Epitome of the Divine Institutes 0.1–21.5
Latin text: CSEL 19 (Latin text: S. Brandt and G. Laubmann (CSEL 19, 1890), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886).
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 0.1
0.1CSEL 19:675
Quamquam Diuinarum Institutionum libri, quos iam pridem ad inlustrandam ueritatem religionemque conscripsimus, ita legentium mentes instruant, ita informent, ut nec prolixitas pariat fastidium nec oneret ubertas, tamen horum tibi epitomen fieri, Pentadi frater, desideras, credo, ut ad te aliquid scribam tuumque nomen in nostro qualicumque opere celebretur.
Although the books of the Divine Institutes, which we wrote some time ago to shed light on truth and religion, so instruct and shape the minds of their readers that neither their length breeds weariness nor their fullness burdens, you nevertheless wish, brother Pentadius, that an epitome of them be made for you, so, I believe, that I may write something to you and your name may be honoured in our work, such as it is.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius writes this summary of his Divine Institutes at the request of his friend Pentadius.
- The Epitome condenses the seven books of the Divine Institutes (ca. 303–311). Pentadius is otherwise unknown.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 0.1 (CSEL 19:675; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-0-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
0.2CSEL 19:675
faciam quod postulas, etsi difficile uidetur ea quae septem maximis uoluminibus explicata sunt, in unum conferre.
I will do what you ask, although it seems difficult to gather into one what has been unfolded in seven very large volumes.
Notes and citation
Summary: He agrees, though compressing seven volumes into one is hard.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 0.2 (CSEL 19:675; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-0-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
0.3CSEL 19:675
fit enim totum et minus plenum, cum tanta rerum multitudo in angustum coartanda sit, et breuitate ipsa minus clarum, maxime cum et argumenta plurima et exempla, in quibus lumen est probationum, necesse sit praeteriri, quoniam tanta eorum copia est, ut uel sola librum conficere possint.
For the whole becomes both less full, when so great a multitude of matters must be squeezed into a narrow space, and less clear by the very brevity, especially since very many arguments and examples, in which the light of the proofs lies, must be passed over, because their abundance is so great that they alone could fill a book.
Notes and citation
Summary: A summary must leave out many arguments and examples, and so is less full and clear.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 0.3 (CSEL 19:675; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-0-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
0.4CSEL 19:675–676
quibus sublatis quid poterit.., quid apertum uideri? sed enitar quantum res sinit et diffusa substringere et prolixa breuiare, sic tamen, ut neque res ad copiam neque claritas ad intellegentiam deesse uideatur in hoc opere, quo in lucem ueritas protrahenda est.
When these are removed, what can seem … , what clear? But I will strive, as far as the matter allows, both to draw together what is spread out and to shorten what is long, yet in such a way that neither substance for fullness nor clarity for understanding may seem lacking in this work, in which truth is to be drawn out into the light.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will condense the work while keeping it full and clear.
- A word is lost after “what can” (the digital text shows dots).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 0.4 (CSEL 19:675–676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-0-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 1
1.1CSEL 19:676
Prima incidit quaestio, sitne aliqua prouidentia, quae aut. fecerit aut regat mundum. esse nemini dubium est, siquidem omnium fere philosophorum praeter scholam Epicuri una uox, una sententia est nec fieri sine artifice deo potuisse mundum nec sine rectore constare.
The first question that arises is whether there is some providence which either made or rules the world. No one doubts that there is, since almost all the philosophers, except the school of Epicurus, have one voice and one opinion: that the world could not have been made without God as its maker, nor continue without a ruler.
Notes and citation
Summary: Almost all philosophers except the Epicureans agree that the world was made and is ruled by providence.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 1.1 (CSEL 19:676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-1-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
1.2CSEL 19:676
itaque non solum a doctissimis uiris, sed et omnium mortalium testimoniis ac sensibus coarguitur Epicurus.
And so Epicurus is refuted not only by the most learned men but by the testimony and perceptions of all mortals.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus is refuted by learned and ordinary people alike.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 1.2 (CSEL 19:676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-1-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
1.3CSEL 19:676
quis enim de prouidentia dubitet, cum uideat caelos terramque sic disposita, sic temperata esse. (ut) uniuersa non modo ad pulcritudinem ornatumque mirabilem, sed ad usum quoque hominum ceterorumque uiuentium commoditatem aptissime conuenirent?
For who would doubt providence when he sees that the heavens and the earth are so ordered, so tempered, that all things fit most aptly not only for beauty and wonderful adornment but also for the use of human beings and the convenience of other living things?
Notes and citation
Summary: The ordered beauty and usefulness of the world prove providence.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 1.3 (CSEL 19:676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-1-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
1.4CSEL 19:676
non potest igitur quod ratione constat sine ratione coepisse.
What stands by reason, therefore, cannot have begun without reason.
Notes and citation
Summary: What is rationally ordered must have a rational origin.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 1.4 (CSEL 19:676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-1-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 2
2.1CSEL 19:676
Quoniam certum est esse prouidentiam, sequitur alia quaestio, utrumne deus unus an plures. quae quidem multum habet ambiguitatis. dissentiunt enim non modo singuli inter se, uerum etiam populi atque gentes.
Since it is certain that there is providence, another question follows: whether God is one or many. This indeed has much ambiguity; for not only individuals disagree among themselves, but peoples and nations too.
Notes and citation
Summary: The next question is whether there is one God or many.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.1 (CSEL 19:676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.2CSEL 19:676–677
sed qui rationem sequetur, intelleget nec dominum esse posse nisi unum nec patrem nisi unum. nam si deus, qui omnia condidit, et idem dominus et idem pater est, unus sit necesse est, ut idem sit caput idemque fons rerum.
But whoever follows reason will understand that there can be only one lord and only one father. For if God, who founded all things, is both lord and father, he must be one, so that the same may be the head and the same the source of things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Reason shows there can be only one Lord and Father of all.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.2 (CSEL 19:676–677; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.3CSEL 19:677
nec potest aliter rerum summa consistere, nisi ad unum cuncta referantur, nisi unus teneat gubernaculum, nisi unus frena moderetur regatque uniuersa membra tamquam mens una.
Nor can the sum of things hold together otherwise than if all are referred to one, if one holds the helm, if one guides the reins and rules all the members like one mind.
Notes and citation
Summary: The universe can only hold together under one ruler.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.3 (CSEL 19:677; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.4CSEL 19:677
si multi sint in examine apum reges, peribunt aut dissipabuntur, dum regibus incessit magno discordia motu; si plures in armento duces, tam diu proeliabuntur, donec unus optineat; si multi in exercitu inperatores, nec pareri poterit a milite, cum diuersa iubeantur, nec ab iis ipsis unitas optineri, cum sibi quisque pro moribus consulat.
If there are many kings in a swarm of bees, they will perish or be scattered, “while discord comes upon the kings with great commotion”; if there are several leaders in a herd, they will fight until one prevails; if many commanders in an army, neither can the soldier obey, since different things are commanded, nor can unity be kept among the commanders themselves, since each consults his own interest according to his character.
Notes and citation
Summary: Bees, herds, and armies show that many rulers bring strife.
- The quotation is Virgil, Georg. 4.68.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Georg. 4.68 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.4 (CSEL 19:677; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.5CSEL 19:677
sic in hac mundi re publica nisi unus fuisset moderator, qui et conditor, aut soluta fuisset omnis haec moles aut ne condi quidem omnino potuisset.
So in this commonwealth of the world, unless there had been one governor, who was also the founder, either this whole mass would have been dissolved or it could not have been founded at all.
Notes and citation
Summary: The world needs one founder and governor.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.5 (CSEL 19:677; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.6CSEL 19:677
praeterea in multis non potest esse totum, cum singuli sua officia, suas optineant potestates. nullus igitur eorum poterit omnipotens nuncupari, quod est uerum cognomentum dei, quoniam id solum poterit, quod in ipso est, quod autem in aliis, nec audebit attingere.
Moreover, among many the whole cannot exist, since each holds his own offices and his own powers. None of them, therefore, could be called almighty, which is the true title of God, since he will be able to do only what is in himself, and will not even dare to touch what is in others.
Notes and citation
Summary: Many gods with divided powers could not be almighty.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.6 (CSEL 19:677; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.7CSEL 19:677–678
non Vulcanus sibi aquam uindicabit aut Neptunus ignem, non Ceres artium peritiam nec Minerua frugum, non arma Mercurius nec Mars lyram, non Iuppiter medicinam nec Asclepius fulmen: facilius illut ab alio iactum suscipiet quam ipse torquebit.
Vulcan will not claim water for himself, nor Neptune fire; nor Ceres skill in the arts, nor Minerva crops; nor Mercury arms, nor Mars the lyre; nor Jupiter medicine, nor Asclepius the thunderbolt: he would more easily be struck by it when thrown by another than hurl it himself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Each pagan god has only a limited domain.
- Asclepius was said to have been killed by Jupiter's thunderbolt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.7 (CSEL 19:677–678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
2.8CSEL 19:678
si ergo singuli non possunt omnia, minus habent uirium, minus potestatis: is autem deus putandus est qui potest totum, quam qui de toto minimum.
If, then, individual gods cannot do everything, they have less strength, less power; and he must be thought God who can do the whole, rather than one who can do the least part of the whole.
