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Tertullian, To Scapula (Ad Scapulam)

Editors' preface

PL 1:697

AD LIBROS APOLOGETICOS APPENDIX,

APPENDIX TO THE APOLOGETIC BOOKS,

LIBER AD SCAPULAM.

BOOK TO SCAPULA.

CAPUT PRIMUM.

CHAPTER I.

Nos quidem neque expavescimus, neque pertimescimus ea, quae ab ignorantibus patimur: cum ad hanc sectam, utique suscepta conditione ejus, pacti venerimus, ut etiam animas nostras auctorati in has pugnas accedamus, ea quae Deus repromittit consequi optantes, et ea quae diversae vitae comminatur pati timentes. Denique cum omni saevitia vestra concertamus, etiam ultro erumpentes,

We for our part neither take fright at nor are dismayed by the things which we suffer from those who do not know us: since we have come into this sect, having of course accepted its terms, under the compact that we enter these contests with even our lives pledged, as men bound over by hire, desiring to obtain the things which God promises, and fearing to suffer the things which He threatens to the contrary life. In short, we contend with all your savagery, even bursting forth of our own accord,

Editors' notes and page, col. 697

Editors' prose

AD LIBROS APOLOGETICOS APPENDIX,

Appendix to the apologetic books,

LIBER AD SCAPULAM.

The book To Scapula.

ARGUMENTUM ET SYNOPSIS.

Argument and synopsis.

De epocha libri ad Scapulam dissident eruditi, ac anno 203, a Tertulliano, editum fuisse Pamelius et Baronius tradiderunt; alii vero sub Heliogabalo imperatore, anno 217. Verosimilius tamen hoc intermedio tempore, et circa annum 212, id accidisse videtur, cum scilicet post patris obitum solus imperaret Caracalla: quare unius tantum imperatoris eo in libro meminit: Colimus ergo imperatorem sic, quomodo et nobis licet, et ipsi expedit, ut hominem a Deo secundum; et iterum: Itaque et sacrificamus pro salute imperatoris; sed Deo nostro, et ipsius. Post diuturnam vero persecutionem, quae sub Severi imperio contigit, haec Tertullianum scripsisse inde constat, quod quinque proconsules numeret, a quibus christiani vexati fuerant, quique cum in varias incidissent calamitates, horum exemplo Scapulam, ut sibi caveret, hortatur; cum praecipue portenta quaedam Carthagine visa fuerint, statim ac idem Scapula provinciam ingressus, Mavilium Adrumeticum christianum hominem ab bestias damnaverat: Tibi quoque optamus admonitionem solam fuisse, quod cum Adrumeticum Mavilium ad bestias damnasses, et statim haec vexatio subsecuta est.

Scholars disagree about the date of the book To Scapula: Pamelius and Baronius held that it was published by Tertullian in the year 203; others, however, under the emperor Heliogabalus, in the year 217. It seems more likely, however, that it happened in the intervening time, about the year 212, namely when Caracalla was ruling alone after his father's death; which is why in that book he mentions only one emperor: We therefore honour the emperor in the way that is both lawful for us and expedient for him, as a man second to God; and again: And so we also sacrifice for the emperor's welfare, but to our God and his. That Tertullian wrote these things after the long persecution which took place under the rule of Severus is clear from this, that he enumerates five proconsuls by whom Christians had been harassed, and who had fallen into various calamities; and by their example he urges Scapula to look to himself, especially since certain portents had been seen at Carthage as soon as this same Scapula, having entered the province, had condemned Mavilus of Adrumetum, a Christian man, to the beasts: For you too we could wish that it had been only a warning, that when you had condemned Mavilus of Adrumetum to the beasts, this trouble also followed at once.

Quaenam autem fuerit illa vexatio, his verbis narrat: Caeterum et imbre anni praeteriti, quid commeruerit genus humanum apparuit, cataclysmum scilicet, et retro fuisse propter incredulitates, et iniquitates hominum; et ignes, qui supra moenia Carthaginis proxime pependerunt per noctem, quid minati sint, sciunt, qui viderunt; et pristina tonitrua quid sonaverint, sciunt, qui obduruerunt. Omnia haec signa sunt imminentis irae Dei, quam necesse est, quoquo modo possumus, ut et annuntiemus, et praedicemus, et deprecemur interim localem esse; universalem enim et supremam suo tempore sentient, qui exempla ejus aliter interpretantur. Nam et sol ille in conventu Uticensi, extincto plene lumine, adeo portentum fuit, ut non potuerit ex ordinario deliquio hoc pati, positus in suo hypsomate, et domicilio. Habetis astrologos. Deinde ut Scapulam ab effundendo christianorum sanguine deterreret, quid passi sint alii praesides, enarrat: Doleamus necesse est, quod nulla civitas impune latura sit sanguinis nostri effusionem, sicut et sub Hilariano Praeside, cum de areis sepulturarum nostrarum acclamassent: Areae non sint. Areae ipsorum non fuerunt, messes enim suas non egerunt. Ac post nonnulla alibi relata subdit: Possumus aeque et exitus quorumdam Praesidum tibi exponere, qui in fine vitae suae recordati sunt deliquisse, quod vexassent christianos. Vigellius Saturninus, qui primus hic gladium in nos egit, lumina amisit. Claudius Herminianus in Cappadocia, cum indigne ferens uxorem suam ad hanc sectam transiisse, christianos crudeliter tractasset, solusque in praetorio suo vastatus peste, cum vivus vermibus ebullisset: Nemo sciat, aiebat, ne spe

But what that trouble was, he relates in these words: Moreover, from last year's rain too it appeared what the human race had deserved, namely a deluge, such as there once was on account of men's unbeliefs and iniquities; and the fires which lately hung through the night above the walls of Carthage, what they threatened, those who saw them know; and what the former thunderclaps sounded, those who were hardened know. All these are signs of the impending wrath of God, which we must, in whatever way we can, both announce and proclaim, and pray meanwhile that it may be local; for the universal and final wrath they shall feel in its time who interpret its examples otherwise. For that sun too, at the assize of Utica, its light wholly extinguished, was such a portent that it could not have suffered this from an ordinary eclipse, being placed in its own exaltation and house. You have astrologers. Then, to deter Scapula from shedding the blood of Christians, he relates what other governors suffered: We must needs grieve that no city will bear the shedding of our blood unpunished, as also under the governor Hilarianus, when they had shouted about the areas of our burial-grounds: "Let there be no areas!" Their own areas there were none, for they did not get in their harvests. And after some things related elsewhere he adds: We could likewise set out for you the ends of certain governors, who at the close of their life remembered that they had sinned in harassing Christians. Vigellius Saturninus, who first used the sword against us here, lost his sight. Claudius Herminianus in Cappadocia, when, resenting that his wife had gone over to this sect, he had treated the Christians cruelly, and, left alone in his praetorium and wasted by plague, he had boiled over alive with worms, kept saying: "Let no one know, lest

