55. Question 55. Why are the minstrels allowed to go about the city on the Ides of January, wearing women’s apparel? Solution. Is it for the reason here rehearsed? This sort of men (as it seems) had great privileges accruing to them from the grant of King Numa, by reason of his godly devotion; which things afterward being taken from them when the Decemviri managed the government, they forsook the city. Whereupon there was a search made for them, and one of the priests, offering sacrifice without music, made a superstitious scruple of so doing. And when they returned not upon invitation, but led their lives in Tibur, a certain freedman told the magistrates privately that he would undertake to bring them. And providing a plentiful feast, as if he had sacrificed to the Gods, he invited the minstrels; women-kind was present also, with whom they revelled all night, sporting and dancing. There on a sudden the man began a speech, and being surprised with a fright, as if his patron had come in upon him, persuaded the pipers to ascend the caravans that were covered all over with skins, saying he would carry them back to Tibur. But this whole business was but a trepan; for he wheeling about the caravan, and they perceiving nothing by reason of wine and darkness, he very cunningly brought them all into Rome by the morning. Most of them, by reason of the night-revel and the drink that they were in, happened to be clothed in flowered women’s robes; whereupon, being prevailed upon by the magistrates and reconciled, it was decreed that they should go up and down the city on that day, habited after this manner.
55. διὰ τί ταῖς Ἰανουαρίαις εἰδοῖς περιιέναι δέδοται τοῖς αὐληταῖς τὴν πόλιν ἐσθῆτας γυναικείας φοροῦντας; ἦ διὰ τὴν λεγομένην αἰτίαν; μεγάλας γὰρ ὡς ἔοικε τιμὰς ἐκαρποῦντο, τοῦ βασιλέως Νομᾶ δόντος αὐτοῖς διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ὁσιότητα· ταύτας δʼ ὕστερον ἀφαιρεθέντες ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνθυπατικῆς δεκαδαρχίας ἀπεχώρησαν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως. ἦν οὖν ἐπιζήτησις αὐτῶν καί τις ἥπτετο δεισιδαιμονία τῶν ἱερέων ἄναυλα θυόντων. ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐκ ἐπείθοντο μεταπεμπομένοις ἀλλʼ ἐν Τιβοῦρι διέτριβον, ἀνὴρ ἀπελεύθερος κρύφα τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἐπηγγείλατο κατάξειν αὐτούς. καὶ παρασκευάσας θοίνην ἄφθονον ὡς τεθυκὼς θεοῖς ἐκάλεσε τοὺς αὐλητάς· καὶ γύναια παρῆν ἅμα τῷ πότῳ καὶ παννυχὶς συνεκροτεῖτο παιζόντων καὶ χορευόντων. εἶτʼ ἐξαίφνης ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐμβαλὼν λόγον ὡς τοῦ πάτρωνος ἐπιόντος αὐτῷ καὶ ταραττόμενος συνέπεισε τοὺς αὐλητὰς ἀναβάντας ἐφʼ ἁμάξας δέρρεσι κύκλῳ περικαλυπτομένας εἰς τὸ Τιβοῦρι κομίζεσθαι. τοῦτο δʼ ἦν ἀπάτη· περιαγαγὼν γὰρ τὰς ἁμάξας οὐ συνορῶντας αὐτοὺς διὰ τὸν οἶνον καὶ τὸ σκότος ἔλαθεν εἰς Ῥώμην καταγαγὼν ἅπαντας ἕωθεν· ἐτύγχανον δʼ οἱ πολλοὶ διὰ τὴν παννυχίδα καὶ τὸν πότον ἐν ἐσθῆσιν ἀνθιναῖς καὶ γυναικείαις ὄντες. ὡς οὖν ἐπείσθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ διηλλάγησαν, ἐνομίσθη τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην οὕτως ἀμπεχομένους σοβεῖν διὰ τῆς πόλεως.
56. Question 56. Why are they of opinion that matrons first built the temple of Carmenta, and at this day do they worship her most? Solution. There is a certain tradition that, when the women were prohibited by the senate from the use of chariots drawn by a pair of horses, they conspired together not to be got with child and breed children, and in this manner to be revenged on their husbands until they revoked the decree and gratified them; which being done, children were begot, and the women, becoming good breeders and very fruitful, built the temple of Carmenta. Some say that Carmenta was Evander’s mother, and going into Italy was called Themis, but as some say, Nicostrata; who, when she sang forth oracles in verse, was called Carmenta by the Latins; for they call verses carmina. There are some of opinion that Carmenta was a Destiny, therefore the matrons sacrifice to her. But the etymology of the word is from cares mente (beside herself), by reason of divine raptures. Hence Carmenta had not her name from carmina; but contrariwise, her verses were called carmina from her, because being inspired she sang her oracles in verse.
56. διὰ τί τὸ τῆς Καρμέντης ἱερὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς δοκοῦσιν αἱ μητέρες ἱδρύσασθαι καὶ νῦν μάλιστα σέβονται; λέγεται γάρ τις λόγος, ὡς ἐκωλύθησαν ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς αἱ γυναῖκες ὀχήμασι χρῆσθαι ζευκτοῖς· συνέθεντο οὖν ἀλλήλαις μὴ κυΐσκεσθαι μηδὲ τίκτειν, ἀμυνόμεναι τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἄχρι οὗ μετέγνωσαν καὶ συνεχώρησαν αὐταῖς· γενομένων δὲ παίδων, εὐτεκνοῦσαι καὶ πολυτεκνοῦσαι τὸ τῆς Καρμέντης ἱερὸν ἱδρύσαντο. τὴν δὲ Καρμένταν οἱ μὲν Εὐάνδρου μητέρα λέγουσιν οὖσαν ἐλθεῖν εἰς Ἰταλίαν ὀνομαζομένην Θέμιν, ὡς δʼ ἔνιοι, Νικοστράτην ἐμμέτρους δὲ χρησμοὺς ᾄδουσαν ὑπὸ τῶν Λατίνων Καρμένταν ὀνομάζεσθαι· τὰ γὰρ ἔπη κάρμινα καλοῦσιν. οἱ δὲ Μοῖραν ἡγοῦνται τὴν Καρμένταν εἶναι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θύειν αὐτῇ τὰς μητέρας. ἔστι δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τὸ ἔτυμον ἐστερημένη νοῦ διὰ τὰς θεοφορήσεις. ὅθεν οὐ τὰ κάρμινα τῇ Καρμέντῃ τοὔνομα παρέσχεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀπʼ ἐκείνης ἐκλήθη διὰ τὸ τοὺς χρησμοὺς ἐν ἔπεσι καὶ μέτροις ἐνθουσιῶσαν ᾄδειν.
57. Question 57. What is the reason that, when the women do sacrifice to Rumina, they pour forth milk plentifully on the sacrifices, but offer no wine? Solution. Is it because the Latins call a breast ruma, and that tree (as they say) is called ruminalis under which the she-wolf drew forth her breast to Romulus? And as we call those women that bring up children with milk from the breast breast-women, so did Rumina—who was a wet nurse, a dry nurse, and a rearer of children—not permit wine, as being hurtful to the infants.
57. διὰ τί τῇ Ῥουμίνᾳ θύουσαι γάλα κατασπένδουσι τῶν ἱερῶν, οἶνον δʼ οὐ προσφέρουσιν; ἦ ῥοῦμαν Λατῖνοι τὴν θηλὴν καλοῦσι, καὶ Ῥουμινᾶλιν ὀνομασθῆναι λέγουσιν, παρʼ ὅσον ἡ λύκαινα τῷ Ῥωμύλῳ τὴν θηλὴν παρέσχεν· ὥσπερ οὖν ἡμεῖς τὰς τρεφούσας τὰ παιδία γάλακτι θηλονὰς ἀπὸ τῆς θηλῆς καλοῦμεν, οὕτως ἡ Ῥουμῖνα θηλώ τις οὖσα καὶ τιθήνη καὶ κουροτρόφος οὐ προσίεται τὸν ἄκρατον ὡς βλαβερὸν ὄντα τοῖς νηπίοις;
58. Question 58. Why do they call some senators Patres Conscripti, and others only Patres? Solution. Is not this the reason, that those that were first constituted by Romulus they called Patres and Patricians, as being gentlemen who could show their pedigree; but those that were elected afterwards from among the commonalty they called Patres Conscripti?
58. διὰ τί τῶν συγκλητικῶν τοὺς μὲν πατέρας συγγεγραμμένους, τοὺς δʼ ἁπλῶς πατέρας προσηγόρευον; ἦ τοὺς μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατανεμηθέντας ὑπὸ τοῦ Ῥωμύλου πατέρας ἐκάλουν καὶ πατρικίους, οἷον εὐπατρίδας ὄντας, πατέρας αὑτῶν ἔχοντας ἀποδεῖξαι τοὺς δʼ ὕστερον ἐπεγγραφέντας ἐκ τῶν δημοτικῶν συγγεγραμμένους πατέρας ὠνόμασαν;
59. Question 59. Why was one altar common to Hercules and the Muses? Solution. Was it because Hercules taught letters first to Evander’s people, as Juba tells us? And it was esteemed an honorable action of those that taught their friends and relations; for it was but of late that they began to teach for hire. The first that opened a grammar school was Spurius Carbilius, a freeman of Carbilius, the first that divorced his wife.