Notes and citation
Summary: God is the one who can do all, not those with partial powers.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 2.8 (CSEL 19:678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-2-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 3
3.1CSEL 19:678
Unus igitur deus est, perfectus aeternus, incorruptibilis inpassibilis, nulli rei potestatiue subiectus, ipse omnia possidens, omnia regens, quem nec aestimare sensu ualeat humana mens nec eloqui lingua mortalis. sublimior enim ac maior est quam ut possit aut cogitatione hominis aut sermone conprehendi.
There is therefore one God, perfect, eternal, incorruptible, impassible, subject to the power of nothing, himself possessing all things, ruling all things, whom neither the human mind can estimate by perception nor mortal tongue declare. For he is higher and greater than can be grasped either by human thought or speech.
Notes and citation
Summary: There is one God, perfect, eternal, beyond human thought and speech.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): aestimare -sensu → aestimare sensu.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 3.1 (CSEL 19:678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-3-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
3.2CSEL 19:678
denique, ut taceam de prophetis unius dei praedicatoribus, poetae quoque et philosophi et uates testimonium singulari deo perhibent.
In short, to say nothing of the prophets, the preachers of one God, the poets too and the philosophers and the seers bear witness to the one God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Besides the prophets, poets, philosophers, and seers testify to one God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 3.2 (CSEL 19:678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-3-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
3.3CSEL 19:678
Orpheus principalem deum dicit, qui caelum solemque cum ceteris astris, qui terram, qui maria condiderit.
Orpheus speaks of a principal God who founded the heaven and the sun with the other stars, the earth, and the seas.
Notes and citation
Summary: Orpheus spoke of a first God who made heaven, sun, earth, and sea.
- The reference is to the Orphic poems.
Extrabiblical texts: Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 3.3 (CSEL 19:678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-3-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
3.4CSEL 19:678
item noster Maro summum deum modo spiritum, modo mentem nuncupat eamque uelut membris infusam totius mundi corpus agitare; item deum per profunda caeli, per tractus maris terrarumque discurrere atque ab eo uniuersas animantes trahere uitam.
Likewise our Maro calls the highest God now spirit, now mind, and says that it, as though poured into its members, moves the body of the whole world; likewise that God runs through the depths of heaven, the tracts of sea and lands, and that from him all living creatures draw life.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil calls the highest God a spirit or mind that animates the world.
- The allusions are Virgil, Aen. 6.724–727 and Georg. 4.221–225.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread in the digital text): itsm noster → item noster.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 6.724–727 (Virgil; allusion); Virgil, Georg. 4.221–225 (Virgil; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 3.4 (CSEL 19:678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-3-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
3.5CSEL 19:678
ne Ouidius quidem ignorauit a deo instructum esse mundum: quem interdum opificem rerum, interdum mundi fabricatorem uocat.
Not even Ovid was ignorant that the world was set in order by God: he calls him sometimes the maker of things, sometimes the builder of the world.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ovid also names God as the world's maker.
- Ovid, Metam. 1.57 (mundi fabricator) and 1.79 (opifex rerum).
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.57, 79 (Ovid; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 3.5 (CSEL 19:678; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-3-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 4
4.1CSEL 19:678–679
Sed ueniamus ad philosophos, quorum certior habetur auctoritas quam poetarum. (Plato) monarchian adserit unum deum dicens, a quo sit mundus instructus (et) mirabili ratione perfectus.
But let us come to the philosophers, whose authority is held to be more certain than that of the poets. Plato asserts a monarchy, speaking of one God by whom the world was set in order and perfected with wonderful reason.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato taught one God who ordered the world.
- The allusion is to Plato's Timaeus. “Plato” and “and” are the editor's supplements.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 28c–30b (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 4.1 (CSEL 19:678–679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-4-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
4.2CSEL 19:679
Aristoteles auditor eius unam esse mentem quae mundo praesideat, confitetur. Antisthenes unum esse dicit naturalem deum, totius summae gubernatorem.
Aristotle, his pupil, confesses that there is one mind which presides over the world. Antisthenes says that there is one natural God, the governor of the whole universe.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle and Antisthenes also taught one ruling God.
- Antisthenes' saying is known through Cicero, Nat. d. 1.32.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 4.2 (CSEL 19:679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-4-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
4.3CSEL 19:679
longum est recensere quae de summo deo uel Thales uel Pythagoras et Anaximenes antea uel postmodum Stoici, Cleanthes et Chrysippus et Zenon, uel nostrorum Seneca Stoicos secutus et ipse Tullius praedicauerint, cum hi omnes et quid sit deus definire temptauerint et ab eo solo regi mundum adfirmauerint nec ulli subiectum esse naturae, cum ab ipso sit omnis natura generata.
It would take long to review what either Thales or Pythagoras and Anaximenes earlier, or afterwards the Stoics, Cleanthes and Chrysippus and Zeno, or among our own writers Seneca, following the Stoics, and Tully himself have proclaimed about the highest God, since all these have both tried to define what God is and affirmed that the world is ruled by him alone and that he is subject to no nature, since all nature has been generated by him.
Notes and citation
Summary: Many Greek and Roman philosophers affirmed one highest God who rules the world.
- “Tully” is Cicero.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread in the digital text): praedicaueriut → praedicauerint.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion); Seneca (Seneca; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 4.3 (CSEL 19:679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-4-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
4.4CSEL 19:679
Hermes, qui ob uirtutem multarumque artium scientiam Trismegistus meruit nominari, qui et doctrina et uetustate philosophos antecessit quique aput Aegyptios ut deus colitur, maiestatem dei singularis infinitis adserens laudibus dominum et patrem nuncupat eumque esse sine nomine, quod proprio uocabulo non indigeat, quia solus sit, nec habere ullos parentes, quia ex se et per se ipse sit.
Hermes, who for his virtue and his knowledge of many arts deserved to be named Trismegistus, who surpassed the philosophers both in learning and in antiquity, and who is worshipped among the Egyptians as a god, asserting the majesty of the one God with infinite praises, calls him lord and father, and says that he is without a name, because he needs no proper name, since he is alone; and that he has no parents, because he exists from himself and through himself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hermes Trismegistus praised the one God as nameless, unbegotten Lord and Father.
- Lactantius, like many early writers, took the Hermetic writings to be very ancient; modern scholarship dates them to the early centuries AD.
Extrabiblical texts: Corp. herm. (Hermetic writings; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 4.4 (CSEL 19:679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-4-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
4.5CSEL 19:679
huius ad filium scribentis exordium tale est: deum quidem intellegere difficile est, eloqui uero inpossibile, etiam cui intellegere possibile est: perfectum enim ab inperfecto, inuisibile a uisibili non potest conprehendi.
The opening of his letter to his son runs thus: “To understand God is difficult, and to speak of him impossible, even for one to whom understanding is possible; for the perfect cannot be comprehended by the imperfect, nor the invisible by the visible.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Hermes wrote that God is hard to understand and impossible to describe.
- A Hermetic fragment (Stobaeus, Anth. 1.1.29a = Hermetic fragment 1), cf. Plato, Tim. 28c.
Extrabiblical texts: Corp. herm. (Hermetic writings; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 4.5 (CSEL 19:679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-4-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 5
5.1CSEL 19:679–680
Superest de uatibus dicere. Varro decem Sibyllas fuisse tradit: primam de Persis, secundam Libyssam, tertiam Delphida, quartam Cimmeriam, quintam Erythraeam, sextam Samiam, septimam Cumanam, octauam Hellespontiam, nonam Phrygiam, decimam Tiburtem, cui sit nomen Albunea.
It remains to speak of the seers. Varro records that there were ten Sibyls: the first from the Persians, the second the Libyan, the third the Delphic, the fourth the Cimmerian, the fifth the Erythraean, the sixth the Samian, the seventh the Cumaean, the eighth the Hellespontine, the ninth the Phrygian, the tenth the Tiburtine, whose name is Albunea.
Notes and citation
Summary: Varro lists ten Sibyls.
- From Varro's lost Antiquities of Divine Things; the list is given more fully in Div. inst. 1.6.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 5.1 (CSEL 19:679–680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-5-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
5.2CSEL 19:680
ex his omnibus Cumanae solius tres esse libros, qui Romanorum fata contineant et habeantur arcani, ceterarum autem fere omnium singulos extare haberique uulgo, sed eos Sibyllinos uelut uno nomine inscribi, nisi quod Erythraea, quae Troici belli temporibus fuisse perhibetur, nomen suum uerum posuit in libro; aliarum confusi sunt.
Of all these, only the Cumaean's three books exist, which contain the fates of the Romans and are kept secret; but of almost all the others single books survive and are commonly held, yet they are titled under one name, “Sibylline,” except that the Erythraean, who is said to have lived in the times of the Trojan war, put her true name in her book; those of the others are mixed together.
Notes and citation
Summary: Most Sibylline books circulate under one name; the Erythraean signed hers.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread in the digital text): ei his omnibus → ex his omnibus.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 5.2 (CSEL 19:680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-5-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
5.3CSEL 19:680
hae omnes de quibus dixi Sibyllae praeter Cymaeam, quam legi nisi a quindecimuiris non licet, unum deum esse testantur, principem conditorem parentem, non ab ullo generatum, sed a se ipso satum, qui et fuerit a saeculis et sit futurus in saecula, et idcirco solus coli debeat, solus timeri, solus a cunctis uiuentibus honorari.
