Early Church Fathers
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136 Lit., "resolved into members."
138 The ms. reads flev-itium, for which Hild. suggests flex-, as above, previous edd. reading flat--"of cast plates;" which cannot, however, be correct, as Arnobius has just said that the images were in part made of ivory.
139 Lit., "delays salutary for lastingnesses." The sense is, that the lead prevents the joints from giving way, and so gives permanence to the statue.
142 Lit., "from the art of obscurity."
143 i.e., if the nature of the images is really concealed by the skill displayed in their construction.
144 Lit., "breathing." [Ps. cxv. 4-8.]
145 Lit., "are relaxed from decay of rottenness."
146 i.e. fall from their pedestals. For the ms. reading situs (retained in LB., as above), the margin of Ursinus, followed by the other edd. except the first four and Oberthür, read situ--"lose their appearance from mould."
147 So LB. and Oehler, reading famis in spem for the ms. pannis, omitted in other edd. All prefix p, as above, to the next word, annos.
148 Deonerati proluvies podicis. [So Clement, vol. ii. p. 186, at note 1, this series.]
149 Lit., "incited by the truth of nature." The ms. and both Roman edd. read d-, all others instincta, as above.
150 Lit., "the sacred dedication."
151 Lit., "concealed in the restraint of."
152 The ms. reads inrogati (the next letter being erased, having probably been s redundant) si inviti, corrected in the margin of Ursinus and Oehler, as above, -tis in.
153 Lit., "with the assent of voluntary compliance." "Do you say," or some such expression, must be understood, as Arnobius is asking his opponent to choose on which horn of the dilemma he wishes to be impaled.
155 So Gelenius, Canterus, Elm., Oberth., and Orelli, reading nobilitent. No satisfactory emendation has been proposed, and contradictory accounts are given as to the reading of the ms. Immediately after this sentence, LB., followed by Orelli, inserts a clause from the next chapter. Cf. the following note.
156 It will be seen that these words fit into the indirect argument of Arnobius very well, although transposed in LB. to the end of last chapter, and considered a gloss by Orelli and Hildebrand. "See the consequences," Arnobius says, "of supposing that the gods do not quit these images: not merely are they in a wretched case, but they must further lose their power as divinities." Meursius, with, more reason, transposes the clause to the end of the next sentence, which would be justifiable if necessary.
157 Perhaps "into," as Arnobius sometimes uses the abl. after in instead of the acc.
158 Lit., "compressed to the similitude of."
159 Lit., "to adapt their similitude to."
160 Lit., "a cutting taking place."
161 i.e., of their character as independent and not compounded. This is precisely such an expression as that which closes the fourth book, and its occurrence is therefore an additional ground for regarding the earlier passage as genuine.
162 Claustris repagulis pessulis.
163 Cf. p. 481, n. 5. Geese as well as dogs guarded the Capitol, having been once, as the well-known legend tells, its only guards against the Gauls.
164 The ms., first four edd., and Elm. read nomine-"under the name of," corrected momine by Meursius and the rest.
165 So the ms., reading decem; but as Clement says pentekai/deka phxw=n, we must either suppose that Arnobius mistook the Greek, or transcribed it carelessly, or, with the margin of Ursinus, read quindecim-"fifteen."
166 Stewechius and Heraldus regard these words as spurious, and as having originated in a gloss on the margin, scz. junior-"to wit, the younger." Heraldus, however, changed his opinion, because Clement too, says, "Dionysius the younger." The words mean more than this, however, referring probably to the fact that Cicero (de Nat. Deor., iii. 33, 34, 35) tells these and other stories of the elder Dionysius. To this Arnobius calls attention as an error, by adding to Clement's phrase "but."
167 Only rustics, old-fashioned people, and philosophers wore the beard untrimmed; the last class wearing it as a kind of distinctive mark, just as Juvenal (iii. 15) speaks of a thick woolen cloak as marking a philosopher. [Compare vol. i. p. 160; also ii. p. 321, n. 9.]
