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The City of God

Chapter 2.--Whether the Gods, Whom the Greeks and Romans Worshipped in Common, Were Justified in Permitting the Destruction of Ilium.

First, then, why was Troy or Ilium, the cradle of the Roman people (for I must not overlook nor disguise what I touched upon in the first book ¹ ), conquered, taken and destroyed by the Greeks, though it esteemed and worshipped the same gods as they? Priam, some answer, paid the penalty of the perjury of his father Laomedon. ² Then it is true that Laomedon hired Apollo and Neptune as his workmen. For the story goes that he promised them wages, and then broke his bargain. I wonder that famous diviner Apollo toiled at so huge a work, and never suspected Laomedon was going to cheat him of his pay. And Neptune too, his uncle, brother of Jupiter, king of the sea, it really was not seemly that he should be ignorant of what was to happen. For he is introduced by Homer ³ (who lived and wrote before the building of Rome) as predicting something great of the posterity of Aeneas, who in fact founded Rome. And as Homer says, Nep tune also rescued Aeneas in a cloud from the wrath of Achilles, though (according to Virgil ⁴ )

"All his will was to destroy

His own creation, perjured Troy."

Gods, then, so great as Apollo and Neptune, in ignorance of the cheat that was to defraud them of their wages, built the walls of Troy for nothing but thanks and thankless people. ⁵ There may be some doubt whether it is not a worse crime to believe such persons to be gods, than to cheat such gods. Even Homer himself did not give full credence to the story for while he represents Neptune, indeed, as hostile to the Trojans, he introduces Apollo as their champion, though the story implies that both were offended by that fraud. If, therefore, they believe their fables, let them blush to worship such gods; if they discredit the fables, let no more be said of the "Trojan perjury;" or let them explain how the gods hated Trojan, but loved Roman perjury. For how did the conspiracy of Catiline, even in so large and corrupt a city, find so abundant a supply of men whose hands and tongues found them a living by perjury and civic broils? What else but perjury corrupted the judgments pronounced by so many of the senators? What else corrupted the people's votes and decisions of all causes tried before them? For it seems that the ancient practice of taking oaths has been preserved even in the midst of the greatest corruption, not for the sake of restraining wickedness by religious fear, but to complete the tale of crimes by adding that of perjury.

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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput II: An di, qui et a Romanis et a Graecis similiter colebantur, causas habuerint, quibus Ilium paterentur exscindi.

Primum ipsa Troia uel Ilium, unde origo est populi Romani - neque enim praetereundum aut dissimulandum est, quod et in primo libro adtigi - , eosdem habens deos et colens cur a Graecis uictum, captum atque deletum est ? Priamo, inquiunt, .sunt reddita Laomedontea paterna periuria. ergo uerum est, quod Apollo atque Neptunus eidem Laomedonti mercennariis operibus seruierunt? illis quippe promisisse mercedem falsumque iurasse perhibetur. miror Apollinem nominatum diuinatorem in tanto opificio laborasse nescientem quod Laomedon fuerat promissa negaturus. quamquam nec ipsum Neptunum, patruum eius, fratrem Iouis, regem maris, decuit ignarum esse futurorum. nam hunc Homerus de stirpe Aeneae, a cuius posteris condita Roma est, cum ante illam urbem conditam idem poeta fuisse dicatur, inducit magnam aliquid diuinantem, quem etiam nube rapuit, ut dicit, ne ab Achille occideretur, cuperet cum uertere ab imo, quod apud Vergilium confitetur, structa suis manibus periurae moenia Troiae. nescientes igitur tanti di, Neptunus et Apollo, Laomedontem sibi negaturum esse mercedem, structores moenium Troianorum gratis et ingratis fuerunt. uideant ne grauius sit tales deos credere quam dis talibus peierare. hoc enim nec ipse Homerus facile credidit, qui Neptunum quidem contra Troianos, Apollinem autem pro Troianis pugnantem facit, cum illo periurio ambos fabula narret offensos. si igitur fabulis credunt erubescant talia colere numina; si fabulis non credunt, non obtendant Troiana periuria, aut mirentur deos periuria punisse Troiana, amasse Romana. unde enim coniuratio Catilinae in tanta tamque corrupta ciuitate habuit etiam eorum grandem copiam, quos manus atque lingua periurio aut sanguine ciuili alebat? quid enim aliud totiens senatores corrupti in iudiciis, totiens populus in suffragiis uel in quibusque causis, quae apud eum contionibus agebantur, nisi etiam peierando peccabant? namque corruptissimis moribus ad hoc mos iurandi seruabatur antiquus, non ut ab sceleribus metu religionis prohiberentur, sed ut periuria quoque sceleribus ceteris adderentur.