All these Sibyls I have spoken of, except the Cumaean, whom only the Board of Fifteen may read, testify that there is one God, the chief, the founder, the parent, begotten by none but sprung from himself, who has been from the ages and will be to the ages, and who therefore alone ought to be worshipped, alone feared, alone honoured by all living beings.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyls testify that there is one self-existent God who alone should be worshipped.
- Compare Sibylline Oracles, fragments 1 and 3 (preserved by Theophilus and Lactantius).
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. frag. 1 (Sibylline Oracles; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 5.3 (CSEL 19:680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-5-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
5.4CSEL 19:680
quarum testimonia quia breuiare non poteram, praetermisi: quae si desideras, ad ipsos tibi libros reuertendum est. nunc reliqua persequamur.
Since I could not shorten their testimonies, I have omitted them; if you want them, you must go back to the books themselves. Now let us pursue the rest.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyls' texts are omitted here; the reader is referred to the full work.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 5.4 (CSEL 19:680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-5-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 6
6.1CSEL 19:680
Haec igitur tot ac tanta testimonia liquido perdocent unum esse regimen in mundo, unam potestatem, cuius nec origo excogitari nec uis enarrari potest.
These many and great testimonies, then, clearly teach that there is one government in the world, one power, whose origin cannot be conceived nor its might described.
Notes and citation
Summary: All these witnesses show that one power rules the world.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 6.1 (CSEL 19:680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-6-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
6.2CSEL 19:680
stulti ergo, qui de concubitu natos putant deos esse [se], cum ipsi sexus et corporum copulatio idcirco mortalibus a deo data sint, ut per subolis successionem genus omne seruetur.
Foolish, then, are those who think that gods are born of intercourse, since sex itself and the union of bodies were given to mortals by God so that every kind may be preserved through the succession of offspring.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods born of intercourse are absurd, since sex exists only to preserve mortal kinds.
- The edition brackets “se” as spurious; it is left out.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 6.2 (CSEL 19:680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-6-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
6.3CSEL 19:680
inmortalibus uero quid opus est aut sexu aut successione, quos nec uoluptas nec interitus attingit?
But what need have immortals of either sex or succession, whom neither pleasure nor death touches?
Notes and citation
Summary: Immortals need neither sex nor offspring.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 6.3 (CSEL 19:680; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-6-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
6.4CSEL 19:680–681
illi ergo qui dii putantur, quoniam et genitos esse tamquam homines et procreasse constat, mortales utique fuerunt, sed dii crediti sunt, quod cum essent reges magni ac potentes, ob ea beneficia quae in homines contulerant, diuinos post obitum honores consequi meruerunt positisque templis atque simulacris memoria eorum tamquam inmortalium retenta est atque celebrata.
Those, then, who are thought to be gods, since it is agreed that they were both born like human beings and begot children, were certainly mortal; but they were believed to be gods because, being great and powerful kings, they deserved for the benefits they had conferred on mankind to obtain divine honours after death, and, temples and images being set up, their memory was retained and celebrated as if of immortals.
Notes and citation
Summary: The pagan gods were mortal kings deified after death for their benefits to mankind.
- This is the theory of Euhemerus, discussed below (13.2).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 6.4 (CSEL 19:680–681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-6-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 7
7.1CSEL 19:681
Sed cum sit omnibus fere gentibus persuasum deos esse, res tamen eorum gestae, quas tam poetae quam historici tradiderunt, homines fuisse declarant.
But although almost all nations are persuaded that there are gods, yet their deeds, which both poets and historians have handed down, declare that they were human beings.
Notes and citation
Summary: The recorded deeds of the gods show they were human.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 7.1 (CSEL 19:681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-7-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
7.2CSEL 19:681
Hercules per quae tempora fuerit, quis ignorat, cum idem et inter Argonautas nauigauerit et expugnata Troia Laomedontem Priami patrem ob periurium interfecerit? ab eo tempore paulo amplius quam mille et quingenti computantur anni.
Who does not know in what times Hercules lived, since he both sailed among the Argonauts and, after Troy was stormed, killed Laomedon, the father of Priam, for his perjury? From that time a little more than fifteen hundred years are counted.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules lived at a known time, about 1,500 years ago.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 7.2 (CSEL 19:681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-7-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
7.3CSEL 19:681
hic ne natus quidem honeste traditur, sed Alcimenae adulterio genitus; et ipse uitiis genitoris addictus nec feminis umquam nec maribus abstinuit orbemque totum non tam gloriae quam libidinis causa nec tantum ad necandas beluas quantum ad serendos liberos peragrauit.
He is not even said to have been honourably born, but begotten in adultery with Alcmena; and he himself, given over to his father's vices, never abstained from women or from males, and he travelled over the whole world not so much for glory as for lust, not so much to kill wild beasts as to beget children.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules was born of adultery and was himself lustful.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 7.3 (CSEL 19:681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-7-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
7.4CSEL 19:681
cumque esset inuictus, ab una tamen Omphale triumphatus est, cui claua et spolio leonis tradito indutus ipse feminea ueste atque ad pedes mulieris abiectus pensa quae faceret accepit. idem postea instinctu furoris elatus paruos liberos et uxorem Megaram trucidauit.
And though he was unconquered, he was nevertheless triumphed over by one woman, Omphale; having handed over to her his club and lion's skin, he himself, dressed in woman's clothing and thrown down at the woman's feet, received wool to spin. The same man later, carried away by a fit of madness, slaughtered his little children and his wife Megara.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules was humiliated by Omphale and in madness killed his family.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 7.4 (CSEL 19:681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-7-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
7.5CSEL 19:681
postremo sumpta Deianirae coniugis ueste, cum difflueret ulceribus, doloris inpatiens rogum sibi in Oetaeo monte construxit eoque se uiuum cremauit. sic efficitur ut etiamsi ob uirtutem deus credi potuisset, ob haec tamen homo fuisse credatur.
Finally, having put on the robe of his wife Deianira, when he was dissolving with sores, unable to bear the pain he built himself a pyre on Mount Oeta and burned himself alive on it. So it follows that, even if he could have been believed a god for his valour, for these things he must be believed to have been a man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules burned himself to death; his life shows he was a man, not a god.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 7.5 (CSEL 19:681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-7-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 8
8.1CSEL 19:681–682
Aesculapium Tarquitius tradit ex incertis parentibus natum et ob id expositum atque a uenatoribus collectum, caninis uberibus educatum, Chironi in disciplinam datum.
Tarquitius records that Aesculapius was born of uncertain parents and for that reason exposed, picked up by hunters, nursed at a dog's teats, and given to Chiron to be trained.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aesculapius was a foundling of uncertain birth.
- Tarquitius Priscus, a Roman writer on Etruscan lore.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 8.1 (CSEL 19:681–682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-8-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
8.2CSEL 19:682
hic Epidauri moratus est, Cynosuris, ut Cicero ait, sepultus, cum esset ictu fulminis interemptus. Apollo autem pater eius non dedignatus est alienum gregem pascere, ut acciperet uxorem; et dilectum puerum cum peremisset inprudens, gemitus suos inscripsit in flore.
He lived at Epidaurus and, as Cicero says, was buried at Cynosura, having been killed by a stroke of lightning. And Apollo his father did not disdain to feed another man's flock in order to get a wife; and having unwittingly killed a beloved boy, he inscribed his groans on a flower.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aesculapius died by lightning and was buried; Apollo served as a herdsman and mourned a boy he killed.
- Cicero, Nat. d. 3.57. The boy is Hyacinthus, whose flower was said to bear the letters AI AI.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 3.57 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 8.2 (CSEL 19:682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-8-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
8.3CSEL 19:682
Marti uiro fortissimo adulterii crimen non defuit, siquidem catenis cum adultera uinctus spectaculo fuit. Castor et Pollux alienas sponsas non inpune rapuerunt, quos Homerus non poetica, sed simplici fide mortuos sepultosque testatur.
Mars, a most valiant man, was not free from the charge of adultery, since he was bound in chains with the adulteress and made a spectacle. Castor and Pollux carried off other men's brides, not without punishment; Homer testifies, not with poetic but with plain faith, that they were dead and buried.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mars was caught in adultery; Castor and Pollux, bride-thieves, died and were buried, as Homer says.
- Mars and Venus: Homer, Od. 8.266–366. Castor and Pollux: Homer, Il. 3.243–244.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Od. 8.266–366 (Homer, Odyssey; allusion); Homer, Il. 3.243–244 (Homer, Iliad; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 8.3 (CSEL 19:682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-8-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
8.4CSEL 19:682
Mercurius, qui de stupro Veneris genuit androgynum, deus esse meruit, quia lyram repperit et palaestram.
Mercury, who by an illicit union with Venus begot the hermaphrodite, deserved to be a god because he invented the lyre and the wrestling school.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercury was deified for inventing the lyre and wrestling.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 8.4 (CSEL 19:682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-8-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
8.5CSEL 19:682
Liber pater debellata India uictor cum Cretam forte uenisset, Ariadnain conspexit in litore, quam Theseus et uiolauerat et reliquerat. tum amore inflammatus eam sibi in coniugium sociauit et coronam eius, ut poetae ferunt, inter astra signauit.
