consideration, I will here sketch 
 his general argument in as few words as possible, that 
 I may refer to it presently, if occasion should require. 
 Of his six books, the first, through the media of cer- 
 tain proofs with which we are not here concerned, esta- 
 blishes the proposition that there must be a vera religio 
 somewhere ; the second considers the claim of Chris- 
 tianity to this title, the third examines the genuineness 
 of Holy Scripture, and the rest are devoted to the 
 refutation of Paganism, Judaism, and Mahometanism. 
 His steps in the second book are these; he shews that 
 
ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS, &G. XXV 
 
 the life and crucifixion of our Lord, as facts, cannot chap. 
 
 be denied by any one, and also that after his death '— 
 
 he was worshipped etiam viris sapientihus^ and that for 
 this the only assignable cause is to be found in the 
 divine miracles which they had carefully examined and 
 approved'. This chapter contains the cardinal point of 
 Grotius"* proof, and differs in this from Paley's, that, 
 whereas both advocates make the miracles decisive of 
 the question, the latter draws his evidence from the 
 sufiferings of the first martyrs, while the former rests 
 on the circumstances of the conversion of the early 
 Fathers. But if the corroboration of certain facts is 
 to be sought in the conversion of certain persons, it 
 will be seen at once of what singular importance are 
 the writings of these persons, which serve almost as 
 autobiographies, and which shew the evidence to which 
 they yielded, when they detail its nature, and urge its 
 examination on others^. And this is one very interest- 
 ing and instructive light in which the early apologists 
 may be viewed. My present intention however is merely 
 to compensate in some degree, for the strictness with 
 which, in this edition, I have confined myself to philo- 
 
 * De Verit. ii. 4. " Fuerunt menti negotio decet, comperis- 
 
 autera semper, inter cultores sent veram et firmis testibus sub- 
 
 Christi, plurimi et judicio prae- nixam fuisse famam, quae de 
 
 diti, et literarum non rudes, qua- miraculis ab eo editis percrebue- 
 
 les (ut de Judaeis nunc taceamus) rat." The conclusion of this book 
 
 Sergius Cypri praeses, Dionysius is not to our purpose, but Gro- 
 
 Areopagita, Polycai-pus, Justinus, tins employs it in proving the 
 
 Irseneus, Athenagoras, Origenes, resurrection, and drawing thence 
 
 TertuUianus, Clemens Alexan- additional arguments; and in 
 
 drinus, ac porro alii, qui tales shewing the ethical excellency 
 
 cum essent, cur homini igno- of Christianity, 
 miniosa morte affecto se cultores ^ Such writings are the Apo- 
 
 addixerint, nulla potest logy here edited, the Ao7o<? irpo- 
 
 caussa reddi praeter banc unam, -rpe-rrriKo^ ofClement, the trapal- 
 
 quod diUgenti inquisitione, qualis ^^^,, ^f jug^jn, and the Apolo- 
 
 viros prudentes in maximi mo- ^.ies anterior to TertuUian, 
 
XXVI ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 ^?ii^' logical and grammatical points, and to offer the young 
 
 student a little insight into some of the apologetic writings 
 
 with which he is perhaps unacquainted, as well as to 
 give a general idea of the scheme and character of that 
 particular apology which I have taken as a subject for 
 illustration. I am compelled to take somewhat narrow 
 limits, and I have therefore preferred keeping to the 
 same authors who have been reviewed for another pur- 
 pose in the previous section, which I do the more readily, 
 that theii* writings happen all to bear, more or less, 
 on this subject, and that in them are included three 
 of the names most celebrated in this species of composi- 
 tion. Two writers only of any especial note will be 
 thus excluded, Origen and St Augustine, the former of 
 whom, from the nature of his work, cannot be compared 
 exactly with those lately spoken of, and the latter I have 
 reserved for a separate examination as regards both 
 his matter and his language ; the apologists anterior 
 to TertuUian may be considered, for all practical pur- 
 poses, as fairly represented in him. The first column 
 of the table given in the last section will shew the 
 respective dates of the apologists (for such they may 
 all be termed) whose essays are now to be considered, 
 and it will be there seen that the third century, within 
 a very few years, includes them all. They comprise 
 specimens of both of the divisions above mentioned, 
 and even if no more profitable information were to 
 be gained from their perusal, it would be both curious 
 and interesting to trace the tone, varying with the times, 
 from the abrupt and passionate entreaty for justice and 
 toleration, through the argumentative expositions be- 
 tokening comparative security, to the final protest against 
 the pitiable relics of paganism. 
 
 The apologists of Christianity, from the very essence 
 of the religion they taught, were compelled to attack the 
 
OP THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXVH 
 
 superstitions, whose dominions they might perhaps quietly CHAP, 
 have been permitted to share ; and to assert, with some, 
 
 that they were more undeniably successful in defeating 
 their adversaries than in defending themselves, is but to 
 detect an example of a truism. No controversy has ever 
 taken place, either concerning science or metaphysics, 
 matters of fact, or matters of opinion, which would not 
 supply occasion for similar remarks, and if they who 
 urged them in the present case had been met with their 
 own argument, and requested to state their creed instead 
 of their objections, they would probably have added 
 another illustration to the rule. As Lactantius^ said of 
 the old philosophers, gladiuni habent, scutum non liabent. 
 But it does not very clearly appear how any wit or 
 zeal could be called "superfluous'^," which was directed 
 against extravagancies actually prevailing and openly de- 
 fended, and against a polytheism of which the absurd- 
 ities were disguised and relieved by antiquity and asso- 
 ciations. Nevertheless — though it is not very prudent 
 in us at this distance of time and with such insufficient 
 knowledge of the circumstances to pronounce an opinion 
 — we must yet admit that in certain respects the apo- 
 logies of either class seem less calculated to effect their 
 purposes than we might have expected from the strength 
 of their cause ; and indeed we may withhold our pri- 
 vate judgment and cite one of the writers themselves to 
 confirm the fact and offer his explanation of it. Lac- 
 tantius in a remarkable passage^, informs us that those 
 
 ^ Inst. Div. III. 4. hber cui Octavio titulus est de- 
 
 ° Gibbon, c. xv. ad extr. clarat quam idoneus veritatis as- 
 
 ^ Inst. Div. V. 1, 2. " Si qui sertor esse potuisset si se to turn 
 
 forte literatorum se ad earn con- ad id studium contulisset. Sep- 
 
 tulerunt, defensioni ejus non suf- timius quoque Tertullianus fuit 
 
 fecerunt. Ex iis qui mihi noti omni genere literarum peritus 
 
 sunt Minutius Felix non ignobilis sed in eloquendo parum facilis et 
 
 inter caussidicos loci fuit. Hujus minus comptus et multum ob- 
 
XXVlll ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, of the learned men who embraced the Gospel were un- 
 equal to its defence, that they neither ha;d attractive- 
 ness, nor keenness, nor sarcasm sufficient for the times, 
 and that in consequence of this failure the doctrines of 
 Christianity remained unknown to those who required 
 polished language and philosophical argument, while its op- 
 ponents kept undisputed possession of the field of rhetoric. 
 I merely cite this at present for the facts recorded in it ; 
 — the consideration due to the writer's opinion, and the 
 value of his attempt to supply the presumed desideratum, 
 will be discussed afterwards in their proper place. 
 
 The adversaries to whom the apologetic writings would 
 be chiefly addressed, may be divided into three principal 
 classes ; the Pagans, who supported, either from upright 
 or interested motives the old religion, such as Symmachus, 
 whose Apology for Paganism will be presently noticed ; 
 the philosophers who eitlier ridiculed or allegorized it, and 
 the Jews. In the first class was to be found that vast 
 multitude of converts which was to fulfil the prophecies 
 of Scripture, and with these, if sincerely disposed to 
 religious views, the dissection of their mythology and 
 the representation of their deities in a true light would 
 be specially efficacious. In the second was a far smaller, 
 but far more dangerous body of opponents, whose tenets 
 indeed were much at variance with each other, some 
 receding directly from Christianity, some making a kind 
 of approximation to its doctrines, but all nearly equally 
 pernicious. The Epicurean was the most intractable of 
 all. Arnobius, though the keenest (in my opinion) of 
 the apologists, and certainly in some respects most ap- 
 
 scurus. Ergo ne hie quidem satis neque vim persuatlendi neque 
 
 celebritatis invenit. Unus igitur subtilitatem argumentandi neque 
 
 praecipuus ct clams exstitit Cy- uUam prorsus acerbitatem ad re- 
 
 prianus .... quid tandem pute- vincendum habere potuenint ? 
 
 mus eis accidere quorum sermo Ergo quia defuerunt," ike 
 jejunus est et ingratus, qui 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXIX 
 
 posite to tlie popular arguments of modem times, avows ^^^' 
 
 at the outset of his work that he caimot enter into 
 
 any controversy with those who deny or doubt the ex- 
 istence of a Creator', and even Lactantius with all his 
 complacency towards his own philosophical and argumen- 
 tative powers leaves to its own merits the protest of the 
 Epicurean against the postulate from which he takes 
 his start^. There was no competing with an adversary 
 who could stand on no common ground with the be- 
 liever in any religion whatever. It is said that Celsus 
 concealed his adherence to this sect, and as upon the 
 whole it seems most probable that he was really one of 
 its followers, he might perhaps wish to disguise a fact 
 which would thus raise an antecedent prejudice against any 
 objections he might urge. The Platonist was the nearest 
 in character to Christianity and perhaps the best dis- 
 posed to receive its creed, but one staggering obstacle 
 more insuperable in his case even than in that of the 
 others^, would check his kindly feelings, and the Neo- 
 Platonics shewed soon that the sensible approximation 
 of Platonism to Christianity was not a circumstance in 
 which the latter could rejoice. It may be very true, as 
 stated by Origen, that the tenets of the philosophers 
 were but little known and scantily influential on the 
 mass of society compared with the precepts of the gospel, 
 and independently of any testimony we should be at no 
 loss for arguments to shew that such a state of things 
 was extremely probable; — but this is quite consistent 
 with their serious and effective hostility. The schools 
 of philosophy were like fortresses in an open countr}% 
 which cannot actually hinder the march of an invading 
 
 M. 16. " cum quibus hoc genus," &c. 
 tempore nullum nobis omnino ^ D. 1. 1. 2. 
 
 super tali erit obstinatione certa- ' See Neander. Ch. Hist. i. p. 
 
 men Semio cum his nobis 165, Mr Rose's translation. 
 
 est qui divinum esse consentientes 
 
XXX ON THE APOLOGETIC WHITINGS 
 
 CHAP, army, but which no skilful general will leave in his rear 
 without storming or masking. They offered to the vacil- 
 
 lating mind, some an adumbration, some a refutation, 
 of the Christian doctrines, and in several cases they 
 would recall the unstable and half-confirmed convert, 
 especially if his education and acquirements chanced to 
 be a little superior ^ Against such opponents the sim- 
 plest course was to exhibit their mutual discord and to 
 leave them to the result of civil war ; and as the pre- 
 mises of each individual scheme consisted generally in the 
 contemptuous rejection of every other, there was little 
 difficulty in drawing a conclusion fatal to them all^. 
 The third class mentioned was that of the Jews, and 
 their affinity to the new sect seems to have regu- 
 lated the virulence of their enmity, from a complication 
 of motives which it is very easy to imagine; TertuUian 
 in characterizing the various enemies of the Truth ^ men- 
 tions in very expressive terms proprii ex wmulatione 
 Judw% and some influence so repulsive seems to have 
 existed, that even conversion did not always effect a 
 permanent change, as we may collect from the history 
 of the secession to Pella, and the casual remark of 
 Justin Martyr \ that the converts from Judaism were 
 not only less numerous than those from Paganism, but 
 less sincere. All these classes joined eagerly in perse- 
 cuting the Christians; the Pagans, as the executive, 
 i>o A^-mC being instigated by the example of the Jews and the 
 
 ^-^^-C \ writings of the philosophers, for it is worth remarking, 
 ^ that the most celebrated attacks on Christianity were 
 published during the very worst of the persecutions. The 
 
 ^ D. I. V. 1. Nutant enim sparti illi poetanim, sic se invicem 
 plurimi, et maxime qui littera- jugulant iit nemo ex omnibus re- 
 rum aliquid attigerunt. stet. 
 
 ^ Ibid. III. 4. pereunt igitur ' c. vii. p. 24. 
 
 universi hoc modo, et tanquam * Apol. i. c. 68. 
 
OP THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXXI 
 
 Roman governor might belong either to the first or GHAP. 
 
 second division, as chance determined, or very probably 
 might partake of the character of both. To some one 
 of these parties or individuals were the arguments ad- 
 dressed which are contained in the apologetic writings, 
 and with such reference must we consider them when we 
 are venturing an opinion on their applicability or power. 
 It is true that the exposure of an incredible theology 
 or impure ceremonial might indeed have been superflu- 
 ous when offered to an Epicurean who had been long 
 ridiculing all of them in secret, but they were effica- 
 cious with another class, to whom they were peculiarly 
 directed; and in hke manner though a Pagan might 
 be expected to undervalue an argument from prophe- 
 cies which he neither knew nor credited, yet with 
 a Jew this was almost the only open course of pro- 
 ceeding, as TertuUian clearly shews when he states^ that 
 the most desperate struggle between the Jews and Chris- 
 tians was on this very point, as each party cited the 
 same evidence of prophecy in support of their cause. 
 It is therefore an unfair though an easy method of de- 
 preciating these writers, to test the value of their argu- 
 ments by a reference to the sentiments of parties to 
 whom they were not addressed ; some treatises too would 
 naturally contain an admixture of the several pleas to 
 meet the probability of a promiscuous audience ; and if 
 any essay even with these allowances should still appear 
 inapt or injudicious, we may recollect how singularly 
 liable is every writer to be unconsciously influenced as 
 well by his own feelings as those presumed in his readers, 
 and to display the particular facts and urge the pecu- 
 liar arguments which had the greatest weight with him- 
 self. There is one more remark which at this period 
 I wish to make. In considering any supernatural events 
 
 ' C. XXI. 
 
XXXll ox THE APOLOGETIC WltlTINGS 
 
 ^^AP. there are two points to which the attention may be 
 
 -directed; the evidence of testimony and the evidence of 
 
 argument; the first through the medium of those rules 
 which guide us in every transaction of Hfe, and by which 
 the society of the human race is preserved, estabhshes 
 certain occurrences as matters of fact ; the second is con- 
 cerned in proving the same proposition by reference to 
 their probabiHty, their analogy to other occurrences, their 
 object, their utility, and a variety of circumstances of 
 the like nature ; one asserts the truth, the other the 
 reasonableness, of a scheme. Both these may of course 
 be united, and directed to the same end ; a well-con- 
 stituted mind will admit the sufficiency of the first proof 
 and acquiesce in its consequences, but with others no 
 conceivable completeness of the evidence of testimony is 
 allowed to prevail against a presumed deficiency in the 
 evidence of argument, an evidence always indefinite, and 
 varying in each individual case as to the fulness and 
 character requisite to secure its acceptance, so that an 
 exclusive appeal to it amounts to little more than an 
 unlimited claim to private judgment in every imaginable 
 cause. This point will be found discussed at some length 
 and with considerable acuteness in Cicero's very inte- 
 resting treatise De Dimnatione^ where the testimonies 
 for that particular kind of supernatural interference are 
 alleged in the first book, and the arguments against it 
 produced in the second ; the two following sentences will 
 give the reader the pith of each, and some inference 
 may be drawn as to the probable opinions of an edu- 
 cated heathen on this subject. 
 
 A. Si nihil queam disputare, quamobrem quidque 
 fiat, et tantummodo, fieri ea, quae commemoravi, doceam : 
 parum ne respondeam ? (i. 49.) 
 
 B. Hoc ego philosophi non esse arbitror, testibus 
 uti : qui aut casu veri, aut malitia falsi fictique esse 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXXIII 
 
 possunt : argumentis et rationibus oportet quare quidque CHAP. 
 
 ita sit, docere, non eventis, iis praesertim quibus mihi 
 
 liceat non credere, (n, 11.) 
 
 We shall presently see the different views taken by 
 the apologists of this subject amongst others, and our 
 end will be best answered by examining first the apo- 
 logy of Tertullian, so that by using this as a criterion 
 to which the others may be applied, we shall the more 
 easily detect their mutual difference or agreement on 
 any considerable points, and observe better the ends 
 which they respectively proposed to themselves, and the 
 means they employed to accomplish them. 
 
 Tertullian''s treatise is generally divided into fifty 
 chapters as I have given it, and to these I shall make 
 reference. The opening (c. 1 — 7) is entirely devoted to 
 proving that the authorities ought really to hear what 
 the Christians had to say for themselves, and after some 
 very characteristic reasoning on this point the writer 
 is naturally compelled to retort those peculiarly infa- 
 mous charges which would, if true, have almost justified 
 the conduct of the heathen (7 — 10). He then (c. 10) 
 states two of the chief accusations brought against the 
 Christians, viz. first, that they refused to worship the 
 gods, and secondly, that they did not offer sacrifice for 
 the emperor. The former of these is discussed, with 
 some incidental digressions, through eighteen chapters 
 (10 — 27), and the latter through eight (28 — 37) ; some 
 minor objections to Christian practice are then refuted 
 (37 — 45), and the peroration (45- — 50) is occupied by 
 contrasting with the merits and persecutions of the 
 Christians the deserts and the treatment of the several 
 philosophical schools. It must be obvious from the first 
 sight of this synopsis that the Apology was not written 
 with any direct intention or idea of making converts, 
 or of proving the truth of the Christian religion. The 
 
XXXIV ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, case to be shewn is quid sit liquido in caussa Chris- 
 
 tianorum ; the end to be gained is ne ignorata damne- 
 
 tur. TertuUian endeavours to prove not that Jesus Christ 
 was the Son of God, or that the Evangelists left a true 
 and harmonious narrative, but that infanticide and in- 
 cest were not crimes of the Christians, that their as- 
 semblies were not seditious, and that their habits were 
 neither hurtful to society, nor vicious in themselves. It 
 is difficult to make always due allowance for the bitter 
 irony and passionate language of this writer, but we 
 can scarcely be wrong in inferring from his pleading that 
 at this precise period the misery of the Christians must 
 have reached its height. He seems scarcely to hope 
 for their acquittal, or to think of bargaining for it, but 
 confines his petition to a request that they may be heard 
 before they are condemned, and tried in some cases 
 before they are executed; and after shewing at length 
 not merely the negative but the positive virtues of 
 Christian habits, his demand is only that they should 
 not be treated with any thing more severe than ridicule. 
 I observed however above, that, in the discussion of the 
 first charge brought against his brethren, TertulHan had 
 introduced some incidental digressions, but though the 
 chapters alluded to (17 — 23 inclusively) may be made in 
 strictness perhaps to bear that term, since the defence 
 might have continuously proceeded through all its main 
 points without them, yet they are the most seriously im- 
 portant of any in the treatise. They detail the nature 
 and attributes of the Creator, the mission of the Pro- 
 phets, the character of the Scriptures, and the liistory 
 of Our Lord, forming what TertuUian calls demonstrati- 
 onem religionis nostrce (16 extr.) 
 
 This therefore is evidently the portion of the Apology 
 to which we must turn for any approximation to evidences 
 of Christianity, though even this will only indirectly and 
 
OP THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXXV 
 
 unavoidably assume such a character. It was not intended ^^,^^- 
 
 for any such object, but it would very probably attract — 
 
 attention to the real principles of the sect, and induce 
 a curious heathen inquirere et intelUgere et credere^ — a 
 process frequently alluded to by Tertullian in these very 
 words, and which implies an examination of other suffi- 
 cient and accessible evidence beyond any contained in 
 the document recommending such a course of research. 
 Still. this episodical relic is extremely valuable, and even 
 when confined to simple affirmations it has all that weight 
 which a luminous and straight-forward statement invari- 
 ably carries with it. It is introduced naturally by the 
 expediency of shewing what Christianity is^ after proving 
 what it was not. The writer commences (c. 17) with 
 an attempt to delineate the attributes of that God whom 
 the Christians worshipped, and he adduces the very re- 
 markable testimonj^ of the souH to prove the universal 
 recognition of this truth. He then states (c. 18) that 
 the will of this Being has always from the first (a ^n- 
 mordio) been communicated to man through Prophets 
 divinely inspired, and that their precepts {wees eorum) 
 together with a record of their miraculous credentials 
 were committed to authentic narratives, and he shews 
 the accessibility of these narratives by a circumstantial 
 detail of the translation of the LXX. He has thus 
 arrived at the Scriptures, (the Old Testament), and he 
 is of course compelled to offer some evidence for their au- 
 thority. On this point his first argument is a remarkable 
 one, drawn from their antiquity/, in which he shews that 
 no historical or literary remains of any ancient kingdom 
 will bear any comparison with the Volume in question ; 
 and after interposing a few confirmatory remarks, he 
 points out a method by which the fact may be systemati- 
 cally proved. I have termed this argument a remarkable 
 ^ See Bishop Kaye's Tertullian, p. 176, sqq. 
 
 C — 2 
 
XXXVl ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, one, and it is so, especially as elaborated by Tertullian, 
 
 but it proceeds on a principle repeatedly advanced by 
 him as fundamental and unassailable — quod prim est se- 
 men sit necesse est. He not only urges it upon the 
 heathen, but he employs it against heretics, and con- 
 futes alike by it the corruptions of a Gnostic, and the 
 arrogance of a Platonist. Moreover it was peculiarly 
 an argumentum ud hominem^ and the apologist remarks 
 very pertinently on introducing it, apud ws quoque re- 
 Ugionis est instar fidem de t&mporihus asserere. It was not 
 merely that a more ancient scheme was regarded as the 
 creditor of its modern representative, but antiquity, in 
 the abstract, was contemplated by the Pagans with ve- 
 neration and awe, and gave to any rite or relic a sacred- 
 ness which no reader of the Roman Annals would be 
 at any loss to exemplify. When Tacitus says of the 
 rites of Palestine antiquitate defenduntiir^ he probably 
 embodies the general opinion on the subject, which in- 
 deed has not vanished with the empires of old, nor is it 
 confined to any age or nation : it is a sentiment provi- 
 dentially implanted in the human breast, appearing more 
 or less conspicuous in each individual or people, in pro- 
 portion to their loyalty and steadiness, and perhaps in- 
 tended as an antagonist principle to some of the most 
 seductive temptations with which the armoury of Satan 
 is furnished. The reader, however, will observe that 
 Tertullian is not attempting to shew, like biblical critics 
 of the present day, that the books of the prophets were 
 actually written by the persons whose names they re- 
 spectively bear, as it would be of no use to combat an 
 objection which none of his adversaries were likely to 
 bring, he merely asserts that these writings are ancient 
 both positively and comparatively, and entitled to appro- 
 priate respect ; he shews their authority, not their truth, 
 to which he passes (p. 65) in another argument which he 
 
OP THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXXVII 
 
 handles with peculiar eloquence (c. 20) ; he appeals to CHAP. 
 
 the internal^ evidence of the Scriptures as a proof of their - 
 divinity, and cites the evident and daily fulfilment of 
 prophecy, as a reason for expecting the verification of 
 what yet remained unfulfilled ^ TertuUian is the only 
 2;52iS54-^9l2gkL-W^.9„l^?s thus taken his stand on the 
 Scriptures, and ids. position at this point of his argument 
 is as follows: "The God whom we worship is a Being 
 >vhom you involuntarily recognize. His will has been 
 (Jeclared to man by Prophets, and is contained in a 
 volume of demonstrable antiquity, and self evident truth."^ 
 It it remarkable that TertuUian no where in this treatise 
 quotes Scripture, and that he very sparingly uses scrip- 
 tural expressions. Up to this point, then, (from c. 17) 
 the defence has been little more than an apology for 
 Judaism, as its author acknowledges (c. 21) and he pro- 
 ceeds to state, that, lest it should be supposed that 
 Christianity unworthily sheltered its tenets under a re- 
 cognized religion whose authority it claimed, but whose 
 ceremonies it discarded, he was prepared to insist briefly 
 on 1jia..chaxactenstjc tenet of the new sect, the Divinity 
 
 ^ I have inserted in my text, dence are carried on completely 
 
 (p. 63) enclosed within brackets, from omnes itaque substantias 
 
 a fragment which has been sup- through the remainder of that 
 
 posed by some editors to have chapter and the chapter (20) next 
 
 originally formed an integral part ensuing, and that in fact the in- 
 
 of this chapter; but such I do serted paragraph is nothing but 
 
 not think to be the case, though an anticipation of these two pleas, 
 
 I have little doubt about its being which makes the original text 
 
 the composition of TertuUian. If mere tautology. I am therefore 
 
 the reader will refer to the page inclined to believe either that it 
 
 mentioned above, (p. 63), and formed part of a second edition of 
 
 proceed from the last words be- the Apology, which we have other 
 
 fore the brackets de temp, asserere reasons for concluding was pub- 
 
 to the first words after the final lished, or that it is a fragment of 
 
 bracket, p. 66, (which is acci- some treatise analogous to that 
 
 dentally omitted at vestri), he ad Nationes, if not of that treatise 
 
 will see that the arguments both itself, 
 from antiquity and internal evi- 
 
XXXVlll ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, of Christ (de Ckristo ut Deo). In pursuance of this 
 
 — object, he details the nature (substantia) and birth of 
 
 Our Saviour with some minuteness of circumstance, 
 (pp. 74, 75), and then shews quomodo Christus prohetur^ 
 (p. 76). His evidence to this point, consists in a reca- 
 pitulation of the general expectations of His advent 
 prevalent amongst both Jews and Gentiles, in a brief 
 but pregnant allusion to His miracles, and in a state- 
 ment of the verification of prophecies in His person, of 
 the preternatural darkness at the Crucifixion \ and of 
 the facts of the Resurrection. No mention is made of 
 any Gospel or Evangelist, the facts are stated as gene- 
 rally known and no where questioned, and the attention 
 is simply drawn to their character which might have been 
 hitherto unobserved, or inferences from them which might 
 hitherto not have been deduced. The argument from 
 prophecy is extremely well managed, that from the mi- 
 racles is only indirectly brought, though TertuUian after 
 adverting to them adds, ostendens se esse \oyov Dei, &c. 
 
 (p. 77.) 
 
 In this last quoted page it is asserted that the Jews 
 7!^umUi/ concluded (sequehatur uti cestimarent) that our 
 Lord was a magician; the meaning of the expression 
 being that such was the only alternative left to those 
 who saw His works, and denied His Divinity. Now this 
 is all the notice which TertuUian here takes of the sub- 
 ject ; but the point is so important and will be so re- 
 markably insisted on by others who are presently to pass 
 
 ^ Some notice has been taken word, (see e. g. Juv. ii., and rela- 
 
 in my note (p. 78) of the reading turn in literas, Aniob. iv. 14), and 
 
 arcanis instead of archivis in this as such far moi-e applicable to 
 
 passage. I may here add another archivis than arcanis ; the literal 
 
 argument for the latter reading. translation of hahetis relatum in 
 
 The participle relatum is not like archivis vestris, is " you have it 
 
 our derivative, nor is it equiva- registered in your public docu- 
 
 lent to wa^ra^t^m, but is a technical ments." 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. XXXIX 
 
 in review before us, that I shall draw the reader's par- CHAP. 
 
 ticular attention to it by a little further consideration L- 
 
 The most singular difference between ancient and modern 
 scepticism, and consequently between ancient and modem 
 apologists, is in their respective views of the miracles. 
 The generation which witnessed these doings, and the 
 generations which immediately succeeded, never expressed 
 the slightest doubt as to the fact of their occurrence; 
 %ey might explain away the prodigy by attributing it 
 to magic, or they might invalidate its influence by setting 
 up rival claims, but no ancient opponent of Christianity, 
 as far as my reading and memory enable me to speak, 
 ever thought of asserting that the historical testimony 
 to^ the miracles was either insufficient or inconclusive. 
 Even Hierocles himself, as we are expressly, though in- 
 cidentally, told by Lactantius^, acknowledged this much ; 
 and accordingly we find that contemporary apologists 
 are occupied in proving that the miracles were not ma- 
 gical, and that the claims of ApoUonius or Apuleius to 
 similar powers are totally unfounded. But modern scep- 
 ticism takes other ground, and declares not only that 
 the existing evidence for the miracles is insufficient, but 
 that no conceivable addition to it could make it effec- 
 tual, and therefore our apologists also change the ancient 
 position, and have now to prove facts which for cen- 
 turies after their occurrence no one ever doubted, and 
 the completeness of evidence which no man on any other 
 subject would think of questioning. Grotius, I think, 
 is the last of the apologists who devotes a chapter to 
 refuting the charge of magic. Eye witnesses saw the 
 works, but doubted the agency: we deny the facts, and 
 dismiss the cause. 
 
 But now to return to TertuUian's proof; — half of 
 
 ^ " Idem tamen quum facta nee tamen negaret, voluit/* &c. 
 ejus(Christi)mirabiliadestrueret, D. I. v. 3. 
 
Xl ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, it only has been tendered, and the remaining moiety 
 
 is of a character so peculiar that it is difficult to treat 
 
 it in any satisfactory manner. The steps are simply 
 these : The writer first (c. 22) asserts the existence, 
 and describes the quahties, of spiritual beings called 
 dcemons ; he then endeavours (c. 23) to shew their iden- 
 tity with the deities of the heathen mythology, and 
 finally affirms that a Christian can summon these spirits 
 from the bodies of persons possessed, and compel them 
 to admit openly their own deeds and character, and 
 acknowledge the power and the divinity of Christ. I 
 shall content myself here with directing the reader''s 
 attention to what appear to me the remarkable points 
 of the case. And first, it is to be specially observed 
 that the apologist does not use this argument inciden- 
 tally, nor eoG abundantly but he makes it his grand proof, 
 and evidently conceives that, though his other reason- 
 ing may possibly be got over, this plea will be quite 
 insuperable. In summing up he makes two divisions of 
 his defence, one of which is entirely monopolized by 
 this argument : and this he does twice, (p. 97) demon- 
 stravi . . . non modo disputationihus nee argumentationibus, 
 sed ipsorum etiam testimoniis quos deos creditis, ut nihil 
 jam ad hanc caussam sit retractandum ; and (p. 149), osten- 
 dimus totum statum nostrum^ et quihus modis prohare pos- 
 simus sicut ostendimus^ ex fide scilicet et antiquitate dim- 
 narwn litterarum^ item ex confessione spiritualiwrn potestatum. 
 Next, I advert to the singular decision and boldness with 
 which he challenges the trial {edatur hie aliquis, &c. 
 p. 88), a trial easily made, and involving a certain final 
 issue, as he says himself (quid hac probatione fidelius^ 
 p. 89), and further, particularly to the strange and un- 
 designed testimony conveyed in the argument (p. 127), 
 Quis autem vos, &c. Lastly, I would recall .to the reader 
 Tertullian's character ; credulous he might be, but that 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 xli 
 
 is scarcely to the point, as the appeal is to the senses CHAP. 
 
 of others; cowardly he was not, as this Apology proves; 
 
 and how little he was likely to bend either a sentence 
 or a fact to propitiate his judge, may [be readily col- 
 lected from the tone in which he tenders to the ma- 
 ^trate this very proposal to convict his gods of devilry 
 and himself of folly. Of course it will be seen here 
 that I am not speaking of the disquisitions on spiritual 
 natures, &c. which are given in c. 22, there the writer is 
 stating only opinions^ not facts. 
 
 I have examined these episodical chapters the more 
 fully, that they exclusively contain that particular kind 
 of apologetic evidence which I am considering in this 
 section; the remainder of the treatise is devoted to a 
 defence of the individual or congregational practices of 
 the Christians, and shews most clearly that main ob- 
 ject of the composition which I have before alluded to. 
 One or two points I wish to notice. The history of 
 the Roman empire during the first few centuries of 
 Christianity will secure easy credence to the narra- 
 tives of those calamities which are described as then 
 falling with overwhelming weight on the human race. 
 With such a government, and such a succession to the 
 throne, with legions of such a class, and national cha- 
 racter at such a stage of decay, with civil wars almost 
 perpetual, and barbarian irruptions gradually more threat- 
 ing, we need be at no loss to account for ruined cities 
 and devastated territories, for pestilence, for famine or 
 for blood, and the coincidence of the more awful and 
 destructive phenomena of nature would be readily con- 
 nected in the minds of the sufferers with the terrors 
 of human infliction. But as early as the close of the 
 second century these events had been all laid to the charge 
 of the Christians, who were said to have provoked the 
 jmcient gods to this exhibition of their reality and wrath. 
 
xlii 
 
 ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP. We cannot be greatly surprised at the rise of such an 
 
 opinion, nor more so at its extensive prevalence, for all 
 
 history teaches us how easily a suffering populace may 
 be led to visit its miseries and its woes on the heads 
 of any imaginary offenders; a man smarting under 
 pain will not weigh too closely the evidence promising 
 to detect his enemy, nor demur much at the proffered 
 means of vengeance and relief ; and thus age after age the 
 cry was repeated which had been found so serviceable, — 
 TertuUian in the second century, Cyprian in the third, 
 Arnobius in the fourth, Augustine in the fifth, shew all by 
 their successive refutation the successive occurrences of the 
 charge, indeed the Apology of Minutius is the only one 
 I believe which does not allude to the accusation. Tertul- 
 lian indirectly adverts to the calamities of the times in 
 e. 20, and meets the attack of the heathen directly in 
 c. 40. His reasoning is natural and good, he points 
 to the notorious occurrence of the like or worse mis- 
 fortunes before the name of Christian was heard of, and 
 urges the wickedness of the human race, which was always 
 meriting such scourges. Connected with this was the 
 claim which the Romans set up to singular and emi- 
 nent piety as the foundation of their early rise and 
 subsequent dominion, since it gave proof by analogy to 
 the other assertion, that impiety and innovation were 
 the causes of their declining power. To this subject 
 Tertullian devotes a little attention (c. 25), but he 
 handles it with more sophistry and less clearness than 
 usual, as I have remarked in the notes. 
 
 Looking at this Apology as a whole, I cannot but 
 consider it as incomparably excelling every similar com- 
 position of the times. Of its language I have spoken 
 in the preceding section ; its arrangement is remarkably 
 good, the topics being so disposed that the reasoning 
 is nearly continuous, and the propositions as they are 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 xliii 
 
 established are made subservient to the proofs of others : CHAP. 
 
 as for example, — the charge of refusing sacrifice for L_ 
 
 Caesar is refuted in the twenty-ninth chapter, by means 
 of the conclusions arrived at in the twelfth and twenty- 
 second, that the gods were powerless except as daemons, 
 and consequently no fit subjects for worship at all. The 
 arguments are astonishingly clear, and if contemplated 
 quoad homines and quoad causam^ can hardly fail to com- 
 mand our assent ; while most especial care has been 
 taken not to weaken the case by appeals to authorities 
 which the umpires did not recognize, nor to tempt the 
 scoff's of the ignorant by an unseasonable want of re- 
 serve. And yet notwithstanding all this, it is little 
 matter for wonder if it failed to a great extent in its 
 object. Without receiving the great historian''s sarcastic 
 surmise, that the apologies of the Christians probably 
 seldom reached the circles for whose edification they 
 were compiled, we can detect a single striking fact which 
 in itself is sufl&cient to explain the difficulty. Tertul- 
 lian is never content with refuting^ he invariably retorts. 
 Even on the charges of infanticide and incest, he can- 
 not be content with clearing himself, without a supple- 
 mentary demonstration of the guilt of his accusers, and 
 he pursues the same process on the indictments of im- 
 piety and^ treason. It cannot be denied that these re- 
 tributive sallies are always vigorous and often successful, 
 but that would only make matters worse ; an acquittal 
 might not be easily secured even from a disinterested 
 Roman, but after Tertullian''s defence, the magistrate 
 had no alternative between condemning the prisoner, or 
 —taking his place. Yet the student will find few apo- 
 logies which he can read without drawing comparisons 
 very favourable to this. 
 
 The next treatise, in chronological order, is the Octavius 
 of Minutius Felix, which will not require any lengthened 
 
xliv ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, remarks. It is in the attractive form of a dialogue, be- 
 
 tween Caecilius, a heathen of education and intelligence, 
 and Octavius a Christian, and it contains one remarkable 
 feature, viz., a bold exposition of the popular sentiments 
 concerning Christianity, which is put into the opening- 
 speech of Caecilius. It is not often that we find so 
 plausible a statement of the altera pars^ and Gibbon'*s 
 heart seems really to have been completely won by this 
 conciliatory candour, — twice he mentions this portion of 
 the tract with the epithets of " fair and elegant,"" " ele- 
 gant and circumstantial,'" and more than twice in various 
 parts of his history does he quote from its favoured para- 
 graphs. The reply of Octavius, which extends consider- 
 ably beyond the length of the attack, is strictly confined 
 to its specified subjects, a fact which must never be lost 
 sight of if we wish to appreciate the merit of the com- 
 position. The truth is that Christianity, as a scheme, 
 is scarcely mentioned, far less defended. Caecilius judges 
 of Christianity from what he has heard, and from what 
 he saw on the surface of it, and he considers it in rela- 
 tion to the established rites of worship, and the existing 
 habits of belief or disbelief. He insists particularly on 
 the probability there is that truth is not discoverable at 
 all, and infers the obligation thus imposed by prudence 
 of acquiescing in things as they are, especially as under 
 such regimen fortune and dominion had rewarded Roman 
 piety : he ridicules the ideas of the future destruction 
 of the world, and the resurrection of the body : and 
 after commenting severely both on the real and the 
 credited practices of the Christians, he concludes that 
 they are throwing away all the tangible pleasures of this 
 life, for the uncertain remunerations of another. It is 
 to these statements that Octavius has to reply, which 
 he does cleverly enough, and if some of his arguments 
 appear borrowed, we must remember that it was scarcely 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. xlv 
 
 possible to avoid saying the same things on the same CHAP. 
 
 subject. He states very clearly the arguments for the L 
 
 unity of God and for the nullity of Paganism : he shews 
 that the end of the world and the resurrection of the 
 flesh are neither novel nor incredible tenets, and he 
 defends the Christians successfully on the minor charges 
 respecting their daily habits. It will be seen on a careful 
 perusal of this treatise, that it is occupied in clearing 
 away any antecedent objections to the cotisideration of 
 Christianity ; it shews the existence of a God, and offers 
 proof of his unity, it demonstrates the folly of the 
 existing religion, and removes the superficial objection 
 to the new one, and its effect upon its readers or its 
 audience, unless they could disprove its reasoning, must 
 have been to convince them that there was a God to 
 whom their worship was due, that they had not known 
 him yet, and that, to say the least, there was no a 
 priori evidence . that the teaching of the despised Chris- 
 tians would not supply the knowledge. 
 
 The apologetic writings of S. Cyprian are comprised 
 in two short tracts, one addressed Ad Demetrianum^ and 
 the other inscribed de Idolorum Vanitate ; the former 
 being an abrupt expostulation with a certain Deme- 
 trian on his shameful calumnies and persecution of the 
 Christians. Cyprian commences with saying that he was 
 specially urged to write by the old charge against his 
 brethren of being the cause of all the calamities of the 
 times, but his arguments are very different from Ter- 
 tullian's. He urges that the world is near its end, that 
 nature is effete, and that irregularities are consequently 
 to be expected in all natural phenomena ; and that more- 
 over the heathen have deserved worse inflictions; the 
 rest of the tract being mainly occupied with a repetition 
 of the reasoning by which the glaring injustice of the 
 persecutors is shewn. The tract de Idolorum Vanitate 
 
xlvi 
 
 ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, is divided into three chapters, treating respectively of 
 
 the three heads (which are said to have been prefixed 
 
 by the author) Quod idola Dii non sint, Quod Deus unus 
 sit, and Quod per Christum solus credentihus data sit; of 
 these the two first propositions are proved by the same 
 arguments and almost by the same words which occur 
 in Minutius, and the last by an equally close transcript 
 of Tertullian^ The only passage worth particular re- 
 mark is the concluding paragraph, in which Cyprian states 
 that the Christians are permitted to be tortured in order 
 that the proofs of the truth may be more absolute {ne 
 esset probatio minus solidd), and he calls bodily suffering 
 the touchstone of truth (dolor veritatis testis), which is 
 indeed the argument of Paley, except that the latter 
 confines it to the case of eye-witnesses, and to matters 
 of fact. It is hard to pronounce upon an apologetic 
 writing without a thorough knowledge of the individuals 
 to whom it was addressed, or the special occasion which 
 called it forth, and perhaps either or both of these cir- 
 cumstances might account for what appear imperfections 
 in these tracts ; but such reasoning as is borrowed is 
 certainly not improved, nor are the additions to it either 
 vigorous or ingenious; in particular, the abundant quo- 
 tations from scripture addressed to an adversary who 
 neither admitted nor appreciated the authority appealed 
 to, are singularly mistimed, a circumstance which was 
 remarked many ages ago^. 
 
 We have now to proceed to a writer whose mind, 
 
 ^ At the commencement of this sense, (as I have remarked 
 
 this chapter, in the enunciation in the notes of this volume), and 
 
 of the proposition. Quod vero having reference to the attributes, 
 
 Christus sit, I believe the words power and substance of the Being 
 
 are equivalent not to esse autem spoken of. 
 
 Christum, hnt to Quis sit Christus, ^ See Lactantius, D. I. v. 4; 
 
 or Quid vero Christus sit, this Hieron. Ep. 84. 
 neuter being of frequent use in 
 
OP THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 xlvii 
 
 powers, position, and productions are singularly different, ^ j^^* 
 and whose remains I think have been undeservedly ~ 
 
 neglected even by the labourers in this particular field 
 of enquiry. 
 
 The Disputationes of Arnobius consist of seven books 
 udversus Gentes, containing as usual a defence of Chris- 
 tianity and an exposure of Paganism, and embodying 
 most of the ordinary arguments on each of these topics, 
 but supplying at the same time some important additions 
 and exhibiting some most remarkable views. It appears 
 from the little information we possess concerning this 
 writer^, that he was a rhetorician teaching at Sikka in 
 Africa, when his attention was first directed to Chris- 
 tianity; and it is related that when he applied for 
 admission into the Church, his previous behaviour had 
 left his character and intentions so suspicious that he 
 wrote the treatise in question as a pledge of his sin- 
 cerity. The internal evidence of the composition would 
 certainly not run counter to such a tale ; the author is 
 clearly misinformed on many points, and uninformed on 
 others, and displays very much such an apprehension of 
 Christianity as might be expected in one whose knowledge 
 wae collected simply from notorious facts, or perhaps from 
 teaching like that in the Octavius. The first two books 
 are devoted to the defence, and the remaining five to 
 the attack ; it is of course the former division with which 
 we shall be principally here concerned. 
 
 The commencement alleges the calumnies against the 
 Christians, before mentioned, as the principal cause of 
 the Apology, and a few pages are allotted to their 
 
 *'* It is not a little singular that is generally believed that he 
 
 Lactantius in his notice of pre- studied rhetoric under him. Jea- 
 
 ceding or contemporary apologists lousy, amongst other reasons, has 
 
 (D. I. V. ].) omits all mention been assigned for this proceed- 
 
 whatever of Arnobius, though it ing. 
 
Xlviii ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, refutation. This is cleverly though artificially conducted, 
 
 and exhibits from many points the utter absurdity of 
 
 the charge. The transition is easy from this argument 
 to a general apology for the principles of the Christian 
 faith, as far indeed as the writer either understood or 
 was inclined to disclose them; he defends the worship 
 of a man born^ (natum hominem) and crucified, by ex- 
 amples and precedents from their own religion, and 
 shews that there can be no prima facie objection to 
 Christianity even on that hypothetical ground. But he 
 rapidly proceeds to disprove the simple humanity of 
 Christ, and to prove his divinity ^ and his steps at this 
 point are particularly worthy of notice. He appeals 
 boldly and summarily to the miracles^ insisting minutely 
 and strongly on 
 
 I. their character ; that they were never noxious, 
 but always salutary, and of a kind befitting their 
 author*. 
 
 II. their numher ; which, with their variety, pre- 
 cluded the possibility of misapprehension^. 
 
 III. their openness; that they were performed clearly, 
 in open day, and in the sight of alP. 
 
 IV. the circumstances of their performance ; which 
 was without any intermediate mechanism, and solely by 
 a word^. 
 
 ^ This is only for argument's rerum." ibid. " nos quidem in 
 
 sake. I. 19. " sed concedamus, illo secuti hsec sumus : opera ilia 
 
 interdum (i. e. interim, see notes) magnifica ; potentissimasque vir- 
 
 manum vestris opinationibus dan- tutes/' ii. 9. " virtutes sub oculis 
 
 tes, unum fuisse Christum de no- positse et inauditailla vis rerum," 
 
 bis," &c. See too c. 23. ib. 10. 
 
 ^ Not in the special Christian * 4. " nihil nocens, aut no- 
 sense : he calls Christ, " interio- xium, sed opiferum, sed salutare, 
 rum potentiarum Deus, rei maxi- sed auxiliaribus plenum bonis," 
 mse caussa a summo Rege ad nos i. 25, 
 missus." ib.23. ' ii. 10. 
 
 '^ "Nulla major est comproba- " i. 32; ii. 10. 
 
 tio quam gestarum ab eo fides '' " Constitit Christum sine 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. xllx 
 
 V. the transmission of the power to otJters ; which CHAP, 
 was even a stronger argument than its possession \ 
 
 After setting forth with excessive but characteristic 
 diffuseness these several points, he meets the opinion of 
 those who would ascribe the works to the exercise of 
 magic, and alludes to the assertion that Christ learnt 
 in Egypt those powerful arts by which such prodigies 
 were performed. He asks whether any magician of any 
 age or country had ever done such deeds as these; 
 whether the exploits of sorcerers were not notoriously 
 confined to certain well-known practices ; whether they 
 were not invariably achieved with certain aids of time, 
 place, and instruments, and whether, if their perform- 
 ances instead of their promises were to be considered, 
 any one could be named whose pretensions would bear 
 the most distant comparison with the works of Christ^. 
 
 He next examines the claims of other gods to mira- 
 culous virtues, and after intimating that he could pro- 
 bably perplex his adversary by demanding authenticated 
 examples of such works, he asserts that no cures were 
 ever performed in the temples or at the shrines without 
 the accompaniment of some medicine or regimen^, so 
 that the effect (if any) might always be attributed to 
 the medium^. He also adds that the cures were not 
 complete, and that the seeds of the disease still re- 
 mained^"; and that the miracles were tentative^ for that 
 where there was one patient healed, thousands had 
 
 ullis adminiculis rerum, sine ul- quietantibus caussis, ambulare, 
 
 lius ritus observatione, vel lege, cessare, aut ahqua re, quae officiat, 
 
 omnia ilia, quae fecit, nominis sui abstinere." lb. 27- 
 
 possibilitate fecisse," i. 25. ^ Ibid. 
 
 ** lb. 29. ^" Illud audire desidero, an 
 
 ^ lb. 24. fecerit (deus iste) et emori vale- 
 
 " " cibum aliquem jusserunt tudinum caussam, et debilium 
 
 capi, aut qualitatis alicujus ebibi corpora ad suas remeare naturas." 
 
 potionem, aut herbarum et gra- Ibid. Compare Paley's Evidences, 
 
 mimim succos superponere in- Prop. ii. c. 1. 
 d 
 
1 t)N THE APOLOGETIC AVJIITI.VGS! 
 
 CHAP, wasted their time and substance around the altars of 
 
 in. ;^ , . 
 
 iEsculapms, without experiencing either improvement or 
 
 advantaged 
 
 From this he proceeds to an objection famihar in- 
 deed to modern ears, but seldom urged or argued in 
 ancient times. " You will deny the facts ^'' he says, — 
 ^ed non crsditis gesta Jicec! and he replies with the best 
 appeal to historical evidence and universal testimony which 
 an apologist could have made. He enlarges especially 
 and repeatedly on the open and unlimited exhibition of 
 the miracles^, points to their effects on eye witnesses^ 
 remarks that these were mighty multitudes and almost 
 entire nations*, who could not possibly have trusted any 
 thing less than the irrefragable evidence of their senses, 
 and that a refusal of their testimony involves virtually 
 a charge of falsehood or stupidity against a whole gene- 
 ration, probably as sagacious, and naturally as incredu- 
 lous, as ourselves^; he observes, too, that this history 
 has been handed down through a body of men, who 
 on 5-ny supposition but the truth of Christianity, must 
 have voluntarily and gratuitously endured all temporal 
 hardships and resigned all temporal comforts for the 
 sake of propagating a lie^. 
 
 ^ "Nonne alios scimiis malis et credenda posteris nobis baud 
 
 suos commortuos, cruciatibus alios exilibus cum approbationibus tra- 
 
 consenuisse morborum, pernicio- diderunt." 1. 32. 
 sius alios sese habere caepisse, ^ " Gentes, populi, nationes, 
 
 post quam dies noctesqiie in con- et incredulum illud genus huma- 
 
 tinuis precibus et pietatis expecta- num." Ibid, 
 tione triverunt ? quid ergo prodest ^ " Numquid dicemus illius 
 
 unum aut alterum fortasse cura- temporis homines usque adeo 
 
 tos ostendere ?" Ibid. 28. Com- fuisse vanos, mendaces, stolidos, 
 
 pare Paley again as above. brutos ut quae nunquam viderant, 
 
 ^ 1. 82; II. 9, 10. vidisse se fingerent ? " Ibid. Com- 
 
 ^ " Sed qui ea conspicati sunt pare Leslie's short way with the 
 
 fieri et sub oculis suis viderunt Deists, c. i. 2. 3. 
 agi, testes optirai ccrtissimique ^ " Cumque possent vobiscum 
 
 auctores, et crediderunt htec ipsi. ft unanimiter vivere, et inofFen- 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 11 
 
 He next appeals to the existing facts of the case, Ci fAP. 
 
 and asks how the prevalence and extension of Christi 
 
 anity through all ranks and nations in spite of oppo- 
 sition and tyranny can be explained, if it is based upon 
 falsehood^. This argument shews incidentally the dif- 
 ferent intentions with which this work and the Apology 
 of Tertullian were composed; TertuUian uses it only as 
 a dissuasive from cruelty, he was pleading merely for tole- 
 ration ; Arnobius turns it to a proof of his faith, he 
 was shewing the credibility of the religion. 
 
 Towards the better consideration of th3 ca~e he offers 
 a few remarks of general import. The Christians, as is 
 well known, were attacked for their credulity. He points 
 to the practical influence and use of faith in all the 
 ordinary transactions of life^, and particularly enquires 
 whether a believer in any school, or in no school, does 
 not repose in some teacher or other a confidence equally 
 impHcit, and far less reasonable than that of the Chris- 
 tian^. He shews the error of any antecedent objection 
 to Christianity, observing that there should be rather 
 a contrary inclination, to trust the bearer of such glad 
 tidings and such salutary words, as Christ's ^° ; and adds, 
 that if the divine promises could n-^t logically be proved 
 to be true, it was because the future does not admit 
 of demonstration, but that in a case of such doubtful- 
 ness as this, it would be only consonant wath sense and 
 reason to choose the most probable alternative, and the 
 one which offered the greatesii prospect and hope of 
 
 sas ducere conjunctiones gratiiita Parochial Sermois. 
 susciperent odia, et exercrablH ^ Ibid. 
 
 haberentur in nomine." Ibid. ^^ i. 38. ''Vel propter id so- 
 
 Compare Paley's first proposition, lum eum deberetis amplecti quod 
 
 ^ Ibid. 33 ; ii. 4. Compare optabilia vobis sponderet et pros- 
 Archbishop Whateley, Logic, p. pera, quod bonarum esset nuntius 
 248. rerum, quod ea prsedicaret quae 
 
 ^ II. 7. Compare Ne>vman's nullius animum Isederent. ' 
 
lii 
 
 GN THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, benefit ^ ; especially since, if the faith were delusive and 
 
 ! groundless, its embrace could at worst be productive of 
 
 no harm, whereas if true, its neglect would involve the 
 loss of eternal happiness^. 
 
 In perusing this sketch of Arnobius, the reader has 
 probably recognized many a familiar thought, and re- 
 marked how many arguments of modern apologists have 
 been anticipated by this obscure and neglected writer ; 
 and his own memory will doubtless supply him with 
 many more paralleHsms than I have pointed to in the 
 notes ; but even apart from this, I think the peculiar 
 position and character of the author, invest his senti- 
 ments and his reasoning with very singular interest and 
 value. Arnobius was not a Father of the Church, it 
 is even questioned whether at the date of this compo- 
 sition he was formally admitted within its pale, he was 
 certainly ignorant of many of its mysteries and doctrines ; 
 prophecy he makes no allusion to ; there is barely evi- 
 dence of his having read scripture, and quotations from 
 it there are none^ ; but he was obviously a well-educated 
 and intelligent heathen, more than usually learned and 
 argumentative, and previously well affected to the ancient 
 religion* ; his liberality and candour are remarkable, he 
 admits the existence of inexplicable mysteries, and when 
 pressed for explanation on points such as the origin of 
 
 ^ " Nonne purior ratio est ex bus liberum implicare vos talibus, 
 
 duobus incertis, et in ambigua et tam remota ab utilitate curare, 
 
 expectatione pendentibus, id po- Res vestra in ancipiti sita est, 
 
 tins credere quod aliquas spes salus animarum vestrarum." Ibid, 
 
 ferat, quam omnino quod nul- 47. 
 
 las? " II. 3. ^ In II. 5, there is a reference 
 
 ^ " In illo enim periculi nihil to 1 Cor. iii. 19. Sapientia enim 
 
 est, si quod dicitur imminere cas- liujus mundi, stultitia est apud 
 
 sum fiat et vacuum, in hoc dam- Deum ; but the writer introduces 
 
 num est maximum (id est salutis it with '* nunquam ne \llud vul- 
 
 amissio) si cum tempus venerit, ,9a;?/m perstrinxerit aures vestras." 
 
 aperiatur non fuisse mendacium." ^ i. 20. 
 Ibid. "Vestris non est rationi- 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. lui 
 
 evil and others, acknowledges freely his ignorance and CHAP. 
 
 iii» 
 inability^; he was tolerant in his ideas and an advo- 
 
 cate for free discussion^, and under these circumstances, 
 and with such qualifications, he made the investigations 
 and drew the conclusions which resulted in the work 
 before us. If the credere quam scire is to be exploded 
 as unbecoming the present stage of intellect and civiliza- 
 tion, if the first teaching of the Church is to be the 
 teaching her children that they ought to be taught, I 
 cannot see a better system of evidences than thus to 
 establish the divine origin of a scheme and thereby ne- 
 cessitate the acceptance of its details. 
 
 Closely following Arnobius in time, and in subject, 
 but differing widely in his fashion of handling it comes 
 his pupil Lactantius, an author whose writings may per- 
 haps be less familiar than his name. His chief work, 
 the Dimnce Institutiones, consists of seven books, of which 
 the object is no less comprehensive and important than 
 to demolish Paganism, prove Christianity, confute phi- 
 losophy, establish the indissoluble connection between true 
 wisdom and true religion, or rather, perhaps, their iden- 
 tity, and shew that both are to be sought and found 
 only in the Catholic Church of Christ. The two first 
 books expose the Pagan rites, and the third the hollow- 
 ness of philosophy ; the fourth contains the apologetic 
 portion of the treatise, and the remainder completes the 
 whole into such a system of Christian ethics as the writer 
 could compose. As in other cases, our principal atten- 
 tion is directed to the apologetic chapters, which are 
 
 ^ II. 29, 41, 42. Compare too pia dicta refellitote, redarguite, 
 
 his remarks on those who died reprobate. Nam intercipere scrip- 
 
 before the advent of Christ. Ibid. ta, et publicatam velle lectionem 
 
 49. submergere, non est deum de- 
 
 ^ See a curious passage, iii. 5, fendere, sed veritatis testificatio- 
 
 concluding with " erroris convin- nem timere." 
 cite Ciceronem, temeraria et im- 
 
liv 
 
 ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 ^m^' ^^^ incidentally added, but are an integral part of the 
 -work. Lactantius commences* with the precept that 
 an enquirer should first of all make himself thoroughly 
 acquainted with the Jewish history, and especially with 
 the Prophets, and the dates of their writings, inasmuch 
 as their testimony will be necessarily employed in the 
 subsequent proofs He then proceeds carefully through 
 the circumstances of the Birth, Advent, Incarnation, Life, 
 " Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord ; and 
 shews that all these are in exact accordance with the 
 predictions concerning them, and this not with the scrip- 
 tural prophecies only but with the Sibylline verses, and 
 the prophecies of Hermes Trismegistus^. This is all which 
 he adduces in the form of systematic evidence. He adverts 
 to the miracles, but simply in their character as events 
 of our Saviour's life, and insists mainly on the minute 
 agreement of their details with the Sibylline predictions^ , 
 from which fact also he draws his proof that they were 
 not wrought by magic \ All this may appear unsatis- 
 factory to our ideas, but many things should induce us 
 to hesitate before we pronounce a decided opinion. The 
 work itself is of a totally different nature from any 
 which we have been considering. It is a kind of Book 
 of Christiano-philosophical Institutes ; it offers a system 
 of cosmogony instead of the philosophical systems; a 
 system of offices instead of the scholastic systems ; thus 
 withdrawing from the ancient sages their two subjects 
 
 ^ Div. Inst. IV. 5. omnia qua? nobis annuntiata sunt 
 
 ^ " Quorum testimoniis uti vaticinio Prophetarum. Fecit 
 
 nunc necesse est." Ibid. mirabilia : magum putassemus, 
 
 ^ Ibid. 6 — 21. ' ut et vos nunc putatis et Judsei 
 
 * Ibid. 16. tunc putaverunt, si non ilia ipsa 
 
 ** " Disce igitur, non solum facturum Christum Proplietse om- 
 
 idcirco a nobis Deum creditum nes uno spiritu prtedicassent.'" 
 
 Christum quia mirabilia fecit, sed Ibid. v. 3; Compare too iv. 15. 
 
 quia vidimus in eo facta ess3 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Iv 
 
 of speculation, and making referable to true religion all ^Hf ^" 
 
 the duties of life ; much on the principle which has lately 
 
 been defended with an ability and judgment so far su- 
 perior. 
 
 There is one very remarkable feature in this case : 
 Lactantius most clearly knew the precise nature of his 
 task, and the best methods of achieving it ; he discusses 
 the writings of previous apologists^, and points out with 
 great cleverness the points in which they failed ; he re- 
 marks on the difference of their objects and his, ob- 
 serving that it is one thing to reply to simple accusa- 
 tions, and another to assert a whole body of doctrine^; 
 he mentions the mistake of S. Cyprian in quoting 
 scripture to unbelievers^, alludes to the harshness and 
 obscurity of Tertullian^, and acknowledges and accounts 
 for, generally, the inefficacy of his predecessor's at- 
 tempts'*^. He saw the distinction between testimony '^ 
 and argument in evidence^', and if he constantly, and 
 to our ideas, unhappily, chooses and pursues the latter, 
 we have the right, if we please, to suppose that he 
 had good grounds for his selection. It is scarcely pos- 
 sible to conceive a greater contrast than he presents to 
 Amobius; the one declining argument, acknowledging 
 mystery, and asserting facts ; the other substituting argu- 
 mentation for every thing. liter magis^ says the for- 
 mer, xidetur irrisione esse dignissimus vohis, qui sibi sci- 
 
 ® V. 1. means particularly Scripture, as 
 
 ^ " Aliud est, accusantibiis res- in the passage cited above from 
 
 pondere, quod in defensione aut iv. 5, and also v. 4, where he 
 
 in negatione sola positum est, says, " non Scripturae testimoniis, 
 
 aliud instituere quod nos facimus, sed argumentis et ratione fuerat 
 
 in quo necesse est doctrinse totius repellendus." 
 
 substantiam contineri." Ibid. 4. ^^ " Et quanquam apud bonos 
 
 *^ Ibid. judices satis habeant firmitatis vel 
 
 ^ Ibid. 1. testimonia sine argumentis, vel 
 
 ^" Ibid. argumenta sine testimoniis," &c. 
 
 ^^ By testimony though he iv. 22. 
 
ivi 
 
 ox THE APOLOGKTIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, entiam nullam tenehrosce rei alicujus assumit, an ille qui 
 
 retur se ex se apertissime scire id quod humanam trans- 
 
 siliat notionem, et quod sit cwcis ohscuritatibus involutum ? 
 The latter says, Falsa dicentem redarguere non potest nisi 
 qui scierit ante quid sit mrum. Arnobius declines the 
 question of the existence of evil ; Lactantius says it is 
 necessary to the formation of its contrary, good. And 
 his reasoning is perpetually of such a kind, which his 
 subject gave him endless opportunities of displaying or 
 exposing. His application of quotations could scarcely 
 be paralleled even in that fertile school of ingenuity, 
 and sacred and profane are all confused together. Never- 
 theless, as I before remarked, a rhetorician and a scho- 
 lar, with so correct an appreciation of his own object, 
 and so clear a discernment of the faults of others in 
 following it, may not be safely or speedily condemned 
 by us, especially when that object was so excellent and 
 the spirit of its pursuit so good. Even the weakest 
 point about him, his appeals to Hermes and the Sibyl, 
 may possibly be more defensible than we imagine ; he 
 evidently was Aware of the suspicions thrown on these 
 verses ^, which he does not himself admit the justice of ; 
 they might too have been acknowledged by adversaries 
 who denied other prophecies, and his fault is at all events 
 no greater than would have been that of a philologist 
 before the time of Bentley, who had proved a gramma- 
 tical canon from the epistles of Phalaris. 
 
 I have here set this writer in the most favourable 
 light in which he can be viewed, and offered the most 
 partial explanation of his design and its prosecution. 
 But there is another hypothesis which will as easily 
 explain the singularities of his argument, and which will 
 quickly suggest itself to his readers. He was a man of 
 excessive vanity, with unhesitating confidence in his own 
 ^ See ad fin. iv. 15. 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. Ivii 
 
 powers, and a profound contempt for the performances CHAP. 
 
 of others. Instead of excusing his weakness, Hke his 
 
 brethren, he avows his intention of making truth more 
 agreeable by his interesting eloquence*^, and asserts that 
 by his writings not only will ancient adversaries be re- 
 futed, but future enemies deterred, and that no one 
 after listening to Ms arguments, will be able to withhold 
 his assent^. To presume that he was blinded by his 
 conceit, would be less charitable, but perhaps not less 
 reasonable, than to conclude he was guided by expe- 
 dience. 
 
 The few years that elapsed between the treatises of 
 Arnobius and Lactantius had sufficed to change most 
 materially the relation in which Christianity stood to 
 the State ; the former writer sends forth from the midst 
 of persecutions a work which calumnies drove him to 
 publish, the latter dedicates his to imperial favour, and 
 assumes the tone rather of one justifying an established, 
 than pleading for a persecuted, system. But, in about 
 half a century more, the change was complete, and 
 Paganism appears pleading for the toleration it had so 
 long denied. A composition of this date will complete 
 the various specimens of apologetic writing which I pro- 
 mised at starting, and its brief examination will conclude 
 a chapter which has been already extended beyond the 
 limits proposed. In the year 384 the heathen senators 
 
 ^ "Quae (caussa) licet possit runt uno semel impetu profliga- 
 
 sine eloquentia defendi, ut est a rem . . . . ut et priores cum om- 
 
 multis ssepe defensa ; tamen clari- nibus suis scriptis perverterem, 
 
 tate ac nitore sermonis illus- et futuris omnem facultatem scri- 
 
 tranda, et quodammodo disse- bendi aut respondendi amputa- 
 
 renda est, ut potentius in animos rem. Praebeant modo aures ; 
 
 influat." D. I. i. praef. efficiam profecto, ut quicunque 
 
 ^ " Non ut contra hos scribe- ista cognoverit, aut suscipiat quod 
 
 rem, qui paucis verbis obteri po- ante damnavit, aut, quod est 
 
 terant, sed ut omnes, qui ubique proximum, deridere aliquando 
 
 idem operis efficiunt aut eiFece- desistat." Ibid. v. 4. 
 