170 Lit., "punishment of violated religion."
171 Clemens says merely "the Cyprian Pygmalion."
172 Lit., "of ancient sanctity and religion."
173 Lit., "imagination of empty lust."
175 So Gelenius, reading rebus for the ms. and first ed. re a (ms. ab) se.
177 Lit., "agonizing restraint."
180 So Clemens narrates; but Thucydides (iv. 133) says that "straightway Chrysis flees by night for refuge to Phlious, fearing the Argives;" while Pausanius (ii. 59) says that she fled to Tegea, taking refuge there at the altar of Minerva Alea.
181 From Varro's being mentioned, Oehler thinks that Arnobius must refer to various marauding expeditions against the temples of Apollo on the coasts and islands of the Aegean, made at the time of the piratical war. Clemens, however, speaks distinctly of the destruction of the temple at Delphi, and it is therefore probable that this is referred to, if not solely, at least along with those which Varro mentions. Clement, vol. ii. p. 187.
182 Lit., "his visitors," hospitis.
183 Varro Menippeus, an emendation of Carrio, adopted in LB. and Orelli for the ms. se thenipeus.
184 Lit., "suspicion being averted."
185 It has been generally supposed that reference is thus made to some kind of thieves, which is probable enough, as Arnobius (end of next chapter) classes all these plunderers as "tyrants, kings, robbers, and nocturnal thieves;" but it is impossible to say precisely what is meant. Heraldus would read Saraceni-"Saracens."
186 Lit., "with obscurity of means." The phrase may refer either to the defence or to the assault of temples by means of magic arts.
188 Lit., "lop away," deputarent, the reading of the ms., Hild., and Oehler; the rest reading deponerent-"lay aside." [The same plausible defences are used to this day by professed Christians. See Jesuits at Rome, by Hobart Seymour, p. 38, ed. New York, 1849.]
189 Lit., "pass to human offices."
190 Lit., "crimes and wickednesses."
192 Lit., "with their golden and to-be-feared splendours themselves."
193 Lit., "and without any favour," gratificatione.
194 Lit., "what great thing have these images in them."
195 So the ms., first four edd., Elm., Hild., and Oehler, reading mores et maleficia, corrected in the others a maleficio-"morals withheld from wickedness."
197 The reference is probably to some statue or picture of Juno represented as girt with the girdle of Venus. (Il., xiv. 214).
201 Or, perhaps, "relate that images so frigid and so awkward."
202 The ms., and both Roman edd. read monstruosissima-s torvi-tate-s annis; corrected by Gelenius and later edd. monstruosissimâ torvitate animos, and by Salmasius, Orelli, Hild., and Oehler, as above, m. t. sannis.
203 The ms., first four edd., Elm., and Oberthür read manus, which, with animos read in most (cf. preceding note), would run, "that they were even kept back, as to (i.e., in) minds and hands, from wicked actions by the preternatural savageness of masks." The other edd. read with Salmasius, as above, maniis.
1 Lit., "in that part of years."
4 [When good old Dutch Boyens came to the pontificate as Hadrian VI., he was accounted a "barbarian" because he so little appreciated the art-treasures in the Vatican, on which Leo X. had lavished so much money and so much devotion. His pious spirit seemed oppressed to see so many heathen images in the Vatican: sunt idola ethnicorum was all he could say of them,-a most creditable anecdote of such a man in such times. See p. 504, n. 6, supra.]
5 [In the Edin. edition this is the opening sentence, but the editor remarks]: "By some accident the introduction to the seventh book has been tacked on as a last chapter to the sixth, where it is just as out of place as here it is in keeping." [I have restored it to its place accordingly.]
7 Lit., "nor is any blame contracted."
8 On this Heraldus [most ignorantly] remarks, that it shows conclusively how slight was the acquaintance with Christianity possessed by Arnobius, when he could not say who were the true gods. [The Edin. editor clears up the cases as follows:] This, however, is to forget that Arnobius is not declaring his own opinions here, but meeting his adversaries on their own ground. He knows who the true God is-the source and fountain of all being, and framer of the universe (ii. 2), and if there are any lesser powers called gods, what their relation to Him must be (iii. 2, 3); but he does not know any such gods himself, and is continually reminding the heathen that they know these gods just as little. (Cf. the very next sentence.)
9 Lit., "as many as possible."
12 i.e., M. Terentius Varro, mentioned in the last chapter.