Father Liber, having conquered India, when as victor he happened to come to Crete, saw Ariadne on the shore, whom Theseus had both violated and abandoned. Then, inflamed with love, he joined her to himself in marriage and, as the poets say, set her crown among the stars.
Notes and citation
Summary: Bacchus married the abandoned Ariadne and placed her crown among the stars.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 8.5 (CSEL 19:682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-8-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6CSEL 19:682
Mater ipsa post fugam et obitum uiri cum in Phrygia moraretur, uidua et anus formonsum adulescentem in deliciis habuit et quia fidem non praestiterat, ademptis genitalibus effeminauit. ideo etiam nunc Gallis sacerdotibus gaudet.
The Mother herself, after the flight and death of her husband, while she was staying in Phrygia, a widow and an old woman, kept a handsome young man as her favourite, and because he did not keep faith she castrated him and made him effeminate. For this reason she delights even now in Galli as priests.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Great Mother castrated her faithless young lover, hence her eunuch priests.
- The story of Cybele and Attis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 8.6 (CSEL 19:682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-8-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 9
9.1CSEL 19:682
Ceres unde Proserpinam nisi de stupro genuit? unde Latona geminos nisi ex crimine? Venus deorum et hominum libidinibus exposita cum regnaret in Cypro, artem meretriciam repperit ac mulieribus imperauit ut quaestum facerent, ne sola esset infamis.
From what but illicit intercourse did Ceres bear Proserpina? From what but a crime did Latona bear her twins? Venus, exposed to the lusts of gods and men, when she reigned in Cyprus invented the harlot's trade and ordered women to make money by it, so that she alone might not be infamous.
Notes and citation
Summary: The goddesses conceived through immorality; Venus invented prostitution.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 9.1 (CSEL 19:682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-9-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
9.2CSEL 19:682–683
ipsae illae uirgines Minerua et Diana num castae? unde igitur prosiliuit Erichthonius? num in terram Vulcanus effudit et inde homo tamquam fungus enatus est?
Those very virgins, Minerva and Diana, were they chaste? From where, then, did Erichthonius spring? Did Vulcan pour his seed on the earth, and from it a man sprang up like a mushroom?
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the virgin goddesses' chastity is doubtful, as the birth of Erichthonius shows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 9.2 (CSEL 19:682–683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-9-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
9.3CSEL 19:683
aut illa cur Hippolytum uel ad secretas sedes uel ad mulierem relegauit, ubi solus inter ignota nemora exigeret aetatem et iam mutato nomine Virbius uocaretur? quid haec significant nisi incestum; quod poetae non audent confiteri?
Or why did Diana banish Hippolytus to a secret dwelling, or to a woman, where he might spend his life alone among unknown groves and, his name now changed, be called Virbius? What do these things signify but unchastity, which the poets do not dare to confess?
Notes and citation
Summary: Diana's hiding of Hippolytus suggests unchastity.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 9.3 (CSEL 19:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-9-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 10
10.1CSEL 19:683
Horum autem omnium rex et pater Iuppiter, quem tenere in caelo summam credunt potestatem, quid habuit pietatis, qui Saturnum patrem regno expulit et armis fugientem persecutus est? quid continentiae, qui omnia libidinum genera exercuit?
But Jupiter, the king and father of all these, whom they believe holds supreme power in heaven, what piety did he have, who drove his father Saturn from the kingdom and pursued him in arms as he fled? What self-control, who practised every kind of lust?
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter overthrew his father and was given to every lust.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 10.1 (CSEL 19:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-10-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
10.2CSEL 19:683
nam idem Alcimenam Ledamque summis uiris nuptas adulterio fecit infames, idem pulcritudine pueri captus uenantem ac uirilia meditantem ad femineos usus uiolenter abripuit. quid uirginum stupra commemorem, quarum multitudo quanta fuerit, filiorum numerus ostendit?
For the same god disgraced by adultery Alcmena and Leda, the wives of eminent men; the same, captivated by the beauty of a boy, carried him off violently for womanish uses while he was hunting and thinking of manly things. Why should I recount the violation of virgins, whose great multitude is shown by the number of his sons?
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter committed adultery, seized Ganymede, and violated countless virgins.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 10.2 (CSEL 19:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-10-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
10.3CSEL 19:683
in una tamen Thetide abstinentior fuit. erat enim praedictum quod is quem paritura esset, maior patre suo futurus esset. pugnauit ergo cum amore, ne quis se maior nasceretur. sciebat ergo se non esse perfectae uirtutis magnitudinis potestatis, qui quod ipse patri fecerat timuit.
In the case of Thetis alone, however, he was more restrained. For it had been foretold that the son she would bear would be greater than his father. So he fought against his love, lest someone greater than himself be born. He knew, then, that he was not of perfect virtue, greatness, and power, since he feared what he himself had done to his father.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter avoided Thetis for fear of a greater son, showing he was not all-powerful.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 10.3 (CSEL 19:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-10-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
10.4CSEL 19:683
cur igitur Optimus Maximus nominatur, cum se et peccatis contaminauerit, quod est iniusti ac mali, et maiorem timuerit, quod est inbecilli ac minoris?
Why then is he called Best and Greatest, when he both defiled himself with sins, which belongs to the unjust and evil, and feared a greater one, which belongs to the weak and lesser?
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter cannot be “Best and Greatest” when he sinned and feared a greater.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 10.4 (CSEL 19:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-10-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 11
11.1CSEL 19:683–684
Sed dicet aliquis ficta haec esse a poetis. non est hoc poeticum sic fingere, ut totum mentiare, sed ut ea quae gesta sunt figura et quasi uelamine aliquo uersicolore praeteias. hunc habet poetica licentia modum, non ut totum fingat, quod est mendacis et inepti, sed ut aliquid cum ratione commutet.
But someone will say that these things were invented by the poets. It is not the poet's way to invent so as to make up the whole thing, but to cover over events with a figure and, as it were, with a many-coloured veil. Poetic licence has this limit: not to invent the whole, which belongs to a liar and a fool, but to change something with reason.
Notes and citation
Summary: Poets do not invent everything but veil real events in figures.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 11.1 (CSEL 19:683–684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-11-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
11.2CSEL 19:684
in imbrem se aureum uertisse dixerunt (Iouem), ut Danaen falleret: quis est imber aureus? utique aurei nummi, quorum magnam copiam offerens et in sinum infundens fragilitatem uirginalis animi hac mercede corrupit. sic et imbrem ferreum dicunt, cum uolunt multitudinem significare telorum. Catamitum in aquila rapuit: quae est aquila?
They said that Jupiter turned himself into a golden shower to deceive Danae. What is the golden shower? Surely gold coins, by offering a great quantity of which and pouring them into her lap he corrupted the frailty of a maiden's mind with this payment. So too they speak of an iron shower when they want to signify a multitude of weapons. He carried off Catamitus on an eagle: what is the eagle?
Notes and citation
Summary: The golden shower means bribery with gold; the eagle that took Ganymede must also be explained.
- Catamitus is the Latin name of Ganymede.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 11.2 (CSEL 19:684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-11-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
11.3CSEL 19:684
legio scilicet, quoniam figura huius animalis insigne legionis est. Europam transuexit in tauro: quis est taurus? utique nauis, quae tutelam habuit tauri (in) specie figuratam.
A legion, of course, since the figure of this creature is the standard of a legion. He carried Europa across on a bull: what is the bull? Surely a ship, which had a bull depicted as its figurehead.
Notes and citation
Summary: The eagle was a legion; the bull that carried Europa was a ship.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 11.3 (CSEL 19:684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-11-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
11.4CSEL 19:684
sic Inachi filia non utique bos facta transnauit, sed eiusmodi nauigio iram Iunonis effugit, quod habebat bouis formam. denique cum in Aegyptum delata esset, Isis est facta, cuius nauigium certo quodam die in memoriam fugae celebratur.
So the daughter of Inachus did not swim across as a cow, but escaped Juno's anger in a ship of that kind, which had the form of a cow. Finally, when she had been carried into Egypt, she became Isis, whose ship is celebrated on a certain day in memory of her flight.
Notes and citation
Summary: Io fled in a ship shaped like a cow and became Isis in Egypt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 11.4 (CSEL 19:684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-11-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 12
12.1CSEL 19:684
Vides ergo non omnia poetas confinxisse, set quaedam praefigurasse, ut cum uera dicerent, aliquid tamen numinis adderent iis quos deos esse dicebant, sicut etiam de regnis.
You see, then, that the poets did not make up everything, but prefigured some things, so that while speaking the truth they still added something of divinity to those they called gods, as also concerning their kingdoms.
Notes and citation
Summary: Poets clothed true events in divine colouring, as with the gods' kingdoms.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 12.1 (CSEL 19:684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-12-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
12.2CSEL 19:684
cum enim dicunt Iouem caeli regnum sorte tenuisse, aut Olympum montem significant, in quo Saturnum et Iouem postmodum habitasse ueteres historiae produnt, aut partem Orientis, quae sit quasi superior, quod inde lux nascitur, Occidentis autem uelut inferior, et ideo Plutonem inferos esse sortitum; mare uero cessisse Neptuno, quod oram maritimam cum omnibus insulis optinuerit.