Iviii ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS 
 
 CHAP, (both then and afterwards a numerous body) deputed 
 
 an eminent member of their assembly to petition the 
 sovereign for the restoration of the Altar of Victory in 
 the senate, and the orator accordingly, Symmachus, ad- 
 dressed a kind of memorial to the throne, which still 
 remains to us under the usual title of Belatio SymmacJii. 
 This singular relic, ostensibly a plea for the re-erection 
 of an altar, is in fact a prayer for the toleration of 
 the old religion; the writer assumes very deliberately 
 the uncertainty of all schemes, and avers that pecu- 
 liarity of belief is neither unnatural nor unsafe^ ; on the 
 contrary, indeed, he thinks that such a division of cre- 
 dulity may possibly be desirable, and that as in the 
 multitude of counsellors there is safety, so in the variety 
 of creeds there may be truth. Uno itinere non potest per- 
 mniri ad tarn grande secretum. He touches on the delicate 
 point of a government contributing to a religion not its 
 own, and asserts that such grants may be justifiably con- 
 tinued, if not commenced^ ; and that since the usefulness 
 of a religion is the chief proof of its divinity^, that it 
 is scarcely expedient to neglect those gods whose favour 
 they had so long experienced. To this document S. Am- 
 brose published a reply, which, though apologetic in 
 
 ^ Relat. Symm. c. 8. " Suus what he gets from them. As 
 
 cuique mos, suus cuique ritus this very remarkable argument 
 
 est; varios custodes urbibus et is contained in a few words I 
 
 cultos mens divina distribuit." subjoin it entire. " Accedit utili- 
 
 2 Ibid. c. 16. " Quod a prin- tas, quae maxime homini Deos 
 
 cipio ( I would rather read in prin- asserit. Nam cum ratio omnis in 
 
 cipio) beneficium fuit, usu atque operto sit, undo rectius quam de 
 
 aetate fit debitum ; inanem igitur memoria atque doimmeritis rerum 
 
 metum divino animo vestro tentat secundarum cognitio venit numi- 
 
 incutere, si quis asserit conscien- num ? Jam si longa cetas aucto- 
 
 tiam vos habere prsebentium, nisi ritatem religionibus faciat, servan- 
 
 detrahentium subieritis invidi- da est tot sseculis fides, et sequendi 
 
 am." sunt nobis parentcs, qui sccuti 
 
 ^ In other words, that a man's sunt feliciter suos." 
 belief in the gods depends on 
 
OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 lix 
 
 character, contains but one of the arguments of the chap. 
 
 ancient apologies ^ Symmachus had reproduced the im 
 
 perishable charge against the Christians of being the 
 authors of all the calamities of iJie times, and specially 
 of a recent famine. S. Ambrose refutes the accusatiwi 
 by the usual obvious facts and reasoning. The rest of 
 his book is devoted to the discussion of his adversary's 
 points in detail. He does not protest absolutely against 
 the toleration of Paganism, but he vehemently dissuades 
 the Emperor from protecting it ; he urges that the 
 Christians never applied for state-grants, but would have 
 always been content could they have escaped persecu- 
 tion, and even gloried in that^; he contrasts the seven 
 vestals richly salaried, magnificently lodged, and pompously 
 honoured, with the unobtrusive celibacy of whole congre- 
 gations of Christians^, and compares generally the patience 
 of the Christians under tortures and death, with the 
 outcry of the Pagans under simple neglect. 
 
 After all, perhaps we have scarcely given due credit, 
 or assigned sufficient influence, to the Christian apologists. 
 The disparaging decisions of Lactantius may possibly be 
 owing in a great measure to his own overweening self- 
 conceit, or refer merely to the judgment of philosophical 
 sophists ' ; certainly, if they are to be tested by his 
 opinion of himself, they are of little value. We know 
 that Christianity spread over the surface of the known 
 
 * Perhaps I may add that Am- bem pudoris," &c. I quote these 
 
 brose, like TertuUian, urges the words to remark that pudoris is 
 
 fact that the Romans were per- not such a genitive as glorirs in p. 
 
 petually altering their religious 65, (where see note) but is equi- 
 
 rites, and should therefore be less valent to pudicarum. " Let them 
 
 outrageous at their total sup- look up, and see a whole tribe of 
 
 pression. virgins," &c. i. e. as opposed to 
 
 ^ Ibid. c. 11. the seven vestals. 
 
 ^ Ibid. 18. " Attollant mentis ^ " doctis hujus saculi," he 
 
 et corporis oculos, videant pie- says, " deridentur haec scripta." 
 
IX ON THE APOLOGETIC WRITINGS, &C. 
 
 CHAP, world, and that apologies were written to promote its 
 
 diffusion; we may not be able to trace their insensible 
 
 operation or find recorded instances of their power, but 
 it is at least not improbable that the steadfast endurance 
 of a martyr whose blood was the seed of the Church, 
 might have itself resulted from the patient and private 
 study of such writings as these. Even their perpetual 
 repetition argues an experience of some little previous 
 success. At all events, the cause which they advocated 
 was triumphant, and if we cannot discover how much 
 of its prosperity they were mediately the authors of, 
 that is no just or logical ground for refusing them any 
 credit at all. 
 
TERTULLIANI 
 LIBER APOLOGETICUS 
 
 ADVERSUS GENTES. 
 
 CAP. 
 I. 
 
 I. Si non licet vobis, Komani imperii aiitis- 
 tites\ in aperto et edito ipso fere vertice civitatis y^^ ^re 
 prsesidentibus ad judicandum, palam dispicere et P^J^^^^^^^^j^^y ^ 
 coram examinare, quid sit liquido in caussa Chris- and'IdSt 
 
 ,• • J 2 T_ 1 • i. ' 1. indeed such 
 
 tianorum ; si ad hanc solara speciem auctoritas evidence as 
 vestra de justitiae diligentia in publico aut timet foSTou^ 
 
 , . . . . , . , 1 proves to be 
 
 aut erubescit mquirere : si denique, quod proxime unworthy 
 
 . ,. T . . T •• • • ofthetreat- 
 
 accidit, domesticis judiciis nimis operata sectae ment. 
 hujus infestatio obstruit^ viaih defensioni: liceat 
 veritati vel occulta via tacitarum litterarum ad 
 
 1. ^ Antistites. These are 
 termed prcesides afterwards, c. 9, 
 and 50. Licet in this sentence 
 means little more than luhet, 
 which I only mention because it 
 has been referred to the com- 
 pulsory injustice of the govern- 
 ment, (c. 28, imposita est vobis 
 necessitas cogendi), under the in- 
 fluence of daemoniacal agency. 
 
 ^ Si ad hanc, &c. 1 think the 
 construction of this rather intri- 
 cate sentence is as follows: si 
 auct. vestr. timet aut er. inq. in 
 publico de just, diligentia, ad hanc 
 solam speciem. Ad may thus mean 
 either simply " with reference 
 to," like nihil ad hanc caussam 
 retractandum, c. 25 ; or it may be 
 used after timet, like expavescere 
 
 ad lucem, c. 39; ad solitudinem, 
 c. 37. pavere ad Christi mentionem, 
 Arnob. i. 13. Species in Tertul- 
 lian is used for " case" or " sub- 
 ject," as de Orat. c. 1, oportebat 
 enim in hac quoque specie, &c. but 
 it probably signifies here species 
 criminis, as de Idol. c. 1, suam, 
 speciem tenet unumquodque de- 
 lictum. So that the sense will 
 be, "If with regard to this charge 
 only of all others, (i. e. Chris- 
 tianity), you are either ashamed 
 or afraid to enquire publicly into 
 the due administration of jus- 
 tice." 
 
 ^ Obstruereviam. This phrase, 
 like obstruere gradum, (de Virg. 
 Vel. c. 15 ; de prses. Haer. c. 15), 
 is equivalent to impedimento esse. 
 
2 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. aures vestras pervenire. Nihil ilia de caussa sua 
 deprecatiir, quia nee de conditione miratur. Scit 
 se peregrinam in terris agere'^, inter extraneos 
 facile inimicos in venire, ceterum genus, sedem, 
 spem, gratiam, dignitatem in coelis habere. Unum 
 gestit^ interdum, ne ignorata damnetur. Quid 
 hinc deperit legibus in suo regno dominantibus, 
 si audiatur? At hoc magis gloriabitur potestas 
 earum, quod etiam auditara damnabunt veritatem. 
 Ceterum inauditam si damnent, praeter invidiam* 
 iniquitatis etiam suspicionem merebuntur alicujus 
 conscientiae, nolentes audire, quod auditum dam- 
 nare non possint. Hanc itaque primam caussam 
 apud vos collocamus iniquitatis odii erga> nomen 
 Christianorum. Quam iniquitatem idem titulus" 
 et onerat et revincit, qui videtur excusare, igno- 
 rantia scilicet. Quid enim iniquius, quam ut 
 oderint homines, quod ignorant, etiamsi res mere- 
 tur odium? Tunc etenim meretur, cum cognos- 
 citur, an mereatur. Vacante^ autem meriti notitia, 
 
 * Heb. XI. 18. S. Pet. i. 2. 11. '' Titiilus, i. q. elogium. A 
 
 The expression agere peregrinam brief specification of the charge 
 
 will be illustrated hereafter. or indictment, the proces-verbal ; 
 
 ^ Gestire is unusually con- both words occur frequently in 
 
 structed with a simple accusative. Tertullian. Suetonius relates that 
 
 — quid hinc deperit legibus, si — Caligula ordered off a long file of 
 
 " What does the law lose in this prisoners to execution, " nullius 
 
 i case, if," &c. deperire, as Lucret. inspecto elogio," and that Domitian 
 
 ^ II. 29G. condemned a citizen to the beasts 
 
 " []Quam invidiam in caussa *'cum hoc titulo." Onerat et re- 
 
 S. Pauli agnovit ipse Festus. Acts vincit — ^both aggravates and con- 
 
 XXV. 16, A,'] alicujus conscientia— victs — revihcit, see ad Apul. Ap. 
 
 "of some privity to the crime." — 400. 
 
 collocamus caussam apud vos — " Vacante, i. e. non-existente 
 
 " we lodge this accusation against c. 18, ne notitia vacaret. c. 11, va- 
 
 you," viz., of the injustice of your cat ex hac parte caussa. " If there 
 
 hatred, &c. is no knowledge of the deserts." — 
 
r 
 
 LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 unde odii justitia defenditur qu£e non de eventu, cap. 
 
 sed de conscientia probanda est? Cum ergo prop- 
 
 terea oderint homines, quia ignorant, quale sit quod 
 oderunt, cur non liceat ejusmodi illud esse, quod 
 non debeant odisse? Ita utrumque ex alterutro 
 redarguimus, et ignorare illos, dum oderunt, et AdNat.i.i. 
 injuste odisse, dum ignorant. Testimonium^ igno- 
 rantiag est, quae iniquitatem, dum excusat, con- 
 demnat, cum omnes, qui retro oderant, quia igno- 
 rabant, quale esset quod oderant, simul ut desinunt 
 ignorare, cessent et odisse. Ex his fiunt Chris- 
 tiani, utique de comperto, et incipiunt odisse quod 
 fuerant, et profiteri quod oderant, et sunt tanti^^, 
 quanti et denotamur. Obsessam vociferantur civi- 
 tatem, in agris^\ in castellis, in insulis Christianos; 
 omnem sexum, aetatem, conditionem, etiam digni- 
 
 odiijuMitia, as de Spect. 16, " con- 
 vicia sine odii justitia, suffragia 
 sine merito amoris." 
 
 ^ Constr. Testimonium est — 
 cum (i. e. quod) cessent, &c. retro. 
 in past times, fomierly. This 
 is a very frequent expression in 
 TertuUiafn, who even employs the 
 comparative retrosior in c. 19. 
 Apuleius (de Deo Soc. 669) joins 
 it "vvith prorsus, " naturas pror- 
 sus ac retro ceviternas." In later 
 Latin it is compounded with 
 words as a prefix, but I do not 
 think it should be so taken in c. 3. 
 Compare Horace. Car. ni. 29, 46. 
 
 ^" Tanti — quanti, for tot — quot, 
 as usually in this author; we 
 shall presently have quanti trans- 
 fugce. The censorial sense of noto 
 is probably implied in denotamur. 
 See below, denotasset impntdentes. 
 
 ^^ Agri — the country as op- 
 posed to the town ; castella — small 
 villages, probably collected round 
 some fortified post; non solum 
 urhibus, sed pcene vicis, castellisque 
 singulis, says Caesar, (B. C. iii. 
 32,) using a climax. The Vul- 
 gate renders Kuifxr] by castellum, 
 e. g. S. Luc. xvii. 12, et cum in- 
 grederetur quoddam castellum; (in 
 such places other versions have 
 vicus); insulcE — the islands round 
 the coasts as opposed to the conti- 
 nent. These served as places of 
 banishment in the time of the 
 empire. Inf. c. 12, in insulas 
 relegamur. See too the breves 
 Gyari of Juvenal, (i. 73.) Taci- 
 tus, (Hist. I. 2), " plenum ex- 
 siliis mare, infecti cc^dibus sco- 
 puli." — quoM detrimento, i. e. cum 
 de. suo. 
 
 1—2 
 
4 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. tatem trausgredi ad hoc nomeii quasi detrimento 
 moerent. Nee tamen hoc ipso modo ad aestima- 
 tionem alicujus latentis boni promovent animos; 
 non licet rectius suspicari, non libet propius expe- 
 riri. Hie tantum^^ humana euriositas torpescit, 
 amant ignorare, cum alii gaudeant cognovisse. 
 Quanto magis hos Anacharsis denotasset impru- 
 dentes de prudentibus judicantes, quam immusicos 
 de musicis ! Malunt nescire, quia jam oderunt ; 
 adeo quod nesciunt praejudicant^^ id esse, quod, 
 si sciant, odisse non poterant; quando si nullum 
 odii debitum deprehendatur, optimum utique sit 
 desinere injuste odisse ; si vero de merito constet, 
 non modo nihil odii detrahatur, sed amplius ac- 
 quiratur ad perseverantiam, etiam justitise ipsius 
 auctoritate. Sed non ideo, inquit^^ bonum, quia 
 multos convertit. Quanti enim ad malum praefor- 
 mantur, quanti transfugae in perversum ? r Quis 
 negat? tamen quod vere malum est, ne ipsi quidem, 
 quos rapit, defendere pro bono audent. Omne ma- 
 lum aut timer e aut pudore natura perfudit^\ De- 
 
 " Hie tantum. " On this sub- * presumption,' v. c. 49 ; nullum 
 
 ject alone the natural curiosity of odii debitum — nothing to which 
 
 man is indifferent." cum alii — general hatred is due. 
 although others, &c. Anacharsis, 14 jriquit sc. aliquis. It cannot 
 
 (Diog. Laert. i. 103,) Oav^xd'^eiv be necessary to illustrate this el- 
 
 €0»;, TTw? irapd to?? '^KWrja-iv lipse to a scholar ; but it should 
 
 djcovii^ovrai fxev ot TC^viTaif be observed that in Tertullian it 
 
 KpivoviTi hi ol uti rexvirai. is frequently that of Bominus or 
 
 ^ Prc^judicare and pre^sumere apostolus, and serves to introduce 
 
 will be found m the Fathers a quotation from scripture ; c. g. 
 
 sometimes m the simple sense of ^^ I^ol. c. 13 and 14. 
 judicare, and at others with the ^^ Perfudit. Lucret. 11. 147. 
 
 usual force of ;)?•<«', as in this pas- 'Sol — perfundens omnia luce.' 
 
 s&ge: prcssumtio occurs frequently Cyprian has tlie same expres- 
 
 in the exact sense of our word sion. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 5 
 
 nique malefici gestiunt latere, devitant apparere, cap. 
 trepidant deprehensi, negant accusati, ne torti qui- 
 dem facile aut semper confitentur ; certe condem- 
 nati moerent; dinumerant^^ in semetipsos, mentis 
 malas impetus vel fato vel astris imputant; nolunt 
 enim suum esse, quod malum agnoscunt. Chris- 
 tianos vero, nihil simile ^^ ; neminem pudet, nemi- 
 nem poenitet, nisi plane retro non fuisse. Si de- 
 notatur, gloriatur ; si accusatur, non defendit ; in- 
 terrogatus vel ultro confitetur ; damnatus gratias 
 agit. Quid hoc mali est, quod naturam mali non 
 habet, timorem, pudorem, tergiversationem, poeni- 
 tentiam, deplorationem ? Quid hoc mali est, cujus 
 reus gaudet? cujus accusatio votum est, et poena 
 felicitas ? Non potes dementiam dicere, qui re- 
 vinceris ignorare. 
 
 II. Si certum est denique nos nocentissimos Evenifwe 
 
 . . are ever so 
 
 esse, cur a vobis ipsis^ aliter tractamur, quam pares criminal, 
 
 ^ ^ -^ -^ we should 
 
 nostri, id est ceteri nocentes ? cum eiusdem noxae be placed 
 
 «' on a level 
 
 eadem tractatio deberet intervenire. Quodcunque ^^rhij^^t^^ 
 dicimur^, cum alii dicuntur, et proprio ore et mer- •'j^^'g j^^^^jf^'; 
 
 ^® Dinumerant in semetipsos. plied. Another reading is Chris- 
 
 This expression is interpreted tianus, which is probable. Com- 
 
 from the context, and from the pare in c. 2. de nobis nihil tale. 
 
 parallel passage, ad Nat. i. 1. Defendit abs. for defendit accusa- 
 
 {exprohrant quod erant in semet- tionem or crimen, 
 
 ipsos), to signify animadvertunt, II. ^ Ipsis. — If this reading 
 
 or something similar, but as it be correct, I imagine it is equi- 
 
 does not occur elsewhere there valent to iisdem. " Why do like 
 
 are no other means of illustrating criminals fare differently before 
 
 it. The accusative after in shews the same judges ?" 
 
 the idea of animadversion clearly ^ Constr. Quodcunque (sc. cu- 
 
 enough, and the ellipse is pro- juscunque criminis rei) dicimur, 
 
 bably peccata sua. cum id (ejusdem) alii dicuntur, 
 
 ^^ Nihil simile — sc. agitat, or utuntur, &;c. Mercenaria advo- 
 
 any similar expressionmay be sup- catione ; Cf. Pric. ad Apul. Apol^ 
 
6 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. cenaria aclvocatione utuntur ad innocentiae suae com« 
 
 — mendationem. Respondendi, altercandi facultas 
 
 every prin- patet, quando nee liceat indefensos et inauditos 
 ticeand omnino damnari. Sed Christianis solis nihil per- 
 
 custom. 
 
 niittitur loqui, quod caussam purget, quod veritatem 
 defendat, quod judicem non faciat injustum. Sed 
 Ad Nat. 1. 2. illud solum exspectatur^ quod odio publico ne- 
 cessarium est, confessio nominis, non examinatio 
 criminis : quando si de aliquo nocente cognoscitis, 
 non statim confesso eo nomen homicidae, vel sa- 
 crilegi, vel incesti, vel publici hostis (ut de nostris 
 elogiis loquar) contenti sitis ad pronuntiandum, nisi 
 et consequentia exigatis, qualitatem facti, numerum, 
 locum, modum, tempus, conscios, socios. De nobis 
 nihil tale, cum seque extorqueri oporteret, quod- 
 cunque falso jactatur, quot quisque jam infanti- 
 cidia degustassetS quot incesta contenebrasset, qui 
 coci, qui canes alFuissent. O quanta illius praesidis 
 gloria, si eruisset aliquem, qui centum jam infantes 
 comedisset! Atquin^ invenimus inquisitionem quo- 
 que in nos prohibitam, Plinius enim Secundus 
 cum provinciam regeret, damnatis quibusdam Chris- 
 tianis, quibusdam gradu pulsis, ipsa tamen mul- 
 
 404. — altercandi,— this was a spe- abs. " for giving sentence ;" see 
 
 cial legal term, applied to the at the end of this eh. qualitatem — 
 
 cross-questioning that took place the aggravating or extenuating 
 
 between the parties, generally circumstances ; numerum — the 
 
 after the formal speeches. Quin- frequency of its commission by 
 
 til. I. O. VI. 4. 1. the prisoner ; conscios — accesso- 
 
 ^ Expectatur, — "All that is ries. 
 waited for, is"— elogiis, see before, * See below, c. 8. eruisset — 
 
 c. I. The titulus on the indictment detected and dragged into light, 
 of a Christian was sometimes ° Atquin — ordinarily with 
 
 'hostis publicus,' — Contenti sitis TertuUian for a^^w/, Kairol *and 
 
 (ea confess.) ad pronuntiandum, yet.' 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 7 
 
 titudine perturbatus, quid de cetero^ ageret, con- cap. 
 
 suluit Trajanum tunc imperatorera, allegans praeter 
 
 obstinationem non sacrificandi, nihil aliud se de 
 sacramentis eorum comperisse, quam coetus antelu- 
 canos ad canendum Christo ut deo et ad confoe- 
 derandam- disciplinam, homicidium, adulterium, 
 fraudem, perfidiam, et cetera scelera prohibentes. 
 Tunc Trajanus rescripsit', hoc genus inquiren- 
 dos quidem non esse, oblatos vero puniri oportere. 
 O sententiam necessitate confusam® ! Negat inqui- 
 rendos ut innocentes, et mandat puniendos ut 
 nocentes. Parcit et ssevit, dissimulat et animad- 
 vertit. Quid temetipsum censura circumvenis ? si 
 damnas, cur non et inquiris ? si non inquiris, cur 
 non et absolvis? Latronibus vestigandis per uni- 
 versas provincias militaris statio sortitur^; in reos 
 majestatis et publicos hostes omnis homo miles est; 
 ad socios, ad conscios usque inquisitio extenditur. 
 
 ® De cetero — possibly numero, constantly used by Tertullian 
 
 but I would rather supply negotio with the like ellipse. 
 — How he should generally act ^ necessitate confusam ; — ne- 
 
 in future cases. Constr. allegans se, cessarily from the case itself in- 
 
 prceter obst. — nihil comp. — quam consistent, circumvenire ; v. ad 
 
 coetus prohib. Christo ut Deo — c. 22. 
 
 this is clearly the correct reading, ^ Sortitur. This must be 
 
 and not et. The importance of taken passively. I do not remem- 
 
 the variation will easily be seen : ber ever to have seen it so occur- 
 
 Pliny's expression — quasi Deo, ring elsewhere, but the old active 
 
 is less liable to corruption or form sortio is used by Ennius, 
 
 misrepresentation. Compare Wil- and remains in Plautus (Casin. 
 
 son on the New Testament, 2, 6, 43.) compare odiri, c. 3. 
 
 c. XVIII. modulari, c. 27. opinari, Amob. i. 
 
 ^ rescripsit — this expression 12. The sense will be, " is ap- 
 
 became technical ; rescriptum, *an pointed to the duty by lot." The 
 
 ordinance,' these documents are robber-captain in Apuleius (Me- 
 
 presently called ' principum man- tam. vii.) speaking of one of these 
 
 data' — hoc genus, sc. homines. — stations calls it '/actio militarium 
 
 ejusmodi and other phrases are vexiUationum.' 
 
8 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. Solum Christianum inquiri non licet, ofFerri licet, 
 
 quasi aliud esset actura inquisitio, quam oblatio- 
 nem'^ Damnatis ergo oblatum, quern nemo vo- 
 luit requisitum ; qui, puto, jam nou ideo meruit 
 poenam, quia nocens est, sed quia, non requiren- 
 dus, inventus est. Itaque nee in illo ex forma 
 malorum judicandorum agitis erga nos, quod ce- 
 teris negantibus adbibetis tormenta ad confiten- 
 dum", solis Christianis ad negandum ; cum, si 
 malum esset, nos quidem negaremus, vos vero con- 
 fiteri tormentis compelleretis. Neque^^ enim ideo 
 putaretis non requirenda quaestionibus scelera, quia 
 certi essetis admitti ea ex nominis confessione, qui 
 hodie de confesso homicidal scientes homicidium 
 quid sit,-Jiihilominus ordinem extorquetis admissi : 
 quo perversius, cum praesumatis de sceleribus nos- 
 tris ex nominis confessione, cogitis tormentis de 
 confessione decedere, ut negantes nomen pariter 
 utique negemus et scelera, de quibus ex confes- 
 sione nominis praesumpseratis. Sed, opinor^^ non 
 vultis nos perire, quos pessimos creditis. Sic enim 
 
 ^" " As if the enquiry, (which such employment of fateor and 
 
 is forbidden,) could have any other its compounds he has earlier au- 
 
 consequence than the production thority. See Juv. xiii. 22. 
 
 of the criminal, (which is al- ^^ Constr. Neque enim puta- 
 
 lowed.)" Oblatio, bringing be- retis non requirenda ideo quia certi 
 
 fore a magistrate. So. c. 21, ob- essetis — [vos inquam] qui scientes 
 
 latum Pontio Pilato. Apuleius — nihilominus extorquetis. ordi- 
 
 uses magistratibus objicere, iii. nem admissi — " the circumstances { 
 
 54. of the crime." 
 
 ^^ Adhibetis cccteo'is (dat.) you ^^ Opinor — soletis ; ironically, 
 
 apply to. ad conjitendum, with a — circa nos—i. c. erga, " in our 
 
 view to a confession. I have else- case." So. c. 6. circa deos vestros. 
 
 where remarked on the charac- —the use of the word is only found 
 
 tcristic practice of Tertullian in in late writers, but is constant 
 
 ushig verbs absolutely, but for in Tertullian. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 9 
 
 soletis dicere homicidag : nega ; laniari jubere sa- ^^p- 
 
 crilegum, si coufiteri perseveraverit. Si non ita 
 
 agitis circa nos nocentes, ergo nos innocentissimos 
 judicatis, cum quasi innocentissimos non vultis in 
 ea confessione perseverare, quam necessitate, non 
 justitia damnandam a vobis sciatis. Vociferatur 
 homo: Christianus sum. Quod^^ est dicit; tu vis 
 audire, quod non est. Veritatis extorquendae prae- 
 sides, de nobis solis mendacium elaboratis audire. 
 Hoc sum, in quit, quod quaeris, an sim ; quid me 
 torques in perversum? confiteor, et torques; quid 
 faceres, si negarem ? Plane aliis negantibus non 
 facile fidem accommodatis ; nobis, si negaverimus, 
 statim creditis. Suspecta^^ sit vobis ista perversi- 
 tas, ne qua vis lateat in occulto, quae vos adversus 
 formam, adversus naturam judicandi, contra ipsas 
 quoque leges ministret. Nisi enim fallor, leges 
 malos erui jubent, non abscondi ; confesses damnari 
 praescribunt, non absolvi. Hoc senatusconsulta, 
 hoc principum mandata definiunt, hoc imperium, 
 cujus ministri estis. Civilis, non tyrannica domi- 
 natio vestra est. Apud tyrannos enim tormenta 
 etiam pro poena adhibentur; apud vos soli quaes- 
 
 ^^ Quod est dicit — What he is ad omnem quam in primordio 
 
 he tells you. exorsi sumus et judicandi per- 
 
 ^^ Let these unnatural features versitatem et sceviendi iniquita- 
 
 of the case lead you to suspect iem." Ministret vos — the sense 
 
 the existence of some secret is clearly pro ministris utitur, 
 
 agency. Compare c. 27, " Ille but I am quite unable to bring 
 
 scilicet spiritus dcsmoniaccs et an- any examples in illustration ; the 
 
 gelicce paraturce, qui noster oh di- passage quoted by Semler (de 
 
 vortium a?mulus, et oh Dei gra- Car. Chr. xii.) is not necessarily 
 
 tiam invidus de mentihus vestris parallel, but the use oifamulare 
 
 adversus nos prceliatur, occulta in- is similar in c. 21, ' elementa ipsa 
 
 spiratione, modulatis et suhornatis famularet.' Gr. covXovv. 
 
10 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 ^^P- tioni temperantur'^ Vestram illis servate legem 
 usque ad confession em; et si confessione praeveni- 
 autur, vacabunt. Sententia opus est ; debito poenae 
 nocens expungendus est, non eximendus. Denique 
 ilium nemo gestit absolvere; non licet lioc velle ; 
 ideo nee cogitur quisquam negare. Cbristianum 
 hominem omnium scelerum reum, deorum, im- 
 peratorum, legum, morum, naturae totius inimicum 
 existimas, et cogis^' negare, ut absolvas, quem non 
 poteris absolvere, nisi negaverit. PraBvaricaris in 
 leges. Vis ergo neget se nocentem, ut eum facias 
 innocentem, et quidem invitum jam, nee de prae- 
 terito reum. Unde ista perversitas ? ut etiam illud 
 non recogitetis, sponte confesso magis credendum 
 esse, quam per vim neganti; vel ne compulsus 
 
 ^^ [Temperantur, i. e. attempe- 
 rantur, A-el lege "apud vos solas 
 qusestiones temperaut." Sic tem- 
 perare ambiguitates, c. 22; ma- 
 jestatem, c. 83 ; onus, c. 47. Pru- 
 dent. TT. (rT€(]). in Laurent, v. 
 347. Ad Nat. ii. 8. A.] The 
 first of these readings and expla- 
 nations is the correct one. Ves- 
 tram, &c. "Observe your own. 
 law for their application up to 
 this point, and then, if their intro- 
 duction be anticipated by volun- 
 tary confession, they will be 
 superfluous." In the succeeding 
 passages TertuUian argues that 
 the magistrates are acting in 
 direfct opposition to the spirit 
 of the law, which concludes a 
 prisoner guilty, uses every effbrt 
 to prove him so, and regards 
 punishment as the satisfactory 
 termination of an enquiry; where- 
 
 as in this case though Christi- 
 anity was reckoned an epitome 
 of all known crimes, yet no pains 
 were spared to make those deny 
 their guilt who had already 
 acknowledged it, and to secure 
 their acquittal. 
 
 ^" Existimas et cogis — et for et 
 tamen, as frequently. Comp. Virg. 
 Eel. IX. 67. Juv. VII. 124, and 
 XIII. 91. ' putat esse Deos, et 
 pejerat.' et quidem invitum, &c. ; 
 '* and this too when he declines 
 the acquittal now, and was not 
 guilty either originally." Constr. 
 illud non rec. — credendum esse — 
 \jieque hoc^ ne negarit, on the 
 constr. of ne, see c. 7. ^ ^on ex 
 fide,' are to be taken in close 
 connexion, ^untruly.' To join 
 non with negarit is to destroy 
 the argument, and distort the 
 Latin. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 11 
 
 negare, non ex fide negarit; et absolutus ibidem cap. 
 
 post tribunal de vestra rideat aeinulatione, iterum 
 
 Christianus. Cum igitur in omnibus nos aliter 
 disponatis^% quam ceteros nocentes, id unum con- 
 ten dendo, ut de eo nomine excludamur (excludi- 
 mur enim, si facimus, quae faciunt non Christiani), 
 intelligere potestis non scelus aliquod in caussa esse, 
 sed nomen, quod quaedam ratio aemulae operationis 
 insequitur^^ hoc primum agens, ut homines nolint 
 scire pro certo, quod se nescire pro certo sciunt. 
 Ideo et credunt de nobis quae non probantur, et 
 nolunt inquiri, ne probentur non esse, quae malunt 
 credi esse, ut nomen illius aemulae ratiqnis in- 
 imicum, praesumptis, non probatis criminibus, de 
 sua sola confessione damnetur. Ideo torquemur 
 confitentes, et punimur perseverantes, et absolvimur 
 negantes, quia nominis proelium est. Denique quid 
 de tabella recitatis ilium Christianum, cur non et 
 homicidam ? Si homicida Christianus, cur non et 
 incestus? vel quodcunque aliud nos esse creditis? 
 In nobis solis pudet aut piget ipsis nominibus scele- 
 rum pronuntiare? Christianus si nullius criminis 
 reus est, nomen valde infestum, si soli us nominis 
 crimen est. 
 
 ^* disponatis, — Since you treat pessi, — c. 50. cur querimini, quod 
 
 us in every stage of the proceed- vos insequamur ? So insecutores, 
 
 ings, ike. c. 5. Insector is more usually 
 
 ^^ QuodqueBdam,&;c. — "Which employed in this sense, but all 
 
 some system of hostile agency the compounds of sequor admit 
 
 persecutes." The csmula ratio or it, and even the simple form. See 
 
 ratio cemulce operationis, is the c. 9. JEn. xii. 615. v. 384. Exse- 
 
 work of Satan and his daemons. cutio is used Adv. Jud. c. 3. A 
 
 See c. 22 and elsewhere. Inse- little below, the genitive rationis 
 
 quitur — like persequitur, — c. 21. depends not on nomen but ini- 
 
 a Jvxkeis insequentibus multa per- micum. 
 
12! 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 III. 
 
 Your ha- 
 tred is so 
 blind that 
 it gives in- 
 voluntary 
 testimony 
 to our 
 merits. 
 
 AdNat.i.4. 
 
 III. Quid? quod ita plerique clausis oculis 
 in odium ejus impingunt, ut bonum alicui testimo- 
 nium ferentes admisceant nominis exprobrationem : 
 Bonus vir Caius Seius^ tantum quod Christianus. 
 Item alius : Ego miror Lucium sapientem virum 
 repente factum Christian um. Nemo retractat^: 
 Nonne ideo bonus Caius, et prudens Lucius, quia 
 Christianus? aut ideo Christianus, quia prudens 
 et bonus ? Laudant quae sciunt, vituperant quae 
 ignorant, et id 'quod sciunt, eo quod ignorant, cor- 
 rumpunt; cum sit justius occulta de manifestis 
 praejudic^re, quam manifesta de occultis praedam- 
 nare. ^Alii, quos retro ante hoc nomen vagos, 
 viles, improbos noverant, ex ipso denotant, quo 
 laudant ; caecitate odii in suffragium impingunt. '/ 
 Quae mulier! quam lasciva, quam festiva'.l Qui 
 juvenis ! quam lascivus, quam amasius ! Facti 
 
 III. ^ Caius Seius, — This was 
 a name ordinarily employed to 
 denote an indefinite personage. 
 Qantum quod, i. e. excepto quod. 
 Cic. Verr. 8, and Cic. Verr. i. 45. 
 A.] 
 
 ^ retractat, — Considers, turns 
 over in his mind, c. 11. ut omit- 
 tarn hujus indignitatis retracta- 
 tum. c. 89. de solo triclinio 
 Christianorum retractatur. add. 
 c. 4. 
 
 ^ If I have rightly appre- 
 hended Tertullian in this passage, 
 his meaning is as follows : Others 
 stamp the previous cliaracter of 
 their converted friends by the very 
 list of qualities which they enu- 
 merate as having belonged to 
 them, and of which they deplore 
 
 the loss, and thus blindly add 
 their testimony to Christianity 
 which has accomplished the 
 change. Lascivus and festivus, 
 are thus taken in a bad sense 
 {festivi libelli ad Nat. i. 17.) by 
 Tertullian, though in a good one 
 by the supposed sjjeaker; and 
 facti sunt Christiani ! is the sor- 
 rowful exclamation of the con- 
 vert's companion. Ita nomen, &:c. 
 Thus the improvement is set 
 down to the account of the Chris- 
 tian profession, paciscuntur — 
 compare c. 50. cum gladio de laude 
 pepigerunt, though de marks the 
 thing taken in barter in that case, 
 and received in the present one. 
 vitam pro laude pacisci is Virgil's 
 expression, Mi\. v. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 13 
 
 sunt Christiani. Ita nomen emendationi impu- cap. 
 
 tatur. Nonnulli etiam de utilitatibus suis cum 
 
 odio isto paciscuntur, content! injuria, dum ne 
 domi habeant, quod oderunt. Uxorem jam pudi- 
 cam maritus jam non zelotypus ejecit, filium jam 
 subjectum pater retro patiens abdicavit\ servum 
 jam fidelem dominus olim mitis ab oculis relega- 
 vit : ut quisque hoc nomine emendatur, ofFendit. 
 Tanti non est bonum, quanti est odium Christi- 
 anorum. Nunc igitur, si nominis odium est, quis 
 nominum reatus^? Quae accusatio vocabulorum, 
 nisi si aut barbarum sonat aliqua vox nominis, aut 
 infaustum, aut maledicum, aut impudicum ? Chris- 
 tianus vero, quantum interpretatio est^ de unctione 
 deducitur. Sed et cum perperam Chrestianus pro- Just. 3. 
 nuntiatur a vobis (nam nee nominis certa est notitia 
 penes vos), de suavitate vel benignitate composi- 
 tum est. Oditur ergo in hominibus innocuis etiam 
 nomen innocuum. At enim secta oditur in no- 
 mine utique^ sui auctoris. Quid novi, si aliqua 
 disciplina de magistro cognomen tum sectatoribus 
 suis inducit? Nonne philosophi de auctoribus 
 
 * Pater qui retro (ante) filium 28. Lips, ad Tac. Hist. iv. 53), or 
 
 patiebatur non subjectum esse, jam, scurrilous {maledicum), or obscene 
 
 &c. abdicavit, c. 6. Serapidem et {impudicum.) 
 Isidem Coss. abdicaverunt. — This ^ As far as the the etymology 
 
 was the technical term for such goes. — Chrestianus, this was the 
 
 a proceeding. Quintil. vii. 4. 27. mispronunciation of the word 
 
 " quales sunt {sc. formes) in quibus (see Intpp. ad Suet. Claud. 25) ; 
 
 abdicatur filius qui non pareat but even this, says Tertullian, is 
 
 patri." Compare the augural use of good derivation and import, 
 
 of abdicere in Cic. de Divin. Penes vos— penes throughout this 
 
 ^ What is there in a name to author is used in the sense of 
 
 be accused, unless it be barba- apud, c. 9. penes Africam. 
 rous, or unlucky {infaustum ; as " Utique — at all events for the 
 
 nomen abominandum, Liv. xxviii. sake of its Founder's name. 
 
14 TERTULLIAM 
 
 CAP. suis nuncupantiir Platonici, Epicurei, Pythagorici? 
 etiam a locis conventiculorum et stationum suarum 
 
 Stoici, Academici? atque medici ab Erasistrato, 
 
 et graramatici ab Aristarcho, coci etiam ab Apicio ? 
 
 Nee tamen quemquam offendit professio nominis, 
 
 cum institutione transmissa ab institutore. Plane 
 
 si qui probet malam sectam et ita malum auc- 
 
 torem, is probabit et nomen malum dignum odio 
 
 de reatu sectae et auctoris. Ideoque ante odium 
 
 nominis competebat^ prius de auctore sectam re- 
 
 cognoscere, vel auctorem de secta. At nunc utri- 
 
 usque inquisitione et agnitione neglecta nomen 
 
 detinetur, nomen expugnatur, et ignotam sectam, 
 
 ignotum et auctorem vox sola praedamnat, quia 
 
 nominantur, non quia revincuntur. 
 
 Je^'ealiT ^^ ' ^^^^^ ^^^^ quasi praefatus haec ad suggil- 
 
 chafe^s^"^ landam odii erga nos publici iniquitatem, jam de 
 
 ufexamine caussa inuocentisB consistam\ nee tantum refutabo, 
 
 o^fXiaws, quae nobis objiciuntur, sed etiam in ipsos retor- 
 
 tho?fty ymi qucbo, qui objiciunt ; ut ex hoc quoque sciant 
 
 against us omucs iu Christiauis non esse quae in se non 
 
 as conclu- . • i • i 
 
 sive. nesciunt esse, simul uti erubescant accusantes, non 
 
 1 .aws are .... / 
 
 frequently Jico pcssimi optimos, scd jam, ut volant, compares 
 suos. Respondebimus ad singula, quae in occulto 
 admittere dicimur, quae illos palam admittentes 
 invenimus, in quibus scelesti, in quibus vaui, in 
 
 ^ Competebat. " It was fitting, IV. ^ Consistere — to take 
 before hating the name, to apply tip a position, for defence, c. 46. 
 the test either of the Founder's confititimuff, opinor, &c., some- 
 character to the sect, or that of thing like stare pro in earlier 
 the sect to the Founder." JVomen Latin ; but the idea is contained 
 detinetur — is seized on as guilty, absolutely in the verb, de 
 See ad Uxor. ii. 8. quam causam merely expresses the thing in 
 detineam? Amobius (i. 38) has behalf of which the stand is 
 tenere aliquem in reatu f acinar l<t. made. 
 
IV. 
 
 LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 15 
 
 quibus damnandi, in quibus irridendi deputamur^. cap, 
 Sed quoniam, cum ad omnia occurrit Veritas nostra, 
 postremo legum obstruitur auctoritas adversus eam, 
 ut aut nihil dicatur retractandum esse post leges, 
 aut ingratis necessitas obsequii prasferatur veritati^; 
 de legibus prius concurram vobiscum ut cum tu- 
 toribus legum. Jam primum quam dure definitis 
 dicendo : Non licet esse vos^ ! Et hoc sine ullo 
 retractatu humaniore prasscribitis ; vim profitemini 
 et iniquam ex arce dominationem, si ideo negatis 
 licere, quia vultis, non quia debuit, non licere. 
 Quodsi quia non debet, ideo non vultis licere, sine 
 dubio id non debet licere, quod male fit, et utique 
 hoc ipso prasj udicatur licere, quod bene fit. Si 
 bonum invenero esse, quod lex tua prohibuit, nonne 
 ex illo praejudicio prohibere me non potest, quod 
 si malum esset, jure prohiberet? / Si^ lex tua er- 
 ravit, puto, ab homine concepta est ; neque enim de 
 coelo ruit. Miramini hominem aut errare potuisse 
 in lege condenda, aut resipuisse in reprobanda? 
 Nonne et ipsius Lycurgi leges a Lacedeemoniis 
 
 ^ Deputari. This expression will or not, the indispensable 
 
 is of frequent occurrence with necessity of obedience takes 
 
 the meaning- Ho be assigned to, precedence of any respect to 
 
 reckoned amongst/ de Poenit. c. truth, concurram vobiscum de — 
 
 3. Quorum ergo poenitentia justa " I will engage you on this 
 
 et debita videatur, id est quce delicto argument. " So Lactant. Ep. 
 
 deputanda sunt. In Exh. Cast. D. I. 52. ratione congredi non 
 
 c. 6, it retains the old sense of queunt. 
 
 puto, as also in c. 19 of this ^ What a tyrannical sentence 
 
 treatise. Cf. Virg. G. ii. 407. it is to pronounce at once, " Your 
 
 ^ ut aut nihil — so that you very existence is illegal!" v. ad 
 
 argue, either, that after the final c. 21 and 38. — dominationem ex 
 
 decision of the law against us any arce ; i. e. tyrannicam. 
 further consideration of our cause '' Si for quodsi. homine, i. e. 
 
 is useless, or, that whether vou mortale, non Deo. 
 
16 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 IV. 
 
 emendatae^ tan turn auctori suo doloris incusserunt, 
 ut in secessu inedia de semetipso judicarit ? Nonne 
 et vos quotidie experimentis illuminantibus tene- 
 bras antiquitatis to tarn illam veterem et squalentem 
 silvam legum novis principalium^ rescriptorum et 
 edictorum securibus truncatis et caeditis? Nonne 
 vanissimas Papias leges, quae ante liberos suscipi 
 cogunt, quam Juliae matrimonium contrahi, post 
 tantse auctoritatis senectutem heri^ Severus con- 
 stantissimus principum exclusit ? Sed et judicatos 
 retro in partes secari a creditoribus leges erant; 
 consensu tamen publico crudelitas postea erasa est 
 et in pudoris notam capitis poena conversa ; bono- 
 rum adhibita proscriptio suffundere maluit hominis 
 sanguinem, quam effundere. Quot adhuc vobis 
 
 ^ Emendates. This word is 
 emphatic ; as if the sentence had 
 been written — "Were not the 
 laws even of Lycurgus subjected 
 to revision? and did not this re- 
 vision/' &c. — in secessu — ^in his 
 retirement:' inedia de semetipso 
 judicarit ; ' put an end to his life 
 by voluntary starvation.' Judi- 
 care de aliquo, to take cognizance 
 of, and punish. In c. 14 it 
 should probably be fulmine judi- 
 catum, and not vindicatum, the 
 words being perpetually confused. 
 In Juv. XIII. 226, the expression 
 judicet on a similar occasion, is 
 rather different in signification, 
 the meaning there being ^exer- 
 cises discretion in its stroke.' inedia 
 — this was an ordinary method 
 of suicide, the words ' cibo ahsti- 
 nuit' describe the end of many 
 an antient philosopher. 
 
 ' principalium ; like regalium. 
 
 This is not a word of very good 
 use ; it occurs several times in the 
 Panegyric of Pliny, and in other 
 writers of those times, very 
 naturally from the formal use 
 of princeps. Velleius, (ii. 56), 
 speaking of Julius Caesar, has the 
 rather remarkable expression non 
 plus quinque mensium principalis 
 quies contigit. 
 
 ** Post tantcBj &c. After an 
 antiquity giving them such au- 
 thority, heri may imply either 
 that Severus had died, or was 
 living when tliis was written. It 
 simply means, Hhe other day.' 
 Suffundere sanguinem, quam effun- 
 dere: TertuUian, as frequently, 
 plays upon words, but s^uffundi 
 is the ordinary expression for the 
 blush of shame, de pudic. i. 'non 
 suffundor errore quo carui,' and 
 c. 37, infra. ' suffudisset utique 
 dominationem vestram. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 17 
 
 repurgandae leges latent, quas neque annorum nu- cap. 
 merus, neque conditorum dignitas commendat, sed 
 aequitas sola^? et ideo cum iniquae recognoscuntur, 
 meri to damnantur, licet damnent. Quomodo in- 
 iquas dicimus? imo, si nomen puniunt, etiam 
 stultas. Si vero facta, cur in nobis de solo nomine 
 puniunt facta, quae in aliis de admisso, non de 
 nomine probanda definiunt? Incestus sum, cur 
 non requirunt? infanticida, cur non extorquent? 
 in deos, in caesares aliquid committo, cur non 
 audior, qui habeo, quo purger? Nulla lex vetat 
 discuti, quod prohibet admitti ; quia neque judex 
 juste ulciscitur, nisi cognoscat admissum esse quod 
 non licet; neque civis fideliter legi obsequitur, ig- 
 norans, quale sit, quod ulciscitur. Nulla lex sibi 
 soli conscientiam justitiae suae debet, sed eis a 
 quibus obsequium exspectat^°. Ceterum suspecta 
 lex est, quae probari se non vult, improba autem, 
 si non probata dominetur. 
 
 V. Ut de origine aliquid retractemus ejus- Against us 
 
 they have 
 
 modi leffum, vetus erat decretum, ne qui deus ab been en- 
 
 " ' . . forced only 
 
 imperatore consecraretur, nisi a senatu probatus. ^yem- 
 
 ■• ^ -»■ perors 
 
 Scit M. iEmilius de deo suo Alburno. Facit et^;;°^^™«- 
 
 mory you 
 
 hoc ad caussam nostram, quod apud vos de humano yourSives. 
 
 ^ jEquifas sola. There may quality which ought to ensure 
 
 appear at first sight to be a con- them respect, viz., intrinsic 
 
 tradiction in the argument here, justice, which if they possess 
 
 as the laws are presently termed not," &c. 
 
 iniquce ; but the meaning of Ter- ^" " There is no law which is 
 
 tullian is — "which have neither bound to prove its justice only 
 
 long antiquity,nor famous authors to itself, it owes such a demon- 
 
 to commend them, and which stration also to those whose obedi- 
 
 therefore must be thrown for ence it expects." 
 support on the sole remaining 
 
 2 
 
18 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. arbitratu divinitas pensitatur. Nisi homini deus 
 placuerit, deus non erit; homo jam deo propitius 
 esse debebit. Tiberius ergo^ cujus tempore no- 
 men Christianum in seculum introivit, annuntiatum 
 sibi ex Syria Palaestina, quod illic veritatem illius 
 divinitatis revelaverat, detulit ad senatum cum 
 praerogativa suflPragii sui. Senatus, quia non ipse 
 probaverat, respuit; Caesar in sententia mansit, 
 comminatus periculum accusatoribus Christian or um. 
 Consulite commentarios vestros ; illic reperietis pri- 
 mum Neronem in banc sectam cum maxime Romae 
 orientem Caesariano gladio ferocisse. Sed tali dedi- 
 catore'' damnationis nostrae etiam gloriamur. Qui 
 enim scit ilium, intelligere potest, non nisi grande 
 aliquod bonum a Nerone damnatum. Tentaverat 
 et Domitianus, portio Neronis^ de crudelitate; sed 
 
 V. ^ IVisi homini, &c. v. ad semetipso pcenitentiam dedicavit.' 
 
 c. 29. Constr. Tiberius — annunti- de Car. Chr. ' nove nasci debebat 
 
 atum sibi quod revelaverat — Qd] (sc. Christus) novce nativitatis de- 
 
 detulit, &c. nomen Christianum dicator.' The ablative may be 
 
 introivit [sc. Christ! adventu. sic. either absolute, or (which I pre- 
 
 c. 40, " ante Tiberium, i. e. ante fer) made to depend on gloriamur 
 
 Christi adventum" — sub Claudio with an ellipse of in or super. 
 
 primum Antiochae Christiani ad- Lactantius brings the same charge 
 
 pellantur hujus doctrinse pro- against this emperor (de M. P. 
 
 fessores. v. Suid. in voc. Na^jy- c. 2.) 
 
 paio^ et XpKTTiavo'i A.] illius ^ Portio Neronis— so de Pall. 
 
 divinitatis; sc. Christi. On the 4. Subneronem. Juvenal also 
 
 circumstances here related, see taunts Domitian with this simila- 
 
 Bishop Kaye's TertuUian, p. 110, ^ty of character. The genitive 
 
 whose opinion (against Lardner depends on portio, and de means 
 
 and Pearson) that ipse must refer 9^«^ «^^^'«^«^ «^-" ^ semi-Nero 
 
 not to Tiberius, but to Senatus, ^« ^^^^^^^ ^^ T'?'^*^' ^''\ ^* *^'' 
 
 . „ ^ suggestion of ms more human 
 
 seems to me, grammatically, to ^^^^.^^^^ ^^„ ^^ ^ ^^ ^ ^^^^^ 
 
 admit no kind of doubt. ^^^.^ ^^.^^ ^^ crudelitate, but it 
 
 2 Dedicare in TertuUian means ^ould be an endless work to il- 
 
 to originate, to set on foot, or esta- histrate TcrtuUian's usage of this 
 
 Wish, de Poenit. c. 2. ' Deus in preposition. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 19 
 
 qua et homo, facile coeptum repressit, restitutis cap. 
 
 etiam quos relegaverat. Tales semper nobis inse- 
 
 cutores, injusti, impii, turpes, quos et ipsi damn are 
 consuestis, et a quibus damnatos restituere soliti 
 estis. Ceterum de tot exinde principibus, usque 
 ad hodiernum, divinum humanumque sapientibus, 
 edite aliquem debellatorem'* Christianorum, at nos 
 e contrario edimus protectorem, si litterae M. 
 Aurelii gravissimi imperatoris requirantur, quibus 
 illam Germanicam sitim Christianorum forte mili- 
 tum precationibus impetrato imbri discussam con- 
 testatur. I Qui sicut non palam ab ejusmodi ho- 
 minibus poenam dimovit, ita alio modo palam 
 dispersit, adjecta etiam accusatoribus damnatione, 
 et quidem tetriore. Quales ergo leges istae, quas 
 adversus nos soli exsequuntur impii, injusti, turpes, 
 vani, dementes? quas Trajanus ex parte frustratus 
 est vetando inquiri Christianos ; quas nuUus Hadri- i 
 anus, quamquam curiositatum omnium exploratory 
 nullus Vespasianus, quamquam Judaeorum debella- 
 tor, nullus Pius, nullus Verus impressit^ Facilius 
 
 * Bebellatorem. This must be Julian in Caes. tu tc aWa 
 
 understood in a restricted sense, TrepiepyoTaro^. Dio. v. Salmas 
 
 unless it is a title given, as the i^ Spart. Adr. c. 14. A.] 
 old grammarians used to say, de , Impressii-carvied into exe- 
 
 conatu. Compare c. 29, ' insuper ^^^^ion. The meanmg is obvious, 
 
 eos debellatis, qui, &c.' Later em- ^^^ ^he subject from which the 
 
 perors permitted such inscriptions metaphor is taken is less so. It 
 
 as NOMINE CHRisTiANODELETO. On jg explained by aUusion to the 
 
 the subject of the ensuing asser- military phrase impressionem fa- 
 
 tion, see Bishop Kaye, p. 106, c^,.^. but I doubt this interpreta- 
 
 sqq. Ch. forte militum—i. e. qui ^ion notwithstandmg TertuUian's 
 
 forte militahant.^ ^ fondness for such expressions. 
 
 s {aKpi(3ri^ nv, Ka\ irepiepyo^ Y>r Ashton takes' it from seahng, 
 
 Kttt ■jToXvTrpnjfiwv. Suid. in Adr. and interprets it auctoritate sua 
 
 troXvirpdyfjiWi/ to. diropprjTa. sav.tit, which I think is better, 
 
 2—2 
 
20 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. utique pessimi ab optimis quibusque, ut ab aemulis, 
 quam a siiis sociis eradicandi judicarentur. 
 
 Andyouare yj. Nuiic reliffiosissimi leffum et paternorum 
 
 in daily ^ or 
 
 contemp.^^ institutorum ^ protectores et ultores respondeant 
 fringiiy' velim de sua fide et honore et obsequio erga ma- 
 k?ilds°^^^^ jorum consulta, si a nullo desciverunt, si in nuUo 
 exorbitaverunt^ si non necessaria et aptissima 
 quaeque disciplinae oblitteraverunt. Quonam illae 
 leges abierunt sumptum et ambitionem compri- 
 mentes? quae centum aera non amplius in coenam 
 subscribi^ jubebant, nee amplius quam unam inferri 
 
 and which corresponds pretty 
 closely to a common use of signare 
 in this author. 
 
 VI. ^ These titles are ironical, 
 of course ; tutores legum occurred 
 in c. 4. 
 
 ^ Exorbitaverunt — Orbita is 
 sometimes the circle of a wheel, 
 but more frequently its track on 
 a road. Juv. xiv. 37. veteris trahit 
 I orhita culpcB. Hence exorhitare, 
 \ to go out of the way, to turn aside 
 J! from the right path, like extra 
 I okas vagari. So inf. c. 20, (for 
 which expression Amohius has 
 suis mundus aberravit a legibus. 
 I. 1.) and de Praes. Haer. c. 4. 
 ad hcereses non exorbitaverunt ; 
 adv. Marc. iii. 2. exorbitavit a 
 regtUa ; and again in a passage of 
 most singular and characteristic 
 phraseology, de Pudic. 8. The 
 word used in the Vulgate to ex- 
 press precisely the same idea (Ps. 
 Liii. 3 j Rom. iii. 12) is declinave- 
 runt; with which comp. Lucret. 
 , II. 216—293. In c. 21 hereafter, 
 we have derivantes, with deviantes 
 and decliiiantes in the varr. lect. ; 
 
 and in c. 2, de Hab. Mul. devectce 
 de simplicitate. oblitteraverunt. 
 CatuU. Lxiii. 232. Ambitio. this 
 sense of the word is explained in 
 c. 9, de Hab. Mul. In the next 
 chapter quantacunque ambitione 
 diffusa sit, it is like Hor. Car. I. 
 xxxvi. 20. 
 
 ^ Subscribere alicui. This ex- 
 pression very naturally, even in 
 pretty good writers, came to sig- 
 nify assentiri, as Plin. Ep. x. 96.! 
 Tuo desiderio subscripsi. Through 
 this transition Tertullian employs 
 it in the sense of indulgere, per-[ 
 mittere, v. c. 18, and de Idol. 13. 
 quas (sc. luces festas) interdum 
 lascivicB interdum timiditati nostrcB 
 subscribimus. Compare de Virg. 
 Vel. c. 10. The full phrase, how- 
 ever, in the idea of Tertullian was 
 subscribere veniam, as appears from 
 de Pudicit. c. 1. ejusmodi maculis 
 nullam subscribere veniam, which 
 may be found also in Cyprian. 
 Celsus thus uses the word in a 
 rather remarkable passage where, 
 speaking of the system of Ascle- 
 piadcs in treating fevers, he says : 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 21 
 
 gallinam, et earn noii saginatam^ ; quae patricium, cap. 
 
 quod decern pondo argenti habuisset, pro magno 
 
 titulo ambitionis senatu summovebant ; qua? theatra 
 stuprandis moribus orientia statim destruebant; 
 quae dignitatum et honestorum natalium insignia 
 non temere nee impune usurpari sinebant? Video 
 enim et centenarias coenas, a centenis jam sestertiis 
 dicendas, et in lances (parum^ est si senatorum et 
 non libertinorum vel adhuc flagra rumpentium) 
 argentaria metalla producta. Video et theatra nee 
 singula satis esse, nee nuda. Nam ne vel hieme 
 voluptas impudica frigeret, primi Lacedaemonii 
 odium penulae ludis excogitaverunt. Video et in- 
 ter matronas atque prostibulas nullum de habitu 
 discrimen relictum. Circa feminas quidem etiam 
 ilia majorum instituta ceciderunt", quae modestias, 
 quae sobrietati patrocinabantur, cum aurum nulla 
 norat, praeter unico digito, quem sponsus oppigne- 
 rasset pronubo annulo; cum mulieres usque adeo 
 a vino abstinerent, ut matronam ob resignatos cellar 
 vinariae loculos sui' inedia necarint. Sub Romulo 
 
 Is enim, ulterioribus quidem diehus, or statim orientia destr., may be 
 
 cubantis (i. e. the patient's) etiam taken together. 
 
 luxuries subscripsit, primis vero ^ Parum est enim — sc. Jlagitii; 
 
 tortoris vicem eochihuit. (iii. 4.) flagra 7-iimpentium, i. e. servorum 
 
 ^ Nonsaginatam — not express- — Juv. ' hie frangit ferulas,' and 
 
 ly fattened for the purpose. ' Ne- so frequently in Plautus. Theatra 
 
 quidvolucreponereturprceterunam nee nuda ; i. e. without an awn- 
 
 gallinam, quce non esset altilis/ ing, as explained in the succeeding 
 
 says Pliny; and Tertullian has sentence; — odium pcenuke ; the 
 
 used the expression, de Poenit. disgrace of a covering — ludis; 
 
 c. 11, and de Spect. c. 18. See at, or for, the games, 
 
 too Juv. V. 168. The word has ** ceciderunt. cf. Hor. Ep. ad 
 
 puzzled the Delphin editor of Pis. 70. 
 
 Apuleius. stuprandis moribus ori- ^ Sui inedia necarint — "Her 
 
 entia, i. e. quce ad m. s. oi'irentur, own relatives put to death by star- 
 
22 TERTULLIANI 
 
 ^yl' ^^^^ ^^^ vinum attigerat, impune a Mecenio marito 
 trucidata est. Iccirco et oscula propinquis offerre 
 necessitas erat, ut spiritu judicarentur. Ubi est 
 ilia felicitas matrimoniorum de moribus utique 
 prosperata, qua per annos ferme sexcentos ab urbe 
 condita nulla repudium domus scripsit? At nunc 
 in feminis prse auro nullum leve est membrum; 
 prse vino nullum liberum est osculum ; repudium 
 vero jam et votum est, quasi matrimonii fructus. 
 Etiam circa ipsos deos vestros qua? perspecte de- 
 creverant patres vestri, iidem vos obsequentissimi 
 rescidistis. Liberum patrem cum mysteriis suis 
 consules senatus auctoritate non modo urbe, sed 
 ^?i(?*' ^^i^'^rsa Italia eliminaverunt^ Serapidem et Isi- 
 ytytui^-fi. dem et Harpocratem cum suo cynocephalo, Capi- 
 tolio prohibitos, id est curia deorum pulsos, Piso 
 et Gabinius consules, non utique Christiani, eversis 
 etiam aris eorum abdicaverunt, turpium et otiosarum 
 superstitionum vitia cohibentes. His vos restitutis 
 summam majestatem contulistis^ Ubi religio, ubi 
 
 vation ;" i. e. cognita domi caussa, compare the casual remark of 
 
 as Livy would say. The process Seneca, ' quando nulla nunc mari- 
 
 is well known, impune ; " with- turn habet, nisi ut irritet adul- 
 
 out blame bemg attributed to terum' 
 
 him." ut spiritu judicarentur ; '^ eliminaverunt. This word is 
 
 " that they might be tested by of old use and date, and may easily 
 
 the smell of their breath." — nul- be met with in writers before Lu- 
 
 lum leve est membrum. compare cretins. But although sometimes 
 
 Pliny, H. N. xxxiii. 12. nullum revived, (Hor. Ep. i. b, 25,) its 
 
 liberum est osculum ; open to any authority is reckoned questionable 
 
 relative asking it. Perhaps we by Quintilian, Inst. Or. iii. 31. 
 
 may suspect a little declamatory The proceedings alluded in the 
 
 exaggeration here, but the writers cases of these deities are familiar 
 
 of the Flavian and subsequent enough to all ; the remarkable 
 
 times will nearly bear out even episode of the Bacchanalia occurs 
 
 the detail. And with the last in xxxix. 8, of Livy. 
 clause of the paragraph we may " Contulistis ; couferre like our 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 23 
 
 veneratio majoribus debita a vobis? Habitii, victu, cap. 
 instructu, sensu, ipso denique sermone proavis re- 
 nuiitiastis./ Laudatis semper antiquitatem, et nove 
 de die vivitis. Per quod ostenditur, dum a bonis 
 majorum institutis deceditis,. ea vos retinere et 
 custodire, quae non debuistis^ cum quae, debuistis 
 non custodistis. ,Ipsum adhuc quod videmini fide- 
 lissime tueri a patribus traditum, in quo princi- 
 paliter reos transgressionis Chris'tianos destinatis'", 
 studium dico deorum colendorum, de quo maxime 
 erravit antiquitas, licet Serapidi jam Romano aras 
 restruxeritis, licet Baccho jam Italico furias vestras ' 
 immolaveritis* suo- locq ostendam proinde^^ despici 
 et negligi et destrui a vobis adversus majorum 
 auctoritatem. Nunc enim ad illam occultorum 
 facinorum infamiam respondebo, ut viam mihi ad 
 manifestidra purgem. 
 
 VII. Dicimur^ sceleratissimi de sacramento in- ^'o f^ome to 
 
 the horrible 
 
 fanticidii, et pabulo inde, et post convivium incesto, charges you 
 quod eversores luminum canes, lenones scilicet, te- Havryo^u' 
 nebrarum et libidinum impiarum inverecundia pro- evfdeS?^ 
 cureut. Dicimur tamen semper, nee vos quod tam mourT 
 diu dicimur eruere curatis. Ergo aut eruite, si 
 
 derivative of it, has frequently VII. ' We are called mis- 
 
 the sense of bestowing dignity creants on the score of our infan- 
 
 or advantage. Cf. Juv. ix. 240, ticidal oath, our banquet off the 
 
 X. 265. So collatio. victim, {inde) and our incestuous 
 
 ^^ destinatis ; definitis, pronun- commerce after such banquet, 
 
 tiatis. Cic. Off. destinare diem which the dogs that overturn 
 
 necis; and I think the sense in our candles, playing the part 
 
 Mn. II. 129, me destinat arcs is not of pimps it seems, bring about 
 
 * dooms me,' but 'fixes upon me.' through the shamelessness en- 
 
 ^^ proinde despici — i. e. tam, gendered by the darkness and 
 
 quam alia studia. proinde occurs unholy lusts. Still we aot hwi 
 
 repeatedly for perinde. called so, &c. 
 
24 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 VII. 
 
 creditis, aut nolite credere, qui non eruistis. De 
 vestra vobis dissimulatione praescribitur^ non esse, 
 quod nee ipsi audetis eruere. Longe aliud munus 
 carnifici in Christianos imperatis, non ut dicant 
 quae faciunt, sed ut negent quod sunt. Census^ 
 istius disciplinae, ut jam edidimus, a Tiberio est. 
 Cum odio sui coepit Veritas, simul atque apparuit, 
 inimica esse. Tot hostes ejus, quot extranei, et 
 quidem proprii ex aemulatione Judaei, ex eoncus- 
 sione milites, ex natura ipsi etiam domestici nos- 
 tril Quotidie obsidemur, quotidie prodimur, in 
 ipsis plurimum coetibus et congregationibus nostris 
 opprimimur. Quis unquam taliter vagienti infanti 
 supervenit^? quis omenta, ut invenerat, Cyclopum 
 
 ^ PrcBscriptio is an old legal 
 term signifying an exception taken, 
 in which sense it is used in the 
 title of one of the treatises of this 
 author. See Gesn. ad QuintH. vii. 
 5, 2. The verb occurs frequently 
 in Tertullian, sometimes in the 
 sense of ' to define formally/ and 
 sometimes as above. Its present 
 force is this ; ' An exception is 
 taken against you from your own 
 inconsistency, to this effect, viz. 
 that what you dare not drag to 
 light, has really no existence.' 
 The commencement of the tract 
 Adv. Hermog. supplies an exactly 
 similar instance both of the verb 
 and the particle: Solemus hcere- 
 ticis, compendii gratia, de posteri- 
 tate prcescribere ; i. e. to take an 
 exception at once from the late- 
 ness or novelty of their doctrine. 
 
 ^ Census; 'the date, the ori- 
 gin.' The verb and substantive 
 are in perpetual use in this sense 
 throughout Tcrtullian and the 
 
 other African writers. A lost 
 treatise of this author was de 
 Censu Animae. I have explained 
 a passage in c. 12, by another 
 late signification which this word 
 obtained, but so constant is the 
 occurrence of the former mean- 
 ing, that I almost doubt whether 
 it be not universal. Cum odio 
 sui : from the hatred always ex- 
 isting towards it. So in c. 14. 
 plane olim, id est semper, Veritas 
 odio est. The proverb is alluded 
 to by Terence, ' Veritas odium 
 parity' and so quoted by Lactan- 
 tius (Ep. D. I. c. 64.) non odium 
 pariet {ut ait Poeta) sed gratiam. 
 
