Etymologies & Works 18

ON WAR AND GAMES. CHAPTER 1. ON WARS. Ninus, king of the Assyrians, first made war. For he, by no means content with his own borders, breaking the covenant of human society, began to lead armies, to lay waste what belonged to others, and either to slaughter or to subjugate free peoples, and he subdued all Asia as far as the borders of Libya under a new servitude. Hence now the world was eager to grow thick with mutual bloodshed and reciprocal slaughter. Now there are four kinds of wars: that is, just, unjust, civil, and more than civil. A just war is that which is waged upon a prior declaration, concerning things to be recovered or for the sake of repelling enemies. An unjust war is that which is entered upon from fury, not from lawful cause. Concerning which Cicero says in the Republic (3.35):

'Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without cause. For no war can be waged justly except for the sake of avenging or repelling enemies.' And this same Tullius, with a few words interposed, added: 'No war is held to be just unless it has been proclaimed, unless it has been declared, unless it is concerning things to be recovered.' A civil war is a sedition arisen among citizens and stirred-up tumults, as between Sulla and Marius, who waged a civil war against each other within a single nation. A more than civil war is where not only citizens contend, but also kinsmen; such as was waged between Caesar and Pompey, when son-in-law and father-in-law fought against each other. Indeed in this battle brother fought with brother, and father bore arms against son. Lucan (2.151):

'Brothers fell for the prizes won from brothers.' Likewise (2.150): 'To whom the severed neck of a parent would yield.' Wars, then, are called internal, external, servile, allied, and piratical. For piratical wars are those scattered by brigands throughout the seas with light and fleeting galleys (mioparones), laying waste not only the supply-ships but even islands and provinces. These Gnaeus Pompey first, after much devastation which they had long carried out by land and sea, suppressed and overcame with wondrous speed. Now just as that is called war which is waged against enemies, so that is called tumult which is stirred up by civil sedition. For sedition is the dissension of citizens, so called because some go apart (seorsum) toward others.

Others reckon that dissension of minds is called sedition, which the Greeks call DIASTASIS. But how the two differ Cicero teaches (Philippics 8.3): 'For it can be,' he says, 'that there is a war without there being a tumult. But a tumult cannot exist without a war. For what else is a tumult but a disturbance so great that a greater fear arises?' Whence also it is called tumult, as it were 'much fear' (timor multus). 'A tumult, moreover, is more serious than a war; for in war exemptions are valid, in a tumult they are not valid.' Now war, battle (pugna) and combat (proelium) differ. For war is called the whole, as the Punic War. Its parts are battles, as that of Cannae, that of Thermae. Again, in one battle there are many combats.

For one thing is carried on upon the wings, another in the centre, another at the far end of the battle line. War therefore is the whole, a battle (pugna) is of one day, a combat (proelium) is a part of a battle. War (bellum) was formerly called duellum, because there are two (duae) sides of those fighting, or because it makes one the victor, the other the vanquished. Afterwards, with a letter changed and removed, it was called bellum. Others think it is called so by antiphrasis (because it is horrid; whence that verse (Virgil, Aeneid 6.86): 'Wars, horrid wars'), whereas on the contrary war is the worst thing. Combats (Prelia) are named from pressing (imprimendo), enemy against enemy. Whence also presses (prela) are the beams by which the grape is pressed. Battle (Pugna) is so named because at the beginning it was the custom in war to contend with fists (pugnis), or because at first they began war with fists.

Whence a battle (pugna) also is sometimes of two persons and without iron. Now four things are carried on in war: battle, flight, victory, peace. The word peace (pax) seems to be taken from a pact (pactum). But peace is received afterwards; a treaty (foedus) is first entered into. A treaty is the peace which is made between those fighting, and is named either from faith (fides), or from the fetiales, that is the priests. For through them treaties were made, just as wars were made through the secular officials. Others think treaties (foedera) are named from a sow foully (foede) and cruelly slain, whose death was wished upon him who should recoil from the peace. Virgil (Aeneid 8.641): 'And with a slain sow they joined treaties.' Truces (indutiae) are parts of a treaty: and they are called indutiae as it were 'leisure by the day' (in dies otia). CHAPTER 2. ON TRIUMPHS. Every kingdom of this world is sought by wars, and is extended by victories.

Victory (victoria) is so called because it is obtained by force (vi), that is by valour (virtute). For this is the law of nations, to repel force with force. For victory sought by deceit is base. Now a sure victory is either the killing of the enemy, or his despoiling, or both. But that victory is not joyful which comes about through immense losses: and this is what Sallust praises (Histories 3.29), that the generals carried off victory with an unbloodied army. Pomp (pompa) is so called by a Greek meaning, APO TOU POMPEUEIN, that is to be displayed publicly. Now victory precedes the pomp, because for those about to go to this contest the first thing is the vow of victory. A trophy (tropeum) is so called APO TES TROPES, that is from the turning and flight of the enemy. For from the fact that one has put the enemy to flight he earned a trophy;

he who had slain the enemy earned a triumph (triumphum), which is called APO TES THRIAMBES, that is from exultation. For a triumph is owed to a full victory; a trophy to a half-full one, because he has not yet attained a full victory: for he did not overpower, but only put the army to flight. Yet writers confuse these names. Tranquillus (Suetonius, Prata 109), however, says that the triumph was rather named in Latin because he who entered the city triumphing was honoured by a threefold judgement: for first the army was wont to judge concerning the granting of a triumph to the general, secondly the senate, thirdly the people. Now it was the custom of the Romans that those triumphing were carried in four-horse chariots, from that fact that the earlier generals were accustomed to enter wars in this array.

But whoever had conquered in an engagement was crowned with a golden palm, because the palm has thorns; but he who without an engagement had laid low a fleeing foe, with laurel, because this tree is without thorns. For those triumphing were clothed both in a purple and a palm-embroidered toga, and bore a staff (scipio) together with a sceptre in the hand, in imitation of the victory of Scipio; although a scipio is also a staff on which men lean. Whence that first Cornelius was called Scipio, because his blind father used to walk in the forum leaning upon him. Now above the staff an eagle was perched, as a sign that through victory they were approaching, as it were, to supernal greatness. Thence too they were painted with a ruddy colour, as if they imitated the likeness of the divine fire.