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running head: (none) — first page of the work; the title "AD LIBROS APOLOGETICOS APPENDIX, LIBER AD SCAPULAM." spans both columns
marginal letters: A beside "De epocha libri ad Scapulam" (editors' argumentum); B beside "admonitionem solam fuisse" (argumentum); C beside "Habetis astrologos. Deinde" (argumentum); D beside "vivus vermibus ebullisset" (argumentum)
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magisque damnati quam absoluti gaudemus. Itaque hunc libellum non nobis timentes misimus, sed vobis et omnibus inimicis nostris, nedum amicis: ita enim disciplina jubemur diligere inimicos quoque, et orare pro eis qui nos persequuntur: ut haec sit perfecta et propria bonitas nostra, non communis. Amicos enim diligere omnium est, inimicos autem solorum christianorum. Qui ergo dolemus de ignorantia vestra, et miseremur erroris humani, et futura prospicimus,

and we rejoice more when condemned than when acquitted. And so we have sent this little book not in fear for ourselves, but for you and for all our enemies, let alone our friends: for thus are we commanded by our discipline to love even our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us, so that this may be our goodness, perfect and our own, not the common kind. For to love friends is the part of all men, but to love enemies of Christians alone. We therefore, who grieve over your ignorance, and pity human error, and look ahead to the things to come,

Editors' notes and page, col. 698

Footnotes

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Nec dum Rhen.

"Nec dum" [for "nedum"]: Rhenanus.

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Et abest Rig.

"Et" is absent in Rigault.

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Editors' prose

(GAP: the end of the editors' Argumentum, from "gaudeant christiani" at the head of this column, is not set: the claude -p output filter blocked the chunk (ad_scapulam_E01, 2026-10-04). Left as a recorded gap for Ray; not worked around.)

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running head: (none) — first page of the work; title spans both columns (set in col. 697)
marginal letters: A beside "gaudeant christiani. Postea" (argumentum); B beside "habent christianorum, licet acclament" (argumentum); C beside "ros, et matronas" (argumentum); D beside "nus ad Scapulam. LUMP." (argumentum)
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prospicimus, et signa eorum quotidie intentari videmus, necesse est vel hoc modo erumpere ad proponenda vobis ea, quae palam non vultis audire.

and see their signs threatened daily, must needs burst forth even in this way, to set before you the things which you are unwilling to hear openly.

CAPUT II.

CHAPTER II.

Nos unum deum colimus, quem omnes naturaliter nostis, ad cujus fulgura et tonitrua contremiscitis, ad cujus beneficia gaudetis. Caeteros et ipsi putatis deos esse, quos nos daemonas scimus. Tamen humani juris et naturalis potestatis est unicuique, quod putaverit, colere; nec alii obest aut prodest, alterius religio. Sed nec religionis est cogere religionem, quae sponte suscipi debeat, non vi: cum et hostiae ab animo libenti expostulentur. Ita etsi nos compuleritis ad sacrificandum, nihil praestabitis diis vestris: ab invitis enim sacrificia non desiderabunt; nisi si contentiosi sunt; contensiosus autem deus non est. Denique qui est verus, omnia sua ex aequo et profanis et suis praestat. Ideoque et judicium constituit aeternum de gratis et ingratis. Tamen nos, quos sacrilegos existimatis, nec in furto unquam deprehendistis, nedum in sacrilegio. Omnes autem qui templa despoliant, et per deos jurant, et eosdem colunt, et christiani non sunt, et sacrilegi tamen deprehenduntur. Longnm est si retexamus, quibus aliis modis et derideantur et contemnantur omnes dii, ab ipsis cultoribus suis. Sic et circa majestatem Imperatoris infamamur, tamen nunquam albiniani, nec nigriani, vel cassani inveniri potuerunt

We worship one God, Whom you all know by nature, at Whose lightnings and thunders you tremble, at Whose benefits you rejoice. The others you yourselves suppose to be gods, whom we know to be demons. Yet it is a matter of human right and of natural power for each man to worship what he thinks fit; nor does one man's religion harm or help another. But neither is it the part of religion to compel religion, which ought to be taken up freely, not by force: since even sacrificial victims are required from a willing mind. So, even if you compel us to sacrifice, you will render no service to your gods: for they will not desire sacrifices from the unwilling; unless they are quarrelsome; but a god is not quarrelsome. In short, He Who is the true God bestows all His gifts alike on the profane and on His own. And for that reason He has also appointed an eternal judgement on the grateful and the ungrateful. Yet us, whom you consider sacrilegious, you have never caught in theft, let alone in sacrilege. But all who despoil the temples both swear by the gods and worship the same, and are not Christians, and yet they are caught as sacrilegious. It would be long were we to recount in what other ways all the gods are both mocked and despised by their very worshippers. So too we are defamed in the matter of the majesty of the Emperor; yet Christians could never be found to be Albinians, nor Nigrians, or Cassians

Editors' notes and page, col. 699

Footnotes

LECTIONES VARIANTES. (printed under page 392)

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Ostentari videmus, conjic. Jun.

"Ostentari videmus" [we see displayed], conjectured by Junius.

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Contremiscimus Rhen.

"Contremiscimus" [we tremble]: Rhenanus.

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Dispoliant alii.

"Dispoliant" [they despoil]: others.

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CAP. I.—(a) Quae palam non vultis audire. Haec verba aperte testantur librum hunc supplicem non traditum fuisse in manus Scapulae, sed tantum missum. LE PR.

Chapter I.—(a) What you are unwilling to hear openly. These words plainly show that this petitionary book was not handed into Scapula's hands, but only sent. Le Prieur.

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CAP. II.—(b) Sed nec religionis est cogere religionem. forte locum hunc detorqueat ad sectarum licentiam, annotanda venit Auctoris sententia earumdem libertati prorsus contraria initio Scorpiaci. PAM.

Chapter II.—(b) But it is not the part of religion to compel religion. Lest anyone perhaps twist this passage towards licence for the sects, the Author's opinion, wholly contrary to their liberty, at the beginning of the Scorpiace, is to be noted. Pamelius.

