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The Octavius of Minucius Felix

Chapter VII.

--Argument: That the Roman Auspices and Auguries Have Been Neglected with Ill Consequences, But Have Been Observed with Good Fortune.

"Nor yet by chance (for I would venture in the meantime even to take for granted the point in debate, and so to err on the safe side) have our ancestors succeeded in their undertakings either by the observance of auguries, or by consulting the entrails, or by the institution of sacred rites, or by the dedication of temples. Consider what is the record of books. You will at once discover that they have inaugurated the rites of all kinds of religions, either that the divine indulgence might be rewarded, or that the threatening anger might be averted, or that the wrath already swelling and raging might be appeased. Witness the Idaean mother, ¹ who at her arrival both approved the chastity of the matron, and delivered the city from the fear of the enemy. Witness the statues of the equestrian brothers, ² consecrated even as they had showed themselves on the lake, who, with horses breathless, ³ foaming, and smoking, announced the victory over the Persian on the same day on which they had gained it. Witness the renewal of the games of the offended Jupiter, ⁴ on account of the dream of a man of the people. And an acknowledged witness is the devotion of the Decii. Witness also Curtius, who filled up the opening of the profound chasm either with the mass, or with the glory of his knighthood. Moreover, more frequently than we wished have the auguries, when despised, borne witness to the presence of the gods: thus Allia is an unlucky name; thus the battle of Claudius and Junius is not a battle against the Carthaginians, but a fatal shipwreck. Thus, that Thrasymenus might be both swollen and discoloured with the blood of the Romans, Flaminius despised the auguries; and that we might again demand our standards from the Parthians, Crassus both deserved and scoffed at the imprecations of the terrible sisters. I omit the old stories, which are many, and I pass by the songs of the poets about the births, and the gifts, and the rewards of the gods. Moreover, I hasten over the fates predicted by the oracles, lest antiquity should appear to you excessively fabulous. Look at the temples and lanes of the gods by which the Roman city is both protected and armed: they are more august by the deities which are their inhabitants, who are present and constantly dwelling in them, than opulent by the ensigns and gifts of worship. Thence therefore the prophets, filled with the god, and mingled with him, collect futurity beforehand, give caution for dangers, medicine for diseases, hope for the afflicted, help to the wretched, solace to calamities, alleviation to labours. Even in our repose we see, we hear, we acknowledge the gods, whom in the day-time we impiously deny, refuse, and abjure.

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Marci Minucii Felicis Octavius

Caput VII

ARGUMENTUM. — Auspicia et auguria Romana poenitenter omissa, observata feliciter.

Nec tamen temere (ausim enim interim et ipse concedere, et sic melius errare), majores nostri, aut observandis auguriis, aut extis consulendis, aut instituendis sacris, aut delubris dedicandis, operam navaverunt. Specta de libris memoriam: jam eos deprehendes initiasse ritus omnium religionum, vel ut remuneraretur divina indulgentia, vel ut averteretur imminens ira, aut ut, jam tumens et saeviens, placaretur. Testis mater Idaea, quae adventu suo et probavit matronae castitatem, et urbem metu hostili liberavit: testes equestrium fratrum in lacu, sicut ostenderant, statuae consecratae, qui anhelis, spumantibus equis atque fumantibus, de Perse victoriam eadem die qua fecerant, nuntiaverunt: testis ludorum, offensio Jovis, de somno plebeii hominis iteratio: et Decuriorum devotio rata testis est: testis et Curtius, qui, equitis sui vel mole honore hiatum profundae voraginis coaequavit. Frequentius etiam quam volebamus, deorum praesentiam contempta auspicia contestata sunt. Sic Allia nomen infaustum, sic Claudii et Junii, non praelium in Poenos, sed ferale naufragium est. Et, ut Trasimenus Romanorum sanguine et major esset et decolor, sprevit auguria Flaminius: et, ut Parthos signa reposcamus, Dirarum imprecationes Crassus et meruit et irrisit. Omitto vetera, quae multa sunt, et de deorum natalibus, donis, muneribus, negligo carmina poetarum; praedicta etiam de oraculis fata transilio, ne vobis antiquitas nimium fabulosa videatur. Intende templis ac delubris deorum quibus Romana civitas et protegitur et armatur: magis sunt augusta numinibus incolis praesentibus, inquilinis, quam cultus insignibus et muneribus opulenta. Inde adeo pleni et mixti Deo vates futura praecerpunt, dant cautelam periculis, morbis medelam, spem afflictis, opem miseris, solatium calamitatibus, laboribus levamentum: etiam per quietem deos videmus, audimus, agnoscimus, quos impie per diem negamus, nolumus, pejeramus.