41. Was it for this He sent
souls, that they which shortly before had been gentle and ignorant
of what it is to be moved by fierce passions, should build for
themselves markets and amphitheatres, places of blood and open
wickedness, in the one of which they should see men devoured and torn
in pieces by wild beasts, and themselves slay others for no
demerit but to please and gratify the spectators,3692
| 3692 So
restored by Cujacius, followed by LB. and Orelli, reading in
grat-i-am (ms. wants i)
voluptatemque, while the first five edd. merely drop
-que—“to the grateful pleasure,” etc. |
and should spend those very days on
which such
wicked deeds were done in general enjoyment, and keep
holiday with festive gaiety; while in the other, again, they should
tear asunder the
flesh of
wretched animals, some
snatch one part,
others another, as
dogs and vultures do, should
grind them with
their teeth, and give to their utterly insatiable
3693
maw, and that, surrounded by
3694
| 3694
Lit., “among,” in oris, the ms. reading, and that of the first four edd., for which the
others have received from the margin of Ursinus
moribus—“(indulging) in so fierce and savage
customs.” |
faces so
fierce and savage, those should
bewail their lot whom the straits of
poverty withheld from such repasts;
3695
that their
life should be
3696
| 3696
Lit., “they should live.” |
happy and
prosperous while such barbarous doings
defiled their mouths and
face? Was it for this He sent
souls, that, forgetting their
importance and
dignity as divine, they should acquire gems,
precious
stones,
pearls, at the expense of their
purity; should entwine
their necks with these, pierce the tips of their
ears,
bind3697
their
foreheads with fillets,
seek for cosmetics
3698
| 3698
In the ms. this clause follows the words
“loss of their purity,” where it is very much in the
way. Orelli has followed Heraldus in disposing of it as above,
while LB. inserts it after “tips of their ears.” The
rest adhere to the arrangement of the ms.,
Ursinus suggesting instead of his—“with
these,” catenis—“with chains;” Heraldus,
linis—“with strings (of pearls);” Stewechius,
tæniis—“with fillets.” |
to deck their bodies,
3699
| 3699 So
LB. and Orelli reading, con-fic-iendis corporibus for the
ms. con-sp-iendis, for which the
others read -spic-, “to win attention.” A
conjecture by Oudendorp, brought forward by Orelli, is worthy of
notice—con-spu-endis, “to cover,” i.e., so as
to hide defects. |
darken their
eyes with henna; nor, though in the forms of men, blush to curl their
hair with crisping-pins, to make the
skin of the body smooth, to
walk
with bare
knees, and with every other
kind of wantonness, both
to lay aside the strength of their manhood, and to grow in effeminacy
to a woman’s habits and luxury?
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