59. διὰ τί κοινὸς ἦν βωμὸς Ἡρακλέους καὶ Μουσῶν; ἦ ὅτι γράμματα τοὺς περὶ Εὔανδρον ἐδίδαξεν Ἡρακλῆς, ὡς Ἰόβας ἱστόρηκε; καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα σεμνὸν ἐνομίζετο, φίλους καὶ συγγενεῖς διδασκόντων· ὀψὲ δʼ ἤρξαντο μισθοῦ διδάσκειν, καὶ πρῶτος ἀνέῳξε γραμματοδιδασκαλεῖον Σπόριος Καρβίλιος, ἀπελεύθερος Καρβιλίου τοῦ πρώτου γαμετὴν ἐκβαλόντος.
60. Question 60. What is the reason that, of Hercules’s two altars, the women do not partake or taste of the things offered on the greater? Solution. Is it not because Carmenta’s women came too late for the sacrifices? The same thing happened also to the Pinarii; whence they were excluded from the sacrificial feast, and fasting while others were feasting, they were called Pinarii (from πεινάω). Or is it upon the account of that fabulous story of the coat and Dejaneira?
60. διὰ τί, δυεῖν βωμῶν Ἡρακλέους ὄντων, οὐ μεταλαμβάνουσι γυναῖκες οὐδὲ γεύονται τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ μείζονος θυομένων; πότερον ὅτι τῶν ἱερῶν αἱ περὶ τὴν Καρμένταν ὑστέρησαν, ὑστέρησε δὲ καὶ τὸ Πιναρίων γένος· ὅθεν εἰργόμενοι τῆς θοίνης, ἑστιωμένων τῶν ἄλλων, Πινάριοι προσηγορεύθησαν· ἢ διὰ τὰ μυθολογούμενα περὶ τοῦ χιτῶνος καὶ τῆς Δηιανείρας;
61. Question 61. What is the reason that it’s forbidden to mention, enquire after, or name the chief tutelary and guardian God of Rome, whether male or female?—which prohibition they confirm with a superstitious tradition, reporting that Valerius Soranus perished miserably for uttering that name. Solution. Is this the reason (as some Roman histories tell us), that there are certain kinds of evocations and enchantments, with which they are wont to entice away the Gods of their enemies, and to cause theirs to come and dwell with them; and they feared lest this mischief should befall them from others? As the Tyrians are said to bind fast their images with cords, but others, when they will send any of them to washing or purifying, require sureties for their return; so did the Romans reckon they had their God in most safe and secure custody, he being unexpressible and unknown? Or, as Homer hath versified, “The earth all Gods in common have?” that men might worship and reverence all Gods that have the earth in common, so did the ancient Romans obscure the Lord of their Salvation, requiring that not only this but all Gods should be reverenced by the citizens?
61. διὰ τί τὸν θεὸν ἐκεῖνον, ᾧ μάλιστα τὴν Ῥώμην σῴζειν προσήκει καὶ φυλάττειν, εἴτʼ ἐστὶν ἄρρην εἴτε θήλεια, καὶ λέγειν ἀπείρηται καὶ ζητεῖν καὶ ὀνομάζειν· ταύτην δὲ τὴν ἀπόρρησιν ἐξάπτουσι δεισιδαιμονίας, ἱστοροῦντες Οὐαλέριον Σωρανὸν ἀπολέσθαι κακῶς διὰ τὸ ἐξειπεῖν; πότερον, ὡς τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν τινες ἱστορήκασιν, ἐκκλήσεις εἰσὶ καὶ γοητεῖαι θεῶν, αἷς νομίζοντες καὶ αὐτοὶ θεούς τινας ἐκκεκλῆσθαι παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ μετῳκηκέναι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐφοβοῦντο ταὐτὸ παθεῖν ὑφʼ ἑτέρων· ὥσπερ οὖν Τύριοι δεσμοὺς ἀγάλμασι λέγονται περιβαλεῖν, ἕτεροι δʼ αἰτεῖν ἐγγυητὰς ἐπὶ λουτρὸν ἢ καθαρμόν τινα προπέμποντες, οὕτως ᾤοντο Ῥωμαῖοι τὸ ἄρρητον καὶ τὸ ἄγνωστον ἀσφαλεστάτην εἶναι θεοῦ καὶ βεβαιοτάτην φρουράν· ἢ καθάπερ Ὁμήρῳ πεποίηται τὸ γαῖα δʼ ἔτι ξυνὴ πάντων ὅπως οἱ ἄνθρωποι τοὺς θεοὺς πάντας σέβωνται καὶ τιμῶσι τὴν γῆν κοινῶς ἔχοντας, οὕτως ἀπεκρύψαντο τὸν κύριον τῆς σωτηρίας οἱ παλαιοὶ Ῥωμαῖοι, βουλόμενοι μὴ μόνον τοῦτον ἀλλὰ πάντας ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς θεοὺς τιμᾶσθαι;
62. Question 62. Why among them that were called Feciales (in Greek, peace-makers) was he that was named Pater Patratus accounted the chiefest? But this must be one who hath his father living, and children of his own; and he hath even at this time a certain privilege and trust, for the Praetors commit to those men’s trust the persons of those who, by reason of comeliness and beauty, stand in need of an exact and chaste guardianship. Solution. Is this the reason, that they must be such whose children reverence them, and who reverence their parents? Or doth the name itself suggest a reason? For patratum will have a thing to be complete and finished; for he whose lot it is to be a father whilst his father liveth is (as it were) perfecter than others. Or is it that he ought to be overseer of oaths and peace, and (according to Homer) to see before and behind? He is such a one especially, who hath a son for whom he consults, and a father with whom he consults.
62. διὰ τί τῶν λεγομένων Φιτιαλέων, Ἑλληνιστὶ δʼ οἷον εἰρηνοποιῶν σπονδοφόρων, ὁ καλούμενος πάτερ πατρᾶτος ἐνομίζετο μέγιστος (ἔστι δʼ οὗτος, ᾧ πατὴρ ζῇ καὶ παῖδες εἰσίν ἔχει δὲ καὶ νῦν προνομίαν τινὰ καὶ πίστιν· οἱ γὰρ στρατηγοὶ τὰ διʼ εὐμορφίαν καὶ ὥραν ἐπιμελοῦς δεόμενα καὶ σώφρονος φυλακῆς σώματα τούτοις παρακατατίθενται); πότερον ὅτι τὸ αἰδεῖσθαι τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς πατέρας πρόσεστιν· ἢ τοὔνομα τὴν αἰτίαν ὑπαγορεύει; βούλεται γὰρ εἶναι τὸ πατρᾶτον οἱονεὶ συμπεπερασμένον καὶ πεπερατωμένον, ὡς τελειοτέρου τῶν ἄλλων ὄντος ᾧ συμβέβηκε πατέρα κεκτημένῳ πατρὶ γενέσθαι. ἢ δεῖ τὸν ὅρκων καὶ εἰρήνης προϊστάμενον ἅμα πρόσω καὶ ὀπίσω καθʼ Ὅμηρον ὁρᾶν; εἴη δʼ ἂν μάλιστα τοιοῦτος, ᾧ παῖς ἔστιν ὑπὲρ οὗ βουλεύεται, καὶ πατὴρ μεθʼ οὗ βουλεύεται.
63. Question 63. Why is he that is called Rex Sacrorum (who is king of priests) forbid either to take upon him a civil office or to make an oration to the people? Solution. Was it that of old the kings did perform the most and greatest sacred rites and offered sacrifices together with the priests; but when they kept not within the bounds of moderation and became proud and insolent, most of the Grecians, depriving them of their authority, left to them only this part of their office, to sacrifice to the Gods; but the Romans, casting out kings altogether, gave the charge of the sacrifice to another, enjoining him neither to meddle with public affairs nor to hold office, so that they might seem to be subject to royalty only in their sacrifices, and to endure the name of king only with respect to the Gods? Hence there is a certain sacrifice kept by tradition in the market-place near the Comitia, which as soon as the king (i.e. the chief priest) hath offered, he immediately withdraws himself by flight out of the market-place.
