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| Argument: That the Roman Auspices and Auguries Have Been Neglected with Ill Consequences, But Have Been Observed with Good Fortune.
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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 Idæan
mother,1732
| 1732 Otherwise, “the
goddess mother.” | 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,1733
| 1733 Scil. Castor
and Pollux. | consecrated even as
they had showed themselves on the lake, who, with horses
breathless,1734
| 1734 Otherwise, “who
breathless with horses foaming,” etc. | 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,1735
| 1735 Otherwise, “the
offence of Jupiter, the renewal of the games,” etc. | 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.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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