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(printed under page 392) (c) Circa majestatem Imperatoris. De crimine laesae majestatis vide L. in quaestionibus D, ad leg. Juliam majest. et totum illum titulum evolve. Citat La Cerda L. Meminisse, quae sit illa lex docere debuit. LE PR.

(c) In respect of the Emperor's majesty. On the crime of lèse-majesté see the law "in quaestionibus" in the Digest, on the Julian law of treason, and read through that whole title. La Cerda cites the law "Meminisse"; he ought to have shown which law that is. Le Prieur.

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(printed under page 392) (d) Tamen nunquam Albiniani, nec Nigriani. Claudius Albinus, ut scribit Spartianus, adversus Severum imp. rebellavit in Gallia. Victus est die undecimo Kal. Martias, apud Tinurtium: et cadaver ante domum propriam jam divisum, in Rhodanum fluvium abjectum est. Non dissimili fato Pescennius Niger a Syriacis legionibus imperator appellatus contra Severum, tandem apud Cyzicum ab eodem est interemptus. At Avidius Cassius, ex familia Cassiorum qui in C. Julium conspiraverant, L. Vero imperatori insidias struxit, occisus tandem non jubente illo, sed tamen non vetante. Hinc Albinianos, Nigrianos et Cassianos vocat Tertullianos defectionum istarum conscios, sic in Apolog. Unde, inquit, Cassii, et Nigri, et Albini? unde qui inter duas lauros obsident Caesarem? RHEN.

(d) Yet never Albinians, nor Nigrians. Claudius Albinus, as Spartianus writes, rebelled in Gaul against the emperor Severus. He was defeated on the eleventh day before the Kalends of March, near Tinurtium; and his corpse, already cut apart before his own house, was thrown into the river Rhône. By a not unlike fate Pescennius Niger, hailed emperor by the Syrian legions against Severus, was at length killed by the same man near Cyzicus. But Avidius Cassius, of the family of the Cassii who had conspired against Gaius Julius, laid a plot against the emperor Lucius Verus, and was at last slain, not at his command, yet not against his will. Hence Tertullian calls those privy to these revolts Albinians, Nigrians and Cassians; so in the Apology: Whence, he says, the Cassii, and the Nigri, and the Albini? whence those who besiege Caesar between the two laurels? Rhenanus.

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(printed under page 392) (e) Sed iidem ipsi, qui per genios eorum. Ita in Apolog. atque adeo omnes illi sub ipsa usque impietatis eruptione, et sacra faciebant pro salute imperatoris, et Genium ejus dejerabant, alii foris, alii intus. Caeterum ab hac per genios Caesarum dejerandi consuetudine, video natum ut postea apud christianos principes per salutem regis aut liberorum ejus juraretur. Quod tamen in legib. Francorum severe prohibitum constat. RHEN.

(e) But the very same men who by their genii. So in the Apology; and indeed all of them, right up to the very outbreak of their impiety, both offered sacrifices for the emperor's safety and swore by his Genius, some outside, some within. Moreover from this custom of swearing by the genii of the Caesars I see it arose that afterwards, under Christian princes, men swore by the safety of the king or of his children. Which, however, is known to have been severely forbidden in the laws of the Franks. Rhenanus.

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(printed under page 392) (f) Sacrificamus quomodo praecepit Deus, pura prece. Absque thure, absque victima. Sic lib. de Poenit., Pastum et potum pura nosse, hoc est, mero pane et aqua. Sic Juvenalis: Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges. Id est, nudo pede. Itaque pura prece, hoc est, sola et nuda oratione, de mente sancta et innocenti. Offerebant gentes diis vanis inanima aut bruta, thura aut boves. Christiani Deo vero offerunt animam rationalem, laudes et gratias dicentem Deo. Hoc diserte explicat Athenagoras legatione illa pro Christianis ad Antoninum et Commodum, citatis etiam Pauli verbis, quibus hostiam describit, θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν. Ipse Tertullianus in Apologetico: Offero opimam et majorem hostiam Deo, quam ipse mandavit, orationem de carne pudica, de anima innocenti, de Spiritu Sancto profectam. Et lib. IV, cap. 1, advers. Marcionem ad illud Malachiae: Offertur nomini meo oblatio munda, scilicet simplex oratio de conscientia pura. Et cap. 9, hominem ait offerre debere munus Deo apud templum, orationem scilicet et actionem gratiarum apud Ecclesiam, per CHRISTUM JESUM catholicum Patris sacerdotem. Minutius Felix, posteaquam dixit, delubra et aras non habemus, addidit: Litabilis hostia bonus animus, et pura mens, et sincera sententia. Haec nostra sacrificia, haec Dei sacra sunt. Denique Eucharistica nostra confici pura prece sive oratione sola Justinus adversus Tryphonem Judaeum testatur. RIG.

(f) We sacrifice as God has commanded, with pure prayer. Without incense, without victim. So in the book On Penance, to know pure food and drink, that is, plain bread and water. So Juvenal: "Where kings keep their festal sabbaths with pure foot," that is, with bare foot. So "with pure prayer" means with prayer alone and bare, from a holy and innocent mind. The heathen offered to their empty gods lifeless things or brutes, incense or oxen. Christians offer to the true God a rational soul, speaking praise and thanks to God. Athenagoras sets this out plainly in that Embassy for the Christians to Antoninus and Commodus, citing also the words of Paul in which he describes the offering: "a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, your reasonable service." Tertullian himself in the Apologeticum: I offer to God a rich and greater victim, which He Himself commanded: prayer proceeding from a chaste flesh, an innocent soul, the Holy Spirit. And in Book IV, chapter 1, against Marcion, on that saying of Malachi, A clean oblation is offered to my name: that is, simple prayer from a pure conscience. And in chapter 9 he says that a man ought to offer a gift to God at the temple, namely prayer and thanksgiving in the Church, through CHRIST JESUS, the catholic priest of the Father. Minucius Felix, after saying we have no shrines and altars, added: An acceptable victim is a good spirit, a pure mind and a sincere judgement. These are our sacrifices, these are God's rites. Finally, Justin against Trypho the Jew testifies that our Eucharist is consecrated by pure prayer, that is, by prayer alone. Rigault.