For when they say that Jupiter obtained the kingdom of heaven by lot, they mean either Mount Olympus, on which ancient histories report that Saturn and Jupiter later lived, or the part of the East, which is as it were higher because the light rises there, while the West is as it were lower, and therefore Pluto obtained the lower world; and the sea fell to Neptune because he held the coastland with all the islands.
Notes and citation
Summary: The division of heaven, underworld, and sea among the gods refers to earthly territories.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 12.2 (CSEL 19:684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-12-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
12.3CSEL 19:684–685
multa sic poetae colorant. quod qui nesciunt, tamquam mendaces eos arguunt, uerbo dumtaxat: nam re quidem credunt, quoniam deorum simulacra sic fingunt, ut cum mares ac feminas faciant et alios coniuges, alios parentes, alios liberos fateantur, poetis utique adsentiant: haec enim sine coitu et generatione esse non possunt.
Many things the poets colour in this way. Those who do not know this accuse them of lying, but only in word; for in fact they believe them, since they so fashion the images of the gods that, when they make male and female and acknowledge some as spouses, some as parents, some as children, they surely agree with the poets: for these things cannot exist without intercourse and generation.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who call the poets liars still worship gods in male and female forms, agreeing with them.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 12.3 (CSEL 19:684–685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-12-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 13
13.1CSEL 19:685
Sed omittamus sane poetas: ad historiam ueniamus, quae simul et rerum fide et temporum nititur uetustate.
But let us leave the poets aside: let us come to history, which rests both on the reliability of facts and on the antiquity of times.
Notes and citation
Summary: He turns from poetry to history.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 13.1 (CSEL 19:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-13-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
13.2CSEL 19:685
Euhemerus fuit Messenius, antiquissimus scriptor, qui de sacris inscriptionibus ueterum templorum et originem Iouis et res gestas omnemque progeniem collegit; item ceterorum deorum parentes patrias actus imperia obitus, sepulcra etiam persecutus est.
Euhemerus of Messene was a very ancient writer who collected from the sacred inscriptions of old temples both the origin of Jupiter and his deeds and all his offspring; he likewise traced the parents, homelands, acts, reigns, deaths, and even the tombs of the other gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Euhemerus compiled the human histories of the gods from temple inscriptions.
- Euhemerus of Messene (ca. 300 BC), whose Sacred History presented the gods as deified kings.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 13.2 (CSEL 19:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-13-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
13.3CSEL 19:685
quam historiam uertit Ennius in Latinam (linguam), cuius haec uerba sunt: haec, ut scripta sunt, Iouis fratrumque eius stirps atque cognatio: in hunc modum nobis ex sacra scriptione traditum est.
Ennius translated this history into Latin; these are his words: “These, as they are written, are the stock and kinship of Jupiter and his brothers: in this manner it has been handed down to us from the sacred writing.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Ennius translated Euhemerus into Latin.
- Ennius, Euhemerus (Sacra Historia), fragment. “language” is the editor's supplement.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 13.3 (CSEL 19:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-13-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
13.4CSEL 19:685
idem igitur Euhemerus Iouem tradit, cum quinquies orbem circumisset et amicis suis atque cognatis distribuisset imperia, legesque hominibus multaque alia bona fecisset, immortali gloria memoriaque adfectum sempiterna in Creta uitam commutasse atque ad deos abisse; et sepulcrum eius esse in Creta, in oppido Gnosso, et in eo scriptum antiquis litteris Graecis ZAN KPO- NOV, quod est Iuppiter Saturni.
The same Euhemerus, then, records that Jupiter, after he had gone round the world five times and distributed rule to his friends and relatives and made laws and many other good things for mankind, being honoured with immortal glory and everlasting memory, ended his life in Crete and departed to the gods; and that his tomb is in Crete, in the town of Cnossus, and on it is written in ancient Greek letters ZAN KRONOU, that is, “Jupiter, son of Saturn.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Euhemerus says Jupiter died in Crete, where his tomb bears his name.
- The Greek ΖΑΝ ΚΡΟΝΟΥ is printed in capitals in the digital text.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 13.4 (CSEL 19:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-13-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
13.5CSEL 19:685
constat ergo ex iis quae rettuli, hominem fuisse in terramque regnasse.
It is clear, then, from what I have reported, that he was a man and reigned on earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter was therefore a man who reigned on earth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 13.5 (CSEL 19:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-13-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 14
14.1CSEL 19:685
Transeamus ad superiora, ut originem totius erroris deprehendamus. Saturnus caelo et terra traditur natus.
Let us go back to earlier times, so that we may find the origin of the whole error. Saturn is said to have been born of Heaven and Earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Saturn is said to be the son of Heaven and Earth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 14.1 (CSEL 19:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-14-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
14.2CSEL 19:685–686
hoc utique incredibile est, sed cur ita traditur, ratio certa est: quam qui ignorat, tamquam fabulam respuit. Saturni patrem Uranum fuisse uocitatum et Hermes auctor est et Sacra Historia docet.
This is certainly incredible; but why it is so reported, there is a sure reason, and whoever is ignorant of it rejects it as a fable. That Saturn's father was called Uranus both Hermes testifies and the Sacred History teaches.
Notes and citation
Summary: Saturn's father was named Uranus, as Hermes and Euhemerus say.
Extrabiblical texts: Corp. herm. (Hermetic writings; allusion); Ennius (Ennius; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 14.2 (CSEL 19:685–686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-14-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
14.3CSEL 19:686
Trismegistus paucos admodum fuisse cum diceret perfectae doctrinae uiros, in iis cognatos suos enumerauit, Uranum Saturnum Mercurium.
Trismegistus, when he said that there had been very few men of perfect learning, counted among them his relatives Uranus, Saturn, and Mercury.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hermes named Uranus, Saturn, and Mercury as his learned kinsmen.
Extrabiblical texts: Corp. herm. (Hermetic writings; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 14.3 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-14-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
14.4CSEL 19:686
Euhemerus eundem Uranum primum in terram regnasse commemorat his uerbis: initio primus in terris inperium summum Caelus habuit: is id regnum una cum fratribus suis sibi instituit atque paral(uit)...........
Euhemerus records that the same Uranus first reigned on earth, in these words: “In the beginning Caelus first held supreme power on earth; he established and prepared that kingdom for himself together with his brothers …”
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Euhemerus says Uranus was the first king on earth.
- From Ennius' version of Euhemerus. A leaf is lost in the manuscript here.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 14.4 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-14-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
14.5CSEL 19:686
........... hominum stultam beneuolentiam et errorem diuinitas attributa sit.
… divinity was attributed through the foolish goodwill and error of men.
Notes and citation
Summary: The fragment ends: divinity was ascribed to them through human error.
- The beginning of this section is lost.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 14.5 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-14-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 15
15.1CSEL 19:686
Dixi de religionibus quae sunt communes omnium gentium: dicam nunc de diis quos Romani proprios habent.
I have spoken of the religions common to all nations; I will now speak of the gods whom the Romans have as their own.
Notes and citation
Summary: He turns to the Romans' own gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 15.1 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-15-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
15.2CSEL 19:686
Faustuli coniugem Romuli Remique nutricem, cuius honori Larentinalia sunt dicata, uulgati fuisse corporis quis ignorat? et idcirco Lupa nuncupata est et in ferae specie figurata.
Who does not know that the wife of Faustulus, the nurse of Romulus and Remus, in whose honour the Larentinalia are dedicated, was a common prostitute? And for that reason she was called Lupa and depicted in the form of a beast.
Notes and citation
Summary: Romulus's nurse, honoured at the Larentinalia, was a prostitute called “she-wolf”.
- Lupa means both “she-wolf” and “prostitute”.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 15.2 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-15-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
15.3CSEL 19:686
Faula quoque et Flora meretrices erant, quarum altera Herculis fuit scortum, sicut Verrius tradit, altera cum magnas opes corpore quaesiuisset, populum scripsit heredem et ideo in honorem eius ludi Floralia celebrantur.
Faula and Flora also were prostitutes, one of whom was the harlot of Hercules, as Verrius records; the other, having acquired great wealth by her body, made the people her heir, and for that reason the Floralia games are celebrated in her honour.
Notes and citation
Summary: Faula and Flora, honoured by Rome, were prostitutes.
- Verrius Flaccus, the Augustan antiquarian.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 15.3 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-15-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
15.4CSEL 19:686
Tatius muliebre simulacrum in Cloaca Maxima repertum consecrauit et deam Cloacinam nuncupauit.
Tatius consecrated a woman's image found in the Cloaca Maxima and named it the goddess Cloacina.
Notes and citation
Summary: A statue found in the great sewer became the goddess Cloacina.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 15.4 (CSEL 19:686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-15-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
15.5CSEL 19:686–687
obsessi a Gallis Romani ex mulierum capillis tormenta fecerunt et ob id Veneri Caluae aram templumque posuerunt; item Pistori Ioui, quod eos monuerat in quiete, ut ex omni fruge panem facerent et supra hostes iacerent: quo facto desperantes Galli posse inopia Romanos subigi ab opsidione discesserant.