 ** proprii Judcei; pecuharly — 
 ex concussione; concussio was a 
 legal term, implying extortion by 
 threats or violence, which the sol- 
 diery were likely to be guilty of 
 — ex would mean, from the cir- 
 cumstances of a practice so lucra- 
 tive to them. 
 
 ^ Taliter; even by this sud- 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 25 
 
 et Siren um ora judici reseravit ? Quis vel in uxori- cap. 
 bus aliqua immunda vestigia deprehendit? quis 
 talia facinora, cum invenisset, celavit, aut vendidit 
 ipsos trahens homines ? Si semper latemus, quando 
 proditum est, quod admittimus ? imo a quibus prodi 
 potuit? Ab ipsis enim reis non utique, cum vel 
 ex forma omnibus mysteriis silentii fides debeatur. 
 Samothracia et Eleusinia reticentur : quanto raagis 
 talia, quae prodita interim etiam humanam ani- 
 madversionem provocabunt, dum divina servatur^? 
 Si ergo non ipsi proditores sui, sequitur ut ex- AdNat.1.7. 
 tranei. Et unde extraneis notitia? cum semper 
 etiam piae initiationes arceant profanos et ab arbi- 
 tris caveant, nisi si impii minus metuunt ? Natura 
 famae omnibus nota est. Vestrum est: 
 
 Fama malum, quo non aliud velocius ullum. 
 
 Cur malum fama? quia velox? quia index? an 
 quia plurimum mendax? quae ne tunc quidem, 
 quum aliquid veri affert, sine mendacii vitio est, 
 detrahens, adjiciens, demutans de veritate. Quid? 
 quod ea illi conditio est, ut non nisi quum men- 
 
 den surprise. Swpervenit ,- came when was our crime discovered ? 
 
 unexpectedly on. See Virg. Eel. uocorihus refers to the Christian 
 
 VI. 20. quis talia facinora, &c. ; wives of heathen husbands, whose 
 
 The argument is this: On the attendance at these meetings 
 
 discovery of such enormities, the would naturally excite suspicious 
 
 discoverer must either have taken observation. See the treatise ad 
 
 a bribe for concealment (ad Nat. Uxor. 
 
 I. 7.) or he must have arrested ^ dum divina servatur; which 
 
 the criminals in the act, and sold will call down human vengeance 
 
 liis information to a magistrate ; in the present life, while the di- 
 
 and yet who has ever done either ? vine vengeance is being laid up 
 
 If we always escape detection for the future. 
 
2Q TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. titur perseveret, et tamdiu vivit, quamdiu non pro- 
 
 bat. Siquidem ubi probavit, cessat esse, et quasi 
 
 officio nimtiandi functa, rem tradit, et exinde res 
 tenetur, res nominatur. Nee quisquam dicit verbi 
 gratia : Hoc Romse aiunt factum : aut : Fama est, 
 ilium provinciam sortitum ; sed : Sortitus est ille 
 provinciam, et : Hoc factum est Romae. Fama, 
 nomen' iucerti, locum non habet, ubi certum est. 
 An vero famae credat, nisi inconsideratus ? Qui est 
 sapiens, non credit incerto. Omnium^ est aestimare, 
 quantacunque ilia ambitione diffusa sit, quanta- 
 cunque asseveratione constructa. Quod ab uno ali- 
 quando principe exorta sit, necesse est exinde in 
 traduces linguarum et aurium serpat. Et ita mo- 
 dici seminis vitium cetera rumoris obscurat, ut 
 nemo recogitet^ ne primum illud os mendacium 
 seminaverit, quod saspe fit aut ingenio aemulationis, 
 aut arbitrio suspicionis, aut non nova, sed ingenita 
 quibusdam mentiendi voluptate. Bene autem, quod 
 omnia tempus revelat, testibus etiam vestris pro- 
 verbiis atque sententiis, ex dispositione naturae, 
 quae ita ordinavit, ut nihil diu lateat, etiam quod 
 fama non distulit'^ Merito igitur fama tamdiu 
 
 ^ nomen incerti ; this is in quod s(ppe fit ; which occurs fre- 
 
 apposition to Fama. quently either from an envious 
 
 *^ omnium ; i. e. penes quem- disposition, or arbitrarily from a 
 
 lihet est. constructa ; in altum ex- suspicion of the fact, or a pre- 
 
 structa. ab uno aliquando principe ; dilection for abstract falsehood, 
 
 " from an originator who at some not casual but innate, ingenium 
 
 period of the rumour's existence (Pmulationis, compare ad c. 15. 
 {aliquando) stood alone and sin- ^** distulit — has spread abroad, 
 
 gle." The proverbs alluded to occur fre- 
 
 " recogitet ne — i. e. nemini hoc quently. sententia is used as in 
 
 in mentem venit, ne forte, S;c. So Juv. viii. 126. Quod modo pro- 
 
 c. 2. Non recogitetis — ne negarif. /)osui non est sententia. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 27 
 
 conscia sola est scelerum Christianoriim. Hanc in- (^p- 
 
 dicera adversus nos profertis, quae, quod aliquando 
 jactavit tantoque temporis spatio in opinion em cor- 
 roboravit^^ usque adhuc probare non valuit. 
 
 VIII. Ut fidem naturae^ ipsius appellem ad- Are they 
 
 seriously 
 
 versus eos, qui talia credenda esse praesumunt, ecce credible in 
 
 ^ ••- persons ot 
 
 proponimus horum facinorum mercedem ; vitam o^jhabite 
 aeternam repromittunt. Credite interim. De hoc^'^"^- 
 enim quaero, an et qui credideris, tanti habeas ad 
 earn tali conscientia pervenire. Veni, demerge fer- 
 rum in infantem nullius inimicum, nullius reum, 
 omnium filium^; vel si alterius officium est, tu 
 modo assiste morienti homini antequam vixit ; fu- 
 gientem animam novam exspecta; excipe rudem 
 sanguinem, eo panem tuum satia, vescere libenter. 
 Interea discumbens dinumera loca, ubi mater, ubi 
 soror ; not a diligent er, ut, quum tenebrae ceciderint 
 caninae, non erres. Piaculum enim admiseris, nisi 
 incestum feeeris. Talia initiatus et consignatus 
 
 ^^ in opinionem corroboravit ; he here exhibits in detail, repro- 
 
 " has confirmed into an opinion." mittunt so. christiani. credite in- 
 
 The sense is, That Rumour after terim ; i. e. meanwhile, till we 
 
 originating the report, and at get to the end of the argument, 
 
 length by lapse of time fixing it So c. 21. recipite interim hanc 
 
 as a settled opinion in men's fabulam, dum ostendimus, &c. 
 minds, has still never been able to ^ Ominum filium — i. e. whose 
 
 establish the fact by credible proof. innocence and helplessness claims 
 
 opinio is thus used as something the paternal care of every one. 
 
 intermediate to j'Mwor and /ac^M/w. animam novam; so Lucretius, 
 
 VI n. ^ Fidem naturce ; By Novaproles- 
 
 this expression is meant, I con- ^""^l^^^]' ''''' '"''''''' ^'''''''^ ^"- 
 ceive, the instinctive feeling or II. 260. 
 
 voice of nature, which is always And Minutius Felix. Oct. c. 9. 
 
 true and sincere, and to which * Futas posse fieri ut quisquam 
 
 TertuUian appeals, when he de- ilium rudem sanguinem novelli ac 
 
 mands whether his persecutors can vi.vdum hominis (homini antequam 
 
 possibly believe the charges which vixit) c^dat,fundat, exhauriat.' 
 
28 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. vivis in aevum. Cupio respondeas, si tanti seternitas, 
 
 aut si non, ideo nee credenda^ Etiamsi eredideris, 
 
 nego te velle, etiamsi volueris, nego te posse. Cur 
 ergo alii possint, si vos non potestis ? cur non pos- 
 sitis, si alii possunt? Alia nos, opinor, natura; 
 cynopsene aut sciapodes? alii ordines dentium, alii 
 ad incestam libidinem nervi? Qui ista credis de 
 homine, potes et facere. Homo es et ipse, quod 
 et Christianus. Qui non potes facere, non debes 
 credere. Homo est enim et^ Christianus, et quod 
 et tu. Sed ignorantibus subjicitur et imponitur\ 
 Nihil enim tale de Christianis asseverari sciebant, 
 observandum utique sibi et omni vigilantia investi- 
 
 ^ ideo nee credenda; — either 
 ceternitas quam repromittunt, or, 
 facta quibus earn promereantur. 
 
 ^ Homo est enim et, &c. For 
 a Christian too is a man, and 
 whatever you are — i. e. — what- 
 ever circumstances of organization 
 preclude your participation in 
 such crimes — that is he Hkewise. 
 TertuUian often uses this neuter 
 — c. 2. quod est, dicit, tu vis audire 
 quod non est. and quodcunque dici- 
 mur. So too c. 85. de Romanis id 
 est ; and Arnobius frequently, e. g. 
 II. 26. quid esset Deus verusjam 
 addiscerent suspicari. 
 
 ^ Ignorantibus is the dative 
 after the two impersonal verbs, 
 of which the latter is common 
 enough in this sense, (Juv. iv. 
 103.) but the former less so. It 
 can easily be traced thoTiprh, like 
 suppono, through its employment 
 for substituo sc. falsa pro veris, to 
 its present force. Cicero uses both 
 subjiccre and supponere testamcnta. 
 
 for forging wills; and Plmy speak- 
 ing of the cuckoo in a very amu- 
 sing chapter (H. N. x. ii. Ed. 
 Franz.) has the words caussa sub- 
 jicendi pullos suos, accounting for 
 the intrusion of the young cuckoo 
 into a strange nest ; he afterwards 
 calls the pullus subditus. So Apu- 
 leias (Apol. 491) says aut ego sub- 
 jectum (sudariolum) dicerem i. e. 
 loco mei. Compare Arnobius iv. 
 8. and v. 28. 
 
 The sense of the subsequent 
 passage is as follows. It is of 
 course ironical. But you will 
 say that deceit and imposition 
 is practised on these uninform- 
 ed proselytes; for they never 
 heard such charge alleged against 
 the Christians, although such 
 points should undeniably have 
 been investigated. And yet it 
 strikes me that they who wish 
 to be initiated generally apply 
 previously to the hierophant for 
 information, &c. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 29 
 
 gandum. Atquin volentibus initiari moris est, ^^^^ 
 opinor, prius patrem ilium sacrorum adire, quae 
 praeparanda sint describere^ Turn ille: infans tibi 
 necessarius, adhuc tener, qui nesciat mortem, qui 
 sub cultro tuo rideat ; item panis, quo sanguinis 
 jurulentiam colligas ; praeterea candelabra et lu- 
 cernee, et canes aliqui et offulse, quae illos ad ever- 
 sionem luminum extendant'; ante omnia cum matre 
 et sorore tua venire debebis. Quid, si noluerint, 
 vel nuUee fuerint ? quid denique singulares Christi- 
 ani® ? Non erit, opinor, legitimus Christianus, nisi 
 frater aut filius. Quid nunc, etsi ista omnia ig- 
 naris praeparantur ? Certe postea cognoscunt et 
 sustinent et ignoscunt^ Timent plecti, qui si pro- 
 clament, defendi merebuntur, qui etiam ultro perire 
 malint, quam sub tali conscientia vivere. Age nunc 
 timeant, cur etiam perseverant ? Sequitur enim, 
 ne ultra velis id te esse, quod si prius scisses, 
 non fuisses. 
 
 IX. Haec quo magis refutaverim, a vobis fieri And cannot 
 
 ^ adire ; I believe the con- de M. P. 5. and elsewhere) is gene- 
 
 struction here is adire descrihere rally quoted here, but it is hardly 
 
 — i. e. — adire patrem ilium ut ille an exact parallel. Compare with 
 
 tihi describat, though it is violent it secundum singularitatis suce 
 
 enough. prcesumptionem. adv. Marc. 1. 11. 
 
 ^ extendant — " which may ^ " But at all events after- 
 make them spring forward to wards they discover the real enor- 
 overtum the candles:" the dogs, mities of the case, and yet they 
 according to these stories, being must be supposed to put up with 
 chained to the candlesticks, which them, and hold them venial. I 
 they would thus overthrow when suppose they dread punishment," 
 darting at a sop thrown to them. &c. For theuseof^w^imeocomp. 
 
 ^ Singulares Christiani ; pro- ad. Uxor. ii. 5. It is used in a 
 
 selytes who have no kinsfolk ; similar sense (with an infinitive) 
 
 something like our phrase, a 4one by Ovid (in the Epistles), Lucan, 
 
 woman.' The expression Dens and Juvenal, but in earlier wri- 
 
 singularis of Lactantius ( D. 1. 1. 3. tei-s poftsnm is more frequent. 
 
urged with 
 
 far 
 
 truth 
 
 30 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. ostendam partim in aperto, partim in occulto, per 
 quod forsitan et de nobis credidistis. Infantes 
 
 greater penes Africam Saturno immolabantur palam usque 
 yoursdves?^^ procousulatum Tibeni, qui ipsos sacerdotes in 
 eisdem arboribus templi sui obumbratricibus scele- 
 
 ; rum,votivis crucibus exposuit, teste militia patriae 
 
 nostrae, quae id ipsum munus illi proconsuli functa 
 est. Sed et nunc in occulto perseverat hoc sacrum 
 facinus. Non soli vos contemnunt Christiani, nee 
 ullum scelus in perpetuum eradicatur, aut mores 
 suos aliqui deus mutat. Cum propriis filiis Satur- 
 nus non pepercit, extraneis utique non parcendo 
 perseverabat\ quos quidem ipsi parentes sui of- 
 ferebant, et libentes respondebant, et infantibus 
 blandiebantur, ne lacrimantes immolarentur. Et 
 tamen multum homicidio parricidium- differ!. 
 Major aetas apud G alios Mercurio prosecabatur^. 
 Remitto Tauricas fabulas theatris suis. Ecce in 
 4U^t^, 1113, religiosissima urbe iEneadarum piorum est 
 
 Jupiter quidamS quem ludis suis humano proluunt 
 
 IX. -^ Non parcendo perseve- ret (diabolus) alterum faceret par- 
 
 rahat ; i. e. in non parcendo — ricidam. 
 
 As he had sacrificed his own chil- ^ By major cetas I should un- 
 
 dren he naturally [utique) conti- derstand senes, see below, prose- 
 
 nued the practice with others, es- cari is one of that numerous class 
 
 pecially when so liberally offered of words peculiar to sacrificial and 
 
 to him. augural details, and, like most 
 
 2 [parricidium. i. e. liberorum such, of old date and usage. It 
 
 suonim caedes. Sic. Liv. iii. 50 here means simply, ' were sacri- 
 
 ' orabat ne se ut parricidam libe- ficed.' It occurs again c. 23 and 46. 
 
 rorum aversarentur, et viii. 11. * [Latiaris. Cf. IMacrob. Sat. i. 
 
 parricidium filii. A.] So Min. 10. v. Porph. tt. atrox- ap. Euseb. 
 
 Fe\. c. 9. parricidium faciunt ante- Ey. i. 16. Just. Mart. Ap. 2. p. 
 
 quampariant. Lactantius (Ep. D. 32. ed. Ox. Euseb. de laud Const. 
 
 I. c. 28,) uses parricidam for/m- 13, 16. Tertul. Scorp. c. 6. Pru- 
 
 tricidam; ut de duobus primoge- dent. 1. 2. Lactant. i. 21. A.] 
 
 nitis hominihus altei'um exstingue- Ilia and piorum are in allusion to 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 31 
 
 sanguine. Sed bestiarii, inquitis. Hoc, opinor, 
 minus quam hominis. An hoc turpius, quod mali 
 hominis? Certe tamen de homicidio funditur^ 
 O Jovem Christianum et solum patris filium de 
 crudelitate! Sed quoniam de infanticidio nihil 
 interest, sacro an arhitrio^ perpetretur (licet parri- 
 cidium homicidio intersit) convertar ad populum* 
 Quot vultis ex his circumstantibus et in Christi- 
 anorum sanguinem hiantibus', ex ipsis etiam vobis 
 justissimis et severissimis in nos praesidibus apud 
 conscientias pulsem, qui natos sibi liberos enecent? 
 Siquidem et de genere necis differt ; utique cru- 
 delius in aqua spiritum extorquetis, aut frigori et 
 fami et canibus exponitis ; ferro enim mori aetas 
 quoque major optaverit. Nobis vero, homicidio 
 semeP interdicto, etiam conceptum utero, dum 
 
 CAP. 
 IX. 
 
 the supra ire Deos pietate videbis 
 and other like passages. 
 
 ^ Certe tamen de homicidio, &c. 
 This may be either an argument 
 put in the mouth of an adversary, 
 or ironically suggested by the apo- 
 logist. " However, at all events, 
 the blood is only shed in a simple 
 murder." i. e. not parricidio ; and 
 in the next sentence Jupiter is 
 sarcastically complimented on this 
 extenuation, as if he were ap- 
 proximating to Christian inno- 
 cence, and retaining merely the 
 abstract cruelty, and not the in- 
 fanticidal taste of his father, solum 
 is used adverbially, for de, see c. 5. 
 
 ^ Sacro an arbitrio ; "whe- 
 ther from religious usage, or indi- 
 vidual choice." 
 
 '' Hiare in sanguinem — The 
 more usual construction is inhiare 
 alicui; but this is not forced. — 
 
 pulsare apud conscientiam aliquem; 
 to knock at a mans heart, and 
 make an enquiry; the metaphor 
 is taken from the common phrase 
 pulsare fores, which Tertullian 
 uses de Test. An. 1. veritatis 
 fores pulsarit, though in a pecu- 
 liar sense; It means there, *to 
 make a near approach to truth.' 
 (Compare scitote quia prope est 
 in januis.) Siquidem et de genere, 
 &c. The argument is this ; Mur- 
 der is murder in any shape, and 
 can have but one character, but, 
 if the kind of death makes any 
 difference at all, your ordinary 
 methods of infanticide are even 
 more barbarous than our imagi- 
 nary sacrifices. 
 
 ^ Semel; once for all. The 
 word is found in Lucretius in this 
 sense, and will frequently recur 
 in this author, delibatur ; there 
 
32 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. adhuc sanguis in hominem delibatur, dissolvere 
 
 non licet. Homicidii festinatio est prohibere nasci ; 
 
 nee refert natam quis eripiat animam, an nascentem 
 disturbet : homo est, et qui est futurus ; etiam 
 fructus omnis jam in semine est. De sanguinis 
 pabulo et ejusmodi tragicis ferculis legite, nuncubi 
 relatum sit, defusum brachiis sanguinem ex alterutro 
 degustatum nationes quasdam fcederi comparasse^ 
 Nescio quid et sub Catilina tale degustatum est. 
 Aiunt et apud quosdam gentiles Scytharum de- 
 functum quemque a suis comedi'°. Longe excurro. 
 Hodie istic Bellonae sacratos sanguis de femore 
 proscisso parmula exceptus et suis datus signat. 
 Item illi, qui munere in arena noxiorum jugula- 
 torum sanguinem recentem [de jugulo decurrentem 
 exceptum] avida siti comitiali morbo medentes 
 hauserunf, ubi sunt? item illi, qui de arena 
 ferinis obsoniis coenant, qui de apro, qui de cervo 
 petunt^^? Aper ille, quem cruentavit, colluctando 
 
 is doubt about this reading, and ordinary passages (compared with 
 
 difficulty about its literal transla- ^n. vi. 373.) that can be well 
 
 tion, but it obviously is used to imagined. 
 
 express the transition of the com- ^^ Constr. qui munere (i. e. 
 
 ponent principles into the foetus, tempore munerum — ludis ; as in 
 
 disturhare animam means, to shake c. 6.) avida siti hauserunt in arena 
 
 violently from its seat and de- sanguinem... medentes \jta^ morbo, 
 
 stroy. fructus omnis in semine &^c. — noxiorum jugulatorum, of 
 
 est ; a pretty similar argument criminals who have been slain in 
 
 has been singularly carried out by combat. Celsus (iii. 23.) mentions 
 
 Cicero de Divin. ii. 21. this empirical remedy, as does 
 
 ^ faederi comparasse ; — adhi- also Pliny (H.N. xxviii. 2.) where 
 
 buisse fosderi sanciendo. see Harduin. The reader will 
 
 ^" a suis comedi ; See Silius hardly require to be reminded of 
 
 (Punic. XIII. 466. sqq.) which I a practice but little dissimilar 
 
 quote instead of Herodotus that which used to be witnessed at 
 
 the reader, if he pleases, may executions in this country, 
 turn to one of the most extra- ''' de cervo petunt-^sc. cibum ; 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 33 
 
 detersit ; cervus ille in gladiatoris sanguine se jacta- cap. 
 
 vit. Ipsorum ursorum alvei appetuntur cruditantes '- 
 
 adhuc de visceribus humanis. Kuctatur proinde ab 
 homine caro pasta de homine^'. Haec qui editis, 
 quantum abestis a conviviis Christianorum ? Minus 
 autem et illi faciunt, qui libidine fera humanis 
 membris inhiant, quia vivos vorant ? minus humano 
 sanguine ad spurcitiam consecrantur, quia futurum 
 sanguinem lambunt? non edunt infantes plane, sed 
 magis puberes. Erubescat^^ error vester Christianis, 
 qui ne animalium quidem sanguinem in epulis escu- 
 lentis habemus, qui propterea suffocatis quoque et 
 morticinis abstinemus, ne quo sanguine contami- 
 nemur vel intra viscera sepulto. Denique inter 
 tentamenta Christianorum botulos etiam cruore dis- 
 tentos admovetis, certissimi scilicet, illicitum esse 
 penes illos, per quod exorbitare eos'^ vultis. Porro 
 quale est, ut quos sanguinem pecoris horrere con- 
 fiditis, humano inhiare credatis, nisi forte suaviorem 
 eum experti ? Quem quidem et ipsum proinde 
 examinatorem Christianorum adhiberi ut foculum, 
 ut acerram oportebat. Proinde enim probarentur 
 sanguinem humanum appetendo, quemadmodum 
 
 as in the proverbial phrase ' de abs. in c. 34. we have de mendacio 
 
 rogo cibum petere.' erubescere and de fastidio Partho- 
 
 ^^ Caro pasta de homine; — rum de Hab. Mul. c. 7- mortici- 
 
 flesh which has fed upon man. nis ; such as have died a natural 
 
 H(sc qui editis. sc. eocempla. death, opposed to ccesis. The 
 
 ^* Eruhescat Christianis — word is used in the Vulgate of 
 
 quasi coram Chr. The case, how- meats interdicted on this ground, 
 
 ever, may be the dative, or the both in the Pentateuch and in 
 
 ablative with an ellipse of de. Ezech.iv.l4. It occurs in Plautus. 
 Compare de Test. An. 1. vel tibi ^^ Exorbitare; see ad c. 6. I 
 
 erubescat, and c. 11. ad extr. doubt whether it is transitive here 
 
 though it may there be the abl. or not. 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 IX. 
 
 sacrificium respuendo; alioquin necandi si gustas- 
 sent, quern admodum si non immolassent^^ Et 
 utique non deesset vobis in auditione custodiarum 
 et damnatione sanguis humanus. Proinde incesti 
 qui magis, quam quos ipse Jupiter docuit? Persas 
 cum suis matribus misceri Ctesias refert. Sed et 
 Macedones suspecti, quia quum primum (Edipum 
 tragoediam audissent, ridentes incesti dolorem, 
 riXavve dicebant, ei? TjyV fxrirepa. Jam nunc recogi- 
 tate, quantum liceat erroribus ad incesta miscenda, 
 suppeditante materias passivitate^' luxuriae. Im- 
 primis filios exponitis suscipiendos ab aliqua prae- 
 tereunte misericordia extranea, vel adoptandos meli- 
 
 ^^ Immolassent ; abs. as de 
 Idol. 2. 'Si quis aut incendat, aut 
 immolet, aut polluceat.' in audi- 
 tione custodiarum ; custodia may 
 either mean a prison, as frequent- 
 ly in Cicero, or a prisoner, as in 
 later writers; which perhaps is 
 the better translation. Eadem 
 catena, says Seneca, (Ep. v.), et 
 custodiam copulat et militem. The 
 sense of the passage will then be: 
 ' Most assuredly your trials and 
 condemnations of prisoners would 
 supply you with blood enough for 
 this purpose.' proinde — quemad- 
 modum is equivalent to pariter — 
 atque. 
 
 ^' passivitas. — i. e. erratic pro- 
 miscua. This word is not con- 
 nected with patior, but with panrfo, 
 and the adverb passim from the 
 same source is familiar to writers 
 of all dates, but passivus and pas- 
 sivitas are not met with in authors 
 usually studied. Apuleius speaks 
 (Met. IX. 202) of dogs transeun- 
 
 tium viatorum passivis morsihus 
 alumnatos, and he even uses pas- 
 sive instead of the common adverb 
 (Met. VI. 240); crines per colla 
 divina passive dispersi, as does 
 Tertullian passivitus, de Pall. 3. 
 The substantive and the adjective 
 are of frequent occurrence in this 
 latter writer, in the sense above 
 mentioned. Adv. Hermog. 41. 
 hcsc turbulentia et passivitas non 
 est, sed moderatio et modestia, 
 where the antithesis shews the 
 sense, de Cor. Mil. 8. passivitas 
 fallit. Adv. Marc. i. xx. passivus 
 convictus, and often elsewhere. 
 Amobius (iv. 17.) says of Jupiter, 
 concubinis, pellicibus, atque ami- 
 culis dekctatus impatientiam suam 
 S'pargebat passim. It must be 
 recollected though, that passirms 
 (from patior) will very often be 
 found, especially in controversial 
 tracts. In Amobius, if my me- 
 mory serves me, its sense is ex- 
 clusively this. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 35 
 
 oribus parentibus emancipatis^^ Alienati generis ^j^^- 
 necesse est quandoque memoriam dissipari; et, 
 semel error impegerit^^ exinde jam tradux proficiet 
 incesti, serpente genere cum scelere. Tunc deinde 
 quocunque in loco, domi, peregre, trans freta^ 
 comes est libido, cujus ubique saltus facile possunt 
 alicubi ignaris filios pangere vel ex aliqua seminis 
 portione ; ut ita sparsum genus per commercia hu- 
 mana concurrat in memorias suas, neque eas coetus 
 incesti sanguinis agnoscat. Nos ab isto eventu 
 diligentissima et fidelissima castitas sepsit, quan- 
 tumque ab stupris et ab omni post matrimonium 
 excessu, tantum et ab incesti casu tuti sumus. 
 Quidam multo securiores totam vim hujus erroris 
 virgine^^ continentia depellunt, senes pueri. Haec 
 in vobis esse si consideraretis, proinde in Christi- 
 anis non esse perspiceretis. lidem oculi renuntias- 
 sent utrumque'^^ Sed caecitatis duae species facile 
 
 ^^ misericordia — i. e. miser ante subject of the passage, Minutius 
 
 by a common figure. Melioribus Felix, c. 9. 
 
 parentibus : melior is frequently ^" trans freta ; on the sea, as 
 
 used simply like superior, taking opposed to the terra firma either 
 
 its peculiar sense from the con- domi or peregre. ubique saltus ap- 
 
 text, and thus becomes often equi- pears to be used for saltus omni- 
 
 valent to doctior (Hor. Ep. i. 2. vagi or in omnem partem facti; 
 
 68.) or divitior, which latter mean- like scBpe tactus (Lucret. i. 319.) 
 
 ing it perhaps has in the pre- or semper lenitas (Ter. Andr. i. 2. 
 
 sent case, unless it implies that 4.) 
 
 the adopted parent shews more ^^ Virgine continentia. So Pliny 
 
 kindness than the natural one. speaks of virginem terram ; see 
 
 19 « When once the error has Oud. ad Apul. Met. iii. extr. 
 
 occurred." If the reading semel be senes pueri ; the general meaning 
 
 correct, impegerit must be taken of these words is clear, i. e. that 
 
 like jusserit in the celebrated line some have arrived at the end of 
 
 of Juvenal, iii. 78, or Hor. Sat. their life without losing the inno- 
 
 II. 7, 32. On the ellipse, see Bentl. cence of childhood, 
 
 ad Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 48, and on the ^ renuntiassent utrumque ; 
 
 S 2 
 
36 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. concurrunt, ut qui non vident quae sunt, videre 
 
 videantur quae non sunt. Sic per omnia ostendam. 
 
 Nunc de manifestioribus dicam. 
 us^nexuT^ ^' ^^^^s, iuquitis, non colitis, et pro impera- 
 woSp ^° toribus sacrificia non impenditis. Sequitur ut eadem 
 andTam- ratiouc pro aliis non sacrificemus, quia' nee pro 
 empeTorsf nobis ipsis, scmel deos non colendo. Itaque sacri- 
 ofyour legii et majestatis rei convenimur^ Summa haec 
 
 gods; were . . ,. . . 
 
 they not all caussa, luio tota cst, ct utiQue diffna coffnosci, si 
 
 once mor- . ... . 
 
 tais? non praesumptio^ aut iniquitas judicet, altera quae 
 desperat, altera quae recusat veritatem. Deos ves- 
 tros colere desinimus, ex quo illos non esse cognos- 
 cimus. Hoc igitur exigere debetis, uti probemus 
 non esse illos deos, et iccirco non colendos, quia 
 tunc demum coli debuissent, si dii fuissent. Tunc 
 et Christiani puniendi, si quos non colerent, quia 
 putarent non esse, constaret illos deos esse. Sed 
 nobis inquitis, dii sunt. Appellamus et provoca- 
 mus a vobis ipsis ad conscientiam vestram, ilia nos 
 judicet, ilia nos condemnet, si poterit negare omnes 
 istos deos vestros homines fuisse. Sed et ipsa in- 
 ficias si ierit, de suis antiquitatum instrumentis 
 
 would have given you both pieces ved through the force of 'accost- 
 
 of information. ing' or 'addressing/ which con- 
 
 X. ^ quia ; possibly qua, says venio repeatedly has. So c. 28 ; 
 
 Dr Ashton, and it is a remark me conveniat Janus iratus ex qua 
 
 which very naturally occurs ; but velit fronte, c. 36. convenio sep- 
 
 quia is used in a very singular tern collium plebem. Ad Nat. 1. 17. 
 
 sense sometimes, which I may vanitatis sacrilegia conveniam, 
 elsewhere illustrate. ^ prcesumptio qucB desperat, 
 
 2 convenimur ; " we are con- That prejudice which assumes the 
 
 vened, summoned, charged with." inaccessibility of truth. This was 
 
 See c. 31. Convenire is a legal the well known Academic prin- 
 
 term, such as Tertullian often ciple, and is that on which Cseci- 
 
 employs. It occurs frequently in lius grounds his arguments against 
 
 the Digests, and was perhaps deri- Christianity in Min. Fel. c. 1. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 37 
 
 revincetur, de quibus eos didicit, testimonium per- cap. 
 
 ■X.. 
 
 hibentibus^ ad hodiernum et civitatibus, in quibus 
 nati sunt, et regionibus, in quibus aliquid operati 
 vestigia reliquerunt, in quibus etiam sepulti de- 
 mon strantur. Nee ego per singulos decurram, tot > 
 ac tantos, novos, veteres, barbaros, Graecos, Roma- 
 nos, peregrinos, captivos, adoptivos, proprios, com- 
 munes, masculos, feminas, rusticos, urbanos, nauti- ^<^^at.ii. 
 cos, militares ; otiosum est etiam titulos persequi, 
 ut colligam in compendium, et hoc non quo cog- 
 noscatis, sed recognoscatis ; certe enim oblitos 
 agitis^ Ante Saturnum deus penes vos nemo est, 
 ab illo census totius vel potioris vel notioris divi- 
 nitatis. Itaque quod de origine constiterit, id de 
 posteritate conveniet. Saturnum itaque, si quan- 
 tum litterae docenf^, neque Diodorus Graecus, aut 
 Thallus, neque Cassius Severus, aut Cornelius Ne- 
 pos, neque ullus commentator ejuscemodi antiqui- 
 tatum aliud quam hominem promulgaverunt ; si 
 quantum rerum argumenta, nusquam invenio fide- 
 liora, quam apud ipsam Italiam, in qua Saturnus 
 post multas expeditiones postque Attica hospitia 
 consedit, exceptus a Jano, vel Jane, ut Salii vo- 
 lunt. Mons, quem incoluerat, Saturnius dictus ; 
 
 * testimonium perhibentibus. ex ea natum, egisse Jesum Chris- 
 This vras the technical legal terrn. turn, et infr. c. 37. hostes exsertos 
 Apiil. Met. II. 36. vos in hang agere. 
 
 REM BONi QviRiTES TESTIMONIUM ^ St quautum HtercB docent. If 
 
 PERHiBETOTE. ad hodiemum. sc. this si be the true reading, (and 
 
 diem. Cf. Oud. ad Apul. Met. ii. I am inclined, from its recurrence 
 
 45. below, to believe so,) there must 
 
 * oblitos agitis ; " you act the be an ellipse of recogitemur, or 
 part of those who have forgotten some such expression. Compare 
 it." So de praes. Haer. c. 13. verbum though the beginning of c. 12. 
 
38 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 X. 
 
 ci vitas, quam depalaverat', Saturnia usque nunc 
 est; tota denique Italia, post (Enotriam, Saturnia 
 cognominabatur. Ab ipso primum tabulae et ima- 
 gine signatus numus, et inde aerario praesidet. Ta- 
 raen si homo Saturnus, utique ex homine, et quia 
 ab homine, non utique de coelo et terra. Sed 
 cujus parentes ignoti erant, facile fuit eorum filium^ 
 dici, quorum et omnes possumus videri. Quis enim 
 non coelum et terram matrem et patrem venera- 
 tionis et honoris gratia appellet, vel ex consuetu- 
 dine humana, qua ignoti vel ex inopinato appa- 
 rentes^ de coelo supervenisse dicuntur? Proinde 
 Saturno repentino ubique coelitem'*' contigit dici. 
 
 ^ depalare — to stake off; to 
 mark out by stakes {pali), or, 
 perhaps, to fortify by a palisade. 
 I have been unable to find this 
 word elsewhere except in the 
 Pastor of Hermas, where it occurs 
 in the fifth similitude, quumque 
 depalasset vineam illam, et animad- 
 vertisset, &c. and I should have 
 given it the precise signification of 
 our present text, but for the pre- 
 vious sentence, eique assignavit 
 vineam ut vitibus jungeret pahs, 
 which of course explains the sub- 
 sequent verb. In the other two 
 passages in which Tertullian em- 
 ploys it, I cannot help thinking it 
 is essentially the same word as in 
 this, notwithstanding the explana- 
 tions of Semler ; though depalare 
 signifying manifestare, {palam) is 
 no doubt in use. Compare the ex- 
 pression dispalescere in Plautus 
 Bacch. IV. 9, 123. 
 
 « Cf. Casaub. ad Pers. vi. 59. 
 
 " Apparere. This word is occa- 
 sionally used with a peculiar im- 
 
 plication of magnitude, or solem- 
 nity, or suddenness, in the object 
 presented to view. Virgil so em- 
 ploys it, -^n. X. 579 ; 
 
 Irriiit, adversaque ingens adparuit hasta. 
 
 and twice in a most magnificent 
 passage : 
 Adparet domus intus, et atria longa 
 
 patescunt : 
 Adparent Priami et veterum pene- 
 tralia regum, &c. 
 
 ^n. II.483et622. 
 
 Horace, Car. ii. 10, 23 ; 
 
 Rebus angustis animosus atque 
 Fortis appare : 
 
 and Claudian in Eutrop. i. 390, 
 personifying Rome — 
 
 Dimovit nebulam, juvenique adparuit 
 ingens. 
 
 Tertullian renders eiri(pdveia 
 by apparentia. The correspond- 
 ing expressions in the Vulgate 
 are adventus and revelatio. 
 
 ^^ Contigit; i. e. quasi res 
 magna, as in the proverb Non 
 cuivis, &c. Cf. Juv. VI. 564. 
 Hor. Ep. II. 2, 40. Lucan. i. 32. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 39 
 
 Nam et terrae filios vulgus vocat, quorum genus cap 
 
 incertum est. Taceo quod ita rudes tunc homines 
 agebant, ut cujuslibet novi viri adspectu quasi di- 
 vino commoverentur, quum hodie jam politi, quos 
 ante paucos dies luctu publico mortuos sint con- 
 fessi, in deos consecrent. Satis jam de Saturno, 
 licet paucis. Etiam Jovem ostendemus tam ho- 
 minem quam ex homine, et deinceps totum gene- 
 ris examen" tam mortale quam seminis sui par. ^ 
 
 XI. Et quoniam, sicut illos homines fuisse And such 
 
 being the 
 
 non audetis ne^are, ita post mortem deos factos case, what 
 
 <-' •*■ explanation 
 
 instituistis asseverare, caussas quae hoc exegerint ^^^^y^J^j^^.^ 
 retractemus. Inprimis quidem necesse est conce- g^JJ'gS "^^^^ 
 datis esse aliquem sublimiorem deum et manci- 
 pem^ quendam divinitatis, qui ex hominibus deos 
 fecerit. Nam neque sibi illi potuissent sumere 
 divinitatem, quam non habebant, nee alius prse- Ad Nat. 
 stare eam non habentibus, nisi qui proprie possi- 
 debat. Ceterum si nemo esset, qui deos faceret, 
 frustra praesumitis deos factos auferendo factorem. 
 Certe quidem si ipsi se facere potuissent, nun quam 
 homines fuissent, possidentes apud se scilicet me- 
 lioris conditionis potestatem. Igitur si est qui 
 faciat deos, revertor ad caussas examinandas faci- 
 
 ^^ Examen. The term is in occurs, de Sp. 10. and de Idol. 1. 
 some degree contemptuous, as de it is used with allusion to its 
 Anim. c. 23. examen Valentini, different sense of redemptor pub- 
 see Hor. Ep. I. 19, 23. licus. Arnobius i. 14. says per 
 
 XI. ^ Manceps divinitatis; quern (i.e. mancipem hunc di- 
 
 one who possesses divinity as his vinitatis) esse et habere substan- 
 
 own proper and peculiar right, tiam sui numinis majestatisque 
 
 not derived from another, qui coeperunt : a quo ipsam deita- 
 
 propi-ie possidet, as below ; in the tern {ut ita dicam) sortiti se esse 
 
 two passages where the word sentiunt. 
 
40 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XI. 
 
 endorum ex hominibus deorum, nee ullas invenio, 
 nisi si ministeria et auxilia officiis divinis" desi- 
 deravit ille magnus deus. Primo indignum est, 
 ut alicujus opera indigeret, et quidem mortui, quum 
 dignius ab initio deum aliquem fecisset, qui mortui 
 erat operam desideraturus. Sed nee operas locum 
 videol Totum enim hoc mundi corpus sive innatum 
 et infectum* secundum Pythagoram, sive natum et 
 factum secundum Platonem, semel utique in ista 
 constructione dispositum et instructum et ordina- 
 tum cum omnis rationis gubernaculo inventum est. 
 
 ^ Officiis divinis ; " in the 
 discharge of his divine duties." — 
 or it may be the dative after 
 the two neuters, operam desi- 
 deraturus " who was fated to 
 experience the want of," &c. 
 for nisi si v. Rup. ad Juv. vi. 
 250. 
 
 ^ Sed nee opercB, &c. If I 
 rightly apprehend the meaning 
 of the following passage it is this: 
 * Whatever theories you please to 
 assert concerning the nativity or 
 eternity of this universe, yet 
 without doubt it was found by its 
 first inhabitants to have been 
 once for all settled at its first 
 creation, and fully ordered and 
 supplied with the guiding power, 
 requisite to govern its operations 
 and preserve its stability. That 
 which at its origin performed all 
 its functions, could not be im- 
 perfect. There was no depart- 
 ment waiting for a new dynasty 
 of gods, but the rain descended 
 and the stars shone, and the earth 
 gave increase as soon as the uni- 
 verse was in being.' TertuUian 
 
 is not insisting on the immuta- 
 bility of the laws of nature, the 
 certus ordo or finita potestas of 
 Lucretius, but on the identity of 
 natural phenomena, and the suf- 
 ficiency of superintendence, from 
 the beginning. The whole argu- 
 ment is urged by Amobius (i. 
 15.) Si enim temporis antiqui- 
 tate mundus eos {i. e. Deos vestros) 
 antevenit, et priusquam nati sunt, 
 jam noverat plurias tempesta- 
 tesque natura, nullum serius nati 
 pluendi jus habent, neque eis inse- 
 rere rationibus se possunt, quas 
 invenerunt (compare * inventum 
 est* in the text) hie ac/i, et majore 
 ab auctore tractari. 
 
 * infectum, this word is the 
 reverse of factum, and is too com- 
 mon to mislead any one, but the 
 student may be cautioned that in 
 the African writers he will some- 
 times find the negative in rather 
 unusually compounded, e. g. S. 
 Cyprian Ep. i. illapsajirmitas i. e. 
 quce non lapsa fuit and Apuleius 
 Apol. 488. invidentifi animxUia 
 i. e. visum non habentia. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 41 
 
 Imperfectum iion potuit esse, quod perfecit omnia, cap. 
 
 Nihil Saturnum et Saturniam gentem exspectabat. 
 
 Vani erunt homines, nisi certi sint, a primordio 
 
 et pluvias de coelo ruisse, et sidera radiasse, et lu- 
 
 mina floruisse^ et tonitrua mugisse et ipsum Jovem, 
 
 quae in manu ejus ponitis, fulmina timuisse ; item 
 
 omnem frugem ante Liberum et Cererem et Mi- 
 
 nervam, imo ante ilium aliquem principem homi- 
 
 nem de terra exuberasse, quia nihil continendo 
 
 et sustinendo homini prospectum post hominem 
 
 potuit inferri. Denique invenisse dicuntur^ neces- / 
 
 saria istae, non instituisse. Quod autem invenitur, J JsM i-^.-rcu 
 
 fuit; et quod fuit, non ejus deputabitur, qui in- 
 
 venit, sed ejus qui instituit. Erat enim, antequam 
 
 inveniretur. Ceterum si propterea Liber deus, quod 
 
 vitem demonstravit, male^ cum Lucullo actum est, 
 
 qui primus cerasa ex Ponto Italiae promulgavit, 
 
 quod non est propterea consecratus, ut novae frugis 
 
 auctor, quia inventor et ostensor. Quamobrem si 
 
 ab initio et instructa et certis exercendorum offi- 
 
 ciorum suorum rationibus dispensata universitas 
 
 constitit, vacat ex hac parte caussa allegendee^ 
 
 ^ lamiruiy i. e. Solem ac Lu- P. 5.) Dei regentis et continentis 
 
 nam. floruisse ; see Lucr. i. 900. universa. 
 
 IV. 452. V. 1441. continendo ^ dicuntur — sc. isti del. quod 
 
 homini; this expression may be autem invenitur, fuit; "That 
 
 sometliing like that frequently which is discovered, had a pre- 
 
 occurring in Cicero continere vious existence/' &c. 
 generis humani societatem, or, ^ male ; i. e. maligne ' un- 
 
 more probably equivalent to sue- fairly.' 
 
 cingendo as explained by Arno- " allegendce ; this is the techni- 
 
 bius (u. 21.) quihus vita sue- cal term to express a calling up 
 
 cingitur et continetur humana. to a higher rank ; allegere in 
 
 Compare vii. 2. quis eos (Deos) Senatum is a common phrase, 
 
 existimet contineri alicujus ali- and such too (an ace. after in) is 
 
 wom'i jrcrtere? and Lactantius(M. the common construction, but it 
 
CAP. 
 XL 
 
 42 TEIITULLIANI 
 
 humanitatis in divinitatem, quia quas illis stationes 
 et potestates distribuistis, tarn fuerunt ab initio, 
 quam et fuissent, etiamsi deos istos nou creassetis. 
 Sed convertimini ad caussam aliam, respondentes 
 collationem divinitatis meritorum remimerandorum 
 fuisse rationem. Et bine concedetis, opinor, ilium 
 deum deificum justitia prascellere, qui nee temere, 
 nee indigne nee prodige tantum praemium dispen- 
 sarit. Volo igitur merita recensere, an ejusmodi 
 sint, ut illos in coelum extulerint, et non potius 
 in imum tartarum demerserint, quern carcerem 
 poenarum infer n arum cum vultis^ affirm a tis. I Hue 
 enim abstrudi solent impii quique in parentes, et 
 in sorores incesti, et maritarum adulteri, et vir- 
 ginum raptores et puerorum contaminatores, et qui^' 
 saeviunt, et qui occidunt, et qui furantur, et qui 
 decipiunt, et quicunque similes simt alicujus dei 
 vestri, quem neminem integrum a crimine aut vitio 
 probare poteritis, nisi bominem negaveritis. Atquin 
 ut illos bomines fuisse non potestis negare" etiam 
 
 is used with a dative, de Resur. Juv. ii. 149. The criminal list 
 
 Cam. c. 8. cum anima Deo allegi- following is taken from Virgil 
 
 tur, ipsa (caro) est quce efficit ut and other writers on the subject, 
 
 anima allegi possit; and hy Seneca, which is alluded to in the ex- 
 
 Agam. 812. pression solent. 
 
 ^ Cum vultis. This reading ^" Scevire ; * to indulge in 
 
 appears to me far more forcible ungovernable passions.* Seneca 
 
 and characteristic than the other treats at length of the crime 
 
 multis, its meaning being : " when sesvitia, and in Juv. xiv. scevire 
 
 you are pleased to allow any absolutely used exactly m this 
 
 future place of punishment at manner, is opposed to mitem ani- 
 
 all." The general scepticism with mum ac mores modicis errorihus 
 
 regard to the ancient theology is cequos. Horace (Ep. ii. 2. 134.) 
 
 well enough known ; but if the expresses the same idea by insa- 
 
 reader should desire any specific nire. 
 
 authorities he will find them " {Ut pro sicut accipere, sc. 
 
 quoted by the commentators on Sicut non potestis etiam istae, 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 43 
 
 istae notae accedunt, quae nee deos postea faetos cap. 
 
 credi pennittunt. Si enim talibus vos puniendis 
 
 praesidetis, si commercium, eoUoquium, eonvietum 
 malorum et turpium probi quique respuitis, horum 
 autem pares deus ille majestatis suae consortio as- 
 civit, quid ergo damnatis, quorum coUegas adora- 
 tis ? Suggillatio est in coelum vestra justitia^^ Deos 
 facite criminosissimos quosque, ut placeatis diis 
 vestris. lUorum est honor consecratio coaequalium^^ 
 Sed ut omittam hujus indignitatis retractatum^ 
 probi et integri et boni fuerint. Quot tamen po- 
 tiores viros apud inferos reliquistis ? aliquem de 
 sapientia Socratem, de justitia Aristidem, de mi- 
 litia Themistoclera, de sublimitate Alexandrum, de 
 felicitate Polycratem, de copia Croesum, de elo- 
 quentia Demosthenem. Quis ex illis diis vestris 
 gravior et sapientior Catone, justior et militarior 
 Scipione ? quis sublimior Pompeio, felicior Sylla, 
 copiosior^* Crasso, eloquentior Tullio ? Quanto 
 
 ut etiam sit post sicut Batavae haec pro suspectis habet Vorstius 
 
 Latinitatis est. lege possitis. A.] de Lat. suspect, c. 2. et 31. nee 
 
 The reading possitis would de- immerito. A.] fuerint just be- 
 
 stroy the argument, which is low is equivalent to putemus 
 
 syllogistic. Non poteritis nisi fuisse. 
 
 negaveritis: at non potestis negare: ^* Copiosior more wealthy ; as 
 
 igitur, &c. etiamque; "and besides copia just above. So Cicero in Q. 
 
 there are those charges which Caecil. Div. xvii. quce mulier, ante 
 
 forbid our believing their subse- hunc qucestm'em, copiosa plane et 
 
 quent apotheoses." locuples fuit. Plautus uses cops 
 
 ^^ Suggillatio est ; " your ad- Bacch. ii. 3. 1 17. ' Ut amantem 
 
 ministration of justice is a satire herilem copem facerem filium' 
 
 upon the inhabitants of heaven." militaris is taken in the sense of 
 
 ^ [f. cequalium : nam inferi- ' warlike' like militaris Daunia 
 
 oris Latinitatis est vox cocequalis in Horace, and militia above must 
 
 etsi apud Columellam apparet 8. mean ' warlike excellence/ though 
 
 14. sed ut opinor mendose, sic et I cannot recollect its being so 
 
 apud Justin. 23. 4. et lib. 37. At used elsewhere. 
 
44 TERTULLIAM 
 
 CAP. dignius istos deos ille assumendos expectasset, prae- 
 
 A. Ll • 
 
 scius utique potiorum^^? Properavit, opinor, et 
 
 coelum semel clusit, et nunc utique melioribus 
 apud inferos mussitantibus erubescit ^^ 
 ^7^. As to their XII. Cesso jam de istis, ut qui sciam me ex 
 
 images; you . . , . , . 
 
 scarcely in- ipsa veritate demon straturum quid non smt, quum 
 
 flict more ^ • i • z-w 
 
 indignities osteudero quid sint. Quantum iffitur de^ diis ves- 
 
 upon us, ^ *-' 
 
 than upon tris, uomina solummodo video quorundam veterum 
 mortuorum et fabulas audio, et sacra de fabulis 
 recognosco ; quantum autem de simulacris ipsis, 
 nihil aliud deprehendo, quam materias sorores^ esse 
 vasculorum instrumentorumque communium, vel ex 
 iisdem vasculis et instrumentis quasi fatum conse- 
 cratione mutantes, licentia artis transfigurante, et 
 quidem contumeliossime et in ipso opere sacrilege, 
 ut revera nobis maxim e, qui propter deos ipsos 
 plectimur, solatium poenarum esse possit, quod 
 eadem et ipsi patiuntur, ut fiantl Crucibus et 
 stipitibus imponitis Christianos : quod simulacrum 
 non prius argilla deformat cruci et stipiti super- 
 
 is « "\yith how much more XII. ^ Quantum igitur de 
 
 propriety would he (the deus Diis quantum de simula- 
 
 deificus) have waited for these cris ; compare c. 10. Si quan- 
 
 men to he called up into the turn literce si quantum ar- 
 
 ranks of the gods, especially as gumenta. a little afterwards sacra 
 
 he must have foreknown these de fabulis should be taken closely 
 
 more favourable characters." together * rites, whose details have 
 
 ^^ erubescit. See ad c. 9. I their origin in these myths.* 
 
 think mussitantibus is the abl. ^ materias sorores ; " twin sub- 
 
 abs. here ; its meaning is, ' mur- stances." On the argument see 
 
 muring with indignation;' so S. Min. Fel. c. 7. and compare Juv. 
 
 Cyprian de Mort. c. 2. non mus- x. 61. sqq. 
 
 sitare in adversis. mussare occurs ^ ut fiant ; " in order to their 
 
 in Virgil ; semel clusit, " he finally, creation." crucibus et stipitibus, &c. 
 
 and once for all, closed the see this parallel carried out, c. 16. 
 
 entrance to heaven." for dedicatur see ad c. 5. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 45 
 
 structa? in patibulo primum corpus dei vestri de- cap. 
 
 \ Li. 
 
 dicatur. Ungulis deraditis latera Christianorum : 
 
 at in deos vestros per omnia membra validius in- 
 cumbunt ascias et runcinae et scobinae^ Cervices ^^'^ 
 
 ponimus : ante plumbum et glutinum et gomphos ^-^ 
 
 sine capite sunt dii vestri. Ad bestias impellimur, 
 certe quas Libero et Cybele et Coelesti applicatis. 
 Ignibus urimur : hoc et illi a prima quidem massa. 
 In metalla damnamur : inde censentur dii vestri\ 
 In insulas relegamur : solet et in insulis aliquis 
 deus vester aut nasci aut mori. Si per baec constat 
 divinitas aliqua, ergo qui puniuntur consecrantur, 
 et numina erunt dicenda supplicia. Sed plane non 
 sentiunt has injurias et contumelias suae fabrica- 
 tionis dii vestri, sicut nee obsequia. O impiae vo- 
 ces, O sacrilega convicia ! infrendite, inspumate^ ! 
 iidem estis, qui Senecam aliquem pluribus et ama- 
 rioribus de vestra superstitione perorantem proba- 
 
 * runcinee et scohince; "planes earlier than the Flavian times, 
 
 and files." The words are both but it is afterwards frequent 
 
 recognized by Varro. Arnobius, enough. It occurs in Tacitus, 
 
 in a very characteristic passage Pliny, Seneca, Martial and Juve- 
 
 (vi. 16.) has fomacibus incocta nal. I do not forget TertuUian's 
 
 figulinis (sc. Deum simulacra) eoc constant use of census and censeri 
 
 incudibus et malleis nata, tornis for origo and originem diwere, of 
 
 rasa, descobinata de Umis, serris, which Semler considers this pas- 
 
 perforaculis, asciis, secta, dolata, sage too an example, but I prefer 
 
 effbssa, terebrarum excavata verti- the former interpretation both 
 
 gine (i. e. rotatione) runcinarum here and ad Uxor. i. 6. Romce qui- 
 
 levigata de planis ; where the use dem quce ignis illius inextinguibilis 
 
 of de may be noticed. imaginem tractant de virgini- 
 
 ^ Inde censentur Dii vestri. tate censentur, which Semler has 
 
 From this (sc. auro atgue argento) overlooked in his index. Compare 
 
 your gods derive their estimation. with the last passage c. 4. de 
 
 V. c. 29. puto autem, hce ipsce Hab. Mul. 
 
 materiis de metallis Ccesarum ^ Constr. [proinde] infrendite, 
 
 veniunt, &c. This use of censere inspumate [he^c'] " O impice voces, 
 
 will not be found, I believe, O! &^c" 
 
46 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XII. 
 
 You treat 
 tnem witn 
 every pos- 
 sible con- 
 tumely. 
 
 tis. Igitur si statuas et imagines frigidas mortu- 
 orum suorum simillimas non adoramus, quas milvi 
 et mures et araneae intelligunt', nonne laudem 
 magis, quam poenam, merebatur repudium agniti 
 erroris? Possumus enim videri laedere eos, quos 
 certi sumus omnino non esse? Quod non est, 
 nihil ab ullo patitur, quia non est. 
 
 XIII. Sed nobis dei sunt, inquitis. Et quo- 
 modo vos e contrario impii et sacrilegi et irreli- 
 giosi erga deos vestros deprehendimini, qui quos 
 praesumitis esse, negligatis, quos timetis, destruatis, 
 quos etiam vindicatis, illudatis? Recognoscite, si 
 mentiar. Primo quidem, cum alii alios colitis, uti- 
 que quos non colitis, ofFenditis. Praelatio alterius 
 sine contumelia alterius non potest procedere, quia 
 nee electio sine reprobatione \ Jam ergo contem- 
 nitis, quos reprobatis, quos reprobando ofFendere 
 non timetis. Nam ut supra perstrinximus, status 
 dei cuj usque in senatus aestimatione pendebat. Deus 
 non erat, quem homo consultus noluisset et nolendo 
 Domesticos deos, quos lares dicitis, 
 
 ^t\o!" damn asset 
 
 '' intelligunt; 'have a correct 
 conception of/ as they shew by 
 their contemptuous treatment of 
 the statues. The circumstances 
 here alluded to are frequently 
 mentioned in ancient writers, and 
 the images were sometimes pro- 
 tected by a thin plate on the top 
 of the head. 
 
 XIII. ^ The same argument 
 is used ad Uxor. i. 3. ' quodam- 
 modo vetantur, cum alia iUis prce- 
 feruntur ; prcelatio enim superi- 
 orum disanasio est inferiomm.' 
 
 ^ Deus non erat, &c. The 
 word consultus adds great force 
 to the sentence — *He, whom a 
 man, when asked his pleasure 
 about the matter, declined to 
 deify {noluisset esse Deum) and 
 by this refusal condemned, was 
 no god at all.' nolle and i^elle are 
 often used to imply a peremptory 
 decision, resting only with the 
 absolute will of an individual. 
 Apuleius Met. vii. 137. noluit 
 Ccesar esse Heemi collegium (i.e. 
 latronum): et confestim interiit ; 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 47 
 
 domestica potestate tractatis pignerando, vendi- cap. 
 
 tando, demiitando, aliquando in cacabulum de Sa- -^ 
 
 turno, aliquando in trullam de Minerva, ut quisque 
 contritus atque contusus est, dum' diu colitur, ut 
 quisque dorainus Deum sanctiorem expertus est 
 domesticam necessitatem^. Publicos aeque publico 
 jure foedatis, quos in hastario* vectigales habetis. 
 Sic Capitolium, sic olitorium forum petitur^; sub 
 eadem voce praeconis, sub eadem hasta, sub eadem 
 annotatione quaestoris divinitas addicta conducitur. ^^^^ "- ' 
 
 Sed enim agri tributo onusti viliores, bominum 
 capita stipendio censa ignobiliora ; nam hae sunt 
 notae captivitatis. Dii vero, qui magis tributarii, 
 magis sancti, imo qui magis sancti, magis tributarii. 
 Majestas quaes tuaria efficitur. Circuit cauponas re- 
 ligio mendicans. Exigitis mercedem pro solo tem- 
 
 tantum potest etiam nutus magni strangely misunderstood in the 
 
 principis. Min. Felix (c. 7) using Glossary of Ducange. 
 the argument of the text says, ^ [Petitur. i. e. conducitur a 
 
 postremo est Deus, cum homo redemtore sic ad Nat. 1. 10. Capi- 
 
 illum voluit. tolium, Serapeum, petitur, addi- 
 
 ^ " According as each god is citur, conducitur. A.] I do not 
 
 worn and damaged by long use remember any such use of peto 
 
 (Wakef. ad Lucret. i. 819) or as as is here implied, and, as to the 
 
 each master experiences a more quotation from ad Nat. there is 
 
 powerful god in the shape of generally allowed to be a hiatus 
 
 domestic difficulties." Some read- after conducitur which wouldleaye 
 
 ings here omit Deum and others room for a nominative to the two 
 
 dominus, but I think the sarcasm last verbs. I should explain peti- 
 
 isimprovedby the juxta-position. tur like itur ad. The annotatio 
 
 * Hastarium. From the qucestoris is the taking down by 
 parallel chapter ad Nat. i. 10. that magistrate of the biddings, 
 this appears to be a kind of Sic Capitolium, sic olitoi'ium, &c. 
 auction-book. The expression i. e. sic — ut. " The capitol is 
 de hastario emere is used by S. attended for this temple-bargain- 
 Augustine Ep. xcvi. (Vol. II. p. ing, just as the herb-market is 
 261. Ed. Bened.) in a passage for other sales, the same crier, the 
 which seems to me to have been same qusestor, serves for both." 
 
48 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xm! P^^' P^^ aditu sacri; non licet deos nosse gratis, 
 venales sunt. Quid omnino ad honorandos eos fa- 
 citis, quod non etiam mortuis vestris conferatis ? 
 aedes proinde, aras proinde. Idem habitus et in- 
 signia in statuis. Ut aetas, ut ars, ut negotium 
 mortui fuit, ita deus est. Quo differt ab epulo 
 Jovis silicernium^? a simpulo obba? ab haruspice 
 pollinctor? nam et haruspex mortuis apparet'. Sed 
 digne imperatoribus defunctis honorem divinitatis 
 dicatis, quibus et viventibus eum addicitis. Accepto 
 ferent^ dii vestri, imo gratulabuntur, quod pares 
 eis fiant domini sui. Sed quum Larentinam pub- 
 licum scortum, velim saltem Laidem aut Phrynen, 
 inter Junones et Cereres ac Dianas adoratis ; quum 
 Simonem Magum^ statua et iriscriptione sancti dei 
 inauguratis; quum de paedagogiis^*' aulicis nescio 
 
 ® Simpulum ; Vid. Rup. Exc. Salmasius on the passage of Spar- 
 ad Juv. VI. 343. Intpp. ad Apul. tianus quoted below. 
 Apol.434. ohba; Casaub. ad Pers. " Pcedagogiis; The expression 
 V. 148. and the practice are both illus- 
 
 ' Apparere alicui. This is a trated by Lipsius Exc. ad Tac. 
 
 special sense of apparere signify- Annal. xv. B. Prudentius (Contr. 
 
 ing ministrare, prcesto esse alicui, Symm. i. 271) alludes by name 
 
 which is still retained in our word to the nescio quern of the text : 
 
 Quid loquar Antinoum coelesti sede 
 
 ' apparitor ;' see c. 48. quijudicio 
 
 Dei apparet; ad Uxor. i. 4. pr(&- locatum 
 
 sume, oro te, nihil tihi opus esse si Ilium delicias nunc Divi principis : 
 
 domino appareas. It is used abso- ^'^""^ 
 
 , , , , . .^. ,.,,.. Purpureo in gremio spoliatum sorte 
 
 lutely, * are m waiting, m Virg. ^,.^^.^^^ 
 
 Mn. XII. 850. 
 
 ^ Accepto ferre, to give credit Spartianus (Hist. Aug. i. p. 
 
 for as a favour. The phrase is 136) gives the reports current 
 
 well known, but it is more gene- about this canonization, and two , ; 
 
 rally re/erre in earlier Latin. Apu- notes of Causaubon and Salmasius jf 
 
 leius (Apol. 652) has meo muneri (in which this passage of Tertul- 
 
 acceptum ferehat. lianisincludedandillustrated)will 
 
 * Simo Magus. V. Bishop shew what classical scholarship 
 
 Kaye's Tertullian, p. 578, and was two centuries and a half ago. 
 
 /^j; 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 49 
 
 quern synodi deum facitis : licet non nobiliores dii cap. 
 veteres, tamen contumeliam a vobis deputabunt, hoc 
 et aliis licuisse, quod solis antiquitas contulit. 
 
 XIV. Nolo^ et ritus vestros recensere ; non }'^" ^.^^uit 
 
 them in 
 
 dico, quales sitis in sacrificando, cum enecta et l^^J, ^^^'^ 
 tabidosa et scabiosa quaeque mactatis ; cum de Ijfem^in 
 opimis et integris supervacua quaeque truncatis, [^"J" ^'^^^^' 
 capitula et ungulas, quae domi quoque pueris vel 
 canibus destinassetis ; cum de decima Herculis nee 
 tertiam partem in aram ejus imponitis. Laudo 
 magis sapientiam, quod de perdito aliquid eripitis^ 
 Sed conversus ad litteras vestras, quibus informa- 
 mini^ ad prudentiam, et ad liberalia officia, quanta 
 invenio ludibria? deos inter se propter Trojanos 
 et Achivos ut gladiatorum paria congressos depug- 
 nasse; Venerem humana sagitta sauciatam, quod 
 filium suum iEnean paene interfectum ab eodem 
 Diomede^ rapere vellet ; Martem tredecim mensi- 
 bus in vinculis paene consumptum ; Jovem, ne 
 eandem vim a ceteris coelitibus experiretur, opera 
 cujusdam monstri liberatum, et nunc flentem Sar- 
 pedonis casum, nunc foede subantem in sororem 
 sub commemoratione non ita delictarum jampridem 
 amicarum. Exinde quis non poeta ex auctoritate 
 
 XIV. ■^ That no/o and not t;o/o used in precisely a similar sense 
 
 is the correct reading, is clear, I by Cicero pro Arch. 8. it occurs 
 
 think from the remark below, often both in this author and 
 
 Laudo magis, &c. a little further Amobius. — in prudentiam would 
 
 down pueris means servulis as very be rather more usual than ad. 
 frequently, * ab eodem Diomede. If this 
 
 ^ de perdito aliquid eripitis ; is a correct reading, the meaning 
 
 that you save something, at all is,thatVenus was wounded by the 
 
 events, from that which you are same Diomed who had nearly 
 
 throwing away. killed her son, and from whom she 
 
 ' informamini. This word is was endeavouring to rescue him. 
 