But that they were touched by an executioner, that was a sign that, though borne up to such lofty height, they should be reminded of human mediocrity. Now by two kinds an army is destroyed: either by slaughter (internecio) or by dispersion. Sallust (Histories, uncertain fragment 6) says, 'The enemies had been either overwhelmed or scattered away.' So too Virgil expresses both. Slaughter (Aeneid 1.69): 'And overwhelm their submerged sterns.' Dispersion (Aeneid 1.70): 'Or drive them apart and scatter their bodies over the sea.' The spoils of enemies: booty (praeda), plunder (manubiae), spoils stripped off (exuviae), shares (partes). Booty (praeda) is named from plundering (praedando). Plunder (manubiae), because it is drawn off with the hands (manibus). These, spoils stripped (exuviae), are named from stripping off (exuendo), because they are stripped off. These, shares (partes), from an equal division according to the quality of the persons, and by the just apportionment of labours.

But spoils (spolia) are named from hides (palleis), as it were 'off-hides' (expallia); for they are drawn off from the conquered. CHAPTER 3. ON STANDARDS. They are called standards (signa) of wars because from them the army receives the symbolon both for fighting and for the recall of victory. For the army is admonished either by the voice of the trumpet or by the symbolon. The principal standards of the legions are: eagles, dragons and balls (pilae). Eagles, for this reason, that this same bird of Jupiter served as an auspice in arms. For when this same Jupiter set out against the Titans, they say an eagle appeared to him as an auspice; which he, receiving it as a token of victory, took as a guardian of his fortune, and gave it to the legion as a standard; whereby it came about that thereafter it was entrusted to the soldiers' standards. Lucan makes mention of it, saying (1.7): 'Standards matched with standards, eagles and javelins threatening javelins.'

The standards of dragons were begun from Apollo, at the death of the serpent Python. Thereafter they began to be carried in war by the Greeks and Romans. It is reported that Augustus set up the ball (pila) in the standard, on account of the nations subjected to him throughout the whole world, so that he might display the greater figure of the globe (orbis). The banner (vexillum) is likewise a war-standard, having a name derived from the diminutive of veil (velum), as it were velxillum. Under Romulus, however, the soldiers had little bundles of hay in place of banners: hence too they are called maniples (manipuli); for we call bundles of hay maniples because they fill the hand (manum). The other standards, distinguished by various images according to military custom, exist so that through them the intermingling of battles may be recognised by the army. CHAPTER 4. ON HORNS.

The horn (bucina) is that by which a signal is given against the enemy, named from the voice (vox), as it were vocina. For pagans and country folk were summoned to every use by the horn at the crossroads: properly, therefore, this was a signal for country folk. Concerning it Propertius says (4.1.13): 'The horn used to muster the ancient Quirites to arms.' Its blare is called bucinum. The Etruscans (Tyrrheni) first invented the trumpet (tuba); whence Virgil (Aeneid 8.526): 'And the Etruscan blare of the trumpet bellowed through the air.' For this was devised by the Etruscan pirates, since, scattered around the maritime coasts, they were not easily summoned by voice or horn to each occasion of plunder, the wind for the most part drowning out the sound.

Hence afterwards it was employed in the contests of war to announce the signals of battle, so that where the herald could not be heard through the tumult, the sound of the blaring trumpet might reach them. Now the trumpet (tuba) is so called as it were tofa, that is hollow (cava). Likewise the trumpet is as it were a pipe (tibia). The ancients, moreover, distinguished between the trumpet and the horn. For the horn sounding announced anxiety for war. Virgil (Aeneid 7.519): 'By which the dread horn gave the signal.' But the trumpet used to indicate battle, as (Virgil, Aeneid 9.503): 'But the trumpet with its terrible sound.' Its sound is varied. For sometimes it is sounded that battles may be joined, sometimes that they may pursue those who flee, sometimes for the recall. For the recall (receptus) is that by which the army takes itself back (se recipit), whence too the standards are said to sound the recall.

Bugles (classica) are horns which were made for the sake of summoning, and were called classica from calling (calando). Concerning them Virgil (Aeneid 7.637): 'And now the bugles sound.' Among the Amazons, however, the army of women was summoned not by the trumpet, as by kings, but by the queen with a sistrum. CHAPTER 5. ON ARMS. Arms (arma) are generally the instruments of all things; whence too, where they are stored away, they are called armaria (cupboards). Likewise arms (arma) and weapons (tela) are of all kinds; but arms are those with which we ourselves are protected, weapons are those which we hurl. For arms are twofold: that is, either those with which we strike, or those with which we are covered. But arms (arma) are properly so called because they cover the shoulders (armos). For arms are named either from the shoulders (armi), that is from the upper arms, as (Virgil, Aeneid 11.644): 'The spear, driven through his broad shoulders, quivers';

or APO TOU AREOS, that is from Mars (Ares). CHAPTER 6. ON SWORDS. The sword is generally called ensis in battle; but ensis is only the iron blade, while gladius is the whole. Now properly it is called gladius because it divides the gullet (gula), that is cuts the neck. For it was first made for this; for the other limbs are cut rather with axes, the neck only with the sword. Now the edge (acies) of the sword is named from its sharpness (acumen). The hilt (capulus) is so called either because it is the head (caput) of the sword, or because it is grasped (capitur) there so that it may be held: for the other edge of the iron does not permit itself to be held. The point (mucro) is not only of a sword, but the sharp tip of any weapon whatever, named from length. For the Greeks call something long MAKRON; hence too machaera. The machaera, moreover, is a long sword sharp on one side.