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(printed under page 392) (g) Odoris aut sanguinis alicujus. Opponit hic precem puram odori aut sanguini. Et vero nos Deo (continues)

(g) Of any odour or blood. Here he sets pure prayer against odour or blood. And indeed we, to God (continues)

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running head: 699 TERTULLIANI (continued across the page: … 700)
marginal letters: A ‹tura prospicimus, et signa›; B ‹derabunt; nisi si contentiosi›; C ‹(1) Ostentari videmus› (beside the LECTIONES VARIANTES); D ‹fluvium abjectum est› (beside the COMMENTARIUS)
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christiani: sed idem ipsi qui per genios eorum in pridie usque juraverunt, qui pro salute eorum hostias et fecerant et voverant, qui christianos saepe damnaverant, hostes eorum sunt reperti. Christianus nullius est hostis, nedum Imperatoris: quem sciens a Deo suo constitui, necesse est ut et ipsum diligat, et revereatur, et honoret, et salvum velit, cum toto romano imperio, quousque saeculum stabit. Tamdiu enim stabit. Colimus ergo et Imperatorem sic, quomodo et nobis licet, et ipsi expedit, ut hominem a Deo secundum, et quicquid est a Deo consecutum, solo Deo minorem. Hoc et ipse volet. Sic enim omnibus major est, dum solo vero Deo minor est: sic et ipsis diis major est, dum et ipsi in potestate sunt ejus. Itaque et sacrificamus pro salute Imperatoris, sed Deo nostro et ipsius: sed quomodo praecepit Deus, pura prece. Non enim eget Deus, conditor universitatis, odoris aut sanguinis alicujus. Haec enim daemoniorum pabula sunt. Daemones autem non tantum respuimus, verum et revincimus, et quotidie traducimus, et de hominibus expellimus, sicut plurimis notum est. Ita nos magis oramus pro salute Imperatoris, ab eo eam postulantes, qui praestare potest. Et utique ex disciplina patientiae divinae agere nos, satis manifestum esse vobis potest, cum tanta hominum multitudo, pars pene major civitatis cujusque, in silentio et modestia agimus, singuli forte noti magis quam omnes: nec

but those very men who until the day before had sworn by their genii, who had both offered and vowed victims for their safety, who had often condemned Christians, were found to be their enemies. A Christian is the enemy of no one, let alone of the Emperor: knowing that he is appointed by his God, he must needs love him, and revere him, and honour him, and wish him safe, together with the whole Roman empire, as long as the world shall stand. For so long shall it stand. We therefore honour the Emperor too in such a way as is lawful for us and expedient for him, as a man second to God, and having obtained from God whatever he is, less than God alone. This he himself will wish. For thus he is greater than all, while he is less than the true God alone: thus he is greater even than the gods themselves, while they too are in his power. Therefore we also sacrifice for the Emperor's safety, but to our God and his: but in the manner God has commanded, with pure prayer. For God, the Founder of the universe, has no need of any odour or blood. For these are the food of demons. But demons we not only reject but also refute, and daily expose, and drive out of men, as is known to very many. So we pray the more for the Emperor's safety, asking it of Him Who is able to grant it. And surely it can be plain enough to you that we act from the discipline of divine patience, since so great a multitude of men, almost the greater part of every city, we live in silence and modesty, known perhaps more as individuals than as a whole: nor

Editors' notes and page, col. 700

Footnotes

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Effecerant Rhenan.

"Effecerant" [they had brought about]: Rhenanus.

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Et add. Fran. Rigalt.

"Et" is added by François Rigault.

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Major abest Rhen.

"Major" is absent in Rhenanus.

COMMENTARIUS. (printed under page 392)

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running head: … TERTULLIANI 700 (head begun on col. 699: "699 TERTULLIANI")
marginal letters: A ‹tuerunt christiani: sed idem›; B ‹Imperatoris, sed Deo nostro›; C ‹(4) Effecerant Rhenan.› (beside the LECTIONES VARIANTES); D ‹θυσίαν … λατρείαν ὑμῶν› (beside the COMMENTARIUS)
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PL 1:701

aliunde noscibiles quam de emendatione vitiorum pristinorum. Absit enim ut indigne feramus ea nos pati quae optamus, aut ultionem a nobis aliquam machinemur, quam a Deo exspectamus.

to be recognized from any other source than from the amendment of our former vices. For far be it from us to take it ill that we suffer the things we long for, or to contrive on our own part any vengeance, which we await from God.

CAPUT III.

CHAPTER III.

Tamen (sicut supra diximus) doleamus necesse est, quod nulla civitas impune latura sit sanguinis nostri effusionem, sicut et sub Hilariano praeside, cum de areis sepulturarum nostrarum acclamassent: Areae non sint; areae ipsorum non fuerunt. Messes enim suas non egerunt. Caeterum et imbre anni praeteriti quid commeruerit genus humanum apparuit, cataclysmum scilicet et retro fuisse propter incredulitates et iniquitates hominum; et ignes qui super moenia Carthaginis proxime pependerunt per noctem, quid minati sint, sciunt qui viderunt; et pristina tonitrua quid sonaverunt, sciunt qui obduruerunt. Omnia haec signa sunt imminentis irae Dei, quam necesse est, quoquo modo possumus, ut et annuntiemus, et praedicemus, et deprecemur interim localem esse: universalem enim et supremam suo tempore sentient, qui exempla ejus aliter interpretantur. Nam et sol ille in conventu Uticensi, extincto pene lumine, adeo portentum fuit, ut non potuerit ex ordinario deliquio hoc pati, positus in suo hypsomate et domicilio. Habetis astrologos. Possumus aeque et exitus

Yet (as we said above) we must needs grieve that no city will bear the shedding of our blood unpunished, as also under the governor Hilarianus, when they had shouted about the areas of our burial-grounds: "Let there be no areas!" It was their own threshing-floors that there were not, for they did not gather in their harvests. Moreover, by the rain of last year it became plain what the human race has deserved, namely that there was a flood in former times too, because of the unbelief and iniquities of men; and what the fires which lately hung over the walls of Carthage by night threatened, they know who saw them; and what the former thunders sounded, they know who were hardened. All these are signs of the imminent wrath of God, which we must, in whatever way we can, both announce and proclaim, and pray meanwhile that it may be local: for the universal and final wrath they will feel in its own time, who interpret its examples otherwise. For that sun too, at the assize of Utica, its light all but put out, was so great a portent that it could not have suffered this from an ordinary eclipse, standing as it was in its exaltation and its house. You have astrologers. We can equally set before you the deaths

Editors' notes and page, col. 701

Footnotes

LECTIONES VARIANTES. (printed under page 393)

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 701

Praeside abest Rhen.

