Divine Institutes 1.15.1–1.19.7
Latin text: CSEL 19 (Latin text: S. Brandt (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).
Divine 1, chapter 15
1.15.1CSEL 19:55
Quibus ex rebus cum constet illos homines fuisse, non est obscurum qua ratione dii coeperint nominari.
Since it is established from these facts that they were men, it is not obscure how they began to be called gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since the gods were men, Lactantius explains how they came to be called gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.1 (CSEL 19:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.2CSEL 19:55
si enim nulli reges ante Saturnum uel Uranum fuerunt propter hominum raritatem, qui agrestem uitam sine ullo rectore uiuebant, non est dubium quin illis temporibus homines regem ipsum totamque gentem mactare summis laudibus ac nouis honoribus coeperint, ut etiam deos appellarent siue ob miraculum uirtutis — hoc uere putabant rudes adhuc et simplices — siue, ut fieri solet, in adulationem praesentis potentiae siue ob beneficia quibus erant ad humanitatem conpositi.
For if there were no kings before Saturn or Uranus, because men were few and lived a rustic life without any ruler, there is no doubt that in those times men began to honour the king himself and his whole family with the highest praises and new honours, so that they even called them gods, whether from wonder at their virtue (this they truly thought, being still rude and simple), or, as usually happens, in flattery of present power, or because of the benefits by which they had been brought to civilized life.
Notes and citation
Summary: The first kings were called gods from wonder, flattery, or gratitude.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (n for u)): nonis honoribus → nouis honoribus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.2 (CSEL 19:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.3CSEL 19:55
deinde ipsi reges cum cari fuissent iis quorum uitam composuerant, magnum sui desiderium mortui reliquerunt.
Then the kings themselves, since they had been dear to those whose life they had ordered, left behind them at their death a great longing.
Notes and citation
Summary: The dead kings were greatly missed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.3 (CSEL 19:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.4CSEL 19:55
itaque homines eorum simulacra finxerunt, ut haberent aliquod ex imaginum contemplatione solacium, progressique longius per amorem memoriam defunctorum colere coeperunt, ut et gratiam referre bene meritis uiderentur et successores eorum adlicerent ad bene imperandi cupiditatem.
So men made images of them, to have some comfort from looking at their likenesses; and going further out of love, they began to honour the memory of the dead, so that they might seem to repay those who had deserved well and might stir their successors to the desire of ruling well.
Notes and citation
Summary: People made images of dead kings and honoured them, which led to worship.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.4 (CSEL 19:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.5CSEL 19:55–56
quod Cicero de natura deorum docet dicens: suscepit autem uita hominum consuetudoque communis, ut beneficiis excellentis uiros in caelum fama ac uoluntate tollerent. hinc Hercules, hinc Castor, hinc Pollux, hinc Aesculapius, hinc Liber.
Cicero teaches this in On the Nature of the Gods, saying: "The life of men and common custom have adopted the practice of raising to heaven, by fame and goodwill, men outstanding for their benefits. Hence Hercules, hence Castor, hence Pollux, hence Aesculapius, hence Liber."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero says benefactors were raised to heaven by fame, as Hercules and others.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.62.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.62 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.5 (CSEL 19:55–56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.6CSEL 19:56
et alio loco: atque in plerisque ciuitatibus intellegi potest acuendae uirtutis gratia aut quo libentius rei publicae causa periculum adiret optimus quisque, uirorum fortium memoriam honore deorum inmortalium consecratam. hac scilicet ratione Romani Caesares suos consecrauerunt et Mauri suos reges.
And in another place: "And in most cities it can be seen that, to sharpen virtue, or so that all the best men might more willingly face danger for the state, the memory of brave men has been consecrated with the honour of the immortal gods." For this reason, of course, the Romans consecrated their Caesars and the Moors their kings.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cities deified brave men to encourage virtue, as Romans did their emperors.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 3.50.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 3.50 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.6 (CSEL 19:56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.7CSEL 19:56
sic paulatim religiones esse coeperunt, dum illi primi qui eos nouerant eo ritu suos liberos ac nepotes, deinde omnes posteros imbuerunt, et hi tandem summi reges ob celebritatem nominis in prouinciis omnibus colebantur.
So little by little religions began, while those first who had known them instructed their children and grandchildren in that rite, and then all their descendants; and at length these greatest kings, because of the fame of their name, were worshipped in all the provinces.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such honours passed down the generations and became established religions.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.7 (CSEL 19:56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.8CSEL 19:56
priuatim uero singuli populi gentis aut urbis suae conditores, seu uiri fortitudine insignes erant seu feminae castitate mirabiles, summa ueneratione coluerunt, ut Aegyptus Isidem, Mauri Iubam, Macedones Cabirum, Poeni Uraniam, Latini Faunum,
Privately, however, individual peoples worshipped with the highest veneration the founders of their nation or city, whether men distinguished for bravery or women admirable for chastity: as Egypt Isis, the Moors Juba, the Macedonians Cabirus, the Carthaginians Urania, the Latins Faunus,
Notes and citation
Summary: Each people worshipped its own founders, like Egypt Isis and the Latins Faunus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.8 (CSEL 19:56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.9CSEL 19:56
Sabini Sancum, Romani Quirinum, eodem utique modo Athenae Mineruam, Samos Iunonem, Paphos Venerem, Vulcanum Lemnos, Liberum Naxos, Apollinem Delos.
the Sabines Sancus, the Romans Quirinus; in just the same way Athens Minerva, Samos Juno, Paphos Venus, Lemnos Vulcan, Naxos Liber, Delos Apollo.
Notes and citation
Summary: Other cities likewise worshipped their own gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.9 (CSEL 19:56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.10CSEL 19:56
sic per populos atque regiones uaria sacra suscepta sunt, dum homines grati esse in suos principes cupiunt et quos alios honores uita carentibus deferant, inuenire non possunt.
So various rites were taken up among peoples and regions, while men wished to be grateful to their leaders and could find no other honours to confer on those who were without life.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gratitude to dead leaders produced the various local cults.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.10 (CSEL 19:56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.11CSEL 19:56–57
praeterea pietas eorum qui successerant plurimum contulit ad errorem: qui ut diuina stirpe nati uiderentur, diuinos honores parentibus detulerunt deferrique iusserunt.
Besides, the dutiful affection of those who succeeded them contributed very greatly to the error: so that they might seem born of divine stock, they conferred divine honours on their parents and ordered them to be conferred.
Notes and citation
Summary: Successors deified their parents to appear of divine descent.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark (OCR)): ut • diuina → ut diuina.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.11 (CSEL 19:56–57; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.12CSEL 19:57
an potest aliquis dubitare, quomodo religiones deorum sint institutae, cum apud Maronem legat Aeneae uerba sociis imperantis: nunc pateras libate Ioui precibusque uocate Anchisen genitorem —? cui non tantum immortalitatem, uerum etiam uentorum tribuit potestatem: poscamus uentos, atque haec me sacra quotannis urbe uelit posita templis sibi ferre dicatis.
Or can anyone doubt how the religions of the gods were established, when he reads in Maro the words of Aeneas commanding his companions: "Now pour libations to Jupiter and call on my father Anchises in prayer"? To him he assigns not only immortality but even power over the winds: "Let us ask for winds, and may he wish me to bring him these rites every year in a city founded, in temples dedicated to him."
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil shows Aeneas establishing worship of his dead father Anchises.