But the framea is a sword sharp on both sides, which they commonly call a spatha. This is also the romphea. Now the framea is so called because it is of iron (ferrea): for just as an iron implement (ferramentum), so it is called framea; and accordingly every sword is a framea. The spatha is named from suffering (passio), by a Greek word, since PATHEIN in Greek is 'to suffer'; whence too we say patior and patitur. Others declare the spatha to be named in Latin, because it is spacious (spatiosa), that is broad and ample: whence too the spatula (shoulder-blade) in cattle. The half-spatha (semispatium) is a sword named from the half of the spatha's length, not, as the ignorant crowd says, 'without space' (sine spatio), because it is swifter than an arrow. The dagger (pugio) is named from pricking (pungendo) and piercing through. For it is a small sword, twice-sharpened, clinging to the side.

The same is also called clunabulum, because it is tied to the buttock (clunis). The chelidoniacus is a sword with a broad blade, whose double and forked point is formed in the manner of a swallow's tail; whence too it is called chelidoniacus (from chelidon, swallow). The dirk (sica) is named from cutting (secando). For it is a short sword which those especially use who practise brigandage among the Italians; from which too they are called assassins (sicarii). Tranquillus (Suetonius, On the History of Games 195), moreover, says: 'When the sword of a certain gladiator, sent into the arena, had been curved from its straight edge, one man ran forward to correct it; and then it was answered by the fighter: Thus (sic) I shall fight. Thence was given the name of the sica.' Axes (secures) are standards which used to be borne before the consuls; which the Spaniards call Franciscas by derivation, from the usage of the Franks.

These standards are borne so that they might neither lose the use of war, nor let the sight of the swords go idle. CHAPTER 7. ON SPEARS. The spear (hasta) is a pole with iron; whose diminutive makes hastilia (little spears). Now the name hasta took from cunning (astus); whence too astutia (craftiness). The pike (contus) has no iron, but is only sharp at the point. Virgil (Aeneid 5.208): 'And iron-shod poles and pikes with sharp point.' Now the contus is as it were conitum: for a cone (conus) is a sharp roundness. The pole-hooks (trudes) are shafts with a crescent-shaped iron, which the Greeks call aplustria. And they are named from trudes because they thrust (trudunt) and push away (detrudunt). Virgil (Aeneid 5.208): 'And iron-shod poles.' Hunting-spears (venabula) are so called as it were 'suited for the hunt' (venatui abilia), or because they catch (excipiunt) the beast coming on, as it were excipiabula.

For they catch boars and await lions, and enter into bears, provided only the hand be steady (cf. Martial 14.30). The lance (lancea) is a spear having a thong (amentum) in the middle: and it is named lancea because, poised with an equal balance (lance), that is with an equal thong, it is brandished. The thong (amentum) is the binding of javelins and spear-shafts which is fitted to the middle of the spears: and thence it is amentum because it is tied to the middle of the spear so that it may be hurled. The club (clava) is such as was that of Hercules, so named because it is bound about with iron nails (clavis), one against another; and it is made a cubit and a half in length. This is also the cateia, which Horace calls caia. For it is a kind of Gallic weapon of the most pliant material possible, which when thrown flies not far indeed on account of its weight, but wherever it arrives, breaks through with excessive force;

and if it is thrown by a skilled craftsman, it returns again to him who threw it. Virgil makes mention of it, saying (Aeneid 7.741): 'Accustomed to whirl cateiae in the Teutonic manner.' Whence too the Spaniards and Gauls call them tautani. The falarica is a huge weapon fashioned on a lathe, having an iron point a cubit long and a roundness of lead in the manner of a sphere. At its very tip it is said even to have fire fixed to it. With this weapon they fight from towers, which manifestly are called falae. Juvenal (6.589): 'Before the towers (falae) of the consul and the columns of the dolphins.' From the falae, therefore, the falarica is named, just as the mural (muralis) from a wall (murus). Indeed Lucan says the falarica is sent by twisted sinews and a certain engine (6.198): 'As now the falarica, hurled by twisted sinews.'

But Virgil says that Turnus hurled a falarica by hand (Aeneid 9.705). Javelins (pila) are weapons of throwing-spears and darts, named from twisting (torquendo) or from hurling (emittendo). Concerning them Lucan (1.7): 'Standards matched, eagles and javelins threatening javelins.' Its singular is called pilum. A weapon (telum) is named according to Greek etymology, APO TOU TELOTHEN, whatever can be hurled far: although a sword too is loosely called so, as is that verse (Virgil, Aeneid 9.747): 'But not this weapon, which my right hand wields with force.' Properly, however, a telum is named from length (longitudo): whence too we call it mustela (weasel) because it is longer than a mouse (mus). The point (cuspis) is a spear-shaft fitted with a thong, named from turf (caespes), which is a shrubbery. Virgil (Aeneid 7.817): 'And the pastoral myrtle tipped with a point.'

Properly, however, the cuspis is the hinder part of the spear. CHAPTER 8. ON ARROWS. The arrow (sagitta) is named from a sagacious blow (sagax ictus), that is a swift blow. For it is borne on feathers, like a bird, so that death may swiftly run to the man. The Cretans first used these, to which feathers, as we have said, are for this reason glued, that they may be light and fly through. Scaptos. Darts (spicula) are arrows or short lances, named from the appearance of ears of grain (spicae). The scorpion (scorpio) is a poisoned arrow shot from a bow or from engines, which, when it comes to a man, pours in the venom with which it strikes; whence too the scorpion received its name. CHAPTER 9. ON QUIVERS. The quiver (pharetra) is the case of arrows, named from bearing (ferendo) javelins; just as too the bier (feretrum), where the corpse is borne (defertur).

These have a common etymology for the reason that the quiver (pharetra) carries death, the bier (feretrum) carries the dead. Bow-cases (coriti) are properly the cases of bows, just as quivers (pharetrae) are of arrows. The sheath (vagina) is so named because in it a point or sword is carried (baiuletur). The case (theca) is so named from the fact that it covers (tegat) something received, the letter C being placed for G. Others assert that it is called theca by a Greek name, because something is stored away (reponatur) there. Hence too a library (bibliotheca) is called the storing-place of books. The dolones are wooden sheaths, within which a dagger lies hidden under the appearance of a staff. Now the dolones are named from deceit (dolus), because they deceive and beguile with the iron, since they present the appearance of wood. These the common folk call by a Greek name oxos, that is 'sharp' (acuti). Whence too among physicians an acute disease is called OXEIA.