63. διὰ τί τῷ καλουμένῳ ῥῆγι σακρώρουμ (οὗτος δʼ ἐστὶ βασιλεὺς ἱερῶν) ἀπείρηται καὶ ἄρχειν καὶ δημηγορεῖν; ἦ τὸ παλαιὸν οἱ βασιλεῖς τὰ πλεῖστα καὶ μέγιστα τῶν ἱερῶν ἔδρων καὶ τὰς θυσίας ἔθυον αὐτοὶ μετὰ τῶν ἱερέων; ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐκ ἐμετρίαζον ἀλλʼ ἦσαν ὑπερήφανοι καὶ βαρεῖς, τῶν μὲν Ἑλλήνων οἱ πλεῖστοι τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτῶν περιελόμενοι μόνον τὸ θύειν τοῖς θεοῖς ἀπέλιπον, Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ παντάπασι τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἐκβαλόντες ἄλλον ἐπὶ τὰς θυσίας ἔταξαν, οὔτε ἄρχειν ἐάσαντες οὔτε δημαγωγεῖν, ὅπως μόνον ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς βασιλεύεσθαι δοκῶσι καὶ βασιλείαν διὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ὑπομένειν. ἔστι γοῦν τις ἐν ἀγορᾷ θυσία πρὸς τῷ λεγομένῳ Κομιτίῳ πάτριος, ἣν θύσας ὁ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τάχος ἄπεισι φεύγων ἐξ ἀγορᾶς διὰ τί τὴν τράπεζαν οὐκ εἴων ἀναιρεῖσθαι κενήν, ἀλλὰ πάντως τινὸς ἐπόντος;
64. Question 64. Why do they not suffer the table to be quite voided when it’s taken away, but will have something always to remain upon it? Solution. What if it be that they would intimate that something of our present enjoyments should be left for the future, and that to-day we should be mindful of tomorrow? Or that they reckon it a piece of manners to repress and restrain the appetite in our present fruitions? For they less desire absent things, who are accustomed to abstain from those that are present. Or was it a custom of courtesy towards household servants? For they do not love so much to take as to partake, deeming that they hold a kind of communion with their masters at the table. Or is it that no sacred thing ought to be suffered to be empty? And the table is a sacred thing.
64. πότερον αἰνιττόμενοι τὸ δεῖν ἀεί τι τοῦ παρόντος εἰς τὸ μέλλον ὑπολιπεῖν καὶ τῆς αὔριον ἐν τῇ σήμερον μνημονεύειν, ἢ νομίζοντες ἀστεῖον εἶναι τὸ συστέλλειν καὶ, ἀνέχειν τὴν ὄρεξιν ἔτι παρούσης τῆς ἀπολαύσεως; ἧττον γὰρ ἐπιθυμοῦσι τῶν ἀπόντων ἐθισθέντες ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν παρόντων. ἢ καὶ πρὸς οἰκέτας φιλάνθρωπον τὸ ἔθος; οὐ γὰρ οὕτω λαμβάνοντες ὡς μεταλαμβάνοντες ἀγαπῶσι, κοινωνεῖν τρόπον τινὰ τραπέζης ἡγούμενοι τοῖς δεσπόταις. ἢ τῶν ἱερῶν οὐδέποτε δεῖν κενὸν οὐθὲν περιορᾶν, ἱερὸν δʼ ἡ τράπεζα;
65. Question 65. Why doth not a man lie at first with a bride in the light, but when it is dark? Solution. Is it not for modesty’s sake, for at the first congress he looks upon her as a stranger to him? Or is it that he may be inured to go into his own wife with modesty? Or, as Solon hath written, “Let the bride go into the bed-chamber gnawing a quince, that the first salutation be not harsh and ungrateful.” So did the Roman lawgiver command that, if there should be any thing absurd and unpleasant in her body, she should hide it? Or was it intended to cast infamy upon the unlawful use of venery by causing that the lawful should have certain signs of modesty attending it?
65. διὰ τί τῇ νύμφῃ τὸ πρῶτον οὐκ ἐντυγχάνει μετὰ φωτὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀλλὰ διὰ σκότους; πότερον ὅτι αἰδεῖται πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν ἀλλοτρίαν νομίζων, ἢ καὶ πρὸς ἰδίαν προσιέναι μετʼ αἰδοῦς ἐθιζόμενος; ἢ, καθάπερ ὁ Σόλων ἔγραψε μήλου κυδωνίου τὴν νύμφην ἐντραγοῦσαν εἰς τὸν θάλαμον βαδίζειν, ὅπως τὸ πρῶτον ἄσπασμα μὴ δυσχερὲς γένηται μηδʼ ἀχάριστον· οὕτως ὁ Ῥωμαῖος νομοθέτης, εἰ δή τι προσῆν ἄτοπον τῷ σώματι καὶ δυσχερές, ἔκρυψεν; ἢ διαβολὴ τίς ἐστιν ἀφροδισίων παρανόμων τὸ γιγνόμενον, ὡς καὶ τοῖς νομίμοις αἰσχύνης τινὸς προσούσης;
66. Question 66. Why was one of the horse-race rounds called Flaminia? Solution. Is it because, when Flaminius, one of the ancients, bestowed a field on the city, they employed its revenue on the horse-races, and with the overplus money built the way which they call Flaminia?
66. διὰ τί τῶν ἱπποδρόμων εἷς Φλαμίνιος καλεῖται; ἦ ὅτι, Φλαμινίου τινὸς τῶν παλαιῶν τῇ πόλει χώραν ἐπιδόντος, ἐχρῶντο ταῖς προσόδοις εἰς τοὺς ἱππικοὺς ἀγῶνας· ἔτι δὲ περιόντων χρημάτων, κατεσκεύασαν ὁδόν, ἣν καὶ αὐτὴν Φλαμινίαν προσηγόρευσαν;
67. Question 67. Why do they call the rod-bearers lictors? Solution. Is this the reason, because these men were wont to bind desperate bullies, and they followed Romulus carrying thongs in their bosoms? The vulgar Romans say alligare, to bind, when the more refined in speech say ligare. Or is now c inserted, when formerly they called them litores, being liturgi, ministers for public service; for λῇτον until this day is writ for public in many of the Grecian laws, which scarce any is ignorant of.
67. διὰ τί λικτώρεις τοὺς ῥαβδούχους ὀνομάζουσι; πότερον ὅτι καὶ συνέδεον τοὺς ἀκολασταίνοντας οὗτοι καὶ τῷ Ῥωμύλῳ παρηκολούθουν ἱμάντας ἐν τοῖς κόλποις κομίζοντες (τὸ δὲ δεσμεύειν ἀλλιγᾶρε λέγουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ Ῥωμαίων, οἱ δὲ καθαρεύοντες ἐν τῷ διαλέγεσθαι λιγᾶρε)· ἢ νῦν μὲν παρέγκειται τὸ κ, πρότερον δὲ λιτώρεις ἐκαλοῦντο, λειτουργοί τινες ὄντες περὶ τὸ δημόσιον; ὅτι γὰρ λῇτον ἄχρι νῦν τὸ δημόσιον ἐν πολλοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων νόμων γέγραπται, οὐδένα ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν λέληθε.
68. Question 68. Why do the Luperci sacrifice a dog? The Luperci are they that run up and down naked (saving only their girdles) in the Lupercal plays, and slash all that they meet with a whip. Solution: Is it not because these feats are done for the purification of the city? For they call the month February, and indeed the very day Februatus, and the habit of whip ping with thongs they call februare, the word signifying to cleanse. And to speak the truth, all the Grecians have used, and some do use to this very day, a slain dog for an expiatory sacrifice; and among other sacrifices of purification, they offer whelps to Hecate, and sprinkle those that need cleansing with the puppy’s blood, calling this kind of purifying puppification. Or is it that lupus is λύκος, a wolf, and Lupercalia are Lycaea; but a dog is at enmity with a wolf, therefore is sacrificed on the Lycaean festivals? Or is it because the dogs do bark at and perplex the Luperci as they scout about the city? Or is it that this sacrifice is offered to Pan, and Pan loves dogs because of his herds of goats.