The Romans, besieged by the Gauls, made artillery out of women's hair, and for that reason set up an altar and temple to Bald Venus; likewise to Jupiter the Baker, because he had warned them in their sleep to make bread from all their grain and throw it on the enemy; when this was done, the Gauls, despairing that the Romans could be subdued by want, withdrew from the siege.
Notes and citation
Summary: Rome honoured Bald Venus and Jupiter the Baker for help in the Gallic siege.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 15.5 (CSEL 19:686–687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-15-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
15.6CSEL 19:687
Pauorem ac Pallorem Tullus Hostilius deos fecit. colitur et Mens, quam credo si habuissent, numquam colendam putassent. Honorem atque Virtutem Marcellus inuenit.
Tullus Hostilius made Fear and Pallor gods. Mind too is worshipped; I believe that if they had had it, they would never have thought it should be worshipped. Marcellus devised Honour and Virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: Rome deified Fear, Pallor, Mind, Honour, and Virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 15.6 (CSEL 19:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-15-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 16
16.1CSEL 19:687
Set et alios eiusmodi commenticios deos senatus instituit, Spem Fidem Concordiam Pacem Pudicitiam Pietatem, quae omnia cum in animis hominum esse uera deberent, intra parietes falsa posuerunt.
But the senate also instituted other invented gods of this kind: Hope, Faith, Concord, Peace, Chastity, Piety; all of which, though they ought to be real in human hearts, they set up false within walls.
Notes and citation
Summary: The senate made virtues into gods, putting them in temples instead of hearts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 16.1 (CSEL 19:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-16-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
16.2CSEL 19:687
hos tamen, quamuis extra hominem in nulla sint omnino substantia, mallem potius coli quam Robiginem, quam Febrem, quae non sacranda sunt, sed execranda, quam Fornacem cum suis fornacalibus sacris, quam Stercutum, qui fimo pinguefacere terram primus ostendit, quam deam Mutam, quae Lares genuit, quam Cuninam, quae cunis infantium praeest, quam Cacam, quae ad Herculem de furto boum detulit, ut occideret fratrem.
Yet I would rather these be worshipped, though apart from human beings they have no substance at all, than Robigo, than Fever, which should not be consecrated but cursed; than Fornax with her oven rites; than Stercutus, who first showed how to fatten the earth with dung; than the goddess Muta, who bore the Lares; than Cunina, who presides over infants' cradles; than Caca, who informed Hercules of the theft of the cattle so that he would kill her brother.
Notes and citation
Summary: Worse still are gods like Rust, Fever, Dung, and others.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 16.2 (CSEL 19:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-16-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
16.3CSEL 19:687
quam multa sunt alia portenta atque ludibria! de quibus piget dicere. Terminum tamen non libet praeterire, quia ne Ioui quidem Capitolino cessisse traditur, cum lapis esset informis.
How many other monstrosities and absurdities there are! It is tedious to speak of them. Yet I do not like to pass over Terminus, since he is said not to have yielded even to Capitoline Jupiter, though he was a shapeless stone.
Notes and citation
Summary: Terminus, a shapeless stone, would not yield even to Jupiter.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 16.3 (CSEL 19:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-16-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
16.4CSEL 19:687
hunc finium putant habere custodiam eique publice supplicatur, ut Capitoli immobile saxum Romani imperii fines et conseruet (et) proroget.
They think he has the guardianship of boundaries, and public supplication is made to him that the Capitol's immovable rock may both preserve and extend the boundaries of the Roman empire.
Notes and citation
Summary: Terminus was prayed to as guardian of Rome's boundaries.
- Compare Virgil, Aen. 9.448. “and” is the editor's supplement.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 9.448 (Virgil; echo)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 16.4 (CSEL 19:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-16-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 17
17.1CSEL 19:687
Has omnes ineptias primus in Latio Faunus induxit, qui et Saturno avo cruenta sacra constituit et Picum patrem tamquam deum coli uoluit et Fentam Faunam coniugem sororemque inter deos conlocauit ac Bonam Deam nominauit.
Faunus first introduced all these absurdities into Latium; he both established bloody rites for his grandfather Saturn, and wished his father Picus to be worshipped as a god, and placed among the gods Fenta Fauna, his wife and sister, and named her the Good Goddess.
Notes and citation
Summary: Faunus introduced these follies into Latium.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 17.1 (CSEL 19:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-17-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
17.2CSEL 19:687–688
deinde Romae Numa, qui agrestes illos ac rudes uiros superstitionibus nouis onerauit, sacerdotia instituit, deos familiis gentibusque distribuit, ut animos ferocis populi ab armorum studiis auocaret.
Then at Rome Numa, who loaded those rustic and rough men with new superstitions, instituted priesthoods and distributed gods to families and clans, so as to call the minds of a fierce people away from their passion for arms.
Notes and citation
Summary: Numa loaded early Rome with new cults to tame its warlike people.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 17.2 (CSEL 19:687–688; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-17-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
17.3CSEL 19:688
ideo Lucilius deridens ineptias istorum qui uanis superstitionibus seruiunt, hos uersus posuit: terriculas Lamias, Fauni quas Pompiliique instituere Numae, tremit has, hic omnia ponit. ut pueri infantes credunt signa omnia aena uiuere et esse homines, sic isti omnia ficta uera putant, credunt signis cor inesse in aenis. pergula pictorum, ueri nihil, omnia ficta!
For this reason Lucilius, mocking the folly of those who serve vain superstitions, wrote these verses: “The bogey Lamias, which Fauni and Numa Pompilius set up, these he trembles at, on these he stakes everything. As infant children believe that all bronze statues are alive and are men, so these believe all fictions are true; they believe there is a heart in bronze statues. A painters' gallery: nothing real, all fiction!”
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucilius mocked those who fear bogeys and believe statues are alive.
- Lucilius, fragment 484–489 Marx.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius, 484–489 Marx (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 17.3 (CSEL 19:688; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-17-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
17.4CSEL 19:688
Tullius quoque de Natura deorum commenticios ac fictos deos queritur inductos et hinc extitisse falsas opiniones erroresque turbulentos et superstitiones paene aniles. quae sententia eo debet grauior computari, quod haec disseruit et philosophus et sacerdos.
Tully also, in On the Nature of the Gods, complains that invented and fictitious gods have been brought in, and that from this false opinions, confused errors, and superstitions almost like old wives' tales have arisen. This judgement ought to be counted the weightier because he discussed these things as both a philosopher and a priest.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero too condemned invented gods and superstition.
- Cicero, Nat. d. 2.70. Cicero was a member of the college of augurs.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.70 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 17.4 (CSEL 19:688; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-17-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 18
18.1CSEL 19:688
Diximus de diis: nunc de ritibus sacrorum culturisque dicemus. Ioui Cyprio, sicut Teucrus instituerat, humana hostia mactari solebat.
We have spoken of the gods; now we will speak of the rites and cults of their sacred things. To Cyprian Jupiter, as Teucer had established, a human victim used to be slain.
Notes and citation
Summary: Human sacrifice was offered to Jupiter in Cyprus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.1 (CSEL 19:688; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.2CSEL 19:688–689
sic et Tauri Dianae hospites immolabant; Latiaris quoque Iuppiter humano sanguine propitiatus est. etiam ante Saturno sexagenarii homines ex persona Apollinis de ponte in Tiberim deiciebantur.
So too the Taurians sacrificed strangers to Diana; Latiaris Jupiter also was propitiated with human blood. Even before, men of sixty years were thrown from a bridge into the Tiber to Saturn, on the authority of Apollo.
Notes and citation
Summary: Other cults also demanded human victims.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.2 (CSEL 19:688–689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.3CSEL 19:689
et eidem Saturno Carthaginienses non modo infantes prosecahant, sed uicti a Siculis ut piaculum soluerent ducentos nobilium filios immolauerunt.
And to the same Saturn the Carthaginians not only sacrificed infants, but when conquered by the Sicilians, to make atonement, they sacrificed two hundred sons of nobles.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Carthaginians sacrificed children to Saturn.
- The digital text reads “prosecahant”, probably for prosecabant (“cut up”, i.e. offered).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.3 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.4CSEL 19:689
nec illa his humaniora sunt quae fiunt etiamnunc Matri Magnae atque Bellonae, in quibus antistites non alieno sanguine, sed suo litant, cum amputatis genitalibus a uiris migrant nec ad feminas transeunt aut sectis umeris detestabiles aras proprio cruore respergunt.
Nor are those more humane which are done even now to the Great Mother and to Bellona, in which the priests make offering not with another's blood but with their own, when, their genitals cut off, they cease to be men yet do not pass over to being women; or, their shoulders slashed, they sprinkle the detestable altars with their own blood.
Notes and citation
Summary: Priests of Cybele and Bellona mutilate themselves.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.4 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.5CSEL 19:689
sed haec crudelia: ueniamus ad mitia. Isidis sacra nihil aliut ostendunt nisi quemadmodum filium paruum qui dicitur Osiris perdiderit et inuenerit.
But these are cruel; let us come to the mild ones. The rites of Isis show nothing else than how she lost and found her little son, who is called Osiris.
Notes and citation
Summary: Isis's rites re-enact her loss and finding of her son.
- In the usual myth Osiris is Isis's husband; Lactantius follows a version in which the lost child is called Osiris.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.5 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.6CSEL 19:689
nam primo sacerdotes ac ministri derasis omnibus membris tunsisque pectoribus plangunt dolent quaerunt adrectum matris imitantes, postmodum puer per Cynocephalum inuenitur. sic luctuosa sacra laetitia terminantur.