The bow (arcus) is so called because it wards off (arceat) the enemy. Hence also citadels (arces) are named, from which foes are kept off (arcentur). Likewise the bow (arcus) is so called from its shape, because they are rather tightly curved. X. ON SLINGS. The sling (funda) is so named because from it stones are 'poured out' (fundantur), that is, discharged. The ballista is a kind of engine, named from the hurling of missiles; for 'ballein' in Greek means 'to throw.' It is drawn taut by the lashing of sinews, and with great force it casts either spears or stones. Hence also the fundibalus, as it were 'pouring out and discharging.' Against the ballista the tortoise-formation (testudo) avails; for a row of shields is made with their bosses bound together one with another. XI. ON THE RAM. The ram (aries) received its name from the animal, because it strikes the wall with an onset after the manner of butting rams.

For the head of a strong and knotted tree-trunk is clad with iron, and being suspended by ropes it is driven against the wall by the hands of many; then, drawn back, it is launched with greater force. And so, battered by frequent blows, the side of the wall gives way, and being hollowed out it breaks through and makes a breach. Against the impact of the ram the remedy is a sack full of chaff, let down to the place where the ram strikes; for by the loose fold of the sacks the blow of the ram, cushioned, is softened. For harder things yield more readily to softer ones. Screens (plutei) are hurdles woven over with raw hide, which are set against the enemy while a work is being carried out. The 'little mouse' (musculus) is made like a burrow, by which the wall is dug through; from which it also takes its name, as it were a 'little wall' (murusculus). XII. ON SHIELDS.

The round-shield (clipeus) is the larger shield, so called because it 'covers' (clipet), that is, conceals (celet) the body and withdraws it from dangers, from the Greek 'apo tou kleptein' (from stealing away). For being held out in defense, it fortifies the body against spears and javelins. The round-shield (clipeus) belongs to foot-soldiers, the oblong-shield (scutus) to horsemen. The shield (scutum) is so named because it 'shakes off from itself' (excutiat) the blow of weapons. For that missiles may be resisted, the round-shield is held out in front. The boss (umbo) is the middle part of the shield, as it were the navel (umbilicus). The ancile is a short and round shield. Concerning it Virgil (Aeneid 7.188): 'On his left he bore the ancile.' And the ancile is so named from 'cutting around' (ancisio), because it is as it were cut around on every side and rounded. Ovid (Fasti 3.377): 'And they call it the ancile, because it is cut back on every side: and wherever you mark it with your eyes, every angle is absent.'

The pelta is a very short shield in the shape of a half-moon. Of these the Book of Kings makes mention (3 Kings 10:16): 'King Solomon made two hundred shields of pure gold and three hundred peltas of tested gold.' The cetra is a shield of leather without wood, which the Africans and the Moors use. Of it the poet says (Virgil, Aeneid 7.732): 'A cetra covers his left side.' The parma is a light weapon, as it were small (parva), not a round-shield. But a shield is also called a tortoise (testudo), for a round-shield is made in the manner of a tortoise. There is also a 'tortoise' formed of shields joined together, curved in the manner of a tortoise. For in the kinds of arms soldiers take their names even from animals, as the ram (aries); and Sallust (Histories 3.36) says, 'in the manner of a military hedgehog (ericius).' XIII. ON CUIRASSES. The cuirass (lorica) is so called because it lacks thongs (loris careat);

for it is woven only of iron rings. The scale-armor (squama) is an iron cuirass linked together from iron or bronze plates in the manner of a fish's scale (squama), and it is named from the very sheen of the scales and their likeness. Cuirasses are both polished and covered with haircloth (cilicia). XIV. ON HELMETS. The metal helmet (cassis) is made of plate, the leather helmet (galea) of hide. For 'galerus' means hide. The cassis, however, is said to be named from the Etruscans (Tusci): for they call a helmet (galea) 'cassis,' I believe from the head (caput). The crest-mount (apex) is that which projects at the top of the helmet, on which the plume (crista) is fixed; the Greeks call it 'chonon.' For the cone (conus) is the curvature that projects on the helmet, above which are the plumes. XV. ON THE FORUM. The forum is the place for conducting lawsuits, named from speaking (fando) [or from King Phoroneus, who first gave laws to the Greeks].

This place is also called the Prorostra, from the fact that in the Punic War, when the ships of the Carthaginians were captured, their prows (rostra) were removed and fixed up in the Roman forum, that it might be an emblem of that victory. Now the forum consists of the case (causa), the law, and the judge. The case (causa) is named from the chance (casus) by which it occurs. For it is the substance and origin of a lawsuit, not yet laid open by the scrutiny of examination; and while it is put forward it is a 'case' (causa), while it is examined it is a 'judgment' (iudicium), while it is concluded it is 'justice' (iustitia). Now a judgment (iudicium) is so called as it were a 'declaring of law' (iurisdictio), and justice (iustitia) as it were the 'state of law' (iuris status). But a judgment was formerly called an inquiry (inquisitio); whence also we call the pleaders of lawsuits and their overseers quaestores or quaesitores (inquirers). 'Business' (negotium) signifies many things: now the transaction of some matter, to which leisure (otium) is the opposite;

now the pleading of a case, which is the wrangling of a suit. And it is called 'business' (negotium) as it were 'no leisure' (nec otium), that is, without leisure. But 'negotium' is said of lawsuits, 'negotiation' (negotiatio) of commerce, where something is given that greater gains may be made. A dispute (iurgium) is so named as it were 'a chattering of the law' (iuris garrium), because those who plead a case argue by law (iure disceptent). A suit (lis) first took its name from a quarrel over a boundary (limes). Concerning which Virgil (Aeneid 12.898): 'A boundary-stone was set, to settle the dispute over a field.' A case rests either on argument or on proof. Argument never gives proof by witnesses, never by documents, but discovers the truth by investigation alone; whence it is called 'argument' (argumentum), that is, 'a clever finding' (argutum inventum). But proof rests on witnesses and the reliability of documents.