68. διὰ τί κύνα θύουσιν οἱ Λούπερκοι (Λούπερκοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ τοῖς Λουπερκαλίοις γυμνοὶ διαθέοντες ἐν περιζώμασι καὶ καθικνούμενοι σκύτει τῶν ἀπαντώντων; πότερον ὅτι καθαρμός ἐστι τῆς πόλεως τὰ δρώμενα (καὶ γὰρ τὸν μῆνα Φεβρουάριον καλοῦσι καὶ νὴ Δία τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην φεβράτην, καὶ φεβράριν τὸ τῶν σκυτῶν ἤθει καθικνεῖσθαι, τοῦ ῥήματος τὸ καθαίρειν σημαίνοντος· τῷ δὲ κυνὶ πάντες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν Ἕλληνες ἐχρῶντο καὶ χρῶνταί γε μέχρι νῦν ἔνιοι σφαγίῳ πρὸς τοὺς καθαρμούς· καὶ τῇ Ἑκάτῃ σκυλάκια μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων καθαρσίων ἐκφέρουσι καὶ περιμάττουσι σκυλακίοις τοὺς ἁγνισμοῦ δεομένους, περισκυλακισμὸν τὸ τοιοῦτο γένος τοῦ καθαρμοῦ καλοῦντες)· ἢ λύκος μὲν ὁ λοῦπός ἐστι καὶ Λύκαια τὰ Λουπερκάλια· λύκῳ δὲ κύων πολέμιος καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θύεται τοῖς Λυκαίοις; ἢ ὅτι τοὺς Λουπέρκους ὑλακτοῦσι καὶ παραλυποῦσιν οἱ κύνες ἐν τῇ πόλει διαθέοντας; ἢ Πανὶ μὲν ἡ θυσία γίγνεται, Πανὶ δὲ κύων προσφιλὲς διὰ τὰ αἰπόλια;
69. Question 69. Why, upon the festival called Septimontium, did they observe to abstain from the use of chariots drawn by a pair of horses; and even until now, do they that regard antiquity still abstain? They do observe the Septimontium feast in honor of the addition of the seventh hill to the city, upon which it became Septicollis, seven-hilled Rome. Solution. What if it be (as some of the Romans conjecture) because the parts of the city are not as yet everywhere connected? Or if this conceit be nothing to the purpose, what if it be that, when the great work of building the city was finished and they determined to cease the increasing of the city any further, they rested themselves and rested the cattle that bore a share in the labor with them, and provided accordingly that they might participate of the holiday by rest from labor? Or was it that they would have all the citizens always present for the solemnity and return of a festival, especially that which was observed in remembrance of the compact uniting the parts of the city; and that none should desert the city for whose sake the feast is kept, they were not allowed to use their yoke chariots that day?
69. διὰ τί τῷ καλουμένῳ Σεπτομουντίῳ παρεφύλαττον ὀχήμασι ζευκτοῖς χρῆσθαι, καὶ νῦν οἱ τῶν παλαιῶν μὴ καταφρονοῦντες παραφυλάττουσι (τὸ δὲ σεπτομούντιον ἄγουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ τὸν ἕβδομον λόφον τῇ πόλει προσκατανεμηθῆναι καὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἑπτάλοφον γενέσθαι); πότερον, ὡς ἔνιοι τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν ἐπινοοῦσι, διὰ τὸ μήπω συνεζεῦχθαι τοῖς μέρεσι παντελῶς τὴν πόλιν· ἢ τοῦτο μὲν ἄλλως οὐ πρὸς Διόνυσόν ἐστιν· ἔργου δὲ μεγάλου τοῦ πρὸς τὸν συνοικισμὸν ἐκτελεσθέντος, οἰόμενοι τὴν πόλιν ἤδη πεπαῦσθαι προϊοῦσαν εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν, ἔπαυσαν μὲν αὑτοὺς ἀνέπαυσαν δὲ τῶν ὑποζυγίων τὰ συμπονήσαντα καὶ παρέσχον ἀπολαῦσαι τῇ σχολῇ τῆς κοινῆς ἑορτῆς; ἢ πᾶσαν μὲν ἐβούλοντο κοσμεῖν ἀεὶ καὶ τιμᾶν ἑορτὴν τοὺς πολίτας παρόντας, μάλιστα δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ συνοικισμῷ τῆς πόλεως ἀγομένην· ἵνʼ οὖν τὴν πόλιν, ἧς ἐστιν ἡ ἑορτή, μὴ ἀπολείπωσιν, οὐκ ἐφεῖτο χρῆσθαι ζεύγεσιν ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν;
70. Question 70. Why do they call those Furciferi which are convict of thefts or any other of those slavish crimes? Solution. Was it this (which was an argument of the severity of the ancients), that whenever any convicted his servant of any villany, he enjoined him to carry the forked piece of timber that is under the cart (the tongue of the cart), and to go with it through the next villages and neighborhood, to be seen of all, that they might distrust him and be aware of him for the future? This piece of wood we call a prop, the Romans call it furca, a fork; hence he that carries it about is called furcifer, a fork-bearer.
70. διὰ τί τοὺς ἀπεγνωσμένους ἐπὶ κλοπαῖς ἢ δουλικοῖς τισιν ἄλλοις ἁμαρτήμασι φουρκίφερας καλοῦσιν; ἦ καὶ τοῦτο τῆς τῶν παλαιῶν ἐπιμελείας τεκμήριόν ἐστιν; ὁ γὰρ οἰκότριβος ἰδίου καταγνοὺς τινα μοχθηρίαν ἐκέλευε διπλοῦν ξύλον, ὃ ταῖς ἁμάξαις ὑφιστᾶσιν, ἀράμενον διὰ τῆς συνοικίας ἢ τῆς γειτνιάσεως διεξελθεῖν ὑπὸ πάντων ὁρώμενον, ὅπως ἀπιστοῖεν αὐτῷ καὶ φυλάττοιντο πρὸς τὸ λοιπόν· τὸ δὲ ξύλον ἡμεῖς μὲν στήριγγα, Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ φοῦρκαν ὀνομάζουσι· διὸ καὶ φουρκίφερ ὁ τοῦτο περιενεγκὼν καλεῖται.
71. Question 71. Why do they bind hay about the horns of oxen that are wont to push, that they may be shunned by him that meets them? Solution. It is that by reason of gormandizing and stuffing their guts oxen, asses, horses, and men become mischievous, as Sophocles somewhere saith,full-fed colt thou kickest up heels,From stuffed paunch, cheeks, and full meals? Therefore the Romans say that M. Crassus had hay about his horns, for they that were turbulent men in the commonwealth were wont to stand in awe of him as a revengeful man and one scarce to be meddled with; although afterwards it was said again, that Caesar had taken away Crassus’s hay, being the first man of the republic that withstood and affronted him.
71. διὰ τί τῶν κυριττόντων βοῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ φυλάττεσθαι τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα χόρτον τῷ κέρατι προσδέουσιν; ἦ διὰ κόρον καὶ πλησμονὴν ἐξυβρίζουσι καὶ βόες καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὄνοι καὶ ἄνθρωποι; ὥς που καὶ Σοφοκλῆς πεποίηκεσὺ δὲ σφαδᾴζεις πῶλος ὣς εὐφορβίᾳ,γαστήρ τε γάρ σου καὶ γνάθος πλήρης.διὸ καὶ Μάρκον Κράσσον οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι χόρτον ἔχειν ἔφασαν· ἐφυλάττοντο γὰρ αὐτὸν οἱ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ σπαράττοντες ὡς ἀμυντικὸν καὶ δυσεπιχείρητον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὕστερον ἐλέχθη πάλιν, ὅτι Κράσσου Καῖσαρ ἀφῃρήκει τὸν χόρτον· ἀντέστη γὰρ αὐτῷ πρῶτος ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ καὶ κατεφρόνησε.
72. Question 72. Why would they have the lanthorns of the soothsaying priests (which formerly they called Auspices, and now Augures) to be always open at top, and no cover to be put upon them? Solution. Is it as the Pythagoreans do, who make little things symbols of great matters,—as forbidding to sit down upon a bushel and to stir up the fire with a sword,—so that the ancients used many enigmatical ceremonies, especially about their priests, and such was this of the lanthorn? For the lanthorn is like the body encompassing the soul, the soul being the light withinside, and the understanding and judgment ought to be always open and quick-sighted, and never to be shut up or blown out. And when the winds blow, the birds are unsettled and do not afford sound prognostics, by reason of their wandering and irregularity in flying; by this usage therefore they teach that their soothsayers must not prognosticate when there are high winds, but in still and calm weather, when they can use their open lanthorns.
72. διὰ τί τῶν ἐπʼ οἰωνοῖς ἱερέων, οὓς Αὔσπικας πρότερον Αὔγουρας δὲ νῦν καλοῦσιν, ᾤοντο δεῖν ἀεὶ τοὺς λαμπτῆρας ἀνεῳγμένους εἶναι καὶ τὸ πῶμα μὴ ἐπικεῖσθαι; ἦ καθάπερ οἱ Πυθαγορικοὶ μικρὰ μεγάλων ἐποιοῦντο σύμβολα κωλύοντες ἐπὶ χοίνικος καθῆσθαι καὶ πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ μὴ σκαλεύειν οὕτως οἱ παλαιοὶ πολλοῖς αἰνίγμασιν ἐχρῶντο καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τοὺς ἱερεῖς, οἷόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ τοῦ λαμπτῆρος; ἔοικε γὰρ ὁ λαμπτὴρ τῷ περιέχοντι τὴν ψυχὴν σώματι. φῶς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐντὸς ψυχὴ καὶ δεῖ τὸ συνετὸν καὶ φρόνιμον ἀεὶ ἀναπεπταμένον αὐτῆς εἶναι καὶ δεδορκὸς καὶ μηδέποτε συγκεκλεῖσθαι μηδʼ ἀποπνεόμενον. πνευμάτων δʼ ὄντων, οὐκ εὐσταθοῦσιν οἱ ὄρνιθες οὐδὲ βέβαια σημεῖα παρέχουσι διὰ τὴν πλάνην καὶ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν. διδάσκουσιν οὖν τῷ ἔθει μὴ πνευμάτων ὄντων, ἀλλὰ νηνεμίας καὶ καταστάσεως, ἐπὶ ταῦτα προϊέναι τοὺς οἰωνοπόλους, ὅτε δύνανται τοῖς λαμπτῆρσιν ἀνεῳγμένοις χρῆσθαι.