- Virgil, Aeneid 7.133–134 and 5.59–60.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 7.133–134 (Virgil; quotation); Virgil, Aen. 5.59–60 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.12 (CSEL 19:57; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.13CSEL 19:57
idem scilicet de Ioue Liber et Pan et Mercurius et Apollo fecerunt ac postea de his ipsis successores eorum. accesserunt etiam poetae et compositis ad uoluptatem carminibus in caelum eos sustulerunt, sicut faciunt qui apud reges etiam malos panegyricis mendacibus adulantur.
The same, no doubt, Liber and Pan and Mercury and Apollo did for Jupiter, and afterwards their successors for them. The poets also joined in and, composing songs for pleasure, raised them to heaven, as do those who flatter even wicked kings with lying panegyrics.
Notes and citation
Summary: Children deified their fathers, and poets flattered them into heaven.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.13 (CSEL 19:57; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.14CSEL 19:57
quod malum a Graecis ortum est, quorum leuitas instructa dicendi facultate et copia incredibile est quantas mendaciorum nebulas excitauerit. itaque admirati eos et susceperunt primi sacra illorum et uniuersis gentibus tradiderunt.
This evil arose from the Greeks, whose levity, equipped with the power and abundance of speech, has raised incredible clouds of lies. So, admiring these men, they were the first to take up their rites and hand them on to all nations.
Notes and citation
Summary: The eloquent Greeks spread these lies and rites to all nations.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.14 (CSEL 19:57; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.15CSEL 19:57–58
ob hanc uanitatem Sibylla sic eos increpat: Ἑλλὰς δὴ, τί πέποιθας ἐπ᾽ ἀνδράσιν ἡγεμόνεσσι; πρὸς τί δὲ δῶρα μάταια καταφθιμένοις πορίζεις; θύεις εἰδώλοις; τίς σοι πλάνον ἐν φρεσὶ θῆκεν ταῦτα τελεῖν προλιπόντα θεοῦ μεγάλοιο πρόσωπον.
For this vanity the Sibyl rebukes them thus: "Hellas, why do you trust in men as leaders? Why do you offer vain gifts to the dead? You sacrifice to idols. Who put error in your mind, to do these things, forsaking the face of the great God?"
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyl rebukes Greece for worshipping dead men and idols.
- Sibylline Oracles 3.545–549; quoted in Greek.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. 3.545–549 (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.15 (CSEL 19:57–58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.16CSEL 19:58
M. Tullius, qui non tantum perfectus orator, sed etiam philosophus fuit, siquidem solus extitit Platonis imitator, in eo libro quo se ipse de morte filiae consolatus est, non dubitauit dicere deos qui publice colerentur homines fuisse.
Marcus Tullius, who was not only a perfect orator but also a philosopher, since he alone arose as an imitator of Plato, in the book in which he consoled himself on the death of his daughter, did not hesitate to say that the gods publicly worshipped were men.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero, in his Consolation on his daughter's death, said the public gods were men.
- Cicero, Consolation (lost).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.16 (CSEL 19:58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.17CSEL 19:58
quod ipsius testimonium eo debet grauissimum iudicari, quod et augurale habuit sacerdotium et eosdem se colere uenerarique testatur.
His testimony ought to be judged the weightier because he both held the priesthood of augur and testifies that he worships and venerates these same gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's testimony is weighty because he was an augur.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.17 (CSEL 19:58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.18CSEL 19:58
itaque intra paucos uersiculos duas res nobis dedit. nam dum imaginem filiae eodem se modo consecraturum esse profitetur quo illi a ueteribus sint consecrati, et illos mortuos esse docuit et originem uanae superstitionis ostendit.
So within a few short lines he gave us two things. For while he declares that he will consecrate the image of his daughter in the same way as those were consecrated by the ancients, he both taught that they were dead and showed the origin of vain superstition.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's plan to deify his daughter reveals that the gods were dead people.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.18 (CSEL 19:58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.19CSEL 19:58
cum uero inquit et mares et feminas complures ex hominibus in deorum numero esse uideamus et eorum in urbibus atque agris augustissima delubra ueneremur, adsentiamur eorum sapientiae quorum ingeniis et inuentis omnem uitam legibus et institutis excultam constitutamque habemus.
"Since," he says, "we see many from among men, both male and female, in the number of the gods, and venerate their most august shrines in cities and countryside, let us assent to the wisdom of those by whose talents and discoveries we have our whole life cultivated and ordered with laws and institutions.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero notes that many men and women have been counted among the gods.
- Cicero, Consolation (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.19 (CSEL 19:58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.20CSEL 19:58–59
quod si ullum umquam animal consecrandum fuit, illud profecto fuit. si Cadmi progenies aut Amphitryonis aut Tyndari in caelum tollenda fama fuit, huic idem honos certe dicandus est. quod quidem faciam teque omnium optimam doctissimam adprobantibus diis inmortalibus ipsis in eorum coetu locatam ad opinionem omnium mortalium consecrabo.
And if any living being ever deserved to be consecrated, it was surely she. If the offspring of Cadmus or Amphitryon or Tyndareus was to be raised to heaven by fame, the same honour must certainly be dedicated to her. And this indeed I will do: you, the best and most learned of all, placed in the company of the immortal gods with their own approval, I will consecrate in the belief of all mortals."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero vows to consecrate his daughter among the gods.
- Cicero, Consolation (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.20 (CSEL 19:58–59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.21CSEL 19:59
fortasse dicat aliquis prae nimio luctu delirasse Ciceronem. atquin illa omnis oratio et doctrina et exemplis et ipso loquendi genere perfecta non aegri, sed constantis animi ac iudicii fuit et haec ipsa sententia nullum praefert indicium doloris.
Perhaps someone will say that Cicero raved from excessive grief. But that whole speech, perfect in learning, examples, and style itself, was the work not of a sick mind but of a steady mind and judgment; and this very sentence shows no sign of grief.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero wrote this with a steady mind, not in grief-stricken raving.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.21 (CSEL 19:59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-21).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.22CSEL 19:59
neque enim puto illum tam uarie, tam copiose, tam ornate scribere potuisse, nisi luctum eius et ratio ipsa et consolatio amicorum et longitudo temporis mitigasset.
For I do not think he could have written so variously, so fully, so elegantly, had not reason itself, the consolation of friends, and the length of time softened his grief.
Notes and citation
Summary: The polish of the work shows his grief had eased.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; the series tam ... tam ... tam requires tam): tali uarie → tam uarie.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.22 (CSEL 19:59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-22).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.23CSEL 19:59
quid quod idem dicit in libris de re publica, idem de gloria? nam de legibus, quo in opere Platonem secutus leges uoluit ponere, quibus putaret usuram esse iustam et sapientem ciuitatem, de religione ita sanxit: diuos et eos qui caelestes semper habiti sunt colunto et ollos quos endo caelo merita locauerunt, Herculem Liberum Aesculapium Castorem Pollucem Quirinum.
What of the fact that he says the same in the books On the Republic and in On Glory? For in On the Laws, a work in which, following Plato, he wished to set down the laws he thought a just and wise state would use, he enacted this about religion: "Let them worship the gods and those who have always been held heavenly, and those whom their merits have placed in heaven: Hercules, Liber, Aesculapius, Castor, Pollux, Quirinus."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's Laws command worship of those whose merits placed them in heaven.
- Cicero, On the Laws 2.19. On the Republic and On Glory survive only in part.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Leg. 2.19 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.23 (CSEL 19:59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-23).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.24CSEL 19:59
item in Tusculanis, cum diceret totum paene caelum humano genere conpletum, si uero inquit scrutari uetera et ex illis ea quae scriptores Graeciae prodiderunt eruere coner, ipsi illi maiorum gentium di qui habentur hinc a nobis profecti in caelum reperientur.
Likewise in the Tusculans, when he said that almost the whole of heaven is filled with the human race, he says: "If I were to try to search out antiquity and dig out from it what the writers of Greece have handed down, the very gods held to be of the greater families will be found to have gone from us to heaven.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the Tusculans Cicero says even the chief gods went from earth to heaven.
- Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.29.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Tusc. 1.29 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.24 (CSEL 19:59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.25CSEL 19:59–60
quare quoniam demonstrantur sepulchra in Graecia, reminiscere, quoniam es initiatus, quae tradantur mysteriis: tum denique quam hoc late pateat intelleges.
Ask whose tombs are shown in Greece; remember, since you are initiated, what is taught in the mysteries; then at last you will understand how widely this extends."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero points to the tombs of the gods and the teaching of the mysteries.
- Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.29. The Latin reads "quoniam demonstrantur"; Cicero's text has "quorum demonstrantur" ("whose ... are shown"), which the sense requires.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Tusc. 1.29 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.25 (CSEL 19:59–60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.26CSEL 19:60
testatus est uidelicet Attici conscientiam, ex ipsis mysteriis intellegi posse quod omnes illi homines fuerint qui coluntur, et cum de Hercule Libero Aesculapio Castore Polluce incunctanter fateretur, de Apolline ac Ioue patribus eorum, item de Neptuno Uulcano Marte Mercurio, quos maiorum gentium deos appellauit, timuit aperte coner.
He evidently appealed to the knowledge of Atticus, that it could be understood from the mysteries themselves that all those who are worshipped were men; and though he confessed it without hesitation about Hercules, Liber, Aesculapius, Castor, and Pollux, he was afraid to say it openly about Apollo and Jupiter, their fathers, and likewise about Neptune, Vulcan, Mars, and Mercury, whom he called gods of the greater families.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero hinted that even the chief gods were men but feared to say so openly.
- The last word of the Latin ("coner") seems to be a slip repeated from 1.15.24; translated by the sense, "he was afraid to say it openly".
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.26 (CSEL 19:60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-26).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.27CSEL 19:60
et idcirco ait late hoc patere, ut idem de Ioue ceterisque antiquioribus diis intellegamus, quorum memoriam si eadem ratione ueteres consecrauerunt, qua se imaginem nomenque filiae consecraturum esse dicit, ignosci maerentibus potest, credentibus non potest. quis enim tam
And for this reason he says that this extends widely, so that we may understand the same of Jupiter and the other more ancient gods. If the ancients consecrated their memory in the same way that he says he will consecrate the image and name of his daughter, those who mourn can be pardoned; those who believe cannot. For who is so
Notes and citation
Summary: Mourners who deify the dead may be pardoned, but believers in such gods cannot.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words run together (OCR)): hocpatere → hoc patere.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.27 (CSEL 19:60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-27).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.28CSEL 19:60
demens, qui consensu et placito innumerabilium stultorum aperiri caelum mortuis arbitretur aut aliquem quod ipse non habeat dare alteri posse? apud Romanos deus Iulius, quia hoc scele-
mad as to think that heaven is opened to the dead by the consent and decree of countless fools, or that anyone can give another what he himself does not have? Among the Romans Julius is a god because it pleased that wicked
Notes and citation
Summary: No crowd of fools can open heaven to the dead; Julius Caesar was deified by the will of a wicked man.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray capitals (OCR)): plaCitO → placito.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.28 (CSEL 19:60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-28).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.29CSEL 19:60
rato homini placuit Antonio, deus Quirinus, quia hoc pastoribus uisum est, cum alter gemini fratris extiterit, alter patriae parricida. quodsi non consul fuisset Antonius, Gaius Caesar pro
man Antony; Quirinus is a god because shepherds thought so, though the one proved to be the murderer of his twin brother and the other the parricide of his country. And if Antony had not been consul, Gaius Caesar, for
Notes and citation
Summary: Julius was deified by Antony, Quirinus by shepherds, though one killed his brother and the other his country.
- The Latin lacks a noun after "twin brother" (probably "murderer"); translated by the sense. Romulus (Quirinus) killed his twin Remus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.29 (CSEL 19:60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-29).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.30CSEL 19:60
suis in rem publicam meritis etiam defuncti hominis honore caruisset, et quidem consilio Pisonis soceri et Lucii Caesaris propinqui, qui uetabant funus ei fieri, et Dolabellae consulis, qui columnam in foro id est tumulum eius euertit ac forum expiauit. nam Romulum desiderio suis fuisse declarat Ennius, apud quem populus amissum regem dolens haec loquitur:
all his services to the state, would have lacked even the honour due to a dead man, by the counsel of Piso his father-in-law and Lucius Caesar his kinsman, who forbade his funeral, and of the consul Dolabella, who overturned the column in the forum, that is, his memorial, and purified the forum. As for Romulus, Ennius shows that he was longed for by his people; in his poem the people, grieving for their lost king, say this:
Notes and citation
Summary: Without Antony, Caesar would have had no honours; Ennius shows the Romans' longing for Romulus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.30 (CSEL 19:60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-30).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.31CSEL 19:60–61
o Romule, Romule die, qualem te patriae custodem di genuerunt! tu produxisti nos intra luminis oras, o pater, o genitor, o sanguen dis oriundum.
"O Romulus, divine Romulus, what a guardian of the fatherland the gods begot in you! You brought us forth into the shores of light, O father, O begetter, O blood sprung from the gods."
Notes and citation
Summary: Ennius' Romans mourn Romulus as father and guardian.
- Ennius, Annals (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius, Ann. (Ennius; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.31 (CSEL 19:60–61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-31).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.32CSEL 19:61
ob hoc desiderium facilius creditum est Iulio Proculo mentienti, qui subornatus a patribus est, ut nuntiaret plebi uidisse se regem humano habitu augustiorem eumque mandasse ad populum, ut sibi delubrum fieret, se deum esse et Quirinum uocari.
Because of this longing, Julius Proculus was more easily believed when he lied. He was put up by the senators to announce to the people that he had seen the king in more than human majesty, and that he had commanded the people that a shrine be made to him, that he was a god and was to be called Quirinus.
Notes and citation
Summary: Julius Proculus, prompted by the senators, falsely claimed Romulus appeared as a god.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.32 (CSEL 19:61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-32).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.15.33CSEL 19:61
quo facto et ipsi populo persuasit Romulum ad deos abisse et senatum suspicione caedis regiae liberauit.
By this he both persuaded the people that Romulus had gone away to the gods and freed the senate from suspicion of killing the king.
Notes and citation
Summary: The lie deified Romulus and cleared the senate of his murder.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.15.33 (CSEL 19:61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-15-33).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 16
1.16.1CSEL 19:61
Poteram iis quae rettuli esse contentus, sed supersunt adhuc multa suscepto operi necessaria.
I could have been content with what I have related, but many things still remain necessary to the work I have undertaken.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius continues his argument.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.1 (CSEL 19:61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.2CSEL 19:61
nam quamuis ipso religionum capite destructo uniuersas sustulerim, libet tamen persequi cetera et redarguere plenius inueteratam persuasionem, ut tandem homines suorum pudeat ac paeniteat errorum.
For although by destroying the very head of these religions I have done away with them all, yet I wish to pursue the rest and refute more fully the inveterate persuasion, so that men may at last be ashamed of their errors and repent of them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Though the case is made, he will refute the rest fully so people repent.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.2 (CSEL 19:61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.3CSEL 19:61
magnum hoc opus et homine dignum, religionum animos nodis exsoluere pergo, ut ait Lucretius, qui quidem hoc efficere non poterat, quia nihil ueri adferebat. nostrum est hoc officium, qui et uerum deum adserimus et falsos refutamus.
This is a great work and worthy of a man: "I go on to free minds from the knots of religions," as Lucretius says, who indeed could not accomplish it, because he brought nothing true. This task is ours, who both assert the true God and refute the false ones.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius tried to free minds from religion but failed; Christians can, because they know the true God.
- Lucretius, On the Nature of Things 1.931–932 (= 4.6–7).
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 1.931–932 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.3 (CSEL 19:61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.4CSEL 19:61–62
illi ergo qui poetas finxisse de diis fabulas opinantur (et tamen) deas feminas et esse credunt et colunt, reuoluuntur inprudentes ad id quod negauerant, coire illos ac parere.
So those who think the poets invented fables about the gods, and yet believe that there are goddesses and worship them, fall back unawares into what they had denied, that the gods have intercourse and bear children.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Belief in goddesses implies the gods mate and bear children.
- The editor adds "et tamen" ("and yet") in round brackets; translated.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.4 (CSEL 19:61–62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.5CSEL 19:62
nec enim fieri potest quin duo sexus generandi causa sint instituti. recepta uero sexuum diuersitate non intellegunt consequens esse ut concipiant: quod in deum cadere non potest. sed isti putant: nam et Iouis esse filios dicunt et ceterorum deorum.
For it cannot be that two sexes were established except for the purpose of generation. Once the difference of sexes is admitted, they do not understand that it follows that they conceive, which cannot apply to God. But these people think so: for they say there are sons of Jupiter and of the other gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Two sexes imply conception, which cannot apply to God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.5 (CSEL 19:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.6CSEL 19:62
nascuntur ergo et cotidie quidem dii noui: nec enim uincuntur ab hominibus fecunditate. igitur deorum innumerabilium plena sunt omnia, nullo scilicet moriente.
New gods, then, are born, and indeed daily; for they are not outdone by men in fertility. Therefore everything is full of countless gods, since, of course, none dies.
Notes and citation
Summary: If gods are born and never die, the world must be full of countless gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (o for e)): cotidio → cotidie.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.6 (CSEL 19:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.7CSEL 19:62
nam cum hominum uis incredibilis, numerus sit inaestimabilis, quos tamen sicuti nascuntur mori necesse est, quid deorum esse tandem putemus, qui tot saeculis nati sunt inmortalesque manserunt?
For since the multitude of men is incredible and their number beyond reckoning, who yet must die as they are born, what must we think is the number of gods, born over so many ages and remaining immortal?
Notes and citation
Summary: Immortal gods born over many ages would be innumerable.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.7 (CSEL 19:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.8CSEL 19:62
cur ergo tam pauci coluntur? nisi forte arbitramur non generandi causa, sed tantummodo capiendae uoluptatis duos esse sexus deorum et ea exercere quae homunculos et facere et pati pudet.
Why then are so few worshipped? Unless perhaps we think the two sexes of the gods exist not for the sake of begetting but only for taking pleasure, and that they practise what puny men are ashamed both to do and to undergo.
Notes and citation
Summary: Either the gods are innumerable or their sexes serve only lust.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.8 (CSEL 19:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.9CSEL 19:62
cum uero dicantur aliqui ex aliquibus nati, consequens est ut semper nascantur, siquidem aliquando sunt nati, uel si nasci desierunt, scire nos conuenit cur aut quando desierint.
But since some are said to be born from others, it follows that they are always being born, if they were once born; or, if they have ceased to be born, we should know why or when they ceased.
Notes and citation
Summary: If gods were once born, they should still be born, or we need to know why they stopped.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.9 (CSEL 19:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.10CSEL 19:62
non inlepide Seneca in libris moralis philosophiae quid ergo est inquit quare apud poetas salacissimus Iuppiter desierit liberos tollere? utrum sexagenarius factus est et illi lex Papia fibulam inposuit? an impetrauit ius trium liberorum? an tandem illi uenit in mentem ab alio expectes alteri quod feceris
Not without wit Seneca says in his books of moral philosophy: "What then is the reason why in the poets Jupiter, most lustful of all, has stopped raising children? Has he turned sixty, and has the Papian law put a clasp on him? Or has he obtained the right of three children? Or has it at last occurred to him, 'Expect from another what you have done to another,'
Notes and citation
Summary: Seneca mocks Jupiter for no longer fathering children.
- Seneca, Books of Moral Philosophy (lost; fragment). The Papian-Poppaean law regulated marriage and gave privileges to parents of three children; the "clasp" (fibula) was a device to prevent intercourse.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.10 (CSEL 19:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.11CSEL 19:62–63
et timet ne quis sibi faciat quod ipse Saturno? at isti qui deos adserunt, uideant quomodo respondeant huic argumento quod inferemus: si duo sunt sexus deorum, sequitur concubitus, si coeunt, et domos habeant necesse est; nec enim carent uirtute ac pudore, ut hoc promisce aut in propatulo faciant, sicut muta facere uidemus animalia.
and does he fear that someone may do to him what he did to Saturn?" But let those who assert gods see how they will answer this argument which we shall bring: if there are two sexes of gods, intercourse follows; if they have intercourse, they must also have houses; for they do not lack virtue and modesty so as to do this promiscuously or in the open, as we see dumb animals do.
Notes and citation
Summary: If gods have two sexes, they must have intercourse and therefore houses.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.11 (CSEL 19:62–63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.12CSEL 19:63
si domos habent, consequens est ut et urbes habeant, et quidem auctore Nasone, qui ait: plebs habitat diuersa locis, a fronte potentes caelicolae clarique suos posuere penates. si habent urbes, et agros igitur habebunt.
If they have houses, it follows that they also have cities, and indeed on the authority of Naso, who says: "The common folk live apart in various places; in front the powerful and famous heaven-dwellers have set up their households." If they have cities, then they will have fields too.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the gods have houses, they have cities and fields, as Ovid implies.
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.173–174.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.173–174 (Ovid; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.12 (CSEL 19:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.13CSEL 19:63
iam quis non uideat quae sequantur? arare illos et colere, quod uictus causa fit: ergo mortales sunt. quod argumentum retrouersus idem ualet.
Now who does not see what follows? That they plough and cultivate, which is done for the sake of food: therefore they are mortal. The same argument holds equally in reverse.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods who farm for food are mortal.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.13 (CSEL 19:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.14CSEL 19:63
si enim agros non habent, ne urbes quidem, si urbes non (habent), ne domos quidem, si domibus carent, ergo et concubitu, si concubitus ab iis abest, et sexus igitur femininus. in diis autem uidemus et feminas esse: ergo dii non sunt. dissoluat hoc argumentum si quis potest.
For if they have no fields, they have no cities either; if they have no cities, they have no houses either; if they lack houses, they lack intercourse too; if intercourse is absent from them, so then is the female sex. But we see that among the gods there are also females: therefore they are not gods. Let anyone refute this argument if he can.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Reversing the argument, female gods prove they are not gods.
- The editor adds "habent" in round brackets; translated.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.14 (CSEL 19:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.15CSEL 19:63
ita enim res rem sequitur, ut haec ultima necesse sit confiteri.
For one thing follows so closely from another that these last conclusions must be admitted.
Notes and citation
Summary: The chain of reasoning compels the conclusion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.15 (CSEL 19:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.16CSEL 19:63
sed ne illud quidem dissoluet aliquis: ex duobus sexibus alter fortior est, alter infirmior; robustiores enim mares sunt, feminae inbecilliores. inbecillitas autem non cadit in deum, ergo nec feminae sexus.
But no one will refute this either: of the two sexes one is stronger, the other weaker; for males are more robust, females weaker. But weakness does not apply to God; therefore neither does the female sex.
Notes and citation
Summary: Weakness does not belong to God, so neither does the female sex.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.16 (CSEL 19:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.16.17CSEL 19:63
huic additur superioris argumenti extrema illa conclusio, ut dii non sint, quoniam in diis et feminae sunt.
To this is added that final conclusion of the former argument: that they are not gods, since among the gods there are also females.
Notes and citation
Summary: Female deities show the pagan gods are not gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.16.17 (CSEL 19:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-16-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 17
1.17.1CSEL 19:63–64
Ob has rationes Stoici aliouersus deos interpretantur, et quia non peruident quid sit in uero, conantur eos cum rerum naturalium ratione coniungere. quos Cicero secutus de diis ac religionibus eorum hanc sententiam tulit:
For these reasons the Stoics interpret the gods in another way, and because they do not see through to what is true, they try to join them with a theory of natural things. Following them, Cicero gave this verdict about the gods and their religions:
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics interpreted the gods as natural forces, and Cicero followed them.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.1 (CSEL 19:63–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.2CSEL 19:64
uidetisne igitur, ut a physicis rebus bene atque utiliter inuentis tracta ratio est ad commenticios ac fictos deos? quae res genuit falsas opiniones erroresque turbulentos et superstitiones paene aniles. et formae enim nobis deorum et aetates et uestitus ornatusque noti sunt, genera praeterea, coniugia cognationes omniaque traducta ad similitudinem inbecillitatis humanae.
"Do you see, then, how reasoning has been drawn from natural things, well and usefully discovered, to fictitious and invented gods? This has given birth to false opinions, turbulent errors, and superstitions almost worthy of old women. For the forms of the gods, their ages, dress, and adornment are known to us, and moreover their families, marriages, kinships, and everything has been carried over to the likeness of human weakness."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero says natural philosophy produced fictitious gods and old wives' superstitions.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.70.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (n for u)): igitnr → igitur.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 2.70 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.2 (CSEL 19:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.3CSEL 19:64
quid planius, quid uerius dici potest? Romanae philosophiae princeps et amplissimo sacerdotio praeditus commenticios ac fictos deos arguit, quorum cultus superstitiones paene aniles esse testatur, falsis opinionibus erroribusque turbulentis implicatos esse homines queritur.
What could be said more plainly, more truly? The chief of Roman philosophy, holding a most distinguished priesthood, exposes fictitious and invented gods, testifies that their worship is superstition almost worthy of old women, and complains that men are entangled in false opinions and turbulent errors.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero, a priest and philosopher, exposed the gods as fictions.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.3 (CSEL 19:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.4CSEL 19:64
nam totus liber tertius de natura deorum omnes funditus religiones euertit ac delet. quid ergo a nobis expectatur amplius? num eloquentia superare possumus Ciceronem? minime id quidem, sed fiducia illi defuit ignoranti ueritatem, quod ipse simpliciter in eodem opere confitetur. ait enim facilius posse se dicere quid non sit quam quid sit, hoc est falsa se intellegere, uera nescire.
For the whole third book On the Nature of the Gods overturns and destroys all religions from the foundations. What more then is expected of us? Can we surpass Cicero in eloquence? Not at all; but confidence failed him, since he did not know the truth, which he himself simply confesses in the same work. For he says that he can more easily say what is not than what is; that is, he understands what is false but does not know what is true.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero destroyed the false gods but, not knowing the truth, could not say what is true.
- Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 1.60.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Nat. d. 1.60 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.4 (CSEL 19:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.5CSEL 19:64
clarum est igitur homines fuisse illos qui dii putantur et eorum memoriam post mortem consecratam. ideo et aetates diuersae sunt et certae imagines singulorum, quod in eo habitu et aetate simulacra eorum configurata sunt, in qua quemque mors deprehendit.
It is clear, then, that those thought to be gods were men and that their memory was consecrated after death. That is why their ages differ and each has a fixed likeness: their images are shaped in the dress and at the age in which death overtook each.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods were men, which is why their images show different ages.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.5 (CSEL 19:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.6CSEL 19:64–65
consideremus si placet aerumnas infelicium deorum. Isis filium perdidit, Ceres filiam, expulsa et per orbem terrae iactata Latona uix insulam paruam in qua pareret inuenit.
Let us consider, if you please, the troubles of these unhappy gods. Isis lost her son, Ceres her daughter; Latona, driven out and tossed through the whole world, barely found a small island in which to give birth.
Notes and citation
Summary: The goddesses suffered human sorrows and hardships.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.6 (CSEL 19:64–65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.7CSEL 19:65
Deum Mater et amauit formosum adulescentem et eundem cum paelice deprehensum exsectis uirilibus semiuirum reddidit et ideo nunc sacra eius a Gallis sacerdotibus celebrantur. Iuno paelices acerrime persecuta est, quia parere ipsa non potuit ex fratre.
The Mother of the Gods both loved a handsome young man and, catching him with a mistress, cut off his genitals and made him half a man; and that is why her rites are now celebrated by the Galli, her priests. Juno most bitterly persecuted her husband's mistresses, because she herself could not bear children by her brother.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Mother of the Gods castrated her lover, and Juno persecuted Jupiter's mistresses.
- The young man is Attis; the Galli were the eunuch priests of Cybele.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.7 (CSEL 19:65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.8CSEL 19:65
insulam Samum scribit Varro prius Partheniam nominatam, quod ibi Iuno adoleuerit ibique etiam Ioui nupserit. itaque nobilissimum et antiquissimum templum eius est Sami et simulacrum in habitu nubentis figuratum et sacra eius anniuersaria nuptiarum ritu celebrantur. si ergo adoleuit, si fuit uirgo primo, postea mulier, hominem fuisse qui non intellegit, pecudem se fatetur.
Varro writes that the island of Samos was earlier named Parthenia, because Juno grew up there and there married Jupiter. So her most famous and ancient temple is on Samos, with a statue shaped in the dress of a bride, and her yearly rites are celebrated with the ritual of a wedding. If then she grew up, if she was first a virgin and afterwards a woman, whoever does not understand that she was a human being confesses himself a beast.
Notes and citation
Summary: Varro's account of Juno growing up and marrying on Samos shows she was human.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.8 (CSEL 19:65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.9CSEL 19:65
quid loquar obscenitatem Veneris omnium libidinibus prostitutae non deorum tantum, sed et hominum? haec enim ex famoso Martis stupro genuit Harmoniam, ex Mercurio Hermaphroditum, qui est natus androgynus, ex Ioue Cupidinem, ex Anchise Aenean, ex Bute Erycem; ex Adonio quidem nullum potuit, quod etiamtum puer ab apro ictus occisus est.
Why should I speak of the obscenity of Venus, prostituted to the lusts of all, not only of gods but also of men? For by her notorious debauchery with Mars she bore Harmonia; by Mercury, Hermaphroditus, who was born androgynous; by Jupiter, Cupid; by Anchises, Aeneas; by Butes, Eryx. By Adonis indeed she could have none, because while still a boy he was struck and killed by a boar.
Notes and citation
Summary: Venus had children by many gods and men.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for n)): obsceuitatem → obscenitatem.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.9 (CSEL 19:65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.10CSEL 19:65–66
quae prima, ut in Historia Sacra continetur, artem meretriciam instituit auctorque mulieribus in Cypro fuit, uti uulg(at)o corpore quaestum facerent: quod idcirco imperauit, ne sola praeter alias mulieres inpudica et uirorum adpetens uideretur.
She first, as the Sacred History records, instituted the art of the harlot and taught the women of Cyprus to make money by making their bodies common. She ordered this so that she alone might not seem unchaste and eager for men beyond other women.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sacred History says Venus introduced prostitution in Cyprus.