"Praeside" is absent in Rhenanus.

(printed under page 393)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 701

Imbres Rhenan.

"Imbres" [showers]: Rhenanus.

(printed under page 393)

(3) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 701

Scilicet, et retro Jun.

"Scilicet, et retro": Junius.

(printed under page 393)

(4) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 701

Deprecemur interim, localem Jun.

"Deprecemur interim, localem": Junius.

(printed under page 393)

(5) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 701

Alii, M. Gellius Saturninus. Pamelius: Valgius Sat. Junius: Vitellius Saturn.

Others read "M. Gellius Saturninus"; Pamelius, "Valgius Saturninus"; Junius, "Vitellius Saturninus".

(printed under page 393)

(6) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 701

Alii Cl. Luc. Hieromiaianus, alii: Lucius Hieronymianus Vatic. 3. Lucius Gerominianus Junius suspicatur legendum Livius Geminianus.

Others read "Cl. Luc. Hieromiaianus"; others, "Lucius Hieronymianus"; the third Vatican manuscript, "Lucius Gerominianus"; Junius suspects one should read "Livius Geminianus".

(printed under page 393)

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CAP. III.— (a) Quod nulla civitas impune latura sit. Hinc illud Cypriani martyris: nec unquam, inquit, impiorum scelere in nostrum nomen exsurgitur, ut non statim divinitus vindicta comitetur. RHEN.

Chapter III.— (a) That no city will bear it unpunished. Hence that saying of the martyr Cyprian: never, he says, is there a rising against our name by the crime of the impious but vengeance from God at once attends it. Rhenanus.

(printed under page 393)

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(printed under page 393) (b) Areae non sint. Coemeteria intelligit. Ludit enim in voce. Nam cum ille acclamasset, Areae non sint, intellexit de sepulturis; cum rursum dicit: Areae ipsorum non fuerunt, intelligit de areis messium. Area autem pro coemeterio sumitur, Pontius, Diaconus in actis Cypriani. Sepultus est in area Candidi procuratoris. Etenim Coemeteria vocarant veteres Arenarias et areas ut testificatur I. Bulengerus, cap. 42, lib. III, de Templis. LAC.

(b) Let there be no "areae". He means cemeteries. For he plays on the word. When that man had cried out, Let there be no areae, he meant burial-grounds; when he says in turn, Their own areae there were none, he means threshing-floors of the harvest. Area is taken for cemetery by Pontius the deacon in the acts of Cyprian: He was buried in the area of Candidus the procurator. For the ancients had called cemeteries sand-pits and areae, as J. Boulenger testifies, On Temples, Book III, chapter 42. La Cerda.

(printed under page 393)

(printed under page 393) (c) In conventu Uticensi. Utica Africae oppidum civium Rom. Catonis morte nobile, ut est apud Plinium. Apparet autem distinctam fuisse in conventus, instar Hispaniae; quam citeriorem in conventus 7 divisam fuisse Plinius autor est, sicut Baeticam in 4. Hos idem vocat Juridicos, quod illic suo quique oppido finitimi disceptarent. Istiusmodi conventus hodie referunt apud Christianos oppida episcopiis insignia, quantum ad caussas attinet ecclesiasticas. Igitur conventum Uticensem accipe, pro tractu qui juridictioni Uticensium subjectus erat. RHEN.

(c) In the Utican district. Utica, a town of Roman citizens in Africa, famous for the death of Cato, as is in Pliny. It appears that it was divided into judicial districts (conventus), like Spain; Pliny is the authority that Hither Spain was divided into seven districts, as Baetica into four. He calls these "juridical", because there the neighbouring people each pleaded at their own town. Such districts are represented today among Christians by the towns distinguished by bishops' sees, so far as ecclesiastical causes are concerned. Take, then, the Utican district for the tract that was subject to the jurisdiction of the Uticans. Rhenanus.

(printed under page 393)

(d) ‹anchor: et domicilio› · call in col 701

(printed under page 393) (d) Positus in suo hypsomate. Utitur vocabulis astrologorum loquens de eclipsi quadam solis, non ordinaria, sed prodigiosa, positi scilicet, ut nunc audire amat, supra vel certe extra nodum lunare. EDD.

(d) Placed in his exaltation. He uses the astrologers' terms, speaking of an eclipse of the sun, not an ordinary one but a portentous one: the sun being placed, that is, as it now likes to be said, above or at any rate outside the lunar node. The Editors.

(printed under page 393)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col (not visible)

(printed under page 393) (e) Solusque in praetorio suo. Praetorium est villa urbana quae differt a rustica propter elegantiam et nitorem. Sueton. in Calig. cap. 37, et in Augusto cap. 72. RHEN.

(e) And alone in his praetorium. A praetorium is a town-style villa, which differs from a farm villa by its elegance and refinement. Suetonius, Caligula ch. 37, and Augustus ch. 72. Rhenanus.

(printed under page 393)

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(printed under page 393) (f) Vermibus ebullisset. Hieronymus in Hilarione, Arenosa regio serpentium et venenatorum animalium ebullivit multitudinem.

(f) Had boiled over with worms. Jerome in the Life of Hilarion: The sandy region boiled forth a multitude of serpents and venomous creatures.

(printed under page 393)

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(printed under page 393) (g) In illo exitu Bysantino. Exitum dicit ea forma, qua interitum, ut lib. de resurrectione carnis: Nemo adhuc Babylonis exitu flevit, et lib. adv. Judaeos: Exitum Christi, id est, mortem. RIG.

(g) In that Byzantine end. He says "exitus" in the sense of "destruction", as in the book on the resurrection of the flesh: No one has yet wept at the end of Babylon; and in the book against the Jews: the end of Christ, that is, his death. Rigault.

(printed under page 393)

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(printed under page 393) (h) Christiani gaudete. Indicendae exultationis formula fuit, GAUDETE. Quod etiam discimus ex aureo nummo Maximiani Caesaris, in quo duae victoriae cippum sustinent, cum inscriptione: GAUDETE ROMANI. Prudentius Cathemer. sub finem: Gaudete quidquid gentium est. Martialis, XI, 62. RIG.

(h) Christians, rejoice. REJOICE was the formula for proclaiming public rejoicing. We learn this also from a gold coin of Maximian Caesar, on which two Victories hold up a pillar, with the inscription: REJOICE, ROMANS. Prudentius, Cathemerinon, near the end: Rejoice, whatever is of the nations. Martial XI, 62. Rigault.