73. Question 73. Why were priests that had sores about them forbid to use divination. Solution. Is not this a significant sign that, whilst they are employed about divine matters, they ought not to be in any pain, nor have any sore or passion in their minds, but to be cheerful, sincere, and without distraction? Or it is but rational, if no man may offer a victim that hath a sore, nor use such birds for soothsaying, that much more they should themselves be free from these blemishes, and be clean, sincere, and sound, when they go about to inspect divine prodigies; for an ulcer seems to be a mutilation and defilement of the body.
73. διὰ τί δʼ ἀπείρητο τοῖς ἕλκος ἔχουσιν ἱερεῦσιν ἐπʼ οἰωνῶν καθέζεσθαι; πότερον καὶ τοῦτο σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ μηδὲν δακνομένους μηδʼ οἷον ἕλκος ἴδιον, καὶ πάθος ἔχοντας ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τὰ θεῖα χρηματίζειν, ἀλλʼ ἀλύπους καὶ ἀκεραίους καὶ ἀπερισπάστους ὄντας· ἢ κατὰ λόγον ἐστίν, εἰ μήθʼ ἱερείῳ χρήσαιτʼ ἄν τις ἕλκος ἔχοντι πρὸς θυσίαν μήτʼ ὄρνισι πρὸς οἰωνισμόν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν φυλάττεσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ καθαροὺς γενομένους καὶ ἀσινεῖς καὶ ὁλοκλήρους ἐπὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν σημαινόμενα βαδίζειν; τὸ γὰρ ἕλκος ἔοικε πήρωσίς τις εἶναι καὶ μιασμὸς τοῦ σώματος.
74. Question 74. Why did Servius Tullius build a temple of Small Fortune, whom they call Brevis? Solution. Was it because he was of a mean original and in a low condition, being born of a captive woman, and by fortune came to be king of Rome? Or did not that change of his condition manifest the greatness rather than the smallness of his fortune? But Servius most of all of them seems to ascribe divine influence to Fortune, giving thereby a reputation to all his enterprises. For he did not only build temples of Hopeful Fortune, of Fortune that averteth evil, of Mild, Primogenial, and Masculine Fortune; but there is a temple also of Private Fortune, another of Regardful Fortune, another of Hopeful Fortune, and the fourth of Virgin Fortune. But why should any one mention any more names, seeing there is a temple also of Ensnaring Fortune, which they name Viscata, as it were ensnaring us when we are as yet afar off, and enforcing us upon business. Consider this now, whether it be that Servius found that great matters are effected by a small piece of Fortune, and that it often falls out that great things are effected by some or do come to nought by a small thing being done or not done. He built therefore a temple of Small Fortune, teaching us to take care of our business, and not contemn things that happen by reason of their smallness.
74. διὰ τί μικρᾶς Τύχης ἱερὸν ἱδρύσατο Σερούιος Τούλλιος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἣν βρέβεμ καλοῦσι; πότερον ὅτι μικρὸς ὢν ἐν καὶ ταπεινὰ πράττων καὶ γεγονὼς ἐκ μητρὸς αἰχμαλώτου διὰ τὴν τύχην ἐβασίλευσε τῆς Ῥώμης· ἢ αὕτη μὲν ἡ μεταβολὴ μέγεθος ἐμφαίνει τύχης μᾶλλον ἢ μικρότητα, πάντων δὲ μάλιστα Σερούιος ἔοικε τὴν τῆς τύχης ἐκθειάσας δύναμιν ἐπιφημίσαι πράξεσιν ἁπάσαις; οὐ γὰρ μόνον Τύχης εὐέλπιδος καὶ ἀποτροπαίου καὶ μειλιχίας καὶ πρωτογενείας καὶ ἄρρενος ἱερὰ κατεσκεύασεν, ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἰδίας Τύχης ἱερόν, ἕτερον δʼ ἐπιστρεφομένης, ἄλλο παρθένου· καὶ τί ἄν τις ἐπεξίοι τὰς ἄλλας ἐπωνυμίας, ὅπου Τύχης ἰξευτηρίας ἱερόν ἐστιν, ἣν βισκᾶταν ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς πόρρωθεν ἡμῶν ἁλισκομένων ὑπʼ αὐτῆς καὶ προσισχομένων τοῖς πράγμασιν; ὅρα δὴ μὴ καταμαθὼν τὸ παρὰ μικρὸν ἀεὶ τῆς τύχης μέγα δυνάμενον, καὶ ὅτι τῷ γενέσθαι τι μικρὸν ἢ μὴ γενέσθαι τι πολλάκις ὑπῆρξεν ἐνίοις τυχεῖν ἢ διαμαρτεῖν τῶν μεγίστων, μικρᾶς Τύχης ἱερὸν ἱδρύσατο, προσέχειν διδάσκων τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ μὴ καταφρονεῖν διὰ μικρότητα τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων.
75. Question 75. Why did they not extinguish a candle, but suffer it to burn out of its own accord. Solution. Is this the reason, that they adored it as being related and akin to unquenchable and eternal fire? Or is it a significant ceremony, teaching us that we are not to kill and destroy any animated creature that is harmless, fire being as it were an animal? For it both needs nourishment and moves itself, and when it is extinguished it makes a noise as if it were then slain? Or doth this usage instruct us that we ought not to make waste of fire or water, or any other necessary thing that we have a superabundance of, but suffer those that have need to use them, leaving them to others when we ourselves have no further use for them?
75. διὰ τί λύχνον οὐκ ἐσβέννυσαν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ περιεώρων μαραινόμενον; πότερον ὡς συγγενὲς καὶ ἀδελφικὸν σεβόμενοι τοῦ ἀσβέστου καὶ ἀθανάτου πυρός, ἢ καὶ τοῦτο σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ μὴ δεῖν τὸ ἔμψυχον, ἂν μὴ βλάπτῃ, διαφθείρειν μηδʼ ἀναιρεῖν, ὡς ζῴῳ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐοικότος; καὶ γὰρ τροφῆς δεῖται καὶ αὐτοκίνητόν ἐστιν καὶ σβεννύμενον φωνὴν ἀφίησιν ὥσπερ φονευόμενον. ἢ διδάσκει τὸ ἔθος ἡμᾶς, ὅτι δεῖ μήτε πῦρ μήθʼ ὕδωρ μήτʼ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀναγκαίων αὐτοὺς ἄδην ἔχοντας διαφθείρειν, ἀλλʼ ἐᾶν χρῆσθαι τοὺς δεομένους καὶ ἀπολείπειν ἑτέροις, ὅταν αὐτοὶ μηκέτι χρείαν ἔχωμεν;
76. Question 76. Why do they that would be preferred before others in gentility wear little moons on their shoes? Solution. Is this the reason (as Castor saith), that this is a symbol of the place of habitation that is said to be in the moon, signifying that after death souls should have the moon under their feet again? Or was this a fashion of renown among families of greatest antiquity, as were the Arcadians of Evander’s posterity, that were called men born before the moon (προσέληνοι)? Or is this, like many other customs, to put men who are lofty and high-minded in mind of the mutability of human affairs to either side, setting the moon before them as an example,When first she comes from dark to light,Trimming, her face becomes fair bright,Increasing, till she’s full in sight;Declining then, leaves nought but night? Or was this for a doctrine of obedience to authority,— that they would have us not discontented under it; but, as the moon doth willingly obey her superior and conform unto him, always vamping after the rays of the sun (as Parmenides hath it), so they that are subjects to any prince should be contented with their lower station, in the enjoyment of power and dignity derived from him?