For first the priests and attendants, their whole bodies shaved, beat their breasts, lament, grieve, and search, imitating the mother's feeling; afterwards the boy is found by Cynocephalus. So the mournful rites end in joy.
Notes and citation
Summary: The mourning ritual ends in joy when the child is found.
- The digital text reads “adrectum”, probably for affectum (“feeling”). Cynocephalus (“dog-head”) is Anubis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.6 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.7CSEL 19:689
his etiam Cereris simile mysterium est, in quo facibus accensis per noctem Proserpina inquiritur et ea inuenta ritus omnis gratulatione. ac taedarum iactatione finitur.
Similar to these is the mystery of Ceres, in which Proserpina is sought through the night with lighted torches, and when she is found the whole rite ends with rejoicing and the tossing of torches.
Notes and citation
Summary: The mysteries of Ceres re-enact the search for Proserpina.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.7 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.8CSEL 19:689
Lampsaceni asellum Priapo mactant. ea enim uisa est aptior uictima, quae ipsi cui mactatur magnitudine uirilis obsceni posset aequari.
The people of Lampsacus sacrifice an ass to Priapus; for that seemed the more fitting victim, which could equal the god to whom it is sacrificed in the size of its obscene member.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Lampsacus an ass was sacrificed to Priapus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.8 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.9CSEL 19:689
Lindos est oppidum Rhodi, ubi Herculis sacra maledictis celebrantur. Hercules enim cum boues aratori abstulisset atque immolasset, ille iniuriam suam conuiciis ultus est eoque ipso sacerdote postmodum constituto sanctum est, ut isdem maledictis et ipse et alii postea sacerdotes sacra celebrarent.
Lindos is a town of Rhodes where the rites of Hercules are celebrated with curses. For when Hercules had taken the oxen from a ploughman and sacrificed them, the man avenged his injury with abuse; and when this same man was afterwards made priest, it was established that both he and later priests should celebrate the rites with the same curses.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Lindos Hercules is worshipped with curses.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.9 (CSEL 19:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.10CSEL 19:689–690
Cretici autem Iouis mysterium est quomodo infans aut subtractus sit patri aut educatus. Capella praesto est, cuius uberibus puerum Amalthea nutriuit.
The mystery of Cretan Jupiter is how as an infant he was either stolen away from his father or brought up. The she-goat is at hand, at whose teats Amalthea nursed the boy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cretan rites recall the hiding and nursing of the infant Jupiter.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.10 (CSEL 19:689–690; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
18.11CSEL 19:690
idem etiam Matris Deum sacra demonstrant. nam quia tum Corybantes galearum tinnitibus et scutorum pulsibus uagitum pueri texerant, nunc imago rei refertur in sacris, sed pro galeis cymbala, pro scutis tympana feriuntur, ne puerum uagientem Saturnus exaudiat.
The same thing is shown by the rites of the Mother of the Gods. For since the Corybantes had then covered the boy's wailing with the clashing of helmets and the beating of shields, now an image of the event is presented in the rites; but instead of helmets cymbals, instead of shields drums are struck, lest Saturn hear the boy crying.
Notes and citation
Summary: The cymbals and drums of Cybele's rites imitate the hiding of the infant Jupiter.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 18.11 (CSEL 19:690; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-18-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 19
19.1CSEL 19:690
Haec sunt mysteria deorum. nunc etiam originem religionum requiramus, ut et a quibus et per quae tempora institutae fuerint eruamus.
These are the mysteries of the gods. Now let us also inquire into the origin of these religions, so as to find out both by whom and in what times they were established.
Notes and citation
Summary: Next, the origin of the pagan religions.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 19.1 (CSEL 19:690; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-19-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
19.2CSEL 19:690
Didymus in iis libris qui inscribuntur È;Yji Įaewç -tvBaptxTj; Melissea fuisse tradit Cretensium regem, cuius filiae fuerint Amalthea et Melissa, quae Iouem nutrierint caprino lacte ac melle.
Didymus, in the books entitled Commentary on Pindar, records that Melisseus was king of the Cretans, whose daughters were Amalthea and Melissa, who nursed Jupiter with goat's milk and honey.
Notes and citation
Summary: Didymus says the Cretan king Melisseus's daughters nursed Jupiter.
- Didymus of Alexandria. The Greek title is garbled in the digital text (probably Ἐξήγησις Πινδαρική).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 19.2 (CSEL 19:690; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-19-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
19.3CSEL 19:690
hunc nouos ritus ac pompas sacrorum introduxisse et primum diis sacrificasse, id est Vestae, quae dicitur Tellus, — unde poetae: primamque deorum Tellurem — et postmodum Deum Matri.
He, they say, introduced new rites and processions of sacred things and first sacrificed to the gods, that is, to Vesta, who is called Tellus (whence the poets say, “and Tellus, first of the gods”), and afterwards to the Mother of the Gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Melisseus first introduced sacrifices, to Vesta and the Mother of the Gods.
- The quotation is Virgil, Aen. 7.136–137.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 7.136–137 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 19.3 (CSEL 19:690; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-19-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
19.4CSEL 19:690
Euhemerus autem in Sacra Historia ipsum Iouem dicit, postquam imperium ceperit, sibi multis in locis fana posuisse. nam circuiens orbem ut quemque in locum uenerat, principes populorum amicitia sibi et hospitii iure sociabat. cuius rei ut posset memoria seruari, fanum sibi creari iubebat atque ab hospitibus suis annua festa celebrari. sic per omnes terras cultum sui nominis seminauit.
But Euhemerus, in the Sacred History, says that Jupiter himself, after he had taken power, set up shrines to himself in many places. For going round the world, whenever he came to any place, he joined the chiefs of the peoples to himself by friendship and the right of hospitality. So that the memory of this might be kept, he ordered a shrine to be built to himself and annual festivals to be celebrated by his hosts. So he sowed the worship of his name through all lands.
Notes and citation
Summary: Euhemerus says Jupiter founded shrines to himself wherever he travelled.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 19.4 (CSEL 19:690; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-19-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
19.5CSEL 19:690–691
quando autem isti fuerint facile colligi potest. scribit enim Thallus in historia sua Belum regem Assyriorum, quem Babylonii colunt quique Saturni fuerit aequalis et amicus, antiquiorem fuisse Troico bello annis CCCXXII, et sunt ab Ilio capto anni MCCCCLXX.
When these men lived can easily be gathered. For Thallus writes in his history that Belus, king of the Assyrians, whom the Babylonians worship, and who was the contemporary and friend of Saturn, lived 322 years before the Trojan war; and from the capture of Ilium there are 1,470 years.
Notes and citation
Summary: Thallus dates Belus, Saturn's contemporary, 322 years before the Trojan war.
- Thallus, a chronographer (first or second century AD?).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 19.5 (CSEL 19:690–691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-19-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
19.6CSEL 19:691
unde apparet non amplius quam MDCCC esse annos, ex quo nouis deorum cultibus institutis humanum genus inciderit in errorem.
From this it appears that it is not more than 1,800 years since the human race fell into error by the establishment of new cults of the gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: The worship of the gods began no more than 1,800 years ago.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 19.6 (CSEL 19:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-19-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 20
20.1CSEL 19:691
Merito igitur poetae commutatum esse aureum saeculum memorant, quod fuerit regnante Saturno. nulli enim tunc dii colebantur, sed unum et solum deum nouerant.
Rightly, then, do the poets relate that the golden age, which existed in the reign of Saturn, was changed. For then no gods were worshipped, but they knew one and only God.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the golden age people knew only the one God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.1 (CSEL 19:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.2CSEL 19:691
postquam se terrenis ac fragilibus subiugauerunt colentes ligna et aera et lapides, commutatio saeculi facta est usque ad ferrum.
After they subjected themselves to earthly and frail things, worshipping wood and bronze and stones, the change of the age took place, down to iron.
Notes and citation
Summary: When people began worshipping idols, the ages declined to iron.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.2 (CSEL 19:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.3CSEL 19:691
amissa enim dei notitia et uno illo uinculo humanae societatis abrupto uastare se inuicem, praedari ac debellare coeperunt.
For the knowledge of God being lost, and that one bond of human society being broken, they began to lay waste, plunder, and war against one another.
Notes and citation
Summary: Losing the knowledge of God, people turned to violence.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.3 (CSEL 19:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.4CSEL 19:691
quodsi sursum oculos suos tollerent ac deum intuerentur, qui eos ad aspectum caeli suique excitauit, numquam se curuos et humiles facerent terrena uenerando. quorum stultitiam Lucretius grauiter incusat dicens: et faciunt animos humiles formidine diuum depressosque premunt ad terram:
But if they would lift their eyes upward and look to God, who raised them up to behold the heavens and himself, they would never make themselves bent and low by venerating earthly things. Lucretius strongly rebukes their folly, saying, “And they make their minds low through fear of the gods, and press them down, bowed to the earth.”
Notes and citation
Summary: People made upright to look to God bow down to earthly things, as Lucretius says.
- The quotation is Lucretius 6.52–53 (adapted).
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 6.52–53 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.4 (CSEL 19:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.5CSEL 19:691
qua reddunt uec intellegunt quam uanum sit ea timere quae feceris, aut ab iis aliquod sperare praesidium quae muta et insensibilia nec uident nec audiunt supplicantem.
Therefore they do not understand how vain it is to fear the things you have made, or to hope for any protection from things which, mute and senseless, neither see nor hear the suppliant.
Ps 115:5 (113:13 Vulg.) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: It is vain to fear or trust idols that can neither see nor hear.
- The digital text begins garbled (“qua reddunt uec”), probably for quare nec.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.5 (CSEL 19:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.6CSEL 19:691–692
quid ergo maiestatis aut numinis habere possunt quae et fuerunt in hominis potestate ne fierent aut (ut) aliut fierent, et sunt etiamnunc?
What majesty or divinity, then, can those things have which were in man's power not to be made, or to be made into something else, and which still are so?
Notes and citation
Summary: Idols made by human choice can have no divinity.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.6 (CSEL 19:691–692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.7CSEL 19:692
nam et uiolari et furto sublabi possunt, nisi illa et lex saepiat et humana custodia. num igitur mentis suae compos uideri potest qui talibus opimas uictimas caedit, dona consecrat, pretiosas uestes offert, quasi uti possint qui motu carent?
For they can both be violated and stolen away, unless both law and human guard protect them. Can a man, then, seem in his right mind who slaughters rich victims to such things, consecrates gifts, offers costly garments, as if things without motion could use them?
Notes and citation
Summary: Offering gifts to idols that must be guarded against theft is madness.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.7 (CSEL 19:692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.8CSEL 19:692
merito ergo Dionysius Siciliae tyrannus deos Graeciae, cum eam uictor occupasset, spoliauit atque derisit: et post sacrilegia quae admiserat ad Siciliam prospera nauigatione remeauit regnumque tenuit usque ad senectutem nec eum dii uiolati punire potuerunt.
Rightly, then, did Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, despoil and mock the gods of Greece when he occupied it as victor; and after the sacrileges he had committed he returned to Sicily with a prosperous voyage and held his kingdom until old age, nor could the violated gods punish him.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysius robbed the gods' temples and lived unpunished.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.8 (CSEL 19:692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.9CSEL 19:692
quanto satius est spretis inanibus ad deum se conuertere, tueri statum quem a deo acceperis, tueri nomen: idcirco enim avOpwxo;, quia sursum spectet, nominatur.
How much better it is to despise empty things and turn to God, to keep the status you have received from God, to keep your name: for the human being is called anthrōpos because he looks upward.
Notes and citation
Summary: Humans should turn to God, as their Greek name, “one who looks up”, implies.
- A popular etymology of ἄνθρωπος; the Greek is garbled in the digital text.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): nomi- -natur → nominatur.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.9 (CSEL 19:692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.10CSEL 19:692
sursum autem spectat qui deum uerum et uiuum, qui est in caelo, suspicit, qui artificem, qui parentem animae suae non modo sensu ac mente, uerum etiam uultu et oculis sublimibus quaerit.
And he looks upward who looks up to the true and living God, who is in heaven, who seeks the maker and parent of his soul not only with sense and mind but with face and eyes lifted up.
Notes and citation
Summary: To look up is to seek the true God in heaven.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.10 (CSEL 19:692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.11CSEL 19:692
qui autem se terrenis humilibusque substernit, utique illut quod est inferius sibi praefert. nam cum ipse opus dei sit, simulacrum autem opus hominis. non potest humanum opus diuino anteponi, et sicut deus hominis parens est, ita simulacri homo. stultus igitur et amens qui adorat quod ipse fabricauit.
But he who lays himself beneath earthly and low things certainly prefers to himself what is lower than he. For since he himself is the work of God, while an image is the work of man, a human work cannot be put before a divine one; and as God is the parent of man, so is man of the image. Foolish and mad, then, is he who adores what he himself has made.
Isa 44:17 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Worshipping what one has made puts a human work above God's work.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.11 (CSEL 19:692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.12CSEL 19:692
cuius artificii detestabilis et inepti auctor fuit Prometheus patruo Iouis Iapeto natus. nam cum primum Iuppiter summo potitus imperio tamquam deum se constituere uellet ac templa condere et quaereret aliquem qui humanam figuram posset exprimere, tunc Prometheus extitit qui hominis effigiem de pingui luto figuraret, ita ueri similiter, ut nouitas ac suptilitas artis miraculo esset.
The author of this detestable and foolish art was Prometheus, son of Iapetus, Jupiter's uncle. For when Jupiter, having first gained supreme power, wished to establish himself as a god and found temples, and was looking for someone who could express the human form, then Prometheus appeared, who shaped the likeness of a man from rich clay so lifelike that the novelty and subtlety of the art was a marvel.
Notes and citation
Summary: Prometheus invented image-making for Jupiter's cult.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread in the digital text): louis lapeto → Iouis Iapeto.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.12 (CSEL 19:692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.13CSEL 19:692–693
denique illum et sui temporis homines et postea poetae tamquam fictorem ueri ac uiui hominis prodiderunt et nos, quotiens fabre facta signa laudamus, uiuere illa et spirare dicimus. et hic quidem auctor fuit fictilium simulacrorum.
Finally both the men of his own time and later the poets reported him as the maker of a true and living man; and we too, whenever we praise skilfully made statues, say that they live and breathe. And this man was the author of clay images.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hence the legend that Prometheus made living men; he invented clay images.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.13 (CSEL 19:692–693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.14CSEL 19:693
sequentes autem posteri et de marmore sculpserunt et ex aere fuderunt, deinde processu temporum ex auro et ebore accessit ornatus, ut non modo similitudines oculos hominum, uerum etiam fulgor ipse praestringeret.
Posterity, following him, both carved them from marble and cast them from bronze; then, in the course of time, ornament was added from gold and ivory, so that not only the likenesses but the very brilliance dazzled human eyes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Later images were made of marble, bronze, gold, and ivory.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.14 (CSEL 19:693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
20.15CSEL 19:693
sic inlecti pulcritudine ac uerae maiestatis obliti insensibilia sentientes, inrationabilia rationabiles, exanima uiuentes colenda sibi ac ueneranda duxerunt.
So, enticed by beauty and forgetful of true majesty, sentient beings thought the senseless, rational beings the irrational, living beings the lifeless, worthy to be worshipped and venerated.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dazzled by beauty, living people worshipped lifeless things.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 20.15 (CSEL 19:693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-20-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 21
21.1CSEL 19:693
Nunc refellamus etiam eos qui elementa mundi tamquam deos habent, id est caelum solem atque lunam, quorum artificem non cognoscentes ipsa opera mirantur et adorant.
Now let us refute also those who hold the elements of the world as gods, that is, the heaven, the sun and the moon; not knowing their maker, they admire and adore the works themselves.
Rom 1:25 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Others worship the heavenly bodies instead of their maker.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 21.1 (CSEL 19:693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-21-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
21.2CSEL 19:693
qui error non inperitorum modo, uerum etiam philosophorum est: siquidem Stoici uniuersa caelestia in deorum numero habenda censent, quia certos et rationabiles motus habent, quibus succedentium sibi temporum uicissitudines constantissime seruant.
This error belongs not only to the unlearned but also to the philosophers, since the Stoics think that all the heavenly bodies should be counted among the gods, because they have fixed and rational motions by which they most constantly keep the alternations of the seasons that follow one another.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics deified the stars because of their regular motion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 21.2 (CSEL 19:693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-21-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
21.3CSEL 19:693
non est igitur in his uoluntarius motus, quia praestitutis legibus seruiunt, non proprio utique sensu, sed opificio summi conditoris, qui illa sic ordinauit, ut inerrabiles cursus et certa spatia conficerent, quibus dierum ac noctium, aestatis et hiemis alterna uariarent.
There is therefore no voluntary motion in them, since they serve prescribed laws, not by their own perception, but by the workmanship of the supreme founder, who so ordered them that they complete unerring courses and fixed circuits, by which the alternations of day and night, summer and winter, vary.
Notes and citation
Summary: Their regular motion shows they obey laws set by their maker.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 21.3 (CSEL 19:693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-21-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
21.4CSEL 19:693
quodsi effectus eorum, si meatus, si claritatem, si constantiam, si pulcritudinem admirantur, intellegere debuerunt quanto his pulcrior et praeclarior et potentior sit ipse conditor atque artifex eorum deus.
But if they admire their effects, their movements, their brightness, their constancy, their beauty, they ought to have understood how much more beautiful and glorious and powerful than these is God himself, their founder and maker.
Notes and citation
Summary: Admiration of the stars should lead to their greater maker.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 13:3–5 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; echo)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 21.4 (CSEL 19:693; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-21-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.
21.5CSEL 19:693–694
sed illi diuinitatem humanis uisibus aestimauerunt ignorantes nec aeternum esse posse quod ueniat sub aspectum nec quod sit aeternum posse oculis mortalibus conprehendi.
But they judged divinity by human sight, not knowing that what comes under sight cannot be eternal, nor can what is eternal be grasped by mortal eyes.
2 Cor 4:18 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: What is visible cannot be eternal, and the eternal cannot be seen.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Epit. 21.5 (CSEL 19:693–694; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-epitome/0-1/#p-21-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations.