Tusculanae Disputationes
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the page tracks authorship and placement within Cicero career.","GeoCards":[{"Label":"Region","Key":"Region:1"},{"Label":"Terra Avita","Key":"TerraAvita:2"},{"Label":"Terra Avita Region","Key":"TerraAvitaRegion:6"},{"Label":"Modern Country","Key":"Country:ITA:2"}],"OriginalTitle":"Tusculanae disputationes","Language":"Latin","DisciplineCards":[{"Label":"Primary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:ethics"},{"Label":"Secondary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:philosophy-of-mind"}],"Tradition":"Roman Academic skepticism, republican political philosophy, rhetoric, ethics, theology, and Latin philosophical prose","FullText":{"Title":"Full Text","Copy":"Public-domain full text from Project Gutenberg eBook #14988 .","Url":"","Label":"","Kicker":"","Cards":[]},"CoreThesis":["Cicero uses philosophical disputation to treat death, pain, grief, emotion, and virtue as disciplines for the soul."],"Classification":{"AlternateTitles":"Tusculan Disputations; Tusculanae Quaestiones","KeyConcepts":"death; pain; grief; emotions; virtue; consolation; soul; philosophical therapy","Methodology":"Direct Cicero work page grounded in ancient authorship and scholarly evidence; editions, translations, letters, anthologies, and catalogs remain evidence or Other Voices.","Structure":"Standalone Cicero work page with visible date and status notes; fragmentary, lost, or unfinished works are marked as such and no page claims full-text availability."},"Arguments":["Cicero uses philosophical disputation to treat death, pain, grief, emotion, and virtue as disciplines for the soul."],"Influence":{"InfluencedBy":"Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureanism, Philo of Larissa, Antiochus of Ascalon, Carneades, Panaetius, Roman law, and republican political practice.","InfluenceOn":""},"Significance":["Accepted as a direct Cicero philosophical work from 45 BCE and supported by public text evidence.","Cicero uses philosophical disputation to treat death, pain, grief, emotion, and virtue as disciplines for the soul."],"EvidenceNote":["Accepted as a direct Cicero philosophical work from 45 BCE and supported by public text evidence."],"MainSections":[{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Versions","BodyHtml":"\u003cdiv class=\"dz-philo__full-version-grid\"\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-version-card\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-provider\"\u003eProject Gutenberg\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ch3 class=\"dz-philo__full-version-title\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #14988\u003c/h3\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-meta\"\u003eHtmlText · Imported\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ca class=\"dz-philo__full-version-link\" href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14988\"\u003eOpen full version\u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/article\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e"},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Core Thesis","Paragraphs":["Cicero uses philosophical disputation to treat death, pain, grief, emotion, and virtue as disciplines for the soul."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Classification","Fields":[{"Label":"Alternate Titles","Value":"Tusculan Disputations; Tusculanae Quaestiones"},{"Label":"Key Concepts","Value":"death; pain; grief; emotions; virtue; consolation; soul; philosophical therapy"},{"Label":"Methodology","Value":"Direct Cicero work page grounded in ancient authorship and scholarly evidence; editions, translations, letters, anthologies, and catalogs remain evidence or Other Voices."},{"Label":"Structure","Value":"Standalone Cicero work page with visible date and status notes; fragmentary, lost, or unfinished works are marked as such and no page claims full-text availability."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Arguments","Paragraphs":["Cicero uses philosophical disputation to treat death, pain, grief, emotion, and virtue as disciplines for the soul."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Influence","Fields":[{"Label":"Influenced By","Value":"Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureanism, Philo of Larissa, Antiochus of Ascalon, Carneades, Panaetius, Roman law, and republican political practice."},{"Label":"Influence On","Value":"Roman rhetoric, Latin philosophical vocabulary, Augustine, Boethius, Renaissance humanism, republican political thought, natural-law traditions, civic ethics, skeptical epistemology, and early modern education."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Significance","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct Cicero philosophical work from 45 BCE and supported by public text evidence.","Cicero uses philosophical disputation to treat death, pain, grief, emotion, and virtue as disciplines for the soul."]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Evidence Note","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct Cicero philosophical work from 45 BCE and supported by public text evidence."]},{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Text","BodyHtml":"\u003cp class=\"dz-philo__section-copy dz-philo__full-text-source\"\u003ePublic-domain full text from \u003ca href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14988\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #14988\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-text-body\"\u003e\r\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\r\n\u003ch1\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eCICERO’S\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\nTUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS;\u003c/h1\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eALSO, TREATISES ON\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eTHE NATURE OF THE GODS,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eAND ON\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eTHE COMMONWEALTH.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003eLITERALLY TRANSLATED, CHIEFLY BY\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eC. D. YONGE.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003eNEW YORK:\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\nHARPER \u0026amp; BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\nFRANKLIN SQUARE.\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n1877.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eHARPER’S\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"xhtml_big\"\u003eNEW CLASSICAL LIBRARY.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003eCOMPRISING LITERAL TRANSLATIONS OF\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCÆSAR.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIRGIL.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSALLUST.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHORACE.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCICERO’S ORATIONS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCICERO’S OFFICES \u0026amp;c.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCICERO ON ORATORY AND ORATORS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCICERO’S TUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS, the Republic, and the Nature of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTERENCE.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTACITUS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLIVY. 2 Vols.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJUVENAL.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXENOPHON.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHOMER’S ILIAD.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHOMER’S ODYSSEY.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHERODOTUS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDEMOSTHENES. 2 Vols.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTHUCIDIDES.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eÆSCHYLUS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSOPHOCLES.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEURIPIDES. 2 Vols.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePLATO. [\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eSelect Dialogues\u003c/span\u003e.]\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e12mo, Cloth, $1.50 per Volume.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"front\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eHarper \u0026amp; Brothers\u003c/span\u003e \u003ci\u003ewill send either of the above works by mail, postage\r\nprepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003eNOTE.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eThe\u003c/span\u003e greater portion of the Republic was previously translated by Francis\r\nBarham, Esq., and published in 1841. Although ably performed, it was not\r\nsufficiently close for the purpose of the “\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eClassical Library\u003c/span\u003e,” and was\r\ntherefore placed in the hands of the present editor for revision, as\r\nwell as for collation with recent texts. This has occasioned material\r\nalterations and additions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe treatise “On the Nature of the Gods” is a revision of that usually\r\nascribed to the celebrated Benjamin Franklin.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-5\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003eCONTENTS.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"#page-7\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eTusculan Disputations\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"#page-209\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn the Nature of the Gods\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"#page-357\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn the Commonwealth\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-7\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003eTHE TUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eINTRODUCTION.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eIn\u003c/span\u003e the year \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003ea.u.c.\u003c/span\u003e 708, and the sixty-second year of Cicero’s age, his\r\ndaughter, Tullia, died in childbed; and her loss afflicted Cicero to\r\nsuch a degree that he abandoned all public business, and, leaving the\r\ncity, retired to Asterra, which was a country house that he had near\r\nAntium; where, after a while, he devoted himself to philosophical\r\nstudies, and, besides other works, he published his Treatise de Finibus,\r\nand also this treatise called the Tusculan Disputations, of which\r\nMiddleton gives this concise description:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The first book teaches us how to contemn the terrors of death, and to\r\nlook upon it as a blessing rather than an evil;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The second, to support pain and affliction with a manly fortitude;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The third, to appease all our complaints and uneasinesses under the\r\naccidents of life;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The fourth, to moderate all our other passions;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“And the fifth explains the sufficiency of virtue to make men happy.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was his custom in the opportunities of his leisure to take some\r\nfriends with him into the country, where, instead of amusing themselves\r\nwith idle sports or feasts, their diversions were wholly speculative,\r\ntending to improve the mind and enlarge the understanding. In this\r\nmanner he now spent five days at his Tusculan villa in discussing with\r\nhis friends the several questions just mentioned. For, after employing\r\nthe mornings in declaiming and rhetorical exercises, they used to retire\r\nin the afternoon \u003ca id=\"page-8\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003einto a gallery, called the Academy, which he had built\r\nfor the purpose of philosophical conferences, where, after the manner of\r\nthe Greeks, he held a school, as they called it, and invited the company\r\nto call for any subject that they desired to hear explained, which being\r\nproposed accordingly by some of the audience became immediately the\r\nargument of that day’s debate. These five conferences, or dialogues, he\r\ncollected afterward into writing in the very words and manner in which\r\nthey really passed; and published them under the title of his Tusculan\r\nDisputations, from the name of the villa in which they were held.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK I.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eON THE CONTEMPT OF DEATH.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eAt\u003c/span\u003e a time when I had entirely, or to a great degree, released myself\r\nfrom my labors as an advocate, and from my duties as a senator, I had\r\nrecourse again, Brutus, principally by your advice, to those studies\r\nwhich never had been out of my mind, although neglected at times, and\r\nwhich after a long interval I resumed; and now, since the principles and\r\nrules of all arts which relate to living well depend on the study of\r\nwisdom, which is called philosophy, I have thought it an employment\r\nworthy of me to illustrate them in the Latin tongue, not because\r\nphilosophy could not be understood in the Greek language, or by the\r\nteaching of Greek masters; but it has always been my opinion that our\r\ncountrymen have, in some instances, made wiser discoveries than the\r\nGreeks, with reference to those subjects which they have considered\r\nworthy of devoting their attention to, and in others have improved upon\r\ntheir discoveries, so that in one way or other we surpass them on every\r\npoint; for, with regard to the manners and habits of private life, and\r\nfamily and domestic affairs, we certainly manage them with more\r\nelegance, and better than they did; and as to our republic, that our\r\nancestors have, beyond all dispute, formed on better customs and laws.\r\nWhat shall I say of our military affairs; in which our ancestors have\r\nbeen most eminent in valor, and still more so \u003ca id=\"page-9\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003ein discipline? As to\r\nthose things which are attained not by study, but nature, neither\r\nGreece, nor any nation, is comparable to us; for what people has\r\ndisplayed such gravity, such steadiness, such greatness of soul,\r\nprobity, faith—such distinguished virtue of every kind, as to be equal\r\nto our ancestors. In learning, indeed, and all kinds of literature,\r\nGreece did excel us, and it was easy to do so where there was no\r\ncompetition; for while among the Greeks the poets were the most ancient\r\nspecies of learned men—since Homer and Hesiod lived before the\r\nfoundation of Rome, and Archilochus\u003ca id=\"FNA-1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-1\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e was a contemporary of Romulus—we\r\nreceived poetry much later. For it was about five hundred and ten years\r\nafter the building of Rome before Livius\u003ca id=\"FNA-2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-2\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e published a play in the\r\nconsulship of C. Claudius, the son of Cæcus, and M. Tuditanus, a year\r\nbefore the birth of Ennius, who was older than Plautus and Nævius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. It was, therefore, late before poets were either known or received\r\namong us; though we find in Cato de Originibus that the guests used, at\r\ntheir entertainments, to sing the praises of famous men to the sound of\r\nthe flute; but a speech of Cato’s shows this kind of poetry to have been\r\nin no great esteem, as he censures Marcus Nobilior for carrying poets\r\nwith him into his province; for that consul, as we know, carried Ennius\r\nwith him into Ætolia. Therefore the less esteem poets were in, the less\r\nwere \u003ca id=\"page-10\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003ethose studies pursued; though even then those who did display the\r\ngreatest abilities that way were not very inferior to the Greeks. Do we\r\nimagine that if it had been considered commendable in Fabius,\u003ca id=\"FNA-3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-3\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e a man\r\nof the highest rank, to paint, we should not have had many Polycleti and\r\nParrhasii? Honor nourishes art, and glory is the spur with all to\r\nstudies; while those studies are always neglected in every nation which\r\nare looked upon disparagingly. The Greeks held skill in vocal and\r\ninstrumental music as a very important accomplishment, and therefore it\r\nis recorded of Epaminondas, who, in my opinion, was the greatest man\r\namong the Greeks, that he played excellently on the flute; and\r\nThemistocles, some years before, was deemed ignorant because at an\r\nentertainment he declined the lyre when it was offered to him. For this\r\nreason musicians flourished in Greece; music was a general study; and\r\nwhoever was unacquainted with it was not considered as fully instructed\r\nin learning. Geometry was in high esteem with them, therefore none were\r\nmore honorable than mathematicians. But we have confined this art to\r\nbare measuring and calculating.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. But, on the contrary, we early entertained an esteem for the\r\norator; though he was not at first a man of learning, but only quick at\r\nspeaking: in subsequent times he became learned; for it is reported that\r\nGalba, Africanus, and Lælius were men of learning; and that even Cato,\r\nwho preceded them in point of time, was a studious man: then succeeded\r\nthe Lepidi, Carbo, and Gracchi, and so many great orators after them,\r\ndown to our own times, that we were very little, if at all, inferior to\r\nthe Greeks. Philosophy has been at a low ebb even to this present time,\r\nand has had no assistance from our own language, and so now I have\r\nundertaken to raise and illustrate it, in order that, as I have been of\r\nservice to my countrymen, when employed on public affairs, I may, if\r\npossible, be so likewise in my retirement; and in this I must take the\r\nmore pains, because there are already many books in the \u003ca id=\"page-11\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003eLatin language\r\nwhich are said to be written inaccurately, having been composed by\r\nexcellent men, only not of sufficient learning; for, indeed, it is\r\npossible that a man may think well, and yet not be able to express his\r\nthoughts elegantly; but for any one to publish thoughts which he can\r\nneither arrange skilfully nor illustrate so as to entertain his reader,\r\nis an unpardonable abuse of letters and retirement: they, therefore,\r\nread their books to one another, and no one ever takes them up but those\r\nwho wish to have the same license for careless writing allowed to\r\nthemselves. Wherefore, if oratory has acquired any reputation from my\r\nindustry, I shall take the more pains to open the fountains of\r\nphilosophy, from which all my eloquence has taken its rise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. But, as Aristotle,\u003ca id=\"FNA-4\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-4\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e a man of the greatest genius, and of the most\r\nvarious knowledge, being excited by the glory of the rhetorician\r\nIsocrates,\u003ca id=\"FNA-5\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-5\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e commenced teaching young men to speak, and joined\r\nphilosophy with eloquence: so it is my design not to lay aside my former\r\nstudy of oratory, and yet to employ myself at the same time in this\r\ngreater and more fruitful art; for I have always thought that to be able\r\nto speak copiously and elegantly on the most important questions was the\r\nmost perfect philosophy. And I have so diligently applied myself to this\r\npursuit, that I have already ventured to have a school like the Greeks.\r\nAnd lately when you left us, having many of my friends about me, I\r\nattempted at my Tusculan villa what I could do in that way; for as I\r\nformerly used to practise declaiming, which nobody continued longer than\r\nmyself, so this is now to be the declamation of my old age. I desired\r\nany one to propose a question which he wished to have discussed, and\r\nthen I argued that point either sitting or walking; and so I have\r\ncompiled the scholæ, as the Greeks call them, of five days, in as many\r\nbooks. We proceeded in this manner: when he who had proposed the subject\r\nfor discussion had said what he thought proper, I \u003ca id=\"page-12\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003espoke against him;\r\nfor this is, you know, the old and Socratic method of arguing against\r\nanother’s opinion; for Socrates thought that thus the truth would more\r\neasily be arrived at. But to give you a better notion of our\r\ndisputations, I will not barely send you an account of them, but\r\nrepresent them to you as they were carried on; therefore let the\r\nintroduction be thus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e To me death seems to be an evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, to those who are already dead? or to those who must die?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e To both.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e It is a misery, then, because an evil?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Certainly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Then those who have already died, and those who have still got to\r\ndie, are both miserable?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e So it appears to me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Then all are miserable?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Every one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e And, indeed, if you wish to be consistent, all that are already\r\nborn, or ever shall be, are not only miserable, but always will be so;\r\nfor should you maintain those only to be miserable, you would not except\r\nany one living, for all must die; but there should be an end of misery\r\nin death. But seeing that the dead are miserable, we are born to eternal\r\nmisery, for they must of consequence be miserable who died a hundred\r\nthousand years ago; or rather, all that have ever been born.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e So, indeed, I think.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Tell me, I beseech you, are you afraid of the three-headed Cerberus\r\nin the shades below, and the roaring waves of Cocytus, and the passage\r\nover Acheron, and Tantalus expiring with thirst, while the water touches\r\nhis chin; and Sisyphus,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho sweats with arduous toil in vain\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe steepy summit of the mount to gain?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ePerhaps, too, you dread the inexorable judges, Minos and Rhadamanthus;\r\nbefore whom neither L. Crassus nor M. Antonius can defend you; and\r\nwhere, since the cause lies before Grecian judges, you will not even be\r\nable to employ Demosthenes; but you must plead for yourself before a\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-13\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003every great assembly. These things perhaps you dread, and therefore look\r\non death as an eternal evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Do you take me to be so imbecile as to give credit to such\r\nthings?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, do you not believe them?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Not in the least.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I am sorry to hear that.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Why, I beg?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Because I could have been very eloquent in speaking against them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e And who could not on such a subject? or what trouble is it to\r\nrefute these monstrous inventions of the poets and painters?\u003ca id=\"FNA-6\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-6\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e And yet you have books of philosophers full of arguments against\r\nthese.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e A great waste of time, truly! for who is so weak as to be concerned\r\nabout them?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e If, then, there is no one miserable in the infernal regions, there\r\ncan be no one there at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I am altogether of that opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Where, then, are those you call miserable? or what place do they\r\ninhabit? For, if they exist at all, they must be somewhere.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I, indeed, am of opinion that they are nowhere.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Then they have no existence at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Even so, and yet they are miserable for this very reason, that they\r\nhave no existence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I had rather now have you afraid of Cerberus than speak thus\r\ninaccurately.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e In what respect?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Because you admit him to exist whose existence you deny with the\r\nsame breath. Where now is your sagacity? When you say any one is\r\nmiserable, you say that he who does not exist, does exist.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I am not so absurd as to say that.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-14\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What is it that you do say, then?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I say, for instance, that Marcus Crassus is miserable in being\r\ndeprived of such great riches as his by death; that Cn. Pompey is\r\nmiserable in being taken from such glory and honor; and, in short, that\r\nall are miserable who are deprived of this light of life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You have returned to the same point, for to be miserable implies an\r\nexistence; but you just now denied that the dead had any existence: if,\r\nthen, they have not, they can be nothing; and if so, they are not even\r\nmiserable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Perhaps I do not express what I mean, for I look upon this very\r\ncircumstance, not to exist after having existed, to be very miserable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, more so than not to have existed at all? Therefore, those who\r\nare not yet born are miserable because they are not; and we ourselves,\r\nif we are to be miserable after death, were miserable before we were\r\nborn: but I do not remember that I was miserable before I was born; and\r\nI should be glad to know, if your memory is better, what you recollect\r\nof yourself before you were born.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You are pleasant: as if I had said that those men are\r\nmiserable who are not born, and not that they are so who are dead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You say, then, that they are so?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Yes; I say that because they no longer exist after having existed\r\nthey are miserable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You do not perceive that you are asserting contradictions; for what\r\nis a greater contradiction, than that that should be not only miserable,\r\nbut should have any existence at all, which does not exist? When you go\r\nout at the Capene gate and see the tombs of the Calatini, the Scipios,\r\nServilii, and Metelli, do you look on them as miserable?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Because you press me with a word, henceforward I will not say they\r\nare miserable absolutely, but miserable on this account, because they\r\nhave no existence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You do not say, then, “M. Crassus is miserable,” but only\r\n“Miserable M. Crassus.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Exactly so.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e As if it did not follow that whatever you speak of \u003ca id=\"page-15\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003ein that manner\r\neither is or is not. Are you not acquainted with the first principles of\r\nlogic? For this is the first thing they lay down, Whatever is asserted\r\n(for that is the best way that occurs to me, at the moment, of rendering\r\nthe Greek term \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀξίωμα\u003c/span\u003e; if I can think of a more accurate expression\r\nhereafter, I will use it), is asserted as being either true or false.\r\nWhen, therefore, you say, “Miserable M. Crassus,” you either say this,\r\n“M. Crassus is miserable,” so that some judgment may be made whether it\r\nis true or false, or you say nothing at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Well, then, I now own that the dead are not miserable, since you\r\nhave drawn from me a concession that they who do not exist at all can\r\nnot be miserable. What then? We that are alive, are we not wretched,\r\nseeing we must die? for what is there agreeable in life, when we must\r\nnight and day reflect that, at some time or other, we must die?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Do you not, then, perceive how great is the evil from which\r\nyou have delivered human nature?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e By what means?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Because, if to die were miserable to the dead, to live would be a\r\nkind of infinite and eternal misery. Now, however, I see a goal, and\r\nwhen I have reached it, there is nothing more to be feared; but you seem\r\nto me to follow the opinion of Epicharmus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-7\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-7\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e7\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e a man of some discernment,\r\nand sharp enough for a Sicilian.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e What opinion? for I do not recollect it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I will tell you if I can in Latin; for you know I am no more used\r\nto bring in Latin sentences in a Greek discourse than Greek in a Latin\r\none.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e And that is right enough. But what is that opinion of Epicharmus?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI would not die, but yet\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAm not concerned that I shall be dead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I now recollect the Greek; but since you have \u003ca id=\"page-16\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003eobliged me to grant\r\nthat the dead are not miserable, proceed to convince me that it is not\r\nmiserable to be under a necessity of dying.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e That is easy enough; but I have greater things in hand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e How comes that to be so easy? And what are those things of more\r\nconsequence?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Thus: because, if there is no evil after death, then even death\r\nitself can be none; for that which immediately succeeds that is a state\r\nwhere you grant that there is no evil: so that even to be obliged to die\r\ncan be no evil, for that is only the being obliged to arrive at a place\r\nwhere we allow that no evil is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I beg you will be more explicit on this point, for these subtle\r\narguments force me sooner to admissions than to conviction. But what are\r\nthose more important things about which you say that you are occupied?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e To teach you, if I can, that death is not only no evil, but a good.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I do not insist on that, but should be glad to hear you argue it,\r\nfor even though you should not prove your point, yet you will prove that\r\ndeath is no evil. But I will not interrupt you; I would rather hear a\r\ncontinued discourse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, if I should ask you a question, would you not answer?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e That would look like pride; but I would rather you should not ask\r\nbut where necessity requires.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I will comply with your wishes, and explain as well as I can\r\nwhat you require; but not with any idea that, like the Pythian Apollo,\r\nwhat I say must needs be certain and indisputable, but as a mere man,\r\nendeavoring to arrive at probabilities by conjecture, for I have no\r\nground to proceed further on than probability. Those men may call their\r\nstatements indisputable who assert that what they say can be perceived\r\nby the senses, and who proclaim themselves philosophers by profession.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Do as you please: We are ready to hear you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e The first thing, then, is to inquire what death, which seems to be\r\nso well understood, really is; for some imagine death to be the\r\ndeparture of the soul from the body; \u003ca id=\"page-17\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003eothers think that there is no such\r\ndeparture, but that soul and body perish together, and that the soul is\r\nextinguished with the body. Of those who think that the soul does depart\r\nfrom the body, some believe in its immediate dissolution; others fancy\r\nthat it continues to exist for a time; and others believe that it lasts\r\nforever. There is great dispute even what the soul is, where it is, and\r\nwhence it is derived: with some, the heart itself (\u003ci\u003ecor\u003c/i\u003e) seems to be\r\nthe soul, hence the expressions, \u003ci\u003eexcordes\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003evecordes\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003econcordes;\u003c/i\u003e and that\r\nprudent Nasica, who was twice consul, was called Corculus, \u003ci\u003ei.e.\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nwise-heart; and Ælius Sextus is described as \u003ci\u003eEgregie\u003c/i\u003e cordatus \u003ci\u003ehomo,\r\ncatus Æliu’ Sextus\u003c/i\u003e—that great \u003ci\u003ewise-hearted\u003c/i\u003e man, sage Ælius.\r\nEmpedocles imagines the blood, which is suffused over the heart, to be\r\nthe soul; to others, a certain part of the brain seems to be the throne\r\nof the soul; others neither allow the heart itself, nor any portion of\r\nthe brain, to be the soul, but think either that the heart is the seat\r\nand abode of the soul, or else that the brain is so. Some would have the\r\nsoul, or spirit, to be the \u003ci\u003eanima\u003c/i\u003e, as our schools generally agree; and\r\nindeed the name signifies as much, for we use the expressions \u003ci\u003eanimam\r\nagere\u003c/i\u003e, to live; \u003ci\u003eanimam efflare\u003c/i\u003e, to expire; \u003ci\u003eanimosi\u003c/i\u003e, men of spirit;\r\n\u003ci\u003ebene animati\u003c/i\u003e, men of right feeling; \u003ci\u003eexanimi sententia\u003c/i\u003e, according to\r\nour real opinion; and the very word \u003ci\u003eanimus\u003c/i\u003e is derived from \u003ci\u003eanima\u003c/i\u003e.\r\nAgain, the soul seems to Zeno the Stoic to be fire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. But what I have said as to the heart, the blood, the brain, air, or\r\nfire being the soul, are common opinions: the others are only\r\nentertained by individuals; and, indeed, there were many among the\r\nancients who held singular opinions on this subject, of whom the latest\r\nwas Aristoxenus, a man who was both a musician and a philosopher. He\r\nmaintained a certain straining of the body, like what is called harmony\r\nin music, to be the soul, and believed that, from the figure and nature\r\nof the whole body, various motions are excited, as sounds are from an\r\ninstrument. He adhered steadily to his system, and yet he said\r\nsomething, the nature of which, whatever it was, had been detailed and\r\nexplained a great while before by Plato. Xenocrates denied that the soul\r\nhad any figure, or anything like a body; but said it was a number, the\r\npower of which, as \u003ca id=\"page-18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003ePythagoras had fancied, some ages before, was the\r\ngreatest in nature: his master, Plato, imagined a threefold soul, a\r\ndominant portion of which—that is to say, reason—he had lodged in the\r\nhead, as in a tower; and the other two parts—namely, anger and\r\ndesire—he made subservient to this one, and allotted them distinct\r\nabodes, placing anger in the breast, and desire under the præcordia. But\r\nDicæarchus, in that discourse of some learned disputants, held at\r\nCorinth, which he details to us in three books—in the first book\r\nintroduces many speakers; and in the other two he introduces a certain\r\nPherecrates, an old man of Phthia, who, as he said, was descended from\r\nDeucalion; asserting, that there is in fact no such thing at all as a\r\nsoul, but that it is a name without a meaning; and that it is idle to\r\nuse the expression “animals,” or “animated beings;” that neither men nor\r\nbeasts have minds or souls, but that all that power by which we act or\r\nperceive is equally infused into every living creature, and is\r\ninseparable from the body, for if it were not, it would be nothing; nor\r\nis there anything whatever really existing except body, which is a\r\nsingle and simple thing, so fashioned as to live and have its sensations\r\nin consequence of the regulations of nature. Aristotle, a man superior\r\nto all others, both in genius and industry (I always except Plato),\r\nafter having embraced these four known sorts of principles, from which\r\nall things deduce their origin, imagines that there is a certain fifth\r\nnature, from whence comes the soul; for to think, to foresee, to learn,\r\nto teach, to invent anything, and many other attributes of the same\r\nkind, such as to remember, to love, to hate, to desire, to fear, to be\r\npleased or displeased—these, and others like them, exist, he thinks, in\r\nnone of those first four kinds: on such account he adds a fifth kind,\r\nwhich has no name, and so by a new name he calls the soul \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἐνδελέχεια\u003c/span\u003e, as\r\nif it were a certain continued and perpetual motion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. If I have not forgotten anything unintentionally, these are the\r\nprincipal opinions concerning the soul. I have omitted Democritus, a\r\nvery great man indeed, but one who deduces the soul from the fortuitous\r\nconcourse of small, light, and round substances; for, if you believe men\r\nof his school, there is nothing which a crowd of atoms \u003ca id=\"page-19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003ecannot effect.\r\nWhich of these opinions is true, some God must determine. It is an\r\nimportant question for us, Which has the most appearance of truth? Shall\r\nwe, then, prefer determining between them, or shall we return to our\r\nsubject?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I could wish both, if possible; but it is difficult to mix them:\r\ntherefore, if without a discussion of them we can get rid of the fears\r\nof death, let us proceed to do so; but if this is not to be done without\r\nexplaining the question about souls, let us have that now, and the other\r\nat another time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I take that plan to be the best, which I perceive you are inclined\r\nto; for reason will demonstrate that, whichever of the opinions which I\r\nhave stated is true, it must follow, then, that death cannot be an evil;\r\nor that it must rather be something desirable; for if either the heart,\r\nor the blood, or the brain, is the soul, then certainly the soul, being\r\ncorporeal, must perish with the rest of the body; if it is air, it will\r\nperhaps be dissolved; if it is fire, it will be extinguished; if it is\r\nAristoxenus’s harmony, it will be put out of tune. What shall I say of\r\nDicæarchus, who denies that there is any soul? In all these opinions,\r\nthere is nothing to affect any one after death; for all feeling is lost\r\nwith life, and where there is no sensation, nothing can interfere to\r\naffect us. The opinions of others do indeed bring us hope; if it is any\r\npleasure to you to think that souls, after they leave the body, may go\r\nto heaven as to a permanent home.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I have great pleasure in that thought, and it is what I most\r\ndesire; and even if it should not be so, I should still be very willing\r\nto believe it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What occasion have you, then, for my assistance? Am I superior to\r\nPlato in eloquence? Turn over carefully his book that treats of the\r\nsoul; you will have there all that you can want.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I have, indeed, done that, and often; but, I know not how it comes\r\nto pass, I agree with it while I am reading it; but when I have laid\r\ndown the book, and begin to reflect with myself on the immortality of\r\nthe soul, all that agreement vanishes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e How comes that? Do you admit this—that souls \u003ca id=\"page-20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003eeither exist after\r\ndeath, or else that they also perish at the moment of death?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I agree to that. And if they do exist, I admit that they are happy;\r\nbut if they perish, I cannot suppose them to be unhappy, because, in\r\nfact, they have no existence at all. You drove me to that concession but\r\njust now.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e How, then, can you, or why do you, assert that you think that death\r\nis an evil, when it either makes us happy, in the case of the soul\r\ncontinuing to exist, or, at all events, not unhappy, in the case of our\r\nbecoming destitute of all sensation?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Explain, therefore, if it is not troublesome to you, first, if\r\nyou can, that souls do exist after death; secondly, should you fail in\r\nthat (and it is a very difficult thing to establish), that death is free\r\nfrom all evil; for I am not without my fears that this itself is an\r\nevil: I do not mean the immediate deprivation of sense, but the fact\r\nthat we shall hereafter suffer deprivation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I have the best authority in support of the opinion you desire to\r\nhave established, which ought, and generally has, great weight in all\r\ncases. And, first, I have all antiquity on that side, which the more\r\nnear it is to its origin and divine descent, the more clearly, perhaps,\r\non that account, did it discern the truth in these matters. This very\r\ndoctrine, then, was adopted by all those ancients whom Ennius calls in\r\nthe Sabine tongue Casci; namely, that in death there was a sensation,\r\nand that, when men departed this life, they were not so entirely\r\ndestroyed as to perish absolutely. And this may appear from many other\r\ncircumstances, and especially from the pontifical rites and funeral\r\nobsequies, which men of the greatest genius would not have been so\r\nsolicitous about, and would not have guarded from any injury by such\r\nsevere laws, but from a firm persuasion that death was not so entire a\r\ndestruction as wholly to abolish and destroy everything, but rather a\r\nkind of transmigration, as it were, and change of life, which was, in\r\nthe case of illustrious men and women, usually a guide to heaven, while\r\nin that of others it was still confined to the earth, but in such a\r\nmanner as still to exist. From this, and the sentiments of the Romans,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn heaven Romulus with Gods now lives,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003eas Ennius saith, agreeing with the common belief; hence, too, Hercules\r\nis considered so great and propitious a God among the Greeks, and from\r\nthem he was introduced among us, and his worship has extended even to\r\nthe very ocean itself. This is how it was that Bacchus was deified, the\r\noffspring of Semele; and from the same illustrious fame we receive\r\nCastor and Pollux as Gods, who are reported not only to have helped the\r\nRomans to victory in their battles, but to have been the messengers of\r\ntheir success. What shall we say of Ino, the daughter of Cadmus? Is she\r\nnot called Leucothea by the Greeks, and Matuta by us? Nay, more; is not\r\nthe whole of heaven (not to dwell on particulars) almost filled with the\r\noffspring of men?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShould I attempt to search into antiquity, and produce from thence what\r\nthe Greek writers have asserted, it would appear that even those who are\r\ncalled their principal Gods were taken from among men up into heaven.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Examine the sepulchres of those which are shown in Greece;\r\nrecollect, for you have been initiated, what lessons are taught in the\r\nmysteries; then will you perceive how extensive this doctrine is. But\r\nthey who were not acquainted with natural philosophy (for it did not\r\nbegin to be in vogue till many years later) had no higher belief than\r\nwhat natural reason could give them; they were not acquainted with the\r\nprinciples and causes of things; they were often induced by certain\r\nvisions, and those generally in the night, to think that those men who\r\nhad departed from this life were still alive. And this may further be\r\nbrought as an irrefragable argument for us to believe that there are\r\nGods—that there never was any nation so barbarous, nor any people in\r\nthe world so savage, as to be without some notion of Gods. Many have\r\nwrong notions of the Gods, for that is the nature and ordinary\r\nconsequence of bad customs, yet all allow that there is a certain divine\r\nnature and energy. Nor does this proceed from the conversation of men,\r\nor the agreement of philosophers; it is not an opinion established by\r\ninstitutions or by laws; but, no doubt, in every case the consent of all\r\nnations is to be looked on as a law of nature. Who is there, then, that\r\ndoes not lament the loss of his friends, principally from \u003ca id=\"page-22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003eimagining\r\nthem deprived of the conveniences of life? Take away this opinion, and\r\nyou remove with it all grief; for no one is afflicted merely on account\r\nof a loss sustained by himself. Perhaps we may be sorry, and grieve a\r\nlittle; but that bitter lamentation and those mournful tears have their\r\norigin in our apprehensions that he whom we loved is deprived of all the\r\nadvantages of life, and is sensible of his loss. And we are led to this\r\nopinion by nature, without any arguments or any instruction.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. But the greatest proof of all is, that nature herself gives a\r\nsilent judgment in favor of the immortality of the soul, inasmuch as all\r\nare anxious, and that to a great degree, about the things which concern\r\nfuturity:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne plants what future ages shall enjoy,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eas Statius saith in his Synephebi. What is his object in doing so,\r\nexcept that he is interested in posterity? Shall the industrious\r\nhusbandman, then, plant trees the fruit of which he shall never see? And\r\nshall not the great man found laws, institutions, and a republic? What\r\ndoes the procreation of children imply, and our care to continue our\r\nnames, and our adoptions, and our scrupulous exactness in drawing up\r\nwills, and the inscriptions on monuments, and panegyrics, but that our\r\nthoughts run on futurity? There is no doubt but a judgment may be formed\r\nof nature in general, from looking at each nature in its most perfect\r\nspecimens; and what is a more perfect specimen of a man than those are\r\nwho look on themselves as born for the assistance, the protection, and\r\nthe preservation of others? Hercules has gone to heaven; he never would\r\nhave gone thither had he not, while among men, made that road for\r\nhimself. These things are of old date, and have, besides, the sanction\r\nof universal religion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. What will you say? What do you imagine that so many and such great\r\nmen of our republic, who have sacrificed their lives for its good,\r\nexpected? Do you believe that they thought that their names should not\r\ncontinue beyond their lives? None ever encountered death for their\r\ncountry but under a firm persuasion of immortality! Themistocles might\r\nhave lived at his ease; so might Epaminondas; and, not to look abroad\r\nand among the ancients \u003ca id=\"page-23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003efor instances, so might I myself. But, somehow\r\nor other there clings to our minds a certain presage of future ages; and\r\nthis both exists most firmly, and appears most clearly, in men of the\r\nloftiest genius and greatest souls. Take away this, and who would be so\r\nmad as to spend his life amidst toils and dangers? I speak of those in\r\npower. What are the poet’s views but to be ennobled after death? What\r\nelse is the object of these lines,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBehold old Ennius here, who erst\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThy fathers’ great exploits rehearsed?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe is challenging the reward of glory from those men whose ancestors he\r\nhimself had ennobled by his poetry. And in the same spirit he says, in\r\nanother passage,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet none with tears my funeral grace, for I\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eClaim from my works an immortality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhy do I mention poets? The very mechanics are desirous of fame after\r\ndeath. Why did Phidias include a likeness of himself in the shield of\r\nMinerva, when he was not allowed to inscribe his name on it? What do our\r\nphilosophers think on the subject? Do not they put their names to those\r\nvery books which they write on the contempt of glory? If, then,\r\nuniversal consent is the voice of nature, and if it is the general\r\nopinion everywhere that those who have quitted this life are still\r\ninterested in something, we also must subscribe to that opinion. And if\r\nwe think that men of the greatest abilities and virtues see most clearly\r\ninto the power of nature, because they themselves are her most perfect\r\nwork, it is very probable that, as every great man is especially anxious\r\nto benefit posterity, there is something of which he himself will be\r\nsensible after death.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. But as we are led by nature to think there are Gods, and as we\r\ndiscover, by reason, of what description they are, so, by the consent of\r\nall nations, we are induced to believe that our souls survive; but where\r\ntheir habitation is, and of what character they eventually are, must be\r\nlearned from reason. The want of any certain reason on which to argue\r\nhas given rise to the idea of the shades below, and to those fears which\r\nyou seem, not without \u003ca id=\"page-24\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003ereason, to despise; for as our bodies fall to the\r\nground, and are covered with earth (\u003ci\u003ehumus\u003c/i\u003e), from whence we derive the\r\nexpression to be interred (\u003ci\u003ehumari\u003c/i\u003e), that has occasioned men to imagine\r\nthat the dead continue, during the remainder of their existence, under\r\nground; which opinion has drawn after it many errors, which the poets\r\nhave increased; for the theatre, being frequented by a large crowd,\r\namong which are women and children, is wont to be greatly affected on\r\nhearing such pompous verses as these,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLo! here I am, who scarce could gain this place,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThrough stony mountains and a dreary waste;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThrough cliffs, whose sharpen’d stones tremendous hung,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere dreadful darkness spread itself around.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd the error prevailed so much, though indeed at present it seems to me\r\nto be removed, that although men knew that the bodies of the dead had\r\nbeen burned, yet they conceived such things to be done in the infernal\r\nregions as could not be executed or imagined without a body; for they\r\ncould not conceive how disembodied souls could exist; and, therefore,\r\nthey looked out for some shape or figure. This was the origin of all\r\nthat account of the dead in Homer. This was the idea that caused my\r\nfriend Appius to frame his Necromancy; and this is how there got about\r\nthat idea of the lake of Avernus, in my neighborhood,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom whence the souls of undistinguish’d shape,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eClad in thick shade, rush from the open gate\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf Acheron, vain phantoms of the dead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible\r\nwithout a tongue, and a palate, and jaws, and without the help of lungs\r\nand sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing\r\nby their mind alone—they referred all to their eyes. To withdraw the\r\nmind from sensual objects, and abstract our thoughts from what we are\r\naccustomed to, is an attribute of great genius. I am persuaded, indeed,\r\nthat there were many such men in former ages; but Pherecydes\u003ca id=\"FNA-8\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-8\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e8\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the\r\nSyrian is the \u003ca id=\"page-25\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003efirst on record who said that the souls of men were\r\nimmortal, and he was a philosopher of great antiquity, in the reign of\r\nmy namesake Tullius. His disciple Pythagoras greatly confirmed this\r\nopinion, who came into Italy in the reign of Tarquin the Proud; and all\r\nthat country which is called Great Greece was occupied by his school,\r\nand he himself was held in high honor, and had the greatest authority;\r\nand the Pythagorean sect was for many ages after in such great credit,\r\nthat all learning was believed to be confined to that name.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. But I return to the ancients. They scarcely ever gave any reason\r\nfor their opinion but what could be explained by numbers or definitions.\r\nIt is reported of Plato that he came into Italy to make himself\r\nacquainted with the Pythagoreans; and that when there, among others, he\r\nmade an acquaintance with Archytas\u003ca id=\"FNA-9\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-9\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e9\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and Timæus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-10\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-10\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e10\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and learned from\r\nthem all the tenets of the Pythagoreans; and that he not only was of the\r\nsame opinion with Pythagoras concerning the immortality of the soul, but\r\nthat he also brought reasons in support of it; which, if you have\r\nnothing to say against it, I will pass over, and say no more at present\r\nabout all this hope of immortality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e What, will you leave me when you have raised my expectations so\r\nhigh? I had rather, so help me Hercules! be mistaken with Plato, whom I\r\nknow how much you esteem, and whom I admire myself, from what you say of\r\nhim, than be in the right with those others.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-26\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I commend you; for, indeed, I could myself willingly be mistaken\r\nin his company. Do we, then, doubt, as we do in other cases (though I\r\nthink here is very little room for doubt in this case, for the\r\nmathematicians prove the facts to us), that the earth is placed in the\r\nmidst of the world, being, as it were, a sort of point, which they call\r\na \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκέντρον\u003c/span\u003e, surrounded by the whole heavens; and that such is the nature\r\nof the four principles which are the generating causes of all things,\r\nthat they have equally divided among them the constituents of all\r\nbodies; moreover, that earthy and humid bodies are carried at equal\r\nangles by their own weight and ponderosity into the earth and sea; that\r\nthe other two parts consist, one of fire, and the other of air? As the\r\ntwo former are carried by their gravity and weight into the middle\r\nregion of the world, so these, on the other hand, ascend by right lines\r\ninto the celestial regions, either because, owing to their intrinsic\r\nnature, they are always endeavoring to reach the highest place, or else\r\nbecause lighter bodies are naturally repelled by heavier; and as this is\r\nnotoriously the case, it must evidently follow that souls, when once\r\nthey have departed from the body, whether they are animal (by which term\r\nI mean capable of breathing) or of the nature of fire, must mount\r\nupward. But if the soul is some number, as some people assert, speaking\r\nwith more subtlety than clearness, or if it is that fifth nature, for\r\nwhich it would be more correct to say that we have not given a name to\r\nthan that we do not correctly understand it—still it is too pure and\r\nperfect not to go to a great distance from the earth. Something of this\r\nsort, then, we must believe the soul to be, that we may not commit the\r\nfolly of thinking that so active a principle lies immerged in the heart\r\nor brain; or, as Empedocles would have it, in the blood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. We will pass over Dicæarchus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-11\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-11\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e11\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e with his contemporary and\r\nfellow-disciple Aristoxenus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-12\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-12\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e12\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e both indeed \u003ca id=\"page-27\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003emen of learning. One of\r\nthem seems never even to have been affected with grief, as he could not\r\nperceive that he had a soul; while the other is so pleased with his\r\nmusical compositions that he endeavors to show an analogy betwixt them\r\nand souls. Now, we may understand harmony to arise from the intervals of\r\nsounds, whose various compositions occasion many harmonies; but I do not\r\nsee how a disposition of members, and the figure of a body without a\r\nsoul, can occasion harmony. He had better, learned as he is, leave these\r\nspeculations to his master Aristotle, and follow his own trade as a\r\nmusician. Good advice is given him in that Greek proverb,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eApply your talents where you best are skill’d.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eI will have nothing at all to do with that fortuitous concourse of\r\nindividual light and round bodies, notwithstanding Democritus insists on\r\ntheir being warm and having breath, that is to say, life. But this soul,\r\nwhich is compounded of either of the four principles from which we\r\nassert that all things are derived, is of inflamed air, as seems\r\nparticularly to have been the opinion of Panætius, and must necessarily\r\nmount upward; for air and fire have no tendency downward, but always\r\nascend; so should they be dissipated that must be at some distance from\r\nthe earth; but should they remain, and preserve their original state, it\r\nis clearer still that they must be carried heavenward, and this gross\r\nand concrete air, which is nearest the earth, must be divided and broken\r\nby them; for the soul is warmer, or rather hotter, than that air, which\r\nI just now called gross and concrete: and this may be made evident from\r\nthis consideration—that our bodies, being compounded of the earthy\r\nclass of principles, grow warm by the heat of the soul.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. We may add, that the soul can the more easily escape from this air,\r\nwhich I have often named, and break \u003ca id=\"page-28\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003ethrough it, because nothing is\r\nswifter than the soul; no swiftness is comparable to the swiftness of\r\nthe soul, which, should it remain uncorrupt and without alteration, must\r\nnecessarily be carried on with such velocity as to penetrate and divide\r\nall this atmosphere, where clouds, and rain, and winds are formed,\r\nwhich, in consequence of the exhalations from the earth, is moist and\r\ndark: but, when the soul has once got above this region, and falls in\r\nwith, and recognizes, a nature like its own, it then rests upon fires\r\ncomposed of a combination of thin air and a moderate solar heat, and\r\ndoes not aim at any higher flight; for then, after it has attained a\r\nlightness and heat resembling its own, it moves no more, but remains\r\nsteady, being balanced, as it were, between two equal weights. That,\r\nthen, is its natural seat where it has penetrated to something like\r\nitself, and where, wanting nothing further, it may be supported and\r\nmaintained by the same aliment which nourishes and maintains the stars.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, as we are usually incited to all sorts of desires by the stimulus\r\nof the body, and the more so as we endeavor to rival those who are in\r\npossession of what we long for, we shall certainly be happy when, being\r\nemancipated from that body, we at the same time get rid of these desires\r\nand this rivalry. And that which we do at present, when, dismissing all\r\nother cares, we curiously examine and look into anything, we shall then\r\ndo with greater freedom; and we shall employ ourselves entirely in the\r\ncontemplation and examination of things; because there is naturally in\r\nour minds a certain insatiable desire to know the truth, and the very\r\nregion itself where we shall arrive, as it gives us a more intuitive and\r\neasy knowledge of celestial things, will raise our desires after\r\nknowledge. For it was this beauty of the heavens, as seen even here upon\r\nearth, which gave birth to that national and hereditary philosophy (as\r\nTheophrastus calls it), which was thus excited to a desire of knowledge.\r\nBut those persons will in a most especial degree enjoy this philosophy,\r\nwho, while they were only inhabitants of this world and enveloped in\r\ndarkness, were still desirous of looking into these things with the eye\r\nof their mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. For if those men now think that they have attained \u003ca id=\"page-29\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003esomething who\r\nhave seen the mouth of the Pontus, and those straits which were passed\r\nby the ship called Argo, because,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Argos she did chosen men convey,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBound to fetch back the Golden Fleece, their prey;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eor those who have seen the straits of the ocean,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere the swift waves divide the neighboring shores\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf Europe, and of Afric;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhat kind of sight do you imagine that will be when the whole earth is\r\nlaid open to our view? and that, too, not only in its position, form,\r\nand boundaries, nor those parts of it only which are habitable, but\r\nthose also that lie uncultivated, through the extremities of heat and\r\ncold to which they are exposed; for not even now is it with our eyes\r\nthat we view what we see, for the body itself has no senses; but (as the\r\nnaturalists, ay, and even the physicians assure us, who have opened our\r\nbodies, and examined them) there are certain perforated channels from\r\nthe seat of the soul to the eyes, ears, and nose; so that frequently,\r\nwhen either prevented by meditation, or the force of some bodily\r\ndisorder, we neither hear nor see, though our eyes and ears are open and\r\nin good condition; so that we may easily apprehend that it is the soul\r\nitself which sees and hears, and not those parts which are, as it were,\r\nbut windows to the soul, by means of which, however, she can perceive\r\nnothing, unless she is on the spot, and exerts herself. How shall we\r\naccount for the fact that by the same power of thinking we comprehend\r\nthe most different things—as color, taste, heat, smell, and\r\nsound—which the soul could never know by her five messengers, unless\r\nevery thing were referred to her, and she were the sole judge of all?\r\nAnd we shall certainly discover these things in a more clear and perfect\r\ndegree when the soul is disengaged from the body, and has arrived at\r\nthat goal to which nature leads her; for at present, notwithstanding\r\nnature has contrived, with the greatest skill, those channels which lead\r\nfrom the body to the soul, yet are they, in some way or other, stopped\r\nup with earthy and concrete bodies; but when we shall be nothing but\r\nsoul, then nothing will interfere \u003ca id=\"page-30\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003eto prevent our seeing everything in\r\nits real substance and in its true character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. It is true, I might expatiate, did the subject require it, on the\r\nmany and various objects with which the soul will be entertained in\r\nthose heavenly regions; when I reflect on which, I am apt to wonder at\r\nthe boldness of some philosophers, who are so struck with admiration at\r\nthe knowledge of nature as to thank, in an exulting manner, the first\r\ninventor and teacher of natural philosophy, and to reverence him as a\r\nGod; for they declare that they have been delivered by his means from\r\nthe greatest tyrants, a perpetual terror, and a fear that molested them\r\nby night and day. What is this dread—this fear? What old woman is there\r\nso weak as to fear these things, which you, forsooth, had you not been\r\nacquainted with natural philosophy, would stand in awe of?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe hallow’d roofs of Acheron, the dread\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf Orcus, the pale regions of the dead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd does it become a philosopher to boast that he is not afraid of these\r\nthings, and that he has discovered them to be false? And from this we\r\nmay perceive how acute these men were by nature, who, if they had been\r\nleft without any instruction, would have believed in these things. But\r\nnow they have certainly made a very fine acquisition in learning that\r\nwhen the day of their death arrives, they will perish entirely. And if\r\nthat really is the case—for I say nothing either way—what is there\r\nagreeable or glorious in it? Not that I see any reason why the opinion\r\nof Pythagoras and Plato may not be true; but even although Plato were to\r\nhave assigned no reason for his opinion (observe how much I esteem the\r\nman), the weight of his authority would have borne me down; but he has\r\nbrought so many reasons, that he appears to me to have endeavored to\r\nconvince others, and certainly to have convinced himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. But there are many who labor on the other side of the question,\r\nand condemn souls to death, as if they were criminals capitally\r\nconvicted; nor have they any other reason to allege why the immortality\r\nof the soul appears to them to be incredible, except that they are not\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-31\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003eable to conceive what sort of thing the soul can be when disentangled\r\nfrom the body; just as if they could really form a correct idea as to\r\nwhat sort of thing it is, even when it is in the body; what its form,\r\nand size, and abode are; so that were they able to have a full view of\r\nall that is now hidden from them in a living body, they have no idea\r\nwhether the soul would be discernible by them, or whether it is of so\r\nfine a texture that it would escape their sight. Let those consider\r\nthis, who say that they are unable to form any idea of the soul without\r\nthe body, and then they will see whether they can form any adequate idea\r\nof what it is when it is in the body. For my own part, when I reflect on\r\nthe nature of the soul, it appears to me a far more perplexing and\r\nobscure question to determine what is its character while it is in the\r\nbody—a place which, as it were, does not belong to it—than to imagine\r\nwhat it is when it leaves it, and has arrived at the free æther, which\r\nis, if I may so say, its proper, its own habitation. For unless we are\r\nto say that we cannot apprehend the character or nature of anything\r\nwhich we have never seen, we certainly may be able to form some notion\r\nof God, and of the divine soul when released from the body. Dicæarchus,\r\nindeed, and Aristoxenus, because it was hard to understand the existence\r\nand substance and nature of the soul, asserted that there was no such\r\nthing as a soul at all. It is, indeed, the most difficult thing\r\nimaginable to discern the soul by the soul. And this, doubtless, is the\r\nmeaning of the precept of Apollo, which advises every one to know\r\nhimself. For I do not apprehend the meaning of the God to have been that\r\nwe should understand our members, our stature, and form; for we are not\r\nmerely bodies; nor, when I say these things to you, am I addressing\r\nmyself to your body: when, therefore, he says, “Know yourself,” he says\r\nthis, “Inform yourself of the nature of your soul;” for the body is but\r\na kind of vessel, or receptacle of the soul, and whatever your soul does\r\nis your own act. To know the soul, then, unless it had been divine,\r\nwould not have been a precept of such excellent wisdom as to be\r\nattributed to a God; but even though the soul should not know of what\r\nnature itself is, will you say that it does not even perceive that \u003ca id=\"page-32\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003eit\r\nexists at all, or that it has motion? On which is founded that reason\r\nof Plato’s, which is explained by Socrates in the Phædrus, and inserted\r\nby me, in my sixth book of the Republic.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. “That which is always moved is eternal; but that which gives\r\nmotion to something else, and is moved itself by some external cause,\r\nwhen that motion ceases, must necessarily cease to exist. That,\r\ntherefore, alone, which is self-moved, because it is never forsaken by\r\nitself, can never cease to be moved. Besides, it is the beginning and\r\nprinciple of motion to everything else; but whatever is a principle has\r\nno beginning, for all things arise from that principle, and it cannot\r\nitself owe its rise to anything else; for then it would not be a\r\nprinciple did it proceed from anything else. But if it has no beginning,\r\nit never will have any end; for a principle which is once extinguished\r\ncannot itself be restored by anything else, nor can it produce anything\r\nelse from itself; inasmuch as all things must necessarily arise from\r\nsome first cause. And thus it comes about that the first principle of\r\nmotion must arise from that thing which is itself moved by itself; and\r\nthat can neither have a beginning nor an end of its existence, for\r\notherwise the whole heaven and earth would be overset, and all nature\r\nwould stand still, and not be able to acquire any force by the impulse\r\nof which it might be first set in motion. Seeing, then, that it is clear\r\nthat whatever moves itself is eternal, can there be any doubt that the\r\nsoul is so? For everything is inanimate which is moved by an external\r\nforce; but everything which is animate is moved by an interior force,\r\nwhich also belongs to itself. For this is the peculiar nature and power\r\nof the soul; and if the soul be the only thing in the whole world which\r\nhas the power of self-motion, then certainly it never had a beginning,\r\nand therefore it is eternal.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, should all the lower order of philosophers (for so I think they may\r\nbe called who dissent from Plato and Socrates and that school) unite\r\ntheir force, they never would be able to explain anything so elegantly\r\nas this, nor even to understand how ingeniously this conclusion is\r\ndrawn. The soul, then, perceives itself to have motion, \u003ca id=\"page-33\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003eand at the same\r\ntime that it gets that perception, it is sensible that it derives that\r\nmotion from its own power, and not from the agency of another; and it is\r\nimpossible that it should ever forsake itself. And these premises compel\r\nyou to allow its eternity, unless you have something to say against\r\nthem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I should myself be very well pleased not to have even a thought\r\narise in my mind against them, so much am I inclined to that opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Well, then, I appeal to you, if the arguments which prove\r\nthat there is something divine in the souls of men are not equally\r\nstrong? But if I could account for the origin of these divine\r\nproperties, then I might also be able to explain how they might cease to\r\nexist; for I think I can account for the manner in which the blood, and\r\nbile, and phlegm, and bones, and nerves, and veins, and all the limbs,\r\nand the shape of the whole body, were put together and made; ay, and\r\neven as to the soul itself, were there nothing more in it than a\r\nprinciple of life, then the life of a man might be put upon the same\r\nfooting as that of a vine or any other tree, and accounted for as caused\r\nby nature; for these things, as we say, live. Besides, if desires and\r\naversions were all that belonged to the soul, it would have them only in\r\ncommon with the beasts; but it has, in the first place, memory, and\r\nthat, too, so infinite as to recollect an absolute countless number of\r\ncircumstances, which Plato will have to be a recollection of a former\r\nlife; for in that book which is inscribed Menon, Socrates asks a child\r\nsome questions in geometry, with reference to measuring a square; his\r\nanswers are such as a child would make, and yet the questions are so\r\neasy, that while answering them, one by one, he comes to the same point\r\nas if he had learned geometry. From whence Socrates would infer that\r\nlearning is nothing more than recollection; and this topic he explains\r\nmore accurately in the discourse which he held the very day he died; for\r\nhe there asserts that, any one, who seeming to be entirely illiterate,\r\nis yet able to answer a question well that is proposed to him, does in\r\nso doing manifestly show that he is not learning it then, but\r\nrecollecting it by his memory. Nor is it to be accounted for in any\r\nother way, how children \u003ca id=\"page-34\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003ecome to have notions of so many and such\r\nimportant things as are implanted, and, as it were, sealed up, in their\r\nminds (which the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἔννοιαι\u003c/span\u003e), unless the soul, before it\r\nentered the body, had been well stored with knowledge. And as it had no\r\nexistence at all (for this is the invariable doctrine of Plato, who will\r\nnot admit anything to have a real existence which has a beginning and an\r\nend, and who thinks that that alone does really exist which is of such a\r\ncharacter as what he calls \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eεἴδεα\u003c/span\u003e, and we species), therefore, being shut\r\nup in the body, it could not while in the body discover what it knows;\r\nbut it knew it before, and brought the knowledge with it, so that we are\r\nno longer surprised at its extensive and multifarious knowledge. Nor\r\ndoes the soul clearly discover its ideas at its first resort to this\r\nabode to which it is so unaccustomed, and which is in so disturbed a\r\nstate; but after having refreshed and recollected itself, it then by its\r\nmemory recovers them; and, therefore, to learn implies nothing more than\r\nto recollect. But I am in a particular manner surprised at memory. For\r\nwhat is that faculty by which we remember? what is its force? what its\r\nnature? I am not inquiring how great a memory Simonides\u003ca id=\"FNA-13\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-13\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e13\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e may be said\r\nto have had, or Theodectes,\u003ca id=\"FNA-14\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-14\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e or that Cineas\u003ca id=\"FNA-15\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-15\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who was sent to Rome\r\nas ambassador from Pyrrhus; or, in more modern times, Charmadas;\u003ca id=\"FNA-16\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-16\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e16\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e or,\r\nvery lately, Metrodorus\u003ca id=\"FNA-17\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-17\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e17\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca id=\"page-35\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003ethe Scepsian, or our own contemporary\r\nHortensius\u003ca id=\"FNA-18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-18\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e18\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e: I am speaking of ordinary memory, and especially of\r\nthose men who are employed in any important study or art, the great\r\ncapacity of whose minds it is hard to estimate, such numbers of things\r\ndo they remember.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. Should you ask what this leads to, I think we may understand what\r\nthat power is, and whence we have it. It certainly proceeds neither from\r\nthe heart, nor from the blood, nor from the brain, nor from atoms;\r\nwhether it be air or fire, I know not, nor am I, as those men are,\r\nashamed, in cases where I am ignorant, to own that I am so. If in any\r\nother obscure matter I were able to assert anything positively, then I\r\nwould swear that the soul, be it air or fire, is divine. Just think, I\r\nbeseech you: can you imagine this wonderful power of memory to be sown\r\nin or to be a part of the composition of the earth, or of this dark and\r\ngloomy atmosphere? Though you cannot apprehend what it is, yet you see\r\nwhat kind of thing it is, or if you do not quite see that, yet you\r\ncertainly see how great it is. What, then? Shall we imagine that there\r\nis a kind of measure in the soul, into which, as into a vessel, all that\r\nwe remember is poured? That indeed is absurd; for how shall we form any\r\nidea of the bottom, or of the shape or fashion of such a soul as that?\r\nAnd, again, how are we to conceive how much it is able to contain? Shall\r\nwe imagine the soul to receive impressions like wax, and memory to be\r\nmarks of the impressions made on the soul? What are the characters of\r\nthe words, what of the facts themselves? and what, again, is that\r\nprodigious greatness which can give rise to impressions of so many\r\nthings? What, lastly, is that power which investigates secret things,\r\nand is called invention and contrivance? Does that man seem to be\r\ncompounded of this earthly, mortal, and perishing nature who first\r\ninvented names for everything; \u003ca id=\"page-36\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003ewhich, if you will believe Pythagoras,\r\nis the highest pitch of wisdom? or he who collected the dispersed\r\ninhabitants of the world, and united them in the bonds of social life?\r\nor he who confined the sounds of the voice, which used to seem infinite,\r\nto the marks of a few letters? or he who first observed the courses of\r\nthe planets, their progressive motions, their laws? These were all great\r\nmen. But they were greater still who invented food, and raiment, and\r\nhouses; who introduced civilization among us, and armed us against the\r\nwild beasts; by whom we were made sociable and polished, and so\r\nproceeded from the necessaries of life to its embellishments. For we\r\nhave provided great entertainments for the ears by inventing and\r\nmodulating the variety and nature of sounds; we have learned to survey\r\nthe stars, not only those that are fixed, but also those which are\r\nimproperly called wandering; and the man who has acquainted himself with\r\nall their revolutions and motions is fairly considered to have a soul\r\nresembling the soul of that Being who has created those stars in the\r\nheavens: for when Archimedes described in a sphere the motions of the\r\nmoon, sun, and five planets, he did the very same thing as Plato’s God,\r\nin his Timæus, who made the world, causing one revolution to adjust\r\nmotions differing as much as possible in their slowness and velocity.\r\nNow, allowing that what we see in the world could not be effected\r\nwithout a God, Archimedes could not have imitated the same motions in\r\nhis sphere without a divine soul.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. To me, indeed, it appears that even those studies which are more\r\ncommon and in greater esteem are not without some divine energy: so that\r\nI do not consider that a poet can produce a serious and sublime poem\r\nwithout some divine impulse working on his mind; nor do I think that\r\neloquence, abounding with sonorous words and fruitful sentences, can\r\nflow thus without something beyond mere human power. But as to\r\nphilosophy, that is the parent of all the arts: what can we call that\r\nbut, as Plato says, a gift, or, as I express it, an invention, of the\r\nGods? This it was which first taught us the worship of the Gods; and\r\nthen led us on to justice, which arises from the human race being formed\r\ninto society; and after that \u003ca id=\"page-37\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003eit imbued us with modesty and elevation of\r\nsoul. This it was which dispersed darkness from our souls, as it is\r\ndispelled from our eyes, enabling us to see all things that are above or\r\nbelow, the beginning, end, and middle of everything. I am convinced\r\nentirely that that which could effect so many and such great things must\r\nbe a divine power. For what is memory of words and circumstances? What,\r\ntoo, is invention? Surely they are things than which nothing greater can\r\nbe conceived in a God! For I do not imagine the Gods to be delighted\r\nwith nectar and ambrosia, or with Juventas presenting them with a cup;\r\nnor do I put any faith in Homer, who says that Ganymede was carried away\r\nby the Gods on account of his beauty, in order to give Jupiter his wine.\r\nToo weak reasons for doing Laomedon such injury! These were mere\r\ninventions of Homer, who gave his Gods the imperfections of men. I would\r\nrather that he had given men the perfections of the Gods! those\r\nperfections, I mean, of uninterrupted health, wisdom, invention, memory.\r\nTherefore the soul (which is, as I say, divine) is, as Euripides more\r\nboldly expresses it, a God. And thus, if the divinity be air or fire,\r\nthe soul of man is the same; for as that celestial nature has nothing\r\nearthly or humid about it, in like manner the soul of man is also free\r\nfrom both these qualities: but if it is of that fifth kind of nature,\r\nfirst introduced by Aristotle, then both Gods and souls are of the same.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. As this is my opinion, I have explained it in these very words,\r\nin my book on Consolation.\u003ca id=\"FNA-19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-19\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e19\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The origin of the soul of man is not to\r\nbe found upon earth, for there is nothing in the soul of a mixed or\r\nconcrete nature, or that has any appearance of being formed or made out\r\nof the earth; nothing even humid, or airy, or fiery. For what is there\r\nin natures of that kind which has the power of memory, understanding, or\r\nthought? which can recollect the past, foresee the future, and\r\ncomprehend the present? for these capabilities are confined to divine\r\nbeings; nor can we discover any source from which men could derive them,\r\nbut from God. There is therefore a peculiar \u003ca id=\"page-38\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003enature and power in the\r\nsoul, distinct from those natures which are more known and familiar to\r\nus. Whatever, then, that is which thinks, and which has understanding,\r\nand volition, and a principle of life, is heavenly and divine, and on\r\nthat account must necessarily be eternal; nor can God himself, who is\r\nknown to us, be conceived to be anything else except a soul free and\r\nunembarrassed, distinct from all mortal concretion, acquainted with\r\neverything, and giving motion to everything, and itself endued with\r\nperpetual motion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. Of this kind and nature is the intellect of man. Where, then, is\r\nthis intellect seated, and of what character is it? where is your own,\r\nand what is its character? Are you able to tell? If I have not faculties\r\nfor knowing all that I could desire to know, will you not even allow me\r\nto make use of those which I have? The soul has not sufficient capacity\r\nto comprehend itself; yet, the soul, like the eye, though it has no\r\ndistinct view of itself, sees other things: it does not see (which is of\r\nleast consequence) its own shape; perhaps not, though it possibly may;\r\nbut we will pass that by: but it certainly sees that it has vigor,\r\nsagacity, memory, motion, and velocity; these are all great, divine,\r\neternal properties. What its appearance is, or where it dwells, it is\r\nnot necessary even to inquire. As when we behold, first of all, the\r\nbeauty and brilliant appearance of the heavens; secondly, the vast\r\nvelocity of its revolutions, beyond power of our imagination to\r\nconceive; then the vicissitudes of nights and days, the fourfold\r\ndivision of the seasons, so well adapted to the ripening of the fruits\r\nof the earth, and the temperature of our bodies: and after that we look\r\nup to the sun, the moderator and governor of all these things; and view\r\nthe moon, by the increase and decrease of its light, marking, as it\r\nwere, and appointing our holy days; and see the five planets, borne on\r\nin the same circle, divided into twelve parts, preserving the same\r\ncourse with the greatest regularity, but with utterly dissimilar motions\r\namong themselves; and the nightly appearance of the heaven, adorned on\r\nall sides with stars; then, the globe of the earth, raised above the\r\nsea, and placed in the centre of the universe, inhabited and cultivated\r\nin its two opposite extremities, one of which, the \u003ca id=\"page-39\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003eplace of our\r\nhabitation, is situated towards the north pole, under the seven stars:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere the cold northern blasts, with horrid sound,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHarden to ice the snowy cover’d ground;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ethe other, towards the south pole, is unknown to us, but is called by\r\nthe Greeks \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀντίχθονα\u003c/span\u003e: the other parts are uncultivated, because they are\r\neither frozen with cold, or burned up with heat; but where we dwell, it\r\nnever fails, in its season,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo yield a placid sky, to bid the trees\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAssume the lively verdure of their leaves:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe vine to bud, and, joyful, in its shoots,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForetell the approaching vintage of its fruits:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe ripen’d corn to sing, while all around\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFull riv’lets glide; and flowers deck the ground:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ethen the multitude of cattle, fit part for food, part for tilling the\r\nground, others for carrying us, or for clothing us; and man himself,\r\nmade, as it were, on purpose to contemplate the heavens and the Gods,\r\nand to pay adoration to them: lastly, the whole earth, and wide\r\nextending seas, given to man’s use. When we view these and numberless\r\nother things, can we doubt that they have some being who presides over\r\nthem, or has made them (if, indeed, they have been made, as is the\r\nopinion of Plato, or if, as Aristotle thinks, they are eternal), or who\r\nat all events is the regulator of so immense a fabric and so great a\r\nblessing to men? Thus, though you see not the soul of man, as you see\r\nnot the Deity, yet, as by the contemplation of his works you are led to\r\nacknowledge a God, so you must own the divine power of the soul, from\r\nits remembering things, from its invention, from the quickness of its\r\nmotion, and from all the beauty of virtue. Where, then, is it seated,\r\nyou will say?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. In my opinion, it is seated in the head, and I can bring you\r\nreasons for my adopting that opinion. At present, let the soul reside\r\nwhere it will, you certainly have one in you. Should you ask what its\r\nnature is? It has one peculiarly its own; but admitting it to consist of\r\nfire, or air, it does not affect the present question. Only observe\r\nthis, that as you are convinced there is a God, though \u003ca id=\"page-40\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003eyou are ignorant\r\nwhere he resides, and what shape he is of; in like manner you ought to\r\nfeel assured that you have a soul, though you cannot satisfy yourself of\r\nthe place of its residence, nor its form. In our knowledge of the soul,\r\nunless we are grossly ignorant of natural philosophy, we cannot but be\r\nsatisfied that it has nothing but what is simple, unmixed, uncompounded,\r\nand single; and if this is admitted, then it cannot be separated, nor\r\ndivided, nor dispersed, nor parted, and therefore it cannot perish; for\r\nto perish implies a parting-asunder, a division, a disunion, of those\r\nparts which, while it subsisted, were held together by some band. And it\r\nwas because he was influenced by these and similar reasons that Socrates\r\nneither looked out for anybody to plead for him when he was accused, nor\r\nbegged any favor from his judges, but maintained a manly freedom, which\r\nwas the effect not of pride, but of the true greatness of his soul; and\r\non the last day of his life he held a long discourse on this subject;\r\nand a few days before, when he might have been easily freed from his\r\nconfinement, he refused to be so; and when he had almost actually hold\r\nof that deadly cup, he spoke with the air of a man not forced to die,\r\nbut ascending into heaven.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. For so indeed he thought himself, and thus he spoke: “That there\r\nwere two ways, and that the souls of men, at their departure from the\r\nbody, took different roads; for those which were polluted with vices\r\nthat are common to men, and which had given themselves up entirely to\r\nunclean desires, and had become so blinded by them as to have habituated\r\nthemselves to all manner of debauchery and profligacy, or to have laid\r\ndetestable schemes for the ruin of their country, took a road wide of\r\nthat which led to the assembly of the Gods; but they who had preserved\r\nthemselves upright and chaste, and free from the slightest contagion of\r\nthe body, and had always kept themselves as far as possible at a\r\ndistance from it, and while on earth had proposed to themselves as a\r\nmodel the life of the Gods, found the return to those beings from whom\r\nthey had come an easy one.” Therefore, he argues, that all good and wise\r\nmen should take example from the swans, who are considered sacred to\r\nApollo, not without reason, but particularly because they seem to have\r\nreceived \u003ca id=\"page-41\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003ethe gift of divination from him, by which, foreseeing how\r\nhappy it is to die, they leave this world with singing and joy. Nor can\r\nany one doubt of this, unless it happens to us who think with care and\r\nanxiety about the soul (as is often the case with those who look\r\nearnestly at the setting sun), to lose the sight of it entirely; and so\r\nthe mind’s eye, viewing itself, sometimes grows dull, and for that\r\nreason we become remiss in our contemplation. Thus our reasoning is\r\nborne about, harassed with doubts and anxieties, not knowing how to\r\nproceed, but measuring back again those dangerous tracts which it has\r\npassed, like a boat tossed about on the boundless ocean. But these\r\nreflections are of long standing, and borrowed from the Greeks. But Cato\r\nleft this world in such a manner as if he were delighted that he had\r\nfound an opportunity of dying; for that God who presides in us forbids\r\nour departure hence without his leave. But when God himself has given us\r\na just cause, as formerly he did to Socrates, and lately to Cato, and\r\noften to many others—in such a case, certainly every man of sense would\r\ngladly exchange this darkness for that light: not that he would forcibly\r\nbreak from the chains that held him, for that would be against the law;\r\nbut, like a man released from prison by a magistrate or some lawful\r\nauthority, so he too would walk away, being released and discharged by\r\nGod. For the whole life of a philosopher is, as the same philosopher\r\nsays, a meditation on death.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. For what else is it that we do, when we call off our minds from\r\npleasure, that is to say, from our attention to the body, from the\r\nmanaging our domestic estate, which is a sort of handmaid and servant of\r\nthe body, or from duties of a public nature, or from all other serious\r\nbusiness whatever? What else is it, I say, that we do, but invite the\r\nsoul to reflect on itself? oblige it to converse with itself, and, as\r\nfar as possible, break off its acquaintance with the body? Now, to\r\nseparate the soul from the body, is to learn to die, and nothing else\r\nwhatever. Wherefore take my advice; and let us meditate on this, and\r\nseparate ourselves as far as possible from the body, that is to say, let\r\nus accustom ourselves to die. This will be enjoying a life like that of\r\nheaven even while we remain on earth; and \u003ca id=\"page-42\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003ewhen we are carried thither\r\nand released from these bonds, our souls will make their progress with\r\nmore rapidity; for the spirit which has always been fettered by the\r\nbonds of the body, even when it is disengaged, advances more slowly,\r\njust as those do who have worn actual fetters for many years: but when\r\nwe have arrived at this emancipation from the bonds of the body, then\r\nindeed we shall begin to live, for this present life is really death,\r\nwhich I could say a good deal in lamentation for if I chose.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You have lamented it sufficiently in your book on Consolation; and\r\nwhen I read that, there is nothing which I desire more than to leave\r\nthese things; but that desire is increased a great deal by what I have\r\njust heard.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e The time will come, and that soon, and with equal certainty,\r\nwhether you hang back or press forward; for time flies. But death is so\r\nfar from being an evil, as it lately appeared to you, that I am inclined\r\nto suspect, not that there is no other thing which is an evil to man,\r\nbut rather that there is nothing else which is a real good to him; if,\r\nat least, it is true that we become thereby either Gods ourselves, or\r\ncompanions of the Gods. However, this is not of so much consequence, as\r\nthere are some of us here who will not allow this. But I will not leave\r\noff discussing this point till I have convinced you that death can, upon\r\nno consideration whatever, be an evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e How can it, after what I now know?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Do you ask how it can? There are crowds of arguers who contradict\r\nthis; and those not only Epicureans, whom I regard very little, but,\r\nsomehow or other, almost every man of letters; and, above all, my\r\nfavorite Dicæarchus is very strenuous in opposing the immortality of the\r\nsoul: for he has written three books, which are entitled Lesbiacs,\r\nbecause the discourse was held at Mitylene, in which he seeks to prove\r\nthat souls are mortal. The Stoics, on the other hand, allow us as long a\r\ntime for enjoyment as the life of a raven; they allow the soul to exist\r\na great while, but are against its eternity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. Are you willing to hear then why, even allowing this, death\r\ncannot be an evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e As you please; but no one shall drive me from my belief in\r\nmortality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-43\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I commend you, indeed, for that; though we should not be too\r\nconfident in our belief of anything; for we are frequently disturbed by\r\nsome subtle conclusion. We give way and change our opinions even in\r\nthings that are more evident than this; for in this there certainly is\r\nsome obscurity. Therefore, should anything of this kind happen, it is\r\nwell to be on our guard.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You are right in that; but I will provide against any accident.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Have you any objection to our dismissing our friends the\r\nStoics—those, I mean, who allow that the souls exist after they have\r\nleft the body, but yet deny that they exist forever?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e We certainly may dismiss the consideration of those men who admit\r\nthat which is the most difficult point in the whole question, namely,\r\nthat a soul can exist independently of the body, and yet refuse to grant\r\nthat which is not only very easy to believe, but which is even the\r\nnatural consequence of the concession which they have made—that if they\r\ncan exist for a length of time; they most likely do so forever.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You take it right; that is the very thing. Shall we give,\r\ntherefore, any credit to Pauæstius, when he dissents from his master,\r\nPlato? whom he everywhere calls divine, the wisest, the holiest of men,\r\nthe Homer of philosophers, and whom he opposes in nothing except this\r\nsingle opinion of the soul’s immortality: for he maintains what nobody\r\ndenies, that everything which has been generated will perish, and that\r\neven souls are generated, which he thinks appears from their resemblance\r\nto those of the men who begot them; for that likeness is as apparent in\r\nthe turn of their minds as in their bodies. But he brings another\r\nreason—that there is nothing which is sensible of pain which is not\r\nalso liable to disease; but whatever is liable to disease must be liable\r\nto death. The soul is sensible of pain, therefore it is liable to\r\nperish.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. These arguments may be refuted; for they proceed from his not\r\nknowing that, while discussing the subject of the immortality of the\r\nsoul, he is speaking of the intellect, which is free from all turbid\r\nmotion; but not of those parts of the mind in which those disorders,\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-44\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e44\u003c/span\u003eanger and lust, have their seat, and which he whom he is opposing, when\r\nhe argues thus, imagines to be distinct and separate from the mind. Now\r\nthis resemblance is more remarkable in beasts, whose souls are void of\r\nreason. But the likeness in men consists more in the configuration of\r\nthe bodies: and it is of no little consequence in what bodies the soul\r\nis lodged; for there are many things which depend on the body that give\r\nan edge to the soul, many which blunt it. Aristotle, indeed, says that\r\nall men of great genius are melancholy; so that I should not have been\r\ndispleased to have been somewhat duller than I am. He instances many,\r\nand, as if it were matter of fact, brings his reasons for it. But if the\r\npower of those things that proceed from the body be so great as to\r\ninfluence the mind (for they are the things, whatever they are, that\r\noccasion this likeness), still that does not necessarily prove why a\r\nsimilitude of souls should be generated. I say nothing about cases of\r\nunlikeness. I wish Panætius could be here: he lived with Africanus. I\r\nwould inquire of him which of his family the nephew of Africanus’s\r\nbrother was like? Possibly he may in person have resembled his father;\r\nbut in his manners he was so like every profligate, abandoned man, that\r\nit was impossible to be more so. Whom did the grandson of P. Crassus,\r\nthat wise and eloquent and most distinguished man, resemble? Or the\r\nrelations and sons of many other excellent men, whose names there is no\r\noccasion to mention? But what are we doing? Have we forgotten that our\r\npurpose was, when we had sufficiently spoken on the subject of the\r\nimmortality of the soul, to prove that, even if the soul did perish,\r\nthere would be, even then, no evil in death?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I remembered it very well; but I had no dislike to your digressing\r\na little from your original design, while you were talking of the soul’s\r\nimmortality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I perceive you have sublime thoughts, and are eager to mount up to\r\nheaven.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. I am not without hopes myself that such may be our fate. But\r\nadmit what they assert—that the soul does not continue to exist after\r\ndeath.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Should it be so, I see that we are then deprived of the hopes of a\r\nhappier life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-45\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e45\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e But what is there of evil in that opinion? For let the soul perish\r\nas the body: is there any pain, or indeed any feeling at all, in the\r\nbody after death? No one, indeed asserts that; though Epicurus charges\r\nDemocritus with saying so; but the disciples of Democritus deny it. No\r\nsense, therefore, remains in the soul; for the soul is nowhere. Where,\r\nthen, is the evil? for there is nothing but these two things. Is it\r\nbecause the mere separation of the soul and body cannot be effected\r\nwithout pain? But even should that be granted, how small a pain must\r\nthat be! Yet I think that it is false, and that it is very often\r\nunaccompanied by any sensation at all, and sometimes even attended with\r\npleasure; but certainly the whole must be very trifling, whatever it is,\r\nfor it is instantaneous. What makes us uneasy, or rather gives us pain,\r\nis the leaving all the good things of life. But just consider if I might\r\nnot more properly say, leaving the evils of life; only there is no\r\nreason for my now occupying myself in bewailing the life of man, and yet\r\nI might, with very good reason. But what occasion is there, when what I\r\nam laboring to prove is that no one is miserable after death, to make\r\nlife more miserable by lamenting over it? I have done that in the book\r\nwhich I wrote, in order to comfort myself as well as I could. If, then,\r\nour inquiry is after truth, death withdraws us from evil, not from good.\r\nThis subject is indeed so copiously handled by Hegesias, the Cyrenaic\r\nphilosopher, that he is said to have been forbidden by Ptolemy from\r\ndelivering his lectures in the schools, because some who heard him made\r\naway with themselves. There is, too, an epigram of Callimachus\u003ca id=\"FNA-20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-20\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e20\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e on\r\nCleombrotus of Ambracia, who, without any misfortune having befallen\r\nhim, as he says, threw himself from a wall into the sea, after he had\r\nread a book of Plato’s. The book I mentioned of that Hegesias is called\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἈποκαρτερτερῶν\u003c/span\u003e, or “A Man who\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-46\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e46\u003c/span\u003estarves himself,” in which a man is represented as killing\r\nhimself by starvation, till he is prevented by his friends,\r\nin reply to whom he reckons up all the miseries of human\r\nlife. I might do the same, though not so fully as he, who\r\nthinks it not worth any man’s while to live. I pass over\r\nothers. Was it even worth my while to live, for, had I\r\ndied before I was deprived of the comforts of my own\r\nfamily, and of the honors which I received for my public\r\nservices, would not death have taken me from the evils of\r\nlife rather than from its blessings?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. Mention, therefore, some one, who never knew\r\ndistress; who never received any blow from fortune.\r\nThe great Metellus had four distinguished sons; but\r\nPriam had fifty, seventeen of whom were born to him by\r\nhis lawful wife. Fortune had the same power over both,\r\nthough she exercised it but on one; for Metellus was laid\r\non his funeral pile by a great company of sons and daughters,\r\ngrandsons, and granddaughters; but Priam fell by\r\nthe hand of an enemy, after having fled to the altar, and\r\nhaving seen himself deprived of all his numerous progeny.\r\nHad he died before the death of his sons and the ruin of\r\nhis kingdom,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith all his mighty wealth elate,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUnder rich canopies of state;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewould he then have been taken from good or from evil?\r\nIt would indeed, at that time, have appeared that he was\r\nbeing taken away from good; yet surely it would have\r\nturned out advantageous for him; nor should we have\r\nhad these mournful verses,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLo! these all perish’d in one flaming pile;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe foe old Priam did of life beguile,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd with his blood, thy altar, Jove, defile.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAs if anything better could have happened to him at that\r\ntime than to lose his life in that manner; but yet, if it had\r\nbefallen him sooner, it would have prevented all those consequences;\r\nbut even as it was, it released him from any\r\nfurther sense of them. The case of our friend Pompey\u003ca id=\"FNA-21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-21\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e21\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-47\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e47\u003c/span\u003ewas something better: once, when he had been very ill\r\nat Naples, the Neapolitans, on his recovery, put crowns\r\non their heads, as did those of Puteoli; the people flocked\r\nfrom the country to congratulate him—it is a Grecian\r\ncustom, and a foolish one; still it is a sign of good fortune.\r\nBut the question is, had he died, would he have\r\nbeen taken from good, or from evil? Certainly from\r\nevil. He would not have been engaged in a war with his\r\nfather-in-law;\u003ca id=\"FNA-22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-22\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e22\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e he would not have taken up arms before\r\nhe was prepared; he would not have left his own house,\r\nnor fled from Italy; he would not, after the loss of his\r\narmy, have fallen unarmed into the hands of slaves, and\r\nbeen put to death by them; his children would not have\r\nbeen destroyed; nor would his whole fortune have come\r\ninto the possession of the conquerors. Did not he, then,\r\nwho, if he had died at that time, would have died in all\r\nhis glory, owe all the great and terrible misfortunes into\r\nwhich he subsequently fell to the prolongation of his life\r\nat that time?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. These calamities are avoided by death, for\r\neven though they should never happen, there is a possibility\r\nthat they may; but it never occurs to a man that such\r\na disaster may befall him himself. Every one hopes to\r\nbe as happy as Metellus: as if the number of the happy\r\nexceeded that of the miserable; or as if there were any\r\ncertainty in human affairs; or, again, as if there were\r\nmore rational foundation for hope than fear. But should\r\nwe grant them even this, that men are by death deprived\r\nof good things; would it follow that the dead are therefore\r\nin need of the good things of life, and are miserable\r\non that account? Certainly they must necessarily say so.\r\nCan he who does not exist be in need of anything? To\r\nbe in need of has a melancholy sound, because it in effect\r\namounts to this—he had, but he has not; he regrets, he\r\nlooks back upon, he wants. Such are, I suppose, the distresses\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-48\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e48\u003c/span\u003eof one who is in need of. Is he deprived\r\nof eyes? to be blind is misery. Is he destitute of children? not to have\r\nthem is misery. These considerations apply to the living, but the dead\r\nare neither in need of the blessings of life, nor of life itself. But\r\nwhen I am speaking of the dead, I am speaking of those who have no\r\nexistence. But would any one say of us, who do exist, that we want horns\r\nor wings? Certainly not. Should it be asked, why not? the answer would\r\nbe, that not to have what neither custom nor nature has fitted you for\r\nwould not imply a want of them, even though you were sensible that you\r\nhad them not. This argument should be pressed over and over again, after\r\nthat point has once been established, which, if souls are mortal, there\r\ncan be no dispute about—I mean, that the destruction of them by death\r\nis so entire as to remove even the least suspicion of any sense\r\nremaining. When, therefore, this point is once well grounded and\r\nestablished, we must correctly define what the term to want means; that\r\nthere may be no mistake in the word. To want, then, signifies this: to\r\nbe without that which you would be glad to have; for inclination for a\r\nthing is implied in the word want, excepting when we use the word in an\r\nentirely different sense, as we do when we say that a fever is wanting\r\nto any one. For it admits of a different interpretation, when you are\r\nwithout a certain thing, and are sensible that you are without it, but\r\nyet can easily dispense with having it. “To want,” then, is an\r\nexpression which you cannot apply to the dead; nor is the mere fact of\r\nwanting something necessarily lamentable. The proper expression ought to\r\nbe, “that they want a good,” and that is an evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut a living man does not want a good, unless he is distressed without\r\nit; and yet, we can easily understand how any man alive can be without a\r\nkingdom. But this cannot be predicated of you with any accuracy: it\r\nmight have been asserted of Tarquin, when he was driven from his\r\nkingdom. But when such an expression is used respecting the dead, it is\r\nabsolutely unintelligible. For to want implies to be sensible; but the\r\ndead are insensible: therefore, the dead can be in no want.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. But what occasion is there to philosophize \u003ca id=\"page-49\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e49\u003c/span\u003ehere in a matter\r\nwith which we see that philosophy is but little concerned? How often\r\nhave not only our generals but whole armies, rushed on certain death!\r\nBut if it had been a thing to be feared, L. Brutus would never have\r\nfallen in fight, to prevent the return of that tyrant whom he had\r\nexpelled; nor would Decius the father have been slain in fighting with\r\nthe Latins; nor would his son, when engaged with the Etruscans, nor his\r\ngrandson with Pyrrhus have exposed themselves to the enemy’s darts.\r\nSpain would never have seen, in one campaign, the Scipios fall fighting\r\nfor their country; nor would the plains of Cannæ have witnessed the\r\ndeath of Paulus and Geminus, or Venusia that of Marcellus; nor would the\r\nLatins have beheld the death of Albinus, nor the Leucanians that of\r\nGracchus. But are any of these miserable now? Nay, they were not so even\r\nat the first moment after they had breathed their last; nor can any one\r\nbe miserable after he has lost all sensation. Oh, but the mere\r\ncircumstance of being without sensation is miserable. It might be so if\r\nbeing without sensation were the same thing as wanting it; but as it is\r\nevident there can be nothing of any kind in that which has no existence,\r\nwhat can there be afflicting to that which can neither feel want nor be\r\nsensible of anything? We might be said to have repeated this over too\r\noften, only that here lies all that the soul shudders at from the fear\r\nof death. For whoever can clearly apprehend that which is as manifest as\r\nthe light—that when both soul and body are consumed, and there is a\r\ntotal destruction, then that which was an animal becomes nothing—will\r\nclearly see that there is no difference between a Hippocentaur, which\r\nnever had existence, and King Agamemnon, and that M. Camillus is no more\r\nconcerned about this present civil war than I was at the sacking of\r\nRome, when he was living.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. Why, then, should Camillus be affected with the thoughts of\r\nthese things happening three hundred and fifty years after his time? And\r\nwhy should I be uneasy it I were to expect that some nation might\r\npossess itself of this city ten thousand years hence? Because so great\r\nis our regard for our country, as not to be measured by our own feeling,\r\nbut by its own actual safety.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-50\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e50\u003c/span\u003eDeath, then, which threatens us daily from a thousand accidents, and\r\nwhich, by reason of the shortness of life, can never be far off, does\r\nnot deter a wise man from making such provision for his country and his\r\nfamily as he hopes may last forever; and from regarding posterity, of\r\nwhich he can never have any real perception, as belonging to himself.\r\nWherefore a man may act for eternity, even though he be persuaded that\r\nhis soul is mortal; not, indeed, from a desire of glory, which he will\r\nbe insensible of, but from a principle of virtue, which glory will\r\ninevitably attend, though that is not his object. The process, indeed,\r\nof nature is this: that just in the same manner as our birth was the\r\nbeginning of things with us, so death will be the end; and as we were\r\nnoways concerned with anything before we were born, so neither shall we\r\nbe after we are dead. And in this state of things where can the evil be,\r\nsince death has no connection with either the living or the dead? The\r\none have no existence at all, the other are not yet affected by it. They\r\nwho make the least of death consider it as having a great resemblance to\r\nsleep; as if any one would choose to live ninety years on condition\r\nthat, at the expiration of sixty, he should sleep out the remainder. The\r\nvery swine would not accept of life on those terms, much less I.\r\nEndymion, indeed, if you listen to fables, slept once on a time on\r\nLatmus, a mountain of Caria, and for such a length of time that I\r\nimagine he is not as yet awake. Do you think that he is concerned at the\r\nMoon’s being in difficulties, though it was by her that he was thrown\r\ninto that sleep, in order that she might kiss him while sleeping. For\r\nwhat should he be concerned for who has not even any sensation? You look\r\non sleep as an image of death, and you take that on you daily; and have\r\nyou, then, any doubt that there is no sensation in death, when you see\r\nthere is none in sleep, which is its near resemblance?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. Away, then, with those follies, which are little better than the\r\nold women’s dreams, such as that it is miserable to die before our time.\r\nWhat time do you mean? That of nature? But she has only lent you life,\r\nas she might lend you money, without fixing any certain time for its\r\nrepayment. Have you any grounds of complaint, \u003ca id=\"page-51\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e51\u003c/span\u003ethen, that she recalls it\r\nat her pleasure? for you received it on these terms. They that complain\r\nthus allow that if a young child dies, the survivors ought to bear his\r\nloss with equanimity; that if an infant in the cradle dies, they ought\r\nnot even to utter a complaint; and yet nature has been more severe with\r\nthem in demanding back what she gave. They answer by saying that such\r\nhave not tasted the sweets of life; while the other had begun to\r\nconceive hopes of great happiness, and, indeed, had begun to realize\r\nthem. Men judge better in other things, and allow a part to be\r\npreferable to none. Why do they not admit the same estimate in life?\r\nThough Callimachus does not speak amiss in saying that more tears had\r\nflowed from Priam than his son; yet they are thought happier who die\r\nafter they have reached old age. It would be hard to say why; for I do\r\nnot apprehend that any one, if a longer life were granted to him, would\r\nfind it happier. There is nothing more agreeable to a man than prudence,\r\nwhich old age most certainly bestows on a man, though it may strip him\r\nof everything else. But what age is long, or what is there at all long\r\nto a man? Does not\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOld age, though unregarded, still attend\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn childhood’s pastimes, as the cares of men?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut because there is nothing beyond old age, we call that long: all\r\nthese things are said to be long or short, according to the proportion\r\nof time they were given us for. Artistotle saith there is a kind of\r\ninsect near the river Hypanis, which runs from a certain part of Europe\r\ninto the Pontus, whose life consists but of one day; those that die at\r\nthe eighth hour die in full age; those who die when the sun sets are\r\nvery old, especially when the days are at the longest. Compare our\r\nlongest life with eternity, and we shall be found almost as short-lived\r\nas those little animals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. Let us, then, despise all these follies—for what softer name can I\r\ngive to such levities?—and let us lay the foundation of our happiness\r\nin the strength and greatness of our minds, in a contempt and disregard\r\nof all earthly things, and in the practice of every virtue. For at\r\npresent we are enervated by the softness of our imaginations, \u003ca id=\"page-52\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e52\u003c/span\u003eso that,\r\nshould we leave this world before the promises of our fortune-tellers\r\nare made good to us, we should think ourselves deprived of some great\r\nadvantages, and seem disappointed and forlorn. But if, through life, we\r\nare in continual suspense, still expecting, still desiring, and are in\r\ncontinual pain and torture, good Gods! how pleasant must that journey be\r\nwhich ends in security and ease! How pleased am I with Theramenes! Of\r\nhow exalted a soul does he appear! For, although we never read of him\r\nwithout tears, yet that illustrious man is not to be lamented in his\r\ndeath, who, when he had been imprisoned by the command of the thirty\r\ntyrants, drank off, at one draught, as if he had been thirsty, the\r\npoisoned cup, and threw the remainder out of it with such force that it\r\nsounded as it fell; and then, on hearing the sound of the drops, he\r\nsaid, with a smile, “I drink this to the most excellent Critias,” who\r\nhad been his most bitter enemy; for it is customary among the Greeks, at\r\ntheir banquets, to name the person to whom they intend to deliver the\r\ncup. This celebrated man was pleasant to the last, even when he had\r\nreceived the poison into his bowels, and truly foretold the death of\r\nthat man whom he named when he drank the poison, and that death soon\r\nfollowed. Who that thinks death an evil could approve of the evenness of\r\ntemper in this great man at the instant of dying? Socrates came, a few\r\nyears after, to the same prison and the same cup by as great iniquity on\r\nthe part of his judges as the tyrants displayed when they executed\r\nTheramenes. What a speech is that which Plato makes him deliver before\r\nhis judges, after they had condemned him to death!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLI. “I am not without hopes, O judges, that it is a favorable\r\ncircumstance for me that I am condemned to die; for one of these two\r\nthings must necessarily happen—either that death will deprive me\r\nentirely of all sense, or else that, by dying, I shall go from hence\r\ninto some other place; wherefore, if all sense is utterly extinguished,\r\nand if death is like that sleep which sometimes is so undisturbed as to\r\nbe even without the visions of dreams—in that case, O ye good Gods!\r\nwhat gain is it to die? or what length of days can be imagined which\r\nwould be preferable to such a night? And if the constant course of\r\nfuture time \u003ca id=\"page-53\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e53\u003c/span\u003eis to resemble that night, who is happier than I am? But if\r\non the other hand, what is said be true, namely, that death is but a\r\nremoval to those regions where the souls of the departed dwell, then\r\nthat state must be more happy still to have escaped from those who call\r\nthemselves judges, and to appear before such as are truly so—Minos,\r\nRhadamanthus, Æacus, Triptolemus—and to meet with those who have lived\r\nwith justice and probity!\u003ca id=\"FNA-23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-23\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e23\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Can this change of abode appear otherwise\r\nthan great to you? What bounds can you set to the value of conversing\r\nwith Orpheus, and Musæus, and Homer, and Hesiod? I would even, were it\r\npossible, willingly die often, in order to prove the certainty of what I\r\nspeak of. What delight must it be to meet with Palamedes, and Ajax, and\r\nothers, who have been betrayed by the iniquity of their judges! Then,\r\nalso, should I experience the wisdom of even that king of kings, who led\r\nhis vast troops to Troy, and the prudence of Ulysses and Sisyphus: nor\r\nshould I then be condemned for prosecuting my inquiries on such subjects\r\nin the same way in which I have done here on earth. And even you, my\r\njudges, you, I mean, who have voted for my acquittal, do not you fear\r\ndeath, for nothing bad can befall a good man, whether he be alive or\r\ndead; nor are his concerns ever overlooked by the Gods; nor in my case\r\neither has this befallen me by chance; and I have nothing to charge\r\nthose men with who accused or condemned me but the fact that they\r\nbelieved that they were doing me harm.” In this manner he proceeded.\r\nThere is no part of his speech which I admire more than his last words:\r\n“But it is time,” says he, “for me now to go hence, that I may die; and\r\nfor you, that you may continue to live. Which condition of the two is\r\nthe best, the immortal Gods know; but I do not believe that any mortal\r\nman does.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-54\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e54\u003c/span\u003eXLII. Surely I would rather have had this man’s soul than all the\r\nfortunes of those who sat in judgment on him; although that very thing\r\nwhich he says no one except the Gods know, namely, whether life or death\r\nis most preferable, he knows himself, for he had previously stated his\r\nopinion on it; but he maintained to the last that favorite maxim of his,\r\nof affirming nothing. And let us, too, adhere to this rule of not\r\nthinking anything an evil which is a general provision of nature; and\r\nlet us assure ourselves, that if death is an evil, it is an eternal\r\nevil, for death seems to be the end of a miserable life; but if death is\r\na misery, there can be no end of that. But why do I mention Socrates, or\r\nTheramenes, men distinguished by the glory of virtue and wisdom? when a\r\ncertain Lacedæmomian, whose name is not so much as known, held death in\r\nsuch contempt, that, when led to it by the ephori, he bore a cheerful\r\nand pleasant countenance; and, when he was asked by one of his enemies\r\nwhether he despised the laws of Lycurgus, “On the contrary,” answered\r\nhe, “I am greatly obliged to him, for he has amerced me in a fine which\r\nI can pay without borrowing, or taking up money at interest.” This was a\r\nman worthy of Sparta. And I am almost persuaded of his innocence because\r\nof the greatness of his soul. Our own city has produced many such. But\r\nwhy should I name generals, and other men of high rank, when Cato could\r\nwrite that legions have marched with alacrity to that place from whence\r\nthey never expected to return? With no less greatness of soul fell the\r\nLacedæmonians at Thermopylæ, on whom Simonides wrote the following\r\nepitaph:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGo, stranger, tell the Spartans, here we lie,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho to support their laws durst boldly die.\u003ca id=\"FNA-24\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-24\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e24\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhat was it that Leonidas, their general, said to them? “March on with\r\ncourage, my Lacedæmonians. To-night, perhaps, we shall sup in the\r\nregions below.” This was a brave nation while the laws of Lycurgus were\r\nin force. One of them, when a Persian had said to him in conversation,\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-55\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e55\u003c/span\u003e“We shall hide the sun from your sight by the number of our arrows and\r\ndarts,” replied, “We shall fight, then in the shade.” Do I talk of their\r\nmen? How great was that Lacedæmonian woman, who had sent her son to\r\nbattle, and when she heard that he was slain, said, “I bore him for that\r\npurpose, that you might have a man who durst die for his country!”\r\nHowever, it is a matter of notoriety that the Spartans were bold and\r\nhardy, for the discipline of a republic has great influence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIII. What, then, have we not reason to admire Theodorus the Cyrenean,\r\na philosopher of no small distinction, who, when Lysimachus threatened\r\nto crucify him, bade him keep those menaces for his courtiers? “To\r\nTheodorus it makes no difference whether he rot in the air or\r\nunderground.” By which saying of the philosopher I am reminded to say\r\nsomething of the custom of funerals and sepulture, and of funeral\r\nceremonies, which is, indeed, not a difficult subject, especially if we\r\nrecollect what has been before said about insensibility. The opinion of\r\nSocrates respecting this matter is clearly stated in the book which\r\ntreats of his death, of which we have already said so much; for when he\r\nhad discussed the immortality of the soul, and when the time of his\r\ndying was approaching rapidly, being asked by Criton how he would be\r\nburied, “I have taken a great deal of pains,” saith he, “my friends, to\r\nno purpose, for I have not convinced our Criton that I shall fly from\r\nhence, and leave no part of me behind. Notwithstanding, Criton, if you\r\ncan overtake me, wheresoever you get hold of me, bury me as you please:\r\nbut believe me, none of you will be able to catch me when I have flown\r\naway from hence.” That was excellently said, inasmuch as he allows his\r\nfriend to do as he pleased, and yet shows his indifference about\r\nanything of this kind. Diogenes was rougher, though of the same opinion;\r\nbut in his character of a Cynic he expressed himself in a somewhat\r\nharsher manner; he ordered himself to be thrown anywhere without being\r\nburied. And when his friends replied, “What! to the birds and beasts?”\r\n“By no means,” saith he; “place my staff near me, that I may drive them\r\naway.” “How can you do that,” they answer, “for you will not perceive\r\nthem?” “How am I then \u003ca id=\"page-56\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e56\u003c/span\u003einjured by being torn by those animals, if I have\r\nno sensation?” Anaxagoras, when he was at the point of death at\r\nLampsacus, and was asked by his friends, whether, if anything should\r\nhappen to him, he would not choose to be carried to Clazomenæ, his\r\ncountry, made this excellent answer, “There is,” says he, “no occasion\r\nfor that, for all places are at an equal distance from the infernal\r\nregions.” There is one thing to be observed with respect to the whole\r\nsubject of burial, that it relates to the body, whether the soul live or\r\ndie. Now, with regard to the body, it is clear that, whether the soul\r\nlive or die, that has no sensation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIV. But all things are full of errors. Achilles drags Hector, tied to\r\nhis chariot; he thinks, I suppose, he tears his flesh, and that Hector\r\nfeels the pain of it; therefore, he avenges himself on him, as he\r\nimagines. But Hecuba bewails this as a sore misfortune:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI saw (a dreadful sight) great Hector slain,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDragg’d at Achilles’ car along the plain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhat Hector? or how long will he be Hector? Accius is better in this,\r\nand Achilles, too, is sometimes reasonable:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI Hector’s body to his sire convey’d,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHector I sent to the infernal shade.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eIt was not Hector that you dragged along, but a body that had been\r\nHector’s. Here another starts from underground, and will not suffer his\r\nmother to sleep:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo thee I call, my once-loved parent, hear,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor longer with thy sleep relieve thy care;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThine eye which pities not is closed—arise;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLing’ring I wait the unpaid obsequies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhen these verses are sung with a slow and melancholy tune, so as to\r\naffect the whole theatre with sadness, one can scarce help thinking\r\nthose unhappy that are unburied:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEre the devouring dogs and hungry vultures…\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe is afraid he shall not have the use of his limbs so well if they are\r\ntorn to pieces, but is under no such apprehensions if they are burned:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-57\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e57\u003c/span\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor leave my naked bones, my poor remains,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo shameful violence and bloody stains.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eI do not understand what he could fear who could pour forth such\r\nexcellent verses to the sound of the flute. We must, therefore, adhere\r\nto this, that nothing is to be regarded after we are dead, though many\r\npeople revenge themselves on their dead enemies. Thyestes pours forth\r\nseveral curses in some good lines of Ennius, praying, first of all, that\r\nAtreus may perish by a shipwreck, which is certainly a very terrible\r\nthing, for such a death is not free from very grievous sensations. Then\r\nfollow these unmeaning expressions:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 25ex\"\u003eMay\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn the sharp rock his mangled carcass lie,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis entrails torn, to hungry birds a prey!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMay he convulsive writhe his bleeding side,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd with his clotted gore the stones be dyed!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe rocks themselves were not more destitute of feeling than he who was\r\nhanging to them by his side; though Thyestes imagines he is wishing him\r\nthe greatest torture. It would be torture, indeed, if he were sensible;\r\nbut as he is not, it can be none; then how very unmeaning is this:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet him, still hovering o’er the Stygian wave,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNe’er reach the body’s peaceful port, the grave!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eYou see under what mistaken notions all this is said. He imagines the\r\nbody has its haven, and that the dead are at rest in their graves.\r\nPelops was greatly to blame in not having informed and taught his son\r\nwhat regard was due to everything.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLV. But what occasion is there to animadvert on the opinions of\r\nindividuals, when we may observe whole nations to fall into all sorts of\r\nerrors? The Egyptians embalm their dead, and keep them in their houses;\r\nthe Persians dress them over with wax, and then bury them, that they may\r\npreserve their bodies as long as possible. It is customary with the Magi\r\nto bury none of their order, unless they have been first torn by wild\r\nbeasts. In Hyrcania, the people maintain dogs for the public use; the\r\nnobles have their own—and we know that they have a good breed of dogs;\r\nbut every one, according to his ability, \u003ca id=\"page-58\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e58\u003c/span\u003eprovides himself with some, in\r\norder to be torn by them; and they hold that to be the best kind of\r\ninterment. Chrysippus, who is curious in all kinds of historical facts,\r\nhas collected many other things of this kind; but some of them are so\r\noffensive as not to admit of being related. All that has been said of\r\nburying is not worth our regard with respect to ourselves, though it is\r\nnot to be neglected as to our friends, provided we are thoroughly aware\r\nthat the dead are insensible. But the living, indeed, should consider\r\nwhat is due to custom and opinion; only they should at the same time\r\nconsider that the dead are noways interested in it. But death truly is\r\nthen met with the greatest tranquillity when the dying man can comfort\r\nhimself with his own praise. No one dies too soon who has finished the\r\ncourse of perfect virtue. I myself have known many occasions when I have\r\nseemed in danger of immediate death; oh! how I wish it had come to me!\r\nfor I have gained nothing by the delay. I had gone over and over again\r\nthe duties of life; nothing remained but to contend with fortune. If\r\nreason, then, cannot sufficiently fortify us to enable us to feel a\r\ncontempt for death, at all events let our past life prove that we have\r\nlived long enough, and even longer than was necessary; for\r\nnotwithstanding the deprivation of sense, the dead are not without that\r\ngood which peculiarly belongs to them, namely, the praise and glory\r\nwhich they have acquired, even though they are not sensible of it. For\r\nalthough there be nothing in glory to make it desirable, yet it follows\r\nvirtue as its shadow; and the genuine judgment of the multitude on good\r\nmen, if ever they form any, is more to their own praise than of any real\r\nadvantage to the dead. Yet I cannot say, however it may be received,\r\nthat Lycurgus and Solon have no glory from their laws, and from the\r\npolitical constitution which they established in their country; or that\r\nThemistocles and Epaminondas have not glory from their martial virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVI. For Neptune shall sooner bury Salamis itself with his waters than\r\nthe memory of the trophies gained there; and the Bœotian Leuctra shall\r\nperish sooner than the glory of that great battle. And longer still\r\nshall fame be before it deserts Curius, and Fabricius, and Calatinus,\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-59\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e59\u003c/span\u003eand the two Scipios, and the two Africani, and Maximus, and Marcellus,\r\nand Paulus, and Cato, and Lælius, and numberless other heroes; and\r\nwhoever has caught any resemblance of them, not estimating it by common\r\nfame, but by the real applause of good men, may with confidence, when\r\nthe occasion requires, approach death, on which we are sure that even if\r\nthe chief good is not continued, at least no evil is. Such a man would\r\neven wish to die while in prosperity; for all the favors that could be\r\nheaped on him would not be so agreeable to him as the loss of them would\r\nbe painful. That speech of the Lacedæmonian seems to have the same\r\nmeaning, who, when Diagoras the Rhodian, who had himself been a\r\nconqueror at the Olympic games, saw two of his own sons conquerors there\r\non the same day, approached the old man, and, congratulating him, said,\r\n“You should die now, Diagoras, for no greater happiness can possibly\r\nawait you.” The Greeks look on these as great things; perhaps they think\r\ntoo highly of them, or, rather, they did so then. And so he who said\r\nthis to Diagoras, looking on it as something very glorious, that three\r\nmen out of one family should have been conquerors there, thought it\r\ncould answer no purpose to him to continue any longer in life, where he\r\ncould only be exposed to a reverse of fortune.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI might have given you a sufficient answer, as it seems to me, on this\r\npoint, in a few words, as you had allowed the dead were not exposed to\r\nany positive evil; but I have spoken at greater length on the subject\r\nfor this reason, because this is our greatest consolation in the losing\r\nand bewailing of our friends. For we ought to bear with moderation any\r\ngrief which arises from ourselves, or is endured on our own account,\r\nlest we should seem to be too much influenced by self-love. But should\r\nwe suspect our departed friends to be under those evils, which they are\r\ngenerally imagined to be, and to be sensible of them, then such a\r\nsuspicion would give us intolerable pain; and accordingly I wished, for\r\nmy own sake, to pluck up this opinion by the roots, and on that account\r\nI have been perhaps somewhat more prolix than was necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVII. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e More prolix than was necessary? Certainty not, in my\r\nopinion. For I was induced, by the former \u003ca id=\"page-60\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e60\u003c/span\u003epart of your speech, to wish\r\nto die; but, by the latter, sometimes not to be unwilling, and at others\r\nto be wholly indifferent about it. But the effect of your whole argument\r\nis, that I am convinced that death ought not to be classed among the\r\nevils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Do you, then, expect that I am to give you a regular peroration,\r\nlike the rhetoricians, or shall I forego that art?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I would not have you give over an art which you have set off to\r\nsuch advantage; and you were in the right to do so, for, to speak the\r\ntruth, it also has set you off. But what is that peroration? For I\r\nshould be glad to hear it, whatever it is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e It is customary, in the schools, to produce the opinions of the\r\nimmortal Gods on death; nor are these opinions the fruits of the\r\nimagination alone of the lecturers, but they have the authority of\r\nHerodotus and many others. Cleobis and Biton are the first they mention,\r\nsons of the Argive priestess; the story is a well-known one. As it was\r\nnecessary that she should be drawn in a chariot to a certain annual\r\nsacrifice, which was solemnized at a temple some considerable distance\r\nfrom the town, and the cattle that were to draw the chariot had not\r\narrived, those two young men whom I have just mentioned, pulling off\r\ntheir garments, and anointing their bodies with oil, harnessed\r\nthemselves to the yoke. And in this manner the priestess was conveyed to\r\nthe temple; and when the chariot had arrived at the proper place, she is\r\nsaid to have entreated the Goddess to bestow on them, as a reward for\r\ntheir piety, the greatest gift that a God could confer on man. And the\r\nyoung men, after having feasted with their mother, fell asleep; and in\r\nthe morning they were found dead. Trophonius and Agamedes are said to\r\nhave put up the same petition, for they, having built a temple to Apollo\r\nat Delphi, offered supplications to the God, and desired of him some\r\nextraordinary reward for their care and labor, particularizing nothing,\r\nbut asking for whatever was best for men. Accordingly, Apollo signified\r\nto them that he would bestow it on them in three days, and on the third\r\nday at daybreak they were found dead. And so they say that this was a\r\nformal decision pronounced by that God to \u003ca id=\"page-61\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e61\u003c/span\u003ewhom the rest of the deities\r\nhave assigned the province of divining with an accuracy superior to that\r\nof all the rest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVIII. There is also a story told of Silenus, who, when taken prisoner\r\nby Midas, is said to have made him this present for his ransom—namely,\r\nthat he informed him\u003ca id=\"FNA-25\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-25\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e25\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e that never to have been born was by far the\r\ngreatest blessing that could happen to man; and that the next best thing\r\nwas to die very soon; which very opinion Euripides makes use of in his\r\nCresphontes, saying,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen man is born, ‘tis fit, with solemn show,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe speak our sense of his approaching woe;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith other gestures and a different eye,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProclaim our pleasure when he’s bid to die.\u003ca id=\"FNA-26\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-26\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e26\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThere is something like this in Crantor’s Consolation; for he says that\r\nTerinæsus of Elysia, when he was bitterly lamenting the loss of his son,\r\ncame to a place of divination to be informed why he was visited with so\r\ngreat affliction, and received in his tablet these three verses:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThou fool, to murmur at Euthynous’ death!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe blooming youth to fate resigns his breath:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe fate, whereon your happiness depends,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAt once the parent and the son befriends.\u003ca id=\"FNA-27\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-27\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e27\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eOn these and similar authorities they affirm that the question has been\r\ndetermined by the Gods. Nay, more; Alcidamas, an ancient rhetorician of\r\nthe very highest reputation, wrote even in praise of death, which he\r\nendeavored to establish by an enumeration of the evils of life; and his\r\nDissertation has a great deal of eloquence in it; but \u003ca id=\"page-62\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e62\u003c/span\u003ehe was\r\nunacquainted with the more refined arguments of the philosophers. By the\r\norators, indeed, to die for our country is always considered not only as\r\nglorious, but even as happy: they go back as far as Erechtheus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-28\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-28\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e28\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nwhose very daughters underwent death, for the safety of their\r\nfellow-citizens: they instance Codrus, who threw himself into the midst\r\nof his enemies, dressed like a common man, that his royal robes might\r\nnot betray him, because the oracle had declared the Athenians\r\nconquerors, if their king was slain. Menœceus\u003ca id=\"FNA-29\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-29\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e29\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is not overlooked by\r\nthem, who, in compliance with the injunctions of an oracle, freely shed\r\nhis blood for his country. Iphigenia ordered herself to be conveyed to\r\nAulis, to be sacrificed, that her blood might be the cause of spilling\r\nthat of her enemies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIX. From hence they proceed to instances of a fresher date. Harmodius\r\nand Aristogiton are in everybody’s mouth; the memory of Leonidas the\r\nLacedæmonian and Epaminondas the Theban is as fresh as ever. Those\r\nphilosophers were not acquainted with the many instances in our\r\ncountry—to give a list of whom would take up too much time—who, we\r\nsee, considered death desirable as long as it was accompanied with\r\nhonor. But, notwithstanding this is the correct view of the case, we\r\nmust use much persuasion, speak as if we were endued with some higher\r\nauthority, in order to bring men to begin to wish to die, or cease to be\r\nafraid of death. For if that last day does not occasion an entire\r\nextinction, but a change of abode only, what can be more desirable? And\r\nif it, on the other hand, destroys, and absolutely puts an end to us,\r\nwhat can be preferable to the having a deep sleep fall on us, in the\r\nmidst of the fatigues of life, and being thus overtaken, to sleep to\r\neternity? And, should this really \u003ca id=\"page-63\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e63\u003c/span\u003ebe the case, then Ennius’s language\r\nis more consistent with wisdom than Solon’s; for our Ennius says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet none bestow upon my passing bier\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne needless sigh or unavailing tear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut the wise Solon says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet me not unlamented die, but o’er my bier\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBurst forth the tender sigh, the friendly tear.\u003ca id=\"FNA-30\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-30\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e30\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut let us, if indeed it should be our fate to know the time which is\r\nappointed by the Gods for us to die, prepare ourselves for it with a\r\ncheerful and grateful mind, thinking ourselves like men who are\r\ndelivered from a jail, and released from their fetters, for the purpose\r\nof going back to our eternal habitation, which may be more emphatically\r\ncalled our own; or else to be divested of all sense and trouble. If, on\r\nthe other hand, we should have no notice given us of this decree, yet\r\nlet us cultivate such a disposition as to look on that formidable hour\r\nof death as happy for us, though shocking to our friends; and let us\r\nnever imagine anything to be an evil which is an appointment of the\r\nimmortal Gods, or of nature, the common parent of all. For it is not by\r\nhazard or without design that we have been born and situated as we have.\r\nOn the contrary, beyond all doubt there is a certain power which\r\nconsults the happiness of human nature; and this would neither have\r\nproduced nor provided for a being which, after having gone through the\r\nlabors of life, was to fall into eternal misery by death. Let us rather\r\ninfer that we have a retreat and haven prepared for us, which I wish we\r\ncould crowd all sail and arrive at; but though the winds should not\r\nserve, and we should be driven back, yet we shall to a certainty arrive\r\nat that point eventually, though somewhat later. But how can that be\r\nmiserable for one which all must of necessity undergo? I have given you\r\na peroration, that you might not think I had overlooked or neglected\r\nanything.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I am persuaded you have not; and, indeed, that peroration has\r\nconfirmed me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-64\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e64\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I am glad it has had that effect. But it is now time to consult\r\nour health. To-morrow, and all the time we continue in this Tusculan\r\nvilla, let us consider this subject; and especially those portions of it\r\nwhich may ease our pain, alleviate our fears, and lessen our desires,\r\nwhich is the greatest advantage we can reap from the whole of\r\nphilosophy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK II.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eON BEARING PAIN.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eNeoptolemus\u003c/span\u003e, in Ennius, indeed, says that the study of philosophy was\r\nexpedient for him; but that it required limiting to a few subjects, for\r\nthat to give himself up entirely to it was what he did not approve of.\r\nAnd for my part, Brutus, I am perfectly persuaded that it is expedient\r\nfor me to philosophize; for what can I do better, especially as I have\r\nno regular occupation? But I am not for limiting my philosophy to a few\r\nsubjects, as he does; for philosophy is a matter in which it is\r\ndifficult to acquire a little knowledge without acquainting yourself\r\nwith many, or all its branches, nor can you well take a few subjects\r\nwithout selecting them out of a great number; nor can any one, who has\r\nacquired the knowledge of a few points, avoid endeavoring with the same\r\neagerness to understand more. But still, in a busy life, and in one\r\nmainly occupied with military matters, such as that of Neoptolemus was\r\nat that time, even that limited degree of acquaintance with philosophy\r\nmay be of great use, and may yield fruit, not perhaps so plentiful as a\r\nthorough knowledge of the whole of philosophy, but yet such as in some\r\ndegree may at times deliver us from the dominion of our desires, our\r\nsorrows, and our fears; just as the effect of that discussion which we\r\nlately maintained in my Tusculan villa seemed to be that a great\r\ncontempt of death was engendered, which contempt is of no small efficacy\r\ntowards delivering the mind from fear; for whoever dreads what cannot be\r\navoided can by no means live with a quiet and tranquil mind. But he who\r\nis under no \u003ca id=\"page-65\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e65\u003c/span\u003efear of death, not only because it is a thing absolutely\r\ninevitable but also because he is persuaded that death itself hath\r\nnothing terrible in it, provides himself with a very great resource\r\ntowards a happy life. However, I am not tolerant that many will argue\r\nstrenuously against us; and, indeed, that is a thing which can never be\r\navoided, except by abstaining from writing at all. For if my Orations,\r\nwhich were addressed to the judgment and approbation of the people (for\r\nthat is a popular art, and the object of oratory is popular applause),\r\nhave been criticised by some people who are inclined to withhold their\r\npraise from everything but what they are persuaded they can attain to\r\nthemselves, and who limit their ideas of good speaking by the hopes\r\nwhich they conceive of what they themselves may attain to, and who\r\ndeclare, when they are overwhelmed with a flow of words and sentences,\r\nthat they prefer the utmost poverty of thought and expression to that\r\nplenty and copiousness (from which arose the Attic kind of oratory,\r\nwhich they who professed it were strangers to, though they have now been\r\nsome time silenced, and laughed out of the very courts of justice), what\r\nmay I not expect, when at present I cannot have the least countenance\r\nfrom the people by whom I used to be upheld before? For philosophy is\r\nsatisfied with a few judges, and of her own accord industriously avoids\r\nthe multitude, who are jealous of it, and utterly displeased with it; so\r\nthat, should any one undertake to cry down the whole of it, he would\r\nhave the people on his side; while, if he should attack that school\r\nwhich I particularly profess, he would have great assistance from those\r\nof the other philosophers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. But I have answered the detractors of philosophy in general, in my\r\nHortensius. And what I had to say in favor of the Academics, is, I\r\nthink, explained with sufficient accuracy in my four books of the\r\nAcademic Question.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut yet I am so far from desiring that no one should write against me,\r\nthat it is what I most earnestly wish; for philosophy would never have\r\nbeen in such esteem in Greece itself, if it had not been for the\r\nstrength which it acquired from the contentions and disputations of the\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-66\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e66\u003c/span\u003emost learned men; and therefore I recommend all men who have abilities\r\nto follow my advice to snatch this art also from declining Greece, and\r\nto transport it to this city; as our ancestors by their study and\r\nindustry have imported all their other arts which were worth having.\r\nThus the praise of oratory, raised from a low degree, is arrived at such\r\nperfection that it must now decline, and, as is the nature of all\r\nthings, verge to its dissolution in a very short time. Let philosophy,\r\nthen, derive its birth in Latin language from this time, and let us lend\r\nit our assistance, and bear patiently to be contradicted and refuted;\r\nand although those men may dislike such treatment who are bound and\r\ndevoted to certain predetermined opinions, and are under such\r\nobligations to maintain them that they are forced, for the sake of\r\nconsistency, to adhere to them even though they do not themselves wholly\r\napprove of them; we, on the other hand, who pursue only probabilities,\r\nand who cannot go beyond that which seems really likely, can confute\r\nothers without obstinacy, and are prepared to be confuted ourselves\r\nwithout resentment. Besides, if these studies are ever brought home to\r\nus, we shall not want even Greek libraries, in which there is an\r\ninfinite number of books, by reason of the multitude of authors among\r\nthem; for it is a common practice with many to repeat the same things\r\nwhich have been written by others, which serves no purpose but to stuff\r\ntheir shelves; and this will be our case, too, if many apply themselves\r\nto this study.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. But let us excite those, if possible, who have had a liberal\r\neducation, and are masters of an elegant style, and who philosophize\r\nwith reason and method.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor there is a certain class of them who would willingly be called\r\nphilosophers, whose books in our language are said to be numerous, and\r\nwhich I do not despise; for, indeed, I never read them: but still,\r\nbecause the authors themselves declare that they write without any\r\nregularity, or method, or elegance, or ornament, I do not care to read\r\nwhat must be so void of entertainment. There is no one in the least\r\nacquainted with literature who does not know the style and sentiments of\r\nthat school; wherefore, since they are at no pains to express themselves\r\nwell, I \u003ca id=\"page-67\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e67\u003c/span\u003edo not see why they should be read by anybody except by one\r\nanother. Let them read them, if they please, who are of the same\r\nopinions; for in the same manner as all men read Plato and the other\r\nSocratics, with those who sprung from them, even those who do not agree\r\nwith their opinions, or are very indifferent about them; but scarcely\r\nany one except their own disciples take Epicurus or Metrodorus into\r\ntheir hands; so they alone read these Latin books who think that the\r\narguments contained in them are sound. But, in my opinion, whatever is\r\npublished should be recommended to the reading of every man of learning;\r\nand though we may not succeed in this ourselves, yet nevertheless we\r\nmust be sensible that this ought to be the aim of every writer. And on\r\nthis account I have always been pleased with the custom of the\r\nPeripatetics and Academics, of disputing on both sides of the question;\r\nnot solely from its being the only method of discovering what is\r\nprobable on every subject, but also because it affords the greatest\r\nscope for practising eloquence; a method that Aristotle first made use\r\nof, and afterward all the Aristotelians; and in our own memory Plilo,\r\nwhom we have often heard, appointed one time to treat of the precepts of\r\nthe rhetoricians, and another for philosophical discussion, to which\r\ncustom I was brought to conform by my friends at my Tusculum; and\r\naccordingly our leisure time was spent in this manner. And therefore, as\r\nyesterday before noon we applied ourselves to speaking, and in the\r\nafternoon went down into the Academy, the discussions which were held\r\nthere I have acquainted you with, not in the manner of a narration, but\r\nin almost the very same words which were employed in the debate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. The discourse, then, was introduced in this manner while we were\r\nwalking, and it was commenced by some such an opening as this:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e It is not to be expressed how much I was delighted, or rather\r\nedified, by your discourse of yesterday. For although I am conscious to\r\nmyself that I have never been too fond of life, yet at times, when I\r\nhave considered that there would be an end to this life, and that I must\r\nsome time or other part with all its good things, a certain dread \u003ca id=\"page-68\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e68\u003c/span\u003eand\r\nuneasiness used to intrude itself on my thoughts; but now, believe me, I\r\nam so freed from that kind of uneasiness that there is nothing that I\r\nthink less worth any regard.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I am not at all surprised at that, for it is the effect of\r\nphilosophy, which is the medicine of our souls; it banishes all\r\ngroundless apprehensions, frees us from desires, and drives away fears:\r\nbut it has not the same influence over all men; it is of very great\r\ninfluence when it falls in with a disposition well adapted to it. For\r\nnot only does Fortune, as the old proverb says, assist the bold, but\r\nreason does so in a still greater degree; for it, by certain precepts,\r\nas it were, strengthens even courage itself. You were born naturally\r\ngreat and soaring, and with a contempt for all things which pertain to\r\nman alone; therefore a discourse against death took easy possession of a\r\nbrave soul. But do you imagine that these same arguments have any force\r\nwith those very persons who have invented, and canvassed, and published\r\nthem, excepting indeed some very few particular persons? For how few\r\nphilosophers will you meet with whose life and manners are conformable\r\nto the dictates of reason! who look on their profession, not as a means\r\nof displaying their learning, but as a rule for their own practice! who\r\nfollow their own precepts, and comply with their own decrees! You may\r\nsee some of such levity and such vanity, that it would have been better\r\nfor them to have been ignorant; some covetous of money, some others\r\neager for glory, many slaves to their lusts; so that their discourses\r\nand their actions are most strangely at variance; than which nothing in\r\nmy opinion can be more unbecoming: for just as if one who professed to\r\nteach grammar should speak with impropriety, or a master of music sing\r\nout of tune, such conduct has the worst appearance in these men, because\r\nthey blunder in the very particular with which they profess that they\r\nare well acquainted. So a philosopher who errs in the conduct of his\r\nlife is the more infamous because he is erring in the very thing which\r\nhe pretends to teach, and, while he lays down rules to regulate life by,\r\nis irregular in his own life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Should this be the case, is it not to be feared that \u003ca id=\"page-69\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e69\u003c/span\u003eyou are\r\ndressing up philosophy in false colors? For what stronger argument can\r\nthere be that it is of little use than that some very profound\r\nphilosophers live in a discreditable manner?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e That, indeed, is no argument at all, for as all the fields which\r\nare cultivated are not fruitful (and this sentiment of Accius is false,\r\nand asserted without any foundation,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe ground you sow on is of small avail;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo yield a crop good seed can never fail),\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eit is not every mind which has been properly cultivated that produces\r\nfruit; and, to go on with the comparison, as a field, although it may be\r\nnaturally fruitful, cannot produce a crop without dressing, so neither\r\ncan the mind without education; such is the weakness of either without\r\nthe other. Whereas philosophy is the culture of the mind: this it is\r\nwhich plucks up vices by the roots; prepares the mind for the receiving\r\nof seeds; commits them to it, or, as I may say, sows them, in the hope\r\nthat, when come to maturity, they may produce a plentiful harvest. Let\r\nus proceed, then, as we began. Say, if you please, what shall be the\r\nsubject of our disputation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I look on pain to be the greatest of all evils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, even greater than infamy?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I dare not indeed assert that; and I blush to think I am so soon\r\ndriven from my ground.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You would have had greater reason for blushing had you persevered\r\nin it; for what is so unbecoming—what can appear worse to you, than\r\ndisgrace, wickedness, immorality? To avoid which, what pain is there\r\nwhich we ought not (I will not say to avoid shirking, but even) of our\r\nown accord to encounter, and undergo, and even to court?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I am entirely of that opinion; but, notwithstanding that pain is\r\nnot the greatest evil, yet surely it is an evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Do you perceive, then, how much of the terror of pain you have\r\ngiven up on a small hint?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I see that plainly; but I should be glad to give up more of it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I will endeavor to make you do so; but it is a great \u003ca id=\"page-70\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e70\u003c/span\u003eundertaking,\r\nand I must have a disposition on your part which is not inclined to\r\noffer any obstacles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You shall have such: for as I behaved yesterday, so now I will\r\nfollow reason wherever she leads.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e First, then, I will speak of the weakness of many philosophers,\r\nand those, too, of various sects; the head of whom, both in authority\r\nand antiquity, was Aristippus, the pupil of Socrates, who hesitated not\r\nto say that pain was the greatest of all evils. And after him Epicurus\r\neasily gave in to this effeminate and enervated doctrine. After him\r\nHieronymus the Rhodian said, that to be without pain was the chief good,\r\nso great an evil did pain appear to him to be. The rest, with the\r\nexceptions of Zeno, Aristo, Pyrrho, were pretty much of the same opinion\r\nthat you were of just now—that it was indeed an evil, but that there\r\nwere many worse. When, then, nature herself, and a certain generous\r\nfeeling of virtue, at once prevents you from persisting in the assertion\r\nthat pain is the chief evil, and when you were driven from such an\r\nopinion when disgrace was contrasted with pain, shall philosophy, the\r\npreceptress of life, cling to this idea for so many ages? What duty of\r\nlife, what praise, what reputation, would be of such consequence that a\r\nman should be desirous of gaining it at the expense of submitting to\r\nbodily pain, when he has persuaded himself that pain is the greatest\r\nevil? On the other side, what disgrace, what ignominy, would he not\r\nsubmit to that he might avoid pain, when persuaded that it was the\r\ngreatest of evils? Besides, what person, if it be only true that pain is\r\nthe greatest of evils, is not miserable, not only when he actually feels\r\npain, but also whenever he is aware that it may befall him. And who is\r\nthere whom pain may not befall? So that it is clear that there is\r\nabsolutely no one who can possibly be happy. Metrodorus, indeed, thinks\r\nthat man perfectly happy whose body is free from all disorders, and who\r\nhas an assurance that it will always continue so; but who is there who\r\ncan be assured of that?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. But Epicurus, indeed, says such things that it should seem that his\r\ndesign was only to make people laugh; for he affirms somewhere that if a\r\nwise man were to be burned or put to the torture—you expect, perhaps,\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-71\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e71\u003c/span\u003ethat he is going to say he would bear it, he would support himself\r\nunder it with resolution, he would not yield to it (and that by\r\nHercules! would be very commendable, and worthy of that very Hercules\r\nwhom I have just invoked): but even this will not satisfy Epicurus, that\r\nrobust and hardy man! No; his wise man, even if he were in Phalaris’s\r\nbull, would say, How sweet it is! how little do I regard it! What,\r\nsweet? Is it not sufficient, if it is not disagreeable? But those very\r\nmen who deny pain to be an evil are not in the habit of saying that it\r\nis agreeable to any one to be tormented; they rather say that it is\r\ncruel, or hard to bear, afflicting, unnatural, but still not an evil:\r\nwhile this man who says that it is the only evil, and the very worst of\r\nall evils, yet thinks that a wise man would pronounce it sweet. I do not\r\nrequire of you to speak of pain in the same words which Epicurus uses—a\r\nman, as you know, devoted to pleasure: he may make no difference, if he\r\npleases, between Phalaris’s bull and his own bed; but I cannot allow the\r\nwise man to be so indifferent about pain. If he bears it with courage,\r\nit is sufficient: that he should rejoice in it, I do not expect; for\r\npain is, beyond all question, sharp, bitter, against nature, hard to\r\nsubmit to and to bear. Observe Philoctetes: We may allow him to lament,\r\nfor he saw Hercules himself groaning loudly through extremity of pain on\r\nMount Œta. The arrows with which Hercules presented him were then no\r\nconsolation to him, when\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe viper’s bite, impregnating his veins\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith poison, rack’d him with its bitter pains.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd therefore he cries out, desiring help, and wishing to die,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOh that some friendly hand its aid would lend,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy body from this rock’s vast height to send\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eInto the briny deep! I’m all on fire,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd by this fatal wound must soon expire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eIt is hard to say that the man who was obliged to cry out in this manner\r\nwas not oppressed with evil, and great evil too.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. But let us observe Hercules himself, who was subdued by pain at\r\nthe very time when he was on the point \u003ca id=\"page-72\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e72\u003c/span\u003eof attaining immortality by\r\ndeath. What words does Sophocles here put in his mouth, in his\r\nTrachiniæ? who, when Deianira had put upon him a tunic dyed in the\r\ncentaur’s blood, and it stuck to his entrails, says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat tortures I endure no words can tell,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFar greater these, than those which erst befell\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the dire terror of thy consort, Jove—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eE’en stern Eurystheus’ dire command above;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis of thy daughter, Œneus, is the fruit,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBeguiling me with her envenom’d suit,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhose close embrace doth on my entrails prey,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsuming life; my lungs forbid to play;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe blood forsakes my veins; my manly heart\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForgets to beat; enervated, each part\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNeglects its office, while my fatal doom\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProceeds ignobly from the weaver’s loom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe hand of foe ne’er hurt me, nor the fierce\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGiant issuing from his parent earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNe’er could the Centaur such a blow enforce,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo barbarous foe, nor all the Grecian force;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis arm no savage people could withstand,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhose realms I traversed to reform the land.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus, though I ever bore a manly heart,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI fall a victim to a woman’s art.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003eIX.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAssist, my son, if thou that name dost hear,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy groans preferring to thy mother’s tear:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConvey her here, if, in thy pious heart,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThy mother shares not an unequal part:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProceed, be bold, thy father’s fate bemoan,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNations will join, you will not weep alone.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOh, what a sight is this same briny source,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUnknown before, through all my labors’ course!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat virtue, which could brave each toil but late,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith woman’s weakness now bewails its fate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eApproach, my son; behold thy father laid,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA wither’d carcass that implores thy aid;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet all behold: and thou, imperious Jove,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn me direct thy lightning from above:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow all its force the poison doth assume,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd my burnt entrails with its flame consume.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCrestfallen, unembraced, I now let fall\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eListless, those hands that lately conquer’d all;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the Nemæan lion own’d their force,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd he indignant fell a breathless corse;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe serpent slew, of the Lernean lake,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs did the Hydra of its force partake:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy this, too, fell the Erymanthian boar:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-73\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e73\u003c/span\u003eE’en Cerberus did his weak strength deplore.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis sinewy arm did overcome with ease\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat dragon, guardian of the Golden Fleece.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy many conquests let some others trace;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s mine to say, I never knew disgrace.\u003ca id=\"FNA-31\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-31\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e31\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eCan we then, despise pain, when we see Hercules himself giving vent to\r\nhis expressions of agony with such impatience?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. Let us see what Æschylus says, who was not only a poet but a\r\nPythagorean philosopher also, for that is the account which you have\r\nreceived of him; how doth he make Prometheus bear the pain he suffered\r\nfor the Lemnian theft, when he clandestinely stole away the celestial\r\nfire, and bestowed it on men, and was severely punished by Jupiter for\r\nthe theft. Fastened to Mount Caucasus, he speaks thus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThou heav’n-born race of Titans here fast bound,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBehold thy brother! As the sailors sound\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith care the bottom, and their ships confine\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo some safe shore, with anchor and with line;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo, by Jove’s dread decree, the God of fire\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConfines me here the victim of Jove’s ire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith baneful art his dire machine he shapes;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom such a God what mortal e’er escapes?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen each third day shall triumph o’er the night,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen doth the vulture, with his talons light,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSeize on my entrails; which, in rav’nous guise,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe preys on! then with wing extended flies\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAloft, and brushes with his plumes the gore:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut when dire Jove my liver doth restore,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBack he returns impetuous to his prey,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eClapping his wings, he cuts th’ ethereal way.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus do I nourish with my blood this pest,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConfined my arms, unable to contest;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEntreating only that in pity Jove\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWould take my life, and this cursed plague remove.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut endless ages past unheard my moan,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSooner shall drops dissolve this very stone.\u003ca id=\"FNA-32\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-32\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e32\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd therefore it scarcely seems possible to avoid calling a man who is\r\nsuffering, miserable; and if he is miserable, then pain is an evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-74\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e74\u003c/span\u003eXI. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Hitherto you are on my side; I will see to that by-and-by;\r\nand, in the mean while, whence are those verses? I do not remember them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I will inform you, for you are in the right to ask. Do you see that\r\nI have much leisure?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e What, then?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I imagine, when you were at Athens, you attended frequently at the\r\nschools of the philosophers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Yes, and with great pleasure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You observed, then, that though none of them at that time were very\r\neloquent, yet they used to mix verses with their harangues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Yes, and particularly Dionysius the Stoic used to employ a great\r\nmany.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You say right; but they were quoted without any appropriateness or\r\nelegance. But our friend Philo used to give a few select lines and well\r\nadapted; and in imitation of him, ever since I took a fancy to this kind\r\nof elderly declamation, I have been very fond of quoting our poets; and\r\nwhere I cannot be supplied from them, I translate from the Greek, that\r\nthe Latin language may not want any kind of ornament in this kind of\r\ndisputation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, do you not see how much harm is done by poets? They introduce the\r\nbravest men lamenting over their misfortunes: they soften our minds; and\r\nthey are, besides, so entertaining, that we do not only read them, but\r\nget them by heart. Thus the influence of the poets is added to our want\r\nof discipline at home, and our tender and delicate manner of living, so\r\nthat between them they have deprived virtue of all its vigor and energy.\r\nPlato, therefore, was right in banishing them from his commonwealth,\r\nwhere he required the best morals, and the best form of government. But\r\nwe, who have all our learning from Greece, read and learn these works of\r\ntheirs from our childhood; and look on this as a liberal and learned\r\neducation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. But why are we angry with the poets? We may find some philosophers,\r\nthose masters of virtue, who have taught that pain was the greatest of\r\nevils. But you, young man, when you said but just now that it appeared\r\nso to you, upon being asked by me what appeared greater than infamy,\r\ngave up that opinion at a word. Suppose I ask \u003ca id=\"page-75\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e75\u003c/span\u003eEpicurus the same\r\nquestion. He will answer that a trifling degree of pain is a greater\r\nevil than the greatest infamy; for that there is no evil in infamy\r\nitself, unless attended with pain. What pain, then, attends Epicurus,\r\nwhen he says that very thing, that pain is the greatest evil! And yet\r\nnothing can be a greater disgrace to a philosopher than to talk thus.\r\nTherefore, you allowed enough when you admitted that infamy appeared to\r\nyou to be a greater evil than pain. And if you abide by this admission,\r\nyou will see how far pain should be resisted; and that our inquiry\r\nshould be not so much whether pain be an evil, as how the mind may be\r\nfortified for resisting it. The Stoics infer from some petty quibbling\r\narguments that it is no evil, as if the dispute were about a word, and\r\nnot about the thing itself. Why do you impose upon me, Zeno? For when\r\nyou deny what appears very dreadful to me to be an evil, I am deceived,\r\nand am at a loss to know why that which appears to me to be a most\r\nmiserable thing should be no evil. The answer is, that nothing is an\r\nevil but what is base and vicious. You return to your trifling, for you\r\ndo not remove what made me uneasy. I know that pain is not vice—you\r\nneed not inform me of that: but show me that it makes no difference to\r\nme whether I am in pain or not. It has never anything to do, say you,\r\nwith a happy life, for that depends upon virtue alone; but yet pain is\r\nto be avoided. If I ask, why? It is disagreeable, against nature, hard\r\nto bear, woful and afflicting.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Here are many words to express that by so many different forms\r\nwhich we call by the single word evil. You are defining pain, instead of\r\nremoving it, when you say, it is disagreeable, unnatural, scarcely\r\npossible to be endured or borne, nor are you wrong in saying so: but the\r\nman who vaunts himself in such a manner should not give way in his\r\nconduct, if it be true that nothing is good but what is honest, and\r\nnothing evil but what is disgraceful. This would be wishing, not\r\nproving. This argument is a better one, and has more truth in it—that\r\nall things which Nature abhors are to be looked upon as evil; that those\r\nwhich she approves of are to be considered as good: for when this is\r\nadmitted, and the dispute \u003ca id=\"page-76\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e76\u003c/span\u003eabout words removed, that which they with\r\nreason embrace, and which we call honest, right, becoming, and sometimes\r\ninclude under the general name of virtue, appears so far superior to\r\neverything else that all other things which are looked upon as the gifts\r\nof fortune, or the good things of the body, seem trifling and\r\ninsignificant; and no evil whatever, nor all the collective body of\r\nevils together, appears to be compared to the evil of infamy. Wherefore,\r\nif, as you granted in the beginning, infamy is worse than pain, pain is\r\ncertainly nothing; for while it appears to you base and unmanly to\r\ngroan, cry out, lament, or faint under pain; while you cherish notions\r\nof probity, dignity, honor, and, keeping your eye on them, refrain\r\nyourself, pain will certainly yield to virtue, and, by the influence of\r\nimagination, will lose its whole force.—For you must either admit that\r\nthere is no such thing as virtue, or you must despise every kind of\r\npain. Will you allow of such a virtue as prudence, without which no\r\nvirtue whatever can even be conceived? What, then? Will that suffer you\r\nto labor and take pains to no purpose? Will temperance permit you to do\r\nanything to excess? Will it be possible for justice to be maintained by\r\none who through the force of pain discovers secrets, or betrays his\r\nconfederates, or deserts many duties of life? Will you act in a manner\r\nconsistently with courage, and its attendants, greatness of soul,\r\nresolution, patience, and contempt for all worldly things? Can you hear\r\nyourself called a great man when you lie grovelling, dejected, and\r\ndeploring your condition with a lamentable voice; no one would call you\r\neven a man while in such a condition. You must therefore either abandon\r\nall pretensions to courage, or else pain must be put out of the\r\nquestion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. You know very well that, even though part of your Corinthian\r\nfurniture were gone, the remainder might be safe without that; but if\r\nyou lose one virtue (though virtue in reality cannot be lost), still if,\r\nI say, you should acknowledge that you were deficient in one, you would\r\nbe stripped of all. Can you, then, call yourself a brave man, of a great\r\nsoul, endued with patience and steadiness above the frowns of fortune?\r\nor Philoctetes? for I choose to instance him, rather than yourself, for\r\nhe certainly was not \u003ca id=\"page-77\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e77\u003c/span\u003ea brave man, who lay in his bed, which was watered\r\nwith his tears,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhose groans, bewailings, and whose bitter cries,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith grief incessant rent the very skies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eI do not deny pain to be pain—for were that the case, in what would\r\ncourage consist?—but I say it should be assuaged by patience, if there\r\nbe such a thing as patience: if there be no such thing, why do we speak\r\nso in praise of philosophy? or why do we glory in its name? Does pain\r\nannoy us? Let it sting us to the heart: if you are without defensive\r\narmor, bare your throat to it; but if you are secured by Vulcanian\r\narmor, that is to say by resolution, resist it. Should you fail to do\r\nso, that guardian of your honor, your courage, will forsake and leave\r\nyou.—By the laws of Lycurgus, and by those which were given to the\r\nCretans by Jupiter, or which Minos established under the direction of\r\nJupiter, as the poets say, the youths of the State are trained by the\r\npractice of hunting, running, enduring hunger and thirst, cold and heat.\r\nThe boys at Sparta are scourged so at the altars that blood follows the\r\nlash in abundance; nay, sometimes, as I used to hear when I was there,\r\nthey are whipped even to death; and yet not one of them was ever heard\r\nto cry out, or so much as groan. What, then? Shall men not be able to\r\nbear what boys do? and shall custom have such great force, and reason\r\nnone at all?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. There is some difference between labor and pain; they border upon\r\none another, but still there is a certain difference between them. Labor\r\nis a certain exercise of the mind or body, in some employment or\r\nundertaking of serious trouble and importance; but pain is a sharp\r\nmotion in the body, disagreeable to our senses.—Both these feelings,\r\nthe Greeks, whose language is more copious than ours, express by the\r\ncommon name of \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠόνος\u003c/span\u003e: therefore they call industrious men painstaking,\r\nor, rather, fond of labor; we, more conveniently, call them laborious;\r\nfor laboring is one thing, and enduring pain another. You see, O Greece!\r\nyour barrenness of words, sometimes, though you think you are always so\r\nrich in them. I say, then, that there is a difference between laboring\r\nand being in \u003ca id=\"page-78\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e78\u003c/span\u003epain. When Caius Marius had an operation performed for a\r\nswelling in his thigh, he felt pain; when he headed his troops in a very\r\nhot season, he labored. Yet these two feelings bear some resemblance to\r\none another; for the accustoming ourselves to labor makes the endurance\r\nof pain more easy to us. And it was because they were influenced by this\r\nreason that the founders of the Grecian form of government provided that\r\nthe bodies of their youth should be strengthened by labor, which custom\r\nthe Spartans transferred even to their women, who in other cities lived\r\nmore delicately, keeping within the walls of their houses; but it was\r\notherwise with the Spartans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spartan women, with a manly air,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFatigues and dangers with their husbands share;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey in fantastic sports have no delight,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePartners with them in exercise and fight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd in these laborious exercises pain interferes sometimes. They are\r\nthrown down, receive blows, have bad falls, and are bruised, and the\r\nlabor itself produces a sort of callousness to pain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. As to military service (I speak of our own, not of that of the\r\nSpartans, for they used to march slowly to the sound of the flute, and\r\nscarce a word of command was given without an anapæst), you may see, in\r\nthe first place, whence the very name of an army (\u003ci\u003eexercitus\u003c/i\u003e\u003ca id=\"FNA-33\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-33\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e33\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e) is\r\nderived; and, secondly, how great the labor is of an army on its march:\r\nthen consider that they carry more than a fortnight’s provision, and\r\nwhatever else they may want; that they carry the burden of the\r\nstakes,\u003ca id=\"FNA-34\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-34\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e34\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e for as to shield, sword, or helmet, they look on them as no\r\nmore encumbrance than their own limbs, for they say that arms are the\r\nlimbs of a soldier, and those, indeed, they carry so commodiously that,\r\nwhen there is occasion, they throw down their burdens, and use their\r\narms as readily as their limbs. Why need I mention the exercises of the\r\nlegions? And how great the labor is which is undergone in the running,\r\nencounters, shouts! Hence it is that their minds are worked \u003ca id=\"page-79\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e79\u003c/span\u003eup to make\r\nso light of wounds in action. Take a soldier of equal bravery, but\r\nundisciplined, and he will seem a woman. Why is it that there is this\r\nsensible difference between a raw recruit and a veteran soldier? The age\r\nof the young soldiers is for the most part in their favor; but it is\r\npractice only that enables men to bear labor and despise wounds.\r\nMoreover, we often see, when the wounded are carried off the field, the\r\nraw, untried soldier, though but slightly wounded, cries out most\r\nshamefully; but the more brave, experienced veteran only inquires for\r\nsome one to dress his wounds, and says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePatroclus, to thy aid I must appeal\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEre worse ensue, my bleeding wounds to heal;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe sons of Æsculapius are employ’d,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo room for me, so many are annoy’d.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. This is certainly Eurypylus himself. What an experienced\r\nman!—While his friend is continually enlarging on his misfortunes, you\r\nmay observe that he is so far from weeping that he even assigns a reason\r\nwhy he should bear his wounds with patience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho at his enemy a stroke directs,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis sword to light upon himself expects.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePatroclus, I suppose, will lead him off to his chamber to bind up his\r\nwounds, at least if he be a man: but not a word of that; he only\r\ninquires how the battle went:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSay how the Argives bear themselves in fight?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd yet no words can show the truth as well as those, your deeds and\r\nvisible sufferings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePeace! and my wounds bind up;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ebut though Eurypylus could bear these afflictions, Æsopus could not,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere Hector’s fortune press’d our yielding troops;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eand he explains the rest, though in pain. So unbounded is military glory\r\nin a brave man! Shall, then, a veteran soldier be able to behave in this\r\nmanner, and shall a wise and learned man not be able? Surely the latter\r\nmight be \u003ca id=\"page-80\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e80\u003c/span\u003eable to bear pain better, and in no small degree either. At\r\npresent, however, I am confining myself to what is engendered by\r\npractice and discipline. I am not yet come to speak of reason and\r\nphilosophy. You may often hear of old women living without victuals for\r\nthree or four days; but take away a wrestler’s provisions but for one\r\nday, and he will implore the aid of Jupiter Olympius, the very God for\r\nwhom he exercises himself: he will cry out that he cannot endure it.\r\nGreat is the force of custom! Sportsmen will continue whole nights in\r\nthe snow; they will bear being almost frozen upon the mountains. From\r\npractice boxers will not so much as utter a groan, however bruised by\r\nthe cestus. But what do you think of those to whom a victory in the\r\nOlympic games seemed almost on a par with the ancient consulships of the\r\nRoman people? What wounds will the gladiators bear, who are either\r\nbarbarians, or the very dregs of mankind! How do they, who are trained\r\nto it, prefer being wounded to basely avoiding it! How often do they\r\nprove that they consider nothing but the giving satisfaction to their\r\nmasters or to the people! for when covered with wounds, they send to\r\ntheir masters to learn their pleasure: if it is their will, they are\r\nready to lie down and die. What gladiator, of even moderate reputation,\r\never gave a sigh? who ever turned pale? who ever disgraced himself\r\neither in the actual combat, or even when about to die? who that had\r\nbeen defeated ever drew in his neck to avoid the stroke of death? So\r\ngreat is the force of practice, deliberation, and custom! Shall this,\r\nthen, be done by\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA Samnite rascal, worthy of his trade;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eand shall a man born to glory have so soft a part in his soul as not to\r\nbe able to fortify it by reason and reflection? The sight of the\r\ngladiators’ combats is by some looked on as cruel and inhuman, and I do\r\nnot know, as it is at present managed, but it may be so; but when the\r\nguilty fought, we might receive by our ears perhaps (but certainly by\r\nour eyes we could not) better training to harden us against pain and\r\ndeath.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. I have now said enough about the effects of exercise, custom, and\r\ncareful meditation. Proceed we now \u003ca id=\"page-81\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e81\u003c/span\u003eto consider the force of reason,\r\nunless you have something to reply to what has been said.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e That I should interrupt you! By no means; for your discourse has\r\nbrought me over to your opinion. Let the Stoics, then, think it their\r\nbusiness to determine whether pain be an evil or not, while they\r\nendeavor to show by some strained and trifling conclusions, which are\r\nnothing to the purpose, that pain is no evil. My opinion is, that\r\nwhatever it is, it is not so great as it appears; and I say, that men\r\nare influenced to a great extent by some false representations and\r\nappearance of it, and that all which is really felt is capable of being\r\nendured. Where shall I begin, then? Shall I superficially go over what I\r\nsaid before, that my discourse may have a greater scope?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis, then, is agreed upon by all, and not only by learned men, but also\r\nby the unlearned, that it becomes the brave and magnanimous—those that\r\nhave patience and a spirit above this world—not to give way to pain.\r\nNor has there ever been any one who did not commend a man who bore it in\r\nthis manner. That, then, which is expected from a brave man, and is\r\ncommended when it is seen, it must surely be base in any one to be\r\nafraid of at its approach, or not to bear when it comes. But I would\r\nhave you consider whether, as all the right affections of the soul are\r\nclassed under the name of virtues, the truth is that this is not\r\nproperly the name of them all, but that they all have their name from\r\nthat leading virtue which is superior to all the rest: for the name\r\n“virtue” comes from \u003ci\u003evir\u003c/i\u003e, a man, and courage is the peculiar\r\ndistinction of a man: and this virtue has two principal duties, to\r\ndespise death and pain. We must, then, exert these, if we would be men\r\nof virtue, or, rather, if we would be men, because virtue (\u003ci\u003evirtus\u003c/i\u003e) takes\r\nits very name from \u003ci\u003evir\u003c/i\u003e, man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. You may inquire, perhaps, how? And such an inquiry is not amiss,\r\nfor philosophy is ready with her assistance. Epicurus offers himself to\r\nyou, a man far from a bad—or, I should rather say, a very good man: he\r\nadvises no more than he knows. “Despise pain,” says he. Who is it saith\r\nthis? Is it the same man who calls pain the greatest of all evils? It is\r\nnot, indeed, very consistent in him. Let us hear what he says: “If the\r\npain is excessive, \u003ca id=\"page-82\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e82\u003c/span\u003eit must needs be short.” I must have that over\r\nagain, for I do not apprehend what you mean exactly by “excessive” or\r\n“short.” That is excessive than which nothing can be greater; that is\r\nshort than which nothing is shorter. I do not regard the greatness of\r\nany pain from which, by reason of the shortness of its continuance, I\r\nshall be delivered almost before it reaches me. But if the pain be as\r\ngreat as that of Philoctetes, it will appear great indeed to me, but yet\r\nnot the greatest that I am capable of bearing; for the pain is confined\r\nto my foot. But my eye may pain me, I may have a pain in the head, or\r\nsides, or lungs, or in every part of me. It is far, then, from being\r\nexcessive. Therefore, says he, pain of a long continuance has more\r\npleasure in it than uneasiness. Now, I cannot bring myself to say so\r\ngreat a man talks nonsense; but I imagine he is laughing at us. My\r\nopinion is that the greatest pain (I say the greatest, though it may be\r\nten atoms less than another) is not therefore short, because acute. I\r\ncould name to you a great many good men who have been tormented many\r\nyears with the acutest pains of the gout. But this cautious man doth not\r\ndetermine the measure of that greatness or of duration, so as to enable\r\nus to know what he calls excessive with regard to pain, or short with\r\nrespect to its continuance. Let us pass him by, then, as one who says\r\njust nothing at all; and let us force him to acknowledge,\r\nnotwithstanding he might behave himself somewhat boldly under his colic\r\nand his strangury, that no remedy against pain can be had from him who\r\nlooks on pain as the greatest of all evils. We must apply, then, for\r\nrelief elsewhere, and nowhere better (if we seek for what is most\r\nconsistent with itself) than to those who place the chief good in\r\nhonesty, and the greatest evil in infamy. You dare not so much as groan,\r\nor discover the least uneasiness in their company, for virtue itself\r\nspeaks to you through them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. Will you, when you may observe children at Lacedæmon, and young men\r\nat Olympia, and barbarians in the amphitheatre, receive the severest\r\nwounds, and bear them without once opening their mouths—will you, I\r\nsay, if any pain should by chance attack you, cry out like a woman? Will\r\nyou not rather bear it with resolution and constancy? \u003ca id=\"page-83\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e83\u003c/span\u003eand not cry, It\r\nis intolerable; nature cannot bear it! I hear what you say: Boys bear\r\nthis because they are led thereto by glory; some bear it through shame,\r\nmany through fear, and yet are we afraid that nature cannot bear what is\r\nborne by many, and in such different circumstances? Nature not only\r\nbears it, but challenges it, for there is nothing with her preferable,\r\nnothing which she desires more than credit, and reputation, and praise,\r\nand honor, and glory. I choose here to describe this one thing under\r\nmany names, and I have used many that you may have the clearer idea of\r\nit; for what I mean to say is, that whatever is desirable of itself,\r\nproceeding from virtue, or placed in virtue, and commendable on its own\r\naccount (which I would rather agree to call the only good than deny it\r\nto be the chief good) is what men should prefer above all things. And as\r\nwe declare this to be the case with respect to honesty, so we speak in\r\nthe contrary manner of infamy; nothing is so odious, so detestable,\r\nnothing so unworthy of a man. And if you are thoroughly convinced of\r\nthis (for, at the beginning of this discourse, you allowed that there\r\nappeared to you more evil in infamy than in pain), it follows that you\r\nought to have the command over yourself, though I scarcely know how this\r\nexpression may seem an accurate one, which appears to represent man as\r\nmade up of two natures, so that one should be in command and the other\r\nbe subject to it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. Yet this division does not proceed from ignorance; for the soul\r\nadmits of a twofold division, one of which partakes of reason, the other\r\nis without it. When, therefore, we are ordered to give a law to\r\nourselves, the meaning is, that reason should restrain our rashness.\r\nThere is in the soul of every man something naturally soft, low,\r\nenervated in a manner, and languid. Were there nothing besides this, men\r\nwould be the greatest of monsters; but there is present to every man\r\nreason, which presides over and gives laws to all; which, by improving\r\nitself, and making continual advances, becomes perfect virtue. It\r\nbehooves a man, then, to take care that reason shall have the command\r\nover that part which is bound to practise obedience. In what manner? you\r\nwill say. Why, as a master has over his slave, a general over his \u003ca id=\"page-84\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e84\u003c/span\u003earmy,\r\na father over his son. If that part of the soul which I have called soft\r\nbehaves disgracefully, if it gives itself up to lamentations and\r\nwomanish tears, then let it be restrained, and committed to the care of\r\nfriends and relations, for we often see those persons brought to order\r\nby shame whom no reasons can influence. Therefore, we should confine\r\nthose feelings, like our servants, in safe custody, and almost with\r\nchains. But those who have more resolution, and yet are not utterly\r\nimmovable, we should encourage with our exhortations, as we would good\r\nsoldiers, to recollect themselves, and maintain their honor. That wisest\r\nman of all Greece, in the Niptræ, does not lament too much over his\r\nwounds, or, rather, he is moderate in his grief:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMove slow, my friends; your hasty speed refrain,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLest by your motion you increase my pain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePacuvius is better in this than Sophocles, for in the one Ulysses\r\nbemoans his wounds too vehemently; for the very people who carried him\r\nafter he was wounded, though his grief was moderate, yet, considering\r\nthe dignity of the man, did not scruple to say,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd thou, Ulysses, long to war inured,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThy wounds, though great, too feebly hast endured.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe wise poet understood that custom was no contemptible instructor how\r\nto bear pain. But the same hero complains with more decency, though in\r\ngreat pain:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAssist, support me, never leave me so;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUnbind my wounds, oh! execrable woe!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe begins to give way, but instantly checks himself:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAway! begone! but cover first the sore;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor your rude hands but make my pains the more.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eDo you observe how he constrains himself? not that his bodily pains were\r\nless, but because he checks the anguish of his mind. Therefore, in the\r\nconclusion of the Niptræ, he blames others, even when he himself is\r\ndying:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eComplaints of fortune may become the man,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNone but a woman will thus weeping stand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-85\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e85\u003c/span\u003eAnd so that soft place in his soul obeys his reason, just as an abashed\r\nsoldier does his stern commander.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. The man, then, in whom absolute wisdom exists (such a man, indeed,\r\nwe have never as yet seen, but the philosophers have described in their\r\nwritings what sort of man he will be, if he should exist); such a man,\r\nor at least that perfect and absolute reason which exists in him, will\r\nhave the same authority over the inferior part as a good parent has over\r\nhis dutiful children: he will bring it to obey his nod without any\r\ntrouble or difficulty. He will rouse himself, prepare and arm himself,\r\nto oppose pain as he would an enemy. If you inquire what arms he will\r\nprovide himself with, they will be contention, encouragement, discourse\r\nwith himself. He will say thus to himself: Take care that you are guilty\r\nof nothing base, languid, or unmanly. He will turn over in his mind all\r\nthe different kinds of honor. Zeno of Elea will occur to him, who\r\nsuffered everything rather than betray his confederates in the design of\r\nputting an end to the tyranny. He will reflect on Anaxarchus, the pupil\r\nof Democritus, who, having fallen into the hands of Nicocreon, King of\r\nCyprus, without the least entreaty for mercy or refusal, submitted to\r\nevery kind of torture. Calanus the Indian will occur to him, an ignorant\r\nman and a barbarian, born at the foot of Mount Caucasus, who committed\r\nhimself to the flames by his own free, voluntary act. But we, if we have\r\nthe toothache, or a pain in the foot, or if the body be anyways\r\naffected, cannot bear it. For our sentiments of pain as well as pleasure\r\nare so trifling and effeminate, we are so enervated and relaxed by\r\nluxuries, that we cannot bear the sting of a bee without crying out. But\r\nCaius Marius, a plain countryman, but of a manly soul, when he had an\r\noperation performed on him, as I mentioned above, at first refused to be\r\ntied down; and he is the first instance of any one’s having had an\r\noperation performed on him without being tied down. Why, then, did\r\nothers bear it afterward? Why, from the force of example. You see, then,\r\nthat pain exists more in opinion than in nature; and yet the same Marius\r\ngave a proof that there is something very sharp in pain for he would not\r\nsubmit to have the other thigh cut. So that he bore his pain with\r\nresolution as a man; but, \u003ca id=\"page-86\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e86\u003c/span\u003elike a reasonable person, he was not willing\r\nto undergo any greater pain without some necessary reason. The whole,\r\nthen, consists in this—that you should have command over yourself. I\r\nhave already told you what kind of command this is; and by considering\r\nwhat is most consistent with patience, fortitude, and greatness of soul,\r\na man not only restrains himself, but, somehow or other, mitigates even\r\npain itself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. Even as in a battle the dastardly and timorous soldier throws\r\naway his shield on the first appearance of an enemy, and runs as fast as\r\nhe can, and on that account loses his life sometimes, though he has\r\nnever received even one wound, when he who stands his ground has nothing\r\nof the sort happen to him, so they who cannot bear the appearance of\r\npain throw themselves away, and give themselves up to affliction and\r\ndismay. But they that oppose it, often come off more than a match for\r\nit. For the body has a certain resemblance to the soul: as burdens are\r\nmore easily borne the more the body is exerted, while they crush us if\r\nwe give way, so the soul by exerting itself resists the whole weight\r\nthat would oppress it; but if it yields, it is so pressed that it cannot\r\nsupport itself. And if we consider things truly, the soul should exert\r\nitself in every pursuit, for that is the only security for its doing its\r\nduty. But this should be principally regarded in pain, that we must not\r\ndo anything timidly, or dastardly, or basely, or slavishly, or\r\neffeminately, and, above all things, we must dismiss and avoid that\r\nPhiloctetean sort of outcry. A man is allowed sometimes to groan, but\r\nyet seldom; but it is not permissible even in a woman to howl; for such\r\na noise as this is forbidden, by the twelve tables, to be used even at\r\nfunerals. Nor does a wise or brave man ever groan, unless when he exerts\r\nhimself to give his resolution greater force, as they who run in the\r\nstadium make as much noise as they can. The wrestlers, too, do the same\r\nwhen they are training; and the boxers, when they aim a blow with the\r\ncestus at their adversary, give a groan, not because they are in pain,\r\nor from a sinking of their spirits, but because their whole body is put\r\nupon the stretch by the throwing-out of these groans, and the blow comes\r\nthe stronger.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-87\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e87\u003c/span\u003eXXIV. What! they who would speak louder than ordinary are they\r\nsatisfied with working their jaws, sides, or tongue or stretching the\r\ncommon organs of speech and utterance? The whole body and every muscle\r\nis at full stretch if I may be allowed the expression; every nerve is\r\nexerted to assist their voice. I have actually seen the knees of Marcus\r\nAntonius touch the ground when he was speaking with vehemence for\r\nhimself, with relation to the Varian law. For, as the engines you throw\r\nstones or darts with throw them out with the greater force the more they\r\nare strained and drawn back; so it is in speaking, running, or\r\nboxing—the more people strain themselves, the greater their force.\r\nSince, therefore, this exertion has so much influence—if in a moment of\r\npain groans help to strengthen the mind, let us use them; but if they be\r\ngroans of lamentation, if they be the expression of weakness or\r\nabjectness, or unmanly weeping, then I should scarcely call him a man\r\nwho yielded to them. For even supposing that such groaning could give\r\nany ease, it still should be considered whether it were consistent with\r\na brave and resolute man. But if it does not ease our pain, why should\r\nwe debase ourselves to no purpose? For what is more unbecoming in a man\r\nthan to cry like a woman? But this precept which is laid down with\r\nrespect to pain is not confined to it. We should apply this exertion of\r\nthe soul to everything else. Is anger inflamed? is lust excited? we must\r\nhave recourse to the same citadel, and apply to the same arms. But since\r\nit is pain which we are at present discussing, we will let the other\r\nsubjects alone. To bear pain, then, sedately and calmly, it is of great\r\nuse to consider with all our soul, as the saying is, how noble it is to\r\ndo so, for we are naturally desirous (as I said before, but it cannot be\r\ntoo often repeated) and very much inclined to what is honorable, of\r\nwhich, if we discover but the least glimpse, there is nothing which we\r\nare not prepared to undergo and suffer to attain it. From this impulse\r\nof our minds, this desire for genuine glory and honorable conduct, it is\r\nthat such dangers are supported in war, and that brave men are not\r\nsensible of their wounds in action, or, if they are sensible of them,\r\nprefer death to the departing but the least step \u003ca id=\"page-88\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e88\u003c/span\u003efrom their honor. The\r\nDecii saw the shining swords of their enemies when they were rushing\r\ninto the battle. But the honorable character and the glory of the death\r\nwhich they were seeking made all fear of death of little weight. Do you\r\nimagine that Epaminondas groaned when he perceived that his life was\r\nflowing out with his blood? No; for he left his country triumphing over\r\nthe Lacedæmonians, whereas he had found it in subjection to them. These\r\nare the comforts, these are the things that assuage the greatest pain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. You may ask, How the case is in peace? What is to be done at home?\r\nHow we are to behave in bed? You bring me back to the philosophers, who\r\nseldom go to war. Among these, Dionysius of Heraclea, a man certainly of\r\nno resolution, having learned fortitude of Zeno, quitted it on being in\r\npain; for, being tormented with a pain in his kidneys, in bewailing\r\nhimself he cried out that those things were false which he had formerly\r\nconceived of pain. And when his fellow-disciple, Cleanthes, asked him\r\nwhy he had changed his opinion, he answered, “That the case of any man\r\nwho had applied so much time to philosophy, and yet was unable to bear\r\npain, might be a sufficient proof that pain is an evil; that he himself\r\nhad spent many years at philosophy, and yet could not bear pain: it\r\nfollowed, therefore, that pain was an evil.” It is reported that\r\nCleanthes on that struck his foot on the ground, and repeated a verse\r\nout of the Epigonæ:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAmphiaraus, hear’st thou this below?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe meant Zeno: he was sorry the other had degenerated from him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut it was not so with our friend Posidonius, whom I have often seen\r\nmyself; and I will tell you what Pompey used to say of him: that when he\r\ncame to Rhodes, after his departure from Syria, he had a great desire to\r\nhear Posidonius, but was informed that he was very ill of a severe fit\r\nof the gout; yet he had great inclination to pay a visit to so famous a\r\nphilosopher. Accordingly, when he had seen him, and paid his\r\ncompliments, and had spoken with great respect of him, he said he was\r\nvery sorry that he could not hear him lecture. “But indeed you may,”\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-89\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e89\u003c/span\u003ereplied the other, “nor will I suffer any bodily pain to occasion so\r\ngreat a man to visit me in vain.” On this Pompey relates that, as he lay\r\non his bed, he disputed with great dignity and fluency on this very\r\nsubject: that nothing was good but what was honest; and that in his\r\nparoxysms he would often say, “Pain, it is to no purpose;\r\nnotwithstanding you are troublesome, I will never acknowledge you an\r\nevil.” And in general all celebrated and notorious afflictions become\r\nendurable by disregarding them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. Do we not observe that where those exercises called gymnastic are\r\nin esteem, those who enter the lists never concern themselves about\r\ndangers? that where the praise of riding and hunting is highly esteemed,\r\nthey who practice these arts decline no pain? What shall I say of our\r\nown ambitious pursuits or desire of honors? What fire have not\r\ncandidates run through to gain a single vote? Therefore Africanus had\r\nalways in his hands Xenophon, the pupil of Socrates, being particularly\r\npleased with his saying, that the same labors were not equally heavy to\r\nthe general and to the common man, because the honor itself made the\r\nlabor lighter to the general. But yet, so it happens, that even with the\r\nilliterate vulgar an idea of honor is of great influence, though they\r\ncannot understand what it is. They are led by report and common opinion\r\nto look on that as honorable which has the general voice. Not that I\r\nwould have you, should the multitude be ever so fond of you, rely on\r\ntheir judgment, nor approve of everything which they think right: you\r\nmust use your own judgment. If you are satisfied with yourself when you\r\nhave approved of what is right, you will not only have the mastery over\r\nyourself (which I recommended to you just now), but over everybody, and\r\neverything. Lay this down, then, as a rule, that a great capacity, and\r\nlofty elevation of soul, which distinguishes itself most by despising\r\nand looking down with contempt on pain, is the most excellent of all\r\nthings, and the more so if it does not depend on the people and does not\r\naim at applause, but derives its satisfaction from itself. Besides, to\r\nme, indeed, everything seems the more commendable the less the people\r\nare courted, and the fewer eyes there \u003ca id=\"page-90\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e90\u003c/span\u003eare to see it. Not that you\r\nshould avoid the public, for every generous action loves the public\r\nview; yet no theatre for virtue is equal to a consciousness of it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. And let this be principally considered: that this bearing of\r\npain, which I have often said is to be strengthened by an exertion of\r\nthe soul, should be the same in everything. For you meet with many who,\r\nthrough a desire of victory, or for glory, or to maintain their rights,\r\nor their liberty, have boldly received wounds, and borne themselves up\r\nunder them; and yet those very same persons, by relaxing that\r\nintenseness of their minds, were unequal to bearing the pain of a\r\ndisease; for they did not support themselves under their former\r\nsufferings by reason or philosophy, but by inclination and glory.\r\nTherefore some barbarians and savage people are able to fight very\r\nstoutly with the sword, but cannot bear sickness like men; but the\r\nGrecians, men of no great courage, but as wise as human nature will\r\nadmit of, cannot look an enemy in the face, yet the same will bear to be\r\nvisited with sickness tolerably, and with a sufficiently manly spirit;\r\nand the Cimbrians and Celtiberians are very alert in battle, but bemoan\r\nthemselves in sickness. For nothing can be consistent which has not\r\nreason for its foundation. But when you see those who are led by\r\ninclination or opinion, not retarded by pain in their pursuits, nor\r\nhindered by it from succeeding in them, you may conclude, either that\r\npain is no evil, or that, notwithstanding you may choose to call an evil\r\nwhatever is disagreeable and contrary to nature, yet it is so very\r\ntrifling an evil that it may so effectually be got the better of by\r\nvirtue as quite to disappear. And I would have you think of this night\r\nand day; for this argument will spread itself, and take up more room\r\nsome time or other, and not be confined to pain alone; for if the\r\nmotives to all our actions are to avoid disgrace and acquire honor, we\r\nmay not only despise the stings of pain, but the storms of fortune,\r\nespecially if we have recourse to that retreat which was pointed out in\r\nour yesterday’s discussion; for, as if some God had advised a man who\r\nwas pursued by pirates to throw himself overboard, saying, “There is\r\nsomething at hand to receive you; either a dolphin will take you up, as\r\nit did Arion of \u003ca id=\"page-91\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e91\u003c/span\u003eMethymna; or those horses sent by Neptune to Pelops\r\n(who are said to have carried chariots so rapidly as to be borne up by\r\nthe waves) will receive you, and convey you wherever you please. Cast\r\naway all fear.” So, though your pains be ever so sharp and disagreeable,\r\nif the case is not such that it is worth your while to endure them, you\r\nsee whither you may betake yourself. I think this will do for the\r\npresent. But perhaps you still abide by your opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Not in the least, indeed; and I hope I am freed by these two days’\r\ndiscourses from the fear of two things that I greatly dreaded.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e To-morrow, then, for rhetoric, as we were saying. But I see we must\r\nnot drop our philosophy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e No, indeed; we will have the one in the forenoon, and this at the\r\nusual time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e It shall be so, and I will comply with your very laudable\r\ninclinations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK III.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eON GRIEF OF MIND.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eWhat\u003c/span\u003e reason shall I assign, O Brutus, why, as we consist of mind and\r\nbody, the art of curing and preserving the body should be so much sought\r\nafter, and the invention of it, as being so useful, should be ascribed\r\nto the immortal Gods; but the medicine of the mind should not have been\r\nso much the object of inquiry while it was unknown, nor so much attended\r\nto and cultivated after its discovery, nor so well received or approved\r\nof by some, and accounted actually disagreeable, and looked upon with an\r\nenvious eye by many? Is it because we, by means of the mind, judge of\r\nthe pains and disorders of the body, but do not, by means of the body,\r\narrive at any perception of the disorders of the mind? Hence it comes\r\nthat the mind only judges of itself when that very faculty by which it\r\nis judged is in a bad state. Had nature given us faculties for\r\ndiscerning and viewing herself, and could we go through life by keeping\r\nour eye on her—our best guide—\u003ca id=\"page-92\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e92\u003c/span\u003ethere would be no reason certainly why\r\nany one should be in want of philosophy or learning; but, as it is, she\r\nhas furnished us only with some feeble rays of light, which we\r\nimmediately extinguish so completely by evil habits and erroneous\r\nopinions that the light of nature is nowhere visible. The seeds of\r\nvirtues are natural to our constitutions, and, were they suffered to\r\ncome to maturity, would naturally conduct us to a happy life; but now,\r\nas soon as we are born and received into the world, we are instantly\r\nfamiliarized with all kinds of depravity and perversity of opinions; so\r\nthat we may be said almost to suck in error with our nurse’s milk. When\r\nwe return to our parents, and are put into the hands of tutors and\r\ngovernors, we are imbued with so many errors that truth gives place to\r\nfalsehood, and nature herself to established opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. To these we may add the poets; who, on account of the appearance\r\nthey exhibit of learning and wisdom, are heard, read, and got by heart,\r\nand make a deep impression on our minds. But when to these are added the\r\npeople, who are, as it were, one great body of instructors, and the\r\nmultitude, who declare unanimously for what is wrong, then are we\r\naltogether overwhelmed with bad opinions, and revolt entirely from\r\nnature; so that they seem to deprive us of our best guide who have\r\ndecided that there is nothing better for man, nothing more worthy of\r\nbeing desired by him, nothing more excellent, than honors and commands,\r\nand a high reputation with the people; which indeed every excellent man\r\naims at; but while he pursues that only true honor which nature has in\r\nview above all other objects, he finds himself busied in arrant trifles,\r\nand in pursuit of no conspicuous form of virtue, but only some shadowy\r\nrepresentation of glory. For glory is a real and express substance, not\r\na mere shadow. It consists in the united praise of good men, the free\r\nvoice of those who form a true judgment of pre-eminent virtue; it is, as\r\nit were, the very echo of virtue; and being generally the attendant on\r\nlaudable actions, should not be slighted by good men. But popular fame,\r\nwhich would pretend to imitate it, is hasty and inconsiderate, and\r\ngenerally commends wicked and immoral actions, and throws discredit upon\r\nthe appearance and beauty of honesty by assuming \u003ca id=\"page-93\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e93\u003c/span\u003ea resemblance of it.\r\nAnd it is owing to their not being able to discover the difference\r\nbetween them that some men ignorant of real excellence, and in what it\r\nconsists, have been the destruction of their country and of themselves.\r\nAnd thus the best men have erred, not so much in their intentions as by\r\na mistaken conduct. What? is no cure to be attempted to be applied to\r\nthose who are carried away by the love of money, or the lust of\r\npleasures, by which they are rendered little short of madmen, which is\r\nthe case of all weak people? or is it because the disorders of the mind\r\nare less dangerous than those of the body? or because the body will\r\nadmit of a cure, while there is no medicine whatever for the mind?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. But there are more disorders of the mind than of the body, and they\r\nare of a more dangerous nature; for these very disorders are the more\r\noffensive because they belong to the mind and disturb it; and the mind,\r\nwhen disordered, is, as Ennius says, in a constant error: it can neither\r\nbear nor endure anything, and is under the perpetual influence of\r\ndesires. Now, what disorders can be worse to the body than these two\r\ndistempers of the mind (for I overlook others), weakness and desire? But\r\nhow, indeed, can it be maintained that the mind cannot prescribe for\r\nitself, when she it is who has invented the medicines for the body,\r\nwhen, with regard to bodily cures, constitution and nature have a great\r\nshare, nor do all who suffer themselves to be cured find that effect\r\ninstantly; but those minds which are disposed to be cured, and submit to\r\nthe precepts of the wise, may undoubtedly recover a healthy state?\r\nPhilosophy is certainly the medicine of the soul, whose assistance we do\r\nnot seek from abroad, as in bodily disorders, but we ourselves are bound\r\nto exert our utmost energy and power in order to effect our cure. But as\r\nto philosophy in general, I have, I think, in my Hortensius,\r\nsufficiently spoken of the credit and attention which it deserves: since\r\nthat, indeed, I have been continually either disputing or writing on its\r\nmost material branches; and I have laid down in these books all the\r\ndiscussions which took place between myself and my particular friends at\r\nmy Tusculan villa. But as I have spoken in the two former of pain and\r\ndeath, this book shall be \u003ca id=\"page-94\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e94\u003c/span\u003edevoted to the account of the third day of\r\nour disputations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe came down into the Academy when the day was already declining towards\r\nafternoon, and I asked one of those who were present to propose a\r\nsubject for us to discourse on; and then the business was carried on in\r\nthis manner:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e My opinion is, that a wise man is subject to grief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, and to the other perturbations of mind, as fears, lusts,\r\nanger? For these are pretty much like what the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπάθη\u003c/span\u003e. I might\r\ncall them diseases, and that would be a literal translation, but it is\r\nnot agreeable to our way of speaking. For envy, delight, and pleasure\r\nare all called by the Greeks diseases, being affections of the mind not\r\nin subordination to reason; but we, I think, are right in calling the\r\nsame motions of a disturbed soul perturbations, and in very seldom using\r\nthe term diseases; though, perhaps, it appears otherwise to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I am of your opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e And do you think a wise man subject to these?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Entirely, I think.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Then that boasted wisdom is but of small account, if it differs so\r\nlittle from madness?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e What? does every commotion of the mind seem to you to be madness?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Not to me only; but I apprehend, though I have often been surprised\r\nat it, that it appeared so to our ancestors many ages before Socrates;\r\nfrom whom is derived all that philosophy which relates to life and\r\nmorals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e How so?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Because the name madness\u003ca id=\"FNA-35\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-35\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e35\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e implies a sickness of the mind and\r\ndisease; that is to say, an unsoundness and an unhealthiness of mind,\r\nwhich they call madness. But the philosophers call all perturbations of\r\nthe soul diseases, and their opinion is that no fool is ever free from\r\nthese; but all that are diseased are unsound; and the minds of all fools\r\nare diseased; therefore all fools are mad. For they held that soundness\r\nof the mind depends on a certain \u003ca id=\"page-95\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e95\u003c/span\u003etranquillity and steadiness; and a\r\nmind which was destitute of these qualities they called insane, because\r\nsoundness was inconsistent with a perturbed mind just as much as with a\r\ndisordered body.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. Nor were they less ingenious in calling the state of the soul devoid\r\nof the light of the mind, “a being out of one’s mind,” “a being beside\r\none’s self.” From whence we may understand that they who gave these\r\nnames to things were of the same opinion with Socrates, that all silly\r\npeople were unsound, which the Stoics have carefully preserved as being\r\nderived from him; for whatever mind is distempered (and, as I just now\r\nsaid, the philosophers call all perturbed motions of the mind\r\ndistempers) is no more sound than a body is when in a fit of sickness.\r\nHence it is that wisdom is the soundness of the mind, folly a sort of\r\nunsoundness, which is insanity, or a being out of one’s mind: and these\r\nare much better expressed by the Latin words than the Greek, which you\r\nwill find the case also in many other topics. But we will discuss that\r\npoint elsewhere: let us now attend to our present subject. The very\r\nmeaning of the word describes the whole thing about which we are\r\ninquiring, both as to its substance and character. For we must\r\nnecessarily understand by “sound” those whose minds are under no\r\nperturbation from any motion as if it were a disease. They who are\r\ndifferently affected we must necessarily call “unsound.” So that nothing\r\nis better than what is usual in Latin, to say that they who are run away\r\nwith by their lust or anger have quitted the command over themselves;\r\nthough anger includes lust, for anger is defined to be the lust of\r\nrevenge. They, then, who are said not to be masters of themselves, are\r\nsaid to be so because they are not under the government of reason, to\r\nwhich is assigned by nature the power over the whole soul. Why the\r\nGreeks should call this mania, I do not easily apprehend; but we define\r\nit much better than they, for we distinguish this madness (\u003ci\u003einsania\u003c/i\u003e),\r\nwhich, being allied to folly, is more extensive, from what we call\r\n\u003ci\u003efuror\u003c/i\u003e, or raving. The Greeks, indeed, would do so too, but they have\r\nno one word that will express it: what we call \u003ci\u003efuror\u003c/i\u003e, they call\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eμελαγχολία\u003c/span\u003e, as if the reason \u003ca id=\"page-96\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e96\u003c/span\u003ewere affected only by a black bile, and\r\nnot disturbed as often by a violent rage, or fear, or grief. Thus we say\r\nAthamas, Alcmæon, Ajax, and Orestes were raving (\u003ci\u003efurere\u003c/i\u003e); because a\r\nperson affected in this manner was not allowed by the Twelve Tables to\r\nhave the management of his own affairs; therefore the words are not, if\r\nhe is mad (\u003ci\u003einsanus\u003c/i\u003e), but if he begins to be raving (\u003ci\u003efuriosus\u003c/i\u003e). For\r\nthey looked upon madness to be an unsettled humor that proceeded from\r\nnot being of sound mind; yet such a person might perform his ordinary\r\nduties, and discharge the usual and customary requirements of life: but\r\nthey considered one that was raving as afflicted with a total blindness\r\nof the mind, which, notwithstanding it is allowed to be greater than\r\nmadness, is nevertheless of such a nature that a wise man may be subject\r\nto raving (\u003ci\u003efuror\u003c/i\u003e), but cannot possibly be afflicted by insanity\r\n(\u003ci\u003einsania\u003c/i\u003e). But this is another question: let us now return to our\r\noriginal subject.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. I think you said that it was your opinion that a wise man was liable\r\nto grief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e And so, indeed, I think.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e It is natural enough to think so, for we are not the offspring of\r\nflints; but we have by nature something soft and tender in our souls,\r\nwhich may be put into a violent motion by grief, as by a storm; nor did\r\nthat Crantor, who was one of the most distinguished men that our Academy\r\nhas ever produced, say this amiss: “I am by no means of their opinion\r\nwho talk so much in praise of I know not what insensibility, which\r\nneither can exist, nor ought to exist”. “I would choose,” says he, “never\r\nto be ill; but should I be so, still I should choose to retain my\r\nsensation, whether there was to be an amputation or any other separation\r\nof anything from my body. For that insensibility cannot be but at the\r\nexpense of some unnatural ferocity of mind, or stupor of body.”But let\r\nus consider whether to talk in this manner be not allowing that we are\r\nweak, and yielding to our softness. Notwithstanding, let us be hardy\r\nenough, not only to lop off every arm of our miseries, but even to pluck\r\nup every fibre of their roots. Yet still something, perhaps, may be left\r\nbehind, so deep does folly strike its roots: but whatever may be \u003ca id=\"page-97\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e97\u003c/span\u003eleft\r\nit will be no more than is necessary. But let us be persuaded of this,\r\nthat unless the mind be in a sound state, which philosophy alone can\r\neffect, there can be no end of our miseries. Wherefore, as we began, let\r\nus submit ourselves to it for a cure; we shall be cured if we choose to\r\nbe. I shall advance something further. I shall not treat of grief alone,\r\nthough that indeed is the principal thing; but, as I originally\r\nproposed, of every perturbation of the mind, as I termed it; disorder,\r\nas the Greeks call it: and first, with your leave, I shall treat it in\r\nthe manner of the Stoics, whose method is to reduce their arguments into\r\na very small space; afterward I shall enlarge more in my own way.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. A man of courage is also full of faith. I do not use the word\r\nconfident, because, owing to an erroneous custom of speaking, that word\r\nhas come to be used in a bad sense, though it is derived from confiding,\r\nwhich is commendable. But he who is full of faith is certainly under no\r\nfear; for there is an inconsistency between faith and fear. Now, whoever\r\nis subject to grief is subject to fear; for whatever things we grieve at\r\nwhen present we dread when hanging over us and approaching. Thus it\r\ncomes about that grief is inconsistent with courage: it is very\r\nprobable, therefore, that whoever is subject to grief is also liable to\r\nfear, and to a broken kind of spirits and sinking. Now, whenever these\r\nbefall a man, he is in a servile state, and must own that he is\r\noverpowered; for whoever admits these feelings, must admit timidity and\r\ncowardice. But these cannot enter into the mind of a man of courage;\r\nneither, therefore, can grief: but the man of courage is the only wise\r\nman; therefore grief cannot befall the wise man. It is, besides,\r\nnecessary that whoever is brave should be a man of great soul; that\r\nwhoever is a man of a great soul should be invincible; whoever is\r\ninvincible looks down with contempt on all things here, and considers\r\nthem, beneath him. But no one can despise those things on account of\r\nwhich he may be affected with grief; from whence it follows that a wise\r\nman is never affected with grief: for all wise men are brave; therefore\r\na wise man is not subject to grief. And as the eye, when disordered, is\r\nnot in a good condition for performing its \u003ca id=\"page-98\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e98\u003c/span\u003eoffice properly; and as the\r\nother parts, and the whole body itself, when unsettled, cannot perform\r\ntheir office and business; so the mind, when disordered, is but\r\nill-fitted to perform its duty. The office of the mind is to use its\r\nreason well; but the mind of a wise man is always in condition to make\r\nthe best use of his reason, and therefore is never out of order. But\r\ngrief is a disorder of the mind; therefore a wise man will be always\r\nfree from it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. And from these considerations we may get at a very probable\r\ndefinition of the temperate man, whom the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eσώφρων\u003c/span\u003e: and they\r\ncall that virtue \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eσωφροσύνην\u003c/span\u003e, which I at one time call temperance, at\r\nanother time moderation, and sometimes even modesty; but I do not know\r\nwhether that virtue may not be properly called frugality, which has a\r\nmore confined meaning with the Greeks; for they call frugal men\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eχρησίμους\u003c/span\u003e, which implies only that they are useful; but our name has a\r\nmore extensive meaning: for all abstinence, all innocency (which the\r\nGreeks have no ordinary name for, though they might use the word\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀβλάβεια\u003c/span\u003e, for innocency is that disposition of mind which would offend\r\nno one) and several other virtues are comprehended under frugality; but\r\nif this quality were of less importance, and confined in as small a\r\ncompass as some imagine, the surname of Piso\u003ca id=\"FNA-36\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-36\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e36\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e would not have been in\r\nso great esteem. But as we allow him not the name of a frugal man\r\n(\u003ci\u003efrugi\u003c/i\u003e), who either quits his post through fear, which is cowardice;\r\nor who reserves to his own use what was privately committed to his\r\nkeeping, which is injustice; or who fails in his military undertakings\r\nthrough rashness, which is folly—for that reason the word frugality\r\ntakes in these three virtues of fortitude, justice, and prudence, though\r\nit is indeed common to all virtues, for they are all connected and knit\r\ntogether. Let us allow, then, frugality itself to be another and fourth\r\nvirtue; for its peculiar property seems to be, to govern and appease all\r\ntendencies to too eager a desire after anything, to restrain lust, and\r\nto preserve a decent steadiness in everything. The vice in contrast to\r\nthis is called prodigality (\u003ci\u003enequitia\u003c/i\u003e). Frugality, I imagine, is\r\nderived from the \u003ca id=\"page-99\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e99\u003c/span\u003eword \u003ci\u003efruge\u003c/i\u003e, the best thing which the earth produces;\r\n\u003ci\u003enequitia\u003c/i\u003e is derived (though this is perhaps rather more strained;\r\nstill, let us try it; we shall only be thought to have been trifling if\r\nthere is nothing in what we say) from the fact of everything being to no\r\npurpose (\u003ci\u003enequicquam\u003c/i\u003e) in such a man; from which circumstance he is\r\ncalled also \u003ci\u003eNihil\u003c/i\u003e, nothing. Whoever is frugal, then, or, if it is more\r\nagreeable to you, whoever is moderate and temperate, such a one must of\r\ncourse be consistent; whoever is consistent, must be quiet; the quiet\r\nman must be free from all perturbation, therefore from grief likewise:\r\nand these are the properties of a wise man; therefore a wise man must be\r\nfree from grief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. So that Dionysius of Heraclea is right when, upon this complaint of\r\nAchilles in Homer,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWell hast thou spoke, but at the tyrant’s name\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy rage rekindles, and my soul’s in flame:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e’Tis just resentment, and becomes the brave,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDisgraced, dishonor’d like the vilest slave\u003ca id=\"FNA-37\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-37\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e37\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ehe reasons thus: Is the hand as it should be, when it is affected with a\r\nswelling? or is it possible for any other member of the body, when\r\nswollen or enlarged, to be in any other than a disordered state? Must\r\nnot the mind, then, when it is puffed up, or distended, be out of order?\r\nBut the mind of a wise man is always free from every kind of disorder:\r\nit never swells, never is puffed up; but the mind when in anger is in a\r\ndifferent state. A wise man, therefore, is never angry; for when he is\r\nangry, he lusts after something; for whoever is angry naturally has a\r\nlonging desire to give all the pain he can to the person who he thinks\r\nhas injured him; and whoever has this earnest desire must necessarily be\r\nmuch pleased with the accomplishment of his wishes; hence he is\r\ndelighted with his neighbor’s misery; and as a wise man is not capable\r\nof such feelings as these, he is therefore not capable of anger. But\r\nshould a wise man be subject to grief, he may likewise \u003ca id=\"page-100\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e100\u003c/span\u003ebe subject to\r\nanger; for as he is free from anger, he must likewise be free from\r\ngrief. Again, could a wise man be subject to grief, he might also be\r\nliable to pity, or even might be open to a disposition towards envy\r\n(\u003ci\u003einvidentia\u003c/i\u003e); I do not say to envy (\u003ci\u003einvidia\u003c/i\u003e), for that can only\r\nexist by the very act of envying: but we may fairly form the word\r\n\u003ci\u003einvidentia\u003c/i\u003e from \u003ci\u003einvidendo\u003c/i\u003e, and so avoid the doubtful name \u003ci\u003einvidia;\u003c/i\u003e\r\nfor this word is probably derived from \u003ci\u003ein\u003c/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003evideo\u003c/i\u003e, looking too\r\nclosely into another’s fortune; as it is said in the Melanippus,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho envies me the flower of my children?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhere the Latin is \u003ci\u003einvidit florem.\u003c/i\u003e It may appear not good Latin, but\r\nit is very well put by Accius; for as \u003ci\u003evideo\u003c/i\u003e governs an accusative\r\ncase, so it is more correct to say \u003ci\u003einvideo florem\u003c/i\u003e than \u003ci\u003eflori.\u003c/i\u003e We are\r\ndebarred from saying so by common usage. The poet stood in his own\r\nright, and expressed himself with more freedom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. Therefore compassion and envy are consistent in the same man; for\r\nwhoever is uneasy at any one’s adversity is also uneasy at another’s\r\nprosperity: as Theophrastus, while he laments the death of his companion\r\nCallisthenes, is at the same time disturbed at the success of Alexander;\r\nand therefore he says that Callisthenes met with man of the greatest\r\npower and good fortune, but one who did not know how to make use of his\r\ngood fortune. And as pity is an uneasiness which arises from the\r\nmisfortunes of another, so envy is an uneasiness that proceeds from the\r\ngood success of another: therefore whoever is capable of pity is capable\r\nof envy. But a wise man is incapable of envy, and consequently incapable\r\nof pity. But were a wise man used to grieve, to pity also would be\r\nfamiliar to him; therefore to grieve is a feeling which cannot affect a\r\nwise man. Now, though these reasonings of the Stoics, and their\r\nconclusions, are rather strained and distorted, and ought to be\r\nexpressed in a less stringent and narrow manner, yet great stress is to\r\nbe laid on the opinions of those men who have a peculiarly bold and\r\nmanly turn of thought and sentiment. For our friends the Peripatetics,\r\nnotwithstanding all their erudition, gravity, and fluency of language,\r\ndo not satisfy me about the moderation of these disorders and diseases\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-101\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e101\u003c/span\u003eof the soul which they insist upon; for every evil, though moderate, is\r\nin its nature great. But our object is to make out that the wise man is\r\nfree from all evil; for as the body is unsound if it is ever so slightly\r\naffected, so the mind under any moderate disorder loses its soundness;\r\ntherefore the Romans have, with their usual accuracy of expression,\r\ncalled trouble, and anguish, and vexation, on account of the analogy\r\nbetween a troubled mind and a diseased body, disorders. The Greeks call\r\nall perturbation of mind by pretty nearly the same name; for they name\r\nevery turbid motion of the soul \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπάθος\u003c/span\u003e, that is to say, a distemper. But\r\nwe have given them a more proper name; for a disorder of the mind is\r\nvery like a disease of the body. But lust does not resemble sickness;\r\nneither does immoderate joy, which is an elated and exulting pleasure of\r\nthe mind. Fear, too, is not very like a distemper, though it is akin to\r\ngrief of mind, but properly, as is also the case with sickness of the\r\nbody, so too sickness of mind has no name separated from pain. And\r\ntherefore I must explain the origin of this pain, that is to say, the\r\ncause that occasions this grief in the mind, as if it were a sickness of\r\nthe body. For as physicians think they have found out the cure when they\r\nhave discovered the cause of the distemper, so we shall discover the\r\nmethod of curing melancholy when the cause of it is found out.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. The whole cause, then, is in opinion; and this observation applies\r\nnot to this grief alone, but to every other disorder of the mind, which\r\nare of four sorts, but consisting of many parts. For as every disorder\r\nor perturbation is a motion of the mind, either devoid of reason, or in\r\ndespite of reason, or in disobedience to reason, and as that motion is\r\nexcited by an opinion of either good or evil; these four perturbations\r\nare divided equally into two parts: for two of them proceed from an\r\nopinion of good, one of which is an exulting pleasure, that is to say, a\r\njoy elated beyond measure, arising from an opinion of some present great\r\ngood; the other is a desire which may fairly be called even a lust, and\r\nis an immoderate inclination after some conceived great good without any\r\nobedience to reason. Therefore these two kinds, the exulting pleasure\r\nand the lust, have their rise from an opinion of good, as \u003ca id=\"page-102\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e102\u003c/span\u003ethe other\r\ntwo, fear and grief, have from an opinion of evil. For fear is an\r\nopinion of some great evil impending over us, and grief is an opinion of\r\nsome great evil present; and, indeed, it is a freshly conceived opinion\r\nof an evil so great that to grieve at it seems right: it is of that kind\r\nthat he who is uneasy at it thinks he has good reason to be so. Now we\r\nshould exert, our utmost efforts to oppose these perturbations—which\r\nare, as it were, so many furies let loose upon us and urged on by\r\nfolly—if we are desirous to pass this share of life that is allotted to\r\nus with ease and satisfaction. But of the other feelings I shall speak\r\nelsewhere: our business at present is to drive away grief if we can, for\r\nthat shall be the object of our present discussion, since you have said\r\nthat it was your opinion that a wise man might be subject to grief,\r\nwhich I can by no means allow of; for it is a frightful, miserable, and\r\ndetestable thing, which we should fly from with our utmost efforts—with\r\nall our sails and oars, as I may say.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. That descendant of Tantalus, how does he appear to you—he who\r\nsprung from Pelops, who formerly stole Hippodamia from her\r\nfather-in-law, King Œnomaus, and married her by force?—he who was\r\ndescended from Jupiter himself, how broken-hearted and dispirited does\r\nhe not seem!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStand off, my friends, nor come within my shade,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat no pollutions your sound hearts pervade,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo foul a stain my body doth partake.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWill you condemn yourself, Thyestes, and deprive yourself of life, on\r\naccount of the greatness of another’s crime? What do you think of that\r\nson of Phœbus? Do you not look upon him as unworthy of his own father’s\r\nlight?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHollow his eyes, his body worn away,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis furrow’d cheeks his frequent tears betray;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis beard neglected, and his hoary hairs\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRough and uncomb’d, bespeak his bitter cares.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eO foolish Æetes! these are evils which you yourself have been the cause\r\nof, and are not occasioned by any accidents with which chance has\r\nvisited you; and you behaved as you did, even after you had been inured\r\nto your distress, and after the first swelling of the mind had\r\nsubsided!—whereas grief consists (as I shall show) in the notion of\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-103\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e103\u003c/span\u003esome recent evil—but your grief, it is very plain, proceeded from the\r\nloss of your kingdom, not of your daughter, for you hated her, and\r\nperhaps with reason, but you could not calmly bear to part with your\r\nkingdom. But surely it is an impudent grief which preys upon a man for\r\nnot being able to command those that are free. Dionysius, it is true,\r\nthe tyrant of Syracuse, when driven from his country, taught a school at\r\nCorinth; so incapable was he of living without some authority. But what\r\ncould be more impudent than Tarquin, who made war upon those who could\r\nnot bear his tyranny; and, when he could not recover his kingdom by the\r\naid of the forces of the Veientians and the Latins, is said to have\r\nbetaken himself to Cuma, and to have died in that city of old age and\r\ngrief!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Do you, then, think that it can befall a wise man to be oppressed\r\nwith grief, that is to say, with misery? for, as all perturbation is\r\nmisery, grief is the rack itself. Lust is attended with heat, exulting\r\njoy with levity, fear with meanness, but grief with something greater\r\nthan these; it consumes, torments, afflicts, and disgraces a man; it\r\ntears him, preys upon his mind, and utterly destroys him: if we do not\r\nso divest ourselves of it as to throw it completely off, we cannot be\r\nfree from misery. And it is clear that there must be grief where\r\nanything has the appearance of a present sore and oppressing evil.\r\nEpicurus is of opinion that grief arises naturally from the imagination\r\nof any evil; so that whosoever is eye-witness of any great misfortune,\r\nif he conceives that the like may possibly befall himself, becomes sad\r\ninstantly from such an idea. The Cyrenaics think that grief is not\r\nengendered by every kind of evil, but only by unexpected, unforeseen\r\nevil; and that circumstance is, indeed, of no small effect on the\r\nheightening of grief; for whatsoever comes of a sudden appears more\r\nformidable. Hence these lines are deservedly commended:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI knew my son, when first he drew his breath,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDestined by fate to an untimely death;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd when I sent him to defend the Greeks,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWar was his business, not your sportive freaks.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. Therefore, this ruminating beforehand upon future evils which you\r\nsee at a distance makes their approach \u003ca id=\"page-104\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e104\u003c/span\u003emore tolerable; and on this\r\naccount what Euripides makes Theseus say is much commended. You will\r\ngive me leave to translate them, as is usual with me:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI treasured up what some learn’d sage did tell,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd on my future misery did dwell;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI thought of bitter death, of being drove\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFar from my home by exile, and I strove\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith every evil to possess my mind,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat, when they came, I the less care might find.\u003ca id=\"FNA-38\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-38\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e38\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut Euripides says that of himself, which Theseus said he had heard from\r\nsome learned man, for the poet had been a pupil of Anaxagoras, who, as\r\nthey relate, on hearing of the death of his son, said, “I knew that my\r\nson was mortal;” which speech seems to intimate that such things afflict\r\nthose men who have not thought on them before. Therefore, there is no\r\ndoubt but that all those things which are considered evils are the\r\nheavier from not being foreseen. Though, notwithstanding this is not the\r\nonly circumstance which occasions the greatest grief, still, as the\r\nmind, by foreseeing and preparing for it, has great power to make all\r\ngrief the less, a man should at all times consider all the events that\r\nmay befall him in this life; and certainly the excellence and divine\r\nnature of wisdom consists in taking a near view of, and gaining a\r\nthorough acquaintance with, all human affairs, in not being surprised\r\nwhen anything happens, and in thinking, before the event, that there is\r\nnothing but what may come to pass.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left:15ex\"\u003eWherefore ev’ry man,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen his affairs go on most swimmingly,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eE’en then it most behooves to arm himself\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAgainst the coming storm: loss, danger, exile,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eReturning ever, let him look to meet;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis son in fault, wife dead, or daughter sick;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll common accidents, and may have happen’d\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat nothing shall seem new or strange. But if\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAught has fall’n out beyond his hopes, all that\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet him account clear gain.\u003ca id=\"FNA-39\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-39\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e39\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-105\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e105\u003c/span\u003eXV. Therefore, as Terence has so well expressed what he borrowed from\r\nphilosophy, shall not we, from whose fountains he drew it, say the same\r\nthing in a better manner, and abide by it with more steadiness? Hence\r\ncame that steady countenance, which, according to Xantippe, her husband\r\nSocrates always had; so that she said that she never observed any\r\ndifference in his looks when he went out and when he came home. Yet the\r\nlook of that old Roman, M. Crassus, who, as Lucilius says, never smiled\r\nbut once in his lifetime, was not of this kind, but placid and serene,\r\nfor so we are told. He, indeed, might well have had the same look at all\r\ntimes who never changed his mind, from which the countenance derives its\r\nexpression. So that I am ready to borrow of the Cyrenaics those arms\r\nagainst the accidents and events of life by means of which, by long\r\npremeditation, they break the force of all approaching evils; and at the\r\nsame time I think that those very evils themselves arise more from\r\nopinion than nature, for if they were real, no forecast could make them\r\nlighter. But I shall speak more particularly on these matters after I\r\nhave first considered Epicurus’s opinion, who thinks that all people\r\nmust necessarily be uneasy who believe themselves to be in any evils,\r\nlet them be either foreseen and expected, or habitual to them; for with\r\nhim evils are not the less by reason of their continuance, nor the\r\nlighter for having been foreseen; and it is folly to ruminate on evils\r\nto come, or such as, perhaps, never may come: every evil is disagreeable\r\nenough when it does come; but he who is constantly considering that some\r\nevil may befall him is loading himself with a perpetual evil; and even\r\nshould such evil never light on him, he voluntarily takes upon himself\r\nunnecessary misery, so that he is under constant uneasiness, whether he\r\nactually suffers any evil, or only thinks of it. But he makes the\r\nalleviation of grief depend on two things—a ceasing to think on evil,\r\nand a turning to the contemplation of pleasure. For he thinks that the\r\nmind may possibly be under the power of reason, and follow her\r\ndirections: he forbids us, therefore, to mind trouble, and calls us off\r\nfrom sorrowful reflections; he throws a mist over our eyes to hinder us\r\nfrom the contemplation of misery. Having sounded a retreat \u003ca id=\"page-106\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e106\u003c/span\u003efrom this\r\nstatement, he drives our thoughts on again, and encourages them to view\r\nand engage the whole mind in the various pleasures with which he thinks\r\nthe life of a wise man abounds, either from reflecting on the past, or\r\nfrom the hope of what is to come. I have said these things in my own\r\nway; the Epicureans have theirs. However, let us examine what they say;\r\nhow they say it is of little consequence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. In the first place, they are wrong in forbidding men to premeditate\r\non futurity and blaming their wish to do so; for there is nothing that\r\nbreaks the edge of grief and lightens it more than considering, during\r\none’s whole life, that there is nothing which it is impossible should\r\nhappen, or than, considering what human nature is, on what conditions\r\nlife was given, and how we may comply with them. The effect of which is\r\nthat we are always grieving, but that we never do so; for whoever\r\nreflects on the nature of things, the various turns of life, and the\r\nweakness of human nature, grieves, indeed, at that reflection; but while\r\nso grieving he is, above all other times, behaving as a wise man, for he\r\ngains these two things by it: one, that while he is considering the\r\nstate of human nature he is performing the especial duties of\r\nphilosophy, and is provided with a triple medicine against adversity—in\r\nthe first place, because he has long reflected that such things might\r\nbefall him, and this reflection by itself contributes much towards\r\nlessening and weakening all misfortunes; and, secondly, because he is\r\npersuaded that we should bear all the accidents which can happen to man\r\nwith the feelings and spirit of a man; and, lastly, because he considers\r\nthat what is blamable is the only evil. But it is not your fault that\r\nsomething has happened to you which it was impossible for man to avoid.\r\nFor that withdrawing of our thoughts which he recommends when he calls\r\nus off from contemplating our misfortunes is an imaginary action; for it\r\nis not in our power to dissemble or to forget those evils which lie\r\nheavy on us; they tear, vex, and sting us—they burn us up, and leave no\r\nbreathing time. And do you order us to forget them (for such\r\nforgetfulness is contrary to nature), and at the same time deprive us of\r\nthe only assistance which nature affords, the being accustomed to them?\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-107\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e107\u003c/span\u003eFor that, though it is but a slow medicine (I mean that which is\r\nbrought by lapse of time), is still a very effectual one. You order me\r\nto employ my thoughts on something good, and forget my misfortunes. You\r\nwould say something worthy a great philosopher if you thought those\r\nthings good which are best suited to the dignity of human nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. Should Pythagoras, Socrates, or Plato say to me, Why are you\r\ndejected or sad? Why do you faint, and yield to fortune, which, perhaps,\r\nmay have power to harass and disturb you, but should not quite unman\r\nyou? There is great power in the virtues; rouse them, if they chance to\r\ndroop. Take fortitude for your guide, which will give you such spirits\r\nthat you will despise everything that can befall man, and look on it as\r\na trifle. Add to this temperance, which is moderation, and which was\r\njust now called frugality, which will not suffer you to do anything base\r\nor bad—for what is worse or baser than an effeminate man? Not even\r\njustice will suffer you to act in this manner, though she seems to have\r\nthe least weight in this affair; but still, notwithstanding, even she\r\nwill inform you that you are doubly unjust when you both require what\r\ndoes not belong to you, inasmuch as though you who have been born mortal\r\ndemand to be placed in the condition of the immortals, and at the same\r\ntime you take it much to heart that you are to restore what was lent\r\nyou. What answer will you make to prudence, who informs you that she is\r\na virtue sufficient of herself both to teach you a good life and also to\r\nsecure you a happy one? And, indeed, if she were fettered by external\r\ncircumstances, and dependent on others, and if she did not originate in\r\nherself and return to herself, and also embrace everything in herself,\r\nso as to seek no adventitious aid from any quarter, I cannot imagine why\r\nshe should appear deserving of such lofty panegyrics, or of being sought\r\nafter with such excessive eagerness. Now, Epicurus, if you call me back\r\nto such goods as these, I will obey you, and follow you, and use you as\r\nmy guide, and even forget, as you order me, all my misfortunes; and I\r\nwill do this the more readily from a persuasion that they are not to be\r\nranked among evils at all. But you are for bringing my thoughts over to\r\npleasure. \u003ca id=\"page-108\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e108\u003c/span\u003eWhat pleasures? Pleasures of the body, I imagine, or such as\r\nare recollected or imagined on account of the body. Is this all? Do I\r\nexplain your opinion rightly? for your disciples are used to deny that\r\nwe understand at all what Epicurus means. This is what he says, and what\r\nthat subtle fellow, old Zeno, who is one of the sharpest of them, used,\r\nwhen I was attending lectures at Athens, to enforce and talk so loudly\r\nof; saying that he alone was happy who could enjoy present pleasure, and\r\nwho was at the same time persuaded that he should enjoy it without pain,\r\neither during the whole or the greatest part of his life; or if, should\r\nany pain interfere, if it was very sharp, then it must be short; should\r\nit be of longer continuance, it would have more of what was sweet than\r\nbitter in it; that whosoever reflected on these things would be happy,\r\nespecially if satisfied with the good things which he had already\r\nenjoyed, and if he were without fear of death or of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. You have here a representation of a happy life according to\r\nEpicurus, in the words of Zeno, so that there is no room for\r\ncontradiction in any point. What, then? Can the proposing and thinking\r\nof such a life make Thyestes’s grief the less, or Æetes’s, of whom I\r\nspoke above, or Telamon’s, who was driven from his country to penury and\r\nbanishment? in wonder at whom men exclaimed thus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs this the man surpassing glory raised?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs this that Telamon so highly praised\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy wondering Greece, at whose sight, like the sun,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll others with diminish’d lustre shone?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, should any one, as the same author says, find his spirits sink with\r\nthe loss of his fortune, he must apply to those grave philosophers of\r\nantiquity for relief, and not to these voluptuaries: for what great\r\nabundance of good do they promise? Suppose that we allow that to be\r\nwithout pain is the chief good? Yet that is not called pleasure. But it\r\nis not necessary at present to go through the whole: the question is, to\r\nwhat point are we to advance in order to abate our grief? Grant that to\r\nbe in pain is the greatest evil: whosoever, then, has proceeded so far\r\nas not to be in pain, is he, therefore, in immediate possession of the\r\ngreatest good? Why, Epicurus, do we use any evasions, \u003ca id=\"page-109\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e109\u003c/span\u003eand not allow in\r\nour own words the same feeling to be pleasure which you are used to\r\nboast of with such assurance? Are these your words or not? This is what\r\nyou say in that book which contains all the doctrine of your school; for\r\nI will perform on this occasion the office of a translator, lest any one\r\nshould imagine that I am inventing anything. Thus you speak: “Nor can I\r\nform any notion of the chief good, abstracted from those pleasures which\r\nare perceived by taste, or from what depends on hearing music, or\r\nabstracted from ideas raised by external objects visible to the eye, or\r\nby agreeable motions, or from those other pleasures which are perceived\r\nby the whole man by means of any of his senses; nor can it possibly be\r\nsaid that the pleasures of the mind are excited only by what is good,\r\nfor I have perceived men’s minds to be pleased with the hopes of\r\nenjoying those things which I mentioned above, and with the idea that it\r\nshould enjoy them without any interruption from pain.” And these are his\r\nexact words, so that any one may understand what were the pleasures with\r\nwhich Epicurus was acquainted. Then he speaks thus, a little lower down:\r\n“I have often inquired of those who have been called wise men what would\r\nbe the remaining good if they should exclude from consideration all\r\nthese pleasures, unless they meant to give us nothing but words. I could\r\nnever learn anything from them; and unless they choose that all virtue\r\nand wisdom should vanish and come to nothing, they must say with me that\r\nthe only road to happiness lies through those pleasures which I\r\nmentioned above.” What follows is much the same, and his whole book on\r\nthe chief good everywhere abounds with the same opinions. Will you,\r\nthen, invite Telamon to this kind of life to ease his grief? And should\r\nyou observe any one of your friends under affliction, would you rather\r\nprescribe him a sturgeon than a treatise of Socrates? or advise him to\r\nlisten to the music of a water organ rather than to Plato? or lay before\r\nhim the beauty and variety of some garden, put a nosegay to his nose,\r\nburn perfumes before him, and bid him crown himself with a garland of\r\nroses and woodbines? Should you add one thing more, you would certainly\r\nwipe out all his grief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-110\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e110\u003c/span\u003eXIX. Epicurus must admit these arguments, or he must take out of his\r\nbook what I just now said was a literal translation; or, rather, he must\r\ndestroy his whole book, for it is crammed full of pleasures. We must\r\ninquire, then, how we can ease him of his grief who speaks in this\r\nmanner:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy present state proceeds from fortune’s stings;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy birth I boast of a descent from kings;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHence may you see from what a noble height\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI’m sunk by fortune to this abject plight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhat! to ease his grief, must we mix him a cup of sweet wine, or\r\nsomething of that kind? Lo! the same poet presents us with another\r\nsentiment somewhere else:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI, Hector, once so great, now claim your aid.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWe should assist her, for she looks out for help:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere shall I now apply, where seek support?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere hence betake me, or to whom resort?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo means remain of comfort or of joy,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn flames my palace, and in ruins Troy;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEach wall, so late superb, deformed nods,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd not an altar’s left t’ appease the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eYou know what should follow, and particularly this:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf father, country, and of friends bereft,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNot one of all these sumptuous temples left;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich, while the fortune of our house did stand,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith rich wrought ceilings spoke the artist’s hand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eO excellent poet! though despised by those who sing the verses of\r\nEuphorion. He is sensible that all things which come on a sudden are\r\nharder to be borne. Therefore, when he had set off the riches of Priam\r\nto the best advantage, which had the appearance of a long continuance,\r\nwhat does he add?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLo! these all perish’d in one blazing pile;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe foe old Priam of his life beguiled,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd with his blood, thy altar, Jove, defiled.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAdmirable poetry! There is something mournful in the subject, as well as\r\nin the words and measure. We must drive away this grief of hers: how is\r\nthat to be done? Shall we lay her on a bed of down; introduce a singer;\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-111\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e111\u003c/span\u003eshall we burn cedar, or present here with some pleasant liquor, and\r\nprovide her something to eat? Are these the good things which remove the\r\nmost afflicting grief? For you but just now said you knew of no other\r\ngood. I should agree with Epicurus that we ought to be called off from\r\ngrief to contemplate good things, if we could only agree upon what was\r\ngood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. It may be said, What! do you imagine Epicurus really meant this, and\r\nthat he maintained anything so sensual? Indeed I do not imagine so, for\r\nI am sensible that he has uttered many excellent things and sentiments,\r\nand delivered maxims of great weight. Therefore, as I said before, I am\r\nspeaking of his acuteness, not of his morals. Though he should hold\r\nthose pleasures in contempt which he just now commended, yet I must\r\nremember wherein he places the chief good. For he was not contented with\r\nbarely saying this, but he has explained what he meant: he says that\r\ntaste, and embraces, and sports, and music, and those forms which affect\r\nthe eyes with pleasure, are the chief good. Have I invented this? have I\r\nmisrepresented him? I should be glad to be confuted; for what am I\r\nendeavoring at but to clear up truth in every question? Well, but the\r\nsame man says that pleasure is at its height where pain ceases, and that\r\nto be free from all pain is the very greatest pleasure. Here are three\r\nvery great mistakes in a very few words. One is, that he contradicts\r\nhimself; for, but just now, he could not imagine anything good unless\r\nthe senses were in a manner tickled with some pleasure; but now he says\r\nthat to be free from pain is the highest pleasure. Can any one\r\ncontradict himself more? The next mistake is, that where there is\r\nnaturally a threefold division—the first, to be pleased; next, to be in\r\npain; the last, to be affected neither by pleasure nor pain—he imagines\r\nthe first and the last to be the same, and makes no difference between\r\npleasure and a cessation of pain. The last mistake he falls into in\r\ncommon with some others, which is this: that as virtue is the most\r\ndesirable thing, and as philosophy has been investigated with a view to\r\nthe attainment of it, he has separated the chief good from virtue. But\r\nhe commends virtue, and that frequently; and indeed C. Gracchus, when he\r\nhad made the \u003ca id=\"page-112\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e112\u003c/span\u003elargest distributions of the public money, and had\r\nexhausted the treasury, nevertheless spoke much of defending the\r\ntreasury. What signifies what men say when we see what they do? That\r\nPiso, who was surnamed Frugal, had always harangued against the law that\r\nwas proposed for distributing the corn; but when it had passed, though a\r\nman of consular dignity, he came to receive the corn. Gracchus observed\r\nPiso standing in the court, and asked him, in the hearing of the people,\r\nhow it was consistent for him to take corn by a law he had himself\r\nopposed. “It was,” said he, “against your distributing my goods to every\r\nman as you thought proper; but, as you do so, I claim my share.” Did not\r\nthis grave and wise man sufficiently show that the public revenue was\r\ndissipated by the Sempronian law? Read Gracchus’s speeches, and you will\r\npronounce him the advocate of the treasury. Epicurus denies that any one\r\ncan live pleasantly who does not lead a life of virtue; he denies that\r\nfortune has any power over a wise man; he prefers a spare diet to great\r\nplenty, and maintains that a wise man is always happy. All these things\r\nbecome a philosopher to say, but they are not consistent with pleasure.\r\nBut the reply is, that he doth not mean \u003ci\u003ethat\u003c/i\u003e pleasure: let him mean\r\nany pleasure, it must be such a one as makes no part of virtue. But\r\nsuppose we are mistaken as to his pleasure; are we so, too, as to his\r\npain? I maintain, therefore, the impropriety of language which that man\r\nuses, when talking of virtue, who would measure every great evil by\r\npain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. And indeed the Epicureans, those best of men—for there is no order\r\nof men more innocent—complain that I take great pains to inveigh\r\nagainst Epicurus. We are rivals, I suppose, for some honor or\r\ndistinction. I place the chief good in the mind, he in the body; I in\r\nvirtue, he in pleasure; and the Epicureans are up in arms, and implore\r\nthe assistance of their neighbors, and many are ready to fly to their\r\naid. But as for my part, I declare that I am very indifferent about the\r\nmatter, and that I consider the whole discussion which they are so\r\nanxious about at an end. For what! is the contention about the Punic\r\nwar? on which very subject, though M. Cato and L. Lentulus were of\r\ndifferent opinions, still there was no \u003ca id=\"page-113\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e113\u003c/span\u003edifference between them. But\r\nthese men behave with too much heat, especially as the opinions which\r\nthey would uphold are no very spirited ones, and such as they dare not\r\nplead for either in the senate or before the assembly of the people, or\r\nbefore the army or the censors. But, however, I will argue with them\r\nanother time, and with such a disposition that no quarrel shall arise\r\nbetween us; for I shall be ready to yield to their opinions when founded\r\non truth. Only I must give them this advice: That were it ever so true,\r\nthat a wise man regards nothing but the body, or, to express myself with\r\nmore decency, never does anything except what is expedient, and views\r\nall things with exclusive reference to his own advantage, as such things\r\nare not very commendable, they should confine them to their own breasts,\r\nand leave off talking with that parade of them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. What remains is the opinion of the Cyrenaics, who think that men\r\ngrieve when anything happens unexpectedly. And that is indeed, as I said\r\nbefore, a great aggravation of a misfortune; and I know that it appeared\r\nso to Chrysippus—“Whatever falls out unexpected is so much the\r\nheavier.” But the whole question does not turn on this; though the\r\nsudden approach of an enemy sometimes occasions more confusion than it\r\nwould if you had expected him, and a sudden storm at sea throws the\r\nsailors into a greater fright than one which they have foreseen; and it\r\nis the same in many other cases. But when you carefully consider the\r\nnature of what was expected, you will find nothing more than that all\r\nthings which come on a sudden appear greater; and this upon two\r\naccounts: first of all, because you have not time to consider how great\r\nthe accident is; and, secondly, because you are probably persuaded that\r\nyou could have guarded against it had you foreseen if, and therefore the\r\nmisfortune, having been seemingly encountered by your own fault, makes\r\nyour grief the greater. That it is so, time evinces; which, as it\r\nadvances, brings with it so much mitigation that though the same\r\nmisfortunes continue, the grief not only becomes the less, but in some\r\ncases is entirely removed. Many Carthaginians were slaves at Rome, and\r\nmany Macedonians, when Perseus their king was taken prisoner. I saw,\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-114\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e114\u003c/span\u003etoo, when I was a young man, some Corinthians in the Peloponnesus. They\r\nmight all have lamented with Andromache,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll these I saw……;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ebut they had perhaps given over lamenting themselves, for by their\r\ncountenances, and speech, and other gestures you might have taken them\r\nfor Argives or Sicyonians. And I myself was more concerned at the ruined\r\nwalls of Corinth than the Corinthians themselves were, whose minds by\r\nfrequent reflection and time had become callous to such sights. I have\r\nread a book of Clitomachus, which he sent to his fellow-citizens who\r\nwere prisoners, to comfort them after the destruction of Carthage. There\r\nis in it a treatise written by Carneades, which, as Clitomachus says, he\r\nhad inserted into his book; the subject was, “That it appeared probable\r\nthat a wise man would grieve at the state of subjection of his country,”\r\nand all the arguments which Carneades used against this proposition are\r\nset down in the book. There the philosopher applies such a strong\r\nmedicine to a fresh grief as would be quite unnecessary in one of any\r\ncontinuance; nor, if this very book had been sent to the captives some\r\nyears after, would it have found any wounds to cure, but only scars; for\r\ngrief, by a gentle progress and slow degrees, wears away imperceptibly.\r\nNot that the circumstances which gave rise to it are altered, or can be,\r\nbut that custom teaches what reason should—that those things which\r\nbefore seemed to be of some consequence are of no such great importance,\r\nafter all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. It may be said, What occasion is there to apply to reason, or to\r\nany sort of consolation such as we generally make use of, to mitigate\r\nthe grief of the afflicted? For we have this argument always at hand,\r\nthat nothing ought to appear unexpected. But how will any one be enabled\r\nto bear his misfortunes the better by knowing that it is unavoidable\r\nthat such things should happen to man? Saying this subtracts nothing\r\nfrom the sum of the grief: it only asserts that nothing has fallen out\r\nbut what might have been anticipated; and yet this manner of speaking\r\nhas some little consolation in it, though I apprehend not a great deal.\r\nTherefore those unlooked-for things have not so much force as to give\r\nrise to all our \u003ca id=\"page-115\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e115\u003c/span\u003egrief; the blow perhaps may fall the heavier, but\r\nwhatever happens does not appear the greater on that account. No, it is\r\nthe fact of its having happened lately, and not of its having befallen\r\nus unexpectedly, that makes it seem the greater. There are two ways,\r\nthen, of discerning the truth, not only of things that seem evil, but of\r\nthose that have the appearance of good. For we either inquire into the\r\nnature of the thing, of what description, and magnitude, and importance\r\nit is—as sometimes with regard to poverty, the burden of which we may\r\nlighten when by our disputations we show how few things nature requires,\r\nand of what a trifling kind they are—or, without any subtle arguing, we\r\nrefer them to examples, as here we instance a Socrates, there a\r\nDiogenes, and then again that line in Cæcilius,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWisdom is oft conceal’d in mean attire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eFor as poverty is of equal weight with all, what reason can be given why\r\nwhat was borne by Fabricius should be spoken of by any one else as\r\nunsupportable when it falls upon themselves? Of a piece with this is\r\nthat other way of comforting, which consists in pointing out that\r\nnothing has happened but what is common to human nature; for this\r\nargument doth not only inform us what human nature is, but implies that\r\nall things are tolerable which others have borne and are bearing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. Is poverty the subject? They tell you of many who have submitted\r\nto it with patience. Is it the contempt of honors? They acquaint you\r\nwith some who never enjoyed any, and were the happier for it; and of\r\nthose who have preferred a private retired life to public employment,\r\nmentioning their names with respect; they tell you of the verse\u003ca id=\"FNA-40\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-40\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e40\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of\r\nthat most powerful king who praises an old man, and pronounces him happy\r\nbecause he was unknown to fame and seemed likely to arrive at the hour\r\nof death in obscurity and without notice. Thus, too, they have examples\r\nfor those who are deprived of their children: they who are under any\r\ngreat grief are comforted by instances of like affliction; and thus the\r\nendurance \u003ca id=\"page-116\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e116\u003c/span\u003eof every misfortune is rendered more easy by the fact of\r\nothers having undergone the same, and the fate of others causes what has\r\nhappened to appear less important than it has been previously thought,\r\nand reflection thus discovers to us how much opinion had imposed on us.\r\nAnd this is what the Telamon declares, “I, when my son was born,” etc.;\r\nand thus Theseus, “I on my future misery did dwell;” and Anaxagoras, “I\r\nknew my son was mortal.” All these men, by frequently reflecting on\r\nhuman affairs, had discovered that they were by no means to be estimated\r\nby the opinion of the multitude; and, indeed, it seems to me to be\r\npretty much the same case with those who consider beforehand as with\r\nthose who derive their remedies from time, excepting that a kind of\r\nreason cures the one, and the other remedy is provided by nature; by\r\nwhich we discover (and this contains the whole marrow of the matter)\r\nthat what was imagined to be the greatest evil is by no means so great\r\nas to defeat the happiness of life. And the effect of this is, that the\r\nblow is greater by reason of its not having been foreseen, and not, as\r\nthey suppose, that when similar misfortunes befall two different people,\r\nthat man only is affected with grief whom this calamity has befallen\r\nunexpectedly. So that some persons, under the oppression of grief, are\r\nsaid to have borne it actually worse for hearing of this common\r\ncondition of man, that we are born under such conditions as render it\r\nimpossible for a man to be exempt from all evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. For this reason Carneades, as I see our friend Antiochus writes,\r\nused to blame Chrysippus for commending these verses of Euripides:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMan, doom’d to care, to pain, disease, and strife,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWalks his short journey thro’ the vale of life:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWatchful attends the cradle and the grave,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd passing generations longs to save:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLast, dies himself: yet wherefore should we mourn?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor man must to his kindred dust return;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSubmit to the destroying hand of fate,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs ripen’d ears the harvest-sickle wait.\u003ca id=\"FNA-41\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-41\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e41\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-117\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e117\u003c/span\u003eHe would not allow a speech of this kind to avail at all to the cure of\r\nour grief, for he said it was a lamentable case itself that we were\r\nfallen into the hands of such a cruel fate; and that a speech like that,\r\npreaching up comfort from the misfortunes of another, was a comfort\r\nadapted only to those of a malevolent disposition. But to me it appears\r\nfar otherwise; for the necessity of bearing what is the common condition\r\nof humanity forbids your resisting the will of the Gods, and reminds you\r\nthat you are a man, which reflection greatly alleviates grief; and the\r\nenumeration of these examples is not produced with a view to please\r\nthose of a malevolent disposition, but in order that any one in\r\naffliction may be induced to bear what he observes many others have\r\npreviously borne with tranquillity and moderation. For they who are\r\nfalling to pieces, and cannot hold together through the greatness of\r\ntheir grief, should be supported by all kinds of assistance. From whence\r\nChrysippus thinks that grief is called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eλύπη\u003c/span\u003e, as it were \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eλύσις\u003c/span\u003e, that is\r\nto say, a dissolution of the whole man—the whole of which I think may\r\nbe pulled up by the roots by explaining, as I said at the beginning, the\r\ncause of grief; for it is nothing else but an opinion and judgment\r\nformed of a present acute evil. And thus any bodily pain, let it be ever\r\nso grievous, may be endurable where any hopes are proposed of some\r\nconsiderable good; and we receive such consolation from a virtuous and\r\nillustrious life that they who lead such lives are seldom attacked by\r\ngrief, or but slightly affected by it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. But as besides this opinion of great evil there is this other\r\nadded also—that we ought to lament what has happened, that it is right\r\nso to do, and part of our duty, then is brought about that terrible\r\ndisorder of mind, grief. And it is to this opinion that we owe all those\r\nvarious and horrid kinds of lamentation, that neglect of our persons,\r\nthat womanish tearing of our cheeks, that striking on our thighs,\r\nbreasts, and heads. Thus Agamemnon, in Homer and in Accius,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTears in his grief his uncomb’d locks;\u003ca id=\"FNA-42\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-42\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e42\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003efrom whence comes that pleasant saying of Bion, that the \u003ca id=\"page-118\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e118\u003c/span\u003efoolish king\r\nin his sorrow tore away the hairs of his head, imagining that his grief\r\nwould be alleviated by baldness. But men do all these things from being\r\npersuaded that they ought to do so. And thus Æschines inveighs against\r\nDemosthenes for sacrificing within seven days after the death of his\r\ndaughter. But with what eloquence, with what fluency, does he attack\r\nhim! what sentiments does he collect! what words does he hurl against\r\nhim! You may see by this that an orator may do anything; but nobody\r\nwould approve of such license if it were not that we have an idea innate\r\nin our minds that every good man ought to lament the loss of a relation\r\nas bitterly as possible. And it is owing to this that some men, when in\r\nsorrow, betake themselves to deserts, as Homer says of Bellerophon:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 15ex\"\u003eDistracted in his mind,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForsook by heaven, forsaking human kind,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWide o’er the Aleïan field he chose to stray,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA long, forlorn, uncomfortable way!\u003ca id=\"FNA-43\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-43\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e43\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd thus Niobe is feigned to have been turned into stone, from her never\r\nspeaking, I suppose, in her grief. But they imagine Hecuba to have been\r\nconverted into a bitch, from her rage and bitterness of mind. There are\r\nothers who love to converse with solitude itself when in grief, as the\r\nnurse in Ennius,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFain would I to the heavens find earth relate\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMedea’s ceaseless woes and cruel fate.\u003ca id=\"FNA-44\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-44\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e44\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. Now all these things are done in grief, from a persuasion of\r\ntheir truth and propriety and necessity; and it is plain that those who\r\nbehave thus do so from a conviction of its being their duty; for should\r\nthese mourners by chance drop their grief, and either act or speak for a\r\nmoment in a more calm or cheerful manner, they presently check\r\nthemselves and return to their lamentations again, and blame themselves\r\nfor having been guilty of any intermissions \u003ca id=\"page-119\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e119\u003c/span\u003efrom their grief; and\r\nparents and masters generally correct children not by words only, but by\r\nblows, if they show any levity by either word or deed when the family is\r\nunder affliction, and, as it were, oblige them to be sorrowful. What!\r\ndoes it not appear, when you have ceased to mourn, and have discovered\r\nthat your grief has been ineffectual, that the whole of that mourning\r\nwas voluntary on your part? What does that man say in Terence who\r\npunishes himself, the Self-tormentor?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI think I do my son less harm, O Chremes,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs long as I myself am miserable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe determines to be miserable: and can any one determine on anything\r\nagainst his will?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI well might think that I deserved all evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe would think he deserved any misfortune were he otherwise than\r\nmiserable! Therefore, you see, the evil is in opinion, not in nature.\r\nHow is it when some things do of themselves prevent your grieving at\r\nthem? as in Homer, so many died and were buried daily that they had not\r\nleisure to grieve: where you find these lines—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe great, the bold, by thousands daily fall,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd endless were the grief to weep for all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEternal sorrows what avails to shed?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGreece honors not with solemn fasts the dead:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEnough when death demands the brave to pay\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe tribute of a melancholy day.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne chief with patience to the grave resign’d,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOur care devolves on others left behind.\u003ca id=\"FNA-45\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-45\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e45\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore it is in our own power to lay aside grief upon occasion; and\r\nis there any opportunity (seeing the thing is in our own power) that we\r\nshould let slip of getting rid of care and grief? It was plain that the\r\nfriends of Cnæus Pompeius, when they saw him fainting under his wounds,\r\nat the very moment of that most miserable and bitter sight were under\r\ngreat uneasiness how they themselves, \u003ca id=\"page-120\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e120\u003c/span\u003esurrounded by the enemy as they\r\nwere, should escape, and were employed in nothing but encouraging the\r\nrowers and aiding their escape; but when they reached Tyre, they began\r\nto grieve and lament over him. Therefore, as fear with them, prevailed\r\nover grief, cannot reason and true philosophy have the same effect with\r\na wise man?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. But what is there more effectual to dispel grief than the\r\ndiscovery that it answers no purpose, and has been undergone to no\r\naccount? Therefore, if we can get rid of it, we need never have been\r\nsubject to it. It must be acknowledged, then, that men take up grief\r\nwilfully and knowingly; and this appears from the patience of those who,\r\nafter they have been exercised in afflictions and are better able to\r\nbear whatever befalls them, suppose themselves hardened against fortune;\r\nas that person in Euripides,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHad this the first essay of fortune been,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd I no storms thro’ all my life had seen,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWild as a colt I’d broke from reason’s sway;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut frequent griefs have taught me to obey.\u003ca id=\"FNA-46\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-46\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e46\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAs, then, the frequent bearing of misery makes grief the lighter, we\r\nmust necessarily perceive that the cause and original of it does not lie\r\nin the calamity itself. Your principal philosophers, or lovers of\r\nwisdom, though they have not yet arrived at perfect wisdom, are not they\r\nsensible that they are in the greatest evil? For they are foolish, and\r\nfoolishness is the greatest of all evils, and yet they lament not. How\r\nshall we account for this? Because opinion is not fixed upon that kind\r\nof evil, it is not our opinion that it is right, meet, and our duty to\r\nbe uneasy because we are not all wise men. Whereas this opinion is\r\nstrongly affixed to that uneasiness where mourning is concerned, which\r\nis the greatest of all grief. Therefore Aristotle, when he blames some\r\nancient philosophers for imagining that by their genius they had brought\r\nphilosophy \u003ca id=\"page-121\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e121\u003c/span\u003eto the highest perfection, says, they must be either\r\nextremely foolish or extremely vain; but that he himself could see that\r\ngreat improvements had been made therein in a few years, and that\r\nphilosophy would in a little time arrive at perfection. And Theophrastus\r\nis reported to have reproached nature at his death for giving to stags\r\nand crows so long a life, which was of no use to them, but allowing only\r\nso short a span to men, to whom length of days would have been of the\r\ngreatest use; for if the life of man could have been lengthened, it\r\nwould have been able to provide itself with all kinds of learning, and\r\nwith arts in the greatest perfection. He lamented, therefore, that he\r\nwas dying just when he had begun to discover these. What! does not every\r\ngrave and distinguished philosopher acknowledge himself ignorant of many\r\nthings, and confess that there are many things which he must learn over\r\nand over again? And yet, though these men are sensible that they are\r\nstanding still in the very midway of folly, than which nothing can be\r\nworse, they are under no great affliction, because no opinion that it is\r\ntheir duty to lament is ever mingled with this knowledge. What shall we\r\nsay of those who think it unbecoming in a man to grieve? among whom we\r\nmay reckon Q. Maximus, when he buried his son that had been consul, and\r\nL. Paulus, who lost two sons within a few days of one another. Of the\r\nsame opinion was M. Cato, who lost his son just after he had been\r\nelected prætor, and many others, whose names I have collected in my book\r\non Consolation. Now what made these men so easy, but their persuasion\r\nthat grief and lamentation was not becoming in a man? Therefore, as some\r\ngive themselves up to grief from an opinion that it is right so to do,\r\nthey refrained themselves, from an opinion that it was discreditable;\r\nfrom which we may infer that grief is owing more to opinion than nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. It may be said, on the other side, Who is so mad as to grieve of\r\nhis own accord? Pain proceeds from nature, which you must submit to, say\r\nthey, agreeably to what even your own Crantor teaches, for it presses\r\nand gains upon you unavoidably, and cannot possibly be resisted. So that\r\nthe very same Oileus, in Sophocles, who had before comforted Telamon on\r\nthe death of Ajax, on \u003ca id=\"page-122\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e122\u003c/span\u003ehearing of the death of his own son, is\r\nbroken-hearted. On this alteration of his mind we have these lines:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShow me the man so well by wisdom taught\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat what he charges to another’s fault,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen like affliction doth himself betide,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTrue to his own wise counsel will abide.\u003ca id=\"FNA-47\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-47\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e47\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNow, when they urge these things, their endeavor is to prove that nature\r\nis absolutely and wholly irresistible; and yet the same people allow\r\nthat we take greater grief on ourselves than nature requires. What\r\nmadness is it, then, in us to require the same from others? But there\r\nare many reasons for our taking grief on us. The first is from the\r\nopinion of some evil, on the discovery and certainty of which grief\r\ncomes of course. Besides, many people are persuaded that they are doing\r\nsomething very acceptable to the dead when they lament bitterly over\r\nthem. To these may be added a kind of womanish superstition, in\r\nimagining that when they have been stricken by the afflictions sent by\r\nthe Gods, to acknowledge themselves afflicted and humbled by them is the\r\nreadiest way of appeasing them. But most men appear to be unaware what\r\ncontradictions these things are full of. They commend those who die\r\ncalmly, but they blame those who can bear the loss of another with the\r\nsame calmness, as if it were possible that it should be true, as is\r\noccasionally said in love speeches, that any one can love another more\r\nthan himself. There is, indeed, something excellent in this, and, if you\r\nexamine it, something no less just than true, that we love those who\r\nought to be most dear to us as well as we love ourselves; but to love\r\nthem more than ourselves is absolutely impossible; nor is it desirable\r\nin friendship that I should love my friend more than myself, or that he\r\nshould love me so; for this would occasion much confusion in life, and\r\nbreak in upon all the duties of it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-123\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e123\u003c/span\u003eXXX. But we will speak of this another time: at present it is\r\nsufficient not to attribute our misery to the loss of our friends, nor\r\nto love them more than, if they themselves could be sensible of our\r\nconduct, they would approve of, or at least not more than we do\r\nourselves. Now as to what they say, that some are not at all appeased by\r\nour consolations; and, moreover, as to what they add, that the\r\ncomforters themselves acknowledge they are miserable when fortune varies\r\nthe attack and falls on them—in both these cases the solution is easy:\r\nfor the fault here is not in nature, but in our own folly; and much may\r\nbe said against folly. But men who do not admit of consolation seem to\r\nbespeak misery for themselves; and they who cannot bear their\r\nmisfortunes with that temper which they recommend to others are not more\r\nfaulty in this particular than most other persons; for we see that\r\ncovetous men find fault with others who are covetous, as do the\r\nvainglorious with those who appear too wholly devoted to the pursuit of\r\nglory. For it is the peculiar characteristic of folly to perceive the\r\nvices of others, but to forget its own. But since we find that grief is\r\nremoved by length of time, we have the greatest proof that the strength\r\nof it depends not merely on time, but on the daily consideration of it.\r\nFor if the cause continues the same, and the man be the same, how can\r\nthere be any alteration in the grief, if there is no change in what\r\noccasioned the grief, nor in him who grieves? Therefore it is from daily\r\nreflecting that there is no real evil in the circumstance for which you\r\ngrieve, and not from the length of time, that you procure a remedy for\r\nyour grief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. Here some people talk of moderate grief; but if such be natural,\r\nwhat occasion is there for consolation? for nature herself will\r\ndetermine, the measure of it: but if it depends on and is caused by\r\nopinion, the whole opinion should be destroyed. I think that it has been\r\nsufficiently said, that grief arises from an opinion of some present\r\nevil, which includes this belief, that it is incumbent on us to grieve.\r\nTo this definition Zeno has added, very justly, that the opinion of this\r\npresent evil should be recent. Now this word recent they explain thus:\r\nthose are not the only recent things which happened a little while ago;\r\nbut as \u003ca id=\"page-124\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e124\u003c/span\u003elong as there shall be any force, or vigor, or freshness in that\r\nimagined evil, so long it is entitled to the name of recent. Take the\r\ncase of Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, King of Caria, who made that\r\nnoble sepulchre at Halicarnassus; while she lived, she lived in grief,\r\nand died of it, being worn out by it, for that opinion was always recent\r\nwith her: but you cannot call that recent which has already begun to\r\ndecay through time. Now the duty of a comforter is, to remove grief\r\nentirely, to quiet it, or draw it off as much as you can, or else to\r\nkeep it under, and prevent its spreading any further, and to divert\r\none’s attention to other matters. There are some who think, with\r\nCleanthes, that the only duty of a comforter is to prove that what one\r\nis lamenting is by no means an evil. Others, as the Peripatetics, prefer\r\nurging that the evil is not great. Others, with Epicurus, seek to divert\r\nyour attention from the evil to good: some think it sufficient to show\r\nthat nothing has happened but what you had reason to expect; and this is\r\nthe practice of the Cyrenaics. But Chrysippus thinks that the main thing\r\nin comforting is, to remove the opinion from the person who is grieving,\r\nthat to grieve is his bounden duty. There are others who bring together\r\nall these various kinds of consolations, for people are differently\r\naffected; as I have done myself in my book on Consolation; for as my own\r\nmind was much disordered, I have attempted in that book to discover\r\nevery method of cure. But the proper season is as much to be attended to\r\nin the cure of the mind as of the body; as Prometheus in Æschylus, on\r\nits being said to him,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI think, Prometheus, you this tenet hold,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat all men’s reason should their rage control?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eanswers,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYes, when one reason properly applies;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIll-timed advice will make the storm but rise.\u003ca id=\"FNA-48\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-48\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e48\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. But the principal medicine to be applied in consolation is, to\r\nmaintain either that it is no evil at all, \u003ca id=\"page-125\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e125\u003c/span\u003eor a very inconsiderable\r\none: the next best to that is, to speak of the common condition of life,\r\nhaving a view, if possible, to the state of the person whom you comfort\r\nparticularly. The third is, that it is folly to wear one’s self out with\r\ngrief which can avail nothing. For the comfort of Cleanthes is suitable\r\nonly for a wise man, who is in no need of any comfort at all; for could\r\nyou persuade one in grief that nothing is an evil but what is base, you\r\nwould not only cure him of grief, but folly. But the time for such\r\nprecepts is not well chosen. Besides, Cleanthes does not seem to me\r\nsufficiently aware that affliction may very often proceed from that very\r\nthing which he himself allows to be the greatest misfortune. For what\r\nshall we say? When Socrates had convinced Alcibiades, as we are told,\r\nthat he had no distinctive qualifications as a man different from other\r\npeople, and that, in fact, there was no difference between him, though a\r\nman of the highest rank, and a porter; and when Alcibiades became uneasy\r\nat this, and entreated Socrates, with tears in his eyes, to make him a\r\nman of virtue, and to cure him of that mean position; what shall we say\r\nto this, Cleanthes? Was there no evil in what afflicted Alcibiades thus?\r\nWhat strange things does Lycon say? who, making light of grief, says\r\nthat it arises from trifles, from things that affect our fortune or\r\nbodies, not from the evils of the mind. What, then? did not the grief of\r\nAlcibiades proceed from the defects and evils of the mind? I have\r\nalready said enough of Epicurus’s consolation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. Nor is that consolation much to be relied on, though it is\r\nfrequently practised, and sometimes has some effect, namely, “That you\r\nare not alone in this.” It has its effect, as I said, but not always,\r\nnor with every person, for some reject it; but much depends on the\r\napplication of it; for you ought rather to show, not how men in general\r\nhave been affected with such evils, but how men of sense have borne\r\nthem. As to Chrysippus’s method, it is certainly founded in truth; but\r\nit is difficult to apply it in time of distress. It is a work of no\r\nsmall difficulty to persuade a person in affliction that he grieves\r\nmerely because he thinks it right so to do. Certainly, then, as in\r\npleadings we do not state all cases alike (if I may adopt \u003ca id=\"page-126\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e126\u003c/span\u003ethe language\r\nof lawyers for a moment), but adapt what we have to say to the time, to\r\nthe nature of the subject under debate, and to the person; so, too, in\r\nalleviating grief, regard should be had to what kind of cure the party\r\nto be comforted can admit of. But, somehow or other, we have rambled\r\nfrom what you originally proposed. For your question was concerning a\r\nwise man, with whom nothing can have the appearance of evil that is not\r\ndishonorable; or at least, anything else would seem so small an evil\r\nthat by his wisdom he would so overmatch it as to make it wholly\r\ndisappear; and such a man makes no addition to his grief through\r\nopinion, and never conceives it right to torment himself above measure,\r\nnor to wear himself out with grief, which is the meanest thing\r\nimaginable. Reason, however, it seems, has demonstrated (though it was\r\nnot directly our object at the moment to inquire whether anything can be\r\ncalled an evil except what is base) that it is in our power to discern\r\nthat all the evil which there is in affliction has nothing natural in\r\nit, but is contracted by our own voluntary judgment of it, and the error\r\nof opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. But the kind of affliction of which I have treated is that which\r\nis the greatest; in order that when we have once got rid of that, it may\r\nappear a business of less consequence to look after remedies for the\r\nothers. For there are certain things which are usually said about\r\npoverty; and also certain statements ordinarily applied to retired and\r\nundistinguished life. There are particular treatises on banishment, on\r\nthe ruin of one’s country, on slavery, on weakness, on blindness, and on\r\nevery incident that can come under the name of an evil. The Greeks\r\ndivide these into different treatises and distinct books; but they do it\r\nfor the sake of employment: not but that all such discussions are full\r\nof entertainment. And yet, as physicians, in curing the whole body,\r\nattend to even the most insignificant part of the body which is at all\r\ndisordered, so does philosophy act, after it has removed grief in\r\ngeneral; still, if any other deficiency exists—should poverty bite,\r\nshould ignominy sting, should banishment bring a dark cloud over us, or\r\nshould any of those things which I have just mentioned appear, there is\r\nfor each its appropriate \u003ca id=\"page-127\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e127\u003c/span\u003econsolation, which you shall hear whenever you\r\nplease. But we must have recourse again to the same original principle,\r\nthat a wise man is free from all sorrow, because it is vain, because it\r\nanswers no purpose, because it is not founded in nature, but on opinion\r\nand prejudice, and is engendered by a kind of invitation to grieve, when\r\nonce men have imagined that it is their duty to do so. When, then, we\r\nhave subtracted what is altogether voluntary, that mournful uneasiness\r\nwill be removed; yet some little anxiety, some slight pricking, will\r\nstill remain. They may indeed call this natural, provided they give it\r\nnot that horrid, solemn, melancholy name of grief, which can by no means\r\nconsist with wisdom. But how various and how bitter are the roots of\r\ngrief! Whatever they are, I propose, after having felled the trunk, to\r\ndestroy them all; even if it should be necessary, by allotting a\r\nseparate dissertation to each, for I have leisure enough to do so,\r\nwhatever time it may take up. But the principle of every uneasiness is\r\nthe same, though they may appear under different names. For envy is an\r\nuneasiness; so are emulation, detraction, anguish, sorrow, sadness,\r\ntribulation, lamentation, vexation, grief, trouble, affliction, and\r\ndespair. The Stoics define all these different feelings; and all those\r\nwords which I have mentioned belong to different things, and do not, as\r\nthey seem, express the same ideas; but they are to a certain extent\r\ndistinct, as I shall make appear perhaps in another place. These are\r\nthose fibres of the roots which, as I said at first, must be traced back\r\nand cut off and destroyed, so that not one shall remain. You say it is a\r\ngreat and difficult undertaking: who denies it? But what is there of any\r\nexcellency which has not its difficulty? Yet philosophy undertakes to\r\neffect it, provided we admit its superintendence. But enough of this.\r\nThe other books, whenever you please, shall be ready for you here or\r\nanywhere else.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-128\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e128\u003c/span\u003eBOOK IV.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eOn other perturbations of the mind.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eI have\u003c/span\u003e often wondered, Brutus, on many occasions, at the ingenuity\r\nand virtues of our countrymen; but nothing has surprised me more than\r\ntheir development in those studies, which, though they came somewhat\r\nlate to us, have been transported into this city from Greece. For the\r\nsystem of auspices, and religious ceremonies, and courts of justice, and\r\nappeals to the people, the senate, the establishment of an army of\r\ncavalry and infantry, and the whole military discipline, were instituted\r\nas early as the foundation of the city by royal authority, partly too by\r\nlaws, not without the assistance of the Gods. Then with what a\r\nsurprising and incredible progress did our ancestors advance towards all\r\nkind of excellence, when once the republic was freed from the regal\r\npower! Not that this is a proper occasion to treat of the manners and\r\ncustoms of our ancestors, or of the discipline and constitution of the\r\ncity; for I have elsewhere, particularly in the six books I wrote on the\r\nRepublic, given a sufficiently accurate account of them. But while I am\r\non this subject, and considering the study of philosophy, I meet with\r\nmany reasons to imagine that those studies were brought to us from\r\nabroad, and not merely imported, but preserved and improved; for they\r\nhad Pythagoras, a man of consummate wisdom and nobleness of character,\r\nin a manner, before their eyes, who was in Italy at the time that Lucius\r\nBrutus, the illustrious founder of your nobility, delivered his country\r\nfrom tyranny. As the doctrine of Pythagoras spread itself on all sides,\r\nit seems probable to me that it reached this city; and this is not only\r\nprobable of itself, but it does really appear to have been the case from\r\nmany remains of it. For who can imagine that, when it flourished so much\r\nin that part of Italy which was called Magna Græcia, and in some of the\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-129\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e129\u003c/span\u003elargest and most powerful cities, in which, first the name of\r\nPythagoras, and then that of those men who were afterward his followers,\r\nwas in so high esteem; who can imagine, I say, that our people could\r\nshut their ears to what was said by such learned men? Besides, it is\r\neven my opinion that it was the great esteem in which the Pythagoreans\r\nwere held, that gave rise to that opinion among those who came after\r\nhim, that King Numa was a Pythagorean. For, being acquainted with the\r\ndoctrine and principles of Pythagoras, and having heard from their\r\nancestors that this king was a very wise and just man, and not being\r\nable to distinguish accurately between times and periods that were so\r\nremote, they inferred, from his being so eminent for his wisdom, that he\r\nhad been a pupil of Pythagoras.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. So far we proceed on conjecture. As to the vestiges of the\r\nPythagoreans, though I might collect many, I shall use but a few;\r\nbecause they have no connection with our present purpose. For, as it is\r\nreported to have been a custom with them to deliver certain precepts in\r\na more abstruse manner in verse, and to bring their minds from severe\r\nthought to a more composed state by songs and musical instruments; so\r\nCato, a writer of the very highest authority, says in his Origins, that\r\nit was customary with our ancestors for the guests at their\r\nentertainments, every one in his turn, to celebrate the praises and\r\nvirtues of illustrious men in song to the sound of the flute; from\r\nwhence it is clear that poems and songs were then composed for the\r\nvoice. And, indeed, it is also clear that poetry was in fashion from the\r\nlaws of the Twelve Tables, wherein it is provided that no song should be\r\nmade to the injury of another. Another argument of the erudition of\r\nthose times is, that they played on instruments before the shrines of\r\ntheir Gods, and at the entertainments of their magistrates; but that\r\ncustom was peculiar to the sect I am speaking of. To me, indeed, that\r\npoem of Appius Cæcus, which Panætius commends so much in a certain\r\nletter of his which is addressed to Quintus Tubero, has all the marks of\r\na Pythagorean author. We have many things derived from the Pythagoreans\r\nin our customs, which I pass over, that we may \u003ca id=\"page-130\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e130\u003c/span\u003enot seem to have learned\r\nthat elsewhere which we look upon ourselves as the inventors of. But to\r\nreturn to our purpose. How many great poets as well as orators have\r\nsprung up among us! and in what a short time! so that it is evident that\r\nour people could arrive at any learning as soon as they had an\r\ninclination for it. But of other studies I shall speak elsewhere if\r\nthere is occasion, as I have already often done.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. The study of philosophy is certainly of long standing with us; but\r\nyet I do not find that I can give you the names of any philosopher\r\nbefore the age of Lælius and Scipio, in whose younger days we find that\r\nDiogenes the Stoic, and Carneades the Academic, were sent as ambassadors\r\nby the Athenians to our senate. And as these had never been concerned in\r\npublic affairs, and one of them was a Cyrenean, the other a Babylonian,\r\nthey certainly would never have been forced from their studies, nor\r\nchosen for that employment, unless the study of philosophy had been in\r\nvogue with some of the great men at that time; who, though they might\r\nemploy their pens on other subjects—some on civil law, others on\r\noratory, others on the history of former times—yet promoted this most\r\nextensive of all arts, the principle of living well, even more by their\r\nlife than by their writings. So that of that true and elegant philosophy\r\n(which was derived from Socrates, and is still preserved by the\r\nPeripatetics and by the Stoics, though they express themselves\r\ndifferently in their disputes with the Academics) there are few or no\r\nLatin records; whether this proceeds from the importance of the thing\r\nitself, or from men’s being otherwise employed, or from their concluding\r\nthat the capacity of the people was not equal to the apprehension of\r\nthem. But, during this silence, C. Amafinius arose and took upon himself\r\nto speak; on the publishing of whose writings the people were moved, and\r\nenlisted themselves chiefly under this sect, either because the doctrine\r\nwas more easily understood, or because they were invited thereto by the\r\npleasing thoughts of amusement, or that, because there was nothing\r\nbetter, they laid hold of what was offered them. And after Amafinius,\r\nwhen many of the same sentiments had written much about them, the\r\nPythagoreans \u003ca id=\"page-131\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e131\u003c/span\u003espread over all Italy: but that these doctrines should be\r\nso easily understood and approved of by the unlearned is a great proof\r\nthat they were not written with any great subtlety, and they think their\r\nestablishment to be owing to this.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. But let every one defend his own opinion, for every one is at\r\nliberty to choose what he likes: I shall keep to my old custom; and,\r\nbeing under no restraint from the laws of any particular school, which\r\nin philosophy every one must necessarily confine himself to, I shall\r\nalways inquire what has the most probability in every question, and this\r\nsystem, which I have often practised on other occasions, I have adhered\r\nclosely to in my Tusculan Disputations. Therefore, as I have acquainted\r\nyou with the disputations of the three former days, this book shall\r\nconclude the discussion of the fourth day. When we had come down into\r\nthe Academy, as we had done the former days, the business was carried on\r\nthus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Let any one say, who pleases, what he would wish to have discussed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I do not think a wise man can possibly be free from every\r\nperturbation of mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e He seemed by yesterday’s discourse to be free from grief; unless\r\nyou agreed with us only to avoid taking up time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Not at all on that account, for I was extremely satisfied with your\r\ndiscourse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e You do not think, then, that a wise man is subject to grief?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e No, by no means.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e But if that cannot disorder the mind of a wise man, nothing else\r\ncan. For what—can such a man be disturbed by fear? Fear proceeds from\r\nthe same things when absent which occasion grief when present. Take away\r\ngrief, then, and you remove fear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe two remaining perturbations are, a joy elate above measure, and\r\nlust; and if a wise man is not subject to these, his mind will be always\r\nat rest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I am entirely of that opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Which, then, shall we do? Shall I immediately crowd all my sails?\r\nor shall I make use of my oars, as if I were just endeavoring to get\r\nclear of the harbor?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-132\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e132\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e What is it that you mean, for I do not exactly comprehend you?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Because, Chrysippus and the Stoics, when they discuss the\r\nperturbations of the mind, make great part of their debate to consist in\r\ndefinitions and distinctions; while they employ but few words on the\r\nsubject of curing the mind, and preventing it from being disordered.\r\nWhereas the Peripatetics bring a great many things to promote the cure\r\nof it, but have no regard to their thorny partitions and definitions. My\r\nquestion, then, was, whether I should instantly unfold the sails of my\r\neloquence, or be content for a while to make less way with the oars of\r\nlogic?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Let it be so; for by the employment of both these means the subject\r\nof our inquiry will be more thoroughly discussed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e It is certainly the better way; and should anything be too obscure,\r\nyou may examine that afterward.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I will do so; but those very obscure points you will, as usual,\r\ndeliver with more clearness than the Greeks.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I will, indeed, endeavor to do so; but it well requires great\r\nattention, lest, by losing one word, the whole should escape you. What\r\nthe Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπάθη\u003c/span\u003e we choose to name perturbations (or disorders)\r\nrather than diseases; in explaining which, I shall follow, first, that\r\nvery old description of Pythagoras, and afterward that of Plato; for\r\nthey both divide the mind into two parts, and make one of these partake\r\nof reason, and the other they represent without it. In that which\r\npartakes of reason they place tranquillity, that is to say, a placid and\r\nundisturbed constancy; to the other they assign the turbid motions of\r\nanger and desire, which are contrary and opposite to reason. Let this,\r\nthen, be our principle, the spring of all our reasonings. But\r\nnotwithstanding, I shall use the partitions and definitions of the\r\nStoics in describing these perturbations; who seem to me to have shown\r\nvery great acuteness on this question.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. Zeno’s definition, then, is this: “A perturbation” (which he calls a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπάθος\u003c/span\u003e) “is a commotion of the mind repugnant to reason, and against\r\nnature.” Some of them define it even more briefly, saying that a\r\nperturbation is a somewhat too vehement appetite; but by too vehement\r\nthey mean an appetite \u003ca id=\"page-133\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e133\u003c/span\u003ethat recedes further from the constancy of\r\nnature. But they would have the divisions of perturbations to arise from\r\ntwo imagined goods, and from two imagined evils; and thus they become\r\nfour: from the good proceed lust and joy—joy having reference to some\r\npresent good, and lust to some future one. They suppose fear and grief\r\nto proceed from evils: fear from something future, grief from something\r\npresent; for whatever things are dreaded as approaching always occasion\r\ngrief when present. But joy and lust depend on the opinion of good; as\r\nlust, being inflamed and provoked, is carried on eagerly towards what\r\nhas the appearance of good; and joy is transported and exults on\r\nobtaining what was desired: for we naturally pursue those things that\r\nhave the appearance of good, and avoid the contrary. Wherefore, as soon\r\nas anything that has the appearance of good presents itself, nature\r\nincites us to endeavor to obtain it. Now, where this strong desire is\r\nconsistent and founded on prudence, it is by the Stoics called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eβούλησις\u003c/span\u003e,\r\nand the name which we give it is volition; and this they allow to none\r\nbut their wise man, and define it thus: Volition is a reasonable desire;\r\nbut whatever is incited too violently in opposition to reason, that is a\r\nlust, or an unbridled desire, which is discoverable in all fools. And,\r\ntherefore, when we are affected so as to be placed in any good\r\ncondition, we are moved in two ways; for when the mind is moved in a\r\nplacid and calm motion, consistent with reason, that is called joy; but\r\nwhen it exults with a vain, wanton exultation, or immoderate joy, then\r\nthat feeling may be called immoderate ecstasy or transport, which they\r\ndefine to be an elation of the mind without reason. And as we naturally\r\ndesire good things, so in like manner we naturally seek to avoid what is\r\nevil; and this avoidance of which, if conducted in accordance with\r\nreason, is called caution; and this the wise man alone is supposed to\r\nhave: but that caution which is not under the guidance of reason, but is\r\nattended with a base and low dejection, is called fear. Fear is,\r\ntherefore, caution destitute of reason. But a wise man is not affected\r\nby any present evil; while the grief of a fool proceeds from being\r\naffected with an imaginary evil, by which his mind is contracted and\r\nsunk, since it is not under the dominion \u003ca id=\"page-134\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e134\u003c/span\u003eof reason. This, then, is the\r\nfirst definition, which makes grief to consist in a shrinking of the\r\nmind contrary to the dictates of reason. Thus, there are four\r\nperturbations, and but three calm rational emotions; for grief has no\r\nexact opposite.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. But they insist upon it that all perturbations depend on opinion\r\nand judgment; therefore they define them more strictly, in order not\r\nonly the better to show how blamable they are, but to discover how much\r\nthey are in our power. Grief, then, is a recent opinion of some present\r\nevil, in which it seems to be right that the mind should shrink and be\r\ndejected. Joy is a recent opinion of a present good, in which it seems\r\nto be right that the mind should be elated. Fear is an opinion of an\r\nimpending evil which we apprehend will be intolerable. Lust is an\r\nopinion of a good to come, which would be of advantage were it already\r\ncome, and present with us. But however I have named the judgments and\r\nopinions of perturbations, their meaning is, not that merely the\r\nperturbations consist in them, but that the effects likewise of these\r\nperturbations do so; as grief occasions a kind of painful pricking, and\r\nfear engenders a recoil or sudden abandonment of the mind, joy gives\r\nrise to a profuse mirth, while lust is the parent of an unbridled habit\r\nof coveting. But that imagination, which I have included in all the\r\nabove definitions, they would have to consist in assenting without\r\nwarrantable grounds. Now, every perturbation has many subordinate parts\r\nannexed to it of the same kind. Grief is attended with enviousness\r\n(\u003ci\u003einvidentia\u003c/i\u003e)—I use that word for instruction’s sake, though it is not\r\nso common; because envy (\u003ci\u003einvidia\u003c/i\u003e) takes in not only the person who\r\nenvies, but the person, too, who is envied—emulation, detraction, pity,\r\nvexation, mourning, sadness, tribulation, sorrow, lamentation,\r\nsolicitude, disquiet of mind, pain, despair, and many other similar\r\nfeelings are so too. Under fear are comprehended sloth, shame, terror,\r\ncowardice, fainting, confusion, astonishment. In pleasure they\r\ncomprehend malevolence—that is, pleased at another’s\r\nmisfortune—delight, boastfulness, and the like. To lust they associate\r\nanger, fury, hatred, enmity, discord, wants, desire, and other feelings\r\nof that kind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-135\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e135\u003c/span\u003eBut they define these in this manner:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. Enviousness (\u003ci\u003einvidentia\u003c/i\u003e), they say, is a grief arising from the\r\nprosperous circumstances of another, which are in no degree injurious to\r\nthe person who envies; for where any one grieves at the prosperity of\r\nanother, by which he is injured, such a one is not properly said to\r\nenvy—as when Agamemnon grieves at Hector’s success; but where any one,\r\nwho is in no way hurt by the prosperity of another, is in pain at his\r\nsuccess, such a one envies indeed. Now the name “emulation” is taken in\r\na double sense, so that the same word may stand for praise and\r\ndispraise: for the imitation of virtue is called emulation (however,\r\nthat sense of it I shall have no occasion for here, for that carries\r\npraise with it); but emulation is also a term applied to grief at\r\nanother’s enjoying what I desired to have, and am without. Detraction\r\n(and I mean by that, jealousy) is a grief even at another’s enjoying\r\nwhat I had a great inclination for. Pity is a grief at the misery of\r\nanother who suffers wrongfully; for no one is moved by pity at the\r\npunishment of a parricide or of a betrayer of his country. Vexation is a\r\npressing grief. Mourning is a grief at the bitter death of one who was\r\ndear to you. Sadness is a grief attended with tears. Tribulation is a\r\npainful grief. Sorrow, an excruciating grief. Lamentation, a grief where\r\nwe loudly bewail ourselves. Solicitude, a pensive grief. Trouble, a\r\ncontinued grief. Affliction, a grief that harasses the body. Despair, a\r\ngrief that excludes all hope of better things to come. But those\r\nfeelings which are included under fear, they define thus: There is\r\nsloth, which is a dread of some ensuing labor; shame and terror, which\r\naffect the body—hence blushing attends shame; a paleness, and tremor,\r\nand chattering of the teeth attend terror—cowardice, which is an\r\napprehension of some approaching evil; dread, a fear that unhinges the\r\nmind, whence comes that line of Ennius,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen dread discharged all wisdom from my mind;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003efainting is the associate and constant attendant on dread; confusion, a\r\nfear that drives away all thought; alarm, a continued fear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-136\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e136\u003c/span\u003eIX. The different species into which they divide pleasure come under\r\nthis description; so that malevolence is a pleasure in the misfortunes\r\nof another, without any advantage to yourself; delight, a pleasure that\r\nsoothes the mind by agreeable impressions on the ear. What is said of\r\nthe ear may be applied to the sight, to the touch, smell, and taste. All\r\nfeelings of this kind are a sort of melting pleasure that dissolves the\r\nmind. Boastfulness is a pleasure that consists in making an appearance,\r\nand setting off yourself with insolence.—The subordinate species of\r\nlust they define in this manner: Anger is a lust of punishing any one\r\nwho, as we imagine, has injured us without cause. Heat is anger just\r\nforming and beginning to exist, which the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eθύμωσις\u003c/span\u003e. Hatred is\r\na settled anger. Enmity is anger waiting for an opportunity of revenge.\r\nDiscord is a sharper anger conceived deeply in the mind and heart. Want\r\nan insatiable lust. Regret is when one eagerly wishes to see a person\r\nwho is absent. Now here they have a distinction; so that with them\r\nregret is a lust conceived on hearing of certain things reported of some\r\none, or of many, which the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκατηγορήματα\u003c/span\u003e, or predicaments; as\r\nthat they are in possession of riches and honors: but want is a lust for\r\nthose very honors and riches. But these definers make intemperance the\r\nfountain of all these perturbations; which is an absolute revolt from\r\nthe mind and right reason—a state so averse to all rules of reason that\r\nthe appetites of the mind can by no means be governed and restrained.\r\nAs, therefore, temperance appeases these desires, making them obey right\r\nreason, and maintains the well-weighed judgments of the mind, so\r\nintemperance, which is in opposition to this, inflames, confounds, and\r\nputs every state of the mind into a violent motion. Thus, grief and\r\nfear, and every other perturbation of the mind, have their rise from\r\nintemperance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. Just as distempers and sickness are bred in the body from the\r\ncorruption of the blood, and the too great abundance of phlegm and bile,\r\nso the mind is deprived of its health, and disordered with sickness,\r\nfrom a confusion of depraved opinions that are in opposition to one\r\nanother. From these perturbations arise, first, diseases, which they\r\ncall \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eνοσήματα\u003c/span\u003e; and also those feelings which are in opposition \u003ca id=\"page-137\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e137\u003c/span\u003eto these\r\ndiseases, and which admit certain faulty distastes or loathings; then\r\ncome sicknesses, which are called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀῤῥωστήματα\u003c/span\u003e by the Stoics, and these\r\ntwo have their opposite aversions. Here the Stoics, especially\r\nChrysippus, give themselves unnecessary trouble to show the analogy\r\nwhich the diseases of the mind have to those of the body: but,\r\noverlooking all that they say as of little consequence, I shall treat\r\nonly of the thing itself. Let us, then, understand perturbation to imply\r\na restlessness from the variety and confusion of contradictory opinions;\r\nand that when this heat and disturbance of the mind is of any standing,\r\nand has taken up its residence, as it were, in the veins and marrow,\r\nthen commence diseases and sickness, and those aversions which are in\r\nopposition to these diseases and sicknesses.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. What I say here may be distinguished in thought, though they are in\r\nfact the same; inasmuch as they both have their rise from lust and joy.\r\nFor should money be the object of our desire, and should we not\r\ninstantly apply to reason, as if it were a kind of Socratic medicine to\r\nheal this desire, the evil glides into our veins, and cleaves to our\r\nbowels, and from thence proceeds a distemper or sickness, which, when it\r\nis of any continuance, is incurable, and the name of this disease is\r\ncovetousness. It is the same with other diseases; as the desire of\r\nglory, a passion for women, to which the Greeks give the name of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eφιλογυνεία\u003c/span\u003e: and thus all other diseases and sicknesses are generated.\r\nBut those feelings which are the contrary of these are supposed to have\r\nfear for their foundation, as a hatred of women, such as is displayed in\r\nthe Woman-hater of Atilius; or the hatred of the whole human species, as\r\nTimon is reported to have done, whom they call the Misanthrope. Of the\r\nsame kind is inhospitality. And all these diseases proceed from a\r\ncertain dread of such things as they hate and avoid. But they define\r\nsickness of mind to be an overweening opinion, and that fixed and deeply\r\nimplanted in the heart, of something as very desirable which is by no\r\nmeans so. What proceeds from aversion, they define thus: a vehement idea\r\nof something to be avoided, deeply implanted, and inherent in our minds,\r\nwhen there is no reason for avoiding it; and this kind of opinion is a\r\ndeliberate \u003ca id=\"page-138\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e138\u003c/span\u003ebelief that one understands things of which one is wholly\r\nignorant. Now, sickness of the mind has all these subordinate divisions:\r\navarice, ambition, fondness for women, obstinacy, gluttony, drunkenness,\r\ncovetousness, and other similar vices. But avarice is a violent opinion\r\nabout money, as if it were vehemently to be desired and sought after,\r\nwhich opinion is deeply implanted and inherent in our minds; and the\r\ndefinition of all the other similar feelings resembles these. But the\r\ndefinitions of aversions are of this sort: inhospitality is a vehement\r\nopinion, deeply implanted and inherent in your mind, that you should\r\navoid a stranger. Thus, too, the hatred of women, like that felt by\r\nHippolytus, is defined; and the hatred of the human species like that\r\ndisplayed by Timon.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. But to come to the analogy of the state of body and mind, which I\r\nshall sometimes make use of, though more sparingly than the Stoics. Some\r\nmen are more inclined to particular disorders than others; and,\r\ntherefore, we say that some people are rheumatic, others dropsical, not\r\nbecause they are so at present, but because they are often so: some are\r\ninclined to fear, others to some other perturbation. Thus in some there\r\nis a continual anxiety, owing to which they are anxious; in some a\r\nhastiness of temper, which differs from anger, as anxiety differs from\r\nanguish: for all are not anxious who are sometimes vexed, nor are they\r\nwho are anxious always uneasy in that manner: as there is a difference\r\nbetween being drunk and drunkenness; and it is one thing to be a lover,\r\nanother to be given to women. And this disposition of particular people\r\nto particular disorders is very common: for it relates to all\r\nperturbations; it appears in many vices, though it has no name. Some\r\nare, therefore, said to be envious, malevolent, spiteful, fearful,\r\npitiful, from a propensity to those perturbations, not from their being\r\nalways carried away by them. Now this propensity to these particular\r\ndisorders may be called a sickness from analogy with the body; meaning,\r\nthat is to say, nothing more than a propensity towards sickness. But\r\nwith regard to whatever is good, as some are more inclined to different\r\ngood qualities than others, we may call this a facility or tendency:\r\nthis tendency to evil is a proclivity or inclination to falling; \u003ca id=\"page-139\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e139\u003c/span\u003ebut\r\nwhere anything is neither good nor bad, it may have the former name.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Even as there may be, with respect to the body, a disease, a\r\nsickness, and a defect, so it is with the mind. They call that a disease\r\nwhere the whole body is corrupted; they call that sickness where a\r\ndisease is attended with a weakness, and that a defect where the parts\r\nof the body are not well compacted together; from whence it follows that\r\nthe members are misshapen, crooked, and deformed. So that these two, a\r\ndisease and sickness, proceed from a violent concussion and perturbation\r\nof the health of the whole body; but a defect discovers itself even when\r\nthe body is in perfect health. But a disease of the mind is\r\ndistinguishable only in thought from a sickness. But a viciousness is a\r\nhabit or affection discordant and inconsistent with itself through life.\r\nThus it happens that, in the one case, a disease and sickness may arise\r\nfrom a corruption of opinions; in the other case, the consequence may be\r\ninconstancy and inconsistency. For every vice of the mind does not imply\r\na disunion of parts; as is the case with those who are not far from\r\nbeing wise men. With them there is that affection which is inconsistent\r\nwith itself while it is foolish; but it is not distorted, nor depraved.\r\nBut diseases and sicknesses are parts of viciousness; but it is a\r\nquestion whether perturbations are parts of the same, for vices are\r\npermanent affections: perturbations are such as are restless; so that\r\nthey cannot be parts of permanent ones. As there is some analogy between\r\nthe nature of the body and mind in evil, so is there in good; for the\r\ndistinctions of the body are beauty, strength, health, firmness,\r\nquickness of motion: the same may be said of the mind. The body is said\r\nto be in a good state when all those things on which health depends are\r\nconsistent: the same may be said of the mind when its judgments and\r\nopinions are not at variance with one another. And this union is the\r\nvirtue of the mind, which, according to some people, is temperance\r\nitself; others make it consist in an obedience to the precepts of\r\ntemperance, and a compliance with them, not allowing it to be any\r\ndistinct species of itself. But, be it one or the other, it is to be\r\nfound only in a wise man. But there is a certain \u003ca id=\"page-140\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e140\u003c/span\u003esoundness of mind,\r\nwhich even a fool may have, when the perturbation of his mind is removed\r\nby the care and management of his physicians. And as what is called\r\nbeauty arises from an exact proportion of the limbs, together with a\r\ncertain sweetness of complexion, so the beauty of the mind consists in\r\nan equality and constancy of opinions and judgments, joined to a certain\r\nfirmness and stability, pursuing virtue, or containing within itself the\r\nvery essence of virtue. Besides, we give the very same names to the\r\nfaculties of the mind as we do to the powers of the body, the nerves,\r\nand other powers of action. Thus the velocity of the body is called\r\nswiftness: a praise which we ascribe to the mind, from its running over\r\nin its thoughts so many things in so short a time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. Herein, indeed, the mind and body are unlike: that though the mind\r\nwhen in perfect health may be visited by sickness, as the body may, yet\r\nthe body may be disordered without our fault; the mind cannot. For all\r\nthe disorders and perturbations of the mind proceed from a neglect of\r\nreason; these disorders, therefore, are confined to men: the beasts are\r\nnot subject to such perturbations, though they act sometimes as if they\r\nhad reason. There is a difference, too, between ingenious and dull men;\r\nthe ingenious, like the Corinthian brass, which is long before it\r\nreceives rust, are longer before they fall into these perturbations, and\r\nare recovered sooner: the case is different with the dull. Nor does the\r\nmind of an ingenious man fall into every kind of perturbation, for it\r\nnever yields to any that are brutish and savage; and some of their\r\nperturbations have at first even the appearance of humanity, as mercy,\r\ngrief, and fear. But the sicknesses and diseases of the mind are thought\r\nto be harder to eradicate than those leading vices which are in\r\nopposition to virtues; for vices may be removed, though the diseases of\r\nthe mind should continue, which diseases are not cured with that\r\nexpedition with which vices are removed. I have now acquainted you with\r\nthe arguments which the Stoics put forth with such exactness; which they\r\ncall logic, from their close arguing: and since my discourse has got\r\nclear of these rocks, I will proceed with the remainder of it, provided\r\nI have been sufficiently clear in what I have already \u003ca id=\"page-141\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e141\u003c/span\u003esaid, considering\r\nthe obscurity of the subject I have treated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Clear enough; but should there be occasion for a more exact\r\ninquiry, I shall take another opportunity of asking you. I expect you\r\nnow to hoist your sails, as you just now called them, and proceed on\r\nyour course.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Since I have spoken before of virtue in other places, and shall\r\noften have occasion to speak again (for a great many questions that\r\nrelate to life and manners arise from the spring of virtue); and since,\r\nas I say, virtue consists in a settled and uniform affection of mind,\r\nmaking those persons praiseworthy who are possessed of her, she herself\r\nalso, independent of anything else, without regard to any advantage,\r\nmust be praiseworthy; for from her proceed good inclinations, opinions,\r\nactions, and the whole of right reason; though virtue may be defined in\r\na few words to be right reason itself. The opposite to this is\r\nviciousness (for so I choose to translate what the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκακία\u003c/span\u003e,\r\nrather than by perverseness; for perverseness is the name of a\r\nparticular vice; but viciousness includes all), from whence arise those\r\nperturbations which, as I just now said, are turbid and violent motions\r\nof the mind, repugnant to reason, and enemies in a high degree to the\r\npeace of the mind and a tranquil life, for they introduce piercing and\r\nanxious cares, and afflict and debilitate the mind through fear; they\r\nviolently inflame our hearts with exaggerated appetite, which is in\r\nreality an impotence of mind, utterly irreconcilable with temperance and\r\nmoderation, which we sometimes call desire, and sometimes lust, and\r\nwhich, should it even attain the object of its wishes, immediately\r\nbecomes so elated that it loses all its resolution, and knows not what\r\nto pursue; so that he was in the right who said “that exaggerated\r\npleasure was the very greatest of mistakes.” Virtue, then, alone can\r\neffect the cure of these evils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. For what is not only more miserable, but more base and sordid, than\r\na man afflicted, weakened, and oppressed with grief? And little short of\r\nthis misery is one who dreads some approaching evil, and who, through\r\nfaintheartedness, is under continual suspense. The poets, to express the\r\ngreatness of this evil, imagine a stone to \u003ca id=\"page-142\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e142\u003c/span\u003ehang over the head of\r\nTantalus, as a punishment for his wickedness, his pride, and his\r\nboasting. And this is the common punishment of folly; for there hangs\r\nover the head of every one whose mind revolts from reason some similar\r\nfear. And as these perturbations of the mind, grief and fear, are of a\r\nmost wasting nature, so those two others, though of a more merry cast (I\r\nmean lust, which is always coveting something with eagerness, and empty\r\nmirth, which is an exulting joy), differ very little from madness. Hence\r\nyou may understand what sort of person he is whom we call at one time\r\nmoderate, at another modest or temperate, at another constant and\r\nvirtuous; while sometimes we include all these names in the word\r\nfrugality, as the crown of all; for if that word did not include all\r\nvirtues, it would never have been proverbial to say that a frugal man\r\ndoes everything rightly. But when the Stoics apply this saying to their\r\nwise man, they seem to exalt him too much, and to speak of him with too\r\nmuch admiration.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. Whoever, then, through moderation and constancy, is at rest in his\r\nmind, and in calm possession of himself, so as neither to pine with\r\ncare, nor be dejected with fear, nor to be inflamed with desire,\r\ncoveting something greedily, nor relaxed by extravagant mirth—such a\r\nman is that identical wise man whom we are inquiring for: he is the\r\nhappy man, to whom nothing in this life seems intolerable enough to\r\ndepress him; nothing exquisite enough to transport him unduly. For what\r\nis there in this life that can appear great to him who has acquainted\r\nhimself with eternity and the utmost extent of the universe? For what is\r\nthere in human knowledge, or the short span of this life, that can\r\nappear great to a wise man? whose mind is always so upon its guard that\r\nnothing can befall him which is unforeseen, nothing which is unexpected,\r\nnothing, in short, which is new. Such a man takes so exact a survey on\r\nall sides of him, that he always knows the proper place and spot to live\r\nin free from all the troubles and annoyances of life, and encounters\r\nevery accident that fortune can bring upon him with a becoming calmness.\r\nWhoever conducts himself in this manner will be free from grief, and\r\nfrom every other perturbation; and a mind free from these feelings\r\nrenders men completely happy; whereas \u003ca id=\"page-143\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e143\u003c/span\u003ea mind disordered and drawn off\r\nfrom right and unerring reason loses at once, not only its resolution,\r\nbut its health.—Therefore the thoughts and declarations of the\r\nPeripatetics are soft and effeminate, for they say that the mind must\r\nnecessarily be agitated, but at the same time they lay down certain\r\nbounds beyond which that agitation is not to proceed. And do you set\r\nbounds to vice? or is it no vice to disobey reason? Does not reason\r\nsufficiently declare that there is no real good which you should desire\r\ntoo ardently, or the possession of which you should allow to transport\r\nyou? and that there is no evil that should be able to overwhelm you, or\r\nthe suspicion of which should distract you? and that all these things\r\nassume too melancholy or too cheerful an appearance through our own\r\nerror? But if fools find this error lessened by time, so that, though\r\nthe cause remains the same, they are not affected, in the same manner,\r\nafter some time, as they were at first, why, surely a wise man ought not\r\nto be influenced at all by it. But what are those degrees by which we\r\nare to limit it? Let us fix these degrees in grief, a difficult subject,\r\nand one much canvassed.—Fannius writes that P. Rutilius took it much to\r\nheart that his brother was refused the consulship; but he seems to have\r\nbeen too much affected by this disappointment, for it was the occasion\r\nof his death: he ought, therefore, to have borne it with more\r\nmoderation. But let us suppose that while he was bearing this with\r\nmoderation, the death of his children had intervened; here would have\r\nstarted a fresh grief, which, admitting it to be moderate in itself, yet\r\nstill must have been a great addition to the other. Now, to these let us\r\nadd some acute pains of body, the loss of his fortune, blindness,\r\nbanishment. Supposing, then, each separate misfortune to occasion a\r\nseparate additional grief, the whole would be too great to be\r\nsupportable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. The man who attempts to set bounds to vice acts like one who\r\nshould throw himself headlong from Leucate, persuaded that he could stop\r\nhimself whenever he pleased. Now, as that is impossible, so a perturbed\r\nand disordered mind cannot restrain itself, and stop where it pleases.\r\nCertainly whatever is bad in its increase is bad in its birth. Now grief\r\nand all other perturbations \u003ca id=\"page-144\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e144\u003c/span\u003eare doubtless baneful in their progress,\r\nand have, therefore, no small share of evil at the beginning; for they\r\ngo on of themselves when once they depart from reason, for every\r\nweakness is self-indulgent, and indiscreetly launches out, and does not\r\nknow where to stop. So that it makes no difference whether you approve\r\nof moderate perturbations of mind, or of moderate injustice, moderate\r\ncowardice, and moderate intemperance; for whoever prescribes bounds to\r\nvice admits a part of it, which, as it is odious of itself, becomes the\r\nmore so as it stands on slippery ground, and, being once set forward,\r\nglides on headlong, and cannot by any means be stopped.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. Why should I say more? Why should I add that the Peripatetics say\r\nthat these perturbations, which we insist upon it should be extirpated,\r\nare not only natural, but were given to men by nature for a good\r\npurpose? They usually talk in this manner. In the first place, they say\r\nmuch in praise of anger; they call it the whetstone of courage, and they\r\nsay that angry men exert themselves most against an enemy or against a\r\nbad citizen: that those reasons are of little weight which are the\r\nmotives of men who think thus, as—it is a just war; it becomes us to\r\nfight for our laws, our liberties, our country: they will allow no force\r\nto these arguments unless our courage is warmed by anger.—Nor do they\r\nconfine their argument to warriors; but their opinion is that no one can\r\nissue any rigid commands without some bitterness and anger. In short,\r\nthey have no notion of an orator either accusing or even defending a\r\nclient without he is spurred on by anger. And though this anger should\r\nnot be real, still they think his words and gestures ought to wear the\r\nappearance of it, so that the action of the orator may excite the anger\r\nof his hearer. And they deny that any man has ever been seen who does\r\nnot know what it is to be angry; and they name what we call lenity by\r\nthe bad appellation of indolence. Nor do they commend only this lust\r\n(for anger is, as I defined it above, the lust of revenge), but they\r\nmaintain that kind of lust or desire to be given us by nature for very\r\ngood purposes, saying that no one can execute anything well but what he\r\nis in earnest about. Themistocles used to walk in the public places in\r\nthe night because he could \u003ca id=\"page-145\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e145\u003c/span\u003enot sleep; and when asked the reason, his\r\nanswer was, that Miltiades’s trophies kept him awake. Who has not heard\r\nhow Demosthenes used to watch, who said that it gave him pain if any\r\nmechanic was up in a morning at his work before him? Lastly, they urge\r\nthat some of the greatest philosophers would never have made that\r\nprogress in their studies without some ardent desire spurring them\r\non.—We are informed that Pythagoras, Democritus, and Plato visited the\r\nremotest parts of the world; for they thought that they ought to go\r\nwherever anything was to be learned. Now, it is not conceivable that\r\nthese things could be effected by anything but by the greatest ardor of\r\nmind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. They say that even grief, which we have already said ought to be\r\navoided as a monstrous and fierce beast, was appointed by nature, not\r\nwithout some good purpose, in order that men should lament when they had\r\ncommitted a fault, well knowing they had exposed themselves to\r\ncorrection, rebuke, and ignominy; for they think that those who can bear\r\nignominy and infamy without pain have acquired a complete impunity for\r\nall sorts of crimes; for with them reproach is a stronger check than\r\nconscience. From whence we have that scene in Afranius borrowed from\r\ncommon life; for when the abandoned son saith, “Wretched that I am!” the\r\nsevere father replies,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet him but grieve, no matter what the cause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd they say the other divisions of sorrow have their use; that pity\r\nincites us to hasten to the assistance of others, and to alleviate the\r\ncalamities of men who have undeservedly fallen into them; that even envy\r\nand detraction are not without their use, as when a man sees that\r\nanother person has attained what he cannot, or observes another to be\r\nequally successful with himself; that he who should take away fear would\r\ntake away all industry in life, which those men exert in the greatest\r\ndegree who are afraid of the laws and of the magistrates, who dread\r\npoverty, ignominy, death, and pain. But while they argue thus, they\r\nallow indeed of these feelings being retrenched, though they deny that\r\nthey either can or should be plucked up by the roots; so that their\r\nopinion is that mediocrity is \u003ca id=\"page-146\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e146\u003c/span\u003ebest in everything. When they reason in\r\nthis manner, what think you—is what they say worth attending to or not?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I think it is. I wait, therefore, to hear what you will say in\r\nreply to them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Perhaps I may find something to say; but I will make this\r\nobservation first: do you take notice with what modesty the Academics\r\nbehave themselves? for they speak plainly to the purpose. The\r\nPeripatetics are answered by the Stoics; they have my leave to fight it\r\nout, who think myself no otherwise concerned than to inquire for what\r\nmay seem to be most probable. Our present business is, then, to see if\r\nwe can meet with anything in this question which is the probable, for\r\nbeyond such approximation to truth as that human nature cannot proceed.\r\nThe definition of a perturbation, as Zeno, I think, has rightly\r\ndetermined it, is thus: That a perturbation is a commotion of the mind\r\nagainst nature, in opposition to right reason; or, more briefly, thus,\r\nthat a perturbation is a somewhat too vehement appetite; and when he\r\nsays somewhat too vehement, he means such as is at a greater distance\r\nfrom the constant course of nature. What can I say to these definitions?\r\nThe greater part of them we have from those who dispute with sagacity\r\nand acuteness: some of them expressions, indeed, such as the “ardors of\r\nthe mind,” and “the whetstones of virtue,” savoring of the pomp of\r\nrhetoricians. As to the question, if a brave man can maintain his\r\ncourage without becoming angry, it may be questioned with regard to the\r\ngladiators; though we often observe much resolution even in them: they\r\nmeet, converse, they make objections and demands, they agree about\r\nterms, so that they seem calm rather than angry. But let us admit a man\r\nof the name of Placideianus, who was one of that trade, to be in such a\r\nmind, as Lucilius relates of him,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf for his blood you thirst, the task be mine;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis laurels at my feet he shall resign;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNot but I know, before I reach his heart,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFirst on myself a wound he will impart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI hate the man; enraged I fight, and straight\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn action we had been, but that I wait\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTill each his sword had fitted to his hand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy rage I scarce can keep within command.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-147\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e147\u003c/span\u003eXXII. But we see Ajax in Homer advancing to meet Hector in battle\r\ncheerfully, without any of this boisterous wrath. For he had no sooner\r\ntaken up his arms than the first step which he made inspired his\r\nassociates with joy, his enemies with fear; so that even Hector, as he\r\nis represented by Homer,\u003ca id=\"FNA-49\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-49\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e49\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e trembling, condemned himself for having\r\nchallenged him to fight. Yet these heroes conversed together, calmly and\r\nquietly, before they engaged; nor did they show any anger or outrageous\r\nbehavior during the combat. Nor do I imagine that Torquatus, the first\r\nwho obtained this surname, was in a rage when he plundered the Gaul of\r\nhis collar; or that Marcellus’s courage at Clastidium was only owing to\r\nhis anger. I could almost swear that Africanus, with whom we are better\r\nacquainted, from our recollection of him being more recent, was noways\r\ninflamed by anger when he covered Alienus Pelignus with his shield, and\r\ndrove his sword into the enemy’s breast. There may be some doubt of L.\r\nBrutus, whether he was not influenced by extraordinary hatred of the\r\ntyrant, so as to attack Aruns with more than usual rashness; for I\r\nobserve that they mutually killed each other in close fight. Why, then,\r\ndo you call in the assistance of anger? Would courage, unless it began\r\nto get \u003ca id=\"page-148\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e148\u003c/span\u003efurious, lose its energy? What! do you imagine that Hercules,\r\nwhom the very courage which you would try to represent as anger raised\r\nto heaven, was angry when he engaged the Erymanthian boar, or the Nemæan\r\nlion? Or was Theseus in a passion when he seized on the horns of the\r\nMarathonian bull? Take care how you make courage to depend in the least\r\non rage. For anger is altogether irrational, and that is not courage\r\nwhich is void of reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. We ought to hold all things here in contempt; death is to be\r\nlooked on with indifference; pains and labors must be considered as\r\neasily supportable. And when these sentiments are established on\r\njudgment and conviction, then will that stout and firm courage take\r\nplace; unless you attribute to anger whatever is done with vehemence,\r\nalacrity, and spirit. To me, indeed, that very Scipio\u003ca id=\"FNA-50\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-50\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e50\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who was chief\r\npriest, that favorer of the saying of the Stoics, “That no private man\r\ncould be a wise man,” does not seem to be angry with Tiberius Gracchus,\r\neven when he left the consul in a hesitating frame of mind, and, though\r\na private man himself, commanded, with the authority of a consul, that\r\nall who meant well to the republic should follow him. I do not know\r\nwhether I have done anything in the republic that has the appearance of\r\ncourage; but if I have, I certainly did not do it in wrath. Doth\r\nanything come nearer madness than anger? And indeed Ennius has well\r\ndefined it as the beginning of madness. The changing color, the\r\nalteration of our voice, the look of our eyes, our manner of fetching\r\nour breath, the little command we have over our words and actions, how\r\nlittle do all these things indicate a sound mind! What can make a worse\r\nappearance than Homer’s Achilles, or Agamemnon, during the quarrel? And\r\nas to Ajax, anger drove him into downright madness, and was the occasion\r\nof his death. Courage, therefore, does not want the assistance of anger;\r\nit is sufficiently provided, armed, and prepared of itself. We may as\r\nwell say that drunkenness or madness is of service to courage, because\r\nthose who \u003ca id=\"page-149\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e149\u003c/span\u003eare mad or drunk often do a great many things with unusual\r\nvehemence. Ajax was always brave; but still he was most brave when he\r\nwas in that state of frenzy:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe greatest feat that Ajax e’er achieved\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWas, when his single arm the Greeks relieved.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eQuitting the field; urged on by rising rage,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForced the declining troops again t’engage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eShall we say, then, that madness has its use?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. Examine the definitions of courage: you will find it does not\r\nrequire the assistance of passion. Courage is, then, an affection of\r\nmind that endures all things, being itself in proper subjection to the\r\nhighest of all laws; or it may be called a firm maintenance of judgment\r\nin supporting or repelling everything that has a formidable appearance,\r\nor a knowledge of what is formidable or otherwise, and maintaining\r\ninvariably a stable judgment of all such things, so as to bear them or\r\ndespise them; or, in fewer words, according to Chrysippus (for the above\r\ndefinitions are Sphærus’s, a man of the first ability as a layer-down of\r\ndefinitions, as the Stoics think. But they are all pretty much alike:\r\nthey give us only common notions, some one way, and some another). But\r\nwhat is Chrysippus’s definition? Fortitude, says he, is the knowledge of\r\nall things that are bearable, or an affection of the mind which bears\r\nand supports everything in obedience to the chief law of reason without\r\nfear. Now, though we should attack these men in the same manner as\r\nCarneades used to do, I fear they are the only real philosophers; for\r\nwhich of these definitions is there which does not explain that obscure\r\nand intricate notion of courage which every man conceives within\r\nhimself? And when it is thus explained, what can a warrior, a commander,\r\nor an orator want more? And no one can think that they will be unable to\r\nbehave themselves courageously without anger. What! do not even the\r\nStoics, who maintain that all fools are mad, make the same inferences?\r\nfor, take away perturbations, especially a hastiness of temper, and they\r\nwill appear to talk very absurdly. But what they assert is this: they\r\nsay that all fools are mad, as all dunghills stink; not that they always\r\ndo so, but stir them, and you will perceive it. And in like manner, a\r\nwarm-tempered man is \u003ca id=\"page-150\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e150\u003c/span\u003enot always in a passion; but provoke him, and you\r\nwill see him run mad. Now, that very warlike anger, which is of such\r\nservice in war, what is the use of it to him when he is at home with his\r\nwife, children, and family? Is there, then, anything that a disturbed\r\nmind can do better than one which is calm and steady? Or can any one be\r\nangry without a perturbation of mind? Our people, then, were in the\r\nright, who, as all vices depend on our manners, and nothing is worse\r\nthan a passionate disposition, called angry men the only morose men.\u003ca id=\"FNA-51\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-51\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e51\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. Anger is in no wise becoming in an orator, though it is not amiss\r\nto affect it. Do you imagine that I am angry when in pleading I use any\r\nextraordinary vehemence and sharpness? What! when I write out my\r\nspeeches after all is over and past, am I then angry while writing? Or\r\ndo you think Æsopus was ever angry when he acted, or Accius was so when\r\nhe wrote? Those men, indeed, act very well, but the orator acts better\r\nthan the player, provided he be really an orator; but, then, they carry\r\nit on without passion, and with a composed mind. But what wantonness is\r\nit to commend lust! You produce Themistocles and Demosthenes; to these\r\nyou add Pythagoras, Democritus, and Plato. What! do you then call\r\nstudies lust? But these studies of the most excellent and admirable\r\nthings, such as those were which you bring forward on all occasions,\r\nought to be composed and tranquil; and what kind of philosophers are\r\nthey who commend grief, than which nothing is more detestable? Afranius\r\nhas said much to this purpose:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet him but grieve, no matter what the cause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut he spoke this of a debauched and dissolute youth. But we are\r\ninquiring into the conduct of a constant and wise man. We may even allow\r\na centurion or standard-bearer to be angry, or any others, whom, not to\r\nexplain too far the mysteries of the rhetoricians, I shall not mention\r\nhere; for to touch the passions, where reason cannot be come at, may\r\nhave its use; but my inquiry, as I often repeat, is about a wise man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-151\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e151\u003c/span\u003eXXVI. But even envy, detraction, pity, have their use. Why should you\r\npity rather than assist, if it is in your power to do so? Is it because\r\nyou cannot be liberal without pity? We should not take sorrows on\r\nourselves upon another’s account; but we ought to relieve others of\r\ntheir grief if we can. But to detract from another’s reputation, or to\r\nrival him with that vicious emulation which resembles an enmity, of what\r\nuse can that conduct be? Now, envy implies being uneasy at another’s\r\ngood because one does not enjoy it one’s self; but detraction is the\r\nbeing uneasy at another’s good, merely because he enjoys it. How can it\r\nbe right that you should voluntarily grieve, rather than take the\r\ntrouble of acquiring what you want to have? for it is madness in the\r\nhighest degree to desire to be the only one that has any particular\r\nhappiness. But who can with correctness speak in praise of a mediocrity\r\nof evils? Can any one in whom there is lust or desire be otherwise than\r\nlibidinous or desirous? or can a man who is occupied by anger avoid\r\nbeing angry? or can one who is exposed to any vexation escape being\r\nvexed? or if he is under the influence of fear, must he not be fearful?\r\nDo we look, then, on the libidinous, the angry, the anxious, and the\r\ntimid man, as persons of wisdom, of excellence? of which I could speak\r\nvery copiously and diffusely, but I wish to be as concise as possible.\r\nAnd so I will merely say that wisdom is an acquaintance with all divine\r\nand human affairs, and a knowledge of the cause of everything. Hence it\r\nis that it imitates what is divine, and looks upon all human concerns as\r\ninferior to virtue. Did you, then, say that it was your opinion that\r\nsuch a man was as naturally liable to perturbation as the sea is exposed\r\nto winds? What is there that can discompose such gravity and constancy?\r\nAnything sudden or unforeseen? How can anything of this kind befall one\r\nto whom nothing is sudden and unforeseen that can happen to man? Now, as\r\nto their saying that redundancies should be pared off, and only what is\r\nnatural remain, what, I pray you, can be natural which may be too\r\nexuberant?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. All these assertions proceed from the roots of errors, which must\r\nbe entirely plucked up and destroyed, not pared and amputated. But as I\r\nsuspect that your inquiry \u003ca id=\"page-152\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e152\u003c/span\u003eis not so much respecting the wise man as\r\nconcerning yourself (for you allow that he is free from all\r\nperturbations, and you would willingly be so too yourself), let us see\r\nwhat remedies there are which may be applied by philosophy to the\r\ndiseases of the mind. There is certainly some remedy; nor has nature\r\nbeen so unkind to the human race as to have discovered so many things\r\nsalutary to the body, and none which are medicinal to the mind. She has\r\neven been kinder to the mind than to the body; inasmuch as you must seek\r\nabroad for the assistance which the body requires, while the mind has\r\nall that it requires within itself. But in proportion as the excellency\r\nof the mind is of a higher and more divine nature, the more diligence\r\ndoes it require; and therefore reason, when it is well applied,\r\ndiscovers what is best, but when it is neglected, it becomes involved in\r\nmany errors. I shall apply, then, all my discourse to you; for though\r\nyou pretend to be inquiring about the wise man, your inquiry may\r\npossibly be about yourself. Various, then, are the cures of those\r\nperturbations which I have expounded, for every disorder is not to be\r\nappeased the same way. One medicine must be applied to the man who\r\nmourns, another to the pitiful, another to the person who envies; for\r\nthere is this difference to be maintained in all the four perturbations:\r\nwe are to consider whether our discourse had better be directed to\r\nperturbations in general, which are a contempt of reason, or a somewhat\r\ntoo vehement appetite; or whether it would be better applied to\r\nparticular descriptions, as, for instance, to fear, lust, and the rest,\r\nand whether it appears preferable to endeavor to remove that which has\r\noccasioned the grief, or rather to attempt wholly to eradicate every\r\nkind of grief. As, should any one grieve that he is poor, the question\r\nis, Would you maintain poverty to be no evil, or would you contend that\r\na man ought not to grieve at anything? Certainly this last is the best\r\ncourse; for should you not convince him with regard to poverty, you must\r\nallow him to grieve; but if you remove grief by particular arguments,\r\nsuch as I used yesterday, the evil of poverty is in some manner removed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. But any perturbation of the mind of this sort may be, as it\r\nwere, wiped away by the method of appeasing \u003ca id=\"page-153\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e153\u003c/span\u003ethe mind, if you succeed in\r\nshowing that there is no good in that which has given rise to joy and\r\nlust, nor any evil in that which has occasioned fear or grief. But\r\ncertainly the most effectual cure is to be achieved by showing that all\r\nperturbations are of themselves vicious, and have nothing natural or\r\nnecessary in them. As we see, grief itself is easily softened when we\r\ncharge those who grieve with weakness and an effeminate mind; or when we\r\ncommend the gravity and constancy of those who bear calmly whatever\r\nbefalls them here, as accidents to which all men are liable; and,\r\nindeed, this is generally the feeling of those who look on these as real\r\nevils, but yet think they should be borne with resignation. One imagines\r\npleasure to be a good, another money; and yet the one may be called off\r\nfrom intemperance, the other from covetousness. The other method and\r\naddress, which, at the same time that it removes the false opinion,\r\nwithdraws the disorder, has more subtlety in it; but it seldom succeeds,\r\nand is not applicable to vulgar minds, for there are some diseases which\r\nthat medicine can by no means remove. For, should any one be uneasy\r\nbecause he is without virtue, without courage, destitute of a sense of\r\nduty or honesty, his anxiety proceeds from a real evil; and yet we must\r\napply another method of cure to him, and such a one as all the\r\nphilosophers, however they may differ about other things, agree in. For\r\nthey must necessarily agree in this, that commotions of the mind in\r\nopposition to right reason are vicious; and that even admitting those\r\nthings to be evils which occasion fear or grief, and those to be goods\r\nwhich provoke desire or joy, yet that very commotion itself is vicious;\r\nfor we mean by the expressions magnanimous and brave, one who is\r\nresolute, sedate, grave, and superior to everything in this life; but\r\none who either grieves, or fears, or covets, or is transported with\r\npassion, cannot come under that denomination; for these things are\r\nconsistent only with those who look on the things of this world as\r\nthings with which their minds are unequal to contend.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. Wherefore, as I before said, the philosophers have all one method\r\nof cure, so that we need say nothing about what sort of thing that is\r\nwhich \u003ca id=\"page-154\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e154\u003c/span\u003edisturbs the mind, but we must speak only concerning the\r\nperturbation itself. Thus, first, with regard to desire itself, when the\r\nbusiness is only to remove that, the inquiry is not to be, whether that\r\nthing be good or evil which provokes lust, but the lust itself is to be\r\nremoved; so that whether whatever is honest is the chief good, or\r\nwhether it consists in pleasure, or in both these things together, or in\r\nthe other three kinds of goods, yet should there be in any one too\r\nvehement an appetite for even virtue itself, the whole discourse should\r\nbe directed to the deterring him from that vehemence. But human nature,\r\nwhen placed in a conspicuous point of view, gives us every argument for\r\nappeasing the mind, and, to make this the more distinct, the laws and\r\nconditions of life should be explained in our discourse. Therefore, it\r\nwas not without reason that Socrates is reported, when Euripides was\r\nexhibiting his play called Orestes, to have repeated the first three\r\nverses of that tragedy—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat tragic story men can mournful tell,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhate’er from fate or from the gods befell,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat human nature can support—\u003ca id=\"FNA-52\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-52\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e52\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut, in order to persuade those to whom any misfortune has happened that\r\nthey can and ought to bear it, it is very useful to set before them an\r\nenumeration of other persons who have borne similar calamities. Indeed,\r\nthe method of appeasing grief was explained in my dispute of yesterday,\r\nand in my book on Consolation, which I wrote in the midst of my own\r\ngrief; for I was not myself so wise a man as to be insensible to grief,\r\nand I used this, notwithstanding Chrysippus’s advice to the contrary,\r\nwho is against applying a medicine to the agitations of the mind while\r\nthey are fresh; but I did it, and committed a violence on nature, that\r\nthe greatness of my grief might give way to the greatness of the\r\nmedicine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. But fear borders upon grief, of which I have already said enough;\r\nbut I must say a little more on that. Now, as grief proceeds from what\r\nis present, so does fear \u003ca id=\"page-155\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e155\u003c/span\u003efrom future evil; so that some have said that\r\nfear is a certain part of grief: others have called fear the harbinger\r\nof trouble, which, as it were, introduces the ensuing evil. Now, the\r\nreasons that make what is present supportable, make what is to come very\r\ncontemptible; for, with regard to both, we should take care to do\r\nnothing low or grovelling, soft or effeminate, mean or abject. But,\r\nnotwithstanding we should speak of the inconstancy, imbecility, and\r\nlevity of fear itself, yet it is of very great service to speak\r\ncontemptuously of those very things of which we are afraid. So that it\r\nfell out very well, whether it was by accident or design, that I\r\ndisputed the first and second day on death and pain—the two things that\r\nare the most dreaded: now, if what I then said was approved of, we are\r\nin a great degree freed from fear. And this is sufficient, as far as\r\nregards the opinion of evils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. Proceed we now to what are goods—that is to say, to joy and\r\ndesire. To me, indeed, one thing alone seems to embrace the question of\r\nall that relates to the perturbations of the mind—the fact, namely,\r\nthat all perturbations are in our own power; that they are taken up upon\r\nopinion, and are voluntary. This error, then, must be got rid of; this\r\nopinion must be removed; and, as with regard to imagined evils, we are\r\nto make them more supportable, so with respect to goods, we are to\r\nlessen the violent effects of those things which are called great and\r\njoyous. But one thing is to be observed, that equally relates both to\r\ngood and evil: that, should it be difficult to persuade any one that\r\nnone of those things which disturb the mind are to be looked on as good\r\nor evil, yet a different cure is to be applied to different feelings;\r\nand the malevolent person is to be corrected by one way of reasoning,\r\nthe lover by another, the anxious man by another, and the fearful by\r\nanother: and it would be easy for any one who pursues the best approved\r\nmethod of reasoning, with regard to good and evil, to maintain that no\r\nfool can be affected with joy, as he never can have anything good. But,\r\nat present, my discourse proceeds upon the common received notions. Let,\r\nthen, honors, riches, pleasures, and the rest be the very good things\r\nwhich they are imagined to be; yet a too elevated and exulting joy on\r\nthe possession \u003ca id=\"page-156\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e156\u003c/span\u003eof them is unbecoming; just as, though it might be\r\nallowable to laugh, to giggle would be indecent. Thus, a mind enlarged\r\nby joy is as blamable as a contraction of it by grief; and eager longing\r\nis a sign of as much levity in desiring as immoderate joy is in\r\npossessing; and, as those who are too dejected are said to be\r\neffeminate, so they who are too elated with joy are properly called\r\nvolatile; and as feeling envy is a part of grief, and the being pleased\r\nwith another’s misfortune is a kind of joy, both these feelings are\r\nusually corrected by showing the wildness and insensibility of them: and\r\nas it becomes a man to be cautious, but it is unbecoming in him to be\r\nfearful, so to be pleased is proper, but to be joyful improper. I have,\r\nin order that I might be the better understood, distinguished pleasure\r\nfrom joy. I have already said above, that a contraction of the mind can\r\nnever be right, but that an elation of it may; for the joy of Hector in\r\nNævius is one thing—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e’Tis joy indeed to hear my praises sung\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy you, who are the theme of honor’s tongue—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ebut that of the character in Trabea another: “The kind procuress,\r\nallured by my money, will observe my nod, will watch my desires, and\r\nstudy my will. If I but move the door with my little finger, instantly\r\nit flies open; and if Chrysis should unexpectedly discover me, she will\r\nrun with joy to meet me, and throw herself into my arms.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow he will tell you how excellent he thinks this:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNot even fortune herself is so fortunate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. Any one who attends the least to the subject will be convinced\r\nhow unbecoming this joy is. And as they are very shameful who are\r\nimmoderately delighted with the enjoyment of venereal pleasures, so are\r\nthey very scandalous who lust vehemently after them. And all that which\r\nis commonly called love (and, believe me, I can find out no other name\r\nto call it by) is of such a trivial nature that nothing, I think, is to\r\nbe compared to it: of which Cæcilius says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI hold the man of every sense bereaved\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho grants not Love to be of Gods the chief:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-157\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e157\u003c/span\u003eWhose mighty power whate’er is good effects,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho gives to each his beauty and defects:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHence, health and sickness; wit and folly, hence,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe God that love and hatred doth dispense!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAn excellent corrector of life this same poetry, which thinks that love,\r\nthe promoter of debauchery and vanity, should have a place in the\r\ncouncil of the Gods! I am speaking of comedy, which could not subsist at\r\nall without our approving of these debaucheries. But what said that\r\nchief of the Argonauts in tragedy?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy life I owe to honor less than love.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhat, then, are we to say of this love of Medea?—what a train of\r\nmiseries did it occasion! And yet the same woman has the assurance to\r\nsay to her father, in another poet, that she had a husband\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDearer by love than ever fathers were.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. However, we may allow the poets to trifle, in whose fables we\r\nsee Jupiter himself engaged in these debaucheries: but let us apply to\r\nthe masters of virtue—the philosophers who deny love to be anything\r\ncarnal; and in this they differ from Epicurus, who, I think, is not much\r\nmistaken. For what is that love of friendship? How comes it that no one\r\nis in love with a deformed young man, or a handsome old one? I am of\r\nopinion that this love of men had its rise from the Gymnastics of the\r\nGreeks, where these kinds of loves are admissible and permitted;\r\ntherefore Ennius spoke well:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe censure of this crime to those is due\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho naked bodies first exposed to view.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNow, supposing them chaste, which I think is hardly possible, they are\r\nuneasy and distressed, and the more so because they contain and refrain\r\nthemselves. But, to pass over the love of women, where nature has\r\nallowed more liberty, who can misunderstand the poets in their rape of\r\nGanymede, or not apprehend what Laius says, and what he desires, in\r\nEuripides? Lastly, what have the principal poets and the most learned\r\nmen published of themselves in their poems and songs? What doth Alcæus,\r\nwho was \u003ca id=\"page-158\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e158\u003c/span\u003edistinguished in his own republic for his bravery, write on the\r\nlove of young men? And as for Anacreon’s poetry, it is wholly on love.\r\nBut Ibycus of Rhegium appears, from his writings, to have had this love\r\nstronger on him than all the rest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. Now we see that the loves of all these writers were entirely\r\nlibidinous. There have arisen also some among us philosophers (and Plato\r\nis at the head of them, whom Dicæarchus blames not without reason) who\r\nhave countenanced love. The Stoics, in truth, say, not only that their\r\nwise man may be a lover, but they even define love itself as an endeavor\r\nto originate friendship out of the appearance of beauty. Now, provided\r\nthere is any one in the nature of things without desire, without care,\r\nwithout a sigh, such a one may be a lover; for he is free from all lust:\r\nbut I have nothing to say to him, as it is lust of which I am now\r\nspeaking. But should there be any love—as there certainly is—which is\r\nbut little, or perhaps not at all, short of madness, such as his is in\r\nthe Leucadia—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShould there be any God whose care I am—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eit is incumbent on all the Gods to see that he enjoys his amorous\r\npleasure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWretch that I am!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNothing is more true, and he says very appropriately,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat, are you sane, who at this rate lament?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe seems even to his friends to be out of his senses: then how tragical\r\nhe becomes!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThy aid, divine Apollo, I implore,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd thine, dread ruler of the wat’ry store!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOh! all ye winds, assist me!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe thinks that the whole world ought to apply itself to help his love:\r\nhe excludes Venus alone, as unkind to him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThy aid, O Venus, why should I invoke?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHe thinks Venus too much employed in her own lust to have regard to\r\nanything else, as if he himself had not said and committed these\r\nshameful things from lust.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-159\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e159\u003c/span\u003eXXXV. Now, the cure for one who is affected in this manner is to show\r\nhow light, how contemptible, how very trifling he is in what he desires;\r\nhow he may turn his affections to another object, or accomplish his\r\ndesires by some other means; or else to persuade him that he may\r\nentirely disregard it: sometimes he is to be led away to objects of\r\nanother kind, to study, business, or other different engagements and\r\nconcerns: very often the cure is effected by change of place, as sick\r\npeople, that have not recovered their strength, are benefited by change\r\nof air. Some people think an old love may be driven out by a new one, as\r\none nail drives out another: but, above all things, the man thus\r\nafflicted should be advised what madness love is: for of all the\r\nperturbations of the mind, there is not one which is more vehement; for\r\n(without charging it with rapes, debaucheries, adultery, or even incest,\r\nthe baseness of any of these being very blamable; not, I say, to mention\r\nthese) the very perturbation of the mind in love is base of itself, for,\r\nto pass over all its acts of downright madness, what weakness do not\r\nthose very things which are looked upon as indifferent argue?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAffronts and jealousies, jars, squabbles, wars,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen peace again. The man who seeks to fix\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese restless feelings, and to subjugate\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThem to some regular law, is just as wise\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs one who’d try to lay down rules by which\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen should go mad.\u003ca id=\"FNA-53\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-53\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e53\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNow, is not this inconstancy and mutability of mind enough to deter any\r\none by its own deformity? We are to demonstrate, as was said of every\r\nperturbation, that there are no such feelings which do not consist\r\nentirely of opinion and judgment, and are not owing to ourselves. For if\r\nlove were natural, all would be in love, and always so, and all love the\r\nsame object; nor would one be deterred by shame, another by reflection,\r\nanother by satiety.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. Anger, too, when it disturbs the mind any time, leaves no room to\r\ndoubt its being madness: by the \u003ca id=\"page-160\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e160\u003c/span\u003einstigation of which we see such\r\ncontention as this between brothers:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere was there ever impudence like thine?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho on thy malice ever could refine?\u003ca id=\"FNA-54\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-54\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e54\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eYou know what follows: for abuses are thrown out by these brothers with\r\ngreat bitterness in every other verse; so that you may easily know them\r\nfor the sons of Atreus, of that Atreus who invented a new punishment for\r\nhis brother:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI who his cruel heart to gall am bent,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSome new, unheard-of torment must invent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, what were these inventions? Hear Thyestes:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy impious brother fain would have me eat\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy children, and thus serves them up for meat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eTo what length now will not anger go? even as far as madness. Therefore\r\nwe say, properly enough, that angry men have given up their power, that\r\nis, they are out of the power of advice, reason, and understanding; for\r\nthese ought to have power over the whole mind. Now, you should put those\r\nout of the way whom they endeavor to attack till they have recollected\r\nthemselves; but what does recollection here imply but getting together\r\nagain the dispersed parts of their mind into their proper place? or else\r\nyou must beg and entreat them, if they have the means of revenge, to\r\ndefer it to another opportunity, till their anger cools. But the\r\nexpression of cooling implies, certainly, that there was a heat raised\r\nin their minds in opposition to reason; from which consideration that\r\nsaying of Archytas is commended, who being somewhat provoked at his\r\nsteward, “How would I have treated you,” said he, “if I had not been in\r\na passion?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. Where, then, are they who say that anger has its use? Can\r\nmadness be of any use? But still it is natural. Can anything be natural\r\nthat is against reason? or how is it, if anger is natural, that one\r\nperson is more inclined to anger than another? or that the lust of\r\nrevenge should cease before it has revenged itself? or that any one\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-161\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e161\u003c/span\u003eshould repent of what he had done in a passion? as we see that\r\nAlexander the king did, who could scarcely keep his hands from himself,\r\nwhen he had killed his favorite Clytus, so great was his compunction.\r\nNow who that is acquainted with these instances can doubt that this\r\nmotion of the mind is altogether in opinion and voluntary? for who can\r\ndoubt that disorders of the mind, such as covetousness and a desire of\r\nglory, arise from a great estimation of those things by which the mind\r\nis disordered? from whence we may understand that every perturbation of\r\nthe mind is founded in opinion. And if boldness—that is to say, a firm\r\nassurance of mind—is a kind of knowledge and serious opinion not\r\nhastily taken up, then diffidence is a fear of an expected and impending\r\nevil; and if hope is an expectation of good, fear must, of course, be an\r\nexpectation of evil. Thus fear and other perturbations are evils.\r\nTherefore, as constancy proceeds from knowledge, so does perturbation\r\nfrom error. Now, they who are said to be naturally inclined to anger, or\r\nto pity, or to envy, or to any feeling of this kind, their minds are\r\nconstitutionally, as it were, in bad health; yet they are curable, as\r\nthe disposition of Socrates is said to have been; for when Zopyrus, who\r\nprofessed to know the character of every one from his person, had heaped\r\na great many vices on him in a public assembly, he was laughed at by\r\nothers, who could perceive no such vices in Socrates; but Socrates kept\r\nhim in countenance by declaring that such vices were natural to him, but\r\nthat he had got the better of them by his reason. Therefore, as any one\r\nwho has the appearance of the best constitution may yet appear to be\r\nnaturally rather inclined to some particular disorder, so different\r\nminds may be more particularly inclined to different diseases. But as to\r\nthose men who are said to be vicious, not by nature, but their own\r\nfault, their vices proceed from wrong opinions of good and bad things,\r\nso that one is more prone than another to different motions and\r\nperturbations. But, just as it is in the case of the body, an inveterate\r\ndisease is harder to be got rid of than a sudden disorder; and it is\r\nmore easy to cure a fresh tumor in the eyes than to remove a defluxion\r\nof any continuance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. But as the cause of perturbations is now discovered, \u003ca id=\"page-162\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e162\u003c/span\u003efor all\r\nof them arise from the judgment or opinion, or volition, I shall put an\r\nend to this discourse. But we ought to be assured, since the boundaries\r\nof good and evil are now discovered, as far as they are discoverable by\r\nman, that nothing can be desired of philosophy greater or more useful\r\nthan the discussions which we have held these four days. For besides\r\ninstilling a contempt of death, and relieving pain so as to enable men\r\nto bear it, we have added the appeasing of grief, than which there is no\r\ngreater evil to man. For though every perturbation of mind is grievous,\r\nand differs but little from madness, yet we are used to say of others\r\nwhen they are under any perturbation, as of fear, joy, or desire, that\r\nthey are agitated and disturbed; but of those who give themselves up to\r\ngrief, that they are miserable, afflicted, wretched, unhappy. So that it\r\ndoth not seem to be by accident, but with reason proposed by you, that I\r\nshould discuss grief, and the other perturbations separately; for there\r\nlies the spring and head of all our miseries; but the cure of grief, and\r\nof other disorders, is one and the same in that they are all voluntary,\r\nand founded on opinion; we take them on ourselves because it seems right\r\nso to do. Philosophy undertakes to eradicate this error, as the root of\r\nall our evils: let us therefore surrender ourselves to be instructed by\r\nit, and suffer ourselves to be cured; for while these evils have\r\npossession of us, we not only cannot be happy, but cannot be right in\r\nour minds. We must either deny that reason can effect anything, while,\r\non the other hand, nothing can be done right without reason, or else,\r\nsince philosophy depends on the deductions of reason, we must seek from\r\nher, if we would be good or happy, every help and assistance for living\r\nwell and happily.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-163\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e163\u003c/span\u003eBOOK V.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eWHETHER VIRTUE ALONE BE SUFFICIENT FOR A HAPPY LIFE.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eThis\u003c/span\u003e fifth day, Brutus, shall put an end to our Tusculan\r\nDisputations: on which day we discussed your favorite subject. For I\r\nperceive from that book which you wrote for me with the greatest\r\naccuracy, as well as from your frequent conversation, that you are\r\nclearly of this opinion, that virtue is of itself sufficient for a happy\r\nlife: and though it may be difficult to prove this, on account of the\r\nmany various strokes of fortune, yet it is a truth of such a nature that\r\nwe should endeavor to facilitate the proof of it. For among all the\r\ntopics of philosophy, there is not one of more dignity or importance.\r\nFor as the first philosophers must have had some inducement to neglect\r\neverything for the search of the best state of life: surely, the\r\ninducement must have been the hope of living happily, which impelled\r\nthem to devote so much care and pains to that study. Now, if virtue was\r\ndiscovered and carried to perfection by them, and if virtue is a\r\nsufficient security for a happy life, who can avoid thinking the work of\r\nphilosophizing excellently recommended by them, and undertaken by me?\r\nBut if virtue, as being subject to such various and uncertain accidents,\r\nwere but the slave of fortune, and were not of sufficient ability to\r\nsupport herself, I am afraid that it would seem desirable rather to\r\noffer up prayers, than to rely on our own confidence in virtue as the\r\nfoundation for our hope of a happy life. And, indeed, when I reflect on\r\nthose troubles with which I have been so severely exercised by fortune,\r\nI begin to distrust this opinion; and sometimes even to dread the\r\nweakness and frailty of human nature, for I am afraid lest, when nature\r\nhad given us infirm bodies, and had joined to them incurable diseases\r\nand intolerable pains, she perhaps also gave us minds participating in\r\nthese bodily pains, and harassed \u003ca id=\"page-164\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e164\u003c/span\u003ealso with troubles and uneasinesses,\r\npeculiarly their own. But here I correct myself for forming my judgment\r\nof the power of virtue more from the weakness of others, or of myself\r\nperhaps, than from virtue itself: for she herself (provided there is\r\nsuch a thing as virtue; and your uncle Brutus has removed all doubt of\r\nit) has everything that can befall mankind in subjection to her; and by\r\ndisregarding such things, she is far removed from being at all concerned\r\nat human accidents; and, being free from every imperfection, she thinks\r\nthat nothing which is external to herself can concern her. But we, who\r\nincrease every approaching evil by our fear, and every present one by\r\nour grief, choose rather to condemn the nature of things than our own\r\nerrors.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. But the amendment of this fault, and of all our other vices and\r\noffences, is to be sought for in philosophy: and as my own inclination\r\nand desire led me, from my earliest youth upward, to seek her\r\nprotection, so, under my present misfortunes, I have had recourse to the\r\nsame port from whence I set out, after having been tossed by a violent\r\ntempest. O Philosophy, thou guide of life! thou discoverer of virtue and\r\nexpeller of vices! what had not only I myself, but the whole life of\r\nman, been without you? To you it is that we owe the origin of cities;\r\nyou it was who called together the dispersed race of men into social\r\nlife; you united them together, first, by placing them near one another,\r\nthen by marriages, and lastly, by the communication of speech and\r\nlanguages. You have been the inventress of laws; you have been our\r\ninstructress in morals and discipline; to you we fly for refuge; from\r\nyou we implore assistance; and as I formerly submitted to you in a great\r\ndegree, so now I surrender up myself entirely to you. For one day spent\r\nwell, and agreeably to your precepts, is preferable to an eternity of\r\nerror. Whose assistance, then, can be of more service to me than yours,\r\nwhen you have bestowed on us tranquillity of life, and removed the fear\r\nof death? But Philosophy is so far from being praised as much as she has\r\ndeserved by mankind, that she is wholly neglected by most men, and\r\nactually evil spoken of by many. Can any person speak ill of the parent\r\nof life, and dare to pollute himself thus with parricide, and be so\r\nimpiously \u003ca id=\"page-165\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e165\u003c/span\u003eungrateful as to accuse her whom he ought to reverence, even\r\nwere he less able to appreciate the advantages which he might derive\r\nfrom her? But this error, I imagine, and this darkness has spread itself\r\nover the minds of ignorant men, from their not being able to look so far\r\nback, and from their not imagining that those men by whom human life was\r\nfirst improved were philosophers; for though we see philosophy to have\r\nbeen of long standing, yet the name must be acknowledged to be but\r\nmodern.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. But, indeed, who can dispute the antiquity of philosophy, either in\r\nfact or name? For it acquired this excellent name from the ancients, by\r\nthe knowledge of the origin and causes of everything, both divine and\r\nhuman. Thus those seven \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΣόφοι\u003c/span\u003e, as they were considered and called by the\r\nGreeks, have always been esteemed and called wise men by us; and thus\r\nLycurgus many ages before, in whose time, before the building of this\r\ncity, Homer is said to have lived, as well as Ulysses and Nestor in the\r\nheroic ages, are all handed down to us by tradition as having really\r\nbeen what they were called, wise men; nor would it have been said that\r\nAtlas supported the heavens, or that Prometheus was bound to Caucasus,\r\nnor would Cepheus, with his wife, his son-in-law, and his daughter have\r\nbeen enrolled among the constellations, but that their more than human\r\nknowledge of the heavenly bodies had transferred their names into an\r\nerroneous fable. From whence all who occupied themselves in the\r\ncontemplation of nature were both considered and called wise men; and\r\nthat name of theirs continued to the age of Pythagoras, who is reported\r\nto have gone to Phlius, as we find it stated by Heraclides Ponticus, a\r\nvery learned man, and a pupil of Plato, and to have discoursed very\r\nlearnedly and copiously on certain subjects with Leon, prince of the\r\nPhliasii; and when Leon, admiring his ingenuity and eloquence, asked him\r\nwhat art he particularly professed, his answer was, that he was\r\nacquainted with no art, but that he was a philosopher. Leon, surprised\r\nat the novelty of the name, inquired what he meant by the name of\r\nphilosopher, and in what philosophers differed from other men; on which\r\nPythagoras replied, “That the life of man seemed to him to resemble\r\nthose games which were celebrated with the \u003ca id=\"page-166\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e166\u003c/span\u003egreatest possible variety of\r\nsports and the general concourse of all Greece. For as in those games\r\nthere were some persons whose object was glory and the honor of a crown,\r\nto be attained by the performance of bodily exercises, so others were\r\nled thither by the gain of buying and selling, and mere views of profit;\r\nbut there was likewise one class of persons, and they were by far the\r\nbest, whose aim was neither applause nor profit, but who came merely as\r\nspectators through curiosity, to observe what was done, and to see in\r\nwhat manner things were carried on there. And thus, said he, we come\r\nfrom another life and nature unto this one, just as men come out of some\r\nother city, to some much frequented mart; some being slaves to glory,\r\nothers to money; and there are some few who, taking no account of\r\nanything else, earnestly look into the nature of things; and these men\r\ncall themselves studious of wisdom, that is, philosophers: and as there\r\nit is the most reputable occupation of all to be a looker-on without\r\nmaking any acquisition, so in life, the contemplating things, and\r\nacquainting one’s self with them, greatly exceeds every other pursuit of\r\nlife.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. Nor was Pythagoras the inventor only of the name, but he enlarged\r\nalso the thing itself, and, when he came into Italy after this\r\nconversation at Phlius, he adorned that Greece, which is called Great\r\nGreece, both privately and publicly, with the most excellent\r\ninstitutions and arts; but of his school and system I shall, perhaps,\r\nfind another opportunity to speak. But numbers and motions, and the\r\nbeginning and end of all things, were the subjects of the ancient\r\nphilosophy down to Socrates, who was a pupil of Archelaus, who had been\r\nthe disciple of Anaxagoras. These made diligent inquiry into the\r\nmagnitude of the stars, their distances, courses, and all that relates\r\nto the heavens. But Socrates was the first who brought down philosophy\r\nfrom the heavens, placed it in cities, introduced it into families, and\r\nobliged it to examine into life and morals, and good and evil. And his\r\ndifferent methods of discussing questions, together with the variety of\r\nhis topics, and the greatness of his abilities, being immortalized by\r\nthe memory and writings of Plato, gave rise to many sects of\r\nphilosophers of different sentiments, of all which I have principally\r\nadhered \u003ca id=\"page-167\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e167\u003c/span\u003eto that one which, in my opinion, Socrates himself followed;\r\nand argue so as to conceal my own opinion, while I deliver others from\r\ntheir errors, and so discover what has the greatest appearance of\r\nprobability in every question. And the custom Carneades adopted with\r\ngreat copiousness and acuteness, and I myself have often given in to it\r\non many occasions elsewhere, and in this manner, too, I disputed lately,\r\nin my Tusculan villa; indeed, I have sent you a book of the four former\r\ndays’ discussions; but the fifth day, when we had seated ourselves as\r\nbefore, what we were to dispute on was proposed thus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I do not think virtue can possibly be sufficient for a happy\r\nlife.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e But my friend Brutus thinks so, whose judgment, with submission, I\r\ngreatly prefer to yours.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I make no doubt of it; but your regard for him is not the business\r\nnow: the question is now, what is the real character of that quality of\r\nwhich I have declared my opinion. I wish you to dispute on that.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What! do you deny that virtue can possibly be sufficient for a\r\nhappy life?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e It is what I entirely deny.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What! is not virtue sufficient to enable us to live as we ought,\r\nhonestly, commendably, or, in fine, to live well?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Certainly sufficient.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Can you, then, help calling any one miserable who lives ill? or\r\nwill you deny that any one who you allow lives well must inevitably live\r\nhappily?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Why may I not? for a man may be upright in his life, honest,\r\npraiseworthy, even in the midst of torments, and therefore live well.\r\nProvided you understand what I mean by well; for when I say well, I mean\r\nwith constancy, and dignity, and wisdom, and courage; for a man may\r\ndisplay all these qualities on the rack; but yet the rack is\r\ninconsistent with a happy life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, then? is your happy life left on the outside of the prison,\r\nwhile constancy, dignity, wisdom, and the other virtues, are surrendered\r\nup to the executioner, and bear punishment and pain without reluctance?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You must look out for something new if you would \u003ca id=\"page-168\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e168\u003c/span\u003edo any good.\r\nThese things have very little effect on me, not merely from their being\r\ncommon, but principally because, like certain light wines that will not\r\nbear water, these arguments of the Stoics are pleasanter to taste than\r\nto swallow. As when that assemblage of virtues is committed to the rack,\r\nit raises so reverend a spectacle before our eyes that happiness seems\r\nto hasten on towards them, and not to suffer them to be deserted by her.\r\nBut when you take your attention off from this picture and these images\r\nof the virtues to the truth and the reality, what remains without\r\ndisguise is, the question whether any one can be happy in torment?\r\nWherefore let us now examine that point, and not be under any\r\napprehensions, lest the virtues should expostulate, and complain that\r\nthey are forsaken by happiness. For if prudence is connected with every\r\nvirtue, then prudence itself discovers this, that all good men are not\r\ntherefore happy; and she recollects many things of Marcus Atilius\u003ca id=\"FNA-55\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-55\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e55\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nQuintus Cæpio\u003ca id=\"FNA-56\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-56\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e56\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, Marcus Aquilius\u003ca id=\"FNA-57\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-57\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e57\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e; and prudence herself, if these\r\nrepresentations are more agreeable to you than the things themselves,\r\nrestrains happiness when it is endeavoring to throw itself into\r\ntorments, and denies that it has any connection with pain and torture.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. \u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I can easily bear with your behaving in this manner, though it\r\nis not fair in you to prescribe to me how you would have me carry on\r\nthis discussion. But I ask you if I have effected anything or nothing in\r\nthe preceding days?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Yes; something was done, some little matter indeed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e But if that is the case, this question is settled, and almost put\r\nan end to.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e How so?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Because turbulent motions and violent agitations of \u003ca id=\"page-169\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e169\u003c/span\u003ethe mind, when\r\nit is raised and elated by a rash impulse, getting the better of reason,\r\nleave no room for a happy life. For who that fears either pain or death,\r\nthe one of which is always present, the other always impending, can be\r\notherwise than miserable? Now, supposing the same person—which is often\r\nthe case—to be afraid of poverty, ignominy, infamy, or weakness, or\r\nblindness, or, lastly, slavery, which doth not only befall individual\r\nmen, but often even the most powerful nations; now can any one under the\r\napprehension of these evils be happy? What shall we say of him who not\r\nonly dreads these evils as impending, but actually feels and bears them\r\nat present? Let us unite in the same person banishment, mourning, the\r\nloss of children; now, how can any one who is broken down and rendered\r\nsick in body and mind by such affliction be otherwise than very\r\nmiserable indeed? What reason, again, can there be why a man should not\r\nrightly enough be called miserable whom we see inflamed and raging with\r\nlust, coveting everything with an insatiable desire, and, in proportion\r\nas he derives more pleasure from anything, thirsting the more violently\r\nafter them? And as to a man vainly elated, exulting with an empty joy,\r\nand boasting of himself without reason, is not he so much the more\r\nmiserable in proportion as he thinks himself happier? Therefore, as\r\nthese men are miserable, so, on the other hand, those are happy who are\r\nalarmed by no fears, wasted by no griefs, provoked by no lusts, melted\r\nby no languid pleasures that arise from vain and exulting joys. We look\r\non the sea as calm when not the least breath of air disturbs its waves;\r\nand, in like manner, the placid and quiet state of the mind is\r\ndiscovered when unmoved by any perturbation. Now, if there be any one\r\nwho holds the power of fortune, and everything human, everything that\r\ncan possibly befall any man, as supportable, so as to be out of the\r\nreach of fear or anxiety, and if such a man covets nothing, and is\r\nlifted up by no vain joy of mind, what can prevent his being happy? And\r\nif these are the effects of virtue, why cannot virtue itself make men\r\nhappy?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e But the other of these two propositions is undeniable, that\r\nthey who are under no apprehensions, who are \u003ca id=\"page-170\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e170\u003c/span\u003enoways uneasy, who covet\r\nnothing, who are lifted up by no vain joy, are happy: and therefore I\r\ngrant you that. But as for the other, that is not now in a fit state for\r\ndiscussion; for it has been proved by your former arguments that a wise\r\nman is free from every perturbation of mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Doubtless, then, the dispute is over; for the question appears to\r\nhave been entirely exhausted.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I think, indeed, that that is almost the case.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e But yet that is more usually the case with the mathematicians than\r\nphilosophers. For when the geometricians teach anything, if what they\r\nhave before taught relates to their present subject, they take that for\r\ngranted which has been already proved, and explain only what they had\r\nnot written on before. But the philosophers, whatever subject they have\r\nin hand, get together everything that relates to it, notwithstanding\r\nthey may have dilated on it somewhere else. Were not that the case, why\r\nshould the Stoics say so much on that question, Whether virtue was\r\nabundantly sufficient to a happy life? when it would have been answer\r\nenough that they had before taught that nothing was good but what was\r\nhonorable; for, as this had been proved, the consequence must be that\r\nvirtue was sufficient to a happy life; and each premise may be made to\r\nfollow from the admission of the other, so that if it be admitted that\r\nvirtue is sufficient to secure a happy life, it may also be inferred\r\nthat nothing is good except what is honorable. They, however, do not\r\nproceed in this manner; for they would separate books about what is\r\nhonorable, and what is the chief good; and when they have demonstrated\r\nfrom the one that virtue has power enough to make life happy, yet they\r\ntreat this point separately; for everything, and especially a subject of\r\nsuch great consequence, should be supported by arguments and\r\nexhortations which belong to that alone. For you should have a care how\r\nyou imagine philosophy to have uttered anything more noble, or that she\r\nhas promised anything more fruitful or of greater consequence, for, good\r\nGods! doth she not engage that she will render him who submits to her\r\nlaws so accomplished as to be always armed against fortune, and to have\r\nevery assurance within himself of living well and happily—that he\r\nshall, in short, be forever \u003ca id=\"page-171\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e171\u003c/span\u003ehappy? But let us see what she will\r\nperform? In the mean while, I look upon it as a great thing that she has\r\neven made such a promise. For Xerxes, who was loaded with all the\r\nrewards and gifts of fortune, not satisfied with his armies of horse and\r\nfoot, nor the multitude of his ships, nor his infinite treasure of gold,\r\noffered a reward to any one who could find out a new pleasure; and yet,\r\nwhen it was discovered, he was not satisfied with it; nor can there ever\r\nbe an end to lust. I wish we could engage any one by a reward to produce\r\nsomething the better to establish us in this belief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e I wish that, indeed, myself; but I want a little information.\r\nFor I allow that in what you have stated the one proposition is the\r\nconsequence of the other; that as, if what is honorable be the only\r\ngood, it must follow that a happy life is the effect of virtue: so that\r\nif a happy life consists in virtue, nothing can be good but virtue. But\r\nyour friend Brutus, on the authority of Aristo and Antiochus, does not\r\nsee this; for he thinks the case would be the same even if there were\r\nanything good besides virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What, then? do you imagine that I am going to argue against Brutus?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You may do what you please; for it is not for me to prescribe what\r\nyou shall do.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e How these things agree together shall be examined somewhere else;\r\nfor I frequently discussed that point with Antiochus, and lately with\r\nAristo, when, during the period of my command as general, I was lodging\r\nwith him at Athens. For to me it seemed that no one could possibly be\r\nhappy under any evil; but a wise man might be afflicted with evil, if\r\nthere are any things arising from body or fortune deserving the name of\r\nevils. These things were said, which Antiochus has inserted in his books\r\nin many places—that virtue itself was sufficient to make life happy,\r\nbut yet not perfectly happy; and that many things derive their names\r\nfrom the predominant portion of them, though they do not include\r\neverything, as strength, health, riches, honor, and glory: which\r\nqualities are determined by their kind, not their number. Thus a happy\r\nlife is so called from its being so in a great degree, even though it\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-172\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e172\u003c/span\u003eshould fall short in some point. To clear this up is not absolutely\r\nnecessary at present, though it seems to be said without any great\r\nconsistency; for I cannot imagine what is wanting to one that is happy\r\nto make him happier, for if anything be wanting to him, he cannot be so\r\nmuch as happy; and as to what they say, that everything is named and\r\nestimated from its predominant portion, that may be admitted in some\r\nthings. But when they allow three kinds of evils—when any one is\r\noppressed with every imaginable evil of two kinds, being afflicted with\r\nadverse fortune, and having at the same time his body worn out and\r\nharassed with all sorts of pains—shall we say that such a one is but\r\nlittle short of a happy life, to say nothing about the happiest possible\r\nlife?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. This is the point which Theophrastus was unable to maintain; for\r\nafter he had once laid down the position that stripes, torments,\r\ntortures, the ruin of one’s country, banishment, the loss of children,\r\nhad great influence on men’s living miserably and unhappily, he durst\r\nnot any longer use any high and lofty expressions when he was so low and\r\nabject in his opinion. How right he was is not the question; he\r\ncertainly was consistent. Therefore, I am not for objecting to\r\nconsequences where the premises are admitted. But this most elegant and\r\nlearned of all the philosophers is not taken to task very severely when\r\nhe asserts his three kinds of good; but he is attacked by every one for\r\nthat book which he wrote on a happy life, in which book he has many\r\narguments why one who is tortured and racked cannot be happy. For in\r\nthat book he is supposed to say that a man who is placed on the wheel\r\n(that is a kind of torture in use among the Greeks) cannot attain to a\r\ncompletely happy life. He nowhere, indeed, says so absolutely; but what\r\nhe says amounts to the same thing. Can I, then, find fault with him,\r\nafter having allowed that pains of the body are evils, that the ruin of\r\na man’s fortunes is an evil, if he should say that every good man is not\r\nhappy, when all those things which he reckons as evils may befall a good\r\nman? The same Theophrastus is found fault with by all the books and\r\nschools of the philosophers for commending that sentence in his\r\nCallisthenes,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFortune, not wisdom, rules the life of man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-173\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e173\u003c/span\u003eThey say never did philosopher assert anything so languid. They are\r\nright, indeed, in that; but I do not apprehend anything could be more\r\nconsistent, for if there are so many good things that depend on the\r\nbody, and so many foreign to it that depend on chance and fortune, is it\r\ninconsistent to say that fortune, which governs everything, both what is\r\nforeign and what belongs to the body, has greater power than counsel. Or\r\nwould we rather imitate Epicurus? who is often excellent in many things\r\nwhich he speaks, but quite indifferent how consistent he may be, or how\r\nmuch to the purpose he is speaking. He commends spare diet, and in that\r\nhe speaks as a philosopher; but it is for Socrates or Antisthenes to say\r\nso, and not for one who confines all good to pleasure. He denies that\r\nany one can live pleasantly unless he lives honestly, wisely, and\r\njustly. Nothing is more dignified than this assertion, nothing more\r\nbecoming a philosopher, had he not measured this very expression of\r\nliving honestly, justly, and wisely by pleasure. What could be better\r\nthan to assert that fortune interferes but little with a wise man? But\r\ndoes he talk thus, who, after he has said that pain is the greatest\r\nevil, or the only evil, might himself be afflicted with the sharpest\r\npains all over his body, even at the time he is vaunting himself the\r\nmost against fortune? And this very thing, too, Metrodorus has said, but\r\nin better language: “I have anticipated you, Fortune; I have caught you,\r\nand cut off every access, so that you cannot possibly reach me.” This\r\nwould be excellent in the mouth of Aristo the Chian, or Zeno the Stoic,\r\nwho held nothing to be an evil but what was base; but for you,\r\nMetrodorus, to anticipate the approaches of fortune, who confine all\r\nthat is good to your bowels and marrow—for you to say so, who define\r\nthe chief good by a strong constitution of body, and well-assured hope\r\nof its continuance—for you to cut off every access of fortune! Why, you\r\nmay instantly be deprived of that good. Yet the simple are taken with\r\nthese propositions, and a vast crowd is led away by such sentences to\r\nbecome their followers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. But it is the duty of one who would argue accurately to consider not\r\nwhat is said, but what is said consistently. \u003ca id=\"page-174\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e174\u003c/span\u003eAs in that very opinion\r\nwhich we have adopted in this discussion, namely, that every good man is\r\nalways happy, it is clear what I mean by good men: I call those both\r\nwise and good men who are provided and adorned with every virtue. Let us\r\nsee, then, who are to be called happy. I imagine, indeed, that those men\r\nare to be called so who are possessed of good without any alloy of evil;\r\nnor is there any other notion connected with the word that expresses\r\nhappiness but an absolute enjoyment of good without any evil. Virtue\r\ncannot attain this, if there is anything good besides itself. For a\r\ncrowd of evils would present themselves, if we were to allow poverty,\r\nobscurity, humility, solitude, the loss of friends, acute pains of the\r\nbody, the loss of health, weakness, blindness, the ruin of one’s\r\ncountry, banishment, slavery, to be evils; for a wise man may be\r\nafflicted by all these evils, numerous and important as they are, and\r\nmany others also may be added, for they are brought on by chance, which\r\nmay attack a wise man; but if these things are evils, who can maintain\r\nthat a wise man is always happy when all these evils may light on him at\r\nthe same time? I therefore do not easily agree with my friend Brutus,\r\nnor with our common masters, nor those ancient ones, Aristotle,\r\nSpeusippus, Xenocrates, Polemon, who reckon all that I have mentioned\r\nabove as evils, and yet they say that a wise man is always happy; nor\r\ncan I allow them, because they are charmed with this beautiful and\r\nillustrious title, which would very well become Pythagoras, Socrates,\r\nand Plato, to persuade my mind that strength, health, beauty, riches,\r\nhonors, power, with the beauty of which they are ravished, are\r\ncontemptible, and that all those things which are the opposites of these\r\nare not to be regarded. Then might they declare openly, with a loud\r\nvoice, that neither the attacks of fortune, nor the opinion of the\r\nmultitude, nor pain, nor poverty, occasions them any apprehensions; and\r\nthat they have everything within themselves, and that there is nothing\r\nwhatever which they consider as good but what is within their own power.\r\nNor can I by any means allow the same person who falls into the vulgar\r\nopinion of good and evil to make use of these expressions, which can\r\nonly become \u003ca id=\"page-175\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e175\u003c/span\u003ea great and exalted man. Struck with which glory, up starts\r\nEpicurus, who, with submission to the Gods, thinks a wise man always\r\nhappy. He is much charmed with the dignity of this opinion, but he never\r\nwould have owned that, had he attended to himself; for what is there\r\nmore inconsistent than for one who could say that pain was the greatest\r\nor the only evil to think also that a wise man can possibly say in the\r\nmidst of his torture, How sweet is this! We are not, therefore, to form\r\nour judgment of philosophers from detached sentences, but from their\r\nconsistency with themselves, and their ordinary manner of talking.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e You compel me to be of your opinion; but have a care that you\r\nare not inconsistent yourself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e In what respect?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Because I have lately read your fourth book on Good and Evil: and\r\nin that you appeared to me, while disputing against Cato, to be\r\nendeavoring to show, which in my opinion means to prove, that Zeno and\r\nthe Peripatetics differ only about some new words; but if we allow that,\r\nwhat reason can there be, if it follows from the arguments of Zeno that\r\nvirtue contains all that is necessary to a happy life, that the\r\nPeripatetics should not be at liberty to say the same? For, in my\r\nopinion, regard should be had to the thing, not to words.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e What! you would convict me from my own words, and bring against me\r\nwhat I had said or written elsewhere. You may act in that manner with\r\nthose who dispute by established rules. We live from hand to mouth, and\r\nsay anything that strikes our mind with probability, so that we are the\r\nonly people who are really at liberty. But, since I just now spoke of\r\nconsistency, I do not think the inquiry in this place is, if the opinion\r\nof Zeno and his pupil Aristo be true that nothing is good but what is\r\nhonorable; but, admitting that, then, whether the whole of a happy life\r\ncan be rested on virtue alone. Wherefore, if we certainly grant Brutus\r\nthis, that a wise man is always happy, how consistent he is, is his own\r\nbusiness; for who, indeed, is more worthy than himself of the glory of\r\nthat opinion? Still, we may maintain that such a man is more happy than\r\nany one else.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-176\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e176\u003c/span\u003eXII. Though Zeno the Cittiæan, a stranger and an inconsiderable coiner\r\nof words, appears to have insinuated himself into the old philosophy;\r\nstill, the prevalence of this opinion is due to the authority of Plato,\r\nwho often makes use of this expression, “That nothing but virtue can be\r\nentitled to the name of good,” agreeably to what Socrates says in\r\nPlato’s Gorgias; for it is there related that when some one asked him if\r\nhe did not think Archelaus the son of Perdiccas, who was then looked\r\nupon as a most fortunate person, a very happy man, “I do not know,”\r\nreplied he, “for I never conversed with him.” “What! is there no other\r\nway you can know it by?” “None at all.” “You cannot, then, pronounce of\r\nthe great king of the Persians whether he is happy or not?” “How can I,\r\nwhen I do not know how learned or how good a man he is?” “What! do you\r\nimagine that a happy life depends on that?” “My opinion entirely is,\r\nthat good men are happy, and the wicked miserable.” “Is Archelaus, then,\r\nmiserable?” “Certainly, if unjust.” Now, does it not appear to you that\r\nhe is here placing the whole of a happy life in virtue alone? But what\r\ndoes the same man say in his funeral oration? “For,” saith he, “whoever\r\nhas everything that relates to a happy life so entirely dependent on\r\nhimself as not to be connected with the good or bad fortune of another,\r\nand not to be affected by, or made in any degree uncertain by, what\r\nbefalls another; and whoever is such a one has acquired the best rule of\r\nliving; he is that moderate, that brave, that wise man, who submits to\r\nthe gain and loss of everything, and especially of his children, and\r\nobeys that old precept; for he will never be too joyful or too sad,\r\nbecause he depends entirely upon himself.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. From Plato, therefore, all my discourse shall be deduced, as if\r\nfrom some sacred and hallowed fountain. Whence can I, then, more\r\nproperly begin than from Nature, the parent of all? For whatsoever she\r\nproduces (I am not speaking only of animals, but even of those things\r\nwhich have sprung from the earth in such a manner as to rest on their\r\nown roots) she designed it to be perfect in its respective kind. So that\r\namong trees and vines, and those lower plants and trees which cannot\r\nadvance themselves \u003ca id=\"page-177\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e177\u003c/span\u003ehigh above the earth, some are evergreen, others are\r\nstripped of their leaves in winter, and, warmed by the spring season,\r\nput them out afresh, and there are none of them but what are so\r\nquickened by a certain interior motion, and their own seeds enclosed in\r\nevery one, so as to yield flowers, fruit, or berries, that all may have\r\nevery perfection that belongs to it; provided no violence prevents it.\r\nBut the force of Nature itself may be more easily discovered in animals,\r\nas she has bestowed sense on them. For some animals she has taught to\r\nswim, and designed to be inhabitants of the water; others she has\r\nenabled to fly, and has willed that they should enjoy the boundless air;\r\nsome others she has made to creep, others to walk. Again, of these very\r\nanimals, some are solitary, some gregarious, some wild, others tame,\r\nsome hidden and buried beneath the earth, and every one of these\r\nmaintains the law of nature, confining itself to what was bestowed on\r\nit, and unable to change its manner of life. And as every animal has\r\nfrom nature something that distinguishes it, which every one maintains\r\nand never quits; so man has something far more excellent, though\r\neverything is said to be excellent by comparison. But the human mind,\r\nbeing derived from the divine reason, can be compared with nothing but\r\nwith the Deity itself, if I may be allowed the expression. This, then,\r\nif it is improved, and when its perception is so preserved as not to be\r\nblinded by errors, becomes a perfect understanding, that is to say,\r\nabsolute reason, which is the very same as virtue. And if everything is\r\nhappy which wants nothing, and is complete and perfect in its kind, and\r\nthat is the peculiar lot of virtue, certainly all who are possessed of\r\nvirtue are happy. And in this I agree with Brutus, and also with\r\nAristotle, Xenocrates, Speusippus, Polemon.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. To me such are the only men who appear completely happy; for what\r\ncan he want to a complete happy life who relies on his own good\r\nqualities, or how can he be happy who does not rely on them? But he who\r\nmakes a threefold division of goods must necessarily be diffident, for\r\nhow can he depend on having a sound body, or that his fortune shall\r\ncontinue? But no one can be happy without an immovable, fixed, and\r\npermanent good. What, \u003ca id=\"page-178\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e178\u003c/span\u003ethen, is this opinion of theirs? So that I think\r\nthat saying of the Spartan may be applied to them, who, on some\r\nmerchant’s boasting before him that he had despatched ships to every\r\nmaritime coast, replied that a fortune which depended on ropes was not\r\nvery desirable. Can there be any doubt that whatever may be lost cannot\r\nbe properly classed in the number of those things which complete a happy\r\nlife? for of all that constitutes a happy life, nothing will admit of\r\nwithering, or growing old, or wearing out, or decaying; for whoever is\r\napprehensive of any loss of these things cannot be happy: the happy man\r\nshould be safe, well fenced, well fortified, out of the reach of all\r\nannoyance, not like a man under trifling apprehensions, but free from\r\nall such. As he is not called innocent who but slightly offends, but he\r\nwho offends not at all, so it is he alone who is to be considered\r\nwithout fear who is free from all fear, not he who is but in little\r\nfear. For what else is courage but an affection of mind that is ready to\r\nundergo perils, and patient in the endurance of pain and labor without\r\nany alloy of fear? Now, this certainly could not be the case if there\r\nwere anything else good but what depended on honesty alone. But how can\r\nany one be in possession of that desirable and much-coveted security\r\n(for I now call a freedom from anxiety a security, on which freedom a\r\nhappy life depends) who has, or may have, a multitude of evils attending\r\nhim? How can he be brave and undaunted, and hold everything as trifles\r\nwhich can befall a man? for so a wise man should do, unless he be one\r\nwho thinks that everything depends on himself. Could the Lacedæmonians\r\nwithout this, when Philip threatened to prevent all their attempts, have\r\nasked him if he could prevent their killing themselves? Is it not\r\neasier, then, to find one man of such a spirit as we are inquiring\r\nafter, than to meet with a whole city of such men? Now, if to this\r\ncourage I am speaking of we add temperance, that it may govern all our\r\nfeelings and agitations, what can be wanting to complete his happiness\r\nwho is secured by his courage from uneasiness and fear, and is prevented\r\nfrom immoderate desires and immoderate insolence of joy by temperance? I\r\ncould easily show that virtue is able to \u003ca id=\"page-179\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e179\u003c/span\u003eproduce these effects, but\r\nthat I have explained on the foregoing days.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. But as the perturbations of the mind make life miserable, and\r\ntranquillity renders it happy; and as these perturbations are of two\r\nsorts, grief and fear, proceeding from imagined evils, and as immoderate\r\njoy and lust arise from a mistake about what is good, and as all these\r\nfeelings are in opposition to reason and counsel; when you see a man at\r\nease, quite free and disengaged from such troublesome commotions, which\r\nare so much at variance with one another, can you hesitate to pronounce\r\nsuch a one a happy man? Now, the wise man is always in such a\r\ndisposition; therefore the wise man is always happy. Besides, every good\r\nis pleasant; whatever is pleasant may be boasted and talked of; whatever\r\nmay be boasted of is glorious; but whatever is glorious is certainly\r\nlaudable, and whatever is laudable doubtless, also, honorable: whatever,\r\nthen, is good is honorable (but the things which they reckon as goods\r\nthey themselves do not call honorable); therefore what is honorable\r\nalone is good. Hence it follows that a happy life is comprised in\r\nhonesty alone. Such things, then, are not to be called or considered\r\ngoods, when a man may enjoy an abundance of them, and yet be most\r\nmiserable. Is there any doubt but that a man who enjoys the best health,\r\nand who has strength and beauty, and his senses flourishing in their\r\nutmost quickness and perfection—suppose him likewise, if you please,\r\nnimble and active, nay, give him riches, honors, authority, power,\r\nglory—now, I say, should this person, who is in possession of all\r\nthese, be unjust, intemperate, timid, stupid, or an idiot—could you\r\nhesitate to call such a one miserable? What, then, are those goods in\r\nthe possession of which you may be very miserable? Let us see if a happy\r\nlife is not made up of parts of the same nature, as a heap implies a\r\nquantity of grain of the same kind. And if this be once admitted,\r\nhappiness must be compounded of different good things, which alone are\r\nhonorable; if there is any mixture of things of another sort with these,\r\nnothing honorable can proceed from such a composition: now, take away\r\nhonesty, and how can you imagine anything happy? For whatever is good is\r\ndesirable on that account; whatever is desirable \u003ca id=\"page-180\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e180\u003c/span\u003emust certainly be\r\napproved of; whatever you approve of must be looked on as acceptable and\r\nwelcome. You must consequently impute dignity to this; and if so, it\r\nmust necessarily be laudable: therefore, everything that is laudable is\r\ngood. Hence it follows that what is honorable is the only good. And\r\nshould we not look upon it in this light, there will be a great many\r\nthings which we must call good.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. I forbear to mention riches, which, as any one, let him be ever so\r\nunworthy, may have them, I do not reckon among goods; for what is good\r\nis not attainable by all. I pass over notoriety and popular fame, raised\r\nby the united voice of knaves and fools. Even things which are absolute\r\nnothings may be called goods; such as white teeth, handsome eyes, a good\r\ncomplexion, and what was commended by Euryclea, when she was washing\r\nUlysses’s feet, the softness of his skin and the mildness of his\r\ndiscourse. If you look on these as goods, what greater encomiums can the\r\ngravity of a philosopher be entitled to than the wild opinion of the\r\nvulgar and the thoughtless crowd? The Stoics give the name of excellent\r\nand choice to what the others call good: they call them so, indeed; but\r\nthey do not allow them to complete a happy life. But these others think\r\nthat there is no life happy without them; or, admitting it to be happy,\r\nthey deny it to be the most happy. But our opinion is, that it is the\r\nmost happy; and we prove it from that conclusion of Socrates. For thus\r\nthat author of philosophy argued: that as the disposition of a man’s\r\nmind is, so is the man; such as the man is, such will be his discourse;\r\nhis actions will correspond with his discourse, and his life with his\r\nactions. But the disposition of a good man’s mind is laudable; the life,\r\ntherefore, of a good man is laudable; it is honorable, therefore,\r\nbecause laudable; the unavoidable conclusion from which is that the life\r\nof good men is happy. For, good Gods! did I not make it appear, by my\r\nformer arguments—or was I only amusing myself and killing time in what\r\nI then said?—that the mind of a wise man was always free from every\r\nhasty motion which I call a perturbation, and that the most undisturbed\r\npeace always reigned in his breast? A man, then, who is temperate and\r\nconsistent, free from fear or \u003ca id=\"page-181\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e181\u003c/span\u003egrief, and uninfluenced by any immoderate\r\njoy or desire, cannot be otherwise than happy; but a wise man is always\r\nso, therefore he is always happy. Moreover, how can a good man avoid\r\nreferring all his actions and all his feelings to the one standard of\r\nwhether or not it is laudable? But he does refer everything to the\r\nobject of living happily: it follows, then, that a happy life is\r\nlaudable; but nothing is laudable without virtue: a happy life, then, is\r\nthe consequence of virtue. And this is the unavoidable conclusion to be\r\ndrawn from these arguments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. A wicked life has nothing which we ought to speak of or glory in;\r\nnor has that life which is neither happy nor miserable. But there is a\r\nkind of life that admits of being spoken of, and gloried in, and boasted\r\nof, as Epaminondas saith,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe wings of Sparta’s pride my counsels clipp’d.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd Africanus boasts,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho, from beyond Mæotis to the place\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhere the sun rises, deeds like mine can trace?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eIf, then, there is such a thing as a happy life, it is to be gloried in,\r\nspoken of, and commended by the person who enjoys it; for there is\r\nnothing excepting that which can be spoken of or gloried in; and when\r\nthat is once admitted, you know what follows. Now, unless an honorable\r\nlife is a happy life, there must, of course, be something preferable to\r\na happy life; for that which is honorable all men will certainly grant\r\nto be preferable to anything else. And thus there will be something\r\nbetter than a happy life: but what can be more absurd than such an\r\nassertion? What! when they grant vice to be effectual to the rendering\r\nlife miserable, must they not admit that there is a corresponding power\r\nin virtue to make life happy? For contraries follow from contraries. And\r\nhere I ask what weight they think there is in the balance of Critolaus,\r\nwho having put the goods of the mind into one scale, and the goods of\r\nthe body and other external advantages into the other, thought the goods\r\nof the mind outweighed the others so far that they would require the\r\nwhole earth and sea to equalize the scale.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-182\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e182\u003c/span\u003eXVIII. What hinders Critolaus, then, or that gravest of philosophers,\r\nXenocrates (who raises virtue so high, and who lessens and depreciates\r\neverything else), from not only placing a happy life, but the happiest\r\npossible life, in virtue? And, indeed, if this were not the case, virtue\r\nwould be absolutely lost. For whoever is subject to grief must\r\nnecessarily be subject to fear too, for fear is an uneasy apprehension\r\nof future grief; and whoever is subject to fear is liable to dread,\r\ntimidity, consternation, cowardice. Therefore, such a person may, some\r\ntime or other, be defeated, and not think himself concerned with that\r\nprecept of Atreus,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd let men so conduct themselves in life,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs to be always strangers to defeat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut such a man, as I have said, will be defeated; and not only defeated,\r\nbut made a slave of. But we would have virtue always free, always\r\ninvincible; and were it not so, there would be an end of virtue. But if\r\nvirtue has in herself all that is necessary for a good life, she is\r\ncertainly sufficient for happiness: virtue is certainly sufficient, too,\r\nfor our living with courage; if with courage, then with a magnanimous\r\nspirit, and indeed so as never to be under any fear, and thus to be\r\nalways invincible. Hence it follows that there can be nothing to be\r\nrepented of, no wants, no lets or hinderances. Thus all things will be\r\nprosperous, perfect, and as you would have them, and, consequently,\r\nhappy; but virtue is sufficient for living with courage, and therefore\r\nvirtue is able by herself to make life happy. For as folly, even when\r\npossessed of what it desires, never thinks it has acquired enough, so\r\nwisdom is always satisfied with the present, and never repents on her\r\nown account.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. Look but on the single consulship of Lælius, and that, too, after\r\nhaving been set aside (though when a wise and good man like him is\r\noutvoted, the people are disappointed of a good consul, rather than be\r\ndisappointed by a vain people); but the point is, would you prefer, were\r\nit in your power, to be once such a consul as Lælius, or be elected four\r\ntimes, like Cinna? I have no doubt in the world what answer you will\r\nmake, and it is on that account I put the question to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-183\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e183\u003c/span\u003eI would not ask every one this question; for some one perhaps might\r\nanswer that he would not only prefer four consulates to one, but even\r\none day of Cinna’s life to whole ages of many famous men. Lælius would\r\nhave suffered had he but touched any one with his finger; but Cinna\r\nordered the head of his colleague consul, Cn. Octavius, to be struck\r\noff; and put to death P. Crassus\u003ca id=\"FNA-58\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-58\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e58\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, and L. Cæsar\u003ca id=\"FNA-59\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-59\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e59\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, those excellent\r\nmen, so renowned both at home and abroad; and even M. Antonius\u003ca id=\"FNA-60\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-60\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e60\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, the\r\ngreatest orator whom I ever heard; and C. Cæsar, who seems to me to have\r\nbeen the pattern of humanity, politeness, sweetness of temper, and wit.\r\nCould he, then, be happy who occasioned the death of these men? So far\r\nfrom it, that he seems to be miserable, not only for having performed\r\nthese actions, but also for acting in such a manner that it was lawful\r\nfor him to do it, though it is unlawful for any one to do wicked\r\nactions; but this proceeds from inaccuracy, of speech, for we call\r\nwhatever a man is allowed to do lawful. Was not Marius happier, I pray\r\nyou, when he shared the glory of the victory gained over the Cimbrians\r\nwith his colleague Catulus (who was almost another Lælius; for I look\r\nupon the two men as very like one another), than when, conqueror in the\r\ncivil war, he in a passion answered the friends of Catulus, who were\r\ninterceding for him, “Let him die?” And this answer he gave, not once\r\nonly, but often. But in such a case, he was happier who submitted to\r\nthat barbarous decree than he who issued it. And it is better to receive\r\nan injury than to do one; and so it was better to advance a little to\r\nmeet that death that was making its approaches, as Catulus did, than,\r\nlike Marius, to sully the glory of six consulships, and disgrace his\r\nlatter days, by the death of such a man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. Dionysius exercised his tyranny over the Syracusans thirty-eight\r\nyears, being but twenty-five years old \u003ca id=\"page-184\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e184\u003c/span\u003ewhen he seized on the\r\ngovernment. How beautiful and how wealthy a city did he oppress with\r\nslavery! And yet we have it from good authority that he was remarkably\r\ntemperate in his manner of living, that he was very active and energetic\r\nin carrying on business, but naturally mischievous and unjust; from\r\nwhich description every one who diligently inquires into truth must\r\ninevitably see that he was very miserable. Neither did he attain what he\r\nso greatly desired, even when he was persuaded that he had unlimited\r\npower; for, notwithstanding he was of a good family and reputable\r\nparents (though that is contested by some authors), and had a very large\r\nacquaintance of intimate friends and relations, and also some youths\r\nattached to him by ties of love after the fashion of the Greeks, he\r\ncould not trust any one of them, but committed the guard of his person\r\nto slaves, whom he had selected from rich men’s families and made free,\r\nand to strangers and barbarians. And thus, through an unjust desire of\r\ngoverning, he in a manner shut himself up in a prison. Besides, he would\r\nnot trust his throat to a barber, but had his daughters taught to shave;\r\nso that these royal virgins were forced to descend to the base and\r\nslavish employment of shaving the head and beard of their father. Nor\r\nwould he trust even them, when they were grown up, with a razor; but\r\ncontrived how they might burn off the hair of his head and beard with\r\nred-hot nutshells. And as to his two wives, Aristomache, his\r\ncountrywoman, and Doris of Locris, he never visited them at night before\r\neverything had been well searched and examined. And as he had surrounded\r\nthe place where his bed was with a broad ditch, and made a way over it\r\nwith a wooden bridge, he drew that bridge over after shutting his\r\nbedchamber door. And as he did not dare to stand on the ordinary pulpits\r\nfrom which they usually harangued the people, he generally addressed\r\nthem from a high tower. And it is said that when he was disposed to play\r\nat ball—for he delighted much in it—and had pulled off his clothes, he\r\nused to give his sword into the keeping of a young man whom he was very\r\nfond of. On this, one of his intimates said pleasantly, “You certainly\r\ntrust your life with him;” and as the young man happened to smile at\r\nthis, he ordered them both to be slain, \u003ca id=\"page-185\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e185\u003c/span\u003ethe one for showing how he\r\nmight be taken off, the other for approving of what had been said by\r\nsmiling. But he was so concerned at what he had done that nothing\r\naffected him more during his whole life; for he had slain one to whom he\r\nwas extremely partial. Thus do weak men’s desires pull them different\r\nways, and while they indulge one, they act counter to another.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. This tyrant, however, showed himself how happy he really was; for\r\nonce, when Damocles, one of his flatterers, was dilating in conversation\r\non his forces, his wealth, the greatness of his power, the plenty he\r\nenjoyed, the grandeur of his royal palaces, and maintaining that no one\r\nwas ever happier, “Have you an inclination,” said he, “Damocles, as this\r\nkind of life pleases you, to have a taste of it yourself, and to make a\r\ntrial of the good fortune that attends me?” And when he said that he\r\nshould like it extremely, Dionysius ordered him to be laid on a bed of\r\ngold with the most beautiful covering, embroidered and wrought with the\r\nmost exquisite work, and he dressed out a great many sideboards with\r\nsilver and embossed gold. He then ordered some youths, distinguished for\r\ntheir handsome persons, to wait at his table, and to observe his nod, in\r\norder to serve him with what he wanted. There were ointments and\r\ngarlands; perfumes were burned; tables provided with the most exquisite\r\nmeats. Damocles thought himself very happy. In the midst of this\r\napparatus, Dionysius ordered a bright sword to be let down from the\r\nceiling, suspended by a single horse-hair, so as to hang over the head\r\nof that happy man. After which he neither cast his eye on those handsome\r\nwaiters, nor on the well-wrought plate; nor touched any of the\r\nprovisions: presently the garlands fell to pieces. At last he entreated\r\nthe tyrant to give him leave to go, for that now he had no desire to be\r\nhappy\u003ca id=\"FNA-61\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-61\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e61\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. Does not Dionysius, then, seem to have declared there can be\r\nno happiness for one who is under constant apprehensions? But it was not\r\nnow in his power \u003ca id=\"page-186\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e186\u003c/span\u003eto return to justice, and restore his citizens their\r\nrights and privileges; for, by the indiscretion of youth, he had engaged\r\nin so many wrong steps and committed such extravagances, that, had he\r\nattempted to have returned to a right way of thinking, he must have\r\nendangered his life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. Yet, how desirous he was of friendship, though at the same time he\r\ndreaded the treachery of friends, appears from the story of those two\r\nPythagoreans: one of these had been security for his friend, who was\r\ncondemned to die; the other, to release his security, presented himself\r\nat the time appointed for his dying: “I wish,” said Dionysius,“ you\r\nwould admit me as the third in your friendship.” What misery was it for\r\nhim to be deprived of acquaintance, of company at his table, and of the\r\nfreedom of conversation! especially for one who was a man of learning,\r\nand from his childhood acquainted with liberal arts, very fond of music,\r\nand himself a tragic poet—how good a one is not to the purpose, for I\r\nknow not how it is, but in this way, more than any other, every one\r\nthinks his own performances excellent. I never as yet knew any poet (and\r\nI was very intimate with Aquinius), who did not appear to himself to be\r\nvery admirable. The case is this: you are pleased with your own works; I\r\nlike mine. But to return to Dionysius. He debarred himself from all\r\ncivil and polite conversation, and spent his life among fugitives,\r\nbondmen, and barbarians; for he was persuaded that no one could be his\r\nfriend who was worthy of liberty, or had the least desire of being free.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. Shall I not, then, prefer the life of Plato and Archytas,\r\nmanifestly wise and learned men, to his, than which nothing can possibly\r\nbe more horrid, or miserable, or detestable?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI will present you with an humble and obscure mathematician of the same\r\ncity, called Archimedes, who lived many years after; whose tomb,\r\novergrown with shrubs and briers, I in my quæstorship discovered, when\r\nthe Syracusans knew nothing of it, and even denied that there was any\r\nsuch thing remaining; for I remembered some verses, which I had been\r\ninformed were engraved on his monument, and these set forth that on the\r\ntop of the tomb \u003ca id=\"page-187\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e187\u003c/span\u003ethere was placed a sphere with a cylinder. When I had\r\ncarefully examined all the monuments (for there are a great many tombs\r\nat the gate Achradinæ), I observed a small column standing out a little\r\nabove the briers, with the figure of a sphere and a cylinder upon it;\r\nwhereupon I immediately said to the Syracusans—for there were some of\r\ntheir principal men with me there—that I imagined that was what I was\r\ninquiring for. Several men, being sent in with scythes, cleared the way,\r\nand made an opening for us. When we could get at it, and were come near\r\nto the front of the pedestal, I found the inscription, though the latter\r\nparts of all the verses were effaced almost half away. Thus one of the\r\nnoblest cities of Greece, and one which at one time likewise had been\r\nvery celebrated for learning, had known nothing of the monument of its\r\ngreatest genius, if it had not been discovered to them by a native of\r\nArpinum. But to return to the subject from which I have been digressing.\r\nWho is there in the least degree acquainted with the Muses, that is,\r\nwith liberal knowledge, or that deals at all in learning, who would not\r\nchoose to be this mathematician rather than that tyrant? If we look into\r\ntheir methods of living and their employments, we shall find the mind of\r\nthe one strengthened and improved with tracing the deductions of reason,\r\namused with his own ingenuity, which is the one most delicious food of\r\nthe mind; the thoughts of the other engaged in continual murders and\r\ninjuries, in constant fears by night and by day. Now imagine a\r\nDemocritus, a Pythagoras, and an Anaxagoras; what kingdom, what riches,\r\nwould you prefer to their studies and amusements? For you must\r\nnecessarily look for that excellence which we are seeking for in that\r\nwhich is the most perfect part of man; but what is there better in man\r\nthan a sagacious and good mind? The enjoyment, therefore, of that good\r\nwhich proceeds from that sagacious mind can alone make us happy; but\r\nvirtue is the good of the mind: it follows, therefore, that a happy life\r\ndepends on virtue. Hence proceed all things that are beautiful,\r\nhonorable, and excellent, as I said above (but this point must, I think,\r\nbe treated of more at large), and they are well stored with joys. For,\r\nas it is clear that a happy life consists in perpetual and unexhausted\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-188\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e188\u003c/span\u003epleasures, it follows, too, that a happy life must arise from honesty.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. But that what I propose to demonstrate to you may not rest on mere\r\nwords only, I must set before you the picture of something, as it were,\r\nliving and moving in the world, that may dispose us more for the\r\nimprovement of the understanding and real knowledge. Let us, then, pitch\r\nupon some man perfectly acquainted with the most excellent arts; let us\r\npresent him for awhile to our own thoughts, and figure him to our own\r\nimaginations. In the first place, he must necessarily be of an\r\nextraordinary capacity; for virtue is not easily connected with dull\r\nminds. Secondly, he must have a great desire of discovering truth, from\r\nwhence will arise that threefold production of the mind; one of which\r\ndepends on knowing things, and explaining nature; the other, in defining\r\nwhat we ought to desire and what to avoid; the third, in judging of\r\nconsequences and impossibilities, in which consists both subtlety in\r\ndisputing and also clearness of judgment. Now, with what pleasure must\r\nthe mind of a wise man be affected which continually dwells in the midst\r\nof such cares and occupations as these, when he views the revolutions\r\nand motions of the whole world, and sees those innumerable stars in the\r\nheavens, which, though fixed in their places, have yet one motion in\r\ncommon with the whole universe, and observes the seven other stars, some\r\nhigher, some lower, each maintaining their own course, while their\r\nmotions, though wandering, have certain defined and appointed spaces to\r\nrun through! the sight of which doubtless urged and encouraged those\r\nancient philosophers to exercise their investigating spirit on many\r\nother things. Hence arose an inquiry after the beginnings, and, as it\r\nwere, seeds from which all things were produced and composed; what was\r\nthe origin of every kind of thing, whether animate or inanimate,\r\narticulately speaking or mute; what occasioned their beginning and end,\r\nand by what alteration and change one thing was converted into another;\r\nwhence the earth originated, and by what weights it was balanced; by\r\nwhat caverns the seas were supplied; by what gravity all things being\r\ncarried down tend always to the middle of the world, which in any round\r\nbody is the lowest place.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-189\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e189\u003c/span\u003eXXV. A mind employed on such subjects, and which night and day\r\ncontemplates them, contains in itself that precept of the Delphic God,\r\nso as to “know itself,” and to perceive its connection with the divine\r\nreason, from whence it is filled with an insatiable joy. For reflections\r\non the power and nature of the Gods raise in us a desire of imitating\r\ntheir eternity. Nor does the mind, that sees the necessary dependences\r\nand connections that one cause has with another, think it possible that\r\nit should be itself confined to the shortness of this life. Those\r\ncauses, though they proceed from eternity to eternity, are governed by\r\nreason and understanding. And he who beholds them and examines them, or\r\nrather he whose view takes in all the parts and boundaries of things,\r\nwith what tranquillity of mind does he look on all human affairs, and on\r\nall that is nearer him! Hence proceeds the knowledge of virtue; hence\r\narise the kinds and species of virtues; hence are discovered those\r\nthings which nature regards as the bounds and extremities of good and\r\nevil; by this it is discovered to what all duties ought to be referred,\r\nand which is the most eligible manner of life. And when these and\r\nsimilar points have been investigated, the principal consequence which\r\nis deduced from them, and that which is our main object in this\r\ndiscussion, is the establishment of the point, that virtue is of itself\r\nsufficient to a happy life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe third qualification of our wise man is the next to be considered,\r\nwhich goes through and spreads itself over every part of wisdom; it is\r\nthat whereby we define each particular thing, distinguish the genus from\r\nits species, connect consequences, draw just conclusions, and\r\ndistinguish truth from falsehood, which is the very art and science of\r\ndisputing; which is not only of the greatest use in the examination of\r\nwhat passes in the world, but is likewise the most rational\r\nentertainment, and that which is most becoming to true wisdom. Such are\r\nits effects in retirement. Now, let our wise man be considered as\r\nprotecting the republic; what can be more excellent than such a\r\ncharacter? By his prudence he will discover the true interests of his\r\nfellow-citizens; by his justice he will be prevented from applying what\r\nbelongs to the public to his own use; and, in short, he will be ever\r\ngoverned by all the \u003ca id=\"page-190\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e190\u003c/span\u003evirtues, which are many and various. To these let\r\nus add the advantage of his friendships; in which the learned reckon not\r\nonly a natural harmony and agreement of sentiments throughout the\r\nconduct of life, but the utmost pleasure and satisfaction in conversing\r\nand passing our time constantly with one another. What can be wanting to\r\nsuch a life as this to make it more happy than it is? Fortune herself\r\nmust yield to a life stored with such joys. Now, if it be a happiness to\r\nrejoice in such goods of the mind, that is to say, in such virtues, and\r\nif all wise men enjoy thoroughly these pleasures, it must necessarily be\r\ngranted that all such are happy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e What, when in torments and on the rack?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e Do you imagine I am speaking of him as laid on roses and violets?\r\nIs it allowable even for Epicurus (who only puts on the appearance of\r\nbeing a philosopher, and who himself assumed that name for himself) to\r\nsay (though, as matters stand, I commend him for his saying) that a wise\r\nman might at all times cry out, though he be burned, tortured, cut to\r\npieces, “How little I regard it!” Shall this be said by one who defines\r\nall evil as pain, and measures every good by pleasure; who could\r\nridicule whatever we call either honorable or base, and could declare of\r\nus that we were employed about words, and uttering mere empty sounds;\r\nand that nothing is to be regarded by us but as it is perceived to be\r\nsmooth or rough by the body? What! shall such a man as this, as I said,\r\nwhose understanding is little superior to the beasts’, be at liberty to\r\nforget himself; and not only to despise fortune, when the whole of his\r\ngood and evil is in the power of fortune, but to say that he is happy in\r\nthe most racking torture, when he had actually declared pain to be not\r\nonly the greatest evil, but the only one? Nor did he take any trouble to\r\nprovide himself with those remedies which might have enabled him to bear\r\npain, such as firmness of mind, a shame of doing anything base,\r\nexercise, and the habit of patience, precepts of courage, and a manly\r\nhardiness; but he says that he supports himself on the single\r\nrecollection of past pleasures, as if any one, when the weather was so\r\nhot as that he was scarcely able to bear it, should comfort himself by\r\nrecollecting that he was once in my country, \u003ca id=\"page-191\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e191\u003c/span\u003eArpinum, where he was\r\nsurrounded on every side by cooling streams. For I do not apprehend how\r\npast pleasures can allay present evils. But when he says that a wise man\r\nis always happy who would have no right to say so if he were consistent\r\nwith himself, what may they not do who allow nothing to be desirable,\r\nnothing to be looked on as good but what is honorable? Let, then, the\r\nPeripatetics and Old Academics follow my example, and at length leave\r\noff muttering to themselves; and openly and with a clear voice let them\r\nbe bold to say that a happy life may not be inconsistent with the\r\nagonies of Phalaris’s bull.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. But to dismiss the subtleties of the Stoics, which I am sensible\r\nI have employed more than was necessary, let us admit of three kinds of\r\ngoods; and let them really be kinds of goods, provided no regard is had\r\nto the body and to external circumstances, as entitled to the\r\nappellation of good in any other sense than because we are obliged to\r\nuse them: but let those other divine goods spread themselves far in\r\nevery direction, and reach the very heavens. Why, then, may I not call\r\nhim happy, nay, the happiest of men, who has attained them? Shall a wise\r\nman be afraid of pain? which is, indeed, the greatest enemy to our\r\nopinion. For I am persuaded that we are prepared and fortified\r\nsufficiently, by the disputations of the foregoing days, against our own\r\ndeath or that of our friends, against grief, and the other perturbations\r\nof the mind. But pain seems to be the sharpest adversary of virtue; that\r\nit is which menaces us with burning torches; that it is which threatens\r\nto crush our fortitude, and greatness of mind, and patience. Shall\r\nvirtue, then, yield to this? Shall the happy life of a wise and\r\nconsistent man succumb to this? Good. Gods! how base would this be!\r\nSpartan boys will bear to have their bodies torn by rods without\r\nuttering a groan. I myself have seen at Lacedæmon troops of young men,\r\nwith incredible earnestness contending together with their hands and\r\nfeet, with their teeth and nails, nay, even ready to expire, rather than\r\nown themselves conquered. Is any country of barbarians more uncivilized\r\nor desolate than India? Yet they have among them some that are held for\r\nwise men, who never wear any clothes all their life long, and who bear\r\nthe \u003ca id=\"page-192\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e192\u003c/span\u003esnow of Caucasus, and the piercing cold of winter, without any\r\npain; and who if they come in contact with fire endure being burned\r\nwithout a groan. The women, too, in India, on the death of their\r\nhusbands have a regular contest, and apply to the judge to have it\r\ndetermined which of them was best beloved by him; for it is customary\r\nthere for one man to have many wives. She in whose favor it is\r\ndetermined exults greatly, and being attended by her relations, is laid\r\non the funeral pile with her husband; the others, who are postponed,\r\nwalk away very much dejected. Custom can never be superior to nature,\r\nfor nature is never to be got the better of. But our minds are infected\r\nby sloth and idleness, and luxury, and languor, and indolence: we have\r\nenervated them by opinions and bad customs. Who is there who is\r\nunacquainted with the customs of the Egyptians? Their minds being\r\ntainted by pernicious opinions, they are ready to bear any torture\r\nrather than hurt an ibis, a snake, a cat, a dog, or a crocodile; and\r\nshould any one inadvertently have hurt any of these animals, he will\r\nsubmit to any punishment. I am speaking of men only. As to the beasts,\r\ndo they not bear cold and hunger, running about in woods, and on\r\nmountains and deserts? Will they not fight for their young ones till\r\nthey are wounded? Are they afraid of any attacks or blows? I mention not\r\nwhat the ambitious will suffer for honor’s sake, or those who are\r\ndesirous of praise on account of glory, or lovers to gratify their lust.\r\nLife is full of such instances.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. But let us not dwell too much on these questions, but rather let\r\nus return to our subject. I say, and say again, that happiness will\r\nsubmit even to be tormented; and that in pursuit of justice, and\r\ntemperance, and still more especially and principally fortitude, and\r\ngreatness of soul, and patience, it will not stop short at sight of the\r\nexecutioner; and when all other virtues proceed calmly to the torture,\r\nthat one will never halt, as I said, on the outside and threshold of the\r\nprison; for what can be baser, what can carry a worse appearance, than\r\nto be left alone, separated from those beautiful attendants? Not,\r\nhowever, that this is by any means possible; for neither can the virtues\r\nhold together without happiness, nor happiness \u003ca id=\"page-193\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e193\u003c/span\u003ewithout the virtues; so\r\nthat they will not suffer her to desert them, but will carry her along\r\nwith them, to whatever torments, to whatever pain they are led. For it\r\nis the peculiar quality of a wise man to do nothing that he may repent\r\nof, nothing against his inclination, but always to act nobly, with\r\nconstancy, gravity, and honesty; to depend on nothing as certainty; to\r\nwonder at nothing, when it falls out, as if it appeared strange and\r\nunexpected to him; to be independent of every one, and abide by his own\r\nopinion. For my part, I cannot form an idea of anything happier than\r\nthis. The conclusion of the Stoics is indeed easy; for since they are\r\npersuaded that the end of good is to live agreeably to nature, and to be\r\nconsistent with that—as a wise man should do so, not only because it is\r\nhis duty, but because it is in his power—it must, of course, follow\r\nthat whoever has the chief good in his power has his happiness so too.\r\nAnd thus the life of a wise man is always happy. You have here what I\r\nthink may be confidently said of a happy life; and as things now stand,\r\nvery truly also, unless you can advance something better.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. \u003ci\u003eA.\u003c/i\u003e Indeed I cannot; but I should be glad to prevail on you,\r\nunless it is troublesome (as you are under no confinement from\r\nobligations to any particular sect, but gather from all of them whatever\r\nstrikes you most as having the appearance of probability), as you just\r\nnow seemed to advise the Peripatetics and the Old Academy boldly to\r\nspeak out without reserve, “that wise men are always the happiest”—I\r\nshould be glad to hear how you think it consistent for them to say so,\r\nwhen you have said so much against that opinion, and the conclusions of\r\nthe Stoics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eM.\u003c/i\u003e I will make use, then, of that liberty which no one has the\r\nprivilege of using in philosophy but those of our school, whose\r\ndiscourses determine nothing, but take in everything, leaving them\r\nunsupported by the authority of any particular person, to be judged of\r\nby others, according to their weight. And as you seem desirous of\r\nknowing how it is that, notwithstanding the different opinions of\r\nphilosophers with regard to the ends of goods, virtue has still\r\nsufficient security for the effecting of a happy life—which security,\r\nas we are informed, Carneades used indeed to dispute against; but he\r\ndisputed as against the \u003ca id=\"page-194\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e194\u003c/span\u003eStoics, whose opinions he combated with great\r\nzeal and vehemence. I, however, shall handle the question with more\r\ntemper; for if the Stoics have rightly settled the \u003ci\u003eends\u003c/i\u003e of goods, the\r\naffair is at an end; for a wise man must necessarily be always happy.\r\nBut let us examine, if we can, the particular opinions of the others,\r\nthat so this excellent decision, if I may so call it, in favor of a\r\nhappy life, may be agreeable to the opinions and discipline of all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. These, then, are the opinions, as I think, that are held and\r\ndefended—the first four are simple ones: “that nothing is good but what\r\nis honest,” according to the Stoics; “nothing good but pleasure,” as\r\nEpicurus maintains; “nothing good but a freedom from pain,” as\r\nHieronymus\u003ca id=\"FNA-62\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-62\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e62\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e asserts; “nothing good but an enjoyment of the principal,\r\nor all, or the greatest goods of nature,” as Carneades maintained\r\nagainst the Stoics—these are simple, the others are mixed propositions.\r\nThen there are three kinds of goods: the greatest being those of the\r\nmind; the next best those of the body; the third are external goods, as\r\nthe Peripatetics call them, and the Old Academics differ very little\r\nfrom them. Dinomachus\u003ca id=\"FNA-63\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-63\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e63\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and Callipho\u003ca id=\"FNA-64\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-64\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e64\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e have coupled pleasure with\r\nhonesty; but Diodorus\u003ca id=\"FNA-65\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-65\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e65\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the Peripatetic has joined indolence to\r\nhonesty. These are the opinions that have some footing; for those of\r\nAristo,\u003ca id=\"FNA-66\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-66\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e66\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pyrrho,\u003ca id=\"FNA-67\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-67\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e67\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Herillus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-68\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-68\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e68\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and of some others, are quite out\r\nof date. Now let us see what weight these men have in \u003ca id=\"page-195\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e195\u003c/span\u003ethem, excepting the\r\nStoics, whose opinion I think I have sufficiently defended; and indeed I\r\nhave explained what the Peripatetics have to say; excepting that\r\nTheophrastus, and those who followed him, dread and abhor pain in too\r\nweak a manner. The others may go on to exaggerate the gravity and\r\ndignity of virtue, as usual; and then, after they have extolled it to\r\nthe skies, with the usual extravagance of good orators, it is easy to\r\nreduce the other topics to nothing by comparison, and to hold them up to\r\ncontempt. They who think that praise deserves to be sought after, even\r\nat the expense of pain, are not at liberty to deny those men to be happy\r\nwho have obtained it. Though they may be under some evils, yet this name\r\nof happy has a very wide application.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. For even as trading is said to be lucrative, and farming\r\nadvantageous, not because the one never meets with any loss, nor the\r\nother with any damage from the inclemency of the weather, but because\r\nthey succeed in general; so life may be properly called happy, not from\r\nits being entirely made up of good things, but because it abounds with\r\nthese to a great and considerable degree. By this way of reasoning,\r\nthen, a happy life may attend virtue even to the moment of execution;\r\nnay, may descend with her into Phalaris’s bull, according to Aristotle,\r\nXenocrates, Speusippus, Polemon; and will not be gained over by any\r\nallurements to forsake her. Of the same opinion will Calliphon and\r\nDiodorus be; for they are both of them such friends to virtue as to\r\nthink that all things should be discarded and far removed that are\r\nincompatible with it. The rest seem to be more hampered with these\r\ndoctrines, but yet they get clear of them; such as Epicurus, Hieronymus,\r\nand whoever else thinks it worth while to defend the deserted Carneades:\r\nfor there is not one of them who does not think the mind to be judge of\r\nthose goods, and able sufficiently to instruct him how to despise what\r\nhas the appearance only of good or evil. For what seems to you to be the\r\ncase with Epicurus is the case also with Hieronymus and Carneades, and,\r\nindeed, with all the rest of them; for who is there who is not\r\nsufficiently prepared against death and pain? I will begin, with your\r\nleave, with him whom we call soft and voluptuous. What! \u003ca id=\"page-196\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e196\u003c/span\u003edoes he seem,\r\nto you to be afraid of death or pain when he calls the day of his death\r\nhappy; and who, when he is afflicted by the greatest pains, silences\r\nthem all by recollecting arguments of his own discovering? And this is\r\nnot done in such a manner as to give room for imagining that he talks\r\nthus wildly from some sudden impulse; but his opinion of death is, that\r\non the dissolution of the animal all sense is lost; and what is deprived\r\nof sense is, as he thinks, what we have no concern at all with. And as\r\nto pain, too, he has certain rules to follow then: if it be great, the\r\ncomfort is that it must be short; if it be of long continuance, then it\r\nmust be supportable. What, then? Do those grandiloquent gentlemen state\r\nanything better than Epicurus in opposition to these two things which\r\ndistress us the most? And as to other things, do not Epicurus and the\r\nrest of the philosophers seem sufficiently prepared? Who is there who\r\ndoes not dread poverty? And yet no true philosopher ever can dread it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. But with how little is this man himself satisfied! No one has\r\nsaid more on frugality. For when a man is far removed from those things\r\nwhich occasion a desire of money, from love, ambition, or other daily\r\nextravagance, why should he be fond of money, or concern himself at all\r\nabout it? Could the Scythian Anacharsis\u003ca id=\"FNA-69\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-69\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e69\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e disregard money, and shall\r\nnot our philosophers be able to do so? We are informed of an epistle of\r\nhis in these words: “Anacharsis to Hanno, greeting. My clothing is the\r\nsame as that with which the Scythians cover themselves; the hardness of\r\nmy feet supplies the want of shoes; the ground is my bed, hunger my\r\nsauce, my food milk, cheese, and flesh. So you may come to me as to a\r\nman in want of nothing. But as to those presents you take so much\r\npleasure in, you may dispose of them to your own citizens, or to the\r\nimmortal Gods.” And almost all philosophers, of all schools, excepting\r\nthose who are warped \u003ca id=\"page-197\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e197\u003c/span\u003efrom right reason by a vicious disposition, might\r\nhave been of this same opinion. Socrates, when on one occasion he saw a\r\ngreat quantity of gold and silver carried in a procession, cried out,\r\n“How many things are there which I do not want!” Xenocrates, when some\r\nambassadors from Alexander had brought him fifty talents, which was a\r\nvery large sum of money in those times, especially at Athens, carried\r\nthe ambassadors to sup in the Academy, and placed just a sufficiency\r\nbefore them, without any apparatus. When they asked him, the next day,\r\nto whom he wished the money which they had for him to be paid: “What!”\r\nsaid he, “did you not perceive by our slight repast of yesterday that I\r\nhad no occasion for money?” But when he perceived that they were\r\nsomewhat dejected, he accepted of thirty minas, that he might not seem\r\nto treat with disrespect the king’s generosity. But Diogenes took a\r\ngreater liberty, like a Cynic, when Alexander asked him if he wanted\r\nanything: “Just at present,” said he, “I wish that you would stand a\r\nlittle out of the line between me and the sun,” for Alexander was\r\nhindering him from sunning himself. And, indeed, this very man used to\r\nmaintain how much he surpassed the Persian king in his manner of life\r\nand fortune; for that he himself was in want of nothing, while the other\r\nnever had enough; and that he had no inclination for those pleasures of\r\nwhich the other could never get enough to satisfy himself; and that the\r\nother could never obtain his.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. You see, I imagine, how Epicurus has divided his kinds of\r\ndesires, not very acutely perhaps, but yet usefully: saying that they\r\nare “partly natural and necessary; partly natural, but not necessary;\r\npartly neither. That those which are necessary may be supplied almost\r\nfor nothing; for that the things which nature requires are easily\r\nobtained.” As to the second kind of desires, his opinion is that any one\r\nmay easily either enjoy or go without them. And with regard to the\r\nthird, since they are utterly frivolous, being neither allied to\r\nnecessity nor nature, he thinks that they should be entirely rooted out.\r\nOn this topic a great many arguments are adduced by the Epicureans; and\r\nthose pleasures which they do not despise in a body, they disparage one\r\nby one, and seem rather \u003ca id=\"page-198\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e198\u003c/span\u003efor lessening the number of them; for as to\r\nwanton pleasures, on which subject they say a great deal, these, say\r\nthey, are easy, common, and within any one’s reach; and they think that\r\nif nature requires them, they are not to be estimated by birth,\r\ncondition, or rank, but by shape, age, and person: and that it is by no\r\nmeans difficult to refrain from them, should health, duty, or reputation\r\nrequire it; but that pleasures of this kind may be desirable, where they\r\nare attended with no inconvenience, but can never be of any use. And the\r\nassertions which Epicurus makes with respect to the whole of pleasure\r\nare such as show his opinion to be that pleasure is always desirable,\r\nand to be pursued merely because it is pleasure; and for the same reason\r\npain is to be avoided, because it is pain. So that a wise man will\r\nalways adopt such a system of counterbalancing as to do himself the\r\njustice to avoid pleasure, should pain ensue from it in too great a\r\nproportion; and will submit to pain, provided the effects of it are to\r\nproduce a greater pleasure: so that all pleasurable things, though the\r\ncorporeal senses are the judges of them, are still to be referred to the\r\nmind, on which account the body rejoices while it perceives a present\r\npleasure; but that the mind not only perceives the present as well as\r\nthe body, but foresees it while it is coming, and even when it is past\r\nwill not let it quite slip away. So that a wise man enjoys a continual\r\nseries of pleasures, uniting the expectation of future pleasure to the\r\nrecollection of what he has already tasted. The like notions are applied\r\nby them to high living; and the magnificence and expensiveness of\r\nentertainments are deprecated, because nature is satisfied at a small\r\nexpense.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. For who does not see this, that an appetite is the best sauce?\r\nWhen Darius, in his flight from the enemy, had drunk some water which\r\nwas muddy and tainted with dead bodies, he declared that he had never\r\ndrunk anything more pleasant; the fact was, that he had never drunk\r\nbefore when he was thirsty. Nor had Ptolemy ever eaten when he was\r\nhungry; for as he was travelling over Egypt, his company not keeping up\r\nwith him, he had some coarse bread presented him in a cottage, upon\r\nwhich he said, “Nothing ever seemed to him pleasanter \u003ca id=\"page-199\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e199\u003c/span\u003ethan that bread.”\r\nThey relate, too, of Socrates, that, once when he was walking very fast\r\ntill the evening, on his being asked why he did so, his reply was that\r\nhe was purchasing an appetite by walking, that he might sup the better.\r\nAnd do we not see what the Lacedæmonians provide in their Phiditia?\r\nwhere the tyrant Dionysius supped, but told them he did not at all like\r\nthat black broth, which was their principal dish; on which he who\r\ndressed it said, “It was no wonder, for it wanted seasoning.” Dionysius\r\nasked what that seasoning was; to which it was replied, “Fatigue in\r\nhunting, sweating, a race on the banks of Eurotas, hunger and thirst,”\r\nfor these are the seasonings to the Lacedæmonian banquets. And this may\r\nnot only be conceived from the custom of men, but from the beasts, who\r\nare satisfied with anything that is thrown before them, provided it is\r\nnot unnatural, and they seek no farther. Some entire cities, taught by\r\ncustom, delight in parsimony, as I said but just now of the\r\nLacedæmonians. Xenophon has given an account of the Persian diet, who\r\nnever, as he saith, use anything but cresses with their bread; not but\r\nthat, should nature require anything more agreeable, many things might\r\nbe easily supplied by the ground, and plants in great abundance, and of\r\nincomparable sweetness. Add to this strength and health, as the\r\nconsequence of this abstemious way of living. Now, compare with this\r\nthose who sweat and belch, being crammed with eating, like fatted oxen;\r\nthen will you perceive that they who pursue pleasure most attain it\r\nleast; and that the pleasure of eating lies not in satiety, but\r\nappetite.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. They report of Timotheus, a famous man at Athens, and the head of\r\nthe city, that having supped with Plato, and being extremely delighted\r\nwith his entertainment, on seeing him the next day, he said, “Your\r\nsuppers are not only agreeable while I partake of them, but the next day\r\nalso.” Besides, the understanding is impaired when we are full with\r\novereating and drinking. There is an excellent epistle of Plato to\r\nDion’s relations, in which there occurs as nearly as possible these\r\nwords: “When I came there, that happy life so much talked of, devoted to\r\nItalian and Syracusan entertainments, was noways agreeable to me; to be\r\ncrammed twice a day, and never to \u003ca id=\"page-200\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e200\u003c/span\u003ehave the night to yourself, and the\r\nother things which are the accompaniments of this kind of life, by which\r\na man will never be made the wiser, but will be rendered much less\r\ntemperate; for it must be an extraordinary disposition that can be\r\ntemperate in such circumstances.” How, then, can a life be pleasant\r\nwithout prudence and temperance? Hence you discover the mistake of\r\nSardanapalus, the wealthiest king of the Assyrians, who ordered it to be\r\nengraved on his tomb,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI still have what in food I did exhaust;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut what I left, though excellent, is lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“What less than this,” says Aristotle, “could be inscribed on the tomb,\r\nnot of a king, but an ox?” He said that he possessed those things when\r\ndead, which, in his lifetime, he could have no longer than while he was\r\nenjoying them. Why, then, are riches desired? And wherein doth poverty\r\nprevent us from being happy? In the want, I imagine, of statues,\r\npictures, and diversions. But if any one is delighted with these things,\r\nhave not the poor people the enjoyment of them more than they who are\r\nthe owners of them in the greatest abundance? For we have great numbers\r\nof them displayed publicly in our city. And whatever store of them\r\nprivate people have, they cannot have a great number, and they but\r\nseldom see them, only when they go to their country seats; and some of\r\nthem must be stung to the heart when they consider how they came by\r\nthem. The day would fail me, should I be inclined to defend the cause of\r\npoverty. The thing is manifest; and nature daily informs us how few\r\nthings there are, and how trifling they are, of which she really stands\r\nin need.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. Let us inquire, then, if obscurity, the want of power, or even\r\nthe being unpopular, can prevent a wise man from being happy. Observe if\r\npopular favor, and this glory which they are so fond of, be not attended\r\nwith more uneasiness than pleasure. Our friend Demosthenes was certainly\r\nvery weak in declaring himself pleased with the whisper of a woman who\r\nwas carrying water, as is the custom in Greece, and who whispered to\r\nanother, “That is he—that is Demosthenes.” What could be weaker than\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-201\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e201\u003c/span\u003ethis? and yet what an orator he was! But although he had learned to\r\nspeak to others, he had conversed but little with himself. We may\r\nperceive, therefore, that popular glory is not desirable of itself; nor\r\nis obscurity to be dreaded. “I came to Athens,” saith Democritus, “and\r\nthere was no one there that knew me:” this was a moderate and grave man\r\nwho could glory in his obscurity. Shall musicians compose their tunes to\r\ntheir own tastes? and shall a philosopher, master of a much better art,\r\nseek to ascertain, not what is most true, but what will please the\r\npeople? Can anything be more absurd than to despise the vulgar as mere\r\nunpolished mechanics, taken singly, and to think them of consequence\r\nwhen collected into a body? These wise men would contemn our ambitious\r\npursuits and our vanities, and would reject all the honors which the\r\npeople could voluntarily offer to them; but we know not how to despise\r\nthem till we begin to repent of having accepted them. There is an\r\nanecdote related by Heraclitus, the natural philosopher, of Hermodorus,\r\nthe chief of the Ephesians, that he said “that all the Ephesians ought\r\nto be punished with death for saying, when they had expelled Hermodorus\r\nout of their city, that they would have no one among them better than\r\nanother; but that if there were any such, he might go elsewhere to some\r\nother people.” Is not this the case with the people everywhere? Do they\r\nnot hate every virtue that distinguishes itself? What! was not Aristides\r\n(I had rather instance in the Greeks than ourselves) banished his\r\ncountry for being eminently just? What troubles, then, are they free\r\nfrom who have no connection whatever with the people? What is more\r\nagreeable than a learned retirement? I speak of that learning which\r\nmakes us acquainted with the boundless extent of nature and the\r\nuniverse, and which even while we remain in this world discovers to us\r\nboth heaven, earth, and sea.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. If, then, honor and riches have no value, what is there else to\r\nbe afraid of? Banishment, I suppose; which is looked on as the greatest\r\nevil. Now, if the evil of banishment proceeds not from ourselves, but\r\nfrom the froward disposition of the people, I have just now declared how\r\ncontemptible it is. But if to leave one’s country be miserable, \u003ca id=\"page-202\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e202\u003c/span\u003ethe\r\nprovinces are full of miserable men, very few of the settlers in which\r\never return to their country again. But exiles are deprived of their\r\nproperty! What, then! has there not been enough said on bearing poverty?\r\nBut with regard to banishment, if we examine the nature of things, not\r\nthe ignominy of the name, how little does it differ from constant\r\ntravelling! in which some of the most famous philosophers have spent\r\ntheir whole life, as Xenocrates, Crantor, Arcesilas, Lacydes, Aristotle,\r\nTheophrastus, Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus, Antipater, Carneades,\r\nPanætius, Clitomachus, Philo, Antiochus, Posidonius, and innumerable\r\nothers, who from their first setting-out never returned home again.\r\nNow, what ignominy can a wise man be affected with (for it is of such a\r\none that I am speaking) who can be guilty of nothing which deserves it?\r\nfor there is no occasion to comfort one who is banished for his deserts.\r\nLastly, they can easily reconcile themselves to every accident who\r\nmeasure all their objects and pursuits in life by the standard of\r\npleasure; so that in whatever place that is supplied, there they may\r\nlive happily. Thus what Teucer said may be applied to every case:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“Wherever I am happy is my country.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSocrates, indeed, when he was asked where he belonged to, replied, “The\r\nworld;” for he looked upon himself as a citizen and inhabitant of the\r\nwhole world. How was it with T. Altibutius? Did he not follow his\r\nphilosophical studies with the greatest satisfaction at Athens, although\r\nhe was banished? which, however, would not have happened to him if he\r\nhad obeyed the laws of Epicurus and lived peaceably in the republic. In\r\nwhat was Epicurus happier, living in his own country, than Metrodorus,\r\nwho lived at Athens? Or did Plato’s happiness exceed that of Xenocrates,\r\nor Polemo, or Arcesilas? Or is that city to be valued much that banishes\r\nall her good and wise men? Demaratus, the father of our King Tarquin,\r\nnot being able to bear the tyrant Cypselus, fled from Corinth to\r\nTarquinii, settled there, and had children. Was it, then, an unwise act\r\nin him to prefer the liberty of banishment to slavery at home?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. Besides the emotions of the mind, all griefs \u003ca id=\"page-203\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e203\u003c/span\u003eand anxieties are\r\nassuaged by forgetting them, and turning our thoughts to pleasure.\r\nTherefore, it was not without reason that Epicurus presumed to say that\r\na wise man abounds with good things, because he may always have his\r\npleasures; from whence it follows, as he thinks, that that point is\r\ngained which is the subject of our present inquiry, that a wise man is\r\nalways happy. What! though he should be deprived of the senses of seeing\r\nand hearing? Yes; for he holds those things very cheap. For, in the\r\nfirst place, what are the pleasures of which we are deprived by that\r\ndreadful thing, blindness? For though they allow other pleasures to be\r\nconfined to the senses, yet the things which are perceived by the sight\r\ndo not depend wholly on the pleasure the eyes receive; as is the case\r\nwhen we taste, smell, touch, or hear; for, in respect of all these\r\nsenses, the organs themselves are the seat of pleasure; but it is not so\r\nwith the eyes. For it is the mind which is entertained by what we see;\r\nbut the mind may be entertained in many ways, even though we could not\r\nsee at all. I am speaking of a learned and a wise man, with whom to\r\nthink is to live. But thinking in the case of a wise man does not\r\naltogether require the use of his eyes in his investigations; for if\r\nnight does not strip him of his happiness, why should blindness, which\r\nresembles night, have that effect? For the reply of Antipater the\r\nCyrenaic to some women who bewailed his being blind, though it is a\r\nlittle too obscene, is not without its significance. “What do you mean?”\r\nsaith he; “do you think the night can furnish no pleasure?” And we find\r\nby his magistracies and his actions that old Appius,\u003ca id=\"FNA-70\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-70\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e70\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e too, who was\r\nblind for many years, was not prevented from doing whatever was required\r\nof him with respect either to the republic or his own affairs. It is\r\nsaid that C. Drusus’s house was crowded with clients. When they whose\r\nbusiness it was could not see how to conduct themselves, they applied to\r\na blind guide.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. When I was a boy, Cn. Aufidius, a blind man, \u003ca id=\"page-204\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e204\u003c/span\u003ewho had served the\r\noffice of prætor, not only gave his opinion in the Senate, and was ready\r\nto assist his friends, but wrote a Greek history, and had a considerable\r\nacquaintance with literature. Diodorus the Stoic was blind, and lived\r\nmany years at my house. He, indeed, which is scarcely credible, besides\r\napplying himself more than usual to philosophy, and playing on the\r\nflute, agreeably to the custom of the Pythagoreans, and having books\r\nread to him night and day, in all which he did not want eyes, contrived\r\nto teach geometry, which, one would think, could hardly be done without\r\nthe assistance of eyes, telling his scholars how and where to draw every\r\nline. They relate of Asclepiades, a native of Eretria, and no obscure\r\nphilosopher, when some one asked him what inconvenience he suffered from\r\nhis blindness, that his reply was, “He was at the expense of another\r\nservant.” So that, as the most extreme poverty may be borne if you\r\nplease, as is daily the case with some in Greece, so blindness may\r\neasily be borne, provided you have the support of good health in other\r\nrespects. Democritus was so blind he could not distinguish white from\r\nblack; but he knew the difference between good and evil, just and\r\nunjust, honorable and base, the useful and useless, great and small.\r\nThus one may live happily without distinguishing colors; but without\r\nacquainting yourself with things, you cannot; and this man was of\r\nopinion that the intense application of the mind was taken off by the\r\nobjects that presented themselves to the eye; and while others often\r\ncould not see what was before their feet, he travelled through all\r\ninfinity. It is reported also that Homer\u003ca id=\"FNA-71\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-71\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e71\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e was blind, but we observe\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-205\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e205\u003c/span\u003ehis painting as well as his poetry. What country, what coast, what part\r\nof Greece, what military attacks, what dispositions of battle, what\r\narray, what ship, what motions of men and animals, can be mentioned\r\nwhich he has not described in such a manner as to enable us to see what\r\nhe could not see himself? What, then! can we imagine that Homer, or any\r\nother learned man, has ever been in want of pleasure and entertainment\r\nfor his mind? Were it not so, would Anaxagoras, or this very Democritus,\r\nhave left their estates and patrimonies, and given themselves up to the\r\npursuit of acquiring this divine pleasure? It is thus that the poets who\r\nhave represented Tiresias the Augur as a wise man and blind never\r\nexhibit him as bewailing his blindness. And Homer, too, after he had\r\ndescribed Polyphemus as a monster and a wild man, represents him talking\r\nwith his ram, and speaking of his good fortune, inasmuch as he could go\r\nwherever he pleased and touch what he would. And so far he was right,\r\nfor that Cyclops was a being of not much more understanding than his\r\nram.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. Now, as to the evil of being deaf. M. Crassus was a little thick of\r\nhearing; but it was more uneasiness to him that he heard himself ill\r\nspoken of, though, in my opinion, he did not deserve it. Our Epicureans\r\ncannot understand Greek, nor the Greeks Latin: now, they are deaf\r\nreciprocally as to each other’s language, and we are all truly deaf with\r\nregard to those innumerable languages which we do not understand. They\r\ndo not hear the voice of the harper; but, then, they do not hear the\r\ngrating of a saw when it is setting, or the grunting of a hog when his\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-206\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e206\u003c/span\u003ethroat is being cut, nor the roaring of the sea when they are desirous\r\nof rest. And if they should chance to be fond of singing, they ought, in\r\nthe first place, to consider that many wise men lived happily before\r\nmusic was discovered; besides, they may have more pleasure in reading\r\nverses than in hearing them sung. Then, as I before referred the blind\r\nto the pleasures of hearing, so I may the deaf to the pleasures of\r\nsight: moreover, whoever can converse with himself doth not need the\r\nconversation of another. But suppose all these misfortunes to meet in\r\none person: suppose him blind and deaf—let him be afflicted with the\r\nsharpest pains of body, which, in the first place, generally of\r\nthemselves make an end of him; still, should they continue so long, and\r\nthe pain be so exquisite, that we should be unable to assign any reason\r\nfor our being so afflicted—still, why, good Gods! should we be under\r\nany difficulty? For there is a retreat at hand: death is that retreat—a\r\nshelter where we shall forever be insensible. Theodorus said to\r\nLysimachus, who threatened him with death, “It is a great matter,\r\nindeed, for you to have acquired the power of a Spanish fly!” When\r\nPerses entreated Paulus not to lead him in triumph, “That is a matter\r\nwhich you have in your own power,” said Paulus. I said many things about\r\ndeath in our first day’s disputation, when death was the subject; and\r\nnot a little the next day, when I treated of pain; which things if you\r\nrecollect, there can be no danger of your looking upon death as\r\nundesirable, or, at least, it will not be dreadful.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat custom which is common among the Grecians at their banquets should,\r\nin my opinion, be observed in life: Drink, say they, or leave the\r\ncompany; and rightly enough; for a guest should either enjoy the\r\npleasure of drinking with others, or else not stay till he meets with\r\naffronts from those that are in liquor. Thus, those injuries of fortune\r\nwhich you cannot bear you should flee from.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLI. This is the very same which is said by Epicurus and Hieronymus.\r\nNow, if those philosophers, whose opinion it is that virtue has no power\r\nof itself, and who say that the conduct which we denominate honorable\r\nand laudable is really nothing, and is only an empty circumstance \u003ca id=\"page-207\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e207\u003c/span\u003eset\r\noff with an unmeaning sound, can nevertheless maintain that a wise man\r\nis always happy, what, think you, may be done by the Socratic and\r\nPlatonic philosophers? Some of these allow such superiority to the goods\r\nof the mind as quite to eclipse what concerns the body and all external\r\ncircumstances. But others do not admit these to be goods; they make\r\neverything depend on the mind: whose disputes Carneades used, as a sort\r\nof honorary arbitrator, to determine. For, as what seemed goods to the\r\nPeripatetics were allowed to be advantages by the Stoics, and as the\r\nPeripatetics allowed no more to riches, good health; and other things of\r\nthat sort than the Stoics, when these things were considered according\r\nto their reality, and not by mere names, his opinion was that there was\r\nno ground for disagreeing. Therefore, let the philosophers of other\r\nschools see how they can establish this point also. It is very agreeable\r\nto me that they make some professions worthy of being uttered by the\r\nmouth of a philosopher with regard to a wise man’s having always the\r\nmeans of living happily.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLII. But as we are to depart in the morning, let us remember these five\r\ndays’ discussions; though, indeed, I think I shall commit them to\r\nwriting: for how can I better employ the leisure which I have, of\r\nwhatever kind it is, and whatever it be owing to? And I will send these\r\nfive books also to my friend Brutus, by whom I was not only incited to\r\nwrite on philosophy, but, I may say, provoked. And by so doing it is not\r\neasy to say what service I may be of to others. At all events, in my own\r\nvarious and acute afflictions, which surround me on all sides, I cannot\r\nfind any better comfort for myself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-209\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e209\u003c/span\u003eTHE NATURE OF THE GODS.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK I.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eThere\u003c/span\u003e are many things in philosophy, my dear Brutus, which are not as\r\nyet fully explained to us, and particularly (as you very well know) that\r\nmost obscure and difficult question concerning the Nature of the Gods,\r\nso extremely necessary both towards a knowledge of the human mind and\r\nthe practice of true religion: concerning which the opinions of men are\r\nso various, and so different from each other, as to lead strongly to the\r\ninference that ignorance\u003ca id=\"FNA-72\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-72\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e72\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is the cause, or origin, of philosophy, and\r\nthat the Academic philosophers have been prudent in refusing their\r\nassent to things uncertain: for what is more unbecoming to a wise man\r\nthan to judge rashly? or what rashness is so unworthy of the gravity and\r\nstability of a philosopher as either to maintain false opinions, or,\r\nwithout the least hesitation, to support and defend what he has not\r\nthoroughly examined and does not clearly comprehend?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the question now before us, the greater part of mankind have united\r\nto acknowledge that which is most probable, and which we are all by\r\nnature led to suppose, namely, that there are Gods. Protagoras\u003ca id=\"FNA-73\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-73\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e73\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\ndoubted whether there were any. Diagoras the Melian and Theodorus of\r\nCyrene entirely believed there were no such beings. But they who have\r\naffirmed that there are Gods, have expressed such a variety of\r\nsentiments on the subject, and the disagreement between them is so\r\ngreat, that it would be \u003ca id=\"page-210\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e210\u003c/span\u003etiresome to enumerate their opinions; for they\r\ngive us many statements respecting the forms of the Gods, and their\r\nplaces of abode, and the employment of their lives. And these are\r\nmatters on which the philosophers differ with the most exceeding\r\nearnestness. But the most considerable part of the dispute is, whether\r\nthey are wholly inactive, totally unemployed, and free from all care and\r\nadministration of affairs; or, on the contrary, whether all things were\r\nmade and constituted by them from the beginning; and whether they will\r\ncontinue to be actuated and governed by them to eternity. This is one of\r\nthe greatest points in debate; and unless this is decided, mankind must\r\nnecessarily remain in the greatest of errors, and ignorant of what is\r\nmost important to be known.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. For there are some philosophers, both ancient and modern, who have\r\nconceived that the Gods take not the least cognizance of human affairs.\r\nBut if their doctrine be true, of what avail is piety, sanctity, or\r\nreligion? for these are feelings and marks of devotion which are offered\r\nto the Gods by men with uprightness and holiness, on the ground that men\r\nare the objects of the attention of the Gods, and that many benefits are\r\nconferred by the immortal Gods on the human race. But if the Gods have\r\nneither the power nor the inclination to help us; if they take no care\r\nof us, and pay no regard to our actions; and if there is no single\r\nadvantage which can possibly accrue to the life of man; then what reason\r\ncan we have to pay any adoration, or any honors, or to prefer any\r\nprayers to them? Piety, like the other virtues, cannot have any\r\nconnection with vain show or dissimulation; and without piety, neither\r\nsanctity nor religion can be supported; the total subversion of which\r\nmust be attended with great confusion and disturbance in life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not even know, if we cast off piety towards the Gods, but that\r\nfaith, and all the associations of human life, and that most excellent\r\nof all virtues, justice, may perish with it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are other philosophers, and those, too, very great and illustrious\r\nmen, who conceive the whole world to be directed and governed by the\r\nwill and wisdom of the Gods; nor do they stop here, but conceive\r\nlikewise that the Deities \u003ca id=\"page-211\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e211\u003c/span\u003econsult and provide for the preservation of\r\nmankind. For they think that the fruits, and the produce of the earth,\r\nand the seasons, and the variety of weather, and the change of climates,\r\nby which all the productions of the earth are brought to maturity, are\r\ndesigned by the immortal Gods for the use of man. They instance many\r\nother things, which shall be related in these books; and which would\r\nalmost induce us to believe that the immortal Gods had made them all\r\nexpressly and solely for the benefit and advantage of men. Against these\r\nopinions Carneades has advanced so much that what he has said should\r\nexcite a desire in men who are not naturally slothful to search after\r\ntruth; for there is no subject on which the learned as well as the\r\nunlearned differ so strenuously as in this; and since their opinions are\r\nso various, and so repugnant one to another, it is possible that none of\r\nthem may be, and absolutely impossible that more than one should be,\r\nright.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. Now, in a cause like this, I may be able to pacify well-meaning\r\nopposers, and to confute invidious censurers, so as to induce the latter\r\nto repent of their unreasonable contradiction, and the former to be glad\r\nto learn; for they who admonish one in a friendly spirit should be\r\ninstructed, they who attack one like enemies should be repelled. But I\r\nobserve that the several books which I have lately published\u003ca id=\"FNA-74\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-74\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e74\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e have\r\noccasioned much noise and various discourse about them; some people\r\nwondering what the reason has been why I have applied myself so suddenly\r\nto the study of philosophy, and others desirous of knowing what my\r\nopinion is on such subjects. I likewise perceive that many people wonder\r\nat my following that philosophy\u003ca id=\"FNA-75\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-75\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e75\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e chiefly which seems to take away the\r\nlight, and to bury and envelop things in a kind of artificial night, and\r\nthat I should so unexpectedly have taken up the defence of a school that\r\nhas been long neglected and forsaken. But it is a mistake to suppose\r\nthat this application to philosophical studies has been sudden on my\r\npart. I have applied \u003ca id=\"page-212\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e212\u003c/span\u003emyself to them from my youth, at no small expense\r\nof time and trouble; and I have been in the habit of philosophizing a\r\ngreat deal when I least seemed to think about it; for the truth of which\r\nI appeal to my orations, which are filled with quotations from\r\nphilosophers, and to my intimacy with those very learned men who\r\nfrequented my house and conversed daily with me, particularly Diodorus,\r\nPhilo, Antiochus, and Posidonius,\u003ca id=\"FNA-76\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-76\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e76\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e under whom I was bred; and if all\r\nthe precepts of philosophy are to have reference to the conduct of life,\r\nI am inclined to think that I have advanced, both in public and private\r\naffairs, only such principles as may be supported by reason and\r\nauthority.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. But if any one should ask what has induced me, in the decline of\r\nlife, to write on these subjects, nothing is more easily answered; for\r\nwhen I found myself entirely disengaged from business, and the\r\ncommonwealth reduced to the necessity of being governed by the direction\r\nand care of one man,\u003ca id=\"FNA-77\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-77\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e77\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e I thought it becoming, for the sake of the\r\npublic, to instruct my countrymen in philosophy, and that it would be of\r\nimportance, and much to the honor and commendation of our city, to have\r\nsuch great and excellent subjects introduced in the Latin tongue. I the\r\nless repent of my undertaking, since I plainly see that I have excited\r\nin many a desire, not only of learning, but of writing; for we have had\r\nseveral Romans well grounded in the learning of the Greeks who were\r\nunable to communicate to their countrymen what they had learned, because\r\nthey looked upon it as impossible to express that in Latin which they\r\nhad received from the Greeks. In this point I think I have succeeded so\r\nwell that what I have done is not, even in copiousness of expression,\r\ninferior to that language.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnother inducement to it was a melancholy disposition of mind, and the\r\ngreat and heavy oppression of fortune that was upon me; from which, if I\r\ncould have found any surer remedy, I would not have sought relief in\r\nthis pursuit. But I could procure ease by no means better than by not\r\nonly applying myself to books, but by devoting myself \u003ca id=\"page-213\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e213\u003c/span\u003eto the\r\nexamination of the whole body of philosophy. And every part and branch\r\nof this is readily discovered when every question is propounded in\r\nwriting; for there is such an admirable continuation and series of\r\nthings that each seems connected with the other, and all appear linked\r\ntogether and united.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. Now, those men who desire to know my own private opinion on every\r\nparticular subject have more curiosity than is necessary. For the force\r\nof reason in disputation is to be sought after rather than authority,\r\nsince the authority of the teacher is often a disadvantage to those who\r\nare willing to learn; as they refuse to use their own judgment, and rely\r\nimplicitly on him whom they make choice of for a preceptor. Nor could I\r\never approve this custom of the Pythagoreans, who, when they affirmed\r\nanything in disputation, and were asked why it was so, used to give this\r\nanswer: “He himself has said it;” and this “he himself,” it seems, was\r\nPythagoras. Such was the force of prejudice and opinion that his\r\nauthority was to prevail even without argument or reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey who wonder at my being a follower of this sect in particular may\r\nfind a satisfactory answer in my four books of Academical Questions. But\r\nI deny that I have undertaken the protection of what is neglected and\r\nforsaken; for the opinions of men do not die with them, though they may\r\nperhaps want the author’s explanation. This manner of philosophizing, of\r\ndisputing all things and assuming nothing certainly, was begun by\r\nSocrates, revived by Arcesilaus, confirmed by Carneades, and has\r\ndescended, with all its power, even to the present age; but I am\r\ninformed that it is now almost exploded even in Greece. However, I do\r\nnot impute that to any fault in the institution of the Academy, but to\r\nthe negligence of mankind. If it is difficult to know all the doctrines\r\nof any one sect, how much more is it to know those of every sect! which,\r\nhowever, must necessarily be known to those who resolve, for the sake of\r\ndiscovering truth, to dispute for or against all philosophers without\r\npartiality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not profess myself to be master of this difficult and noble\r\nfaculty; but I do assert that I have endeavored to make myself so; and\r\nit is impossible that they who choose \u003ca id=\"page-214\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e214\u003c/span\u003ethis manner of philosophizing\r\nshould not meet at least with something worthy their pursuit. I have\r\nspoken more fully on this head in another place. But as some are too\r\nslow of apprehension, and some too careless, men stand in perpetual need\r\nof caution. For we are not people who believe that there is nothing\r\nwhatever which is true; but we say that some falsehoods are so blended\r\nwith all truths, and have so great a resemblance to them, that there is\r\nno certain rule for judging of or assenting to propositions; from which\r\nthis maxim also follows, that many things are probable, which, though\r\nthey are not evident to the senses, have still so persuasive and\r\nbeautiful an aspect that a wise man chooses to direct his conduct by\r\nthem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. Now, to free myself from the reproach of partiality, I propose to\r\nlay before you the opinions of various philosophers concerning the\r\nnature of the Gods, by which means all men may judge which of them are\r\nconsistent with truth; and if all agree together, or if any one shall be\r\nfound to have discovered what may be absolutely called truth, I will\r\nthen give up the Academy as vain and arrogant. So I may cry out, in the\r\nwords of Statius, in the Synephebi,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYe Gods, I call upon, require, pray, beseech, entreat, and implore\r\nthe attention of my countrymen all, both young and old;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eyet not on so trifling an occasion as when the person in the play\r\ncomplains that,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this city we have discovered a most flagrant iniquity: here is a\r\nprofessed courtesan, who refuses money from her lover;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ebut that they may attend, know, and consider what sentiments they ought\r\nto preserve concerning religion, piety, sanctity, ceremonies, faith,\r\noaths, temples, shrines, and solemn sacrifices; what they ought to think\r\nof the auspices over which I preside;\u003ca id=\"FNA-78\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-78\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e78\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e for all these have relation to\r\nthe present question. The manifest disagreement among the most learned\r\non this subject creates doubts in those who imagine they have some\r\ncertain knowledge of the subject.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich fact I have often taken notice of elsewhere, and \u003ca id=\"page-215\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e215\u003c/span\u003eI did so more\r\nespecially at the discussion that was held at my friend C. Cotta’s\r\nconcerning the immortal Gods, and which was carried on with the greatest\r\ncare, accuracy, and precision; for coming to him at the time of the\r\nLatin holidays,\u003ca id=\"FNA-79\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-79\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e79\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e according to his own invitation and message from\r\nhim, I found him sitting in his study,\u003ca id=\"FNA-80\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-80\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e80\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and in a discourse with C.\r\nVelleius, the senator, who was then reputed by the Epicureans the ablest\r\nof our countrymen. Q. Lucilius Balbus was likewise there, a great\r\nproficient in the doctrine of the Stoics, and esteemed equal to the most\r\neminent of the Greeks in that part of knowledge. As soon as Cotta saw\r\nme, You are come, says he, very seasonably; for I am having a dispute\r\nwith Velleius on an important subject, which, considering the nature of\r\nyour studies, is not improper for you to join in.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. Indeed, says I, I think I am come very seasonably, as you say; for\r\nhere are three chiefs of three principal sects met together. If M.\r\nPiso\u003ca id=\"FNA-81\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-81\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e81\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e was present, no sect of philosophy that is in any esteem would\r\nwant an advocate. If Antiochus’s book, replies Cotta, which he lately\r\nsent to Balbus, says true, you have no occasion to wish for your friend\r\nPiso; for Antiochus is of the opinion that the Stoics do not differ from\r\nthe Peripatetics in fact, though they do in words; and I should be glad\r\nto know what you think of that book, Balbus. I? says he. I wonder that\r\nAntiochus, a man of the clearest apprehension, should not see what a\r\nvast difference there is between the Stoics, who distinguish the honest\r\nand the profitable, not only in name, but absolutely in kind, and the\r\nPeripatetics, who blend the honest with the profitable in such a manner\r\nthat they differ only in degrees and proportion, and not in kind. This\r\nis not a little difference in words, but a great one in things; \u003ca id=\"page-216\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e216\u003c/span\u003ebut of\r\nthis hereafter. Now, if you think fit, let us return to what we began\r\nwith.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith all my heart, says Cotta. But that this visitor (looking at me),\r\nwho is just come in, may not be ignorant of what we are upon, I will\r\ninform him that we were discoursing on the nature of the Gods;\r\nconcerning which, as it is a subject that always appeared very obscure\r\nto me, I prevailed on Velleius to give us the sentiments of Epicurus.\r\nTherefore, continues he, if it is not troublesome, Velleius, repeat what\r\nyou have already stated to us. I will, says he, though this new-comer\r\nwill be no advocate for me, but for you; for you have both, adds he,\r\nwith a smile, learned from the same Philo to be certain of nothing.\u003ca id=\"FNA-82\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-82\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e82\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nWhat we have learned from him, replied I, Cotta will discover; but I\r\nwould not have you think I am come as an assistant to him, but as an\r\nauditor, with an impartial and unbiassed mind, and not bound by any\r\nobligation to defend any particular principle, whether I like or dislike\r\nit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. After this, Velleius, with the confidence peculiar to his sect,\r\ndreading nothing so much as to seem to doubt of anything, began as if he\r\nhad just then descended from the council of the Gods, and Epicurus’s\r\nintervals of worlds. Do not attend, says he, to these idle and imaginary\r\ntales; nor to the operator and builder of the World, the God of Plato’s\r\nTimæus; nor to the old prophetic dame, the \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠρόνοια\u003c/span\u003e of the Stoics, which\r\nthe Latins call Providence; nor to that round, that burning, revolving\r\ndeity, the World, endowed with sense and understanding; the prodigies\r\nand wonders, not of inquisitive philosophers, but of dreamers!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor with what eyes of the mind was your Plato able to see that workhouse\r\nof such stupendous toil, in which he makes the world to be modelled and\r\nbuilt by God? What materials, what tools, what bars, what machines, what\r\nservants, were employed in so vast a work? How could the air, fire,\r\nwater, and earth pay obedience and submit to the will of the architect?\r\n\u0026gt;From whence arose those five forms,\u003ca id=\"FNA-83\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-83\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e83\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of which the rest were composed,\r\nso aptly contributing to frame the mind and produce the senses? It \u003ca id=\"page-217\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e217\u003c/span\u003eis\r\ntedious to go through all, as they are of such a sort that they look\r\nmore like things to be desired than to be discovered.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, what is more remarkable, he gives us a world which has been not\r\nonly created, but, if I may so say, in a manner formed with hands, and\r\nyet he says it is eternal. Do you conceive him to have the least skill\r\nin natural philosophy who is capable of thinking anything to be\r\neverlasting that had a beginning? For what can possibly ever have been\r\nput together which cannot be dissolved again? Or what is there that had\r\na beginning which will not have an end? If your Providence, Lucilius, is\r\nthe same as Plato’s God, I ask you, as before, who were the assistants,\r\nwhat were the engines, what was the plan and preparation of the whole\r\nwork? If it is not the same, then why did she make the world mortal, and\r\nnot everlasting, like Plato’s God?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. But I would demand of you both, why these world-builders started up\r\nso suddenly, and lay dormant for so many ages? For we are not to\r\nconclude that, if there was no world, there were therefore no ages. I do\r\nnot now speak of such ages as are finished by a certain number of days\r\nand nights in annual courses; for I acknowledge that those could not be\r\nwithout the revolution of the world; but there was a certain eternity\r\nfrom infinite time, not measured by any circumscription of seasons; but\r\nhow that was in space we cannot understand, because we cannot possibly\r\nhave even the slightest idea of time before time was. I desire,\r\ntherefore, to know, Balbus, why this Providence of yours was idle for\r\nsuch an immense space of time? Did she avoid labor? But that could have\r\nno effect on the Deity; nor could there be any labor, since all nature,\r\nair, fire, earth, and water would obey the divine essence. What was it\r\nthat incited the Deity to act the part of an ædile, to illuminate and\r\ndecorate the world? If it was in order that God might be the better\r\naccommodated in his habitation, then he must have been dwelling an\r\ninfinite length of time before in darkness as in a dungeon. But do we\r\nimagine that he was afterward delighted with that variety with which we\r\nsee the heaven and earth adorned? What entertainment could that be to\r\nthe Deity? If it was any, he would not have been without it so long.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-218\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e218\u003c/span\u003eOr were these things made, as you almost assert, by God for the sake of\r\nmen? Was it for the wise? If so, then this great design was adopted for\r\nthe sake of a very small number. Or for the sake of fools? First of all,\r\nthere was no reason why God should consult the advantage of the wicked;\r\nand, further, what could be his object in doing so, since all fools are,\r\nwithout doubt, the most miserable of men, chiefly because they are\r\nfools? For what can we pronounce more deplorable than folly? Besides,\r\nthere are many inconveniences in life which the wise can learn to think\r\nlightly of by dwelling rather on the advantages which they receive; but\r\nwhich fools are unable to avoid when they are coming, or to bear when\r\nthey are come.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. They who affirm the world to be an animated and intelligent being\r\nhave by no means discovered the nature of the mind, nor are able to\r\nconceive in what form that essence can exist; but of that I shall speak\r\nmore hereafter. At present I must express my surprise at the weakness of\r\nthose who endeavor to make it out to be not only animated and immortal,\r\nbut likewise happy, and round, because Plato says that is the most\r\nbeautiful form; whereas I think a cylinder, a square, a cone, or a\r\npyramid more beautiful. But what life do they attribute to that round\r\nDeity? Truly it is a being whirled about with a celerity to which\r\nnothing can be even conceived by the imagination as equal; nor can I\r\nimagine how a settled mind and happy life can consist in such motion,\r\nthe least degree of which would be troublesome to us. Why, therefore,\r\nshould it not be considered troublesome also to the Deity? For the earth\r\nitself, as it is part of the world, is part also of the Deity. We see\r\nvast tracts of land barren and uninhabitable; some, because they are\r\nscorched by the too near approach of the sun; others, because they are\r\nbound up with frost and snow, through the great distance which the sun\r\nis from them. Therefore, if the world is a Deity, as these are parts of\r\nthe world, some of the Deity’s limbs must be said to be scorched, and\r\nsome frozen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are your doctrines, Lucilius; but what those of others are I will\r\nendeavor to ascertain by tracing them back from the earliest of ancient\r\nphilosophers. Thales \u003ca id=\"page-219\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e219\u003c/span\u003ethe Milesian, who first inquired after such\r\nsubjects, asserted water to be the origin of things, and that God was\r\nthat mind which formed all things from water. If the Gods can exist\r\nwithout corporeal sense, and if there can be a mind without a body, why\r\ndid he annex a mind to water?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was Anaximander’s opinion that the Gods were born; that after a great\r\nlength of time they died; and that they are innumerable worlds. But what\r\nconception can we possibly have of a Deity who is not eternal?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnaximenes, after him, taught that the air is God, and that he was\r\ngenerated, and that he is immense, infinite, and always in motion; as if\r\nair, which has no form, could possibly be God; for the Deity must\r\nnecessarily be not only of some form or other, but of the most beautiful\r\nform. Besides, is not everything that had a beginning subject to\r\nmortality?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. Anaxagoras, who received his learning from Anaximenes, was the first\r\nwho affirmed the system and disposition of all things to be contrived\r\nand perfected by the power and reason of an infinite mind; in which\r\ninfinity he did not perceive that there could be no conjunction of sense\r\nand motion, nor any sense in the least degree, where nature herself\r\ncould feel no impulse. If he would have this mind to be a sort of\r\nanimal, then there must be some more internal principle from whence that\r\nanimal should receive its appellation. But what can be more internal\r\nthan the mind? Let it, therefore, be clothed with an external body. But\r\nthis is not agreeable to his doctrine; but we are utterly unable to\r\nconceive how a pure simple mind can exist without any substance annexed\r\nto it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAlcmæon of Crotona, in attributing a divinity to the sun, the moon, and\r\nthe rest of the stars, and also to the mind, did not perceive that he\r\nwas ascribing immortality to mortal beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePythagoras, who supposed the Deity to be one soul, mixing with and\r\npervading all nature, from which our souls are taken, did not consider\r\nthat the Deity himself must, in consequence of this doctrine, be maimed\r\nand torn with the rending every human soul from it; nor that, when the\r\nhuman mind is afflicted (as is the case in many instances), that part of\r\nthe Deity must likewise be afflicted, \u003ca id=\"page-220\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e220\u003c/span\u003ewhich cannot be. If the human\r\nmind were a Deity, how could it be ignorant of any thing? Besides, how\r\ncould that Deity, if it is nothing but soul, be mixed with, or infused\r\ninto, the world?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Xenophanes, who said that everything in the world which had any\r\nexistence, with the addition of intellect, was God, is as liable to\r\nexception as the rest, especially in relation to the infinity of it, in\r\nwhich there can be nothing sentient, nothing composite.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eParmenides formed a conceit to himself of something circular like a\r\ncrown. (He names it Stephane.) It is an orb of constant light and heat\r\naround the heavens; this he calls God; in which there is no room to\r\nimagine any divine form or sense. And he uttered many other absurdities\r\non the same subject; for he ascribed a divinity to war, to discord, to\r\nlust, and other passions of the same kind, which are destroyed by\r\ndisease, or sleep, or oblivion, or age. The same honor he gives to the\r\nstars; but I shall forbear making any objections to his system here,\r\nhaving already done it in another place.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. Empedocles, who erred in many things, is most grossly mistaken in\r\nhis notion of the Gods. He lays down four natures\u003ca id=\"FNA-84\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-84\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e84\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e as divine, from\r\nwhich he thinks that all things were made. Yet it is evident that they\r\nhave a beginning, that they decay, and that they are void of all sense.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProtagoras did not seem to have any idea of the real nature of the Gods;\r\nfor he acknowledged that he was altogether ignorant whether there are or\r\nare not any, or what they are.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat shall I say of Democritus, who classes our images of objects, and\r\ntheir orbs, in the number of the Gods; as he does that principle through\r\nwhich those images appear and have their influence? He deifies likewise\r\nour knowledge and understanding. Is he not involved in a very great\r\nerror? And because nothing continues always in the same state, he denies\r\nthat anything is everlasting, does he not thereby entirely destroy the\r\nDeity, and make it impossible to form any opinion of him?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-221\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e221\u003c/span\u003eDiogenes of Apollonia looks upon the air to be a Deity. But what sense\r\ncan the air have? or what divine form can be attributed to it?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt would be tedious to show the uncertainty of Plato’s opinion; for, in\r\nhis Timæus, he denies the propriety of asserting that there is one great\r\nfather or creator of the world; and, in his book of Laws, he thinks we\r\nought not to make too strict an inquiry into the nature of the Deity.\r\nAnd as for his statement when he asserts that God is a being without any\r\nbody—what the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀσώματος\u003c/span\u003e—it is certainly quite\r\nunintelligible how that theory can possibly be true; for such a God must\r\nthen necessarily be destitute of sense, prudence, and pleasure; all\r\nwhich things are comprehended in our notion of the Gods. He likewise\r\nasserts in his Timæus, and in his Laws, that the world, the heavens, the\r\nstars, the mind, and those Gods which are delivered down to us from our\r\nancestors, constitute the Deity. These opinions, taken separately, are\r\napparently false; and, together, are directly inconsistent with each\r\nother.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXenophon has committed almost the same mistakes, but in fewer words. In\r\nthose sayings which he has related of Socrates, he introduces him\r\ndisputing the lawfulness of inquiring into the form of the Deity, and\r\nmakes him assert the sun and the mind to be Deities: he represents him\r\nlikewise as affirming the being of one God only, and at another time of\r\nmany; which are errors of almost the same kind which I before took\r\nnotice of in Plato.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Antisthenes, in his book called the Natural Philosopher, says that\r\nthere are many national and one natural Deity; but by this saying he\r\ndestroys the power and nature of the Gods. Speusippus is not much less\r\nin the wrong; who, following his uncle Plato, says that a certain\r\nincorporeal power governs everything; by which he endeavors to root out\r\nof our minds the knowledge of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAristotle, in his third book of Philosophy, confounds many things\r\ntogether, as the rest have done; but he does not differ from his master\r\nPlato. At one time he attributes all divinity to the mind, at another he\r\nasserts that the world is God. Soon afterward he makes some other\r\nessence \u003ca id=\"page-222\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e222\u003c/span\u003epreside over the world, and gives it those faculties by which,\r\nwith certain revolutions, he may govern and preserve the motion of it.\r\nThen he asserts the heat of the firmament to be God; not perceiving the\r\nfirmament to be part of the world, which in another place he had\r\ndescribed as God. How can that divine sense of the firmament be\r\npreserved in so rapid a motion? And where do the multitude of Gods\r\ndwell, if heaven itself is a Deity? But when this philosopher says that\r\nGod is without a body, he makes him an irrational and insensible being.\r\nBesides, how can the world move itself, if it wants a body? Or how, if\r\nit is in perpetual self-motion, can it be easy and happy?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXenocrates, his fellow-pupil, does not appear much wiser on this head,\r\nfor in his books concerning the nature of the Gods no divine form is\r\ndescribed; but he says the number of them is eight. Five are moving\r\nplanets;\u003ca id=\"FNA-85\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-85\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e85\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the sixth is contained in all the fixed stars; which,\r\ndispersed, are so many several members, but, considered together, are\r\none single Deity; the seventh is the sun; and the eighth the moon. But\r\nin what sense they can possibly be happy is not easy to be understood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the same school of Plato, Heraclides of Pontus stuffed his books\r\nwith puerile tales. Sometimes he thinks the world a Deity, at other\r\ntimes the mind. He attributes divinity likewise to the wandering stars.\r\nHe deprives the Deity of sense, and makes his form mutable; and, in the\r\nsame book again, he makes earth and heaven Deities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe unsteadiness of Theophrastus is equally intolerable. At one time he\r\nattributes a divine prerogative to the mind; at another, to the\r\nfirmament; at another, to the stars and celestial constellations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor is his disciple Strato, who is called the naturalist, any more\r\nworthy to be regarded; for he thinks that the divine power is diffused\r\nthrough nature, which is the cause of birth, increase, and diminution,\r\nbut that it has no sense nor form.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. Zeno (to come to your sect, Balbus) thinks the law of nature to be\r\nthe divinity, and that it has the power \u003ca id=\"page-223\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e223\u003c/span\u003eto force us to what is right,\r\nand to restrain us from what is wrong. How this law can be an animated\r\nbeing I cannot conceive; but that God is so we would certainly maintain.\r\nThe same person says, in another place, that the sky is God; but can we\r\npossibly conceive that God is a being insensible, deaf to our prayers,\r\nour wishes, and our vows, and wholly unconnected with us? In other books\r\nhe thinks there is a certain rational essence pervading all nature,\r\nindued with divine efficacy. He attributes the same power to the stars,\r\nto the years, to the months, and to the seasons. In his interpretation\r\nof Hesiod’s Theogony,\u003ca id=\"FNA-86\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-86\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e86\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e he entirely destroys the established notions\r\nof the Gods; for he excludes Jupiter, Juno, and Vesta, and those\r\nesteemed divine, from the number of them; but his doctrine is that these\r\nare names which by some kind of allusion are given to mute and inanimate\r\nbeings. The sentiments of his disciple Aristo are not less erroneous. He\r\nthought it impossible to conceive the form of the Deity, and asserts\r\nthat the Gods are destitute of sense; and he is entirely dubious whether\r\nthe Deity is an animated being or not.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCleanthes, who next comes under my notice, a disciple of Zeno at the\r\nsame time with Aristo, in one place says that the world is God; in\r\nanother, he attributes divinity to the mind and spirit of universal\r\nnature; then he asserts that the most remote, the highest, the\r\nall-surrounding, the all-enclosing and embracing heat, which is called\r\nthe sky, is most certainly the Deity. In the books he wrote against\r\npleasure, in which he seems to be raving, he imagines the Gods to have a\r\ncertain form and shape; then he ascribes all divinity to the stars; and,\r\nlastly, he thinks nothing more divine than reason. So that this God,\r\nwhom we know mentally and in the speculations of our minds, from which\r\ntraces we receive our impression, has at last actually no visible form\r\nat all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. Persæus, another disciple of Zeno, says that they who have made\r\ndiscoveries advantageous to the life of man should be esteemed as Gods;\r\nand the very things, he says, which are healthful and beneficial have\r\nderived their names from those of the Gods; so that he thinks it not\r\nsufficient to call them the discoveries of Gods, but he urges that they\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-224\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e224\u003c/span\u003ethemselves should be deemed divine. What can be more absurd than to\r\nascribe divine honors to sordid and deformed things; or to place among\r\nthe Gods men who are dead and mixed with the dust, to whose memory all\r\nthe respect that could be paid would be but mourning for their loss?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChrysippus, who is looked upon as the most subtle interpreter of the\r\ndreams of the Stoics, has mustered up a numerous band of unknown Gods;\r\nand so unknown that we are not able to form any idea about them, though\r\nour mind seems capable of framing any image to itself in its thoughts.\r\nFor he says that the divine power is placed in reason, and in the spirit\r\nand mind of universal nature; that the world, with a universal effusion\r\nof its spirit, is God; that the superior part of that spirit, which is\r\nthe mind and reason, is the great principle of nature, containing and\r\npreserving the chain of all things; that the divinity is the power of\r\nfate, and the necessity of future events. He deifies fire also, and what\r\nI before called the ethereal spirit, and those elements which naturally\r\nproceed from it—water, earth, and air. He attributes divinity to the\r\nsun, moon, stars, and universal space, the grand container of all\r\nthings, and to those men likewise who have obtained immortality. He\r\nmaintains the sky to be what men call Jupiter; the air, which pervades\r\nthe sea, to be Neptune; and the earth, Ceres. In like manner he goes\r\nthrough the names of the other Deities. He says that Jupiter is that\r\nimmutable and eternal law which guides and directs us in our manners;\r\nand this he calls fatal necessity, the everlasting verity of future\r\nevents. But none of these are of such a nature as to seem to carry any\r\nindication of divine virtue in them. These are the doctrines contained\r\nin his first book of the Nature of the Gods. In the second, he endeavors\r\nto accommodate the fables of Orpheus, Musæus, Hesiod, and Homer to what\r\nhe has advanced in the first, in order that the most ancient poets, who\r\nnever dreamed of these things, may seem to have been Stoics. Diogenes\r\nthe Babylonian was a follower of the doctrine of Chrysippus; and in that\r\nbook which he wrote, entitled “A Treatise concerning Minerva,” he\r\nseparates the account of Jupiter’s bringing-forth, and the birth of that\r\nvirgin, from the fabulous, and reduces it to a natural construction.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-225\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e225\u003c/span\u003eXVI. Thus far have I been rather exposing the dreams of dotards than\r\ngiving the opinions of philosophers. Not much more absurd than these are\r\nthe fables of the poets, who owe all their power of doing harm to the\r\nsweetness of their language; who have represented the Gods as enraged\r\nwith anger and inflamed with lust; who have brought before our eyes\r\ntheir wars, battles, combats, wounds; their hatreds, dissensions,\r\ndiscords, births, deaths, complaints, and lamentations; their\r\nindulgences in all kinds of intemperance; their adulteries; their\r\nchains; their amours with mortals, and mortals begotten by immortals. To\r\nthese idle and ridiculous flights of the poets we may add the prodigious\r\nstories invented by the Magi, and by the Egyptians also, which were of\r\nthe same nature, together with the extravagant notions of the multitude\r\nat all times, who, from total ignorance of the truth, are always\r\nfluctuating in uncertainty.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, whoever reflects on the rashness and absurdity of these tenets must\r\ninevitably entertain the highest respect and veneration for Epicurus,\r\nand perhaps even rank him in the number of those beings who are the\r\nsubject of this dispute; for he alone first founded the idea of the\r\nexistence of the Gods on the impression which nature herself hath made\r\non the minds of all men. For what nation, what people are there, who\r\nhave not, without any learning, a natural idea, or prenotion, of a\r\nDeity? Epicurus calls this \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπρόληψις\u003c/span\u003e; that is, an antecedent conception\r\nof the fact in the mind, without which nothing can be understood,\r\ninquired after, or discoursed on; the force and advantage of which\r\nreasoning we receive from that celestial volume of Epicurus concerning\r\nthe Rule and Judgment of Things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. Here, then, you see the foundation of this question clearly laid;\r\nfor since it is the constant and universal opinion of mankind,\r\nindependent of education, custom, or law, that there are Gods, it must\r\nnecessarily follow that this knowledge is implanted in our minds, or,\r\nrather, innate in us. That opinion respecting which there is a general\r\nagreement in universal nature must infallibly be true; therefore it must\r\nbe allowed that there are Gods; for in this we have the concurrence, not\r\nonly of almost all philosophers, but likewise of the ignorant and\r\nilliterate. It \u003ca id=\"page-226\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e226\u003c/span\u003emust be also confessed that the point is established\r\nthat we have naturally this idea, as I said before, or prenotion, of the\r\nexistence of the Gods. As new things require new names, so that\r\nprenotion was called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπρόληψις\u003c/span\u003e by Epicurus; an appellation never used\r\nbefore. On the same principle of reasoning, we think that the Gods are\r\nhappy and immortal; for that nature which hath assured us that there are\r\nGods has likewise imprinted in our minds the knowledge of their\r\nimmortality and felicity; and if so, what Epicurus hath declared in\r\nthese words is true: “That which is eternally happy cannot be burdened\r\nwith any labor itself, nor can it impose any labor on another; nor can\r\nit be influenced by resentment or favor: because things which are liable\r\nto such feelings must be weak and frail.” We have said enough to prove\r\nthat we should worship the Gods with piety, and without superstition, if\r\nthat were the only question.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor the superior and excellent nature of the Gods requires a pious\r\nadoration from men, because it is possessed of immortality and the most\r\nexalted felicity; for whatever excels has a right to veneration, and all\r\nfear of the power and anger of the Gods should be banished; for we must\r\nunderstand that anger and affection are inconsistent with the nature of\r\na happy and immortal being. These apprehensions being removed, no dread\r\nof the superior powers remains. To confirm this opinion, our curiosity\r\nleads us to inquire into the form and life and action of the intellect\r\nand spirit of the Deity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. With regard to his form, we are directed partly by nature and\r\npartly by reason. All men are told by nature that none but a human form\r\ncan be ascribed to the Gods; for under what other image did it ever\r\nappear to any one either sleeping or waking? and, without having\r\nrecourse to our first notions,\u003ca id=\"FNA-87\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-87\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e87\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e reason itself declares the same; for\r\nas it is easy to conceive that the most excellent nature, either because\r\nof its happiness or immortality, should be the most beautiful, what\r\ncomposition of limbs, what conformation of lineaments, what form, what\r\naspect, can be more beautiful than the human? Your sect, Lucilius (not\r\nlike my friend Cotta, who sometimes says one \u003ca id=\"page-227\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e227\u003c/span\u003ething and sometimes\r\nanother), when they represent the divine art and workmanship in the\r\nhuman body, are used to describe how very completely each member is\r\nformed, not only for convenience, but also for beauty. Therefore, if the\r\nhuman form excels that of all other animal beings, as God himself is an\r\nanimated being, he must surely be of that form which is the most\r\nbeautiful. Besides, the Gods are granted to be perfectly happy; and\r\nnobody can be happy without virtue, nor can virtue exist where reason is\r\nnot; and reason can reside in none but the human form; the Gods,\r\ntherefore, must be acknowledged to be of human form; yet that form is\r\nnot body, but something like body; nor does it contain any blood, but\r\nsomething like blood. Though these distinctions were more acutely\r\ndevised and more artfully expressed by Epicurus than any common capacity\r\ncan comprehend; yet, depending on your understanding, I shall be more\r\nbrief on the subject than otherwise I should be. Epicurus, who not only\r\ndiscovered and understood the occult and almost hidden secrets of\r\nnature, but explained them with ease, teaches that the power and nature\r\nof the Gods is not to be discerned by the senses, but by the mind; nor\r\nare they to be considered as bodies of any solidity, or reducible to\r\nnumber, like those things which, because of their firmness, he calls\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΣτερέμνια\u003c/span\u003e;\u003ca id=\"FNA-88\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-88\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e88\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e but as images, perceived by similitude and transition. As\r\ninfinite kinds of those images result from innumerable individuals, and\r\ncentre in the Gods, our minds and understanding are directed towards and\r\nfixed with the greatest delight on them, in order to comprehend what\r\nthat happy and eternal essence is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. Surely the mighty power of the Infinite Being is most worthy our\r\ngreat and earnest contemplation; the nature of which we must necessarily\r\nunderstand to be such that everything in it is made to correspond\r\ncompletely to some other answering part. This is called by Epicurus\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἰσονομία\u003c/span\u003e; that is to say, an equal distribution or even disposition of\r\nthings. From hence he draws this inference, \u003ca id=\"page-228\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e228\u003c/span\u003ethat, as there is such a\r\nvast multitude of mortals, there cannot be a less number of immortals;\r\nand if those which perish are innumerable, those which are preserved\r\nought also to be countless. Your sect, Balbus, frequently ask us how the\r\nGods live, and how they pass their time? Their life is the most happy,\r\nand the most abounding with all kinds of blessings, which can be\r\nconceived. They do nothing. They are embarrassed with no business; nor\r\ndo they perform any work. They rejoice in the possession of their own\r\nwisdom and virtue. They are satisfied that they shall ever enjoy the\r\nfulness of eternal pleasures.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. Such a Deity may properly be called happy; but yours is a most\r\nlaborious God. For let us suppose the world a Deity—what can be a more\r\nuneasy state than, without the least cessation, to be whirled about the\r\naxle-tree of heaven with a surprising celerity? But nothing can be happy\r\nthat is not at ease. Or let us suppose a Deity residing in the world,\r\nwho directs and governs it, who preserves the courses of the stars, the\r\nchanges of the seasons, and the vicissitudes and orders of things,\r\nsurveying the earth and the sea, and accommodating them to the advantage\r\nand necessities of man. Truly this Deity is embarrassed with a very\r\ntroublesome and laborious office. We make a happy life to consist in a\r\ntranquillity of mind, a perfect freedom from care, and an exemption from\r\nall employment. The philosopher from whom we received all our knowledge\r\nhas taught us that the world was made by nature; that there was no\r\noccasion for a workhouse to frame it in; and that, though you deny the\r\npossibility of such a work without divine skill, it is so easy to her,\r\nthat she has made, does make, and will make innumerable worlds. But,\r\nbecause you do not conceive that nature is able to produce such effects\r\nwithout some rational aid, you are forced, like the tragic poets, when\r\nyou cannot wind up your argument in any other way, to have recourse to a\r\nDeity, whose assistance you would not seek, if you could view that vast\r\nand unbounded magnitude of regions in all parts; where the mind,\r\nextending and spreading itself, travels so far and wide that it can find\r\nno end, no extremity to stop at. In this immensity of breadth, length,\r\nand height, a most boundless company of innumerable atoms \u003ca id=\"page-229\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e229\u003c/span\u003eare\r\nfluttering about, which, notwithstanding the interposition of a void\r\nspace, meet and cohere, and continue clinging to one another; and by\r\nthis union these modifications and forms of things arise, which, in your\r\nopinions, could not possibly be made without the help of bellows and\r\nanvils. Thus you have imposed on us an eternal master, whom we must\r\ndread day and night. For who can be free from fear of a Deity who\r\nforesees, regards, and takes notice of everything; one who thinks all\r\nthings his own; a curious, ever-busy God?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHence first arose your \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΕἱμαρμένη\u003c/span\u003e, as you call it, your fatal necessity;\r\nso that, whatever happens, you affirm that it flows from an eternal\r\nchain and continuance of causes. Of what value is this philosophy,\r\nwhich, like old women and illiterate men, attributes everything to fate?\r\nThen follows your \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eμαντικὴ\u003c/span\u003e, in Latin called \u003ci\u003edivinatio\u003c/i\u003e, divination;\r\nwhich, if we would listen to you, would plunge us into such superstition\r\nthat we should fall down and worship your inspectors into sacrifices,\r\nyour augurs, your soothsayers, your prophets, and your fortune-tellers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEpicurus having freed us from these terrors and restored us to liberty,\r\nwe have no dread of those beings whom we have reason to think entirely\r\nfree from all trouble themselves, and who do not impose any on others.\r\nWe pay our adoration, indeed, with piety and reverence to that essence\r\nwhich is above all excellence and perfection. But I fear my zeal for\r\nthis doctrine has made me too prolix. However, I could not easily leave\r\nso eminent and important a subject unfinished, though I must confess I\r\nshould rather endeavor to hear than speak so long.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. Cotta, with his usual courtesy, then began. Velleius, says he, were\r\nit not for something which you have advanced, I should have remained\r\nsilent; for I have often observed, as I did just now upon hearing you,\r\nthat I cannot so easily conceive why a proposition is true as why it is\r\nfalse. Should you ask me what I take the nature of the Gods to be, I\r\nshould perhaps make no answer. But if you should ask whether I think it\r\nto be of that nature which you have described, I should answer that I\r\nwas as far as possible from agreeing with you. However, before I enter\r\non the subject of your discourse and what you \u003ca id=\"page-230\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e230\u003c/span\u003ehave advanced upon it, I\r\nwill give you my opinion of yourself. Your intimate friend, L. Crassus,\r\nhas been often heard by me to say that you were beyond all question\r\nsuperior to all our learned Romans; and that few Epicureans in Greece\r\nwere to be compared to you. But as I knew what a wonderful esteem he had\r\nfor you, I imagined that might make him the more lavish in commendation\r\nof you. Now, however, though I do not choose to praise any one when\r\npresent, yet I must confess that I think you have delivered your\r\nthoughts clearly on an obscure and very intricate subject; that you are\r\nnot only copious in your sentiments, but more elegant in your language\r\nthan your sect generally are. When I was at Athens, I went often to hear\r\nZeno, by the advice of Philo, who used to call him the chief of the\r\nEpicureans; partly, probably, in order to judge more easily how\r\ncompletely those principles could be refuted after I had heard them\r\nstated by the most learned of the Epicureans. And, indeed, he did not\r\nspeak in any ordinary manner; but, like you, with clearness, gravity,\r\nand elegance; yet what frequently gave me great uneasiness when I heard\r\nhim, as it did while I attended to you, was to see so excellent a genius\r\nfalling into such frivolous (excuse my freedom), not to say foolish,\r\ndoctrines. However, I shall not at present offer anything better; for,\r\nas I said before, we can in most subjects, especially in physics, sooner\r\ndiscover what is not true than what is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. If you should ask me what God is, or what his character and nature\r\nare, I should follow the example of Simonides, who, when Hiero the\r\ntyrant proposed the same question to him, desired a day to consider of\r\nit. When he required his answer the next day, Simonides begged two days\r\nmore; and as he kept constantly desiring double the number which he had\r\nrequired before instead of giving his answer, Hiero, with surprise,\r\nasked him his meaning in doing so: “Because,” says he, “the longer I\r\nmeditate on it, the more obscure it appears to me.” Simonides, who was\r\nnot only a delightful poet, but reputed a wise and learned man in other\r\nbranches of knowledge, found, I suppose, so many acute and refined\r\narguments occurring to him, that he was doubtful which was the truest,\r\nand therefore despaired of discovering any truth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-231\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e231\u003c/span\u003eBut does your Epicurus (for I had rather contend with him than with\r\nyou) say anything that is worthy the name of philosophy, or even of\r\ncommon-sense?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the question concerning the nature of the Gods, his first inquiry is,\r\nwhether there are Gods or not. It would be dangerous, I believe, to take\r\nthe negative side before a public auditory; but it is very safe in a\r\ndiscourse of this kind, and in this company. I, who am a priest, and who\r\nthink that religions and ceremonies ought sacredly to be maintained, am\r\ncertainly desirous to have the existence of the Gods, which is the\r\nprincipal point in debate, not only fixed in opinion, but proved to a\r\ndemonstration; for many notions flow into and disturb the mind which\r\nsometimes seem to convince us that there are none. But see how candidly\r\nI will behave to you: as I shall not touch upon those tenets you hold in\r\ncommon with other philosophers, consequently I shall not dispute the\r\nexistence of the Gods, for that doctrine is agreeable to almost all men,\r\nand to myself in particular; but I am still at liberty to find fault\r\nwith the reasons you give for it, which I think are very insufficient.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. You have said that the general assent of men of all nations and\r\nall degrees is an argument strong enough to induce us to acknowledge the\r\nbeing of the Gods. This is not only a weak, but a false, argument; for,\r\nfirst of all, how do you know the opinions of all nations? I really\r\nbelieve there are many people so savage that they have no thoughts of a\r\nDeity. What think you of Diagoras, who was called the atheist; and of\r\nTheodorus after him? Did not they plainly deny the very essence of a\r\nDeity? Protagoras of Abdera, whom you just now mentioned, the greatest\r\nsophist of his age, was banished by order of the Athenians from their\r\ncity and territories, and his books were publicly burned, because these\r\nwords were in the beginning of his treatise concerning the Gods: “I am\r\nunable to arrive at any knowledge whether there are, or are not, any\r\nGods.” This treatment of him, I imagine, restrained many from professing\r\ntheir disbelief of a Deity, since the doubt of it only could not escape\r\npunishment. What shall we say of the sacrilegious, the impious, and the\r\nperjured? If Tubulus Lucius, Lupus, or Carbo the son of \u003ca id=\"page-232\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e232\u003c/span\u003eNeptune, as\r\nLucilius says, had believed that there were Gods, would either of them\r\nhave carried his perjuries and impieties to such excess? Your reasoning,\r\ntherefore, to confirm your assertion is not so conclusive as you think\r\nit is. But as this is the manner in which other philosophers have argued\r\non the same subject, I will take no further notice of it at present; I\r\nrather choose to proceed to what is properly your own.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI allow that there are Gods. Instruct me, then, concerning their origin;\r\ninform me where they are, what sort of body, what mind, they have, and\r\nwhat is their course of life; for these I am desirous of knowing. You\r\nattribute the most absolute power and efficacy to atoms. Out of them you\r\npretend that everything is made. But there are no atoms, for there is\r\nnothing without body; every place is occupied by body, therefore there\r\ncan be no such thing as a vacuum or an atom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. I advance these principles of the naturalists without knowing\r\nwhether they are true or false; yet they are more like truth than those\r\nstatements of yours; for they are the absurdities in which Democritus,\r\nor before him Leucippus, used to indulge, saying that there are certain\r\nlight corpuscles—some smooth, some rough, some round, some square, some\r\ncrooked and bent as bows—which by a fortuitous concourse made heaven\r\nand earth, without the influence of any natural power. This opinion, C.\r\nVelleius, you have brought down to these our times; and you would sooner\r\nbe deprived of the greatest advantages of life than of that authority;\r\nfor before you were acquainted with those tenets, you thought that you\r\nought to profess yourself an Epicurean; so that it was necessary that\r\nyou should either embrace these absurdities or lose the philosophical\r\ncharacter which you had taken upon you; and what could bribe you to\r\nrenounce the Epicurean opinion? Nothing, you say, can prevail on you to\r\nforsake the truth and the sure means of a happy life. But is that the\r\ntruth? for I shall not contest your happy life, which you think the\r\nDeity himself does not enjoy unless he languishes in idleness. But where\r\nis truth? Is it in your innumerable worlds, some of which are rising,\r\nsome falling, at every moment of time? Or is it in your atomical\r\ncorpuscles, \u003ca id=\"page-233\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e233\u003c/span\u003ewhich form such excellent works without the direction of\r\nany natural power or reason? But I was forgetting my liberality, which I\r\nhad promised to exert in your case, and exceeding the bounds which I at\r\nfirst proposed to myself. Granting, then, everything to be made of\r\natoms, what advantage is that to your argument? For we are searching\r\nafter the nature of the Gods; and allowing them to be made of atoms,\r\nthey cannot be eternal, because whatever is made of atoms must have had\r\na beginning: if so, there were no Gods till there was this beginning;\r\nand if the Gods have had a beginning, they must necessarily have an end,\r\nas you have before contended when you were discussing Plato’s world.\r\nWhere, then, is your beatitude and immortality, in which two words you\r\nsay that God is expressed, the endeavor to prove which reduces you to\r\nthe greatest perplexities? For you said that God had no body, but\r\nsomething like body; and no blood, but something like blood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. It is a frequent practice among you, when you assert anything that\r\nhas no resemblance to truth, and wish to avoid reprehension, to advance\r\nsomething else which is absolutely and utterly impossible, in order that\r\nit may seem to your adversaries better to grant that point which has\r\nbeen a matter of doubt than to keep on pertinaciously contradicting you\r\non every point: like Epicurus, who, when he found that if his atoms were\r\nallowed to descend by their own weight, our actions could not be in our\r\nown power, because their motions would be certain and necessary,\r\ninvented an expedient, which escaped Democritus, to avoid necessity. He\r\nsays that when the atoms descend by their own weight and gravity, they\r\nmove a little obliquely. Surely, to make such an assertion as this is\r\nwhat one ought more to be ashamed of than the acknowledging ourselves\r\nunable to defend the proposition. His practice is the same against the\r\nlogicians, who say that in all propositions in which yes or no is\r\nrequired, one of them must be true; he was afraid that if this were\r\ngranted, then, in such a proposition as “Epicurus will be alive or dead\r\nto-morrow,” either one or the other must necessarily be admitted;\r\ntherefore he absolutely denied the necessity of yes or no. Can anything\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-234\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e234\u003c/span\u003eshow stupidity in a greater degree? Zeno,\u003ca id=\"FNA-89\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-89\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e89\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e being pressed by\r\nArcesilas, who pronounced all things to be false which are perceived by\r\nthe senses, said that some things were false, but not all. Epicurus was\r\nafraid that if any one thing seen should be false, nothing could be\r\ntrue; and therefore he asserted all the senses to be infallible\r\ndirectors of truth. Nothing can be more rash than this; for by\r\nendeavoring to repel a light stroke, he receives a heavy blow. On the\r\nsubject of the nature of the Gods, he falls into the same errors. While\r\nhe would avoid the concretion of individual bodies, lest death and\r\ndissolution should be the consequence, he denies that the Gods have\r\nbody, but says they have something like body; and says they have no\r\nblood, but something like blood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. It seems an unaccountable thing how one soothsayer can refrain\r\nfrom laughing when he sees another. It is yet a greater wonder that you\r\ncan refrain from laughing among yourselves. It is no body, but something\r\nlike body! I could understand this if it were applied to statues made of\r\nwax or clay; but in regard to the Deity, I am not able to discover what\r\nis meant by a quasi-body or quasi-blood. Nor indeed are you, Velleius,\r\nthough you will not confess so much. For those precepts are delivered to\r\nyou as dictates which Epicurus carelessly blundered out; for he boasted,\r\nas we see in his writings, that he had no instructor, which I could\r\neasily believe without his public declaration of it, for the same reason\r\nthat I could believe the master of a very bad edifice if he were to\r\nboast that he had no architect but himself: for there is nothing of the\r\nAcademy, nothing of the Lyceum, in his doctrine; nothing but\r\npuerilities. He might have been a pupil of Xenocrates. O ye immortal\r\nGods, what a teacher was he! And there are those who believe that he\r\nactually was his pupil; but he says otherwise, and I shall give more\r\ncredit to his word than to another’s. He confesses that he was a pupil\r\nof a certain disciple of Plato, one Pamphilus, at Samos; for he lived\r\nthere when he was young, with his father and his brothers. His father,\r\nNeocles, was a farmer in those parts; \u003ca id=\"page-235\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e235\u003c/span\u003ebut as the farm, I suppose, was\r\nnot sufficient to maintain him, he turned school-master; yet Epicurus\r\ntreats this Platonic philosopher with wonderful contempt, so fearful was\r\nhe that it should be thought he had ever had any instruction. But it is\r\nwell known he had been a pupil of Nausiphanes, the follower of\r\nDemocritus; and since he could not deny it, he loaded him with insults\r\nin abundance. If he never heard a lecture on these Democritean\r\nprinciples, what lectures did he ever hear? What is there in Epicurus’s\r\nphysics that is not taken from Democritus? For though he altered some\r\nthings, as what I mentioned before of the oblique motions of the atoms,\r\nyet most of his doctrines are the same; his atoms—his vacuum—his\r\nimages—infinity of space—innumerable worlds, their rise and decay—and\r\nalmost every part of natural learning that he treats of.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, do you understand what is meant by quasi-body and quasi-blood? For\r\nI not only acknowledge that you are a better judge of it than I am, but\r\nI can bear it without envy. If any sentiments, indeed, are communicated\r\nwithout obscurity, what is there that Velleius can understand and Cotta\r\nnot? I know what body is, and what blood is; but I cannot possibly find\r\nout the meaning of quasi-body and quasi-blood. Not that you\r\nintentionally conceal your principles from me, as Pythagoras did his\r\nfrom those who were not his disciples; or that you are intentionally\r\nobscure, like Heraclitus. But the truth is (which I may venture to say\r\nin this company), you do not understand them yourself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. This, I perceive, is what you contend for, that the Gods have a\r\ncertain figure that has nothing concrete, nothing solid, nothing of\r\nexpress substance, nothing prominent in it; but that it is pure, smooth,\r\nand transparent. Let us suppose the same with the Venus of Cos, which is\r\nnot a body, but the representation of a body; nor is the red, which is\r\ndrawn there and mixed with the white, real blood, but a certain\r\nresemblance of blood; so in Epicurus’s Deity there is no real substance,\r\nbut the resemblance of substance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet me take for granted that which is perfectly unintelligible; then\r\ntell me what are the lineaments and figures \u003ca id=\"page-236\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e236\u003c/span\u003eof these sketched-out\r\nDeities. Here you have plenty of arguments by which you would show the\r\nGods to be in human form. The first is, that our minds are so\r\nanticipated and prepossessed, that whenever we think of a Deity the\r\nhuman shape occurs to us. The next is, that as the divine nature excels\r\nall things, so it ought to be of the most beautiful form, and there is\r\nno form more beautiful than the human; and the third is, that reason\r\ncannot reside in any other shape.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, let us consider each argument separately. You seem to me to\r\nassume a principle, despotically I may say, that has no manner of\r\nprobability in it. Who was ever so blind, in contemplating these\r\nsubjects, as not to see that the Gods were represented in human form,\r\neither by the particular advice of wise men, who thought by those means\r\nthe more easily to turn the minds of the ignorant from a depravity of\r\nmanners to the worship of the Gods; or through superstition, which was\r\nthe cause of their believing that when they were paying adoration to\r\nthese images they were approaching the Gods themselves. These conceits\r\nwere not a little improved by the poets, painters, and artificers; for\r\nit would not have been very easy to represent the Gods planning and\r\nexecuting any work in another form, and perhaps this opinion arose from\r\nthe idea which mankind have of their own beauty. But do not you, who are\r\nso great an adept in physics, see what a soothing flatterer, what a sort\r\nof procuress, nature is to herself? Do you think there is any creature\r\non the land or in the sea that is not highly delighted with its own\r\nform? If it were not so, why would not a bull become enamored of a mare,\r\nor a horse of a cow? Do you believe an eagle, a lion, or a dolphin\r\nprefers any shape to its own? If nature, therefore, has instructed us in\r\nthe same manner, that nothing is more beautiful than man, what wonder is\r\nit that we, for that reason, should imagine the Gods are of the human\r\nform? Do you suppose if beasts were endowed with reason that every one\r\nwould not give the prize of beauty to his own species?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. Yet, by Hercules (I speak as I think)! though I am fond enough\r\nof myself, I dare not say that I excel in beauty that bull which carried\r\nEuropa. For the question \u003ca id=\"page-237\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e237\u003c/span\u003ehere is not concerning our genius and\r\nelocution, but our species and figure. If we could make and assume to\r\nourselves any form, would you be unwilling to resemble the sea-triton as\r\nhe is painted supported swimming on sea-monsters whose bodies are partly\r\nhuman? Here I touch on a difficult point; for so great is the force of\r\nnature that there is no man who would not choose to be like a man, nor,\r\nindeed, any ant that would not be like an ant. But like what man? For\r\nhow few can pretend to beauty! When I was at Athens, the whole flock of\r\nyouths afforded scarcely one. You laugh, I see; but what I tell you is\r\nthe truth. Nay, to us who, after the examples of ancient philosophers,\r\ndelight in boys, defects are often pleasing. Alcæus was charmed with a\r\nwart on a boy’s knuckle; but a wart is a blemish on the body; yet it\r\nseemed a beauty to him. Q. Catulus, my friend and colleague’s father,\r\nwas enamored with your fellow-citizen Roscius, on whom he wrote these\r\nverses:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs once I stood to hail the rising day,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eRoscius appearing on the left I spied:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForgive me, Gods, if I presume to say\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eThe mortal’s beauty with th’ immortal vied.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eRoscius more beautiful than a God! yet he was then, as he now is,\r\nsquint-eyed. But what signifies that, if his defects were beauties to\r\nCatulus?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. I return to the Gods. Can we suppose any of them to be\r\nsquint-eyed, or even to have a cast in the eye? Have they any warts? Are\r\nany of them hook-nosed, flap-eared, beetle-browed, or jolt-headed, as\r\nsome of us are? Or are they free from imperfections? Let us grant you\r\nthat. Are they all alike in the face? For if they are many, then one\r\nmust necessarily be more beautiful than another, and then there must be\r\nsome Deity not absolutely most beautiful. Or if their faces are all\r\nalike, there would be an Academy\u003ca id=\"FNA-90\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-90\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e90\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e in heaven; for if one God does not\r\ndiffer from another, there is no possibility of knowing or\r\ndistinguishing them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat if your assertion, Velleius, proves absolutely false, that no form\r\noccurs to us, in our contemplations on the \u003ca id=\"page-238\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e238\u003c/span\u003eDeity, but the human? Will\r\nyou, notwithstanding that, persist in the defence of such an absurdity?\r\nSupposing that form occurs to us, as you say it does, and we know\r\nJupiter, Juno, Minerva, Neptune, Vulcan, Apollo, and the other Deities,\r\nby the countenance which painters and statuaries have given them, and\r\nnot only by their countenances, but by their decorations, their age, and\r\nattire; yet the Egyptians, the Syrians, and almost all barbarous\r\nnations,\u003ca id=\"FNA-91\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-91\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e91\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e are without such distinctions. You may see a greater regard\r\npaid by them to certain beasts than by us to the most sacred temples and\r\nimages of the Gods; for many shrines have been rifled, and images of the\r\nDeities have been carried from their most sacred places by us; but we\r\nnever heard that an Egyptian offered any violence to a crocodile, an\r\nibis, or a cat. What do you think, then? Do not the Egyptians esteem\r\ntheir sacred bull, their Apis, as a Deity? Yes, by Hercules! as\r\ncertainly as you do our protectress Juno, whom you never behold, even in\r\nyour dreams, without a goat-skin, a spear, a shield, and broad sandals.\r\nBut the Grecian Juno of Argos and the Roman Juno are not represented in\r\nthis manner; so that the Grecians, the Lanuvinians, and we, ascribe\r\ndifferent forms to Juno; and our Capitoline Jupiter is not the same with\r\nthe Jupiter Ammon of the Africans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. Therefore, ought not a natural philosopher—that is, an inquirer\r\ninto the secrets of nature—to be ashamed of seeking a testimony to\r\ntruth from minds prepossessed by custom? According to the rule you have\r\nlaid down, it may be said that Jupiter is always bearded, Apollo always\r\nbeardless; that Minerva has gray and Neptune azure eyes; and, indeed, we\r\nmust then honor that Vulcan at Athens, made by Alcamenes, whose lameness\r\nthrough his thin robes appears to be no deformity. Shall we, therefore,\r\nreceive a lame Deity because we have such an account of him?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsider, likewise, that the Gods go by what names we give them. Now, in\r\nthe first place, they have as many names as men have languages; for\r\nVulcan is not called Vulcan in Italy, Africa, or Spain, as you are\r\ncalled Velleius in all countries. Besides, the Gods are innumerable,\r\nthough the list of their names is of no great length even \u003ca id=\"page-239\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e239\u003c/span\u003ein the\r\nrecords of our priests. Have they no names? You must necessarily\r\nconfess, indeed, they have none; for what occasion is there for\r\ndifferent names if their persons are alike?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow much more laudable would it be, Velleius, to acknowledge that you do\r\nnot know what you do not know than to follow a man whom you must\r\ndespise! Do you think the Deity is like either me or you? You do not\r\nreally think he is like either of us. What is to be done, then? Shall I\r\ncall the sun, the moon, or the sky a Deity? If so, they are consequently\r\nhappy. But what pleasures can they enjoy? And they are wise too. But how\r\ncan wisdom reside in such shapes? These are your own principles.\r\nTherefore, if they are not of human form, as I have proved, and if you\r\ncannot persuade yourself that they are of any other, why are you\r\ncautious of denying absolutely the being of any Gods? You dare not deny\r\nit—which is very prudent in you, though here you are not afraid of the\r\npeople, but of the Gods themselves. I have known Epicureans who\r\nreverence\u003ca id=\"FNA-92\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-92\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e92\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e even the least images of the Gods, though I perceive it to\r\nbe the opinion of some that Epicurus, through fear of offending against\r\nthe Athenian laws, has allowed a Deity in words and destroyed him in\r\nfact; so in those his select and short sentences, which are called by\r\nyou \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκυρίαι δόξαι\u003c/span\u003e,\u003ca id=\"FNA-93\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-93\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e93\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e this, I think, is the first: “That being which is\r\nhappy and immortal is not burdened with any labor, and does not impose\r\nany on any one else.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. In his statement of this sentence, some think that he avoided\r\nspeaking clearly on purpose, though it was manifestly without design.\r\nBut they judge ill of a man who had not the least art. It is doubtful\r\nwhether he means that there is any being happy and immortal, or that if\r\nthere is any being happy, he must likewise be immortal. They do not\r\nconsider that he speaks here, indeed, ambiguously; but in many other\r\nplaces both he and Metrodorus explain themselves as clearly as you have\r\ndone. But he believed there are Gods; nor have I ever seen any one \u003ca id=\"page-240\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e240\u003c/span\u003ewho\r\nwas more exceedingly afraid of what he declared ought to be no objects\r\nof fear, namely, death and the Gods, with the apprehensions of which the\r\ncommon rank of people are very little affected; but he says that the\r\nminds of all mortals are terrified by them. Many thousands of men commit\r\nrobberies in the face of death; others rifle all the temples they can\r\nget into: such as these, no doubt, must be greatly terrified, the one by\r\nthe fears of death, and the others by the fear of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut since you dare not (for I am now addressing my discourse to Epicurus\r\nhimself) absolutely deny the existence of the Gods, what hinders you\r\nfrom ascribing a divine nature to the sun, the world, or some eternal\r\nmind? I never, says he, saw wisdom and a rational soul in any but a\r\nhuman form. What! did you ever observe anything like the sun, the moon,\r\nor the five moving planets? The sun, terminating his course in two\r\nextreme parts of one circle,\u003ca id=\"FNA-94\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-94\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e94\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e finishes his annual revolutions. The\r\nmoon, receiving her light from the sun, completes the same course in\r\nthe space of a month.\u003ca id=\"FNA-95\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-95\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e95\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The five planets in the same circle, some\r\nnearer, others more remote from the earth, begin the same courses\r\ntogether, and finish them in different spaces of time. Did you ever\r\nobserve anything like this, Epicurus? So that, according to you, there\r\ncan be neither sun, moon, nor stars, because nothing can exist but what\r\nwe have touched or seen.\u003ca id=\"FNA-96\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-96\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e96\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e What! have you ever seen the Deity himself?\r\nWhy else do you believe there is any? If this doctrine prevails, we must\r\nreject all that history relates or reason discovers; and the people who\r\ninhabit inland countries must not believe there is such a thing as the\r\nsea. This is so narrow a way of thinking that if you had been born in\r\nSeriphus, and never had been from out of that island, where you had\r\nfrequently been in the habit of seeing little hares and foxes, you would\r\nnot, therefore, believe that there are such beasts as lions and\r\npanthers; \u003ca id=\"page-241\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e241\u003c/span\u003eand if any one should describe an elephant to you, you would\r\nthink that he designed to laugh at you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. You indeed, Velleius, have concluded your argument, not after the\r\nmanner of your own sect, but of the logicians, to which your people are\r\nutter strangers. You have taken it for granted that the Gods are happy.\r\nI allow it. You say that without virtue no one can be happy. I willingly\r\nconcur with you in this also. You likewise say that virtue cannot reside\r\nwhere reason is not. That I must necessarily allow. You add, moreover,\r\nthat reason cannot exist but in a human form. Who, do you think, will\r\nadmit that? If it were true, what occasion was there to come so\r\ngradually to it? And to what purpose? You might have answered it on your\r\nown authority. I perceive your gradations from happiness to virtue, and\r\nfrom virtue to reason; but how do you come from reason to human form?\r\nThere, indeed, you do not descend by degrees, but precipitately.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor can I conceive why Epicurus should rather say the Gods are like men\r\nthan that men are like the Gods. You ask what is the difference; for,\r\nsay you, if this is like that, that is like this. I grant it; but this I\r\nassert, that the Gods could not take their form from men; for the Gods\r\nalways existed, and never had a beginning, if they are to exist\r\neternally; but men had a beginning: therefore that form, of which the\r\nimmortal Gods are, must have had existence before mankind; consequently,\r\nthe Gods should not be said to be of human form, but our form should be\r\ncalled divine. However, let this be as you will. I now inquire how this\r\nextraordinary good fortune came about; for you deny that reason had any\r\nshare in the formation of things. But still, what was this extraordinary\r\nfortune? Whence proceeded that happy concourse of atoms which gave so\r\nsudden a rise to men in the form of Gods? Are we to suppose the divine\r\nseed fell from heaven upon earth, and that men sprung up in the likeness\r\nof their celestial sires? I wish you would assert it; for I should not\r\nbe unwilling to acknowledge my relation to the Gods. But you say nothing\r\nlike it; no, our resemblance to the Gods, it seems, was by chance. Must\r\nI now seek for arguments to refute this doctrine seriously? I wish I\r\ncould \u003ca id=\"page-242\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e242\u003c/span\u003eas easily discover what is true as I can overthrow what is false.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. You have enumerated with so ready a memory, and so copiously,\r\nthe opinions of philosophers, from Thales the Milesian, concerning the\r\nnature of the Gods, that I am surprised to see so much learning in a\r\nRoman. But do you think they were all madmen who thought that a Deity\r\ncould by some possibility exist without hands and feet? Does not even\r\nthis consideration have weight with you when you consider what is the\r\nuse and advantage of limbs in men, and lead you to admit that the Gods\r\nhave no need of them? What necessity can there be of feet, without\r\nwalking; or of hands, if there is nothing to be grasped? The same may be\r\nasked of the other parts of the body, in which nothing is vain, nothing\r\nuseless, nothing superfluous; therefore we may infer that no art can\r\nimitate the skill of nature. Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and\r\nnot speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them?\r\nShall the members which nature has given to the body for the sake of\r\ngeneration be useless to the Deity? Nor would the internal parts be less\r\nsuperfluous than the external. What comeliness is there in the heart,\r\nthe lungs, the liver, and the rest of them, abstracted from their use? I\r\nmention these because you place them in the Deity on account of the\r\nbeauty of the human form.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDepending on these dreams, not only Epicurus, Metrodorus, and Hermachus\r\ndeclaimed against Pythagoras, Plato, and Empedocles, but that little\r\nharlot Leontium presumed to write against Theophrastus: indeed, she had\r\na neat Attic style; but yet, to think of her arguing against\r\nTheophrastus! So much did the garden of Epicurus\u003ca id=\"FNA-97\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-97\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e97\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e abound with these\r\nliberties, and, indeed, you are always complaining against them. Zeno\r\nwrangled. Why need I mention Albutius? Nothing could be more elegant or\r\nhumane than Phædrus; yet a sharp expression would disgust the old man.\r\nEpicurus treated Aristotle with great contumely. He foully slandered\r\nPhædo, the disciple of Socrates. He pelted Timocrates, the brother of\r\nhis companion Metrodorus, with whole volumes, because he disagreed with\r\nhim in some trifling point of philosophy. He \u003ca id=\"page-243\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e243\u003c/span\u003ewas ungrateful even to\r\nDemocritus, whose follower he was; and his master Nausiphanes, from whom\r\nhe learned nothing, had no better treatment from him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. Zeno gave abusive language not only to those who were then\r\nliving, as Apollodorus, Syllus, and the rest, but he called Socrates,\r\nwho was the father of philosophy, the Attic buffoon, using the Latin\r\nword \u003ci\u003eScurra\u003c/i\u003e. He never called Chrysippus by any name but Chesippus. And\r\nyou yourself a little before, when you were numbering up a senate, as we\r\nmay call them, of philosophers, scrupled not to say that the most\r\neminent men talked like foolish, visionary dotards. Certainly,\r\ntherefore, if they have all erred in regard to the nature of the Gods,\r\nit is to be feared there are no such beings. What you deliver on that\r\nhead are all whimsical notions, and not worthy the consideration even of\r\nold women. For you do not seem to be in the least aware what a task you\r\ndraw on yourselves, if you should prevail on us to grant that the same\r\nform is common to Gods and men. The Deity would then require the same\r\ntrouble in dressing, and the same care of the body, that mankind does.\r\nHe must walk, run, lie down, lean, sit, hold, speak, and discourse. You\r\nneed not be told the consequence of making the Gods male and female.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore I cannot sufficiently wonder how this chief of yours came to\r\nentertain these strange opinions. But you constantly insist on the\r\ncertainty of this tenet, that the Deity is both happy and immortal.\r\nSupposing he is so, would his happiness be less perfect if he had not\r\ntwo feet? Or cannot that blessedness or beatitude—call it which you\r\nwill (they are both harsh terms, but we must mollify them by use)—can\r\nit not, I say, exist in that sun, or in this world, or in some eternal\r\nmind that has not human shape or limbs? All you say against it is, that\r\nyou never saw any happiness in the sun or the world. What, then? Did you\r\never see any world but this? No, you will say. Why, therefore, do you\r\npresume to assert that there are not only six hundred thousand worlds,\r\nbut that they are innumerable? Reason tells you so. Will not reason tell\r\nyou likewise that as, in our inquiries into the most excellent nature,\r\nwe find none but the divine nature can be happy and eternal, so the same\r\ndivine nature surpasses us in\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-244\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e244\u003c/span\u003eexcellence of mind; and as in mind, so in body? Why,\r\ntherefore, as we are inferior in all other respects, should\r\nwe be equal in form? For human virtue approaches\r\nnearer to the divinity than human form.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. To return to the subject I was upon. What\r\ncan be more childish than to assert that there are no such\r\ncreatures as are generated in the Red Sea or in India?\r\nThe most curious inquirer cannot arrive at the knowledge\r\nof all those creatures which inhabit the earth, sea, fens, and\r\nrivers; and shall we deny the existence of them because\r\nwe never saw them? That similitude which you are so\r\nvery fond of is nothing to the purpose. Is not a dog like\r\na wolf? And, as Ennius says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe monkey, filthiest beast, how like to man!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eYet they differ in nature. No beast has more sagacity\r\nthan an elephant; yet where can you find any of a larger\r\nsize? I am speaking here of beasts. But among men, do\r\nwe not see a disparity of manners in persons very much\r\nalike, and a similitude of manners in persons unlike? If\r\nthis sort of argument were once to prevail, Velleius, observe\r\nwhat it would lead to. You have laid it down as\r\ncertain that reason cannot possibly reside in any but the\r\nhuman form. Another may affirm that it can exist in none\r\nbut a terrestrial being; in none but a being that is born,\r\nthat grows up, and receives instruction, and that consists\r\nof a soul, and an infirm and perishable body; in short, in\r\nnone but a mortal man. But if you decline those opinions,\r\nwhy should a single form disturb you? You perceive\r\nthat man is possessed of reason and understanding, with\r\nall the infirmities which I have mentioned interwoven\r\nwith his being; abstracted from which, you nevertheless\r\nknow God, you say, if the lineaments do but remain.\r\nThis is not talking considerately, but at a venture; for\r\nsurely you did not think what an encumbrance anything\r\nsuperfluous or useless is, not only in a man, but a tree.\r\nHow troublesome it is to have a finger too much! And\r\nwhy so? Because neither use nor ornament requires\r\nmore than five; but your Deity has not only a finger more\r\nthan he wants, but a head, a neck, shoulders, sides, a\r\npaunch, back, hams, hands, feet, thighs, and legs. Are\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-245\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e245\u003c/span\u003ethese parts necessary to immortality? Are they conducive\r\nto the existence of the Deity? Is the face itself of\r\nuse? One would rather say so of the brain, the heart,\r\nthe lights, and the liver; for these are the seats of life.\r\nThe features of the face contribute nothing to the preservation\r\nof it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. You censured those who, beholding those excellent\r\nand stupendous works, the world, and its respective\r\nparts—the heaven, the earth, the seas—and the splendor\r\nwith which they are adorned; who, contemplating the\r\nsun, moon, and stars; and who, observing the maturity\r\nand changes of the seasons, and vicissitudes of times, inferred\r\nfrom thence that there must be some excellent and\r\neminent essence that originally made, and still moves, directs,\r\nand governs them. Suppose they should mistake in\r\ntheir conjecture, yet I see what they aim at. But what is\r\nthat great and noble work which appears to you to be the\r\neffect of a divine mind, and from which you conclude that\r\nthere are Gods? “I have,” say you, “a certain information\r\nof a Deity imprinted in my mind.” Of a bearded\r\nJupiter, I suppose, and a helmeted Minerva.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut do you really imagine them to be such? How\r\nmuch better are the notions of the ignorant vulgar, who\r\nnot only believe the Deities have members like ours, but\r\nthat they make use of them; and therefore they assign\r\nthem a bow and arrows, a spear, a shield, a trident, and\r\nlightning; and though they do not behold the actions of\r\nthe Gods, yet they cannot entertain a thought of a Deity\r\ndoing nothing. The Egyptians (so much ridiculed) held\r\nno beasts to be sacred, except on account of some advantage\r\nwhich they had received from them. The ibis, a very\r\nlarge bird, with strong legs and a horny long beak, destroys\r\na great number of serpents. These birds keep\r\nEgypt from pestilential diseases by killing and devouring\r\nthe flying serpents brought from the deserts of Lybia by\r\nthe south-west wind, which prevents the mischief that\r\nmay attend their biting while alive, or any infection when\r\ndead. I could speak of the advantage of the ichneumon,\r\nthe crocodile, and the cat; but I am unwilling to be tedious;\r\nyet I will conclude with observing that the barbarians\r\npaid divine honors to beasts because of the benefits\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-246\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e246\u003c/span\u003ethey received from them; whereas your\r\nGods not only confer no benefit, but are idle, and do no single act of\r\nany description whatever.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. “They have nothing to do,” your teacher says. Epicurus truly,\r\nlike indolent boys, thinks nothing preferable to idleness; yet those\r\nvery boys, when they have a holiday, entertain themselves in some\r\nsportive exercise. But we are to suppose the Deity in such an inactive\r\nstate that if he should move we may justly fear he would be no longer\r\nhappy. This doctrine divests the Gods of motion and operation; besides,\r\nit encourages men to be lazy, as they are by this taught to believe that\r\nthe least labor is incompatible even with divine felicity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut let it be as you would have it, that the Deity is in the form and\r\nimage of a man. Where is his abode? Where is his habitation? Where is\r\nthe place where he is to be found? What is his course of life? And what\r\nis it that constitutes the happiness which you assert that he enjoys?\r\nFor it seems necessary that a being who is to be happy must use and\r\nenjoy what belongs to him. And with regard to place, even those natures\r\nwhich are inanimate have each their proper stations assigned to them: so\r\nthat the earth is the lowest; then water is next above the earth; the\r\nair is above the water; and fire has the highest situation of all\r\nallotted to it. Some creatures inhabit the earth, some the water, and\r\nsome, of an amphibious nature, live in both. There are some, also, which\r\nare thought to be born in fire, and which often appear fluttering in\r\nburning furnaces.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the first place, therefore, I ask you, Where is the habitation of\r\nyour Deity? Secondly, What motive is it that stirs him from his place,\r\nsupposing he ever moves? And, lastly, since it is peculiar to animated\r\nbeings to have an inclination to something that is agreeable to their\r\nseveral natures, what is it that the Deity affects, and to what purpose\r\ndoes he exert the motion of his mind and reason? In short, how is he\r\nhappy? how eternal? Whichever of these points you touch upon, I am\r\nafraid you will come lamely off. For there is never a proper end to\r\nreasoning which proceeds on a false foundation; for you asserted\r\nlikewise that the form of the Deity is perceptible by the mind, but \u003ca id=\"page-247\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e247\u003c/span\u003enot\r\nby sense; that it is neither solid, nor invariable in number; that it is\r\nto be discerned by similitude and transition, and that a constant supply\r\nof images is perpetually flowing on from innumerable atoms, on which our\r\nminds are intent; so that we from that conclude that divine nature to be\r\nhappy and everlasting.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. What, in the name of those Deities concerning whom we are now\r\ndisputing, is the meaning of all this? For if they exist only in\r\nthought, and have no solidity nor substance, what difference can there\r\nbe between thinking of a Hippocentaur and thinking of a Deity? Other\r\nphilosophers call every such conformation of the mind a vain motion; but\r\nyou term it “the approach and entrance of images into the mind.” Thus,\r\nwhen I imagine that I behold T. Gracchus haranguing the people in the\r\nCapitol, and collecting their suffrages concerning M. Octavius, I call\r\nthat a vain motion of the mind: but you affirm that the images of\r\nGracchus and Octavius are present, which are only conveyed to my mind\r\nwhen they have arrived at the Capitol. The case is the same, you say, in\r\nregard to the Deity, with the frequent representation of which the mind\r\nis so affected that from thence it may be clearly understood that the\r\nGods\u003ca id=\"FNA-98\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-98\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e98\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e are happy and eternal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet it be granted that there are images by which the mind is affected,\r\nyet it is only a certain form that occurs; and why must that form be\r\npronounced happy? why eternal? But what are those images you talk of,\r\nor whence do they proceed? This loose manner of arguing is taken from\r\nDemocritus; but he is reproved by many people for it; nor can you derive\r\nany conclusions from it: the whole system is weak and imperfect. For\r\nwhat can be more improbable than that the images of Homer, Archilochus,\r\nRomulus, Numa, Pythagoras, and Plato should come into my mind, and yet\r\nnot in the form in which they existed? How, therefore, can they be those\r\npersons? And whose images are they? Aristotle tells us that there never\r\nwas such a person as Orpheus the poet;\u003ca id=\"FNA-99\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-99\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e99\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and it is said that the verse\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-248\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e248\u003c/span\u003ecalled Orphic verse was the invention of Cercops, a Pythagorean; yet\r\nOrpheus, that is to say, the image of him, as you will have it, often\r\nruns in my head. What is the reason that I entertain one idea of the\r\nfigure of the same person, and you another? Why do we image to ourselves\r\nsuch things as never had any existence, and which never can have, such\r\nas Scyllas and Chimæras? Why do we frame ideas of men, countries, and\r\ncities which we never saw? How is it that the very first moment that I\r\nchoose I can form representations of them in my mind? How is it that\r\nthey come to me, even in my sleep, without being called or sought after?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. The whole affair, Velleius, is ridiculous. You do not impose\r\nimages on our eyes only, but on our minds. Such is the privilege which\r\nyou have assumed of talking nonsense with impunity. But there is, you\r\nsay, a transition of images flowing on in great crowds in such a way\r\nthat out of many some one at least must be perceived! I should be\r\nashamed of my incapacity to understand this if you, who assert it, could\r\ncomprehend it yourselves; for how do you prove that these images are\r\ncontinued in uninterrupted motion? Or, if uninterrupted, still how do\r\nyou prove them to be eternal? There is a constant supply, you say, of\r\ninnumerable atoms. But must they, for that reason, be all eternal? To\r\nelude this, you have recourse to equilibration (for so, with your leave,\r\nI will call your \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἸσονομία\u003c/span\u003e),\u003ca id=\"FNA-100\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-100\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e100\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and say that as there is a sort of\r\nnature mortal, so there must also be a sort which is immortal. By the\r\nsame rule, as there are men mortal, there are men immortal; and as some\r\narise from the earth, some must arise from the water also; and as there\r\nare causes which destroy, there must likewise be causes which preserve.\r\nBe it as you say; but let those causes preserve which have existence\r\nthemselves. I cannot conceive these your Gods to have any. But how does\r\nall this face of things arise from atomic corpuscles? Were there any\r\nsuch atoms (as there \u003ca id=\"page-249\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e249\u003c/span\u003eare not), they might perhaps impel one another,\r\nand be jumbled together in their motion; but they could never be able to\r\nimpart form, or figure, or color, or animation, so that you by no means\r\ndemonstrate the immortality of your Deity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. Let us now inquire into his happiness. It is certain that without\r\nvirtue there can be no happiness; but virtue consists in action: now\r\nyour Deity does nothing; therefore he is void of virtue, and\r\nconsequently cannot be happy. What sort of life does he lead? He has a\r\nconstant supply, you say, of good things, without any intermixture of\r\nbad. What are those good things? Sensual pleasures, no doubt; for you\r\nknow no delight of the mind but what arises from the body, and returns\r\nto it. I do not suppose, Velleius, that you are like some of the\r\nEpicureans, who are ashamed of those expressions of Epicurus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-101\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-101\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e101\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e in\r\nwhich he openly avows that he has no idea of any good separate from\r\nwanton and obscene pleasures, which, without a blush, he names\r\ndistinctly. What food, therefore, what drink, what variety of music or\r\nflowers, what kind of pleasures of touch, what odors, will you offer to\r\nthe Gods to fill them with pleasures? The poets indeed provide them with\r\nbanquets of nectar and ambrosia, and a Hebe or a Ganymede to serve up\r\nthe cup. But what is it, Epicurus, that you do for them? For I do not\r\nsee from whence your Deity should have those things, nor how he could\r\nuse them. Therefore the nature of man is better constituted for a happy\r\nlife than the nature of the Gods, because men enjoy various kinds of\r\npleasures; but you look on all those pleasures as superficial which\r\ndelight the senses only by a titillation, as Epicurus calls it. Where is\r\nto be the end of this trifling? Even Philo, who followed the Academy,\r\ncould not bear to hear the soft and luscious delights of the Epicureans\r\ndespised; for with his admirable memory he perfectly remembered and used\r\nto repeat many sentences of Epicurus in the very words in which they\r\nwere written. He likewise used to quote many, \u003ca id=\"page-250\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e250\u003c/span\u003ewhich were more gross,\r\nfrom Metrodorus, the sage colleague of Epicurus, who blamed his brother\r\nTimocrates because he would not allow that everything which had any\r\nreference to a happy life was to be measured by the belly; nor has he\r\nsaid this once only, but often. You grant what I say, I perceive; for\r\nyou know it to be true. I can produce the books, if you should deny it;\r\nbut I am not now reproving you for referring all things to the standard\r\nof pleasure: that is another question. What I am now showing is, that\r\nyour Gods are destitute of pleasure; and therefore, according to your\r\nown manner of reasoning, they are not happy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLI. But they are free from pain. Is that sufficient for beings who are\r\nsupposed to enjoy all good things and the most supreme felicity? The\r\nDeity, they say, is constantly meditating on his own happiness, for he\r\nhas no other idea which can possibly occupy his mind. Consider a little;\r\nreflect what a figure the Deity would make if he were to be idly\r\nthinking of nothing through all eternity but “It is very well with me,\r\nand I am happy;” nor do I see why this happy Deity should not fear being\r\ndestroyed, since, without any intermission, he is driven and agitated by\r\nan everlasting incursion of atoms, and since images are constantly\r\nfloating off from him. Your Deity, therefore, is neither happy nor\r\neternal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEpicurus, it seems, has written books concerning sanctity and piety\r\ntowards the Gods. But how does he speak on these subjects? You would say\r\nthat you were listening to Coruncanius or Scævola, the high-priests, and\r\nnot to a man who tore up all religion by the roots, and who overthrew\r\nthe temples and altars of the immortal Gods; not, indeed, with hands,\r\nlike Xerxes, but with arguments; for what reason is there for your\r\nsaying that men ought to worship the Gods, when the Gods not only do not\r\nregard men, but are entirely careless of everything, and absolutely do\r\nnothing at all?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut they are, you say, of so glorious and excellent a nature that a wise\r\nman is induced by their excellence to adore them. Can there be any glory\r\nor excellence in that nature which only contemplates its own happiness,\r\nand neither will do, nor does, nor ever did anything? Besides, \u003ca id=\"page-251\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e251\u003c/span\u003ewhat\r\npiety is due to a being from whom you receive nothing? Or how can you,\r\nor any one else, be indebted to him who bestows no benefits? For piety\r\nis only justice towards the Gods; but what right have they to it, when\r\nthere is no communication whatever between the Gods and men? And\r\nsanctity is the knowledge of how we ought to worship them; but I do not\r\nunderstand why they are to be worshipped, if we are neither to receive\r\nnor expect any good from them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLII. And why should we worship them from an admiration only of that\r\nnature in which we can behold nothing excellent? and as for that freedom\r\nfrom superstition, which you are in the habit of boasting of so much, it\r\nis easy to be free from that feeling when you have renounced all belief\r\nin the power of the Gods; unless, indeed, you imagine that Diagoras or\r\nTheodorus, who absolutely denied the being of the Gods, could possibly\r\nbe superstitious. I do not suppose that even Protagoras could, who\r\ndoubted whether there were Gods or not. The opinions of these\r\nphilosophers are not only destructive of superstition, which arises from\r\na vain fear of the Gods, but of religion also, which consists in a pious\r\nadoration of them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat think you of those who have asserted that the whole doctrine\r\nconcerning the immortal Gods was the invention of politicians, whose\r\nview was to govern that part of the community by religion which reason\r\ncould not influence? Are not their opinions subversive of all religion?\r\nOr what religion did Prodicus the Chian leave to men, who held that\r\neverything beneficial to human life should be numbered among the Gods?\r\nWere not they likewise void of religion who taught that the Deities, at\r\npresent the object of our prayers and adoration, were valiant,\r\nillustrious, and mighty men who arose to divinity after death?\r\nEuhemerus, whom our Ennius translated, and followed more than other\r\nauthors, has particularly advanced this doctrine, and treated of the\r\ndeaths and burials of the Gods; can he, then, be said to have confirmed\r\nreligion, or, rather, to have totally subverted it? I shall say nothing\r\nof that sacred and august Eleusina, into whose mysteries the most\r\ndistant nations were initiated, \u003ca id=\"page-252\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e252\u003c/span\u003enor of the solemnities in Samothrace,\r\nor in Lemnos, secretly resorted to by night, and surrounded by thick and\r\nshady groves; which, if they were properly explained, and reduced to\r\nreasonable principles, would rather explain the nature of things than\r\ndiscover the knowledge of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIII. Even that great man Democritus, from whose fountains Epicurus\r\nwatered his little garden, seems to me to be very inferior to his usual\r\nacuteness when speaking about the nature of the Gods. For at one time he\r\nthinks that there are images endowed with divinity, inherent in the\r\nuniversality of things; at another, that the principles and minds\r\ncontained in the universe are Gods; then he attributes divinity to\r\nanimated images, employing themselves in doing us good or harm; and,\r\nlastly, he speaks of certain images of such vast extent that they\r\nencompass the whole outside of the universe; all which opinions are more\r\nworthy of the country\u003ca id=\"FNA-102\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-102\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e102\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of Democritus than of Democritus himself; for\r\nwho can frame in his mind any ideas of such images? who can admire them?\r\nwho can think they merit a religious adoration?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut Epicurus, when he divests the Gods of the power of doing good,\r\nextirpates all religion from the minds of men; for though he says the\r\ndivine nature is the best and the most excellent of all natures, he will\r\nnot allow it to be susceptible of any benevolence, by which he destroys\r\nthe chief and peculiar attribute of the most perfect being. For what is\r\nbetter and more excellent than goodness and beneficence? To refuse your\r\nGods that quality is to say that no man is any object of their favor,\r\nand no Gods either; that they neither love nor esteem any one; in short,\r\nthat they not only give themselves no trouble about us, but even look on\r\neach other with the greatest indifference.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIV. How much more reasonable is the doctrine of the Stoics, whom you\r\ncensure? It is one of their maxims that the wise are friends to the\r\nwise, though unknown to each other; for as nothing is more amiable than\r\nvirtue, he who possesses it is worthy our love, to whatever country \u003ca id=\"page-253\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e253\u003c/span\u003ehe\r\nbelongs. But what evils do your principles bring, when you make good\r\nactions and benevolence the marks of imbecility! For, not to mention the\r\npower and nature of the Gods, you hold that even men, if they had no\r\nneed of mutual assistance, would be neither courteous nor beneficent. Is\r\nthere no natural charity in the dispositions of good men? The very name\r\nof love, from which friendship is derived, is dear to men;\u003ca id=\"FNA-103\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-103\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e103\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and if\r\nfriendship is to centre in our own advantage only, without regard to him\r\nwhom we esteem a friend, it cannot be called friendship, but a sort of\r\ntraffic for our own profit. Pastures, lands, and herds of cattle are\r\nvalued in the same manner on account of the profit we gather from them;\r\nbut charity and friendship expect no return. How much more reason have\r\nwe to think that the Gods, who want nothing, should love each other, and\r\nemploy themselves about us! If it were not so, why should we pray to or\r\nadore them? Why do the priests preside over the altars, and the augurs\r\nover the auspices? What have we to ask of the Gods, and why do we prefer\r\nour vows to them?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut Epicurus, you say, has written a book concerning sanctity. A\r\ntrifling performance by a man whose wit is not so remarkable in it, as\r\nthe unrestrained license of writing which he has permitted himself; for\r\nwhat sanctity can there be if the Gods take no care of human affairs? Or\r\nhow can that nature be called animated which neither regards nor\r\nperforms anything? Therefore our friend Posidonius has well observed, in\r\nhis fifth book of the Nature of the Gods, that Epicurus believed there\r\nwere no Gods, and that what he had said about the immortal Gods was only\r\nsaid from a desire to avoid unpopularity. He could not be so weak as to\r\nimagine that the Deity has only the outward features of a simple mortal,\r\nwithout any real solidity; that he has all the members of a man, without\r\nthe least power to use them—a certain unsubstantial pellucid being,\r\nneither favorable nor beneficial to any one, neither regarding nor doing\r\nanything. There can be no such being in nature; and as Epicurus said\r\nthis plainly, he allows \u003ca id=\"page-254\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e254\u003c/span\u003ethe Gods in words, and destroys them in fact;\r\nand if the Deity is truly such a being that he shows no favor, no\r\nbenevolence to mankind, away with him! For why should I entreat him to\r\nbe propitious? He can be propitious to none, since, as you say, all his\r\nfavor and benevolence are the effects of imbecility.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK II.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eWhen\u003c/span\u003e Cotta had thus concluded, Velleius replied: I certainly was\r\ninconsiderate to engage in argument with an Academician who is likewise\r\na rhetorician. I should not have feared an Academician without\r\neloquence, nor a rhetorician without that philosophy, however eloquent\r\nhe might be; for I am never puzzled by an empty flow of words, nor by\r\nthe most subtle reasonings delivered without any grace of oratory. But\r\nyou, Cotta, have excelled in both. You only wanted the assembly and the\r\njudges. However, enough of this at present. Now, let us hear what\r\nLucilius has to say, if it is agreeable to him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI had much rather, says Balbus, hear Cotta resume his discourse, and\r\ndemonstrate the true Gods with the same eloquence which he made use of\r\nto explode the false; for, on such a subject, the loose, unsettled\r\ndoctrine of the Academy does not become a philosopher, a priest, a\r\nCotta, whose opinions should be, like those we hold, firm and certain.\r\nEpicurus has been more than sufficiently refuted; but I would willingly\r\nhear your own sentiments, Cotta.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you forget, replies Cotta, what I at first said—that it is easier\r\nfor me, especially on this point, to explain what opinions those are\r\nwhich I do not hold, rather than what those are which I do? Nay, even if\r\nI did feel some certainty on any particular point, yet, after having\r\nbeen so diffuse myself already, I would prefer now hearing you speak in\r\nyour turn. I submit, says Balbus, and will be as brief as I possibly\r\ncan; for as you have confuted the errors of Epicurus, my part in the\r\ndispute will be the shorter. \u003ca id=\"page-255\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e255\u003c/span\u003eOur sect divide the whole question\r\nconcerning the immortal Gods into four parts. First, they prove that\r\nthere are Gods; secondly, of what character and nature they are;\r\nthirdly, that the universe is governed by them; and, lastly, that they\r\nexercise a superintendence over human affairs. But in this present\r\ndiscussion let us confine ourselves to the first two articles, and defer\r\nthe third and fourth till another opportunity, as they require more time\r\nto discuss. By no means, says Cotta, for we have time enough on our\r\nhands; besides that, we are now discussing a subject which should be\r\npreferred even to serious business.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. The first point, then, says Lucilius, I think needs no discourse to\r\nprove it; for what can be so plain and evident, when we behold the\r\nheavens and contemplate the celestial bodies, as the existence of some\r\nsupreme, divine intelligence, by which all these things are governed?\r\nWere it otherwise, Ennius would not, with a universal approbation, have\r\nsaid,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLook up to the refulgent heaven above,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich all men call, unanimously, Jove.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThis is Jupiter, the governor of the world, who rules all things with\r\nhis nod, and is, as the same Ennius adds,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e——of Gods and men the sire,\u003ca id=\"FNA-104\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-104\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e104\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ean omnipresent and omnipotent God. And if any one doubts this, I really\r\ndo not understand why the same man may not also doubt whether there is a\r\nsun or not. For what can possibly be more evident than this? And if it\r\nwere not a truth universally impressed on the minds of men, the belief\r\nin it would never have been so firm; nor would it have been, as it is,\r\nincreased by length of years, nor would it have gathered strength and\r\nstability through every age. And, in truth, we see that other opinions,\r\nbeing false and groundless, have already fallen into oblivion by lapse\r\nof time. Who now believes in Hippocentaurs and \u003ca id=\"page-256\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e256\u003c/span\u003eChimæras? Or what old\r\nwoman is now to be found so weak and ignorant as to stand in fear of\r\nthose infernal monsters which once so terrified mankind? For time\r\ndestroys the fictions of error and opinion, while it confirms the\r\ndeterminations of nature and of truth. And therefore it is that, both\r\namong us and among other nations, sacred institutions and the divine\r\nworship of the Gods have been strengthened and improved from time to\r\ntime. And this is not to be imputed to chance or folly, but to the\r\nfrequent appearance of the Gods themselves. In the war with the Latins,\r\nwhen A. Posthumius, the dictator, attacked Octavius Mamilius, the\r\nTusculan, at Regillus, Castor and Pollux were seen fighting in our army\r\non horseback; and since that the same offspring of Tyndarus gave notice\r\nof the defeat of Perses; for as P. Vatienus, the grandfather of the\r\npresent young man of that name, was coming in the night to Rome from his\r\ngovernment of Reate, two young men on white horses appeared to him, and\r\ntold him that King\u003ca id=\"FNA-105\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-105\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e105\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Perses was that day taken prisoner. This news he\r\ncarried to the senate, who immediately threw him into prison for\r\nspeaking inconsiderately on a state affair; but when it was confirmed by\r\nletters from Paullus, he was recompensed by the senate with land and\r\nimmunities.\u003ca id=\"FNA-106\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-106\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e106\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Nor do we forget when the Locrians defeated the people\r\nof Crotone, in a great battle on the banks of the river Sagra, that it\r\nwas known the same day at the Olympic Games. The voices of the Fauns\r\nhave been often heard, and Deities have appeared in forms so visible\r\nthat they have compelled every one who is not senseless, or hardened in\r\nimpiety, to confess the presence of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. What do predictions and foreknowledge of future events indicate,\r\nbut that such future events are shown, pointed out, portended, and\r\nforetold to men? From whence they are called omens, signs, portents,\r\nprodigies. But though we should esteem fabulous what is said of\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-257\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e257\u003c/span\u003eMopsus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-107\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-107\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e107\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Tiresias,\u003ca id=\"FNA-108\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-108\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e108\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Amphiaraus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-109\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-109\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e109\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Calchas,\u003ca id=\"FNA-110\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-110\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e110\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and\r\nHelenus\u003ca id=\"FNA-111\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-111\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e111\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e (who would not have been delivered down to us as augurs\r\neven in fable if their art had been despised), may we not be\r\nsufficiently apprised of the power of the Gods by domestic examples?\r\nWill not the temerity of P. Claudius, in the first Punic war, affect us?\r\nwho, when the poultry were let out of the coop and would not feed,\r\nordered them to be thrown into the water, and, joking even upon the\r\nGods, said, with a sneer, “Let them drink, since they will not eat;”\r\nwhich piece of ridicule, being followed by a victory over his fleet,\r\ncost him many tears, and brought great calamity on the Roman people. Did\r\nnot his colleague Junius, in the same war, lose his fleet in a tempest\r\nby disregarding the auspices? Claudius, therefore, was condemned by the\r\npeople, and Junius killed himself. Cœlius says that P. Flaminius, from\r\nhis neglect of religion, fell at Thrasimenus; a loss which the public\r\nseverely felt. By these instances of calamity we may be assured that\r\nRome owes her grandeur and success to the conduct of those who were\r\ntenacious of their religious duties; and if we compare ourselves to our\r\nneighbors, we shall find that we are infinitely distinguished above\r\nforeign nations by our zeal for religious ceremonies, though in other\r\nthings we may be only equal to them, and in other respects even inferior\r\nto them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOught we to contemn Attius Navius’s staff, with which \u003ca id=\"page-258\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e258\u003c/span\u003ehe divided the\r\nregions of the vine to find his sow?\u003ca id=\"FNA-112\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-112\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e112\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e I should despise it, if I were\r\nnot aware that King Hostilius had carried on most important wars in\r\ndeference to his auguries; but by the negligence of our nobility the\r\ndiscipline of the augury is now omitted, the truth of the auspices\r\ndespised, and only a mere form observed; so that the most important\r\naffairs of the commonwealth, even the wars, on which the public safety\r\ndepends, are conducted without any auspices; the Peremnia\u003ca id=\"FNA-113\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-113\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e113\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e are\r\ndiscussed; no part of the Acumina\u003ca id=\"FNA-114\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-114\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e114\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e performed; no select men are\r\ncalled to witness to the military testaments;\u003ca id=\"FNA-115\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-115\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e115\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e our generals now\r\nbegin their wars as soon as they have arranged the Auspicia. The force\r\nof religion was so great among our ancestors that some of their\r\ncommanders have, with their faces veiled, and with the solemn, formal\r\nexpressions of religion, sacrificed themselves to the immortal Gods to\r\nsave their country.\u003ca id=\"FNA-116\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-116\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e116\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e I could mention many of the Sibylline\r\nprophecies, and many answers of the haruspices, to confirm those things,\r\nwhich ought not to be doubted.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. For example: our augurs and the Etrurian haruspices saw the truth of\r\ntheir art established when P. Scipio and C. Figulus were consuls; for as\r\nTiberius Gracchus, who was a second time consul, wished to proceed to a\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-259\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e259\u003c/span\u003efresh election, the first Rogator,\u003ca id=\"FNA-117\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-117\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e117\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e as he was collecting the\r\nsuffrages, fell down dead on the spot. Gracchus nevertheless went on\r\nwith the assembly, but perceiving that this accident had a religious\r\ninfluence on the people, he brought the affair before the senate. The\r\nsenate thought fit to refer it to those who usually took cognizance of\r\nsuch things. The haruspices were called, and declared that the man who\r\nhad acted as Rogator of the assembly had no right to do so; to which, as\r\nI have heard my father say, he replied with great warmth, Have I no\r\nright, who am consul, and augur, and favored by the Auspicia? And shall\r\nyou, who are Tuscans and Barbarians, pretend that you have authority\r\nover the Roman Auspicia, and a right to give judgment in matters\r\nrespecting the formality of our assemblies? Therefore, he then commanded\r\nthem to withdraw; but not long afterward he wrote from his province\u003ca id=\"FNA-118\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-118\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e118\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nto the college of augurs, acknowledging that in reading the books\u003ca id=\"FNA-119\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-119\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e119\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nhe remembered that he had illegally chosen a place for his tent in the\r\ngardens of Scipio, and had afterward entered the Pomœrium, in order to\r\nhold a senate, but that in repassing the same Pomœrium he had forgotten\r\nto take the auspices; and that, therefore, the consuls had been created\r\ninformally. The augurs laid the case before the senate. The senate\r\ndecreed that they should resign their charge, and so they accordingly\r\nabdicated. What greater example need we seek for? The wisest, perhaps\r\nthe most excellent of men, chose to confess his fault, which he might\r\nhave concealed, rather than leave the public the least atom of religious\r\nguilt; and the consuls chose to quit the highest office in the State,\r\nrather than fill it for a moment in defiance of religion. How great is\r\nthe reputation of the augurs!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd is not the art of the soothsayers divine? And must not every one who\r\nsees what innumerable instances of the same kind there are confess the\r\nexistence of the \u003ca id=\"page-260\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e260\u003c/span\u003eGods? For they who have interpreters must certainly\r\nexist themselves; now, there are interpreters of the Gods; therefore we\r\nmust allow there are Gods. But it may be said, perhaps, that all\r\npredictions are not accomplished. We may as well conclude there is no\r\nart of physic, because all sick persons do not recover. The Gods show us\r\nsigns of future events; if we are occasionally deceived in the results,\r\nit is not to be imputed to the nature of the Gods, but to the\r\nconjectures of men. All nations agree that there are Gods; the opinion\r\nis innate, and, as it were, engraved in the minds of all men. The only\r\npoint in dispute among us is, what they are.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. Their existence no one denies. Cleanthes, one of our sect, imputes\r\nthe way in which the idea of the Gods is implanted in the minds of men\r\nto four causes. The first is that which I just now mentioned—the\r\nforeknowledge of future things. The second is the great advantages which\r\nwe enjoy from the temperature of the air, the fertility of the earth,\r\nand the abundance of various benefits of other kinds. The third cause is\r\ndeduced from the terror with which the mind is affected by thunder,\r\ntempests, storms, snow, hail, devastation, pestilence, earthquakes often\r\nattended with hideous noises, showers of stones, and rain like drops of\r\nblood; by rocks and sudden openings of the earth; by monstrous births of\r\nmen and beasts; by meteors in the air, and blazing stars, by the Greeks\r\ncalled \u003ci\u003ecometæ\u003c/i\u003e, by us \u003ci\u003ecrinitæ\u003c/i\u003e, the appearance of which, in the late\r\nOctavian war,\u003ca id=\"FNA-120\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-120\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e120\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e were foreboders of great calamities; by two suns,\r\nwhich, as I have heard my father say, happened in the consulate of\r\nTuditanus and Aquillius, and in which year also another sun (P.\r\nAfricanus) was extinguished. These things terrified mankind, and raised\r\nin them a firm belief of the existence of some celestial and divine\r\npower.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis fourth cause, and that the strongest, is drawn from the regularity\r\nof the motion and revolution of the heavens, the distinctness, variety,\r\nbeauty, and order of the sun, moon, and all the stars, the appearance\r\nonly of which is sufficient to convince us they are not the effects of\r\nchance; as when we enter into a house, or school, or court, and observe\r\nthe exact order, discipline, and method of it, we cannot suppose \u003ca id=\"page-261\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e261\u003c/span\u003ethat\r\nit is so regulated without a cause, but must conclude that there is some\r\none who commands, and to whom obedience is paid. It is quite impossible\r\nfor us to avoid thinking that the wonderful motions, revolutions, and\r\norder of those many and great bodies, no part of which is impaired by\r\nthe countless and infinite succession of ages, must be governed and\r\ndirected by some supreme intelligent being.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. Chrysippus, indeed, had a very penetrating genius; yet such is the\r\ndoctrine which he delivers, that he seems rather to have been instructed\r\nby nature than to owe it to any discovery of his own. “If,” says he,\r\n“there is anything in the universe which no human reason, ability, or\r\npower can make, the being who produced it must certainly be preferable\r\nto man. Now, celestial bodies, and all those things which proceed in any\r\neternal order, cannot be made by man; the being who made them is\r\ntherefore preferable to man. What, then, is that being but a God? If\r\nthere be no such thing as a Deity, what is there better than man, since\r\nhe only is possessed of reason, the most excellent of all things? But it\r\nis a foolish piece of vanity in man to think there is nothing preferable\r\nto him. There is, therefore, something preferable; consequently, there\r\nis certainly a God.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen you behold a large and beautiful house, surely no one can persuade\r\nyou it was built for mice and weasels, though you do not see the master;\r\nand would it not, therefore, be most manifest folly to imagine that a\r\nworld so magnificently adorned, with such an immense variety of\r\ncelestial bodies of such exquisite beauty, and that the vast sizes and\r\nmagnitude of the sea and land were intended as the abode of man, and not\r\nas the mansion of the immortal Gods? Do we not also plainly see this,\r\nthat all the most elevated regions are the best, and that the earth is\r\nthe lowest region, and is surrounded with the grossest air? so that as\r\nwe perceive that in some cities and countries the capacities of men are\r\nnaturally duller, from the thickness of the climate, so mankind in\r\ngeneral are affected by the heaviness of the air which surrounds the\r\nearth, the grossest region of the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet even from this inferior intelligence of man we may \u003ca id=\"page-262\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e262\u003c/span\u003ediscover the\r\nexistence of some intelligent agent that is divine, and wiser than\r\nourselves; for, as Socrates says in Xenophon, from whence had man his\r\nportion of understanding? And, indeed, if any one were to push his\r\ninquiries about the moisture and heat which is diffused through the\r\nhuman body, and the earthy kind of solidity existing in our entrails,\r\nand that soul by which we breathe, and to ask whence we derived them, it\r\nwould be plain that we have received one thing from the earth, another\r\nfrom liquid, another from fire, and another from that air which we\r\ninhale every time that we breathe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. But where did we find that which excels all these things—I mean\r\nreason, or (if you please, in other terms) the mind, understanding,\r\nthought, prudence; and from whence did we receive it? Shall the world be\r\npossessed of every other perfection, and be destitute of this one, which\r\nis the most important and valuable of all? But certainly there is\r\nnothing better, or more excellent, or more beautiful than the world; and\r\nnot only there is nothing better, but we cannot even conceive anything\r\nsuperior to it; and if reason and wisdom are the greatest of all\r\nperfections, they must necessarily be a part of what we all allow to be\r\nthe most excellent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho is not compelled to admit the truth of what I assert by that\r\nagreeable, uniform, and continued agreement of things in the universe?\r\nCould the earth at one season be adorned with flowers, at another be\r\ncovered with snow? Or, if such a number of things regulated their own\r\nchanges, could the approach and retreat of the sun in the summer and\r\nwinter solstices be so regularly known and calculated? Could the flux\r\nand reflux of the sea and the height of the tides be affected by the\r\nincrease or wane of the moon? Could the different courses of the stars\r\nbe preserved by the uniform movement of the whole heaven? Could these\r\nthings subsist, I say, in such a harmony of all the parts of the\r\nuniverse without the continued influence of a divine spirit?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf these points are handled in a free and copious manner, as I purpose\r\nto do, they will be less liable to the cavils of the Academics; but the\r\nnarrow, confined way in which Zeno reasoned upon them laid them more\r\nopen to \u003ca id=\"page-263\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e263\u003c/span\u003eobjection; for as running streams are seldom or never tainted,\r\nwhile standing waters easily grow corrupt, so a fluency of expression\r\nwashes away the censures of the caviller, while the narrow limits of a\r\ndiscourse which is too concise is almost defenceless; for the arguments\r\nwhich I am enlarging upon are thus briefly laid down by Zeno:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. “That which reasons is superior to that which does not; nothing is\r\nsuperior to the world; the world, therefore, reasons.” By the same rule\r\nthe world may be proved to be wise, happy, and eternal; for the\r\npossession of all these qualities is superior to the want of them; and\r\nnothing is superior to the world; the inevitable consequence of which\r\nargument is, that the world, therefore, is a Deity. He goes on: “No part\r\nof anything void of sense is capable of perception; some parts of the\r\nworld have perception; the world, therefore, has sense.” He proceeds,\r\nand pursues the argument closely. “Nothing,” says he, “that is destitute\r\nitself of life and reason can generate a being possessed of life and\r\nreason; but the world does generate beings possessed of life and reason;\r\nthe world, therefore, is not itself destitute of life and reason.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe concludes his argument in his usual manner with a simile: “If\r\nwell-tuned pipes should spring out of the olive, would you have the\r\nslightest doubt that there was in the olive-tree itself some kind of\r\nskill and knowledge? Or if the plane-tree could produce harmonious\r\nlutes, surely you would infer, on the same principle, that music was\r\ncontained in the plane-tree. Why, then, should we not believe the world\r\nis a living and wise being, since it produces living and wise beings out\r\nof itself?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. But as I have been insensibly led into a length of discourse beyond\r\nmy first design (for I said that, as the existence of the Gods was\r\nevident to all, there was no need of any long oration to prove it), I\r\nwill demonstrate it by reasons deduced from the nature of things. For it\r\nis a fact that all beings which take nourishment and increase contain in\r\nthemselves a power of natural heat, without which they could neither be\r\nnourished nor increase. For everything which is of a warm and fiery\r\ncharacter is agitated and stirred up by its own motion. But that which\r\nis nourished and grows is influenced by a certain regular \u003ca id=\"page-264\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e264\u003c/span\u003eand equable\r\nmotion. And as long as this motion remains in us, so long does sense and\r\nlife remain; but the moment that it abates and is extinguished, we\r\nourselves decay and perish.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy arguments like these, Cleanthes shows how great is the power of heat\r\nin all bodies. He observes that there is no food so gross as not to be\r\ndigested in a night and a day; and that even in the excrementitious\r\nparts, which nature rejects, there remains a heat. The veins and\r\narteries seem, by their continual quivering, to resemble the agitation\r\nof fire; and it has often been observed when the heart of an animal is\r\njust plucked from the body that it palpitates with such visible motion\r\nas to resemble the rapidity of fire. Everything, therefore, that has\r\nlife, whether it be animal or vegetable, owes that life to the heat\r\ninherent in it; it is this nature of heat which contains in itself the\r\nvital power which extends throughout the whole world. This will appear\r\nmore clearly on a more close explanation of this fiery quality, which\r\npervades all things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEvery division, then, of the world (and I shall touch upon the most\r\nconsiderable) is sustained by heat; and first it may be observed in\r\nearthly substances that fire is produced from stones by striking or\r\nrubbing one against another; that “the warm earth smokes”\u003ca id=\"FNA-121\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-121\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e121\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e when just\r\nturned up, and that water is drawn warm from well-springs; and this is\r\nmost especially the case in the winter season, because there is a great\r\nquantity of heat contained in the caverns of the earth; and this becomes\r\nmore dense in the winter, and on that account confines more closely the\r\ninnate heat which is discoverable in the earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. It would require a long dissertation, and many reasons would require\r\nto be adduced, to show that all the seeds which the earth conceives, and\r\nall those which it contains having been generated from itself, and fixed\r\nin roots and trunks, derive all their origin and increase from the\r\ntemperature and regulation of heat. And that even every liquor has a\r\nmixture of heat in it is plainly demonstrated by the effusion of water;\r\nfor it would not congeal by cold, nor become solid, as ice or snow, and\r\nreturn again \u003ca id=\"page-265\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e265\u003c/span\u003eto its natural state, if it were not that, when heat is\r\napplied to it, it again becomes liquefied and dissolved, and so diffuses\r\nitself. Therefore, by northern and other cold winds it is frozen and\r\nhardened, and in turn it dissolves and melts again by heat. The seas\r\nlikewise, we find, when agitated by winds, grow warm, so that from this\r\nfact we may understand that there is heat included in that vast body of\r\nwater; for we cannot imagine it to be external and adventitious heat,\r\nbut such as is stirred up by agitation from the deep recesses of the\r\nseas; and the same thing takes place with respect to our bodies, which\r\ngrow warm with motion and exercise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd the very air itself, which indeed is the coldest element, is by no\r\nmeans void of heat; for there is a great quantity, arising from the\r\nexhalations of water, which appears to be a sort of steam occasioned by\r\nits internal heat, like that of boiling liquors. The fourth part of the\r\nuniverse is entirely fire, and is the source of the salutary and vital\r\nheat which is found in the rest. From hence we may conclude that, as all\r\nparts of the world are sustained by heat, the world itself also has such\r\na great length of time subsisted from the same cause; and so much the\r\nmore, because we ought to understand that that hot and fiery principle\r\nis so diffused over universal nature that there is contained in it a\r\npower and cause of generation and procreation, from which all animate\r\nbeings, and all those creatures of the vegetable world, the roots of\r\nwhich are contained in the earth, must inevitably derive their origin\r\nand their increase.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. It is nature, consequently, that continues and preserves the world,\r\nand that, too, a nature which is not destitute of sense and reason; for\r\nin every essence that is not simple, but composed of several parts,\r\nthere must be some predominant quality—as, for instance, the mind in\r\nman, and in beasts something resembling it, from which arise all the\r\nappetites and desires for anything. As for trees, and all the vegetable\r\nproduce of the earth, it is thought to be in their roots. I call that\r\nthe predominant quality,\u003ca id=\"FNA-122\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-122\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e122\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e which \u003ca id=\"page-266\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e266\u003c/span\u003ethe Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἡγεμονικόν\u003c/span\u003e; which\r\nmust and ought to be the most excellent quality, wherever it is found.\r\nThat, therefore, in which the prevailing quality of all nature resides\r\nmust be the most excellent of all things, and most worthy of the power\r\nand pre-eminence over all things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, we see that there is nothing in being that is not a part of the\r\nuniverse; and as there are sense and reason in the parts of it, there\r\nmust therefore be these qualities, and these, too, in a more energetic\r\nand powerful degree, in that part in which the predominant quality of\r\nthe world is found. The world, therefore, must necessarily be possessed\r\nof wisdom; and that element, which embraces all things, must excel in\r\nperfection of reason. The world, therefore, is a God, and the whole\r\npower of the world is contained in that divine element.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe heat also of the world is more pure, clear, and lively, and,\r\nconsequently, better adapted to move the senses than the heat allotted\r\nto us; and it vivifies and preserves all things within the compass of\r\nour knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is absurd, therefore, to say that the world, which is endued with a\r\nperfect, free, pure, spirituous, and active heat, is not sensitive,\r\nsince by this heat men and beasts are preserved, and move, and think;\r\nmore especially since this heat of the world is itself the sole\r\nprinciple of agitation, and has no external impulse, but is moved\r\nspontaneously; for what can be more powerful than the world, which moves\r\nand raises that heat by which it subsists?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. For let us listen to Plato, who is regarded as a God among\r\nphilosophers. He says that there are two sorts of motion, one innate and\r\nthe other external; and that that which is moved spontaneously is more\r\ndivine than that which is moved by another power. This self-motion he\r\nplaces in the mind alone, and concludes that the first principle of\r\nmotion is derived from the mind. Therefore, since all motion arises from\r\nthe heat of the world, and that heat is not moved by the effect of any\r\nexternal impulse, but of its own accord, it must necessarily be a mind;\r\nfrom whence it follows that the world is animated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn such reasoning is founded this opinion, that the world is possessed\r\nof understanding, because it certainly has more perfections in itself\r\nthan any other nature; for \u003ca id=\"page-267\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e267\u003c/span\u003eas there is no part of our bodies so\r\nconsiderable as the whole of us, so it is clear that there is no\r\nparticular portion of the universe equal in magnitude to the whole of\r\nit; from whence it follows that wisdom must be an attribute of the\r\nworld; otherwise man, who is a part of it, and possessed of reason,\r\nwould be superior to the entire world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd thus, if we proceed from the first rude, unfinished natures to the\r\nmost superior and perfect ones, we shall inevitably come at last to the\r\nnature of the Gods. For, in the first place, we observe that those\r\nvegetables which are produced out of the earth are supported by nature,\r\nand she gives them no further supply than is sufficient to preserve them\r\nby nourishing them and making them grow. To beasts she has given sense\r\nand motion, and a faculty which directs them to what is wholesome, and\r\nprompts them to shun what is noxious to them. On man she has conferred a\r\ngreater portion of her favor; inasmuch as she has added reason, by which\r\nhe is enabled to command his passions, to moderate some, and to subdue\r\nothers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. In the fourth and highest degree are those beings which are\r\nnaturally wise and good, who from the first moment of their existence\r\nare possessed of right and consistent reason, which we must consider\r\nsuperior to man and deserving to be attributed to a God; that is to say,\r\nto the world, in which it is inevitable that that perfect and complete\r\nreason should be inherent. Nor is it possible that it should be said\r\nwith justice that there is any arrangement of things in which there\r\ncannot be something entire and perfect. For as in a vine or in beasts we\r\nsee that nature, if not prevented by some superior violence, proceeds by\r\nher own appropriate path to her destined end; and as in painting,\r\narchitecture, and the other arts there is a point of perfection which is\r\nattainable, and occasionally attained, so it is even much more necessary\r\nthat in universal nature there must be some complete and perfect result\r\narrived at. Many external accidents may happen to all other natures\r\nwhich may impede their progress to perfection, but nothing can hinder\r\nuniversal nature, because she is herself the ruler and governor of all\r\nother natures. That, therefore, must be the fourth and most elevated\r\ndegree to which no other power can approach.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-268\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e268\u003c/span\u003eBut this degree is that on which the nature of all things is placed;\r\nand since she is possessed of this, and she presides over all things,\r\nand is subject to no possible impediment, the world must necessarily be\r\nan intelligent and even a wise being. But how marvellously great is the\r\nignorance of those men who dispute the perfection of that nature which\r\nencircles all things; or who, allowing it to be infinitely perfect, yet\r\ndeny it to be, in the first place, animated, then reasonable, and,\r\nlastly, prudent and wise! For how without these qualities could it be\r\ninfinitely perfect? If it were like vegetables, or even like beasts,\r\nthere would be no more reason for thinking it extremely good than\r\nextremely bad; and if it were possessed of reason, and had not wisdom\r\nfrom the beginning, the world would be in a worse condition than man;\r\nfor man may grow wise, but the world, if it were destitute of wisdom\r\nthrough an infinite space of time past, could never acquire it. Thus it\r\nwould be worse than man. But as that is absurd to imagine, the world\r\nmust be esteemed wise from all eternity, and consequently a Deity: since\r\nthere is nothing existing that is not defective, except the universe,\r\nwhich is well provided, and fully complete and perfect in all its\r\nnumbers and parts.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. For Chrysippus says, very acutely, that as the case is made for the\r\nbuckler, and the scabbard for the sword, so all things, except the\r\nuniverse, were made for the sake of something else. As, for instance,\r\nall those crops and fruits which the earth produces were made for the\r\nsake of animals, and animals for man; as, the horse for carrying, the ox\r\nfor the plough, the dog for hunting and for a guard. But man himself was\r\nborn to contemplate and imitate the world, being in no wise perfect,\r\nbut, if I may so express myself, a particle of perfection; but the\r\nworld, as it comprehends all, and as nothing exists that is not\r\ncontained in it, is entirely perfect. In what, therefore, can it be\r\ndefective, since it is perfect? It cannot want understanding and reason,\r\nfor they are the most desirable of all qualities. The same Chrysippus\r\nobserves also, by the use of similitudes, that everything in its kind,\r\nwhen arrived at maturity and perfection, is superior to that which is\r\nnot—as, a horse to a colt, a dog to a puppy, and a man to a boy—so\r\nwhatever \u003ca id=\"page-269\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e269\u003c/span\u003eis best in the whole universe must exist in some complete and\r\nperfect being. But nothing is more perfect than the world, and nothing\r\nbetter than virtue. Virtue, therefore, is an attribute of the world. But\r\nhuman nature is not perfect, and nevertheless virtue is produced in it:\r\nwith how much greater reason, then, do we conceive it to be inherent in\r\nthe world! Therefore the world has virtue, and it is also wise, and\r\nconsequently a Deity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. The divinity of the world being now clearly perceived, we must\r\nacknowledge the same divinity to be likewise in the stars, which are\r\nformed from the lightest and purest part of the ether, without a mixture\r\nof any other matter; and, being altogether hot and transparent, we may\r\njustly say they have life, sense, and understanding. And Cleanthes\r\nthinks that it may be established by the evidence of two of our\r\nsenses—feeling and seeing—that they are entirely fiery bodies; for the\r\nheat and brightness of the sun far exceed any other fire, inasmuch as it\r\nenlightens the whole universe, covering such a vast extent of space, and\r\nits power is such that we perceive that it not only warms, but often\r\neven burns: neither of which it could do if it were not of a fiery\r\nquality. Since, then, says he, the sun is a fiery body, and is nourished\r\nby the vapors of the ocean (for no fire can continue without some\r\nsustenance), it must be either like that fire which we use to warm us\r\nand dress our food, or like that which is contained in the bodies of\r\nanimals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd this fire, which the convenience of life requires, is the devourer\r\nand consumer of everything, and throws into confusion and destroys\r\nwhatever it reaches. On the contrary, the corporeal heat is full of\r\nlife, and salutary; and vivifies, preserves, cherishes, increases, and\r\nsustains all things, and is productive of sense; therefore, says he,\r\nthere can be no doubt which of these fires the sun is like, since it\r\ncauses all things in their respective kinds to flourish and arrive to\r\nmaturity; and as the fire of the sun is like that which is contained in\r\nthe bodies of animated beings, the sun itself must likewise be animated,\r\nand so must the other stars also, which arise out of the celestial ardor\r\nthat we call the sky, or firmament.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs, then, some animals are generated in the earth, some \u003ca id=\"page-270\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e270\u003c/span\u003ein the water,\r\nand some in the air, Aristotle\u003ca id=\"FNA-123\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-123\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e123\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e thinks it ridiculous to imagine that\r\nno animal is formed in that part of the universe which is the most\r\ncapable to produce them. But the stars are situated in the ethereal\r\nspace; and as this is an element the most subtle, whose motion is\r\ncontinual, and whose force does not decay, it follows, of necessity,\r\nthat every animated being which is produced in it must be endowed with\r\nthe quickest sense and the swiftest motion. The stars, therefore, being\r\nthere generated, it is a natural inference to suppose them endued with\r\nsuch a degree of sense and understanding as places them in the rank of\r\nGods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. For it may be observed that they who inhabit countries of a pure,\r\nclear air have a quicker apprehension and a readier genius than those\r\nwho live in a thick, foggy climate. It is thought likewise that the\r\nnature of a man’s diet has an effect on the mind; therefore it is\r\nprobable that the stars are possessed of an excellent understanding,\r\ninasmuch as they are situated in the ethereal part of the universe, and\r\nare nourished by the vapors of the earth and sea, which are purified by\r\ntheir long passage to the heavens. But the invariable order and regular\r\nmotion of the stars plainly manifest their sense and understanding; for\r\nall motion which seems to be conducted with reason and harmony supposes\r\nan intelligent principle, that does not act blindly, or inconsistently,\r\nor at random. And this regularity and consistent course of the stars\r\nfrom all eternity indicates not any natural order, for it is pregnant\r\nwith sound reason, not fortune (for fortune, being a friend to change,\r\ndespises consistency). It follows, therefore, that they move\r\nspontaneously by their own sense and divinity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAristotle also deserves high commendation for his observation that\r\neverything that moves is either put in motion by natural impulse, or by\r\nsome external force, or of its own accord; and that the sun, and moon,\r\nand all the stars move; but that those things which are moved by natural\r\nimpulse are either borne downward by their weight, or upward by their\r\nlightness; neither of which things could be the case with the stars,\r\nbecause they move in a regular circle and orbit. Nor can it be said that\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-271\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e271\u003c/span\u003ethere is some superior force which causes the stars to be moved in a\r\nmanner contrary to nature. For what superior force can there be? It\r\nfollows, therefore, that their motion must be voluntary. And whoever is\r\nconvinced of this must discover not only great ignorance, but great\r\nimpiety likewise, if he denies the existence of the Gods; nor is the\r\ndifference great whether a man denies their existence, or deprives them\r\nof all design and action; for whatever is wholly inactive seems to me\r\nnot to exist at all. Their existence, therefore, appears so plain that I\r\ncan scarcely think that man in his senses who denies it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. It now remains that we consider what is the character of the Gods.\r\nNothing is more difficult than to divert our thoughts and judgment from\r\nthe information of our corporeal sight, and the view of objects which\r\nour eyes are accustomed to; and it is this difficulty which has had such\r\nan influence on the unlearned, and on philosophers\u003ca id=\"FNA-124\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-124\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e124\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e also who\r\nresembled the unlearned multitude, that they have been unable to form\r\nany idea of the immortal Gods except under the clothing of the human\r\nfigure; the weakness of which opinion Cotta has so well confuted that I\r\nneed not add my thoughts upon it. But as the previous idea which we have\r\nof the Deity comprehends two things—first of all, that he is an\r\nanimated being; secondly, that there is nothing in all nature superior\r\nto him—I do not see what can be more consistent with this idea and\r\npreconception than to attribute a mind and divinity to the world,\u003ca id=\"FNA-125\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-125\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e125\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nthe most excellent of all beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEpicurus may be as merry with this notion as he pleases; a man not the\r\nbest qualified for a joker, as not having the wit and sense of his\r\ncountry.\u003ca id=\"FNA-126\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-126\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e126\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Let him say that a voluble round Deity is to him\r\nincomprehensible; yet he shall never dissuade me from a principle which\r\nhe himself approves, for he is of opinion there are Gods when he allows\r\nthat there must be a nature excellently perfect. But it is certain \u003ca id=\"page-272\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e272\u003c/span\u003ethat\r\nthe world is most excellently perfect: nor is it to be doubted that\r\nwhatever has life, sense, reason, and understanding must excel that\r\nwhich is destitute of these things. It follows, then, that the world has\r\nlife, sense, reason, and understanding, and is consequently a Deity. But\r\nthis shall soon be made more manifest by the operation of these very\r\nthings which the world causes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. In the mean while, Velleius, let me entreat you not to be always\r\nsaying that we are utterly destitute of every sort of learning. The\r\ncone, you say, the cylinder, and the pyramid, are more beautiful to you\r\nthan the sphere. This is to have different eyes from other men. But\r\nsuppose they are more beautiful to the sight only, which does not appear\r\nto me, for I can see nothing more beautiful than that figure which\r\ncontains all others, and which has nothing rough in it, nothing\r\noffensive, nothing cut into angles, nothing broken, nothing swelling,\r\nand nothing hollow; yet as there are two forms most esteemed,\u003ca id=\"FNA-127\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-127\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e127\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the\r\nglobe in solids (for so the Greek word \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eσφαῖρα\u003c/span\u003e, I think, should be\r\nconstrued), and the circle, or orb, in planes (in Greek, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκύκλος\u003c/span\u003e); and as\r\nthey only have an exact similitude of parts in which every extreme is\r\nequally distant from the centre, what can we imagine in nature to be\r\nmore just and proper? But if you have never raked into this learned\r\ndust\u003ca id=\"FNA-128\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-128\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e128\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to find out these things, surely, at all events, you natural\r\nphilosophers must know that equality of motion and invariable order\r\ncould not be preserved in any other figure. Nothing, therefore, can be\r\nmore illiterate than to assert, as you are in the habit of doing, that\r\nit is doubtful whether the world is round or not, because it may\r\npossibly be of another shape, and that there are innumerable worlds of\r\ndifferent forms; which Epicurus, if he ever had learned that two and two\r\nare equal to four, would not have said. But while he judges of what is\r\nbest by his palate, he does not look up to the “palace of heaven,” as\r\nEnnius calls it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. For as there are two sorts of stars,\u003ca id=\"FNA-129\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-129\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e129\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e one kind of \u003ca id=\"page-273\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e273\u003c/span\u003ewhich\r\nmeasure their journey from east to west by immutable stages, never in\r\nthe least varying from their usual course, while the other completes a\r\ndouble revolution with an equally constant regularity; from each of\r\nthese facts we demonstrate the volubility of the world (which could not\r\npossibly take place in any but a globular form) and the circular orbits\r\nof the stars. And first of all the sun, which has the chief rank among\r\nall the stars, is moved in such a manner that it fills the whole earth\r\nwith its light, and illuminates alternately one part of the earth, while\r\nit leaves the other in darkness. The shadow of the earth interposing\r\ncauses night; and the intervals of night are equal to those of day. And\r\nit is the regular approaches and retreats of the sun from which arise\r\nthe regulated degrees of cold and heat. His annual circuit is in three\r\nhundred and sixty-five days, and nearly six hours more.\u003ca id=\"FNA-130\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-130\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e130\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e At one time\r\nhe bends his course to the north, at another to the south, and thus\r\nproduces summer and winter, with the other two seasons, one of which\r\nsucceeds the decline of winter, and the other that of summer. And so to\r\nthese four changes of the seasons we attribute the origin and cause of\r\nall the productions both of sea and land.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe moon completes the same course every month which the sun does in a\r\nyear. The nearer she approaches to the sun, the dimmer light does she\r\nyield, and when most remote from it she shines with the fullest\r\nbrilliancy; nor are her figure and form only changed in her wane, but\r\nher situation likewise, which is sometimes in the north and sometimes in\r\nthe south. By this course she has a sort of summer and winter solstices;\r\nand by her influence she contributes to the nourishment and increase of\r\nanimated \u003ca id=\"page-274\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e274\u003c/span\u003ebeings, and to the ripeness and maturity of all vegetables.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. But most worthy our admiration is the motion of those five stars\r\nwhich are falsely called wandering stars; for they cannot be said to\r\nwander which keep from all eternity their approaches and retreats, and\r\nhave all the rest of their motions, in one regular constant and\r\nestablished order. What is yet more wonderful in these stars which we\r\nare speaking of is that sometimes they appear, and sometimes they\r\ndisappear; sometimes they advance towards the sun, and sometimes they\r\nretreat; sometimes they precede him, and sometimes follow him; sometimes\r\nthey move faster, sometimes slower, and sometimes they do not stir in\r\nthe least, but for a while stand still. From these unequal motions of\r\nthe planets, mathematicians have called that the “great year”\u003ca id=\"FNA-131\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-131\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e131\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e in\r\nwhich the sun, moon, and five wandering stars, having finished their\r\nrevolutions, are found in their original situation. In how long a time\r\nthis is effected is much disputed, but it must be a certain and definite\r\nperiod. For the planet Saturn (called by the Greeks \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΦαίνον\u003c/span\u003e), which is\r\nfarthest from the earth, finishes his course in about thirty years; and\r\nin his course there is something very singular, for sometimes he moves\r\nbefore the sun, sometimes he keeps behind it; at one time lying hidden\r\nin the night, at another again appearing in the morning; and ever\r\nperforming the same motions in the same space of time without any\r\nalteration, so as to be for infinite ages regular in these courses.\r\nBeneath this planet, and nearer the earth, is Jupiter, called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΦαέθων\u003c/span\u003e,\r\nwhich passes the same orbit of the twelve signs\u003ca id=\"FNA-132\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-132\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e132\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e in twelve years,\r\nand goes through exactly the same variety in its course that the star of\r\nSaturn does. Next to Jupiter is the planet Mars (in Greek, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠυρόεις\u003c/span\u003e),\r\nwhich finishes its revolution through the same orbit as the two\r\npreviously mentioned,\u003ca id=\"FNA-133\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-133\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e133\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e in twenty-four months, wanting six days, as I\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-275\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e275\u003c/span\u003eimagine. Below this is Mercury (called by the Greeks \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΣτίλβων\u003c/span\u003e), which\r\nperforms the same course in little less than a year, and is never\r\nfarther distant from the sun than the space of one sign, whether it\r\nprecedes or follows it. The lowest of the five planets, and nearest the\r\nearth, is that of Venus (called in Greek \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΦωσφόρος\u003c/span\u003e). Before the rising of\r\nthe sun, it is called the morning-star, and after the setting, the\r\nevening-star. It has the same revolution through the zodiac, both as to\r\nlatitude and longitude, with the other planets, in a year, and never is\r\nmore than two\u003ca id=\"FNA-134\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-134\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e134\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e signs from the sun, whether it precedes or follows\r\nit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. I cannot, therefore, conceive that this constant course of the\r\nplanets, this just agreement in such various motions through all\r\neternity, can be preserved without a mind, reason, and consideration;\r\nand since we may perceive these qualities in the stars, we cannot but\r\nplace them in the rank of Gods. Those which are called the fixed stars\r\nhave the same indications of reason and prudence. Their motion is daily,\r\nregular, and constant. They do not move with the sky, nor have they an\r\nadhesion to the firmament, as they who are ignorant of natural\r\nphilosophy affirm. For the sky, which is thin, transparent, and suffused\r\nwith an equal heat, does not seem by its nature to have power to whirl\r\nabout the stars, or to be proper to contain them. The fixed stars,\r\ntherefore, have their own sphere, separate and free from any conjunction\r\nwith the sky. Their perpetual courses, with that admirable and\r\nincredible regularity of theirs, so plainly declare a divine power and\r\nmind to be in them, that he who cannot perceive that they are also\r\nendowed with divine power must be incapable of all perception whatever.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the heavens, therefore, there is nothing fortuitous, unadvised,\r\ninconstant, or variable: all there is order, truth, reason, and\r\nconstancy; and all the things which are destitute of these qualities are\r\ncounterfeit, deceitful, and erroneous, and have their residence about\r\nthe earth\u003ca id=\"FNA-135\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-135\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e135\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e beneath the moon, the lowest of all the planets. He,\r\ntherefore, \u003ca id=\"page-276\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e276\u003c/span\u003ewho believes that this admirable order and almost incredible\r\nregularity of the heavenly bodies, by which the preservation and entire\r\nsafety of all things is secured, is destitute of intelligence, must be\r\nconsidered to be himself wholly destitute of all intellect whatever.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI think, then, I shall not deceive myself in maintaining this dispute\r\nupon the principle of Zeno, who went the farthest in his search after\r\ntruth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. Zeno, then, defines nature to be “an artificial fire, proceeding\r\nin a regular way to generation;” for he thinks that to create and beget\r\nare especial properties of art, and that whatever may be wrought by the\r\nhands of our artificers is much more skilfully performed by nature, that\r\nis, by this artificial fire, which is the master of all other arts.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to this manner of reasoning, every particular nature is\r\nartificial, as it operates agreeably to a certain method peculiar to\r\nitself; but that universal nature which embraces all things is said by\r\nZeno to be not only artificial, but absolutely the artificer, ever\r\nthinking and providing all things useful and proper; and as every\r\nparticular nature owes its rise and increase to its own proper seed, so\r\nuniversal nature has all her motions voluntary, has affections and\r\ndesires (by the Greeks called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὁρμὰς\u003c/span\u003e) productive of actions agreeable to\r\nthem, like us, who have sense and understanding to direct us. Such,\r\nthen, is the intelligence of the universe; for which reason it may be\r\nproperly termed prudence or providence (in Greek, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπρόνοια\u003c/span\u003e), since her\r\nchiefest care and employment is to provide all things fit for its\r\nduration, that it may want nothing, and, above all, that it may be\r\nadorned with all perfection of beauty and ornament.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. Thus far have I spoken concerning the universe, and also of the\r\nstars; from whence it is apparent that there is almost an infinite\r\nnumber of Gods, always in action, but without labor or fatigue; for they\r\nare not composed of veins, nerves, and bones; their food and drink are\r\nnot such as cause humors too gross or too subtle; nor are their bodies\r\nsuch as to be subject to the fear of falls or blows, or in danger of\r\ndiseases from a weariness of limbs. Epicurus, to secure his Gods from\r\nsuch accidents, \u003ca id=\"page-277\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e277\u003c/span\u003ehas made them only outlines of Deities, void of action;\r\nbut our Gods being of the most beautiful form, and situated in the\r\npurest region of the heavens, dispose and rule their course in such a\r\nmanner that they seem to contribute to the support and preservation of\r\nall things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides these, there are many other natures which have with reason been\r\ndeified by the wisest Grecians, and by our ancestors, in consideration\r\nof the benefits derived from them; for they were persuaded that whatever\r\nwas of great utility to human kind must proceed from divine goodness,\r\nand the name of the Deity was applied to that which the Deity produced,\r\nas when we call corn Ceres, and wine Bacchus; whence that saying of\r\nTerence,\u003ca id=\"FNA-136\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-136\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e136\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWithout Ceres and Bacchus, Venus starves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd any quality, also, in which there was any singular virtue was\r\nnominated a Deity, such as Faith and Wisdom, which are placed among the\r\ndivinities in the Capitol; the last by Æmilius Scaurus, but Faith was\r\nconsecrated before by Atilius Calatinus. You see the temple of Virtue\r\nand that of Honor repaired by M. Marcellus, erected formerly, in the\r\nLigurian war, by Q. Maximus. Need I mention those dedicated to Help,\r\nSafety, Concord, Liberty, and Victory, which have been called Deities,\r\nbecause their efficacy has been so great that it could not have\r\nproceeded from any but from some divine power? In like manner are the\r\nnames of Cupid, Voluptas, and of Lubentine Venus consecrated, though\r\nthey were things vicious and not natural, whatever Velleius may think\r\nto the contrary, for they frequently stimulate nature in too violent a\r\nmanner. Everything, then, from which any great utility proceeded was\r\ndeified; and, indeed, the names I have just now mentioned are\r\ndeclaratory of the particular virtue of each Deity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. It has been a general custom likewise, that men who have done\r\nimportant service to the public should be exalted to heaven by fame and\r\nuniversal consent. Thus Hercules, Castor and Pollux, Æsculapius, and\r\nLiber became Gods (I mean Liber\u003ca id=\"FNA-137\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-137\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e137\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the son of Semele, and not him\u003ca id=\"FNA-138\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-138\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e138\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nwhom our ancestors consecrated in such state and \u003ca id=\"page-278\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e278\u003c/span\u003esolemnity with Ceres\r\nand Libera; the difference in which may be seen in our Mysteries.\u003ca id=\"FNA-139\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-139\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e139\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nBut because the offsprings of our bodies are called “Liberi” (children),\r\ntherefore the offsprings of Ceres are called Liber and Libera\r\n(Libera\u003ca id=\"FNA-140\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-140\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e140\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is the feminine, and Liber the masculine); thus likewise\r\nRomulus, or Quirinus—for they are thought to be the same—became a God.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey are justly esteemed as Deities, since their souls subsist and enjoy\r\neternity, from whence they are perfect and immortal beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is another reason, too, and that founded on natural philosophy,\r\nwhich has greatly contributed to the number of Deities; namely, the\r\ncustom of representing in human form a crowd of Gods who have supplied\r\nthe poets with fables, and filled mankind with all sorts of\r\nsuperstition. Zeno has treated of this subject, but it has been\r\ndiscussed more at length by Cleanthes and Chrysippus. All Greece was of\r\nopinion that Cœlum was castrated by his son Saturn,\u003ca id=\"FNA-141\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-141\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e141\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and that Saturn\r\nwas chained by his son Jupiter. In these impious fables, a physical and\r\nnot inelegant meaning is contained; for they would denote that the\r\ncelestial, most exalted, and ethereal nature—that is, the fiery nature,\r\nwhich produces all things by itself—is destitute of that part of the\r\nbody which is necessary for the act of generation by conjunction with\r\nanother.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. By Saturn they mean that which comprehends the course and\r\nrevolution of times and seasons; the Greek name for which Deity implies\r\nas much, for he is called \u003ca id=\"page-279\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e279\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΚρόνος,\u003c/span\u003e which is the same with \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΧρόνος\u003c/span\u003e, that\r\nis, a “space of time.” But he is called Saturn, because he is filled\r\n(\u003ci\u003esaturatur\u003c/i\u003e) with years; and he is usually feigned to have devoured his\r\nchildren, because time, ever insatiable, consumes the rolling years; but\r\nto restrain him from immoderate haste, Jupiter has confined him to the\r\ncourse of the stars, which are as chains to him. Jupiter (that is,\r\n\u003ci\u003ejuvans pater\u003c/i\u003e) signifies a “helping father,” whom, by changing the\r\ncases, we call Jove,\u003ca id=\"FNA-142\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-142\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e142\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003ea juvando\u003c/i\u003e. The poets call him “father of\r\nGods and men;”\u003ca id=\"FNA-143\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-143\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e143\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and our ancestors “the most good, the most great;”\r\nand as there is something more glorious in itself, and more agreeable to\r\nothers, to be good (that is, beneficent) than to be great, the title of\r\n“most good” precedes that of “most great.” This, then, is he whom Ennius\r\nmeans in the following passage, before quoted—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLook up to the refulgent heaven above,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich all men call, unanimously, Jove:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhich is more plainly expressed than in this other passage\u003ca id=\"FNA-144\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-144\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e144\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of the\r\nsame poet—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn whose account I’ll curse that flood of light,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhate’er it is above that shines so bright.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eOur augurs also mean the same, when, for the “thundering and lightning\r\nheaven,” they say the “thundering and lightning Jove.” Euripides, among\r\nmany excellent things, has this:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe vast, expanded, boundless sky behold,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSee it with soft embrace the earth enfold;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis own the chief of Deities above,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd this acknowledge by the name of Jove.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. The air, according to the Stoics, which is between the sea and the\r\nheaven, is consecrated by the name of Juno, and is called the sister and\r\nwife of Jove, because \u003ca id=\"page-280\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e280\u003c/span\u003eit resembles the sky, and is in close conjunction\r\nwith it. They have made it feminine, because there is nothing softer.\r\nBut I believe it is called Juno, \u003ci\u003ea juvando\u003c/i\u003e (from helping).\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo make three separate kingdoms, by fable, there remained yet the water\r\nand the earth. The dominion of the sea is given, therefore, to Neptune,\r\na brother, as he is called, of Jove; whose name, Neptunus—as \u003ci\u003ePortunus,\r\na portu\u003c/i\u003e, from a port—is derived \u003ci\u003ea nando\u003c/i\u003e (from swimming), the first\r\nletters being a little changed. The sovereignty and power over the earth\r\nis the portion of a God, to whom we, as well as the Greeks, have given a\r\nname that denotes riches (in Latin, \u003ci\u003eDis\u003c/i\u003e; in Greek, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠλούτων\u003c/span\u003e), because\r\nall things arise from the earth and return to it. He forced away\r\nProserpine (in Greek called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠερσεφόνη\u003c/span\u003e), by which the poets mean the\r\n“seed of corn,” from whence comes their fiction of Ceres, the mother of\r\nProserpine, seeking for her daughter, who was hidden from her. She is\r\ncalled Ceres, which is the same as Geres—\u003ci\u003ea gerendis\r\nfrugibus\u003c/i\u003e\u003ca id=\"FNA-145\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-145\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e145\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e—“from bearing fruit,” the first letter of the word being\r\naltered after the manner of the Greeks, for by them she is called\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΔημήτηρ\u003c/span\u003e, the same as \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΓημήτηρ\u003c/span\u003e.\u003ca id=\"FNA-146\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-146\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e146\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Again, he (\u003ci\u003equi magna vorteret\u003c/i\u003e) “who\r\nbrings about mighty changes” is called Mavors; and Minerva is so called\r\nbecause (\u003ci\u003eminueret\u003c/i\u003e, or \u003ci\u003eminaretur\u003c/i\u003e) she diminishes or menaces.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. And as the beginnings and endings of all things are of the\r\ngreatest importance, therefore they would have their sacrifices to begin\r\nwith Janus.\u003ca id=\"FNA-147\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-147\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e147\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e His name is derived \u003ci\u003eab eundo\u003c/i\u003e, from passing; from\r\nwhence thorough passages are called \u003ci\u003ejani\u003c/i\u003e, and the outward doors of\r\ncommon houses are called \u003ci\u003ejanuæ\u003c/i\u003e. The name of Vesta is, from the Greeks,\r\nthe same with their \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἙστία\u003c/span\u003e. Her province is over altars and hearths; and\r\nin the name of this Goddess, who is the keeper of all things within,\r\nprayers and sacrifices are concluded. The \u003ci\u003eDii Penates\u003c/i\u003e, “household Gods,”\r\nhave some affinity with this power, and are so called either from\r\n\u003ci\u003epenus\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ca id=\"page-281\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e281\u003c/span\u003e“all kind of human provisions,” or because \u003ci\u003epenitus insident\u003c/i\u003e\r\n(they reside within), from which, by the poets, they are called\r\n\u003ci\u003epenetrales\u003c/i\u003e also. Apollo, a Greek name, is called \u003ci\u003eSol\u003c/i\u003e, the sun; and\r\nDiana, \u003ci\u003eLuna\u003c/i\u003e, the moon. The sun (\u003ci\u003esol\u003c/i\u003e) is so named either because he\r\nis \u003ci\u003esolus\u003c/i\u003e (alone), so eminent above all the stars; or because he\r\nobscures all the stars, and appears alone as soon as he rises. \u003ci\u003eLuna\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nthe moon, is so called \u003ci\u003ea lucendo\u003c/i\u003e (from shining); she bears the name\r\nalso of Lucina: and as in Greece the women in labor invoke Diana\r\nLucifera, so here they invoke Juno Lucina. She is likewise called Diana\r\n\u003ci\u003eomnivaga\u003c/i\u003e, not \u003ci\u003ea venando\u003c/i\u003e (from hunting), but because she is reckoned\r\none of the seven stars that seem to wander.\u003ca id=\"FNA-148\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-148\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e148\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e She is called Diana\r\nbecause she makes a kind of day of the night;\u003ca id=\"FNA-149\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-149\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e149\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and presides over\r\nbirths, because the delivery is effected sometimes in seven, or at most\r\nin nine, courses of the moon; which, because they make \u003ci\u003emensa spatia\u003c/i\u003e\r\n(measured spaces), are called \u003ci\u003emenses\u003c/i\u003e (months). This occasioned a\r\npleasant observation of Timæus (as he has many). Having said in his\r\nhistory that “the same night in which Alexander was born, the temple of\r\nDiana at Ephesus was burned down,” he adds, “It is not in the least to\r\nbe wondered at, because Diana, being willing to assist at the labor of\r\nOlympias,\u003ca id=\"FNA-150\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-150\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e150\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e was absent from home.” But to this Goddess, because \u003ci\u003ead\r\nres omnes veniret\u003c/i\u003e—“she has an influence upon all things”—we have\r\ngiven the appellation of Venus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-151\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-151\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e151\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e from whom the word \u003ci\u003evenustas\u003c/i\u003e\r\n(beauty) is rather derived than Venus from \u003ci\u003evenustas\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. Do you not see, therefore, how, from the productions of nature\r\nand the useful inventions of men, have arisen fictitious and imaginary\r\nDeities, which have been the foundation of false opinions, pernicious\r\nerrors, and wretched superstitions? For we know how the different forms\r\nof the Gods—their ages, apparel, ornaments; their \u003ca id=\"page-282\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e282\u003c/span\u003epedigrees,\r\nmarriages, relations, and everything belonging to them—are adapted to\r\nhuman weakness and represented with our passions; with lust, sorrow, and\r\nanger, according to fabulous history: they have had wars and combats,\r\nnot only, as Homer relates, when they have interested themselves in two\r\ndifferent armies, but when they have fought battles in their own defence\r\nagainst the Titans and giants. These stories, of the greatest weakness\r\nand levity, are related and believed with the most implicit folly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, rejecting these fables with contempt, a Deity is diffused in every\r\npart of nature; in earth under the name of Ceres, in the sea under the\r\nname of Neptune, in other parts under other names. Yet whatever they\r\nare, and whatever characters and dispositions they have, and whatever\r\nname custom has given them, we are bound to worship and adore them. The\r\nbest, the chastest, the most sacred and pious worship of the Gods is to\r\nreverence them always with a pure, perfect, and unpolluted mind and\r\nvoice; for our ancestors, as well as the philosophers, have separated\r\nsuperstition from religion. They who prayed whole days and sacrificed,\r\nthat their children might survive them (\u003ci\u003eut superstites essent\u003c/i\u003e), were\r\ncalled superstitious, which word became afterward more general; but they\r\nwho diligently perused, and, as we may say, read or practised over\r\nagain, all the duties relating to the worship of the Gods, were called\r\n\u003ci\u003ereligiosi\u003c/i\u003e—religious, from \u003ci\u003erelegendo\u003c/i\u003e—“reading over again, or\r\npractising;” as \u003ci\u003eelegantes\u003c/i\u003e, elegant, \u003ci\u003eex eligendo\u003c/i\u003e, “from choosing,\r\nmaking a good choice;” \u003ci\u003ediligentes\u003c/i\u003e, diligent, \u003ci\u003eex diligendo\u003c/i\u003e, “from\r\nattending on what we love;” \u003ci\u003eintelligentes\u003c/i\u003e, intelligent, from\r\nunderstanding—for the signification is derived in the same manner. Thus\r\nare the words superstitious and religious understood; the one being a\r\nterm of reproach, the other of commendation. I think I have now\r\nsufficiently demonstrated that there are Gods, and what they are.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. I am now to show that the world is governed by the providence of\r\nthe Gods. This is an important point, which you Academics endeavor to\r\nconfound; and, indeed, the whole contest is with you, Cotta; for your\r\nsect, Velleius, know very little of what is said on different subjects\r\nby other schools. You read and have a taste only for \u003ca id=\"page-283\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e283\u003c/span\u003eyour own books,\r\nand condemn all others without examination. For instance, when you\r\nmentioned yesterday\u003ca id=\"FNA-152\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-152\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e152\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e that prophetic old dame \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠρόνοια\u003c/span\u003e, Providence,\r\ninvented by the Stoics, you were led into that error by imagining that\r\nProvidence was made by them to be a particular Deity that governs the\r\nwhole universe, whereas it is only spoken in a short manner; as when it\r\nis said “The commonwealth of Athens is governed by the council,” it is\r\nmeant “of the Areopagus;”\u003ca id=\"FNA-153\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-153\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e153\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e so when we say “The world is governed by\r\nprovidence,” we mean “by the providence of the Gods.” To express\r\nourselves, therefore, more fully and clearly, we say, “The world is\r\ngoverned by the providence of the Gods.” Be not, therefore, lavish of\r\nyour railleries, of which your sect has little to spare: if I may advise\r\nyou, do not attempt it. It does not become you, it is not your talent,\r\nnor is it in your power. This is not applied to you in particular who\r\nhave the education and politeness of a Roman, but to all your sect in\r\ngeneral, and especially to your leader\u003ca id=\"FNA-154\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-154\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e154\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e—a man unpolished,\r\nilliterate, insulting, without wit, without reputation, without\r\nelegance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. I assert, then, that the universe, with all its parts, was\r\noriginally constituted, and has, without any cessation, been ever\r\ngoverned by the providence of the Gods. This argument we Stoics commonly\r\ndivide into three parts; the first of which is, that the existence of\r\nthe Gods being once known, it must follow that the world is governed by\r\ntheir wisdom; the second, that as everything is under the direction of\r\nan intelligent nature, which has produced that beautiful order in the\r\nworld, it is evident that it is formed from animating principles; the\r\nthird is deduced from those glorious works which we behold in the\r\nheavens and the earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, then, we must either deny the existence of the Gods (as\r\nDemocritus and Epicurus by their doctrine of images in some sort do),\r\nor, if we acknowledge that there \u003ca id=\"page-284\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e284\u003c/span\u003eare Gods, we must believe they are\r\nemployed, and that, too, in something excellent. Now, nothing is so\r\nexcellent as the administration of the universe. The universe,\r\ntherefore, is governed by the wisdom of the Gods. Otherwise, we must\r\nimagine that there is some cause superior to the Deity, whether it be a\r\nnature inanimate, or a necessity agitated by a mighty force, that\r\nproduces those beautiful works which we behold. The nature of the Gods\r\nwould then be neither supreme nor excellent, if you subject it to that\r\nnecessity or to that nature, by which you would make the heaven, the\r\nearth, and the seas to be governed. But there is nothing superior to the\r\nDeity; the world, therefore, must be governed by him: consequently, the\r\nDeity is under no obedience or subjection to nature, but does himself\r\nrule over all nature. In effect, if we allow the Gods have\r\nunderstanding, we allow also their providence, which regards the most\r\nimportant things; for, can they be ignorant of those important things,\r\nand how they are to be conducted and preserved, or do they want power to\r\nsustain and direct them? Ignorance is inconsistent with the nature of\r\nthe Gods, and imbecility is repugnant to their majesty. From whence it\r\nfollows, as we assert, that the world is governed by the providence of\r\nthe Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. But supposing, which is incontestable, that there are Gods, they\r\nmust be animated, and not only animated, but endowed with\r\nreason—united, as we may say, in a civil agreement and society, and\r\ngoverning together one universe, as a republic or city. Thus the same\r\nreason, the same verity, the same law, which ordains good and prohibits\r\nevil, exists in the Gods as it does in men. From them, consequently, we\r\nhave prudence and understanding, for which reason our ancestors erected\r\ntemples to the Mind, Faith, Virtue, and Concord. Shall we not then allow\r\nthe Gods to have these perfections, since we worship the sacred and\r\naugust images of them? But if understanding, faith, virtue, and concord\r\nreside in human kind, how could they come on earth, unless from heaven?\r\nAnd if we are possessed of wisdom, reason, and prudence, the Gods must\r\nhave the same qualities in a greater degree; and not only have them, but\r\nemploy them in the best and greatest works. The universe is the best and\r\ngreatest \u003ca id=\"page-285\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e285\u003c/span\u003ework; therefore it must be governed by the wisdom and\r\nprovidence of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, as we have sufficiently shown that those glorious and luminous\r\nbodies which we behold are Deities—I mean the sun, the moon, the fixed\r\nand wandering stars, the firmament, and the world itself, and those\r\nother things also which have any singular virtue, and are of any great\r\nutility to human kind—it follows that all things are governed by\r\nprovidence and a divine mind. But enough has been said on the first\r\npart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. It is now incumbent on me to prove that all things are subjected\r\nto nature, and most beautifully directed by her. But, first of all, it\r\nis proper to explain precisely what that nature is, in order to come to\r\nthe more easy understanding of what I would demonstrate. Some think that\r\nnature is a certain irrational power exciting in bodies the necessary\r\nmotions. Others, that it is an intelligent power, acting by order and\r\nmethod, designing some end in every cause, and always aiming at that\r\nend, whose works express such skill as no art, no hand, can imitate;\r\nfor, they say, such is the virtue of its seed, that, however small it\r\nis, if it falls into a place proper for its reception, and meets with\r\nmatter conducive to its nourishment and increase, it forms and produces\r\neverything in its respective kind; either vegetables, which receive\r\ntheir nourishment from their roots; or animals, endowed with motion,\r\nsense, appetite, and abilities to beget their likeness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSome apply the word nature to everything; as Epicurus does, who\r\nacknowledges no cause, but atoms, a vacuum, and their accidents. But\r\nwhen we\u003ca id=\"FNA-155\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-155\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e155\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e say that nature forms and governs the world, we do not\r\napply it to a clod of earth, or piece of stone, or anything of that\r\nsort, whose parts have not the necessary cohesion,\u003ca id=\"FNA-156\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-156\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e156\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e but to a tree,\r\nin \u003ca id=\"page-286\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e286\u003c/span\u003ewhich there is not the appearance of chance, but of order and a\r\nresemblance of art.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. But if the art of nature gives life and increase to vegetables,\r\nwithout doubt it supports the earth itself; for, being impregnated with\r\nseeds, she produces every kind of vegetable, and embracing their roots,\r\nshe nourishes and increases them; while, in her turn, she receives her\r\nnourishment from the other elements, and by her exhalations gives proper\r\nsustenance to the air, the sky, and all the superior bodies. If nature\r\ngives vigor and support to the earth, by the same reason she has an\r\ninfluence over the rest of the world; for as the earth gives nourishment\r\nto vegetables, so the air is the preservation of animals. The air sees\r\nwith us, hears with us, and utters sounds with us; without it, there\r\nwould be no seeing, hearing, or sounding. It even moves with us; for\r\nwherever we go, whatever motion we make, it seems to retire and give\r\nplace to us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat which inclines to the centre, that which rises from it to the\r\nsurface, and that which rolls about the centre, constitute the universal\r\nworld, and make one entire nature; and as there are four sorts of\r\nbodies, the continuance of nature is caused by their reciprocal changes;\r\nfor the water arises from the earth, the air from the water, and the\r\nfire from the air; and, reversing this order, the air arises from fire,\r\nthe water from the air, and from the water the earth, the lowest of the\r\nfour elements, of which all beings are formed. Thus by their continual\r\nmotions backward and forward, upward and downward, the conjunction of\r\nthe several parts of the universe is preserved; a union which, in the\r\nbeauty we now behold it, must be eternal, or at least of a very long\r\nduration, and almost for an infinite space of time; and, whichever it\r\nis, the universe must of consequence be governed by nature. For what art\r\nof navigating fleets, or of marshalling an army, and—to instance the\r\nproduce of nature—what vine, what tree, what animated form and\r\nconformation of their members, give us so great an indication of skill\r\nas appears in the universe? Therefore we must either deny that there is\r\nthe least trace of an intelligent nature, or acknowledge that the world\r\nis governed by it. But since the universe \u003ca id=\"page-287\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e287\u003c/span\u003econtains all particular\r\nbeings, as well as their seeds, can we say that it is not itself\r\ngoverned by nature? That would be the same as saying that the teeth and\r\nthe beard of man are the work of nature, but that the man himself is\r\nnot. Thus the effect would be understood to be greater than the cause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. Now, the universe sows, as I may say, plants, produces, raises,\r\nnourishes, and preserves what nature administers, as members and parts\r\nof itself. If nature, therefore, governs them, she must also govern the\r\nuniverse. And, lastly, in nature’s administration there is nothing\r\nfaulty. She produced the best possible effect out of those elements\r\nwhich existed. Let any one show how it could have been better. But that\r\ncan never be; and whoever attempts to mend it will either make it worse,\r\nor aim at impossibilities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut if all the parts of the universe are so constituted that nothing\r\ncould be better for use or beauty, let us consider whether this is the\r\neffect of chance, or whether, in such a state they could possibly\r\ncohere, but by the direction of wisdom and divine providence. Nature,\r\ntherefore, cannot be void of reason, if art can bring nothing to\r\nperfection without it, and if the works of nature exceed those of art.\r\nHow is it consistent with common-sense that when you view an image or a\r\npicture, you imagine it is wrought by art; when you behold afar off a\r\nship under sail, you judge it is steered by reason and art; when you see\r\na dial or water-clock,\u003ca id=\"FNA-157\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-157\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e157\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e you believe the hours are shown by art, and\r\nnot by chance; and yet that you should imagine that the universe, which\r\ncontains all arts and the artificers, can be void of reason and\r\nunderstanding?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut if that sphere which was lately made by our friend Posidonius, the\r\nregular revolutions of which show the course of the sun, moon, and five\r\nwandering stars, as it is every day and night performed, were carried\r\ninto Scythia or Britain, who, in those barbarous countries, would doubt\r\nthat that sphere had been made so perfect by the exertion of reason?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. Yet these people\u003ca id=\"FNA-158\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-158\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e158\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e doubt whether the universe, \u003ca id=\"page-288\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e288\u003c/span\u003efrom whence all\r\nthings arise and are made, is not the effect of chance, or some\r\nnecessity, rather than the work of reason and a divine mind. According\r\nto them, Archimedes shows more knowledge in representing the motions of\r\nthe celestial globe than nature does in causing them, though the copy is\r\nso infinitely beneath the original. The shepherd in Attius,\u003ca id=\"FNA-159\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-159\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e159\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who had\r\nnever seen a ship, when he perceived from a mountain afar off the divine\r\nvessel of the Argonauts, surprised and frighted at this new object,\r\nexpressed himself in this manner:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat horrid bulk is that before my eyes,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich o’er the deep with noise and vigor flies?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt turns the whirlpools up, its force so strong,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd drives the billows as it rolls along.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe ocean’s violence it fiercely braves;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRuns furious on, and throws about the waves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSwiftly impetuous in its course, and loud,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLike the dire bursting of a show’ry cloud;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOr, like a rock, forced by the winds and rain,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow whirl’d aloft, then plunged into the main.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut hold! perhaps the Earth and Neptune jar,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd fiercely wage an elemental war;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOr Triton with his trident has o’erthrown\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis den, and loosen’d from the roots the stone;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe rocky fragment, from the bottom torn,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs lifted up, and on the surface borne.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAt first he is in suspense at the sight of this unknown object; but on\r\nseeing the young mariners, and hearing their singing, he says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLike sportive dolphins, with their snouts they roar;\u003ca id=\"FNA-160\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-160\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e160\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eand afterward goes on,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLoud in my ears methinks their voices ring,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs if I heard the God Sylvanus sing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs at first view the shepherd thinks he sees something inanimate and\r\ninsensible, but afterward, judging by more \u003ca id=\"page-289\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e289\u003c/span\u003etrustworthy indications, he\r\nbegins to figure to himself what it is; so philosophers, if they are\r\nsurprised at first at the sight of the universe, ought, when they have\r\nconsidered the regular, uniform, and immutable motions of it, to\r\nconceive that there is some Being that is not only an inhabitant of this\r\ncelestial and divine mansion, but a ruler and a governor, as architect\r\nof this mighty fabric.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. Now, in my opinion, they\u003ca id=\"FNA-161\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-161\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e161\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e do not seem to have even the least\r\nsuspicion that the heavens and earth afford anything marvellous. For, in\r\nthe first place, the earth is situated in the middle part of the\r\nuniverse, and is surrounded on all sides by the air, which we breathe,\r\nand which is called “aer,”\u003ca id=\"FNA-162\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-162\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e162\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e which, indeed, is a Greek word; but by\r\nconstant use it is well understood by our countrymen, for, indeed, it is\r\nemployed as a Latin word. The air is encompassed by the boundless ether\r\n(sky), which consists of the fires above. This word we borrow also, for\r\nwe use \u003ci\u003eæther\u003c/i\u003e in Latin as well as \u003ci\u003eaer;\u003c/i\u003e though Pacuvius thus expresses\r\nit,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 10ex\"\u003e—This, of which I speak,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn Latin’s \u003ci\u003ecœlum\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eæther\u003c/i\u003e call’d in Greek.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAs though he were not a Greek into whose mouth he puts this sentence;\r\nbut he is speaking in Latin, though we listen as if he were speaking\r\nGreek; for, as he says elsewhere,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis speech discovers him a Grecian born.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut to return to more important matters. In the sky innumerable fiery\r\nstars exist, of which the sun is the chief, enlightening all with his\r\nrefulgent splendor, and being by many degrees larger than the whole\r\nearth; and this multitude of vast fires are so far from hurting the\r\nearth, and things terrestrial, that they are of benefit to them;\r\nwhereas, if they were moved from their stations, we should inevitably be\r\nburned through the want of a proper moderation and temperature of heat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. Is it possible for any man to behold these things, and yet\r\nimagine that certain solid and individual bodies move by their natural\r\nforce and gravitation, and that a world so beautifully adorned was made\r\nby their fortuitous concourse? He who believes this may as well \u003ca id=\"page-290\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e290\u003c/span\u003ebelieve\r\nthat if a great quantity of the one-and-twenty letters, composed either\r\nof gold or any other matter, were thrown upon the ground, they would\r\nfall into such order as legibly to form the Annals of Ennius. I doubt\r\nwhether fortune could make a single verse of them. How, therefore, can\r\nthese people assert that the world was made by the fortuitous concourse\r\nof atoms, which have no color, no quality—which the Greeks call\r\n\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eποιότης\u003c/span\u003e, no sense? or that there are innumerable worlds, some rising and\r\nsome perishing, in every moment of time? But if a concourse of atoms can\r\nmake a world, why not a porch, a temple, a house, a city, which are\r\nworks of less labor and difficulty?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCertainly those men talk so idly and inconsiderately concerning this\r\nlower world that they appear to me never to have contemplated the\r\nwonderful magnificence of the heavens; which is the next topic for our\r\nconsideration.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWell, then, did Aristotle\u003ca id=\"FNA-163\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-163\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e163\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e observe: “If there were men whose\r\nhabitations had been always underground, in great and commodious houses,\r\nadorned with statues and pictures, furnished with everything which they\r\nwho are reputed happy abound with; and if, without stirring from thence,\r\nthey should be informed of a certain divine power and majesty, and,\r\nafter some time, the earth should open, and they should quit their dark\r\nabode to come to us, where they should immediately behold the earth, the\r\nseas, the heavens; should consider the vast extent of the clouds and\r\nforce of the winds; should see the sun, and observe his grandeur and\r\nbeauty, and also his generative power, inasmuch as day is occasioned by\r\nthe diffusion of his light through the sky; and when night has obscured\r\nthe earth, they should contemplate the heavens bespangled and adorned\r\nwith stars, the surprising variety of the moon in her increase and wane,\r\nthe rising and setting of all the stars, and the inviolable regularity\r\nof their courses; when,” says he, “they should see these things, they\r\nwould undoubtedly conclude that there are Gods, and that these are their\r\nmighty works.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. Thus far Aristotle. Let us imagine, also, as great darkness as\r\nwas formerly occasioned by the irruption of the fires of Mount Ætna,\r\nwhich are said to have obscured \u003ca id=\"page-291\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e291\u003c/span\u003ethe adjacent countries for two days to\r\nsuch a degree that no man could recognize his fellow; but on the third,\r\nwhen the sun appeared, they seemed to be risen from the dead. Now, if we\r\nshould be suddenly brought from a state of eternal darkness to see the\r\nlight, how beautiful would the heavens seem! But our minds have become\r\nused to it from the daily practice and habituation of our eyes, nor do\r\nwe take the trouble to search into the principles of what is always in\r\nview; as if the novelty, rather than the importance, of things ought to\r\nexcite us to investigate their causes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs he worthy to be called a man who attributes to chance, not to an\r\nintelligent cause, the constant motion of the heavens, the regular\r\ncourses of the stars, the agreeable proportion and connection of all\r\nthings, conducted with so much reason that our intellect itself is\r\nunable to estimate it rightly? When we see machines move artificially,\r\nas a sphere, a clock, or the like, do we doubt whether they are the\r\nproductions of reason? And when we behold the heavens moving with a\r\nprodigious celerity, and causing an annual succession of the different\r\nseasons of the year, which vivify and preserve all things, can we doubt\r\nthat this world is directed, I will not say only by reason, but by\r\nreason most excellent and divine? For without troubling ourselves with\r\ntoo refined a subtlety of discussion, we may use our eyes to contemplate\r\nthe beauty of those things which we assert have been arranged by divine\r\nprovidence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. First, let us examine the earth, whose situation is in the middle\r\nof the universe,\u003ca id=\"FNA-164\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-164\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e164\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e solid, round, and conglobular by its natural\r\ntendency; clothed with flowers, herbs, trees, and fruits; the whole in\r\nmultitudes incredible, and with a variety suitable to every taste: let\r\nus consider the ever-cool and running springs, the clear waters of the\r\nrivers, the verdure of their banks, the hollow depths of caves, the\r\ncragginess of rocks, the heights of impending mountains, and the\r\nboundless extent of plains, the hidden veins of gold and silver, and the\r\ninfinite quarries of marble.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-292\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e292\u003c/span\u003eWhat and how various are the kinds of animals, tame or wild? The\r\nflights and notes of birds? How do the beasts live in the fields and in\r\nthe forests? What shall I say of men, who, being appointed, as we may\r\nsay, to cultivate the earth, do not suffer its fertility to be choked\r\nwith weeds, nor the ferocity of beasts to make it desolate; who, by the\r\nhouses and cities which they build, adorn the fields, the isles, and the\r\nshores? If we could view these objects with the naked eye, as we can by\r\nthe contemplation of the mind, nobody, at such a sight, would doubt\r\nthere was a divine intelligence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut how beautiful is the sea! How pleasant to see the extent of it! What\r\na multitude and variety of islands! How delightful are the coasts! What\r\nnumbers and what diversity of inhabitants does it contain; some within\r\nthe bosom of it, some floating on the surface, and others by their\r\nshells cleaving to the rocks! While the sea itself, approaching to the\r\nland, sports so closely to its shores that those two elements appear to\r\nbe but one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNext above the sea is the air, diversified by day and night: when\r\nrarefied, it possesses the higher region; when condensed, it turns into\r\nclouds, and with the waters which it gathers enriches the earth by the\r\nrain. Its agitation produces the winds. It causes heat and cold\r\naccording to the different seasons. It sustains birds in their flight;\r\nand, being inhaled, nourishes and preserves all animated beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. Add to these, which alone remaineth to be mentioned, the firmament\r\nof heaven, a region the farthest from our abodes, which surrounds and\r\ncontains all things. It is likewise called ether, or sky, the extreme\r\nbounds and limits of the universe, in which the stars perform their\r\nappointed courses in a most wonderful manner; among which, the sun,\r\nwhose magnitude far surpasses the earth, makes his revolution round it,\r\nand by his rising and setting causes day and night; sometimes coming\r\nnear towards the earth, and sometimes going from it, he every year makes\r\ntwo contrary reversions\u003ca id=\"FNA-165\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-165\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e165\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e from the extreme \u003ca id=\"page-293\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e293\u003c/span\u003epoint of its course. In\r\nhis retreat the earth seems locked up in sadness; in his return it\r\nappears exhilarated with the heavens. The moon, which, as mathematicians\r\ndemonstrate, is bigger than half the earth, makes her revolutions\r\nthrough the same spaces\u003ca id=\"FNA-166\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-166\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e166\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e as the sun; but at one time approaching,\r\nand at another receding from, the sun, she diffuses the light which she\r\nhas borrowed from him over the whole earth, and has herself also many\r\nvarious changes in her appearance. When she is found under the sun, and\r\nopposite to it, the brightness of her rays is lost; but when the earth\r\ndirectly interposes between the moon and sun, the moon is totally\r\neclipsed. The other wandering stars have their courses round the earth\r\nin the same spaces,\u003ca id=\"FNA-167\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-167\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e167\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and rise and set in the same manner; their\r\nmotions are sometimes quick, sometimes slow, and often they stand still.\r\nThere is nothing more wonderful, nothing more beautiful. There is a vast\r\nnumber of fixed stars, distinguished by the names of certain figures, to\r\nwhich we find they have some resemblance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLI. I will here, says Balbus, looking at me, make use of the verses\r\nwhich, when you were young, you translated from Aratus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-168\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-168\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e168\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and which,\r\nbecause they are in Latin, gave me so much delight that I have many of\r\nthem still in my memory. As then, we daily see, without any change or\r\nvariation,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 25ex\"\u003e—the rest\u003ca id=\"FNA-169\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-169\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e169\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSwiftly pursue the course to which they’re bound;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd with the heavens the days and nights go round;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ethe contemplation of which, to a mind desirous of observing the\r\nconstancy of nature, is inexhaustible.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe extreme top of either point is call’d\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe pole.\u003ca id=\"FNA-170\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-170\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e170\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-294\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e294\u003c/span\u003eAbout this the two \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἌρκτοι\u003c/span\u003e are turned, which never set;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf these, the Greeks one Cynosura call,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe other Helice.\u003ca id=\"FNA-171\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-171\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e171\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe brightest stars,\u003ca id=\"FNA-172\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-172\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e172\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e indeed, of Helice are discernible all night,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich are by us Septentriones call’d.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eCynosura moves about the same pole, with a like number of stars, and\r\nranged in the same order:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis\u003ca id=\"FNA-173\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-173\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e173\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the Phœnicians choose to make their guide\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen on the ocean in the night they ride.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAdorned with stars of more refulgent light,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe other\u003ca id=\"FNA-174\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-174\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e174\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e shines, and first appears at night.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThough this is small, sailors its use have found;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMore inward is its course, and short its round.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLII. The aspect of those stars is the more admirable, because,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Dragon grim between them bends his way,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs through the winding banks the currents stray,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd up and down in sinuous bending rolls.\u003ca id=\"FNA-175\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-175\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e175\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eHis whole form is excellent; but the shape of his head and the ardor of\r\nhis eyes are most remarkable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVarious the stars which deck his glittering head;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis temples are with double glory spread;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom his fierce eyes two fervid lights afar\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFlash, and his chin shines with one radiant star;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBow’d is his head; and his round neck he bends,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd to the tail of Helice\u003ca id=\"FNA-176\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-176\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e176\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e extends.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe rest of the Dragon’s body we see\u003ca id=\"FNA-177\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-177\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e177\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e at every hour in the night.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-295\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e295\u003c/span\u003eHere\u003ca id=\"FNA-178\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-178\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e178\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e suddenly the head a little hides\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eItself, where all its parts, which are in sight,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd those unseen in the same place unite.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNear to this head\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs placed the figure of a man that moves\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWeary and sad,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhich the Greeks\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEngonasis do call, because he’s borne\u003ca id=\"FNA-179\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-179\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e179\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAbout with bended knee. Near him is placed\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe crown with a refulgent lustre graced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThis indeed is at his back; but Anguitenens (the Snake-holder) is near\r\nhis head:\u003ca id=\"FNA-180\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-180\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e180\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Greeks him Ophiuchus call, renown’d\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe name. He strongly grasps the serpent round\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith both his hands; himself the serpent folds\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBeneath his breast, and round his middle holds;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet gravely he, bright shining in the skies,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMoves on, and treads on Nepa’s\u003ca id=\"FNA-181\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-181\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e181\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e breast and eyes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe Septentriones\u003ca id=\"FNA-182\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-182\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e182\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e are followed by—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eArctophylax,\u003ca id=\"FNA-183\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-183\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e183\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e that’s said to be the same\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich we Boötes call, who has the name,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBecause he drives the Greater Bear along\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYoked to a wain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBesides, in Boötes,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA star of glittering rays about his waist,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eArcturus called, a name renown’d, is placed.\u003ca id=\"FNA-184\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-184\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e184\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-296\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e296\u003c/span\u003eBeneath which is\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Virgin of illustrious form, whose hand\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHolds a bright spike.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIII. And truly these signs are so regularly disposed that a divine\r\nwisdom evidently appears in them:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBeneath the Bear’s\u003ca id=\"FNA-185\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-185\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e185\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e head have the Twins their seat,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUnder his chest the Crab, beneath his feet\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe mighty Lion darts a trembling flame.\u003ca id=\"FNA-186\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-186\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e186\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe Charioteer\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn the left side of Gemini we see,\u003ca id=\"FNA-187\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-187\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e187\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd at his head behold fierce Helice;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn his left shoulder the bright Goat appears.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut to proceed—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is indeed a great and glorious star,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn th’ other side the Kids, inferior far,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYield but a slender light to mortal eyes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eUnder his feet\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe horned bull,\u003ca id=\"FNA-188\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-188\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e188\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e with sturdy limbs, is placed:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ehis head is spangled with a number of stars;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese by the Greeks are called the Hyades,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003efrom raining; for \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὕειν\u003c/span\u003e is to rain: therefore they are injudiciously\r\ncalled \u003ci\u003eSuculæ\u003c/i\u003e by our people, as if they had their name from \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὗς\u003c/span\u003e, a sow,\r\nand not from \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὕω\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBehind the Lesser Bear, Cepheus\u003ca id=\"FNA-189\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-189\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e189\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e follows with extended hands,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor close behind the Lesser Bear he comes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-297\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e297\u003c/span\u003eBefore him goes\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCassiopea\u003ca id=\"FNA-190\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-190\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e190\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e with a faintish light;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut near her moves (fair and illustrious sight!)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAndromeda,\u003ca id=\"FNA-191\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-191\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e191\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who, with an eager pace,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSeems to avoid her parent’s mournful face.\u003ca id=\"FNA-192\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-192\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e192\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith glittering mane the Horse\u003ca id=\"FNA-193\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-193\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e193\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e now seems to tread,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo near he comes, on her refulgent head;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith a fair star, that close to him appears,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA double form\u003ca id=\"FNA-194\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-194\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e194\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and but one light he wears;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy which he seems ambitious in the sky\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAn everlasting knot of stars to tie.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNear him the Ram, with wreathed horns, is placed;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eby whom\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fishes\u003ca id=\"FNA-195\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-195\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e195\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e are; of which one seems to haste\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSomewhat before the other, to the blast\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf the north wind exposed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIV. Perseus is described as placed at the feet of Andromeda:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd him the sharp blasts of the north wind beat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNear his left knee, but dim their light, their seat\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe small Pleiades\u003ca id=\"FNA-196\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-196\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e196\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e maintain. We find,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNot far from them, the Lyre\u003ca id=\"FNA-197\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-197\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e197\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e but slightly join’d.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNext is the winged Bird,\u003ca id=\"FNA-198\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-198\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e198\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e that seems to fly\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBeneath the spacious covering of the sky.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-298\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e298\u003c/span\u003eNear the head of the Horse\u003ca id=\"FNA-199\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-199\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e199\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e lies the right hand of Aquarius, then\r\nall Aquarius himself.\u003ca id=\"FNA-200\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-200\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e200\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Capricorn, with half the form of beast,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBreathes chill and piercing colds from his strong breast,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd in a spacious circle takes his round;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen him, while in the winter solstice bound,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe sun has visited with constant light,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe turns his course, and shorter makes the night.\u003ca id=\"FNA-201\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-201\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e201\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNot far from hence is seen\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Scorpion\u003ca id=\"FNA-202\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-202\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e202\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e rising lofty from below;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy him the Archer,\u003ca id=\"FNA-203\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-203\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e203\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e with his bended bow;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNear him the Bird, with gaudy feathers spread;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd the fierce Eagle\u003ca id=\"FNA-204\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-204\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e204\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e hovers o’er his head.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eNext comes the Dolphin;\u003ca id=\"FNA-205\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-205\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e205\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen bright Orion,\u003ca id=\"FNA-206\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-206\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e206\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who obliquely moves;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ehe is followed by\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe fervent Dog,\u003ca id=\"FNA-207\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-207\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e207\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e bright with refulgent stars:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003enext the Hare follows\u003ca id=\"FNA-208\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-208\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e208\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUnwearied in his course. At the Dog’s tail\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eArgo\u003ca id=\"FNA-209\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-209\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e209\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e moves on, and moving seems to sail;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eO’er her the Ram and Fishes have their place;\u003ca id=\"FNA-210\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-210\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e210\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe illustrious vessel touches, in her pace,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe river’s banks;\u003ca id=\"FNA-211\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-211\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e211\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhich you may see winding and extending itself to a great length.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-299\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e299\u003c/span\u003eThe Fetters\u003ca id=\"FNA-212\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-212\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e212\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e at the Fishes’ tails are hung.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy Nepa’s\u003ca id=\"FNA-213\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-213\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e213\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e head behold the Altar stand,\u003ca id=\"FNA-214\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-214\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e214\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich by the breath of southern winds is fann’d;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003enear which the Centaur\u003ca id=\"FNA-215\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-215\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e215\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHastens his mingled parts to join beneath\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Serpent,\u003ca id=\"FNA-216\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-216\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e216\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e there extending his right hand,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo where you see the monstrous Scorpion stand,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich he at the bright Altar fiercely slays.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHere on her lower parts see Hydra\u003ca id=\"FNA-217\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-217\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e217\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e raise\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHerself;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhose bulk is very far extended.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAmid the winding of her body’s placed\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe shining Goblet;\u003ca id=\"FNA-218\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-218\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e218\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and the glossy Crow\u003ca id=\"FNA-219\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-219\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e219\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePlunges his beak into her parts below.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAntecanis beneath the Twins is seen,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCall’d Procyon by the Greeks.\u003ca id=\"FNA-220\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-220\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e220\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCan any one in his senses imagine that this disposition of the stars,\r\nand this heaven so beautifully adorned, could ever have been formed by a\r\nfortuitous concourse of atoms? Or what other nature, being destitute of\r\nintellect and reason, could possibly have produced these effects, which\r\nnot only required reason to bring them about, but the very character of\r\nwhich could not be understood and appreciated without the most strenuous\r\nexertions of well-directed reason?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLV. But our admiration is not limited to the objects here described.\r\nWhat is most wonderful is that the world is so durable, and so perfectly\r\nmade for lasting that it is not to be impaired by time; for all its\r\nparts tend equally to the centre, and are bound together by a sort of\r\nchain, which surrounds the elements. This chain is nature, which \u003ca id=\"page-300\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e300\u003c/span\u003ebeing\r\ndiffused through the universe, and performing all things with judgment\r\nand reason, attracts the extremities to the centre.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf, then, the world is round, and if on that account all its parts,\r\nbeing of equal dimensions and relative proportions, mutually support and\r\nare supported by one another, it must follow that as all the parts\r\nincline to the centre (for that is the lowest place of a globe) there is\r\nnothing whatever which can put a stop to that propensity in the case of\r\nsuch great weights. For the same reason, though the sea is higher than\r\nthe earth, yet because it has the like tendency, it is collected\r\neverywhere, equally concentres, and never overflows, and is never\r\nwasted.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe air, which is contiguous, ascends by its lightness, but diffuses\r\nitself through the whole; therefore it is by nature joined and united to\r\nthe sea, and at the same time borne by the same power towards the\r\nheaven, by the thinness and heat of which it is so tempered as to be\r\nmade proper to supply life and wholesome air for the support of animated\r\nbeings. This is encompassed by the highest region of the heavens, which\r\nis called the sky, which is joined to the extremity of the air, but\r\nretains its own heat pure and unmixed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVI. The stars have their revolutions in the sky, and are continued by\r\nthe tendency of all parts towards the centre. Their duration is\r\nperpetuated by their form and figure, for they are round; which form, as\r\nI think has been before observed, is the least liable to injury; and as\r\nthey are composed of fire, they are fed by the vapors which are exhaled\r\nby the sun from the earth, the sea, and other waters; but when these\r\nvapors have nourished and refreshed the stars, and the whole sky, they\r\nare sent back to be exhaled again; so that very little is lost or\r\nconsumed by the fire of the stars and the flame of the sky. Hence we\r\nStoics conclude—which Panætius\u003ca id=\"FNA-221\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-221\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e221\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is said to have doubted of—that\r\nthe whole world at last would be consumed by a general conflagration,\r\nwhen, all moisture being exhausted, neither the earth could have any\r\nnourishment, nor the air return again, since water, of which it is\r\nformed, would then be all consumed; so that only fire would subsist; and\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-301\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e301\u003c/span\u003efrom this fire, which is an animating power and a Deity, a new world\r\nwould arise and be re-established in the same beauty.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI should be sorry to appear to you to dwell too long upon this subject\r\nof the stars, and more especially upon that of the planets, whose\r\nmotions, though different, make a very just agreement. Saturn, the\r\nhighest, chills; Mars, placed in the middle, burns; while Jupiter,\r\ninterposing, moderates their excess, both of light and heat. The two\r\nplanets beneath Mars\u003ca id=\"FNA-222\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-222\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e222\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e obey the sun. The sun himself fills the whole\r\nuniverse with his own genial light; and the moon, illuminated by him,\r\ninfluences conception, birth, and maturity. And who is there who is not\r\nmoved by this union of things, and by this concurrence of nature\r\nagreeing together, as it were, for the safety of the world? And yet I\r\nfeel sure that none of these reflections have ever been made by these\r\nmen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVII. Let us proceed from celestial to terrestrial things. What is\r\nthere in them which does not prove the principle of an intelligent\r\nnature? First, as to vegetables; they have roots to sustain their stems,\r\nand to draw from the earth a nourishing moisture to support the vital\r\nprinciple which those roots contain. They are clothed with a rind or\r\nbark, to secure them more thoroughly from heat and cold. The vines we\r\nsee take hold on props with their tendrils, as if with hands, and raise\r\nthemselves as if they were animated; it is even said that they shun\r\ncabbages and coleworts, as noxious and pestilential to them, and, if\r\nplanted by them, will not touch any part.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut what a vast variety is there of animals! and how wonderfully is\r\nevery kind adapted to preserve itself! Some are covered with hides, some\r\nclothed with fleeces, and some guarded with bristles; some are sheltered\r\nwith feathers, some with scales; some are armed with horns, and some are\r\nfurnished with wings to escape from danger. Nature hath also liberally\r\nand plentifully provided for all animals their proper food. I could\r\nexpatiate on the judicious and curious formation and disposition of\r\ntheir bodies for the reception and digestion of it, for all their\r\ninterior parts are so framed and disposed that there is \u003ca id=\"page-302\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e302\u003c/span\u003enothing\r\nsuperfluous, nothing that is not necessary for the preservation of life.\r\nBesides, nature has also given these beasts appetite and sense; in order\r\nthat by the one they may be excited to procure sufficient sustenance,\r\nand by the other they may distinguish what is noxious from what is\r\nsalutary. Some animals seek their food walking, some creeping, some\r\nflying, and some swimming; some take it with their mouth and teeth; some\r\nseize it with their claws, and some with their beaks; some suck, some\r\ngraze, some bolt it whole, and some chew it. Some are so low that they\r\ncan with ease take such food as is to be found on the ground; but the\r\ntaller, as geese, swans, cranes, and camels, are assisted by a length of\r\nneck. To the elephant is given a hand,\u003ca id=\"FNA-223\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-223\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e223\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e without which, from his\r\nunwieldiness of body, he would scarce have any means of attaining food.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVIII. But to those beasts which live by preying on others, nature has\r\ngiven either strength or swiftness. On some animals she has even\r\nbestowed artifice and cunning; as on spiders, some of which weave a sort\r\nof net to entrap and destroy whatever falls into it, others sit on the\r\nwatch unobserved to fall on their prey and devour it. The naker—by the\r\nGreeks called \u003ci\u003ePinna\u003c/i\u003e—has a kind of confederacy with the prawn for\r\nprocuring food. It has two large shells open, into which when the little\r\nfishes swim, the naker, having notice given by the bite of the prawn,\r\ncloses them immediately. Thus, these little animals, though of different\r\nkinds, seek their food in common; in which it is matter of wonder\r\nwhether they associate by any agreement, or are naturally joined\r\ntogether from their beginning.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is some cause to admire also the provision of nature in the case\r\nof those aquatic animals which are generated on land, such as\r\ncrocodiles, river-tortoises, and a certain kind of serpents, which seek\r\nthe water as soon as they are able to drag themselves along. We\r\nfrequently put duck-eggs under hens, by which, as by their true mothers,\r\nthe ducklings are at first hatched and nourished; but when they see the\r\nwater, they forsake them and run to it, as to \u003ca id=\"page-303\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e303\u003c/span\u003etheir natural abode: so\r\nstrong is the impression of nature in animals for their own\r\npreservation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIX. I have read that there is a bird called Platalea (the shoveller),\r\nthat lives by watching those fowls which dive into the sea for their\r\nprey, and when they return with it, he squeezes their heads with his\r\nbeak till they drop it, and then seizes on it himself. It is said\r\nlikewise that he is in the habit of filling his stomach with shell-fish,\r\nand when they are digested by the heat which exists in the stomach, they\r\ncast them up, and then pick out what is proper nourishment. The\r\nsea-frogs, they say, are wont to cover themselves with sand, and moving\r\nnear the water, the fishes strike at them, as at a bait, and are\r\nthemselves taken and devoured by the frogs. Between the kite and the\r\ncrow there is a kind of natural war, and wherever the one finds the eggs\r\nof the other, he breaks them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut who is there who can avoid being struck with wonder at that which\r\nhas been noticed by Aristotle, who has enriched us with so many valuable\r\nremarks? When the cranes\u003ca id=\"FNA-224\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-224\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e224\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e pass the sea in search of warmer climes,\r\nthey fly in the form of a triangle. By the first angle they repel the\r\nresisting air; on each side, their wings serve as oars to facilitate\r\ntheir flight; and the basis of their triangle is assisted by the wind in\r\ntheir stern. Those which are behind rest their necks and heads on those\r\nwhich precede; and as the leader has not the same relief, because he has\r\nnone to lean upon, he at length flies behind that he may also rest,\r\nwhile one of those which have been eased succeeds him, and through the\r\nwhole flight each regularly takes his turn.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI could produce many instances of this kind; but these may suffice. Let\r\nus now proceed to things more familiar to us. The care of beasts for\r\ntheir own preservation, their circumspection while feeding, and their\r\nmanner of taking rest in their lairs, are generally known, but still\r\nthey are greatly to be admired.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eL. Dogs cure themselves by a vomit, the Egyptian ibis by a purge; from\r\nwhence physicians have lately—I mean but few ages since—greatly\r\nimproved their art. It is reported \u003ca id=\"page-304\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e304\u003c/span\u003ethat panthers, which in barbarous\r\ncountries are taken with poisoned flesh, have a certain remedy\u003ca id=\"FNA-225\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-225\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e225\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e that\r\npreserves them from dying; and that in Crete, the wild goats, when they\r\nare wounded with poisoned arrows, seek for an herb called dittany,\r\nwhich, when they have tasted, the arrows (they say) drop from their\r\nbodies. It is said also that deer, before they fawn, purge themselves\r\nwith a little herb called hartswort.\u003ca id=\"FNA-226\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-226\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e226\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Beasts, when they receive any\r\nhurt, or fear it, have recourse to their natural arms: the bull to his\r\nhorns, the boar to his tusks, and the lion to his teeth. Some take to\r\nflight, others hide themselves; the cuttle-fish vomits\u003ca id=\"FNA-227\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-227\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e227\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e blood; the\r\ncramp-fish benumbs; and there are many animals that, by their\r\nintolerable stink, oblige their pursuers to retire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLI. But that the beauty of the world might be eternal, great care has\r\nbeen taken by the providence of the Gods to perpetuate the different\r\nkinds of animals, and vegetables, and trees, and all those things which\r\nsink deep into the earth, and are contained in it by their roots and\r\ntrunks; in order to which every individual has within itself such\r\nfertile seed that many are generated from one; and in vegetables this\r\nseed is enclosed in the heart of their fruit, but in such abundance that\r\nmen may plentifully feed on it, and the earth be always replanted.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith regard to animals, do we not see how aptly they are formed for the\r\npropagation of their species? Nature for this end created some males and\r\nsome females. Their parts are perfectly framed for generation, and they\r\nhave a wonderful propensity to copulation. When the seed has fallen on\r\nthe matrix, it draws almost all the nourishment to itself, by which the\r\nfœtus is formed; but as soon as it is discharged from thence, if it is\r\nan animal that is nourished by milk, almost all the food of the mother\r\nturns into milk, and the animal, without any direction but by the pure\r\ninstinct of nature, immediately hunts for the \u003ca id=\"page-305\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e305\u003c/span\u003eteat, and is there fed\r\nwith plenty. What makes it evidently appear that there is nothing in\r\nthis fortuitous, but the work of a wise and foreseeing nature, is, that\r\nthose females which bring forth many young, as sows and bitches, have\r\nmany teats, and those which bear a small number have but few. What\r\ntenderness do beasts show in preserving and raising up their young till\r\nthey are able to defend themselves! They say, indeed, that fish, when\r\nthey have spawned, leave their eggs; but the water easily supports them,\r\nand produces the young fry in abundance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLII. It is said, likewise, that tortoises and crocodiles, when they have\r\nlaid their eggs on the land, only cover them with earth, and then leave\r\nthem, so that their young are hatched and brought up without assistance;\r\nbut fowls and other birds seek for quiet places to lay in, where they\r\nbuild their nests in the softest manner, for the surest preservation of\r\ntheir eggs; which, when they have hatched, they defend from the cold by\r\nthe warmth of their wings, or screen them from the sultry heat of the\r\nsun. When their young begin to be able to use their wings, they attend\r\nand instruct them; and then their cares are at an end.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHuman art and industry are indeed necessary towards the preservation and\r\nimprovement of certain animals and vegetables; for there are several of\r\nboth kinds which would perish without that assistance. There are\r\nlikewise innumerable facilities (being different in different places)\r\nsupplied to man to aid him in his civilization, and in procuring\r\nabundantly what he requires. The Nile waters Egypt, and after having\r\noverflowed and covered it the whole summer, it retires, and leaves the\r\nfields softened and manured for the reception of seed. The Euphrates\r\nfertilizes Mesopotamia, into which, as we may say, it carries yearly new\r\nfields.\u003ca id=\"FNA-228\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-228\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e228\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Indus, which is the largest of all rivers,\u003ca id=\"FNA-229\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-229\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e229\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e not\r\nonly improves and cultivates the ground, \u003ca id=\"page-306\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e306\u003c/span\u003ebut sows it also; for it is\r\nsaid to carry with it a great quantity of grain. I could mention many\r\nother countries remarkable for something singular, and many fields,\r\nwhich are, in their own natures, exceedingly fertile.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLIII. But how bountiful is nature that has provided for us such an\r\nabundance of various and delicious food; and this varying with the\r\ndifferent seasons, so that we may be constantly pleased with change, and\r\nsatisfied with abundance! How seasonable and useful to man, to beasts,\r\nand even to vegetables, are the Etesian winds\u003ca id=\"FNA-230\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-230\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e230\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e she has bestowed,\r\nwhich moderate intemperate heat, and render navigation more sure and\r\nspeedy! Many things must be omitted on a subject so copious—and still a\r\ngreat deal must be said—for it is impossible to relate the great\r\nutility of rivers, the flux and reflux of the sea, the mountains clothed\r\nwith grass and trees, the salt-pits remote from the sea-coasts, the\r\nearth replete with salutary medicines, or, in short, the innumerable\r\ndesigns of nature necessary for sustenance and the enjoyment of life. We\r\nmust not forget the vicissitudes of day and night, ordained for the\r\nhealth of animated beings, giving them a time to labor and a time to\r\nrest. Thus, if we every way examine the universe, it is apparent, from\r\nthe greatest reason, that the whole is admirably governed by a divine\r\nprovidence for the safety and preservation of all beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf it should be asked for whose sake this mighty fabric was raised,\r\nshall we say for trees and other vegetables, which, though destitute of\r\nsense, are supported by nature? That would be absurd. Is it for beasts?\r\nNothing can be less probable than that the Gods should have taken such\r\npains for beings void of speech and understanding. For whom, then, will\r\nany one presume to say that the world was made? Undoubtedly for\r\nreasonable beings; these are the Gods and men, who are certainly the\r\nmost perfect of all beings, as nothing is equal to reason. It is\r\ntherefore credible that the universe, and all things in it, were made\r\nfor the Gods and for men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut we may yet more easily comprehend that the Gods have taken great\r\ncare of the interests and welfare of men, \u003ca id=\"page-307\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e307\u003c/span\u003eif we examine thoroughly into\r\nthe structure of the body, and the form and perfection of human nature.\r\nThere are three things absolutely necessary for the support of life—to\r\neat, to drink, and to breathe. For these operations the mouth is most\r\naptly framed, which, by the assistance of the nostrils, draws in the\r\nmore air.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLIV. The teeth are there placed to divide and grind the food.\u003ca id=\"FNA-231\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-231\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e231\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The\r\nfore-teeth, being sharp and opposite to each other, cut it asunder, and\r\nthe hind-teeth (called the grinders) chew it, in which office the tongue\r\nseems to assist. At the root of the tongue is the gullet, which receives\r\nwhatever is swallowed: it touches the tonsils on each side, and\r\nterminates at the interior extremity of the palate. When, by the motions\r\nof the tongue, the food is forced into this passage, it descends, and\r\nthose parts of the gullet which are below it are dilated, and those\r\nabove are contracted. There is another passage, called by physicians the\r\nrough artery,\u003ca id=\"FNA-232\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-232\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e232\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e which reaches to the lungs, for the entrance and\r\nreturn of the air we breathe; and as its orifice is joined to the roots\r\nof the tongue a little above the part to which the gullet is annexed, it\r\nis furnished with a sort of coverlid,\u003ca id=\"FNA-233\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-233\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e233\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e lest, by the accidental\r\nfalling of any food into it, the respiration should be stopped.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs the stomach, which is beneath the gullet, receives the meat and\r\ndrink, so the lungs and the heart draw in the air from without. The\r\nstomach is wonderfully composed, consisting almost wholly of nerves; it\r\nabounds with membranes and fibres, and detains what it receives, whether\r\nsolid or liquid, till it is altered and digested. It sometimes\r\ncontracts, sometimes dilates. It blends and mixes the food together, so\r\nthat it is easily concocted and digested by its force of heat, and by\r\nthe animal spirits is distributed into the other parts of the body.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLV. As to the lungs, they are of a soft and spongy substance, which\r\nrenders them the most commodious for respiration; \u003ca id=\"page-308\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e308\u003c/span\u003ethey alternately\r\ndilate and contract to receive and return the air, that what is the\r\nchief animal sustenance may be always fresh. The juice,\u003ca id=\"FNA-234\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-234\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e234\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e by which we\r\nare nourished, being separated from the rest of the food, passes the\r\nstomach and intestines to the liver, through open and direct passages,\r\nwhich lead from the mesentery to the gates of the liver (for so they\r\ncall those vessels at the entrance of it). There are other passages from\r\nthence, through which the food has its course when it has passed the\r\nliver. When the bile, and those humors which proceed from the kidneys,\r\nare separated from the food, the remaining part turns to blood, and\r\nflows to those vessels at the entrance of the liver to which all the\r\npassages adjoin. The chyle, being conveyed from this place through them\r\ninto the vessel called the hollow vein, is mixed together, and, being\r\nalready digested and distilled, passes into the heart; and from the\r\nheart it is communicated through a great number of veins to every part\r\nof the body.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not difficult to describe how the gross remains are detruded by\r\nthe motion of the intestines, which contract and dilate; but that must\r\nbe declined, as too indelicate for discourse. Let us rather explain that\r\nother wonder of nature, the air, which is drawn into the lungs, receives\r\nheat both by that already in and by the coagitation of the lungs; one\r\npart is turned back by respiration, and the other is received into a\r\nplace called the ventricle of the heart.\u003ca id=\"FNA-235\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-235\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e235\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e There is another ventricle\r\nlike it annexed to the heart, into which the blood flows from the liver\r\nthrough the hollow vein. Thus by one ventricle the blood is diffused to\r\nthe extremities through the veins, and by the other the breath is\r\ncommunicated through the arteries; and there are such numbers of both\r\ndispersed through the whole body that they manifest a divine art.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy need I speak of the bones, those supports of the body, whose joints\r\nare so wonderfully contrived for stability, and to render the limbs\r\ncomplete with regard to motion and to every action of the body? Or need\r\nI mention \u003ca id=\"page-309\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e309\u003c/span\u003ethe nerves, by which the limbs are governed—their many\r\ninterweavings, and their proceeding from the heart,\u003ca id=\"FNA-236\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-236\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e236\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e from whence,\r\nlike the veins and arteries, they have their origin, and are distributed\r\nthrough the whole corporeal frame?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLVI. To this skill of nature, and this care of providence, so diligent\r\nand so ingenious, many reflections may be added, which show what\r\nvaluable things the Deity has bestowed on man. He has made us of a\r\nstature tall and upright, in order that we might behold the heavens, and\r\nso arrive at the knowledge of the Gods; for men are not simply to dwell\r\nhere as inhabitants of the earth, but to be, as it were, spectators of\r\nthe heavens and the stars, which is a privilege not granted to any other\r\nkind of animated beings. The senses, which are the interpreters and\r\nmessengers of things, are placed in the head, as in a tower, and\r\nwonderfully situated for their proper uses; for the eyes, being in the\r\nhighest part, have the office of sentinels, in discovering to us\r\nobjects; and the ears are conveniently placed in a high part of the\r\nperson, being appointed to receive sound, which naturally ascends. The\r\nnostrils have the like situation, because all scent likewise ascends;\r\nand they have, with great reason, a near vicinity to the mouth, because\r\nthey assist us in judging of meat and drink. The taste, which is to\r\ndistinguish the quality of what we take; is in that part of the mouth\r\nwhere nature has laid open a passage for what we eat and drink. But the\r\ntouch is equally diffused through the whole body, that we may not\r\nreceive any blows, or the too rigid attacks of cold and heat, without\r\nfeeling them. And as in building the architect averts from the eyes and\r\nnose of the master those things which must necessarily be offensive, so\r\nhas nature removed far from our senses what is of the same kind in the\r\nhuman body.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLVII. What artificer but nature, whose direction is incomparable, could\r\nhave exhibited so much ingenuity in the formation of the senses? In the\r\nfirst place, she has covered and invested the eyes with the finest\r\nmembranes, which she hath made transparent, that we may see through\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-310\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e310\u003c/span\u003ethem, and firm in their texture, to preserve the eyes. She has made\r\nthem slippery and movable, that they might avoid what would offend them,\r\nand easily direct the sight wherever they will. The actual organ of\r\nsight, which is called the pupil, is so small that it can easily shun\r\nwhatever might be hurtful to it. The eyelids, which are their coverings,\r\nare soft and smooth, that they may not injure the eyes; and are made to\r\nshut at the apprehension of any accident, or to open at pleasure; and\r\nthese movements nature has ordained to be made in an instant: they are\r\nfortified with a sort of palisade of hairs, to keep off what may be\r\nnoxious to them when open, and to be a fence to their repose when sleep\r\ncloses them, and allows them to rest as if they were wrapped up in a\r\ncase. Besides, they are commodiously hidden and defended by eminences on\r\nevery side; for on the upper part the eyebrows turn aside the\r\nperspiration which falls from the head and forehead; the cheeks beneath\r\nrise a little, so as to protect them on the lower side; and the nose is\r\nplaced between them as a wall of separation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe hearing is always open, for that is a sense of which we are in need\r\neven while we are sleeping; and the moment that any sound is admitted by\r\nit we are awakened even from sleep. It has a winding passage, lest\r\nanything should slip into it, as it might if it were straight and\r\nsimple. Nature also hath taken the same precaution in making there a\r\nviscous humor, that if any little creatures should endeavor to creep in,\r\nthey might stick in it as in bird-lime. The ears (by which we mean the\r\noutward part) are made prominent, to cover and preserve the hearing,\r\nlest the sound should be dissipated and escape before the sense is\r\naffected. Their entrances are hard and horny, and their form winding,\r\nbecause bodies of this kind better return and increase the sound. This\r\nappears in the harp, lute, or horn;\u003ca id=\"FNA-237\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-237\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e237\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and from all tortuous and\r\nenclosed places sounds are returned stronger.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe nostrils, in like manner, are ever open, because we have a continual\r\nuse for them; and their entrances also are rather narrow, lest anything\r\nnoxious should enter \u003ca id=\"page-311\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e311\u003c/span\u003ethem; and they have always a humidity necessary\r\nfor the repelling dust and many other extraneous bodies. The taste,\r\nhaving the mouth for an enclosure, is admirably situated, both in regard\r\nto the use we make of it and to its security.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLVIII. Besides, every human sense is much more exquisite than those of\r\nbrutes; for our eyes, in those arts which come under their judgment,\r\ndistinguish with great nicety; as in painting, sculpture, engraving, and\r\nin the gesture and motion of bodies. They understand the beauty,\r\nproportion, and, as I may so term it, the becomingness of colors and\r\nfigures; they distinguish things of greater importance, even virtues and\r\nvices; they know whether a man is angry or calm, cheerful or sad,\r\ncourageous or cowardly, bold or timorous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe judgment of the ears is not less admirably and scientifically\r\ncontrived with regard to vocal and instrumental music. They distinguish\r\nthe variety of sounds, the measure, the stops, the different sorts of\r\nvoices, the treble and the base, the soft and the harsh, the sharp and\r\nthe flat, of which human ears only are capable to judge. There is\r\nlikewise great judgment in the smell, the taste, and the touch; to\r\nindulge and gratify which senses more arts have been invented than I\r\ncould wish: it is apparent to what excess we have arrived in the\r\ncomposition of our perfumes, the preparation of our food, and the\r\nenjoyment of corporeal pleasures.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLIX. Again, he who does not perceive the soul and mind of man, his\r\nreason, prudence, and discernment, to be the work of a divine\r\nprovidence, seems himself to be destitute of those faculties. While I am\r\non this subject, Cotta, I wish I had your eloquence: how would you\r\nillustrate so fine a subject! You would show the great extent of the\r\nunderstanding; how we collect our ideas, and join those which follow to\r\nthose which precede; establish principles, draw consequences, define\r\nthings separately, and comprehend them with accuracy; from whence you\r\ndemonstrate how great is the power of intelligence and knowledge, which\r\nis such that even God himself has no qualities more admirable. How\r\nvaluable (though you Academics despise and even deny that we have it) is\r\nour \u003ca id=\"page-312\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e312\u003c/span\u003eknowledge of exterior objects, from the perception of the senses\r\njoined to the application of the mind; by which we see in what relation\r\none thing stands to another, and by the aid of which we have invented\r\nthose arts which are necessary for the support and pleasure of life. How\r\ncharming is eloquence! How divine that mistress of the universe, as you\r\ncall it! It teaches us what we were ignorant of, and makes us capable of\r\nteaching what we have learned. By this we exhort others; by this we\r\npersuade them; by this we comfort the afflicted; by this we deliver the\r\naffrighted from their fear; by this we moderate excessive joy; by this\r\nwe assuage the passions of lust and anger. This it is which bound men by\r\nthe chains of right and law, formed the bonds of civil society, and made\r\nus quit a wild and savage life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd it will appear incredible, unless you carefully observe the facts,\r\nhow complete the work of nature is in giving us the use of speech; for,\r\nfirst of all, there is an artery from the lungs to the bottom of the\r\nmouth, through which the voice, having its original principle in the\r\nmind, is transmitted. Then the tongue is placed in the mouth, bounded by\r\nthe teeth. It softens and modulates the voice, which would otherwise be\r\nconfusedly uttered; and, by pushing it to the teeth and other parts of\r\nthe mouth, makes the sound distinct and articulate. We Stoics,\r\ntherefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to\r\nthe strings, and the nostrils to the sounding-board.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLX. But how commodious are the hands which nature has given to man, and\r\nhow beautifully do they minister to many arts! For, such is the\r\nflexibility of the joints, that our fingers are closed and opened\r\nwithout any difficulty. With their help, the hand is formed for\r\npainting, carving, and engraving; for playing on stringed instruments,\r\nand on the pipe. These are matters of pleasure. There are also works of\r\nnecessity, such as tilling the ground, building houses, making cloth and\r\nhabits, and working in brass and iron. It is the business of the mind to\r\ninvent, the senses to perceive, and the hands to execute; so that if we\r\nhave buildings, if we are clothed, if we live in safety, if we have\r\ncities, walls, habitations, and temples, it is to the hands we owe them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-313\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e313\u003c/span\u003eBy our labor, that is, by our hands, variety and plenty of food are\r\nprovided; for, without culture, many fruits, which serve either for\r\npresent or future consumption, would not be produced; besides, we feed\r\non flesh, fish, and fowl, catching some, and bringing up others. We\r\nsubdue four-footed beasts for our carriage, whose speed and strength\r\nsupply our slowness and inability. On some we put burdens, on others\r\nyokes. We convert the sagacity of the elephant and the quick scent of\r\nthe dog to our own advantage. Out of the caverns of the earth we dig\r\niron, a thing entirely necessary for the cultivation of the ground. We\r\ndiscover the hidden veins of copper, silver, and gold, advantageous for\r\nour use and beautiful as ornaments. We cut down trees, and use every\r\nkind of wild and cultivated timber, not only to make fire to warm us and\r\ndress our meat, but also for building, that we may have houses to defend\r\nus from the heat and cold. With timber likewise we build ships, which\r\nbring us from all parts every commodity of life. We are the only animals\r\nwho, from our knowledge of navigation, can manage what nature has made\r\nthe most violent—the sea and the winds. Thus we obtain from the ocean\r\ngreat numbers of profitable things. We are the absolute masters of what\r\nthe earth produces. We enjoy the mountains and the plains. The rivers\r\nand the lakes are ours. We sow the seed, and plant the trees. We\r\nfertilize the earth by overflowing it. We stop, direct, and turn the\r\nrivers: in short, by our hands we endeavor, by our various operations in\r\nthis world, to make, as it were, another nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXI. But what shall I say of human reason? Has it not even entered the\r\nheavens? Man alone of all animals has observed the courses of the stars,\r\ntheir risings and settings. By man the day, the month, the year, is\r\ndetermined. He foresees the eclipses of the sun and moon, and foretells\r\nthem to futurity, marking their greatness, duration, and precise time.\r\n\u0026gt;From the contemplation of these things the mind extracts the knowledge\r\nof the Gods—a knowledge which produces piety, with which is connected\r\njustice, and all the other virtues; from which arises a life of\r\nfelicity, inferior to that of the Gods in no single particular, except\r\nin immortality, which is not absolutely necessary \u003ca id=\"page-314\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e314\u003c/span\u003eto happy living. In\r\nexplaining these things, I think that I have sufficiently demonstrated\r\nthe superiority of man to other animated beings; from whence we should\r\ninfer that neither the form and position of his limbs nor that strength\r\nof mind and understanding could possibly be the effect of chance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXII. I am now to prove, by way of conclusion, that every thing in this\r\nworld of use to us was made designedly for us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFirst of all, the universe was made for the Gods and men, and all things\r\ntherein were prepared and provided for our service. For the world is the\r\ncommon habitation or city of the Gods and men; for they are the only\r\nreasonable beings: they alone live by justice and law. As, therefore, it\r\nmust be presumed the cities of Athens and Lacedæmon were built for the\r\nAthenians and Lacedæmonians, and as everything there is said to belong\r\nto those people, so everything in the universe may with propriety be\r\nsaid to belong to the Gods and men, and to them alone.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the next place, though the revolutions of the sun, moon, and all the\r\nstars are necessary for the cohesion of the universe, yet may they be\r\nconsidered also as objects designed for the view and contemplation of\r\nman. There is no sight less apt to satiate the eye, none more beautiful,\r\nor more worthy to employ our reason and penetration. By measuring their\r\ncourses we find the different seasons, their durations and vicissitudes,\r\nwhich, if they are known to men alone, we must believe were made only\r\nfor their sake.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoes the earth bring forth fruit and grain in such excessive abundance\r\nand variety for men or for brutes? The plentiful and exhilarating fruit\r\nof the vine and the olive-tree are entirely useless to beasts. They know\r\nnot the time for sowing, tilling, or for reaping in season and gathering\r\nin the fruits of the earth, or for laying up and preserving their\r\nstores. Man alone has the care and advantage of these things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXIII. Thus, as the lute and the pipe were made for those, and those\r\nonly, who are capable of playing on them, so it must be allowed that the\r\nproduce of the earth was designed for those only who make use of them;\r\nand \u003ca id=\"page-315\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e315\u003c/span\u003ethough some beasts may rob us of a small part, it does not follow\r\nthat the earth produced it also for them. Men do not store up corn for\r\nmice and ants, but for their wives, their children, and their families.\r\nBeasts, therefore, as I said before, possess it by stealth, but their\r\nmasters openly and freely. It is for us, therefore, that nature hath\r\nprovided this abundance. Can there be any doubt that this plenty and\r\nvariety of fruit, which delight not only the taste, but the smell and\r\nsight, was by nature intended for men only? Beasts are so far from being\r\npartakers of this design, that we see that even they themselves were\r\nmade for man; for of what utility would sheep be, unless for their wool,\r\nwhich, when dressed and woven, serves us for clothing? For they are not\r\ncapable of anything, not even of procuring their own food, without the\r\ncare and assistance of man. The fidelity of the dog, his affectionate\r\nfawning on his master, his aversion to strangers, his sagacity in\r\nfinding game, and his vivacity in pursuit of it, what do these qualities\r\ndenote but that he was created for our use? Why need I mention oxen? We\r\nperceive that their backs were not formed for carrying burdens, but\r\ntheir necks were naturally made for the yoke, and their strong broad\r\nshoulders to draw the plough. In the Golden Age, which poets speak of,\r\nthey were so greatly beneficial to the husbandman in tilling the fallow\r\nground that no violence was ever offered them, and it was even thought a\r\ncrime to eat them:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Iron Age began the fatal trade\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf blood, and hammer’d the destructive blade;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen men began to make the ox to bleed,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd on the tamed and docile beast to feed\u003ca id=\"FNA-238\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-238\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e238\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXIV. It would take a long time to relate the advantages which we\r\nreceive from mules and asses, which undoubtedly were designed for our\r\nuse. What is the swine good for but to eat? whose life, Chrysippus says,\r\nwas given it but as salt\u003ca id=\"FNA-239\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-239\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e239\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to keep it from putrefying; and as it \u003ca id=\"page-316\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e316\u003c/span\u003eis\r\nproper food for man, nature hath made no animal more fruitful. What a\r\nmultitude of birds and fishes are taken by the art and contrivance of\r\nman only, and which are so delicious to our taste that one would be\r\ntempted sometimes to believe that this Providence which watches over us\r\nwas an Epicurean! Though we think there are some birds—the alites and\r\noscines\u003ca id=\"FNA-240\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-240\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e240\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, as our augurs call them—which were made merely to\r\nforetell events.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe large savage beasts we take by hunting, partly for food, partly to\r\nexercise ourselves in imitation of martial discipline, and to use those\r\nwe can tame and instruct, as elephants, or to extract remedies for our\r\ndiseases and wounds, as we do from certain roots and herbs, the virtues\r\nof which are known by long use and experience. Represent to yourself the\r\nwhole earth and seas as if before your eyes. You will see the vast and\r\nfertile plains, the thick, shady mountains, the immense pasturage for\r\ncattle, and ships sailing over the deep with incredible celerity; nor\r\nare our discoveries only on the face of the earth, but in its secret\r\nrecesses there are many useful things, which being made for man, by man\r\nalone are discovered.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXV. Another, and in my opinion the strongest, proof that the providence\r\nof the Gods takes care of us is divination, which both of you, perhaps,\r\nwill attack; you, Cotta, because Carneades took pleasure in inveighing\r\nagainst the Stoics; and you, Velleius, because there is nothing Epicurus\r\nridicules so much as the prediction of events. Yet the truth of\r\ndivination appears in many places, on many occasions, often in private,\r\nbut particularly in public concerns. We receive many intimations from\r\nthe foresight and presages of augurs and auspices; from oracles,\r\nprophecies, dreams, and prodigies; and it often happens that by these\r\nmeans events have proved happy to men, and imminent dangers have been\r\navoided. This knowledge, therefore—call it either a kind of transport,\r\nor an art, or a natural faculty—is certainly found only in men, and is\r\na gift from the immortal Gods. If these proofs, when taken \u003ca id=\"page-317\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e317\u003c/span\u003eseparately,\r\nshould make no impression upon your mind, yet, when collected together,\r\nthey must certainly affect you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, the Gods not only provide for mankind universally, but for\r\nparticular men. You may bring this universality to gradually a smaller\r\nnumber, and again you may reduce that smaller number to individuals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXVI. For if the reasons which I have given prove to all of us that the\r\nGods take care of all men, in every country, in every part of the world\r\nseparate from our continent, they take care of those who dwell on the\r\nsame land with us, from east to west; and if they regard those who\r\ninhabit this kind of great island, which we call the globe of the earth,\r\nthey have the like regard for those who possess the parts of this\r\nisland—Europe, Asia, and Africa; and therefore they favor the parts of\r\nthese parts, as Rome, Athens, Sparta, and Rhodes; and particular men of\r\nthese cities, separate from the whole; as Curius, Fabricius,\r\nCoruncanius, in the war with Pyrrhus; in the first Punic war, Calatinus,\r\nDuillius, Metellus, Lutatius; in the second, Maximus, Marcellus,\r\nAfricanus; after these, Paullus, Gracchus, Cato; and in our fathers’\r\ntimes, Scipio, Lælius. Rome also and Greece have produced many\r\nillustrious men, who we cannot believe were so without the assistance of\r\nthe Deity; which is the reason that the poets, Homer in particular,\r\njoined their chief heroes—Ulysses, Agamemnon, Diomedes, Achilles—to\r\ncertain Deities, as companions in their adventures and dangers. Besides,\r\nthe frequent appearances of the Gods, as I have before mentioned,\r\ndemonstrate their regard for cities and particular men. This is also\r\napparent indeed from the foreknowledge of events, which we receive\r\neither sleeping or waking. We are likewise forewarned of many things by\r\nthe entrails of victims, by presages, and many other means, which have\r\nbeen long observed with such exactness as to produce an art of\r\ndivination.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere never, therefore, was a great man without divine inspiration. If a\r\nstorm should damage the corn or vineyard of a person, or any accident\r\nshould deprive him of some conveniences of life, we should not judge\r\nfrom thence that the Deity hates or neglects him. The Gods take care \u003ca id=\"page-318\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e318\u003c/span\u003eof\r\ngreat things, and disregard the small. But to truly great men all things\r\never happen prosperously; as has been sufficiently asserted and proved\r\nby us Stoics, as well as by Socrates, the prince of philosophers, in his\r\ndiscourses on the infinite advantages arising from virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLXVII. This is almost the whole that hath occurred to my mind on the\r\nnature of the Gods, and what I thought proper to advance. Do you, Cotta,\r\nif I may advise, defend the same cause. Remember that in Rome you keep\r\nthe first rank; remember that you are Pontifex; and as your school is at\r\nliberty to argue on which side you please\u003ca id=\"FNA-241\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-241\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e241\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, do you rather take mine,\r\nand reason on it with that eloquence which you acquired by your\r\nrhetorical exercises, and which the Academy improved; for it is a\r\npernicious and impious custom to argue against the Gods, whether it be\r\ndone seriously, or only in pretence and out of sport.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK III.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eWhen\u003c/span\u003e Balbus had ended this discourse, then Cotta, with a smile,\r\nrejoined, You direct me too late which side to defend; for during the\r\ncourse of your argument I was revolving in my mind what objections to\r\nmake to what you were saying, not so much for the sake of opposition, as\r\nof obliging you to explain what I did not perfectly comprehend; and as\r\nevery one may use his own judgment, it is scarcely possible for me to\r\nthink in every instance exactly what you wish.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYou have no idea, O Cotta, said Velleius, how impatient I am to hear\r\nwhat you have to say. For since our friend Balbus was highly delighted\r\nwith your discourse against Epicurus, I ought in my turn to be\r\nsolicitous to hear what you can say against the Stoics; and I therefore\r\nwill give you my best attention, for I believe you are, as usual, well\r\nprepared for the engagement.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI wish, by Hercules! I were, replies Cotta; for it is more difficult to\r\ndispute with Lucilius than it was with you. \u003ca id=\"page-319\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e319\u003c/span\u003eWhy so? says Velleius.\r\nBecause, replies Cotta, your Epicurus, in my opinion, does not contend\r\nstrongly for the Gods: he only, for the sake of avoiding any\r\nunpopularity or punishment, is afraid to deny their existence; for when\r\nhe asserts that the Gods are wholly inactive and regardless of\r\neverything, and that they have limbs like ours, but make no use of them,\r\nhe seems to jest with us, and to think it sufficient if he allows that\r\nthere are beings of any kind happy and eternal. But with regard to\r\nBalbus, I suppose you observed how many things were said by him, which,\r\nhowever false they may be, yet have a perfect coherence and connection;\r\ntherefore, my design, as I said, in opposing him, is not so much to\r\nconfute his principles as to induce him to explain what I do not clearly\r\nunderstand: for which reason, Balbus, I will give you the choice, either\r\nto answer me every particular as I go on, or permit me to proceed\r\nwithout interruption. If you want any explanation, replies Balbus, I\r\nwould rather you would propose your doubts singly; but if your intention\r\nis rather to confute me than to seek instruction for yourself, it shall\r\nbe as you please; I will either answer you immediately on every point,\r\nor stay till you have finished your discourse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. Very well, says Cotta; then let us proceed as our conversation shall\r\ndirect. But before I enter on the subject, I have a word to say\r\nconcerning myself; for I am greatly influenced by your authority, and\r\nyour exhortation at the conclusion of your discourse, when you desired\r\nme to remember that I was Cotta and Pontifex; by which I presume you\r\nintimated that I should defend the sacred rites and religion and\r\nceremonies which we received from our ancestors. Most undoubtedly I\r\nalways have, and always shall defend them, nor shall the arguments\r\neither of the learned or unlearned ever remove the opinions which I have\r\nimbibed from them concerning the worship of the immortal Gods. In\r\nmatters of religion I submit to the rules of the high-priests, T.\r\nCoruncanius, P. Scipio, and P. Scævola; not to the sentiments of Zeno,\r\nCleanthes, or Chrysippus; and I pay a greater regard to what C. Lælius,\r\none of our augurs and wise men, has written concerning religion, in that\r\nnoble oration of his, than to the most eminent of the Stoics: and as the\r\nwhole religion of the Romans at \u003ca id=\"page-320\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e320\u003c/span\u003efirst consisted in sacrifices and\r\ndivination by birds, to which have since been added predictions, if the\r\ninterpreters\u003ca id=\"FNA-242\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-242\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e242\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of the Sibylline oracle or the aruspices have foretold\r\nany event from portents and prodigies, I have ever thought that there\r\nwas no point of all these holy things which deserved to be despised. I\r\nhave been even persuaded that Romulus, by instituting divination, and\r\nNuma, by establishing sacrifices, laid the foundation of Rome, which\r\nundoubtedly would never have risen to such a height of grandeur if the\r\nGods had not been made propitious by this worship. These, Balbus, are my\r\nsentiments both as a priest and as Cotta. But you must bring me to your\r\nopinion by the force of your reason: for I have a right to demand from\r\nyou, as a philosopher, a reason for the religion which you would have me\r\nembrace. But I must believe the religion of our ancestors without any\r\nproof.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. What proof, says Balbus, do you require of me? You have proposed,\r\nsays Cotta, four articles. First of all, you undertook to prove that\r\nthere “are Gods;” secondly, “of what kind and character they are;”\r\nthirdly, that “the universe is governed by them;” lastly, that “they\r\nprovide for the welfare of mankind in particular.” Thus, if I remember\r\nrightly, you divided your discourse. Exactly so, replies Balbus; but let\r\nus see what you require.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us examine, says Cotta, every proposition. The first one—that there\r\nare Gods—is never contested but by the most impious of men; nay, though\r\nit can never be rooted out of my mind, yet I believe it on the authority\r\nof our ancestors, and not on the proofs which you have brought. Why do\r\nyou expect a proof from me, says Balbus, if you thoroughly believe it?\r\nBecause, says Cotta, I come to this discussion as if I had never thought\r\nof the Gods, or heard anything concerning them. Take me as a disciple\r\nwholly ignorant and unbiassed, and prove to me all the points which I\r\nask.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBegin, then, replies Balbus. I would first know, says Cotta, why you\r\nhave been so long in proving the existence of the Gods, which you said\r\nwas a point so very evident to all, that there was no need of any proof?\r\nIn that, answers \u003ca id=\"page-321\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e321\u003c/span\u003eBalbus, I have followed your example, whom I have\r\noften observed, when pleading in the Forum, to load the judge with all\r\nthe arguments which the nature of your cause would permit. This also is\r\nthe practice of philosophers, and I have a right to follow it. Besides,\r\nyou may as well ask me why I look upon you with two eyes, since I can\r\nsee you with one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. You shall judge, then, yourself, says Cotta, if this is a very just\r\ncomparison; for, when I plead, I do not dwell upon any point agreed to\r\nbe self-evident, because long reasoning only serves to confound the\r\nclearest matters; besides, though I might take this method in pleading,\r\nyet I should not make use of it in such a discourse as this, which\r\nrequires the nicest distinction. And with regard to your making use of\r\none eye only when you look on me, there is no reason for it, since\r\ntogether they have the same view; and since nature, to which you\r\nattribute wisdom, has been pleased to give us two passages by which we\r\nreceive light. But the truth is, that it was because you did not think\r\nthat the existence of the Gods was so evident as you could wish that you\r\ntherefore brought so many proofs. It was sufficient for me to believe it\r\non the tradition of our ancestors; and since you disregard authorities,\r\nand appeal to reason, permit my reason to defend them against yours. The\r\nproofs on which you found the existence of the Gods tend only to render\r\na proposition doubtful that, in my opinion, is not so; I have not only\r\nretained in my memory the whole of these proofs, but even the order in\r\nwhich you proposed them. The first was, that when we lift up our eyes\r\ntowards the heavens, we immediately conceive that there is some divinity\r\nthat governs those celestial bodies; on which you quoted this passage—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLook up to the refulgent heaven above,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich all men call, unanimously, Jove;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eintimating that we should invoke that as Jupiter, rather than our\r\nCapitoline Jove\u003ca id=\"FNA-243\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-243\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e243\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, or that it is evident to the whole world that\r\nthose bodies are Gods which Velleius and many others do not place even\r\nin the rank of animated beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-322\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e322\u003c/span\u003eAnother strong proof, in your opinion, was that the belief of the\r\nexistence of the Gods was universal, and that mankind was daily more and\r\nmore convinced of it. What! should an affair of such importance be left\r\nto the decision of fools, who, by your sect especially, are called\r\nmadmen?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. But the Gods have appeared to us, as to Posthumius at the Lake\r\nRegillus, and to Vatienus in the Salarian Way: something you mentioned,\r\ntoo, I know not what, of a battle of the Locrians at Sagra. Do you\r\nbelieve that the Tyndaridæ, as you called them; that is, men sprung from\r\nmen, and who were buried in Lacedæmon, as we learn from Homer, who lived\r\nin the next age—do you believe, I say, that they appeared to Vatienus\r\non the road mounted on white horses, without any servant to attend them,\r\nto tell the victory of the Romans to a country fellow rather than to M.\r\nCato, who was at that time the chief person of the senate? Do you take\r\nthat print of a horse’s hoof which is now to be seen on a stone at\r\nRegillus to be made by Castor’s horse? Should you not believe, what is\r\nprobable, that the souls of eminent men, such as the Tyndaridæ, are\r\ndivine and immortal, rather than that those bodies which had been\r\nreduced to ashes should mount on horses, and fight in an army? If you\r\nsay that was possible, you ought to show how it is so, and not amuse us\r\nwith fabulous old women’s stories.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you take these for fabulous stories? says Balbus. Is not the temple,\r\nbuilt by Posthumius in honor of Castor and Pollux, to be seen in the\r\nForum? Is not the decree of the senate concerning Vatienus still\r\nsubsisting? As to the affair of Sagra, it is a common proverb among the\r\nGreeks; when they would affirm anything strongly, they say “It is as\r\ncertain as what passed at Sagra.” Ought not such authorities to move\r\nyou? You oppose me, replies Cotta, with stories, but I ask reasons of\r\nyou\u003ca id=\"FNA-244\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-244\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e244\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. We are now to speak of predictions. No one can avoid what is to\r\ncome, and, indeed, it is commonly useless to know it; for it is a\r\nmiserable case to be afflicted to no purpose, and not to have even the\r\nlast, the common comfort, \u003ca id=\"page-323\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e323\u003c/span\u003ehope, which, according to your principles,\r\nnone can have; for you say that fate governs all things, and call that\r\nfate which has been true from all eternity. What advantage, then, is the\r\nknowledge of futurity to us, or how does it assist us to guard against\r\nimpending evils, since it will come inevitably?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut whence comes that divination? To whom is owing that knowledge from\r\nthe entrails of beasts? Who first made observations from the voice of\r\nthe crow? Who invented the Lots?\u003ca id=\"FNA-245\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-245\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e245\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Not that I give no credit to these\r\nthings, or that I despise Attius Navius’s staff, which you mentioned;\r\nbut I ought to be informed how these things are understood by\r\nphilosophers, especially as the diviners are often wrong in their\r\nconjectures. But physicians, you say, are likewise often mistaken. What\r\ncomparison can there be between divination, of the origin of which we\r\nare ignorant, and physic, which proceeds on principles intelligible to\r\nevery one? You believe that the Decii,\u003ca id=\"FNA-246\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-246\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e246\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e in devoting themselves to\r\ndeath, appeased the Gods. How great, then, was the iniquity of the Gods\r\nthat they could not be appeased but at the price of such noble blood!\r\nThat was the stratagem of generals such as the Greeks call \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eστρατήγημα\u003c/span\u003e,\r\nand it was a stratagem worthy such illustrious leaders, who consulted\r\nthe public good even at the expense of their lives: they conceived\r\nrightly, what indeed happened, that if the general rode furiously upon\r\nthe enemy, the whole army would follow his example. As to the voice of\r\nthe Fauns, I never heard it. If you assure me that you have, I shall\r\nbelieve you, though I really know not what a Faun is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. I do not, then, O Balbus, from anything that you have said,\r\nperceive as yet that it is proved that there are Gods. I believe it,\r\nindeed, but not from any arguments of the Stoics. Cleanthes, you have\r\nsaid, attributes the idea that men have of the Gods to four causes. In\r\nthe first place (as I have already sufficiently mentioned), to a\r\nforeknowledge \u003ca id=\"page-324\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e324\u003c/span\u003eof future events; secondly, to tempests, and other shocks\r\nof nature; thirdly, to the utility and plenty of things we enjoy;\r\nfourthly, to the invariable order of the stars and the heavens. The\r\narguments drawn from foreknowledge I have already answered. With regard\r\nto tempests in the air, the sea, and the earth, I own that many people\r\nare affrighted by them, and imagine that the immortal Gods are the\r\nauthors of them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut the question is, not whether there are people who believe that there\r\nare Gods, but whether there are Gods or not. As to the two other causes\r\nof Cleanthes, one of which is derived from the great abundance of\r\ndesirable things which we enjoy, the other from the invariable order of\r\nthe seasons and the heavens, I shall treat on them when I answer your\r\ndiscourse concerning the providence of the Gods—a point, Balbus, upon\r\nwhich you have spoken at great length. I shall likewise defer till then\r\nexamining the argument which you attribute to Chrysippus, that “if there\r\nis in nature anything which surpasses the power of man to produce, there\r\nmust consequently be some being better than man.” I shall also postpone,\r\ntill we come to that part of my argument, your comparison of the world\r\nto a fine house, your observations on the proportion and harmony of the\r\nuniverse, and those smart, short reasons of Zeno which you quote; and I\r\nshall examine at the same time your reasons drawn from natural\r\nphilosophy, concerning that fiery force and that vital heat which you\r\nregard as the principle of all things; and I will investigate, in its\r\nproper place, all that you advanced the other day on the existence of\r\nthe Gods, and on the sense and understanding which you attributed to the\r\nsun, the moon, and all the stars; and I shall ask you this question over\r\nand over again, By what proofs are you convinced yourself there are\r\nGods?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. I thought, says Balbus, that I had brought ample proofs to\r\nestablish this point. But such is your manner of opposing, that, when\r\nyou seem on the point of interrogating me, and when I am preparing to\r\nanswer, you suddenly divert the discourse, and give me no opportunity to\r\nreply to you; and thus those most important points concerning divination\r\nand fate are neglected which we Stoics \u003ca id=\"page-325\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e325\u003c/span\u003ehave thoroughly examined, but\r\nwhich your school has only slightly touched upon. But they are not\r\nthought essential to the question in hand; therefore, if you think\r\nproper, do not confuse them together, that we in this discussion may\r\ncome to a clear explanation of the subject of our present inquiry.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVery well, says Cotta. Since, then, you have divided the whole question\r\ninto four parts, and I have said all that I had to say on the first, I\r\nwill take the second into consideration; in which, when you attempted to\r\nshow what the character of the Gods was, you seemed to me rather to\r\nprove that there are none; for you said that it was the greatest\r\ndifficulty to draw our minds from the prepossessions of the eyes; but\r\nthat as nothing is more excellent than the Deity, you did not doubt that\r\nthe world was God, because there is nothing better in nature than the\r\nworld, and so we may reasonably think it animated, or, rather, perceive\r\nit in our minds as clearly as if it were obvious to our eyes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, in what sense do you say there is nothing better than the world? If\r\nyou mean that there is nothing more beautiful, I agree with you; that\r\nthere is nothing more adapted to our wants, I likewise agree with you:\r\nbut if you mean that nothing is wiser than the world, I am by no means\r\nof your opinion. Not that I find it difficult to conceive anything in my\r\nmind independent of my eyes; on the contrary, the more I separate my\r\nmind from my eyes, the less I am able to comprehend your opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. Nothing is better than the world, you say. Nor is there, indeed,\r\nanything on earth better than the city of Rome; do you think, therefore,\r\nthat our city has a mind; that it thinks and reasons; or that this most\r\nbeautiful city, being void of sense, is not preferable to an ant,\r\nbecause an ant has sense, understanding, reason, and memory? You should\r\nconsider, Balbus, what ought to be allowed you, and not advance things\r\nbecause they please you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor that old, concise, and, as it seemed to you, acute syllogism of Zeno\r\nhas been all which you have so much enlarged upon in handling this\r\ntopic: “That which reasons is superior to that which does not; nothing\r\nis superior to the world; therefore the world reasons.” If you would\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-326\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e326\u003c/span\u003eprove also that the world can very well read a book, follow the example\r\nof Zeno, and say, “That which can read is better than that which cannot;\r\nnothing is better than the world; the world therefore can read.” After\r\nthe same manner you may prove the world to be an orator, a\r\nmathematician, a musician—that it possesses all sciences, and, in\r\nshort, is a philosopher. You have often said that God made all things,\r\nand that no cause can produce an effect unlike itself. From hence it\r\nwill follow, not only that the world is animated, and is wise, but also\r\nplays upon the fiddle and the flute, because it produces men who play on\r\nthose instruments. Zeno, therefore, the chief of your sect, advances no\r\nargument sufficient to induce us to think that the world reasons, or,\r\nindeed, that it is animated at all, and consequently none to think it a\r\nDeity; though it may be said that there is nothing superior to it, as\r\nthere is nothing more beautiful, nothing more useful to us, nothing more\r\nadorned, and nothing more regular in its motions. But if the world,\r\nconsidered as one great whole, is not God, you should not surely deify,\r\nas you have done, that infinite multitude of stars which only form a\r\npart of it, and which so delight you with the regularity of their\r\neternal courses; not but that there is something truly wonderful and\r\nincredible in their regularity; but this regularity of motion, Balbus,\r\nmay as well be ascribed to a natural as to a divine cause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. What can be more regular than the flux and reflux of the Euripus at\r\nChalcis, the Sicilian sea, and the violence of the ocean in those\r\nparts\u003ca id=\"FNA-247\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-247\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e247\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 15ex\"\u003ewhere the rapid tide\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoes Europe from the Libyan coast divide?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eThe same appears on the Spanish and British coasts. Must we conclude\r\nthat some Deity appoints and directs these ebbings and flowings to\r\ncertain fixed times? Consider, I pray, if everything which is regular in\r\nits motion is deemed divine, whether it will not follow that tertian and\r\nquartan agues must likewise be so, as their returns have the greatest\r\nregularity. These effects are to be explained by reason; but, because\r\nyou are unable to assign any, you have recourse to a Deity as your last\r\nrefuge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-327\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e327\u003c/span\u003eThe arguments of Chrysippus appeared to you of great weight; a\r\nman undoubtedly of great quickness and subtlety (I call those quick who\r\nhave a sprightly turn of thought, and those subtle whose minds are\r\nseasoned by use as their hands are by labor): “If,” says he, “there is\r\nanything which is beyond the power of man to produce, the being who\r\nproduces it is better than man. Man is unable to make what is in the\r\nworld; the being, therefore, that could do it is superior to man. What\r\nbeing is there but a God superior to man? Therefore there is a God.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese arguments are founded on the same erroneous principles as Zeno’s,\r\nfor he does not define what is meant by being better or more excellent,\r\nor distinguish between an intelligent cause and a natural cause.\r\nChrysippus adds, “If there are no Gods, there is nothing better than\r\nman; but we cannot, without the highest arrogance, have this idea of\r\nourselves.” Let us grant that it is arrogance in man to think himself\r\nbetter than the world; but to comprehend that he has understanding and\r\nreason, and that in Orion and Canicula there is neither, is no\r\narrogance, but an indication of good sense. “Since we suppose,”\r\ncontinues he, “when we see a beautiful house, that it was built for the\r\nmaster, and not for mice, we should likewise judge that the world is the\r\nmansion of the Gods.” Yes, if I believed that the Gods built the world;\r\nbut not if, as I believe, and intend to prove, it is the work of nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. Socrates, in Xenophon, asks, “Whence had man his understanding, if\r\nthere was none in the world?” And I ask, Whence had we speech, harmony,\r\nsinging; unless we think it is the sun conversing with the moon when she\r\napproaches near it, or that the world forms an harmonious concert, as\r\nPythagoras imagines? This, Balbus, is the effect of nature; not of that\r\nnature which proceeds artificially, as Zeno says, and the character of\r\nwhich I shall presently examine into, but a nature which, by its own\r\nproper motions and mutations, modifies everything.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor I readily agree to what you said about the harmony and general\r\nagreement of nature, which you pronounced to be firmly bound and united\r\ntogether, as it were, by ties of blood; but I do not approve of what you\r\nadded, that “it could not possibly be so, unless it were so united by\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-328\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e328\u003c/span\u003eone divine spirit.” On the contrary, the whole subsists by the power of\r\nnature, independently of the Gods, and there is a kind of sympathy (as\r\nthe Greeks call it) which joins together all the parts of the universe;\r\nand the greater that is in its own power, the less is it necessary to\r\nhave recourse to a divine intelligence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. But how will you get rid of the objections which Carneades made?\r\n“If,” says he, “there is no body immortal, there is none eternal; but\r\nthere is no body immortal, nor even indivisible, or that cannot be\r\nseparated and disunited; and as every animal is in its nature passive,\r\nso there is not one which is not subject to the impressions of\r\nextraneous bodies; none, that is to say, which can avoid the necessity\r\nof enduring and suffering: and if every animal is mortal, there is none\r\nimmortal; so, likewise, if every animal may be cut up and divided, there\r\nis none indivisible, none eternal, but all are liable to be affected by,\r\nand compelled to submit to, external power. Every animal, therefore, is\r\nnecessarily mortal, dissoluble, and divisible.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor as there is no wax, no silver, no brass which cannot be converted\r\ninto something else, whatever is composed of wax, or silver, or brass\r\nmay cease to be what it is. By the same reason, if all the elements are\r\nmutable, every body is mutable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNow, according to your doctrine, all the elements are mutable; all\r\nbodies, therefore, are mutable. But if there were any body immortal,\r\nthen all bodies would not be mutable. Every body, then, is mortal; for\r\nevery body is either water, air, fire, or earth, or composed of the four\r\nelements together, or of some of them. Now, there is not one of all\r\nthese elements that does not perish; for earthly bodies are fragile:\r\nwater is so soft that the least shock will separate its parts, and fire\r\nand air yield to the least impulse, and are subject to dissolution;\r\nbesides, any of these elements perish when converted into another\r\nnature, as when water is formed from earth, the air from water, and the\r\nsky from air, and when they change in the same manner back again.\r\nTherefore, if there is nothing but what is perishable in the composition\r\nof all animals, there is no animal eternal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. But, not to insist on these arguments, there is no \u003ca id=\"page-329\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e329\u003c/span\u003eanimal to be\r\nfound that had not a beginning, and will not have an end; for every\r\nanimal being sensitive, they are consequently all sensible of cold and\r\nheat, sweet and bitter; nor can they have pleasing sensations without\r\nbeing subject to the contrary. As, therefore, they receive pleasure,\r\nthey likewise receive pain; and whatever being is subject to pain must\r\nnecessarily be subject to death. It must be allowed, therefore, that\r\nevery animal is mortal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, a being that is not sensible of pleasure or pain cannot have\r\nthe essence of an animal; if, then, on the one hand, every animal must\r\nbe sensible of pleasure and pain, and if, on the other, every being that\r\nhas these sensations cannot be immortal, we may conclude that as there\r\nis no animal insensible, there is none immortal. Besides, there is no\r\nanimal without inclination and aversion—an inclination to that which is\r\nagreeable to nature, and an aversion to the contrary: there are in the\r\ncase of every animal some things which they covet, and others they\r\nreject. What they reject are repugnant to their nature, and consequently\r\nwould destroy them. Every animal, therefore, is inevitably subject to be\r\ndestroyed. There are innumerable arguments to prove that whatever is\r\nsensitive is perishable; for cold, heat, pleasure, pain, and all that\r\naffects the sense, when they become excessive, cause destruction. Since,\r\nthen, there is no animal that is not sensitive, there is none immortal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. The substance of an animal is either simple or compound; simple, if\r\nit is composed only of earth, of fire, of air, or of water (and of such\r\na sort of being we can form no idea); compound, if it is formed of\r\ndifferent elements, which have each their proper situation, and have a\r\nnatural tendency to it—this element tending towards the highest parts,\r\nthat towards the lowest, and another towards the middle. This\r\nconjunction may for some time subsist, but not forever; for every\r\nelement must return to its first situation. No animal, therefore, is\r\neternal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut your school, Balbus, allows fire only to be the sole active\r\nprinciple; an opinion which I believe you derive from Heraclitus, whom\r\nsome men understand in one sense, some in another: but since he seems\r\nunwilling to be understood, we will pass him by. You Stoics, then, say\r\nthat \u003ca id=\"page-330\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e330\u003c/span\u003efire is the universal principle of all things; that all living\r\nbodies cease to live on the extinction of that heat; and that throughout\r\nall nature whatever is sensible of that heat lives and flourishes. Now,\r\nI cannot conceive that bodies should perish for want of heat, rather\r\nthan for want of moisture or air, especially as they even die through\r\nexcess of heat; so that the life of animals does not depend more on fire\r\nthan on the other elements.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, air and water have this quality in common with fire and heat.\r\nBut let us see to what this tends. If I am not mistaken, you believe\r\nthat in all nature there is nothing but fire, which is self-animated.\r\nWhy fire rather than air, of which the life of animals consists, and\r\nwhich is called from thence \u003ci\u003eanima\u003c/i\u003e,\u003ca id=\"FNA-248\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-248\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e248\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the soul? But how is it that\r\nyou take it for granted that life is nothing but fire? It seems more\r\nprobable that it is a compound of fire and air. But if fire is\r\nself-animated, unmixed with any other element, it must be sensitive,\r\nbecause it renders our bodies sensitive; and the same objection which I\r\njust now made will arise, that whatever is sensitive must necessarily be\r\nsusceptible of pleasure and pain, and whatever is sensible of pain is\r\nlikewise subject to the approach of death; therefore you cannot prove\r\nfire to be eternal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYou Stoics hold that all fire has need of nourishment, without which it\r\ncannot possibly subsist; that the sun, moon, and all the stars are fed\r\neither with fresh or salt waters; and the reason that Cleanthes gives\r\nwhy the sun is retrograde, and does not go beyond the tropics in the\r\nsummer or winter, is that he may not be too far from his sustenance.\r\nThis I shall fully examine hereafter; but at present we may conclude\r\nthat whatever may cease to be cannot of its own nature be eternal; that\r\nif fire wants sustenance, it will cease to be, and that, therefore, fire\r\nis not of its own nature eternal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. After all, what kind of a Deity must that be who \u003ca id=\"page-331\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e331\u003c/span\u003eis not graced with\r\none single virtue, if we should succeed in forming this idea of such a\r\none? Must we not attribute prudence to a Deity? a virtue which consists\r\nin the knowledge of things good, bad, and indifferent. Yet what need has\r\na being for the discernment of good and ill who neither has nor can have\r\nany ill? Of what use is reason to him? of what use is understanding? We\r\nmen, indeed, find them useful to aid us in finding out things which are\r\nobscure by those which are clear to us; but nothing can be obscure to a\r\nDeity. As to justice, which gives to every one his own, it is not the\r\nconcern of the Gods; since that virtue, according to your doctrine,\r\nreceived its birth from men and from civil society. Temperance consists\r\nin abstinence from corporeal pleasures, and if such abstinence hath a\r\nplace in heaven, so also must the pleasures abstained from. Lastly, if\r\nfortitude is ascribed to the Deity, how does it appear? In afflictions,\r\nin labor, in danger? None of these things can affect a God. How, then,\r\ncan we conceive this to be a Deity that makes no use of reason, and is\r\nnot endowed with any virtue?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, when I consider what is advanced by the Stoics, my contempt for\r\nthe ignorant multitude vanishes. For these are their divinities. The\r\nSyrians worshipped a fish. The Egyptians consecrated beasts of almost\r\nevery kind. The Greeks deified many men; as Alabandus\u003ca id=\"FNA-249\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-249\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e249\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e at Alabandæ,\r\nTenes at Tenedos; and all Greece pay divine honors to Leucothea (who was\r\nbefore called Ino), to her son Palæmon, to Hercules, to Æsculapius, and\r\nto the Tyndaridæ; our own people to Romulus, and to many others, who, as\r\ncitizens newly admitted into the ancient body, they imagine have been\r\nreceived into heaven.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are the Gods of the illiterate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. What are the notions of you philosophers? In what respect are they\r\nsuperior to these ideas? I shall pass them over; for they are certainly\r\nvery admirable. Let the world, then, be a Deity, for that, I conceive,\r\nis what you mean by\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L4\"\u003eThe refulgent heaven above,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich all men call, unanimously, Jove.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-332\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e332\u003c/span\u003eBut why are we to add many more Gods? What a multitude of them there\r\nis! At least, it seems so to me; for every constellation, according to\r\nyou, is a Deity: to some you give the name of beasts, as the goat, the\r\nscorpion, the bull, the lion; to others the names of inanimate things,\r\nas the ship, the altar, the crown.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut supposing these were to be allowed, how can the rest be granted, or\r\neven so much as understood? When we call corn Ceres, and wine Bacchus,\r\nwe make use of the common manner of speaking; but do you think any one\r\nso mad as to believe that his food is a Deity? With regard to those who,\r\nyou say, from having been men became Gods, I should be very willing to\r\nlearn of you, either how it was possible formerly, or, if it had ever\r\nbeen, why is it not so now? I do not conceive, as things are at present,\r\nhow Hercules,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBurn’d with fiery torches on Mount Œta,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eas Accius says, should rise, with the flames,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo the eternal mansions of his father.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, Homer also says that Ulysses\u003ca id=\"FNA-250\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-250\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e250\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e met him in the shades below,\r\namong the other dead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut yet I should be glad to know which Hercules we should chiefly\r\nworship; for they who have searched into those histories, which are but\r\nlittle known, tell us of several. The most ancient is he who fought with\r\nApollo about the Tripos of Delphi, and is son of Jupiter and Lisyto; and\r\nof the most ancient Jupiters too, for we find many Jupiters also in the\r\nGrecian chronicles. The second is the Egyptian Hercules, and is believed\r\nto be the son of Nilus, and to be the author of the Phrygian characters.\r\nThe third, to whom they offered sacrifices, is one of the \u003ca id=\"page-333\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e333\u003c/span\u003eIdæi\r\nDactyli.\u003ca id=\"FNA-251\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-251\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e251\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The fourth is the son of Jupiter and Asteria, the sister\r\nof Latona, chiefly honored by the Tyrians, who pretend that\r\nCarthago\u003ca id=\"FNA-252\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-252\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e252\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is his daughter. The fifth, called Belus, is worshipped in\r\nIndia. The sixth is the son of Alcmena by Jupiter; but by the third\r\nJupiter, for there are many Jupiters, as you shall soon see.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. Since this examination has led me so far, I will convince you that\r\nin matters of religion I have learned more from the pontifical rites,\r\nthe customs of our ancestors, and the vessels of Numa,\u003ca id=\"FNA-253\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-253\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e253\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e which Lælius\r\nmentions in his little Golden Oration, than from all the learning of the\r\nStoics; for tell me, if I were a disciple of your school, what answer\r\ncould I make to these questions? If there are Gods, are nymphs also\r\nGoddesses? If they are Goddesses, are Pans and Satyrs in the same rank?\r\nBut they are not; consequently, nymphs are not Goddesses. Yet they have\r\ntemples publicly dedicated to them. What do you conclude from thence?\r\nOthers who have temples are not therefore Gods. But let us go on. You\r\ncall Jupiter and Neptune Gods; their brother Pluto, then, is one; and if\r\nso, those rivers also are Deities which they say flow in the infernal\r\nregions—Acheron, Cocytus, Pyriphlegethon; Charon also, and Cerberus,\r\nare Gods; but that cannot be allowed; nor can Pluto be placed among the\r\nDeities. What, then, will you say of his brothers?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus reasons Carneades; not with any design to destroy the existence of\r\nthe Gods (for what would less become a philosopher?), but to convince us\r\nthat on that matter the Stoics have said nothing plausible. If, then,\r\nJupiter and Neptune are Gods, adds he, can that divinity be denied to\r\ntheir father Saturn, who is principally worshipped throughout the West?\r\nIf Saturn is a God, then must his father, Cœlus, be one too, and so must\r\nthe parents of Cœlus, which are the Sky and Day, as also their brothers\r\nand sisters, which by ancient genealogists are \u003ca id=\"page-334\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e334\u003c/span\u003ethus named: Love,\r\nDeceit, Fear, Labor, Envy, Fate, Old Age, Death, Darkness, Misery,\r\nLamentation, Favor, Fraud, Obstinacy, the Destinies, the Hesperides, and\r\nDreams; all which are the offspring of Erebus and Night. These monstrous\r\nDeities, therefore, must be received, or else those from whom they\r\nsprung must be disallowed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. If you say that Apollo, Vulcan, Mercury, and the rest of that\r\nsort are Gods, can you doubt the divinity of Hercules and Æsculapius,\r\nBacchus, Castor and Pollux? These are worshipped as much as those, and\r\neven more in some places. Therefore they must be numbered among the\r\nGods, though on the mother’s side they are only of mortal race.\r\nAristæus, who is said to have been the son of Apollo, and to have found\r\nout the art of making oil from the olive; Theseus, the son of Neptune;\r\nand the rest whose fathers were Deities, shall they not be placed in the\r\nnumber of the Gods? But what think you of those whose mothers were\r\nGoddesses? They surely have a better title to divinity; for, in the\r\ncivil law, as he is a freeman who is born of a freewoman, so, in the law\r\nof nature, he whose mother is a Goddess must be a God. The isle\r\nAstypalæa religiously honor Achilles; and if he is a Deity, Orpheus and\r\nRhesus are so, who were born of one of the Muses; unless, perhaps, there\r\nmay be a privilege belonging to sea marriages which land marriages have\r\nnot. Orpheus and Rhesus are nowhere worshipped; and if they are\r\ntherefore not Gods, because they are nowhere worshipped as such, how can\r\nthe others be Deities? You, Balbus, seemed to agree with me that the\r\nhonors which they received were not from their being regarded as\r\nimmortals, but as men richly endued with virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut if you think Latona a Goddess, how can you avoid admitting Hecate to\r\nbe one also, who was the daughter of Asteria, Latona’s sister? Certainly\r\nshe is one, if we may judge by the altars erected to her in Greece. And\r\nif Hecate is a Goddess, how can you refuse that rank to the Eumenides?\r\nfor they also have a temple at Athens, and, if I understand right, the\r\nRomans have consecrated a grove to them. The Furies, too, whom we look\r\nupon as the inspectors into and scourges of impiety, I suppose, must\r\nhave their divinity too. As you hold that there is some divinity\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-335\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e335\u003c/span\u003epresides over every human affair, there is one who presides over the\r\ntravail of matrons, whose name, \u003ci\u003eNatio\u003c/i\u003e, is derived \u003ci\u003ea nascentibus\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nfrom nativities, and to whom we used to sacrifice in our processions in\r\nthe fields of Ardæa; but if she is a Deity, we must likewise acknowledge\r\nall those you mentioned, Honor, Faith, Intellect, Concord; by the same\r\nrule also, Hope, Juno, Moneta,\u003ca id=\"FNA-254\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-254\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e254\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and every idle phantom, every child\r\nof our imagination, are Deities. But as this consequence is quite\r\ninadmissible, do not you either defend the cause from which it flows.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. What say you to this? If these are Deities, which we worship and\r\nregard as such, why are not Serapis and Isis\u003ca id=\"FNA-255\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-255\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e255\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e placed in the same\r\nrank? And if they are admitted, what reason have we to reject the Gods\r\nof the barbarians? Thus we should deify oxen, horses, the ibis, hawks,\r\nasps, crocodiles, fishes, dogs, wolves, cats, and many other beasts. If\r\nwe go back to the source of this superstition, we must equally condemn\r\nall the Deities from which they proceed. Shall Ino, whom the Greeks call\r\nLeucothea, and we Matuta, be reputed a Goddess, because she was the\r\ndaughter of Cadmus, and shall that title be refused to Circe and\r\nPasiphae,\u003ca id=\"FNA-256\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-256\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e256\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who had the sun for their father, and Perseis, daughter\r\nof the Ocean, for their mother? It is true, Circe has divine honors paid\r\nher by our colony of Circæum; therefore you call her a Goddess; but what\r\nwill you say of Medea, the granddaughter of the Sun and the Ocean, and\r\ndaughter of Æetes and Idyia? What will you say of her brother Absyrtus,\r\nwhom Pacuvius calls Ægialeus, though the other name is more frequent in\r\nthe writings of the ancients? If you did not deify one as well as the\r\nother, what will become of Ino? for all these Deities have the same\r\norigin.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShall Amphiaraus and Tryphonius be called Gods? Our publicans, when some\r\nlands in Bœotia were exempted from the tax, as belonging to the immortal\r\nGods, denied that \u003ca id=\"page-336\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e336\u003c/span\u003eany were immortal who had been men. But if you deify\r\nthese, Erechtheus surely is a God, whose temple and priest we have seen\r\nat Athens. And can you, then, refuse to acknowledge also Codrus, and\r\nmany others who shed their blood for the preservation of their country?\r\nAnd if it is not allowable to consider all these men as Gods, then,\r\ncertainly, probabilities are not in favor of our acknowledging the\r\n\u003ci\u003eDivinity\u003c/i\u003e of those previously mentioned beings from whom these have\r\nproceeded.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is easy to observe, likewise, that if in many countries people have\r\npaid divine honors to the memory of those who have signalized their\r\ncourage, it was done in order to animate others to practise virtue, and\r\nto expose themselves the more willingly to dangers in their country’s\r\ncause. From this motive the Athenians have deified Erechtheus and his\r\ndaughters, and have erected also a temple, called Leocorion, to the\r\ndaughters of Leus.\u003ca id=\"FNA-257\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-257\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e257\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Alabandus is more honored in the city which he\r\nfounded than any of the more illustrious Deities; from thence\r\nStratonicus had a pleasant turn—as he had many—when he was troubled\r\nwith an impertinent fellow who insisted that Alabandus was a God, but\r\nthat Hercules was not; “Very well,” says he, “then let the anger of\r\nAlabandus fall upon me, and that of Hercules upon you.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. Do you not consider, Balbus, to what lengths your arguments for the\r\ndivinity of the heaven and the stars will carry you? You deify the sun\r\nand the moon, which the Greeks take to be Apollo and Diana. If the moon\r\nis a Deity, the morning-star, the other planets, and all the fixed stars\r\nare also Deities; and why shall not the rainbow be placed in that\r\nnumber? for it is so wonderfully beautiful that it is justly said to be\r\nthe daughter of Thaumas.\u003ca id=\"FNA-258\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-258\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e258\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e But if you deify the rainbow, what regard\r\nwill you pay to the clouds? for the colors which appear in the bow are\r\nonly formed of the clouds, one of which is said to have brought forth\r\nthe Centaurs; and if you deify the clouds, you cannot pay less regard to\r\nthe seasons, which the Roman people have really consecrated. Tempests,\r\nshowers, \u003ca id=\"page-337\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e337\u003c/span\u003estorms, and whirlwinds must then be Deities. It is certain, at\r\nleast, that our captains used to sacrifice a victim to the waves before\r\nthey embarked on any voyage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs you deify the earth under the name of Ceres,\u003ca id=\"FNA-259\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-259\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e259\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e because, as you\r\nsaid, she bears fruits (\u003ci\u003ea gerendo\u003c/i\u003e), and the ocean under that of\r\nNeptune, rivers and fountains have the same right. Thus we see that\r\nMaso, the conqueror of Corsica, dedicated a temple to a fountain, and\r\nthe names of the Tiber, Spino, Almo, Nodinus, and other neighboring\r\nrivers are in the prayers\u003ca id=\"FNA-260\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-260\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e260\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of the augurs. Therefore, either the\r\nnumber of such Deities will be infinite, or we must admit none of them,\r\nand wholly disapprove of such an endless series of superstition.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. None of all these assertions, then, are to be admitted. I must\r\nproceed now, Balbus, to answer those who say that, with regard to those\r\ndeified mortals, so religiously and devoutly reverenced, the public\r\nopinion should have the force of reality. To begin, then: they who are\r\ncalled theologists say that there are three Jupiters; the first and\r\nsecond of whom were born in Arcadia; one of whom was the son of Æther,\r\nand father of Proserpine and Bacchus; the other the son of Cœlus, and\r\nfather of Minerva, who is called the Goddess and inventress of war; the\r\nthird one born of Saturn in the isle of Crete,\u003ca id=\"FNA-261\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-261\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e261\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e where his sepulchre\r\nis shown. The sons of Jupiter (\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΔιόσκουροι\u003c/span\u003e) also, among the Greeks, have\r\nmany names; first, the three who at Athens have the title of\r\nAnactes,\u003ca id=\"FNA-262\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-262\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e262\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Tritopatreus, Eubuleus, and Dionysus, sons of the most\r\nancient king Jupiter and Proserpine; the next are Castor and Pollux,\r\nsons of the third Jupiter and Leda; and, lastly, three others, by some\r\ncalled Alco,\u003ca id=\"FNA-263\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-263\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e263\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Melampus, and Tmolus, sons of Atreus, the son of\r\nPelops.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-338\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e338\u003c/span\u003eAs to the Muses, there were at first four—Thelxiope, Aœde, Arche, and\r\nMelete—daughters of the second Jupiter; afterward there were nine,\r\ndaughters of the third Jupiter and Mnemosyne; there were also nine\r\nothers, having the same appellations, born of Pierus and Antiopa, by the\r\npoets usually called Pierides and Pieriæ. Though \u003ci\u003eSol\u003c/i\u003e (the sun) is so\r\ncalled, you say, because he is \u003ci\u003esolus\u003c/i\u003e (single); yet how many suns do\r\ntheologists mention? There is one, the son of Jupiter and grandson of\r\nÆther; another, the son of Hyperion; a third, who, the Egyptians say,\r\nwas of the city Heliopolis, sprung from Vulcan, the son of Nilus; a\r\nfourth is said to have been born at Rhodes of Acantho, in the times of\r\nthe heroes, and was the grandfather of Jalysus, Camirus, and Lindus; a\r\nfifth, of whom, it is pretended, Aretes and Circe were born at Colchis.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. There are likewise several Vulcans. The first (who had of Minerva\r\nthat Apollo whom the ancient historians call the tutelary God of Athens)\r\nwas the son of Cœlus; the second, whom the Egyptians call Opas,\u003ca id=\"FNA-264\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-264\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e264\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and\r\nwhom they looked upon as the protector of Egypt, is the son of Nilus;\r\nthe third, who is said to have been the master of the forges at Lemnos,\r\nwas the son of the third Jupiter and of Juno; the fourth, who possessed\r\nthe islands near Sicily called Vulcaniæ,\u003ca id=\"FNA-265\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-265\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e265\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e was the son of Menalius.\r\nOne Mercury had Cœlus for his father and Dies for his mother; another,\r\nwho is said to dwell in a cavern, and is the same as Trophonius, is the\r\nson of Valens and Phoronis. A third, of whom, and of Penelope, Pan was\r\nthe offspring, is the son of the third Jupiter and Maia. A fourth, whom\r\nthe Egyptians think it a crime to name, is the son of Nilus. A fifth,\r\nwhom we call, in their language, Thoth, as with them the first month of\r\nthe year is called, is he whom the people of Pheneum\u003ca id=\"FNA-266\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-266\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e266\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e worship, and\r\nwho is said to have killed Argus, to have fled for it into Egypt, and to\r\nhave given laws and learning to the Egyptians. The first of the\r\nÆsculapii, the God of Arcadia, who is said to have invented the probe\r\nand to have been the first person who taught men to use bandages for\r\nwounds, is the son of \u003ca id=\"page-339\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e339\u003c/span\u003eApollo. The second, who was killed with thunder,\r\nand is said to be buried in Cynosura,\u003ca id=\"FNA-267\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-267\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e267\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is the brother of the second\r\nMercury. The third, who is said to have found out the art of purging the\r\nstomach, and of drawing teeth, is the son of Arsippus and Arsinoe; and\r\nin Arcadia there is shown his tomb, and the wood which is consecrated to\r\nhim, near the river Lusium.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. I have already spoken of the most ancient of the Apollos, who is\r\nthe son of Vulcan, and tutelar God of Athens. There is another, son of\r\nCorybas, and native of Crete, for which island he is said to have\r\ncontended with Jupiter himself. A third, who came from the regions of\r\nthe Hyperborei\u003ca id=\"FNA-268\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-268\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e268\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to Delphi, is the son of the third Jupiter and of\r\nLatona. A fourth was of Arcadia, whom the Arcadians called Nomio,\u003ca id=\"FNA-269\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-269\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e269\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nbecause they regarded him as their legislator. There are likewise many\r\nDianas. The first, who is thought to be the mother of the winged Cupid,\r\nis the daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine. The second, who is more\r\nknown, is daughter of the third Jupiter and of Latona. The third, whom\r\nthe Greeks often call by her father’s name, is the daughter of Upis\u003ca id=\"FNA-270\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-270\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e270\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nand Glauce. There are many also of the Dionysi. The first was the son of\r\nJupiter and Proserpine. The second, who is said to have killed Nysa, was\r\nthe son of Nilus. The third, who reigned in Asia, and for whom the\r\nSabazia\u003ca id=\"FNA-271\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-271\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e271\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e were instituted, was the son of Caprius. The fourth, for\r\nwhom they celebrate the Orphic festivals, sprung from Jupiter and Luna.\r\nThe fifth, who is supposed to have instituted the Trieterides, was the\r\nson of Nysus and Thyone.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe first Venus, who has a temple at Elis, was the daughter of Cœlus and\r\nDies. The second arose out of the froth of the sea, and became, by\r\nMercury, the mother of the second Cupid. The third, the daughter of\r\nJupiter and Diana, was married to Vulcan, but is said to have had\r\nAnteros by Mars. The fourth was a Syrian, born of Tyro, who is called\r\nAstarte, and is said to have been married to \u003ca id=\"page-340\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e340\u003c/span\u003eAdonis. I have already\r\nmentioned one Minerva, mother of Apollo. Another, who is worshipped at\r\nSais, a city in Egypt, sprung from Nilus. The third, whom I have also\r\nmentioned, was daughter of Jupiter. The fourth, sprung from Jupiter and\r\nCoryphe, the daughter of the Ocean; the Arcadians call her Coria, and\r\nmake her the inventress of chariots. A fifth, whom they paint with wings\r\nat her heels, was daughter of Pallas, and is said to have killed her\r\nfather for endeavoring to violate her chastity. The first Cupid is said\r\nto be the son of Mercury and the first Diana; the second, of Mercury and\r\nthe second Venus; the third, who is the same as Anteros, of Mars and the\r\nthird Venus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll these opinions arise from old stories that were spread in Greece;\r\nthe belief in which, Balbus, you well know, ought to be stopped, lest\r\nreligion should suffer. But you Stoics, so far from refuting them, even\r\ngive them authority by the mysterious sense which you pretend to find in\r\nthem. Can you, then, think, after this plain refutation, that there is\r\nneed to employ more subtle reasonings? But to return from this\r\ndigression.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. We see that the mind, faith, hope, virtue, honor, victory, health,\r\nconcord, and things of such kind, are purely natural, and have nothing\r\nof divinity in them; for either they are inherent in us, as the mind,\r\nfaith, hope, virtue, and concord are; or else they are to be desired, as\r\nhonor, health, and victory. I know indeed that they are useful to us,\r\nand see that statues have been religiously erected for them; but as to\r\ntheir divinity, I shall begin to believe it when you have proved it for\r\ncertain. Of this kind I may particularly mention Fortune, which is\r\nallowed to be ever inseparable from inconstancy and temerity, which are\r\ncertainly qualities unworthy of a divine being.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut what delight do you take in the explication of fables, and in the\r\netymology of names?—that Cœlus was castrated by his son, and that\r\nSaturn was bound in chains by his son! By your defence of these and such\r\nlike fictions you would make the authors of them appear not only not to\r\nbe madmen, but to have been even very wise. But the pains which you take\r\nwith your etymologies deserve our pity. That Saturn is so called because\r\n\u003ci\u003ese saturat annis\u003c/i\u003e, he is full of years; Mavors, Mars, because \u003ci\u003emagna\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-341\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e341\u003c/span\u003evortit\u003c/i\u003e, he brings about mighty changes; Minerva, because \u003ci\u003eminuit\u003c/i\u003e, she\r\ndiminishes, or because \u003ci\u003eminatur\u003c/i\u003e, she threatens; Venus, because \u003ci\u003evenit\r\nad omnia\u003c/i\u003e, she comes to all; Ceres, \u003ci\u003ea gerendo\u003c/i\u003e, from bearing. How\r\ndangerous is this method! for there are many names would puzzle you.\r\n\u0026gt;From what would you derive Vejupiter and Vulcan? Though, indeed, if you\r\ncan derive Neptune \u003ci\u003ea nando\u003c/i\u003e, from swimming, in which you seem to me to\r\nflounder about yourself more than Neptune, you may easily find the\r\norigin of all names, since it is founded only upon the conformity of\r\nsome one letter. Zeno first, and after him Cleanthes and Chrysippus, are\r\nput to the unnecessary trouble of explaining mere fables, and giving\r\nreasons for the several appellations of every Deity; which is really\r\nowning that those whom we call Gods are not the representations of\r\ndeities, but natural things, and that to judge otherwise is an error.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. Yet this error has so much prevailed that even pernicious things\r\nhave not only the title of divinity ascribed to them, but have also\r\nsacrifices offered to them; for Fever has a temple on the Palatine hill,\r\nand Orbona another near that of the Lares, and we see on the Esquiline\r\nhill an altar consecrated to Ill-fortune. Let all such errors be\r\nbanished from philosophy, if we would advance, in our dispute concerning\r\nthe immortal Gods, nothing unworthy of immortal beings. I know myself\r\nwhat I ought to believe; which is far different from what you have said.\r\nYou take Neptune for an intelligence pervading the sea. You have the\r\nsame opinion of Ceres with regard to the earth. I cannot, I own, find\r\nout, or in the least conjecture, what that intelligence of the sea or\r\nthe earth is. To learn, therefore, the existence of the Gods, and of\r\nwhat description and character they are, I must apply elsewhere, not to\r\nthe Stoics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us proceed to the two other parts of our dispute: first, “whether\r\nthere is a divine providence which governs the world;” and lastly,\r\n“whether that providence particularly regards mankind;” for these are\r\nthe remaining propositions of your discourse; and I think that, if you\r\napprove of it, we should examine these more accurately. With all my\r\nheart, says Velleius, for I readily agree to what you have hitherto\r\nsaid, and expect still greater things from you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am unwilling to interrupt you, says Balbus to Cotta, \u003ca id=\"page-342\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e342\u003c/span\u003ebut we shall\r\ntake another opportunity, and I shall effectually convince you. But\u003ca id=\"FNA-272\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-272\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e272\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n* * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003eXXVI.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShall I adore, and bend the suppliant knee,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho scorn their power and doubt their deity?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoes not Niobe here seem to reason, and by that reasoning to bring all\r\nher misfortunes upon herself? But what a subtle expression is the\r\nfollowing!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn strength of will alone depends success;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ea maxim capable of leading us into all that is bad.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThough I’m confined, his malice yet is vain,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis tortured heart shall answer pain for pain;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis ruin soothe my soul with soft content,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLighten my chains, and welcome banishment!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis, now, is reason; that reason which you say the divine goodness has\r\ndenied to the brute creation, kindly to bestow it on men alone. How\r\ngreat, how immense the favor! Observe the same Medea flying from her\r\nfather and her country:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe guilty wretch from her pursuer flies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy her own hands the young Absyrtus slain,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis mangled limbs she scatters o’er the plain,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat the fond sire might sink beneath his woe,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd she to parricide her safety owe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eReflection, as well as wickedness, must have been necessary to the\r\npreparation of such a fact; and did he too, who prepared that fatal\r\nrepast for his brother, do it without reflection?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRevenge as great as Atreus’ injury\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShall sink his soul and crown his misery.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. Did not Thyestes himself, not content with having defiled his\r\nbrother’s bed (of which Atreus with great justice thus complains,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen faithless comforts, in the lewd embrace,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith vile adultery stain a royal race,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe blood thus mix’d in fouler currents flows,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTaints the rich soil, and breeds unnumber’d woes)—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-343\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e343\u003c/span\u003edid he not, I say, by that adultery, aim at the possession of the\r\ncrown? Atreus thus continues:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA lamb, fair gift of heaven, with golden fleece,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePromised in vain to fix my crown in peace;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut base Thyestes, eager for the prey,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCrept to my bed, and stole the gem away.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you not perceive that Thyestes must have had a share of reason\r\nproportionable to the greatness of his crimes—such crimes as are not\r\nonly represented to us on the stage, but such as we see committed, nay,\r\noften exceeded, in the common course of life? The private houses of\r\nindividual citizens, the public courts, the senate, the camp, our\r\nallies, our provinces, all agree that reason is the author of all the\r\nill, as well as of all the good, which is done; that it makes few act\r\nwell, and that but seldom, but many act ill, and that frequently; and\r\nthat, in short, the Gods would have shown greater benevolence in denying\r\nus any reason at all than in sending us that which is accompanied with\r\nso much mischief; for as wine is seldom wholesome, but often hurtful in\r\ndiseases, we think it more prudent to deny it to the patient than to run\r\nthe risk of so uncertain a remedy; so I do not know whether it would not\r\nbe better for mankind to be deprived of wit, thought, and penetration,\r\nor what we call reason, since it is a thing pernicious to many and very\r\nuseful to few, than to have it bestowed upon them with so much\r\nliberality and in such abundance. But if the divine will has really\r\nconsulted the good of man in this gift of reason, the good of those men\r\nonly was consulted on whom a well-regulated one is bestowed: how few\r\nthose are, if any, is very apparent. We cannot admit, therefore, that\r\nthe Gods consulted the good of a few only; the conclusion must be that\r\nthey consulted the good of none.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. You answer that the ill use which a great part of mankind make\r\nof reason no more takes away the goodness of the Gods, who bestow it as\r\na present of the greatest benefit to them, than the ill use which\r\nchildren make of their patrimony diminishes the obligation which they\r\nhave to their parents for it. We grant you this; but where is the\r\nsimilitude? It was far from Deianira’s design to injure Hercules when\r\nshe made him a present \u003ca id=\"page-344\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e344\u003c/span\u003eof the shirt dipped in the blood of the\r\nCentaurs. Nor was it a regard to the welfare of Jason of Pheræ that\r\ninfluenced the man who with his sword opened his imposthume, which the\r\nphysicians had in vain attempted to cure. For it has often happened that\r\npeople have served a man whom they intended to injure, and have injured\r\none whom they designed to serve; so that the effect of the gift is by no\r\nmeans always a proof of the intention of the giver; neither does the\r\nbenefit which may accrue from it prove that it came from the hands of a\r\nbenefactor. For, in short, what debauchery, what avarice, what crime\r\namong men is there which does not owe its birth to thought and\r\nreflection, that is, to reason? For all opinion is reason: right reason,\r\nif men’s thoughts are conformable to truth; wrong reason, if they are\r\nnot. The Gods only give us the mere faculty of reason, if we have any;\r\nthe use or abuse of it depends entirely upon ourselves; so that the\r\ncomparison is not just between the present of reason given us by the\r\nGods, and a patrimony left to a son by his father; for, after all, if\r\nthe injury of mankind had been the end proposed by the Gods, what could\r\nthey have given them more pernicious than reason? for what seed could\r\nthere be of injustice, intemperance, and cowardice, if reason were not\r\nlaid as the foundation of these vices?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. I mentioned just now Medea and Atreus, persons celebrated in\r\nheroic poems, who had used this reason only for the contrivance and\r\npractice of the most flagitious crimes; but even the trifling characters\r\nwhich appear in comedies supply us with the like instances of this\r\nreasoning faculty; for example, does not he, in the Eunuch, reason with\r\nsome subtlety?—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat, then, must I resolve upon?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShe turn’d me out-of-doors; she sends for me back again;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShall I go? no, not if she were to beg it of me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnother, in the Twins, making no scruple of opposing a received maxim,\r\nafter the manner of the Academics, asserts that when a man is in love\r\nand in want, it is pleasant\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo have a father covetous, crabbed, and passionate,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho has no love or affection for his children.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-345\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e345\u003c/span\u003eThis unaccountable opinion he strengthens thus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYou may defraud him of his profits, or forge letters in his name,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOr fright him by your servant into compliance;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what you take from such an old hunks,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow much more pleasantly do you spend it!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn the contrary, he says that an easy, generous father is an\r\ninconvenience to a son in love; for, says he,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI can’t tell how to abuse so good, so prudent a parent,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho always foreruns my desires, and meets me purse in hand,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo support me in my pleasures: this easy goodness and generosity\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eQuite defeat all my frauds, tricks, and stratagems.\u003ca id=\"FNA-273\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-273\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e273\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat are these frauds, tricks, and stratagems but the effects of reason?\r\nO excellent gift of the Gods! Without this Phormio could not have said,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFind me out the old man: I have something hatching for him in my\r\nhead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. But let us pass from the stage to the bar. The prætor\u003ca id=\"FNA-274\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-274\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e274\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e takes\r\nhis seat. To judge whom? The man who set fire to our archives. How\r\nsecretly was that villany conducted! Q. Sosius, an illustrious Roman\r\nknight, of the Picene field,\u003ca id=\"FNA-275\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-275\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e275\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e confessed the fact. Who else is to be\r\ntried? He who forged the public registers—Alenus, an artful fellow, who\r\ncounterfeited the handwriting of the six officers.\u003ca id=\"FNA-276\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-276\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e276\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Let us call to\r\nmind other trials: that on the subject of the gold of Tolosa, or the\r\nconspiracy of Jugurtha. Let us trace back the informations laid against\r\nTubulus for bribery in his judicial office; and, since that, the\r\nproceedings of the tribune Peduceus concerning the \u003ca id=\"page-346\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e346\u003c/span\u003eincest of the\r\nvestals. Let us reflect upon the trials which daily happen for\r\nassassinations, poisonings, embezzlement of public money, frauds in\r\nwills, against which we have a new law; then that action against the\r\nadvisers or assisters of any theft; the many laws concerning frauds in\r\nguardianship, breaches of trust in partnerships and commissions in\r\ntrade, and other violations of faith in buying, selling, borrowing, or\r\nlending; the public decree on a private affair by the Lætorian Law;\u003ca id=\"FNA-277\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-277\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e277\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nand, lastly, that scourge of all dishonesty, the law against fraud,\r\nproposed by our friend Aquillius; that sort of fraud, he says, by which\r\none thing is pretended and another done. Can we, then, think that this\r\nplentiful fountain of evil sprung from the immortal Gods? If they have\r\ngiven reason to man, they have likewise given him subtlety, for subtlety\r\nis only a deceitful manner of applying reason to do mischief. To them\r\nlikewise we must owe deceit, and every other crime, which, without the\r\nhelp of reason, would neither have been thought of nor committed. As the\r\nold woman wished\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat to the fir which on Mount Pelion grew\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe axe had ne’er been laid,\u003ca id=\"FNA-278\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-278\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e278\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eso we should wish that the Gods had never bestowed this ability on man,\r\nthe abuse of which is so general that the small number of those who make\r\na good use of it are often oppressed by those who make a bad use of it;\r\nso that it seems to be given rather to help vice than to promote virtue\r\namong us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. This, you insist on it, is the fault of man, and not of the Gods.\r\nBut should we not laugh at a physician or pilot, though they are weak\r\nmortals, if they were to lay the blame of their ill success on the\r\nviolence of the disease or the fury of the tempest? Had there not been\r\ndanger, \u003ca id=\"page-347\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e347\u003c/span\u003ewe should say, who would have applied to you? This reasoning\r\nhas still greater force against the Deity. The fault, you say, is in\r\nman, if he commits crimes. But why was not man endued with a reason\r\nincapable of producing any crimes? How could the Gods err? When we leave\r\nour effects to our children, it is in hopes that they may be well\r\nbestowed; in which we may be deceived, but how can the Deity be\r\ndeceived? As Phœbus when he trusted his chariot to his son Phaëthon, or\r\nas Neptune when he indulged his son Theseus in granting him three\r\nwishes, the consequence of which was the destruction of Hippolitus?\r\nThese are poetical fictions; but truth, and not fables, ought to proceed\r\nfrom philosophers. Yet if those poetical Deities had foreseen that\r\ntheir indulgence would have proved fatal to their sons, they must have\r\nbeen thought blamable for it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAristo of Chios used often to say that the philosophers do hurt to such\r\nof their disciples as take their good doctrine in a wrong sense; thus\r\nthe lectures of Aristippus might produce debauchees, and those of Zeno\r\npedants. If this be true, it were better that philosophers should be\r\nsilent than that their disciples should be corrupted by a\r\nmisapprehension of their master’s meaning; so if reason, which was\r\nbestowed on mankind by the Gods with a good design, tends only to make\r\nmen more subtle and fraudulent, it had been better for them never to\r\nhave received it. There could be no excuse for a physician who\r\nprescribes wine to a patient, knowing that he will drink it and\r\nimmediately expire. Your Providence is no less blamable in giving reason\r\nto man, who, it foresaw, would make a bad use of it. Will you say that\r\nit did not foresee it? Nothing could please me more than such an\r\nacknowledgment. But you dare not. I know what a sublime idea you\r\nentertain of her.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. But to conclude. If folly, by the unanimous consent of\r\nphilosophers, is allowed to be the greatest of all evils, and if no one\r\never attained to true wisdom, we, whom they say the immortal Gods take\r\ncare of, are consequently in a state of the utmost misery. For that\r\nnobody is well, or that nobody can be well, is in effect the same thing;\r\nand, in my opinion, that no man is truly wise, or that no \u003ca id=\"page-348\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e348\u003c/span\u003eman can be\r\ntruly wise, is likewise the same thing. But I will insist no further on\r\nso self-evident a point. Telamon in one verse decides the question. If,\r\nsays he, there is a Divine Providence,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGood men would be happy, bad men miserable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eBut it is not so. If the Gods had regarded mankind, they should have\r\nmade them all virtuous; but if they did not regard the welfare of all\r\nmankind, at least they ought to have provided for the happiness of the\r\nvirtuous. Why, therefore, was the Carthaginian in Spain suffered to\r\ndestroy those best and bravest men, the two Scipios? Why did\r\nMaximus\u003ca id=\"FNA-279\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-279\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e279\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e lose his son, the consul? Why did Hannibal kill Marcellus?\r\nWhy did Cannæ deprive us of Paulus? Why was the body of Regulus\r\ndelivered up to the cruelty of the Carthaginians? Why was not Africanus\r\nprotected from violence in his own house? To these, and many more\r\nancient instances, let us add some of later date. Why is Rutilius, my\r\nuncle, a man of the greatest virtue and learning, now in banishment? Why\r\nwas my own friend and companion Drusus assassinated in his own house?\r\nWhy was Scævola, the high-priest, that pattern of moderation and\r\nprudence, massacred before the statue of Vesta? Why, before that, were\r\nso many illustrious citizens put to death by Cinna? Why had Marius, the\r\nmost perfidious of men, the power to cause the death of Catulus, a man\r\nof the greatest dignity? But there would be no end of enumerating\r\nexamples of good men made miserable and wicked men prosperous. Why did\r\nthat Marius live to an old age, and die so happily at his own house in\r\nhis seventh consulship? Why was that inhuman wretch Cinna permitted to\r\nenjoy so long a reign?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. He, indeed, met with deserved punishment at last. But would it\r\nnot have been better that these inhumanities had been prevented than\r\nthat the author of them should be punished afterward? Varius, a most\r\nimpious wretch, was tortured and put to death. If this was his\r\npunishment for the murdering Drusus by the sword, and Metellus by\r\npoison, would it not have been better to have preserved their lives than\r\nto have their deaths avenged on \u003ca id=\"page-349\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e349\u003c/span\u003eVarius? Dionysius was thirty-eight\r\nyears a tyrant over the most opulent and flourishing city; and, before\r\nhim, how many years did Pisistratus tyrannize in the very flower of\r\nGreece! Phalaris and Apollodorus met with the fate they deserved, but\r\nnot till after they had tortured and put to death multitudes. Many\r\nrobbers have been executed; but the number of those who have suffered\r\nfor their crimes is short of those whom they have robbed and murdered.\r\nAnaxarchus,\u003ca id=\"FNA-280\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-280\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e280\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e a scholar of Democritus, was cut to pieces by command\r\nof the tyrant of Cyprus; and Zeno of Elea\u003ca id=\"FNA-281\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-281\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e281\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e ended his life in\r\ntortures. What shall I say of Socrates,\u003ca id=\"FNA-282\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-282\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e282\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e whose death, as often as I\r\nread of it in Plato, draws fresh tears from my eyes? If, therefore, the\r\nGods really see everything that happens to men, you must acknowledge\r\nthey make no distinction between the good and the bad.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. Diogenes the Cynic used to say of Harpalus, one of the most\r\nfortunate villains of his time, that the constant prosperity of such a\r\nman was a kind of witness against the Gods. Dionysius, of whom we have\r\nbefore spoken, after he had pillaged the temple of Proserpine at Locris,\r\nset sail for Syracuse, and, having a fair wind during his voyage, said,\r\nwith a smile, “See, my friends, what favorable winds the immortal Gods\r\nbestow upon church-robbers.” Encouraged by this prosperous event, he\r\nproceeded in his impiety. When he landed at Peloponnesus, he went into\r\nthe temple of Jupiter Olympius, and disrobed his statue of a golden\r\nmantle of great weight, an ornament which the tyrant Gelo\u003ca id=\"FNA-283\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-283\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e283\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e had given\r\nout of the spoils of the Carthaginians, and at the same time, in a\r\njesting manner, he said “that a golden mantle was too heavy in summer\r\nand too cold in winter;” and then, throwing a woollen cloak over the\r\nstatue, added, “This will serve for all seasons.” At another time, he\r\nordered the golden beard of Æsculapius of Epidaurus to be taken away,\r\nsaying that “it \u003ca id=\"page-350\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e350\u003c/span\u003ewas absurd for the son to have a beard, when his father\r\nhad none.” He likewise robbed the temples of the silver tables, which,\r\naccording to the ancient custom of Greece, bore this inscription, “To\r\nthe good Gods,” saying “he was willing to make use of their goodness;”\r\nand, without the least scruple, took away the little golden emblems of\r\nvictory, the cups and coronets, which were in the stretched-out hands of\r\nthe statues, saying “he did not take, but receive them; for it would be\r\nfolly not to accept good things from the Gods, to whom we are constantly\r\npraying for favors, when they stretch out their hands towards us.” And,\r\nlast of all, all the things which he had thus pillaged from the temples\r\nwere, by his order, brought to the market-place and sold by the common\r\ncrier; and, after he had received the money for them, he commanded every\r\npurchaser to restore what he had bought, within a limited time, to the\r\ntemples from whence they came. Thus to his impiety towards the Gods he\r\nadded injustice to man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. Yet neither did Olympian Jove strike him with his thunder, nor did\r\nÆsculapius cause him to die by tedious diseases and a lingering death.\r\nHe died in his bed, had funeral honors\u003ca id=\"FNA-284\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-284\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e284\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e paid to him, and left his\r\npower, which he had wickedly obtained, as a just and lawful inheritance\r\nto his son.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not without concern that I maintain a doctrine which seems to\r\nauthorize evil, and which might probably give a sanction to it, if\r\nconscience, without any divine assistance, did not point out, in the\r\nclearest manner, the difference between virtue and vice. Without\r\nconscience man is contemptible. For as no family or state can be\r\nsupposed to be formed with any reason or discipline if there are no\r\nrewards for good actions nor punishment for crimes, so we cannot believe\r\nthat a Divine Providence regulates the world if there is no distinction\r\nbetween the honest and the wicked.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-351\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e351\u003c/span\u003eBut the Gods, you say, neglect trifling things: the little fields or\r\nvineyards of particular men are not worthy their attention; and if\r\nblasts or hail destroy their product, Jupiter does not regard it, nor do\r\nkings extend their care to the lower offices of government. This\r\nargument might have some weight if, in bringing Rutilius as an instance,\r\nI had only complained of the loss of his farm at Formiæ; but I spoke of\r\na personal misfortune, his banishment.\u003ca id=\"FNA-285\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-285\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e285\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. All men agree that external benefits, such as vineyards, corn,\r\nolives, plenty of fruit and grain, and, in short, every convenience and\r\nproperty of life, are derived from the Gods; and, indeed, with reason,\r\nsince by our virtue we claim applause, and in virtue we justly glory,\r\nwhich we could have no right to do if it was the gift of the Gods, and\r\nnot a personal merit. When we are honored with new dignities, or blessed\r\nwith increase of riches; when we are favored by fortune beyond our\r\nexpectation, or luckily delivered from any approaching evil, we return\r\nthanks for it to the Gods, and assume no praise to ourselves. But who\r\never thanked the Gods that he was a good man? We thank them, indeed, for\r\nriches, health, and honor. For these we invoke the all-good and\r\nall-powerful Jupiter; but not for wisdom, temperance, and justice. No\r\none ever offered a tenth of his estate to Hercules to be made wise. It\r\nis reported, indeed, of Pythagoras that he sacrificed an ox to the Muses\r\nupon having made some new discovery in geometry;\u003ca id=\"FNA-286\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-286\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e286\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e but, for my part,\r\nI cannot believe it, because he refused to sacrifice even to Apollo at\r\nDelos, lest he should defile the altar with blood. But to return. It is\r\nuniversally agreed that good fortune we must ask of the Gods, but wisdom\r\nmust arise from ourselves; and though temples have been consecrated to\r\nthe Mind, to Virtue, and to Faith, yet that does not contradict their\r\nbeing \u003ca id=\"page-352\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e352\u003c/span\u003einherent in us. In regard to hope, safety, assistance, and\r\nvictory, we must rely upon the Gods for them; from whence it follows, as\r\nDiogenes said, that the prosperity of the wicked destroys the idea of a\r\nDivine Providence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. But good men have sometimes success. They have so; but we\r\ncannot, with any show of reason, attribute that success to the Gods.\r\nDiagoras, who is called the atheist, being at Samothrace, one of his\r\nfriends showed him several pictures\u003ca id=\"FNA-287\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-287\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e287\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of people who had endured very\r\ndangerous storms; “See,” says he, “you who deny a providence, how many\r\nhave been saved by their prayers to the Gods.” “Ay,” says Diagoras, “I\r\nsee those who were saved, but where are those painted who were\r\nshipwrecked?” At another time, he himself was in a storm, when the\r\nsailors, being greatly alarmed, told him they justly deserved that\r\nmisfortune for admitting him into their ship; when he, pointing to\r\nothers under the like distress, asked them “if they believed Diagoras\r\nwas also aboard those ships?” In short, with regard to good or bad\r\nfortune, it matters not what you are, or how you have lived. The Gods,\r\nlike kings, regard not everything. What similitude is there between\r\nthem? If kings neglect anything, want of knowledge may be pleaded in\r\ntheir defence; but ignorance cannot be brought as an excuse for the\r\nGods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. Your manner of justifying them is somewhat extraordinary, when\r\nyou say that if a wicked man dies without suffering for his crimes, the\r\nGods inflict a punishment on his children, his children’s children, and\r\nall his posterity. O wonderful equity of the Gods! What city would\r\nendure the maker of a law which should condemn a son or a grandson for a\r\ncrime committed by the father or the grandfather?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShall Tantalus’ unhappy offspring know\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo end, no close, of this long scene of woe?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen will the dire reward of guilt be o’er,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Myrtilus demand revenge no more?\u003ca id=\"FNA-288\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-288\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e288\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhether the poets have corrupted the Stoics, or the Stoics given\r\nauthority to the poets, I cannot easily determine. Both alike are to be\r\ncondemned. If those persons \u003ca id=\"page-353\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e353\u003c/span\u003ewhose names have been branded in the\r\nsatires of Hipponax or Archilochus\u003ca id=\"FNA-289\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-289\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e289\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e were driven to despair, it did\r\nnot proceed from the Gods, but had its origin in their own minds. When\r\nwe see Ægistus and Paris lost in the heat of an impure passion, why are\r\nwe to attribute it to a Deity, when the crime, as it were, speaks for\r\nitself? I believe that those who recover from illness are more indebted\r\nto the care of Hippocrates than to the power of Æsculapius; that Sparta\r\nreceived her laws from Lycurgus\u003ca id=\"FNA-290\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-290\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e290\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e rather than from Apollo; that those\r\neyes of the maritime coast, Corinth and Carthage, were plucked out, the\r\none by Critolaus, the other by Hasdrubal, without the assistance of any\r\ndivine anger, since you yourselves confess that a Deity cannot possibly\r\nbe angry on any provocation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. But could not the Deity have assisted and preserved those eminent\r\ncities? Undoubtedly he could; for, according to your doctrine, his power\r\nis infinite, and without the least labor; and as nothing but the will is\r\nnecessary to the motion of our bodies, so the divine will of the Gods,\r\nwith the like ease, can create, move, and change all things. This you\r\nhold, not from a mere phantom of superstition, but on natural and\r\nsettled principles of reason; for matter, you say, of which all things\r\nare composed and consist, is susceptible of all forms and changes, and\r\nthere is nothing which cannot be, or cease to be, in an instant; and\r\nthat Divine Providence has the command and disposal of this universal\r\nmatter, and consequently can, in any part of the universe, do whatever\r\nshe pleases: from whence I conclude that this Providence either knows\r\nnot the extent of her power, or neglects human affairs, or cannot judge\r\nwhat is best for us. Providence, you say, does not extend her care to\r\nparticular men; there \u003ca id=\"page-354\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e354\u003c/span\u003eis no wonder in that, since she does not extend\r\nit to cities, or even to nations, or people. If, therefore, she neglects\r\nwhole nations, is it not very probable that she neglects all mankind?\r\nBut how can you assert that the Gods do not enter into all the little\r\ncircumstances of life, and yet hold that they distribute dreams among\r\nmen? Since you believe in dreams, it is your part to solve this\r\ndifficulty. Besides, you say we ought to call upon the Gods. Those who\r\ncall upon the Gods are individuals. Divine Providence, therefore,\r\nregards individuals, which consequently proves that they are more at\r\nleisure than you imagine. Let us suppose the Divine Providence to be\r\ngreatly busied; that it causes the revolutions of the heavens, supports\r\nthe earth, and rules the seas; why does it suffer so many Gods to be\r\nunemployed? Why is not the superintendence of human affairs given to\r\nsome of those idle Deities which you say are innumerable?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the purport of what I had to say concerning “the Nature of the\r\nGods;” not with a design to destroy their existence, but merely to show\r\nwhat an obscure point it is, and with what difficulties an explanation\r\nof it is attended.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. Balbus, observing that Cotta had finished his discourse—You have\r\nbeen very severe, says he, against a Divine Providence, a doctrine\r\nestablished by the Stoics with piety and wisdom; but, as it grows too\r\nlate, I shall defer my answer to another day. Our argument is of the\r\ngreatest importance; it concerns our altars,\u003ca id=\"FNA-291\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-291\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e291\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e our hearths, our\r\ntemples, nay, even the walls of our city, which you priests hold sacred;\r\nyou, who by religion defend Rome better than she is defended by her\r\nramparts. This is a cause which, while I have life, I think I cannot\r\nabandon without impiety.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is nothing, replied Cotta, which I desire more than to be\r\nconfuted. I have not pretended to decide this point, but to give you my\r\nprivate sentiments upon it; and am very sensible of your great\r\nsuperiority in argument. \u003ca id=\"page-355\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e355\u003c/span\u003eNo doubt of it, says Velleius; we have much to\r\nfear from one who believes that our dreams are sent from Jupiter, which,\r\nthough they are of little weight, are yet of more importance than the\r\ndiscourse of the Stoics concerning the nature of the Gods. The\r\nconversation ended here, and we parted. Velleius judged that the\r\narguments of Cotta were truest; but those of Balbus seemed to me to have\r\nthe greater probability.\u003ca id=\"FNA-292\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-292\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e292\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-357\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e357\u003c/span\u003eON THE COMMONWEALTH.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003ePREFACE BY THE EDITOR.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eThis\u003c/span\u003e work was one of Cicero’s earlier treatises, though one of those\r\nwhich was most admired by his contemporaries, and one of which he\r\nhimself was most proud. It was composed 54 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e It was originally in two\r\nbooks: then it was altered and enlarged into nine, and finally reduced\r\nto six. With the exception of the dream of Scipio, in the last book, the\r\nwhole treatise was lost till the year 1822, when the librarian of the\r\nVatican discovered a portion of them among the palimpsests in that\r\nlibrary. What he discovered is translated here; but it is in a most\r\nimperfect and mutilated state.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe form selected was that of a dialogue, in imitation of those of\r\nPlato; and the several conferences were supposed to have taken place\r\nduring the Latin holidays, 129 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, in the consulship of Caius\r\nSempronius, Tuditanus, and Marcus Aquilius. The speakers are Scipio\r\nAfricanus the younger, in whose garden the scene is laid; Caius Lælius;\r\nLucius Furius Philus; Marcus Manilius; Spurius Mummius, the brother of\r\nthe taker of Corinth, a Stoic; Quintus Ælius Tubero, a nephew of\r\nAfricanus; Publius Rutilius Rufus; Quintus Mucius Scævola, the tutor of\r\nCicero; and Caius Fannius, who was absent, however, on the second day of\r\nthe conference.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the first book, the first thirty-three pages are wanting, and there\r\nare chasms amounting to thirty-eight pages more. In this book Scipio\r\nasserts the superiority of an active over a speculative career; and\r\nafter analyzing and comparing the monarchical, aristocratic, and\r\ndemocratic forms of government, gives a preference to the first;\r\nalthough \u003ca id=\"page-358\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e358\u003c/span\u003ehis idea of a perfect constitution would be one compounded of\r\nthree kinds in due proportion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are a few chasms in the earlier part of the second book, and the\r\nlatter part of it is wholly lost. In it Scipio was led on to give an\r\naccount of the rise and progress of the Roman Constitution, from which\r\nhe passed on to the examination of the great moral obligations which are\r\nthe foundations of all political union.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf the remaining books we have only a few disjointed fragments, with the\r\nexception, as has been before mentioned, of the dream of Scipio in the\r\nsixth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-359\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e359\u003c/span\u003eINTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST BOOK,\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eBY THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003eCicero introduces his subject by showing that men were not born for the\r\nmere abstract study of philosophy, but that the study of philosophic\r\ntruth should always be made as practical as possible, and applicable to\r\nthe great interests of philanthropy and patriotism. Cicero endeavors to\r\nshow the benefit of mingling the contemplative or philosophic with the\r\npolitical and active life, according to that maxim of Plato—“Happy is\r\nthe nation whose philosophers are kings, and whose kings are\r\nphilosophers.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003eThis kind of introduction was the more necessary because many of the\r\nancient philosophers, too warmly attached to transcendental metaphysics\r\nand sequestered speculations, had affirmed that true philosophers ought\r\nnot to interest themselves in the management of public affairs. Thus, as\r\nM. Villemain observes, it was a maxim of the Epicureans, “Sapiens ne\r\naccedat ad rempublicam” (Let no wise man meddle in politics). The\r\nPythagoreans had enforced the same principle with more gravity.\r\nAristotle examines the question on both sides, and concludes in favor of\r\nactive life. Among Aristotle’s disciples, a writer, singularly elegant\r\nand pure, had maintained the pre-eminence of the contemplative life over\r\nthe political or active one, in a work which Cicero cites with\r\nadmiration, and to which he seems to have applied for relief whenever he\r\nfelt harassed and discouraged in public business. But here this great\r\nman was interested by the subject he discusses, and by the whole course\r\nof his experience and conduct, to refute the dogmas of that\r\npusillanimous sophistry and selfish indulgence by bringing forward the\r\nmost glorious examples and achievements of patriotism. In this strain he\r\nhad doubtless commenced his exordium, and in this strain we find him\r\ncontinuing it at the point in which the palimpsest becomes legible. He\r\nthen proceeds to introduce his illustrious interlocutors, and leads them\r\nat first to discourse on the astronomical laws that regulate the\r\nrevolutions of our planet. From this, by a very graceful and beautiful\r\ntransition, he passes on to the consideration of the best forms of\r\npolitical constitutions that had prevailed in different nations, and\r\nthose modes of government which had produced the greatest benefits in\r\nthe commonwealths of antiquity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003eThis first book is, in fact, a splendid epitome of the political science\r\nof the age of Cicero, and probably the most eloquent plea in favor of\r\nmixed monarchy to be found in all literature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-360\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e360\u003c/span\u003eBOOK I.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. [\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eWithout\u003c/span\u003e the virtue of patriotism], neither Caius Duilius, nor Aulus\r\nAtilius,\u003ca id=\"FNA-293\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-293\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e293\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e nor Lucius Metellus, could have delivered Rome by their\r\ncourage from the terror of Carthage; nor could the two Scipios, when the\r\nfire of the second Punic War was kindled, have quenched it in their\r\nblood; nor, when it revived in greater force, could either Quintus\r\nMaximus\u003ca id=\"FNA-294\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-294\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e294\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e have enervated it, or Marcus Marcellus have crushed it;\r\nnor, when it was repulsed from the gates of our own city, would Scipio\r\nhave confined it within the walls of our enemies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut Cato, at first a new and unknown man, whom all we who aspire to the\r\nsame honors consider as a pattern to lead us on to industry and virtue,\r\nwas undoubtedly at liberty to enjoy his repose at Tusculum, a most\r\nsalubrious and convenient retreat. But he, mad as some people think him,\r\nthough no necessity compelled him, preferred being tossed about amidst\r\nthe tempestuous waves of politics, even till extreme old age, to living\r\nwith all imaginable luxury in that tranquillity and relaxation. I omit\r\ninnumerable men who have separately devoted themselves to the protection\r\nof our Commonwealth; and those whose lives are within the memory of the\r\npresent generation I will not mention, lest any one should complain that\r\nI had invidiously forgotten himself or some one of his family. This only\r\nI insist on—that so great is the necessity of this virtue which nature\r\nhas implanted in man, and so great is the desire to defend the common\r\nsafety of our country, that its energy has continually overcome all the\r\nblandishments of pleasure and repose.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. Nor is it sufficient to possess this virtue as if it were some kind\r\nof art, unless we put it in practice. An art, indeed, though not\r\nexercised, may still be retained in knowledge; but virtue consists\r\nwholly in its proper use \u003ca id=\"page-361\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e361\u003c/span\u003eand action. Now, the noblest use of virtue is\r\nthe government of the Commonwealth, and the carrying-out in real action,\r\nnot in words only, of all those identical theories which those\r\nphilosophers discuss at every corner. For nothing is spoken by\r\nphilosophers, so far as they speak correctly and honorably, which has\r\nnot been discovered and confirmed by those persons who have been the\r\nfounders of the laws of states. For whence comes piety, or from whom has\r\nreligion been derived? Whence comes law, either that of nations, or that\r\nwhich is called the civil law? Whence comes justice, faith, equity?\r\nWhence modesty, continence, the horror of baseness, the desire of praise\r\nand renown? Whence fortitude in labors and perils? Doubtless, from those\r\nwho have instilled some of these moral principles into men by education,\r\nand confirmed others by custom, and sanctioned others by laws.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMoreover, it is reported of Xenocrates, one of the sublimest\r\nphilosophers, that when some one asked him what his disciples learned,\r\nhe replied, “To do that of their own accord which they might be\r\ncompelled to do by law.” That citizen, therefore, who obliges all men to\r\nthose virtuous actions, by the authority of laws and penalties, to which\r\nthe philosophers can scarcely persuade a few by the force of their\r\neloquence, is certainly to be preferred to the sagest of the doctors who\r\nspend their lives in such discussions. For which of their exquisite\r\norations is so admirable as to be entitled to be preferred to a\r\nwell-constituted government, public justice, and good customs?\r\nCertainly, just as I think that magnificent and imperious cities (as\r\nEnnius says) are superior to castles and villages, so I imagine that\r\nthose who regulate such cities by their counsel and authority are far\r\npreferable, with respect to real wisdom, to men who are unacquainted\r\nwith any kind of political knowledge. And since we are strongly prompted\r\nto augment the prosperity of the human race, and since we do endeavor by\r\nour counsels and exertions to render the life of man safer and\r\nwealthier, and since we are incited to this blessing by the spur of\r\nnature herself, let us hold on that course which has always been pursued\r\nby all the best men, and not listen for a moment to the signals of those\r\nwho sound a retreat so loudly that they \u003ca id=\"page-362\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e362\u003c/span\u003esometimes call back even those\r\nwho have made considerable progress.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. These reasons, so certain and so evident, are opposed by those who,\r\non the other side, argue that the labors which must necessarily be\r\nsustained in maintaining the Commonwealth form but a slight impediment\r\nto the vigilant and industrious, and are only a contemptible obstacle in\r\nsuch important affairs, and even in common studies, offices, and\r\nemployments. They add the peril of life, that base fear of death, which\r\nhas ever been opposed by brave men, to whom it appears far more\r\nmiserable to die by the decay of nature and old age than to be allowed\r\nan opportunity of gallantly sacrificing that life for their country\r\nwhich must otherwise be yielded up to nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn this point, however, our antagonists esteem themselves copious and\r\neloquent when they collect all the calamities of heroic men, and the\r\ninjuries inflicted on them by their ungrateful countrymen. For on this\r\nsubject they bring forward those notable examples among the Greeks; and\r\ntell us that Miltiades, the vanquisher and conqueror of the Persians,\r\nbefore even those wounds were healed which he had received in that most\r\nglorious victory, wasted away in the chains of his fellow-citizens that\r\nlife which had been preserved from the weapons of the enemy. They cite\r\nThemistocles, expelled and proscribed by the country which he had\r\nrescued, and forced to flee, not to the Grecian ports which he had\r\npreserved, but to the bosom of the barbarous power which he had\r\ndefeated. There is, indeed, no deficiency of examples to illustrate the\r\nlevity and cruelty of the Athenians to their noblest citizens—examples\r\nwhich, originating and multiplying among them, are said at different\r\ntimes to have abounded in our own most august empire. For we are told:\r\nof the exile of Camillus, the disgrace of Ahala, the unpopularity of\r\nNasica, the expulsion of Lænas,\u003ca id=\"FNA-295\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-295\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e295\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e the condemnation of \u003ca id=\"page-363\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e363\u003c/span\u003eOpimius, the\r\nflight of Metellus, the cruel destruction of Caius Marius, the massacre\r\nof our chieftains, and the many atrocious crimes which followed. My own\r\nhistory is by no means free from such calamities; and I imagine that\r\nwhen they recollect that by my counsel and perils they were preserved in\r\nlife and liberty, they are led by that consideration to bewail my\r\nmisfortunes more deeply and affectionately. But I cannot tell why those\r\nwho sail over the seas for the sake of knowledge and experience [should\r\nwonder at seeing still greater hazards braved in the service of the\r\nCommonwealth].\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. [Since], on my quitting the consulship, I swore in the assembly of\r\nthe Roman people, who re-echoed my words, that I had saved the\r\nCommonwealth, I console myself with this remembrance for all my cares,\r\ntroubles, and injuries. Although my misfortune had more of honor than\r\nmisfortune, and more of glory than disaster; and I derive greater\r\npleasure from the regrets of good men than sorrow from the exultation of\r\nthe worthless. But even if it had happened otherwise, how could I have\r\ncomplained, as nothing befell me which was either unforeseen, or more\r\npainful than I expected, as a return for my illustrious actions? For I\r\nwas one who, though it was in my power to reap more profit from leisure\r\nthan most men, on account of the diversified sweetness of my studies, in\r\nwhich I had lived from boyhood—or, if any public calamity had happened,\r\nto have borne no more than an equal share with the rest of my countrymen\r\nin the misfortune—I nevertheless did not hesitate to oppose myself to\r\nthe most formidable tempests and torrents of sedition, for the sake of\r\nsaving my countrymen, and at my own proper danger to secure the common\r\nsafety of all the rest. For our country did not beget and educate us\r\nwith the expectation of receiving no support, as I may call it, from us;\r\nnor for the purpose of consulting nothing but our convenience, to supply\r\nus with a secure refuge for idleness and a tranquil spot for rest; but\r\nrather with a view of turning to her own advantage the nobler portion of\r\nour genius, heart, and counsel; giving us back for our private service\r\nonly what she can spare from the public interests.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. Those apologies, therefore, in which men take refuge \u003ca id=\"page-364\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e364\u003c/span\u003eas an excuse\r\nfor their devoting themselves with more plausibility to mere inactivity\r\ndo certainly not deserve to be listened to; when, for instance, they\r\ntell us that those who meddle with public affairs are generally\r\ngood-for-nothing men, with whom it is discreditable to be compared, and\r\nmiserable and dangerous to contend, especially when the multitude is in\r\nan excited state. On which account it is not the part of a wise man to\r\ntake the reins, since he cannot restrain the insane and unregulated\r\nmovements of the common people. Nor is it becoming to a man of liberal\r\nbirth, say they, thus to contend with such vile and unrefined\r\nantagonists, or to subject one’s self to the lashings of contumely, or\r\nto put one’s self in the way of injuries which ought not to be borne by\r\na wise man. As if to a virtuous, brave, and magnanimous man there could\r\nbe a juster reason for seeking the government than this—to avoid being\r\nsubjected to worthless men, and to prevent the Commonwealth from being\r\ntorn to pieces by them; when, even if they were then desirous to save\r\nher, they would not have the power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. But this restriction who can approve, which would interdict the wise\r\nman from taking any share in the government beyond such as the occasion\r\nand necessity may compel him to? As if any greater necessity could\r\npossibly happen to any man than happened to me. In which, how could I\r\nhave acted if I had not been consul at the time? and how could I have\r\nbeen a consul unless I had maintained that course of life from my\r\nchildhood which raised me from the order of knights, in which I was\r\nborn, to the very highest station? You cannot produce \u003ci\u003eextempore\u003c/i\u003e, and\r\njust when you please, the power of assisting a commonwealth, although it\r\nmay be severely pressed by dangers, unless you have attained the\r\nposition which enables you legally to do so. And what most surprises me\r\nin the discourses of learned men, is to hear those persons who confess\r\nthemselves incapable of steering the vessel of the State in smooth seas\r\n(which, indeed, they never learned, and never cared to know) profess\r\nthemselves ready to assume the helm amidst the fiercest tempests. For\r\nthose men are accustomed to say openly, and indeed to boast greatly,\r\nthat they have never learned, and have never taken \u003ca id=\"page-365\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e365\u003c/span\u003ethe least pains to\r\nexplain, the principles of either establishing or maintaining a\r\ncommonwealth; and they look on this practical science as one which\r\nbelongs not to men of learning and wisdom, but to those who have made it\r\ntheir especial study. How, then, can it be reasonable for such men to\r\npromise their assistance to the State, when they shall be compelled to\r\nit by necessity, while they are ignorant how to govern the republic when\r\nno necessity presses upon it, which is a much more easy task? Indeed,\r\nthough it were true that the wise man loves not to thrust himself of his\r\nown accord into the administration of public affairs, but that if\r\ncircumstances oblige him to it, then he does not refuse the office, yet\r\nI think that this science of civil legislation should in no wise be\r\nneglected by the philosopher, because all resources ought to be ready to\r\nhis hand, which he knows not how soon he may be called on to use.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. I have spoken thus at large for this reason, because in this work I\r\nhave proposed to myself and undertaken a discussion on the government of\r\na state; and in order to render it useful, I was bound, in the first\r\nplace, to do away with this pusillanimous hesitation to mingle in public\r\naffairs. If there be any, therefore, who are too much influenced by the\r\nauthority of the philosophers, let them consider the subject for a\r\nmoment, and be guided by the opinions of those men whose authority and\r\ncredit are greatest among learned men; whom I look upon, though some of\r\nthem have not personally governed any state, as men who have\r\nnevertheless discharged a kind of office in the republic, inasmuch as\r\nthey have made many investigations into, and left many writings\r\nconcerning, state affairs. As to those whom the Greeks entitle the Seven\r\nWise Men, I find that they almost all lived in the middle of public\r\nbusiness. Nor, indeed, is there anything in which human virtue can more\r\nclosely resemble the divine powers than in establishing new states, or\r\nin preserving those already established.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. And concerning these affairs, since it has been our good fortune\r\nto achieve something worthy of memorial in the government of our\r\ncountry, and also to have acquired some facility of explaining the\r\npowers and resources of politics, we can treat of this subject with the\r\nweight of \u003ca id=\"page-366\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e366\u003c/span\u003epersonal experience and the habit of instruction and\r\nillustration. Whereas before us many have been skilful in theory, though\r\nno exploits of theirs are recorded; and many others have been men of\r\nconsideration in action, but unfamiliar with the arts of exposition.\r\nNor, indeed, is it at all our intention to establish a new and\r\nself-invented system of government; but our purpose is rather to recall\r\nto memory a discussion of the most illustrious men of their age in our\r\nCommonwealth, which you and I, in our youth, when at Smyrna, heard\r\nmentioned by Publius Rutilius Rufus, who reported to us a conference of\r\nmany days in which, in my opinion, there was nothing omitted that could\r\nthrow light on political affairs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. For when, in the year of the consulship of Tuditanus and Aquilius,\r\nScipio Africanus, the son of Paulus Æmilius, formed the project of\r\nspending the Latin holidays at his country-seat, where his most intimate\r\nfriends had promised him frequent visits during this season of\r\nrelaxation, on the first morning of the festival, his nephew, Quintus\r\nTubero, made his appearance; and when Scipio had greeted him heartily\r\nand embraced him—How is it, my dear Tubero, said he, that I see you so\r\nearly? For these holidays must afford you a capital opportunity of\r\npursuing your favorite studies. Ah! replied Tubero, I can study my books\r\nat any time, for they are always disengaged; but it is a great\r\nprivilege, my Scipio, to find you at leisure, especially in this\r\nrestless period of public affairs. You certainly have found me so, said\r\nScipio, but, to speak truth, I am rather relaxing from business than\r\nfrom study. Nay, said Tubero, you must try to relax from your studies\r\ntoo, for here are several of us, as we have appointed, all ready, if it\r\nsuits your convenience, to aid you in getting through this leisure time\r\nof yours. I am very willing to consent, answered Scipio, and we may be\r\nable to compare notes respecting the several topics that interest us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. Be it so, said Tubero; and since you invite me to discussion, and\r\npresent the opportunity, let us first examine, before any one else\r\narrives, what can be the nature of the parhelion, or double sun, which\r\nwas mentioned in the senate. Those that affirm they witnessed this\r\nprodigy \u003ca id=\"page-367\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e367\u003c/span\u003eare neither few nor unworthy of credit, so that there is more\r\nreason for investigation than incredulity.\u003ca id=\"FNA-296\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-296\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e296\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAh! said Scipio, I wish we had our friend Panætius with us, who is fond\r\nof investigating all things of this kind, but especially all celestial\r\nphenomena. As for my opinion, Tubero, for I always tell you just what I\r\nthink, I hardly agree in these subjects with that friend of mine, since,\r\nrespecting things of which we can scarcely form a conjecture as to their\r\ncharacter, he is as positive as if he had seen them with his own eyes\r\nand felt them with his own hands. And I cannot but the more admire the\r\nwisdom of Socrates, who discarded all anxiety respecting things of this\r\nkind, and affirmed that these inquiries concerning the secrets of nature\r\nwere either above the efforts of human reason, or were absolutely of no\r\nconsequence at all to human life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, then, my Africanus, replied Tubero, of what credit is the tradition\r\nwhich states that Socrates rejected all these physical investigations,\r\nand confined his whole attention to men and manners? For, with respect\r\nto him what better authority can we cite than Plato? in many passages of\r\nwhose works Socrates speaks in such a manner that even when he is\r\ndiscussing morals, and virtues, and even public affairs and politics, he\r\nendeavors to interweave, after the fashion of Pythagoras, the doctrines\r\nof arithmetic, geometry, and harmonic proportions with them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat is true, replied Scipio; but you are aware, I believe, that Plato,\r\nafter the death of Socrates, was induced to visit Egypt by his love of\r\nscience, and that after that he proceeded to Italy and Sicily, from his\r\ndesire of understanding the Pythagorean dogmas; that he conversed much\r\nwith Archytas of Tarentum and Timæus of Locris; \u003ca id=\"page-368\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e368\u003c/span\u003ethat he collected the\r\nworks of Philolaus; and that, finding in these places the renown of\r\nPythagoras flourishing, he addicted himself exceedingly to the disciples\r\nof Pythagoras, and their studies; therefore, as he loved Socrates with\r\nhis whole heart, and wished to attribute all great discoveries to him,\r\nhe interwove the Socratic elegance and subtlety of eloquence with\r\nsomewhat of the obscurity of Pythagoras, and with that notorious gravity\r\nof his diversified arts.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. When Scipio had spoken thus, he suddenly saw Lucius Furius\r\napproaching, and saluting him, and embracing him most affectionately, he\r\ngave him a seat on his own couch. And as soon as Publius Rutilius, the\r\nworthy reporter of the conference to us, had arrived, when we had\r\nsaluted him, he placed him by the side of Tubero. Then said Furius, What\r\nis it that you are about? Has our entrance at all interrupted any\r\nconversation of yours? By no means, said Scipio, for you yourself too\r\nare in the habit of investigating carefully the subject which Tubero was\r\na little before proposing to examine; and our friend Rutilius, even\r\nunder the walls of Numantia, was in the habit at times of conversing\r\nwith me on questions of the same kind. What, then, was the subject of\r\nyour discussion? said Philus. We were talking, said Scipio, of the\r\ndouble suns that recently appeared, and I wish, Philus, to hear what you\r\nthink of them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. Just as he was speaking, a boy announced that Lælius was coming to\r\ncall on him, and that he had already left his house. Then Scipio,\r\nputting on his sandals and robes, immediately went forth from his\r\nchamber, and when he had walked a little time in the portico, he met\r\nLælius, and welcomed him and those that accompanied him, namely, Spurius\r\nMummius, to whom he was greatly attached, and C. Fannius and Quintus\r\nScævola, sons-in-law of Lælius, two very intelligent young men, and now\r\nof the quæstorian age.\u003ca id=\"FNA-297\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-297\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e297\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen he had saluted them all, he returned through the portico, placing\r\nLælius in the middle; for there was in their friendship a sort of law of\r\nreciprocal courtesy, so \u003ca id=\"page-369\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e369\u003c/span\u003ethat in the camp Lælius paid Scipio almost\r\ndivine honors, on account of his eminent renown in war and in private\r\nlife; in his turn Scipio reverenced Lælius, even as a father, because he\r\nwas older than himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen after they had exchanged a few words, as they walked up and down,\r\nScipio, to whom their visit was extremely welcome and agreeable, wished\r\nto assemble them in a sunny corner of the gardens, because it was still\r\nwinter; and when they had agreed to this, there came in another friend,\r\na learned man, much beloved and esteemed by all of them, M. Manilius,\r\nwho, after having been most warmly welcomed by Scipio and the rest,\r\nseated himself next to Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Then Philus, commencing the conversation, said: It does not appear\r\nto me that the presence of our new guests need alter the subject of our\r\ndiscussion, but only that it should induce us to treat it more\r\nphilosophically, and in a manner more worthy of our increased audience.\r\nWhat do you allude to? said Lælius; or what was the discussion we broke\r\nin upon? Scipio was asking me, replied Philus, what I thought of the\r\nparhelion, or mock sun, whose recent apparition was so strongly\r\nattested.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Do you say then, my Philus, that we have sufficiently examined\r\nthose questions which concern our own houses and the Commonwealth, that\r\nwe begin to investigate the celestial mysteries?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Philus replied: Do you think, then, that it does not concern our\r\nhouses to know what happens in that vast home which is not included in\r\nwalls of human fabrication, but which embraces the entire universe—a\r\nhome which the Gods share with us, as the common country of all\r\nintelligent beings? Especially when, if we are ignorant of these things,\r\nthere are also many great practical truths which result from them, and\r\nwhich bear directly on the welfare of our race, of which we must be also\r\nignorant. And here I can speak for myself, as well as for you, Lælius,\r\nand all men who are ambitious of wisdom, that the knowledge and\r\nconsideration of the facts of nature are by themselves very delightful.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e I have no objection to the discussion, especially as it is\r\nholiday-time with us. But cannot we have the \u003ca id=\"page-370\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e370\u003c/span\u003epleasure of hearing you\r\nresume it, or are we come too late?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhilus\u003c/i\u003e. We have not yet commenced the discussion, and since the\r\nquestion remains entire and unbroken, I shall have the greatest\r\npleasure, my Lælius, in handing over the argument to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e No, I had much rather hear you, unless, indeed, Manilius\r\nthinks himself able to compromise the suit between the two suns, that\r\nthey may possess heaven as joint sovereigns without intruding on each\r\nother’s empire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Manilius said: Are you going, Lælius, to ridicule a science in\r\nwhich, in the first place, I myself excel; and, secondly, without which\r\nno one can distinguish what is his own, and what is another’s? But to\r\nreturn to the point. Let us now at present listen to Philus, who seems\r\nto me to have started a greater question than any of those that have\r\nengaged the attention of either Publius Mucius or myself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. Then Philus said: I am not about to bring you anything new, or\r\nanything which has been thought over or discovered by me myself. But I\r\nrecollect that Caius Sulpicius Gallus, who was a man of profound\r\nlearning, as you are aware, when this same thing was reported to have\r\ntaken place in his time, while he was staying in the house of Marcus\r\nMarcellus, who had been his colleague in the consulship, asked to see a\r\ncelestial globe which Marcellus’s grandfather had saved after the\r\ncapture of Syracuse from that magnificent and opulent city, without\r\nbringing to his own home any other memorial out of so great a booty;\r\nwhich I had often heard mentioned on account of the great fame of\r\nArchimedes; but its appearance, however, did not seem to me particularly\r\nstriking. For that other is more elegant in form, and more generally\r\nknown, which was made by the same Archimedes, and deposited by the same\r\nMarcellus in the Temple of Virtue at Rome. But as soon as Gallus had\r\nbegun to explain, in a most scientific manner, the principle of this\r\nmachine, I felt that the Sicilian geometrician must have possessed a\r\ngenius superior to anything we usually conceive to belong to our nature.\r\nFor Gallus assured us that that other solid and compact globe was a very\r\nancient invention, and that the first \u003ca id=\"page-371\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e371\u003c/span\u003emodel had been originally made by\r\nThales of Miletus. That afterward Eudoxus of Cnidus, a disciple of\r\nPlato, had traced on its surface the stars that appear in the sky, and\r\nthat many years subsequently, borrowing from Eudoxus this beautiful\r\ndesign and representation, Aratus had illustrated it in his verses, not\r\nby any science of astronomy, but by the ornament of poetic description.\r\nHe added that the figure of the globe, which displayed the motions of\r\nthe sun and moon, and the five planets, or wandering stars, could not be\r\nrepresented by the primitive solid globe; and that in this the invention\r\nof Archimedes was admirable, because he had calculated how a single\r\nrevolution should maintain unequal and diversified progressions in\r\ndissimilar motions. In fact, when Gallus moved this globe, we observed\r\nthat the moon succeeded the sun by as many turns of the wheel in the\r\nmachine as days in the heavens. From whence it resulted that the\r\nprogress of the sun was marked as in the heavens, and that the moon\r\ntouched the point where she is obscured by the earth’s shadow at the\r\ninstant the sun appears opposite.\u003ca id=\"FNA-298\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-298\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e298\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. * * *\u003ca id=\"FNA-299\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-299\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e299\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e I had myself a great affection for this Gallus, and I\r\nknow that he was very much beloved and esteemed by my father Paulus. I\r\nrecollect that when I was very young, when my father, as consul,\r\ncommanded in Macedonia, and we were in the camp, our army was seized\r\nwith a pious terror, because suddenly, in a clear night, the bright and\r\nfull moon became eclipsed. And Gallus, who was then our lieutenant, the\r\nyear before that in which he was elected consul, hesitated not, next\r\nmorning, to state in the camp that it was no prodigy, and that the\r\nphenomenon which had then appeared would always appear at certain\r\nperiods, when the sun was so placed that he could not affect the moon\r\nwith his light.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-372\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e372\u003c/span\u003eBut do you mean, said Tubero, that he dared to speak thus to men almost\r\nentirely uneducated and ignorant?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e He did, and with great * * * for his opinion was no result of\r\ninsolent ostentation, nor was his language unbecoming the dignity of so\r\nwise a man: indeed, he performed a very noble action in thus freeing his\r\ncountrymen from the terrors of an idle superstition.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. And they relate that in a similar way, in the great war in which\r\nthe Athenians and Lacedæmonians contended with such violent resentment,\r\nthe famous Pericles, the first man of his country in credit, eloquence,\r\nand political genius, observing the Athenians overwhelmed with an\r\nexcessive alarm during an eclipse of the sun which caused a sudden\r\ndarkness, told them, what he had learned in the school of Anaxagoras,\r\nthat these phenomena necessarily happened at precise and regular periods\r\nwhen the body of the moon was interposed between the sun and the earth,\r\nand that if they happened not before every new moon, still they could\r\nnot possibly happen except at the exact time of the new moon. And when\r\nhe had proved this truth by his reasonings, he freed the people from\r\ntheir alarms; for at that period the doctrine was new and unfamiliar\r\nthat the sun was accustomed to be eclipsed by the interposition of the\r\nmoon, which fact they say that Thales of Miletus was the first to\r\ndiscover. Afterward my friend Ennius appears to have been acquainted\r\nwith the same theory, who, writing about 350\u003ca id=\"FNA-300\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-300\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e300\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e years after the\r\nfoundation of Rome, says, “In the nones of June the sun was covered by\r\nthe moon and night.” The calculations in the astronomical art have\r\nattained such perfection that from that day, thus described to us by\r\nEnnius and recorded in the pontifical registers, the anterior eclipses\r\nof the sun have been computed as far back as the nones of July in the\r\nreign of Romulus, when that eclipse took place, in the obscurity of\r\nwhich it was affirmed that Virtue bore Romulus to heaven, in spite of\r\nthe perishable nature which carried him off by the common fate of\r\nhumanity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-373\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e373\u003c/span\u003eXVII. Then said Tubero: Do not you think, Scipio, that this\r\nastronomical science, which every day proves so useful, just now\r\nappeared in a different light to you,\u003ca id=\"FNA-301\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-301\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e301\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * * which the rest may see.\r\nMoreover, who can think anything in human affairs of brilliant\r\nimportance who has penetrated this starry empire of the gods? Or who can\r\nthink anything connected with mankind long who has learned to estimate\r\nthe nature of eternity? or glorious who is aware of the insignificance\r\nof the size of the earth, even in its whole extent, and especially in\r\nthe portion which men inhabit? And when we consider that almost\r\nimperceptible point which we ourselves occupy unknown to the majority of\r\nnations, can we still hope that our name and reputation can be widely\r\ncirculated? And then our estates and edifices, our cattle, and the\r\nenormous treasures of our gold and silver, can they be esteemed or\r\ndenominated as desirable goods by him who observes their perishable\r\nprofit, and their contemptible use, and their uncertain domination,\r\noften falling into the possession of the very worst men? How happy,\r\nthen, ought we to esteem that man who alone has it in his power, not by\r\nthe law of the Romans, but by the privilege of philosophers, to enjoy\r\nall things as his own; not by any civil bond, but by the common right of\r\nnature, which denies that anything can really be possessed by any one\r\nbut him who understands its true nature and use; who reckons our\r\ndictatorships and consulships rather in the rank of necessary offices\r\nthan desirable employments, and thinks they must be endured rather as\r\nacquittances of our debt to our country than sought for the sake of\r\nemolument or glory—the man, in short, who can apply to himself the\r\nsentence which Cato tells us my ancestor Africanus loved to repeat,\r\n“that he was never so busy as when he did nothing, and never less\r\nsolitary than when alone.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor who can believe that Dionysius, when after every possible effort he\r\nravished from his fellow-citizens their liberty, had performed a nobler\r\nwork than Archimedes, when, without appearing to be doing anything, he\r\nmanufactured the globe which we have just been describing? \u003ca id=\"page-374\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e374\u003c/span\u003eWho does not\r\nsee that those men are in reality more solitary who, in the midst of a\r\ncrowd, find no one with whom they can converse congenially than those\r\nwho, without witnesses, hold communion with themselves, and enter into\r\nthe secret counsels of the sagest philosophers, while they delight\r\nthemselves in their writings and discoveries? And who would think any\r\none richer than the man who is in want of nothing which nature requires;\r\nor more powerful than he who has attained all that she has need of; or\r\nhappier than he who is free from all mental perturbation; or more secure\r\nin future than he who carries all his property in himself, which is thus\r\nsecured from shipwreck? And what power, what magistracy, what royalty,\r\ncan be preferred to a wisdom which, looking down on all terrestrial\r\nobjects as low and transitory things, incessantly directs its attention\r\nto eternal and immutable verities, and which is persuaded that though\r\nothers are called men, none are really so but those who are refined by\r\nthe appropriate acts of humanity?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this sense an expression of Plato or some other philosopher appears\r\nto me exceedingly elegant, who, when a tempest had driven his ship on an\r\nunknown country and a desolate shore, during the alarms with which their\r\nignorance of the region inspired his companions, observed, they say,\r\ngeometrical figures traced in the sand, on which he immediately told\r\nthem to be of good cheer, for he had observed the indications of Man. A\r\nconjecture he deduced, not from the cultivation of the soil which he\r\nbeheld, but from the symbols of science. For this reason, Tubero,\r\nlearning and learned men, and these your favorite studies, have always\r\nparticularly pleased me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. Then Lælius replied: I cannot venture, Scipio, to answer your\r\narguments, or to [maintain the discussion either against] you, Philus,\r\nor Manilius.\u003ca id=\"FNA-302\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-302\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e302\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe had a friend in Tubero’s father’s family, who in these respects may\r\nserve him as a model.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSextus so wise, and ever on his guard.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWise and cautious indeed he was, as Ennius justly describes him—not\r\nbecause he searched for what he could \u003ca id=\"page-375\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e375\u003c/span\u003enever find, but because he knew\r\nhow to answer those who prayed for deliverance from cares and\r\ndifficulties. It is he who, reasoning against the astronomical studies\r\nof Gallus, used frequently to repeat these words of Achilles in the\r\nIphigenia\u003ca id=\"FNA-303\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-303\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e303\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey note the astrologic signs of heaven,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhene’er the goats or scorpions of great Jove,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOr other monstrous names of brutal forms,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRise in the zodiac; but not one regards\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe sensible facts of earth, on which we tread,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile gazing on the starry prodigies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe used, however, to say (and I have often listened to him with\r\npleasure) that for his part he thought that Zethus, in the piece of\r\nPacuvius, was too inimical to learning. He much preferred the\r\nNeoptolemus of Ennius, who professes himself desirous of philosophizing\r\nonly in moderation; for that he did not think it right to be wholly\r\ndevoted to it. But though the studies of the Greeks have so many charms\r\nfor you, there are others, perhaps, nobler and more extensive, which we\r\nmay be better able to apply to the service of real life, and even to\r\npolitical affairs. As to these abstract sciences, their utility, if they\r\npossess any, lies principally in exciting and stimulating the abilities\r\nof youth, so that they more easily acquire more important\r\naccomplishments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. Then Tubero said: I do not mean to disagree with you, Lælius; but,\r\npray, what do you call more important studies?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e I will tell you frankly, though perhaps you will think lightly\r\nof my opinion, since you appeared so eager in interrogating Scipio\r\nrespecting the celestial phenomena; but I happen to think that those\r\nthings which are every day before our eyes are more particularly\r\ndeserving of our attention. Why should the child of Paulus Æmilius, the\r\nnephew of Æmilius, the descendant of such a noble family and so glorious\r\na republic, inquire how there can be two suns in heaven, and not ask how\r\nthere can be two senates in one Commonwealth, and, as it were, two\r\ndistinct peoples? \u003ca id=\"page-376\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e376\u003c/span\u003eFor, as you see, the death of Tiberius Gracchus, and\r\nthe whole system of his tribuneship, has divided one people into two\r\nparties. But the slanderers and the enemies of Scipio, encouraged by P.\r\nCrassus and Appius Claudius, maintained, after the death of these two\r\nchiefs, a division of nearly half the senate, under the influence of\r\nMetellus and Mucius. Nor would they permit the man\u003ca id=\"FNA-304\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-304\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e304\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e who alone could\r\nhave been of service to help us out of our difficulties during the\r\nmovement of the Latins and their allies towards rebellion, violating all\r\nour treaties in the presence of factious triumvirs, and creating every\r\nday some fresh intrigue, to the disturbance of the worthier and\r\nwealthier citizens. This is the reason, young men, if you will listen to\r\nme, why you should regard this new sun with less alarm; for, whether it\r\ndoes exist, or whether it does not exist, it is, as you see, quite\r\nharmless to us. As to the manner of its existence, we can know little or\r\nnothing; and even if we obtained the most perfect understanding of it,\r\nthis knowledge would make us but little wiser or happier. But that there\r\nshould exist a united people and a united senate is a thing which\r\nactually may be brought about, and it will be a great evil if it is not;\r\nand that it does not exist at present we are aware; and we see that if\r\nit can be effected, our lives will be both better and happier.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. Then Mucius said: What, then, do you consider, my Lælius, should be\r\nour best arguments in endeavoring to bring about the object of your\r\nwishes?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Those sciences and arts which teach us how we may be most\r\nuseful to the State; for I consider that the most glorious office of\r\nwisdom, and the noblest proof and business of virtue. In order,\r\ntherefore, that we may consecrate these holidays as much as possible to\r\nconversations which may be profitable to the Commonwealth, let us beg\r\nScipio to explain to us what in his estimation appears to be the best\r\nform of government. Then let us pass on to other points, the knowledge\r\nof which may lead us, as I hope, to sound political views, and unfold\r\nthe causes of the dangers which now threaten us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. When Philus, Manilius, and Mummius had all expressed \u003ca id=\"page-377\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e377\u003c/span\u003etheir great\r\napprobation of this idea\u003ca id=\"FNA-305\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-305\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e305\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * * I have ventured [to open our\r\ndiscussion] in this way, not only because it is but just that on State\r\npolitics the chief man in the State should be the principal speaker, but\r\nalso because I recollect that you, Scipio, were formerly very much in\r\nthe habit of conversing with Panætius and Polybius, two Greeks,\r\nexceedingly learned in political questions, and that you are master of\r\nmany arguments by which you prove that by far the best condition of\r\ngovernment is that which our ancestors have handed down to us. And as\r\nyou, therefore, are familiar with this subject, if you will explain to\r\nus your views respecting the general principles of a state (I speak for\r\nmy friends as well as myself), we shall feel exceedingly obliged to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. Then Scipio said: I must acknowledge that there is no subject of\r\nmeditation to which my mind naturally turns with more ardor and\r\nintensity than this very one which Lælius has proposed to us. And,\r\nindeed, as I see that in every profession, every artist who would\r\ndistinguish himself, thinks of, and aims at, and labors for no other\r\nobject but that of attaining perfection in his art, should not I, whose\r\nmain business, according to the example of my father and my ancestors,\r\nis the advancement and right administration of government, be confessing\r\nmyself more indolent than any common mechanic if I were to bestow on\r\nthis noblest of sciences less attention and labor than they devote to\r\ntheir insignificant trades? However, I am neither entirely satisfied\r\nwith the decisions which the greatest and wisest men of Greece have left\r\nus; nor, on the other hand, do I venture to prefer my own opinions to\r\ntheirs. Therefore, I must request you not to consider me either entirely\r\nignorant of the Grecian literature, nor yet disposed, especially in\r\npolitical questions, to yield it the pre-eminence over our own; but\r\nrather to regard me as a true-born Roman, not illiberally instructed by\r\nthe care of my father, and inflamed with the desire of knowledge, even\r\nfrom my boyhood, but still even more familiar with domestic precepts and\r\npractices than the literature of books.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. On this Philus said: I have no doubt, my Scipio, that no one is\r\nsuperior to you in natural genius, \u003ca id=\"page-378\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e378\u003c/span\u003eand that you are very far superior\r\nto every one in the practical experience of national government and of\r\nimportant business. We are also acquainted with the course which your\r\nstudies have at all times taken; and if, as you say, you have given so\r\nmuch attention to this science and art of politics, we cannot be too\r\nmuch obliged to Lælius for introducing the subject: for I trust that\r\nwhat we shall hear from you will be far more useful and available than\r\nall the writings put together which the Greeks have written for us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Scipio replied: You are raising a very high expectation of my\r\ndiscourse, such as is a most oppressive burden to a man who is required\r\nto discuss grave subjects.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Philus said: Although that may be a difficulty, my Scipio, still you\r\nwill be sure to conquer it, as you always do; nor is there any danger of\r\neloquence failing you, when you begin to speak on the affairs of a\r\ncommonwealth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. Then Scipio proceeded: I will do what you wish, as far as I can;\r\nand I shall enter into the discussion under favor of that rule which, I\r\nthink, should be adopted by all persons in disputations of this kind, if\r\nthey wish to avoid being misunderstood; namely, that when men have\r\nagreed respecting the proper name of the matter under discussion, it\r\nshould be stated what that name exactly means, and what it legitimately\r\nincludes. And when that point is settled, then it is fit to enter on the\r\ndiscussion; for it will never be possible to arrive at an understanding\r\nof what the character of the subject of the discussion is, unless one\r\nfirst understands exactly what it is. Since, then, our investigations\r\nrelate to a commonwealth, we must first examine what this name properly\r\nsignifies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd when Lælius had intimated his approbation of this course, Scipio\r\ncontinued:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall not adopt, said he, in so clear and simple a manner that system\r\nof discussion which goes back to first principles; as learned men often\r\ndo in this sort of discussion, so as to go back to the first meeting of\r\nmale and female, and then to the first birth and formation of the first\r\nfamily, and define over and over again what there is in words, and in\r\nhow many manners each thing is stated. \u003ca id=\"page-379\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e379\u003c/span\u003eFor, as I am speaking to men of\r\nprudence, who have acted with the greatest glory in the Commonwealth,\r\nboth in peace and war, I will take care not to allow the subject of the\r\ndiscussion itself to be clearer than my explanation of it. Nor have I\r\nundertaken this task with the design of examining all its minuter\r\npoints, like a school-master; nor will I promise you in the following\r\ndiscourse not to omit any single particular.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Lælius said: For my part, I am impatient for exactly that kind of\r\ndisquisition which you promise us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. Well, then, said Africanus, a commonwealth is a constitution of the\r\nentire people. But the people is not every association of men, however\r\ncongregated, but the association of the entire number, bound together by\r\nthe compact of justice, and the communication of utility. The first\r\ncause of this association is not so much the weakness of man as a\r\ncertain spirit of congregation which naturally belongs to him. For the\r\nhuman race is not a race of isolated individuals, wandering and\r\nsolitary; but it is so constituted that even in the affluence of all\r\nthings [and without any need of reciprocal assistance, it spontaneously\r\nseeks society].\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. [It is necessary to presuppose] these original seeds, as it were,\r\nsince we cannot discover any primary establishment of the other virtues,\r\nor even of a commonwealth itself. These unions, then, formed by the\r\nprinciple which I have mentioned, established their headquarters\r\noriginally in certain central positions, for the convenience of the\r\nwhole population; and having fortified them by natural and artificial\r\nmeans, they called this collection of houses a city or town,\r\ndistinguished by temples and public squares. Every people, therefore,\r\nwhich consists of such an association of the entire multitude as I have\r\ndescribed, every city which consists of an assemblage of the people, and\r\nevery commonwealth which embraces every member of these associations,\r\nmust be regulated by a certain authority, in order to be permanent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis intelligent authority should always refer itself to that grand\r\nfirst principle which established the Commonwealth. It must be deposited\r\nin the hands of one supreme person, or intrusted to the administration\r\nof certain delegated \u003ca id=\"page-380\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e380\u003c/span\u003erulers, or undertaken by the whole multitude. When\r\nthe direction of all depends on one person, we call this individual a\r\nking, and this form of political constitution a kingdom. When it is in\r\nthe power of privileged delegates, the State is said to be ruled by an\r\naristocracy; and when the people are all in all, they call it a\r\ndemocracy, or popular constitution. And if the tie of social affection,\r\nwhich originally united men in political associations for the sake of\r\npublic interest, maintains its force, each of these forms of government\r\nis, I will not say perfect, nor, in my opinion, essentially good, but\r\ntolerable, and such that one may accidentally be better than another:\r\neither a just and wise king, or a selection of the most eminent\r\ncitizens, or even the populace itself (though this is the least\r\ncommendable form), may, if there be no interference of crime and\r\ncupidity, form a constitution sufficiently secure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. But in a monarchy the other members of the State are often too\r\nmuch deprived of public counsel and jurisdiction; and under the rule of\r\nan aristocracy the multitude can hardly possess its due share of\r\nliberty, since it is allowed no share in the public deliberation, and no\r\npower. And when all things are carried by a democracy, although it be\r\njust and moderate, yet its very equality is a culpable levelling,\r\ninasmuch as it allows no gradations of rank. Therefore, even if Cyrus,\r\nthe King of the Persians, was a most righteous and wise monarch, I\r\nshould still think that the interest of the people (for this is, as I\r\nhave said before, the same as the Commonwealth) could not be very\r\neffectually promoted when all things depended on the beck and nod of one\r\nindividual. And though at present the people of Marseilles, our clients,\r\nare governed with the greatest justice by elected magistrates of the\r\nhighest rank, still there is always in this condition of the people a\r\ncertain appearance of servitude; and when the Athenians, at a certain\r\nperiod, having demolished their Areopagus, conducted all public affairs\r\nby the acts and decrees of the democracy alone, their State, as it no\r\nlonger contained a distinct gradation of ranks, was no longer able to\r\nretain its original fair appearance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. I have reasoned thus on the three forms of government, not\r\nlooking on them in their disorganized \u003ca id=\"page-381\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e381\u003c/span\u003eand confused conditions, but in\r\ntheir proper and regular administration. These three particular forms,\r\nhowever, contained in themselves, from the first, the faults and defects\r\nI have mentioned; but they have also other dangerous vices, for there is\r\nnot one of these three forms of government which has not a precipitous\r\nand slippery passage down to some proximate abuse. For, after thinking\r\nof that endurable, or, as you will have it, most amiable king, Cyrus—to\r\nname him in preference to any one else—then, to produce a change in our\r\nminds, we behold the barbarous Phalaris, that model of tyranny, to which\r\nthe monarchical authority is easily abused by a facile and natural\r\ninclination. And, in like manner, along-side of the wise aristocracy of\r\nMarseilles, we might exhibit the oligarchical faction of the thirty\r\ntyrants which once existed at Athens. And, not to seek for other\r\ninstances, among the same Athenians, we can show you that when unlimited\r\npower was cast into the hands of the people, it inflamed the fury of the\r\nmultitude, and aggravated that universal license which ruined their\r\nState.\u003ca id=\"FNA-306\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-306\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e306\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. The worst condition of things sometimes results from a confusion\r\nof those factious tyrannies into which kings, aristocrats, and democrats\r\nare apt to degenerate. For thus, from these diverse elements, there\r\noccasionally arises (as I have said before) a new kind of government.\r\nAnd wonderful indeed are the revolutions and periodical returns in\r\nnatural constitutions of such alternations and vicissitudes, which it is\r\nthe part of the wise politician to investigate with the closest\r\nattention. But to calculate their approach, and to join to this\r\nforesight the skill which moderates the course of events, and retains in\r\na steady hand the reins of that authority which safely conducts the\r\npeople through all the dangers to which they expose themselves, is the\r\nwork of a most illustrious citizen, and of almost divine genius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a fourth kind of government, therefore, which, in my opinion,\r\nis preferable to all these: it is that mixed and moderate government\r\nwhich is composed of the three particular forms which I have already\r\nnoticed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. \u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e I am not ignorant, Scipio, that such is \u003ca id=\"page-382\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e382\u003c/span\u003eyour opinion,\r\nfor I have often heard you say so. But I do not the less desire, if it\r\nis not giving you too much trouble, to hear which you consider the best\r\nof these three forms of commonwealths. For it may be of some use in\r\nconsidering\u003ca id=\"FNA-307\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-307\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e307\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. * * * And each commonwealth corresponds to the nature and will of\r\nhim who governs it. Therefore, in no other constitution than that in\r\nwhich the people exercise sovereign power has liberty any sure abode,\r\nthan which there certainly is no more desirable blessing. And if it be\r\nnot equally established for every one, it is not even liberty at all.\r\nAnd how can there be this character of equality, I do not say under a\r\nmonarchy, where slavery is least disguised or doubtful, but even in\r\nthose constitutions in which the people are free indeed in words, for\r\nthey give their suffrages, they elect officers, they are canvassed and\r\nsolicited for magistracies; but yet they only grant those things which\r\nthey are obliged to grant whether they will or not, and which are not\r\nreally in their free power, though others ask them for them? For they\r\nare not themselves admitted to the government, to the exercise of public\r\nauthority, or to offices of select judges, which are permitted to those\r\nonly of ancient families and large fortunes. But in a free people, as\r\namong the Rhodians and Athenians, there is no citizen who\u003ca id=\"FNA-308\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-308\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e308\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. * * * No sooner is one man, or several, elevated by wealth and\r\npower, than they say that * * * arise from their pride and arrogance,\r\nwhen the idle and the timid give way, and bow down to the insolence of\r\nriches. But if the people knew how to maintain its rights, then they say\r\nthat nothing could be more glorious and prosperous than democracy;\r\ninasmuch as they themselves would be the sovereign dispensers of laws,\r\njudgments, war, peace, public treaties, and, finally, of the fortune and\r\nlife of each individual citizen; and this condition of things is the\r\nonly one which, in their opinion, can be really called a commonwealth,\r\nthat is to say, a constitution of the people. It is on this principle\r\nthat, according to them, a people often vindicates its liberty from the\r\ndomination of kings and \u003ca id=\"page-383\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e383\u003c/span\u003enobles; while, on the other hand, kings are not\r\nsought for among free peoples, nor are the power and wealth of\r\naristocracies. They deny, moreover, that it is fair to reject this\r\ngeneral constitution of freemen, on account of the vices of the\r\nunbridled populace; but that if the people be united and inclined, and\r\ndirects all its efforts to the safety and freedom of the community,\r\nnothing can be stronger or more unchangeable; and they assert that this\r\nnecessary union is easily obtained in a republic so constituted that the\r\ngood of all classes is the same; while the conflicting interests that\r\nprevail in other constitutions inevitably produce dissensions;\r\ntherefore, say they, when the senate had the ascendency, the republic\r\nhad no stability; and when kings possess the power, this blessing is\r\nstill more rare, since, as Ennius expresses it,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn kingdoms there’s no faith, and little love. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWherefore, since the law is the bond of civil society, and the justice\r\nof the law equal, by what rule can the association of citizens be held\r\ntogether, if the condition of the citizens be not equal? For if the\r\nfortunes of men cannot be reduced to this equality—if genius cannot be\r\nequally the property of all—rights, at least, should be equal among\r\nthose who are citizens of the same republic. For what is a republic but\r\nan association of rights?\u003ca id=\"FNA-309\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-309\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e309\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. But as to the other political constitutions, these democratical\r\nadvocates do not think they are worthy of being distinguished by the\r\nname which they claim. For why, say they, should we apply the name of\r\nking, the title of Jupiter the Beneficent, and not rather the title of\r\ntyrant, to a man ambitious of sole authority and power, lording it over\r\na degraded multitude? For a tyrant may be as merciful as a king may be\r\noppressive; so that the whole difference to the people is, whether they\r\nserve an indulgent master or a cruel one, since serve some one they\r\nmust. But how could Sparta, at the period of the boasted superiority of\r\nher political institution, obtain a constant enjoyment of just and\r\nvirtuous kings, when they necessarily received an hereditary monarch,\r\ngood, bad, or indifferent, because he happened to be of the blood royal?\r\nAs to \u003ca id=\"page-384\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e384\u003c/span\u003earistocrats, Who will endure, say they, that men should\r\ndistinguish themselves by such a title, and that not by the voice of the\r\npeople, but by their own votes? For how is such a one judged to be best\r\neither in learning, sciences, or arts?\u003ca id=\"FNA-310\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-310\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e310\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. * * * If it does so by hap-hazard, it will be as easily upset as\r\na vessel if the pilot were chosen by lot from among the passengers. But\r\nif a people, being free, chooses those to whom it can trust itself—and,\r\nif it desires its own preservation, it will always choose the\r\nnoblest—then certainly it is in the counsels of the aristocracy that\r\nthe safety of the State consists, especially as nature has not only\r\nappointed that these superior men should excel the inferior sort in high\r\nvirtue and courage, but has inspired the people also with the desire of\r\nobedience towards these, their natural lords. But they say this\r\naristocratical State is destroyed by the depraved opinions of men, who,\r\nthrough ignorance of virtue (which, as it belongs to few, can be\r\ndiscerned and appreciated by few), imagine that not only rich and\r\npowerful men, but also those who are nobly born, are necessarily the\r\nbest. And so when, through this popular error, the riches, and not the\r\nvirtue, of a few men has taken possession of the State, these chiefs\r\nobstinately retain the title of nobles, though they want the essence of\r\nnobility. For riches, fame, and power, without wisdom and a just method\r\nof regulating ourselves and commanding others, are full of discredit and\r\ninsolent arrogance; nor is there any kind of government more deformed\r\nthan that in which the wealthiest are regarded as the noblest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut when virtue governs the Commonwealth, what can be more glorious?\r\nWhen he who commands the rest is himself enslaved by no lust or passion;\r\nwhen he himself exhibits all the virtues to which he incites and\r\neducates the citizens; when he imposes no law on the people which he\r\ndoes not himself observe, but presents his life as a living law to his\r\nfellow-countrymen; if a single individual could thus suffice for all,\r\nthere would be no need of more; and if the community could find a chief\r\nruler thus worthy of all their suffrages, none would require elected\r\nmagistrates.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-385\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e385\u003c/span\u003eIt was the difficulty of forming plans which transferred the government\r\nfrom a king into the hands of many; and the error and temerity of the\r\npeople likewise transferred it from the hands of the many into those of\r\nthe few. Thus, between the weakness of the monarch and the rashness of\r\nthe multitude, the aristocrats have occupied the middle place, than\r\nwhich nothing can be better arranged; and while they superintend the\r\npublic interest, the people necessarily enjoy the greatest possible\r\nprosperity, being free from all care and anxiety, having intrusted their\r\nsecurity to others, who ought sedulously to defend it, and not allow the\r\npeople to suspect that their advantage is neglected by their rulers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor as to that equality of rights which democracies so loudly boast of,\r\nit can never be maintained; for the people themselves, so dissolute and\r\nso unbridled, are always inclined to flatter a number of demagogues; and\r\nthere is in them a very great partiality for certain men and dignities,\r\nso that their equality, so called, becomes most unfair and iniquitous.\r\nFor as equal honor is given to the most noble and the most infamous,\r\nsome of whom must exist in every State, then the equity which they\r\neulogize becomes most inequitable—an evil which never can happen in\r\nthose states which are governed by aristocracies. These reasonings, my\r\nLælius, and some others of the same kind, are usually brought forward by\r\nthose that so highly extol this form of political constitution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. Then Lælius said: But you have not told us, Scipio, which of these\r\nthree forms of government you yourself most approve.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You are right to shape your question, which of the three I\r\nmost approve, for there is not one of them which I approve at all by\r\nitself, since, as I told you, I prefer that government which is mixed\r\nand composed of all these forms, to any one of them taken separately.\r\nBut if I must confine myself to one of these particular forms simply and\r\nexclusively, I must confess I prefer the royal one, and praise that as\r\nthe first and best. In this, which I here choose to call the primitive\r\nform of government, I find the title of father attached to that of king,\r\nto express that he watches over the citizens as over his children, and\r\nendeavors \u003ca id=\"page-386\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e386\u003c/span\u003erather to preserve them in freedom than reduce them to\r\nslavery. So that it is more advantageous for those who are insignificant\r\nin property and capacity to be supported by the care of one excellent\r\nand eminently powerful man. The nobles here present themselves, who\r\nprofess that they can do all this in much better style; for they say\r\nthat there is much more wisdom in many than in one, and at least as much\r\nfaith and equity. And, last of all, come the people, who cry with a loud\r\nvoice that they will render obedience neither to the one nor the few;\r\nthat even to brute beasts nothing is so dear as liberty; and that all\r\nmen who serve either kings or nobles are deprived of it. Thus, the kings\r\nattract us by affection, the nobles by talent, the people by liberty;\r\nand in the comparison it is hard to choose the best.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e I think so too, but yet it is impossible to despatch the other\r\nbranches of the question, if you leave this primary point undetermined.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. \u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e We must then, I suppose, imitate Aratus, who, when he\r\nprepared himself to treat of great things, thought himself in duty bound\r\nto begin with Jupiter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Wherefore Jupiter? and what is there in this discussion which\r\nresembles that poem?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Why, it serves to teach us that we cannot better commence our\r\ninvestigations than by invoking him whom, with one voice, both learned\r\nand unlearned extol as the universal king of all gods and men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow so? said Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you, then, asked Scipio, believe in nothing which is not before your\r\neyes? whether these ideas have been established by the chiefs of states\r\nfor the benefit of society, that there might be believed to exist one\r\nUniversal Monarch in heaven, at whose nod (as Homer expresses it) all\r\nOlympus trembles, and that he might be accounted both king and father of\r\nall creatures; for there is great authority, and there are many\r\nwitnesses, if you choose to call all many, who attest that all nations\r\nhave unanimously recognized, by the decrees of their chiefs, that\r\nnothing is better than a king, since they think that all the Gods are\r\ngoverned by the divine power of one sovereign; or if we suspect \u003ca id=\"page-387\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e387\u003c/span\u003ethat\r\nthis opinion rests on the error of the ignorant, and should be classed\r\namong the fables, let us listen to those universal testimonies of\r\nerudite men, who have, as it were, seen with their eyes those things to\r\nthe knowledge of which we can hardly attain by report.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat men do you mean? said Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThose, replied Scipio, who, by the investigation of nature, have arrived\r\nat the opinion that the whole universe [is animated] by a single\r\nMind\u003ca id=\"FNA-311\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-311\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e311\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. But if you please, my Lælius, I will bring forward evidences\r\nwhich are neither too ancient nor in any respect barbarous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThose, said Lælius, are what I want.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You are aware that it is now not four centuries since this\r\ncity of ours has been without kings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e You are correct; it is less than four centuries.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Well, then, what are four centuries in the age of a state or\r\ncity? is it a long time?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e It hardly amounts to the age of maturity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You say truly; and yet not four centuries have elapsed since\r\nthere was a king in Rome.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e And he was a proud king.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e But who was his predecessor?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e He was an admirably just one; and, indeed, we must bestow the\r\nsame praise on all his predecessors as far back as Romulus, who reigned\r\nabout six centuries ago.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Even he, then, is not very ancient.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e No; he reigned when Greece was already becoming old.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Agreed. Was Romulus, then, think you, king of a barbarous\r\npeople?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Why, as to that, if we were to follow the example of the\r\nGreeks, who say that all people are either Greeks or barbarians, I am\r\nafraid that we must confess that he was a king of barbarians; but if\r\nthis name belongs rather to manners than to languages, then I believe\r\nthe Greeks were just as barbarous as the Romans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Scipio said: But with respect to the present question, we do not so\r\nmuch need to inquire into the nation as into the disposition. For if\r\nintelligent men, at a period so \u003ca id=\"page-388\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e388\u003c/span\u003elittle remote, desired the government\r\nof kings, you will confess that I am producing authorities that are\r\nneither antiquated, rude, nor insignificant.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. Then Lælius said: I see, Scipio, that you are very sufficiently\r\nprovided with authorities; but with me, as with every fair judge,\r\nauthorities are worth less than arguments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eScipio replied: Then, Lælius, you shall yourself make use of an argument\r\nderived from your own senses.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e What senses do you mean?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e The feelings which you experience when at any time you happen\r\nto feel angry with any one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e That happens rather oftener than I could wish.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Well, then, when you are angry, do you permit your anger to\r\ntriumph over your judgment?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo, by Hercules! said Lælius; I imitate the famous Archytas of Tarentum,\r\nwho, when he came to his villa, and found all its arrangements were\r\ncontrary to his orders, said to his steward, “Ah! you unlucky scoundrel,\r\nI would flog you to death, if it were not that I am in a rage with you.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCapital, said Scipio. Archytas, then, regarded unreasonable anger as a\r\nkind of sedition and rebellion of nature which he sought to appease by\r\nreflection. And so, if we examine avarice, the ambition of power or of\r\nglory, or the lusts of concupiscence and licentiousness, we shall find a\r\ncertain conscience in the mind of man, which, like a king, sways by the\r\nforce of counsel all the inferior faculties and propensities; and this,\r\nin truth, is the noblest portion of our nature; for when conscience\r\nreigns, it allows no resting-place to lust, violence, or temerity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e You have spoken the truth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Well, then, does a mind thus governed and regulated meet your\r\napprobation?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e More than anything upon earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Then you would not approve that the evil passions, which are\r\ninnumerable, should expel conscience, and that lusts and animal\r\npropensities should assume an ascendency over us?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e For my part, I can conceive nothing more wretched than a mind\r\nthus degraded, or a man animated by a soul so licentious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-389\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e389\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You desire, then, that all the faculties of the mind should\r\nsubmit to a ruling power, and that conscience should reign over them\r\nall?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Certainly, that is my wish.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e How, then, can you doubt what opinion to form on the subject\r\nof the Commonwealth? in which, if the State is thrown into many hands,\r\nit is very plain that there will be no presiding authority; for if power\r\nbe not united, it soon comes to nothing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. Then Lælius asked: But what difference is there, I should like to\r\nknow, between the one and the many, if justice exists equally in many?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Scipio said: Since I see, my Lælius, that the authorities I have\r\nadduced have no great influence on you, I must continue to employ you\r\nyourself as my witness in proof of what I am saying.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn what way, said Lælius, are you going to make me again support your\r\nargument?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Why, thus: I recollect, when we were lately at Formiæ, that\r\nyou told your servants repeatedly to obey the orders of more than one\r\nmaster only.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e To be sure, those of my steward.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e What do you at home? Do you commit your affairs to the hands\r\nof many persons?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e No, I trust them to myself alone.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Well, in your whole establishment, is there any other master\r\nbut yourself?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Not one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Then I think you must grant me that, as respects the State,\r\nthe government of single individuals, provided they are just, is\r\nsuperior to any other.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e You have conducted me to this conclusion, and I entertain very\r\nnearly that opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. And Scipio said: You would still further agree with me, my Lælius,\r\nif, omitting the common comparisons, that one pilot is better fitted to\r\nsteer a ship, and a physician to treat an invalid, provided they be\r\ncompetent men in their respective professions, than many could be, I\r\nshould come at once to more illustrious examples.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e What examples do you mean?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Do not you observe that it was the cruelty and \u003ca id=\"page-390\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e390\u003c/span\u003epride of one\r\nsingle Tarquin only that made the title of king unpopular among the\r\nRomans?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Yes, I acknowledge that.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You are also aware of this fact, on which I think I shall\r\ndebate in the course of the coming discussion, that after the expulsion\r\nof King Tarquin, the people was transported by a wonderful excess of\r\nliberty. Then innocent men were driven into banishment; then the estates\r\nof many individuals were pillaged, consulships were made annual, public\r\nauthorities were overawed by mobs, popular appeals took place in all\r\ncases imaginable; then secessions of the lower orders ensued, and,\r\nlastly, those proceedings which tended to place all powers in the hands\r\nof the populace.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e I must confess this is all too true.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll these things now, said Scipio, happened during periods of peace and\r\ntranquillity, for license is wont to prevail when there is little to\r\nfear, as in a calm voyage or a trifling disease. But as we observe the\r\nvoyager and the invalid implore the aid of some one competent director,\r\nas soon as the sea grows stormy and the disease alarming, so our nation\r\nin peace and security commands, threatens, resists, appeals from, and\r\ninsults its magistrates, but in war obeys them as strictly as kings; for\r\npublic safety is, after all, rather more valuable than popular license.\r\nAnd in the most serious wars, our countrymen have even chosen the entire\r\ncommand to be deposited in the hands of some single chief, without a\r\ncolleague; the very name of which magistrate indicates the absolute\r\ncharacter of his power. For though he is evidently called dictator\r\nbecause he is appointed (dicitur), yet do we still observe him, my\r\nLælius, in our sacred books entitled Magister Populi (the master of the\r\npeople).\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is certainly the case, said Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOur ancestors, therefore, said Scipio, acted wisely.\u003ca id=\"FNA-312\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-312\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e312\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLI. When the people is deprived of a just king, as Ennius says, after\r\nthe death of one of the best of monarchs,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey hold his memory dear, and, in the warmth\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf their discourse, they cry, O Romulus!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eO prince divine, sprung from the might of Mars\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo be thy country’s guardian! O our sire!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBe our protector still, O heaven-begot!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-391\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e391\u003c/span\u003eNot heroes, nor lords alone, did they call those whom they lawfully\r\nobeyed; nor merely as kings did they proclaim them; but they pronounced\r\nthem their country’s guardians, their fathers, and their Gods. Nor,\r\nindeed, without cause, for they added,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThou, Prince, hast brought us to the gates of light.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd truly they believed that life and honor and glory had arisen to them\r\nfrom the justice of their king. The same good-will would doubtless have\r\nremained in their descendants, if the same virtues had been preserved on\r\nthe throne; but, as you see, by the injustice of one man the whole of\r\nthat kind of constitution fell into ruin.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI see it indeed, said Lælius, and I long to know the history of these\r\npolitical revolutions both in our own Commonwealth and in every other.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLII. And Scipio said: When I shall have explained my opinion respecting\r\nthe form of government which I prefer, I shall be able to speak to you\r\nmore accurately respecting the revolutions of states, though I think\r\nthat such will not take place so easily in the mixed form of government\r\nwhich I recommend. With respect, however, to absolute monarchy, it\r\npresents an inherent and invincible tendency to revolution. No sooner\r\ndoes a king begin to be unjust than this entire form of government is\r\ndemolished, and he at once becomes a tyrant, which is the worst of all\r\ngovernments, and one very closely related to monarchy. If this State\r\nfalls into the hands of the nobles, which is the usual course of events,\r\nit becomes an aristocracy, or the second of the three kinds of\r\nconstitutions which I have described; for it is, as it were, a\r\nroyal—that is to say, a paternal—council of the chief men of the State\r\nconsulting for the public benefit. Or if the people by itself has\r\nexpelled or slain a tyrant, it is moderate in its conduct as long as it\r\nhas sense and wisdom, and while it rejoices in its exploit, and applies\r\nitself to maintaining the constitution which it has established. But if\r\never the people has raised its forces against a just king and robbed him\r\nof his throne, or, as has frequently happened, has tasted the blood of\r\nits legitimate nobles, and subjected the whole Commonwealth to its own\r\nlicense, you can imagine \u003ca id=\"page-392\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e392\u003c/span\u003eno flood or conflagration so terrible, or any\r\nwhose violence is harder to appease than this unbridled insolence of the\r\npopulace.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIII. Then we see realized that which Plato so vividly describes, if I\r\ncan but express it in our language. It is by no means easy to do it\r\njustice in translation: however, I will try.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen, says Plato, the insatiate jaws of the populace are fired with the\r\nthirst of liberty, and when the people, urged on by evil ministers,\r\ndrains in its thirst the cup, not of tempered liberty, but unmitigated\r\nlicense, then the magistrates and chiefs, if they are not utterly\r\nsubservient and remiss, and shameless promoters of the popular\r\nlicentiousness, are pursued, incriminated, accused, and cried down under\r\nthe title of despots and tyrants. I dare say you recollect the passage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYes, said Lælius, it is familiar to me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Plato thus proceeds: Then those who feel in duty bound to obey\r\nthe chiefs of the State are persecuted by the insensate populace, who\r\ncall them voluntary slaves. But those who, though invested with\r\nmagistracies, wish to be considered on an equality with private\r\nindividuals, and those private individuals who labor to abolish all\r\ndistinctions between their own class and the magistrates, are extolled\r\nwith acclamations and overwhelmed with honors, so that it inevitably\r\nhappens in a commonwealth thus revolutionized that liberalism abounds in\r\nall directions, due authority is found wanting even in private families,\r\nand misrule seems to extend even to the animals that witness it. Then\r\nthe father fears the son, and the son neglects the father. All modesty\r\nis banished; they become far too liberal for that. No difference is made\r\nbetween the citizen and the alien; the master dreads and cajoles his\r\nscholars, and the scholars despise their masters. The young men assume\r\nthe gravity of sages, and sages must stoop to the follies of children,\r\nlest they should be hated and oppressed by them. The very slaves even\r\nare under but little restraint; wives boast the same rights as their\r\nhusbands; dogs, horses, and asses are emancipated in this outrageous\r\nexcess of freedom, and run about so violently that they frighten the\r\npassengers from the road. At length \u003ca id=\"page-393\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e393\u003c/span\u003ethe termination of all this\r\ninfinite licentiousness is, that the minds of the citizens become so\r\nfastidious and effeminate, that when they observe even the slightest\r\nexertion of authority they grow angry and seditious, and thus the laws\r\nbegin to be neglected, so that the people are absolutely without any\r\nmaster at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Lælius said: You have very accurately rendered the opinions which\r\nhe expressed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIV. \u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Now, to return to the argument of my discourse. It\r\nappears that this extreme license, which is the only liberty in the eyes\r\nof the vulgar, is, according to Plato, such that from it as a sort of\r\nroot tyrants naturally arise and spring up. For as the excessive power\r\nof an aristocracy occasions the destruction of the nobles, so this\r\nexcessive liberalism of democracies brings after it the slavery of the\r\npeople. Thus we find in the weather, the soil, and the animal\r\nconstitution the most favorable conditions are sometimes suddenly\r\nconverted by their excess into the contrary, and this fact is especially\r\nobservable in political governments; and this excessive liberty soon\r\nbrings the people collectively and individually to an excessive\r\nservitude. For, as I said, this extreme liberty easily introduces the\r\nreign of tyranny, the severest of all unjust slaveries. In fact, from\r\nthe midst of this unbridled and capricious populace, they elect some one\r\nas a leader in opposition to their afflicted and expelled nobles: some\r\nnew chief, forsooth, audacious and impure, often insolently persecuting\r\nthose who have deserved well of the State, and ready to gratify the\r\npopulace at his neighbor’s expense as well as his own. Then, since the\r\nprivate condition is naturally exposed to fears and alarms, the people\r\ninvest him with many powers, and these are continued in his hands. Such\r\nmen, like Pisistratus of Athens, will soon find an excuse for\r\nsurrounding themselves with body-guards, and they will conclude by\r\nbecoming tyrants over the very persons who raised them to dignity. If\r\nsuch despots perish by the vengeance of the better citizens, as is\r\ngenerally the case, the constitution is re-established; but if they fall\r\nby the hands of bold insurgents, then the same faction succeeds them,\r\nwhich is only another species of tyranny. And the same revolution arises\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-394\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e394\u003c/span\u003efrom the fair system of aristocracy when any corruption has betrayed\r\nthe nobles from the path of rectitude. Thus the power is like the ball\r\nwhich is flung from hand to hand: it passes from kings to tyrants, from\r\ntyrants to the aristocracy, from them to democracy, and from these back\r\nagain to tyrants and to factions; and thus the same kind of government\r\nis seldom long maintained.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLV. Since these are the facts of experience, royalty is, in my opinion,\r\nvery far preferable to the three other kinds of political constitutions.\r\nBut it is itself inferior to that which is composed of an equal mixture\r\nof the three best forms of government, united and modified by one\r\nanother. I wish to establish in a commonwealth a royal and pre-eminent\r\nchief. Another portion of power should be deposited in the hands of the\r\naristocracy, and certain things should be reserved to the judgment and\r\nwish of the multitude. This constitution, in the first place, possesses\r\nthat great equality without which men cannot long maintain their\r\nfreedom; secondly, it offers a great stability, while the particular\r\nseparate and isolated forms easily fall into their contraries; so that a\r\nking is succeeded by a despot, an aristocracy by a faction, a democracy\r\nby a mob and confusion; and all these forms are frequently sacrificed to\r\nnew revolutions. In this united and mixed constitution, however, similar\r\ndisasters cannot happen without the greatest vices in public men. For\r\nthere can be little to occasion revolution in a state in which every\r\nperson is firmly established in his appropriate rank, and there are but\r\nfew modes of corruption into which we can fall.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVI. But I fear, Lælius, and you, my amiable and learned friends, that\r\nif I were to dwell any longer on this argument, my words would seem\r\nrather like the lessons of a master, and not like the free conversation\r\nof one who is uniting with you in the consideration of truth. I shall\r\ntherefore pass on to those things which are familiar to all, and which I\r\nhave long studied. And in these matters I believe, I feel, and I affirm\r\nthat of all governments there is none which, either in its entire\r\nconstitution or the distribution of its parts, or in the discipline of\r\nits manners, is comparable to that which our fathers received from our\r\nearliest ancestors, and which they have handed down to \u003ca id=\"page-395\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e395\u003c/span\u003eus. And since\r\nyou wish to hear from me a development of this constitution, with which\r\nyou are all acquainted, I shall endeavor to explain its true character\r\nand excellence. Thus keeping my eye fixed on the model of our Roman\r\nCommonwealth, I shall endeavor to accommodate to it all that I have to\r\nsay on the best form of government. And by treating the subject in this\r\nway, I think I shall be able to accomplish most satisfactorily the task\r\nwhich Lælius has imposed on me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVII. \u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e It is a task most properly and peculiarly your own, my\r\nScipio; for who can speak so well as you either on the subject of the\r\ninstitutions of our ancestors, since you yourself are descended from\r\nmost illustrious ancestors, or on that of the best form of a\r\nconstitution which, if we possess (though at this moment we do not,\r\nstill), when we do possess such a thing, who will be more flourishing in\r\nit than you? or on that of providing counsels for the future, as you,\r\nwho, by dispelling two mighty perils from our city, have provided for\r\nits safety forever?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eFRAGMENTS.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLVIII. As our country is the source of the greatest benefits, and is a\r\nparent dearer than those who have given us life, we owe her still warmer\r\ngratitude than belongs to our human relations. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor would Carthage have continued to flourish during six centuries\r\nwithout wisdom and good institutions. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn truth, says Cicero, although the reasonings of those men may contain\r\nmost abundant fountains of science and virtue; still, if we compare them\r\nwith the achievements and complete actions of statesmen, they will seem\r\nnot to have been of so much service in the actual business of men as of\r\namusement for their leisure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-396\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e396\u003c/span\u003eINTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND BOOK,\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eBY THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eIn\u003c/span\u003e this second book of his Commonwealth, Cicero gives us a spirited and\r\neloquent review of the history and successive developments of the Roman\r\nconstitution. He bestows the warmest praises on its early kings, points\r\nout the great advantages which had resulted from its primitive\r\nmonarchical system, and explains how that system had been gradually\r\nbroken up. In order to prove the importance of reviving it, he gives a\r\nglowing picture of the evils and disasters that had befallen the Roman\r\nState in consequence of that overcharge of democratic folly and violence\r\nwhich had gradually gained an alarming preponderance, and describes,\r\nwith a kind of prophetic sagacity, the fruit of his political\r\nexperience, the subsequent revolutions of the Roman State, which such a\r\nstate of things would necessarily bring about.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK II.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. [\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eWhen\u003c/span\u003e, therefore, he observed all his friends kindled with the\r\nde]sire of hearing him, Scipio thus opened the discussion. I will\r\ncommence, said Scipio, with a sentiment of old Cato, whom, as you know,\r\nI singularly loved and exceedingly admired, and to whom, in compliance\r\nwith the judgment of both my parents, and also by my own desire, I was\r\nentirely devoted during my youth; of whose discourse, indeed, I could\r\nnever have enough, so much experience did he possess as a statesman\r\nrespecting the republic which he had so long governed, both in peace and\r\nwar, with so much success. There was also an admirable propriety in his\r\nstyle of conversation, in which wit was tempered with gravity; a\r\nwonderful aptitude for acquiring, and at the same time communicating,\r\ninformation; and his life was in perfect correspondence and unison with\r\nhis language. He used to say that the government of Rome was superior to\r\nthat of other states for this reason, because in nearly all of them\r\nthere had been single individuals, each of whom had regulated their\r\ncommonwealth \u003ca id=\"page-397\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e397\u003c/span\u003eaccording to their own laws and their own ordinances. So\r\nMinos had done in Crete, and Lycurgus in Sparta; and in Athens, which\r\nexperienced so many revolutions, first Theseus, then Draco, then Solon,\r\nthen Clisthenes, afterward many others; and, lastly, when it was almost\r\nlifeless and quite prostrate, that great and wise man, Demetrius\r\nPhalereus, supported it. But our Roman constitution, on the contrary,\r\ndid not spring from the genius of one individual, but from that of many;\r\nand it was established, not in the lifetime of one man, but in the\r\ncourse of several ages and centuries. For, added he, there never yet\r\nexisted any genius so vast and comprehensive as to allow nothing at any\r\ntime to escape its attention; and all the geniuses in the world united\r\nin a single mind could never, within the limits of a single life, exert\r\na foresight sufficiently extensive to embrace and harmonize all, without\r\nthe aid of experience and practice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus, according to Cato’s usual habit, I now ascend in my discourse to\r\nthe “origin of the people,” for I like to adopt the expression of Cato.\r\nI shall also more easily execute my proposed task if I thus exhibit to\r\nyou our political constitution in its infancy, progress, and maturity,\r\nnow so firm and fully established, than if, after the example of\r\nSocrates in the books of Plato, I were to delineate a mere imaginary\r\nrepublic.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. When all had signified their approbation, Scipio resumed: What\r\ncommencement of a political constitution can we conceive more brilliant,\r\nor more universally known, than the foundation of Rome by the hand of\r\nRomulus? And he was the son of Mars: for we may grant this much to the\r\ncommon report existing among men, especially as it is not merely\r\nancient, but one also which has been wisely maintained by our ancestors,\r\nin order that those who have done great service to communities may enjoy\r\nthe reputation of having received from the Gods, not only their genius,\r\nbut their very birth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is related, then, that soon after the birth of Romulus and his\r\nbrother Remus, Amulius, King of Alba, fearing that they might one day\r\nundermine his authority, ordered that they should be exposed on the\r\nbanks of the Tiber; and that in this situation the infant Romulus was\r\nsuckled \u003ca id=\"page-398\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e398\u003c/span\u003eby a wild beast; that he was afterward educated by the\r\nshepherds, and brought up in the rough way of living and labors of the\r\ncountrymen; and that he acquired, when he grew up, such superiority over\r\nthe rest by the vigor of his body and the courage of his soul, that all\r\nthe people who at that time inhabited the plains in the midst of which\r\nRome now stands, tranquilly and willingly submitted to his government.\r\nAnd when he had made himself the chief of those bands, to come from\r\nfables to facts, he took Alba Longa, a powerful and strong city at that\r\ntime, and slew its king, Amulius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. Having acquired this glory, he conceived the design (as they tell\r\nus) of founding a new city and establishing a new state. As respected\r\nthe site of his new city, a point which requires the greatest foresight\r\nin him who would lay the foundation of a durable commonwealth, he chose\r\nthe most convenient possible position. For he did not advance too near\r\nthe sea, which he might easily have done with the forces under his\r\ncommand, either by entering the territory of the Rutuli and Aborigines,\r\nor by founding his citadel at the mouth of the Tiber, where many years\r\nafter Ancus Martius established a colony. But Romulus, with admirable\r\ngenius and foresight, observed and perceived that sites very near the\r\nsea are not the most favorable positions for cities which would attain a\r\ndurable prosperity and dominion. And this, first, because maritime\r\ncities are always exposed, not only to many attacks, but to perils they\r\ncannot provide against. For the continued land gives notice, by many\r\nindications, not only of any regular approaches, but also of any sudden\r\nsurprises of an enemy, and announces them beforehand by the mere sound.\r\nThere is no adversary who, on an inland territory, can arrive so swiftly\r\nas to prevent our knowing not only his existence, but his character too,\r\nand where he comes from. But a maritime and naval enemy can fall upon a\r\ntown on the sea-coast before any one suspects that he is about to come;\r\nand when he does come, nothing exterior indicates who he is, or whence\r\nhe comes, or what he wishes; nor can it even be determined and\r\ndistinguished on all occasions whether he is a friend or a foe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. But maritime cities are likewise naturally exposed \u003ca id=\"page-399\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e399\u003c/span\u003eto corrupt\r\ninfluences, and revolutions of manners. Their civilization is more or\r\nless adulterated by new languages and customs, and they import not only\r\nforeign merchandise, but foreign fashions, to such a degree that nothing\r\ncan continue unalloyed in the national institutions. Those who inhabit\r\nthese maritime towns do not remain in their native place, but are urged\r\nafar from their homes by winged hope and speculation. And even when they\r\ndo not desert their country in person, still their minds are always\r\nexpatiating and voyaging round the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor, indeed, was there any cause which more deeply undermined Corinth\r\nand Carthage, and at last overthrew them both, than this wandering and\r\ndispersion of their citizens, whom the passion of commerce and\r\nnavigation had induced to abandon the cultivation of their lands and\r\ntheir attention to military pursuits.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe proximity of the sea likewise administers to maritime cities a\r\nmultitude of pernicious incentives to luxury, which are either acquired\r\nby victory or imported by commerce; and the very agreeableness of their\r\nposition nourishes many expensive and deceitful gratifications of the\r\npassions. And what I have spoken of Corinth may be applied, for aught I\r\nknow, without incorrectness to the whole of Greece. For the Peloponnesus\r\nitself is almost wholly on the sea-coast; nor, besides the Phliasians,\r\nare there any whose lands do not touch the sea; and beyond the\r\nPeloponnesus, the Ænianes, the Dorians, and the Dolopes are the only\r\ninland people. Why should I speak of the Grecian islands, which, girded\r\nby the waves, seem all afloat, as it were, together with the\r\ninstitutions and manners of their cities? And these things, I have\r\nbefore noticed, do not respect ancient Greece only; for which of all\r\nthose colonies which have been led from Greece into Asia, Thracia,\r\nItaly, Sicily, and Africa, with the single exception of Magnesia, is\r\nthere that is not washed by the sea? Thus it seems as if a sort of\r\nGrecian coast had been annexed to territories of the barbarians. For\r\namong the barbarians themselves none were heretofore a maritime people,\r\nif we except the Carthaginians and Etruscans; one for the sake of\r\ncommerce, the other of pillage. And this is one evident reason of the\r\ncalamities and revolutions of Greece, \u003ca id=\"page-400\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e400\u003c/span\u003ebecause she became infected with\r\nthe vices which belong to maritime cities, which I just now briefly\r\nenumerated. But yet, notwithstanding these vices, they have one great\r\nadvantage, and one which is of universal application, namely, that there\r\nis a great facility for new inhabitants flocking to them. And, again,\r\nthat the inhabitants are enabled to export and send abroad the produce\r\nof their native lands to any nation they please, which offers them a\r\nmarket for their goods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. By what divine wisdom, then, could Romulus embrace all the benefits\r\nthat could belong to maritime cities, and at the same time avoid the\r\ndangers to which they are exposed, except, as he did, by building his\r\ncity on the bank of an inexhaustible river, whose equal current\r\ndischarges itself into the sea by a vast mouth, so that the city could\r\nreceive all it wanted from the sea, and discharge its superabundant\r\ncommodities by the same channel? And in the same river a communication\r\nis found by which it not only receives from the sea all the productions\r\nnecessary to the conveniences and elegances of life, but those also\r\nwhich are brought from the inland districts. So that Romulus seems to me\r\nto have divined and anticipated that this city would one day become the\r\ncentre and abode of a powerful and opulent empire; for there is no other\r\npart of Italy in which a city could be situated so as to be able to\r\nmaintain so wide a dominion with so much ease.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. As to the natural fortifications of Rome, who is so negligent and\r\nunobservant as not to have them depicted and deeply stamped on his\r\nmemory? Such is the plan and direction of the walls, which, by the\r\nprudence of Romulus and his royal successors, are bounded on all sides\r\nby steep and rugged hills; and the only aperture between the Esquiline\r\nand Quirinal mountains is enclosed by a formidable rampart, and\r\nsurrounded by an immense fosse. And as for our fortified citadel, it is\r\nso secured by a precipitous barrier and enclosure of rocks, that, even\r\nin that horrible attack and invasion of the Gauls, it remained\r\nimpregnable and inviolable. Moreover, the site which he selected had\r\nalso an abundance of fountains, and was healthy, though it was in the\r\nmidst of a pestilential region; for there are hills which at once create\r\na current \u003ca id=\"page-401\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e401\u003c/span\u003eof fresh air, and fling an agreeable shade over the valleys.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. These things he effected with wonderful rapidity, and thus\r\nestablished the city, which, from his own name Romulus, he determined to\r\ncall Rome. And in order to strengthen his new city, he conceived a\r\ndesign, singular enough, and even a little rude, yet worthy of a great\r\nman, and of a genius which discerned far away in futurity the means of\r\nstrengthening his power and his people. The young Sabine females of\r\nhonorable birth who had come to Rome, attracted by the public games and\r\nspectacles which Romulus then, for the first time, established as annual\r\ngames in the circus, were suddenly carried off at the feast of\r\nConsus\u003ca id=\"FNA-313\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-313\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e313\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e by his orders, and were given in marriage to the men of the\r\nnoblest families in Rome. And when, on this account, the Sabines had\r\ndeclared war against Rome, the issue of the battle being doubtful and\r\nundecided, Romulus made an alliance with Tatius, King of the Sabines, at\r\nthe intercession of the matrons themselves who had been carried off. By\r\nthis compact he admitted the Sabines into the city, gave them a\r\nparticipation in the religious ceremonies, and divided his power with\r\ntheir king.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. But after the death of Tatius, the entire government was again\r\nvested in the hands of Romulus, although, besides making Tatius his own\r\npartner, he had also elected some of the chiefs of the Sabines into the\r\nroyal council, who on account of their affectionate regard for the\r\npeople were called \u003ci\u003epatres\u003c/i\u003e, or fathers. He also divided the people into\r\nthree tribes, called after the name of Tatius, and his own name, and\r\nthat of Locumo, who had fallen as his ally in the Sabine war; and also\r\ninto thirty curiæ, designated by the names of those Sabine virgins, who,\r\nafter being carried off at the festivals, generously offered themselves\r\nas the mediators of peace and coalition.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut though these orders were established in the life of Tatius, yet,\r\nafter his death, Romulus reigned with still greater power by the counsel\r\nand authority of the senate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. In this respect he approved and adopted the principle which Lycurgus\r\nbut little before had applied to the government of Lacedæmon; namely,\r\nthat the monarchical \u003ca id=\"page-402\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e402\u003c/span\u003eauthority and the royal power operate best in the\r\ngovernment of states when to this supreme authority is joined the\r\ninfluence of the noblest of the citizens.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore, thus supported, and, as it were, propped up by this council\r\nor senate, Romulus conducted many wars with the neighboring nations in a\r\nmost successful manner; and while he refused to take any portion of the\r\nbooty to his own palace, he did not cease to enrich the citizens. He\r\nalso cherished the greatest respect for that institution of hierarchical\r\nand ecclesiastical ordinances which we still retain to the great benefit\r\nof the Commonwealth; for in the very commencement of his government he\r\nfounded the city with religious rites, and in the institution of all\r\npublic establishments he was equally careful in attending to these\r\nsacred ceremonials, and associated with himself on these occasions\r\npriests that were selected from each of the tribes. He also enacted that\r\nthe nobles should act as patrons and protectors to the inferior\r\ncitizens, their natural clients and dependants, in their respective\r\ndistricts, a measure the utility of which I shall afterward notice.—The\r\njudicial punishments were mostly fines of sheep and oxen; for the\r\nproperty of the people at that time consisted in their fields and\r\ncattle, and this circumstance has given rise to the expressions which\r\nstill designate real and personal wealth. Thus the people were kept in\r\norder rather by mulctations than by bodily inflictions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. After Romulus had thus reigned thirty-seven years, and established\r\nthese two great supports of government, the hierarchy and the senate,\r\nhaving disappeared in a sudden eclipse of the sun, he was thought worthy\r\nof being added to the number of the Gods—an honor which no mortal man\r\never was able to attain to but by a glorious pre-eminence of virtue. And\r\nthis circumstance was the more to be admired in the case of Romulus\r\nbecause most of the great men that have been deified were so exalted to\r\ncelestial dignities by the people, in periods very little enlightened,\r\nwhen fiction was easy and ignorance went hand-in-hand with credulity.\r\nBut with respect to Romulus we know that he lived less than six\r\ncenturies ago, at a time when science and literature were already\r\nadvanced, and had got rid of many of the ancient errors that had\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-403\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e403\u003c/span\u003eprevailed among less civilized peoples. For if, as we consider proved\r\nby the Grecian annals, Rome was founded in the seventh Olympiad, the\r\nlife of Romulus was contemporary with that period in which Greece\r\nalready abounded in poets and musicians—an age when fables, except\r\nthose concerning ancient matters, received little credit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor, one hundred and eight years after the promulgation of the laws of\r\nLycurgus, the first Olympiad was established, which indeed, through a\r\nmistake of names, some authors have supposed constituted, by Lycurgus\r\nlikewise. And Homer himself, according to the best computation, lived\r\nabout thirty years before the time of Lycurgus. We must conclude,\r\ntherefore, that Homer flourished very many years before the date of\r\nRomulus. So that, as men had now become learned, and as the times\r\nthemselves were not destitute of knowledge, there was not much room left\r\nfor the success of mere fictions. Antiquity indeed has received fables\r\nthat have at times been sufficiently improbable: but this epoch, which\r\nwas already so cultivated, disdaining every fiction that was impossible,\r\nrejected\u003ca id=\"FNA-314\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-314\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e314\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * * We may therefore, perhaps, attach some credit to\r\nthis story of Romulus’s immortality, since human life was at that time\r\nexperienced, cultivated, and instructed. And doubtless there was in him\r\nsuch energy of genius and virtue that it is not altogether impossible to\r\nbelieve the report of Proculus Julius, the husbandman, of that\r\nglorification having befallen Romulus which for many ages we have denied\r\nto less illustrious men. At all events, Proculus is reported to have\r\nstated in the council, at the instigation of the senators, who wished to\r\nfree themselves from all suspicion of having been accessaries to the\r\ndeath of Romulus, that he had seen him on that hill which is now called\r\nthe Quirinal, and that he had commanded him to inform the people that\r\nthey should build him a temple on that same hill, and offer him\r\nsacrifices under the name of Quirinus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. You see, therefore, that the genius of this great man did not merely\r\nestablish the constitution of a new people, and then leave them, as it\r\nwere, crying in their cradle; but he still continued to superintend\r\ntheir education \u003ca id=\"page-404\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e404\u003c/span\u003etill they had arrived at an adult and wellnigh a mature\r\nage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Lælius said: We now see, my Scipio, what you meant when you said\r\nthat you would adopt a new method of discussing the science of\r\ngovernment, different from any found in the writings of the Greeks. For\r\nthat prime master of philosophy, whom none ever surpassed in eloquence,\r\nI mean Plato, chose an open plain on which to build an imaginary city\r\nafter his own taste—a city admirably conceived, as none can deny, but\r\nremote enough from the real life and manners of men. Others, without\r\nproposing to themselves any model or type of government whatever, have\r\nargued on the constitutions and forms of states. You, on the contrary,\r\nappear to be about to unite these two methods; for, as far as you have\r\ngone, you seem to prefer attributing to others your discoveries, rather\r\nthan start new theories under your own name and authority, as Socrates\r\nhas done in the writings of Plato. Thus, in speaking of the site of\r\nRome, you refer to a systematic policy, to the acts of Romulus, which\r\nwere many of them the result of necessity or chance; and you do not\r\nallow your discourse to run riot over many states, but you fix and\r\nconcentrate it on our own Commonwealth. Proceed, then, in the course you\r\nhave adopted; for I see that you intend to examine our other kings, in\r\nyour pursuit of a perfect republic, as it were.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. Therefore, said Scipio, when that senate of Romulus which was\r\ncomposed of the nobles, whom the king himself respected so highly that\r\nhe designated them \u003ci\u003epatres\u003c/i\u003e, or fathers, and their children patricians,\r\nattempted after the death of Romulus to conduct the government without a\r\nking, the people would not suffer it, but, amidst their regret for\r\nRomulus, desisted not from demanding a fresh monarch. The nobles then\r\nprudently resolved to establish an interregnum—a new political form,\r\nunknown to other nations. It was not without its use, however, since,\r\nduring the interval which elapsed before the definitive nomination of\r\nthe new king, the State was not left without a ruler, nor subjected too\r\nlong to the same governor, nor exposed to the fear lest some one, in\r\nconsequence of the prolonged enjoyment of power, should become more\r\nunwilling \u003ca id=\"page-405\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e405\u003c/span\u003eto lay it aside, or more powerful if he wished to secure it\r\npermanently for himself. At which time this new nation discovered a\r\npolitical provision which had escaped the Spartan Lycurgus, who\r\nconceived that the monarch ought not to be elective—if indeed it is\r\ntrue that this depended on Lycurgus—but that it was better for the\r\nLacedæmonians to acknowledge as their sovereign the next heir of the\r\nrace of Hercules, whoever he might be: but our Romans, rude as they\r\nwere, saw the importance of appointing a king, not for his family, but\r\nfor his virtue and experience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. And fame having recognized these eminent qualities in Numa\r\nPompilius, the Roman people, without partiality for their own citizens,\r\ncommitted itself, by the counsel of the senators, to a king of foreign\r\norigin, and summoned this Sabine from the city of Cures to Rome, that he\r\nmight reign over them. Numa, although the people had proclaimed him king\r\nin their Comitia Curiata, did nevertheless himself pass a Lex Curiata\r\nrespecting his own authority; and observing that the institutions of\r\nRomulus had too much excited the military propensities of the people, he\r\njudged it expedient to recall them from this habit of warfare by other\r\nemployments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. And, in the first place, he divided severally among the citizens\r\nthe lands which Romulus had conquered, and taught them that even without\r\nthe aid of pillage and devastation they could, by the cultivation of\r\ntheir own territories, procure themselves all kinds of commodities. And\r\nhe inspired them with the love of peace and tranquillity, in which faith\r\nand justice are likeliest to flourish, and extended the most powerful\r\nprotection to the people in the cultivation of their fields and the\r\nenjoyment of their produce. Pompilius likewise having created\r\nhierarchical institutions of the highest class, added two augurs to the\r\nold number. He intrusted the superintendence of the sacred rites to five\r\npontiffs, selected from the body of the nobles; and by those laws which\r\nwe still preserve on our monuments he mitigated, by religious\r\nceremonials, the minds that had been too long inflamed by military\r\nenthusiasm and enterprise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe also established the Flamines and the Salian priests \u003ca id=\"page-406\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e406\u003c/span\u003eand the Vestal\r\nVirgins, and regulated all departments of our ecclesiastical policy with\r\nthe most pious care. In the ordinance of sacrifices, he wished that the\r\nceremonial should be very arduous and the expenditure very light. He\r\nthus appointed many observances, whose knowledge is extremely important,\r\nand whose expense far from burdensome. Thus in religious worship he\r\nadded devotion and removed costliness. He was also the first to\r\nintroduce markets, games, and the other usual methods of assembling and\r\nuniting men. By these establishments, he inclined to benevolence and\r\namiability spirits whom the passion for war had rendered savage and\r\nferocious. Having thus reigned in the greatest peace and concord\r\nthirty-nine years—for in dates we mainly follow our Polybius, than whom\r\nno one ever gave more attention to the investigation of the history of\r\nthe times—he departed this life, having corroborated the two grand\r\nprinciples of political stability, religion and clemency.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. When Scipio had concluded these remarks, Is it not, said Manilius, a\r\ntrue tradition which is current, that our king Numa was a disciple of\r\nPythagoras himself, or that at least he was a Pythagorean in his\r\ndoctrines? For I have often heard this from my elders, and we know that\r\nit is the popular opinion; but it does not seem to be clearly proved by\r\nthe testimony of our public annals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Scipio replied: The supposition is false, my Manilius; it is not\r\nmerely a fiction, but a ridiculous and bungling one too; and we should\r\nnot tolerate those statements, even in fiction, relating to facts which\r\nnot only did not happen, but which never could have happened. For it was\r\nnot till the fourth year of the reign of Tarquinius Superbus that\r\nPythagoras is ascertained to have come to Sybaris, Crotona, and this\r\npart of Italy. And the sixty-second Olympiad is the common date of the\r\nelevation of Tarquin to the throne, and of the arrival of Pythagoras.\r\n\u0026gt;From which it appears, when we calculate the duration of the reigns of\r\nthe kings, that about one hundred and forty years must have elapsed\r\nafter the death of Numa before Pythagoras first arrived in Italy. And\r\nthis fact, in the minds of men who have carefully studied the annals of\r\ntime, has never been at all doubted.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-407\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e407\u003c/span\u003eO ye immortal Gods! said Manilius, how deep and how inveterate is this\r\nerror in the minds of men! However, it costs me no effort to concede\r\nthat our Roman sciences were not imported from beyond the seas, but that\r\nthey sprung from our own indigenous and domestic virtues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. You will become still more convinced of this fact, said Africanus,\r\nwhen tracing the progress of our Commonwealth as it became gradually\r\ndeveloped to its best and maturest condition. And you will find yet\r\nfurther occasion to admire the wisdom of our ancestors on this very\r\naccount, since you will perceive, that even those things which they\r\nborrowed from foreigners received a much higher improvement among us\r\nthan they possessed in the countries from whence they were imported\r\namong us; and you will learn that the Roman people was aggrandized, not\r\nby chance or hazard, but rather by counsel and discipline, to which\r\nfortune indeed was by no means unfavorable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. After the death of King Pompilius, the people, after a short\r\nperiod of interregnum, chose Tullus Hostilius for their king, in the\r\nComitia Curiata; and Tullus, after Numa’s example, consulted the people\r\nin their curias to procure a sanction for his government. His excellence\r\nchiefly appeared in his military glory and great achievements in war. He\r\nlikewise, out of his military spoils, constructed and decorated the\r\nHouse of Comitia and the Senate-house. He also settled the ceremonies of\r\nthe proclamation of hostilities, and consecrated their righteous\r\ninstitution by the religious sanction of the Fetial priests, so that\r\nevery war which was not duly announced and declared might be adjudged\r\nillegal, unjust, and impious. And observe how wisely our kings at that\r\ntime perceived that certain rights ought to be allowed to the people, of\r\nwhich we shall have a good deal to say hereafter. Tullus did not even\r\nassume the ensigns of royalty without the approbation of the people; and\r\nwhen he appointed twelve lictors, with their axes to go before him\u003ca id=\"FNA-315\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-315\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e315\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. * * * [\u003ci\u003eManilius\u003c/i\u003e.] This Commonwealth of Rome, which you are so\r\neloquently describing, did not creep towards perfection; it rather flew\r\nat once to the maturity of its grandeur.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-408\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e408\u003c/span\u003e[\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e] After Tullus, Ancus Martius, a descendant of Numa by his\r\ndaughter, was appointed king by the people. He also procured the passing\r\nof a law\u003ca id=\"FNA-316\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-316\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e316\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e through the Comitia Curiata respecting his government.\r\nThis king having conquered the Latins, admitted them to the rights of\r\ncitizens of Rome. He added to the city the Aventine and Cælian hills; he\r\ndistributed the lands he had taken in war; he bestowed on the public all\r\nthe maritime forests he had acquired; and he built the city Ostia, at\r\nthe mouth of the Tiber, and colonized it. When he had thus reigned\r\ntwenty-three years, he died.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen said Lælius: Doubtless this king deserves our praises, but the\r\nRoman history is obscure. We possess, indeed, the name of this monarch’s\r\nmother, but we know nothing of his father.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is so, said Scipio; but in those ages little more than the names of\r\nthe kings were recorded.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. For the first time at this period, Rome appears to have become more\r\nlearned by the study of foreign literature; for it was no longer a\r\nlittle rivulet, flowing from Greece towards the walls of our city, but\r\nan overflowing river of Grecian sciences and arts. This is generally\r\nattributed to Demaratus, a Corinthian, the first man of his country in\r\nreputation, honor, and wealth; who, not being able to bear the despotism\r\nof Cypselus, tyrant of Corinth, fled with large treasures, and arrived\r\nat Tarquinii, the most flourishing city in Etruria. There, understanding\r\nthat the domination of Cypselus was thoroughly established, he, like a\r\nfree and bold-hearted man, renounced his country, and was admitted into\r\nthe number of the citizens of Tarquinii, and fixed his residence in that\r\ncity. And having married a woman of the city, he instructed his two\r\nsons, according to the method of Greek education, in all kinds of\r\nsciences and arts.\u003ca id=\"FNA-317\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-317\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e317\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. * * * [One of these sons] was easily admitted to \u003ca id=\"page-409\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e409\u003c/span\u003ethe rights of\r\ncitizenship at Rome; and on account of his accomplished manners and\r\nlearning, he became a favorite of our king Ancus to such a degree that\r\nhe was a partner in all his counsels, and was looked upon almost as his\r\nassociate in the government. He, besides, possessed wonderful\r\naffability, and was very kind in assistance, support, protection, and\r\neven gifts of money, to the citizens.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen, therefore, Ancus died, the people by their unanimous suffrages\r\nchose for their king this Lucius Tarquinius (for he had thus transformed\r\nthe Greek name of his family, that he might seem in all respects to\r\nimitate the customs of his adopted countrymen). And when he, too, had\r\nprocured the passing of a law respecting his authority, he commenced his\r\nreign by doubling the original number of the senators. The ancient\r\nsenators he called patricians of the major families (\u003ci\u003epatres majorum\r\ngentium\u003c/i\u003e), and he asked their votes first; and those new senators whom\r\nhe himself had added, he entitled patricians of minor families. After\r\nthis, he established the order of knights, on the plan which we maintain\r\nto this day. He would not, however, change the denomination of the\r\nTatian, Rhamnensian, and Lucerian orders, though he wished to do so,\r\nbecause Attus Nævius, an augur of the highest reputation, would not\r\nsanction it. And, indeed, I am aware that the Corinthians were\r\nremarkably attentive to provide for the maintenance and good condition\r\nof their cavalry by taxes levied on the inheritance of widows and\r\norphans. To the first equestrian orders Lucius also added new ones,\r\ncomposing a body of three hundred knights. And this number he doubled,\r\nafter having conquered the Æquicoli, a large and ferocious people, and\r\ndangerous enemies of the Roman State. Having likewise repulsed from our\r\nwalls an invasion of the Sabines, he routed them by the aid of his\r\ncavalry, and subdued them. He also was the first person who instituted\r\nthe grand games which are now called the Roman Games. He fulfilled his\r\nvow to build a temple to the all-good and all-powerful Jupiter in the\r\nCapitol—a vow which he made during a battle in the Sabine war—and died\r\nafter a reign of thirty-eight years.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. Then Lælius said: All that you have been relating corroborates the\r\nsaying of Cato, that the constitution \u003ca id=\"page-410\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e410\u003c/span\u003eof the Roman Commonwealth is not\r\nthe work of one man, or one age; for we can clearly see what a great\r\nprogress in excellent and useful institutions was continued under each\r\nsuccessive king. But we are now arrived at the reign of a monarch who\r\nappears to me to have been of all our kings he who had the greatest\r\nforesight in matters of political government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo it appears to me, said Scipio; for after Tarquinius Priscus comes\r\nServius Sulpicius, who was the first who is reported to have reigned\r\nwithout an order from the people. He is supposed to have been the son of\r\na female slave at Tarquinii, by one of the soldiers or clients of King\r\nPriscus; and as he was educated among the servants of this prince, and\r\nwaiting on him at table, the king soon observed the fire of his genius,\r\nwhich shone forth even from his childhood, so skilful was he in all his\r\nwords and actions. Therefore, Tarquin, whose own children were then very\r\nyoung, so loved Servius that he was very commonly believed to be his own\r\nson, and he instructed him with the greatest care in all the sciences\r\nwith which he was acquainted, according to the most exact discipline of\r\nthe Greeks.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut when Tarquin had perished by the plots of the sons of Ancus, and\r\nServius (as I have said) had begun to reign, not by the order, but yet\r\nwith the good-will and consent, of the citizens—because, as it was\r\nfalsely reported that Priscus was recovering from his wounds, Servius,\r\narrayed in the royal robes, delivered judgment, freed the debtors at his\r\nown expense, and, exhibiting the greatest affability, announced that he\r\ndelivered judgment at the command of Priscus—he did not commit himself\r\nto the senate; but, after Priscus was buried, he consulted the people\r\nrespecting his authority, and, being authorized by them to assume the\r\ndominion, he procured a law to be passed through the Comitia Curiata,\r\nconfirming his government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe then, in the first place, avenged the injuries of the Etruscans by\r\narms. After which\u003ca id=\"FNA-318\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-318\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e318\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. * * * he enrolled eighteen centuries of knights of the first\r\norder. Afterward, having created a great number of knights from the\r\ncommon mass of the people, he \u003ca id=\"page-411\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e411\u003c/span\u003edivided the rest of the people into five\r\nclasses, distinguishing between the seniors and the juniors. These he so\r\nconstituted as to place the suffrages, not in the hands of the\r\nmultitude, but in the power of the men of property. And he took care to\r\nmake it a rule of ours, as it ought to be in every government, that the\r\ngreatest number should not have the greatest weight. You are well\r\nacquainted with this institution, otherwise I would explain it to you;\r\nbut you are familiar with the whole system, and know how the centuries\r\nof knights, with six suffrages, and the first class, comprising eighty\r\ncenturies, besides one other century which was allotted to the\r\nartificers, on account of their utility to the State, produce\r\neighty-nine centuries. If to these there are added twelve centuries—for\r\nthat is the number of the centuries of the knights which\r\nremain\u003ca id=\"FNA-319\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-319\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e319\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e—the entire force of the State is summed up; and the\r\narrangement is such that the remaining and far more numerous multitude,\r\nwhich is distributed through the ninety-six last centuries, is not\r\ndeprived of a right of suffrage, which would be an arrogant measure;\r\nnor, on the other hand, permitted to exert too great a preponderance in\r\nthe government, which would be dangerous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this arrangement, Servius was very cautious in his choice of terms\r\nand denominations. He called the rich \u003ci\u003eassidui\u003c/i\u003e, because they afforded\r\npecuniary succor\u003ca id=\"FNA-320\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-320\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e320\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to the State. As to those whoso fortune did not\r\nexceed 1500 pence, or those who had nothing but their labor, he called\r\nthem \u003ci\u003eproletarii\u003c/i\u003e classes, as if the State should expect from them a\r\nhardy progeny\u003ca id=\"FNA-321\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-321\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e321\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and population.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEven a single one of the ninety-six last centuries contained numerically\r\nmore citizens than the entire first class. Thus, no one was excluded\r\nfrom his right of voting, yet the preponderance of votes was secured to\r\nthose who had the deepest stake in the welfare of the State. Moreover,\r\nwith reference to the accensi, velati, trumpeters, hornblowers,\r\nproletarii\u003ca id=\"FNA-322\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-322\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e322\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. * * * That that republic is arranged in the best manner which,\r\nbeing composed in due proportions of those \u003ca id=\"page-412\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e412\u003c/span\u003ethree elements, the\r\nmonarchical, the aristocratical, and the democratic, does not by\r\npunishment irritate a fierce and savage mind. * * * [A similar\r\ninstitution prevailed at Carthage], which was sixty-five years more\r\nancient than Rome, since it was founded thirty-nine years before the\r\nfirst Olympiad; and that most ancient law-giver Lycurgus made nearly the\r\nsame arrangements. Thus the system of regular subordination, and this\r\nmixture of the three principal forms of government, appear to me common\r\nalike to us and them. But there is a peculiar advantage in our\r\nCommonwealth, than which nothing can be more excellent, which I shall\r\nendeavor to describe as accurately as possible, because it is of such a\r\ncharacter that nothing analogous can be discovered in ancient states;\r\nfor these political elements which I have noticed were so united in the\r\nconstitutions of Rome, of Sparta, and of Carthage, that they were not\r\ncounterbalanced by any modifying power. For in a state in which one man\r\nis invested with a perpetual domination, especially of the monarchical\r\ncharacter, although there be a senate in it, as there was in Rome under\r\nthe kings, and in Sparta, by the laws of Lycurgus, or even where the\r\npeople exercise a sort of jurisdiction, as they used in the days of our\r\nmonarchy, the title of king must still be pre-eminent; nor can such a\r\nstate avoid being, and being called, a kingdom. And this kind of\r\ngovernment is especially subject to frequent revolutions, because the\r\nfault of a single individual is sufficient to precipitate it into the\r\nmost pernicious disasters.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn itself, however, royalty is not only not a reprehensible form of\r\ngovernment, but I do not know whether it is not far preferable to all\r\nother simple constitutions, if I approved of any simple constitution\r\nwhatever. But this preference applies to royalty so long only as it\r\nmaintains its appropriate character; and this character provides that\r\none individual’s perpetual power, and justice, and universal wisdom\r\nshould regulate the safety, equality, and tranquillity of the whole\r\npeople. But many privileges must be wanting to communities that live\r\nunder a king; and, in the first place, liberty, which does not consist\r\nin slavery to a just master, but in slavery to no master at all\u003ca id=\"FNA-323\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-323\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e323\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-413\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e413\u003c/span\u003eXXIV. * * * [Let us now pass on to the reign of the seventh and last\r\nking of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus.] And even this unjust and cruel\r\nmaster had good fortune for his companion for some time in all his\r\nenterprises. For he subdued all Latium; he captured Suessa Pometia, a\r\npowerful and wealthy city, and, becoming possessed of an immense spoil\r\nof gold and silver, he accomplished his father’s vow by the building of\r\nthe Capitol. He established colonies, and, faithful to the institutions\r\nof those from whom he sprung, he sent magnificent presents, as tokens of\r\ngratitude for his victories, to Apollo at Delphi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. Here begins the revolution of our political system of government,\r\nand I must beg your attention to its natural course and progression. For\r\nthe grand point of political science, the object of our discourses, is\r\nto know the march and the deviations of governments, that when we are\r\nacquainted with the particular courses and inclinations of\r\nconstitutions, we may be able to restrain them from their fatal\r\ntendencies, or to oppose adequate obstacles to their decline and fall.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor this Tarquinius Superbus, of whom I am speaking, being first of all\r\nstained with the blood of his admirable predecessor on the throne, could\r\nnot be a man of sound conscience and mind; and as he feared himself the\r\nseverest punishment for his enormous crime, he sought his protection in\r\nmaking himself feared. Then, in the glory of his victories and his\r\ntreasures, he exulted in insolent pride, and could neither regulate his\r\nown manners nor the passions of the members of his family.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen, therefore, his eldest son had offered violence to Lucretia,\r\ndaughter of Tricipitinus and wife of Collatinus, and this chaste and\r\nnoble lady had stabbed herself to death on account of the injury she\r\ncould not survive—then a man eminent for his genius and virtue, Lucius\r\nBrutus, dashed from his fellow-citizens this unjust yoke of odious\r\nservitude; and though he was but a private man, he sustained the\r\ngovernment of the entire Commonwealth, and was the first that taught the\r\npeople in this State that no one was a private man when the preservation\r\nof our liberties was concerned. Beneath his authority and command our\r\ncity rose against tyranny, and, stirred by the recent \u003ca id=\"page-414\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e414\u003c/span\u003egrief of the\r\nfather and relatives of Lucretia, and with the recollections of\r\nTarquin’s haughtiness, and the numberless crimes of himself and his\r\nsons, they pronounced sentence of banishment against him and his\r\nchildren, and the whole race of the Tarquins.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. Do you not observe, then, how the king sometimes degenerates into\r\nthe despot, and how, by the fault of one individual, a form of\r\ngovernment originally good is abused to the worst of purposes? Here is a\r\nspecimen of that despot over the people whom the Greeks denominate a\r\ntyrant. For, according to them, a king is he who, like a father,\r\nconsults the interests of his people, and who preserves those whom he is\r\nset over in the very best condition of life. This indeed is, as I have\r\nsaid, an excellent form of government, yet still liable, and, as it\r\nwere, inclined, to a pernicious abuse. For as soon as a king assumes an\r\nunjust and despotic power, he instantly becomes a tyrant, than which\r\nnothing baser or fouler, than which no imaginable animal can be more\r\ndetestable to gods or men; for though in form a man, he surpasses the\r\nmost savage monsters in ferocious cruelty. For who can justly call him a\r\nhuman being, who admits not between himself and his fellow-countrymen,\r\nbetween himself and the whole human race, any communication of justice,\r\nany association of kindness? But we shall find some fitter occasion of\r\nspeaking of the evils of tyranny when the subject itself prompts us to\r\ndeclare against them who, even in a state already liberated, have\r\naffected these despotic insolencies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. Such is the first origin and rise of a tyrant. For this was the\r\nname by which the Greeks choose to designate an unjust king; and by the\r\ntitle king our Romans universally understand every man who exercises\r\nover the people a perpetual and undivided domination. Thus Spurius\r\nCassius, and Marcus Manlius, and Spurius Mælius, are said to have wished\r\nto seize upon the kingly power, and lately [Tiberius Gracchus incurred\r\nthe same accusation].\u003ca id=\"FNA-324\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-324\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e324\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. * * * [Lycurgus, in Sparta, formed, under the name of Elders,] a\r\nsmall council consisting of twenty-eight members only; to these he\r\nallotted the supreme legislative \u003ca id=\"page-415\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e415\u003c/span\u003eauthority, while the king held the\r\nsupreme executive authority. Our Romans, emulating his example, and\r\ntranslating his terms, entitled those whom he had called Elders,\r\nSenators, which, as we have said, was done by Romulus in reference to\r\nthe elect patricians. In this constitution, however, the power, the\r\ninfluence, and name of the king is still pre-eminent. You may\r\ndistribute, indeed, some show of power to the people, as Lycurgus and\r\nRomulus did, but you inflame them, with the thirst of liberty by\r\nallowing them even the slightest taste of its sweetness; and still their\r\nhearts will be overcast with alarm lest their king, as often happens,\r\nshould become unjust. The prosperity of the people, therefore, can be\r\nlittle better than fragile, when placed at the disposal of any one\r\nindividual, and subjected to his will and caprices.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. Thus the first example, prototype, and original of tyranny has\r\nbeen discovered by us in the history of our own Roman State, religiously\r\nfounded by Romulus, without applying to the theoretical Commonwealth\r\nwhich, according to Plato’s recital, Socrates was accustomed to describe\r\nin his peripatetic dialogues. We have observed Tarquin, not by the\r\nusurpation of any new power, but by the unjust abuse of the power which\r\nhe already possessed, overturn the whole system of our monarchical\r\nconstitution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us oppose to this example of the tyrant another, a virtuous\r\nking—wise, experienced, and well informed respecting the true interest\r\nand dignity of the citizens—a guardian, as it were, and superintendent\r\nof the Commonwealth; for that is a proper name for every ruler and\r\ngovernor of a state. And take you care to recognize such a man when you\r\nmeet him, for he is the man who, by counsel and exertion, can best\r\nprotect the nation. And as the name of this man has not yet been often\r\nmentioned in our discourse, and as the character of such a man must be\r\noften alluded to in our future conversations, [I shall take an early\r\nopportunity of describing it.]\u003ca id=\"FNA-325\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-325\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e325\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. * * * [Plato has chosen to suppose a territory and establishments\r\nof citizens, whose fortunes] were precisely equal. And he has given us a\r\ndescription of a city, rather to be desired than expected; and he has\r\nmade out \u003ca id=\"page-416\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e416\u003c/span\u003enot such a one as can really exist, but one in which the\r\nprinciples of political affairs may be discerned. But for me, if I can\r\nin any way accomplish it, while I adopt the same general principles as\r\nPlato, I am seeking to reduce them to experience and practice, not in\r\nthe shadow and picture of a state, but in a real and actual\r\nCommonwealth, of unrivalled amplitude and power; in order to be able to\r\npoint out, with the most graphic precision, the causes of every\r\npolitical good and social evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor after Rome had flourished more than two hundred and forty years\r\nunder her kings and interreges, and after Tarquin was sent into\r\nbanishment, the Roman people conceived as much detestation of the name\r\nof king as they had once experienced regret at the death, or rather\r\ndisappearance, of Romulus. Therefore, as in the first instance they\r\ncould hardly bear the idea of losing a king, so in the latter, after the\r\nexpulsion of Tarquin, they could not endure to hear the name of a\r\nking.\u003ca id=\"FNA-326\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-326\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e326\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. * * * Therefore, when that admirable constitution of Romulus had\r\nlasted steadily about two hundred and forty years. * * * The whole of\r\nthat law was abolished. In this humor, our ancestors banished\r\nCollatinus, in spite of his innocence, because of the suspicion that\r\nattached to his family, and all the rest of the Tarquins, on account of\r\nthe unpopularity of their name. In the same humor, Valerius Publicola\r\nwas the first to lower the fasces before the people, when he spoke in\r\nthe assembly of the people. He also had the materials of his house\r\nconveyed to the foot of Mount Velia, having observed that the\r\ncommencement of his edifice on the summit of this hill, where King\r\nTullius had once dwelt, excited the suspicions of the people.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was the same man, who in this respect pre-eminently deserved the name\r\nof Publicola, who carried in favor of the people the first law received\r\nin the Comitia Centuriata, that no magistrate should sentence to death\r\nor scourging a Roman citizen who appealed from his authority to the\r\npeople. And the pontifical books attest that the right of appeal had\r\nexisted, even against the decision of the kings. Our augural books\r\naffirm the same thing. And the Twelve \u003ca id=\"page-417\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e417\u003c/span\u003eTables prove, by a multitude of\r\nlaws, that there was a right of appeal from every judgment and penalty.\r\nBesides, the historical fact that the decemviri who compiled the laws\r\nwere created with the privilege of judging without appeal, sufficiently\r\nproves that the other magistrates had not the same power. And a consular\r\nlaw, passed by Lucius Valerius Politus and Marcus Horatius Barbatus, men\r\njustly popular for promoting union and concord, enacted that no\r\nmagistrate should thenceforth be appointed with authority to judge\r\nwithout appeal; and the Portian laws, the work of three citizens of the\r\nname of Portius, as you are aware, added nothing new to this edict but a\r\npenal sanction.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore Publicola, having promulgated this law in favor of appeal to\r\nthe people, immediately ordered the axes to be removed from the fasces,\r\nwhich the lictors carried before the consuls, and the next day appointed\r\nSpurius Lucretius for his colleague. And as the new consul was the\r\noldest of the two, Publicola ordered his lictors to pass over to him;\r\nand he was the first to establish the rule, that each of the consuls\r\nshould be preceded by the lictors in alternate months, that there should\r\nbe no greater appearance of imperial insignia among the free people than\r\nthey had witnessed in the days of their kings. Thus, in my opinion, he\r\nproved himself no ordinary man, as, by so granting the people a moderate\r\ndegree of liberty, he more easily maintained the authority of the\r\nnobles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor is it without reason that I have related to you these ancient and\r\nalmost obsolete events; but I wished to adduce my instances of men and\r\ncircumstances from illustrious persons and times, as it is to such\r\nevents that the rest of my discourse will be directed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. At that period, then, the senate preserved the Commonwealth in\r\nsuch a condition that though the people were really free, yet few acts\r\nwere passed by the people, but almost all, on the contrary, by the\r\nauthority, customs, and traditions of the senate. And over all the\r\nconsuls exercised a power—in time, indeed, only annual, but in nature\r\nand prerogative completely royal.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe consuls maintained, with the greatest energy, that rule which so\r\nmuch conduces to the power of our nobles and great men, that the acts of\r\nthe commons of the people \u003ca id=\"page-418\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e418\u003c/span\u003eshall not be binding, unless the authority of\r\nthe patricians has approved them. About the same period, and scarcely\r\nten years after the first consuls, we find the appointment of the\r\ndictator in the person of Titus Lartius. And this new kind of\r\npower—namely, the dictatorship—appears exceedingly similar to the\r\nmonarchical royalty. All his power, however, was vested in the supreme\r\nauthority of the senate, to which the people deferred; and in these\r\ntimes great exploits were performed in war by brave men invested with\r\nthe supreme command, whether dictators or consuls.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. But as the nature of things necessarily brought it to pass that\r\nthe people, once freed from its kings, should arrogate to itself more\r\nand more authority, we observe that after a short interval of only\r\nsixteen years, in the consulship of Postumus Cominius and Spurius\r\nCassius, they attained their object; an event explicable, perhaps, on no\r\ndistinct principle, but, nevertheless, in a manner independent of any\r\ndistinct principle. For recollect what I said in commencing our\r\ndiscourse, that if there exists not in the State a just distribution and\r\nsubordination of rights, offices, and prerogatives, so as to give\r\nsufficient domination to the chiefs, sufficient authority to the counsel\r\nof the senators, and sufficient liberty to the people, this form of the\r\ngovernment cannot be durable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor when the excessive debts of the citizens had thrown the State into\r\ndisorder, the people first retired to Mount Sacer, and next occupied\r\nMount Aventine. And even the rigid discipline of Lycurgus could not\r\nmaintain those restraints in the case of the Greeks. For in Sparta\r\nitself, under the reign of Theopompus, the five magistrates whom they\r\nterm Ephori, and in Crete ten whom they entitle Cosmi, were established\r\nin opposition to the royal power, just as tribunes were added among us\r\nto counterbalance the consular authority.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. There might have been a method, indeed, by which our ancestors\r\ncould have been relieved from the pressure of debt, a method with which\r\nSolon the Athenian, who lived at no very distant period before, was\r\nacquainted, and which our senate did not neglect when, in the\r\nindignation which the odious avarice of one individual excited, \u003ca id=\"page-419\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e419\u003c/span\u003eall the\r\nbonds of the citizens were cancelled, and the right of arrest for a\r\nwhile suspended. In the same way, when the plebeians were oppressed by\r\nthe weight of the expenses occasioned by public misfortunes, a cure and\r\nremedy were sought for the sake of public security. The senate, however,\r\nhaving forgotten their former decision, gave an advantage to the\r\ndemocracy; for, by the creation of two tribunes to appease the sedition\r\nof the people, the power and authority of the senate were diminished;\r\nwhich, however, still remained dignified and august, inasmuch as it was\r\nstill composed of the wisest and bravest men, who protected their\r\ncountry both with their arms and with their counsels; whose authority\r\nwas exceedingly strong and flourishing, because in honor they were as\r\nmuch before their fellow-citizens as they were inferior in\r\nluxuriousness, and, as a general rule, not superior to them in wealth.\r\nAnd their public virtues were the more agreeable to the people, because\r\neven in private matters they were ready to serve every citizen, by their\r\nexertions, their counsels, and their liberality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. Such was the situation of the Commonwealth when the quæstor\r\nimpeached Spurius Cassius of being so much emboldened by the excessive\r\nfavor of the people as to endeavor to make himself master of monarchical\r\npower. And, as you have heard, his own father, having said that he had\r\nfound that his son was really guilty of this crime, condemned him to\r\ndeath at the instance of the people. About fifty-four years after the\r\nfirst consulate, Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius very much gratified\r\nthe people by proposing, in the Comitia Centuriata, the substitution of\r\nfines instead of corporal punishments. Twenty years afterward, Lucius\r\nPapirius and Publius Pinarius, the censors, having by a strict levy of\r\nfines confiscated to the State the entire flocks and herds of many\r\nprivate individuals, a light tax on the cattle was substituted for the\r\nlaw of fines in the consulship of Caius Julius and Publius Papirius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. But, some years previous to this, at a period when the senate\r\npossessed the supreme influence, and the people were submissive and\r\nobedient, a new system was adopted. At that time both the consuls and\r\ntribunes of \u003ca id=\"page-420\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e420\u003c/span\u003ethe people abdicated their magistracies, and the decemviri\r\nwere appointed, who were invested with great authority, from which there\r\nwas no appeal whatever, so as to exercise the chief domination, and to\r\ncompile the laws. After having composed, with much wisdom and equity,\r\nthe Ten Tables of laws, they nominated as their successors in the\r\nensuing year other decemviri, whose good faith and justice do not\r\ndeserve equal praise. One member of this college, however, merits our\r\nhighest commendation. I allude to Caius Julius, who declared respecting\r\nthe nobleman Lucius Sestius, in whose chamber a dead body had been\r\nexhumed under his own eyes, that though as decemvir he held the highest\r\npower without appeal, he still required bail, because he was unwilling\r\nto neglect that admirable law which permitted no court but the Comitia\r\nCenturiata to pronounce final sentence on the life of a Roman citizen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. A third year followed under the authority of the same decemvirs,\r\nand still they were not disposed to appoint their successors. In a\r\nsituation of the Commonwealth like this, which, as I have often\r\nrepeated, could not be durable, because it had not an equal operation\r\nwith respect to all the ranks of the citizens, the whole public power\r\nwas lodged in the hands of the chiefs and decemvirs of the highest\r\nnobility, without the counterbalancing authority of the tribunes of the\r\npeople, without the sanction of any other magistracies, and without\r\nappeal to the people in the case of a sentence of death or scourging.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus, out of the injustice of these men, there was suddenly produced a\r\ngreat revolution, which changed the entire condition of the government,\r\nor they added two tables of very tyrannical laws, and though matrimonial\r\nalliances had always been permitted, even with foreigners, they forbade,\r\nby the most abominable and inhuman edict, that any marriages should take\r\nplace between the nobles and the commons—an order which was afterward\r\nabrogated by the decree of Canuleius. Besides, they introduced into all\r\ntheir political measures corruption, cruelty, and avarice. And indeed\r\nthe story is well known, and celebrated in many literary compositions,\r\nthat a certain Decimus Virginius was obliged, on account of the\r\nlibidinous violence of one of these decemvirs, to stab his virgin\r\ndaughter \u003ca id=\"page-421\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e421\u003c/span\u003ein the midst of the forum. Then, when he in his desperation\r\nhad fled to the Roman army which was encamped on Mount Algidum, the\r\nsoldiers abandoned the war in which they were engaged, and took\r\npossession of the Sacred Mount, as they had done before on a similar\r\noccasion, and next invested Mount Aventine in their arms.\u003ca id=\"FNA-327\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-327\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e327\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Our\r\nancestors knew how to prove most thoroughly, and to retain most wisely.\r\n* * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVIII. And when Scipio had spoken in this manner, and all his friends\r\nwere awaiting in silence the rest of his discourse, then said Tubero:\r\nSince these men who are older than I, my Scipio, make no fresh demands\r\non you, I shall take the liberty to tell you what I particularly wish\r\nyou would explain in your subsequent remarks.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo so, said Scipio, and I shall be glad to hear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Tubero said: You appear to me to have spoken a panegyric on our\r\nCommonwealth of Rome exclusively, though Lælius requested your views not\r\nonly of the government of our own State, but of the policy of states in\r\ngeneral. I have not, therefore, yet sufficiently learned from your\r\ndiscourse, with respect to that mixed form of government you most\r\napprove, by what discipline, moral and legal, we may be best able to\r\nestablish and maintain it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIX. Africanus replied: I think that we shall soon find an occasion\r\nbetter adapted to the discussion you have proposed, respecting the\r\nconstitution and conservatism of states. As to the best form of\r\ngovernment, I think on this point I have sufficiently answered the\r\nquestion of Lælius. For in answering him, I, in the first place,\r\nspecifically noticed the three simple forms of government—monarchy,\r\naristocracy, and democracy; and the three vicious constitutions contrary\r\nto them, into which they often degenerate; and I said that none of these\r\nforms, taken separately, was absolutely good; but I described as\r\npreferable to either of them that mixed government which is composed of\r\na proper amalgamation of these simple ingredients. If I have since\r\ndepicted our own Roman constitution as an example, it was not in order\r\nto define the very best form of government, for that may be understood\r\nwithout an example; but I wished, in the exhibition of a \u003ca id=\"page-422\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e422\u003c/span\u003emighty\r\ncommonwealth actually in existence, to render distinct and visible what\r\nreason and discourse would vainly attempt to display without the\r\nassistance of experimental illustration. Yet, if you still require me to\r\ndescribe the best form of government, independent of all particular\r\nexamples, we must consult that exactly proportioned and graduated image\r\nof government which nature herself presents to her investigators. Since\r\nyou * * * this model of a city and people\u003ca id=\"FNA-328\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-328\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e328\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXL. * * * which I also am searching for, and which I am anxious to\r\narrive at.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e You mean the model that would be approved by the truly\r\naccomplished politician?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e The same.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e You have plenty of fair patterns even now before you, if you\r\nwould but begin with yourself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Scipio said: I wish I could find even one such, even in the entire\r\nsenate. For he is really a wise politician who, as we have often seen in\r\nAfrica, while seated on a huge and unsightly elephant, can guide and\r\nrule the monster, and turn him whichever way he likes by a slight\r\nadmonition, without any actual exertion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e I recollect, and when I was your lieutenant I often saw, one\r\nof these drivers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Thus an Indian or Carthaginian regulates one of these huge\r\nanimals, and renders him docile and familiar with human manners. But the\r\ngenius which resides in the mind of man, by whatever name it may be\r\ncalled, is required to rein and tame a monster far more multiform and\r\nintractable, whenever it can accomplish it, which indeed is seldom. It\r\nis necessary to hold in with a strong hand that ferocious\u003ca id=\"FNA-329\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-329\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e329\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLI. * * * [beast, denominated the mob, which thirsts after blood] to\r\nsuch a degree that it can scarcely be sated with the most hideous\r\nmassacres of men. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut to a man who is greedy, and grasping, and lustful, and fond of\r\n wallowing in voluptuousness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-423\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e423\u003c/span\u003eThe fourth kind of anxiety is that which is prone to mourning and\r\n melancholy, and which is constantly worrying itself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"comment\"\u003e[\u003ci\u003eThe next paragraph, “Esse autem angores,” etc., is wholly\r\n unintelligible without the context.\u003c/i\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs an unskilful charioteer is dragged from his chariot, covered\r\n with dirt, bruised, and lacerated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe excitements of men’s minds are like a chariot, with horses\r\n harnessed to it; in the proper management of which, the chief duty\r\n of the driver consists in knowing his road: and if he keeps the\r\n road, then, however rapidly he proceeds, he will encounter no\r\n obstacles; but if he quits the proper track, then, although he may\r\n be going gently and slowly, he will either be perplexed on rugged\r\n ground, or fall over some steep place, or at least he will be\r\n carried where he has no need to go.\u003ca id=\"FNA-330\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-330\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e330\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLII. * * * can be said.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Lælius said: I now see the sort of politician you require, on whom\r\nyou would impose the office and task of government, which is what I\r\nwished to understand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe must be an almost unique specimen, said Africanus, for the task which\r\nI set him comprises all others. He must never cease from cultivating and\r\nstudying himself, that he may excite others to imitate him, and become,\r\nthrough the splendor of his talents and enterprises, a living mirror to\r\nhis countrymen. For as in flutes and harps, and in all vocal\r\nperformances, a certain unison and harmony must be preserved amidst the\r\ndistinctive tones, which cannot be broken or violated without offending\r\nexperienced ears; and as this concord and delicious harmony is produced\r\nby the exact gradation and modulation of dissimilar notes; even so, by\r\nmeans of the just apportionment of the highest, middle, and lower\r\nclasses, the State is maintained in concord and peace by the harmonic\r\nsubordination of its discordant elements: and thus, that which is by\r\nmusicians called harmony in song answers and corresponds to what we call\r\nconcord in the State—concord, the strongest and loveliest bond of\r\nsecurity in every commonwealth, being always accompanied by justice and\r\nequity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIII. And after this, when Scipio had discussed with considerable\r\nbreadth of principle and felicity of illustration the great advantage\r\nthat justice is to a state, and the great injury which would arise if it\r\nwere \u003ca id=\"page-424\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e424\u003c/span\u003ewanting, Pilus, one of those who were present at the discussion,\r\ntook up the matter and demanded that this question should be argued more\r\ncarefully, and that something more should be said about justice, on\r\naccount of a sentiment that was now obtaining among people in general,\r\nthat political affairs could not be wholly carried on without some\r\ndisregard of justice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXLIV. * * * to be full of justice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen Scipio replied: I certainly think so. And I declare to you that I\r\nconsider that all I have spoken respecting the government of the State\r\nis worth nothing, and that it will be useless to proceed further, unless\r\nI can prove that it is a false assertion that political business cannot\r\nbe conducted without injustice and corruption; and, on the other hand,\r\nestablish as a most indisputable fact that without the strictest justice\r\nno government whatever can last long.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, with your permission, we have had discussion enough for the day.\r\nThe rest—and much remains for our consideration—we will defer till\r\nto-morrow. When they had all agreed to this, the debate of the day was\r\nclosed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eINTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD BOOK,\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eBY THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eCicero\u003c/span\u003e here enters on the grand question of Political Justice, and\r\nendeavors to evince throughout the absolute verity of that inestimable\r\nproverb, “Honesty is the best policy,” in all public as well as in all\r\nprivate affairs. St. Augustine, in his City of God, has given the\r\nfollowing analysis of this magnificent disquisition:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003e“In the third book of Cicero’s Commonwealth” (says he) “the question of\r\nPolitical Justice is most earnestly discussed. Philus is appointed to\r\nsupport, as well as he can, the sophistical arguments of those who think\r\nthat political government cannot be carried on without the aid of\r\ninjustice and chicanery. He denies holding any such opinion himself;\r\nyet, in order to exhibit the truth more vividly through the force of\r\ncontrast, he pleads with the utmost ingenuity the cause of injustice\r\nagainst justice; and endeavors to show, by plausible examples and\r\nspecious dialectics, that injustice is as useful to a statesman as\r\njustice would be injurious. Then Lælius, at the general request, takes\r\nup the plea for justice, and maintains with all his eloquence that\r\nnothing could be so ruinous to states as injustice and dishonesty, and\r\nthat \u003ca id=\"page-425\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e425\u003c/span\u003ewithout a supreme justice, no political government could expect a\r\nlong duration. This point being sufficiently proved, Scipio returns to\r\nthe principal discussion. He reproduces and enforces the short\r\ndefinition that he had given of a commonwealth—that it consisted in the\r\nwelfare of the entire people, by which word ‘people’ he does not mean\r\nthe mob, but the community, bound together by the sense of common rights\r\nand mutual benefits. He notices how important such just definitions are\r\nin all debates whatever, and draws this conclusion from the preceding\r\narguments—that the Commonwealth is the common welfare whenever it is\r\nswayed with justice and wisdom, whether it be subordinated to a king, an\r\naristocracy, or a democracy. But if the king be unjust, and so becomes a\r\ntyrant; and the aristocracy unjust, which makes them a faction; or the\r\ndemocrats unjust, and so degenerate into revolutionists and\r\ndestructives—then not only the Commonwealth is corrupted, but in fact\r\nannihilated. For it can be no longer the common welfare when a tyrant or\r\na faction abuse it; and the people itself is no longer the people when\r\nit becomes unjust, since it is no longer a community associated by a\r\nsense of right and utility, according to the definition.”—\u003ci\u003eAug. Civ.\r\nDei.\u003c/i\u003e 3-21.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003eThis book is of the utmost importance to statesmen, as it serves to\r\nneutralize the sophistries of Machiavelli, which are still repeated in\r\nmany cabinets.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK III.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. * * *\u003ca id=\"FNA-331\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-331\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e331\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero, in the third book of his treatise On a\r\nCommonwealth, says that nature has treated man less like a mother than a\r\nstep-dame, for she has cast him into mortal life with a body naked,\r\nfragile, and infirm, and with a mind agitated by troubles, depressed by\r\nfears, broken by labors, and exposed to passions. In this mind, however,\r\nthere lies hidden, and, as it were, buried, a certain divine spark of\r\ngenius and intellect.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThough man is born a frail and powerless being, nevertheless he is safe\r\nfrom all animals destitute of voice; and at the same time those other\r\nanimals of greater strength, although they bravely endure the violence\r\nof weather, cannot be safe from man. And the result is, that reason does\r\nmore for man than nature does for brutes; since, in the latter, neither\r\nthe greatness of their strength nor the firmness of their bodies can\r\nsave them from being oppressed by us, and made subject to our power. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-426\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e426\u003c/span\u003ePlato returned thanks to nature that he had been born a man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. * * * aiding our slowness by carriages, and when it had taught men\r\nto utter the elementary and confused sounds of unpolished expression,\r\narticulated and distinguished them into their proper classes, and, as\r\ntheir appropriate signs, attached certain words to certain things, and\r\nthus associated, by the most delightful bond of speech, the once divided\r\nraces of men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd by a similar intelligence, the inflections of the voice, which\r\nappeared infinite, are, by the discovery of a few alphabetic characters,\r\nall designated and expressed; by which we maintain converse with our\r\nabsent friends, by which also indications of our wishes and monuments of\r\npast events are preserved. Then came the use of numbers—a thing\r\nnecessary to human life, and at the same time immutable and eternal; a\r\nscience which first urged us to raise our views to heaven, and not gaze\r\nwithout an object on the motions of the stars, and the distribution of\r\ndays and nights.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. * * *\u003ca id=\"FNA-332\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-332\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e332\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e [Then appeared the sages of philosophy], whose minds\r\ntook a higher flight, and who were able to conceive and to execute\r\ndesigns worthy of the gifts of the Gods. Wherefore let those men who\r\nhave left us sublime essays on the principles of living be regarded as\r\ngreat men—which indeed they are—as learned men, as masters of truth\r\nand virtue; provided that these principles of civil government, this\r\nsystem of governing people, whether it be a thing discovered by men who\r\nhave lived amidst a variety of political events, or one discussed amidst\r\ntheir opportunities of literary tranquillity, is remembered to be, as\r\nindeed it is, a thing by no means to be despised, being one which causes\r\nin first-rate minds, as we not unfrequently see, an incredible and\r\nalmost divine virtue. And when to these high faculties of soul, received\r\nfrom nature and expanded by social institutions, a politician adds\r\nlearning and extensive information concerning things in general, like\r\nthose illustrious personages who conduct the dialogue in the present\r\ntreatise, none will refuse to confess the superiority of such persons to\r\nall others; for, in fact, what \u003ca id=\"page-427\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e427\u003c/span\u003ecan be more admirable than the study and\r\npractice of the grand affairs of state, united to a literary taste and a\r\nfamiliarity with the liberal arts? or what can we imagine more perfect\r\nthan a Scipio, a Lælius, or a Philus, who, not to omit anything which\r\nbelonged to the most perfect excellence of the greatest men, joined to\r\nthe examples of our ancestors and the traditions of our countrymen the\r\nforeign philosophy of Socrates?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWherefore he who had both the desire and the power to acquaint himself\r\nthoroughly both with the customs and the learning of his ancestors\r\nappears to me to have attained to the very highest glory and honor. But\r\nif we cannot combine both, and are compelled to select one of these two\r\npaths to wisdom—though to some people the tranquil life spent in the\r\nresearch of literature and arts may appear to be the most happy and\r\ndelectable—yet, doubtless, the science of politics is more laudable and\r\nillustrious, for in this political field of exertion our greatest men\r\nhave reaped their honors, like the invincible Curius,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhom neither gold nor iron could subdue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. * * *\u003ca id=\"FNA-333\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-333\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e333\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e that wisdom existed still. There existed this general\r\ndifference between these two classes, that among the one the development\r\nof the principles of nature is the subject of their study and eloquence,\r\nand among the other national laws and institutions form the principal\r\ntopics of investigation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn honor of our country, we may assert that she has produced within\r\nherself a great number, I will not say of sages (since philosophy is so\r\njealous of this name), but of men worthy of the highest celebrity,\r\nbecause by them the precepts and discoveries of the sages have been\r\ncarried out into actual practice. And, moreover, though there have\r\nexisted, and still do exist, many great and glorious empires, yet since\r\nthe noblest masterpiece of genius in the world is the establishment of a\r\nstate and commonwealth which shall be a lasting one, even if we reckon\r\nbut a single legislator for each empire, the number of these excellent\r\nmen will appear very numerous. To be convinced of this, we have only to\r\nturn our eyes on any nation of Italy, Latium, the \u003ca id=\"page-428\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e428\u003c/span\u003eSabines, the\r\nVolscians, the Samnites, or the Etrurians, and then direct our attention\r\nto that mighty nation of the Greeks, and then to the Assyrians,\r\nPersians, and Carthaginians, and\u003ca id=\"FNA-334\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-334\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e334\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. * * * [Scipio and his friends having again assembled, Scipio spoke as\r\nfollows: In our last conversation, I promised to prove that honesty is\r\nthe best policy in all states and commonwealths whatsoever. But if I am\r\nto plead in favor of strict honesty and justice in all public affairs,\r\nno less than in private, I must request Philus, or some one else, to\r\ntake up the advocacy of the other side; the truth will then become more\r\nmanifest, from the collision of opposite arguments, as we see every day\r\nexemplified at the Bar.]\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Philus replied: In good truth, you have allotted me a very\r\ncreditable cause when you wish me to undertake the defence of vice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps, said Lælius, you are afraid, lest, in reproducing the ordinary\r\nobjections made to justice in politics, you should seem to express your\r\nown sentiments; though you are universally respected as an almost unique\r\nexample of the ancient probity and good faith; nor is it unknown how\r\nfamiliar you are with the lawyer-like habit of disputing on both sides\r\nof a question, because you think that this is the best way of getting at\r\nthe truth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Philus said: Very well; I obey you, and wilfully, with my eyes open,\r\nI will undertake this dirty business; because, since those who seek for\r\ngold do not flinch at the sight of the mud, so we who are searching for\r\njustice, which is far more precious than gold, are bound to shrink from\r\nno annoyance. And I wish, as I am about to make use of the antagonist\r\narguments of a foreigner, I might also employ a foreign language. The\r\npleas, therefore, now to be urged by Lucius Furius Philus are those\r\n[once employed by] the Greek Carneades, a man who was accustomed to\r\nexpress whatever [served his turn].\u003ca id=\"FNA-335\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-335\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e335\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003ca id=\"FNA-336\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-336\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e336\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-429\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e429\u003c/span\u003eLet it be understood,\r\ntherefore, that I by no means express my own sentiments, but those of\r\nCarneades, in order that you may refute this philosopher, who was wont\r\nto turn the best causes into joke, through the mere wantonness of wit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. He was a philosopher of the Academic School; and if any one is\r\n ignorant of his great power, and eloquence, and acuteness in\r\n arguing, he may learn it from the mention made of him by Cicero or\r\n by Lucilius, when Neptune, discoursing on a very difficult subject,\r\n declares that it cannot be explained, not even if hell were to\r\n restore Carneades himself for the purpose. This philosopher, having\r\n been sent by the Athenians to Rome as an ambassador, discussed the\r\n subject of justice very amply in the hearing of Galba and Cato the\r\n Censor, who were the greatest orators of the day. And the next day\r\n he overturned all his arguments by others of a contrary tendency,\r\n and disparaged justice, which the day before he had extolled;\r\n speaking not indeed with the gravity of a philosopher whose wisdom\r\n ought to be steady, and whose opinions unchangeable, but in a kind\r\n of rhetorical exercise of arguing on each side—a practice which he\r\n was accustomed to adopt, in order to be able to refute others who\r\n were asserting anything. The arguments by which he disparaged\r\n justice are mentioned by Lucius Furius in Cicero; I suppose, since\r\n he was discussing the Commonwealth, in order to introduce a defence\r\n and panegyric of that quality without which he did not think a\r\n commonwealth could be administered. But Carneades, in order to\r\n refute Aristotle and Plato, the advocates of justice, collected in\r\n his first argument everything that was in the habit of being\r\n advanced on behalf of justice, in order afterward to be able to\r\n overturn it, as he did.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. Many philosophers indeed, and especially Plato and Aristotle,\r\n have spoken a great deal of justice, inculcating that virtue, and\r\n extolling it with the highest praise, as giving to every one what\r\n belongs to him, as preserving equity in all things, and urging that\r\n while the other virtues are, as it were, silent and shut up,\r\n justice is the only one which \u003ca id=\"page-430\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e430\u003c/span\u003eis not absorbed in considerations of\r\n self-interest, and which is not secret, but finds its whole field\r\n for exercise out-of-doors, and is desirous of doing good and\r\n serving as many people as possible; as if, forsooth, justice ought\r\n to exist in judges only, and in men invested with a certain\r\n authority, and not in every one! But there is no one, not even a\r\n man of the lowest class, or a beggar, who is destitute of\r\n opportunities of displaying justice. But because these philosophers\r\n knew not what its essence was, or whence it proceeded, or what its\r\n employment was, they attributed that first of all virtues, which is\r\n the common good of all men, to a few only, and asserted that it\r\n aimed at no advantage of its own, but was anxious only for that of\r\n others. So it was well that Carneades, a man of the greatest genius\r\n and acuteness, refuted their assertions, and overthrew that justice\r\n which had no firm foundation; not because he thought justice itself\r\n deserving of blame, but in order to show that those its defenders\r\n had brought forward no trustworthy or strong arguments in its\r\n behalf.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJustice looks out-of-doors, and is prominent and conspicuous in its\r\n whole essence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich virtue, beyond all others, wholly devotes and dedicates\r\n itself to the advantage of others.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. * * * Both to discover and maintain. While the other, Aristotle,\r\nhas filled four large volumes with a discussion on abstract justice. For\r\nI did not expect anything grand or magnificent from Chrysippus, who,\r\nafter his usual fashion, examines everything rather by the signification\r\nof words than the reality of things. But it was surely worthy of those\r\nheroes of philosophy to ennoble by their genius a virtue so eminently\r\nbeneficent and liberal, which everywhere exalts the social interests\r\nabove the selfish, and teaches us to love others rather than ourselves.\r\nIt was worthy of their genius, we say, to elevate this virtue to a\r\ndivine throne, not far from that of Wisdom. And certainly they neither\r\nwanted the will to accomplish this (for what else could be the cause of\r\ntheir writing on the subject, or what could have been their design?) nor\r\nthe genius, in which they excelled all men. But the weakness of their\r\ncause was too great for either their intention or their eloquence to\r\nmake it popular. In fact, this justice on which we reason is a civil\r\nright, but no natural one; for if it were natural and universal, then\r\njustice and injustice would be recognized similarly by all men, just as\r\nthe heat and cold, sweetness and bitterness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. Now, if any one, carried in that chariot of winged serpents of which\r\nthe poet Pacuvius makes mention, could \u003ca id=\"page-431\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e431\u003c/span\u003etake his flight over all nations\r\nand cities, and accurately observe their proceedings, he would see that\r\nthe sense of justice and right varies in different regions. In the first\r\nplace, he would behold among the unchangeable people of Egypt, which\r\npreserves in its archives the memory of so many ages and events, a bull\r\nadored as a Deity, under the name of Apis, and a multitude of other\r\nmonsters, and all kinds of animals admitted by the same nation into the\r\nnumber of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the next place, he would see in Greece, as among ourselves,\r\nmagnificent temples consecrated by images in human form, which the\r\nPersians regarded as impious; and it is affirmed that the sole motive of\r\nXerxes for commanding the conflagration of the Athenian temples was the\r\nbelief that it was a superstitious sacrilege to keep confined within\r\nnarrow walls the Gods, whose proper home was the entire universe. But\r\nafterward Philip, in his hostile projects against the Persians, and\r\nAlexander, who carried them into execution, alleged this plea for war,\r\nthat they were desirous to avenge the temples of Greece, which the\r\nGreeks had thought proper never to rebuild, that this monument of the\r\nimpiety of the Persians might always remain before the eyes of their\r\nposterity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow many—such as the inhabitants of Taurica along the Euxine Sea; as\r\nthe King of Egypt, Busiris; as the Gauls and the Carthaginians—have\r\nthought it exceedingly pious and agreeable to the Gods to sacrifice men!\r\nAnd, besides, the customs of life are so various that the Cretans and\r\nÆtolians regard robbery as honorable. And the Lacedæmonians say that\r\ntheir territory extends to all places which they can touch with a lance.\r\nThe Athenians had a custom of swearing, by a public proclamation, that\r\nall the lands which produced olives and corn were their own. The Gauls\r\nconsider it a base employment to raise corn by agricultural labor, and\r\ngo with arms in their hands, and mow down the harvests of neighboring\r\npeoples. But we ourselves, the most equitable of all nations, who, in\r\norder to raise the value of our vines and olives, do not permit the\r\nraces beyond the Alps to cultivate either vineyards or oliveyards, are\r\nsaid in this matter to act with prudence, but not with justice. You see,\r\nthen, that wisdom \u003ca id=\"page-432\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e432\u003c/span\u003eand policy are not always the same as equity. And\r\nLycurgus, that famous inventor of a most admirable jurisprudence and\r\nmost wholesome laws, gave the lands of the rich to be cultivated by the\r\ncommon people, who were reduced to slavery.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. If I were to describe the diverse kinds of laws, institutions,\r\nmanners, and customs, not only as they vary in the numerous nations, but\r\nas they vary likewise in single cities—in this one of ours, for\r\nexample—I could prove that they have had a thousand revolutions. For\r\ninstance, that eminent expositor of our laws who sits in the present\r\ncompany—I mean Manilius—if you were to consult him relative to the\r\nlegacies and inheritances of women, he would tell you that the present\r\nlaw is quite different from that he was accustomed to plead in his\r\nyouth, before the Voconian enactment came into force—an edict which was\r\npassed in favor of the interests of the men, but which is evidently full\r\nof injustice with regard to women. For why should a woman be disabled\r\nfrom inheriting property? Why can a vestal virgin become an heir, while\r\nher mother cannot? And why, admitting that it is necessary to set some\r\nlimit to the wealth of women, should Crassus’s daughter, if she be his\r\nonly child, inherit thousands without offending the law, while my\r\ndaughter can only receive a small share in a bequest.\u003ca id=\"FNA-337\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-337\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e337\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. * * * [If this justice were natural, innate, and universal, all men\r\nwould admit the same] law and right, and the same men would not enact\r\ndifferent laws at different times. If a just man and a virtuous man is\r\nbound to obey the laws, I ask, what laws do you mean? Do you intend all\r\nthe laws indifferently? But neither does virtue permit this inconstancy\r\nin moral obligation, nor is such a variation compatible with natural\r\nconscience. The laws are, therefore, based not on our sense of justice,\r\nbut on our fear of punishment. There is, therefore, no natural justice;\r\nand hence it follows that men cannot be just by nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAre men, then, to say that variations indeed do exist in the laws, but\r\nthat men who are virtuous through natural conscience follow that which\r\nis really justice, and not a mere semblance and disguise, and that it is\r\nthe distinguishing \u003ca id=\"page-433\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e433\u003c/span\u003echaracteristic of the truly just and virtuous man to\r\nrender every one his due rights? Are we, then, to attribute the first of\r\nthese characteristics to animals? For not only men of moderate\r\nabilities, but even first-rate sages and philosophers, as Pythagoras and\r\nEmpedocles, declare that all kinds of living creatures have a right to\r\nthe same justice. They declare that inexpiable penalties impend over\r\nthose who have done violence to any animal whatsoever. It is, therefore,\r\na crime to injure an animal, and the perpetrator of such crime\u003ca id=\"FNA-338\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-338\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e338\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. For when he\u003ca id=\"FNA-339\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-339\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e339\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e inquired of a pirate by what right he dared\r\n to infest the sea with his little brigantine: “By the same right,”\r\n he replied, “which is your warrant for conquering the world.” * * * \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWisdom and prudence instruct us by all means to increase our power,\r\nriches, and estates. For by what means could this same Alexander, that\r\nillustrious general, who extended his empire over all Asia, without\r\nviolating the property of other men, have acquired such universal\r\ndominion, enjoyed so many pleasures, such great power, and reigned\r\nwithout bound or limit?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut justice commands us to have mercy upon all men, to consult the\r\ninterests of the whole human race, to give to every one his due, and\r\ninjure no sacred, public, or foreign rights, and to forbear touching\r\nwhat does not belong to us. What is the result, then? If you obey the\r\ndictates of wisdom, then wealth, power, riches, honors, provinces, and\r\nkingdoms, from all classes, peoples, and nations, are to be aimed at.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, as we are discussing public matters, those examples are more\r\nillustrious which refer to what is done publicly. And since the question\r\nbetween justice and policy applies equally to private and public\r\naffairs, I think it well to speak of the wisdom of the people. I will\r\nnot, however, mention other nations, but come at once to our own Roman\r\npeople, whom Africanus, in his discourse yesterday, traced from the\r\ncradle, and whose empire now embraces the whole world. Justice is\u003ca id=\"FNA-340\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-340\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e340\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-434\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e434\u003c/span\u003eXIII. How far utility is at variance with justice we may learn from\r\n the Roman people itself, which, declaring war by means of the\r\n fecials, and committing injustice with all legal formality, always\r\n coveting and laying violent hands on the property of others,\r\n acquired the possession of the whole world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is the advantage of one’s own country but the disadvantage of\r\n another state or nation, by extending one’s dominions by\r\n territories evidently wrested from others, increasing one’s power,\r\n improving one’s revenues, etc.? Therefore, whoever has obtained\r\n these advantages for his country—that is to say, whoever has\r\n overthrown cities, subdued nations, and by these means filled the\r\n treasury with money, taken lands, and enriched his\r\n fellow-citizens—such a man is extolled to the skies; is believed\r\n to be endowed with consummate and perfect virtue; and this mistake\r\n is fallen into not only by the populace and the ignorant, but by\r\n philosophers, who even give rules for injustice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. * * * For all those who have the right of life and death over the\r\npeople are in fact tyrants; but they prefer being called by the title of\r\nking, which belongs to the all-good Jupiter. But when certain men, by\r\nfavor of wealth, birth, or any other means, get possession of the entire\r\ngovernment, it is a faction; but they choose to denominate themselves an\r\naristocracy. If the people gets the upper hand, and rules everything\r\nafter its capricious will, they call it liberty, but it is in fact\r\nlicense. And when every man is a guard upon his neighbor, and every\r\nclass is a guard upon every other class, then because no one trusts in\r\nhis own strength, a kind of compact is formed between the great and the\r\nlittle, from whence arises that mixed kind of government which Scipio\r\nhas been commending. Thus justice, according to these facts, is not the\r\ndaughter of nature or conscience, but of human imbecility. For when it\r\nbecomes necessary to choose between these three predicaments, either to\r\ndo wrong without retribution, or to do wrong with retribution, or to do\r\nno wrong at all, it is best to do wrong with impunity; next, neither to\r\ndo wrong nor to suffer for it; but nothing is more wretched than to\r\nstruggle incessantly between the wrong we inflict and that we receive.\r\nTherefore, he who attains to that first end\u003ca id=\"FNA-341\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-341\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e341\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. This was the sum of the argument of Carneades: that men had\r\n established laws among themselves from considerations of advantage,\r\n \u003ca id=\"page-435\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e435\u003c/span\u003evarying them according to their different customs, and altering\r\n them often so as to adapt them to the times; but that there was no\r\n such thing as natural law; that all men and all other animals are\r\n led to their own advantage by the guidance of nature; that there is\r\n no such thing as justice, or, if there be, that it is extreme\r\n folly, since a man would injure himself while consulting the\r\n interests of others. And he added these arguments, that all nations\r\n who were flourishing and dominant, and even the Romans themselves,\r\n who were the masters of the whole world, if they wished to be\r\n just—that is to say, if they restored all that belonged to\r\n others—would have to return to their cottages, and to lie down in\r\n want and misery.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eExcept, perhaps, of the Arcadians and Athenians, who, I presume,\r\ndreading that this great act of retribution might one day arrive,\r\npretend that they were sprung from the earth, like so many field-mice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. In reply to these statements, the following arguments are often\r\nadduced by those who are not unskilful in discussions, and who, in this\r\nquestion, have all the greater weight of authority, because, when we\r\ninquire, Who is a good man?—understanding by that term a frank and\r\nsingle-minded man—we have little need of captious casuists, quibblers,\r\nand slanderers. For those men assert that the wise man does not seek\r\nvirtue because of the personal gratification which the practice of\r\njustice and beneficence procures him, but rather because the life of the\r\ngood man is free from fear, care, solicitude, and peril; while, on the\r\nother hand, the wicked always feel in their souls a certain suspicion,\r\nand always behold before their eyes images of judgment and punishment.\r\nDo not you think, therefore, that there is any benefit, or that there is\r\nany advantage which can be procured by injustice, precious enough to\r\ncounterbalance the constant pressure of remorse, and the haunting\r\nconsciousness that retribution awaits the sinner, and hangs over his\r\ndevoted head.\u003ca id=\"FNA-342\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-342\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e342\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. [Our philosophers, therefore, put a case. Suppose, say they, two\r\nmen, one of whom is an excellent and admirable person, of high honor and\r\nremarkable integrity; the latter is distinguished by nothing but his\r\nvice and audacity. And suppose that their city has so mistaken their\r\ncharacters as to imagine the good man to be a scandalous, impious, and\r\naudacious criminal, and to esteem the wicked \u003ca id=\"page-436\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e436\u003c/span\u003eman, on the contrary, as a\r\npattern of probity and fidelity. On account of this error of their\r\nfellow-citizens, the good man is arrested and tormented, his hands are\r\ncut off, his eyes are plucked out, he is condemned, bound, burned,\r\nexterminated, reduced to want, and to the last appears to all men to be\r\nmost deservedly the most miserable of men. On the other hand, the\r\nflagitious wretch is exalted, worshipped, loved by all, and honors,\r\noffices, riches, and emoluments are all conferred on him, and he shall\r\nbe reckoned by his fellow-citizens the best and worthiest of mortals,\r\nand in the highest degree deserving of all manner of prosperity. Yet,\r\nfor all this, who is so mad as to doubt which of these two men he would\r\nrather be?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. What happens among individuals happens also among nations. There\r\nis no state so absurd and ridiculous as not to prefer unjust dominion to\r\njust subordination. I need not go far for examples. During my own\r\nconsulship, when you were my fellow-counsellors, we consulted respecting\r\nthe treaty of Numantia. No one was ignorant that Quintus Pompey had\r\nsigned a treaty, and that Mancinus had done the same. The latter, being\r\na virtuous man, supported the proposition which I laid before the\r\npeople, after the decree of the senate. The former, on the other side,\r\nopposed it vehemently. If modesty, probity, or faith had been regarded,\r\nMancinus would have carried his point; but in reason, counsel, and\r\nprudence, Pompey surpassed him. Whether\u003ca id=\"FNA-343\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-343\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e343\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. If a man should have a faithless slave, or an unwholesome house,\r\nwith whose defect he alone was acquainted, and he advertised them for\r\nsale, would he state the fact that his servant was infected with\r\nknavery, and his house with malaria, or would he conceal these\r\nobjections from the buyer? If he stated those facts, he would be honest,\r\nno doubt, because he would deceive nobody; but still he would be thought\r\na fool, because he would either get very little for his property, or\r\nelse fail to sell it at all. By concealing these defects, on the other\r\nhand, he will be called a shrewd man—as one who has taken care of his\r\nown interest; but he will be a rogue, notwithstanding, because he will\r\nbe deceiving his neighbors. Again, \u003ca id=\"page-437\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e437\u003c/span\u003elet us suppose that one man meets\r\nanother, who sells gold and silver, conceiving them to be copper or\r\nlead; shall he hold his peace that he may make a capital bargain, or\r\ncorrect the mistake, and purchase at a fair rate? He would evidently be\r\na fool in the world’s opinion if he preferred the latter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. It is justice, beyond all question, neither to commit murder nor\r\nrobbery. What, then, would your just man do, if, in a case of shipwreck,\r\nhe saw a weaker man than himself get possession of a plank? Would he not\r\nthrust him off, get hold of the timber himself, and escape by his\r\nexertions, especially as no human witness could be present in the\r\nmid-sea? If he acted like a wise man of the world, he would certainly do\r\nso, for to act in any other way would cost him his life. If, on the\r\nother hand, he prefers death to inflicting unjustifiable injury on his\r\nneighbor, he will be an eminently honorable and just man, but not the\r\nless a fool, because he saved another’s life at the expense of his own.\r\nAgain, if in case of a defeat and rout, when the enemy were pressing in\r\nthe rear, this just man should find a wounded comrade mounted on a\r\nhorse, shall he respect his right at the risk of being killed himself,\r\nor shall he fling him from the horse in order to preserve his own life\r\nfrom the pursuers? If he does so, he is a wise man, but at the same time\r\na wicked one; if he does not, he is admirably just, but at the same time\r\nstupid.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. \u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e I might reply at great length to these sophistical\r\nobjections of Philus, if it were not, my Lælius, that all our friends\r\nare no less anxious than myself to hear you take a leading part in the\r\npresent debate, especially as you promised yesterday that you would\r\nplead at large on my side of the argument. If you cannot spare time for\r\nthis, at any rate do not desert us; we all ask it of you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e This Carneades ought not to be even listened to by our young\r\nmen. I think all the while that I am hearing him that he must be a very\r\nimpure person; if he be not, as I would fain believe, his discourse is\r\nnot less pernicious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII.\u003ca id=\"FNA-344\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-344\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e344\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e True law is right reason conformable to nature, \u003ca id=\"page-438\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e438\u003c/span\u003euniversal,\r\nunchangeable, eternal, whose commands urge us to duty, and whose\r\nprohibitions restrain us from evil. Whether it enjoins or forbids, the\r\ngood respect its injunctions, and the wicked treat them with\r\nindifference. This law cannot be contradicted by any other law, and is\r\nnot liable either to derogation or abrogation. Neither the senate nor\r\nthe people can give us any dispensation for not obeying this universal\r\nlaw of justice. It needs no other expositor and interpreter than our own\r\nconscience. It is not one thing at Rome, and another at Athens; one\r\nthing to-day, and another to-morrow; but in all times and nations this\r\nuniversal law must forever reign, eternal and imperishable. It is the\r\nsovereign master and emperor of all beings. God himself is its author,\r\nits promulgator, its enforcer. And he who does not obey it flies from\r\nhimself, and does violence to the very nature of man. And by so doing he\r\nwill endure the severest penalties even if he avoid the other evils\r\nwhich are usually accounted punishments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. I am aware that in the third book of Cicero’s treatise on\r\n the Commonwealth (unless I am mistaken) it is argued that no war is\r\n ever undertaken by a well-regulated commonwealth unless it be one\r\n either for the sake of keeping faith, or for safety; and what he\r\n means by a war for safety, and what safety he wishes us to\r\n understand, he points out in another passage, where he says, “But\r\n private men often escape from these penalties, which even the most\r\n stupid persons feel—want, exile, imprisonment, and stripes—by\r\n embracing the opportunity of a speedy death; but to states death\r\n itself is a penalty, though it appears to deliver individuals from\r\n punishment. For a state ought to be established so as to be\r\n eternal: therefore, there is no natural decease for a state, as\r\n there is for a man, in whose case death is not only inevitable, but\r\n often even desirable; but when a state is put an end to, it is\r\n destroyed, extinguished. It is in some degree, to compare small\r\n things with great, as if this whole world were to perish and fall\r\n to pieces.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn his treatise on the Commonwealth, Cicero says those wars are\r\n unjust which are undertaken without reason. Again, after a few\r\n sentences, he adds, No war is considered just unless it be formally\r\n announced and declared, and unless it be to obtain restitution of\r\n what has been taken away.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut our nation, by defending its allies, has now become the master\r\n of all the whole world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. Also, in that same treatise on the Commonwealth, he argues\r\n most strenuously and vigorously in the cause of justice against\r\n injustice. And since, when a little time before the part of\r\n injustice was upheld against justice, and the doctrine was urged\r\n that a republic could not \u003ca id=\"page-439\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e439\u003c/span\u003eprosper and flourish except by\r\n injustice, this was put forward as the strongest argument, that it\r\n was unjust for men to serve other men as their masters; but that\r\n unless a dominant state, such as a great republic, acted on this\r\n injustice, it could not govern its provinces; answer was made on\r\n behalf of justice, that it was just that it should be so, because\r\n slavery is advantageous to such men, and their interests are\r\n consulted by a right course of conduct—that is, by the license of\r\n doing injury being taken from the wicked—and they will fare better\r\n when subjugated, because when not subjugated they fared worse: and\r\n to confirm this reasoning, a noble instance, taken, as it were,\r\n from nature, was added, and it was said, Why, then, does God govern\r\n man, and why does the mind govern the body, and reason govern lust,\r\n and the other vicious parts of the mind?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. Hear what Tully says more plainly still in the third book of\r\n his treatise on the Commonwealth, when discussing the reasons for\r\n government. Do we not, says he, see that nature herself has given\r\n the power of dominion to everything that is best, to the extreme\r\n advantage of what is subjected to it? Why, then, does God govern\r\n man, and why does the mind govern the body, and reason govern lust\r\n and passion and the other vicious parts of the same mind? Listen\r\n thus far; for presently he adds, But still there are\r\n dissimilarities to be recognized in governing and in obeying. For\r\n as the mind is said to govern the body, and also to govern lust,\r\n still it governs the body as a king governs his subjects, or a\r\n parent his children; but it governs lust as a master governs his\r\n slaves, because it restrains and breaks it. The authority of kings,\r\n of generals, of magistrates, of fathers, and of nations, rules\r\n their subjects and allies as the mind rules bodies; but masters\r\n control their slaves, as the best part of the mind—that is to say,\r\n wisdom—controls the vicious and weak parts of itself, such as\r\n lust, passion, and the other perturbations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor there is a kind of unjust slavery when those belong to some one\r\n else who might be their own masters; but when those are slaves who\r\n cannot govern themselves, there is no injury done.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. If, says Carneades, you were to know that an asp was lying\r\n hidden anywhere, and that some one who did not know it was going to\r\n sit upon it, whose death would be a gain to you, you would act\r\n wickedly if you did not warn him not to sit down. Still, you would\r\n not be liable to punishment; for who could prove that you had\r\n known? But we are bringing forward too many instances; for it is\r\n plain that unless equity, good faith, and justice proceed from\r\n nature, and if all these things are referred to interest, a good\r\n man cannot be found. And on these topics a great deal is said by\r\n Lælius in our treatise on the Republic.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf, as we are reminded by you, we have spoken well in that\r\n treatise, when we said that nothing is good excepting what is\r\n honorable, and nothing bad excepting what is disgraceful. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVII. I am glad that you approve of the doctrine that the\r\n affection borne to our children is implanted by nature; indeed, if\r\n it be not, there can be no conection between man and man which has\r\n its origin in nature. And if there be not, then there is an end of\r\n all society in life. May it turn out well, says Carneades, speaking\r\n shamelessly, but still \u003ca id=\"page-440\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e440\u003c/span\u003emore sensibly than my friend Lucius or\r\n Patro: for, as they refer everything to themselves, do they think\r\n that anything is ever done for the sake of another? And when they\r\n say that a man ought to be good, in order to avoid misfortune, not\r\n because it is right by nature, they do not perceive that they are\r\n speaking of a cunning man, not of a good one. But these arguments\r\n are argued, I think, in those books by praising which you have\r\n given me spirits.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn which I agree that an anxious and hazardous justice is not that\r\n of a wise man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVIII. And again, in Cicero, that same advocate of justice,\r\n Lælius, says, Virtue is clearly eager for honor, nor has she any\r\n other reward; which, however, she accepts easily, and exacts\r\n without bitterness. And in another place the same Lælius says:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen a man is inspired by virtue such as this, what bribes can you offer\r\nhim, what treasures, what thrones, what empires? He considers these but\r\nmortal goods, and esteems his own divine. And if the ingratitude of the\r\npeople, and the envy of his competitors, or the violence of powerful\r\nenemies, despoil his virtue of its earthly recompense, he still enjoys a\r\nthousand consolations in the approbation of conscience, and sustains\r\nhimself by contemplating the beauty of moral rectitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIX. * * * This virtue, in order to be true, must be universal.\r\nTiberius Gracchus continued faithful to his fellow-citizens, but he\r\nviolated the rights and treaties guaranteed to our allies and the Latin\r\npeoples. But if this habit of arbitrary violence begins to extend itself\r\nfurther, and perverts our authority, leading it from right to violence,\r\nso that those who had voluntarily obeyed us are only restrained by fear,\r\nthen, although we, during our days, may escape the peril, yet am I\r\nsolicitous respecting the safety of our posterity and the immortality of\r\nthe Commonwealth itself, which, doubtless, might become perpetual and\r\ninvincible if our people would maintain their ancient institutions and\r\nmanners.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXX. When Lælius had ceased to speak, all those that were present\r\nexpressed the extreme pleasure they found in his discourse. But Scipio,\r\nmore affected than the rest, and ravished with the delight of sympathy,\r\nexclaimed: You have pleaded, my Lælius, many causes with an eloquence\r\nsuperior to that of Servius Galba, our colleague, whom you used during\r\nhis life to prefer to all others, even to the Attic orators [and never\r\ndid I hear you speak with \u003ca id=\"page-441\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e441\u003c/span\u003emore energy than to-day, while pleading the\r\ncause of justice]\u003ca id=\"FNA-345\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-345\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e345\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e* * * That two things were wanting to enable him to speak in public\r\n and in the forum, confidence and voice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXI. * * * This justice, continued Scipio, is the very foundation of\r\nlawful government in political constitutions. Can we call the State of\r\nAgrigentum a commonwealth, where all men are oppressed by the cruelty of\r\na single tyrant—where there is no universal bond of right, nor social\r\nconsent and fellowship, which should belong to every people, properly so\r\nnamed? It is the same in Syracuse—that illustrious city which Timæus\r\ncalls the greatest of the Grecian towns. It was indeed a most beautiful\r\ncity; and its admirable citadel, its canals distributed through all its\r\ndistricts, its broad streets, its porticoes, its temples, and its walls,\r\ngave Syracuse the appearance of a most flourishing state. But while\r\nDionysius its tyrant reigned there, nothing of all its wealth belonged\r\nto the people, and the people were nothing better than the slaves of one\r\nmaster. Thus, wherever I behold a tyrant, I know that the social\r\nconstitution must be not merely vicious and corrupt, as I stated\r\nyesterday, but in strict truth no social constitution at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXII. \u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e You have spoken admirably, my Scipio, and I see the\r\npoint of your observations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You grant, then, that a state which is entirely in the power\r\nof a faction cannot justly be entitled a political community?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e That is evident.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You judge most correctly. For what was the State of Athens\r\nwhen, during the great Peloponnesian war, she fell under the unjust\r\ndomination of the thirty tyrants? The antique glory of that city, the\r\nimposing aspect of its edifices, its theatre, its gymnasium, its\r\nporticoes, its temples, its citadel, the admirable sculptures of\r\nPhidias, and the magnificent harbor of Piræus—did they constitute it a\r\ncommonwealth?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Certainly not, because these did not constitute the real\r\nwelfare of the community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-442\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e442\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e And at Rome, when the decemvirs ruled without appeal from\r\ntheir decisions, in the third year of their power, had not liberty lost\r\nall its securities and all its blessings?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e Yes; the welfare of the community was no longer consulted, and\r\nthe people soon roused themselves, and recovered their appropriate\r\nrights.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIII. \u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e I now come to the third, or democratical, form of\r\ngovernment, in which a considerable difficulty presents itself, because\r\nall things are there said to lie at the disposition of the people, and\r\nare carried into execution just as they please. Here the populace\r\ninflict punishments at their pleasure, and act, and seize, and keep\r\npossession, and distribute property, without let or hinderance. Can you\r\ndeny, my Lælius, that this is a fair definition of a democracy, where\r\nthe people are all in all, and where the people constitute the State?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLælius.\u003c/i\u003e There is no political constitution to which I more absolutely\r\ndeny the name of a \u003ci\u003ecommonwealth\u003c/i\u003e than that in which all things lie in\r\nthe power of the multitude. If a commonwealth, which implies the welfare\r\nof the entire community, could not exist in Agrigentum, Syracuse, or\r\nAthens when tyrants reigned over them—if it could not exist in Rome\r\nwhen under the oligarchy of the decemvirs—neither do I see how this\r\nsacred name of commonwealth can be applied to a democracy and the sway\r\nof the mob; because, in the first place, my Scipio, I build on your own\r\nadmirable definition, that there can be no community, properly so\r\ncalled, unless it be regulated by a combination of rights. And, by this\r\ndefinition, it appears that a multitude of men may be just as tyrannical\r\nas a single despot; and it is so much the worse, since no monster can be\r\nmore barbarous than the mob, which assumes the name and appearance of\r\nthe people. Nor is it at all reasonable, since the laws place the\r\nproperty of madmen in the hands of their sane relations, that we should\r\ndo the [very reverse in politics, and throw the property of the sane\r\ninto the hands of the mad multitude]\u003ca id=\"FNA-346\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-346\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e346\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXIV. * * * [It is far more rational] to assert that a wise and\r\nvirtuous aristocratical government deserves \u003ca id=\"page-443\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e443\u003c/span\u003ethe title of a\r\ncommonwealth, as it approaches to the nature of a kingdom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd much more so in my opinion, said Mummius. For the unity of power\r\noften exposes a king to become a despot; but when an aristocracy,\r\nconsisting of many virtuous men, exercise power, that is the most\r\nfortunate circumstance possible for any state. However this be, I much\r\nprefer royalty to democracy; for that is the third kind of government\r\nwhich you have remaining, and a most vicious one it is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXV. Scipio replied: I am well acquainted, my Mummius, with your\r\ndecided antipathy to the democratical system. And, although, we may\r\nspeak of it with rather more indulgence than you are accustomed to\r\naccord it, I must certainly agree with you, that of all the three\r\nparticular forms of government, none is less commendable than democracy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not agree with you, however, when you would imply that aristocracy\r\nis preferable to royalty. If you suppose that wisdom governs the State,\r\nis it not as well that this wisdom should reside in one monarch as in\r\nmany nobles?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut we are led away by a certain incorrectness of terms in a discussion\r\nlike the present. When we pronounce the word “aristocracy,” which, in\r\nGreek, signifies the government of the best men, what can be conceived\r\nmore excellent? For what can be thought better than the best? But when,\r\non the other hand, the title “king” is mentioned, we begin to imagine a\r\ntyrant; as if a king must be necessarily unjust. But we are not speaking\r\nof an unjust king when we are examining the true nature of royal\r\nauthority. To this name of king, therefore, do but attach the idea of a\r\nRomulus, a Numa, a Tullus, and perhaps you will be less severe to the\r\nmonarchical form of constitution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMummius\u003c/i\u003e. Have you, then, no commendation at all for any kind of\r\ndemocratical government?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Why, I think some democratical forms less objectionable than\r\nothers; and, by way of illustration, I will ask you what you thought of\r\nthe government in the isle of Rhodes, where we were lately together; did\r\nit appear to you a legitimate and rational constitution?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-444\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e444\u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMummius\u003c/i\u003e. It did, and not much liable to abuse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e You say truly. But, if you recollect, it was a very\r\nextraordinary experiment. All the inhabitants were alternately senators\r\nand citizens. Some months they spent in their senatorial functions, and\r\nsome months they spent in their civil employments. In both they\r\nexercised judicial powers; and in the theatre and the court, the same\r\nmen judged all causes, capital and not capital. And they had as much\r\ninfluence, and were of as much importance as * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eFRAGMENTS.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVI. There is therefore some unquiet feeling in individuals,\r\n which either exults in pleasure or is crushed by annoyance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"comment\"\u003e[\u003ci\u003eThe next is an incomplete sentence, and, as such,\r\n unintelligible\u003c/i\u003e.]\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Phœnicians were the first who by their commerce, and by the\r\n merchandise which they carried, brought avarice and magnificence\r\n and insatiable degrees of everything into Greece.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSardanapalus, the luxurious king of Assyria, of whom Tully, in the\r\n third book of his treatise on the Republic, says, “The notorious\r\n Sardanapalus, far more deformed by his vices than even by his\r\n name.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is the meaning, then, of this absurd acceptation, unless some\r\n one wishes to make the whole of Athos a monument? For what is Athos\r\n or the vast Olympus? * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXXVII. I will endeavor in the proper place to show it, according\r\n to the definitions of Cicero himself, in which, putting forth\r\n Scipio as the speaker, he has briefly explained what a commonwealth\r\n and what a republic is; adducing also many assertions of his own,\r\n and of those whom he has represented as taking part in that\r\n discussion, to the effect that the State of Rome was not such a\r\n commonwealth, because there has never been genuine justice in it.\r\n However, according to definitions which are more reasonable, it was\r\n a commonwealth in some degree, and it was better regulated by the\r\n more ancient than by the later Romans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is now fitting that I should explain, as briefly and as clearly\r\n as I can, what, in the second book of this work, I promised to\r\n prove, according to the definitions which Cicero, in his books on\r\n the Commonwealth, puts into the mouth of Scipio, arguing that the\r\n Roman State was never a commonwealth; for he briefly defines a\r\n commonwealth as a state of the people; the people as an assembly of\r\n the multitude, united by a common feeling of right, and a community\r\n of interests. What he calls a common feeling of right he explains\r\n by discussion, showing in this way that a commonwealth cannot\r\n proceed without justice. Where, therefore, there is no genuine\r\n justice, there can be no right, for that which is done according to\r\n right is done justly; and what is done unjustly cannot \u003ca id=\"page-445\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e445\u003c/span\u003ebe done\r\n according to right, for the unjust regulations of men are not to be\r\n called or thought rights; since they themselves call that right\r\n (\u003ci\u003ejus\u003c/i\u003e) which flows from the source of justice: and they say that\r\n that assertion which is often made by some persons of erroneous\r\n sentiments, namely, that that is right which is advantageous to the\r\n most powerful, is false. Wherefore, where there is no true justice\r\n there can be no company of men united by a common feeling of right;\r\n therefore there can be no people (\u003ci\u003epopulus\u003c/i\u003e), according to that\r\n definition of Scipio or Cicero: and if there be no people, there\r\n can be no state of the people, but only of a mob such as it may be,\r\n which is not worthy of the name of a people. And thus, if a\r\n commonwealth is a state of a people, and if that is not a people\r\n which is not united by a common feeling of right, and if there is\r\n no right where there is no justice, then the undoubted inference\r\n is, that where there is no justice there is no commonwealth.\r\n Moreover, justice is that virtue which gives every one his own.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo war can be undertaken by a just and wise state unless for faith or\r\nself-defence. This self-defence of the State is enough to insure its\r\nperpetuity, and this perpetuity is what all patriots desire. Those\r\nafflictions which even the hardiest spirits smart under—poverty, exile,\r\nprison, and torment—private individuals seek to escape from by an\r\ninstantaneous death. But for states, the greatest calamity of all is\r\nthat of death, which to individuals appears a refuge. A state should be\r\nso constituted as to live forever. For a commonwealth there is no\r\nnatural dissolution as there is for a man, to whom death not only\r\nbecomes necessary, but often desirable. And when a state once decays and\r\nfalls, it is so utterly revolutionized, that, if we may compare great\r\nthings with small, it resembles the final wreck of the universe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll wars undertaken without a proper motive are unjust. And no war can\r\nbe reputed just unless it be duly announced and proclaimed, and if it be\r\nnot preceded by a rational demand for restitution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOur Roman Commonwealth, by defending its allies, has got possession of\r\nthe world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-446\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e446\u003c/span\u003eINTRODUCTION TO THE FOURTH BOOK,\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eBY THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eIn\u003c/span\u003e this fourth book Cicero treats of morals and education, and the\r\n use and abuse of stage entertainments. We retain nothing of this\r\n important book save a few scattered fragments, the beauty of which\r\n fills us with the greater regret for the passages we have lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK IV.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eFRAGMENTS.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. * * * Since mention has been made of the body and of the mind, I\r\n will endeavor to explain the theory of each as well as the weakness\r\n of my understanding is able to comprehend it—a duty which I think\r\n it the more becoming in me to undertake, because Marcus Tullius, a\r\n man of singular genius, after having attempted to perform it in the\r\n fourth book of his treatise on the Commonwealth, compressed a\r\n subject of wide extent within narrow limits, only touching lightly\r\n on all the principal points. And that there might be no excuse\r\n alleged for his not having followed out this topic, he himself has\r\n assured us that he was not wanting either in inclination or in\r\n anxiety to do so; for, in the first book of his treatise on Laws,\r\n when he was touching briefly on the same subject, he speaks thus:\r\n “This topic Scipio, in my opinion, has sufficiently discussed in\r\n those books which you have read.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd the mind itself, which sees the future, remembers the past.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWell did Marcus Tullius say, In truth, if there is no one who would\r\n not prefer death to being changed into the form of some beast,\r\n although he were still to retain the mind of a man, how much more\r\n wretched is it to have the mind of a beast in the form of a man! To\r\n me this fate appears as much worse than the other as the mind is\r\n superior to the body.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTullius says somewhere that he does not think the good of a ram and\r\n of Publius Africanus identical.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd also by its being interposed, it causes shade and night, which\r\n is adapted both to the numbering of days and to rest from labor.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd as in the autumn he has opened the earth to receive seeds, in\r\n winter relaxed it that it may digest them, and by the ripening\r\n powers of summer softened some and burned up others.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the shepherds use * * * for cattle.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCicero, in the fourth book of his Commonwealth, uses the word\r\n “armentum,” and “armentarius,” derived from it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-447\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e447\u003c/span\u003eII. The great law of just and regular subordination is the basis of\r\npolitical prosperity. There is much advantage in the harmonious\r\nsuccession of ranks and orders and classes, in which the suffrages of\r\nthe knights and the senators have their due weight. Too many have\r\nfoolishly desired to destroy this institution, in the vain hope of\r\nreceiving some new largess, by a public decree, out of a distribution of\r\nthe property of the nobility.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. Consider, now, how wisely the other provisions have been adopted,\r\nin order to secure to the citizens the benefits of an honest and happy\r\nlife; for that is, indeed, the grand object of all political\r\nassociation, and that which every government should endeavor to procure\r\nfor the people, partly by its institutions, and partly by its laws.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsider, in the first place, the national education of the people—a\r\nmatter on which the Greeks have expended much labor in vain, and which\r\nis the only point on which Polybius, who settled among us, accuses the\r\nnegligence of our institutions. For our countrymen have thought that\r\neducation ought not to be fixed, nor regulated by laws, nor be given\r\npublicly and uniformly to all classes of society. For\u003ca id=\"FNA-347\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-347\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e347\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Tully, who says that men going to serve in the army\r\n have guardians assigned to them, by whom they are governed the\r\n first year.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. [In our ancient laws, young men were prohibited from appearing]\r\nnaked in the public baths, so far back were the principles of modesty\r\ntraced by our ancestors. Among the Greeks, on the contrary, what an\r\nabsurd system of training youth is exhibited in their gymnasia! What a\r\nfrivolous preparation for the labors and hazards of war! what indecent\r\nspectacles, what impure and licentious amours are permitted! I do not\r\nspeak only of the Eleans and Thebans, among whom, in all love affairs,\r\npassion is allowed to run into shameless excesses; but the Spartans,\r\nwhile they permit every kind of license to their young men, save that of\r\nviolation, fence off, by a very slight wall, the very exception on which\r\nthey insist, besides other crimes which I will not mention.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-448\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e448\u003c/span\u003eThen Lælius said: I see, my Scipio, that on the subject of the Greek\r\ninstitutions, which you censure, you prefer attacking the customs of the\r\nmost renowned peoples to contending with your favorite Plato, whose name\r\nyou have avoided citing, especially as * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. So that Cicero, in his treatise on the Commonwealth, says that\r\n it was a reproach to young men if they had no lovers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNot only as at Sparta, where boys learn to steal and plunder.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd our master Plato, even more than Lycurgus, who would have\r\n everything to be common, so that no one should be able to call\r\n anything his own property.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI would send him to the same place whither he sends Homer, crowned\r\n with chaplets and anointed with perfumes, banishing him from the\r\n city which he is describing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. The judgment of the censor inflicts scarcely anything more than\r\n a blush on the man whom he condemns. Therefore as all that\r\n adjudication turns solely on the name (\u003ci\u003enomen\u003c/i\u003e), the punishment is\r\n called ignominy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNor should a prefect be set over women, an officer who is created\r\n among the Greeks; but there should be a censor to teach husbands to\r\n manage their wives.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo the discipline of modesty has great power. All women abstain\r\n from wine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd also if any woman was of bad character, her relations used not\r\n to kiss her.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo petulance is derived from asking (\u003ci\u003epetendo\u003c/i\u003e); wantonness\r\n (\u003ci\u003eprocacitas\u003c/i\u003e) from \u003ci\u003eprocando\u003c/i\u003e, that is, from demanding.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. For I do not approve of the same nation being the ruler and\r\n the farmer of lands. But both in private families and in the\r\n affairs of the Commonwealth I look upon economy as a revenue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFaith (\u003ci\u003efides\u003c/i\u003e) appears to me to derive its name from that being\r\n done (\u003ci\u003efit\u003c/i\u003e) which is said.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn a citizen of rank and noble birth, caressing manners, display,\r\n and ambition are marks of levity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eExamine for a while the books on the Republic, and learn that good\r\n men know no bound or limit in consulting the interests of their\r\n country. See in that treatise with what praises frugality, and\r\n continency, and fidelity to the marriage tie, and chaste,\r\n honorable, and virtuous manners are extolled.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. I marvel at the elegant choice, not only of the facts, but of\r\n the language. If they dispute (\u003ci\u003ejurgant\u003c/i\u003e). It is a contest between\r\n well-wishers, not a quarrel between enemies, that is called a\r\n dispute (\u003ci\u003ejurgium\u003c/i\u003e),\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore the law considers that neighbors dispute (\u003ci\u003ejurgare\u003c/i\u003e)\r\n rather than quarrel (\u003ci\u003elitigare\u003c/i\u003e) with one another.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe bounds of man’s care and of man’s life are the same; so by the\r\n pontifical law the sanctity of burial * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey put them to death, though innocent, because they had left\r\n those men unburied whom they could not rescue from the sea because\r\n of the violence of the storm.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-449\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e449\u003c/span\u003eNor in this discussion have I advocated the cause of the populace,\r\n but of the good.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor one cannot easily resist a powerful people if one gives them\r\n either no rights at all or very little.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn which case I wish I could augur first with truth and fidelity * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. Cicero saying this in vain, when speaking of poets, “And when\r\n the shouts and approval of the people, as of some great and wise\r\n teacher, has reached them, what darkness do they bring on! what\r\n alarms do they cause! what desires do they excite!”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCicero says that if his life were extended to twice its length, he\r\n should not have time to read the lyric poets.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. As Scipio says in Cicero, “As they thought the whole histrionic\r\n art, and everything connected with the theatre, discreditable, they\r\n thought fit that all men of that description should not only be\r\n deprived of the honors belonging to the rest of the citizens, but\r\n should also be deprived of their franchise by the sentence of the\r\n censors.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what the ancient Romans thought on this subject Cicero informs\r\n us, in those books which he wrote on the Commonwealth, where Scipio\r\n argues and says * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eComedies could never (if it had not been authorized by the common\r\ncustoms of life) have made theatres approve of their scandalous\r\nexhibitions. And the more ancient Greeks provided a certain correction\r\nfor the vicious taste of the people, by making a law that it should be\r\nexpressly defined by a censorship what subjects comedy should treat, and\r\nhow she should treat them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhom has it not attacked? or, rather, whom has it not wounded? and whom\r\nhas it spared? In this, no doubt, it sometimes took the right side, and\r\nlashed the popular demagogues and seditious agitators, such as Cleon,\r\nCleophon, and Hyperbolus. We may tolerate that; though indeed the\r\ncensure of the magistrate would, in these cases, have been more\r\nefficacious than the satire of the poet. But when Pericles, who governed\r\nthe Athenian Commonwealth for so many years with the highest authority,\r\nboth in peace and war, was outraged by verses, and these were acted on\r\nthe stage, it was hardly more decent than if, among us, Plautus and\r\nNævius had attacked Publius and Cnæus, or Cæcilius had ventured to\r\nrevile Marcus Cato.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOur laws of the Twelve Tables, on the contrary—so careful to attach\r\ncapital punishment to a very few crimes only—have included in this\r\nclass of capital offences the offence of composing or publicly reciting\r\nverses of libel, slander, and defamation, in order to cast dishonor and\r\ninfamy \u003ca id=\"page-450\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e450\u003c/span\u003eon a fellow-citizen. And they have decided wisely; for our life\r\nand character should, if suspected, be submitted to the sentence of\r\njudicial tribunals and the legal investigations of our magistrates, and\r\nnot to the whims and fancies of poets. Nor should we be exposed to any\r\ncharge of disgrace which we cannot meet by legal process, and openly\r\nrefute at the bar.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn our laws, I admire the justice of their expressions, as well as their\r\ndecisions. Thus the word \u003ci\u003epleading\u003c/i\u003e signifies rather an amicable suit\r\nbetween friends than a quarrel between enemies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not easy to resist a powerful people, if you allow them no rights,\r\nor next to none.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe old Romans would not allow any living man to be either praised\r\n or blamed on the stage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. Cicero says that comedy is an imitation of life; a mirror of\r\n customs, an image of truth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSince, as is mentioned in that book on the Commonwealth, not only\r\n did Æschines the Athenian, a man of the greatest eloquence, who,\r\n when a young man, had been an actor of tragedies, concern himself\r\n in public affairs, but the Athenians often sent Aristodemus, who\r\n was also a tragic actor, to Philip as an ambassador, to treat of\r\n the most important affairs of peace and war.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eINTRODUCTION TO THE FIFTH BOOK,\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eBY THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eIn\u003c/span\u003e this fifth book Cicero explains and enforces the duties of\r\n magistrates, and the importance of practical experience to all who\r\n undertake their important functions. Only a few fragments have\r\n survived the wreck of ages and descended to us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK V.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eFRAGMENTS.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eEnnius\u003c/span\u003e has told us—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf men and customs mighty Rome consists;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhich verse, both for its precision and its verity, appears to me as if\r\nit had issued from an oracle; for neither the \u003ca id=\"page-451\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e451\u003c/span\u003emen, unless the State had\r\nadopted a certain system of manners—nor the manners, unless they had\r\nbeen illustrated by the men—could ever have established or maintained\r\nfor so many ages so vast a republic, or one of such righteous and\r\nextensive sway.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus, long before our own times, the force of hereditary manners of\r\nitself moulded most eminent men; and admirable citizens, in return, gave\r\nnew weight to the ancient customs and institutions of our ancestors. But\r\nour age, on the contrary, having received the Commonwealth as a finished\r\npicture of another century, but one already beginning to fade through\r\nthe lapse of years, has not only neglected to renew the colors of the\r\noriginal painting, but has not even cared to preserve its general form\r\nand prominent lineaments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor what now remains of those antique manners, of which the poet said\r\nthat our Commonwealth consisted? They have now become so obsolete and\r\nforgotten that they are not only not cultivated, but they are not even\r\nknown. And as to the men, what shall I say? For the manners themselves\r\nhave only perished through a scarcity of men; of which great misfortune\r\nwe are not only called to give an account, but even, as men accused of\r\ncapital offences, to a certain degree to plead our own cause in\r\nconnection with it. For it is owing to our vices, rather than to any\r\naccident, that we have retained the name of republic when we have long\r\nsince lost the reality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. * * * There is no employment so essentially royal as the exposition\r\nof equity, which comprises the true interpretation of all laws. This\r\njustice subjects used generally to expect from their kings. For this\r\nreason, lands, fields, woods, and pastures were reserved as the property\r\nof kings, and cultivated for them, without any labor on their part, in\r\norder that no anxiety on account of their personal interests might\r\ndistract their attention from the welfare of the State. Nor was any\r\nprivate man allowed to be the judge or arbitrator in any suit; but all\r\ndisputes were terminated by the royal sentence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd of all our Roman monarchs, Numa appears to me to have best preserved\r\nthis ancient custom of the kings of Greece. For the others, though they\r\nalso discharged this \u003ca id=\"page-452\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e452\u003c/span\u003eduty, were for the main part employed in\r\nconducting military enterprises, and in attending to those rights which\r\nbelonged to war. But the long peace of Numa’s reign was the mother of\r\nlaw and religion in this city. And he was himself the author of those\r\nadmirable laws which, as you are aware, are still extant. And this\r\ncharacter is precisely what belongs to the man of whom we are speaking.\r\n* * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. [\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Ought not a farmer] to be acquainted with the nature of\r\nplants and seeds?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eManilius.\u003c/i\u003e Certainly, provided he attends to his practical business\r\nalso.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Do you think that knowledge only fit for a steward?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eManilius.\u003c/i\u003e Certainly not, inasmuch as the cultivation of land often\r\nfails for want of agricultural labor.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScipio.\u003c/i\u003e Therefore, as the steward knows the nature of a field, and the\r\nscribe knows penmanship, and as both of them seek, in their respective\r\nsciences, not mere amusement only, but practical utility, so this\r\nstatesman of ours should have studied the science of jurisprudence and\r\nlegislation; he should have investigated their original sources; but he\r\nshould not embarrass himself in debating and arguing, reading and\r\nscribbling. He should rather employ himself in the actual administration\r\nof government, and become a sort of steward of it, being perfectly\r\nconversant with the principles of universal law and equity, without\r\nwhich no man can be just: not unfamiliar with the civil laws of states;\r\nbut he will use them for practical purposes, even as a pilot uses\r\nastronomy, and a physician natural philosophy. For both these men bring\r\ntheir theoretical science to bear on the practice of their arts; and our\r\nstatesman [should do the same with the science of politics, and make it\r\nsubservient to the actual interests of philanthropy and patriotism]. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. * * * In states in which good men desire glory and approbation, and\r\nshun disgrace and ignominy. Nor are such men so much alarmed by the\r\nthreats and penalties of the law as by that sentiment of shame with\r\nwhich nature has endowed man, which is nothing else than a certain fear\r\nof deserved censure. The wise director of a government \u003ca id=\"page-453\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e453\u003c/span\u003estrengthens this\r\nnatural instinct by the force of public opinion, and perfects it by\r\neducation and manners. And thus the citizens are preserved from vice and\r\ncorruption rather by honor and shame than by fear of punishment. But\r\nthis argument will be better illustrated when we treat of the love of\r\nglory and praise, which we shall discuss on another occasion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. As respects the private life and the manners of the citizens, they\r\nare intimately connected with the laws that constitute just marriages\r\nand legitimate offspring, under the protection of the guardian deities\r\naround the domestic hearths. By these laws, all men should be maintained\r\nin their rights of public and private property. It is only under a good\r\ngovernment like this that men can live happily—for nothing can be more\r\ndelightful than a well-constituted state.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn which account it appears to me a very strange thing what this * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. I therefore consume all my time in considering what is the\r\n power of that man, whom, as you think, we have described carefully\r\n enough in our books. Do you, then, admit our idea of that governor\r\n of a commonwealth to whom we wish to refer everything? For thus, I\r\n imagine, does Scipio speak in the fifth book: “For as a fair voyage\r\n is the object of the master of a ship, the health of his patient\r\n the aim of a physician, and victory that of a general, so the\r\n happiness of his fellow-citizens is the proper study of the ruler\r\n of a commonwealth; that they may be stable in power, rich in\r\n resources, widely known in reputation, and honorable through their\r\n virtue. For a ruler ought to be one who can perfect this, which is\r\n the best and most important employment among mankind.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd works in your literature rightly praise that ruler of a country\r\n who consults the welfare of his people more than their\r\n inclinations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. Tully, in those books which he wrote upon the Commonwealth,\r\n could not conceal his opinions, when he speaks of appointing a\r\n chief of the State, who, he says, must be maintained by glory; and\r\n afterward he relates that his ancestors did many admirable and\r\n noble actions from a desire of glory.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTully, in his treatise on the Commonwealth, wrote that the chief of\r\n a state must be maintained by glory, and that a commonwealth would\r\n last as long as honor was paid by every one to the chief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"comment\"\u003e[\u003ci\u003eThe next paragraph is unintelligible.\u003c/i\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich virtue is called fortitude, which consists of magnanimity,\r\n and a great contempt of death and pain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVIII. As Marcellus was fierce, and eager to fight, Maximus prudent\r\n and cautious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-454\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e454\u003c/span\u003eWho discovered his violence and unbridled ferocity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich has often happened not only to individuals, but also to most\r\n powerful nations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the whole world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBecause he inflicted the annoyances of his old age on your\r\n families.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. Cicero, in his treatise on the Commonwealth, says, “As Menelaus\r\n of Lacedæmon had a certain agreeable sweetness of eloquence.” And\r\n in another place he says, “Let him cultivate brevity in speaking.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy the evidence of which arts, as Tully says, it is a shame for the\r\n conscience of the judge to be misled. For he says, “And as nothing\r\n in a commonwealth ought to be so uncorrupt as a suffrage and a\r\n sentence, I do not see why the man who perverts them by money is\r\n worthy of punishment, while he who does so by eloquence is even\r\n praised. Indeed, I myself think that he who corrupts the judge by\r\n his speech does more harm than he who does so by money, because no\r\n one can corrupt a sensible man by money, though he may by\r\n speaking.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd when Scipio had said this, Mummius praised him greatly, for he\r\n was extravagantly imbued with a hatred of orators.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eINTRODUCTION TO THE SIXTH BOOK.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"intro\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eIn\u003c/span\u003e this last book of his Commonwealth, Cicero labors to show that\r\n truly pious philanthropical and patriotic statesmen will not only\r\n be rewarded on earth by the approval of conscience and the applause\r\n of all good citizens, but that they may expect hereafter immortal\r\n glory in new forms of being. To illustrate this, he introduces the\r\n “Dream of Scipio,” in which he explains the resplendent doctrines\r\n of Plato respecting the immortality of the soul with inimitable\r\n dignity and elegance. This Somnium Scipionis, for which we are\r\n indebted to the citation of Macrobius, is the most beautiful thing\r\n of the kind ever written. It has been intensely admired by all\r\n European scholars, and will be still more so. There are two\r\n translations of it in our language; one attached to Oliver’s\r\n edition of Cicero’s Thoughts, the other by Mr. Danby, published in\r\n 1829. Of these we have freely availed ourselves, and as freely we\r\n express our acknowledgments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3\u003eBOOK VI.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eSCIPIO’S DREAM.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"unclear\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI. \u003cspan class=\"first\"\u003eTherefore\u003c/span\u003e you rely upon all the prudence of this rule, which has\r\n derived its very name (\u003ci\u003eprudentia\u003c/i\u003e) from foreseeing (\u003ci\u003ea\r\n providendo\u003c/i\u003e). Wherefore the citizen must so prepare himself as to\r\n be always armed against those things which trouble the constitution\r\n of a state. And that \u003ca id=\"page-455\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e455\u003c/span\u003edissension of the citizens, when one party\r\n separates from and attacks another, is called sedition.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd in truth in civil dissensions, as the good are of more\r\n importance than the many, I think that we should regard the weight\r\n of the citizens, and not their number.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor the lusts, being severe mistresses of the thoughts, command and\r\n compel many an unbridled action. And as they cannot be satisfied or\r\n appeased by any means, they urge those whom they have inflamed with\r\n their allurements to every kind of atrocity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eII. Which indeed was so much the greater in him because though the\r\n cause of the colleagues was identical, not only was their\r\n unpopularity not equal, but the influence of Gracchus was employed\r\n in mitigating the hatred borne to Claudius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho encountered the number of the chiefs and nobles with these\r\n words, and left behind him that mournful and dignified expression\r\n of his gravity and influence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat, as he writes, a thousand men might every day descend into the\r\n forum with cloaks dyed in purple.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"comment\"\u003e[\u003ci\u003eThe next paragraph is unintelligible.\u003c/i\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor our ancestors wished marriages to be firmly established.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a speech extant of Lælius with which we are all\r\n acquainted, expressing how pleasing to the immortal gods are the * * * and * * * of the priests.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIII. Cicero, writing about the Commonwealth, in imitation of Plato,\r\n has related the story of the return of Er the Pamphylian to life;\r\n who, as he says, had come to life again after he had been placed on\r\n the funeral pile, and related many secrets about the shades below;\r\n not speaking, like Plato, in a fabulous imitation of truth, but\r\n using a certain reasonable invention of an ingenious dream,\r\n cleverly intimating that these things which were uttered about the\r\n immortality of the soul, and about heaven, are not the inventions\r\n of dreaming philosophers, nor the incredible fables which the\r\n Epicureans ridicule, but the conjectures of wise men. He insinuates\r\n that that Scipio who by the subjugation of Carthage obtained\r\n Africanus as a surname for his family, gave notice to Scipio the\r\n son of Paulus of the treachery which threatened him from his\r\n relations, and the course of fate, because by the necessity of\r\n numbers he was confined in the period of a perfect life, and he\r\n says that he in the fifty-sixth year of his age * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIV. Some of our religion who love Plato, on account of his\r\n admirable kind of eloquence, and of some correct opinions which he\r\n held, say that he had some opinions similar to my own touching the\r\n resurrection of the dead, which subject Tully touches on in his\r\n treatise on the Commonwealth, and says that he was rather jesting\r\n than intending to say that was true. For he asserts that a man\r\n returned to life, and related some stories which harmonized with\r\n the discussions of the Platonists.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eV. In this point the imitation has especially preserved the\r\n likeness of the work, because, as Plato, in the conclusion of his\r\n volume, represents a certain person who had returned to life, which\r\n he appeared to have quitted, as indicating what is the condition of\r\n souls when stripped of the \u003ca id=\"page-456\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e456\u003c/span\u003ebody, with the addition of a certain\r\n not unnecessary description of the spheres and stars, an appearance\r\n of circumstances indicating things of the same kind is related by\r\n the Scipio of Cicero, as having been brought before him in sleep.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVI. Tully is found to have preserved this arrangement with no less\r\n judgment than genius. After, in every condition of the\r\n Commonwealth, whether of leisure or business, he has given the palm\r\n to justice, he has placed the sacred abodes of the immortal souls,\r\n and the secrets of the heavenly regions, on the very summit of his\r\n completed work, indicating whither they must come, or rather\r\n return, who have managed the republic with prudence, justice,\r\n fortitude, and moderation. But that Platonic relater of secrets was\r\n a man of the name of Er, a Pamphylian by nation, a soldier by\r\n profession, who, after he appeared to have died from wounds\r\n received in battle, and twelve days afterward was about to receive\r\n the honors of the funeral pile with the others who were slain at\r\n the same time, suddenly either recovering his life, or else never\r\n having lost it, as if he were giving a public testimony, related to\r\n all men all that he had done or seen in the days that he had thus\r\n passed between life and death. Although Cicero, as if himself\r\n conscious of the truth, grieves that this story has been ridiculed\r\n by the ignorant, still, avoiding giving an example of foolish\r\n reproach, he preferred speaking of the relater as of one awakened\r\n from a swoon rather than restored to life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVII. And before we look at the words of the dream we must explain\r\n what kind of persons they are by whom Cicero says that even the\r\n account of Plato was ridiculed, who are not apprehensive that the\r\n same thing may happen to them. Nor by this expression does he wish\r\n the ignorant mob to be understood, but a kind of men who are\r\n ignorant of the truth, though pretending to be philosophers with a\r\n display of learning, who, it was notorious, had read such things,\r\n and were eager to find faults. We will say, therefore, who they are\r\n whom he reports as having levelled light reproaches against so\r\n great a philosopher, and who of them has even left an accusation of\r\n him committed to writing, etc. The whole faction of the Epicureans,\r\n always wandering at an equal distance from truth, and thinking\r\n everything ridiculous which they do not understand, has ridiculed\r\n the sacred volume, and the most venerable mysteries of nature. But\r\n Colotes, who is somewhat celebrated and remarkable for his\r\n loquacity among the pupils of Epicurus, has even recorded in a book\r\n the bitter reproaches which he aims at him. But since the other\r\n arguments which he foolishly urges have no connection with the\r\n dream of which we are now talking, we will pass them over at\r\n present, and attend only to the calumny which will stick both to\r\n Cicero and Plato, unless it is silenced. He says that a fable ought\r\n not to have been invented by a philosopher, since no kind of\r\n falsehood is suitable to professors of truth. For why, says he, if\r\n you wish to give us a notion of heavenly things and to teach us the\r\n nature of souls, did you not do so by a simple and plain\r\n explanation? Why was a character invented, and circumstances, and\r\n strange events, and a scene of cunningly adduced falsehood\r\n arranged, to pollute the very door of the investigation of truth by\r\n a lie? Since these things, though they are said of the Platonic Er,\r\n do also attack the rest of our dreaming Africanus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"page-457\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e457\u003c/span\u003eVIII. This occasion incited Scipio to relate his dream, which he\r\n declares that he had buried in silence for a long time. For when\r\n Lælius was complaining that there were no statues of Nasica erected\r\n in any public place, as a reward for his having slain the tyrant,\r\n Scipio replied in these words: “But although the consciousness\r\n itself of great deeds is to wise men the most ample reward of\r\n virtue, yet that divine nature ought to have, not statues fixed in\r\n lead, nor triumphs with withering laurels, but some more stable and\r\n lasting kinds of rewards.” “What are they?” said Lælius. “Then,”\r\n said Scipio, “suffer me, since we have now been keeping holiday for\r\n three days, * * * etc.” By which preface he came to the relation of\r\n his dream; pointing out that those were the more stable and lasting\r\n kinds of rewards which he himself had seen in heaven reserved for\r\n good governors of commonwealths.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIX. When I had arrived in Africa, where I was, as you are aware,\r\nmilitary tribune of the fourth legion under the consul Manilius, there\r\nwas nothing of which I was more earnestly desirous than to see King\r\nMasinissa, who, for very just reasons, had been always the especial\r\nfriend of our family. When I was introduced to him, the old man embraced\r\nme, shed tears, and then, looking up to heaven, exclaimed—I thank thee,\r\nO supreme Sun, and ye also, ye other celestial beings, that before I\r\ndepart from this life I behold in my kingdom, and in this my palace,\r\nPublius Cornelius Scipio, by whose mere name I seem to be reanimated; so\r\ncompletely and indelibly is the recollection of that best and most\r\ninvincible of men, Africanus, imprinted in my mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter this, I inquired of him concerning the affairs of his kingdom. He,\r\non the other hand, questioned me about the condition of our\r\nCommonwealth, and in this mutual interchange of conversation we passed\r\nthe whole of that day.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eX. In the evening we were entertained in a manner worthy the\r\nmagnificence of a king, and carried on our discourse for a considerable\r\npart of the night. And during all this time the old man spoke of nothing\r\nbut Africanus, all whose actions, and even remarkable sayings, he\r\nremembered distinctly. At last, when we retired to bed, I fell into a\r\nmore profound sleep than usual, both because I was fatigued with my\r\njourney, and because I had sat up the greatest part of the night.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHere I had the following dream, occasioned, as I verily believe, by our\r\npreceding conversation; for it frequently happens that the thoughts and\r\ndiscourses which have employed us in the daytime produce in our sleep an\r\neffect somewhat similar to that which Ennius writes happened to him\r\nabout Homer, of whom, in his waking hours, he used frequently \u003ca id=\"page-458\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e458\u003c/span\u003eto think\r\nand speak.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfricanus, I thought, appeared to me in that shape, with which I was\r\nbetter acquainted from his picture than from any personal knowledge of\r\nhim. When I perceived it was he, I confess I trembled with\r\nconsternation; but he addressed me, saying, Take courage, my Scipio; be\r\nnot afraid, and carefully remember what I shall say to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXI. Do you see that city Carthage, which, though brought under the Roman\r\nyoke by me, is now renewing former wars, and cannot live in peace? (and\r\nhe pointed to Carthage from a lofty spot, full of stars, and brilliant,\r\nand glittering)—to attack which city you are this day arrived in a\r\nstation not much superior to that of a private soldier. Before two\r\nyears, however, are elapsed, you shall be consul, and complete its\r\noverthrow; and you shall obtain, by your own merit, the surname of\r\nAfricanus, which as yet belongs to you no otherwise than as derived from\r\nme. And when you have destroyed Carthage, and received the honor of a\r\ntriumph, and been made censor, and, in quality of ambassador, visited\r\nEgypt, Syria, Asia, and Greece, you shall be elected a second time\r\nconsul in your absence, and, by utterly destroying Numantia, put an end\r\nto a most dangerous war.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut when you have entered the Capitol in your triumphal car, you shall\r\nfind the Roman Commonwealth all in a ferment, through the intrigues of\r\nmy grandson Tiberius Gracchus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXII. It is on this occasion, my dear Africanus, that you show your\r\ncountry the greatness of your understanding, capacity, and prudence. But\r\nI see that the destiny, however, of that time is, as it were, uncertain;\r\nfor when your age shall have accomplished seven times eight revolutions\r\nof the sun, and your fatal hours shall be marked put by the natural\r\nproduct of these two numbers, each of which is esteemed a perfect one,\r\nbut for different reasons, then shall the whole city have recourse to\r\nyou alone, and place its hopes in your auspicious name. On you the\r\nsenate, \u003ca id=\"page-459\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e459\u003c/span\u003eall good citizens, the allies, the people of Latium, shall cast\r\ntheir eyes; on you the preservation of the State shall entirely depend.\r\nIn a word, \u003ci\u003eif you escape the impious machinations of your relatives\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nyou will, in quality of dictator, establish order and tranquillity in\r\nthe Commonwealth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen on this Lælius made an exclamation, and the rest of the company\r\ngroaned loudly, Scipio, with a gentle smile, said, I entreat you, do not\r\nwake me out of my dream, but have patience, and hear the rest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIII. Now, in order to encourage you, my dear Africanus, continued the\r\nshade of my ancestor, to defend the State with the greater cheerfulness,\r\nbe assured that, for all those who have in any way conduced to the\r\npreservation, defence, and enlargement of their native country, there is\r\na certain place in heaven where they shall enjoy an eternity of\r\nhappiness. For nothing on earth is more agreeable to God, the Supreme\r\nGovernor of the universe, than the assemblies and societies of men\r\nunited together by laws, which are called states. It is from heaven\r\ntheir rulers and preservers came, and thither they return.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIV. Though at these words I was extremely troubled, not so much at the\r\nfear of death as at the perfidy of my own relations, yet I recollected\r\nmyself enough to inquire whether he himself, my father Paulus, and\r\nothers whom we look upon as dead, were really living.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYes, truly, replied he, they all enjoy life who have escaped from the\r\nchains of the body as from a prison. But as to what you call life on\r\nearth, that is no more than one form of death. But see; here comes your\r\nfather Paulus towards you! And as soon as I observed him, my eyes burst\r\nout into a flood of tears; but he took me in his arms, embraced me, and\r\nbade me not weep.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXV. When my first transports subsided, and I regained the liberty of\r\nspeech, I addressed my father thus: Thou best and most venerable of\r\nparents, since this, as I am informed by Africanus, is the only\r\nsubstantial life, why do I linger on earth, and not rather haste to come\r\nhither where you are?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat, replied he, is impossible: unless that God, whose temple is all\r\nthat vast expanse you behold, shall free you \u003ca id=\"page-460\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e460\u003c/span\u003efrom the fetters of the\r\nbody, you can have no admission into this place. Mankind have received\r\ntheir being on this very condition, that they should labor for the\r\npreservation of that globe which is situated, as you see, in the midst\r\nof this temple, and is called earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen are likewise endowed with a soul, which is a portion of the eternal\r\nfires which you call stars and constellations; and which, being round,\r\nspherical bodies, animated by divine intelligences, perform their cycles\r\nand revolutions with amazing rapidity. It is your duty, therefore, my\r\nPublius, and that of all who have any veneration for the Gods, to\r\npreserve this wonderful union of soul and body; nor without the express\r\ncommand of Him who gave you a soul should the least thought be\r\nentertained of quitting human life, lest you seem to desert the post\r\nassigned you by God himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut rather follow the examples of your grandfather here, and of me, your\r\nfather, in paying a strict regard to justice and piety; which is due in\r\na great degree to parents and relations, but most of all to our country.\r\nSuch a life as this is the true way to heaven, and to the company of\r\nthose, who, after having lived on earth and escaped from the body,\r\ninhabit the place which you now behold.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVI. This was the shining circle, or zone, whose remarkable brightness\r\ndistinguishes it among the constellations, and which, after the Greeks,\r\nyou call the Milky Way.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom thence, as I took a view of the universe, everything appeared\r\nbeautiful and admirable; for there those stars are to be seen that are\r\nnever visible from our globe, and everything appears of such magnitude\r\nas we could not have imagined. The least of all the stars was that\r\nremoved farthest from heaven, and situated next to the earth; I mean our\r\nmoon, which shines with a borrowed light. Now, the globes of the stars\r\nfar surpass the magnitude of our earth, which at that distance appeared\r\nso exceedingly small that I could not but be sensibly affected on seeing\r\nour whole empire no larger than if we touched the earth, as it were, at\r\na single point.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVII. And as I continued to observe the earth with great attention, How\r\nlong, I pray you, said Africanus, \u003ca id=\"page-461\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e461\u003c/span\u003ewill your mind be fixed on that\r\nobject? why don’t you rather take a view of the magnificent temples\r\namong which you have arrived? The universe is composed of nine circles,\r\nor rather spheres, one of which is the heavenly one, and is exterior to\r\nall the rest, which it embraces; being itself the Supreme God, and\r\nbounding and containing the whole. In it are fixed those stars which\r\nrevolve with never-varying courses. Below this are seven other spheres,\r\nwhich revolve in a contrary direction to that of the heavens. One of\r\nthese is occupied by the globe which on earth they call Saturn. Next to\r\nthat is the star of Jupiter, so benign and salutary to mankind. The\r\nthird in order is that fiery and terrible planet called Mars. Below\r\nthis, again, almost in the middle region, is the sun—the leader,\r\ngovernor, and prince of the other luminaries; the soul of the world,\r\nwhich it regulates and illumines; being of such vast size that it\r\npervades and gives light to all places. Then follow Venus and Mercury,\r\nwhich attend, as it were, on the sun. Lastly, the moon, which shines\r\nonly in the reflected beams of the sun, moves in the lowest sphere of\r\nall. Below this, if we except that gift of the Gods, the soul, which has\r\nbeen given by the liberality of the Gods to the human race, everything\r\nis mortal, and tends to dissolution; but above the moon all is eternal.\r\nFor the earth, which is the ninth globe, and occupies the centre, is\r\nimmovable, and, being the lowest, all others gravitate towards it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXVIII. When I had recovered myself from the astonishment occasioned by\r\nsuch a wonderful prospect, I thus addressed Africanus: Pray what is this\r\nsound that strikes my ears in so loud and agreeable a manner? To which\r\nhe replied: It is that which is called the \u003ci\u003emusic of the spheres\u003c/i\u003e, being\r\nproduced by their motion and impulse; and being formed by unequal\r\nintervals, but such as are divided according to the justest proportion,\r\nit produces, by duly tempering acute with grave sounds, various concerts\r\nof harmony. For it is impossible that motions so great should be\r\nperformed without any noise; and it is agreeable to nature that the\r\nextremes on one side should produce sharp, and on the other flat sounds.\r\nFor which reason the sphere of the fixed stars, being the highest, and\r\nbeing \u003ca id=\"page-462\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e462\u003c/span\u003ecarried with a more rapid velocity, moves with a shrill and acute\r\nsound; whereas that of the moon, being the lowest, moves with a very\r\nflat one. As to the earth, which makes the ninth sphere, it remains\r\nimmovably fixed in the middle or lowest part of the universe. But those\r\neight revolving circles, in which both Mercury and Venus are moved with\r\nthe same celerity, give out sounds that are divided by seven distinct\r\nintervals, which is generally the regulating number of all things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis celestial harmony has been imitated by learned musicians both on\r\nstringed instruments and with the voice, whereby they have opened to\r\nthemselves a way to return to the celestial regions, as have likewise\r\nmany others who have employed their sublime genius while on earth in\r\ncultivating the divine sciences.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy the amazing noise of this sound the ears of mankind have been in some\r\ndegree deafened; and indeed hearing is the dullest of all the human\r\nsenses. Thus, the people who dwell near the cataracts of the Nile, which\r\nare called Catadupa\u003ca id=\"FNA-348\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FN-348\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e348\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, are, by the excessive roar which that river\r\nmakes in precipitating itself from those lofty mountains, entirely\r\ndeprived of the sense of hearing. And so inconceivably great is this\r\nsound which is produced by the rapid motion of the whole universe, that\r\nthe human ear is no more capable of receiving it than the eye is able to\r\nlook steadfastly and directly on the sun, whose beams easily dazzle the\r\nstrongest sight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile I was busied in admiring the scene of wonders, I could not help\r\ncasting my eyes every now and then on the earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXIX. On which Africanus said, I perceive that you are still employed in\r\ncontemplating the seat and residence of mankind. But if it appears to\r\nyou so small, as in fact it really is, despise its vanities, and fix\r\nyour attention forever on these heavenly objects. Is it possible that\r\nyou should attain any human applause or glory that is worth the\r\ncontending for? The earth, you see, is peopled but in a very few places,\r\nand those, too, of small extent; and they appear like so many little\r\nspots of green scattered through vast, uncultivated deserts. And those\r\nwho inhabit the \u003ca id=\"page-463\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e463\u003c/span\u003eearth are not only so remote from each other as to be\r\ncut off from all mutual correspondence, but their situation being in\r\noblique or contrary parts of the globe, or perhaps in those\r\ndiametrically opposite to yours, all expectation of universal fame must\r\nfall to the ground.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXX. You may likewise observe that the same globe of the earth is girt\r\nand surrounded with certain zones, whereof those two that are most\r\nremote from each other, and lie under the opposite poles of heaven, are\r\ncongealed with frost; but that one in the middle, which is far the\r\nlargest, is scorched with the intense heat of the sun. The other two are\r\nhabitable, one towards the south, the inhabitants of which are your\r\nantipodes, with whom you have no connection; the other, towards the\r\nnorth, is that which you inhabit, whereof a very small part, as you may\r\nsee, falls to your share. For the whole extent of what you see is, as it\r\nwere, but a little island, narrow at both ends and wide in the middle,\r\nwhich is surrounded by the sea which on earth you call the great\r\nAtlantic Ocean, and which, notwithstanding this magnificent name, you\r\nsee is very insignificant. And even in these cultivated and well-known\r\ncountries, has yours, or any of our names, ever passed the heights of\r\nthe Caucasus or the currents of the Ganges? In what other parts to the\r\nnorth or the south, or where the sun rises and sets, will your names\r\never be heard? And if we leave these out of the question, how small a\r\nspace is there left for your glory to spread itself abroad; and how long\r\nwill it remain in the memory of those whose minds are now full of it?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXI. Besides all this, if the progeny of any future generation should\r\nwish to transmit to their posterity the praises of any one of us which\r\nthey have heard from their forefathers, yet the deluges and combustions\r\nof the earth, which must necessarily happen at their destined periods,\r\nwill prevent our obtaining, not only an eternal, but even a durable\r\nglory. And, after all, what does it signify whether those who shall\r\nhereafter be born talk of you, when those who have lived before you,\r\nwhose number was perhaps not less, and whose merit certainly greater,\r\nwere not so much as acquainted with your name?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXII. Especially since not one of those who shall hear \u003ca id=\"page-464\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e464\u003c/span\u003eof us is able to\r\nretain in his memory the transactions of a single year. The bulk of\r\nmankind, indeed, measure their year by the return of the sun, which is\r\nonly one star. But when all the stars shall have returned to the place\r\nwhence they set out, and after long periods shall again exhibit the same\r\naspect of the whole heavens, that is what ought properly to be called\r\nthe revolution of a year, though I scarcely dare attempt to enumerate\r\nthe vast multitude of ages contained in it. For as the sun in old time\r\nwas eclipsed, and seemed to be extinguished, at the time when the soul\r\nof Romulus penetrated into these eternal mansions, so, when all the\r\nconstellations and stars shall revert to their primary position, and the\r\nsun shall at the same point and time be again eclipsed, then you may\r\nconsider that the grand year is completed. Be assured, however, that the\r\ntwentieth part of it is not yet elapsed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIII. Wherefore, if you have no hopes of returning to this place where\r\ngreat and good men enjoy all that their souls can wish for, of what\r\nvalue, pray, is all that human glory, which can hardly endure for a\r\nsmall portion of one year?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf, then, you wish to elevate your views to the contemplation of this\r\neternal seat of splendor, you will not be satisfied with the praises of\r\nyour fellow-mortals, nor with any human rewards that your exploits can\r\nobtain; but Virtue herself must point out to you the true and only\r\nobject worthy of your pursuit. Leave to others to speak of you as they\r\nmay, for speak they will. Their discourses will be confined to the\r\nnarrow limits of the countries you see, nor will their duration be very\r\nextensive; for they will perish like those who utter them, and will be\r\nno more remembered by their posterity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXIV. When he had ceased to speak in this manner, I said, O Africanus,\r\nif indeed the door of heaven is open to those who have deserved well of\r\ntheir country, although, indeed, from my childhood I have always\r\nfollowed yours and my father’s steps, and have not neglected to imitate\r\nyour glory, still, I will from henceforth strive to follow them more\r\nclosely.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFollow them, then, said he, and consider your body only, not yourself,\r\nas mortal. For it is not your outward form \u003ca id=\"page-465\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e465\u003c/span\u003ewhich constitutes your\r\nbeing, but your mind; not that substance which is palpable to the\r\nsenses, but your spiritual nature. \u003ci\u003eKnow, then, that you are a God\u003c/i\u003e—for\r\na God it must be, which flourishes, and feels, and recollects, and\r\nforesees, and governs, regulates and moves the body over which it is\r\nset, as the Supreme Ruler does the world which is subject to him. For as\r\nthat Eternal Being moves whatever is mortal in this world, so the\r\nimmortal mind of man moves the frail body with which it is connected.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXV. For whatever is always moving must be eternal; but that which\r\nderives its motion from a power which is foreign to itself, when that\r\nmotion ceases must itself lose its animation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat alone, then, which moves itself can never cease to be moved,\r\nbecause it can never desert itself. Moreover, it must be the source, and\r\norigin, and principle of motion in all the rest. There can be nothing\r\nprior to a principle, for all things must originate from it; and it\r\ncannot itself derive its existence from any other source, for if it did\r\nit would no longer be a principle. And if it had no beginning, it can\r\nhave no end; for a beginning that is put an end to will neither be\r\nrenewed by any other cause, nor will it produce anything else of itself.\r\nAll things, therefore, must originate from one source. Thus it follows\r\nthat motion must have its source in something which is moved by itself,\r\nand which can neither have a beginning nor an end. Otherwise all the\r\nheavens and all nature must perish, for it is impossible that they can\r\nof themselves acquire any power of producing motion in themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eXXVI. As, therefore, it is plain that what is moved by itself must be\r\neternal, who will deny that this is the general condition and nature of\r\nminds? For as everything is inanimate which is moved by an impulse\r\nexterior to itself, so what is animated is moved by an interior impulse\r\nof its own; for this is the peculiar nature and power of mind. And if\r\nthat alone has the power of self-motion, it can neither have had a\r\nbeginning, nor can it have an end.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you, therefore, exercise this mind of yours in the best pursuits. And\r\nthe best pursuits are those which consist in promoting the good of your\r\ncountry. Such employments will speed the flight of your mind to this its\r\n\u003ca id=\"page-466\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pgnum\"\u003e466\u003c/span\u003eproper abode; and its flight will be still more rapid, if, even while\r\nit is enclosed in the body, it will look abroad, and disengage itself as\r\nmuch as possible from its bodily dwelling, by the contemplation of\r\nthings which are external to itself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis it should do to the utmost of its power. For the minds of those who\r\nhave given themselves up to the pleasures of the body, paying, as it\r\nwere, a servile obedience to their lustful impulses, have violated the\r\nlaws of God and man; and therefore, when they are separated from their\r\nbodies, flutter continually round the earth on which they lived, and are\r\nnot allowed to return to this celestial region till they have been\r\npurified by the revolution of many ages.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus saying, he vanished, and I awoke from my dream.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"tiny\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch4\u003eA FRAGMENT.\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd although it is most desirable that fortune should remain forever in\r\nthe most brilliant possible condition, nevertheless, the equability of\r\nlife excites less interest than those changeable conditions wherein\r\nprosperity suddenly revives out of the most desperate and ruinous\r\ncircumstances.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003eTHE END.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"front\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003eFOOTNOTES:\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-1\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Archilochus was a native of Paros, and flourished about\r\n714-676 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e His poems were chiefly Iambics of bitter satire. Horace\r\nspeaks of him as the inventor of Iambics, and calls himself his pupil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 14ex;\"\u003eParios ego primus Iambos\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOstendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eArchilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"poet\"\u003eEpist. I. xix. 25.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eAnd in another place he says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eArchilochum proprio rabies armavit Iambo—A.P. 74.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-2\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was Livius Andronicus: he is supposed to have been a\r\nnative of Tarentum, and he was made prisoner by the Romans, during their\r\nwars in Southern Italy; owing to which he became the slave of M. Livius\r\nSalinator. He wrote both comedies and tragedies, of which Cicero (Brutus\r\n18) speaks very contemptuously, as “Livianæ fabulæ non satis dignæ quæ\r\niterum legantur”—not worth reading a second time. He also wrote a Latin\r\nOdyssey, and some hymns, and died probably about 221 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-3\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e C. Fabius, surnamed Pictor, painted the temple of Salus,\r\nwhich the dictator C. Junius Brutus Bubulus dedicated 302 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e The\r\ntemple was destroyed by fire in the reign of Claudius. The painting is\r\nhighly praised by Dionysius, xvi. 6.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-4\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-4\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e For an account of the ancient Greek philosophers, see the\r\nsketch at the end of the Disputations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-5\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-5\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Isocrates was born at Athens 436 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e He was a pupil of\r\nGorgias, Prodicus, and Socrates. He opened a school of rhetoric, at\r\nAthens, with great success. He died by his own hand at the age of\r\nninety-eight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-6\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-6\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e So Horace joins these two classes as inventors of all kinds\r\nof improbable fictions:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 18ex;\"\u003ePictoribus atque poetis\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eQuidlibet audendi semper fuit æqua potestas.—A. P. 9.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003eWhich Roscommon translates:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePainters and poets have been still allow’d\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTheir pencil and their fancies unconfined.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-7\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-7\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e7\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Epicharmus was a native of Cos, but lived at Megara, in\r\nSicily, and when Megara was destroyed, removed to Syracuse, and lived at\r\nthe court of Hiero, where he became the first writer of comedies, so\r\nthat Horace ascribes the invention of comedy to him, and so does\r\nTheocritus. He lived to a great age.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-8\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-8\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e8\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pherecydes was a native of Scyros, one of the Cyclades; and\r\nis said to have obtained his knowledge from the secret books of the\r\nPhœnicians. He is said also to have been a pupil of Pittacus, the rival\r\nof Thales, and the master of Pythagoras. His doctrine was that there\r\nwere three principles (\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΖεὺς\u003c/span\u003e, or Æther; \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΧθὼν\u003c/span\u003e, or Chaos; and \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΧρόνος\u003c/span\u003e, or\r\nTime) and four elements (Fire, Earth, Air, and Water), from which\r\neverything that exists was formed.—\u003ci\u003eVide\u003c/i\u003e Smith’s Dict. Gr. and Rom.\r\nBiog.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-9\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-9\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e9\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Archytas was a native of Tarentum, and is said to have\r\nsaved the life of Plato by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius. He\r\nwas especially great as a mathematician and geometrician, so that Horace\r\ncalls him\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMaris et terra numeroque carentis arenæ\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMensorem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"poet\"\u003eOd. i. 28.1.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePlato is supposed to have learned some of his views from him, and\r\nAristotle to have borrowed from him every idea of the Categories.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-10\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-10\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e10\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was not Timæus the historian, but a native of Locri,\r\nwho is said also in the De Finibus (c. 29) to have been a teacher of\r\nPlato. There is a treatise extant bearing his name, which is, however,\r\nprobably spurious, and only an abridgment of Plato’s dialogue Timæus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-11\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-11\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e11\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Dicæarchus was a native of Messana, in Sicily, though he\r\nlived chiefly in Greece. He was one of the later disciples of Aristotle.\r\nHe was a great geographer, politician, historian, and philosopher, and\r\ndied about 285 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-12\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-12\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e12\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Aristoxenus was a native of Tarentum, and also a pupil of\r\nAristotle. We know nothing of his opinions except that he held the soul\r\nto be a \u003ci\u003eharmony\u003c/i\u003e of the body; a doctrine which had been already\r\ndiscussed by Plato in the Phædo, and combated by Aristotle. He was a\r\ngreat musician, and the chief portions of his works which have come down\r\nto us are fragments of some musical treatises.—Smith’s Dict. Gr. and\r\nRom. Biog.; to which source I must acknowledge my obligation for nearly\r\nthe whole of these biographical notes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-13\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-13\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e13\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Simonides here meant is the celebrated poet of Ceos,\r\nthe perfecter of elegiac poetry among the Greeks. He flourished about\r\nthe time of the Persian war. Besides his poetry, he is said to have been\r\nthe inventor of some method of aiding the memory. He died at the court\r\nof Hiero, 467 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-14\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-14\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Theodectes was a native of Phaselis, in Pamphylia, a\r\ndistinguished rhetorician and tragic poet, and flourished in the time of\r\nPhilip of Macedon. He was a pupil of Isocrates, and lived at Athens, and\r\ndied there at the age of forty-one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-15\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-15\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cineas was a Thessalian, and (as is said in the text) came\r\nto Rome as ambassador from Pyrrhus after the battle of Heraclea, 280\r\n\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, and his memory is said to have been so great that on the day after\r\nhis arrival he was able to address all the senators and knights by name.\r\nHe probably died before Pyrrhus returned to Italy, 276 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-16\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-16\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e16\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Charmadas, called also Charmides, was a fellow-pupil with\r\nPhilo, the Larissæan of Clitomachus, the Carthaginian. He is said by\r\nsome authors to have founded a fourth academy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-17\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-17\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e17\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Metrodorus was a minister of Mithridates the Great; and\r\nemployed by him as supreme judge in Pontus, and afterward as an\r\nambassador. Cicero speaks of him in other places (De Orat. ii. 88) as a\r\nman of wonderful memory.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-18\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e18\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Quintus Hortensius was eight years older than Cicero; and,\r\ntill Cicero’s fame surpassed his, he was accounted the most eloquent of\r\nall the Romans. He was Verres’s counsel in the prosecution conducted\r\nagainst him by Cicero. Seneca relates that his memory was so great that\r\nhe could come out of an auction and repeat the catalogue backward. He\r\ndied 50 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-19\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e19\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This treatise is one which has not come down to us, but\r\nwhich had been lately composed by Cicero in order to comfort himself for\r\nthe loss of his daughter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-20\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e20\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The epigram is,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΕἴπας Ἥλιε χαῖρε, Κλεόμβροτος Ὥμβρακιώτης\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἥλατ’ ἀφ’ ὑψηλοῦ τείχεος εἰς Ἀΐδην,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἄξιον οὐδὲν ἰδὼν θανάτου κακὸν, ἀλλὰ Πλάτωνος\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἓν τὸ περὶ ψύχης γράμμ’ ἀναλεξάμενος.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhich may be translated, perhaps,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFarewell, O sun, Cleombrotus exclaim’d,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eThen plunged from off a height beneath the sea;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStung by pain, of no disgrace ashamed,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eBut moved by Plato’s high philosophy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-21\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e21\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is alluded to by Juvenal:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProvida Pompeio dederat Campania febres\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOptandas: sed multæ urbes et publica vota\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVicerunt. Igitur Fortuna ipsius et Urbis,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eServatum victo caput abstulit.—Sat. x. 283.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-22\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e22\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pompey’s second wife was Julia, the daughter of Julius Cæsar,\r\nshe died the year before the death of Crassus, in Parthia. Virgil\r\nspeaks of Cæsar and Pompey as relations, using the same expression\r\n(socer) as Cicero:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce Monœci\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDescendens, gener adversis instructus Eois.—Æn. vi. 830.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-23\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e23\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This idea is beautifully expanded by Byron:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet if, as holiest men have deem’d, there be\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA land of souls beyond that sable shore\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo shame the doctrine of the Sadducee\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd sophist, madly vain or dubious lore,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow sweet it were in concert to adore\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith those who made our mortal labors light,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo hear each voice we fear’d to hear no more.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBehold each mighty shade reveal’d to sight,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the right!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"poet\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eChilde Harold\u003c/i\u003e, ii.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-24\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-24\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e24\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The epitaph in the original is:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὮ ξεῖν’ ἀγγεῖλον Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκείμεθα, τοῐς κείνων πειθόμενοι νομίμοις.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-25\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-25\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e25\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was expressed in the Greek verses,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἈρχὴς μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστον,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eφύντα δ’ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀΐδϋο περῆσαι\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"cont\"\u003ewhich by some authors are attributed to Homer.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-26\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-26\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e26\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is the first fragment of the Cresphontes.—Ed. Var.\r\nvii., p. 594.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἜδει γὰρ ἡμᾶς σύλλογον ποιουμένους\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΤὸν φύντα θρηνεῖν, εἰς ὅσ’ ἔρχεται κακά.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΤὸν δ’ αὖ θανόντα καὶ πόνων πεπαυμένον\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eχαίροντας εὐφημοῖντας ἐκπέμειν δόμων\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-27\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-27\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e27\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Greek verses are quoted by Plutarch:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L4\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἬπου νήπιε, ἠλίθιοι φρένες ἀνδρῶν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΕὐθύνοος κεῖται μοιριδίῳ θανάτῳ\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΟὐκ ἠν γὰρ ζώειν καλὸν αὐτῷ οὔτε γονεῦσι.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-28\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-28\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e28\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This refers to the story that when Eumolpus, the son of\r\nNeptune, whose assistance the Eleusinians had called in against the\r\nAthenians, had been slain by the Athenians, an oracle demanded the\r\nsacrifice of one of the daughters of Erechtheus, the King of Athens. And\r\nwhen one was drawn by lot, the others voluntarily accompanied her to\r\ndeath.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-29\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-29\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e29\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Menœceus was son of Creon, and in the war of the Argives\r\nagainst Thebes, Teresias declared that the Thebans should conquer if\r\nMenœceus would sacrifice himself for his country; and accordingly he\r\nkilled himself outside the gates of Thebes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-30\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-30\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e30\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Greek is,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eμήδε μοι ἄκλαυστος θάνατος μόλοι, ἀλλὰ φίλοισι\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eποιήσαιμι θανὼν ἄλγεα καὶ στοναχάς.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-31\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-31\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e31\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Soph. Trach. 1047.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-32\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-32\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e32\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The lines quoted by Cicero here appear to have come from\r\nthe Latin play of Prometheus by Accius; the ideas are borrowed, rather\r\nthan translated, from the Prometheus of Æschylus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-33\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-33\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e33\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e From \u003ci\u003eexerceo\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-34\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-34\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e34\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Each soldier carried a stake, to help form a palisade in\r\nfront of the camp.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-35\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-35\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e35\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Insania—from \u003ci\u003ein\u003c/i\u003e, a particle of negative force in\r\ncomposition, and \u003ci\u003esanus\u003c/i\u003e, healthy, sound.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-36\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-36\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e36\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The man who first received this surname was L. Calpurnius\r\nPiso, who was consul, 133 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, in the Servile War.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-37\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-37\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e37\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Greek is,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἈλλά μοι οἰδάνεται κραδίη χόλῳ ὅπποτ’ ἐκείνου\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΜνήσομαι ὅς μ’ ἀσύφηλον ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἔρεξεν.\u003c/span\u003e—Il. ix. 642.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have given Pope’s translation in the text.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-38\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-38\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e38\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is from the Theseus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἘγὼ δὲ τοῦτο παρὰ σοφοῦ τινος μαθὼν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eεὶς φροντίδας νοῦν συμφοράς τ’ ἐβαλλόμην\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eφυγάς τ’ ἐμαυτῷ προστιθεὶς πάτρας ἐμῆς.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eθανάτους τ’ ἀώρους, καὶ κακῶν ἄλλας ὁδοὺς\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὡς, εἴ τι πάσχοιμ’ ὠν ἐδόξαζόν ποτε\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΜή μοι νέορτον προσπεσὸν μᾶλλον δάκοι.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-39\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-39\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e39\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Ter. Phorm. II. i. 11.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-40\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-40\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e40\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This refers to the speech of Agamemnon in Euripides, in\r\nthe Iphigenia in Aulis,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 10ex\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΖηλῶ σε, γέρον,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eζηλῶ δ’ ἀνδρῶν ὃς ἀκίνδυνον\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eβίον ἐξεπέρασ’, ἀγνὼς, ἀκλεής.\u003c/span\u003e—v. 15.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-41\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-41\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e41\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is a fragment from the Hypsipyle:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΕφυ μὲν οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐ πονεῖ βροτῶν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eθάπτει τε τέκνα χἄτερ’ αὖ κτᾶται νεὰ,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eαὐτός τε θνήσκει. καὶ τάδ’ ἄχθονται βροτοὶ\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eεἰς γῆν φέροντες γῆν ἀναγκαίως δ’ ἔχει\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eβίον θερίζειν ὥστε κάρπιμον στάχυν.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-42\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-42\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e42\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠολλὰς ἐκ κεφαλῆς προθελύμνους ἕλκετο χαίτας.\u003c/span\u003e—Il. x. 15.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-43\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-43\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e43\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἬτοι ὁ καππέδιον τὸ Ἀληΐον οἶος ἀλᾶτο\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὅν θυμὸν κατεδὼν, πάτον ἀνθρώπων ἀλεείνων.\u003c/span\u003e—Il. vi. 201.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-44\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-44\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e44\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is a translation from Euripides:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὭσθ’ ἵμερος μ’ ὑπῆλθε γῇ τε κ’ οὐρανῷ\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eλέξαι μολούσῃ δεῦρο Μηδείας τύχας.\u003c/span\u003e—Med. 57.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-45\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-45\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e45\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΛίην γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἐπήτριμοι ἤματα πάντα\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπίπτουσιν, πότε κέν τις ἀναπνεύσειε πόνοιο;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀλλὰ χρὴ τὸν μὲν καταθαπτέμεν, ὅς κε θάνησι,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eνηλέα θυμὸν ἔχοντας, ἔπ’ ἤματι δακρυσάντας.—\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"poet\"\u003eHom. Il. xix. 226.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-46\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-46\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e46\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is one of the fragments of Euripides which we are\r\nunable to assign to any play in particular; it occurs Var. Ed. Tr. Inc.\r\n167.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΕἰ μεν τόδ’ ἦμαρ πρῶτον ἦν κακουμένῳ\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκαὶ μὴ μακρὰν δὴ διὰ πόνων ἐναυστόλουν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eεἰκὸς σφαδάζειν ἦν ἂν, ὡς νεόζυγα\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπῶλον, χάλινον ἀρτίως δεδεγμένον\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eνῦν δ’ ἀμβλύς εἰμι, καὶ κατηρτυκὼς κακῶν.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-47\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-47\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e47\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is only a fragment, preserved by Stobæus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΤοὺς δ’ ἂν μεγίστους καὶ σοφωτάτους φρενὶ\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eτοιούσδ’ ἴδοις ἂν, οἶός ἐστι νῦν ὅδε,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκαλῶς κακῶς πράσσοντι συμπαραινέσαι\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὅταν δὲ δαίμων ἀνδρὸς εὐτυχοῦς τὸ πρὶν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eμάστιγ’ ἐπίσῃ τοῦ βίου παλίντροπον,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eτὰ πολλὰ φροῦδα καὶ κακῶς εἰρημένα.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp class=\"nodist\"\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-48\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-48\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e48\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΩκ. Οὐκοῦν Προμηθεῦ τοῦτο γιγνώσκεις ὅτι\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὀργῆς νοσούσης εἰσὶν ἰατροὶ λόγοι.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠρ. ἐάν τις ἐν καιρῷ γε μαλθάσσῃ κεάρ\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκαὶ μὴ σφριγῶντα θυμὸν ἰσχναίνη βιᾳ.—\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"poet\"\u003eÆsch. Prom. v. 378.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-49\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-49\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e49\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero alludes here to Il. vii. 211, which is thus\r\ntranslated by Pope:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis massy javelin quivering in his hand,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe stood the bulwark of the Grecian band;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThrough every Argive heart new transport ran,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll Troy stood trembling at the mighty man:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eE’en Hector paused, and with new doubt oppress’d,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFelt his great heart suspended in his breast;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e’Twas vain to seek retreat, and vain to fear,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHimself had challenged, and the foe drew near.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut Melmoth (Note on the Familiar Letters of Cicero, book ii. Let. 23)\r\nrightly accuses Cicero of having misunderstood Homer, who “by no means\r\nrepresents Hector as being thus totally dismayed at the approach of his\r\nadversary; and, indeed, it would have been inconsistent with the general\r\ncharacter of that hero to have described him under such circumstances of\r\nterror.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΤὸν δὲ καὶ Ἀργεῖοι μέγ’ ἐγήθεον εἰσορόωντες,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΤρωὰς δὲ τρόμος αἶνος ὑπήλυθε γυῖα ἕκαστον,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἝκτορι δ’ αὐτῷ θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι πάτασσεν.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut there is a great difference, as Dr. Clarke remarks, between \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eθυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι πάτασσεν\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκαρδέη ἔξω στηθέων ἔθρωσκεν\u003c/span\u003e, or \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eτρόμος αἶνος\r\nὑπήλυθε γυῖα\u003c/span\u003e.—\u003ci\u003eThe Trojans\u003c/i\u003e, says Homer, \u003ci\u003etrembled\u003c/i\u003e at the sight of\r\nAjax, and even Hector himself felt some emotion in his breast.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-50\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-50\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e50\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero means Scipio Nasica, who, in the riots consequent\r\non the reelection of Tiberius Gracchus to the tribunate, 133 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e,\r\nhaving called in vain on the consul, Mucius Scævola, to save the\r\nrepublic, attacked Gracchus himself, who was slain in the tumult.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-51\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-51\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e51\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eMorosus\u003c/i\u003e is evidently derived from \u003ci\u003emores\u003c/i\u003e—“\u003ci\u003eMorosus\u003c/i\u003e,\r\n\u003ci\u003emos\u003c/i\u003e, stubbornness, self-will, etc.”—Riddle and Arnold, Lat. Dict.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-52\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-52\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e52\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In the original they run thus:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΟὔκ ἐστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδ’ εἰπεῖν ἔπος,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΟὐδὲ πάθος, οὐδὲ ξυμφορὰ θεήλατος\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἧς οὐκ ἂν ἀροιτ’ ἄχθος ἀνθρώπον φύσις.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-53\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-53\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e53\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This passage is from the Eunuch of Terence, act i., sc. 1,\r\n14.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-54\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-54\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e54\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These verses are from the Atreus of Accius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-55\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-55\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e55\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was Marcus Atilius Regulus, the story of whose\r\ntreatment by the Carthaginians in the first Punic War is well known to\r\neverybody.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-56\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-56\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e56\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was Quintus Servilius Cæpio, who, 105 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, was\r\ndestroyed, with his army, by the Cimbri, it was believed as a judgment\r\nfor the covetousness which he had displayed in the plunder of Tolosa.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-57\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-57\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e57\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was Marcus Aquilius, who, in the year 88 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, was\r\nsent against Mithridates as one of the consular legates; and, being\r\ndefeated, was delivered up to the king by the inhabitants of Mitylene.\r\nMithridates put him to death by pouring molten gold down his throat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-58\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-58\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e58\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was the elder brother of the triumvir Marcus Crassus,\r\n87 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e He was put to death by Fimbria, who was in command of some of\r\nthe troops of Marius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-59\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-59\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e59\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Lucius Cæsar and Caius Cæsar were relations (it is\r\nuncertain in what degree) of the great Cæsar, and were killed by Fimbria\r\non the same occasion as Octavius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-60\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-60\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e60\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e M. Antonius was the grandfather of the triumvir; he was\r\nmurdered the same year, 87 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, by Annius, when Marius and Cinna took\r\nRome.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-61\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-61\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e61\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This story is alluded to by Horace:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDistrictus ensis cui super impiâ\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCervice pendet non Siculæ dapes\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eDulcem elaborabunt saporem,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L4\"\u003eNon avium citharæve cantus\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSomnum reducent.—iii. 1. 17.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-62\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-62\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e62\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Hieronymus was a Rhodian, and a pupil of Aristotle,\r\nflourishing about 300 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e He is frequently mentioned by Cicero.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-63\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-63\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e63\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e We know very little of Dinomachus. Some MSS. have\r\nClitomachus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-64\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-64\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e64\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Callipho was in all probability a pupil of Epicurus, but\r\nwe have no certain information about him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-65\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-65\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e65\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Diodorus was a Syrian, and succeeded Critolaus as the head\r\nof the Peripatetic School at Athens.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-66\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-66\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e66\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Aristo was a native of Ceos, and a pupil of Lycon, who\r\nsucceeded Straton as the head of the Peripatetic School, 270 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e He\r\nafterward himself succeeded Lycon.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-67\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-67\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e67\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pyrrho was a native of Elis, and the originator of the\r\nsceptical theories of some of the ancient philosophers. He was a\r\ncontemporary of Alexander.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-68\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-68\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e68\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Herillus was a disciple of Zeno of Cittium, and therefore\r\na Stoic. He did not, however, follow all the opinions of his master: he\r\nheld that knowledge was the chief good. Some of the treatises of\r\nCleanthes were written expressly to confute him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-69\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-69\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e69\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Anacharsis was (Herod., iv., 76) son of Gnurus and brother\r\nof Saulius, King of Thrace. He came to Athens while Solon was occupied\r\nin framing laws for his people; and by the simplicity of his way of\r\nliving, and his acute observations on the manners of the Greeks, he\r\nexcited such general admiration that he was reckoned by some writers\r\namong the Seven Wise Men of Greece.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-70\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-70\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e70\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This was Appius Claudius Cæcus, who was censor 310 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e,\r\nand who, according to Livy, was afflicted with blindness by the Gods for\r\npersuading the Potitii to instruct the public servants in the way of\r\nsacrificing to Hercules. He it was who made the Via Appia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-71\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-71\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e71\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The fact of Homer’s blindness rests on a passage in the\r\nHymn to Apollo, quoted by Thucydides as a genuine work of Homer, and\r\nwhich is thus spoken of by one of the most accomplished scholars that\r\nthis country or this age has ever produced: “They are indeed beautiful\r\nverses; and if none worse had ever been attributed to Homer, the Prince\r\nof Poets would have had little reason to complain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“He has been describing the Delian festival in honor of Apollo and\r\nDiana, and concludes this part of the poem with an address to the women\r\nof that island, to whom it is to be supposed that he had become\r\nfamiliarly known by his frequent recitations:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΧαίρετε δ’ ὑμεῖς πᾶσαι, ἐμεῖο δὲ καὶ μετόπισθε\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eμνήσασθ’, ὅπποτέ κέν τις ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἐνθάδ’ ἀνείρηται ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἐλθὼν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὦ κοῦραι, τίς δ’ ὕμμιν ἀνὴρ ἥδιστος ἀοιδῶν\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἐνθάδε πωλεῖται καὶ τέῳ τέρπεσθε μάλιστα;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὑμεῖς δ’ εὖ μάλα πᾶσαι ὑποκρίνασθε ἀφ’ ἡμῶν,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΤυφλὸς ἀνὴρ, οἰκεῖ δὲ Χίῳ ἐνὶ παιπαλοέσσῃ,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eτοῦ πᾶσαι μετόπισθεν ἀριστεύουσιν ἀοιδαί.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVirgins, farewell—and oh! remember me\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHereafter, when some stranger from the sea,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA hapless wanderer, may your isle explore,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd ask you, ‘Maids, of all the bards you boast,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho sings the sweetest, and delights you most?’\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOh! answer all, ‘A blind old man, and poor,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSweetest he sings, and dwells on Chios’ rocky shore.’”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"poet\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eColeridge’s Introduction to the Study of the Greek Classic Poets.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-72\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-72\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e72\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Some read \u003ci\u003escientiam\u003c/i\u003e and some \u003ci\u003einscientiam;\u003c/i\u003e the latter\r\nof which is preferred by some of the best editors and commentators.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-73\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-73\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e73\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e For a short account of these ancient Greek philosophers,\r\nsee the sketch prefixed to the Academics (\u003ci\u003eClassical Library\u003c/i\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-74\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-74\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e74\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero wrote his philosophical works in the last three\r\nyears of his life. When he wrote this piece, he was in the sixty-third\r\nyear of his age, in the year of Rome 709.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-75\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-75\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e75\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Academic.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-76\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-76\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e76\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Diodorus and Posidonius were Stoics; Philo and Antiochus\r\nwere Academics; but the latter afterward inclined to the doctrine of the\r\nStoics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-77\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-77\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e77\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Julius Cæsar.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-78\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-78\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e78\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero was one of the College of Augurs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-79\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-79\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e79\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Latinæ Feriæ was originally a festival of the Latins,\r\naltered by Tarquinius Superbus into a Roman one. It was held in the\r\nAlban Mount, in honor of Jupiter Latiaris. This holiday lasted six days:\r\nit was not held at any fixed time; but the consul was never allowed to\r\ntake the field till he had held them.—\u003ci\u003eVide\u003c/i\u003e Smith, Dict. Gr. and Rom.\r\nAnt., p. 414.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-80\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-80\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e80\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eExhedra\u003c/i\u003e, the word used by Cicero, means a study, or\r\nplace where disputes were held.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-81\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-81\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e81\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e M. Piso was a Peripatetic. The four great sects were the\r\nStoics, the Peripatetics, the Academics, and the Epicureans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-82\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-82\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e82\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e It was a prevailing tenet of the Academics that there is\r\nno certain knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-83\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-83\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e83\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The five forms of Plato are these: \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eοὐσία, ταὐτὸν, ἕτερον,\r\nστάσις, κίνησις.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-84\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-84\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e84\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The four natures here to be understood are the four\r\nelements—fire, water, air, and earth; which are mentioned as the four\r\nprinciples of Empedocles by Diogenes Laertius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-85\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-85\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e85\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These five moving stars are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,\r\nMercury, and Venus. Their revolutions are considered in the next book.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-86\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-86\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e86\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Or, Generation of the Gods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-87\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-87\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e87\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπρόληψις\u003c/span\u003e of Epicurus, before mentioned, is what he\r\nhere means.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-88\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-88\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e88\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΣτερέμνια\u003c/span\u003e is the word which Epicurus used to distinguish\r\nbetween those objects which are perceptible to sense, and those which\r\nare imperceptible; as the essence of the Divine Being, and the various\r\noperations of the divine power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-89\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-89\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e89\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Zeno here mentioned is not the same that Cotta spoke of\r\nbefore. This was the founder of the Stoics. The other was an Epicurean\r\nphilosopher whom he had heard at Athens.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-90\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-90\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e90\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e That is, there would be the same uncertainty in heaven as\r\nis among the Academics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-91\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-91\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e91\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Those nations which were neither Greek nor Roman.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-92\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-92\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e92\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eSigilla numerantes\u003c/i\u003e is the common reading; but P.\r\nManucius proposes \u003ci\u003evenerantes\u003c/i\u003e, which I choose as the better of the two,\r\nand in which sense I have translated it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-93\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-93\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e93\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Fundamental doctrines.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-94\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-94\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e94\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e That is, the zodiac.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-95\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-95\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e95\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The moon, as well as the sun, is indeed in the zodiac, but\r\nshe does not measure the same course in a month. She moves in another\r\nline of the zodiac nearer the earth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-96\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-96\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e96\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e According to the doctrines of Epicurus, none of these\r\nbodies themselves are clearly seen, but \u003ci\u003esimulacra ex corporibus\r\neffluentia\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-97\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-97\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e97\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Epicurus taught his disciples in a garden.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-98\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-98\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e98\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e By the word \u003ci\u003eDeus\u003c/i\u003e, as often used by our author, we are to\r\nunderstand all the Gods in that theology then treated of, and not a\r\nsingle personal Deity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-99\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-99\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e99\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The best commentators on this passage agree that Cicero\r\ndoes not mean that Aristotle affirmed that there was no such person as\r\nOrpheus, but that there was no such poet, and that the verse called\r\nOrphic was said to be the invention of another. The passage of Aristotle\r\nto which Cicero here alludes has, as Dr. Davis observes, been long\r\nlost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-100\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-100\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e100\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A just proportion between the different sorts of beings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-101\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-101\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e101\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Some give \u003ci\u003equos non pudeat earum Epicuri vocum;\u003c/i\u003e but the\r\nbest copies have not \u003ci\u003enon;\u003c/i\u003e nor would it be consistent with Cotta to say\r\n\u003ci\u003equos non pudeat\u003c/i\u003e, for he throughout represents Velleius as a perfect\r\nEpicurean in every article.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-102\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-102\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e102\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e His country was Abdera, the natives of which were\r\nremarkable for their stupidity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-103\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-103\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e103\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This passage will not admit of a translation answerable\r\nto the sense of the original. Cicero says the word \u003ci\u003eamicitia\u003c/i\u003e\r\n(friendship) is derived from \u003ci\u003eamor\u003c/i\u003e (love or affection).\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-104\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-104\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e104\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This manner of speaking of Jupiter frequently occurs in\r\nHomer,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e——\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eand has been used by Virgil and other poets since Ennius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-105\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-105\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e105\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Perses, or Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, was taken\r\nby Cnæus Octavius, the prætor, and brought as prisoner to Paullus\r\nÆmilius, 167 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-106\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-106\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e106\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e An exemption from serving in the wars, and from paying\r\npublic taxes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-107\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-107\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e107\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Mopsus. There were two soothsayers of this name: the\r\nfirst was one of the Lapithæ, son of Ampycus and Chloris, called also\r\nthe son of Apollo and Hienantis; the other a son of Apollo and Manto,\r\nwho is said to have founded Mallus, in Asia Minor, where his oracle\r\nexisted as late as the time of Strabo.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-108\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-108\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e108\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Tiresias was the great Theban prophet at the time of the\r\nwar of the Seven against Thebes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-109\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-109\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e109\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Amphiaraus was King of Argos (he had been one of the\r\nArgonauts also). He was killed after the war of the Seven against\r\nThebes, which he was compelled to join in by the treachery of his wife\r\nEriphyle, by the earth opening and swallowing him up as he was fleeing\r\nfrom Periclymenus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-110\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-110\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e110\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Calchas was the prophet of the Grecian army at the siege\r\nof Troy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-111\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-111\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e111\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Helenus was a son of Priam and Hecuba. He is represented\r\nas a prophet in the Philoctetes of Sophocles. And in the Æneid he is\r\nalso represented as king of part of Epirus, and as predicting to Æneas\r\nthe dangers and fortunes which awaited him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-112\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-112\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e112\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This short passage would be very obscure to the reader\r\nwithout an explanation from another of Cicero’s treatises. The\r\nexpression here, \u003ci\u003ead investigandum suem regiones vineæ terminavit\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nwhich is a metaphor too bold, if it was not a sort of augural language,\r\nseems to me to have been the effect of carelessness in our great author;\r\nfor Navius did not divide the regions, as he calls them, of the vine to\r\nfind his sow, but to find a grape.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-113\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-113\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e113\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Peremnia were a sort of auspices performed just\r\nbefore the passing a river.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-114\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-114\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e114\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Acumina were a military auspices, and were partly\r\nperformed on the point of a spear, from which they were called Acumina.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-115\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-115\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e115\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Those were called \u003ci\u003etestamenta in procinctu\u003c/i\u003e, which were\r\nmade by soldiers just before an engagement, in the presence of men\r\ncalled as witnesses.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-116\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-116\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e116\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This especially refers to the Decii, one of whom devoted\r\nhimself for his country in the war with the Latins, 340 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, and his\r\nson imitated the action in the war with the Samnites, 295 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e Cicero\r\n(Tusc. i. 37) says that his son did the same thing in the war with\r\nPyrrhus at the battle of Asculum, though in other places (De Off. iii.\r\n4) he speaks of only two Decii as having signalized themselves in this\r\nmanner.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-117\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-117\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e117\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Rogator, who collected the votes, and pronounced who\r\nwas the person chosen. There were two sorts of Rogators; one was the\r\nofficer here mentioned, and the other was the Rogator, or speaker of the\r\nwhole assembly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-118\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-118\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e118\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Which was Sardinia, as appears from one of Cicero’s\r\nepistles to his brother Quintus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-119\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-119\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e119\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Their sacred books of ceremonies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-120\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-120\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e120\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The war between Octavius and Cinna, the consuls.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-121\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-121\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e121\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This, in the original, is a fragment of an old Latin\r\nverse,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e——Terram fumare calentem.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-122\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-122\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e122\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Latin word is \u003ci\u003eprincipatus\u003c/i\u003e, which exactly\r\ncorresponds with the Greek word here used by Cicero; by which is to be\r\nunderstood the superior, the most prevailing excellence in every kind\r\nand species of things through the universe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-123\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-123\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e123\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The passage of Aristotle to which Cicero here refers is\r\nlost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-124\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-124\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e124\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e He means the Epicureans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-125\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-125\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e125\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here the Stoic speaks too plain to be misunderstood. His\r\nworld, his \u003ci\u003emundus\u003c/i\u003e, is the universe, and that universe is his great\r\nDeity, \u003ci\u003ein quo sit totius naturæ principatus\u003c/i\u003e, in which the superior\r\nexcellence of universal nature consists.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-126\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-126\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e126\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Athens, the seat of learning and politeness, of which\r\nBalbus will not allow Epicurus to be worthy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-127\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-127\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e127\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is Pythagoras’s doctrine, as appears in Diogenes\r\nLaertius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-128\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-128\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e128\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e He here alludes to mathematical and geometrical\r\ninstruments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-129\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-129\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e129\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Balbus here speaks of the fixed stars, and of the motions\r\nof the orbs of the planets. He here alludes, says M. Bonhier, to the\r\ndifferent and diurnal motions of these stars; one sort from east to\r\nwest, the other from one tropic to the other: and this is the\r\nconstruction which our learned and great geometrician and astronomer,\r\nDr. Halley, made of this passage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-130\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-130\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e130\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This mensuration of the year into three hundred and\r\nsixty-five days and near six hours (by the odd hours and minutes of\r\nwhich, in every fifth year, the \u003ci\u003edies intercalaris\u003c/i\u003e, or leap-year, is\r\nmade) could not but be known, Dr. Halley states, by Hipparchus, as\r\nappears from the remains of that great astronomer of the ancients. We\r\nare inclined to think that Julius Cæsar had divided the year, according\r\nto what we call the Julian year, before Cicero wrote this book; for we\r\nsee, in the beginning of it, how pathetically he speaks of Cæsar’s\r\nusurpation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-131\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-131\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e131\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The words of Censorinus, on this occasion, are to the\r\nsame effect. The opinions of philosophers concerning this great year are\r\nvery different; but the institution of it is ascribed to Democritus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-132\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-132\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e132\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The zodiac.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-133\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-133\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e133\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Though Mars is said to hold his orbit in the zodiac with\r\nthe rest, and to finish his revolution through the same orbit (that is,\r\nthe zodiac) with the other two, yet Balbus means in a different line of\r\nthe zodiac.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-134\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-134\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e134\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e According to late observations, it never goes but a sign\r\nand a half from the sun.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-135\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-135\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e135\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These, Dr. Davis says, are “aërial fires;” concerning\r\nwhich he refers to the second book of Pliny.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-136\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-136\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e136\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In the Eunuch of Terence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-137\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-137\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e137\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Bacchus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-138\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-138\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e138\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The son of Ceres.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-139\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-139\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e139\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The books of Ceremonies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-140\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-140\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e140\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This Libera is taken for Proserpine, who, with her\r\nbrother Liber, was consecrated by the Romans; all which are parts of\r\nnature in prosopopœias. Cicero, therefore, makes Balbus distinguish\r\nbetween the person Liber, or Bacchus, and the Liber which is a part of\r\nnature in prosopopœia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-141\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-141\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e141\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These allegorical fables are largely related by Hesiod in\r\nhis Theogony.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHorace says exactly the same thing:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHâc arte Pollux et vagus Hercules\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEnisus arces attigit igneas:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eQuos inter Augustus recumbens\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L4\"\u003ePurpureo bibit ore nectar.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHâc te merentem, Bacche pater, tuæ\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVexere tigres indocili jugum\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L2\"\u003eCollo ferentes: hâc Quirinus\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L4\"\u003eMartis equis Acheronta fugit.—Hor. iii. 3. 9.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-142\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-142\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e142\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero means by \u003ci\u003econversis casibus\u003c/i\u003e, varying the cases\r\nfrom the common rule of declension; that is, by departing from the true\r\ngrammatical rules of speech; for if we would keep to it, we should\r\ndecline the word \u003ci\u003eJupiter\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJupiteris\u003c/i\u003e in the second case, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-143\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-143\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e143\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003ePater divûmque hominumque.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-144\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-144\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e144\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The common reading is, \u003ci\u003eplaniusque alio loco idem;\u003c/i\u003e\r\nwhich, as Dr. Davis observes, is absurd; therefore, in his note, he\r\nprefers \u003ci\u003eplanius quam alia loco idem\u003c/i\u003e, from two copies, in which sense I\r\nhave translated it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-145\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-145\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e145\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e From the verb \u003ci\u003egero\u003c/i\u003e, to bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-146\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-146\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e146\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e That is, “mother earth.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-147\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-147\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e147\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Janus is said to be the first who erected temples in\r\nItaly, and instituted religious rites, and from whom the first month in\r\nthe Roman calendar is derived.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-148\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-148\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e148\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eStellæ vagantes.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-149\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-149\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e149\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eNoctu quasi diem efficeret.\u003c/i\u003e Ben Jonson says the same\r\nthing:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThou that mak’st a day of night,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGoddess excellently bright.—\u003ci\u003eOde to the Moon.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-150\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-150\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e150\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Olympias was the mother of Alexander.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-151\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-151\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e151\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Venus is here said to be one of the names of Diana,\r\nbecause \u003ci\u003ead res omnes veniret;\u003c/i\u003e but she is not supposed to be the same\r\nas the mother of Cupid.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-152\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-152\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e152\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here is a mistake, as Fulvius Ursinus observes; for the\r\ndiscourse seems to be continued in one day, as appears from the\r\nbeginning of this book. This may be an inadvertency of Cicero.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-153\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-153\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e153\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The senate of Athens was so called from the words \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἌρειος Πάγος\u003c/span\u003e, the Village, some say the Hill, of Mars.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-154\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-154\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e154\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Epicurus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-155\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-155\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e155\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Stoics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-156\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-156\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e156\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e By \u003ci\u003enulla cohærendi natura\u003c/i\u003e—if it is the right, as it is\r\nthe common reading—Cicero must mean the same as by \u003ci\u003enulla crescendi\r\nnatura\u003c/i\u003e, or \u003ci\u003ecoalescendi\u003c/i\u003e, either of which Lambinus proposes; for, as the\r\nsame learned critic well observes, is there not a cohesion of parts in a\r\nclod, or in a piece of stone? Our learned Walker proposes \u003ci\u003esola\r\ncohærendi natura\u003c/i\u003e, which mends the sense very much; and I wish he had\r\nthe authority of any copy for it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-157\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-157\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e157\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Nasica Scipio, the censor, is said to have been the first\r\nwho made a water-clock in Rome.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-158\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-158\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e158\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Epicureans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-159\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-159\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e159\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e An old Latin poet, commended by Quintilian for the\r\ngravity of his sense and his loftiness of style.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-160\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-160\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e160\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The shepherd is here supposed to take the stem or beak of\r\nthe ship for the mouth, from which the roaring voices of the sailors\r\ncame. \u003ci\u003eRostrum\u003c/i\u003e is here a lucky word to put in the mouth of one who\r\nnever saw a ship before, as it is used for the beak of a bird, the snout\r\nof a beast or fish, and for the stem of a ship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-161\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-161\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e161\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Epicureans.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-162\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-162\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e162\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Greek, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἀὴρ\u003c/span\u003e; Latin, \u003ci\u003eaer\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-163\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-163\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e163\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The treatise of Aristotle, from whence this is taken, is\r\nlost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-164\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-164\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e164\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e To the universe the Stoics certainly annexed the idea of\r\na limited space, otherwise they could not have talked of a middle; for\r\nthere can be no middle but of a limited space: infinite space can have\r\nno middle, there being infinite extension from every part.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-165\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-165\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e165\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These two contrary reversions are from the tropics of\r\nCancer and Capricorn. They are the extreme bounds of the sun’s course.\r\nThe reader must observe that the astronomical parts of this book are\r\nintroduced by the Stoic as proofs of design and reason in the universe;\r\nand, notwithstanding the errors in his planetary system, his intent is\r\nwell answered, because all he means is that the regular motions of the\r\nheavenly bodies, and their dependencies, are demonstrations of a divine\r\nmind. The inference proposed to be drawn from his astronomical\r\nobservations is as just as if his system was in every part\r\nunexceptionably right: the same may be said of his anatomical\r\nobservations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-166\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-166\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e166\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In the zodiac.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-167\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-167\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e167\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Ibid.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-168\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-168\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e168\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These verses of Cicero are a translation from a Greek\r\npoem of Aratus, called the Phænomena.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-169\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-169\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e169\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The fixed stars.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-170\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-170\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e170\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The arctic and antarctic poles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-171\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-171\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e171\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The two Arctoi are northern constellations. Cynosura is\r\nwhat we call the Lesser Bear; Helice, the Greater Bear; in Latin, \u003ci\u003eUrsa\r\nMinor\u003c/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eUrsa Major\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-172\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-172\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e172\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These stars in the Greater Bear are vulgarly called the\r\n“Seven Stars,” or the “Northern Wain;” by the Latins, “Septentriones.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-173\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-173\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e173\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Lesser Bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-174\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-174\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e174\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Greater Bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-175\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-175\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e175\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Exactly agreeable to this and the following description\r\nof the Dragon is the same northern constellation described in the map by\r\nFlamsteed in his Atlas Cœlestis; and all the figures here described by\r\nAratus nearly agree with the maps of the same constellations in the\r\nAtlas Cœlestis, though they are not all placed precisely alike.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-176\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-176\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e176\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The tail of the Greater Bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-177\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-177\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e177\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e That is, in Macedon, where Aratus lived.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-178\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-178\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e178\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The true interpretation of this passage is as follows:\r\nHere in Macedon, says Aratus, the head of the Dragon does not entirely\r\nimmerge itself in the ocean, but only touches the superficies of it. By\r\n\u003ci\u003eortus\u003c/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eobitus\u003c/i\u003e I doubt not but Cicero meant, agreeable to Aratus,\r\nthose parts which arise to view, and those which are removed from\r\nsight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-179\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-179\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e179\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These are two northern constellations. Engonasis, in some\r\ncatalogues called Hercules, because he is figured kneeling \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἐν γόνασιν\u003c/span\u003e\r\n(on his knees). \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἘνγόνασιν καλέουσ’\u003c/span\u003e, as Aratus says, they call\r\nEngonasis.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-180\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-180\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e180\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The crown is placed under the feet of Hercules in the\r\nAtlas Cœlestis; but Ophiuchus (\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὈφιοῦχος\u003c/span\u003e), the Snake-holder, is placed in\r\nthe map by Flamsteed as described here by Aratus; and their heads almost\r\nmeet.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-181\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-181\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e181\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Scorpion. Ophiuchus, though a northern constellation,\r\nis not far from that part of the zodiac where the Scorpion is, which is\r\none of the six southern signs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-182\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-182\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e182\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Wain of seven stars.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-183\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-183\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e183\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Wain-driver. This northern constellation is, in our\r\npresent maps, figured with a club in his right hand behind the Greater\r\nBear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-184\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-184\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e184\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In some modern maps Arcturus, a star of the first\r\nmagnitude, is placed in the belt that is round the waist of Boötes.\r\nCicero says \u003ci\u003esubter præcordia\u003c/i\u003e, which is about the waist; and Aratus\r\nsays \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὑπὸ ζώνῃ\u003c/span\u003e, under the belt.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-185\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-185\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e185\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eSub caput Arcti\u003c/i\u003e, under the head of the Greater Bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-186\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-186\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e186\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Crab is, by the ancients and moderns, placed in the\r\nzodiac, as here, between the Twins and the Lion; and they are all three\r\nnorthern signs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-187\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-187\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e187\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Twins are placed in the zodiac with the side of one\r\nto the northern hemisphere, and the side of the other to the southern\r\nhemisphere. Auriga, the Charioteer, is placed in the northern hemisphere\r\nnear the zodiac, by the Twins; and at the head of the Charioteer is\r\nHelice, the Greater Bear, placed; and the Goat is a bright star of the\r\nfirst magnitude placed on the left shoulder of this northern\r\nconstellation, and called \u003ci\u003eCapra\u003c/i\u003e, the Goat. \u003ci\u003eHœdi\u003c/i\u003e, the Kids, are two\r\nmore stars of the same constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-188\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-188\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e188\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A constellation; one of the northern signs in the zodiac,\r\nin which the Hyades are placed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-189\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-189\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e189\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e One of the feet of Cepheus, a northern constellation, is\r\nunder the tail of the Lesser Bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-190\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-190\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e190\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Grotius, and after him Dr. Davis, and other learned men,\r\nread \u003ci\u003eCassiepea\u003c/i\u003e, after the Greek \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΚασσίεπεια\u003c/span\u003e, and reject the common\r\nreading, \u003ci\u003eCassiopea\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-191\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-191\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e191\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These northern constellations here mentioned have been\r\nalways placed together as one family with Cepheus and Perseus, as they\r\nare in our modern maps.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-192\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-192\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e192\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This alludes to the fable of Perseus and Andromeda.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-193\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-193\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e193\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pegasus, who is one of Perseus and Andromeda’s family.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-194\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-194\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e194\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e That is, with wings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-195\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-195\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e195\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eAries\u003c/i\u003e, the Ram, is the first northern sign in the\r\nzodiac; \u003ci\u003ePisces\u003c/i\u003e, the Fishes, the last southern sign; therefore they\r\nmust be near one another, as they are in a circle or belt. In\r\nFlamsteed’s Atlas Cœlestis one of the Fishes is near the head of the\r\nRam, and the other near the Urn of Aquarius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-196\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-196\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e196\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These are called Virgiliæ by Cicero; by Aratus, the\r\nPleiades, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠληϊάδες\u003c/span\u003e; and they are placed at the neck of the Bull; and one\r\nof Perseus’s feet touches the Bull in the Atlas Cœlestis.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-197\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-197\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e197\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This northern constellation is called Fides by Cicero;\r\nbut it must be the same with Lyra; because Lyra is placed in our maps as\r\nFides is here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-198\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-198\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e198\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is called Ales Avis by Cicero; and I doubt not but\r\nthe northern constellation Cygnus is here to be understood, for the\r\ndescription and place of the Swan in the Atlas Cœlestis are the same\r\nwhich Ales Avis has here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-199\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-199\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e199\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pegasus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-200\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-200\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e200\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Water-bearer, one of the six southern signs in the\r\nzodiac: he is described in our maps pouring water out of an urn, and\r\nleaning with one hand on the tail of Capricorn, another southern sign.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-201\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-201\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e201\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e When the sun is in Capricorn, the days are at the\r\nshortest; and when in Cancer, at the longest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-202\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-202\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e202\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e One of the six southern signs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-203\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-203\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e203\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Sagittarius, another southern sign.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-204\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-204\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e204\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A northern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-205\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-205\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e205\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A northern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-206\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-206\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e206\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-207\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-207\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e207\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is Canis Major, a southern constellation. Orion and\r\nthe Dog are named together by Hesiod, who flourished many hundred years\r\nbefore Cicero or Aratus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-208\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-208\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e208\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation, placed as here in the Atlas\r\nCœlestis.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-209\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-209\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e209\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation, so called from the ship Argo,\r\nin which Jason and the rest of the Argonauts sailed on their expedition\r\nto Colchos.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-210\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-210\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e210\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Ram is the first of the northern signs in the zodiac;\r\nand the last southern sign is the Fishes; which two signs, meeting in\r\nthe zodiac, cover the constellation called Argo.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-211\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-211\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e211\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The river Eridanus, a southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-212\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-212\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e212\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-213\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-213\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e213\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is called the Scorpion in the original of Aratus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-214\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-214\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e214\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-215\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-215\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e215\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-216\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-216\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e216\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Serpent is not mentioned in Cicero’s translation; but\r\nit is in the original of Aratus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-217\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-217\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e217\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-218\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-218\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e218\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Goblet, or Cup, a southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-219\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-219\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e219\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A southern constellation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-220\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-220\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e220\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Antecanis, a southern constellation, is the Little Dog,\r\nand called \u003ci\u003eAntecanis\u003c/i\u003e in Latin, and \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΠροκύων\u003c/span\u003e in Greek, because he rises\r\nbefore the other Dog.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-221\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-221\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e221\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Pansætius, a Stoic philosopher.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-222\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-222\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e222\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Mercury and Venus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-223\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-223\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e223\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The proboscis of the elephant is frequently called a\r\nhand, because it is as useful to him as one. “They breathe, drink, and\r\nsmell, with what may not be improperly called a hand,” says Pliny, bk.\r\nviii. c. 10.—\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eDavis\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-224\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-224\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e224\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The passage of Aristotle’s works to which Cicero here\r\nalludes is entirely lost; but Plutarch gives a similar account.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-225\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-225\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e225\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Balbus does not tell us the remedy which the panther\r\nmakes use of; but Pliny is not quite so delicate: he says, \u003ci\u003eexcrementis\r\nhominis sibi medetur\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-226\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-226\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e226\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Aristotle says they purge themselves with this herb after\r\nthey fawn. Pliny says both before and after.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-227\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-227\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e227\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The cuttle-fish has a bag at its neck, the black blood of\r\nwhich the Romans used for ink. It was called \u003ci\u003eatramentum\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-228\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-228\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e228\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Euphrates is said to carry into Mesopotamia a large\r\nquantity of citrons, with which it covers the fields.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-229\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-229\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e229\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Q. Curtius, and some other authors, say the Ganges is the\r\nlargest river in India; but Ammianus Marcellinus concurs with Cicero in\r\ncalling the river Indus the largest of all rivers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-230\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-230\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e230\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These Etesian winds return periodically once a year, and\r\nblow at certain seasons, and for a certain time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-231\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-231\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e231\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Some read \u003ci\u003emollitur\u003c/i\u003e, and some \u003ci\u003emolitur;\u003c/i\u003e the latter of\r\nwhich P. Manucius justly prefers, from the verb \u003ci\u003emolo\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003emolis;\u003c/i\u003e from\r\nwhence, says he, \u003ci\u003emolares dentes\u003c/i\u003e, the grinders.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-232\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-232\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e232\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The weasand, or windpipe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-233\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-233\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e233\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The epiglottis, which is a cartilaginous flap in the\r\nshape of a tongue, and therefore called so.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-234\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-234\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e234\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero is here giving the opinion of the ancients\r\nconcerning the passage of the chyle till it is converted to blood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-235\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-235\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e235\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e What Cicero here calls the ventricles of the heart are\r\nlikewise called auricles, of which there is the right and left.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-236\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-236\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e236\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Stoics and Peripatetics said that the nerves, veins,\r\nand arteries come directly from the heart. According to the anatomy of\r\nthe moderns, they come from the brain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-237\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-237\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e237\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The author means all musical instruments, whether string\r\nor wind instruments, which are hollow and tortuous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-238\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-238\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e238\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Latin version of Cicero is a translation from the\r\nGreek of Aratus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-239\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-239\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e239\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Chrysippus’s meaning is, that the swine is so inactive\r\nand slothful a beast that life seems to be of no use to it but to keep\r\nit from putrefaction, as salt keeps dead flesh.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-240\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-240\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e240\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eAles\u003c/i\u003e, in the general signification, is any large bird;\r\nand \u003ci\u003eoscinis\u003c/i\u003e is any singing bird. But they here mean those birds which\r\nare used in augury: \u003ci\u003ealites\u003c/i\u003e are the birds whose flight was observed by\r\nthe augurs, and \u003ci\u003eoscines\u003c/i\u003e the birds from whose voices they augured.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-241\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-241\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e241\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e As the Academics doubted everything, it was indifferent\r\nto them which side of a question they took.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-242\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-242\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e242\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The keepers and interpreters of the Sibylline oracles\r\nwere the Quindecimviri.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-243\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-243\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e243\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The popular name of Jupiter in Rome, being looked upon as\r\ndefender of the Capitol (in which he was placed), and stayer of the\r\nState.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-244\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-244\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e244\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Some passages of the original are here wanting. Cotta\r\ncontinues speaking against the doctrine of the Stoics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-245\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-245\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e245\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The word \u003ci\u003esortes\u003c/i\u003e is often used for the answers of the\r\noracles, or, rather, for the rolls in which the answers were written.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-246\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-246\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e246\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Three of this eminent family sacrificed themselves for\r\ntheir country; the father in the Latin war, the son in the Tuscan war,\r\nand the grandson in the war with Pyrrhus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-247\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-247\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e247\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Straits of Gibraltar.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-248\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-248\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e248\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The common reading is, \u003ci\u003eex quo anima dicitur;\u003c/i\u003e but Dr.\r\nDavis and M. Bouhier prefer \u003ci\u003eanimal\u003c/i\u003e, though they keep \u003ci\u003eanima\u003c/i\u003e in the\r\ntext, because our author says elsewhere, \u003ci\u003eanimum ex anima dictum\u003c/i\u003e, Tusc.\r\nI. 1. Cicero is not here to be accused of contradictions, for we are to\r\nconsider that he speaks in the characters of other persons; but there\r\nappears to be nothing in these two passages irreconcilable, and probably\r\n\u003ci\u003eanima\u003c/i\u003e is the right word here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-249\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-249\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e249\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e He is said to have led a colony from Greece into Caria,\r\nin Asia, and to have built a town, and called it after his own name, for\r\nwhich his countrymen paid him divine honors after his death.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-250\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-250\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e250\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Our great author is under a mistake here. Homer does not\r\nsay he met Hercules himself, but his \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΕἴδωλον\u003c/span\u003e, his “visionary likeness;”\r\nand adds that he himself\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"L6\" style=\"margin-left: 15ex\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eμετ’ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eτέρπεται ἐν θαλίῃς, καὶ ἔχει καλλίσφυρου Ἥβην,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eπαῖδα Διὸς μεγάλοιο καὶ Ἥρης χρυσοπεδίλου.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ewhich Pope translates—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA shadowy form, for high in heaven’s abodes\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHimself resides, a God among the Gods;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere, in the bright assemblies of the skies,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe nectar quaffs, and Hebe crowns his joys.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-251\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-251\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e251\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e They are said to have been the first workers in iron.\r\nThey were called Idæi, because they inhabited about Mount Ida in Crete,\r\nand Dactyli, from \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eδάκτυλοι\u003c/span\u003e (the fingers), their number being five.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-252\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-252\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e252\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e From whom, some say, the city of that name was called.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-253\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-253\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e253\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Capedunculæ seem to have been bowls or cups, with handles\r\non each side, set apart for the use of the altar.—\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eDavis\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-254\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-254\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e254\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e See Cicero de Divinatione, and Ovid. Fast.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-255\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-255\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e255\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In the consulship of Piso and Gabinius sacrifices to\r\nSerapis and Isis were prohibited in Rome; but the Roman people afterward\r\nplaced them again in the number of their gods. See Tertullian’s Apol.\r\nand his first book Ad Nationes, and Arnobius, lib. 2.—\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eDavis\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-256\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-256\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e256\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In some copies Circe, Pasiphae, and Æa are mentioned\r\ntogether; but Æa is rejected by the most judicious editors.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-257\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-257\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e257\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e They were three, and are said to have averted a plague by\r\noffering themselves a sacrifice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-258\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-258\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e258\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e So called from the Greek word \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eθαυμάζω\u003c/span\u003e, to wonder.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-259\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-259\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e259\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e She was first called Geres, from \u003ci\u003egero\u003c/i\u003e, to bear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-260\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-260\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e260\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The word is \u003ci\u003eprecatione\u003c/i\u003e, which means the books or forms\r\nof prayers used by the augurs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-261\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-261\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e261\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cotta’s intent here, as well as in other places, is to\r\nshow how unphilosophical their civil theology was, and with what\r\nconfusions it was embarrassed; which design of the Academic the reader\r\nshould carefully keep in view, or he will lose the chain of argument.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-262\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-262\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e262\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Anactes, \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eἌνακτες\u003c/span\u003e, was a general name for all kings, as we\r\nfind in the oldest Greek writers, and particularly in Homer.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-263\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-263\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e263\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The common reading is Aleo; but we follow Lambinus and\r\nDavis, who had the authority of the best manuscript copies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-264\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-264\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e264\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Some prefer Phthas to Opas (see Dr. Davis’s edition); but\r\nOpas is the generally received reading.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-265\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-265\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e265\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Lipari Isles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-266\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-266\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e266\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A town in Arcadia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-267\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-267\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e267\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e In Arcadia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-268\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-268\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e268\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A northern people.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-269\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-269\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e269\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e So called from the Greek word \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eνόμος\u003c/span\u003e, \u003ci\u003elex\u003c/i\u003e, a law.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-270\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-270\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e270\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e He is called \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eὮπις\u003c/span\u003e in some old Greek fragments, and \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΟὖπις\u003c/span\u003e by Callimachus in his hymn on Diana.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-271\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-271\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e271\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΣαβάζίος\u003c/span\u003e, Sabazius, is one of the names used for\r\nBacchus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-272\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-272\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e272\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here is a wide chasm in the original. What is lost\r\nprobably may have contained great part of Cotta’s arguments against the\r\nprovidence of the Stoics.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-273\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-273\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e273\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here is one expression in the quotation from Cæcilius\r\nthat is not commonly met with, which is \u003ci\u003epræstigias præstrinxit;\u003c/i\u003e\r\nLambinus gives \u003ci\u003epræstinxit\u003c/i\u003e, for the sake, I suppose, of playing on\r\nwords, because it might then be translated, “He has deluded my\r\ndelusions, or stratagems;” but \u003ci\u003epræstrinxit\u003c/i\u003e is certainly the right\r\nreading.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-274\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-274\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e274\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The ancient Romans had a judicial as well as a military\r\nprætor; and he sat, with inferior judges attending him, like one of our\r\nchief-justices. \u003ci\u003eSessum it prætor\u003c/i\u003e, which I doubt not is the right\r\nreading, Lambinus restored from an old copy. The common reading was\r\n\u003ci\u003esessum ite precor\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-275\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-275\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e275\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Picenum was a region of Italy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-276\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-276\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e276\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The \u003ci\u003esex primi\u003c/i\u003e were general receivers of all taxes and\r\ntributes; and they were obliged to make good, out of their own fortunes,\r\nwhatever deficiencies were in the public treasury.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-277\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-277\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e277\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The Lætorian Law was a security for those under age\r\nagainst extortioners, etc. By this law all debts contracted under\r\ntwenty-five years of age were void.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-278\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-278\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e278\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This is from Ennius—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUtinam ne in nemore Pelio securibus\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCæsa cecidisset abiegna ad terram trabes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated from the beginning of the Medea of Euripides—\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poem\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eΜήδ’ ἐν νάπαισι Πηλίον πεσεῖν ποτε\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eτμηθεῖσα πεύκη.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-279\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-279\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e279\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Q. Fabius Maximus, surnamed Cunctator.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-280\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-280\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e280\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Diogenes Laertius says he was pounded to death in a stone\r\nmortar by command of Nicocreon, tyrant of Cyprus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-281\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-281\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e281\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Elea, a city of Lucania, in Italy. The manner in which\r\nZeno was put to death is, according to Diogenes Laertius, uncertain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-282\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-282\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e282\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This great and good man was accused of destroying the\r\ndivinity of the Gods of his country. He was condemned, and died by\r\ndrinking a glass of poison.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-283\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-283\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e283\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Tyrant of Sicily.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-284\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-284\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e284\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The common reading is, \u003ci\u003ein tympanidis rogum inlatus est\u003c/i\u003e.\r\nThis passage has been the occasion of as many different opinions\r\nconcerning both the reading and the sense as any passage in the whole\r\ntreatise. \u003ci\u003eTympanum\u003c/i\u003e is used for a timbrel or drum, \u003ci\u003etympanidia\u003c/i\u003e a\r\ndiminutive of it. Lambinus says \u003ci\u003etympana\u003c/i\u003e “were sticks with which the\r\ntyrant used to beat the condemned.” P. Victorius substitutes\r\n\u003ci\u003etyrannidis\u003c/i\u003e for \u003ci\u003etympanidis\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-285\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-285\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e285\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The original is \u003ci\u003ede amissa salute;\u003c/i\u003e which means the\r\nsentence of banishment among the Romans, in which was contained the loss\r\nof goods and estate, and the privileges of a Roman; and in this sense\r\nL’Abbé d’Olivet translates it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-286\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-286\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e286\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The forty-seventh proposition of the first book of Euclid\r\nis unanimously ascribed to him by the ancients. Dr. Wotton, in his\r\nReflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning, says, “It is indeed a very\r\nnoble proposition, the foundation of trigonometry, of universal and\r\nvarious use in those curious speculations about incommensurable\r\nnumbers.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-287\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-287\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e287\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e These votive tables, or pictures, were hung up in the\r\ntemples.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-288\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-288\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e288\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This passage is a fragment from a tragedy of Attius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-289\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-289\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e289\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Hipponax was a poet at Ephesus, and so deformed that\r\nBupalus drew a picture of him to provoke laughter; for which Hipponax is\r\nsaid to have written such keen iambics on the painter that he hanged\r\nhimself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLycambes had promised Archilochus the poet to marry his daughter to him,\r\nbut afterward retracted his promise, and refused her; upon which\r\nArchilochus is said to have published a satire in iambic verse that\r\nprovoked him to hang himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-290\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-290\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e290\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero refers here to an oracle approving of his laws,\r\nand promising Sparta prosperity as long as they were obeyed, which\r\nLycurgus procured from Delphi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-291\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-291\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e291\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003ePro aris et focis\u003c/i\u003e is a proverbial expression. The\r\nRomans, when they would say their all was at stake, could not express it\r\nstronger than by saying they contended \u003ci\u003epro aris et focis\u003c/i\u003e, for religion\r\nand their firesides, or, as we express it, for religion and property.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-292\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-292\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e292\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero, who was an Academic, gives his opinion according\r\nto the manner of the Academics, who looked upon probability, and a\r\nresemblance of truth, as the utmost they could arrive at.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-293\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-293\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e293\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eI.e.\u003c/i\u003e, Regulus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-294\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-294\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e294\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eI.e.\u003c/i\u003e, Fabius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-295\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-295\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e295\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e It is unnecessary to give an account of the other names\r\nhere mentioned; but that of Lænas is probably less known. He was Publius\r\nPopillius Lænas, consul 132 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eb.c.\u003c/span\u003e, the year after the death of Tiberius\r\nGracchus, and it became his duty to prosecute the accomplices of\r\nGracchus, for which he was afterward attacked by Caius Gracchus with\r\nsuch animosity that he withdrew into voluntary exile. Cicero pays a\r\ntribute to the energy of Opimius in the first Oration against Catiline,\r\nc. iii.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-296\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-296\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e296\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This phenomenon of the parhelion, or mock sun, which so\r\npuzzled Cicero’s interlocutors, has been very satisfactorily explained\r\nby modern science. The parhelia are formed by the reflection of the\r\nsunbeams on a cloud properly situated. They usually accompany the\r\ncoronæ, or luminous circles, and are placed in the same circumference,\r\nand at the same height. Their colors resemble that of the rainbow; the\r\nred and yellow are towards the side of the sun, and the blue and violet\r\non the other. There are, however, coronæ sometimes seen without\r\nparhelia, and \u003ci\u003evice versâ\u003c/i\u003e. Parhelia are double, triple, etc., and in\r\n1629, a parhelion of five suns was seen at Rome, and another of six suns\r\nat Arles, 1666.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-297\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-297\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e297\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e There is a little uncertainty as to what this age was,\r\nbut it was probably about twenty-five.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-298\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-298\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e298\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Cicero here gives a very exact and correct account of the\r\nplanetarium of Archimedes, which is so often noticed by the ancient\r\nastronomers. It no doubt corresponded in a great measure to our modern\r\nplanetarium, or orrery, invented by the earl of that name. This\r\nelaborate machine, whose manufacture requires the most exact and\r\ncritical science, is of the greatest service to those who study the\r\nrevolutions of the stars, for astronomic, astrologic, or meteorologic\r\npurposes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-299\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-299\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e299\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The end of the fourteenth chapter and the first words of\r\nthe fifteenth are lost; but it is plain that in the fifteenth it is\r\nScipio who is speaking.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-300\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-300\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e300\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e There is evidently some error in the text here, for\r\nEnnius was born 515 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003ea.u.c.\u003c/span\u003e, was a personal friend of the elder\r\nAfricanus, and died about 575 \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003ea.u.c.\u003c/span\u003e, so that it is plain that we ought\r\nto read in the text 550, not 350.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-301\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-301\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e301\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are lost here. Afterward it is again Scipio who\r\nis speaking.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-302\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-302\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e302\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are lost here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-303\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-303\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e303\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Both Ennius and Nævius wrote tragedies called\r\n“Iphigenia.” Mai thinks the text here corrupt, and expresses some doubt\r\nwhether there is a quotation here at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-304\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-304\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e304\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e He means Scipio himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-305\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-305\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e305\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e There is again a hiatus. What follows is spoken by\r\nLælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-306\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-306\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e306\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Again two pages are lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-307\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-307\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e307\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Again two pages are lost. It is evident that Scipio is\r\nspeaking again in cap. xxxi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-308\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-308\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e308\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Again two pages are lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-309\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-309\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e309\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Again two pages are lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-310\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-310\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e310\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here four pages are lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-311\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-311\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e311\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here four pages are lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-312\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-312\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e312\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-313\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-313\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e313\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A name of Neptune.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-314\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-314\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e314\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e About seven lines are lost here, and there is a great\r\ndeal of corruption and imperfection in the next few sentences.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-315\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-315\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e315\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are lost here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-316\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-316\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e316\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The \u003ci\u003eLex Curiata de Imperio\u003c/i\u003e, so often mentioned here,\r\nwas the same as the \u003ci\u003eAuctoritas Patrum\u003c/i\u003e, and was necessary in order to\r\nconfer upon the dictator, consuls, and other magistrates the \u003ci\u003eimperium\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nor military command: without this they had only a \u003ci\u003epotestas\u003c/i\u003e, or civil\r\nauthority, and could not meddle with military affairs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-317\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-317\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e317\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-318\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-318\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e318\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here two pages are missing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-319\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-319\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e319\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e I have translated this very corrupt passage according to\r\nNiebuhr’s emendation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-320\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-320\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e320\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Assiduus, ab ære dando.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-321\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-321\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e321\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Proletarii, a prole.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-322\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-322\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e322\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here four pages are missing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-323\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-323\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e323\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-324\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-324\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e324\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-325\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-325\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e325\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here twelve pages are missing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-326\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-326\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e326\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Sixteen pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-327\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-327\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e327\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here eight pages are missing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-328\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-328\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e328\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A great many pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-329\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-329\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e329\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Several pages are lost here; the passage in brackets is\r\nfound in Nonius under the word “exulto.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-330\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-330\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e330\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This and other chapters printed in smaller type are\r\ngenerally presumed to be of doubtful authenticity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-331\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-331\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e331\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e The beginning of this book is lost. The two first\r\nparagraphs come, the one from St. Augustine, the other from Lactantius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-332\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-332\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e332\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Eight or nine pages are lost here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-333\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-333\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e333\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here six pages are lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-334\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-334\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e334\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here twelve pages are missing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-335\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-335\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e335\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e We have been obliged to insert two or three of these\r\nsentences between brackets, which are not found in the original, for the\r\nsake of showing the drift of the arguments of Philus. He himself was\r\nfully convinced that justice and morality were of eternal and immutable\r\nobligation, and that the best interests of all beings lie in their\r\nperpetual development and application. This eternity of Justice is\r\nbeautifully illustrated by Montesquieu. “Long,” says he, “before\r\npositive laws were instituted, the moral relations of justice were\r\nabsolute and universal. To say that there were no justice or injustice\r\nbut that which depends on the injunctions or prohibitions of positive\r\nlaws, is to say that the radii which spring from a centre are not equal\r\ntill we have formed a circle to illustrate the proposition. We must,\r\ntherefore, acknowledge that the relations of equity were antecedent to\r\nthe positive laws which corroborated them.” But though Philus was fully\r\nconvinced of this, in order to give his friends Scipio and Lælius an\r\nopportunity of proving it, he frankly brings forward every argument for\r\ninjustice that sophistry had ever cast in the teeth of reason.—\u003ci\u003eBy the\r\noriginal Translator\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-336\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-336\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e336\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Here four pages are missing. The following sentence is\r\npreserved in Nonius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-337\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-337\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e337\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Two pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-338\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-338\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e338\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Several pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-339\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-339\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e339\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e He means Alexander the Great.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-340\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-340\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e340\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Six or eight pages are lost here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-341\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-341\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e341\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e A great many pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-342\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-342\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e342\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Six or eight pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-343\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-343\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e343\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Several pages are lost here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-344\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-344\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e344\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This and the following chapters are not the actual words\r\nof Cicero, but quotations by Lactantius and Augustine of what they\r\naffirm that he said.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-345\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-345\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e345\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Twelve pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-346\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-346\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e346\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Eight pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-347\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-347\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e347\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Six or eight pages are missing here.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"FN\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"FN-348\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#FNA-348\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e348\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Catadupa, from \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eκατὰ\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan class=\"greek\"\u003eδοῖπος\u003c/span\u003e, noise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\r\n\u003c/article\u003e"}],"SectionSequence":["Back Link","Work Title","Deck","Author","Period","Era","Composition","Date Note","Region","Terra Avita","Terra Avita Region","Modern Country","Original Title","Language","Primary Discipline","Secondary Discipline","Tradition","Full Versions","Core Thesis","Classification","Arguments","Influence","Significance","Evidence Note","Full Text"],"Counts":{"ContextCards":3,"GeoCards":4,"DisciplineCards":2,"Links":11,"Sections":25,"Styles":3,"Scripts":1}}