In every trial six persons are required: the judge, the accuser, the defendant, and three witnesses. The judge (iudex) is so called as it were 'one declaring law' (ius dicens) to the people, or because he decides by law (iure disceptet). But to decide by law is to judge justly: he is not a judge if there is no justice in him. The accuser (accusator) is so named as it were 'one bringing to a case' (adcausator), because he calls to a case (ad causam vocat) the one whom he arraigns. The defendant (reus) is named from the 'thing' (res) which is sought, because, although he may not be guilty of a crime, he is nevertheless called a defendant (reus), so long as in the trial something is sought from him regarding some matter. Witnesses (testes) were in old times called 'survivors' (superstites), because they were brought forward over (super) the standing of the case. Now, part of the name being removed, they are called 'testes.' A witness is considered by his condition, his nature, and his life. By condition, if he is free, not a slave.

For often a slave, out of fear of his master, suppresses the testimony of the truth. By nature, if he is a man, not a woman. For (Virgil, Aeneid 4.569): 'A fickle and ever-changeable thing is woman.' By life, if he is innocent and upright in conduct. For if a good life is lacking, he will lack credibility. For justice cannot have fellowship with a wicked man. Now there are two kinds of witnesses: either by telling what they have seen, or by reporting what they have heard. And witnesses fail in two ways: when they either bring forth falsehoods, or conceal the truth by silence. XVI. ON SPECTACLES. Spectacles, as I suppose, are generally the name for pleasures which do not defile of themselves, but through the things which are performed there. And they are called spectacles (spectacula) because a public viewing (inspectio) is there offered to men.

These are also called 'sports' (ludicra), because they are performed in games (ludi) or at banquets. The origin of the games is handed down thus: that the Lydians, as immigrants from Asia, settled in Etruria under the leadership of Tyrrhenus, who had yielded to his brother in a contest over the kingdom. Therefore in Etruria, among the other rites of their superstitions, they also instituted spectacles under the name of religion. From there the Romans borrowed the summoned performers; and hence the games were called 'ludi' from the Lydians. But Varro says the games were called 'ludi' from play (lusus), because young men used to delight the people on festival days by the exultation of play. Whence they reckon that play of the young men also to festival days and temples and religious rites. There is now nothing more to say of the origin of the word, since the cause of the matter is idolatry.

Whence also the games were indifferently called Liberalia, in honor of Father Liber (Bacchus). For this reason the stain of its origin must be examined, lest you deem good that which took its beginning from evil. Now a game is either gymnastic, or of the circus, or gladiatorial, or theatrical. XVII. ON THE GYMNASTIC GAME. The gymnastic game is one of the glory of speed and strength. Its place is called the gymnasium, where athletes are exercised and the swiftness of runners is tested. Hence it comes about that the exercises of nearly all the arts are called 'gymnasia.' For formerly those competing in the contests were girded, lest they be stripped bare; afterwards, when the girdle was loosened, a certain runner suddenly fell down lifeless. Wherefore, by decree of the council, the archon Hippomenes then permitted that all should thereafter exercise naked.

From this it was called 'gymnasium,' because young men exercise naked in the field, where only the private parts are covered. XVIII. ON THE KINDS OF GYMNASTIC EXERCISES. There are five kinds of gymnastic exercises: that is, jumping, running, throwing, feats of strength, and wrestling. Whence they relate that a certain king, having so many grown sons, ordered them to contend for the kingdom in just as many kinds of contest. XIX. ON JUMPING. The jump (saltus) is so called as it were 'to leap up on high' (exilire in altum): for a jump is to leap up rather high or rather far. XX. ON RUNNING. Running (cursus) is named from the swiftness of the legs (crura); for running is the speed of the feet. XXI. ON THROWING. The throw (iactus) is named from throwing (iaciendo). Whence also a fishing net is called a 'iaculum' (throwing-net). The practice of this art is to strike from afar with snatched-up stones, to hurl spears with balanced weight, to shoot arrows from the bow. XXII.

ON FEATS OF STRENGTH. Strength (virtus) is the immensity of might [so called] in the toil and burden of the body. XXIII. ON WRESTLING. Wrestling (luctatio) is named from the embrace of the flanks (latera), on which those contending hand to hand lean; they are called by the Greek appellation 'athletes.' XXIV. ON THE PALAESTRA. The place of wrestling is called the palaestra. They say the palaestra is named either 'apo tes pales,' that is, from wrestling, or 'apo tou pallein,' that is, from the motion of a mighty fall, namely because in wrestling, when they seize each other by the middle, they generally shake one another; and this among the Greeks is called 'pallein.' Some suppose that the art of wrestling was demonstrated by the struggling of bears:

for among the other wild beasts these alone both rear up when they meet and quickly crouch down and return, and now try each other with their paws, now with an embrace drive one another off after the manner of wrestlers. XXV. ON THE CONTEST (AGON). What in Latin are 'contests' (certamina), the Greeks call 'agones,' from the throng (frequentia) by which they were celebrated. Indeed every gathering and assembly is called an 'agon'; others think the contests were named 'agones' because they were held in circles and as it were in 'agonia,' that is, in places without an angle (angulus). XXVI. ON THE KINDS OF CONTESTS. There were kinds of contests:

immensity of strength, swiftness in running, skill in archery, endurance in standing, also the movements of marching to the lyre or the pipes, contests also of character, of beauty, of the modulation of singing, and contests of land warfare and naval battle, and of the enduring of tortures. XXVII. ON THE GAMES OF THE CIRCUS. The Circus games were instituted for the sake of sacred rites and for the celebrations of the pagan gods: whence those who watch them are seen to be serving the cults of demons. For horsemanship was formerly practiced simply, and its common use was assuredly no guilt; but when its natural use was forced into games, it was transferred to the worship of demons.

And so this kind of show is assigned to Castor and Pollux, to whom the histories teach that horses were distributed by Mercury; but Neptune too belongs to the equestrian game, whom the Greeks call 'Hippios'; moreover, in the games horses are consecrated to Mars and Jupiter, and these preside over the four-horse chariots. But the Circus games are so called either from 'going around' (circumeundo), or because, where the turning-posts (metae) now are, swords (gladii) were formerly set, which the chariots went around; and hence they are called 'Circenses,' from the swords (enses) around which they ran. Indeed, on the shore, along the banks of rivers, those driving chariots used to set swords in a row on the bank of the shore, and it was a matter of skill to wheel the horse around the dangers. Hence they are thought to be called 'Circenses,' as it were 'around the swords' (circum enses). XXVIII. ON THE CIRCUS.

The Circus was principally consecrated by the pagans to the Sun, whose shrine stands in the middle of its space, and whose image gleams from the gable of the shrine, because they thought that one should not be consecrated under a roof whom they hold in the open. Now the circus (circus) is all that space which the horses are wont to go around (circuire). The Romans think it is so called from the circuit (circuitus) of the horses, because there the horses run around (circum) the turning-posts (metae). But the Greeks assert it was named from Circe, daughter of the Sun, who instituted this kind of contest for her father, the Sun; and from her they argue the name 'circus' derives. She was a sorceress and poisoner and priestess of demons, in whose garb and works are recognized magical art and the cult of idolatry. XXIX. ON THE ORNAMENTS. The ornaments of the circus: the eggs, the turning-post, the obelisk, the starting-gate.

They attribute the eggs to the honor of Pollux and Castor, believing them to have been born from an egg by Jove in the form of a swan, and are not ashamed of it. Now the Romans invent that the Circus games refer to the workings of the cosmos, that under this appearance they may excuse the superstitions of their vanities. XXX. ON THE TURNING-POSTS. By the name of the turning-posts (metae) they wish properly to designate the boundary and end (finis) of the world, from the fact that a certain measured-out end (emensus finis) exists, or as a witness to the rising and setting of the sun. XXXI. ON THE OBELISK. The obelisk, they report, was first made by Mesphres, king of Egypt, for the following reason. When at a certain time the Nile had harmed Egypt with a violent flood, the king, indignant, as though he would exact punishment from the river, shot an arrow into the waves.

Not long after, seized by a grave illness, he lost his sight; and after his blindness, having recovered his vision, he consecrated two obelisks to the Sun. For 'obelisk' means an arrow (sagitta), which is therefore set in the middle of the Circus because the sun runs through the middle of the world. And the obelisk, placed in the middle of the space between the two turning-posts, signifies the height and summit of heaven, since the sun crosses over from either space at the middle interval of the hours. On the top of the obelisk is set something gilded, formed in the shape of a flame, because the sun has in itself the most of heat and fire. XXXII. ON THE STARTING-GATES. In the Circus, the places from which the horses are released are called 'carceres' (prisons), from the same thing as that prison (carcer) which is in the city;

because, just as there men condemned and shut up are confined, so here the horses are restrained, lest they go out before they give the signal to release. XXXIII. ON CHARIOTEERS. The art of the Circus: the charioteer and the racing, the horsemen or the footmen. The charioteer (auriga) is properly so called because he drives and steers the chariot (currus), or because he strikes (feriat) the yoked horses. For 'aurit' means 'he strikes'; as (Virgil, Aeneid 10.314): 'He gashes (aurit) the exposed flank.' He is also the 'agitator' (driver), that is, the 'lasher' (verberator), so called from 'driving' (agendo). But the charioteers are of two colors, with which they clothe the appearance of idolatry. For green (prasinus) was dedicated by the pagans to the earth, blue (venetus) to sky and sea. XXXIV. ON FOUR-HORSE CHARIOTS. Now Erichthonius, who reigned at Athens, is said to have first yoked four horses; as Virgil is the authority, saying (Georgics 3.113):

'Erichthonius first dared to yoke the chariot and four horses, and as victor to stand upon the swift wheels.' Now he was, as the tales relate, begotten as the son of Minerva and Vulcan from lust fallen to the earth—a demonic portent, nay rather a devil, who first dedicated a chariot to Juno. By such an originator were the four-horse chariots brought forth. XXXV. ON THE CHARIOT. Now the chariot (currus) is named from running (cursus), or because it is seen to have [many] wheels; whence also 'carrum' (cart) as it were 'currum' (chariot). But the chariots of the four-horse teams formerly had a double pole, both continuous and such as could be laid upon all the horses as a yoke.

Cleisthenes of Sicyon first yoked only the middle horses, and to these he attached the single horses on either side with a single bond; these the Greeks call 'seiraphoroi,' the Latins 'funarii' (trace-horses), from the kind of bond by which they were formerly tied. XXXVI. ON THE HORSES BY WHICH WE RACE. The four-horse (quadrigae), two-horse (bigae), three-horse (trigae), and six-horse (seiugae) chariots are named from the number of horses and the yoke. Of these they consecrated the four-horse to the Sun, the two-horse to the Moon, the three-horse to the gods below, the six-horse to Jupiter, and the trick-riders (desultores) to Lucifer (the Morning Star) and Hesperus (the Evening Star). They yoke the four-horse chariot to the Sun because the year turns through four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The two-horse to the Moon, because she strives with the Sun in a twofold course, or because she is seen both by night and by day. For they yoke one black horse and the other white.

The three-horse chariots to the gods below, because Death (represented by them) snatches men to itself through three ages: that is, through infancy, youth, and old age. The greatest chariot, the six-horse, runs for Jupiter, because they believe him to be the greatest of their gods. And they say the four-horse chariots run on wheels either because this world races through with the swiftness of its own circuit, or on account of the sun, because it wheels around in a revolving orbit; as Ennius says (Annals 558): 'Then the shining wheel opened up the sky with its rays.' XXXVII. ON THE SEVEN LAPS. The four-horse chariots run seven laps, referring this to the course of the seven planets, by which they say the world is governed, or to the course of the seven present days, upon whose completion the term of life is finished; and the end of these is the chalk-line (creta), that is, the judgment. XXXVIII.

ON HORSEMEN. Furthermore, they say the single horsemen run because each one singly runs through and passes over the course of this life, one following another at another time, yet along the one road of mortality, up to his own turning-post of death. XXXIX. ON TRICK-RIDERS. The trick-riders (desultores) are so named because formerly, as each had come to the end of the course, he would leap down (desiliebat) and run; or because he would leap across from horse to horse. XL. ON FOOTMEN. Now they say the footmen (pedites) run on foot for this reason: because it is on foot that one runs to mortality. For this reason they run from the upper part to the lower, that is, from east to west, because mortals rise and set. They run naked, because for man in the world there remain no remnants.

They run on a straight course, because between life and death there is no distance. But these things, therefore, they invent in order to try to excuse their vanities and sacrileges. XLI. ON THE COLORS OF THE HORSES. Concerning the causes of the elements also, these same gentiles yoked colors to the horses, likening the red (russei) to the sun, that is, to fire, the white to air, the green (prasini) to earth, the blue (veneti) to sea. Likewise they wished the red to run for summer, because they are of a fiery color, and everything then grows golden. The white for winter, because it is icy, and in the frosts all things turn hoary. The green for spring, of a verdant color, because then the vine-shoot grows dense. Likewise they consecrated the red to run for Mars, from whom the Romans take their origin, and because the standards of the Romans are adorned with scarlet; or because Mars delights in blood.

They consecrated the white to the zephyrs and serene weather, the green to flowers and the earth, the blue to waters or air, because they are of a sky-blue color, the yellow, that is, saffron-colored, to fire and the sun, the purple to Iris, whom we call the rainbow, because it has very many colors. And thus, while by this display they are profaned by the worship of the gods and the elements of the world, they are known beyond doubt to be worshiping those same gods and those same elements. Whence you ought to observe, O Christian, that unclean deities possess the Circus. Wherefore that place will be alien to you which very many spirits of Satan have occupied: for the devil and his angels have filled the whole of it. XLII. ON THE THEATER.

The theater is that within which the stage (scena) is enclosed, having the figure of a semicircle, in which all, standing, look on. Its shape at first was round, like that of the amphitheater; afterwards, from half of the amphitheater, the theater was made. Now the theater is named from spectacle, 'apo tes theorias' (from viewing), because in it the people, standing above and watching, would contemplate the games. But the same is the theater and also the brothel (prostibulum), from the fact that after the games were over, harlots would prostitute themselves (prostrarentur) there. The same was also called a 'lupanar' (den) from those same harlots, who, on account of the levity of their common body, were called 'lupae' (she-wolves): for harlots are called 'lupae' from their rapacity, because they snatch to themselves and seize the wretched.

For brothels (lupanaria) were established by the pagans that the shame of unhappy women might there be made public, and that both those who did it and those who submitted to it might be held up to mockery. XLIII. ON THE STAGE. Now the stage (scena) was a place below the theater constructed in the manner of a house, with a platform which platform was called the orchestra; where the comic and tragic actors would sing, and the players (histriones) and mimes would dance. Now the stage is named by a Greek appellation, because it was constructed in the appearance of a house (in Greek 'skene'). Whence also among the Hebrews the dedication of the tabernacles, from the likeness of dwellings, was called 'Skenopegia' (Feast of Tabernacles). XLIV. ON THE ORCHESTRA. Now the orchestra was the platform of the stage, where the dancer could perform, or two could dispute between themselves.

For there the comic and tragic poets would mount up to the contest, and while these sang, others would perform gestures. The theatrical offices: tragic actors, comic actors, thymelic musicians, players, mimes, and dancers. XLV. ON TRAGIC ACTORS. Tragic actors (tragoedi) are those who sang in song, before the watching people, the ancient deeds and mournful crimes of wicked kings. XLVI. ON COMIC ACTORS. Comic actors (comoedi) are those who sang in words or gesture the doings of private men, and expressed in their plays the debaucheries of maidens and the loves of harlots. XLVII. ON THYMELIC MUSICIANS. The thymelic musicians (thymelici) were stage musicians who would play preludes on organs and lyres and cithers. And they are called 'thymelici' because formerly, standing in the orchestra, they would sing upon a platform which was called the 'thymele.' XLVIII.

ON PLAYERS. Players (histriones) are those who, in womanly garb, would express the gestures of unchaste women; these also, by dancing, would portray histories and events. And they are called 'histriones' either because this kind of performance was brought from Histria, or because they would express plots interwoven with histories (historiae), as it were 'historiones.' XLIX. ON MIMES. Mimes (mimi) are so named by a Greek appellation because they are imitators of human affairs; for they had their own author, who, before they performed the mime, would announce the plot. For the plots were so composed by the poets as to be most fitted to the movement of the body. L. ON DANCERS.

Varro says that dancers (saltatores) were named from Salius the Arcadian, whom Aeneas brought with him into Italy, and who first taught the noble young men of the Romans to dance. LI. WHAT IS PERFORMED UNDER WHICH PATRON. And plainly, in the theatrical arts there is the patronage of Liber and Venus, which are private and proper to the stage, of gesture and the swaying of the body. For they would sacrifice effeminacy to Liber and Venus, dissolute the one through sex, the other through excess: but those things which are there carried out with voices and modes and organs and lyres have Apollo and the Muses and Minervas and Mercuries as patrons. Which spectacle, O Christian, you ought to hate, seeing that you have hated its authors. LII. ON THE AMPHITHEATER. The amphitheater is a place of spectacle, where gladiators fight.

And hence it was called a 'gladiatorial game,' because in it young men would learn the use of arms by varied movement, now contending among themselves with either swords or fists, now advancing against beasts; where, enticed not by hatred but by reward, they undergo the deadly contest. The amphitheater is so called because it is made out of two theaters. For the amphitheater is round; but the theater is from half of the amphitheater, having the figure of a semicircle. LIII. ON THE EQUESTRIAN GAME. The kinds of gladiators are many, of which the first is the game of the horsemen. For two horsemen, preceded first by military standards, would advance on horseback, one from the eastern side, the other from the western, on white horses with golden helmets of smaller size and with more manageable arms;

and so, with fierce persistence, for the sake of their valor they would join battle, fighting until the one should leap forth upon the death of the other, so that there might be one who would fall by a downfall, and glory for the one who should slay. This armor fought for the cause of Mars, the god of war (Duellius). LIV. ON THE NET-FIGHTERS. The net-fighter (retiarius) is named from his kind of armor. In the gladiatorial game, against another fighting him, he would secretly carry a net, which is called a 'iaculum' (cast-net), so that with the point pressing in he might cover his adversary and, once he was entangled, overcome him by strength. This armor fought for Neptune, on account of the trident. LV. ON THE PURSUERS. The pursuer (secutor) is named from pursuing (insequendo) the net-fighter. For he carried a point and a leaden ball, which would impede his adversary's cast-net, so that before the other could strike with the net, this one might overcome him.

This armor was consecrated to Vulcan. For fire always pursues, and therefore it was paired with the net-fighter, because fire and water are always hostile to each other. LVI. ON THE NOOSE-FIGHTERS. The fight of the noose-fighters (laquearii) was, in the game, to overthrow men fleeing—entangled by a noose (laqueus) cast and caught—cloaked with a leather boss. LVII. ON THE SKIRMISHERS. The fight of the skirmishers (velites) was that they should hurl weapons to and fro. For their fighting was varied and more pleasing to the spectators than the rest: the skirmishers (velites) were named either from flitting about (volitatio), or from a city of the Etruscans which was called Veles. LVIII. ON THE DEADLY CONTEST. The fight of the beasts was for young men to receive the loosed beasts, to fight against them, to contend in a self-inflicted death (funus), not by crime but by frenzy. LIX.

ON THE PRACTICE OF THESE GAMES. Indeed these spectacles of cruelty and this viewing of vanities were instituted not only by the vices of men, but also by the commands of demons. Accordingly, a Christian should have nothing to do with the madness of the Circus, with the shamelessness of the theater, with the cruelty of the amphitheater, with the atrocity of the arena, with the luxury of the game. For he denies God who presumes such things, becoming a transgressor of the Christian faith, who anew seeks after that which he already once renounced at the font (in the laver of baptism); that is, the devil, his pomps, and his works. LX. ON THE GAMING-BOARD. Dice (alea), that is, the game of the board, was invented by the Greeks in the leisure of the Trojan War by a certain soldier named Alea, from whom the art too took its name. The board is played with the dice-tower, with counters, and with dice. LXI. ON DICE-TOWERS.

The dice-tower (pyrgus) is so named because through it the dice proceed (pergant), or because it has the appearance of a tower. For the Greeks call a tower 'pyrgos.' LXII. ON COUNTERS. The counters (calculi) are so named because they are smooth (lenes) and round. Whence also a pebble is called a 'calculus,' a small stone which, by its smallness, is trodden upon (calcatur) without discomfort. Likewise counters (calculi), because they go along the ordered ways (viae), as it were along paths (calles). LXIII. ON DICE. Dice (tesserae) are so named because they are four-cornered (quadrae) on all sides. Some call these 'little hares' (lepusculi), because they run about by leaping. Now formerly the dice were called 'iacula' (throwing-things), from throwing (iaciendo). LXIV. ON THE FIGURES OF DICE. But certain dice-players consider that they practice this art physiologically, through allegory, and figure it under a certain likeness of things.

For they profess to play with three dice on account of the three ages of the world: present, past, and future; because they do not stand still, but run down. And they argue that the very ways, marked out in six places, are on account of the ages of men, with three lines on account of the times. Hence they say the board is also described with three lines. LXV. ON THE NAMES OF THE DICE-THROWS. Each throw among the old players was named from its number, as 'unio' (one), 'binio' (two), 'trinio' (three), 'quaternio' (four), 'quinio' (five), 'senio' (six). Afterwards the appellation of the individual throws was changed, and they called the 'unio' the 'dog' (canis), the 'trinio' the 'stooper' (suppus), the 'quaternio' the 'flat' (planus). LXVI. ON THE THROWING OF THE DICE. The throwing of the dice is so composed by skilled dice-players that it may bring what one wishes, for example the 'senio' (six), which brings them good in the throw.

But they avoid the 'dog' (canis) because it is harmful; for it signifies one. LXVII. ON THE MOVEMENT OF COUNTERS. Counters are moved partly in order, partly at random: therefore they call some 'ordinary' (ordinarii), others 'wandering' (vagi); but those which cannot be moved at all they call 'stuck' (inciti). Whence also needy men are called 'stuck' (inciti), for whom no hope of proceeding further remains. LXVIII. ON THE PROHIBITION OF DICE. From this art fraud and lying and perjury are never absent, and finally hatred also and loss of property; whence at times, on account of these crimes, it was forbidden by the laws. LXIX. ON THE BALL. The ball (pila) is properly so named because it is full of hairs (pili). This is also called 'sfera' (sphere), from carrying (ferre) or striking (ferire). Concerning the kind and weight of these, Dorcatius hands down thus (1):

'Nor do you spare to pack in the hairs of the lively stag, until an ounce is added over and above a double pound.' Among the kinds of balls are the 'trigonaria' and the 'arenata.' The 'trigonaria' is that with which play is made among three. The 'arenata' is that with which, in a group, when it is sent out from a circle of the bystanders and spectators, they are wont to catch the ball beyond the proper space and enter into the play. They call it the 'elbow-game' (cubitalis) when two, hand to hand, from close by and with almost joined elbows (cubiti), strike the ball. He is said to 'give a calf' (suram dare) who offers the ball to his fellow players to be struck with his leg (crus) stretched out.