 4 
 
50 TERTULLIANI 
 
 XI\ 
 
 CAP. principis sui dedecorator invenitur deorum ? Hie 
 Apollinem Admeto regi pascendis pecoribus ad- 
 dicit, ille Neptuni structorias operas Laomedonti 
 locat. Est et ille de lyricis (Pindamm dico) qui 
 jEsculapium canit avaritiaj merito, qua medicinam 
 nocenter exercebat, fulmine vindicatum^ Malus Ju- 
 piter, si fulmen illius est, impius in nepotem, invi- 
 dus in artificem. Haec neque vera prodi, neque falsa 
 confingi apud religiosissimos oportebat. Nee tragiei 
 quidem aut eomici pareunt, ut non serumnas vel 
 errores domus alieujus dei praefentur". Taceo de 
 pbilosophis, Socrate eontentus, qui in eontumeliam 
 deorum quereum et hircum et canem dejerabat. 
 Sed propterea^ damnatus est Socrates, quia deos 
 destruebat. Plane olim, id est semper, Veritas odio 
 est. Tamen cum poenitentia sententiae Athenienses 
 et criminatores Soeratis postea afflixerint^ et ima- 
 
 ^ Vindicatum. v. ad c. 4. Lac- replies an adversary, ' but Socrates 
 
 tantms(de M.P.I.) uses wnc?icare suffered for them, which shewed 
 
 in aliquem, as does also Arnobius. the light in which we regard such 
 
 ^ prtsfentur. This is apparent- opinions/ ' Why/ rejoins the 
 ly in allusion to the custom apologist, 'truth generally does 
 amongst the dramatists of putting suflPer, but, however, since the 
 the prologue in the mouth of some people afterwards, through repent- 
 god, and making him give an out- ance of the sentence pronounced, 
 line of the affairs of the family punished his accusers and honour- 
 {domus alieujus) who were the ed his memory, this reversion of 
 subject of the play ; as Venus in the judgment restores to Socrates 
 the Hippolytus and Mercury in the validity of his evidence in my 
 the Amphitryo. behalf.' 
 
 '' The argument is this : ' I for- " affligere aliquem, sc. solo, is 
 
 bear to c^ll the evidence of your often used absolutely for Icadere, 
 
 philosophers,' says TertuUian, ' as percutere ; just as attollere is for 
 
 the well known sentiments of opitulari or consolari. So Lactan- 
 
 Socrates are sufficient to make tins (de M. P. 1.) Deus jacentes 
 
 out my case and enable me to dis- et qfflictos coelesti auxilio suhle- 
 
 pense with any others.' 'Yes,' vat. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 51 
 
 gin em ejus auream in templo collocarint, rescissa cap. 
 
 damnatio testimonium Socrati reddidit. Sed et 
 Diogenes nescio quid in Herculem ludit, et Ro- 
 manus Cynicus Varro trecentos Joves, sive Jupi- 
 teres dicendum, sine capitibus introducit. 
 
 XV. Cetera^ lasciviae in^enia etiam volupta- ^"^ yo^ 
 
 o A expose 
 
 tibus vestris per deorum dedecus operantur. l^is- |Jj^l"jJ?.gg 
 pieite Lentulorum et Hostiliorum venustates, utrum theltrel 
 mimos an deos vestros in jocis et strophis^ rideatis : 
 moechum Anubim, et masculum Lunam, et Dia- 
 nam flagellatam, et Jovis mortui testamentum re- 
 citatum, et tres Hercules famelicos irrisos. Sed et 
 histrionum litterae omnem foeditatem eorum desig- 
 nant. Luget Sol filium jactatum de coelo laetan- 
 tibus vobis, et Cybele pastorem suspirat^ fastidiosum, 
 non erubescentibus vobis. Et sustinetis Jovis elogia 
 cantari, et Junonem, Venerem, Minervam a pas- 
 tore judicari. Quid, quod imago dei vestri igno- 
 miniosum caput et famosum vestit? quod corpus 
 
 XV. ^ "The other ingenui- sed simplicitates. de Spect. 29. 
 
 ties of luxury work out your dispicite means maminate as in 
 
 pleasure by means of the igno- c. 1. 
 
 miny of the gods :" lascimce inge- ^ Suspirat pastorem. As Juv. 
 
 nia like ingenia decoris. de Hab. xi. 152. 
 
 Mul. c. 2. Compare Amobius Suspirat longo non visam tempore 
 
 IV. 2. ingeniorum lascivire luxu matrem. 
 
 and VI. 13. in deorum corporihus though the expression is earlier 
 
 lascivice artificum ludunt. The than his date, and of fair repute, 
 
 same writer paraphrases Tertul- See Heyne Obss. in TibuU. i. 6, 
 
 lian thus : nonne lenocinia volup- 85. It occurs de Hab. Mul. c. 2. 
 
 tatum ex contumeliis attrahit di- and de Cult. Fsem. c. 6. Amo- 
 
 mnis, bius (iv. 20) uses suspirare in ali- 
 
 ^ StropUs. Quasi mimum Phi- quid, and Catullus (lxiv. 98) who 
 
 listionis vel Lentuli ac Marulli is followed by Ovid (Fast. i. 417) 
 
 stropham eleganti sermone con- suspirare in aliquo. In a similar 
 
 fictam. Hieron. adv. Ruf. ii. nee manner ardere in is followed either 
 
 fahukBy sed veritates, nee strophce by an abl. or ace. Cyprian speaks 
 
 4 — 2 
 
52 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 
 impurum et ad istam artem efFeminatione^ pro- 
 ductum Minervam aliquam vel Herculem reprae- 
 sentat ? Nonne violatur majestas et divinitas con- 
 stupratur plaudentibus vobis ? Plane religiosiores 
 estis in cavea^ ubi super sanguinem humanum, super 
 inquinamenta poenarum proinde saltant dii vestri, 
 argumenta^ et historias noxiis ministrantes, nisi 
 quod et ipsos deos vestros saepe noxii induunt^ 
 Vidimus aliquando castratum Atyn, ilium deum ex 
 Pessinunte, et, qui vivus ardebat, Herculem indu- 
 erat. Risimus et inter ludicras meridianorum cru- 
 delitates' Mercurium mortuos cauterio examinantem. 
 Vidimus et Jovis fratrem gladiatorum cadavera cum 
 malleo deducentem. Singula ista quaeque adhuc 
 investigare quis possit ? Si bonorem inquietant 
 divinitatis, si majestatis vestigia obsoletant% de 
 
 of Jupiter in terrmos amoves ar- 
 dentem. 
 
 * Effeminatione. The verb 
 effemino is used by Cic6ro, Caesar, 
 and other good writers, but I can- 
 not bring any earlier example of 
 this noun. In later times it had 
 generally the forcible meaning of 
 castratio. Compare Lactantius 
 Ep. D. I. 8. adolescentem, adenitis 
 genitaiibus, effeminavit. Minerva 
 is probably quoted with Hercules 
 in this passage, on account of her 
 masculine and heroic character, 
 which of course makes this im- 
 personation more monstrous. 
 
 ^ Argumenta. I conceive this 
 word here to mean literally ' argu- 
 ments,' and not to imply mendacia 
 or vanitates as very frequently 
 indeed in late writers. 
 
 ® induunt ; ' personate,' the 
 expression being taken from the 
 
 mask which determined the cha- 
 racter. In the following sentence 
 I think the sense is this : " It is 
 not uncommon to see these repre- 
 sentatives of deities undergoing in 
 reality as a punishment for their 
 crimes the suflFerings attributed 
 by fable to their respective gods, 
 whose characters they have re- 
 spectively assumed." 
 
 ^ Me)'idianorum crudelitatets ; 
 V. Lips. Satur. ii. 15. Seneca, Ep. 
 VII. says, mane leonibus et ursis 
 homines, meridie spectat&rihus suis 
 ohjiciuntur. The whole of this 
 short epistle might be very pro- 
 fitably perused by any one who 
 suspects TertuUian's tract de spec- 
 taculis of exaggeration, or his 
 opinions of bigotry. 
 
 " Obsoktant. This word is al- 
 most peculiar to this author, but 
 S. Augustine uses obsolefacere. de 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 5S 
 
 contemtu utique censentur, tarn eorum qui ejus- cap. 
 
 modi factitant, quam eorum quibus factitant. Sed 
 
 ludicra ista sunt. Ceterum si adjiciam, quas non 
 minus conscientise omnium recognoscent, in templis 
 adulteria componi, inter aras lenocinia tractari, in 
 ipsis plerumque asdituorum et sacerdotum taberna- •?>-?-» s- 
 culis, sub iisdem vittis et apicibus et purpuris, - ^/-*/*Az 
 tbure flagrante libidinem expungi : nescio, plusne 
 de vobis dii vestri, quam de Chris tianis querantur. , .-^ ^^^ 
 Certe sacrilegi de vestris semper apprebenduntur^ 
 Christiani enim templa nee interdiu norunt ; spo- 
 liarent forsitan ea et ipsi, si et ipsi ea adorarent. 
 Quid ergo colunt, qui talia non colunt? Jam qui- 
 dem intelligi subjacet^^ veritatis esse cultores, qui 
 mendacii non sint: nee errare amplius in eo, in 
 quo errasse se recognoscendo cessaverint. Hoc prius 
 capite, et omnem bine sacramenti nostri ordinem 
 haurite, repercussis ante tamen opinionibus falsis. ^ 
 
 XVI. Nam, ut quidam, somniastis caput asi- But in fact 
 
 ^ ^ ^ you really 
 
 uinum esse deum nostrum. Hanc Cornelius Tacitus commit 
 
 yourselves 
 
 suspicionem eiusmodi inseruit Is enim in quinta J^^^^<*1*- 
 
 L V n trous ab- 
 
 historiarum suarum bellum Judaicum ' exorsus ab surdities of 
 
 contemtu censentur, i, e. contemtu i nee interdiu ; ergo nee nocte, quo 
 
 deputantur; originem a contemtu tempore fiirta fiunt. 
 
 ducunt. Ceterum si adjiciam, &:c. ^^ [intelligi suhjacet ; Hellenis- 
 
 Every reader of Ovid will recog- mus, vtroKetTai voeiv sic Polyb, 
 
 nize the practices here alluded to. viroKeiTai TradeTv ; i. e. 'irpoKeiTai 
 
 Componi is like composita repe- ut notat Budseus. Ita fere Euseb. 
 
 tantur hora. ^^^ Theol. p. 72, eircTat voew, 
 
 ® de vestris. Comp. c. 44. ap- A.] in quo errasse se ; i. e. in qui- 
 
 prehenduntur ; the sense hei-e is bus rebus cessarunt errare, simul 
 
 that special one which is retained ac cognoverint se erravisse an- 
 
 in our derivative, and which is tehae. 
 
 found in the Digests. S. Cypr. XVI. ^ This account of Taci- 
 
 ad Demetr. c. 3. nemo nostrum, tus (Hist. v. 3) should be care- 
 
 quando apprehenditur, reluctatur. fully compared. The construction 
 
54 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. origine gentis, etiam de ipsa tam origin e, quam 
 de nomine et religione gentis quas voluit argu- 
 
 which you 
 
 falsely ac- mentatus, Judaeos refert iEgypto expedites, sive, 
 ^f/i^r* ^* putavit, extorres, in vastis Arabia* locis aquarum 
 egentissimis, cum siti macerarentur, onagris, qui 
 forte de pastu potum petituri aestimabantur, indi- 
 cibus fontis uses ob earn gratiam consimilis bestia? 
 superficiem consecrasse. Atque ita inde, opinor, 
 praesumptum, nos quoque ut Judaicae religionis pro- 
 pinquos^ eidem simulacro initiari. At enim idem 
 Cornelius Tacitus, sane ille mendaciorum loqua- 
 cissimus, in eadem historia refert Cnaeum Pom- 
 peium, cum Hierusalem cepisset, proptereaque^ 
 templum adiisset speculandis Judaicae religionis ar- 
 canis, nullum illic reperisse simulacrum. Et utique 
 si id colebatur, quod aliqua effigie reprassentabatur, 
 nusquam magis quam in sacrario suo exhiberetur, 
 eo magis, quia nee verebatur extraneos arbitros 
 quamquam vana cultura. Solis enim sacerdotibus 
 adire licitum, et conspectus ceterorum velo oppans^ 
 interdicebatur. Vos tamen non negabitis, et ju- 
 menta omnia et totos cantherios cum sua Epona^ 
 coli a vobis. Hoc forsitan improbamur, quod inter 
 cultores omnium pecudum bestiarumque asinarii 
 
 of the sentence is * exorsus. . etiam in good authors. 
 
 argumentatuSj Judcsos refert . . . cum ^ proptereaque, i. e. quia cepisset. 
 
 macerarentur ...usos indicibv^... *jure victorice' says Tacitus (v. 
 
 superficiem consecrasse' superfi- 9) ; unless it is explained by spe- 
 
 dem. i. e. caput ; but I have never culandis arcanis. 
 
 seen the expression elsewhere. ^ cum sua Epona. Apuleius 
 
 * propinquos Judaicce reli- (Met. ii. 60) gives a description 
 
 gionis ; de Test. An. c. 6. Judceos of the riches, the image, and the 
 
 ...in quorum oleastro insiti sumus. ornaments of this deity, asinarii, 
 
 initiari alicui (sc. Deo aut sa- " mere ass- worshippers to the ex- 
 
 cris) is the ordinary construction elusion of other beasts." 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 55 
 
 tantum sumus. Sed et qui crucis nos religibsos^ 
 putat, consecraneus noster erit-. Cum lignum ali- 
 quod propitiatur, viderit habitus, dum materiae 
 qualitas eadem sit ; viderit forma, dum id ipsum 
 dei corpus sit. Et tameU quanto distiuguitur a 
 crucis stipite Pallas Attica, et Ceres Pharia, quae 
 sine effigie rudi palo et informi ligno prostat? 
 Pars crucis est omne robur, quod erecta statione 
 defigitur; nos, si forte ^ integrum et totum deum 
 
 CAP. 
 XVI. 
 
 « Crucis religiosos ; like c7-ucis 
 cultores, hnt I can give no example 
 of a similar phrase, though words 
 of this form in late Latin fre- 
 quently take a genitive, as im- 
 periosissimas mentis, Pliny H. N. 
 XXX. 1. curiosus medicincB, ib. 
 XXV. 2. In later times religiosi 
 meant the * regular clergy, and 
 religio the vows; homo religionis 
 is cited by Ducange for a monk. 
 On the form consecraneus see 
 Causaub. ad Capitol. Gordian. 
 Vol. II. p. 97. ed. 1671, who re- 
 marks that the termination was a 
 favourite one with the middle 
 Latin writers, v. c. 28. Yet con- 
 sentaneus is in good use. 
 
 '^ "As long as it is a mere 
 piece of wood which is worshipped 
 (^propitiatur) and as long as the 
 god is bodily contained in the 
 image, it matters little what its 
 form or external decorations are." 
 Viderit habitus ; This viderit is a 
 common expression of TertulKan, 
 the ellipse probably being de se, 
 {Mn. X. 744) ' let it look to itself/ 
 i 1. e. nihil nostra refert. Cicero, 
 Ep. ad Att. XIV. 21. Sed mihi 
 quidem fiefSlwTai. Viderint ju- 
 venes. Compare S. Cyprian de 
 Hab. Virg. c. 8. Viderit, inquis, 
 
 qua illuc mente quis veniat, mihi 
 tantum, &c. So de Idol. c. 11. 
 'viderint si e^^edem merces... nobis 
 quoque insuper usui sunt.' and 
 often elsewhere. Min. Felix, ad 
 extr. ' proinde Socrates scurra 
 Atticus viderit,' &c. 
 
 ^ [Si forte. Ita reddit Tert. 
 phrasin Graecam el a pa, vel 
 e'lirep apa. A.] The sense is : 
 ^if we do worship a god of this 
 sort,' &c. In c. 49. the same idea 
 is expressed by si utique. Com- 
 pare Lucretius v. 719. 
 
 Versarique potest, globus ut, si forte, 
 
 pilai, 
 Dixnidia ex parte candenti lumine tinc- 
 
 tus. 
 
 Amobius (vii. 32) seems to have 
 expanded the phrase, effigies re- 
 mur submotas esse ab his longe, 
 quoniam forma mortalis est cor- 
 poris ; et si forte est ulla, &c. 
 TertuUian argues thus: 'Your 
 gods are nothing but straight 
 stakes on which plaster has been 
 formed into shape, your trophies 
 are but wooden crosses covered 
 with armour, your eagles but the 
 same with various decorations. 
 Every stake fixed in an upright 
 position may be considered part 
 of a cross ; and yet you worship 
 
56 TERTULLIANI 
 
 ^^^; colimus. Diximus originem deorum vestrorum a 
 plastis de cruce induci. Sed et Victorias adoratis, 
 cum in tropaeis cruces intestina sint tropaeorum. 
 Religio Romanomm tota castrensis signa veneratur, 
 signa jurat, signa omnibus diis praeponit. Omnes® 
 
 Ad Nat. illi imaginum suggestus in signis monilia crucum 
 sunt. Siphara ilia vexillorum et cantabrorum stolae 
 crucum sunt. Laudo diligentiam', noluistis nudas 
 et incultas cruces consecrare. Alii plane huma- 
 nius et verisimilius Solem credunt deum nostrum. 
 Ad Persas, si forte, deputabimur (licet solem non 
 in linteo depictum adoremus) habentes ipsum ubi- 
 que in suo clypeo. Denique inde suspicio,. quod^ 
 innotuerit nos ad orientis regionem precari. Sed 
 et plerique vestrum affectation e aliquando et coe^ 
 lestia^^ adorandi ad solis ortum labia vibratis. 
 Mqne si diem solis laetitise indulgemus, alia longe 
 ratione quam de religione solis ^^ secundo loco ab 
 
 many such either naked or dis- is here applied to the flag as 
 
 guisedj so that even if you could distinguished from its staff. It 
 
 prove your case against us, we is employed by Min. Felix in the 
 
 should be merely found to wor- corresponding passage, by Arno- 
 
 ship that entire which you do in bins (ii. 18.) and by Apuleius. 
 
 fragments.' Any illustrated work See too Juvenal viii. 186. The 
 
 on classical antiquities will shew artificial arrangement of the 
 
 the form of standards or trophies, sentences may be observed * * * • 
 
 Cf. adv. Marc. iii. 18. Adv. Jud. monilia crucum sunt • • • • stoice 
 
 c. 10. Min. Fel. c. 9. crucum sunt. 
 
 ^ " All the images wliich you " Laudo diligentiam. This is 
 
 suspend round your standards, are a frequent ironical expression, 
 
 but as necklaces of crosses, all See above c. 14. Juv. xii. 121. 
 
 the banners are but as robes." ^^ et coekstia. i. e. inter alia. 
 
 Siphara ; the word appears to be ^^ de religione solis ; this is not 
 
 derived from the old word sipo or such a genitive as that in religio 
 
 supo *jacio' which is still pre- /oci, j»a<rww, &c. but is equivalent 
 
 served in the compound dissupo ; to propter religionem quam soli 
 
 it signifies a veil or awning, and exhihemus; and may be compared 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 57 
 
 eis sumus, qui diem Saturni otio et victiii decer- ^^^; 
 nunt, exorbitantes et ipsi Judaico more^", quern 
 ignorant. Sed nova jam dei nostri in ista civitate ^f^^^- 
 proxime editio publicata est, ex quo quidam in 
 frustrandis bestiis mercenarius noxius^^ picturam 
 proposuit cum ejusmodi inscriptione : deus 
 CHRiSTiANOiiUM ONOKOITH2. Is erat auribus 
 asininis, altero pede ungulatus, librum gestans, et 
 togatus. Risimus et nomen et formam. Sed illi 
 debebant adorare statim biforme numen, quia et 
 canino et leonino capite commistos, et de capro et 
 de ariete cornutos, et a lumbis hircos, et a cruribus 
 serpentes, et planta vel tergo alites deos recepe- 
 runt. Haec ex abundanti, ne quid rumoris irre- 
 percussum quasi de conscientia praeterissemus^*. 
 
 in some respects with the ex- 
 pression crucis religiosos which 
 occurred a few lines back. The 
 glossary of Ducange cites religio 
 Dei for Dei cultus from an old 
 translation of Irenaeus as if a 
 singular example, but Lactantius 
 uses the phrase emphatically for 
 the Christian religion ; nee ampli- 
 us quidquam contra legem aut re- 
 ligionem Dei fecit, de Mort. Pers. 
 c. 10. and elsewhere. Commo- 
 dianus too (xii. 10.) has 
 
 Religio cujus in vacuo falsa curatur, 
 
 where, if I understand the passage, 
 in vacuo means inaniter. Perhaps 
 the text is one of the earliest 
 instances of such an idiom. 
 
 ^ exorbitantes et ipsi Judaico 
 more. I think this the most ex- 
 plicable reading. And the argu- 
 ment is this: If we do observe 
 Sunday as a feast, we are but in 
 the next rank to yourselves, who 
 
 observe Saturday, in which you 
 unwittingly leave your own cere- 
 monials and customs and follow 
 the rites of the Jews. Compare 
 the passage ad Nat. marked in 
 the margin. 
 
 ^^ mercenarius noxius ; of the 
 various interpretations of these 
 words I prefer Semler's, viz. 'a 
 bestiarius, who though not actu- 
 ally a convict, had hired himself 
 to fight in the amphitheatre 
 along with such.' The character 
 described in Ep. i. of S. Cyprian 
 is different. 
 
 " S. Cyprian ad Demetr. praef. 
 tacere ultra non oportet ne jam non 
 verecundiw sed diffidentice esse in- 
 cipiat quod tacemus, et dum crimi" 
 nationes falsas contemnimus re- 
 futare, videamus crimen agnoscere. 
 Apuleius Apolog. 404. tamen vel 
 
 mea caussa refellenda sunt nevi- 
 
 dear cuiquam, si quid prceteriero, id 
 agnovisse potius quam contemsisse.' 
 
 'p^r 7:,'^J''-^^^ — • 
 
58 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xvFi ^"* omnia, conversi jam ad demonstration em reli- 
 ffionis nostras, repurffavimus. 
 
 Now hear ^ vxttt . 
 
 our real XVII. Quod coHmus rnos], deus unus est ; 
 
 faith and ^ l J ' 
 
 practice, qui totam molem istam cum omni instrumento' 
 
 We believe •"• 
 
 God whom elementorum, corporum, spirituum, verbo, quo jussit, 
 proSs. ratione, qua disposuit, virtute, qua potuit, de ni- 
 hilo expressit, in ornamentum majestatis suae : unde 
 et Graeci nomen mundo Koafxov accommodaverunt. 
 Invisibilis est, etsi videatur; incomprehensibilis, 
 etsi per gratiam^ repraesentetur ; insestimabilis, etsi 
 humanis sensibus aestimetur ; ideo verus et tantus 
 est. Ceterum quod videri communiter, quod com- 
 prehendi, quod aestimari potest^ minus est et oculis 
 quibus occupatur, et manibus quibus contaminatur, 
 et sensibus quibus invenitur. Quod vero immen- 
 sum est, soli sibi notum est. Hoc est quod deum 
 aestimari facit, dum aestimari non capita Ita eum 
 vis magnitudinis et notum hominibus objicit et 
 ignotum. Et haec est sumraa delicti nolentium 
 
 XVII. ^ instrumento, like ap- and the paraphrase of S. Cyprian 
 
 paratu ; thus TertuUian uses de Idol. Van. c. 2. but it will be 
 
 both paratura (v. ad c. 80) frequently found to express intel- 
 
 and instrumentum for the Scrip- lectual comprehension. The dis- 
 
 tures. See adv. Marc. iv. 1. alte- covery implied in the word inve- 
 
 rius instrumenti vel, quod magis nitur is that of the attributes, not 
 
 Usui est dicere, testamenti. the existence, of the object, in 
 
 ^ pergratiam. I cannot exactly which sense it answers to the 
 
 satisfy myself of the meaning of cestimari potest preceding, 
 this expression. It may be per * cestimari non capit ; " does 
 
 gratiam ipsius, qua hoc nobis pri- not admit of estimation." So de 
 
 vilegium concessit, or per gratiam Hab. Mul. c. 2. and Juv. xi. 169. 
 
 in qua ipsius quasi imago ad- But the more ordinary word in 
 
 umbratur. this sense is recipio. See Hor. 
 
 ^ Ceterum, quod, &c. compre- Epist. ii. 1. 258. Li v. xxix. 24. 
 
 hendi in this passage is evidently objicere in the next sentence is 
 
 used like contrectari, as is clear simply equivalent to offerre, a 
 
 from the corresponding clause parallelism which has been 
 
 manibus quibus contaminatur ; noticed before. 
 
LIBER AFOLOGETICUS. 59 
 
 recognoscere, quein ignorare non possmit^ Vultis cap. 
 
 ex operibus ipsius tot ac talibus, quibus con- 
 
 tinemur^ quibus sustinemur, quibus oblectamur, 
 etiam quibus exterremur, vultis ex animae ipsius 
 testimonio comprobemus ? Quse licet carcere cor- 
 poris pressa, licet institutionibus pravis circum- 
 scripta, licet libidinibus ac concupiscentiis evigorata', 
 licet falsis diis exancillata, cum tamen resipiscit, 
 ut ex crapula, ut ex somno, ut ex aliqua valetu- 
 dine, et sanitatem suam patitur, deum nominat, 
 hoc solo nomine, quia proprio del veri : deus 
 
 MAGNUS, DEUS BONUS, et QUOD DEUS DEDERIT, 
 
 omnium vox est. Judicem quoque contestatur 
 
 ilium, DEUS VIDET, et DEO COMMENDO, et 
 
 DEUS MiHi REDDET. O testimonium animse na- 
 turaliter Christianas ! Denique pronuntians haec, 
 non ad Capitolium, sed ad coelum respicit. Novit 
 enim sedem dei vivi ; ab illo, et inde descendit^ 
 
 XVIII. Sed quo plenius et impressius tam who sent 
 
 , . . . , us pro- 
 
 ipsum quam dispositiones ejus et voluntates adire- p'^ets, and 
 
 gave us his 
 word. 
 
 ^ So S, Cyprian, in an appo- in excondere adv. Marc. v. 18. or 
 
 site passage de Idol. Van. c. 2. expingere de cult. Faem. c. i. or it 
 
 ' Atque hcec est summa delicti, may add strength to the word, 
 
 nolle agnoscere, quern ignorare non as in edurus Virg. Georg. ii. 65. 
 
 possis.' (varr. lect.) iv. 145. 
 
 ® quibus continemur ; the ex- On the argument, compare its 
 
 pression has been illustrated ad amplification in the special trea- 
 
 c- 11- tise de Testimonio animce, to- 
 
 '' evigorata; like evirare, Ca- gether with S. Cyprian quoted 
 
 tull. Lxii. 17. Arnob. v. 36. S. above, Min. Felix, c. 5 ; and Ar- 
 
 Cypr. Ep. I. exancillata ; lelox)- nobius, ii. 2. 
 Aft)/xei/»7, ancillari alicui is old, ^ ab illo sc. Deo; inde i.e. ab ejus 
 
 though obsolete, Latin. It occurs sede. But inde and unde are both 
 
 once in Apuleius de dog. Plat, occasionally used of persons as 
 
 586. The ex has either little well as place. See Gesner ad 
 
 force at all in the compound, as Quintil. vi. 1. 
 
60 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XVIII. 
 
 mus, instrumentum adjecit litteraturae \ si qui* velit 
 de deo inquirere, et iiiquisito invenire, et invento 
 credere, et credito deservire. Viros eiiim justitia 
 et iimocentia dignos deum nosse et ostendere a pri- 
 mordio in seculum emisit^ spiritu divino inundates*, 
 quo praedicarent deum unicum esse, qui universa 
 <;ondiderit, qui hominem de humo struxerit; hie 
 enim est verus Prometheus ; qui seculum certis 
 temporum dispositionibus et exitibus ordinaverit; 
 exinde qui signa majestatis suae judicautis^ ediderit 
 per imbres, per ignes; qui demerendo sibi disci- 
 plinas determinaverit^ quas ignoratis aut deseritis; 
 sed et observantibus his praemia destinarit, ut qui 
 prodacto aevo isto judicaturus' sit suos cul tores in 
 
 XVIII. ^ LitteraturcB. v. ad 
 c. 30. 
 
 ^ Si qui — So TertuUian com- 
 monly for quis, as Apuleius also, 
 (e.g. Met. II. 35.) and Ammi- 
 anus. 
 
 ' in seculum emisit ; some 
 observations on the various uses 
 of the word seculum will be found 
 ad c. 26. In this sentence it 
 means hoc scBculum, hanc vitamy 
 or mundum ; a little below it has 
 another sense, meaning the space 
 allotted for the existence of this 
 world, which is expressed just 
 after by cevum istud. ordinaverit 
 is equivalent to instruijcerit, v. 
 c. 11. and temporum is simply 
 *' seasons." 
 
 * inundatos ; this is an expan- 
 sion of an ordinary figurative ex- 
 pression, " effundam de Spiritu 
 meo super servos meos et prophe- 
 tabunt." S. Cyprian (Ep. i.) em- 
 bodies the idea of TertuUian; 
 
 projluens largiter spiritus nullis 
 Jinibus premitur ; manat jugiter, 
 exuherat affiuenter, and a little 
 afterwards uses the same phrase, 
 tantum gratifs inundantis hauri- 
 mus. 
 
 * Majestatis sues judicantis. 
 See c. 4. I would not join judi- 
 cantis with per, but connect edi- 
 derit signa per, &c. and leave 
 the signification of the participle 
 absolute. So S. Cyprian de Unit. 
 Eccles. c. 3. in conspectu statim 
 Domini vindicantis ejctincti. 
 
 ^ qui demerendo sibi. 'Who 
 fixed ordinances by which men 
 might please Him.' 
 
 ^ judicare in retributionem ; 
 this is just as if it had been assig- 
 nare cultoribus suis vitfP esternts 
 retributionem, a sense of exami- 
 nandi and pronuntiandi being im- 
 plied in judicare. The prodacto 
 means prodacto in nihilum as 
 written fully in c. 48. Compare 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 61 
 
 vitas aeternae retributionem, profanes in ignem aeque J^^^- 
 
 perpetem et jugem, suscitatis omnibus ab initio 
 
 defunctis et reformatis et recensitis ad utriusque 
 meriti dispunctionem. Haec et nos risimus ali- 
 quando. De vestris fuimus ; fiunt, non nascuntur 
 Christiani. Quos diximus praedicatores, prophetae 
 de officio praefandi vocantur. Voces eorum item- 
 que virtutes", quas ad fidem divinitatis edebant, 
 in thesauris litterarum manent, nee istae nunc la- 
 tent. Ptolemaeus, quem Philadelphum supernomi- 
 nant, eruditissimus rex, et omnis litteraturae sa- 
 gacissiraus, cum studio bibliothecarum Pisistratum, 
 opinor, aemularetur, inter cetera memoriarum^ qui- 
 bus aut vetustas aut curiositas aliqua ad famam 
 patrocinabatur, ex suggestu^° Deraetrii Pbalerei 
 grammaticorum tunc probatissimi, cui praefecturam 
 mandaverat, libros a Judasis quoque postulavit, pro- 
 prias [scilicet] atque vernaculas litteras, quas soli 
 
 S. Cypr. de Unit. Eccl. c. 4. si &c. i. e. quibus v. aut c. famcB ali- 
 
 confessionem suam mala convei'sa- quid conciliaret. patrocinari ad 
 
 tione prodegerit i. e. irritam fe- famam is something like judicare 
 
 cerit. in retributionem. 
 
 ^ virtutes i. e. potestates, Sui/a- lo ex mggestu, " at the sugges- 
 
 Me<«^. ad fidem divinitatis, sc. suae tion ;" this is not a good nor a 
 
 probandam . usual signification even of suggero, 
 
 ^ MemoritEmonumenta, see cai>. (c. 33.) and it is still more equi- 
 
 seq. " memoirs." Sueton. Claud. vocal in suggestus, but it may be 
 
 I. Nee contentus elogium tumulo found in the Digests, prcefectu- 
 
 ^us versibus a se compositis in- ram, i. e. bibliothecce. the vernacu- 
 
 sculpsisse, etiam vitce memoriam Ice liter ce are the original Hebrew 
 
 pffosa oratione composuit. S. Cypr. characters, what are called below 
 
 ad Demetr. c. 3. ut memorias tace- Uteres HebresfE, in contradistinc- 
 
 amus antiquas. Min. Fel. c. 1 . tion to the Uteres Judaece of that 
 
 specta de libris memwias. Amo- day which would have been Syro- 
 
 bius has the phrase memorialia Chaldaic. See Josephus Ant. Jud. 
 
 scripta. vi. 11. quibus vetustas, xii. 2. 
 
62 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. habebant. Ex ipsis" enim et ad ipsos semper pro- 
 
 phetae peroraverant, scilicet ad domesticam dei 
 
 gentem ex patrum gratia. Hebrsei retro, qui nunc 
 Judaei ; igitur et litterae Hebraeae, et eloquium. Sed 
 ne notitia vacaret^^, hoc quoque Ptolemceo a Judaais 
 subscriptum est, septuaginta et duobus interpreti- 
 bus indultis, quos Menedemus quoque philosophus 
 providentiae vindex de sententiae communione sus- 
 pexit'^ Affirmavit hsec vobis etiam Aristaeas. Ita 
 in Graecum stylum ex aperto monimenta reliquit^^ 
 Hodie apud Serapeum^^ Ptolemaei bibliothecee cum 
 ipsis Hebraicis litteris exhibentur. Sed et Judaei 
 palam lectitant; vectigalis libertas: vulgo aditur 
 sabbatis omnibus. Qui audierit, inveniet deum ; 
 qui etiam studuerit intelligere, cogetur et credere. 
 
 ■"■ ex ipsis — 1. e. ipst ex eorum 
 numero. ex patrum gratia means 
 ex gratia qua fuerant patres ipso- 
 rum apud Deum. 
 
 ^^ vacaret. see c. 1. subscrip- 
 tum est, see c. 6. The construc- 
 tion of the sentence is I think : 
 hoc quoque subscriptum est...in- 
 terpretibus indultis, so that hoc 
 does not refer to any idea con- 
 tained in notitia, but to indultis, 
 as if it had been written hoc quo- 
 que, ut indulgerentur, subscriptum 
 est. 
 
 ^3 suspexit, like dTroftXeireiv. 
 as observed ad c. 24. oportere et 
 prcesides pariter suspici. The ex- 
 pression de sentential communione 
 may certainly be explained gram- 
 matically of the coincidence of 
 translations, but I should much 
 rather refer it to the agreement of 
 Menedemus and the LXX. on 
 
 the fundamental point of a pro- 
 cidentia. In either case de marks 
 the cause of the suspectio. 
 
 " Constr. Ita ex-aperto reli- 
 quit monimenta {memorias) in 
 Gr cecum stylum [versa']; the no- 
 minative to reliquit should be 
 Ptolemseus. Vectigalis libertas ; 
 "liberty is purchased by pay- 
 ment of a tax ;" the remark per- 
 haps is a little sarcastical. See 
 TertuUian's sentiments on this 
 point de Fuga in Pers. c. 12. 
 aditur I think should be taken 
 impersonally. 
 
 ^^ Serapeum. In quo (sc. Sera- 
 peo) bibliotheccB fuerunt incestima- 
 biles, et loquitur monummtorum 
 vetei'um condnens fides, septingenta 
 voluminum millia Ptolemceis regi- 
 hus vigiliis intentis composita, bello 
 Ale^andrino conjiagrasse. Am- 
 mian. Marcell. xxii. 16, 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 63 
 
 XIX. Primam igitur iiistrumentis istis auc- x^x! 
 toritatem summa antiquitas vindicat. Apud vos which, if 
 quoque religionis est instar, fidem de temporibuseventoits 
 
 antiquity, 
 aSSerere\ far sur- 
 
 passes all 
 your re- 
 
 [Qu^ sequuntur uncis inclusa primus e ^^^-couMb? 
 Fuldensi Havercampus puhlici juris fecit, *<?^ thoJf 'U^^' 
 alteri scriptoris recognitioni trihuens sub finem^^^^^^fj' 
 editionis suce exprimenda curavit.] 
 
 [Primus enim prophetes Moyses, qui mundi 
 conditionem^ et generis humani pullulationem et 
 mox ultricem iniquitatis illius eevi vim cata- 
 clysmi de prasterito exorsus est, per vaticination em 
 usque ad suam tetatem et deinceps per res suas 
 futurorum imagines edidit, penes quem et tem- 
 porum ordo digestus ab initio supputationem 
 seculi prgestitit: superior invenitur annis circiter 
 trecentis, quam ille antiquissimus penes vos Da- 
 naus in Argo transvenisset ; Trojano denique proe- 
 iio^ ad mille annos ante est, unde et ipso Saturno. 
 Secundum enim historiam Thalli'^, qua relatum 
 
 XIX. ^ Fidem de temporibus Moses, who set out with relating 
 
 asserere, * to defend the truth of a from times earlier than his ovm 
 
 statement from its antiquity.' the creation, the propagation of 
 
 ^ Mundi conditionem ; i. e. ere- our species, and the sub^quent 
 
 ationem. Compare de Spectac. c. punishment of the deluge, pub- 
 
 2. quando hcec sit tota ratio damna- lished also, through the spirit of 
 
 tionis, perversa administratio con- prophecy, &c.' On the general 
 
 ditionis a conditis, and de Hab. argument of this chapter see the 
 
 Mul. c. 8. Dei conditio est et thus introductory preface. 
 et merum et ignis, which is the ^ proelio is the dative after 
 
 thura et merum et ignem Deus ante est, which must be taken 
 
 inMituit of Cyprian de Hab. Virg. closely together like anteit. 
 c. 2. The apodosis of the sen- ^ Thallus. This historian is 
 
 tence commences at edidit : ' For mentioned again presently, and is 
 
64 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. est bellum Assyriorum et Saturnum Titanorum 
 
 XIX. 
 
 regem cum Jove dimicasse, ostenditur bellum 
 
 CCCXX et duobus anuis Iliacum exitium ante- 
 cessisse. Per bunc Moysen etiam ilia lex pro- 
 pria Judaeis a deo missa est. Deinceps multa^; 
 et alii propbetae vetustiores litteris vestris. Nam 
 et qui ultimo cecinit, aut aliquantulo praecucur- 
 rit, aut certe concurrit aetate sapientiae auctori- 
 bus, etiam latoribus legis. Cyri enim et Darii 
 regno fuit Zacbarias, quo in tempore Tbales, physi- 
 corum princeps, sciscitanti Croeso nibil certum de 
 divinitate respondit, turbatus scilicet vocibus pro- 
 pbetarum. Solon eidem regi finem longae vitae 
 intuendum praedicavit non aliter, quam propbetae^ ; 
 adeo respici potest^ tam jura vestra quam studia 
 de lege deque divina doctrina concepisse. Quod 
 prius est, hoc sit semen necesse est. Inde quaedam 
 nobiscum vel prope nos habetis^ De sopbia amor 
 ejus philosopbia vocitatus est, de propbetia affecta- 
 tio ejus poeticam vaticinationem deputavit. Gloriae 
 
 quoted in c. 10. beyond which we mihi Domini finem meum^ et 
 
 have little knowledge of him. numerum dierum meorum quis 
 
 Lactantius (Ep. D. I. c. 24.) est. 
 
 alludes to his Assyrian History. ^ adeo respici potest concepisse. 
 
 The construction is qua relatum sc. Solon, the constr. and sense 
 
 est bellum * * * et dimicasse, i. e. seem to be : adeo respicere possu- 
 
 et quod dimicavit. mus et videre ut ille conceperit, &c. 
 
 ^ Deinceps multa, some pro- ^ "From this circumstance 
 
 pose multi here, and others ima- (viz. that your legislators were 
 
 gine a hiatus, but I think the indebted to our sacred doctrines) 
 
 text is intelligible as I have it happens that you hold certain 
 
 punctuated it. qui ultimo cecinit. tenets either in common with us, 
 
 canere is here used absolutely for or nearly resembling ours." de- 
 
 prophetavit as often elsewhere. putavit de prophetia ; in the old 
 
 *" Ps. XXXVIII. 6. Locutus sense of puto like amputavit, v. 
 
 sum in lingua mea : notum fac c. 4. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 65 
 
 homines ^ si quid invenerant, ut proprium facerent, 
 adulteravenint ; etiam fructibus a semine degene- 
 rare contigit. Multis adhiic de vetustate modis 
 consisterem^^ divinarum litterarum, si non major 
 auctoritas illis ad fidem de veritatis suae viribus, 
 quam de astatis annalibus suppetisset. Quid^^ enim 
 potentius patrocinabitur testimonio earum, nisi dis- 
 punctio quotidiana^^ seculi totius, cum dispositiones 
 r^gnorura, cum casus urbium, cum exitus gentium, 
 cum status temporum ita omnibus respondent, quem- 
 admodum ante millia annorum praenuntiabantur ? 
 Unde et spes nostra, quam ridetis, animatur, et 
 fiducia, quam praesumptionem'^ vocatis, corroboratur. 
 Idonea est enim recognitio praeteritorum ad dispo- 
 nendam fiduciam futurorum : eaedem voces praedi- 
 
 CAP. 
 XIX. 
 
 ^ gloricB homines. If the text 
 is correct here it must be equiva- 
 lent to homines glories dediti or 
 gloria libidinosi, as in c. 47, like 
 vir justifuB, &c. as indeed Dr 
 Ashton wishes to read at the 
 beginning of c. 18. But I can 
 hardly conceive this probable, 
 though we have philosophus glorice 
 animal de Anim. c. 1. In Apu- 
 leius (Apol. 523.) homo morum 
 occurs, which is certainly a paral- 
 lel curiosity: the passage however 
 is obelized, but Oudendorp in a 
 long note defends both the text 
 and the phrase. Vol. ii. p. 556. ed. 
 4to. In Pliny too (H. N. xxx. 6) 
 Apion grammaticceartis occurs, but 
 this is not exactly similar, homo 
 Dei is a pure Hebraism, but it is 
 used as Dei cultor S. Cypr. ad 
 Demetr. 4. and the reader should 
 not overlook its sense in the New 
 Testament, ad Tim. ii. iii. 17. 
 
 ^* consisterem, v. ad c. 4. The 
 whole of the following argument 
 is repeated and developed in c. 
 20 ; which seems to favour the 
 opinion that this chapter was 
 written by Tertullian in a dif- 
 ferent edition of his Apology. 
 
 " Quid... potentius... nisi; nisi 
 for quam. So quam appears to be 
 used for nisi, ad Uxor. i. 4. ' nihil 
 viduitati apud Deum suhsignatce 
 necessarium est, quam perseverare.' 
 Though of course an ellipse of 
 aliud may be understood there. 
 So as de Idol. 20. ' quid erit deje- 
 ratio, quam prcBvaricatio.' 
 
 ^^ dispunctio quotidiana ; the 
 daily fulfilment, and, as it were, 
 striking out, of some prophecy. 
 Sceculum is here the corpus tem- 
 porum or eventorum (c. 26,) 
 amongst which are the disposi- 
 tiones, exitus, &c. 
 
 ^^ prcesumptionem, v. ad c. 1. 
 
66 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XIX. 
 
 caverimt utramque partem, esedem litterae nota- 
 verunt. Unum est tempus'^ apud illas, quod apud 
 nos separari videtur. Ita omnia quae supersunt 
 improbata, probata sunt nobis, quia cum illis, quae 
 probata sunt, tunc futuris praedicabantur. Habetis, 
 quod sciam, et vos Sibyllam, quatenus appellatione 
 ista vera vates dei veri passim super ceteros, qui 
 vaticinari videbantur, usurpata est, si cut vestrse 
 Sibyllae nomen de veritate mentitse, quemadmodum 
 et dei vestri'^ 
 
 Omnes itaque substantias, omnesque materias, 
 origines, ordines'^ venas veterani cujusque styli 
 
 ^^ Unum est tempus, i. e. " Time, 
 which to us appears in a three- 
 fold character, past, present, and 
 future, is with them but one." 
 So in the next chapter, unum 
 tempus est dwinationi futura prce- 
 fanti apud homines ; comp. S. Cy- 
 prian de Mort. c. 1. Fiunt ecce 
 quce dicta sunt, et quando fiunt 
 quce ante jyrcedicta sunt, sequentur 
 et qucecunque promissa sunt. 
 
 ^^ This passage is probably 
 corrupt, and conjectures have 
 been pretty freely exercised upon 
 it. It has been entirely reformed 
 as follows : '' Habemus, quod 
 sciam, et nos Sibyllam quate- 
 nus appellatio ista verse vatis dei 
 veri passim super ceteras quae 
 vaticinari videbantur, usu probata 
 est. Sciunt vestrse Sibyllse, no- 
 men de veritate mentitse, quem- 
 admodum et dei vestri." Usur- 
 pare for vocare is perfectly good 
 Latin, v. Wakef. ad Lucret. i. 65, 
 the last clause of the sentence 
 alludes to an opinion frequently 
 advanced by TertuUian, that the 
 
 gods of the heathens though 
 calling themselves dei were really 
 disemones. e. g. c. 29, tam se dce- 
 monem confitebitur de vero, quam 
 et alibi deum defalso. 
 
 ^^ TertuUian has here accu- 
 mulated, in a way by no means 
 unusual with him, a number of 
 expressions to add force to his 
 sentence, without perhaps think- 
 ing whether each was severally 
 applicable or not. He means 
 only to assert that all that the 
 Romans possessed of antiquity 
 was far inferior to a single sheet 
 of one of the prophets. matericB 
 is in the sense often used by 
 Quintilian speaking of suasorice, 
 judiciales materice, &c. and sub- 
 stantice is pretty similar ; origines 
 was a frequent term for works or 
 local or national antiquities, half 
 a dozen tracts have come down to 
 us with such a title, and it is so 
 used also in our own days; ordines 
 may be like ordo rerum in JEn. 
 VII. 44 : and vena by a common 
 metaphor. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 67 
 
 vestri, gentes etiam plerasque et urbes insignes^', cap. 
 
 historianim canas'^ et memoriarum, ipsas denique 
 
 effigies litterarum ^^ indices custodesque rerum, et 
 (piito adhuc minus dicimus^") ipsos inquam deos 
 vestros, ipsa templa et oracula et sacra unius interim 
 prophetee scrinium seculis vincit, in quo videtur 
 thesaurus collocatus totius Judaici sacramenti, et 
 inde etiam nostri. Si quem audistis interim 
 Moysen, Argivo Inacho pariter aetate est ; qua- 
 dringentis pasne annis, nam et septem minus, Da- 
 naum, et ipsum apud vos vetustissimum, praevenit, 
 mille circiter cladem Priami antecedit ; possem 
 €tiam dicere, quingentis amplius"^^ et Homerum, 
 habens quos sequar. Ceteri quoque prophetag, etsi 
 Moysi postumant, extremissimi tamen eorum non 
 restrosiores deprehenduntur primoribus vestris sapi- 
 entibus et legiferis et historicis^~. Hsec quibus ordi- 
 
 ^' urbes insignes refers to the Sculptaque servabant magicas animalia 
 
 peculiar pride which certain cities imguas. 
 
 took in their remote antiquity. ^ puto adhuc minus dicimus. 
 
 In the Roman poets no laudatory "I doubt I am here using an an- 
 
 epithet of a city is more common ticlimax." Seculis vincit ; " sur- 
 
 than antiqua. passes in antiquity." A little 
 
 ^^ historiarum canas. There below panYer must be equivalent 
 
 is here considerable variety in to par if the text is sound, 
 
 the reading ; cana (as clausa ^^ quingentis amplius, i. e. five 
 
 domorum, &c.) arcana and caus- hundred more, mille et quingentis. 
 
 sas being substitutes for canas. postumant; "are later in date." 
 
 The obvious meaning is " the I believe this word is almost 
 
 oldest records that you have." peculiar to Tertullian; he opposes 
 
 ^^ Effigies litterarum ; these it to anticipare de Resur. Car. c. 
 
 appear to be hieroglyphics. 45. extremissimi; So Apuleius 
 
 Lucan. iii. 222. postremius de Deo S. 670. 
 
 ^ historicis : for historiarum 
 
 Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere scriptoribus as Juv. VII. 98, 104. 
 
 biblos mi 3 • J- J • 1 . 
 
 Noverat: et saxis tantum, volucresque The word is found m this sense 
 
 ferseque, in Cicero. 
 
 5—2 
 
68 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. nibus probari possint, non tarn difficile est nobis 
 
 A.1X. 
 
 exponere, quam enorrae, nee arduum, sed interim 
 
 longum. Multis instrumentis, cum digitorum sup- 
 putariis gesticulis assidendum est. Reseranda anti- 
 quissimarum etiam gentium archiva, ^gyptiorum, 
 Chaldaeorum, Phoenicum ; advocandi etiam muni- 
 cipes eorum^% per quos notitia subministrata est; 
 aliqui Manethon jEgyptius, et Berosus Chaldaeus, 
 sed et Iromus Phoenix Tyri rex ; sectatores quoque 
 eorum Mendesius Ptolemaeus, et Menander Ephe- 
 sius, et Demetrius Phalereus, et rex Juba, et Appion, 
 et Thallus, et, qui istos aut probat aut revincit^*, 
 Judseus Josephus antiquitatum Judaicarum verna- 
 culus vindex. Graecorum etiam censuales confe- 
 rendi, et quae quando sint gesta, ut concatenationes 
 temporum aperiantur, per quae luceant annalium 
 numeri. Peregrinandum est in historias et litteras 
 orbis^^ Et tamen quasi partem jam probation;s 
 intulimus, quum per quae probari possint, aspersi- 
 
 ^^ advocandi etiam, &c. I am cipes Jovis, Juv. xiv. 271, and I 
 
 not quite sure that I rightly think Tertullian means that in- 
 
 apprehend this passage, but I terpreters (as in the last chapter) 
 
 believe that Tertullian in shew- must be brought in to expound 
 
 ing the magnitude of the task records otherwise unintelligible, 
 says : We shall have to investi- ^ revincit. See ad c. 1. 
 
 gate the archives of the most ^^ peregrinari in aliquo loco is 
 
 antient people, and to summon to sojourn in any foreign place ; 
 
 to our aid natives of the same peregrinari in aliquem locum is to 
 
 country with those old writers travel to a foreign country, the 
 
 who hand us down this informa- in being like ire in aliquem locum ; 
 
 tion, e. g. some modern Manetho an idea of expatriation being also 
 
 from Egypt to explain Manetho, implied. So Cicero says injiciens 
 
 and some new Berosus from se animus in hanc regionum mag- 
 
 Chaldaea to interpret Berosus ; nitudinem, longe lateque peregrina- 
 
 and we must then collate their tur. The sense of the text is 
 
 disciples and antagonists. I have " we must make excursions into 
 
 thus taken municipes like muni- the literature of the universe." 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 69 
 
 mus. Verum difFerre prsestat, ne vel minus perse- 
 quamur festinando, vel diutius evagemur perse- 
 qiiendo. 
 
 XX. Plus jam ofFerimus pro ista dilatione, 
 majestatem scripturarum, si non vetustatem ; di- 
 vinas probamus, si dubitatur antiquas^ Nee hoc 
 tardius aut aliunde discendum ; coram sunt, quae 
 docebunt, mundus, et seculum, et exitus. Quicquid 
 agitur, praenuntiabatur ; quicquid videtur, audie- 
 batur^. Quod terrae vorant urbes, quod insulas 
 maria fraudant^; quod externa atque interna bella 
 dilaniant ; quod regnis regna compulsant ; quod 
 fames et lues et locales quaeque clades et frequen- 
 tiae* pleraque montium vastant ; quod humiles subli- 
 
 CAP. 
 XIX. 
 
 Instead of 
 such 
 tedious 
 process, 
 take its 
 internal 
 evidence ; 
 its pro- 
 phecies 
 both veri- 
 fied and in 
 course of 
 verification. 
 
 XX. This is one of those 
 chapters in which Tertullian's 
 peculiar eloquence is conspicuous, 
 and to which I have alluded in 
 the introduction ; the other such 
 in this treatise are 12, 80, 48 and 
 50; and the reader anxious to 
 familiarize himself with the pecu- 
 liarities of his author will do well 
 to recur to them frequently. 
 
 ^ si dubitatur antiques ; sc. 
 ms esse. I see no reason for any 
 emendation here, tardive aut 
 aliunde; "by any slow process, 
 or through any distant proofs;" 
 alluding of course to those sug- 
 gested in the last chapter; hoc 
 is emphatic. 
 
 ^ The calamities here enume- 
 rated, and of which many may 
 be easily explained by the con- 
 dition of the empire in its decline, 
 (comp. Tac. Hist. i. 2. and Sail. 
 B. C. 2 and 10.) were ascribed by 
 the Pagans to the introduction of 
 
 the Christian religion, and the 
 consequent neglect of the gods. 
 This charge is perpetually alluded 
 to in the Apologies, and gave 
 specially occasion to two cele- 
 brated compositions, the Civitas 
 Dei of S. Augustine, and the 
 Disputationes of Amobius. 
 
 ^ insulas maria fraudant ; i.e. 
 " encroach upon, or swallow up :" 
 the expression is very like one of 
 Lucan's. dilaniant; I would sup- 
 ply regnum, or something like it. 
 compulsant ; the substantive com- 
 pulsatio occurs in the succeeding 
 chapter and c. 38. Compare with 
 the passage generally. Isai. xl. 4. 
 Ezech. xxi. 31. S. Matth. xxiv. 
 6, 7. locales answers to the Kara 
 ToVou? of the Evangelist, as Dr 
 Ashton has well remarked. S. 
 Cyprian (de Mort. c. 1) has per 
 loca singula. 
 
 * frequentice mmUium ; this is 
 interpreted by almost all com- 
 
70 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XX. 
 
 Just. 66. 
 
 mitate, sublimes humilitate mutantur'*; quodjustitia 
 rarescit, iniquitas increbrescit, bonarum omnium 
 disciplinarum cura torpescit ; quod etiam officia 
 temporum et elementorum munia exorbitant ; quod 
 et monstris et portentis naturalium forma turbatur, 
 providenter^ scripta sunt. Dum patimur, leguntur; 
 dum recognoscimus, probantur. Idoneum, opinor, 
 testimonium divinitatis Veritas divinationis. Hinc 
 igitur apud nos futurorum quoque fides tuta est, 
 jam scilicet probatorum, quia cum illis, quae quo- 
 tidie probantur, praedicebantur. Eadeiti voces so- 
 nant, eadem litterae no tan t, idem spiritus pulsat,^ 
 unum tempus est^ divinationi futura praefanti apud 
 
 mentators to mean f era, and even 
 Dr Ashton accumulates three or 
 four marginal quotations to shew 
 that wild beasts descend from 
 mountains. But though, ferce may 
 be said frequentare monies and 
 called montivagce or monticuUrices, 
 and though montes may be termed 
 ferisfrequentissimi, yetfrequentia 
 montium, taken absolutely for 
 fercB, appears a most extraordi- 
 nary phrase ; mortium is another 
 reading which leaves a more 
 accessible sense; but I believe 
 that wild beasts are somehow 
 implied, for such a plague is ex- 
 pressly mentioned among those 
 threatened in the prophecies to 
 which TertuUian here alludes, 
 and which should be referred to 
 for the proper understanding of 
 the text. e. g. Ezech. v. 17. et 
 immittam in vos hestias pessimas 
 usque ad intemecionem ; compare 
 Levit. xxvi. 22. immittamque in 
 vos bcstias agri, and other passages. 
 
 Cicero too De OjGP. ii. 5. amongst 
 the causes which check popula- 
 tion enumerates beluarum repenti- 
 nam multitudinem, and Tertul- 
 lian as an African {leonum arida 
 nutria;) might have witnessed 
 such inflictions. In any case plera- 
 que is the accusative after vastant, 
 which refers to all the four nomi- 
 natives, its collocation before a 
 genitive with which it has no con- 
 nection being not an unusual one. 
 
 ^ humiles suUimitate, &c. v. 
 Ezech. xxi. 26, S. Luc. i. 62. 
 
 ^ providenter here is like per 
 prcBscientiam. 
 
 ' unum tempus est, Sec. 
 "Time, with prophecy, has but 
 a single character, though it may 
 be distinguished in the coui-se of 
 fulfilment of predictions, by the 
 future passing into the present, 
 and the present into the past." 
 I thus take deputatur like ampu- 
 tatur (sec c. ID.) So Persius in 
 a passage often misunderstood, hoc 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 71 
 
 homines, si forte distinguitur dum expungitur, dum ^^• 
 
 ex futuro praesens, dehinc ex praesenti praeteritum 
 
 deputatur. Quid delinquimus, oro vos% futura quo- 
 que credentes, qui jam didicimus illis per duos gra- 
 dus credere? 
 
 XXI. Sed^ quoniam edidimus, antiquissimis ^nd now 
 Judaeorum instrumentis sectam istam esse suffultam, ^?V^^^ ^^l 
 
 ^ ' history ot 
 
 quam aliquanto novellam, ut Tiberiani temporis, aildTf this 
 plerique sciunt, profitentibus nobis quoque ; for- what^be- 
 tasse an hoc nomine de statu ejus retractetur, quasi yo™/re- 
 sub umbraculo insignissimae religionis, certe licitae^ 
 
 qtiod loquor, inde est, i. e. ab ilia 
 amputatum. 
 
 ^ Quid delinquimus, &c. 
 " What error then do we com- 
 mit, if we believe certain events 
 will come to pass, instructed as we 
 have been in this belief, through 
 the verified predictions concern- 
 ing the past and the present." I 
 have supposed an ellipse of alia 
 ista after futura, but the con- 
 struction may very possibly be 
 different, e. g. in futura. 
 
 XXI. ^ Constr. Sed quoniam 
 
 edidimus fortasse retractetur 
 
 hoc nomine quasi abscondat 
 
 vel quia agimus. fortasse an, &c. ; 
 ''possibly a further enquiry about 
 its nature may be made on these 
 grounds, viz. that either," &c. 
 The argument is this : As I have 
 claimed the authority of a most 
 ancient religion for one noto- 
 riously recent, you will ask what 
 are the points of our difference, 
 and why we are not in commu- 
 nion with the Jews whom we 
 thus appeal to. And TertuUian 
 presently proceeds to prove that 
 
 the Christians did acknowledge 
 the God of the Jews, although 
 they were not ashamed of Christ. 
 de Christo erubescere, S. Matth. 
 viii. 38. S. Luc. ix. 26. 
 
 ^ certe licittB ; " at all events 
 a legalized religion." The old 
 law forbidding the Romans from 
 introducing new gods is pre- 
 served by Cicero. Separatim 
 
 NEMO HABESSIT DEOS, NEVE NOVOS: 
 SED NE ADVENAS NISI PVBLICE AD- 
 SCITOS PBIVATIM COLVNTO. We 
 
 have seen before in this apology 
 that a senatus-consultum was ne- 
 cessary for this, and also that the 
 Jewish synagogues were lawfully 
 frequented, under penalties. Re- 
 ligio licita thus became a formal 
 term, and one to which the 
 Christian doctrines in TertuUian's 
 time had no claim ; their congre- 
 gations indeed were considered 
 factiones, a circumstance alluded 
 to presently in c. 38, 39. And 
 whatever favour Christianity 
 might accidentally experience 
 from individual authorities, still 
 it was not a rdigio licita till the 
 
72 TERTULLIANI 
 
 <"AP. aliquid propriae praesumptionis abscondat, vel quia 
 
 praeter ajtatem^ nequede victus exceptionibus, neque 
 
 de sollemnitatibus dierum, neque de ipso signaculo 
 corporis, neque de consortio nominis cum Judaeis 
 agimus, quod utique oporteret, si eidem deo manci- 
 paremur ? Sed et vulgus jam scit Christum, 
 hominem utique aliquem, qualem Judaei judicave- 
 runt, quo facilius quis nos hominis cultores^ ex- 
 istimaverit. Verum neque de Christo erubesci- 
 mus, quum sub nomine ejus deputari^ et damnari 
 juvat, neque de deo aliter praesumimus. Necesse 
 est igitur pauca dicamus de Christo ut deo^ Tan- 
 tum Judseis erat apud deum gratia, ubi et insignis 
 justitia et fides originalium auctorum, unde illis 
 et generis magnitudo et regni sublimitas floruit, et 
 tanta felicitas, ut dei vocibus, quibus edocebantur, 
 de promerendo deo, et non ofFendendo, prsemone- 
 rentur. Sed quanta deliquerint, fiducia patrum in- 
 flati, derivantes^ a disciplina in profanum modum, 
 etsi ipsi non confiterentur, probaret exitus hodier- 
 
 time of Gallienus (a. d. 259) who, the forbidden foods. 3. holidays, 
 
 by assigning certain lands to a 4. signaculum corporis (baptism 
 
 congregation of Christians, re- in one case, and circumcision in 
 
 cognized the legal existence of the other). 5. the name, 
 
 the corporation which could not * hominis cultores, emphati- 
 
 otherwise have possessed common cally, i. e. and not of a beast, 
 
 property. See a learned chapter ^ deputari, sc. in poenam, ut de 
 
 of Neander, Ch. Hist. § I. 2. Habit. Mul. c. 1. quum intro- 
 
 The other charge that Christi- duces a proof of the fact asserted, 
 
 anity was not a religion but a not the time of its occurrence ; it 
 
 sect, has not escaped the notice is since, not when. 
 
 of Gibbon. Vol. ii. p. 161. ed. 8vo. " If the text is sound, the 
 
 ^ prcBter cetatem ; " in addition constr. probably is : Tanta erat 
 
 to the difference in antiquity." — gratia .{ubi.. .unde Jloruit)et tanta 
 
 Five points of discrepancy are fclicitas...ut prcemoncrentur. 
 
 mentioned, 1. the antiquity. 2. '' de>'ivantcs, see c. 6. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 73 
 
 nus ipsorutn. Dispersi, palabundi, et coeli et soli 
 sui extorres vagantur per orbem sine homine^ sine 
 deo rege, quibus nee advenarum jure terram patriam 
 saltern vestigio salutare conceditur. Cum haec illis 
 sanctas voces praeminarentur, esedem fere semper 
 omnes ingerebant^ fore, uti sub extimis curriculis 
 seculi ex omni jam gente et populo et loco cultores 
 sibi allegeret deus multo fideliores, in quos gratiam 
 transferret, et pleniorem quidem ob disciplinae aucti- 
 oris capacitatemA Hujus igitur gratiae disciplinse- 
 que arbiter et m agister, illuminator atque deductor^*^ 
 generis humani, filius dei annunciabatur, non qui- 
 dem ita genitus, ut erubescat de filii nomine aut 
 de patris semine ; non de sororis incesto, nee de 
 stupro filiae aut conjugis aliense deum patrem passus 
 est^', squamatum aut cornutum aut plumatum ama- 
 
 CAP. 
 XXI. 
 
 ^ sine Iiomine, sine deo rege; 
 Scaliger corrected this sine no- 
 mine; and though possibly the 
 allusion may be to the old theo- 
 cracy which the Jews had for- 
 feited, as well as their native line 
 of sovereigns, yet upon the whole 
 I should think the text unsound. 
 nee advenarum jure means 'not 
 even in the character of strangers.' 
 
 ^ ingerebant ; " perpetually 
 urged the fact, that," &c. the ge- 
 neral sense of ingerere is to thrust 
 a thing repeatedly and even obtru- 
 sively on a person ; ( Juv. vi. 609) 
 so S. Cyprian ad Demetr. c. I . mal- 
 les tua impudenter ingerere quam 
 nostra patienter audire ; the force 
 of eadem in this sentence is : the 
 selfsame prophecies which fore- 
 told their now verified dispersion, 
 
 and which therefore should com- 
 mand their belief, foretold also, 
 &c. ob disciplines auctioris capa- 
 citatem. [scilicet, quia illi, contra 
 quam Judsei, humiles erant ac 
 deciles et ad amplectendam 
 Christi disciplinam evdcToi Ka\ 
 TCTayjxevoi atque, ut ait S. Lucas, 
 da-fxevoo^ direhe^avTO tou \6jov 
 avrov. A.^ 
 
 ^" deductor. This was a term 
 applied to the guide in the 
 Eleusinian mysteries. TertuUian 
 twice uses the expression deductor 
 veritatis with reference to the 
 Spiritus Sanctus. 
 
 ^^ passus est ; this expression 
 is nearly equivalent to eocpertus 
 est, or habuit; patrem de stupro 
 is like per stuprum. 
 
74 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. torem, aut in aurum conversum : Jo vis enim ista 
 
 A Ai. 
 
 sunt numina vestri. Ceterum dei filius nullam 
 de impudicitia habet matrem, etiara quam videtur 
 habere non nupserat. Sed priiis substantiam edis- 
 seram, et ita nativitatis qualitas intelligetur. Jam 
 ediximus deum universitatem banc mundi verbo et 
 ratione et virtute molitum. Apud vestros quoque 
 sapientes \oyov, id est sermonem atque rationem, 
 constat artificem videri universitatis. Hunc enim 
 Zeno determinat factitatorem, qui cuncta in dispo- 
 sitione^^ formaverit, eundem et fatum vocari, et 
 deum et animum Jovis, et necessitatem omnium re- 
 rum. Haec Clean thes in spiritum congerit^^ quem 
 permeatorem universitatis affirmat. Et nos etiam 
 sermoni atque rationi itemque virtuti, per quae 
 omnia molitum deum ediximus, propriam^^ sub- 
 stantiam spiritum inscribimus, cui et sermo insit 
 pronuntianti, et ratio adsit disponenti, et virtus prae- 
 sit perficienti. Hunc ex deo prolatum didicimus, 
 et prolatione generatum, et iccirco filium dei et 
 deum dictum ex unitate substantiae. Nam et deus 
 
 ^^ dispositione. dispono and dis- 8, 9, 13, 19, 21, 26, et Lactant. 4. 
 
 positio are expressions of frequent 29. TertuUianus hie probare 
 
 occurrence on the subject of cos- aggreditur primo substantiae uni- 
 
 mogony, both in christian and tatem exemplo soils cum radio 
 
 heathen writers. See before c. 17. suo, deinde personarum diflfe- 
 
 ^^ HcBc Cleanthes, &CC,. "Tliese rentiam, exemplo luminis de 
 
 offices Cleanthes accumulates on lumine. Sic igitur legendus et 
 
 a certain spirit, which he makes distinguendus mihi videtur totus 
 
 to pervade the universe." per- hie locus — ut, cum radius ew s. p. 
 
 meatorem ; like the mens infusa portio (sc. est) ea^ summa ; sed Sol 
 
 of Virgil. erit expanditur : ita de S. S, 
 
 ^^ [propriam substantiam, i. e, et de Deo Deus, ut lumen de I. 
 
 Ihtav ova-lav ut dicit Origen in acceusum ; munet...:..mutueris : 
 
 Jo. p. 56. sc. vTroan-aaiv. Et cum «Va et quod umts amho; modulo 
 
 radius ; v. adv. Praxean, c. 2, 3, -^' J 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 75 
 
 spiritus. Et cum'^ radius ex sole porrigitur, portio 
 ex summa ; sed sol erit in radio, quia solis est 
 radius, iiec separatur substantia, sed extenditur. 
 Ita de spiritu spiritus, et de deo deus, ut lumen 
 de lumine accensum. Manet integra et indefecta 
 materiae matrix, etsi plures inde traduces quali- 
 tatum mutueris : ita et quod de deo profectum est, 
 deus est, et dei filius, et unus ambo. [Ita et de 
 spiritu spiritus ^^ et de deo deus] modulo alterum, 
 non numero, gradu, non statu fecit, et a matrice 
 non recessit, sed excessit. Iste igitur dei radius, 
 ut retro semper praedicabatur^", delapsus in virgi- 
 nem quandam, et in utero ejus caro figuratus, 
 nascitur homo deo mistus. Caro spiritu instructa 
 
 CAP. 
 XXI. 
 
 ^^ et cum, &c. et is frequently- 
 employed in this manner to intro- 
 duce a parallel instance or ex- 
 ample. 
 
 ^® [de Spiritu Spiritus. Filius 
 sc. Tri/eujuartKO)? f/i/co/xei/o? tw 
 iruTpi. Ignat. ad Smym. Just. 
 Mar. in Dial, cum Tryph. dicit 
 filium esse npiQfxw eTcpov ti, i. e. 
 aliam a patre personam nempe, 
 modulo alterum ut ait TertuU. seu 
 proprietatibus Trpoa-toiriKa?^, non 
 alium numero Deum ; sed plenius 
 haec explicantur Cont. Prax c. 
 2. A.] 
 
 ^^ ut retro semper prcBdicabatur. 
 V. Esai. vii. 14. The sense of 
 speaking forth openly and boldly 
 which prcBdicare and profari both 
 have, makes it very natural that 
 they should be applied in their 
 ordinary signification to the speech 
 of a prophet, and so we find pro- 
 fari often used (e. g. Lucret. i. 
 
 740) of a solemn announcement 
 without any idea of foresight being 
 implied. Such may be the mean- 
 ing of prcedicare here, though 
 probably the reader may be in- 
 clined to think that Tertullian 
 uses it for prcedicare on compar- 
 ing the three followuig passages, 
 inf. id super Christo prcBdicatum 
 non scierunt. de fuga in pers. 
 c. 6. atquin persecutiones eos pas- 
 suros prcedicabat et tolerandas do- 
 cehat, in which chapter prcedicare 
 happens to be repeatedly used in 
 its ordinary sense ; and in c. 12 of 
 the last quoted trad, persecutiones 
 prcedicatas non prcecaveret; in 
 c. 18. too of this Apology, he un- 
 questionably considers the terms 
 as synonymous, quos diximusprce- 
 dicatores prophetce de officio prce- 
 fundi vocantur. In the Vulgate 
 pi-cedicator is ^preacher,' but in 
 Ps. Ixviii. 11. the word is evan- 
 (jelizans. 
 
CAP. 
 XXI. 
 
 76 TERTULLIANI 
 
 nutritur, adolescit, affatur, docet, operatur et Chris- 
 tus est. Recipite interim hanc fabulam, similis 
 est vestris, dum ostendimus, quomodo Christus pro- 
 betur. Sciebant et qui penes vos^^ ejusmodi fabulas 
 aemulas ad destruction em veritatis istiusmodi pras- 
 ministraverunt. Sciebant et Judaei venturum esse 
 Christum, scilicet quibus prophetae loquebantur. 
 Nam et nunc adventum ejus expectant, nee alia 
 niagis inter nos et illos compulsatio est, quam quod 
 jam venisse non credunt, Duobus^^ enim adventibus 
 ejus significatis, prime, qui jam expunctus est, in 
 humilitate conditionis humanae; secundo, qui con- 
 cludendo seculo imminet in sublimitate divinitatis 
 exsertee: primum non intelligendo, secundum, quem 
 manifestius praedicatum sperant, unum existima- 
 verunt. Ne enim intelligerent pristinum, credituri, 
 si intellexissent, et consecuturi salutem, si credi- 
 dissent, meritum fuit delictum eorum. Ipsi legunt^^ 
 ita scriptum, mulctatos se sapientia et intelligentia 
 
 ^^ pmes vos (i. e. apud v. c. 3.) was to come ; it may be remem- 
 
 must be joined not with qui, but bered that Suetonius remarks on 
 
 with prceministraverunt. " Those the vetus and conHans opinio as 
 
 beings who supplied you before- prevaihng oriente toto. 
 
 hand with fables bearing a simi- ^^ Constr. Duohus enim signi- 
 
 larity to the truth, in order to its ficatis, primo in humilitate qui 
 
 destruction, were fully aware of eocpunctvM est secundo in sub- 
 
 the coming events." The dcsmones limitate qui imminet [ii] non 
 
 are here alluded to, the secret of intelligendo primum secundum 
 
 whose foreknowledge is explained quem \utpote~\ sperant unum 
 
 in c. 22. Compare c. 47. Omnia (i. e, solum esse) existimaverunt. 
 
 adversus veritatem de ipso veritate The words concludendo seculo im- 
 
 constructa sunt, operantibus cemu- minet, I presume are equivalent 
 
 lationem istam spiritibus erroris. to qui jam prcesto est, et quijiniet 
 
 TertulHan is asserting that not seculum (see ad c. 48). On the 
 
 only the Jews, but even the hea- argument see adv. Judaeos ad fin. 
 
 thens {vos) were fully aware by et adv. Marc. in. 7. 
 
 means of prophecy that Christ ^^ Esai. vi. 10. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 7T 
 
 et oculorum et aurium fruge./ Quern igitur solum- cap. 
 
 modo hominem praesumpserant de humilitate, se- 
 
 quebatur uti magum sestimarent de potestate, cum 
 ille verbo daemonia de hominibus excuteret, caecos 
 reluminaret^^ leprosos purgaret, paralyticos restrin- 
 geret, mortuos denique verbo redderet vitae, ele- 
 menta ipsa famularet, compescens procellas et freta 
 ingrediens, ostendens se esse \6yov dei, id est, ver- 
 bum illud primordiale primogenitum, virtute et ra- 
 tione comitatum, et spiritu fultum, eundem, qui 
 
 ^ This passage affords a very- 
 good instance of the illustration 
 which may be obtained from a 
 comparison of S. Cyprian with 
 Tertullian. The following is the 
 paraphrase of the former (de Idol. 
 Van. c. 3.) " Cum Christus Jesus 
 verbo et vocis imperio daemonia 
 de hominibus excuteret, paralyti- 
 cos restringeret, leprosos purga- 
 ret, illuminaret caecos, claudis 
 gressum daret, mortuos rursus 
 animaret, cogeret sibi elementa 
 famulari, servire ventos, maria 
 obedire, inferos cedere, Judsei, 
 qui ilium crediderant hominem 
 tantum de humilitate carnis et 
 corporis, existimabant magum de 
 licentia potestatis." The first ex- 
 pression to be noticed is verbo, 
 which is veiy emphatic, and in- 
 sisted upon at length by Amobius 
 (i. 25.), who mention it as a cha- 
 racteristic of the divine miracles, 
 that they were performed instan- 
 taneously and sine ullis rerum ad- 
 miniculis. Tertullian is close to 
 Holy Scripture (S. Matt. viii. 1 6. ) e^ 
 spiritus verbo ejiciebat ; S. Cyprian 
 expounds it by vocis imperio, and 
 
 Amobius by nominis sui possibili- 
 tate; next, for reluminaret, awoTd 
 which will scarcely be found else- 
 where {visum restituebat, Lactant. 
 Ep. D. I. 45). S. Cyprian has the 
 far more usual term illuminaret, 
 though on another subject (Ep. i.) 
 he uses luminare, and on a third 
 oculare, which is an analogous 
 expression to his animaret mor- 
 tuos above, and the inauribat 
 surdos of Lactantius ; thirdly, he 
 retains restringeret, which, as op- 
 posite to resolvo, irapaXvo}, is very 
 appropriately used, though in the 
 same tract he employs constrin- 
 gere very differently, thus, re- 
 missis qiuB constrinxerant (i. e. 
 dcemones) curasse videantur, and 
 fourthly, he explains by a full 
 paraphrase the singular clause 
 elementa famularet (v. c. 2.) so as 
 to leave no doubt whatever of 
 the meaning, and interprets both 
 the words humilitate and potestate. 
 freta ingredi is like viam insis- 
 tefre, &c. the accusative being not 
 uncommon; procellas is simply 
 ventos, as in Tacit. Ann. ii. 23. 
 variis undique procellis. 
 
78 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXI. 
 
 verbo omnia et faceret et fecisset. Ad doctrinam 
 vero ejus, qua revincebantur-*^ magistri primoresque 
 Judaeorum, ita exasperabantur, maxime quod ad 
 eum ingens multitudo deflecteret, ut postremo ob- 
 latum Pontio Pilato Syriam tunc ex parte Komana 
 procuranti, violentia sufFragiorum in crucem dedi 
 sibi extorserint. Praedixerat et ipse ita facturos. 
 Parum boc^\ si non et prophetae retro. Et tamen 
 suffixus spiritum cum verbo sponte dimisit, prae- 
 vento carnificis officio. Eodem momento dies, 
 medium orbem sign ante sole^\ subducta est. De- 
 liquium utique putaverunt, qui id quoque super 
 Christo prsedicatum non scierunt^^; et tamen eum 
 mundi casum relatum in archivis^^ vestris habetis. 
 
 ^ revincebantur ; see c. 1. ob- 
 latum. c. 2. 
 
 ^ Parum hoc, &c. I think 
 the meaning of this phrase (com- 
 mon enough in Tert.) is here: 
 " And this simple fact perhaps 
 would be not weighty enough 
 in your eyes ; however, there is 
 the additional evidence of all the 
 prophets long since." prcBvmto, 
 " being anticipated." S. Cyprian 
 has taken the expression. 
 
 '^ signante sole ; Seneca Cons, 
 ad Marc. Sol quotidiano cursu 
 did noctisque spatia signat. Cic. 
 Tuscul. I. 28. lunam festorum sig- 
 nantem ac notantem dies. Subducta 
 est, is like Eripiunt subito nubes 
 coslumque, &c. Mn. i. 
 
 ^ [id super Chr. preed. sc. 
 Amos viii. 9. Sic enim patres 
 intelligebant. A.J TertuUian him- 
 self says, (adv. Jud. ad fin. cap. x.) 
 Nam quod in passione ejus accedit, 
 
 ut media dies tenebresceret, Amos 
 propheta annunciat, dicens, &c. 
 
 ^ At the end of Gibbon's chap. 
 15, occurs the following note: 
 "When TertuUian assures the 
 Pagans that the mention of the 
 prodigy is found in arcanis (not 
 archivis) vestris, he probably ap- 
 peals to the Sibylline verses which 
 relate it exactly in the words of 
 the Gospel." The reader may be 
 informed that archivis was always 
 the text till Havercamp (against 
 whose perpetual stupidity Dr Ash- 
 ton employs two thirds of his 
 notes) introduced arcanis from a '\jmI ' 
 single favourite MS. ; that the best 
 editions still did read archivis, 
 and that Rigaltius though he ad- 
 mitted arcanis in the text, ex- 
 plained it by archivis in the 
 note ; that Semler reads archivis; 
 that TertuUian on two other oc- 
 casions where the reading is un- 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 79 
 
 Tunc Judaei detractum ^^ et sepulcro conditum cap. 
 
 magna etiam militaris custodiae diligentia circum- 
 
 sederunt, ne, quia praedixerat tertia die resurrec- 
 turum se a morte, discipuli fur to amoliti cadaver 
 fallerent suspectos. Sed ecce die tertia concussa 
 repente terra, et mole revoluta, quae obstruxerat 
 sepulcrum, et custodia pavore disjecta ^% nullis ap- 
 parentibus discipulis, nibil in sepulcro repertum 
 est, praeterquam exuviae sepulti. Nibilominus ta- 
 men primores, quorum intererat et scelus divulgare, 
 et populum vectigalem et famularem sibi a fide^^ 
 revocare, surreptum a discipulis jactitaverunt. Nam 
 nee ille se in vulgus eduxit, ne impii errore libe- 
 rarentur, et ut fides, non mediocri prsemio desti- 
 nata, difficultate constaret. Cum discipulis autem 
 quibusdam apud Galilaeam Judaeae regionem ad 
 quadraginta dies egit, docens eos quae docerent. 
 Dehinc ordinatis eis ad officium praedicandi per 
 orbem, circumfusa nube in coelum est ereptus. 
 
 doubted uses arcAiva, and no where 80. Liv. 28. 7. Tac. Ann. 4. 25. 
 
 else arcana. According to the or for overthrowing an adversary, 
 
 ordinary rules of classical criti- as de Spect. 29. impudicitiam a 
 
 cism little doubt can exist but castitate dejectam, and S. Cyprian, 
 
 that the text is as above ; and I de Unit. Eccl. subruendis a^ deji- 
 
 so leave the magisterial decision ciendis Dei servis. The dis here 
 
 of Gibbon and his subsequent implies (as always in composi- 
 
 considerate explanation to the tion) the utter dispersion of the 
 
 reader's reflection. sentinels. 
 
 ^ detractum; sc. de cruce. ^ a ^cfe; sc. Christiana. Fides 
 
 fallerent suspectos "should deceive and fidelis are perpetually so used 
 
 the suspicious magistracy," sus- by Tertullian and other writers. 
 
 pectos for suspicaces, as elsewhere Lactantius (Ep. D. I. c. 66.) fides 
 
 in this author. maxime a nobis qui nomen fidei 
 
 ^ disjecta ; — dejicere is the gerimus conservanda est. Fidelis 
 technical term for dislodging a occasionally has a still more par- 
 military guard. Hor. Ep. ii. 2. ticulai' and emphatic signification. 
 
80 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXI. 
 
 multo verius quam apud vos asseverare de Romulo 
 Proculi Solent. Ea omnia super Christo Pilatus, 
 et ipse jam pro sua conscientia Christianus Cae- 
 sari tum Tiberio nuntiavit^^ Sed^^ et Caesares 
 credidissent super Christo, si aut Caesares non es- 
 sent seculo necessarii, aut si et Christiani potuis- 
 sent esse Caesares. Discipuli quoque diffusi per 
 
 ^ Nuntiamt, i. e. by his of- 
 ficial report, which he was 
 of course compelled to make, v. 
 c. 6. V. S. Matth. xxvii. 23, 
 24. 
 
 3^ Sedet,&c. "But the Em- 
 perors too would have believed in 
 Christ, if they had not been in- 
 dispensable to the times as Em- 
 perors, or if they could have been 
 both believers and Emperors too." 
 I must take the liberty of differ- 
 ing from Bishop Kaye in his ap- 
 prehension of this passage, unless 
 indeed I have misapprehended 
 him. His Lordship writes (Eccl. 
 Hist. p. 111.) that "TertuUian 
 states that the account was sent 
 to Tiberius by Pilate, who was in 
 his conscience a Christian, and 
 adds an expression which implies 
 that worldly considerations alone 
 prevented Tiberius from believing 
 in Christ." I am naturally dis- 
 trustful of my own opinion when 
 opposed to such authority, but 
 after careful consideration of the 
 text, I cannot think that such 
 circumstances are implied in the 
 expression. It appears to me that 
 Tertullian is meeting a probable 
 question which his opponents 
 might object. *If all this be true, 
 why was not Tiberius, or any 
 other Caesar, converted to the 
 
 faith V and his proleptic argument 
 is : * that the existence of the 
 Caesars in their imperial character 
 was absolutely necessary to the 
 times, (the status sceculi, quies 
 rerum, &c.) that with such cha- 
 racter Christian faith was essen- 
 tially incompatible, and that 
 therefore a superintending Provi- 
 dence ordered matters accord- 
 ingly.' This at least is the best 
 conclusion I can arrive at, which 
 I think is supported by the lan- 
 guage of the text, and is by no 
 means foreign to the spirit of the 
 author. 
 
 In Carew's translation of Bar- 
 beyrac's prefatory discourse to 
 Puffendorf (which was afterwards 
 amplified into the Traite de la 
 Morale) the following interpreta- 
 tion is given : " They believed the 
 Ccesars superior to Christ, as if 
 the Ca'sars were not necessary to 
 the age, or as if the Ccesars should 
 be Christians." (p. 18. ed.fol.Lond. 
 1749). I cannot get the French 
 original, to see whether Barbey- 
 rac or his translator deserves the 
 credit of this piece of scholarship, 
 but the notes to this discourse 
 contain other efforts of equal in- 
 genuity. Ccesari tum Tiberio is 
 like Trajanum tunc Imperatm'em 
 in c. 2. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 81 
 
 orbem, ex praecepto magistri dei paruerunt^^ qui et cap. 
 
 ipsi a Judseis insequentibus multa perpessi, utique 
 
 pro fiducia veritatis libenter, Romae postremo per 
 Neronis saevitiam, sanguinem Christianum semina- 
 verunt. Sed monstrabimus vobis idoneos testes 
 Christi, ipsos illos, qiios adoratis^\ Multum est, 
 si eos adhibeam, ut credatis Christiani, propter 
 quos non creditis Christianis. Interim hie est 
 ordo nostras institutionis, hunc edidimus et sectae 
 et nominis censum cum suo auctore. Nemo jam 
 infamiam incutiat, nemo aliud existimet, quia nee 
 fas^* est ulli de sua religione mentiri. Ex eo enim, 
 quod aliud a se coli dicit, quam colit, negat quod 
 colit, et culturam et honor em in alterum transfert, 
 et transferendo jam non colit quod negavit. Di- 
 cimus, et palam dicimus, et vobis torquentibus 
 lacerati et cruenti vociferamur^^ : Deum colimus 
 per Christum. Ilium hominem putate, per eum et 
 in eo se cognosci vult deus et coli. Ut autem 
 Judaeis respondeam, et ipsi deum per Moysen co- 
 lere didicerunt ; ut Graecis occurram, Orpheus 
 
 ^'j^arMerMwA DrAshton would lieve;" ut credatis Christiani^ i.e, 
 
 read prcedicaverunt, which we utfiatis Chr. et credatis. 
 
 have seen used absolutely before ^ quia nee fas est. " it is not 
 
 in this chapter, and which cer- even possible." Tertullian means 
 
 tainly improves the text, inse- that no man can lie concerning 
 
 quentihus, v. ad c. 2. seminave- his religion, as his very denial 
 
 runt; as in cap. ult. semen est would make him cease ipso facto 
 
 sanguis Christianorum. to be a votary of it. 
 
 ^ Multum est, si ; like parum ^ So c. 2. mciferatur homoy 
 
 est, si, and many other such ex- Christianus sum! and S. Cyprian 
 
 pressions. " It is a great point, ad Demetr. c. 3. cum sponte con- 
 
 if I summon those very witnesses, ftear et clamem et crebris ac repe- 
 
 to make you believe, through titis identidem vocibus Christianum 
 
 whose agency you now disbe- me esse contester. 
 
 6 
 
82 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP Pieriae, Musaeus Athenis, Melampus Argis, Tro- 
 
 pnonius Boeotiae initiationibus homines obligave- 
 
 runt; ut ad vos quoque dominatores gentium ad- 
 spiciam, homo fuit Pompilius Numa, qui Romanes 
 operosissimis superstitionibus oneravitX ^^Licuerit 
 et Chris to commentari divinitatem rem propriam ; 
 non qui rupices^' et adhuc feros homines multi- 
 tudine tot numinum demerendorum attonitos effi- 
 ciendo ad humanitatem temperaret, quod Numa; 
 sed qui jam expolitos et ipsa urbanitate deceptos 
 in agnitionem veritatis ocular et. Quaerite ergo, si 
 vera sit ista divinitas Christi. Si ea est, qua cog- 
 nita ad bonum quis reform etur, sequitur, ut falsa 
 renuntietur quaevis alia contraria comperta; inpri- 
 mis ilia omni ratione, quse delitescens sub nomi- 
 nibus et imaginibus mortuorum, quibusdam signis 
 et miraculis et oraculis fidem divinitatis operatur^^. 
 XXII. Atque^ adeo dicimus, esse substantias 
 
 ^ Licuerit et Christo, &c. ' It ^ rupices. The allusion is to the 
 
 was at the option of Christ to almost proverbial line of Lucilius, 
 
 compose a scheme in which his Varronum ac rupicum squan-osa incon- 
 own divinity alone should be re- dita rostra; 
 
 cognized, and this, not like Numa, where, by the way, I see no rea- 
 
 by softening a barbarous herd son to interpret Farro otherwise 
 
 into poKteness, through astound- than as a cognomen, so that the 
 
 ing them with a host of deities to satire of the expression is like 
 
 be propitiated, but by enlighten- Juvenal, iii. 238. Druso, vitu- 
 
 ing a people on the Truth who Usque marinis. 
 were already humanized, and in- ^ fidem divinitatis operatur ; 
 
 deed led astray by this very civil- " works a belief in its own di- 
 
 ization.' The constr. seems to be vinity." 
 
 ^Licuerit Christo commentari ... XXII. -^ Atque adeo. This 
 
 non [ille sc. talis] qui temperaret, is a favourite expression with 
 
 sed qui ocularet.' But the reading TertuUian, v. c. 4, c. 24, c. 25, 
 
 is probably qui. S. Cyprian has c. 35. On the argument of this 
 
 copied the last clause of the sen- and the following chapters see 
 
 tence de Idol. Van. c. 3. the introduction. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 83 
 
 quasdam spiritales ; nee noraen novum est. Sciunt cap. 
 daemon as philosophi, Socrate ipso ad daemonii arbi- 
 
 I assert 
 
 trium exspectante^ Quidni? cum et ipsi daemo- then that 
 
 ■•• . . , . certain 
 
 nium adhaesisse a pueritia dicatur denortatorium. spiritual 
 
 *■ ^ ^ essences. 
 
 Plane, a bono. Daemonas sciunt poetae, etiam vulgus ^^^^^^ 
 indoctum in usum maledicti frequentat, nam et f^^j^^^'j^jj^j' 
 Satanam, principem hujus mali generis, proinde youreeWes, 
 de propria conscientia animae eadem exsecramenti are gifted 
 voce pronuntiat^. Angelos quoque etiam Plato tain 
 non negavit ; utriusque nominis testes vel magi 
 adsunt. Sed quomodo de angelis quibusdam 
 sua sponte corruptis corruptior gens daemonum 
 evaserit damnata a deo cum generis auctoribus, et 
 cum eo quem diximus principe, apud litteras sanc- 
 tas ordo cognoscitur^ Nunc de operatione eorum 
 satis erit exponere. Operatio eorum est hominis 
 eversio, sic malitia spiritalis a primordio auspicata 
 
 ^ expectante is probably to be [eorum] ordo ap. lit. 8. cog- 
 taken absolutely, and ad arbi- noscitur. Qapud literas sanctas. 
 trium to be translated like arhi- Hie velle videtur librum Enochi 
 trio, either phrase being common quem tanquam S. Scripturam 
 enough. Yet I am by no means admittere solet v. de Habit. Mu- 
 prepared to say that expectare ad lieb. c. 3. de Idol. c. 4, 15, et de 
 arbitrium is an inadmissible con- cultu Foem. 10. sed fortasse vult 
 struction; like spectare ad oculos tantum Gen. 6. A.]] sua sponte 
 Domini, ad nutus heriles, &c. corruptis ; probably the meaning 
 
 ^ The allusion is probably of TertuUian is simply that these 
 
 to the interjection malum, which angels brought all their punish- 
 
 Tertullian means to say is a ment on themselves, though he 
 
 natural and involuntary excla- may possibly imply that they 
 
 mation, and which refers to Satan were so captivated by the snares 
 
 as embodied evil, but there is laid for them (Lactant. Ep. D. 
 
 considerable doubt about the I. 27.) that they deliberately 
 
 soundness of the text. bartered their original incor- 
 
 * ordo cognoscitur ; Constr. rupt natures for earthly enjoy- 
 
 Sed quomodo evaserit gens ments. On the argument see ad 
 
 damn^Ua cum principe c. 35. 
 
 6—2 
 
84 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xxFi. 6st in hominis exitium. Itaque corporibus quidem 
 ~ et valetudines infligunt et aliquos casus acerbos, 
 animae vero repentinos et extraordinarios per vim 
 excessus^ Suppetit illis ad u tram que substantiam 
 hominis adeundam mira subtilitas et tenuitas sua. 
 Multum spiritalibus viribus licet, ut invisibiles et 
 insensibiles in effectu potius quam in actu suo ap- 
 pa^eant^ Si pom a, si fruges nescio quod aurae 
 latens vitium in flore praecipitat, in germine ex- 
 animat, in pubertate convulnerat, ac si caeca ra- 
 tione tentatus aer pestilentes haustus suos ofFundit : 
 eadem igitur obscuritate contagionis adspiratio dae- 
 monum et angelorum mentis quoque corruptelas 
 agit furoribus et amentiis foedis, aut saevis libidi- 
 nibus cum erroribus variis ; quorum iste potissi- 
 mus, quo deos istos captis et circumscriptis^ homi- 
 
 « animce excessus ; I do not than in the operations by which 
 
 remember seeing eoccedere used they produced it. Si poma, &c. 
 
 exactly in this sense, but excidere Constr. Si Metis vitium prceci- 
 
 is of common occurrence, e.g. pitat exanimat convulnerat 
 
 Catull. Lxvii. 24. si aer offundit ; ergo ad 
 
 ,-^^.,. ^ , , ,. .^ spiratio agit. See the conclusion 
 Ut tibi nunc toto pectore sohcitae - _. ; . i .,_ 
 
 Sensibus ereptis mens excidit ^t Lucretms m lib. 1. Corporibus 
 
 igitur ccecis natura gerit res, and 
 
 excedere S(bcuIo is often found for compare his theory of contagion 
 
 mori, as are excedere and excessus jn lib. vi. 1089. sqq. where the 
 
 absolutely, see e. g. S. Cypr. de word tentare will be found more 
 
 Mort. c. 3. It may be observed than once. Arnobius, i. 11. 
 
 that animts is a dative, after in- speaks of morhorum causs^ obscu- 
 
 fligunt; quidem and vero being rissimcs ; and a Cyprian de Idol. 
 
 /xeV and II utramque hrnnini^ Van. c. 1. says irrepentes etiam 
 
 substantiam means the corpus and spiritus (i. e. pro spiritali ma 
 
 anima; adire here implies an natura) in corporibuSy occuUe 
 
 idea of hostility, as elsewhere. mentes terrent, &c. 
 
 ® Multum sp. V. licet, &c. ^ circumscribere to delude. 
 
 Spiritual agencies have the great (Juv. x. 222.) like circumducere 
 
 privilege of being discoverable (Plant. Bacch. ii. 3. 77.) and (in 
 
 rather in the effect they produce, later Latin) circtmvenire. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 85 
 
 num mentibus commendat, ut et sibi pabula propria cap. 
 
 nidoris et sanguinis procuret simulacris et imagin 
 
 ibus oblata, et, quae illis accuratior^ pascua est, 
 hominem a cogitatu verae divinitatis aver tan t prae- 
 stigiis falsae divinationis. Quas et ipsas quomodo 
 operentiir, expediam. Omnis spiritus ales est. Hoc 
 angeli et d^emones^ Igitur momento ubique sunt. 
 Totus orbis illis locus unus est ; quid ubique ge- 
 ratur, tam facile sciunt, quam enuntiant. Velo- 
 citas divinitas creditur, quia substantia ignoratur'°. 
 Sic et auctores interdum videri volunt eorum, quae 
 annuntiant ; et sunt plane malorum nonnunquam, 
 bonorum tam en nun quam. Dispositiones" etiam dei 
 et tunc prophetis concionantibus exceperunt et nunc 
 lectionibus resonantibus carpunt. Ita et bine su- 
 mentes quasdam temporum sortes aemulantur di- 
 
 ® accuratior pascua; a banquet formation, and so indeed they are 
 
 in which they take even more too, &c. {et sunt plane mabrum.) 
 
 delight, i.e. quae iis magis curse On the use of et for et profecto 
 
 est ; I cannot find another such see Kritz. ad Sail. Jug. c. 86, and 
 
 example of the word. to his examples add Tac. Hist. i. 
 
 ^ hoc angeli et dcmiones ; i. e. 72. T. Finii potentia defensus, 
 
 "this, viz. a winged being, both prceteocentis, " servatam ah eo fili- 
 
 angels and daemons are." We am;" et haud dubie servaverat, 
 
 have seen this neuter similarly &c. auctores means ^originators, 
 
 used by TertuUian before : totus beings to whom as causes, these 
 
 orbis locus unus est is much such effects may be referred ;' the 
 
 a phrase as unum tempv^ est word will be found so used in 
 
 apud illas quod apud nos separari Virgil, and Suetonius relates of 
 
 videtur. some Caesar (I cannot lay my 
 
 ^^ Velocitas, &c. i. e. " Their hand on the passage) that he re- 
 facility of locomotion makes them commended the substitution of 
 received as gods, simply because the term suasor for auctor as ap- 
 their nature or essence is un- plied to himself, 
 known." Sic et auctores, &c. -^^ dispositiones Dei : i. e. ' the 
 Thus they wish even to be course of things pre-ordained by 
 thought the authors of events of God,* of which they thus inform 
 which they simply bring the in- themselves, and then retail the 
 
S6 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. vinitatem, dum furantur divination em. In oraculis 
 
 autem quo ingenio ambiguitates temperent in even- 
 
 tus^^ sciunt Croesi, sciunt Pyrrhi. Ceterum tes- 
 tudinem decoqui cum carnibus pecudis Pythius eo 
 modo renuntiavit, quo supra diximus; momento 
 apud Lydiam fuerat. Habent^^ de incolatu aeris 
 et de vicinia siderum et de commercio nubium 
 coelestes sapere paraturas, ut et pluvias, quas jam 
 sentiunt, repromittant. Venefici plane et circa 
 curas valetudinum. Laedunt enim primo, dehinc 
 remedia praecipiunt ad miraculum nova, sive con- 
 traria^^ post quae desinunt laedere, et curasse cre- 
 duntur. Quid ergo de ceteris ingeniis vel etiam 
 viribus fallaciae spiritalis edisseram ? phantasm ata 
 Castorum, et aquam cribro gestatam, et navem 
 cingulo promotam, et barbam tactu irrufatam^^; 
 
 information as prophecy. I have rare. For the testudo see Herod, 
 
 elsewhere remarked on the com- Clio, 47. 
 
 mon use of dispono in this sense ; ^^ habent sapere, so c. 88, quern 
 
 compare especially c. 41. admit- habemus odisse, i. e. e;^ojuei/. de 
 
 tite prius dispositiones ejus (sc. incolatu aeris, i. e. propterea quod 
 
 Dei) et non retorquebitis. I would incolunt aera ; coelestes paraturas ; 
 
 make lectionibus resonantibus the i. e. quid in coelo paretur. So 
 
 abl. abs. ; the allusion being to ^n. v. 14. Quid pater Neptune 
 
 the public reading of the Scrip- paras ? and Ge. i. 429. paratura 
 
 tures, so before c. 18, sed et Juda^i is common in this author, though 
 
 palam lectitant ; there is not much perhaps pecuUar to him, it is 
 
 difference between carpunt and pretty nearly equivalent to appa- 
 
 exceperunt. quasdam temporum ratus. v. ad c. 30. 
 
 sortes, i. e. tempora eventuum non ^^ nova sive contraria remedia 
 
 nullorum. ' So, picking up from are remedies either entirely novel, 
 
 this quarter the knowledge of a or exactly contrary in their 
 
 few chance events, they make up nature to those ordinarily adopted 
 
 a mock divinity for themselves in like cases, so that the effect 
 
 by stealing prophecy.' may seem more miraculous {ad 
 
 ^ Lactantius (Inst. Div. ii. miraculum.) 
 
 15.) has copied the language as ^° irrufatam ; So Tacitus 
 
 well as the argument, solent re- speaks of rutUatum crinem (Hist. 
 
 sponsa in ambiguos exitus tenipe- iv. 61). A puleius, in the Apology, 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 87 
 
 ut numina lapides crederentur, et deus venis non cap. 
 
 \ A XII* 
 
 XXIII. Porro si et maffi phantasmata edunt, These, 
 
 , . openly, and 
 
 et iam defunctorura infamant animas ; si puerosi^your 
 
 *' *■ presence 
 
 in eloquium oraculi^ elidunt, si multa miracula ^^^^^^^iji^^ ^ 
 circulatoriis praestigiis ludunt, si et somnia immit- [ession."' 
 tuut habentes semel invitatorum angelorum et dae- 
 monum assistentem sibi potestatem, per quos et 
 caprse et mensae divinare consueverunt ; quanto ma- 
 gis ilia potestas de suo arbitrio et pro suo negotio 
 studeat totis viribus operari, quod alienae praestat 
 negotiationi ? Aut si eadem et angeli et daemo- 
 nes operantur, quse et dii vestri ; ubi est ergo 
 praecellentia divinitatis, quae utique superior omni 
 potestate credenda est? Non ergo dignius praB- 
 sumetur, ipsos esse, qui se deos faciant, cum eadem 
 edant, quae faciant deos credi, quam pares angelis 
 et daemonibus deos esse? Locorum^ differentia 
 
 uses purpurissare and spkndidare be collected from the Apology of 
 
 applied to the person, and Julius Apuleius which I have spoken of 
 
 Firmicus (c. 21.) incandidare, and in the introduction ; at present 
 
 Tert. de Cor. Mil. i. has russatus I will only observe that if elidunt 
 
 sanffuine. The allusion in the is to be taken strictly in its sense 
 
 text is to the Ahenobarbi. of strangling (by which indeed it 
 
 XXIII. ^ In eloquium oraculi is almost monopolized), the sense 
 
 elidunt ; This is clearly the read- must be, that the boy is sacrificed 
 
 ing, I think, and not elidunt, as a victim to gain an oracular 
 
 which would be applicable only communication, otherwise, it 
 
 to that species of necromancy means that some operation is 
 
 already implied in the first clause performed on the boy which, for 
 
 of the sentence, whereas the re- the time, gives him prophetic 
 
 petition of si shews that Tertul- power ; in eloquium oraculi would 
 
 lian is alluding to a second bear either of these interpretations, 
 
 magical practice, viz. that of in- ^ Locorum differentia. ^ I pre- 
 
 vestigating future events by the sume that locality makes the dif- 
 
 aid of a boy. Some very curious ference, so that from the temples 
 
 information on this subject may you conceive those beings to be 
 
88 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXIII. 
 
 distinguit, opinor, ut a templis deos existimetis, 
 quos alibi deos non dicitis ; ut aliter dem entire 
 videatur, qui sacras turres pervolat, aliter qui tecta 
 viciniae transilit; et alia vis pronuntietur in eo 
 qui genitalia vel lacertos, alia in eo qui sibi 
 gulam prosecat. Compar exitus furoris, et una 
 ratio est instigationis. Sed hactenus verba, jam 
 hinc demonstratio rei ipsius, qua ostendemus unam 
 esse utriusque nominis qualitatem. Edatur hie 
 aliquis sub tribunalibus vestris, quern daemone agi 
 constet. Jussus a quolibet Christian©^ loqui spi- 
 ritus ille, tain se daemon em confitebitur de vero, 
 quam alibi deum de falso. ^que producatur ali- 
 
 gods whom elsewhere you deny 
 to be such.' The previous argu- 
 ment is this— 'The magi work 
 miracles by the aid of demons; 
 a fortiori can the daemons them- 
 selves ; still this does not destroy 
 the existence of the gods, for 
 possibly the daemons and the gods 
 have like power ; — where then 
 is the excellence or superiority of 
 the god-hood? Is it not more 
 natural to conclude that they are 
 these identical gods (by their own 
 creation), since we know that 
 they work the very signs which 
 are the credentials of the other 
 gods ? Is not this more probable 
 than that they are the equals of 
 the others.' The reasoning is 
 then, I think, thus continued: 
 Or do you mean to say that their 
 dwellings alone make the dis- 
 tinction, and that a being which 
 is a daemon elsewhere, becomes a 
 god by inhabiting a temple ? un- 
 questionably you so argue in 
 other cases, inasmuch as a man 
 
 who leaps from a sacred rock or 
 makes mysterious incisions in his 
 arms (alluding to the rock of Leu- 
 cas and the priests of Cybele) is by 
 no means reckoned such a mad- 
 man as he who cuts his own 
 throat, or jumps from the roof of 
 his neighbour's house. The tone 
 is sarcastic, of course, but changes 
 to direct confutation in compar 
 exitus, &c. Some for existimetis 
 read cestimetis, the distinction is 
 very well drawn by Kritz ad 
 Sail. Catil. viii. 2, in an edition 
 which is one of the best speci- 
 mens of Latin scholarship that 
 have lately appeared. 
 
 ^ a quolibet Christiano. So 
 Origen c. Cels. 1. 7. '^jwrai to 
 ToiovTov TrpaTTovci. The ex- 
 pression is remarkable and im- 
 portant, de vero; "He will on 
 this occasion confess himself a 
 daemon as truly, as he on others 
 falsely declares himself a god." 
 Lucret. i. 142. has de piano for 
 plane, profantur, see c. 21. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 89 
 
 quis ex iis, qui de deo pati existimanturS qui aris cap 
 
 inhalantes numen de nidore concipiunt, qui rue- 
 
 tando curvantur, qui anhelando profantur. Ista ipsa 
 Virgo Coelestis pluviarum pollicitatrix, iste ipse 
 jEsculapius medicinarum demonstrator, alia die^ 
 morituris Socordio et Thanatio et Asclepiodoto 
 vitae sumministrator, nisi se daemones confessi 
 fuerint, Chris tiano mentiri non audentes, ibidem 
 illius Christiani procacissimi sanguinem fundi te. 
 Quid is to opere manifestius ? quid hac probation e 
 fidelius? simplicitas veritatis in medio est; virtus 
 illi sua assistit^ ; nihil suspicari licebit. Magia aut 
 
 * ceque producatur aliquis, &c. 
 The first class of possessed persons 
 are the simple daemoniacs {quos 
 dcemone agi constat) about whose 
 state there is no doubt ; a second 
 class is here alluded to, viz. of 
 those who are under the tempo- 
 rary influence of some agency 
 which was considered as impart- 
 ing a spirit of prophecy, such for 
 instance as the steam from certain 
 sacrifices, &c. inhalantes seems 
 to take a dative precisely like 
 inhiantes and to be used in the 
 same sense ; concipere numen is a 
 common phrase like the concepit 
 furias of Dido, or concipere fata, 
 Luc. I. 630; and the two sub- 
 sequent clauses allude to the con- 
 tortions of body and afifections of 
 the lungs produced by inhaling 
 these gases. The Virgo Coelestis is 
 Juno, the tutelar deity of Car- 
 thage; I do not think any con- 
 . tempt is implied here in the use 
 j of iste, but Amobius uses this 
 • pronoun perpetually in such a 
 
 sense; he even, in addressing a 
 heathen school, says Et tamen, O 
 istil quidfacitis, &c. 
 
 ^ [alia, pro altera, i. e. proxi- 
 ma, T^ ef^? riixepa. Sic Spartian. 
 in Anton. Pio. c. 12. *alia die 
 febre coreptus est,' sc. proxime 
 sequente. Ita saepe Plautus. Sic 
 Capitol, in Maximin. c. 17. * prima 
 
 die alia die.' et Trebell. in 
 
 Mario tyranno 'una die factus 
 est Imperator, alia die visus est 
 imperare, tertia interemptus est.' 
 A.] 
 
 " simplicitas veritatis, &c. I 
 hardly know whether I rightly 
 conceive all that TertulHan means 
 to say in this sentence; but if I 
 do so it is this; "Truth in all 
 its naked simplicity {nuda sin- 
 ceritus) is before your eyes (in 
 medio) ; that virtue which is the 
 peculiar attribute and character- 
 istic of truth {sua) viz. simpli- 
 city, attends it there," or has the 
 inrtus sua any reference to the 
 magna est Veritas ? 
 
90 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXIII. 
 
 aliqua ejusmodi fallacia fieri dicetis, si^ oculi ves- 
 tri et aures permiserint vobis. Quid autem injici 
 potest adversus id, quod ostenditur nuda sinceri- 
 tate? Si altera parte ^ vere dei sunt, cur sese dae- 
 monia mentiuntur ? an ut nobis obsequantur ? Jam 
 ergo subjecta est Christianis divinitas vestra ; nee 
 utique divinitas deputanda est, quae subdita est 
 homini, et si quid ad dedecus facit, aemulis suis. 
 Si altera parte daemones sunt vel angeli, cur se 
 alibi pro diis agere respondent? Nam sicut illi, 
 qui dii habentur^ daemones se dicere noluissent, 
 si vere dii essent, scilicet ne de maj estate se de- 
 ponerent : ita et isti, quos directo daemones nostis, 
 non auderent alibi pro diis agere, si aliqui omnino 
 dii essent, quorum nominibus utuntur ; vererentur 
 
 ^ dicetis si, i. e. licebit vobis 
 
 dicere si permiserint [ve- 
 
 rum non permittent.] quid autem 
 injici, &c. others read here inniti, 
 which I cannot well comprehend, 
 unless they make it passive ; 
 injici is like injeci scrupulum 
 homini. 
 
 ** altera parte altera parte 
 
 — " on the one hand — on the 
 other hand." The reasoning is, 
 "If they are gods why do they 
 degrade themselves into daemons? 
 If daemons, how do they dare 
 exalt themselves into gods? un- 
 less indeed there are no gods to 
 avenge this presumption." sub- 
 jecta est christianis divinitas vestra; 
 the expression divinitas vestra is 
 not an easy one to render into 
 English, though its meaning will 
 very probably caught by the 
 reader at first sight. It is not 
 
 of course, 'your own divinity/ 
 neither is it precisely equivalent 
 to Dii vestri, but it means 'god- 
 ship, according to your ideas of 
 theology,' divinitas being that 
 which constitutes the Deus, (com- 
 pare note on c. 46) and vestra the 
 same as quam tenetis {tenere being 
 applied as to a school of philoso- 
 phy) below, facit ad dedecus is 
 like facit ad caussam in c. 39. 
 
 ^ qui dii habentur ; the change 
 of tone may be remarked here ; 
 "for," says Tertullian, "just as 
 they, whose existence as gods 
 you believe, would, &c. so would 
 they of whose existence as 
 daemons you are certain, &c." a 
 little below aliqui is equivalent to 
 vel alicujus generis, and the young 
 student should be careful not to 
 translate the passage as if utuntur 
 were uterentur. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 91 
 
 enim abuti maj estate superiorum sine dubio et ti- cap. 
 
 mendorum. Adeo nulla est divinitas ista quam 
 
 tenetis, quia si esset, neque a daemoniis afFectare- 
 tur, neque a diis negaretur. Cum ergo utraque 
 pars concurrit in confessionem, deos esse negans, 
 agnoscite unum genus esse, id est daemonas. Ve- 
 rum utrobique jam deos quaerite^^ ; quos enim 
 praesumpseratis, daemonas esse cognoscitis. Eadem 
 vero opera nostra ab eisdem diis vestris non tan- 
 tum hoc detegentibus, quod neque ipsi dii sint 
 neque ulli alii ^^5 etiam illud in continenti cognos- 
 citis, qui sit vere deus, et an ille, et an unicus, 
 quem Christiani profitemur, et an ita credendus 
 colendusque, ut fides, ut disciplina disposita est 
 Christianorum. Dicent ibidem quis ille Christus 
 cum sua fabula^^; si homo communis conditionis, 
 si magus, si post mortem de sepulcro a discipulis 
 surreptus, si nunc denique penes inferos, si non in 
 
 ^" verum utrobique, &c. The of any other nature ;" in conti- 
 
 argument of this and the pre- nenti means "continuously, by 
 
 ceding sentence is as follows : the same proof." 
 Since then either hypothesis (tf^ra- ^ Dicent ibidem; They will 
 
 que pars) tends similarly towards also tell you on the same occasion 
 
 the same admission, {in confessi- whether, &c. The si recurring 
 
 07ium) inasmuch as either denies so frequently in this sentence is 
 
 the existence of the gods, you equivalent to utrum-necne. So c. 
 
 must acknowledge that one, and 29. constet igitur, si isti im- 
 
 one only, species of beings of this pertiri possunt, and such a sense 
 kind exists, viz. daemons. And it not unfrequently has in this 
 on either presumption, you must Latin, but the passage ad Mar- 
 now look out some fresh gods tyres, c. 4. si tanti vitrum, quanti 
 for yourselves, since those whom margaritum is erroneously quoted 
 you formerly believed in as such, as an instance of its use as a 
 are confessedly of a different direct interrogative ; the meaning 
 essence. hemg ''if glass (i.e. sufferings 
 
 " quod neque ipsi, &c. i. e. for human gloiy) is so valuable, 
 
 " that they are neither your own what is the worth of pearl (i. e. 
 
 identical gods, not indeed gods sufferings for Christ's sake.)" 
 
92 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. coelis potius, et inde venturus cum totius mundi 
 
 motu, cum horrore orbis, cum planctu omnium, sed 
 
 non Christianorum, ut dei virtus et dei spiritus et 
 sermo et sapientia et ratio et dei filius. Quod- 
 cuuque ridetis, rideant^^ et illi vobiscum ; negent 
 Christum omnem ab aevo animam restituto corpore 
 judicaturum/ Dicant hoc^* pro tribunali, si forte, 
 Minoen et Radamanthum secundum consensum 
 Platonis et poetarum esse sortitos ; suae saltem ig- 
 nominiae et damnationis notam refutent : renuant 
 se immundos spiritus esse, quod vel ex pabulis 
 eorum sanguine et fumo et putidis regis pecorum 
 et impuratissimis Unguis ipsorum vatum intelligi 
 debuit ; renuant ob malitiam praedamnatos^^ se in 
 eundem judicii diem cum omnibus cultoribus et 
 operatoribus suis. Atqui omnis haec nostra in 
 illos dominatio et postestas de nominatione Christi 
 valet ^^ et de commemoratione eorum, quae sibi a 
 deo per arbitrum Christum imminentia exspectant. 
 Christum timentes in deo, et deum in Christo, 
 subjiciuntur servis dei et Christi. Ita de contactu 
 deque afflatu nostro, contemplatione et repraesen- 
 tatione ignis illius correpti, etiam de corporibus 
 
 ^^ rideant et illis, i.e. "let us manthum secundum consen- 
 
 see whether they will join your sum sortitos esse hoc — so. am- 
 
 ridicule." rideant, negent, &c. marum judicium. 
 
 are used like the imperatives in ^^ prcedamnatos. Cf. S. Matth. 
 
 Hor. Sat. ii. 2. 16. Juv. xiii. 161. viii. 29. Ep. S. Petri ii. 2. 4. 
 
 ab cevo a little further is sjoiony- operatoribus may be taken in the 
 
 mous with ab initio, a primordio sacrificial sense common to facio 
 
 and the like phrases, and cor- and operor. 
 
 responds to the per cevum of Lu- ^^ valet potestas de. " The 
 
 cretius. validity of our power is derived 
 
 " Dicant hoc, &c. Constr. from/* &c. S. Matth. vii. 22. in 
 
 Dicant Minoen et Rhada- nomine tuo drrmonia efecimus. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 93 
 
 nostro imperio excedunt inviti et dolentes, et vobis 
 prgesentibus erubescentes^'. Credite illis, cum ve- 
 rum de se loquuntur, qui mentientibus creditis. 
 Nemo ad suum dedecus mentitur, quin potius ad 
 bonorem. Magis fides prona est adversus semet- 
 ipsos confitentes^% quam pro semetipsis iiegantes^^ 
 Haec denique testimonia deorum vestorum Chris- 
 tiauos facere consueverunt, quia plurimum illis 
 credendo Christo domino credimus Ipsi littera- 
 rum nostrarum fidera accendunt, ipsi spei nostrae 
 fidentiam aedificant. At colitis illos, auod sciam, 
 
 CAP. 
 XXIII. 
 
 ^^ eruhescentes vobis prcesenti- 
 bus ; I have spoken of the usual 
 constructions of this word in 
 Tertullian, ad c. 9. 
 
 ^ fides prona est adversus 
 semetipsos, &c. others read "in 
 adversus semetipsos confitentes," 
 which makes it more clear. If 
 the above text is correct, the 
 construction and argument are as 
 follow : Magis fides prona est 
 erga eos qui fatentur se, quam eos 
 qui negant se, malos esse. Thus 
 adversus is simply erga as in 
 Apuleius, who in one passage (de 
 Deo Socr. 672) communio adver- 
 sus Decs even uses it for cum; 
 and it governs both participles. 
 confiteri and negare are both taken 
 absolutely as in c. 2. ; compare too 
 Lactantius de M. P. 49. tor- 
 mentis adactus, fatebatur. I do 
 not recollect an instance of the 
 addition of the pronoun, but 
 I see no objection to it. And 
 yet pro semetipsis seems to be 
 meant to answer adversus semet- 
 
 ^^ Hcec denique testimonia, 
 
 &c. The thread of the argu- 
 ment to the conclusion of the 
 chapter seems to be as follows: 
 "To conclude, it is this very 
 evidence given by your own gods 
 which has been most effectual in 
 procuring converts to Christi- 
 anity, inasmuch as in the majo- 
 rity of cases (plurimum) it has 
 been through believing testimony 
 of this kind that we have come to 
 be believers in Christ. They in- 
 voluntarily strengthen us. But 
 you propitiate them with sacri- 
 fices (pabulis eorum), and even 
 sacrifices of Christian victims. 
 Necessarily therefore they would 
 not lose such serviceable votaries 
 if they could help it ; besides 
 which, converts from you become, 
 as Christians {quandoque Christi- 
 ani) their aggressors, and thus 
 they not only lose a slave but 
 get another determined enemy. 
 From all which you may collect, 
 they would not make such con- 
 fessions if they were not abso- 
 lutely true, and extorted from 
 them." 
 
voluntary. 
 
 94 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xxni ^^^^^ d^ sanguine Christian or um, Nollent itaque 
 
 ~ vos tarn fructuosos, tarn officiosos sibi amittere, vel 
 
 ne a vobis quandoque Christianis fugentur, si illis 
 
 sub Christiano, volente vobis veritatem probare, 
 
 mentiri liceret. 
 
 And this XXIV. Omnis ista confessio illorum, qua se 
 
 confession ■*• 
 
 will clear (J^qs ueffaut csse, quaque non alium deum res- 
 
 us from the ^ ' i t. 
 
 implftyf pondent praeter unum, cui nos mancipamur, satis 
 worehj^'' idonea est ad depellendum crimen laesae maxime 
 ^ ^"ItlaiTy Romanae religionis. Si enim non sunt dei pro 
 certo, nee religio pro certo est ; si religio non est, 
 quia nee dei pro certo, nee nos pro certo rei sumus 
 laesae religionis. At e contrario in vos exprobratio 
 resultabit^ qui mendacium colentes, veram religio- 
 nem veri dei non modo negligendo, quin insuper 
 expugnando, in verum^ committitis crimen verse 
 irreligiositatis. Nunc, ut^ constaret illos deos esse, 
 nonne conceditis de aestimatione communi aliquem 
 esse sublimiorem et potentiorem velut principem 
 mundi, perfectae potentiae et majestatis? Nam et 
 sic plerique disponunt divinitatem^ ut imperium 
 summae dominationis esse penes unum, officia ejus 
 
 XXIV. -^ resultabit. Compare sage in Apuleius (Apol. 508.) 
 
 retorquere and referentere, which Idem Maximus optime intelligit, 
 
 have hefore occurred. ut de nomine etiam vobis re~ 
 
 ^ in verum ; I prefer consider- spondeam, quisnam sit ille, non a 
 
 ing this as equivalent to in verita- me primo, sed a Platone nuncu- 
 
 ^ew, to repeating Z)eMm from above, patus (SaaiXev^, totius rerum 
 
 ^ ut constaret; i. e. etiamsi naturce caussa, et ratio, &c. 
 Apul. (Apol. 514) ut tcedium * disponunt divinitatem; "so 
 posset perpeti, tamen non, &c. but distribute and arrange the god- 
 the phrase is good. v. Juv. viii. ship in their theory" — officia ejus ; 
 272. Liv. 38. 17. On the argu- "its various executive depart- 
 ment compare a remarkable pas- ments." 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 95 
 
 penes multos velint; ut Plato ^ Jovem magnum 
 in coelo comitatum exercitu describit deorum pa- 
 ri tur et daemonum. Itaque oportere et procurantes 
 et praefectos et prsesides pariter suspici^ Et^ ta- 
 men quod facinus admittit, qui magis ad Caesarem 
 promerendum et operam et spem suam transfer t, 
 nee appellationem dei ita ut imperatoris in alio 
 quam principe confitetur, cum capitale esse judi- 
 cetur alium praeter Caesarem et dicere et audire? 
 Colat alius ^ deum, alius Jovem, alius ad coelum 
 
 CAP. 
 XXIV. 
 
 * Phffidr. c. 66. ed. Bekk. 6 
 fxev S»/ jneya^ tjye/Jiwv ev ovpavto 
 ZeJ? eXavvojv Trrrjvou apfxa Trpia- 
 TO? TTopeverai ^laKocrncov iravTa 
 KOLi eVj/xeXoujuei/o?* tw V eVeraj 
 (TTpaTid dewv re koi ^ai/jiovoDV. 
 Compare too Amobius, 1. iii. ad 
 fin. Nam quid de ipso dicemus 
 Jove, quem solem esse dictitavere 
 sapientes, agitantem pinnatos cur- 
 rus, turba consequente divorum? 
 TertuUian is preparing an argu- 
 ment of this kind, that since they 
 admit that there is a superior 
 power, under whom are subordi- 
 nate officers {procurantes ac prce- 
 fectos), and to all of whom they 
 pay honour, that possibly some 
 individuals may rather choose to 
 neglect the latter for the sake of 
 concentrating their worship in 
 the former. 
 
 ^ suspicere; "to look up to, 
 or worship." Cicero opposes it 
 despicere (Off. ii. 10) itaque eos 
 viros suspiciunt in quibus eocisti- 
 mant se perspicere virtutes, despi- 
 ciunt autem eos in quibus nihil 
 virtutis putant. Cf. Hor. Epist. i. 
 6. 18. Eurip. Hec. 855. napdeuoi^ 
 
 diroftXeiTTo^ /AeVa. So presently, 
 c. 32. judicium dei suspicimus in 
 imperatoribus, and Amobius, (vii. 
 11.) efficiturque ut videatur mag- 
 nus quem suspectio minoris extu- 
 lerit. 
 
 ' The argument is continued 
 from the previous remarks: 
 "Your own schemes make an 
 assembly of gods, with a presi- 
 dent — Now what possible crime 
 can he be held to commit who 
 confines his exertions and ex- 
 pectations to the propitiation of 
 Caesar especially, (i. e. rather than 
 any of the subordinates) and re- 
 fuses to admit the title of god, 
 as that of emperor, in any other 
 than the head, particularly since 
 amongst yourselves it is a capital 
 crime to speak of any one, or 
 listen to any one spoken of, as 
 Caesar, except Caesar himself. 
 In the expression ad CcEsarem 
 promerendum the word Cresar is 
 used simply for the chief or 
 head. 
 
 ^ colat alius Deum, &c. Either 
 this is the commencement of a 
 fresh argument, or it is connected 
 with the preceding paragraph in 
 
96 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xxfv. supplices manus tendat, alius ad aram Fidei, alius, 
 si hoc putatis^ nubes numeret orans, alius lacu- 
 naria, alius suam animam deo suo voveat, alius 
 hirci. Videte enim ne et hoc ad irreligiositatis 
 elogium concurrat''', adimere libertatem religionis 
 et interdicelre optionem divinitatis, ut non liceat 
 raihi colere quern velim, sed cogar colere quern 
 nolim. Nemo se ab invito coli volet, ne homo 
 quidem ; atque adeo et ^gyptiis permissa est tarn 
 vanse superstitionis potestas, avibus et bestiis con- 
 secrandis, et capite damn audi s, qui aliquem hujus- 
 modi deum occiderit. Unicuique etiam provinciae 
 et civitati suus deus est, ut Syriae Atargatis, ut 
 Arabiae Dusares, ut Noricis Belenus, ut Africae 
 Coelestis, ut Mauritaniae Reguli sui. Roraanas, 
 ut opinor, provincias edidi, nee tamen Romanos 
 deos earum, quia Romae non magis coluntur, quam 
 qui per ipsam quoque Italiam municipali consecra- 
 tione censentur : Casiniensium Delventinus, Nar- 
 niensium Visidianus, iEsculanorum Ancharia, Vol- 
 siniensium Nortia", Ocriculanorum Valentia, Su- 
 
 this way, " Why should not any Jews. Nil prceter nubes et cceli 
 man be permitted then to worship numen adorant. As lacunaria are 
 the chief god alone? or rather, really the compartments in a 
 why should not every man be system of pannelling on the ciel- 
 left to his own will in matters of ing, numeret may be strictly sup- 
 religion, whatever he chooses to plied from the other clause, or 
 pay honour to ; true religion (which is more probable) it may 
 must in its essence be voluntary, be taken simply as suspiciat. 
 &c. ^" ad irreligiositatis elogium 
 * si hoc putatis, i. e. " if you concurrat ; ' go towards proving 
 choose so to interpret a prayer the charge of irreligion.* On the 
 addressed to heaven, as to fancy argument see ad Scap. c. 2. Lac- 
 the petitioner is only counting tant. I. D. v. 20. 
 the clouds." So Juvenal of the " Volsiniensium Nortia. v. ad 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 97 
 
 trinorum Hostia, Faliscorum in honorem patris 
 Curis, unde accepit cognomen, Juno. Sed nos 
 soli arcemur a religionis proprietate ' '. Laedimus 
 Romanos nee Romani habemur, quia non Roma- 
 norum deum colimus. Bene quod omnium deus 
 est, cujus, velimus aut nolimus, omnes sumus. Sed 
 apud vos quodvis'" colere jus est, praeter verum 
 deum, quasi non hie magis omnium sit deus, cu- 
 jus omnes sumus. 
 
 XXV. Satis mihi quidem videor probasse de 
 falsa et vera divinitate, cum demonstravi, quemad- 
 modum probatio consistat, non modo disputationi- 
 bus, nee argumentationibus, sed ipsorum etiam tes- 
 timoniis, quos deos creditis, ut nihil jam ad banc 
 caussam sit retractandum ^ Quoniam tamen Ro- 
 mani nominis proprie^ mentio occurrit, non omittam 
 
 CAP. 
 XXIV 
 
 I may here 
 remark on 
 your asser- 
 tion that 
 through 
 piety to 
 these Gods 
 the Romans 
 acquired 
 their pre- 
 sent power. 
 
 Juv. X. 74. in honorem patris 
 Curis; this passage is probably 
 corrupt. 
 
 ^ proprietas. This word, like 
 proprius, admits of various signi- 
 fications. Livy employs it, (38. 
 17.) iVbw tantum semina ad ser- 
 vandam indolem valent, quantum 
 terrcp proprietas coelique sub quo 
 aluntur, mutat. It is used by 
 Pliny repeatedly to express the 
 property peculiar to any herb or 
 mineral. Apuleius applies it to 
 the species of an animal or its 
 characteristics. (Apol. 471) nee 
 apud veteres philosophos proprie- 
 tatem ejus piscis reperio, quanquam 
 sit omnium rarissima, et hercule 
 memoranda, (as indeed from its 
 subsequent description it appears 
 to have been.) But, from the 
 context, it seems in this passage 
 
 7 
 
 to be (like so many of Tertul- 
 lian's terms) forensic, and the 
 sense is : " We alone of all people 
 are forbidden to possess and keep 
 a religion exclusively to our- 
 selves." 
 
 ^^ quodvis ; this neuter is per- 
 petually used without any im- 
 plication of contempt, but J think 
 here that it alludes to the stocks 
 and stones which men were per- 
 mitted to adore, though the 
 worship of the time God was 
 interdicted. 
 
 XXV. ^ Ut nihil jam, &c.; 
 "so that there is no further need 
 of argument as regards this plea," 
 for retractare see ad c. 3. 
 
 ^ proprie mentio occurrit ; " as 
 however the Romans have been 
 particularly mentioned," i. e. at 
 the end of the last chapter, con- 
 
98 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 ^AP. congressioiiem, quam provocat ilia praesumptio di- 
 centium Romanos pro merito religiositatis diligen- 
 tissimae in tantum sublimitatis elatos, ut orbem 
 occuparint, et adeo^ deos esse, lit praeter ceteros 
 floreant, qui illis officium praater ceteros faciant. 
 Scilicet ista merces Romanis a diis pro gratia ex- 
 peiisa est: Sterculius, et Mutunus, et Larentina, 
 provexit imperium. Peregrinos enim^ deos non 
 putem extraneae genti magis fautum voluisse quam 
 suae, et patrium solum, in quo nati, adulti, nobi- 
 litati, sepultique sunt, transfretanis dedisse. Vi- 
 derit Cybele, si urbem Romanam ut memoriam 
 Trojani generis adamavit, vernaculi sui scilicet ad- 
 
 gressionem; ' an engagement with 
 you on this point/ like concur- 
 ram, c. 4. 
 
 ^ adeo deos esse, ut, &c. I do 
 
 not imagine adeo ut to be used 
 
 for propter ea quia, but I think 
 
 the force of adeo to be in tantum 
 or usque adeo, i. e. " Not only 
 that the gods exist, but they 
 exist to such good purpose that," 
 &c. There is a somewhat similar 
 expression in Min. Fel. c. 2. cujus 
 (i. e. Dei Judseorum) adeo nulla 
 vis nee potestas est ut sit Romanis 
 hominibus (this last word is em- 
 phatic) cum sua sibi natione capti- 
 vus. A little further down, pro- 
 veocit imperium is like proferet 
 imperium, iEn. vi. 796. 
 
 " Enim; "1 mention," says 
 TertuUian, " these Roman deities, 
 for as to foreign gods," &c. — In 
 the construction of this sentence 
 the et couples voluisse and de- 
 disse, and both must be connected 
 closely with the negative, viderit 
 Cybele ; the expression is that 
 
 explained ad c. 16, and the ex- 
 ception of course ironical: "Cy- 
 bele is not a case in point, for, 
 though a foreign deity, she doubt- 
 less came over from a foresight 
 of the future ; only it is a little 
 unfortunate that she made such 
 a mistake the other day," &c. 
 Dr Ashton suggests ob memoriam 
 for ut, but I prefer the present 
 text, see ad c. 18. prospexit tran^- 
 ire means, "provided for herself 
 by this migration." This is not 
 a passage of which the bearing is 
 immediately obvious, and especial 
 care must be taken not to over- 
 look the continuance of the irony 
 throughout the whole of the 
 sentence itaque majestatis, &c. 
 It seems that the priest of Cybele 
 (archigallus ilk) had offered up 
 prayers for the emperor M. Au- 
 relius some days after his death, 
 which occurred at a distance, and 
 this gives TertuUian an oppor- 
 tunity of ridiculing the divinity 
 of the goddess. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 99 
 
 versus Achivoriim arma protect!, si ad ultores cap. 
 
 transire prospexit, quos sciebat Graeciam Phrygiae 
 
 debellatricem subacturos. Itaqiie majestatis suae in 
 urbem collatae grande documentum nostrae etiam 
 aetati proposuit, cum Marco Aurelio apud Sirmium 
 reipublicae exempto, die decimo sexto Kalendarum 
 Aprilium, Archigallus ille sanctissimus, die none 
 Kalend. earundem, quo sanguinem impurum, la- 
 certos quoque castrando libabat, pro salute impe- 
 ratoris Marci jam intercept! solita aeque imperia 
 mandavit^ O nuntios tardos, o somniculosa di- 
 plomata, quorum vitio excessum imperatoris non 
 ante Cybele cognovit, ne deam talem riderent 
 Christian!. Sed non statim et Jupiter Cretam 
 suam Romanis fascibus concuti sineret, oblitus an- 
 trum^ illud Idaeum, et asra Corybantia, et jucun- 
 dissimum illic nutricis suae odorem. Nonne omni 
 Capitolio tumulum ilium suum praeposuisset, ut ea 
 potius orb! terra praecelleret, quae cineres Jovis 
 texit? Vellet Juno Punicam urbem posthabita 
 Samo dilectam ab jEneadarum utique^ genere de- 
 leri? Quod si 
 
 ■' l^Solita ceque imperia manda- elusion of the second book ad 
 
 vit ; votis pro more factis prospe- Nationes, but all that book is so 
 
 rum mortuo aeque ac antea vi- mutilated that it would be un- 
 
 venti imperium ominabatur, et intelligible but for this Apology. 
 Cybeles nomine spondebat. A.] '' utique, sc. ut sibi inimicis- 
 
 The expression excessus for mors simo. Prudentius, c. Symmach. 
 
 has been remarked on in c. 22. ii. 495. 
 