76. διὰ τί τὰς ἐν τοῖς ὑποδήμασι σεληνίδας οἱ διαφέρειν δοκοῦντες εὐγενείᾳ φοροῦσιν; πότερον, ὡς Κάστωρ φησί, σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦτο τῆς λεγομένης οἰκήσεως ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης καὶ ὅτι μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν αὖθις αἱ ψυχαὶ τὴν σελήνην ὑπὸ πόδας ἕξουσιν, ἢ τοῖς παλαιοτάτοις τοῦθʼ ὑπῆρχεν ἐξαίρετον; οὗτοι δʼ ἦσαν Ἀρκάδες τῶν ἀπʼ Εὐάνδρου Προσελήνων λεγομένων. ἤ, καθάπερ ἄλλα πολλά, καὶ τοῦτο τοὺς ἐπαιρομένους καὶ μέγα φρονοῦντας ὑπομιμνήσκει τῆς ἐπʼ ἀμφότερον τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων μεταβολῆς παράδειγμα ποιουμένους τὴν σελήνην, ὡςἐξ ἀδήλου πρῶτον ἔρχεται νέαπρόσωπα καλλύνουσα καὶ πληρουμένη,χὤταν περ αὑτῆς εὐπρεπεστάτη φανῇ,πάλιν διαρρεῖ κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται;ἢ πειθαρχίας ἦν μάθημα βασιλευομένους μὴ δυσχεραίνειν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἡ σελήνη προσέχειν ἐθέλει τῷ κρείττονι καὶ δευτερεύειν ἀεὶ παπταίνουσα πρὸς αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο κατὰ τὸν Παρμενίδην οὕτω τὴν δευτέραν τάξιν ἀγαπᾶν χρωμένους τῷ ἡγεμόνι καὶ τῆς ἀπʼ ἐκείνου δυνάμεως καὶ τιμῆς ἀπολαύοντας;
77. Question 77. Why are they of an opinion that the year is Jupiter’s, but the months Juno’s? Solution. Is it because Jupiter and Juno reign over the invisible Gods, who are no otherwise seen but by the eyes of our understanding, but the Sun and Moon over the visible? And the Sun verily causeth the year, and the Moon the months. Neither ought we to think that they are bare images of them, but the Sun is Jupiter himself materially, and the Moon Juno herself materially. Therefore they name her Juno (a juvenescendo, the name signifying a thing that is new or grows young) from the nature of the Moon; and they call her Lucina (as it were bright or shining), and they are of opinion that she helps women in their travail-pains. Whence is that of the poets:By azure leaven beset with stars,By th’ moon that hastens births; for they suppose that women have the easiest travail at the full of the moon.
77. διὰ τί τὸν μὲν ἐνιαυτὸν τοῦ Διὸς νομίζουσι, τοὺς δὲ μῆνας τῆς Ἥρας; ἦ ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἀοράτων θεῶν καὶ νοητῶν βασιλεύουσι Ζεὺς καὶ Ἥρα, τῶν δʼ ὁρατῶν ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη; ποιεῖ δʼ ὁ μὲν ἥλιος τὸν ἐνιαυτόν, ἡ δὲ σελήνη τοὺς μῆνας. δεῖ δὲ μὴ νομίζειν ἁπλῶς εἰκόνας ἐκείνων τούτους, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ἐν ὕλῃ Δία τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Ἥραν ἐν ὕλῃ τὴν σελήνην. διὸ καὶ Ἰουνῶνεμ ὀνομάζουσι τὴν Ἥραν, τὸ νέον ἢ τὸ νεώτερον ἐμφαίνοντος τοῦ ὀνόματος, ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης· καὶ Λουκῖναν Ἥραν καλοῦσιν οἷον φωτεινὴν ἢ φωτίζουσαν· καὶ νομίζουσιν ἐπὶ ταῖς λοχείαις καὶ ὠδῖσι βοηθεῖν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὴν σελήνην, διὰ κυάνεον πόλον ἄστρων διὰ τʼ ὠκυτόκοιο σελάνας· εὐτοκεῖν γὰρ ἐν ταῖς πανσελήνοις μάλιστα δοκοῦσι.
78. Question 78. What is the reason that a bird called sinister in soothsaying is fortunate? Solution. What if this be not true, but the dialect deludes so many? For they render ἀριστέρον sinistrum; but to permit a thing is sinere, and they say sine when they desire a thing to be permitted; therefore a prognostic permitting an action (being sinisterium) the vulgar do understand and call amiss sinistrum. Or is it as Dionysius saith, that when Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, had pitched battle against Mezentius, a flash of lightning portending victory (as they prognosticated) came on his left hand, and for the future they observed it so; or, as some others say, that this happened to Aeneas? Moreover, the Thebans routing and conquering their enemies by the left wing of the army at Leuctra, they continued in all battles to give the left wing the pre-eminence. Or is it rather as Juba thinks, that to those that look toward the east the north is on the left hand, which verily some make the right hand and superior part of the world? Consider whether the soothsayers do not, as it were, corroborate left-hand things, as the weaker by nature, and do intimate as if they introduced a supply of that defect of power that is in them. Or is it that they think that things terrestrial and mortal stand directly over against heavenly and divine things, and do conjecture that the things which to us are on the left hand the Gods send down from their right hand?
78. διὰ τί τῶν οἰωνῶν ὁ καλούμενος ἀριστερὸς αἴσιος; πότερον οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτʼ ἀληθές, ἀλλὰ παρακρούεται πολλοὺς ἡ διάλεκτος (τὸ γὰρ ἀριστερὸν σίνιστρον ὀνομάζουσι, τὸ δʼ ἀφεῖναι σίνερε καὶ σίνε λέγουσιν, ὅταν ἀφεῖναι παρακαλῶσι. τὸν οὖν ἀφιέντα τὴν πρᾶξιν οἰωνὸν σινιστέριον ὄντα σίνιστρον οὐκ ὀρθῶς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ ὀνομάζουσιν)· ἢ καθάπερ Διονύσιός φησιν, Ἀσκανίῳ τῷ Αἰνείου παραταττομένῳ πρὸς Μεζέντιον ἀστραπῆς ἐν ἀριστερᾷ νικηφόρου γενομένης οἰωνισάμενοι, καὶ πρὸς τὸ λοιπὸν οὕτω παραφυλάττουσιν; ἤ, ὡς ἄλλοι τινές, Αἰνείᾳ τούτου συμπεσόντος; καὶ γὰρ Θηβαῖοι τῷ ἀριστερῷ κέρατι τρεψάμενοι τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ κρατήσαντες ἐν Λεύκτροις, διετέλεσαν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς μάχαις τῷ ἀριστερῷ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἀποδιδόντες. ἢ μᾶλλον, ὡς Ἰόβας φησί, τοῖς πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολὰς ἀποβλέπουσιν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ γίγνεται τὸ βόρειον, ὃ δὴ τοῦ κόσμου δεξιὸν ἔνιοι τίθενται καὶ καθυπέρτερον. ὅρα δὲ μὴ φύσει τοῖς εὐωνύμοις ἀσθενεστέροις οὖσιν οἱ προϊστάμενοι τῶν οἰωνῶν οἷον ἀναρρωννύουσι καὶ ὑπερείδουσι τὸ ἐλλιπὲς τῆς δυνάμεως ἐπανισοῦντες. ἢ τὰ ἐπίγεια καὶ θνητὰ τοῖς οὐρανίοις καὶ θείοις ἀντικεῖσθαι νομίζοντες ᾤοντο τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀριστερὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν δεξιῶν προπέμπειν;
79. Question 79. Why was it lawful to bring the bones of one that had triumphed (after he was dead and burnt) into the city and lay them there, as Pyrrho the Liparaean hath told us? Solution. Was it for the honor they had for the deceased? For they granted that not only generals and other eminent persons, but also their offspring, should be buried in the market-place, for example, Valerius and Fabricius. And they say, when the posterity of these persons died, they were brought into the market-place, and a burning firebrand was put under them and immediately taken away; and thus all that might have caused envy was avoided, and the right to the honor was fully confirmed.
79. διὰ τί τοῦ θριαμβεύσαντος εἶτʼ ἀποθανόντος καὶ καέντος ἐξῆν ὀστέον λαβόντας εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσφέρειν καὶ κατατίθεσθαι, ὡς Πύρρων ὁ Λιπαραῖος ἱστόρηκεν; ἦ τιμῆς ἕνεκα τοῦ τεθνηκότος; καὶ γὰρ ἄλλοις ἀριστεῦσι καὶ στρατηγοῖς ἔδωκαν οὐκ αὐτοὺς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἐνθάπτεσθαι τῇ ἀγορᾷ, καθάπερ Οὐαλερίῳ καὶ Φαβρικίῳ· καί φασι τούτων ἀπογόνοις ἀποθανοῦσι καὶ κομισθεῖσιν εἰς ἀγορὰν ὑφίεσθαι δᾷδα καομένην, εἶτʼ εὐθὺς αἴρεσθαι, χρωμένων ἀνεπιφθόνως τῇ τιμῇ καὶ τὸ ἐξεῖναι μόνον ἐκβεβαιουμένων.
80. Question 80. Why did they that publicly feasted the triumphers humbly request the consuls, and by messengers sent beseech them, not to come to their supper? Solution. Was it that it was necessary to give the supreme place and most honorable entertainment to the triumpher, and wait upon him home after supper; whereas, the consuls being present, they might do such things to none other but them?