- Ennius, Sacred History. The editor adds letters in round brackets (uulg(at)o); translated.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.10 (CSEL 19:65–66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.11CSEL 19:66
etiamne haec habet aliquid numinis, cuius plura numerantur adulteria quam partus? sed ne illae quidem uirgines inlibatam castitatem seruare potuerunt. unde enim putemus Erichthonium esse natum? an ex terra, ut poetae uideri uolunt?
Does even she have anything of divinity, whose adulteries outnumber her childbirths? But not even those virgin goddesses could keep their chastity untouched. For from where are we to think Erichthonius was born? From the earth, as the poets wish it to seem?
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the virgin goddesses were not chaste, as the birth of Erichthonius shows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.11 (CSEL 19:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.12CSEL 19:66
at res ipsa clamat. nam cum Vulcanus diis arma fecisset eique Iuppiter optionem dedisset praemii quod uellet postulandi iurassetque ut solebat per infernam paludem se nihil negaturum, tum faber claudus Mineruae nuptias postulauit.
But the thing itself cries out. For when Vulcan had made arms for the gods and Jupiter had given him the choice of asking whatever reward he wished, and had sworn, as he used to, by the infernal marsh that he would refuse nothing, then the lame smith asked for marriage with Minerva.
Notes and citation
Summary: Vulcan, granted any reward by Jupiter, asked to marry Minerva.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.12 (CSEL 19:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.13CSEL 19:66
hic Iuppiter Optimus Maximus tanta religione constrictus abnuere non potuit, Mineruam tamen monuit repugnare pudicitiamque defendere. tum in illa conluctatione Vulcanum in terram effudisse aiunt, unde sit Erichthonius natus, idque illi nomen inpositum ὰπὸ τη̃ς ἒριδος καὶ χθονός id est ex certamine atque humo.
Here Jupiter Best and Greatest, bound by so solemn an oath, could not refuse, but he warned Minerva to resist and defend her chastity. Then in that struggle, they say, Vulcan spilled his seed on the ground, from which Erichthonius was born, and that name was given him from eris and chthōn, that is, from strife and soil.
Notes and citation
Summary: Erichthonius was born from Vulcan's seed during his struggle with Minerva.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek garbled into Latin letters (marked sic in the digital text); stray letter and OCR slip (l for I)): t hic luppiter → hic Iuppiter; xal χθονός → καὶ χθονός.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.13 (CSEL 19:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.14CSEL 19:66
cur igitur uirgo eum puerum cum dracone conclusum et obsignatum tribus uirginibus Cecropidis commendauit? euidens ut opinor incestum, quod nullo modo possit colorari.
Why then did the virgin shut up that boy with a serpent, seal the chest, and entrust it to the three virgin daughters of Cecrops? A plain case of unchastity, I think, which cannot be disguised in any way.
Notes and citation
Summary: Minerva's secret care of Erichthonius shows her guilt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.14 (CSEL 19:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.15CSEL 19:66–67
altera cum paene amatorem suum perdidisset, qui erat turbatis distractus equis, praestantissimum medicum Asclepium curando iuueni aduocauit eumque sanatum secretis alma recondit sedibus et nymphae Egeriae nemorique relegat, solus ubi in siluis Italis ignobilis aeuum exigeret uersoque ubi nomine Virbius esset. quid sibi uult haec tam diligens, tam sollicita curatio?
Another, when she had almost lost her lover, who "was torn apart by his frightened horses," called in the most excellent physician Asclepius to cure the young man; and when he was healed, "the kindly goddess hid him in secret dwellings and banished him to the nymph Egeria and her grove, where alone in the Italian woods, unknown, he might pass his life, and where, his name changed, he would be Virbius." What does this so diligent, so anxious care mean?
Notes and citation
Summary: Diana hid the healed Hippolytus in Italy under a new name.
- The goddess is Diana, the lover Hippolytus. Virgil, Aeneid 7.767 and 7.774–777.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 7.767, 774–777 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.15 (CSEL 19:66–67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.16CSEL 19:67
quid secretae sedes? quid relegatio uel tam longe uel ad mulierem uel in solitudinem? quid deinde nominis commutatio? postremo quid equorum tam pertinax abominatio? quid significant haec omnia nisi conscientiam stupri et amorem minime uirginalem?
Why the secret dwellings? Why banishment so far, or to a woman, or into solitude? Why then the change of name? Finally, why so stubborn an aversion to horses? What do all these signify but consciousness of debauchery and a love by no means virginal?
Notes and citation
Summary: Diana's secrecy reveals a guilty, unvirginal love.
- Horses were barred from Diana's grove at Aricia.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.16 (CSEL 19:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.17.17CSEL 19:67
erat plane cur tantum laborem pro tam fideli iuuene susciperet, qui amanti nouercae obsequium pernegarat.
She plainly had reason to undertake so much labour for so faithful a young man, who had refused compliance to his stepmother's love.
Notes and citation
Summary: Diana had reason to reward Hippolytus, who had rejected his stepmother's advances.
- The sentence is ironic.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (lost i)): qu amanti → qui amanti.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.17.17 (CSEL 19:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-17-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 18
1.18.1CSEL 19:67
Hoc loco refellendi sunt etiam ii qui deos ex hominibus esse factos non tantum fatentur, sed ut eos laudent, etiam gloriantur, aut uirtutis gratia ut Herculem aut munerum ut Cererem ac Liberum aut artium repertarum ut Aesculapium ac Mineruam.
At this point we must also refute those who not only admit that gods were made from men, but even glory in it in order to praise them, whether for virtue, like Hercules, or for gifts, like Ceres and Liber, or for arts discovered, like Aesculapius and Minerva.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius turns to those who praise gods for having been deified for virtue, gifts, or arts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.1 (CSEL 19:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.2CSEL 19:67
haec uero quam inepta sint quamque non digna propter quae homines inexpiabili se scelere contaminent hostesque uero deo fiant, quo contempto mortuorum sacra suscipiunt, ex singulis rebus ostendam.
How foolish these reasons are, and how unworthy of men's defiling themselves with an inexpiable crime and becoming enemies of the true God, whom they despise while they take up the rites of the dead, I shall show point by point.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius will show that these grounds for deification are foolish.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.2 (CSEL 19:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.3CSEL 19:67
uirtutem esse dicunt quae hominem tollat in caelum, non illam de qua philosophi disserunt, quae posita est in bonis animi, sed hanc corporalem quae dicitur fortitudo: quae quoniam praecipua in Hercule fuit, inmortalitatem meruisse creditur.
They say that it is virtue which raises a man to heaven: not the virtue that philosophers discuss, which consists in goods of the soul, but this bodily kind which is called strength; and since it was pre-eminent in Hercules, he is believed to have earned immortality.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules is said to have won immortality by bodily strength.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.3 (CSEL 19:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.4CSEL 19:67–68
quis tam stulte ineptus est, ut corporis uires diuinum uel etiam humanum bonum iudicet, cum sint et maiores pecudibus adtributae et uno morbo saepe frangantur uel senectute ipsa minuantur et corruant?
Who is so foolishly absurd as to judge bodily strength a divine or even a human good, when greater strength has been given to cattle, and it is often broken by a single illness or diminished and collapses with old age itself?
Notes and citation
Summary: Bodily strength is not a divine good, since beasts have more and it fails with illness and age.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (u for n)): humanum bouum → humanum bonum.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.4 (CSEL 19:67–68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.5CSEL 19:68
itaque idem ille cum deformari ulceribus toros suos cerneret, nec sanari se uoluit nec senem fieri, ne quando se ipso minor aut deformior uideretur.
So that same Hercules, when he saw his muscles disfigured with sores, wished neither to be healed nor to grow old, lest he should ever appear less than himself or more deformed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules chose death rather than weakness or disfigurement.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.5 (CSEL 19:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.6CSEL 19:68
hunc a rogo quo uiuum se ipse combusserat escendisse in caelum putauerunt eaque ipsa quae stultissime sunt admirati simulacris et imaginibus expressa et consecrata posuerunt, ut in perpetuum uanitatis illorum monumenta perstarent qui ob necem bestiarum deos fieri credidissent.
They thought he ascended into heaven from the pyre on which he had burned himself alive, and the very things they most foolishly admired they set up, portrayed and consecrated in statues and images, so that there might stand forever monuments to the folly of those who believed that gods were made by the killing of beasts.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hercules' self-immolation was taken as ascent to heaven, and his statues record this folly.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.6 (CSEL 19:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.7CSEL 19:68
sed haec fortasse Graecorum culpa sit, qui res leuissimas pro maximis semper habuerunt.
But perhaps this may be the fault of the Greeks, who always held the most trivial things to be the greatest.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Greeks always prized trivial things.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.7 (CSEL 19:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.8CSEL 19:68
quid nostri? num sapientiores? qui athleticam quidem uirtutem contemnunt, quia nihil obest, sed regiam, quia late solet nocere, sic admirantur, ut fortes ac bellicosos duces in deorum coetu locari arbitrentur; nec esse ullam aliam ad inmortalitatem uiam quam exercitus ducere, aliena uastare, delere urbes, oppida excindere, liberos populos aut trucidare aut subicere seruituti.
What of our own people? Are they any wiser? They despise the virtue of the athlete, because it does no harm, but they so admire the virtue of kings, because it usually harms widely, that they think brave and warlike generals are placed in the assembly of the gods, and that there is no other road to immortality than to lead armies, lay waste others' lands, destroy cities, raze towns, and either slaughter free peoples or subject them to slavery.
Notes and citation
Summary: Romans think conquering generals become gods through war and destruction.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.8 (CSEL 19:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.9CSEL 19:68
uidelicet quo plures homines adflixerint spoliarint occiderint, eo se nobiliores et clariores putant et inanis gloriae specie capti sceleribus suis nomen uirtutis inponunt.
Evidently, the more men they have afflicted, plundered, and killed, the nobler and more famous they think themselves; and, captivated by the appearance of empty glory, they give the name of virtue to their crimes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Conquerors call their crimes virtue for the sake of empty glory.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.9 (CSEL 19:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.10CSEL 19:68
iam mallem ut a ferarum caedibus deos sibi fingerent quam inmortalitatem tam cruentam probarent. si quis unum hominem iugulauerit, pro contaminato ac nefario habetur nec ad terrenum hoc domicilium deorum admitti eum fas putant. ille autem qui infinita hominum milia trucidarit, cruore campos inundauerit, flumina infecerit, non modo in templum, sed etiam in caelum admittitur.
I would rather they made gods for themselves from the slaughter of wild beasts than approve so bloody an immortality. If anyone has killed one man, he is held polluted and wicked, and they think it unlawful for him to be admitted to this earthly dwelling of the gods. But he who has slaughtered countless thousands of men, flooded the plains with blood, and stained the rivers, is admitted not only into the temple but even into heaven.
Notes and citation
Summary: One murderer is shut out of temples, but a mass killer is admitted to heaven.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.10 (CSEL 19:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.11CSEL 19:68–69
aput Ennium sic loquitur Africanus: si fas endo plagas caelestum ascendere cuiquam est, mi soli caeli maxima porta patet, scilicet quia magnam partem generis humani extinxit ac perdidit.
In Ennius, Africanus speaks thus: "If it is lawful for anyone to ascend into the regions of the heavenly ones, for me alone the greatest gate of heaven lies open"; evidently because he destroyed and ruined a great part of the human race.
Notes and citation
Summary: In Ennius, Scipio Africanus claims heaven's gate is open to him for his conquests.
- Ennius, epigram on Scipio (fragment).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (leaked line number (OCR)): Africanus: 25 si fas → Africanus: si fas.
Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.11 (CSEL 19:68–69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.12CSEL 19:69
o in quantis tenebris, Africane, uersatus es uel potius o poeta, qui per caedes et sanguinem patere hominibus ascensum in caelum putaueris! cui uanitati etiam Cicero adsensit.
O Africanus, in what darkness you moved, or rather, O poet, you who thought that the ascent to heaven lies open to men through slaughter and blood! Cicero too assented to this vanity.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius rebukes Ennius, and Cicero, for thinking bloodshed opens heaven.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (c for e)): uersatus cs → uersatus es.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.12 (CSEL 19:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.13CSEL 19:69
est uero inquit Africane: nam et Herculi eadem ista porta patuit; tamquam ipse plane, cum id fieret, ianitor fuerit in caelo.
"It is so indeed, Africanus," he says, "for that same gate lay open to Hercules too"; as if he himself had plainly been the doorkeeper in heaven when it happened.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero agreed that heaven's gate opened to Scipio as to Hercules.
- Cicero, On the Republic (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Rep. (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.13 (CSEL 19:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.14CSEL 19:69
equidem statuere non possum dolendumne potius an ridendum putem, cum uideam graues et doctos et ut sibi uidentur sapientes uiros in tam miserandis errorum fluctibus uolutari.
For my part, I cannot decide whether to think it more a matter for grief or for laughter, when I see serious and learned men, and wise ones as they think themselves, tossed about in such pitiable waves of error.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such errors in learned men are both sad and laughable.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.14 (CSEL 19:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.15CSEL 19:69
si haec est uirtus quae nos inmortales facit, mori equidem malim quam exitio esse quam plurimis.
If this is the virtue that makes us immortal, I for one would rather die than be the destruction of as many as possible.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius would rather die than win immortality by killing.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.15 (CSEL 19:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.16CSEL 19:69
si aliter inmortalitas parari non potest nisi per sanguinem, quid fiet, si omnes in concordiam consenserint? quod certe fieri poterit, si pernicioso et impio furore proiecto innocentes esse ac iusti uelint. num igitur nemo erit caelo dignus?
If immortality cannot be gained except through blood, what will happen if all agree together in concord? This could certainly happen, if they cast away their destructive and impious fury and were willing to be innocent and just. Will no one, then, be worthy of heaven?
Notes and citation
Summary: If only killers reach heaven, a peaceful world would leave no one worthy of heaven.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.16 (CSEL 19:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.17CSEL 19:69–70
num peribit uirtus, quia hominibus in homines saeuire non dabitur? sed isti qui euersiones urbium populorumque summam gloriam conputant, otium publicum non ferent, rapient saeuient et iniuriis insolenter inlatis humanae societatis foedus inrumpent, ut habere hostem possint, quem (non) sceleratius deleant quam lacessierint.
Will virtue perish because men will not be allowed to rage against men? But these people, who count the overthrow of cities and peoples the highest glory, will not bear public peace. They will plunder and rage and, insolently inflicting wrongs, break the bond of human society, so that they may have an enemy to destroy, no more wickedly than they provoked him.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lovers of military glory would destroy peace just to have enemies.
- The editor adds "non" in round brackets; translated.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.17 (CSEL 19:69–70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.18CSEL 19:70
Nunc ad reliqua pergamus. nomen deorum Cereri ac Libero traditio munerum fecit. possum diuinis docere litteris uinum atque fruges ante progeniem Caeli atque Saturni fuisse in usu hominum, sed ab his sane inuenta esse fingamus.
Now let us go on to the rest. The handing on of gifts gave Ceres and Liber the name of gods. I could show from the divine writings that wine and grain were in use among men before the offspring of Caelus and Saturn; but let us suppose that they were indeed discovered by them.
Gen 9:20 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ceres and Liber were deified for grain and wine, though Scripture shows these were used earlier.
- Lactantius probably has in mind Gen 9:20 (Noah's vineyard) and Gen 4:2–3; no passage is cited.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.18 (CSEL 19:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.19CSEL 19:70
num potest plus aut maius uideri collegisse fruges iisque fractis panem facere docuisse aut uuas de uitibus lectas expressisse uinumque fecisse quam fruges ipsas aut uites generasse ac protulisse de terra?
Can it seem more or greater to have gathered grain and taught how to grind it and make bread, or to have pressed grapes picked from the vines and made wine, than to have produced grain itself or the vines and brought them forth from the earth?
Notes and citation
Summary: Making bread and wine is less than creating grain and vines.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.19 (CSEL 19:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.20CSEL 19:70
reliquerit haec sane deus humanis ingeniis eruenda, tamen fieri non potest quin ipsius sint omnia, qui et sapientiam tribuit homini ut inueniret et illa ipsa quae possent inueniri.
Granted that God left these things to be discovered by human ingenuity, it still cannot be but that all things are his, who gave man both the wisdom to discover them and the very things that could be discovered.
Notes and citation
Summary: Everything discovered by humans still belongs to God, who gave both wisdom and the things found.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.20 (CSEL 19:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.21CSEL 19:70
artes quoque inuentoribus suis inmortalitatem peperisse dicuntur, ut Aesculapio medicina, Volcano fabrica. colamus igitur et illos qui fullonicam sutrinamue docuerunt. cur autem figulinae repertori honos non habetur? an quia isti diuites uasa Samia contemnunt?
The arts too are said to have won immortality for their inventors, as medicine for Aesculapius and smithcraft for Vulcan. Let us then worship also those who taught fulling and shoemaking. And why is no honour paid to the inventor of pottery? Is it because these rich men despise Samian ware?
Notes and citation
Summary: If inventors become gods, so should the inventors of fulling, shoemaking, and pottery.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.21 (CSEL 19:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-21).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.22CSEL 19:70
sunt et aliae artes quarum repertores humanae uitae plurimum profuerunt: cur non et illis adtributa sunt templa?
There are other arts too whose inventors did very great service to human life: why have temples not been assigned to them as well?
Notes and citation
Summary: Other useful inventors have no temples.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.22 (CSEL 19:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-22).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.23CSEL 19:70
sed nimirum Minerua est quae omnes repperit, ideoque illi opifices supplicant. ergo ab his sordibus Minerua ascendit in caelum.
But of course it is Minerva who discovered them all, and so the craftsmen pray to her. So from these menial things Minerva ascended into heaven.
Notes and citation
Summary: Minerva is credited with all crafts and so reached heaven from menial work.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.23 (CSEL 19:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-23).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.24CSEL 19:70–71
est uero cur quisquam derelinquat eum qui terram cum animantibus, caelum cum astris et luminibus exorsus est, ut eam ueneretur quae telam docuit ordiri.
There is good reason, surely, for anyone to abandon him who began the earth with its living things and the heaven with its stars and lights, in order to venerate her who taught how to begin a web on the loom!
Notes and citation
Summary: It is absurd to leave the Creator to worship the inventor of weaving.
- The sentence is ironic; the Latin plays on exordior, "to begin" (also "to lay the warp").
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.24 (CSEL 19:70–71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.18.25CSEL 19:71
quid ille qui uulnera in corporibus sanare docuit? num potest esse praestantior quam qui corpora ipsa formauit, sentiendi ac uiuendi rationem dedit, herbas denique ipsas et cetera quibus medendi ars constat excogitauit ac protulit?
What of him who taught how to heal wounds in bodies? Can he be more excellent than he who formed bodies themselves, gave the power of perceiving and living, and finally devised and produced the very herbs and other things of which the art of healing consists?
Notes and citation
Summary: The healer cannot surpass the Creator of bodies and healing herbs.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.18.25 (CSEL 19:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-18-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 1, chapter 19
1.19.1CSEL 19:71
At enim dicet aliquis et huic summo qui fecit omnia et illis qui partim profuerunt suam uenerationem esse tribuendam.
But someone will say that their own veneration should be given both to this Supreme One who made all things and to those who were of service in part.
Notes and citation
Summary: An objector suggests worshipping both God and the benefactor gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.1 (CSEL 19:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.19.2CSEL 19:71
primum nec factum est umquam ut qui hos coluit, etiam deum coluerit, neque fieri potest, quoniam si honos idem tribuitur aliis, ipse omnino non colitur, cuius religio est illum esse unum ac solum deum credere.
First, it has never happened that anyone who worshipped these also worshipped God, nor can it happen; for if the same honour is given to others, he is not worshipped at all, since his religion is to believe that he is the one and only God.
Notes and citation
Summary: God cannot be worshipped alongside others, since his worship means believing he alone is God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.2 (CSEL 19:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.19.3CSEL 19:71
clamat summus poeta eos omnes qui inuentas uitam excoluere per artes aput inferos esse ipsumque illum repertorem medicinae talis et artis ad Stygias undas fulmine detrusum, ut intellegamus quantum ualeat pater omnipotens, qui etiam deos fulminibus exstinguat.
The greatest poet cries out that all those "who adorned life with the arts they discovered" are among the dead below, and that the very "discoverer of such medicine and art" was "thrust down by a thunderbolt to the Stygian waters," so that we may understand how great is the power of the Almighty Father, who even extinguishes gods with thunderbolts.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil places inventors among the dead and says Aesculapius was struck down by the thunderbolt.
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.663 and 7.772–773.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 6.663 (Virgil; quotation); Virgil, Aen. 7.772–773 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.3 (CSEL 19:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.19.4CSEL 19:71
sed homines ingeniosi hanc secum habebant fortasse rationem: quia deus fulminari non potest, apparet non esse factum. immo uero quia factum est, apparet hominem fuisse, non deum.
But clever men perhaps reasoned with themselves thus: since a god cannot be struck by lightning, it is clear that it did not happen. On the contrary: since it did happen, it is clear that he was a man, not a god.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since Aesculapius was struck down, he was a man, not a god.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.4 (CSEL 19:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.19.5CSEL 19:71
mendacium poetarum non in facto est, sed in nomine: metuebant enim malum, si contra publicam persuasionem faterentur quod erat uerum.
The lie of the poets is not in the fact but in the name; for they feared harm if they confessed what was true against public belief.
Notes and citation
Summary: The poets told true facts but falsely called men gods, fearing public opinion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.5 (CSEL 19:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.19.6CSEL 19:71–72
quodsi hoc constat inter ipsos, ex hominibus deos factos, cur ergo non credunt poetis, si quando illorum fugas et uulnera et mortes et bella et adulteria describunt?
But if it is agreed among them that gods were made from men, why then do they not believe the poets when they describe their flights, wounds, deaths, wars, and adulteries?
Notes and citation
Summary: If gods were once men, the poets' accounts of their sins should be believed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.6 (CSEL 19:71–72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
1.19.7CSEL 19:72
quibus de rebus intellegi datur non potuisse ullo pacto fieri deos, quia ne homines quidem probi fuerunt eaque in uita sua gesserunt quae mortem pariunt sempiternam.
From these things it can be understood that they could in no way have become gods, since they were not even good men, and in their lives they did things that bring forth eternal death.
Notes and citation
Summary: They were not even good men, and their deeds lead to eternal death.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 1.19.7 (CSEL 19:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/1-15-1/#p-1-19-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).