 ^ statim is used like temere. , t^u   °^^^^^ ^ '^^^v. 
 
 Juno suos Phrygiis servire nepotibus 
 
 ohlitus antrum ; ohliviscor is con- Afros ; 
 
 stantly found with an accusative Et, quam subjectis dominam Dea 
 
 in early writers ; the expression, gentibus esse 
 
 , ,v .^i_ , , - Si qui fata sinant, jam turn tenditque 
 
 together with several othei-s of fovetque, 
 
 this chapter, occurs at the con- JussitRomuleisaddictamviverefraenis. 
 
 7—2 
 
100 TERTULLIANI 
 
 XXV. H^^ illius arma. 
 
 Hie currus fuit, hoc 4'egnum dea gentibus esse. 
 Si qua fata sinant, jam turn tenditque fovetque : 
 
 Misera ilia coiijunx Jovis et soror adversus fata 
 non valuit plane : 
 
 Fato stat Jupiter ipse. 
 
 Nee tantum tamen honoris Romani dicaverunt 
 fatis dedentibus sibi Carthaginem adversus desti- 
 natum votumque Junonis, quantum prostitutissimae 
 lupae Larentinae. Plures deos vestros regnasse eer- 
 tum est^ Igitur si conferendi imperii ten en t po- 
 testatem, cum ipsi regnarent, a qui bus acceperant 
 eam gratiam ? quern coluerat Saturnus et Jupiter ? 
 aliquem opinor Sterculium, [sed Romae postea] cum 
 indigenis suis. Etiam si qui non regnarunt, tamen 
 regnabatur ab aliis nondum cultoribus suis, ut qui 
 nondum dii habebantur. Ergo aliorum est regnum 
 dare, quia regnabatur multo ante quam isti dii 
 inciderentur. Sed quam vanum est fastigium^ Ro- 
 mani nominis religiositatis meritis deputare, cum 
 
 ^ There is here a little change looked for elsewhere." incide- 
 
 in the signification of the word rentur must refer to the inscrip- 
 
 regnum, which in one part of the tions on their statues, it can 
 
 argument is meant to imply the hardly be used of the sculpture 
 
 regalis potestas of a petty king, of an image, v. c. 50, and Juv. 
 
 and in another the imperium in viii. 69. 
 
 orbem of the Romans. "Con- . . . . aliquid da 
 
 fessedly, many of your deities ^»«'^ l'«^^'°* *»*»'''^ ^"^^''^''^ ^^^^' 
 
 . , , .p , honores. 
 
 once reigned on earth ; or, it they 
 
 did not, other rulers did who were ^ fastigium deputare meritis, 
 
 not worshippers of them ; there- i. e. " to set down the grandeur of 
 
 fore, the power of conferring the Roman name to the account 
 
 kingdoms is anterior to them, i. e. of their pious merits." 
 
 your present gods, and must be 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 101 
 
 post imperium sive adhuc regnum religio profece- 
 rit. Nam^^ etsi a Numas. concepta est curiositas 
 superstitiosa, nondum tamen aut simulacris aut 
 templis res divina apud Romanos constabat; frugi 
 religio et pauperes ritus, et nulla Capitolia cer- 
 tantia coelo, sed temeraria de cespite altaria, et 
 vasa adhuc Samia, et nidor ex illis, et deus ipse 
 nusquam. Nondum enim tunc ingenia^^ Graecorum 
 atque Tuscorum fingendis simulacris urbera inun- 
 daverant. Ergo non ante religiosi Romani, quam 
 
 CAP. 
 XXV. 
 
 ^** Nam etsi, &c. It can 
 scarcely be considered fair reason- 
 ing to argue that piety cannot 
 exist without riches, or that the 
 devotion of a people is less earnest 
 or acceptable when proffered 
 with humble ceremonies. In fact, 
 every reader will recollect the 
 peculiar fondness with which all 
 Roman moralists, both in prose 
 and verse, during the luxurious 
 days of the state, recur to the 
 simplicity and fervour which 
 they assert was characteristic of 
 ancient times, and to the poverty 
 and piety which then alike pre- 
 vailed ; and the very expressions 
 of the text, vasa Samia and de 
 cespite altaria are employed in 
 laudatory descriptions of anti- 
 quity, where the satisfaction of 
 the gods at these humble offer- 
 ings is pointedly detailed. The 
 next argument too, on the 
 captured deities, may seem un- 
 graciously urged when it is re- 
 collected what singular pains the 
 Romans took in their sieges 
 about the Deorum evocatio, with 
 this very view, as Servius says, 
 (ad iEn. ii. 351.) propter vitanda 
 
 sacrilegia. See the form of the 
 excantation in Macrobius, (Satur. 
 III. 9.) who speaks of it as ex 
 occultissimis sacris. Compare, too, 
 Pliny (H. N. xxviii. 4.) and 
 Amobius (iii. 30.) who observes, 
 solere Romanos Deos onines urbi- 
 um superatarum partim privatim 
 perfamilias sparger e, partim publice 
 consecrare. But the truth is, that 
 these circumstances were so gene- 
 rally urged by the Pagans and 
 received so seeming a corrobora- 
 tion from the simultaneous de- 
 cline of their religion and pros- 
 perity, that TertuUian could not 
 overlook the point, the im- 
 portance of which is evident also 
 from the manner in which S. 
 Cyprian and S. Augustine after- 
 wards insist on it, and as they 
 use very much the reasoning of 
 this Apology, we may infer that 
 it was in some way efficacious. 
 Compare Pru dentins in the pas- 
 sage from which I have quoted 
 above. 
 
 " ingenia fingendis simulacris 
 must be taken closely together. 
 Compare the observations at the 
 commencement of c. 15. 
 
102 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. magni; ideoque non 6b hoc magni, quia religiosi. 
 Atqui quomodo ob religionem magni, quibus mag- 
 nitudo de irreligiositate provenit ! Ni fallor enim, 
 omne regnum vel imperium bellis quaeritur et vic- 
 toriis propagatur. Porro bella et victoriae captis 
 
 Ad Nat. et eversis piurimum urbibus constant ^^ Id nego- 
 tium sine deorum injuria non est. Eaedem strages 
 moenium et templorum, pares caedes civium et sa- 
 cerdotum, nee dissimiles rapinae sacrarum divitiarum 
 et profanarum. Tot igitur sacrilegia Romanorum, 
 quot tropaea; tot de diis, quot de gentibus tri- 
 umphi ; tot manubiae, quot manent adhuc simulacra 
 eaptivorum deorum. Et ab hostibus ergo suis sus- 
 tinent^^ adorari, et illis imperium sine fine decer- 
 nunt, quorum magis injurias quam adolationes^* 
 remunerasse debuerant. Sed qui nihil sentiunt, 
 tam impune laeduntur, quam frustra coluntur. 
 Certe non potest fidei convenire, ut religionis me- 
 ritis excrevisse videantur, qui, ut suggessimus, re- 
 ligionem aut laedendo creverunt, aut crescendo 
 laBserunt'\ Etiam illi, quorum regna conflata sunt 
 in imperii Romani summam, cum ea amitterent, 
 sine religionibus non fuerunt. 
 
 ^^ bella et victories constant; reading i« by no mean» certain; 
 
 " the materials, or events, of war but adolo is said to be connected 
 
 are, &c.;" so above, res divina with an old form olo equivalent 
 
 simulacris constabat. to colo, which gives the noun in 
 
 ^^ sustinent, v. ad c. 8. the the text, 
 nominative is Dei captivi. imperi- ^^ etiam illi, &c. the argu- 
 
 um sine fine, the words are pro- ment is this : Besides, the nations 
 
 bably allusive to ^n. i. 279, like conquered by the Romans were 
 
 other expressions in the chapter. also religious in their way, and 
 
 ^* adolatio ; this is almost a therefore deserved as well at the 
 
 singular instance of the occur- hands of the gods, so that one 
 
 Tence of this word, and here the case destroys the other. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 103 
 
 XXVI. Videte igitur, ne ille regna dispen- ^^f- 
 set, cujus est et orbis qui regnatur', et homo ipse ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 qui regnat ; ne ille vices ' dominationum ipsis tem- t^f^o^fj 
 poribus in seculo ordinarit, qui ante omne tempus [h^hlnds 
 fuit et seculum^ corpus temporum, fecit; ne ille Godf who 
 civitates extollat aut deprimat, sub quo fuit ali- 
 quando sine civitatibus genus hominum. Quid 
 erratis? prior est quibusdam diis suis silvestris* 
 Roma; ante regnavit, quam tantum ambitum Ca- 
 pitolii^ exstrueret. Regnaverunt et Babylonii ante 
 
 orders ail ? 
 
 XXVI. ^ orbis qui regnatur ; 
 This passive form occurs in Virgil 
 (^n. VI. 793.) and Horace (Car. 
 ill. 29, 27.) 
 
 ^ Vices dominationum are the 
 changes of empires, ipsis tempori- 
 bus seems to be for cum ipsis 
 temp. (avToh to?? ^ftovoi^^ and 
 in seculo like in seculum or m 
 seculo futur as. " \^Tiether he did 
 not ordain all changes of empires, 
 with the periods of their occur- 
 rence, from the first to the last" 
 
 ^ s(Bculum ; This word is used 
 with various significations in 
 ecclesiastical writers ; in the text 
 it is the natural life, as it were, 
 of the universe, the pre-ordained 
 course of time of which the 
 termination is the end of the 
 world, and it is called corpus 
 temporum as embracmg what Lu- 
 cretius would term the eventa 
 temporis (i. 460. sqq.) ; all events 
 whatever and their periods, and 
 thus representing their aggregate 
 or sum. In this way Lactantius 
 (Ep. D. I. c. 70.) speaks de fine 
 scBCuli et conclusione temporum as 
 synonymous expressions, and we 
 shall presently see clausulam scc- 
 
 culi (c 32.) Budi finem saculi (c. 
 41.) used for mundi finem ; and 
 so in the Vulgate, consummatio 
 sceculi. At other times sesculum 
 is used simply for a century or a 
 certain period of time, as Lucan 
 says (i. 78.) Scecula tot mundi 
 suprema coegerit hora. I do not 
 think it will ever be found equi- 
 valent to cevum (as explained ad 
 c. 48.) like vives in cBvum, &c. 
 excepting in the well known for- 
 mula in scecula stBculorum, but it 
 will very frequently be met with 
 for mundus or vita hcec as op- 
 posed to vita externa, in which 
 sense scecularis occurs also. 
 
 * Silvestris Moma, Mn. viii. 
 346. 
 
 ad CapitoUa ducit 
 Aurea nunc, dim sylvestribus horrida 
 dumis. 
 
 Compare the whole of the pas- 
 sage. 
 
 ^ tantum ambitum Capitolii — 
 this was built first by Tarqui- 
 nius Priscus, secondly by L. Sulla, 
 and thirdly by Domitian; from 
 the text TertuUian seems to be 
 alluding to the early enclosure 
 by Tarquinius. 
 
104 TERTULLIANl 
 
 CAP. pontifices, et Medi ante quindecemviros, et jEgyptii 
 ^ — ^ ante Salios, et Assyrii ante Lupercos, et Amazo- 
 
 nes ante virgines Vestales. Postremo si Romanae 
 religion es regna prsestant, nunquam retro Judaea 
 regn asset despectrix communium istarum divinita- 
 tum^ cujus et deum victimis, et templum donis, 
 et gentem foederibus aliquamdiu Romani honoras- 
 tis', nunquam doininaturi ejus, si non ultimo de- 
 liquisset in Christum. 
 It is easy XXVII. Satis hsBc adversus intentionem^ 
 
 though to 
 
 ^^cognize laesag divinitatis, quo non videamur laedere earn, 
 woTfo'de- ^^^^ ostendimus non esse. Igitur provocati ad 
 ludeyou. gacrificandum obstruimus^ gradum pro fide consci- 
 entiae nostras, qua certi sumus, ad quos ista per- 
 veniant officia sub imaginum prostitution e et hu- 
 manorum nominum consecration e. Sed quidam 
 dementiam existimant, quod cum possimus^ et sa- 
 
 ° istarum divinitatum, see ad xii. 1. renders eVe'/JaAei/ by misit 
 
 c. 23. for the expression divi- Herodes rex manus. But we 
 
 nitds. have crimen amhitionis tntenderej 
 
 ^ Josephus Ant. Jud. xiv. c. de Hab. Mul. c. 4. In Amobius 
 16, relates the /cBc?w* between the intendere often means "to urge 
 Jews and Romans, and c. 17 in argument/' with a sense some- 
 recites the decree of C. Caesar thing like ohjicere, and so in 
 concerning the privileges, immu- Lactantius (Ep. D. I. c. 46.) 
 nities, and honours of the Jewish intentabant autem pro crimine id 
 nation. ipsum, &c. 
 
 XXVII. ^ intentionem ; an- ^ obstruimus gradum, i.e. we 
 
 other reading gives intentationeni, offer opposition. See ad c. 1. 
 both here and in c. 46, and the ^ quod cum possimus, &c. i. e. 
 
 frequentative verb has doubtless " that whereas we might both 
 
 frequently a sense of threatening, sacrifice to your gods, and yet 
 
 It is twice used by Virgil, Mn. i. retain privately our own opini- 
 
 91. VI. 572. Lactantius (de. M. ons (propositum) we prefer this 
 
 p. 6.) has impias manus in Deum obstinate conduct." ohstinatio was 
 
 intentavit; for which phrase the a crime frequently charged to 
 
 Vulgate uses extendere manus the Christians. See Plin. Ep. x. 
 
 in aliquem, and in Act. Apost. 97. Tertullian says, ad Nat. i. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 105 
 
 crificare in preesenti, et illaesi abire manente apud ^xv^V 
 
 animum proposito, obstinationem saluti praeferamus. 
 
 Datis scilicet consilium, quo vobis abutamur ; sed 
 agnoscimus, unde talia suggerantur, quis to turn hoc 
 agitet, et quomodo nunc astutia suadendi nunc 
 duritia saeviendi ad constantiam nostram dejicien- 
 dam* operetur. Ille scilicet spiritus daemoniacae 
 et angelicas paraturae, qui noster ob divortium 
 aemulus et ob dei gratiam invidus, de mentibus 
 vestris adversus nos proeliatur', occulta inspiratione, 
 modulatis et subornatis ad omnem, quam in pri- 
 mordio exorsi sumus, et judicandi perversitatem et 
 saeviendi iniquitatem. Nam licet subjecta sit nobis 
 tota vis daemonum et ejusmodi spirituum, ut ne- 
 quam tamen servi metui*^ nonnunquam contuma- 
 ciam miscent, et lagdere gestiunt quos alias veren- 
 tur : odium enim etiam timor inspirat ; praeterquam 
 quod desperata conditio eorum ex praedamnatione^ 
 solatium reputat fruendag interim malignitatis de 
 
 17. de obstinationibiis vero vel prcs- tanquam de loco munito. modu- 
 
 sumptionibus, si qua proponitis, ne latis ; in a passive sense, which 
 
 istcB quidem ad communionem com- is very uncommon^ but I have 
 
 parationis absh'tunt ; the mean- collected a few instances of the 
 
 ing of which latter clause is: that like usage of other verbs, ad c. 2. 
 
 even these qualities which you quam in primordio exorsi sumus. 
 
 consider peculiarly ours, will not i. e. in c. 1 and 2. 
 
 shrink {absistunt) in any way ^ metui contumaciam miscent. 
 
 from a fair comparison {com- miscere twice takes a dative in 
 
 munio comparationis) with yours; Virgil. JEn. vii. 661. viii. 432. 
 
 ad being "with reference to" and '' prcedamnatione, v. ad c. 23. 
 
 absistunt absolute ; he afterwards " besides that their condition, 
 
 in the next chapter explains the desperate from being already 
 
 capitulum obstinationis in the eyes condemned, gleans from a respite 
 
 of the heathen. of their fate, the consolation of 
 
 * dejiciendam, v. ad c. 12. enjoying their malice in the 
 
 ^ prceliatur de mentibus ; i. e. mean time." 
 
106 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xSAai P^"* mora. Et tamen apprebeiisi subiguntur et 
 
 condition! suae succidunt^ et quos de longinquo 
 
 oppugnant, de proximo obsecrant. Itaque dum 
 vice° rebellantium ergastulorum^", sive carcerum, vel 
 metallorum, vel hoc genus poenalis servitutis erum- 
 punt ad versus nos, in quorum potestate sunt, certi 
 et impares se esse et hoc magis perditos: ingratis 
 resistimus ut aequales, et repugnamus perseverantes'^ 
 in eo quod oppugnant, et illos nunquam magis de- 
 triumphamus, quam quum pro fidei obstinatione 
 damnamur. 
 LX''''"'^ XXVIII. Quoniam autem facile iniquum vi- 
 ofTo'lfr^'"'^^^^^*^^' liberos homines invitos urgeri ad sacrifi- 
 of treason?^ candum (nam et alias divinae rei faciundae libens 
 animus indicitur) : certe ineptum existimaretur, si 
 
 in that we 
 offer no 
 sacrifices 
 for Caesar. 
 
 ** conditioni suae succidunt ; 
 " they yield to their fate." The 
 word occurs hoth in Lucretius 
 and Virgilj but without any case, 
 which however is well employed 
 in the text, as the expression is 
 exactly equivalent to succumhere. 
 Comp. de Pudic. i. ne moechifB 
 et fornicationi succidere cogan- 
 tur. The apprehensi here is 
 not exactly like that word in 
 4i. 15, but more like the simple 
 prensi. 
 
 ^ vice rebellantium ; i. e. ex 
 more, tanquam rebellantia. Com- 
 pare de Idol. c. 13. omnem ad- 
 Jlatum ejus vice pestis etiam de 
 longinquo devitemus, and infr. c. 
 34. dei vice. 
 
 ^'^ ergastulum is generally a 
 prison in the country for agri- 
 cultural slaves, (Juv. xiv. 24.) 
 career an ordinary gaol, metalla 
 the mines to which criminals 
 
 were condemned. It could hardly 
 be supposed that any one could 
 be perplexed by this mention of 
 the prisons for their inmates, yet 
 Casaubon thought it necessary 
 to be explained in a long note, 
 (Hist. August, vol. I. p. 386. ed. 
 1671.) alleging the frequent 
 mistakes on the subject. 
 
 " perseverantes in eo quod 
 oppugnant ; i. e. " steadily hold- 
 ing the very position which they 
 attack." ohstinatio fidei; the word 
 obstinatio is generally used abso- 
 lutely ; but since a man may be 
 said obstinare menteni, or fidem, 
 there is nothing difficult in the 
 expression obstinatio fidei. It 
 happens that Tacitus uses the 
 identical words to express invi- 
 olable fidelity. Hist. iii. 39. Bkeso, 
 super claritatem natalium, et eJe- 
 gnntiam niorum, fidei obstinatio 
 fuit ; i. e. erga Vitellium. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 107 
 
 quis ab alio cogeretur ad hoiiorem deorum, quos ,^^|l- 
 
 ultro sui caussa placare deberet, ne^ prae manu es- 
 
 set jure libertatis dicere : Nolo mihi Jovem pro- 
 pitium ; tu, quis es ? me conveniat Janus iratus 
 ex qua velit fronte ; quid tibi niecum est ? For- 
 mati^ estis ab iisdem utique spiritibus, ut nos pro 
 salute imperatoris sacrificare cogatis, et imposita 
 est tam vobis necessitas cogendi, quam nobis ob- 
 ligatio periclitandi. Ventum est igitur ad secun- 
 dum titulum^ laesae augustioris majestatis, siquidem 
 majore formidine et callidiore timiditate Caesarem 
 observatis^ quam ipsum de Olympo Jovem, et 
 merito si sciatis^ Quis enim ex viventibus non 
 quolibet mortuo tuo potior? Sed nee hoc vos ra- 
 tione facitis potius quam respectu praesentaneae ^ 
 potestatis, adeo et in is to irreligiosi erga deos ves- 
 
 XXVIII. ^ 7ie prcB manu which was more dangerous than 
 
 esset, &c. Lest a man should be the other, and closely connected 
 
 able readily to retort, &c. So de with it, for, as he says in the 
 
 Test. An. c. 4. ad fin. prce manu parallel passage, ad Nat. i. 17- 
 
 occurrit dicere. secunda religio constituitur Ccesa- 
 
 ^ Formati estis ut cogatis. riance majestatis. 
 "your hearts are moulded (v. * observatis ; see Virg. G. iv. 
 
 Bentl. ad Hor. Car. iii. 24. 54.) 212. de Olympo; 1 do not think 
 
 by the same evil spirits (v. c. 22.) this is equivalent to Olympi or 
 
 to compel us," &c. Olympicum, though instances are 
 
 ^ ad secundum titulum. In c. certainly found of the occur- 
 10. the two counts of the indict- rence of de in this sense much 
 ment had been stated : 1. Deos earlier than is generally sup- 
 won colitis ; 2. Sacrifida pro im- posed. See Lewis on the Romance 
 peratoribus non impenditis ; and languages. I would rather supply 
 therefore the Christians were some active participle here, 
 called rei sacrilegii et majestatis. ^ et merito si sciatis ; " and 
 From c. 10. to this point, Ter- justly too, if you did but know 
 tullian has been defending them it." nec\ hoc vos ratione facilis ; 
 on the first charge and going into " you do not know even this on 
 some incidental explanations. He principle, but from," &c. 
 now proceeds to the second; ^ prcesentanece, y. c. l^. 
 
108 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 ^$;^4'v t^^os deprehendimiiii, qui plus timoris humano do- 
 
 XX Vlll. 
 
 minio dicatis. Citius denique apud vos per omnes 
 
 deos, quani per unum genium Caesaris pejeratur'. 
 
 SdiTrt? XXIX. Constet igitur prius, sV isti, quibus 
 
 must'p^rove sacrificatur, salutem imperatori vel cuilibet homiiii 
 
 Gods are iuipertiri possmit, et ita nos crimini addicite. Si 
 
 crificing to. angeli aut daemones substantia pessimi spiritus" 
 
 beueficium aliquod operantur, si perditi conservant, 
 
 si damnati liberant, si denique (quod in conscien- 
 
 tia vestra est) mortui vivos tuentur: jam utique 
 
 suas primo statuas et imagines et sedes tuerentur, 
 
 quae, opinor Caesarum milites excubiis suis salva 
 
 praestant^ Puto autem, hae ipsae materiae de nie- 
 
 ^ By the civil law perjeratio 
 per genium Ccesaris was punish- 
 able, but pejeratio per Deos was 
 not. A curious statement of cogni- 
 zable offences against the canon- 
 ized Augustus will be found in 
 Sueton. Tiber, c. 58. 
 
 XXIX. '■ Constet, si, &c. v. 
 ad c. 23. et ita means turn de- 
 mum, i. e. as soon as you have 
 satisfactorily proved the neces- 
 sary premises. 
 
 ^ Substantia pessimi spiritus — 
 "spirits as they are essentially 
 most vicious;" — substantia pessi- 
 mi is opposed to beneficium, like 
 perditi to conservant, &c. "as if 
 it were likely that those beings 
 who could do nothing for them- 
 selves, should so depart from 
 their nature as to seek the good 
 of others." The same antithe- 
 tical structure of the sentence, on 
 the same subject is found in c. 2. 
 de Hab. Mul. * nihil ad integri- 
 tatem peccatores, nihil ad casti- 
 
 tatem adamatores, nihil ad timorem 
 Dei desertores spiritus monstrare 
 potuerunt.' So too S. Cyprian de 
 Idol. Van. c. 1. non desinunt 
 perditi perdere, et depravati erro- 
 rem pravitatis infundere. 
 
 ^ The temples not only pos- 
 sessed sacred treasures, but were 
 used also as depositories for 
 private property, and guarded by 
 military sentinels. See Juv. xiv. 
 261. Plant. Bacch. ii. 3. 78. and 
 compare Amobius (vi. 21.) cur 
 eos (sc. Deos) sub validissimis 
 clavibus ingentibusque sub claustris 
 habetis inclusos, ac ne forte fur 
 aliquis aut nocturnus irrepat latro, 
 ft'dituis mille protegitis atque ex~ 
 eubitoribus mille? together with 
 S. Cypr. ad Demetr. c. 3. To 
 this is the allusion de Cor. Mil. 
 c. 11. excubabit pro templis qui- 
 bus renuntiavit?—tota templa de 
 nutu constant ; i. e. " their whole 
 existence and substance comes 
 from the emperor;" hcc ipsa' 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 109 
 
 tallis Caesarum veniunt, et tota templa de nutu 
 Caesaris constant. Multi denique dii habuerunt 
 Caesarem iratuni^ Facit ad caussam, si et propi- 
 tium, cum illis aliquid aut liberalitatis aut privi- 
 legii, confert. Ita qui sunt in Caesaris potestate, 
 cujus et toti sunt, quomodo habebunt salutem 
 Caesaris in potestate, ut earn praestare posse vide- 
 antur, quam facilius ipsi a Caesare consequantur ? 
 Ideo ergo com mittimus^ in majestatem imperato- 
 rum, quia illos non subjicimus rebus suis ; quia 
 non ludimus de officio salutis eorum", qui earn non 
 putamus in manibus esse plumbatis. Sed vos re- 
 ligiosi, qui eam quaeritis ubi non est, petitis a 
 
 CAP. 
 XXIX. 
 
 materia are the marbles and 
 precious metals which constitute 
 the gods, and the tota templa 
 are the materials used, together 
 with the authority for their con- 
 struction. Compare the use of 
 constare in c. 25. 
 
 * Multi denique Dii, &c. ha- 
 buerunt ; this was the formal 
 word. Instances of irati and pro- 
 pitii Cfpsares may easily be found. 
 Compare S. Ambros. ad Valent. 
 adv. Symmachum. Vos pacem 
 Diis vestris ab Imperatorihus 
 obsecratis, nos ipsis Imperatoribus 
 a Christo pacem rogamus ; and 
 above, c. 5. homo jam deo propitius 
 esse debebit. 
 
 ^ committimus ; absolutely. 
 And thus lege comm,itt€fre, and in 
 or contra legem committere were 
 technically used. Cic. Brut. xii. 
 quasi committeret contra legem, 
 quo quis judicio circumveniretur. 
 There are other significations, 
 too, of committere in which it 
 
 is sometimes absolutely used. 
 ** non ludimus de officio salutis 
 eorum ; It is clear enough what 
 these words mean : viz. " we do 
 not make a mockery of our 
 prayers for the emperor's wel- 
 fare;" but it is not so easy to 
 explain the literal construction of 
 the text ; officium may of course 
 be applied to any act of necessity, 
 or duty, or civility, and officium 
 salutis alicujus, it seems, must be 
 the officium in the performance 
 of which the well-doing of the 
 party is implied, (in c. 13. we 
 have de salute CcBsarum curare,) 
 de will then be "with reference 
 to, in the case of" this duty, and 
 ludere will remain to be taken 
 absolutely, plumbatis is not syno- 
 nymous with plumbeis, (any more 
 than rutilatus with rutilus,) see 
 note, p. 86, but refers to the use of 
 lead in joining the fingers, wrists, 
 &c. of the statues. So c. 12. ante 
 plumbum et glutinum, &c. 
 
110 TERTULLIANl 
 
 xxEi ^^^^^s ^^^i ^^^^^ potest, praeterito eo in cujus est 
 """ potestate. Insuper eos debellatis, qui earn sciunt 
 
 petere, qui etiam possunt impetrare, dum sciunt 
 
 petere. 
 we offer 'in XXX. Nos enim pro salute imperatorum 
 half moV deum invocamus aeternum, deura verum, deum vi- 
 
 acceptable ... . . ... 
 
 victims, vum, quern et ipsi imperatores propitium sibi praeter 
 sincere ccteros Hialunt. Sciuut, quis illis dederit imperium; 
 
 prayers, to . , , 
 
 a more sciuut, Qua hommes ', qms et animam ; sentiunt, 
 
 mighty 
 
 God. eum deum esse solum, in cujus solius potestate 
 sunt, a quo sunt secundi, post quern primi, ante 
 omnes et super omnes deos. Quidni ? cum super 
 omnes homines, qui utique vivunt et mortuis an- 
 tistant^ Recogitant, quousque vires imperii sui 
 valeant, et ita deum intelligunt ; adversus quern 
 valere non possunt, per eum valere se cognoscunt. 
 Coelum denique debellet imperator, coelum capti- 
 vum triumpho suo invehat, coelo mittat excubias, 
 coelo vectigalia imponat^. Non potest ; ideo mag- 
 nus est, quia coelo minor est. Illius enim est ipse, 
 cujus et coelum est et omnis creatura*. Inde est 
 
 XXX. ^ Sciunt quis illis ; Denique (i. e. if no other argu- 
 
 " They know as emperors who ment will convince him of his 
 
 gave them their authority, and, inferiority) "let Csesar subjugate 
 
 as mere human beings, who gave heaven {debellet), let him carry 
 
 them their lives." So c. 5. qua its representation in his triumph, 
 
 et homo. (like captiva Corinthus, Hor. Ep. 
 
 ^ mortuis antistant ; as before, ii. 1. 193.) let him send garrisons 
 
 quis enim ex viventibus non quoli- to it, let him lay taxes on it." 
 bet mortuo tuo potior ? Just below, * creatura. This form of word 
 
 deum intelligunt is like mures et was very much affected in late 
 
 aranece intelligunt, in c. 12. Latin, and several instances of 
 
 ^ The usual proceedings of the fact will be found in Ter- 
 
 the Romans with a conquered tullian ; we have had already in 
 
 province are here enumerated.— this Apology pnratura, which in- 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 imperator, unde est et homo antequam imperator; 
 inde potestas illi, unde et spiritus. Illuc suspi- 
 cientes Christiani manibus expansis^ quia innocuis, 
 capite nudo, quia non erubescimus, denique siue 
 monitore, quia de pectore, oramus omnes semper 
 pro omnibus imperatoribus, vitam illis prolixam, 
 imperium securum, domum tutam, exercitus fortes, 
 senatum fidelem, populum probum, orbera quie- 
 tum, et quaecunque hominis et Caesaris vota sunt. 
 Haec ab alio orare non possum, quam a quo scio 
 me consecuturum, quoniam et ipse est qui solus 
 praestat, et ego sum cui impetrare debetur^ fa- 
 
 CAP. 
 XXX. 
 
 deed occurs elsewhere veiy often, 
 and may be generally explained 
 as quicquid paratur, being nearly 
 equivalent to apparatus; it is 
 thrice applied to the sacred writ- 
 ings (adv. Psych, c. 11. de Monog. 
 c. 7, and infra c. 47, compare the 
 note in p. 58). litteratura is not, 
 as in earlier authors, cognitio lite- 
 rarum, but rather quicquid Uteris 
 mandatum eoestat. scripturce (c. 
 20) appears without doubt, em- 
 phatically, for Holy Scripture, 
 V. e. g. De Praescr. Haeret. though 
 less perhaps as opposed to profane 
 writings, than as to tradition, v. 
 Cor. Mil. c. 2 and 3. (Lactant. and 
 Cypr. generally add sanctce, as does 
 Tertullian sometimes). In the 
 tract de Cult. Fcem. c. 7, we have 
 capillatara, and adv. Marc. 1. 28. 
 suffectura, which appears to be 
 quod rei eocplendcB sufficitur, (com- 
 pare suffectio materice, Arnobius 
 VII. 2.) but see Bishop Kaye, 
 TertuU. p. 192. The creatura of 
 the text is the factura of Cyprian, 
 and the quodcumque creatur of 
 
 Lucretius; it is used by Pru- 
 dentius and many late writers. 
 
 ^ manibus expansis ; * Non 
 attollimus tantum manus sed etiarri 
 expandimus, et dominica passions 
 modulantes et or antes conjitemur 
 Christum' de Orat. c. 11. See too 
 the whole chapter, adv. Marc. iii. 
 18. Sine monitore ; ' without any 
 person to dictate our prayers to 
 us ;' as was the custom with the 
 pagans, where the priest was said 
 prceire; but both the habit and 
 the phrases are well known ; as 
 also the capite operto to which the 
 nudo of the Christians is here 
 opposed ; compare S. Cyprian de 
 Laps. c. 1. Ab impio sceleratoque 
 velamine quo illic velabantur sacri- 
 ficantium capita captiva, caput 
 vestrum liberum mansit. 
 
 ^ cui impetrare debetur; ' to 
 whom it is due that I should ob- 
 tain what I ask.' So c. 33. talis 
 postulo, qui merear impetrare ; i. e. 
 I, as a Christian, and God's ser- 
 vant, opposed to a heathen. In 
 Lactantius (M. P. extr.) tu, qui 
 
112 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXX. 
 
 mulus ejus, qui eum solum observe, qui prop- 
 ter discipliuam ejus occidor, qui ei offero opi- 
 mam et majorem hostiara, quam ipse maudavit, 
 orationem^ de carne pudica, de anima innocenti, 
 de spiritu sancto profectam. Non grana thuris 
 unius assis, Arabicae arboris lacriraas, nee duas 
 meri guttas, nee sanguinem reprobi bovis^ mori 
 optantis, et post omnia inquinamenta etiam con- 
 scientiam spurcam : ut mirer, cum hostiae proben- 
 tur penes vos a vitiosissimis sacerdotibus, cur prae- 
 cordia potius victimarum, quam ipsorum sacrifican- 
 tium examinentur. Sic itaque nos ad deum ex- 
 panses ungulae fodiant, cruces suspendant, ignes 
 lambant, gladii guttura detruncent, bestiae insili- 
 ant; paratus est ad omne supplicium ipse habitus 
 orantis Christiani. Hoc agite, boni praesides, ex- 
 
 a Deo mereris audiri, is applied 
 to a confessor as opposed to an 
 ordinary Christian, opimam hos- 
 tiam. de Orat. c. 22. saturatam 
 orationem velut opimam hostiam 
 admovere, where admovere is the 
 formal expression; the epithet 
 majorem, from its peculiar techni- 
 cality, almost loses its compara- 
 tive sense, which refers merely 
 to another special class of victims, 
 {quam agreeing with hostiam), 
 and yet Tertullian has joined it 
 elsewhere (de Idol. c. 6) with two 
 other comparatives as if he meant 
 it to be taken strictly: sagina- 
 tiorem et auratiorem et majorem 
 hostiam cadis. 
 
 ^ orationem de carne pudica; 
 orati/) is equivalent to preces or 
 adoratio as very commonly, but 
 
 perhaps I may as well mention 
 that adoro and adoratio are also 
 equivalent in late writers simply 
 to adloquor and adlocutio, e. g. 
 Apul. Met. III. 44. caro pudica 
 alludes to the freedom of the sup- 
 pliant from carnal pollution, and 
 spiritus sanctus here is merely 
 animus pius. 
 
 ** reprobi bovis ; v. c. 14. The 
 word is like a'BoKJUo? and is ap- 
 plied to false money. It is found 
 in the Digests, and in the Vulgate, 
 e. g. Jerem. vi. 30. Argentum 
 reprobum vocate eos, quia Dominus 
 projecit illos. ad Cor. ii. 13. 5. 
 nisi forte reprobi estis. mori op- 
 tantis refers to the miseral)le 
 state of the victim, like the 
 gallinam claudentem oculos in 
 
 JUV. XII. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 lU 
 
 torquete^ animam deo supplicantem pro imperatore. cap. 
 Hie erit crimen, ubi Veritas est dei et devotio^*'. ~ 
 XXXI. ^Adulati nunc sumus imperatori, et And this 
 
 T • 1 -11 we are 
 
 mentiti vota, quae diximus, ad evadendam scilicet bound to 
 
 ^ do by our 
 
 vim. Plane proficit ista fallacia^ Admittitis enim scriptures. 
 DOS probare quodcunque defendimus. Qui ergo 
 putaveris, nihil nos de salute Caesarum curare, in- 
 spice dei voces, litteras^ nostras, quas neque ipsi 
 supprimimus et plerique casus ad extraneos trans- 
 ferunt. Scito ex illis, praeceptum esse nobis ad 
 redundantiam benignitatis, etiam pro inimicis deum 
 orare, et persecutoribus nostris bona precari. Qui 
 magis inimici et persecutores Christianorum, quam 
 de quorum maj estate convenimur in crimen ? Sed 
 etiam nominatim atque manifeste: Orate, inquit% 
 
 ^ extorquete animam; i.e. oc- 
 cidite. The phrase occurred be- 
 fore in c. 9. Lactantius (D. I. 
 V. 1.) has copied and expanded 
 the expression, dicatas Deo tnen- 
 tes evisceratis corporibus extor- 
 quent. 
 
 ^^ " Here the prayer is to be 
 accounted a crime, where the God 
 addressed is the true one, and the 
 feeling of the supplicant sincere." 
 Yet this would seem almost to 
 require devotionis. The whole 
 clause is by some considered an 
 interpolation. 
 
 XXXI. ^ Adulati nunc sumus 
 et mentiti. The same form of 
 hypothetical argument occurs in 
 Juv. VI. 634. Fingimus hcec, &c. 
 and de Cult. Faem. c. 8. Videlicet 
 nunc et vir et sexus cemulus fcemi- 
 nas a suis depello. 
 
 ^ Plane proficit. The reason- 
 
 8 
 
 ing is this : Admitting we have 
 falsified ourselves in alleging our 
 respect for the emperor, yet this 
 very deceit aids our cause, for 
 you must allow us to approve a 
 line of conduct which we openly 
 defend and assert that we prac- 
 tice. 
 
 ^ literas nostras; sc. sacras. 
 elsewhere literaturam and para^ 
 turam nostram . neque suppri- 
 mimus et transferunt. This 
 
 phraseology is by no means un- 
 common in good writers, but it 
 occurs more frequently after the 
 Flavian age, especially in Sue- 
 tonius. 
 
 * inquit; sc. Apostolus (v. ad 
 c. 1.) ad Tim. i. 2. 2. pro regibus, 
 et omnibus qui in sublimitate sunt, 
 ut quietam et tranquillam vitam 
 agamus in omni pietate et castitate, 
 Vulg. 
 
114 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xxxi. P^^ regibus, et pro principibus, et potestatibus, ut 
 omnia tranquilla sint vobis. Cum enim concuti- 
 tur' imperium, concussis etiam ceteris membris 
 ejus, utique et nos, licet extranei a turbis, in ali- 
 quo loco casus invenimur. 
 And by our XXXII. ^Est ct alia maior necessitas nobis 
 
 other ^ ^ ♦^ 
 
 terietsand oraudi pro impcratoribus, etiam pro omni statu im- 
 perii rebusque Romanis, qui vim maximam universo 
 orbi imminentem, ipsamque clausulam seculi acer- 
 bitates horrendas comminantem Romani imperii 
 commeatu^ scimus retardari. Ita quae nolumus ex- 
 periri, ea dum precamur difFerri, Romanae diutur- 
 nitati favemus. Sed et juramus, sicut non per 
 genios Caesar um, ita per salutem eorum, quae est 
 augustior omnibus geniis. Nescitis genios daemo- 
 nas dici, et inde diminutiva voce daemonia? Nos 
 judicium dei suspicimus in imperatoribus, qui gen- 
 tibus illos praefecit. Id in eis scimus esse, quod 
 
 ° concutitur imperium. The copia, or transitus. (Amobius ii. 
 
 expression is not like that in 16, applies it to the act of respira- 
 
 c. 25. Cretam Romanis fascibus tion.) It is then used for quic- 
 
 concuti sineret ; or that of con- quid commeat, e. g. for a convoy, 
 
 cussio in c. 7. but means simply or, absolutely, for the provisions 
 
 political disturbance, like "ttoXiu themselves. In its sense oimeandi 
 
 o-eTa-at. Pind. Pyth. iv. 272. Lu- ^opia it easily came to mean the 
 
 can. I. 5. certatum totis concussi wnia discedendi granted to a sol- 
 
 viribus orhis. So S. Cyprian ad dier, and thus generally an ex- 
 
 Demetr. 1. omnia ista quibus nunc tension of a limited time {com- 
 
 mundus quatitur et urgetur. Min. meatus deliberandi c. 46.) or a 
 
 Fel. c. 2. Cum periculo quateris. respite, as in the present passage. 
 
 XXXII. ^ Est alia majorne- So Seneca, Epist. 54. Longummihi 
 
 cessitasorandi nobis qui scimus commeatum dedit mala valetudo; 
 
 sc. inde quod scimus; the repente me invasit ; though there 
 
 construction is not unusual. i* is only a conjecture (hovirever 
 
 ^ Commeatus. This word in *rue) of Lipsius for comitatum, 
 
 its simple signification implies ^^ ^^e argument, see c. 39, ora- 
 
 only the actus meandi, me^ndi ^^^ pro mora finis. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 115 
 
 deus voluit^ ideoque et salvum volumus esse, quod ^^(xi'i 
 
 deus voluit, et pro magno id juramento habemus. 
 
 Ceterum daemonas, id est genios, adjurare'^ con- 
 suevimus, ut illos de hominibus exigamus, non 
 dejerare, ut illis honorem divinitatis conferamus. 
 
 XXXIII. Sed quid ego amplius de religione We do not 
 atque pietate Christiana in imperatorem ? quem t^lJ^J^j^i 
 necesse est^ suspiciamus ut eum, quem doniinus ^j^g^'^Ye'if 
 noster elegerit. Et merito dixerim, noster est""^^""^"* 
 magis Caesar, ut a nostro deo constitutus. Itaque 
 et in eo plus ego illi operor in salutem^ non so- 
 lum quod eam ab eo postulo, qui potest praestare, 
 aut quod talis postulo^ qui merear impetrare, sed 
 
 ^ Id in eis scimus, &c. i. e. 
 " We recognize one fact in their 
 existence and their position, viz. 
 God's will;" or, the meaning 
 may be this : Whatever be 
 their character, whatever their 
 conduct to ourselves, there is 
 nothing in them, or proceeding 
 from them, but what God has 
 appointed. 
 
 * On the peculiar meanings of 
 juro, adjuro, ejero and dejero, cf. 
 de Idol. c. 20, 21. 
 
 XXXIII. ^ necesse est. This 
 phrase is used by TertuUian to 
 express the inevitable conduct or 
 principles under certain circum- 
 stances of Christians who are 
 really such in deed. He says : 
 According to the tenets and 
 opinions which you yourselves 
 admit us to hold and which you 
 persecute us for holding, we must 
 respect the Emperor, for we be- 
 lieve him to be appointed by God. 
 So in c. 36. ii mores (sc. Christiani) 
 
 are spoken of quibus civilitas ne- 
 cesse habet eochiheri. At the be- 
 ginning of c. 45 the expression is 
 not exactly similar, as it means 
 there : that under the peculiar 
 circumstances of instruction and 
 superintendence and penalty, the 
 Christians were necessarily ex- 
 clusively enabled to perform their 
 duties. 
 
 ^ The construction of this 
 sentence is : Itaque ego illi plus 
 operor in salutem (i. e. plus facio 
 
 ad salutem ejus) in eo quod 
 
 non solum ab eo aut talis 
 
 postulo sed etiam quod tem- 
 
 perans commendo. With the ex- 
 pression plus illi operor in salutem, 
 compare what has been said, ad 
 c. 29, on the phrase de officio 
 salutis. soli subjicio is equiva- 
 lent to secundum statuo; so c. 30. 
 a quo secundi sunt, temperans 
 majestatem is ' modifying in some 
 degree the dignity assigned to 
 Cffisar.' 
 
 8—2 
 
116 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. etiam quod temperans majestatem Caesaris infra 
 
 deum, magis ilium commendo deo, cui soli subji- 
 
 cio. Subjicio autem, cui non adasquo. Non enim 
 
 deum imperatorem dicam, vel quia mentiri nes- 
 
 cio, vel quia ilium deridere non audeo, vel quia 
 
 nee ipse se deum volet dici. Si homo sit, interest 
 
 hominis deo cedere; satis habeat appellari impera- 
 
 tor. Grande et hoc nomen est, quod a deo tra- 
 
 ditur. Negat ilium imperatorem, qui deum dicit. 
 
 Nisi homo sit, non est imperator. Hominem se 
 
 esse etiam triumphans in illo sublimissimo curru 
 
 admonetur. Suggeritur enim ei a tergo: respice 
 
 post te, hominem memento te^ Et utique hoc 
 
 magis gaudet tanta se gloria coruscare, ut illi ad- 
 
 monitio conditionis suae sit necessaria. [Minor 
 
 erat, si tunc deus diceretur, quia non vere dice- 
 
 retur.] Major est, qui revocatur, ne se deum 
 
 exis timet. 
 
 And would XXXIV. Augustus imperii formator, ne do- 
 be danger- ox 
 
 ousandiu- j^jjju^ Quidem dici se volebat' ; et hoc enim dei 
 
 omened t- ' 
 
 est cognomen. Dicam plane imperatorem domi- 
 num, sed more communi, sed quando non cogor 
 ut dominum dei vice^ dicam. Ceterum liber sum 
 
 ^ On the peculiar feeling of berius also interdicted the title 
 
 the ancients which led to this with similar sentiments; denun- 
 
 custom amongst others, see a tiavit ne se (dominum) contumelice 
 
 learned note of Casaubon ad caussa nominaret. Suet, in vit. 
 
 Sueton. Aug. c. 91. et utique, &c c. 2. Julian made an attempt 
 
 the hoc refers to coruscare se, and to revive this moderation, but was 
 
 the ut answers to tanta. ridiculed, as might have been 
 
 XXXIV. ^ Domini appellatio- expected, for his pains. Domi- 
 
 nem ut maledictum et opprobrium tian legalized and enjoined the 
 
 semper exhorruit. Suet. Aug. 53. titles of Dominus and Deus. 
 
 where the expression maledictum Suet. 13. 
 
 may be remarked as one which * dei vice; in the sense of God. 
 
 occurs in the same chapter. Ti- v. ad c. 27. 
 
 too. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 117 
 
 illi^ ; dominus enim mens unus est, deus omnipo- ^(^ap. 
 
 tens et seternus, idem qui et ipsius. Qui pater 
 
 patriae est, quomodo dominus est ? Sed est gra- 
 tius nomen pietatis, quam potestatis ; etiam fami- 
 liae magis patres, quam domini vocantur. Tanto 
 abest^ ut imperator deus debeat dici, quod non 
 potest credi, non modo turpissima, sed et perni- 
 ciosa adulatione; tamquam si habens imperatorem, 
 alterum appelles, nonne maximam et inexorabi- 
 lem offensam contrahes ejus, quem babuisti, etiam 
 ipsi timendam, quem appellasti^? Esto religiosus 
 in deum, qui vis ilium propitium imperatori. De- 
 sine alium deum colere vel credere, at que ita et 
 hunc deum dicere, cui deo opus est. Si non de 
 mendacio erubescit adulatio ejusmodi, hominem 
 deum appellans, timeat saltern de infausto. Ma- 
 ledictum est ante apotbeosin deum Caesarem nun- 
 cupare^ 
 
 ^ liber sum illi; ^ As far as re- flattery which is not only dis- 
 gards him, I am free, he is not graceful to us, hut actually ha- 
 my lord/ The pronoun is some- zardous to him :" and the ton- 
 thing like those in Persius (vi. quam introduces an exemplifi- 
 64.) ' minui mihi, sed tibi totum cation of the assertion contained 
 est.' Compare too c. 13. ' nobis in the word perniciosa, from the 
 del sunt;' and the dative mundo ordinary habits of life, habens 
 in Lucan. i. 664. imperatorem means " having an 
 
 * Tanto abest, &c. This sen- emperor over you who is actually 
 
 tence as usually punctuated is and really such," and habere is 
 
 very confused, hut it becomes contrasted with appellare. 
 clearer by putting the words quod ^ contrahes offensam ejus, &c. 
 
 non potest credi into a parenthesis, " would you not give matter of 
 
 which must be then taken simply offence to him who was your 
 
 as a passing remark quod incredi- master, which might be dangerous 
 
 bile est. The Tanto then expresses even to him whom you thus 
 
 the inference drawn from the called so?" contrahere offensam, 
 
 previous arguments. " So little an ordinary phrase, 
 thus are we bound to call the ^ Maledictum est, &c. There 
 
 emperor a god, in a style of is a remarkably apposite passage 
 
118 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXXV. 
 
 You call us 
 Cssar's 
 enemies be- 
 cause we do 
 not riot- 
 ously keep 
 his festi- 
 vals ; 
 What say 
 you to the 
 secret trai- 
 tors among 
 yourselves 1 
 
 XXXV. Propterea igitur public! hostes Chris- 
 tiani, quia imperatoribus neque vanos neque men- 
 tientes neque temerarios honores dicant, quia verae 
 religionis homines' etiam sollemnia eorum consci- 
 entia potius quam lascivia celebrant. Grande vi- 
 delicet officium, focos et toros in publicum educere, 
 vicatim epulari, civitatem tabernae habitu abole- 
 facere, vino lutum cogere^ catervatim cursitare ad 
 injurias, ad impudentias, ad libidinis illecebras. 
 Siccine exprimitur publicum gaudium per dedecus 
 publicum ? Hseccine sollemnes dies principum de- 
 cent, quae alios dies non decent ? Qui observant 
 disciplinam^ de Caesaris respectu, hi earn propter 
 
 in Tacitus (Ann. xv. extr.) where, 
 upon the vote of Cerealis that a 
 temple as soon as possible should 
 be raised to Nero, the historian 
 adds. Quod quidem ilk decernehat, 
 tanquam mortalefastigium egresso, 
 et veneratkmem hominum merito, 
 quorundam dolo ad omina sui 
 eocitus vertebatur, nam Deum honor 
 Principi non ante habetur, quam 
 age7'e inter homines desierit. " Sit 
 Divus dum non sit virus" was the 
 remark of Caracalla, when in- 
 formed that his brother Geta had 
 been canonized. 
 
 XXXV. ^ Homines verce re- 
 ligionis ; see ad c. 19. though 
 this phrase with the adjective, is 
 intelligible enough, conscientid 
 potius ; rather internally than, 
 &c. abolefacere ; this hardly 
 seems to be correct, but if so it 
 must mean deformare, dehonestare. 
 ^hahitu obokfacere' has been con- 
 jectured. 
 
 ^ vino lutum cogere ; This 
 
 expression is obviously used to 
 denote extravagance and de- 
 bauchery ; Theodorus pourtrayed 
 the cruel nature of Tiberius by 
 calling him Trf/AoV aifxaTi ir€<pV' 
 pajxevov (Sueton. Tib. 57. which 
 would be sanguine lutum coac- 
 tum.) cogere is the technical term 
 employed in almost every second 
 chapter of Celsus, to express the 
 inspissation of any powder or 
 liquid for medical purposes, e. g. 
 p. 382. ed. 4to. 1785. resime pinecp, 
 cumini, singulorum, p. ii. uvce ta- 
 minicB sine seminihus, p. iv. mellis 
 quantum satis sit ad ea cogenda. 
 Compare the index of Matthiae. 
 This is the precise sense of the 
 text ; but there is a very singular 
 use of it in c. 5. de Pall. viz. de 
 piscibus feras cogei'e, wliich I am 
 more inclined to refer hither, than 
 to explain according to Semler. 
 
 ^ dificiplina; this word in ec- 
 clesiastical Latin descends through 
 a curious variety of significations ; 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 119 
 
 Caesarem deserent, et malorum morum licentia 
 pietas erit, occasio luxuriae religio deputabitur? O 
 nos merito damnandos ! Cur enim vota et gaudia 
 Caesarum casti et sobrii et probi expungimus? cur 
 die laeto non laurels postes obumbramus ? nee lu- 
 cernis diem infringimus? Honesta res est sollem- 
 nitate publica exigente induere domui tuae habitum 
 alicujus novi lupanaris''. Velim tamen in hac quo- 
 que religione secundae majestatis, de qua in secun- 
 dum sacrilegium convenimur Christiani, non cele- 
 brando vobiscum sollemnia Caesarum, quo more 
 celebrari nee modestia nee verecundia nee pudicitia 
 permittunt, sed occasio voluptatis magis quam digna 
 
 CAP 
 XXXV. 
 
 in early authors its special sense 
 of discipline, in our acceptation of 
 the word, was almost monopo- 
 lized hy military affairs, examples 
 of which may he found in any 
 glossary of Livy; in the present 
 passage it makes its nearest ap- 
 proach to this sense, meaning 
 simply 'peace and order;' in c. 
 30. {propter dtsciplinam ejus occi- 
 dor) it is in the old sense of ' the 
 system of any particular school,' 
 disciplina ejus heing like religio 
 Dei and signifying especially the 
 Christian religion, and in this 
 way it is also used, c. 2, 7, 89. 
 and very frequently elsewhere. 
 It is likewise found for what is 
 termed discipline in ecclesiasti- 
 cal language, and particularly 
 throughout the tract de prcescrip- 
 tionibus Hcereticorum, where nu- 
 merous instances of this kind occur. 
 It is further employed to signify 
 any strict method or rule of life, 
 as adv. Valent. c. 1. disciplina non 
 
 terretur^ and is applied by S. 
 Cyprian to the celibate, de Ha- 
 bitu Virginum, c. 1. sqq. After- 
 wards disciplina regularis very 
 naturally was taken for the mo- 
 nastic rule, and from that for the 
 penalties attached to its infrac- 
 tion, for the infliction of such 
 penalties, and at length for the 
 actual instrument with which 
 they were inflicted ; and in ac- 
 cordance with the punishment 
 statutably most common, disci- 
 plina became literally synony- 
 mous with virga. 
 
 * de Idol. c. 15. si lupanaribus 
 renuntiastij ne indueris domui tuce 
 faciem Twvi lupanaris. de qua 
 convenimur in sacrilegium ; so 
 above c. 81. de majestate conveni- 
 mur in crinem. The construction 
 of the following rather long 
 sentence is : Velim in hac {de 
 
 qua, &c ) fidem et veritatem 
 
 demonstrare, ne ii.   .qui nolunt 
 
 deprdiendantur deteriores. 
 
120 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXXV. 
 
 ratio persuasit, fidem et veritatem vestram demoii- 
 strare, ne forte et istliic deteriores Christianis de- 
 prehendantur, qui nos nolunt Romanos haberi, sed 
 hostes principum Romanorum. Ipsos Quirites, 
 ipsam vernaculam septem collium plebem coiive- 
 nio^ an alicui Caesari suo par cat ilia lingua Ro- 
 mana? Testis est Tiberis^ et scholae bestiarum. 
 Jam si pectoribus ad translucendum quandam spe- 
 cularem materiam natura obduxisset, cujus non 
 praecordia insculpta apparerent novi ac novi Csesaris 
 scenam^ congiario dividundo prsesidentis ? etiam ilia 
 hora qua acclamant : 
 
 T)e nostris annis tibi Jupiter augeat annos, 
 
 Haec Christian us tarn enuntiare non novit, quam 
 
 '^ convenio; see the note in p. 
 36. 
 
 ^ Testis est Tiberis ; This may 
 allude to the scurrility of the 
 lower orders whose habitations 
 were towards the river, but it is 
 generally explained as referring 
 to a species of pasquinades which 
 were attached to the monuments 
 of the Caesars and others in the 
 Campus Martins near the Tiber. 
 Ammianus Marcellinus (xxv. 
 10.) speaking of the funeral of 
 Julian says: Cujus suprema et 
 cineresy si qui tunc juste consu- 
 kret, non Cydnus videre deberet 
 quamvis gratissimus amnis et 
 liquidus, sed ad perpetuandam 
 gloriam recte factorum prceter- 
 lambere Tiberis intersecans ur- 
 bem (Bternam, divorumque veterum 
 monumenta prcestringens. See 
 the note of Valesius, who has 
 
 overlooked the pertinent passage 
 Mn. VI. 873. (v. Heyne). Gibbon 
 at the end of his twenty-fourth 
 chapter, has worked the aspira- 
 tions of Ammianus into his magni- 
 ficent text, but he could not omit 
 the exercise which this lingua 
 Romana found itself over his 
 favourite hero. 
 
 ' cujus non prcBCordia, &c. 
 "on whose heart would not be 
 found graven the picture of a 
 succession of Caesars (wovi ac novi 
 CcBsaris) presiding over the 
 largess distributed on their acces- 
 sion?" scenam insculpta is said 
 to be like inscripti nomina regum 
 Virg. Eel. III. 106, but I would 
 rather see scena; on congiario see 
 the Intpp. ad Plin. Paneg. optare 
 de novo Ccssare ; " to make a vow 
 about." For ut see the note p. 94. 
 depostulatores sc. ad supplicium. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 121 
 
 de novo Caesare op tare. Sed vulgus, inquis. Ut cap. 
 
 vulgus, tamen Romani, nee uUi magis depostula- 
 
 tores Christianorum, quam vulgus. Plane ^ ceteri 
 ordines pro auctoritate religiosi ex fide ; nihil hos- 
 ticum de ipso senatu, de equite, de castris, de 
 palatiis ipsis spirat. Unde Cassii, et Nigri et 
 Albini? unde qui inter duas laurus obsident Cae- 
 sarem ? unde qui faucibus ejus expriraendis^ pa- 
 laestricam exercent? unde qui armati palatium 
 irrumpunt, omnibus Sigeriis atque Partheniis au- 
 daciores? De Romanis, nisi fallor, id est, non de 
 Christianis. Atque adeo omnes illi sub ipsa usque 
 impietatis eruptione et sacra faciebant pro salute 
 imperatoris, et genium ejus dejerabant, alii foris, 
 alii intus, et utique publicorum hostium nomen 
 Christianis dabant. Sed et qui nunc scelestarum 
 partium socii aut plausores quotidie revelantur, 
 post vindemiam parricidarum racematio^^ superstes, 
 quam recentissimis" et ramosissimis laureis postes 
 
 ^ Plane ceteri ordines, &c. It ^" racematio ; " the gleaning 
 seems strange that any one could that remams of the murderers, 
 possibly overlook the irony of after the general harvest ;" i. e. 
 this passage, yet Mosheim in his after the principals had been put 
 Disquisition concerning the chro- to death. The metaphor is taken 
 nology of this treatise has not from the vineyard, where race- 
 only gravely quoted the several matio answered to the spicikgium 
 assertions as serious, but has of the corn field, socii and plau- 
 actually applied hosticum to the sores are those concerned in the 
 Christians instead of the Caesars. enterprise, or well affected to it. 
 Plane commences an ironical who were day after day {quotidie) 
 argument in c. 15. plane religio- coming to light, enubilabant, sc. 
 siores estis in cavea; and else- illustrabant, others would read 
 where. nubilabant, comparing Persius v. 
 
 * exprimendis is equivalent 181. 
 
 to elidendis. de Romanis id sc. ^^ recentissimis means 'par- 
 
 genus hominum, v. c. 44. de vestris ticularly fresh and green,' to 
 
 semper, SicAoT atque adeo 8ee^.82. shew their unbounded loyalty. 
 
122 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XXXV. 
 
 praestruebant ? quam elatissimis et clarissimis lu- 
 cernis vestibula enubilabant ? quam cultissimis et 
 superbissimis toris forum sibi dividebant ? uon ut 
 gaudia publica celebrarent, sed ut vota propria 
 jam edicerent, et in alieua sollemnitate exemplum 
 atque imaginem spei suae inaugurarent, nomen prin- 
 cipis in corde mutantes^^. Eadem officia depen- 
 dunt'^ et qui astrologos et aruspices et augures et 
 magos de Caesarum capite consultant, quas artes ut 
 ab angelis desertoribus proditas^^ et a deo inter- 
 dictas ne suis quidem caussis adhibent Christiani. 
 Cui autem opus est perscrutari super Cagsaris sa- 
 lute, nisi a quo aliquid adversus illam cogitatur 
 
 prcestruebant may be taken lite- 
 rally, like prcEstruere aditum in 
 Ovid. Fast. i. 563. 
 
 ^ nonien principis in corde 
 mutantes ; "Changing internally 
 the name of the Emperor whose 
 prosperity they openly pray for 
 over their cups. (v. Brouk. ad 
 TibuU. II. 1. 31.) i. e. giving out 
 the name of the reigning Caesar, 
 and inwardly pronouncing that 
 of him whom they would fain 
 see his successor." 
 
 ^^ eadem officia dependant 
 means : " they (i. e. qui consultant, 
 &c.) too, who investigate the 
 duration of Caesar's life, perform 
 {dependunt) all the sacrifices, 
 vows, solemnities, &c. {officia) 
 with the selfsame heartlessness, 
 and therefore render them of the 
 selfsame character (eadem) as the 
 former parties." 
 
 ^^ proditas, i. e. memorice or 
 huntano generi. So de hab. Mu- 
 lieb. c. 2. of these same spirits, 
 cum materias quasdam bene oc- 
 
 cultas et artes plerasque nmi bene 
 revelatas seculo multo magis impe- 
 rito prodidissent ; (si quidem et 
 metallorum opera nudaverant et 
 herbarum ingenia traduxerant (i. e. 
 in apertum protulerant) et in- 
 cantationum vires provulgaverant 
 et omnem curiositatem usque ad 
 stellarum interpretationem designa- 
 verant,) &c. In c. 10. de Cult. 
 Faem. they are termed angeli 
 peccatores, and are charged with 
 similar acts. The Book of Enoch 
 (de Hab. Mul. c. 3.) was the 
 authority of the Fathers on 
 these matters. On the subject 
 of horoscopes see the commen- 
 tators on Juv. VI. 553. sqq. 
 xiv. 248. Ammianus (xxix. 2. 
 ad fin.) uses the expression con- 
 stellationem principis colligere, 
 where see the note of Lindenbr. 
 who quotes the text inter alia; 
 all the first part of the xxixth 
 book relates to this subject 
 and contains some curious in- 
 formation. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 123 
 
 vel optatur, aut post illam speratur et sustinetur^^? JP^Ty 
 Non enim ea mente de caris consulitur, qua de 
 dominis. Alitor curiosa est sollicitudo sanguinis, 
 aliter servitutis. 
 
 XXXVI. Si haec ita sunt, ut hostes depre- We are 
 
 . . . compelled 
 
 hendantur, qui Komani vocabantur, cur nos, qui to be friends 
 
 not only to 
 
 hostes existimamur, Romani neffamur ? non pos- Caesar but 
 
 ^ ^ to all men. 
 
 sumus et Romani esse, et hostes non esse, cum 
 hostes reperiantur qui Romani habebantur? Adeo 
 pietas et religio et fides imperatoribus dedita non 
 in hujusmodi officiis consistit, quibus et hostilitas 
 magis^ ad velamentum sui potest fungi, sed in iis 
 moribus, quibus civilitas in imperatorem tam vera 
 quam circa omnes necesse habet exhiberi^ Neque 
 enim haec opera bonae mentis solis imperatoribus 
 debentur a nobis. Nullum bonum sub exceptione 
 personarum^ administramus, quia nobis praestamus, 
 qui non ab homine aut laudis, aut pragmii expen- 
 
 ^^ sustinetur ; this word is ad c. 33.) exMheri tam vere, &c. 
 
 exactly equivalent to expectatur, so that necesse habet exhiberi is 
 
 and there is no difficulty in equivalent to necessario exhibetur, 
 
 tracing- the steps of the transi- which is no very usual phrase- 
 
 tion, though the termination of ology. But habere elsewhere in 
 
 it is strange at first sight. Minut. Tertullian has the sense of debere. 
 
 Felix (ad extr.) has, nee adnecti- de Anim. c. 35. totiens animam 
 
 mus arescentem coronam, sed a revocari habere, de Hab. Mul. 1. 
 
 Deo ceternis fioribus vivam susti- etiam jilius Dei mori habuit, as 
 
 nemus. we should say, " had to die." adv. 
 
 XXXVI. ^ quibus hostilitas Prax. 4. restitui habeat patri a 
 
 magis ; the meaning is: 'not in jilio. Lactantius D. I. iv. 30. 
 
 duties of that kind which may ipsum prcedixisse quod heereses ha- 
 
 also be performed by an enemy, berent existere. 
 
 and more strictly and sedulously ^ sub exceptione personarum ; 
 
 too {inagis) to conceal his real ''^We do none of our good acts with 
 
 sentiments {ad velamentum sui.) any exception of persons from 
 
 ^ The construction is : iis their objects." The sub is like 
 
 moribus, quibus (i. e. secundum that in the phrases sub lege, sub 
 
 quos) civilitas necesse habet (see conditione, &c. 
 
124 
 
 TERTULLIANl 
 
 XX XVI ^^^ captamus, sed a deo exactore et remuneratore 
 
 indiffercntis benignitatis. lidem sumus imperato- 
 
 ribus, qui et vicinis nostris. Male enim velle, male 
 facere, male dicere, male cogitare de quoquam ex 
 aequo vetamur. Quodcunque non licet in impera- 
 torem, id nee in quemquam, quod in neminem, eo 
 forsitan magis nee in ipsum, qui per deum tantus 
 est. 
 
 XXXVIl. Si inimicos, ut supra diximus, ju- 
 bemur diligere, quem habemus odisse^ ? Item si 
 wTso^rT ^^^^ vicem referre probibemur, ne de facto ^ pares 
 ciined. simus, quem possumus laedere? Nam de isto ipsi 
 recognoscite. Quoties enim in Christianos desas- 
 vitis, partim animis propriis, partim legibus obse- 
 quentes? Quoties etiam praeteritis vobis^ suo jure 
 nos inimicum vulgus invadit lapidibus et incendiis ? 
 Ipsis Bacchanalium furiis^ nee mortuis parcunt 
 
 Consider 
 now what 
 injury we 
 could do 
 
 XXXVIl. ^ quem habemus 
 odisse^ see note p. 86. 
 
 ^ de facto pares simus ; de facto 
 may either mean hoc faciendo, or 
 de may be taken as de crudelitate 
 in c. 5. 
 
 3 prcBteritis vobis ; without 
 waiting for your authority or 
 sentence. 
 
 * Ipsis Bacchanalium furiis; 
 I do not think this should be 
 taken in the sense in which 
 Mr Evans has understood it. 
 This writer (Theol. Lib. xiv. 
 p. 335.) says: "The lewd riot 
 of the Bacchanalia inflamed them 
 (the heathen) to that pitch that 
 not content with the customary 
 outrages against the living they 
 vented their fury in the ceme- 
 
 taries upon the dead;" as if furiis 
 Bacchanalium were equivalent to 
 ludis Bacchi, or tempore ludorum. 
 But I think then the expres- 
 sion would have been simply 
 furiis, or per, or inter f arias, 
 and I cannot see what appro- 
 priate force is thus to be given 
 to ipsiSj which would hardly be 
 used for the mere period of 
 an occurrence, unless to fix it 
 with critical minuteness. When 
 Horace says ipsis Saturnalibus 
 hue fugisti he means, that of 
 all times to leave Rome and 
 retire to the country, that of the 
 Saturnalia was the strangest, but 
 such an interpretation cannot 
 apply here, for the heathen 
 festivals were not strange or 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 125 
 
 Christianis, quin illos de requie sepulturae, de asylo ^^xvii 
 
 quodam mortis, jam alios, jam nee totos avellant, 
 
 disseeent, distrahant. ^Quid tamen unquam deno- 
 tastis de tam conspiratis, de tam animatis ad 
 mortem usque pro injuria repensatum, ^quando vel 
 una nox pauculis faculis largiter ultionis^ posset 
 operari, si malum malo dispungi penes nos liceret ? 
 Sed absit, ut aut igni humano vindicetur divinitas 
 sectae, aut doleat pati, in quo probatur. Si enim 
 hostes exsertos, non tantum vindices occultos agere 
 vellemus, deesset nobis vis numerorum' et copia- 
 
 singular occasions for the exhibi- 
 tions of their rage, but just the 
 contrary, as Mr Evans himself 
 remarks. Accordingly I would 
 rather translate it, "Nay, with 
 frantic rage, like that of the 
 very orgies," &c. giving ipsis a 
 force by no means unusual. 
 Jam alios, jam nee totos ; i. e. 
 after they have become different 
 beings, through death, from those 
 who offended you ; nee totos 
 refers to the decomposition of 
 the body. 
 
 ^ Constr: Quid tamen unquam 
 denotastis pro injuria repensatum 
 [vobis] de tam conspiratis, tam ad 
 mortem usque animatis [nobis.]] 
 So presently tam libentur truci- 
 damur. 
 
 ^ largiter ultionis ; eKhiKtja-etaf; 
 ulr}u, as Dr Ashton has noted in 
 the margin. The nox una cum 
 faculis alludes to the power which 
 any single desperate individual 
 had of setting fire to the city. In 
 fact the Christians were made to 
 bear the blame of Nero's confla- 
 gration, and were accused of 
 
 burning the imperial palace at 
 the time of Diocletian's perse- 
 cution (Lact. M. P. 14). Any 
 reader acquainted with the Roman 
 Satirists will know how little 
 need there was to search among 
 the Christians for incendiaries. 
 Compare on the argument S. 
 Cypr. ad Demetr. c. 3. 
 
 ^ numerorum et copiarum ; 
 there is no doubt about the usage 
 of these words (for numeri see 
 Lips, ad Tac. Hist. i. 7.) as sy- 
 nonymous with legiones, but I 
 think the context here shews 
 that they are to be taken in the 
 ordinary sense of ^multitudes.' 
 ipsi is added to Parthi to make 
 a climax of the sentence ; and it 
 may be remarked how emphati- 
 cally from the Augustan age 
 downwards the Parthians are 
 always spoken of; Muretus ob- 
 serves (ad Tac. Ann. ii. 2.) that 
 universus terrarum orbis in Roma- 
 nos et Parthos divisus videbatur; 
 and the Parthian ambassadors 
 assert of their nation (Ann. xit. 
 10.) viribus cemulos, per reve- 
 
126 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xxxvii. rum ? 
 
 Plures nimirum Mauri et Marcomanni 
 ipsique Parthi, vel quantaecunque (unius tamen 
 loci et suorum finium) gentes, quam totius orbis. 
 Hesterni sumus et^ vestra omnia inplevimus, urbes, 
 insulas, castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa, 
 tribus, decurias, palatium, senatum^, forum ; sola 
 vobis reliquimus templa^^ Cui bello non idonei, 
 non prompti fuissemus, etiam impares copiis, qui 
 tam libentur trucidamur, si non apud istam dis- 
 ciplinam magis occidi liceret, quam occidere? Po- 
 tuimus et inermes, nee rebelles, sed tantummodo 
 discordes, solius divortii invidia adversus vos di- 
 micasse. Si enim tanta vis hominem in aliquem 
 orbis remoti sinum abrupissemus a vobis, '^sufFu- 
 
 rentiam cessisse. Two curious 
 speeches may be consulted in 
 Lucan. viii. 252 — 351. 
 
 ^ et V. ad c. 2. and for the 
 argument ad c. 1. 
 
 ^ senatum ; A very impor- 
 tant record, or a very hazardous 
 hyperbole, is contained in this 
 single word. The construction 
 of the sentence would lead us 
 naturally to take its accumulated 
 assertions with some restriction, 
 especially with our knowledge of 
 the author's habitual earnestness, 
 but in this case we have other 
 evidence to shew that the Chris- 
 tians could not be said implesse 
 senatum while Tertullian was 
 writing. The books of Pru- 
 dentius against Symmachus, with 
 the Relatio Symmachi and the 
 reply of S. Ambrose will shew 
 the state of things after a very 
 considerable interval, and Mr 
 Evans (Theol. Lib. xiv. 270.) has 
 
 turned the biography of ApoUo- 
 nius into an essay on this subject 
 as interesting and as original as 
 his writings always are. Lac- 
 tantius, writing more than a 
 century after this, admits, and 
 endeavours to explain, the fact. 
 Inst. Div. V. 1. 
 
 ^° After this clause is inserted 
 in some editions the following 
 sentence : Possumus dinumerare 
 exercitus vestros ; unius provin- 
 cicB plures erunt : but as the evi- 
 dence for its exclusion is at least 
 as strong as that for its admission, 
 and as it is not very apposite or 
 very intelligible, I have omitted 
 it. If genuine, the idea of Ter- 
 tullian seems to be that the 
 Christians of a single province 
 would be a match for the stand- 
 ing army, something like the Vix 
 hostem, alterni si congrediamur, 
 habemus. 
 
 " suffudisset. v. ad c. 4. and 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 127 
 
 disset utique dominationem vesttam tot qualium- xxxvii 
 cunque amissio civium, imo etiam et ipsa destitu- 
 tione punisset. Procul dubio expavissetis ad soli- 
 tudinem vestram, ad silentium rerum et stuporem 
 quendam quasi mortui or bis ; qiiaesissetis^^ quibus 
 imperaretis. Plures hostes quam cives vobis re- 
 mansissent. Nunc enim pauciores hostes habetis 
 prae multitudine Christianorum, paene omnium civi- 
 tatum paene omnes cives Christianos habendo. Sed 
 hostes maluistis^^ vocare generis humani. Quis au- 
 tem vos ab illis occultis et usquequaque vastantibus 
 mentes et valetudines vestras hostibus raperet ? a 
 daemoniorum incursibus dico, quae de vobis sine 
 praemio, sine mercede depellimus. Suffecisset hoc 
 solum nostrae ultioni, quod vacua exinde possessio 
 immundis spiritibus pateretis. Porro nee tanti 
 
 for the expression divartii invidia in medium quaesita reponunt. 
 
 ad c. 40. and Hor. Sat. i. 1. 38. 
 
 ^^ qucBsissetis ; i. e. nee inve 
 
 nissetis. This is a peculiar sense Quaesitis sapiens 
 of qucero. So in Virgil Georg. iii. 
 
 532, in which latter sense it is just 
 
 equivalent to reperio. Compare 
 
 illis utitur ante 
 
 Tempore non alio dicunt regionibus _ nir^ rr tt x -, or. 
 
 •jjjg -^n. VI. 610. Ter. Heaut. i. 1. 60. 
 
 Quaesitas ad sacra bovesJunonis Hor. Ep. ad Pis. 170. 
 
 J 7C' m ^ ^^ maluistis ; the idea implied 
 
 and -^n. v. 814. . , , . , , , 
 
 m the word is that whereas the 
 
 Unus erit tantum, amissum quem Romans had fair grounds for look- 
 
 gurgite quaeret. . xv /-lu w j 
 
 ing on the Christians as good 
 
 Compare Juv. vi. 333. In a pre- citizens and friends, they delibe- 
 
 cisely similar sense desiderati is rately preferred another view of 
 
 technically applied to the soldiers the case, and considered them as 
 
 missing after an engagement, as public enemies. On the pecu- 
 
 in Caesar repeatedly. But, singu- liar form of the argument in the 
 
 larly enough, qucero has more succeeding passage, and on the 
 
 frequently a signification exactly inference to be drawn from it, I 
 
 the reverse of this as Georg. iv. have spoken in the introduction,^ 
 
 167. c. 3. 
 
128 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. praesidii compensationem cogitantes, non modo non 
 
 molestum vobis genus, verum etiam necessarium, 
 
 hostes judicare maluistis : qui sumus plane'*, non 
 
 generis humani tamen, sed potius erroris. 
 
 ^e have XXXVIII. Proiude, nee paulo lenius, inter 
 
 wMch^^ licitas factiones^ sectam istam deputari oportebat, 
 
 fection 3' q^^ nihil tale committitur, quale de illicitis fac- 
 
 angerous. ^^Qj^j^j^g timeri solet. Nisi fallor enim, prohiben- 
 
 darum factionum caussa de providentia constat mo- 
 
 destiae publicae^ ne ci vitas in partes scinderetur, 
 
 quae res facile comitia, concilia, curias, conciones, 
 
 spectacula etiam aemulis studiorum compulsatio- 
 
 nibus^ inquietaret, cum jam et in quaestu habere 
 
 coepissent venalem et mercenariam homines vio- 
 
 lentiae suae operam. At enim nobis ab omni gloriae 
 
 et dignitatis ardore frigentibus* nulla est neccssitas 
 
 " qui sumus plane; the use of smiths should be formed into 
 oi plane here is like that in c. 22; a kind of brigade to check the 
 et sunt plane malorum, ike. spread of such calamities in 
 XXXVIII. ^ Inter licitas future, the emperor rejected the 
 factiones ; These factiones were proposal, observing ' quodcunque 
 companies, something like those nomen ex quacunque caussa de- 
 existing at the present day, of demmus iis, qui in idem contracti 
 various tmdes or craftsmen. Some fuerint, hetcErice quamvis breves 
 were legalized and could possess (short-lived, like breves rostB) 
 property by charter; others ap- fient.' (x. 42, 43.) It was this 
 pear to have been secretly formed edict that was subsequently en- 
 for private purposes, and they forced against the Christians, in 
 were found as may very naturally compliance with which Pliny 
 be supposed, exceedingly inju- says (x. 97.), they discontinued 
 rious to legitimate rule and order. their assemblies. 
 (Sueton. Aug. 32.) Against these * prohibendarum factionum 
 iraipeiai Trajan accordingly caussa; " The reason for prohibit- 
 issued an edict, and so strong ing assemblies, lies in the care 
 were his opmions on the subject, for public order," provider e being 
 that when Pliny, after reporting like prospicere. 
 a conflagration in his province, ^ compulsationibus, v . ad c. 20. 
 requested that a limited number * abomniard<yrefrigentibus;A 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUfi. 
 
 129 
 
 coetus, 11 ec uUa magis res aliena, quam publica. xxxviii 
 UDam omDium rempublicam agnoscimus, mundum. 
 ^qiie spectaculis vestris in tantum renuntiamus, in 
 quantum originibus eoriini\ quas scimus de super- 
 stitione conceptas, cum et ipsis rebus, de quibus 
 transignntur praetersuraus. Nihil est nobis dictu, 
 visu, audita cum insania circi, cum impudicitia 
 tbeatri, cum atrocitate arenas, cum vanitate xysti*. 
 Licuit Epicureis' aliquam deceniere voluptatis veri- 
 tatem. Quo vos offcndiraus, si alias praesumimus 
 voluptates? Si oblectari novisse nolumus\ nostra 
 injuria est, si forte, non vestra. Sed reprobamus 
 quae placent vobis, nee vos nostra delectant. 
 
 XXXIX. Edam jam nunc ego ipsa* neefotia For listen, 
 
 •^ o r o now, to our 
 
 daily prac- 
 tices and 
 
 d^er in opim<m fiom jownehres 
 {aliag pTiBsumimug voluptatet, L e. 
 aliag ophmmur atque vos ijm, see 
 the notes, and especially Bent- 
 ley's, on Hor. Serm. ii. 3. 208.) 
 why we do no more than they 
 do, and ought not to excite your 
 displeasure. 
 
 ^ Si oblectari twvigte tkohitmu ; 
 this passage is Yaiioiisly read ; in 
 tflie text given novigte is by a reiy 
 common use both of «cio and 
 nesdo; another reading i& H ob- 
 lectari novimme mdumwt, in which 
 novimme must be equivalent to 
 denique; and a third, »i MeiAare 
 nos ramggime nolumug; both ob- 
 lectare and Mectamentum are pe- 
 culiarly used for pastimes of any 
 kind. 
 
 XXXIX. * ipM negotia; ''the 
 real proceedings," as opposed to 
 the calumnies of the day. In the 
 term fuctionU Tertnllian is pro- 
 bably adoptii^ the hmgnage of 
 
 moie usual oonstraction in earlier 
 times would have been ad omaem 
 frigenObiu or m / in the present 
 text there is a notio abhorrendi 
 involved. 
 
 ^ originibug eorum; see this 
 subject treated of at laige in the 
 tract de Spectaculis. eomeeptas in 
 this sentence is like etsi a Numa 
 eoncepta est curiositas superstUima 
 inc. 25. 
 
 • vanitate aystu i. e. philoso- 
 phantiom. 
 
 ^ Licuit EpieureU, Soi. If 
 tiie text and position of this 
 daose be correct, the argnment 
 of Tertulhan must be of this 
 kind : We have no pleasure in 
 your theatrical exhibitions; but 
 you cannot eonsisteatly take of- 
 fence on that score, lor one of 
 your own sects, the Epicoreans, 
 distingnishfd cleaily between true 
 and fidse enjoyments, and there- 
 fore when we, on this sabject 
 
 9 
 
130 
 
 TERTULLIANl 
 
 xxlax Ch^istianae factionis, ut qui mala refutaverim, bona 
 ostendam. Corpus sumus de conscientia religionis 
 et disciplinae divinitate et spei foedere. Coimus in 
 coetum et congregation em, ut ad deura, quasi manu 
 facta^ precationibus ambiamus. Haec vis deo grata 
 Just. 87. est. Oramus etiam pro imperatoribus, pro minis- 
 teriis eorum ac potestatibus^ pro statu seculi, pro 
 rerum quiete, pro mora finish Cogimur^ ad litter- 
 arum divinarum commemorationem, si quid prae- 
 «entium temporum qualitas aut praemonere cogit 
 «ut recognoscere. Certe fidem Sanctis vocibus pasci- 
 
 liis adversaries. Corpus sumus de, 
 &c. ; " the bond and principles of 
 t)ur union are," &c. Corpus is 
 frequently used for a 'society/ 
 * corporation.* In the official let- 
 ters of Licinius (Lact. M. P. 48) 
 it is stated, ^Quoniam iidem Chris- 
 tiani non ea loca tantum ad qucB 
 convenire consuevernnt, sed alia 
 etiam habuisse noscuntur, ad jus 
 corporis eorum, id est Ecciesiarum, 
 non hominum singulorum perti- 
 nentia, ea omnia, &c. conscientia 
 religionis is either communio sen- 
 tentiarum or quod sibi quisque 
 eadem de religione conscit; disci- 
 plincB divinitas is like divinitas 
 sect(E, &c., and the spei fcedus is 
 the bond of union which all have 
 for their common hope of a resur- 
 rection. 
 
 ^ qua^i manu facta; this, like 
 many in TertuUian's writings, is 
 a military expression, and with 
 reference to it the hcec vis is used 
 just after; collatis precihus adora- 
 »nii*,says Arnobius 1. 14. the whole 
 of which passage may be com- 
 pared. 
 
 ' pro potestatibus eorum ; this 
 is the Vulgate translation of t^- 
 ovaiai<;. Amobius (ii. 32) speaks 
 of tyrannos, dominos, alias innu- 
 meras potestates. Juvenal uses thfe 
 same expression. 
 
 Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse potestas. 
 X. 100. 
 
 and so in modern Italian, podestd. 
 
 * Some readings omit here the 
 words p7'o statu, so that sceculi 
 depends on potestatibus, but I pre- 
 fer the text as given above. See 
 for the argument c. 32. In either 
 case seBculum will have the sense 
 noticed at the conclusion of the 
 note p. 103. pro mora finis, em- 
 phatically, TO TcAo?. So in the 
 Vulgate S. Marc. xiii. 7. oportet 
 enim hsec fieri, sed nondum finis. 
 
 ' Cogimur ; i. e. colligimur, 
 coimus. certe fidem, &c. "at all 
 events"; i.e. even if the aspect of 
 the times offers no special sub- 
 ject of consideration; and to this 
 must refer the nihilominus below, 
 if the reading inculcationibus is 
 correct. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 131 
 
 inus, spem erigimus, fiduciam figimus, disciplinam ^^xix 
 
 praeceptorum nihilominus inculcationibus densamus ; 
 
 ibidem etiam exhortatioiies, castigationes et censura 
 divina^ Nam et judicatur magno cum pondere, 
 ut apud certos de dei conspectu, summumque futuri, 
 judicii prsejudicium est, si quis ita deliquerit, ut 
 a coramunicatione orationis et conventus et omnis 
 sancti commercii relegetur. Praesident probati qui- 
 que seniores, honorem istum non pretio, sed testi- 
 monio adepti: neque enim pretio ulla res dei 
 constat. Etiam si quod areas genus est', non de 
 honoraria summa, quasi redemptae religionis con- 
 gregatur; modicam unusquisque stipem menstrua 
 die, vel quum velit, et si modo velit et si modo 
 possit, apponit: nam nemo compellitur, sed sponte 
 confert. Haec quasi deposita pietatis sunt. Nam 
 inde non epulis, nee potaculis, nee ingratis vora- 
 trinis dispensatur, sed egenis alendis humandisque, 
 et pueris ac puellis re ac parentibus destitutis, jam- 
 que domesticis senibus% item naiifragis, et si qui 
 in metallis, et si qui in insulis, vel in custodiis, 
 duntaxat ex caussa dei sectae, alumni" confessionis 
 
 " V. ad Cor. i. 6. ad Tim. i. 3. Dec, or it may be simply ponit. 
 
 ^ etiam si quid arcce genus est, deposita, like our derivative, was 
 &c. the etiam refers to the utter applied specially to sums of money 
 repudiation of any thing like entrusted to a friend and left in 
 pretium in the previous clause ; his care. See Juv. Sat. xiii. Pos- 
 " Even/' says Tertullian, " the sibly there may be some allusion 
 kind of common chest which we to the text Fceneratur Domino 
 keep, is not filled or made up qui misei'etur pauperis, 
 {congregatur) of any fixed sums, ^ jamque domesticis senibus, 
 given as a kind of consideration- i.e. ac senibus qui jam foras pro- 
 money for the religious privileges dire nequeant. 
 {quasi redemtcc religionis) but each ^ alumni confessionis suce; this 
 individual," &c. The apponit a appears to me a most remarkable 
 little below may be perhaps quasi expression, though no comraen- 
 
 9—2 
 
132 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. suae fiunt. Sed ejusmodi vel maxime dilectionis 
 
 operatic notam nobis inurit^^ penes quosdam. Vide, 
 
 inquiunt, ut invieem se diligant : ipsi enim invicem 
 oderunt ; et lit pro alterutro mori sint parati : ipsi 
 enim ad occidendum alterutrum paratiores erunt. 
 Sed et quod fratrum appellatione" censemur, non 
 alias, opinor, infamant, quam quod apud ipsos 
 omnes sanguinis nomen de afFectatione simulatum 
 est. Fratres autem etiam vestri sumus, jure na- 
 turae matris unius, etsi vos parum homines, quia 
 mali fratres. At quanto dignius fratres et dicuntur 
 et habentur, qui unum patrera deuin agnoverunt, 
 qui unum spiritum biberunt sanctitatis, qui de 
 uno utero ignorantiae ejusdem ad unam lucem'^ ex- 
 paverunt veritatis. Sed eo fortasse minus legitimi 
 
 tator that I have seen takes the 
 slightest notice of it. alumni insu- 
 larum ex (or, as TertuUian would 
 say, de) confessione sua would be 
 natural enough, but this must 
 mean: "and to such as in the 
 mines or islands (v. ad c. 1.) be- 
 come the nurslings of their con- 
 fession/' or " suffer such penalties 
 as their confession has brought 
 on them;" confessio being taken 
 (like confessor often) in the pecu- 
 liar sense of a confession of faith 
 persisted in under torture; the 
 only other possible construction 
 which I can see is even harsher 
 and more inexplicable, viz. to join 
 alumni in insulis, &c. and leave 
 confessionis to depend on some 
 ellipse, custodia is here career; but 
 see p. 34. 
 
 ^^ notam nobis inurit ; so de 
 Hab. Mul. c. 4. Nulla nunc mtt- 
 
 liebri pompce nota inusta sit, &c. 
 Lactantius (de M. P. 3.) etiam 
 mortuo notam inureret. On the as- 
 sertion of TertuUian see Lucian 
 de Morte Pereg. viii. p. 280, ed. 
 Bipont. operatio is the putting 
 into practice. 
 
 ^^ sed et quod, &c. ; the con- 
 struction and the sense are as fol- 
 lows : sed et (insuper etiam) quod 
 censemur fratrum appellationeifrsi- 
 ternum inter nos nomen) non alias 
 infamant (aggrediuntur nulla alia 
 de causa) quam quod, &c. 
 
 ^^ ad unam lucem, &c. I have 
 no idea that TertuUian is here al- 
 luding to any particular occur- 
 rence ; the expression ex utero in 
 lucem is clear enough {like partu 
 suhluminis edidit auras), and so is 
 the metaphor, (compare Amob. 
 IV. 15. creditis ex seminis jactu 
 ignoratam sibi ad lucem ben^ciis 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS, 
 
 existimamur, quia nulla de nostra fraternitate tra- 
 goedia exclamat^^ vel quia ex substantia familiari 
 fratres sumus, quae penes vos fere dirimit frater- 
 nitatem. Itaque qui animo animaque miscemur, 
 nihil de rei communicatione dubitamus. Omnia 
 indiscreta sunt apud nos, praeter uxores: in isto 
 loco consortium solvimus, in quo solo ceteri homi- 
 nes consortium exercent, qui non amicorum so- 
 lummodo matrimonia usurpant, sed et sua amicis 
 patientissime subministrant, ex ilia, credo, majorum 
 et sapientissimorum disciplina, Graeci Socratis et 
 Romani Catonis, qui uxores suas amicis commu- 
 nicaverunt, quas in matrimonium duxerant'* liber- 
 orum caussa et alibi creandorum, nescio quidem an 
 invitas; quid enim de castitate curarent, quam 
 mariti tam facile donaverant^^? O sapientias At- 
 
 CAP. 
 XXXIX, 
 
 obsccenitatis exisse), while nothing 
 is more common than to speak of 
 the periods preceding and follow- 
 ing conversion, as those of dark- 
 ness and light respectively. So 
 Arnobius again (ii. 57.) Nondum 
 enim affulserat qui viam mons- 
 traret errantibus et caligine in 
 altissime constitutis cognitionis 
 lumen immitteret, et ignorationis 
 discuteret ccecitatem. The phrases 
 are of course, originally, scrip- 
 tural. 
 
 ^^ tragcedia exclamat. The al- 
 lusion specially is to Eteocles and 
 Polynices ; but the proverbial ex- 
 pressions Wkefraterna odia, &c. are 
 well known. In the eje substantia 
 familiari the cr answers precisely 
 to the de at the commencement of 
 the chapter corpus sumus de, &c. 
 
 The irony of the following pas- 
 sage can scarcely be surpassed. 
 
 " I have not put any stop 
 after duxerant, because I would 
 rather have catissa joined closely 
 with that word, than with commu- 
 nicaverunt; so that et alibi is 
 ironically inserted, meaning of 
 course, besides domi. 
 
 ^^ donaverant. There is a pe- 
 culiar force about this word im- 
 plying the absolute command of 
 the donor over the thing offered, 
 and a careless readiness in making 
 the offer without any return ex- 
 pected. V. c. 50. There is a good 
 example in Lucan, ii. 474. 
 
 dumque ipse ad bella vocaret, 
 
 Donavit socero Romani sanguinis usum. 
 
 TertuUian has confounded the 
 major and minor Cato. 
 
134 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. ticae, o Romanae gravitatis exemplum ! Leno est 
 - — - — philosophus et censor. Quid ergo mirum^S si tanta 
 caritas convivatur ? Nam et coenulas nostras, prae- 
 terquam sceleris infames, ut prodigas quoque sug- 
 gillatis. De nobis scilicet Diogenis dictum est^': 
 Megarenses obsonant quasi crastina die morituri, 
 sedificant vero quasi nunquam morituri. Sed sti- 
 pulam quis in alieno oculo facilius perspicit, quam 
 in suo trabem. Tot tribubus et curiis et decuriis 
 ructantibus acescit aer. Saliis coenaturis creditor 
 erit necessarius. Herculanarum ^^ decimarum et 
 polluctorum sumptus tabularii supputabunt ; Apa- 
 turiis, Dionysiis, mysteriis Atticis coquorum de- 
 lectus^* indicentur. Ad fumum coenae Serapiacae 
 sparteoli excitabuntur. De solo triclinio Christi- 
 anorum retractatur'^ Coena nostra de nomine 
 ration em sui ostendit ; id vocatur, quod dilectio 
 
 ^^ Quid ergo mirum, &c, Ter- Herculi mverey nee decern die» 
 tulliau here seems to return to intermittere guin pollucerent, ac 
 the serious argument which he populum da-vfxftoXov cum corona 
 left above, and to continue thus : laurea dimitterent ad cubitum. 
 considering then, that our mutual is delectus, " A levy of cook» 
 love (caritas) is such as I describe, must be proclaimed"— *par^eo/t; 
 what is there wonderful in the "firemen"— Vid. Casaub. ad Sue- 
 fact of our occasionally taking our ton. Aug. 30, and Rup. ad Juv. xir. 
 meals together ? I mention this 305. major fumus ex lautorum 
 becau8e(naw) you calumniate our culinis terrai-e vigiles solet, says 
 frugal supper {coenulas) as both Seneca, Ep. 64. The character 
 wicked and extravagant. and style of these few sentences 
 
 ^^ This saying has also been are worthy remarking ; the reader 
 
 attributed to Empedocles of the might almost imagine he was 
 
 Agrigentines, and to Stratonicus perusing some sliarp review of 
 
 of the Rhodians. the present day. 
 
 i« Macrobius Satur. iii. 12. 20 retractatur; "all this passes 
 
 Testatur Terentius Varro in ea without notice, nothing is called 
 
 satira quce inscribitur trepi k€- to account but the supper of the 
 
 fjuvvov majores solitos decimani Christians." 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 135 
 
 penes Graecos. Quantiscunque sumptibus constet, ^JAp. 
 
 Jv A. A J A. • 
 
 lucrum est pietatis nomine facere sumptum, siqui- 
 
 dem inopes quosque refrigerio isto juvamus, non 
 qua^^ penes vos parasiti affectant ad gloriam famu- 
 landae libertatis sub auctoramento ventris inter con- 
 tumelias saginandi, sed qua penes deum major est 
 contemplatio mediocrium. Si honesta caussa est 
 convivii, reliquum ordinem disciplinee aestimate, qui 
 sit, de religionis officio : nihil vilitatis^^ nihil im- 
 modestiae admittit; non prius discumbitur, quam 
 oratio ad deum pr JBgustetur ; editur quantum esu- 
 rientes capiunt; bibitur quantum pudicis est utile. 
 Ita saturantur, ut qui meminerint etiam per noctem 
 adorandum deum sibi esse; ita fabulantur, ut qui 
 sciant dominum audire. Post aquam manualem^^ 
 et lumina, ut quisque de scripturis Sanctis vel de 
 proprio ingenio potest, provocatur in medium dec 
 canere ; hinc probatur quomodo biberit. ^que 
 oratio convivium dirimit. Inde disceditur non in 
 catervas csesionum^^ neque in classes discursati- 
 
 &c. Constr. : ^ nihil vilitatis ; this is not 
 
 Non qua (sc. ratione. ^n. i. a common usage of vilitas, which 
 
 675.) penes vos parasiti affectant in earlier authors seldom or never 
 
 (sc. viam. v. Stallbaum ad Ter. occurs without reference to pre- 
 
 Heaut. II. 3. 60.) ad gloriam famu- tium, hut there is a parallel 
 
 landce libertatis sub auctoramento, instance in Apuleius^ Florid, i. 7. 
 
 sed qua, &c. auctoramento, 3. where he speaks of vilitas 
 
 Gloss, vet. ' auctoratus ' 6 irpo^ morum, meaning turpitude. Am- 
 
 (Tilripov TTpadcK. V. Hor. Sat. ii. mianus (xiv. 6.) uses it for a 
 
 7. 59. auctoramentum was the disgraceful story, and Ducange in 
 
 hire or wage for which a person his glossary gives a smgle instance 
 
 thus bound himself, auctoro and o^ its occurrence for ignavi^. 
 
 auctoror (dep.) are used by ^ post aquam manualem, v. de 
 
 Tertullian and Apuleius, but Oratione, c. 11. 
 
 seldom earlier. On the argu- ^ catervce ccesionum, i. e. quae 
 
 ment see the fifth satire of Juvenal, obvios quosque csedunt. I cannot 
 
136 TERTULLIAM 
 
 CAP. onum, nee in eruptiones lasciviarum, sed ad eandem 
 
 curam^^ modestiae et pudicitiae, ut qui non tarn 
 
 coenam coenaverint, quam disciplinam. Hsec coitio 
 
 Christianorum merito sane illicita, si illicitis par, 
 
 merito damnanda, si quis de ea queritur eo titulo, 
 
 quo de factionibus querela est. In cuj us pern idem 
 
 aliquando convenimus? Hoc sumus congregati, 
 
 quod et dispersi, hoc universi, quod et singuli, 
 
 neminem Igedentes, neminem contristantes. Quum- 
 
 probi, quura boni coeunt, quum pii, quum casti 
 
 congregantur, non est factio dicenda, sed curia"^''. 
 
 usof duhe XL. At e contrario illis nomen factionis ac- 
 
 whSl^now commodandum est, qui in odium bonorum et pro- 
 harass the 1 • i • 1 • • 
 empire: borum couspiraut, qui adversum sangumem inno- 
 
 traceno ccutium conclamaut, pra2texentes sane ad odii 
 
 such events , ^ . .,, . , . . 
 
 before «e (leiensionem illam quoque vanitatem , quod existi- 
 
 appeared 
 
 amongst meut omuis publicae cladis, omnis popularis incom- 
 
 modi Christianos esse in caussa. Si Tiberis ascendit 
 
 in moenia, si Nilus non ascendit in arva, si coelum 
 
 ^^iH^^' stetit"', si terra movit, si fames, si lues, statim, 
 
 find an instance of co'sio in this lus is as in c. 1. "if any one can 
 
 sense elsewhere, though it occurs bring such charges against it as 
 
 for putatio in Columella. are brought," &c. 
 
 The practices alluded to are ^ Sallust. B. J. c. 31. Hcec 
 
 familiar to all readei*s. See the inter bonos amicitia, inter malos 
 
 end of Juv. Sat. iii. Perhaps factio est. 
 
 Apuleius too was thinking of his XL. ^ vanitas. i. e. menda- 
 
 native country when he thus cium; deResur. Car.c. 2. flrffer,vi/* 
 
 writes of Hypata ; vesana factio phantasmatis vanitatem. So Cic. 
 
 nobilissimorum juvenum paceni Off. i. 42. Veil. Paterc. ii. 60. 
 
 publicam infecit, et passim truer- On the argument v. c. 20, and 
 
 datos per medias plateas videbis compare especially the opening 
 
 jacere. of S. Aug. de Civ. Dei, and of the 
 
 ^ eandem curam means : the Disputationes of Amobius. 
 
 same care that was taken before ^ Si eaelum stetit. There are 
 
 the meeting. A little below titv- several passages in which the sky 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 137 
 
 Christianos ad leonem! Tantos ad unuiifl? Oro 
 vos, ante Tiberiura, id est ante Christi adventum, 
 quantae clades orbem et urbem ceciderunt? T^egi- 
 mus Hieran, Anaphen et Delou et Rhodon et Co 
 insulas multis cum millibus hominum pessum abi- 
 isse\ Memorat et Plato majorem Asiae et Africae 
 terram Atlantico mari ereptam. Sed et mare 
 Corinthium terra? motus ebibit, et vis undarum 
 Lucaniam Italiae abscissam in Siciliae nomen rele- 
 gavit. Haec utique non sine injuria incolentium 
 accidere potuerunt. Ubi vero tunc, non dicam 
 deorum vestrorum contemptores Christiani^ sed 
 ipsi dii vestri, cum totum ordem cataclysmus abo- 
 levit\ vel ut Plato putavit, campestre solummodo ? 
 
 CAP. 
 XL. 
 
 is said stare pulvere, &c. and stare 
 is also applied to the stagnation 
 of a fountain or river, {stabant 
 profluvia sanguinis, Amoh. i. 25.) 
 but I have no doubt but that 
 Tertullian here, in his peculiar 
 fondness for antithesis has pur- 
 posely used the exact opposite 
 to movit, without thinking of its 
 precise applicability. It simply 
 means stagnavit, nullos imbres 
 demisit. In the tract de Jeju- 
 niis, c. 16. the expression is cum 
 stupet ccelum. The Vulgate in 
 Reg. II. 8. 35. has Si clausum 
 fuerit coelum et non pluerit propter 
 peccata eorum, which corresponds 
 to the cataractce cosli apertce sunt. 
 Gen. vii. 11. 
 
 * pessum abiisse. v. Wake- 
 field ad Lucret. vi. 589. cecide- 
 runt in the sentence above is 
 equivalent to straverunt, Cf. Hor. 
 Car. in. 6. 35. orbem et urbem is 
 Romam atque mundum. 
 
 * Tertullian here introduces 
 an argument cursorily; he is 
 simply going to prove that when 
 these misfortunes (far greater 
 than those of the then present 
 day) took place, there were no 
 Christians to despise the gods, 
 and by this contempt to invoke 
 their anger. But from this re- 
 mark he catches at another point 
 and says, " Where were your gods 
 themselves ? " for the cities in 
 which they were born being pos- 
 terior to this universal deluge, 
 so must they necessarily be too ; 
 this reasoning he pursues for 
 awhile, returning to the original 
 argument at semper humana gens, 
 &c. 
 
 ^ abolevit totum orbem; orbis 
 is here taken in the sense of 
 genus humanum as frequently or 
 rather of genus animantum, in- 
 cluding too their works, habita- 
 tions, &c. 
 
138 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. Posteriol-es enim illos clade diluvii contestaiitur 
 
 ipsas urbes, in quibus nati mortuique sunt, etiam 
 
 quas condiderunt ; neque enim alias in hodiernum 
 manerent, nisi et ipsae postumae cladis illius. 
 Nondum Judseum ab Mgyjito examen Palaestina 
 susceperat, nee jam illic Christianas seetae origo 
 consederat, quum regiones affines ejus Sodom a et 
 Gomorra igneus imber exussit. Olet adhue in- 
 cendio terra, et si qua illic arborum poma conantur, 
 oculis tenus, ceterum contacta cinerescunt^. Sed nee 
 Tuscia jam tunc atque Campania de Christianis 
 querebatur, quum Volsinios de coelo, Tarpeios de 
 suo monte perfudit ignis. Nemo adhue Romse 
 deum verum adorabat, cum Annibal apud Cannas 
 Romanes annulos, caedes suas, medio metiebatur. 
 Omnes dii vestri ab omnibus colebantur, cum ipsum 
 Capitolium Senones occupaverunt. Et bene, quod 
 
 * There are various readings printed in editions of Cyprian, 
 
 of this passage. If the text is to whom it is, with some un- 
 
 correct the construction is: Si certainty, ascribed. It has been 
 
 illic qua arborum (i. e. arbores conjectured that the two pieces 
 
 ullae) conantur poma (sc. edere) are both fragments of a metrical 
 
 oculis tenus (ea conantur, non version of the Old Testament, 
 
 tactu) ; ceterum, &c. Tacitus which does not seem improbable. 
 
 (Hist. V. 7.) says cuncta sponte The peculiar Latinity of Ter- 
 
 edita aut manu sata, sive herbce tuUian has been so industriously 
 
 ienues aut flores ut solitam ifi transferred to these poems (es- 
 
 speciem adoleverc, atra et inusta pecially the former) that they 
 
 velut in cinerem vanescunt. The look almost like scholastic com- 
 
 author of the short poem entitled positions after a model. Yet 
 
 SoDOMA has copied the phrase- I should rather assign them to 
 
 ology of TertuUian as well as Cyprian on the whole. They 
 
 the legends of Tacitus. shew that inattention to quan- 
 
 Semiperemta etiam si qua illic jugera tity which Commodianus carried 
 
 laetas out (at least if he meant to 
 
 Auctumni conantur opes ^^.j^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^,^^^^ 
 
 This poem together with one even Prudentius is not free 
 
 called Genesis is frequently from. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 139 
 
 si' quid adversi accidit urbibus, eaedem clades tern- gap. 
 
 A. la, 
 
 plorum quae et mcenium fuerunt ; ut jam hoc re- 
 
 vincam, uou a deis evenire, quia et ipsis evenit. 
 Semper humana gens male de deo meruit : primo 
 quidem ut inofficiosa^ ejus, quem cum intelligeret 
 ex parte, nou solum non requisivit timendum^ sed 
 et alios sibi citius commenta est quos coleret ; de- 
 hinc quod non inquirendo innocentise magistrum^^ 
 et nocentiae judicem et exactorem, omnibus vitiis 
 et criminibus inolevit^'. Ceterum si requisisset, 
 sequebatur ut recognosceret requisitum, et recog- 
 nitum observaret, et observatum magis propitium 
 experiretur quam iratum. Eundem ergo nunc 
 quoque scire debet iratum, quem et retro sem- 
 per, priusquam Christiani nominarentur. Cujus 
 bonis utebatur ante editis, quam deos sibi fin- 
 
 ^ et bene, quod si, &c. This in c. 23. .mperiorum sine dubio 
 
 expression is often used by Ter- et timendorum. 
 tuUian ; so ad fin. c. 24. bene, ^" innocentice magistrum, &c. 
 
 quod omnium deus est. It here magister here means doctor or / 
 
 means : that the circumstance revelator ; see c. 45. innocentiam 
 
 presently related concerning these a Deo edocti et perfecte cam novi- 
 
 misfortunes is a very fortunate one mus, ut a perfecto magistro reve- 
 
 for the argument. S. Augustine latam, et fideliter custodimus ut ab 
 
 in the opening of the Civitas Dei incontemptibili dispectore munda- 
 
 repeats the reasoning. tam. In the next clause exac- 
 
 ^ inofficiosa, sc. officii negli- torem is either an interpolation, 
 
 gens, V. ad c. 23. Cicero uses or it must be taken in the sense 
 
 officiosus in a good sense ; nee of eocsecutorem (see note p. 10.) 
 
 diligentiorem, nee qfficiosiorem, nee as Tacitus says Agricola was used 
 
 nostristudiosiorem facile delegissem omnia scire, non omnia eocsequi. 
 
 ad Att. XIII. 45. TertuUian himself speaks of God 
 
 ^ non requisivit timendum ; as innocentice exactor, de Spect. 
 
 i. e. did not so investigate and c. 2. 
 
 embody His existence, as to pro- ^^ inokvit ; " grew up in, got 
 
 pose Him to themselves as an rooted in." JEn. vi. 738. Georg. 
 
 object of fear and dread. Com- ii. 77. 
 pare the use of the same word 
 
140 
 
 TEKTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XL. 
 
 geret, cur iion ab eo etiam mala intelligat eve- 
 nire, cujus bona esse non sensit? Illius rea est, 
 cujus et ingrata. Et tamen si pristinas clades 
 comparemus, leviora nunc accidunt, ex quo Chri- 
 stianos a deo orbis accepit. Ex eo enim et inno- 
 centia seculi iniquitates temperavit, et deprecatores 
 dei esse coeperunt. Denique cum ab imbribus 
 aestiva hiberna suspendunt^'^ et annus in cura est, 
 vos quidem, quotidie pasti statimque pransuri, 
 balneis et cauponis et lupanaribus operati, aqui- 
 licia^^ Jovi immolatis, nudipedalia populo denun- 
 tiatis, coelum apud Capitolum quaeritis, nubila de 
 laquearibus exspectatis^^ aversi ab ipso et deo et 
 coelo. Nos vero jejuniis aridi et omni continentia 
 expressi, ab omni vitaB fruge dilati'^ in sacco et 
 
 ^ ab imbribus (estiva hiberna 
 suspendunt; Towards the expla- 
 nation of this expression we have 
 first two passages in Cyprian, 
 quando imbrem nubila serena sus- 
 pendunt ; de Mort. c. 2. and 
 quod imbres et pluvial serena longa 
 suspendant; ad Demetr. praef. 
 From this it is quite clear that 
 suspendere is equivalent to reti- 
 nere, like ictum suspendere, &c. 
 (compare Virg. Georg. i. 214.) 
 Next from a passage in Seneca 
 Quaest. Nat. iii. 27- (which Dr 
 Ashton has marked in the margin) 
 elisa (Estate, hiems pertinax immen- 
 sam vim aquarum ruptis nubibus 
 deruat, it appears that (estas and 
 himis were taken for the diy 
 and wet seasons respectively, and 
 therefore the meaning of the text 
 seems to he, " when the summer 
 droughts (prolonged) keep off the 
 winter rains." 
 
 ^^ aquilicia. Festus: Aquceli- 
 cium dicitur cum aqua pluvialis 
 remediis quibusdam elicitur, et 
 quondam, si creditur, manali lapide 
 (quod aquos manare faceret) in 
 urbem ducto, v. Scalig. ad loc. 
 
 ^* coelum apud Cap. quceritis, 
 nubila de laquearibus exspectatis ; 
 to the circumstances here referred 
 to, TertuUian also alludes in c. 
 24. alius nubes numeret orans, 
 alius lacunaria. 
 
 ^'^ expressi ; this word implies 
 the dry and shrivelled condition 
 which fasting and self-mortifica- 
 tion will produce, and is exactly 
 equivalent to the phrase spongia 
 expressa which Celsus so fre- 
 quently employs. See Matthise's 
 index, ed. 4to. Lugd. Bat. 1785. 
 dilati, i.e. distantes, abstinentes. 
 invidia coelum tundimus. v. Intpp. 
 ad Juv. XV. 123. invidiam alicui 
 faccre strictly means 'to set a 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 141 
 
 cinere volutantes, invidia coelum tundimus, deum ^^ap- 
 tangiraus, et cum misericordiam extorserimus, Ju- 
 piter honoratur a vobis, Dens negligitur. 
 
 XLI. Vos igitur importuni rebus humanis, You, m^ 
 vos rei publicorum incommodorum, vos malorum the guilty 
 
 I ' parties. 
 
 illices' semper, apud quos deus spernitur, statuae 
 adorantur. Utique enim credibilius haberi debet, 
 eum irasci qui negligatur, quam qui coluntur: aut 
 nae illi iniquissimi, si propter Christianos etiam 
 cultores suos laedunt, quos separare deberent a me- 
 ntis Christianorum. Hoc, inquitis, et in deum 
 vestrum repercutere est, qui et ipse patiatur propter 
 profanos etiam cultores suos Igedi. Admittite prius 
 dispositiones^ ejus, et non retorquebitis. Qui euim r^- 
 
 semel aeternum judicium destinavit post seculi 
 finem, non praecipitat discretionem % quae est con- 
 
 person in an odious light.' Liv. seiml utique in ista constructione 
 XXXVII. 57. in hujus mcujcime in- dispositum et instructum et ordi- 
 vidiam desistere se Glabrio dixit; natum (hoc mundi corpus) in- 
 but it is often used particularly to ventum est. The argument of 
 express such a demeanour in a this passage is very often urged 
 suppliant as places the person ap- by Arnobius; e. g. ii. 60. nihil 
 pealed to in an invidious situation Deum cogebat necessarias tempo- 
 if he refuses. The author of Sodo- rum non expectare mensuras. Ra- 
 ma, in line 21, Pukabant ccelum tionihus fixis peraguntur res ejus 
 invidia connubia mixta, has either et quod semel deo'etum est fieri, 
 mistaken the phrase, or employed nulla potest novitate mutari. Com- 
 it very unusually; tundere like pare too, the following chapter 
 pulsare merely strengthens the of that book with the present 
 expression. Compare the use of text. 
 
 the word in c. 37. solius divortii ^ non prcecipitat diseretionem ; 
 
 invidia. i. e. " does not prematurely hurry 
 
 XLI. ^ iUices malorum. So on that separation of the good 
 
 iUices oculi and conversationem from the bad which is ordained 
 
 misericordicE illicem de Poen. c. to take place at the last day." 
 
 9. The verb is used by Lucre- S. Matth. xxv. 32. separabit eos 
 
 tius. ab invicem sicut pastor segregat 
 
 * di'iposit tones, v. ad c. 11. oves ab hcedis, and xiii. 49. Sic 
 
142 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. ditio judicii, ante seculi finem. jEqualis est iii- 
 
 terim super omne hominum genus et indulgens et 
 
 increpans'* ; com muni a voluit esse et commoda pro- 
 fanis et incommoda suis, ut pari consortio omnes ct 
 lenitatem ejus et severitatem experiremur. Quia 
 ha?c ita didicimus apud ipsum, diligimus lenitatem, 
 metuimus severitatem, vos contra utramque despi- 
 citis : et sequiter, ut omnes seculi plagae nobis, si 
 forte, in admonitionem, vobis in castigationem a 
 deo obveniant. Atquin nos nuUo modo laedimur: 
 imprimis quia nihil nostra refert in hoc aevo, nisi 
 de eo quam celeriter excedere^; dehinc*^ quia si 
 quid adversi infligitur, vestris id meritis deputatiir. 
 Sed etsi aliqua nos quoque perstringunt ut vobis 
 cohserentes', laetamur magis recognitione divinarum 
 praedicationura, confirmantium scilicet fiduciam et 
 fidem spei nostras. Si vero ab eis quos colitis omnia 
 vobis mala eveniunt nostri caussa, quid colere per- 
 severatis tam ingratos, tam injustos, qui magis 
 vos in dolorem Christian orum juvare et asserere 
 debuerant^? 
 
 erit in consummatione seculi, exi- has urged this argument to his 
 
 bunt angeli, et separabunt malm impatient brethi-en, de Mort. c. 
 
 de medio justorum. 2. and to the taunting heathens 
 
 * JEqualis est interim. S. ad Demetr. c. 4. very forcibly in 
 Matth. V. 45. either case. 
 
 ^ S. Paulus ad Coloss. iii. 2. " qui magis vos, &c. I think 
 
 * imprimis dehinc : So in TertuUian has liere used asserere, 
 
 the preceding chapter primo qui- absolutely for asserere manu, or 
 
 dem ut inofficiosa dehinc quod asserere in libertateni, and in the 
 
 nan, &c. The more usual phrase- general sense of defendere, al- 
 
 ology in earlier Latin would be though I cannot quote an instance 
 
 primo deinde. of a parallel expression. Amobius 
 
 ^ c. 31. cum cnim concutitur {i. 11.) has Dii, nisi veMrafuerint 
 
 imperium, iitique et nos in aliquo assertione protecti, idonei nan sunt 
 
 loco casus invenimnr. S. Cyprian qui vnleant, &c. and assertor in 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 143 
 
 XLII. Sed alio quoque injurianim titulo pos- cap. 
 
 tulamur, et infructuosi in negotiis diciraur. Quo 
 
 1 • -I • 1 • 1 • Further, 
 
 pacto^ homines vobiscum degentes, ejusdem victus, you accuse 
 habitus, instructus, eiusdem ad vitam necessitatis ? .worthless 
 
 •^ in the ordi- 
 
 Neque enim Brachmanae aut Indorum gy^^O'SJrof" 
 sophistse sumus, silvicolae et exides vitae. Memini- ^'^^• 
 mus gratiam nos debere deo domino ereatori ; 
 nullum fructum operum ejus repudiamus; plane 
 temperamus, ne ultra modum aut perperam utamur. 
 Itaque non sine foro, non sine macello, non sine 
 balneis, tabernis, officinis, stabulis, nundinis vestris, 
 ceterisque commerciis cohabitamus in hoc seculo. 
 Navigamus et nos vobiscum" et militamus, et rus- 
 ticamur, et mercamur ; proinde^ miscemus artes, 
 operas nostras publicamus usui vestro. Quomodo 
 infructuosi videamur negotiis vestris, cum quibus 
 et de quibus vivimus, non scio. Sed si ceremonias 
 tuas non frequento ; attamen et ilia die homo snm\ 
 Non lavo sub noctem Saturnalibus, ne et noctem 
 
 the simple sense of defensor ^ proinde ; i. e. pariter, as fre- 
 
 occurs both in this writer and quently before in this treatise, 
 
 Lactantius. in dolorem Christi- in c. 9. it is answered by quemad- 
 
 anorum is equivalent to quo modum. miscere artes, I conceive 
 
 Christiani doleant. nempe 'con- means in medium conferre, to 
 
 secutis vobis quod optastis' as c. 49. take advantage of another's hand- 
 
 extr. icraft, and make public your 
 
 XLII. On the general argu- own. 
 
 ment of this chapter, see Ne- ^ et ilia die homo sum ; i. e. I 
 
 ander s Ch. Hist. p. 804. sqq. exist, as a man, like yourselves. 
 
 Vol. I. Mr Rose's translation. and require all the necessaries 
 
 ^ Quo pacto ; sc. infructuosi of life ; and to these I apply the 
 
 esse possumus. produce of your hands if I do not 
 
 ^ vobiscum ; i. e. itidem ac to sacrificial ceremonies. If I 
 
 vos. V. Heyne ad Virg. Eel. ii. purchase your commodities what 
 
 12. though it may be taken in signifies it to you how I use 
 
 the ordinary way. them? 
 
144 TERTULLIANI 
 
 ^A^' et diem perdain ; attamen lavo et debita hora ct 
 
 A. I il 1. 
 
 salubri, quae mihi et calorem et sanguinem servet ; 
 
 rigere et pallere^ post lavacrum mortuus possum. 
 Non in publico Liberalibus discumbo, quod bestia- 
 riis supremam^ coeuantibus mos est; attamen ubi- 
 ubi de copiis tuis coeno. Non emo capiti coronam. 
 Quid tua interest, emptis nihilominus floribus quo- 
 modo utar ? puto gratius liberis et solutis et un- 
 dique vagis ; sed etsi in coronam coactis, nos coro- 
 nam naribus novimus, viderint qui per capillum 
 odorantur '. Spectaculis non convenimus ; quae ta- 
 men apud illos coetus venditantur si desideravero, 
 libentius de suis locis sumam. Thura plane non 
 emimus ; si Arabias queruntur, scient Sabaei pluris 
 et carioris suas merces Christianis sepeliendis pro- 
 fligari% quam diis fumigandis. Certe, inquitis, 
 templorum vectigalia quotidie decoquunt^ stipes 
 
 * rigere et palkre. The Sa- if not in the streets {in publico). 
 turnalia fell in December, and 7 g^^ ^j^jg argument carried 
 
 TertuUian says : I do not certainly ^^^ ^^ Corona militis. Lucian too 
 
 keep your festival by a cold bath j^ Nigrino, i. p. 54. ed. Bip. 
 
 in the middle of winter, for it ,j^^^to Tm> o-Tc^ai/oujuei/a)./ or. 
 
 would but make me cold and ' « ./ -. , / \ i 
 
 ^f] iaa<ri tov a-Tecpavov rov to- 
 pale, and that my last bath of , , ^ , . 
 
 all Will do for me. , „ ^ , „. 
 
 ° supremam caenantibvs. ^ee r a. r ^ 
 
 the commentators on Juv. xi, 20. ^"^^ ^^V H' f^ciXiara exp*!^ ^^rov^ 
 
 and the saying of Diogenes in (rT€(p6<Tdai. On the expression 
 
 c. 39, and compare too a curious novimus see ad fin. c. 38. 
 
 chapter of Livy xxvi. 14, together ^ The same complaint is urged 
 
 with Tacitus (Ann. ii. 81.), who by Pliny to Trajan ; but the 
 
 speaking of the remarkable pro- peculiar satire of Tertullian's 
 
 ceedings in Libo's case, says that reply is worth noticing. 
 
 the accused ipsis quas in novis- ^ decoquunt; 'are dwindling 
 
 simam voluptatem adhibueral epu- away.' This is generally an 
 
 //* excruciatus implored death at active verb, but it is used neu- 
 
 the hands of his slaves ; ubiubi trally by Seneca and by Florus, 
 
 means in some place or other, (Proa?m.extr.) where see the sub- 
 
LIIiER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 145 
 
 CAP. 
 XLII. 
 
 quotusquisque jam jactat. Non [enira] sufficimus 
 
 et hominibus et diis vestris mendicantibus ojfem 
 
 ferre, nee putamus aliis quam petentibus imper- 
 tiendum. Denique porrigat manum Jupiter et 
 accipiat, cum interim plus nostra misericordia 
 insumit vicatim, quam vestra religio templatim. 
 Sed cetera vectigalia gratias Christianis agent ex 
 fide dependentibus debitum, qua alieno fraudando 
 abstinemus, ut, si ineatur quantum publico^'' pereat 
 fraude et mendacio vestrarum professionum, facile 
 ratio haberi possit, unius speciei querela compensata 
 pro^^ commodo ceterarum rationum. 
 
 XLIII. Plane confitebor, quinam, si forte, Weare 
 
 . . . . worthless 
 
 vere de sterilitate^ Christianorum conqueri possint. *« ^^one but 
 Primi erunt lenones, perductores*, aquarioli, tum^"^even 
 
 ency we 
 compensate 
 " compensata pro commodo ; otherwise. 
 
 ject discussed in Duker's note. 
 There can be no doubt, I think, 
 of its neutral use, although from 
 the passage in Pliny there cited 
 (xxxiii. 47.) compared with that 
 from Seneca (Ep. 36.), which was 
 overlooked, decoquere creditoribus 
 appears to have been an ordinary- 
 expression for becoming insol- 
 vent, (see the Excerpt. Senecae) 
 where there is probably an el- 
 lipse of some accusative. With 
 the words pluris et carioris com- 
 pare Pliny H. N. xii. 41. " acerva- 
 tim congesta honori cadaverum quce 
 Diis per singulars micas dantur." 
 
 ^" quantum publico pereat ; 
 publico is a dative and is used 
 elliptically as is alieno; the pro- 
 fessiones of which Tertullian here 
 speaks are almost exactly what 
 we express by our derivative, in 
 the same way as profiteri artern 
 or scientiam aliqnnm is found. 
 
 10 
 
 I agree with Dr Ashton that 
 either pro should be struck out, 
 or it should be changed to cum, 
 as Tertullian himself speaks in 
 the next chapter. The sense is : 
 ' a decrease in one item being set 
 against an improvement in all 
 the others.' 
 
 XLIII. ^ stei'ilitas ; the 
 meaning is, the unproductiveness 
 of the Christians in commercial 
 or pecuniary matters, like the 
 amicus sterilis in Juvenal, xii. 
 
 m. 
 
 ^ perductores ; pa-ducere is 
 often used in this peculiar sense. 
 V. Em. ad Tac. Hist. i. 25. and 
 add the examples Plant. Asin. i. 
 3. 12. Sueton. Tiber, c. 45. Calig. 
 c. 25. venenarii, these professed 
 poisoners are frequently men- 
 tioned under the emperors, aqua- 
 rioli ; >' Ita dicebantur mvlierttm 
 
146 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xuii ®^^^"^» venenarii, magi, item harioli, haruspices, 
 
 mathematici. His infructuosos esse magnus fruc- 
 
 tus est. Et tamen quodcunque dispendiura est 
 rei vestrae per banc sectam, cum aliquo utique 
 praesidio compensari potest. Quanti habetis, non 
 dico qui jam^ de vobis daemonia excutiant, non 
 dico jam qui pro vobis quoque vero deo preces 
 sternant, quia forte non creditis*, sed a quibus 
 nihil timere possitis. 
 Thereat XLIV. At euim illud detrimentum reipub- 
 
 detnment r 
 
 *°^*^yQ^^f ®' licae tam grande quam verum nemo circumspicit, 
 
 iJuS,^*^ illam injuriam civitatis nullus expendit, quum tot 
 
 consfders. justi impcndimur^ quum tot innocentes erogamur^ 
 
 Vestros enim jam con testamur actus, qui quotidie 
 
 judicandis custodiis praesidetis, qui sententiis elogia 
 
 impudicarum sordidi assecks," 
 Festus; a note of Salmasius ad 
 Hist. Aug. II. p. 864. will give 
 almost every apposite passage. 
 Compare Apuleius. Apol. 626. 
 mathematici, v. ad Juv. vi. 562. 
 Tiberius and Vitellius both at- 
 tached the penalty of exile to 
 this profession. 
 
 ' non dico qui jam ; some 
 MSS. transpose the two latter 
 words, and they do appear then 
 better to answer the following 
 clause; but there are repeated 
 instances to be found of such in- 
 volution, preces sternere alicui is 
 like offerre or ante pedes projicere. 
 
 * quiu forte non creditis ; 
 these words are by some omitted, 
 and I am inclined to think 
 rightly ; but if genuine, they 
 apply only to the affirmation 
 contained in the epithet nero. 
 
 XLIV. ^ impendimur ; this 
 
 word is synonymous with era- 
 gamur, it is used in precisely the 
 same sense de Spectac. c. 19. 
 magis competat innocenti dolere, 
 quod homo par ejus tam nocens 
 /actus est, ut tam crudeliter im- 
 pendatur ; i. e. "that his fellow- 
 man should have deserved so 
 cruel a punishment." 
 
 ^ Erogare meant originally to 
 disburse or expend, and was 
 specially applied to any expendi- 
 ture of public money — it here 
 means ewpended or spent, as being 
 put to death. Compare de Praes. 
 Hser. c. 2. Febrem erogando 
 homini deputatam, neque quia est, 
 miramur : est enim : neque quia 
 erogat hominem : ad hoc enim est. 
 and c. 48. of this treatise, non 
 ahsumit {ignis) quod exurit, sed 
 dum erogat, reparat. In modem 
 Spanish an exactly parallel use 
 of the word gastar (to spend) is 
 
LIRER APOLOGETICrjS. 
 
 147 
 
 dispungitisl Tot a vobis nocentes variis criminum 
 elogiis recensentur ; quis illic sicarius, quis man- 
 ticulariusS quis sacrilegus, aut corrupter, aut la- 
 van tium praedo^ idem etiam Christianus adscribi- 
 tur? aut cum Christiani suo titulo ofFeruntur, quis 
 ex illis etiam talis, quales tot nocentes? De ves- 
 tris semper aestuat career, de vestris semper metalla 
 suspirant, de vestris semper bestiae saginantur, de 
 vestris semper munerarii noxiorum greges pascunt. 
 Nemo illic Christianus, nisi hoc tantum, aut si et 
 aliud, jam non Christianus. 
 
 XLV. Nos ergo soli innocentes^ Quid mirum, 
 si necesse est? Enimvero necesse est. Innocen- 
 tiam a deo edocti, et perfecto eam novimus ut a 
 
 CAP. 
 XLIV. 
 
 found, as applied to troops lost 
 in an engagement, and I have 
 seen the same phrase in English 
 writers. In later times of the 
 Roman empire, erogare by a very 
 intelligible transition signified * to 
 disburse money in donatives or 
 largesses,' till at length it becomes 
 synonymous with distribuere ; and 
 erogator is found for the ex- 
 ecutor of a will or deed, L e. 
 as superintending the division of 
 the property; and also for the 
 almoner of an ecclesiastical 
 foundation. Roga occurs in the 
 various senses of a magistrate's 
 salary, a soldier's bounty, or (in 
 ecclesiastical language) a gift 
 from the Pope ad clerum, or a 
 collection of alms. 
 
 ^ senteiitiis elogia dispungerey 
 i. e. "by passing sentence, to 
 strike out from the calendar the 
 name and charge of the crimi- 
 nal," V. c. 2. debito po>neB nocens 
 
 expungendus esty non eximendus. 
 For the word custodiis see the 
 note p. 34. 
 
 * manticularUis. Festus: man- 
 tvculanmi usus pauperibus in 
 nummis recondendis etiam nostro 
 scpculo fuU, unde manticulare di- 
 cebantur qui furandi gratia man- 
 ticulas attractabantf where see 
 Scaliger. inantelia appears in 
 Virgil, corruptor (Juv. i. 77.) is 
 synonymous with perductor above. 
 From the arrangement of the sen- 
 tence, Tertullian appears to be 
 giving instances {varia elogia^ an- 
 tithetically, of grave aiid trivial 
 offences. For offerre, «ee p. 8. 
 
 ^ lavantium prcedo. This was 
 a common character, See any 
 glossary under fur balnearius. 
 
 XLV. ^ The argument is 
 this: We only are the rightful 
 claimants of the virtue of inno- 
 cence; and though you may 
 imagine this exclusive claim both 
 
 10—2 
 
 And we, 
 whom you 
 thus con- 
 demn, are 
 the only 
 characters 
 truly to 
 be called 
 innocent. 
 
148 TERTULLIANI 
 
 XLv.' P^^^"^cto magistro revelatam et fideliter custodimus, 
 
 ut ab incontemptibili dispectore inandatam. Vobis 
 
 Just. 12. autem humana aestimatio innocentiam tradidit ", 
 
 lo. 
 
 humana item dominatio imperavit : inde nee plenae 
 nee adeo timendae estis diseiplinai ad innocentiae 
 veritatem. Quanta^ est prudentia hominis ad de- 
 monstrandum quid vere bonum ? quanta auctoritas 
 ad exigendum? tam ilia falli facilis, quam ista 
 contemni. Atque adeo quid plenius dictum est: 
 non occides, an vero : ne irascaris quidem ? Quid 
 perfectius prohibere adulterium, an etiam ab oculo- 
 rum solitaria concupiscentia arcere? Quid eruditius 
 de maleiicio, an et de maleloquio interdicere ? Quid 
 instructius, injuHam non permittere, an nee vicem 
 injuriae^ sinere? dum tamen sciatis ipsas quoque 
 leges vestras, quae videntur ad innocentiam pergere, 
 de divina lege ut antiquiore formam mutuatas. 
 
 presumptuous and false, yet, in in the expressions plenius, per- 
 point of fact, such is necessarily fecHus, instructius, eruditius. 
 the case from circumstances; quid ^ quanta, i. e. quantula. 
 mirum, si, &c. means ' if the re- * injuria, an aggression ; vices 
 suit is inevitable (as I shall injurice, a retaliation. In the next 
 shew), it cannot be any cause of clause dum tamen introduces a 
 wonder.' kind of parenthetical remark of 
 ^ vobis autem, &c. " Nothing TertuUian, that even the in- 
 has introduced {tradidit) the ferior approximations to ethical 
 virtue of innocence amongst you perfection, for which he had just 
 but human opinion, and nothing been giving the heathens credit, 
 but mere human laws enjoin its were themselves derived from 
 practice, from which circum- Scripture, pergere ad means ' to 
 stance your discipline, as regards tend towards,' like ad elogium 
 the conscientious sincerity of your concurrere, c. 24. The ut in the 
 innocence, is neither so perfect last clause of the sentence con- 
 as ours, nor so terrible (adeo ti- tains an implication of that argu- 
 mendce) in the penalties attached ment from antiquity which I 
 to its infraction." The student have spoken of in the Introduc- 
 should observe the copia verbornm tion. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 149 
 
 Diximus jam de Mosis setate. Sed quanta auc- cap. 
 
 toritas legum humanarum, quum illas et evadere 
 
 homini contingat, et plerumque in admissis deli- 
 tescere, et aliquando contemnere ex voluntate vel 
 necessitate delinqiiendi, recogitata etiam brevitate 
 supplicii cujuslibet, non tamen^ ultra mortem re- 
 mansuri ? Sic et Epicurus omnem cruciatum dolo- 
 remque depretiat^ modicum quidem contempti- 
 bilem pronuntiando, magnum vero non diuturnum. 
 Enimvero nos qui sub deo omnium speculatore 
 dispungimur, quique eeternam ab eo poenam pro- 
 videmus, merito soli innocentiae occurrimus^ et 
 pro scientiae plenitudine, et pro latebrarum diffi- 
 cultate, et pro magnitudine cruciatus non diuturni, 
 verum sempiterni, eum timentes, quem timere de- 
 bebit et ipse qui timentes judicat, deum, non pro- 
 consulem timentes. 
 
 XLVI. Constitimus', ut opinor, adversus om- But you 
 
 •*■ say that our 
 
 nium criminum intentionem, quae Christianorum ^^^^^''e 
 
 ^ simply 
 
 sanguinem flagitat. Ostendimus totum statum ^^hUoso^-*^^ 
 nostrum, et quibus modis probare possimus ita P^Jf^i't^e^'' 
 esse, sicut ostendimus, ex fide scilicet et anti- Jj^^t orour 
 quitate divinarum litterarum, item ex confession e TncfJ^on- 
 
 duct. 
 
 * non tamen ; this refers to The pro m each clause means * as 
 
 cujus lihet, as if it had been regards, with respect to.* scien- 
 
 written, quod suppUcium, sit cujus tics plenitudo I conceive means, 
 
 libeat generis, non tamen, &c. the perfect knowledge we have 
 
 ^ depretiare. This word, I be- of the virtue, its nature, and 
 
 lieve, is almost peculiar to Ter- what it requires from us, (sc. a 
 
 tullian, or, at least, until much Deo edocti) for latebrarum difficul- 
 
 later times. ta^, see de poenit. c. 3. mediocritas 
 
 "" innocentioB occurrimus ; I humana de factis solum judicat 
 
 think Semler's explanation of quia voluntatis latebris par non est. 
 this phrase is good, i. e. quasi XLVI. ^ constitimus. v. c. 4. 
 
 inventam illam soli amplexuri. intentiofiem, c. 27. 
 
150 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XLVI. 
 
 spiritualium potestatum'^ Quis nos revincere au- 
 debit, lion arte verborum, sed eadem forma, qua 
 probationem constituimus de veritate? Sed dum 
 unicuique manifestatiir Veritas nostra, interim in- 
 credulitas, dum de bono sectae hnjus obducitur^ 
 
 * See c. 19—23. a little further 
 down, non arte verborum alludes 
 to practices common enough in 
 the courts of Carthage, which 
 are spoken of in c. 2. of the Intro- 
 duction. 
 
 ^ obducere. I cannot offer any 
 satisfactory explanation of the 
 singular meaning which Ter- 
 tullian gives to* this word; that 
 it is equivalent to refellere, or, 
 to a more favourite expression of 
 his, revincere, is unquestionably 
 shewn by a passage in c, 2. de 
 Resur. Car. Ohducti dekinc de 
 Deo carnis auctore, et de Christo 
 carnis redemptore, jam et de re- 
 surrectione carnis revincentur, con- 
 gruenter scilicet, where revincen- 
 tur is obviously a repetition of 
 the participle in the first clause, 
 the assertion being that a dispu- 
 tant convinced of the two facts, 
 will also be convinced of the 
 third. The de simply means ' on 
 the point of,' as in the text. But 
 through what transition or meta- 
 phor obducere obtained this force, 
 I cannot tell. It occurs fre- 
 quently enough, and in the active 
 as well as the passive voice. 
 Semler seems to imagine that in 
 the concluding chapter of this 
 Apology it is used in a different 
 sense, viz. that of expiingere, and 
 that it is a metaphor similarly 
 taken from the taWets. The 
 
 glossary of Ducange says that 
 in the African writers it means 
 obfuseare, violare, kedere, which 
 significations are traceable enough, 
 but no African writer is quoted 
 there except Tertullian, and no 
 passages which warrant the in- 
 terpretation given. If its signi- 
 fication is really uniform in all 
 passages where it occurs, I should 
 be inclined to explain it by ear- 
 pungere, or at all events to con- 
 nect it with that idea, as if used 
 to express the striking out of 
 one item from a series. Cbmp. 
 the beginmng of c. 19. de Car. 
 Chr. 
 
 The argument of the text i»: 
 ' But their incredulity, although 
 convinced on the score of the 
 practical utility of our doctrines, 
 which indeed is now well known 
 even from the ordinary trans- 
 actions of life, stm denies the 
 divinity of their source, and con- 
 siders us simply as a new philo- 
 sophical school.' The allusion 
 here is to the very remarkable 
 fact (of which we have other 
 record besides this passage) that 
 even during the keenest perse- 
 cution of the Christians, their 
 integrity in their dealings was 
 acknowledged and made useful. 
 And the difference between them 
 and the philosophers, which very 
 early appeared, was this, that 
 
LIBER APOJLOGETICUS. 161 
 
 quod Usui jam et de commercio innotuit, non uti- cap. 
 que divinum negotium existimat, sed magis philo- 
 
 sophiae genus. Eadem, inquit, et philosophi monent Just 
 
 . .... . . XXVIU. 
 
 et prontentur, mnocentiam, justitiam, patientiam, 
 sobrietatem, pudicitiam. Cur ergo quibus compara- 
 mur de disciplina, proinde illis non adaequamur ad 
 licentiam impunitatemque disciplinae? vel cur et 
 illi ut pares nostri non urgentur ad officia, quae nos 
 non obeuntes periclitamur ? Quis enim philoso- 
 phum sacrificare, aut dejerare, aut lucernas meridie 
 vanas prostituere compellit? Quin imo et deosJust. iv. 
 vestros palam destruunt, et superstitiones vestras 
 commentariis quoque accusant, laudantibus vobis*. 
 Plerique etiam in principes latrant sustinentibus 
 vobis. Et facilius statuis et salariis^ remunerantur, 
 quam ad bestias pronuntiantur. Sed merito; philo- 
 sophi enim non Christiani cognominantur. Nomen 
 hoc philosophorum daemonia non fugat. Quidni, 
 quum secundum deos philosophi daemonas depu- 
 tent ? Socratis vox est : si deemonium permittat. 
 Idem et quum aliquid de veritate sapiebat, deos 
 
 their practice accorded with their bus vobis. Cybele pastorem sus- 
 
 precepts, whereas the contrary pirat non erubescentibus vobis. It 
 
 was most notoriously the case in is preserved also in the tract ad 
 
 allthe schools of morality. Lactan- Nationes. 
 
 tins applies an entire chapter (D. ^ salariis. Pliny (xxxi. 7.) 
 
 I. III. 16.) to these considerations, gives a derivation of this word ; 
 
 and Seneca (de Vit. Beat. c. 18.) Sal honoribus etiam militiaque 
 
 in meeting the same argument, interponitur^ salariis inde dictis, 
 
 excuses very ingeniously what he magna apud antiquos auctoritate, 
 
 cannot contradict. The word occurs in Seneca and 
 
 ^ laudantibus vobis susti- Suetonius, pronuntiantur ; the 
 
 nentibus vobis. See the same absolute use of this word for 
 
 artificial disposition of words in pronuntiare sententiam occurred 
 
 c. 15. Luget Sol filium ketanti- twice in c. 2. 
 
152 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. negans, iEsculapio tamen gallinaceum prosecari jam 
 
 in fine*^ jubebat, credo ob honorera patris ejus, quia 
 
 Socratem Apollo sapientissimum omnium cecinit. 
 O Apollinem inconsideratum ! Sapientiae testimo- 
 nium reddidit ei viro, qui negabat deos esse. In 
 quantum odium" flagrat Veritas, in tantum qui earn 
 ex fide praestat offendit; qui autem adulterat et 
 afFectat, hoc maxime nomine gratiam pangit apud 
 insectatores veritatis. Mimice philosophi afFectant 
 veritatem et afFectando corrumpunt, ut qui gloriam 
 captant: Christiani eam necessario appetunt et in- 
 tegre praestant, ut qui saluti suae curant^ Adeo 
 neque de scientia neque de disciplina, ut putatis, 
 aequamur. Quid enim Thales ille princeps physi- 
 corum sciscitanti Croeso de divinitate certum re- 
 nuntiavit, commeatus deliberandi saepe frustratus^? 
 Deum quilibet opifex Christianus et invenit et os- 
 tendit et exinde totum, quod in deo quaeritur, re 
 quoque assignat; licet Plato affirmet factitatorem 
 universitatis neque inveniri facilem et inventum 
 
 " in fine; i. e. jam morte rans, and Apuleius (Apol. 420.) 
 pra;sente, as de Anim. c. 1. Taci- solis hominibus, et eorum paucis 
 tus uses the verb; sic Tiberius curare. Dr Ashton quotes in- 
 finivit. The expression has been stances of this regimen from 
 illustrated by Perizonius ad Valer. Plautus, and, by a most extra- 
 Max. II. 6. 7. A little afterwards ordinary misconception, adds Hor. 
 testimonium reddidit is simply Epist. i. 2. 49. Non animo curas, 
 equivalent to testifiA:atas est, probably quoting from memory, 
 though we had it with a veiy * commeatus seepe frustratus ; 
 different meaning in c. 14. i.e. "having repeatedly frustrated 
 
 ^ odium. Dr Ashton would (employed unsuccessfully) the 
 
 read odio, so as to make in quan- delays that were granted him." 
 
 turn merely answer to in tantum, For commeatus see c. 32. divi- 
 
 1 think, correctly. nitas in this passage means divi- 
 
 * saiuti sua; curant. So de nity in the abstract, as I have 
 
 Cult. Fcem. c. ]. nffectionij)rocu- explained divinitas vestra in p. 90. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 153 
 
 eiiarrari in omnes^" difficilem. Ceteriim si de pu- car 
 
 dicitia provocemus, lego partem sententiae Atticae 
 
 in Socratem corruptorem adolescentium pronuntia- 
 tam. Sexum nee femineum miitat Christianus. 
 Novi et Phrynen meretricem Diogenis supra recu- 
 bantis ardori subantem. Audio et quendam Speu- 
 sippum de Platonis schola in adulterio periisse. 
 Christianus uxori suae soli masculus nascitur. De- 
 mocritus excaecando semetipsum, quod mulieres sine 
 concupiscentia aspicere non posset, et doleret, si 
 non esset potitus, incontinentiam emendatione pro- 
 fitetur. At Christianus salvis oculis feminam videt, 
 animo adversus libidinem caecus est. Si de pro- 
 bitate defendam, ecce lutulentis pedibus Diogenes 
 superbos Platonis toros alia superbia deculcat : 
 Christianus nee in pauperem superbit. Si de mo- 
 destia certem, ecce Pythagoras apud Thurios, Zeno 
 apud Prienenses tyrannidem affectant : Christianus 
 vero nee aedilitatem^'. Si de animi aequitate con- 
 grediar, Lycurgus diroKapTeprjaiv optavit, quod leges 
 ejus Lacones emendassent : Christianus etiam dam- 
 natus gratias agit. Si de fide comparem, Anaxa- 
 goras depositum hospitibus denegavit: Christianus 
 
 ^^ enarrari in omnes, to be ex- antithetically to tyrannidem. This 
 plained to the multitude. This office — or at least a municipal 
 is in allusion to the esoteric aedileship, which must be that 
 and exoteric doctrines of the Pla- with which TertuUian was fa- 
 tonic school. In all writings miliar, — seems to have had some- 
 of the Platonists, especially on thing peculiarly^ contemptible 
 this point, the ireirailevixevoi and ridiculous in it to ancient 
 and the ox^o^; are constantly eyes, and is often quoted as a 
 contrasted. The in is the ek proverbial burlesque of official 
 
 rank. See Juv. x. 102. Persius. 
 I. 130. 
 
 7rai/Ta9. 
 
 " nee cedilitatem ; opposed 
 
154 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XLVI. 
 
 etiam extra'' fidelis vocatur. Si de simplicitate^^ con- 
 sistam, Aristoteles familiarem suum Hermiam tur- 
 piter loco excedere fecit : Christianus nee inimicum 
 suum laedit. Idem Aristoteles tam turpiter Alex- 
 andro regendo potius'* adulatur, quam Plato Dio- 
 nysio ventris gratia veiiditatur. Aristippus in pur- 
 pura sub magna gravitatis superficie nepotatur^^ et 
 Hippias, dum civitati insidias disponit, occiditur. 
 Hoc pro suis omni atrocitate dissipatis nemo un- 
 quam Christianus tentavit. Sed dicet aliquis, etiam 
 de nostris excedere quosdam a regula disciplinae; 
 desinunt tum Christiani haberi penes nos, philo- 
 sophi vero illi cum talibus factis^^ in nomine et 
 
 " etiam esctra ; i. e. erga ex- 
 teros. Even amongst those be- 
 tween whom and himself there is 
 no bond of union. So in c. 7. 
 they who are not Christians are 
 termed extranei. As also in c. 31. 
 
 ^' Simplicitas ; the example 
 given shews that this word here 
 is intended to mean humility and 
 modesty of character. 
 
 " regendo potius. i. e. quem 
 potius oportebat ab eo regi. the 
 words must be closely connected ; 
 compare ponendus, Juv. iii. 56. 
 venditatur — "venalis est." Semi. 
 I cannot help thinking that Ter- 
 tuUian is using this word in a de- 
 ponent sense, and that it contains 
 something like the phrase vendi- 
 tare ohsequium, which occurs in 
 Livy's story of the Bacchanalia. 
 I take this opportunity of re- 
 marking, that Semler in his Lexi- 
 con interprets the expression 
 facinora rendidit, which occurred 
 p. 25, as accepto pretio celavit, 
 
 which, as the reader will see on 
 referring, is very diiferent from 
 my translation of it in the note. 
 In defence of my own explana- 
 tion I observe, that Semler's idea 
 is already contained in the word 
 celavit, to which Tertullian m 
 evidently opposing another pro- 
 ceeding, aut vendidit; besides this, 
 the ipsos trahens homines shews 
 that not concealment but expo- 
 sure is spoken of. The Vulgate 
 has the same expression. Act. 
 Apost. viii. 3. Saulus autem de- 
 vastabat Ecclesiam, per domos 
 intrans, et trahens viros ac mu- 
 lieres, tradebat in custodiam. 
 
 ^' nepotari, i. e. nepotem age- 
 re ; compare the use of juvtmari, 
 Hor. Ep. ad Pis. 246. In the 
 following words the point of the 
 sentence is contained in the pa- 
 renthetical clause, dum... disponit. 
 
 " cum talibus factis, i. e. not- 
 withstanding, in spite of such 
 conduct. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 155 
 
 in honore sapientiae perseverant apud vos. Quid ^ap^- 
 
 adeo simile philosophus et Christianus, Graeciae dis- 
 
 cipulus et coeli, famae negotiator et salutis, verborum 
 et factorum operator, rerum aedificator et destructor, 
 interpolator erroris et integrator veritatis, furator 
 ejus et custos. 
 
 XL VII. Adhuc^ enim mihi proficit antiquitas Even the 
 praestructa divinae litteraturae, quo facile credatur tion to 
 
 ^ ^ ... . . truth which 
 
 thesaurum earn fuisse posteriori cuique sapientiae. phiioso- 
 
 ^ ^ *■ ^ phersmake, 
 
 Et si non onus jam voluminis temperarem -, etiam J^ o«^»°.g ^o 
 
 *' * our scrip- 
 
 excurrerem in banc quoque probationem. Quis poe- ^0^^^^^^^^ 
 tarum, quis sophistanim, qui non de propbetarum 
 fonte potaverit? Inde igitur pbilosopbi sitim in- 
 genii sui rigaverunt ; nam quia quaedam de nostris 
 babent, ea propter nos comparant^ illis. Inde, opi- 
 nor, et a quibusdam pbilosopbia legibus quoque 
 ejecta est, a Thebanis dico, a Spartiatis et Argivis. 
 Dum ad nostra conantur et bomines gloriaeS ut 
 diximus, et eloquentiae solius libidinosi, si quid in 
 Sanctis ofFenderunt digestis, exinde regestum pro 
 institute curiositatis ad propria verterunt, neque 
 satis credentes divina esse, quo minus interpolarent, 
 neque satis intelligentes, ut adbuc tunc subnubila, 
 etiam ipsis Judaeis obumbrata, quorum propria vi- 
 
 XLVII. ^ Adhuc enim, &c. hanc probationem ; * I should run 
 " For, in proving what I have out into a proof of this assertion;' 
 advanced, the superior antiquity — another reading is hdc pro- 
 of the Scriptures which I before babatione, which would mean : 
 established, is a serviceable argu- " I should, in establishing this 
 ment to me." proof, make a considerable di- 
 
 ^ onus temperare. In earlier gression." 
 Latin this would more probably ^ comparant ; sc. nationes. 
 
 have been vrieri ; but the accu- * homines gloritB ut diximus ; 
 
 sative is like temperare sumtus, compare the whole sentence in 
 
 annonam, &c. Excurrerem in c. 19. glorice homines j &c. 
 
156 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XLVII. 
 
 debantur. Nam^ et si qua simplicitas erat veritatis, 
 eo magis scrupulositas humana fidem aspernata mu- 
 tabat, per quod in iucertum miscuerunt etiam quod 
 invenerant certum. Invento enim solummodo Deo, 
 adeo non, ut invenerant, disputaverunt, ut de qua- 
 litate et de natura ejus et de sede disceptent. Alii 
 incorporalem asseverant, alii corporalem, qua^ Pla- 
 tonici, qua et Stoici ; alii ex atomis, alii ex nu- 
 
 ° Nam et : The word mutahat 
 in this sentence is by many read 
 nutabat ; the meaning is as fol- 
 lows : For, even where the truth 
 was stated in the most simple 
 language, the natural sophistry 
 of man, despising humble faith, 
 changed it (or, perplexed itself 
 with doubts), through which pro- 
 ceeding they confused with the 
 doubtful doctrines even what 
 they found perfectly clear. 
 
 The succeeding sentence I 
 have read from Dr Ashton's con- 
 jecture, who takes invento Deo 
 from ad Nat. ii. 2, and conceives 
 that the adeo was lost in the pre- 
 ceding Deo. His emendation, at 
 all events, gives a tractable pas- 
 sage, which can hardly be said 
 of the old text ; " Inventum enim 
 solummodo Deum non ut invene- 
 rant disputaverunt, ut, &c." The 
 tense of disceptent refers to the 
 actual present practice, (so asse- 
 verant just after) and the pre- 
 ceding perfects may be taken 
 aoristically. solummodo means: 
 After finding in the scriptures 
 God solely, revealed as such, with- 
 out any of those attributes con- 
 cerning which they were inquisi- 
 tive, &C. 
 
 * qua Platonici, &c. This 
 sentence does not appear to be 
 very satisfactorily constructed, 
 but though the periods might be 
 made to harmonize with but 
 little alteration, yet it is hardly 
 safe to attempt it. Dr Ashton 
 suggests the omission of qua 
 before Stoici, so that the sentence 
 would run, alii incorporalem asse- 
 verant, alii corporalem, qua Pla- 
 tonici et Stoici; alii ex atomis, 
 alii ex numeris, qua Epicurus et 
 Pythagoras; but I think the 
 double use of qua makes the real 
 meaning more perspicuous, which, 
 it may be observed, is not, that 
 Platonists and Stoics asserted each 
 both facts, but that philosophers 
 held the incorporal, or corporal, 
 nature of the Deity, according 
 as they were Platonists or Stoics, 
 respectively. I should rather 
 prefer the addition of qua before 
 et Pythagoras. There seems too, 
 a little variation in the exact 
 sense of qua as the text now 
 stands; in the first clause, qua 
 Platonici, &c. it is evidently qua 
 tenus, like qua homines, p. 110. 
 (where sec note) ; but in the 
 next, qua Epicurus, it appears 
 equivalent to qucmadmodum. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 157 
 
 meris, qua Epicurus et Pythagoras; alii ex igne, ^^^^j 
 qua Heraclito visum est; et Platonici quidem cu- 
 rantem rerum ; contra Epicurei otiosum et iuex- 
 ercitum, et ut ita dixerim, neminem' Immanis 
 rebus ; positum vero extra muudum Stoici, qui 
 figuli modo extrinsecus torqueat molem banc; intra 
 mundum Platonici, qui gubernatoris exemplo intra 
 illud maneat, quod regat. Si et de ipso mundo natus 
 innatusve sit% decessurus mansurusve sit, variant ; 
 sic et de animae statu, quam alii divinam et ajter- 
 nam, alii dissolubilem contendunt: ut quis sensit, 
 ita et intulit aut reformavit^ Nee mirmn, si vetus 
 instrumentum ingenia philosopborum interverterunt. 
 Ex horum semine et nostram banc novitiolam pa- 
 raturam'° viri quidam suis opinionibus ad pbiloso- 
 
 ' neminem humanis rebus ; 
 others read in humanis, but not 
 correctly. The case is the dative, 
 and similar to the illi in c. 34. 
 where see the note. The images 
 mfigulus and gubernator are those 
 of a potter guiding his wheel 
 from some position external to 
 it, {extrinsecus) ; and of a pilot 
 steering his vessel from a point 
 within it. 
 
 " natus innatusve, decessurus 
 mansurusve; These terms are 
 equivalent to the nativus and 
 mortalis of Lucretius ; decessurus 
 means exitum habiturus. 
 
 ^ ut quis sensit, &c. i. e. " Ac- 
 cording to the individual con- 
 clusion which each man comes to, 
 he introduces {intulit) a fresh 
 theory, or remodels an old one." 
 
 ^^ novitiolam paraturam ; I 
 have before remarked (note p. 
 
 58.) on the convertibility of the 
 terms instrumentum and para- 
 tura, which are here used with 
 their respective epithets for the 
 Old and New Testaments. "It 
 is no wonder," says Tertullian, 
 "if the philosophers perverted 
 the Old Testament {vetus instru- 
 mentum), for men of the same 
 class {mri ex horum semine) have 
 distorted this our New Testa- 
 ment {nostrum hanc novitiolam 
 paraturam) to make it agree with 
 philosophical doctrines {ad philo- 
 sophicas sententias). Tertullian 
 frequently asserts in his polemical 
 writings that the Gnostics and 
 other heretics of that class owe 
 their birth to philosophy ; in one 
 passage he terms the philoso- 
 phers htereticorum patriarcfios. 
 As regards the letter of the text, 
 novitius, of which novitiolus is a 
 
158 TERTULLIAM 
 
 XLVii. P^^c^s sententias adulteraverunt, et de una via 
 
 — obljquos multos tramites et inexplicabiles scide- 
 
 runt. Quod ideo suggesserim, ne cui nota varietas 
 sectaB hujus in hoc quoque nos philosophis adae- 
 quare videatur, et ex varietate defensionum judicet 
 veritatem. Expedite autem praescribimus adulteris 
 nostris, illam esse regulam veritatis, quae veniat a 
 Christo, transmissa per comitcs ipsius, quibus ali- 
 quanto posteriores diversi isti commentatores pro- 
 babuntur. Omnia adversus veritatem de ipsa veri- 
 tate constructa sunt, operantibus aemulationem istam 
 spiritibus erroris. Ab his adulteria hujusmodi sa- 
 lutaris disciplinae suborn ata ; ab his quaedam etiam 
 fabulae immissae, quae de similitudine fidem infir- 
 marent veritatis^', vel eam sibi potius evincerent, 
 ut quis ideo non putet Christianis credendum, quia 
 nee poetis, nee philosophis, vel ideo magis poetis et 
 philosophis existimet credendum, quia non Chris- 
 tianis. Itaque et ridemur deum praedicantes judi- 
 
 diminutive, occurs in Plautus, from the corruptions of philo- 
 
 and the young student may sophy; and that therefore the 
 
 observe that in late writers, and diiferences existing both in the 
 
 especially in the African Latinity, one and the other were not of 
 
 diminutives are used in profusion the same nature, and could not 
 
 without implying any difference be compared. On the objections 
 
 from the original word. Apu- of this kind compare Origen, c. 
 
 leius seems sometimes almost to Cels. Lib. v. and vi. pp. 273, 282, 
 
 confine himself to them. ed. Cantab. 
 
 Tn the succeeding sentence " quts de similitudine, &c. i. e. 
 
 {Quod ideo suggesserim, &c.) the which should lessen the credit 
 
 argument appears to be this: of truth from their own simi- 
 
 That experience had shewn the larity to it (as if necessarily 
 
 doctrines of philosophy to be either both or neither were credi- 
 
 essentially discordant and multi- ble), or rather, should put in an 
 
 form ; but that the principles of exclusive claim to it. Compare 
 
 dissent were not intrinsic to the opening of the treatise adv. 
 
 Christianity, but derived in fact Prax. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 159 
 
 caturum. Sic enim et poetae et philosophi tribunal cap. 
 
 apud inferos ponunt. Si gehennam commmemur, 
 
 quae est ignis arcani subterraneus ad poenam the- 
 saurus, proinde decachinnamur. Sic enim et Py- 
 riphlegethon apud mortuos amnis est. Et si 
 paradisum nominemus, locum divinae amoenitatis 
 recipiendis sanctorum spiritibus destinatum, maceria 
 quadam igneas illius zonae a notitia orbis commu- 
 nis segregatum, Elysii cam pi fidem occupaverunt^^ 
 Unde haec, ore vos, philosophis aut poetis tam con- 
 similia? non nisi de nostris sacramentis: si^^ de 
 nostris sacramentis, ut de prioribus, ergo fideliora 
 sunt nostra, magisque credenda, quorum imagines 
 quoque fidem inveniunt ; si de suis sensibus, jam 
 ergo sacramenta nostra imagines posterioruin ha- 
 bebuntur, quod rerum forma non sustinet ; nunquam 
 enim corpus umbra aut veritatem imago praecedit. 
 
 XLVIII. Age jam, si quis philosophus affirmet, Yet you 
 ut ait Laberius de sententia Pythagorae, hominem J^vjgjof^ 
 fieri ex mulo, colubram ex muliere, et in eam opi- {[^"^^^s'"* 
 nionem omnia argumenta eloquii^ virtute detorserit, t^oigh 
 nonne consensum movebit et fidem infiget etiam S of the 
 ab animalibus abstinendi ? proptereaque persuasum tfoTof the 
 quis hoc habeat, ne forte bubulam de aliquo proavo ° ^' 
 
 " occupare is used in its pecu- if from the later, we must con- 
 liar sense, ' to anticipate/ elude our ideas (of earlier date) 
 
 ^ si de nostris, &c. The to be copies of theirs (of later 
 argument is this : the poets date), which is absurd, and in- 
 derived these ideas either from consistent with the nature of 
 our doctrines, or their own in- things {quod rerum forma non 
 ventions ; if from the former, sustinet). 
 
 they are later than ours, and XLVIII. ^ eloquii, the geni- 
 
 therefore if they find credit as tive depends on virtute. propte- 
 
 copies (adumbrations, imagines) reaque persuasum, i. e. propterea 
 
 a fortiori should ours as originals ; sc. ne obsonet. 
 
 you 
 
160 
 
 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. 
 XLVIII. 
 
 suo obsonet. At enim Christianus, si de liomine 
 hominem ipsumque de Caio Caium reducem repro- 
 mittat, lapidibus niagis, nee saltern^ calcibus a 
 populo exigetur? Quasi^ noii, quaecunque ratio 
 praeest animarum humanarum in corpora^ recipro- 
 candarum, ipsa exigat illas in eadem corpora revo- 
 cari; quia hoc est revocari, id esse quod fuerant. 
 Nam si non id sunt, quod fuerant, id est, huma- 
 num^ et id ipsum corpus indutae, jam non ipsa? 
 erunt, quae fuerant. Porro quae jam non erunt ipsae, 
 quomodo rediisse dicentur? Aut, aliud factas, non 
 erunt ipsae, aut, manentes ipsae, non erunt aliunde. 
 Multis etiam jocis et otio opus erit, si velimus 
 ad banc partem lascivire, quis in quam bestiam re- 
 form ari videretur. Sed de nostra magis defensione* 
 
 ^ nee saltern calcibus^ i. e. " if 
 not with kicks." 
 
 ^ Quasi non. *As if, what- 
 ever argument there was for the 
 re-incarnation of souls, the same 
 did not necessarily demand the 
 identity of the body.' 
 
 * in corpora, i. e. in corpora 
 quselibet. 
 
 * humanumet id ipsum corpus; 
 humanum as opposed to the Py- 
 thagorean theory of promiscuous 
 transmigration, id ipsum as op- 
 posed to those who would con- 
 fine the metempsychosis to hu- 
 manity, but not insist on the 
 identity of the flesh. 
 
 " non erunt aliunde; In the 
 foregoing sentence the case is 
 stated thus; that the very idea 
 of the resurrection of the soul 
 implies necessarily its resurrection 
 with its own body, inasmuch as 
 
 the two facts are inseparable; 
 "for either, having migrated 
 (aliud facta:) they will not be 
 the animcB in question and there- 
 fore cannot be said to have risen 
 again at all, or, being identical 
 (manentes ipsce) they will not be 
 derived from any other individual 
 (aliunde)." The whole of this 
 passage exists with readings too 
 various to be the result of acci- 
 dent, and seems to confirm the 
 hypothesis previously mentioned, 
 that there was a double edition of 
 the Apology. 
 
 ^ Sed de nostra magis defensi- 
 one ; i. e. " But (instead of luxu- 
 riating in fancy) to return to our 
 own proper defence ;" — I have 
 adopted the punctuation given 
 above from a suggestion of Dr 
 Ashton's. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 161 
 
 qui proponimus, (multo utique dignius credi,) ho- xlvhi 
 minem ex homine rediturum, quemlibet pro quo- 
 libet, dum hominera, ut eadem qualitas animae in 
 eandem restauretur coiiditionem, etsi non effigiem ; 
 certe, quia ratio^ restitutionis destinatio judicii est, 
 necessario idem ipse qui fuerat exhibebitur, ut boni 
 seu contrarii meriti judicium a deo referat. Ideo- 
 que repraesentabuntur et corpora, quia neque pati 
 quicquam potest anima sola sine stabili materia, id 
 est carne ; et quod omnino de judicio dei pati de- 
 bent animae, non sine carne meruerunt, intra quam 
 omnia egerunt. Sed quomodo, inquis, dissoluta 
 materia exhiberi potest? Considera temetipsum, 
 o homo, et fidem rei invenies. Recogita quid 
 fueris, antequam esses: utique nihil; meminisses^ J^^st. 25. 
 enim, si quid fuisses. Qui ergo nihil fueras, pri- 
 usquam esses, idem nihil factus quum esse desieris, 
 cur non possis esse rursus de nihilo ejusdem ipsius 
 auctoris voluntate, qui te voluit esse de nihilo? 
 Quid novi tibi eveniet ? qui non eras, factus es ; 
 quum iterum non eris, fies. Redde si potes rati- 
 onem, qua factus es, et tunc require, qua fies. Et 
 tamen facilius utique fies, quod fuisti aliquando, 
 
 ' certe quia ratio, &c. The in the second book of Amobius. 
 
 meaning of this clause seems to It is hardly necessary to direct 
 
 be that the resurrection of the attention to the eloquence of the 
 
 identical body was a condition of succeeding passage, considera te- 
 
 the future judgment. In c. 4. de metipsum, &c. 
 
 Test. An. Tertullian says, nulla ^ meminisses. There is pos- 
 
 ratio sit judicii, sine ipsius exM- sibly some allusion to the Pla- 
 
 bitione qui meruit judicii passio- tonic theory, alluded' to also by 
 
 nem. The subject will be found Amobius in the passage above 
 
 treated of in the tract de Resurr. quoted. 
 Camis, and somewhat differently 
 
 11 
 
162 TERTULLIANI 
 
 XLvm ^"^^ ^^"^ ^^^" difficile ^^ factus es, quod nunquam 
 — fuisti aliquando. Dubitabitur, credo, de dei viribus, 
 qui tan turn corpus hoc mundi de eo quod non 
 fuerat, non minus quam de morte vacationis et 
 inanitatis composuit", animatum spiritu omnium 
 animarum animatore, sign at um et per ipsum human ae 
 resurrectionis exemplum in testimonium vobis. Lux 
 quotidie interfecta resplendet, et tenebrae pari vice 
 decedendo^^ succedunt, sidera defuncta reviviscunt, 
 tempora ubi finiuntur, incipiunt, fructus consumun- 
 tur et redeunt; certe semina non nisi corrupta et 
 dissoluta fecundius surgunt^^? omnia pereundo ser- 
 vantur, omnia de interitu reformantur. Tu homo, 
 tantum nomen, si intelligas te, vel de titulo Py- 
 thiae discens, dominus omnium morientium et re- 
 surgentium ad hoc morieris, ut pereas ? Ubicunque 
 resolutus fueris", quaecunque te materia destrux- 
 erit, hauserit, aboleverit, in nihilum prodegerit, 
 reddet te. Ejus^^ est nihilum ipsum, cujus et to- 
 tum. Ergo, inquitis, semper moriendum erit, et 
 semper resurgendum. Si ita rerum dominus des- 
 
 ^" csque 7wn difficile ; there means 'go and come,' as if it had 
 
 appears to be no doubt about this been * postquam decesserint, suc- 
 
 reading, and yet it can scarcely cedunt rursus/ 
 
 be correct; Dr Ashton suggests ^^ 1 Cor. xv. 36. Insipiens, 
 
 a very good emendation in the tu quod semiuas, non vivificatur, 
 
 margin ; quia aque, quod diffici- nisi moriatur. 
 
 lius, &c. but adds that he would ^* Ubicunque resolutus fueris ; 
 
 rather totally reject the words as i. e. " into whatever substance 
 
 a gloss. The argument itself, you may have been resolved." 
 
 plus est fecisse quam refecisse, has The expression is common in 
 
 been repeatedly urged by the Lucretius. 
 
 Fathers. ^^ ejus est nihilum'; " That 
 
 " Terra autem ernt inanis et nothing itself just spoken of, is 
 
 vacua. under the dominion of the same 
 
 ^^ decedendo succedunt merely Master as is the universe." 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 163 
 
 tinasset, ingratis experieris conditionis'^ tuae legem. 
 At nunc non aliter destinavit, quam praedicavit. 
 Quae ratio universitatem ex diversitate composuit, 
 ut omnia ex aemulis substantiis sub unitate con- 
 starent ex vacuo et solido, ex animali et inanimali, 
 ex comprehensibili et incomprehensibili, ex luce 
 et tenebris, ex ipsa vita et morte : eadem aevum ^ ' 
 quoque ita destinata ac distincta conditione con- 
 seruit, ut prima haec pars ab exordio rerum, quam 
 incolimus, temporali aetate ad finem defluat, sequens 
 vero, quam expectamus, in infinitam asternitatem 
 propagetur. Quum ergo finis et limes medius, qui 
 interhiat, affuerit, ut etiam mundi ipsius species 
 transferatur aeque temporalis, quae illi dispositioni 
 aeternitatis aulaei vice oppansa est : tunc restituetur 
 
 CAP. 
 XLVIII. 
 
 ^^ conditionis tuce legem ; " the 
 law of your creation," see note, 
 p. 63. 
 
 ^^ eadem (Bvum, &c. The ex- 
 pression cevum here is not like 
 seculum in c. 26. but impKes the 
 whole space included both in this 
 life and the future, of which the 
 prima hcec pars (i. e. Sfsculum) is 
 finite, and the sequens pars infi- 
 nite, and the distincta conditio is 
 in the ordinary sense of the 
 substantive, and not that occur- 
 ring above. As there is some 
 little difficulty in the passage I 
 subjoin a general paraphrase : 
 " That Reason which called forth 
 Unity out of Discord, and the 
 Universe out of Chaos, created 
 also Time under these laws, viz. 
 that its first division, which we 
 are spending, dating from the 
 beginning of the world, should 
 
 be finite and run rapidly to its 
 close, and that its second, which 
 we look for, should be eternal. 
 When therefore the boundary 
 gulf which yawns between these 
 two periods, shall have arrived, 
 and the time too for the passing 
 away {transferatur : so Vulg. cce- 
 lum et terra transibunt, S. Matth. 
 xxiv. 35.) of this world, which is 
 no less mortal than ourselves, 
 but is hung like a drop-scene 
 before the system of eternity — 
 then shall mankind be restored 
 to render a lasting account of 
 their deeds." Tertullian's de- 
 scription of ovum here is some- 
 thing analogous to that of vita 
 mentioned by Lucan (i. 457.) as 
 believed by the Druids, 
 
 longae (canitis si cog-nita) vit« 
 
 Mors media est. 
 
 11—2 
 
164 TERTULLIANI 
 
 CAP. omne humanum genus ad expungendum, quod in 
 
 isto aevo boni seu mali meruit, et exin dependen- 
 
 dum in immensam aeternitatis perpetuitatem. Ideo- 
 que nee mors jam, nee rursus ac rursus resurrectio, 
 sed erimus iidem qui nunc, nee alii post: dei qui- 
 dem cultores apud deum semper, superinduti sub- 
 stantia propria aeternitatis ; profani vero et qui non 
 integri ad deum'% in poena seque jugis ignis, 
 habentis ex ipsa natura ejus, divina scilicet, sub- 
 ministrationem incorruptibilitatis. Noverunt et 
 philosophi diversitatem arcani et publici ignis. Ita 
 longe alius est qui usui humano, alius qui judicio 
 dei apparet, sive de coelo fulmina stringens, sive 
 de terra per vertices montium eructans ; non enim 
 absumit, quod exurit, sed dum erogat, reparat. 
 Adeo manent montes semper ardentes'^ et qui de 
 coelo tangitur, salvus est, ut nuUo jam igni deci- 
 nerescat. Et hoc erit testimonium ignis aeterni, 
 hoc exemplum jugis judicii poenam nutrientis : 
 montes uruntur et durant. Quid nocentes et dei 
 hostes ? 
 JoTrthem XLIX. Haec sunt, quae in nobis solis prae- 
 cuteu?r sumptiones vocantur, in philosophis et poetis sum- 
 
 whereas in ... ^ . . . . . ^,,. . 
 
 anycasewe niae scicutiae et insignia ingenia. llli prudentes, 
 
 can have . • -it i t • • i t • 
 
 deserved no uos luepti, illi honoraudi, uos imdcudi, imo eo 
 
 ^'* integri ad deum ; i. e. apud, stent, aut idem sibi de die sperent. 
 
 as often in earlier writers. S. Dissiliunt superhissimi montcif 
 
 Luc. i. 6. erant autem ambo justi ignis intrinsecus fetu, et quod 
 
 ante Deum. nobis judicii perpetuitatem probat, 
 
 ^^ de Poenit. c. 12. Quid ilium cum dissiliant, cum devorentur, 
 
 tftesaurum ignis ceterni cestimu- nunquam tamen finiuntur. The 
 
 mus cumfumariola qucedam ejus word erogare has been explained 
 
 tales Jlammarum ictus suscitent ut in p. 146. 
 proximce urbes aut jam nulla ex- 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 165 
 
 CAP. 
 XLIX. 
 
 more severe 
 
 amplius et puniendi. Falsa nunc sint quae tuemur, 
 et merito praesumptiones, attamen necessaria; in- 
 epta, attamen utilia ; si quidem meliores fieri co- visitation 
 guntur ^ qui eis credunt, metu aeterni supplicii et ^"'^• 
 spe aeterni refrigerii. Itaque non expedit falsa dici, 
 nee inepta haberi, quae expedit vera praesumi. Nullo 
 titulo damnari licet omnino' quas prosunt. In vobis 
 
 XLIX. ^ Falsa nunc sint, 
 &c. The argument of this pas- 
 sage appears at first sight to rest 
 on that plea of expediency which 
 has been so much canvassed in 
 modem times, but such is not 
 really the case, and indeed no 
 possible kind of reasoning could 
 be more diametrically opposed to 
 Tertullian's principles. The direct 
 end of this Apology must closely 
 be borne in mind, viz. the attain- 
 ment of something like toleration 
 and justice for the Christians. 
 No attempt is made, except indi- 
 rectly and unavoidably, to con- 
 vert others, or to offer a system 
 of evidences ; all that Christi- 
 anity is made to demand is ne 
 ignorata damnetur, and with this 
 view Tertullian argues that even 
 making every possible concession 
 of the emptiness or untruth of 
 the rehgion, still no warrant can 
 be found for persecution and 
 cruelty, and that the beneficial 
 influences which it is admitted 
 to exert, ought at all events to 
 secure it from any thing more 
 violent than ridicule. It may be 
 remarked, that Arnobius when 
 employmg (L extr.) this same 
 argument does so in connexion 
 with the same expostulations : 
 non placet (he says) ea qum dicit 
 
 (Christus) et cum offensionibus 
 audiuntur a vobis ; pro ludicris ea 
 vaticinationihus computate: stolid- 
 issimas res loquitur et fatua dona 
 promittit ; ridete ut sapientes vos 
 viri et in suis errorihus fatuitatem 
 relinquite volutari : and he had 
 been previously urging the ex- 
 pediency of Christianity, though 
 not precisely on the grounds of 
 the text ; but he proceeds in his 
 next sentences to shew clearly 
 with what aim he is writing in 
 this particular passage, though 
 the general tone of his work 
 is didactic and argumentative ; 
 QucBuam est ista crudelitas inhu- 
 manitasque tanta, &c. The ex- 
 pression coguntur alludes to that 
 compulsory or inevitable im- 
 provement caused by Christi- 
 anity which was mentioned in 
 the note p. 115. 
 
 ^ damnari licet omnino ; I 
 prefer connecting omnino closely 
 with damnarij and giving the 
 meaning of the whole sentence 
 thus : on no charge whatever 
 {nullo titulo) can any scheme de- 
 serve unconditional condemnation 
 {damnari amniiw) which is pro- 
 ved to be beneficial. The hcEC 
 ipsa prcBsumptio a little lower 
 means 'that identical presump- 
 tion with which you charge us,' 
 
166 TERTULLIANI 
 
 xux ^*^^^^ praesumptio est haec ipsa, quse damnat utilia. 
 
 Proinde nee inepta esse possunt, certe etsi falsa 
 
 et inepta, nulli tamen noxia; nam et multis aliis 
 similia, quibus nullas pcenas irrogatis, vanis et fabu- 
 losis, inaccusatis et impunitis, ut innoxiis. Sed in 
 ejusmodi errores, si utique, irrisu judicandum est, 
 non gladiis et ignibus, et crucibus, et bestiis; de 
 qua iniquitate saevitiae non modo caecum hoc vul- 
 gus exsultat et insultat, sed et quidam vestrum^ 
 quibus favor vulgi de iniquitate captatur, glori- 
 antur, quasi non totum, quod in nos potestis, nos- 
 trum sit arbitrium. Certe, si velim, Christianus 
 sum : tunc ergo me damnabis, si damnari velim ; 
 quum vero quod in me potes, nisi velim, non potes ; 
 jam meae voluntatis est quod potes, non tuae potes- 
 tatis. Proinde et vulgus'* vane de nostra vexatione 
 gaudet ; proinde enim nostrum est gaudium, quod 
 sibi vindicat, qui malumus damnari, quam a deo 
 excidere ; contra illi qui nos oderunt, dolere non 
 gaudere debebant, consecutis nobis quod elegimus. 
 mire their L. Ergo, iuquitis, cur querimini, quod vos in- 
 obstmacy, ggquamur^ si pati vultis, cum diligere debeatis, per 
 
 prfssumptio meaning literally a proinde is used in diiferent senses 
 
 decision on insufficient grounds, in this passage, in its first place 
 
 and without due information. it signifies simply irpo's tuvtu 
 
 '■^ sed et quidam vestrum; i.e. (like licet nunc in the next 
 
 " even some of you, who are chapter), in the second it is taken 
 
 educated men, in authority ;" in a way which we have more 
 
 these are the parties to whom than once met with in this 
 
 the Apology was addressed, who treatise, proinde enim nostrum 
 
 are elsewhere apostrophized as est, meaning gaudium enim, quod 
 
 antistites and presides; and the sibi vindicat vulgus, tarn est nos- 
 
 same contrast between them and trum quam ipsius. 
 
 the vulgus is drawn in p. 121. L. ^ On the sense of insc- 
 
 * proinde et vulgus ; the word qunmur, see note p. 10. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 16? 
 
 quos patimini quod vultis? Plane volumus pati, cap. 
 verum eo more, quo et bellum miles : nemo quidem 
 
 Ti • -1 . ,. . . yetyou 
 
 libens patitur, cum et trepidare et periclitari sit^neerat 
 
 our endu- 
 
 necesse; tamen et proeliatur omnibus viribus, et '^^"^;? 5 b^t 
 
 ••- our deeds, 
 
 vincens in proelio gaudet, qui de proelio querebatur, ^ngs^gSn" 
 quia et gloriam consequitur et prsedam. Proelium ^g^S thTn 
 est nobis, quod provocamur ad tribunalia, ut illic o? entice-^ 
 sub discrimine capitis pro veritate^ certemus. Vic-theh-I 
 toria est autem, pro quo certaveris, obtinere. Ea 
 victoria habet et gloriam placendi deo et praedam 
 vivendi in aeternum. Sed obducimur^; certe cum 
 obtinuimus : ergo vicimus, cum occidimur ; denique 
 evadimus, cum obducimur. Licet nunc sarmen- 
 ticios et semaxios^ appelletis, quia ad stipitem 
 dimidii axis revincti sarmentorum ambitu exurimur. 
 Hie est habitus victorias nostrae, hsec palmata vestis ; 
 TALI CURRU TRIUMPH AMUs. Meiito itaque victis 
 
 ^ The sentiments contained 36.) employs the word absolutely 
 
 in this chapter will be found in for revincere : possimus ohtinere 
 
 the tracts ad Martyres, and ad non esse Deo a superiore prolata 
 
 Scapulam, and are repeated by tarn supervaeua, with which com- 
 
 most of Tertullian's successors, pare iv. 8. 
 
 especially Cyprian and Lactan- * sarmenticii et semaxii ; The 
 
 tius. In the edict of Antoninus former of these words occurs in 
 
 an expression exactly parallel to the Scriptores Rei Rusticae, but 
 
 the text occurs, ihkwo-i irpoi- of course in a more natural sense. 
 
 efxevoi Ttt? \/^u;;^a?. (Euseb. Hist. The idea of the following clause 
 
 IV. 13). Some remarks will be ^^s been borrowed by Lactan- 
 
 found in the mtroduction, on the ^i^s (<ie M. P. 16) but far less 
 
 frequency of these military me- forcibly and sententiously con- 
 
 taphors and illustrations. yeyeA. Quam jucundum illud 
 
 spectaculum Deo fuit cum te victo- 
 
 ^ obducimur, see note p. 150. rem cerneret, non candidos equos 
 
 obtinuimus, sc. caussam. v. de aut immanes elephantos, sed ipsos 
 
 Spect. c. 18. Quod si et stadium potissimum triumphatores currui 
 
 contendas in scripturis mminari, tuo subjugantem. Hie est verus 
 
 sane obtinebis. Arnobius (i. init.) triumphus, cum dominatores dami- 
 
 uses obtinuisse caussam ; and (ii. nantur. 
 
168 TERTULLIAM 
 
 CAP. non placemus ; propterea enim desperati et perditi 
 
 existimamur. Sed haec desperatio et perditio penes 
 
 vos in caussa gloriae et famae vexillum virtutis ex- 
 tollunt^ Mucins dextram suam libens in ara reli- 
 quit : o sublimitas animi ! Empedocles totum sese 
 Catanensium ^Etnaeis incendiis donavit^: o vigor 
 mentis ! Aliqua Carthaginis conditrix rogo secun- 
 dum matrimonium dedit : o praeconium castitatis ! 
 Regulus, ne unus pro multis hostibus viveret ', toto 
 corpore cruces patitur : o virum fortem et in capti- 
 vitate victorem ! Anaxarchus, quum in exemplum 
 ptisanae pilo contunderetur, tunde, tunde, aiebat, 
 Anaxarchi follem, Anaxarcbum enim non tundis : 
 o pbilosopbi magnanimitatem, qui de tali suo exitu 
 etiam jocabatur ! Omitto eos qui cum gladio pro- 
 prio aliove genere mortis mitiore de laude pepige- 
 runt^; ecce enim^ et tormentorum certamina coro- 
 nantur a vobis. Attica meretrix, carnifice jam 
 fatigato, postremo linguam suam comes tarn in fa- 
 ciem tyranni saavientis exspuit, ut exspueret et 
 
 ^ vexillum virtutis extoUunt. cifixion which the Christians en- 
 
 This phrase seems to mean, that dured. 
 
 obstinacy and bigotry, when dis- ** pepigerunt de laude ; have 
 
 played in mere human matters, contracted with suicide (as it 
 
 adopt the insignia, and are were) for fame ; the phrase has 
 
 allowed the honours, of real occurred before ; see note p. 12. 
 virtue. * ecce enim et, &c. The idea 
 
 ^ donavit v. ad c. 39. seems to be, that possibly delibe- 
 
 ' ne unus, &c. In order that rate suicide might in heathen 
 
 his life might not be secured to eyes claim the credit of fortitude, 
 
 his country, at the cxpence of and that therefore Tertullian 
 
 several lives restored to the takes a stronger case of greater 
 
 enemy; the cruces toto corpore ignominy (et tormentorum certa- 
 
 relates to the manner of his mina) and shews that even to 
 
 death, and is perhaps antitheti- sucli as these a due meed of 
 
 cally opposed to the simple cru- praise {coronantur) was allowed. 
 
LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 169 
 
 vocem, ne conjuratos confiteri posset, si etiam victa cap. 
 
 voluisset. Zeno Eleates consultus a Dionysio, '— 
 
 quidnam philosophia prasstaret, quiim respondisset, 
 coiitemptum mortis, flagellis tyranni subjeetus sen- 
 ten tiam suam ad mortem usque signabat. Certe 
 Laconum flagella, sub oculis etiam hortantium pro- 
 pinquorum acerbata, tantum honorem tolerantiae 
 domui '" conferunt, quantum sanguinis fuderint. O 
 gloriam licitam, quia humanam, cui nec"^ praesump- 
 tio perdita nee persuasio desperata deputatur in con- 
 temptu mortis et atrocitatis omnimodse ; cui tantum 
 pro patria, pro agro, pro imperio, pro amicitia pati 
 permissum est, quantum pro deo non licet ! Et 
 tamen illis omnibus et statuas defunditis^^ et ima- 
 gines inscribitis et titulos inciditis in aeternitatem ; 
 quantum de monumentis potestis'"^ scilicet, praestatis 
 et ipsi quodammodo mortuis resurrectionem. Hanc 
 qui veram a deo sperat, si pro deo patiatur, insanus 
 est. Sed hoe agite, boni praesides, meliores multo 
 apud populum, si illis Christianos immolaveritis. 
 Cruciate, torquete, damnate, atterite nos. Probatio 
 est enim innocentise nostras iniquitas vestra. Ideo 
 nos haec pati deus patitur. Nam et proxime ad 
 
 ^" domui ; to the family. thagine capta Restituisse per- 
 
 ^^ cui nee, &c. i. e. to whose scriptum. 
 account is set down (deputatur) ^ ^^ quantum de monumentis po~ 
 
 neither obstinacy nor infatuation, testis ; this de means ' as far as 
 
 even while it is scornfully de- you can secure the end by means 
 
 spising (in contemptu) every kind of monuments,* or, more lite- 
 
 of torture and death. rally, 'as far as your power 
 
 ^ defunditis ; i. e. liquente extends, which is thus derived ;' 
 
 metallo. inciditis, see note p. we have before had valere de 
 
 100. Cic. in Verr. iv. 34. in qua aliquo. resurrectio seems to mean 
 
 grandibus Uteris P. Afrigani no- the surviving after death, like 
 
 men erat incisum, eumque Kar- the non omnis moriar, &c. 
 
170 TERTULLIANI LIBER APOLOGETICUS. 
 
 CAP. lenonem damnando Christianarn potius, quam ad 
 
 leonem, confess! estis labem pudicitiae apud nos 
 
 atrociorem omni poena et omni morte reputari. Nee 
 quicquam tamen proficit exquisitior quaeque crude- 
 litas vestra, illecebra est magis sectas. Plures effici- 
 mur, quoties metimur'^ a vobis: semen est sanguis 
 Christianorum. Multi apud vos ad tolerantiam 
 doloris et mortis hortantur, ut Cicero in Tusculanis, 
 ut Seneca in Fortuitis'^ ut Diogenes, ut Pyrrhon, 
 ut Callinicus. Nee tamen tantos inveniunt verba 
 discipulos, quantos Christian! factis docendo"'. Ilia 
 !psa obst!nat!o, quam exprobratis, magistra est. 
 Quis enim non contemplatione ejus concutitur ad 
 requirendum, quid intus in re sit? quis non, ubi 
 requisivit, accedit? ubi accessit, pati exoptat, ut 
 totam dei gratiam redimat, ut omnem veniam ab 
 eo compensatione sanguinis sui expediat? omnia 
 enim huie operi delicta donantur. Inde est, quod 
 ibidem sententiis vestris gratias agimus ; ut est 
 semulatio divinge rei et humanee, cum damnamur 
 a vobis, a deo absolvimur. 
 
 " metimur : the expression not genuine, but, with the ex- 
 occurs in Virgil and other poets. ception of the commencement 
 
 ^^ Seneca in Fortuitis ; This (Lips. Elect, i. 26.) it is tolerably 
 
 was a tract written by Seneca, de good Latin, and a singularly 
 
 Remedio Fortuitorum, ad Gal- clever piece of declamation, 
 lionem. A treatise purporting to ^^ tantos quantos for tot — quot 
 
 be this identical composition is as in c. 1. factis docendo must 
 
 printed in most editions of Seneca be taken closely together, mean- 
 
 (Vol. V. p. 427. ed. Ruhnk.) in ing by their practical example, 
 the Excerpta. It is obviously 
 
INDEX VOCABULORUM. 
 
 antistites, 1. 
 
 agere aliquem, 2, 37. 
 
 altercari, 6. 
 
 atquin pro atqui, 6. 
 
 abdicare, 13. 
 
 ad hodiernum, 37. 
 
 apparere, 38, 48. 
 
 allegere, 41. 
 
 annotatio qucBstoris, 47. 
 
 accepto ferre, 48. 
 
 affiigere aliquem, 50. 
 
 apprehendere, 53. 
 
 archivis vestris, 78. 
 
 accuratior pascua, 85. 
 
 auctor, 85. 
 
 adversus semet ipsos confitentes, 
 
 93. 
 acteo Deos esse, 98. 
 adolatio, 102. 
 abolefacere, 118. 
 alumni confessionis, 130. 
 ac? /wcem expavescere, 132. 
 auctor amentum J 135. 
 a^Mo manualis, 135. 
 aqualicia, 140. 
 asserere, 142. 
 aquariolus, 145. 
 cedilitas, 153. 
 tpvum, 163. 
 
 collocare causam apud aliquem, 2. 
 
 castella, 3. 
 
 confiteri abs., 8. 
 
 circa aliquem, 8. 
 
 consistere de aliquo, 14, 149. 
 
 concurrere de aliquo, 15. 
 
 conferre, 23. 
 
 census, censere, 24, 45. 
 
 concussio, 24. 
 custodia, 34, 132. 
 convenire, 36. 
 contingerey 38. 
 continere, 41. 
 copiosa, 43. 
 componere, 53. 
 conditio, 63. 
 canere, 64. 
 compulsare, 69, 128. 
 circumscribere, 84. 
 concipere numen, 89. 
 committer e, 109. 
 creatura, 110. 
 concuti, 114. 
 commeatus, 114. 
 contrahere offensam, 117. 
 corpus, 130. 
 c«5io, 135. 
 coelum stetitj 136. 
 conari poma, 138. 
 corruptor, 147. 
 curare alicui, 152. 
 
 D 
 
 deperire, 2. 
 
 dinumerare in semet ipsos, 5. 
 
 defendere abs., 5. 
 
 detinere, 14. 
 
 deputare, 15, 70. 
 
 dedicare, 18, 44. 
 
 debellator, 19. 
 
 destinare, 23. 
 
 depalare, 38. 
 
 deductor, 73. 
 
 dispositio, 74, 86, 141. 
 
 disjicere, dejicere, 79. 
 
 divinitus, 90. 
 
 dominus, 116. 
 
172 
 
 INDEX VOCABULOKUM. 
 
 disciplina, 118. 
 dependere officia, 122. 
 domestici senes, 131. 
 donare, 133. 
 delectus coquorum, 134. 
 decoquere, 144. 
 depretiare, 149. 
 
 H 
 
 hastarium, 47. 
 homines ghrice, G5. 
 historici, 67. 
 habere, ex^^^} ^^* 
 ^aftere, debere, 123. 
 HerculancB dedmce, 134. 
 
 E 
 
 elogium, 2. 
 e^ pro ei tamen, 10. 
 e^ pro e^ profecto, 85. 
 exorbitare, 20, 33. 
 eliminare, 22. 
 erubescere, 33. 
 examen, 39. 
 effeminatio, 52. 
 evigorata, 59. 
 exancillata, 59. 
 extremissimus, 67. 
 expectare, 83. 
 excedere, 84. 
 excessus, 84. 
 elidere, 87. 
 
 extorquere animam, 113. 
 enubilare, 121. 
 exactor, 139. 
 expressus, 140. 
 erogare, 146. 
 e^rira, 154. 
 excurrere, 155. 
 
 florere, 41. 
 
 fraudare, 69. 
 
 frequentics montium, 69. 
 
 factiones, 128. 
 
 frigere ab aliquo, 128. 
 
 ^nts, 130. 
 
 ^ni* pro morte, 162. 
 
 gestirc cum ace, 2. 
 
 I 
 
 insulce, 3. 
 
 ingMi< aliquis, 4, 113. 
 insequi pro persequi, 10. 
 imprimere, 19. 
 interim, 27. 
 immolare, 34. 
 infectus, 40. 
 informare, 49. 
 ingenia, 51, 101. 
 induere, 62. 
 instrumentum, 58. 
 
 inundare, 61. 
 
 ingerere, 73. 
 
 ingredi freta, 77- 
 
 irrufatus, 86. 
 
 injicere, 90. 
 
 incidere, 100. 
 
 intentio, 104, 149. 
 
 iV/i sum liber, 117- 
 
 insculpi cum ace, 120. 
 
 ipm Bacchanalium furiis, 124. 
 
 inqfficiosus, 139. 
 
 inolescere, 139. 
 
 invidia, 140. 
 
 illices, 141. 
 
 impendere, 146. 
 
 judicare de aliquo, 16, 60. 
 L 
 
 laudare, 49 
 lacunnria, 69. 
 /Mrfere rfc o/^«o, 109. 
 targiter ii/tionis, 125. 
 
INDEX VOCABULORUM 
 
 173 
 
 M 
 
 ministrare aliquem, 9. 
 
 morticinus, 33. 
 
 melior, 35. 
 
 manceps divinitatis, 39. 
 
 militaris, 43. 
 
 mussitare, 44. 
 
 meridianorum crudelitates, 62. 
 
 memoruB, 61. 
 
 materuB, QQ. 
 
 major hostia, 112. 
 
 mulle, 127. 
 
 manu facta, 130. 
 
 manticularius, 147. 
 
 N 
 
 nova anima, 27. 
 
 wo/fe et velk, 46. 
 
 nisi pro quam, 65. 
 
 necesse est, 115, 123. 
 
 nomen principis in corde mutare, 
 
 122. 
 numeri, copiae, 125. 
 novisse, 129. 
 notam inurere, 132. 
 nepotari, 154. 
 wemo humanis rebus, 157. 
 novitiolus, 157. 
 Ticc saltern, 160. 
 
 prcBsumere et prcesumtw, 4. 
 perfundere cum abl., 4. 
 pronuntiare abs., 6. 
 pacisci, 12. 
 jpewe* pro apud, 13. 
 principalis, 16. 
 prcescriherCt 24. 
 parricida, 30. 
 prosecare, 30. 
 
 pulsare apud conscientiara ali- 
 quem, 31. 
 proinde, 34. 
 passivitas, 34. 
 perhibere testimonium, 37. 
 pcedagogia, 48. 
 
 prodigere, 60. 
 
 peregrinari, 68. 
 
 prcedicare, 75. 
 
 priBministrare, 76. 
 
 proprietas, 97. 
 
 p/ane, 121. 
 
 prcBstruere, 122. 
 
 potestas, 130. 
 
 pessum abiisse, 137. 
 
 prcBcipitare discretionem, 141. 
 
 perductor, 145. 
 
 jsrecej? sternere alicui, 146. 
 
 paratura, 58, 111, 157. 
 
 O 
 
 cbstruere gradum vel viaw, 1. 
 
 offerre magistratibus, 8, 147. 
 
 opinio, 27. 
 
 o66a, 48. 
 
 obsoletare, 52. 
 
 origines, 66. 
 
 <yrdo, 66. 
 
 obstinatio, 104, 106. 
 
 oratio, 112. 
 
 occurrere innocenti^, 149. 
 
 obducere, 150. 
 
 oniw temperare, 155. 
 
 obtinere, 167. 
 
 qu€Brere, 127. 
 
 R 
 
 revincere, 2. 
 re^ro, 3. 
 rescriptum, 7. 
 retractare, 12. 
 recogitare ne, 26. 
 runcince, 45. 
 religiosus, 65. 
 re%io alicujus, 66. 
 religio licita, 71. 
 reluminare, 77. 
 restringere, 77. 
 
174 
 
 INDEX VOCABULORUM. 
 
 rupices, 82. 
 reprobus, 112. 
 racematio, 121. 
 
 species, 1. 
 
 sortiri, 7. 
 
 suffundere, 16. 
 
 subscribere alicui, 20. 
 
 saginatus, altilis, 21. 
 
 subjicere, 28. 
 
 singularis, 29. 
 
 sustinere, 29. ^ 
 
 semel, 31. 
 
 scBvire, 42. 
 
 scoUncB, 45. 
 
 simpulum, 48. 
 
 strophcB, 51. 
 
 suspirare in aliquem, 51. 
 
 si forte, 55. 
 
 SiBculum, 60, 103. 
 
 suggestus, 61. 
 
 suspicere, 62, 95. 
 
 serapeum, 62. 
 
 suspectus, 79. 
 
 seminare, 81. 
 
 spiritales vires, 84. 
 
 simplicitas veritatis, 89. 
 
 *?, an vero> 91. 
 
 silvestris Roma, 103. 
 
 succidere, 106. 
 
 substantia pessimi spiritus, 108. 
 
 sustinere pro expectare, 123. 
 
 senatum implevimus, 126. 
 sparteoli, 134. 
 su^pendere, 140. 
 supremam ensnare, 144. 
 sterilitas, 145. 
 salarium, 151. 
 sarmenticii, 167. 
 semaocii, 167. 
 
 ^mere ad aliquid, 1. 
 titulus, 2. 
 
 towifi, quanti tot, quot, 3. 
 trahere homines, 25, 154. 
 ^e*^u e*^ Tiber is, '120. 
 
 U 
 
 usurpare, p. 66. 
 ?/^^ etiamsi, 94. 
 
 vacare non existere, 2. 
 
 vacare, superfluum esse, 10. 
 
 virgro continentia, 35. 
 
 vindicare, 50. 
 
 viderit, 55, 98. 
 
 Tir^o Coelestis, 89. 
 
 va*a Samia, 101. 
 
 vice, 106, 116. 
 
 vmo lutum cogere, 118. 
 
 vanitas ocysti, 129. 
 
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