80. διὰ τί τοὺς θριαμβεύσαντας ἑστιῶντες ἐν δημοσίῳ παρῃτοῦντο τοὺς ὑπάτους, καὶ πέμποντες παρεκάλουν μὴ ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον; ἦ καὶ τόπον ἔδει τῷ θριαμβεύσαντι κλισίας τὸν ἐντιμότατον ἀποδίδοσθαι καὶ προπομπὴν μετὰ τὸ δεῖπνον; ταῦτα δʼ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἑτέρῳ γίγνεσθαι τῶν ὑπάτων παρόντων, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνοις.
81. Question 81. Why did not the tribune of the people wear a purple garment, whenas each of the other magistrates wore one? Solution. What if the tribune is not a magistrate at all? For he neither hath lictors, nor sitting in tribunal doth he determine causes; neither do the tribunes, as the rest, enter upon their office at the beginning of the year, nor do they cease when a dictator is chosen; but as if they translated all magistratic power to themselves, they continue still, being (as it were) no magistrates, but holding another kind of rank. And as some rhetoricians will not have a prohibition to be judicial proceeding, seeing it doth something contrary to judicial proceeding,—for the one brings in an action at law and gives judgment upon it, but the other nonsuits it and dismisseth the cause,— after the like manner they are of opinion that tribuneship is rather a curb to magistracy, and that it is an order standing in opposition to government rather than a piece of government itself; for the tribune’s office and authority is to withstand the magistrate’s authority, even to curtail his extravagant power. Perhaps these and similar reasons may be mere ingenious devices; but in truth, since tribuneship takes its original from the people, popularity is its stronghold, and it is a great thing not to carry it above the rest of the people, but to be like the citizens they have to do with in gesture, habit, and diet. State indeed becomes a consul and a praetor; but as for a tribune (as Caius Curio saith), he must be one that even is trampled upon, not grave in countenance, nor difficult of access, nor harsh to the rabble, but more tractable to them than to others. Hence it was decreed that the tribune’s doors should not be shut, but be open night and day as a haven and place of refuge for distressed people. And the more condescending his outward deportment is, by so much the more doth he increase in his power; for they dignify him as one of public use, and to be resorted to of all sorts even as an altar; therefore by the reverence they give him, he is sacred, holy, and inviolable; and when he makes a public progress, it is a law that every one should cleanse and purify the body as defiled.
81. διὰ τί περιπόρφυρον ὁ δήμαρχος οὐ φορεῖ, τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχόντων φορούντων; ἦ τὸ παράπαν οὐδʼ ἐστὶν ἄρχων; οὐδὲ γὰρ ῥαβδούχους ἔχουσι οὐδʼ ἐπὶ δίφρου καθήμενοι χρηματίζουσιν, οὐδʼ ἔτους ἀρχῇ καθάπερ οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες ἄρχοντες εἰσίασιν, οὐδὲ παύονται δικτάτωρος αἱρεθέντος ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν ἐκείνου μετατιθέντος εἰς ἑαυτὸν αὐτοὶ μόνοι διαμένουσιν, ὥσπερ οὐκ ὄντες ἄρχοντες ἀλλʼ ἑτέραν τινὰ τάξιν ἔχοντες. ὡς δὲ τῶν ῥητόρων ἔνιοι τὴν παραγραφὴν οὐ βούλονται δίκην εἶναι, τοὐναντίον τῇ δίκῃ δρῶσαν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ εἰσάγει καὶ ποιεῖ κρίσιν, ἡ δʼ ἀναιρεῖ καὶ λύει· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον οἴονται τὴν δημαρχίαν κώλυσιν ἀρχῆς μᾶλλον εἶναι καὶ πρὸς ἀρχὴν ἀντίταξιν ἢ ἀρχήν. τὸ γὰρ ἐνστῆναι πρὸς δύναμιν ἄρχοντος καὶ τὴν ἄγαν ἐξουσίαν ἀφελεῖν ἐξουσία καὶ δύναμίς ἐστιν αὐτῆς. ἢ ταῦτα μὲν ἄν τις εἴποι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα χρώμενος εὑρεσιλογίᾳ· τῆς δὲ δημαρχίας τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ τοῦ δήμου λαμβανούσης τὸ δημοτικὸν ἰσχυρόν ἐστι, καὶ μέγα τὸ μὴ μεῖζον φρονεῖν τῶν λοιπῶν ἀλλʼ ὁμοιοῦσθαι καὶ σχήματι καὶ στολῇ καὶ διαίτῃ τοῖς ἐπιτυγχάνουσι τῶν πολιτῶν. ὁ γὰρ ὄγκος ὑπάτῳ προσήκει καὶ στρατηγῷ, τὸν δὲ δήμαρχον, ὡς Γάιος Κουρίων ἔλεγε, καταπατεῖσθαι δεῖ, καὶ μὴ σεμνὸν εἶναι τῇ ὄψει μηδὲ δυσπρόσοδον μηδὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς χαλεπόν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἄλλων … τοῖς δὲ πολλοῖς εὐμεταχείριστον. ὅθεν οὐδʼ οἰκίας αὐτοῦ κλείεσθαι νενόμισται θύραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ νύκτωρ ἀνέῳγε καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ὥσπερ λιμὴν καὶ καταφυγὴ τοῖς δεομένοις. ὅσῳ δὲ μᾶλλον ἐκταπεινοῦται τῷ σχήματι, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον αὔξεται τῇ δυνάμει. κοινὸν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀξιοῦσι τῇ χρείᾳ καὶ πᾶσιν ἐφικτὸν ὥσπερ βωμὸν εἶναι, τῇ δὲ τιμῇ ποιοῦσιν ἱερὸν καὶ ἅγιον καὶ ἄσυλον· ὅπου κἂν βαδίζων ἐν δημοσίῳ …, πᾶσι νόμος ἐστὶ καθαίρεσθαι καὶ ἁγνίζεσθαι τὸ σῶμα καθάπερ μεμιασμένον.
82. Question 82. Why before the chief officers are rods carried bound together, with the axes fastened to them? Solution. What if it be a significant ceremony, to show that a magistrate’s anger ought not to be rash and ungrounded? Or is it that, while the rods are leisurely unloosing, they make deliberation and delay in their anger, so that oftentimes they change their sentence as to the punishment? Now, whereas some sort of crimes are curable, some incurable, rods correct the corrigible, but the axes are to cut off the incorrigible.
82. διὰ τί τῶν στρατηγῶν αἱ ῥάβδοι συνδεδεμέναι προσηρτημένων τῶν πελέκεων φέρονται; πότερον ὅτι σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ μὴ δεῖν πρόχειρον εἶναι καὶ λελυμένην τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ ἄρχοντος, ἢ διατριβὴν καὶ μέλλησιν ἐμποιοῦν τῇ ὀργῇ τὸ λύειν ἀτρέμα τὰς ῥάβδους πολλάκις ἐποίησε μεταγνῶναι περὶ τῆς κολάσεως; ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς κακίας τὸ μὲν ἰάσιμόν ἐστι τὸ δʼ ἀνήκεστον, αἱ μὲν ῥάβδοι νουθετοῦσι τὸ μεταθέσθαι δυνάμενον, οἱ δὲ πελέκεις ἀποκόπτουσι τὸ ἀνουθέτητον.
83. Question 83. What is the reason that the Romans, when they were informed that the barbarians called Bletonesians had sacrificed a man to the Gods, sent for their magistrates to punish them; but when they made it appear that they did it in obedience to a certain law, they dismissed them, but prohibited the like action for the future; whenas they themselves, not many years preceding, buried two men and two women alive in the Forum Boarium, two of whom were Greeks and two Gauls? For it seems absurd to do this themselves, and yet to reprimand the barbarians as if they were committing profaneness. Solution. What if this be the reason, that they reckoned it profane to sacrifice a man to the Gods, but necessary to do so to the Daemons? Or were they of opinion that they sinned that did such things by custom or law; but as for themselves, they did it being enjoined to it by the Sibylline books? For it is reported that one Elvia, a virgin, riding on horseback was struck with lightning and cast from her horse, and the horse was found lying uncovered and she naked, as if on set purpose; her clothes had been turned up from her secret parts, also her shoes, rings, and head-gear all lay scattered up and down, here and there; her tongue also was hanging out of her mouth. And when the diviners declared that it was an intolerable disgrace to the holy virgins that it should be published, and that some part of the abuse did touch the cavaliers, a servant of a certain barbarian cavalier informed, that three vestal virgins, Aemilia, Licinia, and Martia, about the same time had been deflowered, and for a long time played the whores with some men, among whom was Butetius, the said informer’s master. The virgins being convict were punished; and the fact appearing heinous, it was thought meet that the priest should consult the Sibylline books, where there were oracles found foretelling these things would come to pass for mischief to the republic, and enjoining them—in order to avert the impending calamity—to provide two Grecians and two Gauls, and bury them alive in that place, in order to the appeasing some alien and foreign Daemons.