(printed under page 393)

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(printed under page 393) (i) Et nunc ex eadem causa interpellatio sanguinis. Scapula statim post damnatum Mavilum acutissimae cujusdam aegritudinis cruciatu vexari coeperat, quo etiam tum, cum haec scriberet Septimius, ob iteratam in Christianos saevitiam denuo vexabatur. Clamaverat ad Deum sanguis christianus, ac divinae patientiae moras interpellaverat. Paribus exemplis, sed caussa longe dispari Petilianus Donatista adv. Catholicos pugnabat, ut videre est in dissertatione Augustini. Etenim Petilianus terribiliter proponere ausus est et dicere: Sed ut caetera taceam, in vestris exemplis advertite imperatores quamplures ac judices vestros persecutionem nobis faciendo periisse. RIG.

(i) And now from the same cause the blood's appeal. Scapula, immediately after condemning Mavilus, had begun to be racked by the torment of some very acute illness, by which, even at the time Septimius wrote this, he was again afflicted on account of his renewed cruelty against the Christians. Christian blood had cried out to God and had broken in on the delays of divine patience. With like examples, but in a far different cause, Petilian the Donatist fought against the Catholics, as may be seen in Augustine's disputation. For Petilian dared to put it forward fearsomely and say: But to say nothing of the rest, mark in your own examples that very many emperors and your judges perished by persecuting us. Rigault.

(printed under page 393)

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(printed under page 393) (j) Sed memento de caetero. Hoc est, de futuro, manere scilicet ultionem aeternam longe formidabiliorem. RIG.

(j) But remember for the rest. That is, for the future: namely, that an eternal vengeance far more fearful awaits. Rigault.

(printed under page 393)

Page

running head: 701 LIBER AD SCAPU[LAM] (continued on col. 702)
marginal letters: A ‹aliunde noscibiles quam›; B ‹proxime pependerunt per noctem›; C ‹(5) Alii, M. Gellius› (beside the LECTIONES VARIANTES); D ‹areas ut testificatur› (beside the COMMENTARIUS)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 1:702

quorumdam praesidum tibi proponere, qui in fine vitae suae recordati sunt deliquisse, quod vexassent christianos. Vigellius Saturninus qui primus hic gladium in nos egit, lumina amisit. Claudius Lucius Herminianus in Cappadocia, cum indigne ferens uxorem suam ad hanc sectam transisse, christianos crudeliter tractasset, solusque in praetorio suo vastatus peste, cum vivus vermibus ebullisset: Nemo sciat, aiebat, ne gaudeant christiani. Postea cognito errore suo, quod tormentis quosdam a proposito suo excidere fecisset, pene christianus decessit. Caecilius Capella in illo exitu bysantino: Christiani gaudete, exclamavit. Sed et qui videntur sibi impune tulisse, venient in diem divini judicii. Tibi quoque optamus admonitionem solam fuisse, quod cum Adrimeticum Mavilum ad bestias damnasses, et statim haec vexatio subsecuta est, et nunc ex eadem caussa interpellatio sanguinis. Sed memento de caetero.

of certain governors, who at the end of their life remembered that they had sinned in harassing Christians. Vigellius Saturninus, who first drew the sword against us here, lost his sight. Claudius Lucius Herminianus in Cappadocia, when, resenting that his wife had gone over to this sect, he had treated Christians cruelly, and, alone in his residence, ravaged by plague, had boiled over with worms while still alive, kept saying: "Let no one know, lest the Christians rejoice." Afterwards, having recognized his error in having made some fall away from their resolve by torments, he died almost a Christian. Caecilius Capella, at that fall of Byzantium, cried out: "Christians, rejoice!" But those too who think they have got off unpunished will come to the day of divine judgement. For you too we wish that it may have been a warning only, that when you had condemned Mavilus of Adrumetum to the beasts, this affliction at once followed, and now, from the same cause, the summons of blood. But remember what is to come.

CAPUT IV.

CHAPTER IV.

Non te terremus, qui nec timemus: sed velim, ut omnes salvos facere possimus, monendo μὴ θεομαχεῖν. Potes et officio jurisdictionis tuae fungi, et humanitatis meminisse, vel quia et vos sub gladio estis. Quid enim amplius tibi mandatur, quam nocentes confessos damnare, negantes autem ad tormenta revocare? Videtis ergo quomodo ipsi vos contra

We do not frighten you, we who are not afraid either: but I would wish that we could save all, by warning them "not to fight against God". You can both discharge the office of your jurisdiction and be mindful of humanity, if only because you too are under the sword. For what more is commanded you than to condemn the guilty who confess, but to recall those who deny to the torture? You see, then, how you yourselves act against

Editors' notes and page, col. 702

Footnotes

(7) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 702

Cutem Jun.

"Cutem" [skin]: Junius.

(printed under page 393)

(8) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 702

Pamelius interjecit. spe improbante Rigaltio.

Pamelius inserted "spe", Rigault disapproving.

(printed under page 393)

(9) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 702

Rhenan add. aut spe christianae.

Rhenanus adds "aut spe christianae" [or in Christian hope].

(printed under page 393)

(10) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 702

Tibi Rigalt.

"Tibi": Rigault.

(printed under page 393)

(11) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 702

Adrumeticum vel Adrumetinum Latin.

"Adrumeticum" or "Adrumetinum": Latinius.

COMMENTARIUS. (g, continued) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col (previous page)

(continued) non sacrificamus odore aut sanguine, sed prece pura. Nam sacrificium non nisi per preces et per invocationem sacrificatur aut offeretur. PAM.

(printed under page 393)

Page

running head: [LI]BER AD SCAPULAM. 702 (head begun on col. 701: "701 LIBER AD SCAPU-")
marginal letters: A ‹quorumdam praesidum tibi›; B ‹fuisse, quod cum Adrimeticum›; C ‹(8) Pamelius interjecit› (beside the LECTIONES VARIANTES); D ‹cippum sustinent› (beside the COMMENTARIUS)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 1:703

mandata faciatis, ut confessos negare cogatis. Adeo confitemini innocentes esse nos, quos damnare statim ex confessione non vultis. Si autem contenditis ad elidendos nos, jam ergo innocentiam expugnatis. Quanti autem praesides, et constantiores et crudeliores, dissimulaverunt ab hujusmodi caussis! ut Cincius Severus, qui Thystri ipse dedit remedium, quomodo responderent christiani, ut dimitti possent; ut Vespronius Candidus, qui christianum quasi tumultuosum civibus suis satisfacere dimisit; ut Asper, qui modice vexatum hominem, et statim dejectum, nec sacrificium compulit facere, ante professus inter advocatos et adsessores, dolere se incidisse in hanc caussam. Pudens etiam missum ad se christianum in elogio concussione ejus intellecta dimisit, scisso eodem elogio, sine accusatore negans se auditurum hominem secundum mandatum. Haec omnia tibi et de officio suggeri possunt, et ab eisdem advocatis, qui ipsi beneficia habent Christianorum, licet acclament, quae volunt. Nam et cujusdam notarius cum a daemone praecipitaretur, liberatus est: et quorumdam propinquus et puerulus, et quanti honesti viri (de vulgaribus enim non dicimus) aut a daemoniis aut valetudinibus remediati sunt! Ipse etiam Severus pater Antonini, Christianorum memor fuit. Nam et Proculum christianum qui Torpacion cognominabatur, Euhodeae procuratorem, qui eum per oleum aliquando curaverat, requisivit, et in palatio suo habuit usque ad mortem ejus: quem et Antoninus optime noverat lacte christiano educatus. Sed et clarissimas foeminas et clarissimos viros Severus sciens hujus sectae esse, non modo non laesit, verum et testimonio exornavit, et populo furenti in nos palam restitit. Marcus quoque Aurelius in Germanica expeditione christianorum militum orationibus ad Deum factis, imbres in siti illa impetravit. Quando non geniculationibus et jejunationibus nostris etiam siccitates sunt depulsae? Tunc et populus acclamans Deo deorum, qui solus potens, in Jovis nomine Deo nostro testimonium reddidit. Praeter haec depositum non abnegamus, matrimonium nullius

the commands, in that you force those who confess to deny. So you confess that we are innocent, whom you are unwilling to condemn at once on our confession. But if you strive to crush us, then you are making war on innocence. And how many governors, both more resolute and more cruel, have turned a blind eye to cases of this kind! Such as Cincius Severus, who himself at Thystrus supplied the remedy, how the Christians should answer so that they might be released; such as Vespronius Candidus, who released a Christian as though he were a disturber of the peace, to satisfy his fellow-citizens; such as Asper, who, when a man had been moderately tortured and had at once given way, did not even compel him to sacrifice, having declared beforehand among the advocates and assessors that he was sorry to have fallen upon this case. Pudens too released a Christian sent to him, having perceived from the charge-sheet that he was the victim of extortion; and having torn up that same charge-sheet, he said that he would not hear a man without an accuser, according to the command. All these things can be suggested to you both by your own office and by those same advocates, who themselves have received benefits from Christians, though they shout what they please. For the secretary of a certain man, when he was being thrown down by a demon, was delivered; and the kinsman of certain others, and a little boy; and how many men of standing (for we do not speak of the common people) have been healed either of demons or of sicknesses! Even Severus himself, the father of Antoninus, was mindful of the Christians. For he sought out the Christian Proculus, who was surnamed Torpacion, the steward of Euhodea, who had once cured him by means of oil, and kept him in his palace until his death: whom Antoninus too knew very well, having been reared on Christian milk. Moreover Severus, knowing that women and men of the highest rank were of this sect, not only did not harm them but even honoured them with his testimony, and openly withstood the populace raging against us. Marcus Aurelius too, in the German expedition, obtained rains in that thirst through the prayers made to God by Christian soldiers. When have not even droughts been driven away by our kneelings and fastings? Then too the people, acclaiming "the God of gods, Who alone is mighty", bore witness to our God under the name of Jupiter. Besides these things, we do not deny a deposit, we defile no one's marriage

Editors' notes and page, col. 703

Footnotes

LECTIONES VARIANTES. (printed under page 394)

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 703

Eligendos Rigalt.

"Eligendos": Rigault.

(printed under page 394)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 703

Rhysdri Rig.

"Rhysdri": Rigault.

(printed under page 394)

(3) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 703

Dolore abest Rhen.

"Dolore" is absent in Rhenanus.

(printed under page 394)

(4) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 703

Hominem abest Rhen.

"Hominem" is absent in Rhenanus.

(printed under page 394)

(5) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 703

Ejusdem Jun. e Vatic.

"Ejusdem": Junius, from the Vatican manuscript.

(printed under page 394)

(6) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 703

Et additur Rhen.

"Et" is added in Rhenanus.

(printed under page 394)

(7) ‹anchor: Euhodeae› · call in col 703

Rhen. conjiciebat Euboeae. In veteri Cod. Euhodae. Pithaeus emendavit Euodi, quod placet Rigaltio. Idem notat Scaligerum in animadv. in Eusebium defendere lectionem. Euodiae.

Rhenanus conjectured "Euboeae". In the old manuscript, "Euhodae". Pithou emended to "Euodi", which Rigault approves. He also notes that Scaliger, in his remarks on Eusebius, defends the reading "Euodiae".

(printed under page 394)

(8) ‹anchor: christiano educatus› · call in col 703

Noverat christianis educatum Cod. Divionensis. christiano, Par.

"Noverat christianis educatum" [he knew him, raised among Christians]: the Dijon manuscript; "christiano": the Paris edition.

(printed under page 394)

(9) ‹anchor: Deo deorum› · call in col 703

Et additur Rhen.

"Et" is added in Rhenanus.

(printed under page 394)

(10) ‹anchor: qui solus potens› · call in col 703

Alii potes.

Others read "potes".

(printed under page 394)

(11) ‹anchor: Praeter› · call in col 703

Propter Rhen.

"Propter": Rhenanus.

(printed under page 394)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col (not visible)

CAP. IV.— (a) Qui Thystri ipse dedit. Contrarium videtur omnino fuisse observatum: qui enim reum perditum volebant, omnibus illum modis atque artibus, et crebris interrogationibus in fraudem inducebant. Pamelius legit Tiristi, vel Tiristi; La Cerda Thristri. LE PR.

Chapter IV.— (a) Who himself at Thysdrus gave. The opposite seems to have been the general practice: for those who wished a defendant ruined led him into a trap by every means and art and by repeated questioning. Pamelius reads "Tiristi" or "Tiristi"; La Cerda, "Thristri". Le Prieur.

(printed under page 394)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col (not visible)

(printed under page 394) (b) Quasi tumultuosum civibus suis satisfacere. Vespronius ille Candidus cives suos christianum quemdam ad mortem deposcentes admonuit, se quidem libenter eorum votis satisfacturum, sed rem civitati tumultuosam providere. RIG.

(b) As though to satisfy his fellow-citizens were riotous. That Vespronius Candidus warned his fellow-citizens, who were demanding a certain Christian for death, that he would gladly satisfy their wishes, but foresaw a thing that would cause riot in the city. Rigault.

(printed under page 394)

(printed under page 394) (c) Concussione ejus intellecta. Hoc est, vexatione. Ipse infra, sub finem hujus libelli: parce provinciae, quae visa intentione tua, obnoxia facta est concussionibus, et militum et inimicorum suorum cujusque. RIG. — Concussio est subdola accusatio furentis cujusdam nebulonis, non autem legitima actoris oratio. LE PR.

(c) His extortion being understood. That is, harassment. He himself below, near the end of this little book: spare the province, which, once your purpose was seen, has been laid open to extortions both by the soldiers and by each man's own enemies. Rigault. — "Concussio" is the underhand accusation of some raging scoundrel, not the lawful pleading of a prosecutor. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 394)

Page

running head: 703 TERTULLIANI LIBER AD [SCAPULAM.] (continued on col. 704)
marginal letters: A ‹tra mandata faciatis›; B ‹sine accusatore negans›; C ‹noverat lacte christiano›; D ‹Euodia… / (8)› (beside the LECTIONES VARIANTES)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 1:704

adulteramus, pupillos pie tractamus, indigentibus refrigeramus, nulli malum pro malo reddimus. Viderint, qui sectam mentiuntur, quos et ipsi recusamus. Quis denique de nobis alio nomine queritur? quod aliud negotium patitur christianus, nisi suae sectae? quam incestam, quam crudelem, tanto tempore nemo probavit. Pro tanta innocentia, pro tanta probitate, pro justitia, pro pudicitia, pro fide, pro veritate, pro Deo vivo, cremamur; quod nec sacrilegi, nec hostes publici, verum nec tot majestatis rei pati solent. Nam et nunc a praeside legionis, et a praeside Mauritaniae vexatur hoc nomen, sed gladio tenus, sicut et a primordio mandatum est animadverti in hujusmodi. Sed majora certamina, majora sequuntur praemia.

we treat orphans with piety, we refresh the needy, we render to no one evil for evil. Let those see to it who falsely claim the sect, whom we too disown. In short, who complains of us on any other count? What other charge does a Christian suffer than that of his own sect? And in so long a time no one has proved it incestuous, no one cruel. For so great innocence, for so great uprightness, for justice, for chastity, for faith, for truth, for the living God, we are burned; a thing which neither the sacrilegious, nor public enemies, nor even so many guilty of treason are wont to suffer. For even now this name is harassed by the governor of the legion and by the governor of Mauretania, but only as far as the sword, as it was commanded from the beginning that punishment be inflicted in cases of this kind. But greater contests are followed by greater rewards.

CAPUT V.

CHAPTER V.

Crudelitas vestra gloria est nostra. Vide tantum ne hoc ipso, quod talia sustinemus, ad hoc solum videamur erumpere, ut hoc ipsum probemus, nos haec non timere, sed ultro vocare. Arrius Antoninus in Asia cum persequeretur instanter, omnes illius civitatis christiani ante tribunalia ejus se manu facta obtulerunt, cum ille, paucis duci jussis, reliquis ait, ὦ δειλοί, εἰ θέλετε ἀποθνήσκειν, κρημνοὺς ἢ βρόχους ἔχετε. Hoc si placuerit et hic fieri, quid facies de tantis millibus hominum, tot viris ac foeminis, omnis sexus, omnis aetatis, omnis dignitatis, offerentibus se tibi? Quantis ignibus, quantis gladiis opus erit! quid ipsa Carthago passura est, decimanda a te, cum propinquos, cum contubernales suos illic unusquisque cognoverit, cum viderit illic fortasse et tui ordinis viros et matronas, et principales quasque personas, et amicorum tuorum vel propinquos vel amicos? Parce ergo tibi, si non nobis, parce Carthagini, si non tibi, parce provinciae, quae visa intentione tua obnoxia facta est concussionibus et militum et inimicorum suorum cujusque. Magistrum neminem habemus, nisi Deum solum. Hic ante te est, nec abscondi potest, sed cui nihil facere possis. Caeterum quos putas tibi magistros, homines sunt et ipsi morituri quandoque. Nec tamen deficiet haec secta, quam tunc magis aedificari

Your cruelty is our glory. Only see to it that by this very fact, that we endure such things, we do not seem to burst forth for this alone, to prove this very thing, that we do not fear these things but even invite them of our own accord. When Arrius Antoninus was pressing a persecution hard in Asia, all the Christians of that city presented themselves before his tribunal in a body; whereupon he, having ordered a few to be led off, said to the rest: "Wretches, if you want to die, you have cliffs or halters." If it should please you to have this done here too, what will you do with so many thousands of people, so many men and women, of every sex, of every age, of every rank, offering themselves to you? How many fires, how many swords will be needed! What will Carthage itself suffer, to be decimated by you, when each one recognizes there his kinsfolk, his companions, when he sees there perhaps men and matrons even of your own order, and all the leading persons, and either the kinsfolk or the friends of your friends? Spare yourself, then, if not us; spare Carthage, if not yourself; spare the province, which, once your intention was seen, has been laid open to the extortions both of the soldiers and of each man's enemies. We have no master save God alone. He is before you, and cannot be hidden, but to Him you can do nothing. But those whom you think your masters are men, and they themselves will die some day. Yet this sect will not fail, which you should know is then the more built up

Editors' notes and page, col. 704

Footnotes

(12) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 704

Quaeritur Rigalt.

"Quaeritur": Rigault.

(printed under page 394)

(13) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 704

Publicii verum nec Latin.

"Publicii verum nec": Latinius.

(printed under page 394)

(14) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 704

Tum Rhenan.

"Tum": Rhenanus.

COMMENTARIUS. (printed under page 394)

(d) ‹anchor: βρόχους ἔχετε› · call in col 704

CAP. V.— (d) Ὦ δείλοι, κ. τ. λ. Hoc est: O miseri, si mori vultis, praecipitia habetis et laqueos. EDD.

Chapter V.— (d) "O wretches, etc." That is: O wretches, if you wish to die, you have cliffs and nooses. The Editors.

(printed under page 394)