83. διὰ τί τοὺς καλουμένους Βλετονησίους βαρβάρους ὄντας ἄνθρωπον τεθυκέναι θεοῖς πυθόμενοι, μετεπέμψαντο τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτῶν ὡς κολάσοντες· ἐπεὶ δὲ νόμῳ τινὶ τοῦτʼ ἐφαίνοντο πεποιηκότες, ἐκείνους μὲν ἀπέλυσαν, ἐκώλυσαν δὲ πρὸς τὸ λοιπόν· αὐτοὶ δʼ οὐ πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ἔμπροσθεν δύο μὲν ἄνδρας δύο δὲ γυναῖκας ἐν τῇ βοῶν ἀγορᾷ λεγομένῃ, τοὺς μὲν Ἕλληνας, τοὺς δὲ Γαλάτας, ζῶντας κατώρυξαν; φαίνεται γὰρ ἄτοπον ταῦτα μὲν ποιεῖν αὐτούς, ἐπιτιμᾶν δὲ βαρβάροις ὡς οὐχ ὅσια ποιοῦσι. πότερον τὸ μὲν θεοῖς θύειν ἀνθρώπους ἀνόσιον ἡγοῦντο, τὸ δὲ δαίμοσιν ἀναγκαῖον· ἢ τοὺς μὲν ἔθει καὶ νόμῳ τοῦτο πράττοντας ἁμαρτάνειν ἐνόμιζον, αὐτοὶ δὲ προσταχθέντες ἐκ τῶν Σιβυλλείων ἔπραξαν; λέγεται γὰρ Ἐλβίαν τινὰ παρθένον ὀχουμένην ἐφʼ ἵππου βληθῆναι κεραυνῷ, καὶ γυμνὸν μὲν εὑρεθῆναι κείμενον τὸν ἵππον, γυμνὴν δʼ αὐτὴν ὡς ἐπίτηδες ἀνηγμένου τοῦ χιτῶνος ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπορρήτων, ὑποδημάτων δὲ καὶ δακτυλίων καὶ κεκρυφάλου διερριμμένων χωρὶς ἄλλων ἀλλαχόθι, τοῦ δὲ στόματος ἔξω προβεβληκότος τὴν γλῶσσαν. ἀποφηναμένων δὲ τῶν μάντεων δεινὴν μὲν αἰσχύνην ταῖς ἱεραῖς παρθένοις εἶναι καὶ γενήσεσθαι περιβόητον, ἅψεσθαι δέ τινα καὶ ἱππέων ὕβριν, ἐμήνυσε βαρβάρου τινὸς ἱππικοῦ θεράπων τρεῖς παρθένους τῶν ἑστιάδων, Αἰμιλίαν καὶ Λικινίαν καὶ Μαρκίαν, ὑπὸ ταὐτὸ διεφθαρμένας καὶ συνούσας πολὺν χρόνον ἀνδράσιν, ὧν εἷς ἦν Βουτέτιος βάρβαρος τοῦ μηνυτοῦ δεσπότης. ἐκεῖναι μὲν οὖν ἐκολάσθησαν ἐξελεγχθεῖσαι, τῆς δὲ πράξεως δεινῆς φανείσης, ἔδοξεν ἀνερέσθαι τὰ Σιβύλλεια τοὺς ἱερεῖς. εὑρεθῆναι δέ φασι χρησμοὺς ταῦτά τε προδηλοῦντας ὡς ἐπὶ κακῷ γενησόμενα, καὶ προστάττοντας ἀλλοκότοις τισὶ δαίμοσι καὶ ξένοις ἀποτροπῆς ἕνεκα τοῦ ἐπιόντος προέσθαι δύο μὲν Ἕλληνας, δύο δὲ Γαλάτας ζῶντας αὐτόθι κατορυγέντας.
84. Question 84. Why do they take the beginning of the day from the midnight? Solution. Is the reason that the commonweal had a military constitution at the first? For many matters of concern on military expeditions are managed by night. Or did they make sunrising the beginning of business, and the night the preparation for it? For men ought to come prepared to action, and not to be in preparation when they should be doing,—as Myso is reported to have said to Chilo the Wise, when he was making a fan in winter. Or as the noontide to many is the time for finishing public and weighty affairs, so did it seem meet to make midnight the beginning? This hath this confirmation, that a Roman governor would make no league or confederation in the afternoon. Or is it impossible to take the beginning and end of the day from sunrising to sunsetting? For, as the vulgar measure the beginning of the day by sense to be the first appearance of the sun, and take the first beginning of the night to be the complete withdrawment of the sun from sight, we shall thus have no equinoctial day; but the night which we suppose comes nearest in equality to the day will be manifestly shorter than the day by the diameter of the sun. Which absurdity the mathematicians, going about to solve, have determined that, where the centre of the sun toucheth the horizon, there is the true parting point between day and night. But this contradicts sense; for it must follow that whilst there is much light above the earth, yea, the sun illuminating us, we will not for all this confess it to be day, but must say that it is still night. Whereas then it is hard to take the beginning of the day from the rising and setting of the sun, by reason of the forementioned absurdities, it remains to take the zenith and the nadir for the beginning. The last is best, for the sun’s course from noon is by way of declination from us; but from midnight he takes his course towards us, as sunrising comes on.
84. διὰ τί τὴν τῆς ἡμέρας ἀρχὴν ἐκ μέσης νυκτὸς λαμβάνουσι; πότερον ὅτι ἡ πολιτεία στρατιωτικὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ σύνταξιν εἶχε, τὰ δὲ πολλὰ νύκτωρ ἐν ταῖς στρατείαις προλαμβάνεται τῶν χρησίμων· ἢ πράξεως μὲν ἀρχὴν ἐποιοῦντο τὴν ἀνατολήν, παρασκευῆς δὲ τὴν νύκτα; δεῖ γὰρ παρασκευασαμένους πράττειν, ἀλλὰ μὴ παρασκευάζεσθαι πράττοντας, ὡς Μύσων πρὸς Χίλωνα τὸν σοφὸν εἰπεῖν λέγεται ἐν χειμῶνι θρίνακα τεκταινόμενος. ἢ καθάπερ ἡ μεσημβρία πέρας ἐστὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς τοῦ τὰ δημόσια καὶ σπουδαῖα πράττειν, οὕτως ἀρχὴν ἔδοξε ποιεῖσθαι τὸ μεσονύκτιον; τεκμήριον δὲ τούτου μέγα τὸ μὴ ποιεῖσθαι Ῥωμαῖον ἄρχοντα συνθήκας μηδʼ ὁμολογίας μετὰ μέσον ἡμέρας. ἢ δύσει μὲν καὶ ἀνατολῇ λαμβάνειν ἀρχὴν ἡμέρας καὶ τελευτὴν οὐ δυνατόν ἐστιν; ὡς μὲν γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ τῇ αἰσθήσει διορίζουσιν ἡμέρας μὲν ἀρχὴν τὴν πρώτην ἀνάσχεσιν τοῦ ἡλίου, νυκτὸς δὲ τὴν τελευταίαν ἀπόκρυψιν λαμβάνοντες, οὐχ ἕξομεν ἰσημερίαν, ἀλλʼ ἣν μάλιστα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ νύκτα παρισοῦσθαι δοκοῦμεν, αὕτη τῆς ἡμέρας ἐλάττων φανεῖται τῷ τοῦ ἡλίου μεγέθει. ὃ δʼ αὖ πάλιν οἱ μαθηματικοὶ ταύτην ἰώμενοι τὴν ἀτοπίαν τίθενται, τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου κέντρον, ὅταν ἅψηται τοῦ ὁρίζοντος, ἡμέρας διορισμὸν εἶναι καὶ νυκτός, ἀναίρεσίς ἐστι τῆς ἐναργείας. συμβήσεται γάρ, ἔτι πολλοῦ φωτὸς ὑπὲρ γῆν ὄντος καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου καταλάμποντος ἡμᾶς, μηδέπω ἡμέραν ὁμολογεῖν ἀλλʼ ἔτι νύκτα εἶναι. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἐν ταῖς ἀνατολαῖς καὶ δύσεσι τοῦ ἡλίου δύσληπτός ἐστιν ἡ ἀρχὴ διὰ τὰς εἰρημένας ἀλογίας, ἀπολείπεται τὸ μεσουρανοῦν ἢ τὸ ἀντιμεσουρανοῦν αὐτοῦ. λαμβάνειν ἀρχήν. βέλτιον δὲ τὸ δεύτερον· φέρεται γὰρ ἐκ μεσημβρίας ἐπὶ τὰς δύσεις ἀφʼ ἡμῶν, ἐκ δὲ μεσονυκτίου πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολάς.