Etymologies & Works 8

I. ON THE CHURCH AND THE SYNAGOGUE. 'Church' (ecclesia) is a Greek word, which is rendered into Latin as 'a calling together' (convocatio), because it calls all men to itself. 'Catholic' means 'universal,' from 'apo tou kath' holon,' that is, 'according to the whole.' For it is not, like the conventicles of heretics, confined to certain regions of the earth, but is spread abroad and diffused throughout the whole circle of the lands. This the Apostle also confirms, saying to the Romans (1:8): 'I give thanks to my God for you all, because your faith is proclaimed in the whole world.' Hence too 'universality' (universitas) is named from 'one' (unum), because it is gathered into unity. Whence the Lord says in the Gospel (Luke 11:23):

'He that gathereth not with me, scattereth.' But why, though the Church is one, are seven churches written to by John, unless it be that one Catholic Church, full of the sevenfold Spirit, is thereby signified? Just as we know that Solomon said of the Lord (Prov. 9:1): 'Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn out seven pillars'—which seven, nevertheless, are not doubted to be one, as the Apostle says (1 Tim. 3:15): 'The Church of the living God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth.' Now the Church took its beginning from the place where the Holy Spirit came down from heaven and filled those who were sitting in one place. But in respect of its present pilgrimage the Church is called 'Sion,' because, set far off by the length of this pilgrimage, it beholds from afar the promise of heavenly things;

and therefore it received the name 'Sion,' that is, 'watchtower' (speculatio). But in respect of the future peace of the fatherland it is called 'Jerusalem'; for Jerusalem is interpreted 'vision of peace.' For there, every adversity being swallowed up, it shall possess by present gaze that peace which is Christ. 'Synagogue' in Greek means 'congregation' (congregatio), a name which the people of the Jews held as their own. For properly it is their assembly that is wont to be called 'synagogue,' although it may also be called 'church.' But the Apostles never called our assembly a synagogue, but always a church—whether for the sake of distinction, or because there is some difference between a 'congregation,' from which comes 'synagogue,' and a 'calling together,' from which the church took its name; for cattle too are wont to be 'congregated' (gathered together), of which we properly say 'herds';

but 'being called together' pertains rather to those who use reason, such as men. II. ON RELIGION AND FAITH. The philosophers named 'dogma' from 'thinking' (putare), that is, 'this I think to be good,' 'this I think to be true.' 'Religion' (religio) is so called because through it we bind again (religamus) our souls to the one God for divine worship, by the bond of serving. This word is compounded from 'reading again' (relegere), that is, 'choosing,' so that 'religio' seems in Latin to be like 'eligio' (choosing out). Now there are three things which are sought in the worship of religion for adoring God among men, namely faith, hope, and charity. In faith, what is to be believed; in hope, what is to be hoped for; in charity, what is to be loved. Faith is that by which we truly believe what we are by no means able to see. For we can no longer 'believe' what we see.

Now the name of 'faith' (fides) is properly so derived, if that which is said or promised is wholly done (fiat). And thence it is called 'faith,' from the fact that what has been agreed between two parties comes to pass (fit), as it were between God and man; hence also 'covenant' (foedus). 'Hope' (spes) is so called because it is 'a foot' (pes) for advancing, as if 'it is a foot' (est pes). Whence also, on the contrary, 'despair' (desperatio): for there the foot is lacking, and there is no power of advancing; because as long as anyone loves sin, he does not hope for glory to come. 'Charity' (caritas) is Greek, and in Latin is interpreted 'love' (dilectio), because it binds two (duos) in itself. For love (dilectio) begins from two, namely the love of God and of neighbor; concerning which the Apostle (Rom. 13:10) says: 'Love is the fulfilling of the law.' And this is the greatest of all, because he who loves both believes and hopes.

But he who does not love, though he do many good works, labors in vain. Now every carnal love is not wont to be called 'love' (dilectio), but rather 'desire' (amor). For the name of 'dilectio' is wont to be received only in better things. III. ON HERESY AND SCHISM. 'Heresy' (haeresis) in Greek is named from 'choosing' (electio), namely because each one chooses for himself that which seems to him to be better—as the Peripatetic, Academic, Epicurean, and Stoic philosophers, or like others who, devising some perverse doctrine, have by their own judgment withdrawn from the Church. Thence therefore 'heresy,' called by a Greek word, from the interpretation of 'choosing,' whereby each one has chosen for himself by his own judgment whatever he pleases, whether to establish or to take up.

But for us it is not lawful to introduce anything of our own judgment, nor even to choose what anyone has introduced from his own judgment. We have as our authorities the Apostles of God, who themselves also chose nothing of their own judgment to introduce, but faithfully assigned to the nations the discipline received from Christ. And so, even if an angel from heaven should preach otherwise, he shall be called anathema. 'Sect' (secta) is named from 'following' (sequi) and 'holding' (tenere). For we call 'sects' the dispositions of minds, and the institutions concerning a discipline or purpose which men follow by holding to it, holding far other opinions in the worship of religion than the rest. 'Schism' (schisma) is named from the tearing apart (scissura) of minds. For it believes with the same worship, the same rite as the rest; it delights only in the division of the assembly.

Now schism arises when men say, 'we are just,' 'we sanctify the unclean,' and other like things. 'Superstition' (superstitio) is so called because it is a superfluous or superadded observance. Others say it comes from 'the aged' (senes), because those who as survivors (superstites) through age have lived many years grow foolish and err in a certain superstition, not knowing what old things they venerate or what things of the ancients they take up in ignorance. Lucretius, however, says that 'superstition' is of things standing over us (superstantia), that is, of celestial and divine things which stand above us; but he speaks amiss. Now, that the doctrines of the heretics might be easily recognized, it was fitting to set forth their causes or names. IV. ON THE HERESIES OF THE JEWS. 'Jews' (Iudaei) is interpreted 'confessors.'

For confession follows many of them, whom before perfidy possessed. 'Hebrews' (Hebraei) are called 'crossers-over' (transitores). By which name they are admonished to cross over from worse things to better, and to forsake their former errors. The Pharisees [deny that Christ has come, and share nothing in the matters foretold] [The Pharisees and Sadducees are opposed to one another. For 'Pharisees' is interpreted from Hebrew into Latin as 'the Divided' (Divisi), because they set before others their righteousness of traditions and observances, which they call 'deuteroseis.' Whence too they are called 'divided' from the people, as though on account of righteousness.] The Sadducees [deny the resurrection, saying that it was declared in Genesis (3:19): 'Thou art earth, and unto earth thou shalt go.'] [The Sadducees are interpreted 'the just.'

For they claim for themselves what they are not; they deny the resurrection of the body, and preach that the soul perishes together with the body. These receive only the five books of the Law, and reject the prophecies of the Prophets.] The Essenes say that he himself is the Christ who taught them all abstinence. [The Galilaeans say that Christ has come and taught them not to call Caesar 'lord,' nor to use his admonitions.] The Masbotheans say that he himself is the Christ who taught them to keep the Sabbath in every matter. The Genistae [presume, because they are of the stock of Abraham] [are so called because they boast to be of the stock of Abraham. For when the people of God had come into Babylon, very many, forsaking their own wives, clung to Babylonian women:

but certain others, content only with Israelite marriages, or born of such, when they had returned from Babylon, separated themselves from all the people and took to themselves this name of boasting.] The Meristae are so called because they divide (separent) the Scriptures, not believing all the Prophets, saying that they prophesied by different and various spirits. [For 'meris' in Greek (means 'a part').] The Samaritans [who were transported into the place of Israel—Israel having been led captive into Babylon—coming into the land of the region of Samaria, hold in part the custom of the Israelites, which they learned through a priest who was brought back, and in part that of the Gentiles, which they had in the land of their nativity.

For in their observances they are wholly separated from the Jews, whose superstition is doubtless known to all.] [The Samaritans are so called because they keep only the Law. For they do not receive the Prophets.] [The Herodians. This heresy arose in the times of the Savior. These magnified Herod, saying that he himself was the Christ.] The Hemerobaptists [who daily wash their bodies and their house and their furniture] [because daily they wash their garments and bodies.] V. ON THE HERESIES OF THE CHRISTIANS. Certain heretics also, who have withdrawn from the Church, are named from the name of their founders; but others from the causes which, choosing them, they established.

The Simonians are named from Simon, skilled in the discipline of magic, whom Peter cursed in the Acts of the Apostles, because he had wished to buy the grace of the Holy Spirit from the Apostles with money. These say that the creation is made not by God, but by a certain higher power. The Menandrians are named from Menander the magician, a disciple of Simon; who assert that the world was made not by God, but by angels. The Basilidians are called from Basilides, who among his other blasphemies denied that Jesus suffered. The Nicolaites are named from Nicolaus, a deacon of the church of Jerusalem, who was appointed by Peter together with Stephen and the rest;

who, on account of her beauty leaving his wife so that whoever wished might use her, such a custom turned into debauchery, so that marriages were exchanged with one another. These John reproves in the Apocalypse, saying (2:6): 'But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites.' The Gnostics wished so to name themselves on account of the excellence of their knowledge (scientia). They say that the soul is of the nature of God, and by their doctrines they fashion both a good God and an evil one. The Carpocratians are called from a certain Carpocrates, who said that Christ was only a man, and begotten of both sexes. The Cerinthians are named from a certain Cerinthus. These among other things observe circumcision; they preach that after the resurrection there will be a thousand years in the pleasure of the flesh.

Whence in Greek they are called 'Chiliasts,' in Latin 'Miliasts' (Millenarians). The Nazaraeans are so called who, while they confess Christ—who was called 'the Nazarene' from the village of Nazareth—to be the Son of God, nevertheless keep all things of the old Law. The Ophites are named from the serpent (coluber). For a serpent in Greek is called 'ophis.' For they worship the serpent, saying that it introduced the knowledge of virtue in paradise. The Valentinians are called from a certain Valentinus, a follower of Plato, who introduced 'aeons,' that is, certain ages, into the origin of God the Creator; he also asserted that Christ took nothing of a body from the Virgin, but passed through her as though through a pipe.

The Apellites, whose chief was Apelles, who, making the creator to be some glorious angel of a higher God, and affirming that God of the law of Israel to be the fiery one, said that Christ appeared not as God in truth, but as a man in phantasm. The Archontiaci are named from 'princes' (principes, archons), who defend that the whole universe which God founded is the work of archangels. The Adamiani are so called because they imitate the nakedness of Adam; whence they also pray naked, and naked the males and females come together among themselves. The Caiani are so named accordingly because they adore Cain. The Sethians took their name from the son of Adam who was called Seth, saying that he is the same as Christ.

The Melchisedechians are so called because they hold that Melchisedech, the priest of God, was not a man, but the power of God. The Angelici are so called because they worship angels. The Apostolici presumptuously took this name to themselves because, possessing nothing of their own, they by no means receive those who use anything in this world. The Cerdonians are named from a certain Cerdo, who asserts two contrary principles. The Marcionists are called from Marcion, a Stoic philosopher, who, following the doctrine of Cerdo, asserted one God to be good and another just, as it were two principles, of the Creator and of goodness. The Artotyrites are named from their offering (oblatio).

For they offer bread and cheese, saying that by the first men an offering was celebrated from the fruits of the earth and from the fruits of the sheep. The Aquarii are so called because they offer water alone in the cup of the sacrament. The Severians, who arose from Severus, do not drink wine; they do not receive the Old Testament or the resurrection. The Tatians are called from a certain Tatian, who were also called Encratites, because they abominate flesh (meat). The Alogii are called as it were 'without the Word'; for 'logos' in Greek means 'word.' For they do not believe God to be the Word, rejecting the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse. The province of Phrygia gave its name to the Cataphrygians, because they arose there. Their founders were Montanus, Prisca, and Maximilla.

These assert that the coming of the Holy Spirit was delivered not to the Apostles, but to themselves. The Cathari (Puritans) named themselves so on account of cleanness. For, boasting of their own merits, they deny to the penitent the pardon of sins; they condemn widows, if they should marry, as adulteresses; they proclaim themselves cleaner than the rest. Yet if they were willing to acknowledge their own name, they would call themselves 'worldly' (mundani) rather than 'clean' (mundi). The Paulians arose from Paul of Samosata, who said that Christ did not always exist, but took his beginning from Mary. The Hermogenians are called from a certain Hermogenes, who, introducing unbegotten matter, compared it to the unbegotten God, and asserted it to be the mother and goddess of the elements; whom the Apostle reproves as serving the elements.

The Manichaeans arose from a certain Persian who was called Manes. He introduced two natures and substances, that is, a good and an evil one, and asserted that souls flow forth from God as from some fountain. They reject the Old Testament; the New they receive in part. The Anthropomorphites are so called because, with rustic simplicity, they think that God has human members, which are written in the divine books; for 'anthropos' in Greek means in Latin 'man': not knowing the word of the Lord, who says (John 4:24): 'God is a Spirit.' For He is incorporeal, and is not distinguished by members, nor reckoned by any mass of body. The Heraclites arose from Heraclius their author. They receive only monks, they reject marriages, they do not believe that little children have the kingdom of heaven.

The Novatians arose from Novatus, a presbyter of the city of Rome, who, attempting to seize the priestly chair against Cornelius, established a heresy, unwilling to receive apostates, and rebaptizing the baptized. The Montani (Montanists) are so called as heretics because in the time of persecution they hid in the mountains; on which occasion they divided themselves from the body of the Catholic Church. The Ebionites are named from Ebion. These are half-Jews, and so hold the Gospel that they keep the Law carnally: against whom the Apostle is found writing to the Galatians. The Photinians are named from Photinus, bishop of Sirmium in Gallograecia, who, reviving the heresy of the Ebionites, asserted that Christ was conceived by Mary through Joseph by nuptial intercourse. The Aeriani are named from a certain Aerius.

These scorn to offer sacrifice for the dead. The Aetians are called from Aetius. The same are also the Eunomians, from a certain Eunomius, a dialectician, a disciple of Aetius, from whose name they became better known: asserting the Son to be unlike the Father, and the Holy Spirit unlike the Son. They say also that no sin is imputed to those remaining in the faith. The Origenians arose from Origen their author, saying that the Son cannot see the Father, nor the Holy Spirit the Son. They say also that souls sinned in the beginning of the world, and that, according to the diversity of their sins, they merited from the heavens down to the earth diverse bodies as it were chains, and that for this cause the world was made.

The Noetians are called from a certain Noetus, who said that Christ was the same as both the Father and the Holy Spirit, and they receive the Trinity itself as being in the names of offices, not in persons. Whence they are also called Patripassians, because they say that the Father suffered. The Sabellians are said to have sprouted from the same Noetus, whose disciple they report to have been Sabellius, from whose name they became especially known; whence too they were called Sabellians. These maintain one person of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Arians arose from Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, who, not acknowledging the Son to be co-eternal with the Father, asserted diverse substances in the Trinity, against that which the Lord says (John 10:30):

'I and the Father are one.' The Macedonians are called from Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople, denying the Holy Spirit to be God. The Apollinarists are called from Apollinaris, saying that Christ took only a body without a soul. The Antidicomarites are so called because they contradict the virginity of Mary, asserting that after Christ was born she had intercourse with her husband. The Metangismonites received such a name because 'angos' in Greek means 'vessel.' For they assert that the Son is in the Father just as a smaller vessel within a larger vessel. The Patricians are named from a certain Patricius, who say that the substance of human flesh was founded by the devil.

The Coluthians are named from a certain Coluthus, who say that God does not make evils, against that which is written (Isa. 45:7): 'I am God, creating evils.' The Florians, from Florinus, who, on the contrary, say that God created evilly, against that which is written (Gen. 1:31): 'God made all things good.' The Donatists are named from a certain Donatus, an African, who, coming from Numidia, deceived almost all of Africa by his persuasion, asserting the Son to be lesser than the Father, and the Holy Spirit lesser than the Son, and rebaptizing Catholics. The Bonosiaci are reported to have arisen from a certain bishop Bonosus, who assert Christ to be the adoptive, not the proper, Son of God. The Circumcellions are so called because they are rustics, whom they call 'Cotopitae,' holding the doctrine of the aforesaid heresy.

These, for love of martyrdom, kill themselves, so that, departing violently from this life, they may be named martyrs. The Priscillianists are called from Priscillian, who in Spain composed a doctrine mingled from the error of the Gnostics and Manichaeans. The Luciferians arose from Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, who, condemning the Catholic bishops who under the persecution of Constantius had consented to the perfidy of the Arians, and afterward, being corrected, chose to return to the Catholic Church—whether for what they believed, or for what they had pretended to believe; whom the Catholic Church received into her maternal bosom, like Peter after the weeping of his denial.

But they, receiving this love of their mother proudly, and unwilling to receive them, withdrew from the communion of the Church, and with Lucifer himself, their author, who rose in the morning, they merited to fall. The Jovinianists are called from a certain Jovinian, a monk, asserting that there is no difference between married women and virgins, and no distinction between those who abstain and those who simply feast. The Elvidians are named from Elvidius, who say that after Christ was born Mary bore other sons by her husband Joseph. The Paternians arose from a certain Paternus, who suppose that the lower parts of the body were made by the devil. The Arabici are so named because they arose in Arabia, saying that the soul dies with the body, and that at the last both rise again.

The Tertullianists are called from Tertullian, a presbyter of the African province, of the city of Carthage, who preach that the soul is immortal but corporeal, and think that the souls of sinful men after death are turned into demons. The Tessarescaedecatitae are so called because they contend that Pascha (Easter) is to be observed on the fourteenth moon together with the Jews. For 'tessares' means 'four,' and 'deka' means 'ten.' The Nyctages are named from sleep, because they reject the vigils of the night, saying that it is superstition to violate the divine ordinances of Him who granted the night for rest. The Pelagians arose from Pelagius, a monk. These set free will before divine grace, saying that the will suffices for fulfilling the divine commands.

The Nestorians are named from Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who asserted the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother not of God, but only of a man, so as to make one person of the flesh and another of the Deity: nor did he believe in one Christ in the Word of God and in flesh, but preached separately and distinctly one Son of God and another Son of man. The Eutychians are called from Eutyches, an abbot of Constantinople, who denied that Christ, after the assumption of humanity, consisted of two natures, but asserted that only the divine nature was in Him. The Acephali are so called, that is, 'without a head,' whom the heretics follow. For no founder of theirs is found, from whom they arose.

These, the impugners of the three Chalcedonian chapters, deny the property of the two substances in Christ, and preach one nature in His person. The Theodosians and Gaianites are called from Theodosius and Gaianus, who in the times of the emperor Justinian were, by the choice of a perverse populace, ordained bishops in Alexandria on one and the same day. These, following the errors of Eutyches and Dioscorus, reject the Council of Chalcedon: they assert one nature in Christ out of two, which the Theodosians contend to be corruptible, the Gaianites incorruptible. The Agnoetae and Tritheites arose from the Theodosians;

of whom the Agnoetae are named from 'ignorance' (ignorantia), because to the perversity from which they arose they add this, that the divinity of Christ is ignorant of things to come, which are written concerning the last day and hour, not remembering the person of Christ speaking in Isaiah (63:4): 'The day of judgment is in my heart.' But the Tritheites are so called because, just as they hold three persons in the Trinity, so also they contend that there are three Gods, against that which is written (Deut. 6:4): 'Hear, O Israel; the Lord thy God is one God.' There are also other heresies without a founder and without names: of which some think God to be threefold; some say the divinity of Christ to be passible; some give a beginning of time to the nativity of Christ from the Father;

some do [not] believe that the liberation of men in the netherworld was accomplished by Christ's descent; some deny that the soul is the image of God; some suppose that souls are turned into demons and into any sort of animals; some dissent about the state of the world; some think there are innumerable worlds; some make water co-eternal with God; some walk with bare feet; some do not eat with men. These are the heresies which have arisen against the Catholic faith, and have been condemned beforehand both by the Apostles and by the holy Fathers or Councils: which, though divided among themselves in many errors and dissenting one from another, nevertheless conspire under a common name against the Church of God.

But whoever also understands Holy Scripture otherwise than the sense of the Holy Spirit demands, by whom it was written, although he has not withdrawn from the Church, may nevertheless be called a heretic. VI. ON THE PHILOSOPHERS OF THE GENTILES. Philosophers are called by a Greek name, who in Latin are interpreted 'lovers of wisdom.' For a philosopher is one who has knowledge of things divine and human, and holds every path of living well. The name of philosophers is said to have first arisen from Pythagoras.

For whereas formerly the ancient Greeks used rather boastfully to call themselves 'sophists,' that is, wise men or teachers of wisdom, he, being asked what he professed, answered with a modest name that he was a philosopher, that is, a lover of wisdom, since to profess oneself wise seemed most arrogant. Thus thereafter it pleased posterity that, however great the learning in matters pertaining to wisdom by which anyone might seem to excel, whether to himself or to others, he should be called nothing but a philosopher. Now the philosophers themselves are divided into a threefold kind: for they are either Physicists, or Ethicists, or Logicians. They are called 'Physicists' because they treat of natures; for nature indeed in Greek is called 'physis.' 'Ethicists,' because they dispute concerning morals.

For 'morals' among the Greeks are called 'ethe.' But the 'Logicians,' because in nature and in morals they add reason; for reason in Greek is called 'logos.' Now these too were divided in their sects, some having names from their founders, as the Platonists, Epicureans, Pythagoreans; others from the places of their assemblies and stations, as the Peripatetics, Stoics, Academics. The Platonists are named from Plato the philosopher. These assert God to be the creator of souls, and angels the creators of bodies; they say that souls return through many cycles of years into diverse bodies. The Stoics are named from a place; for there was a portico at Athens, which they called 'poikile stoa' (the painted porch), on which were painted the deeds of the wise and the histories of brave men.

In this portico the wise men philosophized, from which they were also called Stoics; for in Greek a portico is called 'stoa.' Zeno first established this sect. These deny that anyone is made blessed without virtue. They assert that every sin is uniform, saying: 'He will be as guilty who has stolen straw as he who has stolen gold; he who has killed a diver-bird as he who has killed a horse. For it is not the creature that makes the crime, but the mind.' These also say that the soul perishes with the body. They deny that continence is a virtue. They affect eternal glory, though they confess that they themselves are not eternal. The Academics are named from Plato's villa, the Academy of Athens, where the same Plato used to teach. These think all things uncertain;

but, just as it must be confessed that many things are uncertain and hidden, which God willed to exceed the understanding of man, so nevertheless there are very many things which can both be grasped by the senses and comprehended by reason. Arcesilaus the Cyrenaic philosopher devised this sect; whose follower was Democritus, who said that, as in a deep well, such that there is no bottom, so truth lies hidden in obscurity. The Peripatetics are named from 'walking about' (deambulatio), because Aristotle their founder was accustomed to dispute while walking about. These say that a certain particle of the soul is eternal, but that for the rest it is in great part mortal. The Cynics are named from the uncleanness of their shamelessness.

For against human modesty it was their custom to come together with their wives openly in public, judging it lawful and honorable to lie openly with a wife, because marriage is lawful, publicly proclaiming that it should be done, like dogs in the streets or squares. Whence also from dogs, whose life they imitated, they drew their very name and appellation. The Epicureans are called from a certain Epicurus, a philosopher and lover of vanity, not of wisdom, whom even the philosophers themselves named 'a pig,' as one wallowing in carnal filth, asserting the pleasure of the body to be the highest good; who also said that the world is arranged or governed by no divine providence.

But he assigned the origin of things to atoms, that is, to indivisible and solid bodies, from whose chance collisions all things are born and have come into being. Moreover, they assert that God does nothing, and that all things consist of bodies, and that the soul is nothing other than a body. Hence he also said: 'I shall not be, once I am dead.' The Gymnosophists are said to philosophize naked throughout the shady wildernesses of India, wearing coverings only over their genitals. For the gymnasium was so named because young men used to exercise naked in the field, where they cover only their private parts. These also restrain themselves from begetting offspring. The Theologians, moreover, are the same as the Physicists. They are called Theologians because in their writings they spoke concerning God.

Their opinion stands as varied, as they inquired what God might be. For some, judging by bodily sense, said that this visible world composed of the four elements was God, as did Dionysius the Stoic. Others understood in a spiritual way that mind was God, as did Thales of Miletus. Some held it to be a soul dwelling within all things and full of light, as did Pythagoras. Some held God to be timeless and unchangeable, as did Plato. Some held him to be a mind set free, as did Cicero. Some held him to be both spirit and mind, as did Maro (Virgil). For they only found that God exists, but they did not set him forth as they found him, because they became vain in their thoughts. For saying that they were wise, they became fools. Likewise, the Platonists indeed assert that God is a caretaker, an arbiter, and a judge; the Epicureans, that he is idle and unemployed.

Concerning the world, the Platonists affirm that it is incorporeal; the Stoics, that it is corporeal; Epicurus derives it from atoms; Pythagoras from numbers; Heraclitus from fire. Hence Varro too calls fire the soul of the world, inasmuch as fire governs all things in the world just as the soul governs within us. How utterly vain! 'When it is within us,' he says, 'we exist; when it goes out, we die.' Therefore fire also, when it departs from the world through lightning flashes, causes the world to die. These errors of the philosophers have even introduced heresies into the Church. From them come the AEONS and I know not what forms; from them, in Arius, the Trinity of mere name; and in Valentinus, Platonic frenzy. From them comes Marcion's better God of tranquility, for it had come from the Stoics; and in order that the soul be said to perish, Epicurus is heeded;

and in order that the restoration of the flesh be denied, it is taken from the empty school of all the philosophers; and where matter is set equal to God, that is the doctrine of Zeno; and where anything is read about a fiery God, Heraclitus intervenes. The same subject matter is turned over among heretics and philosophers alike; the same reworkings are entangled together. VII. ON THE POETS. As to whence the poets got their name, Tranquillus (Suetonius) speaks thus (On the Poets 2): 'When men, having cast off their savagery, first began to have a plan of life and to know themselves and their gods, and had devised for themselves modest worship and the necessary speech, they contrived a magnificence for both, directed to the religion of their gods.

Therefore, just as they made temples more beautiful than their dwellings and images larger than their bodies, so also they thought their gods should be honored with a kind of more august eloquence, and they extolled their praises with more splendid words and more delightful rhythms. This kind of composition, because it is effected by a certain form, which is called POIOTES (quality), was named poema (poem), and its makers poetae (poets).' Varro is our authority that the vates (seers/bards) were so named from the force (vis) of the mind; or from weaving (viere) songs, that is, from bending, that is, from modulating them. And accordingly the poets were of old called vates in Latin, and their writings called prophecies (vaticinia), because they were moved in their writing by a certain force and, as it were, madness; or because they linked their words in measures, since the ancients used viere for 'to bind.'

Even those inspired by divine frenzy bore the same name, because they too uttered many things in verse. The lyric poets are so called APO TOU LEREIN, that is, from the variety of their songs; whence the lyre also gets its name. The tragic poets (tragoedi) are so called because in the beginning the prize for singers was a he-goat, which the Greeks call TRAGOS. Hence also Horace (Ars Poetica 220): 'He who contended in tragic song for a paltry he-goat.' Then thereafter the tragedians who followed attained great honor, excelling in the plots of their plays fashioned after the image of truth. The comic poets (comoedi) were so named either from the place, because they used to perform around the villages, which the Greeks call KOMAS, or from revelry (comisatio). For after their meal men used to come to hear them. But the comic poets recount the deeds of private persons;

whereas the tragic poets treat public affairs and the histories of kings. Likewise the subjects of the tragedians are drawn from mournful matters, those of the comedians from joyful matters. Now there are two kinds of comic poets, that is, the old and the new. The old, who were also jesters given to laughter, such as Plautus, Accius, Terence. The new, who are also called satirists, by whom vices are censured in general terms, such as Flaccus (Horace), Persius, Juvenal, and others. For these rebuke the transgressions of all people, nor did they shrink from describing every basest sort, nor from reproving anyone's sins and morals. Hence they are also depicted naked, because through them individual vices are laid bare. And they are called satirists (satirici), either because they are full of all eloquence, or from fullness and abundance (saturitas), for they speak of many matters at once;

or from that platter (lanx) which used to be brought to the temples of the heathen, laden with diverse kinds of fruits and produce; or the name is derived from the satyrs, who go unpunished for the things spoken in drunkenness. Certain poets, moreover, were called Theological, because they composed songs about the gods. The office of the poet lies in this: that the things which have truly been done he should transfer, transformed with a certain grace into other forms by oblique figurations. Hence Lucan too is for this reason not counted in the number of poets, because he seems to have composed histories, not a poem. Among the poets, moreover, there are said to be three styles of speaking: one in which the poet alone speaks, as in Virgil's books of the Georgics;

another, the dramatic, in which the poet nowhere speaks, as in comedies and tragedies; the third, the mixed, as in the Aeneid. For there both the poet and the characters brought on the stage speak. VIII. ON THE SIBYLS. Sibyls is the general name for all female seers in the Greek tongue. For SOS in the Aeolic dialect means 'gods,' and the Greeks call the mind BOULEN, as it were 'the mind of a god.' Accordingly, therefore, because they were wont to interpret the divine will to men, they were named Sibyls. For just as every prophesying man is called either a seer (vates) or a prophet, so every prophesying woman is called a Sibyl. This name comes from their office, not from the proper meaning of a word. Now, ten Sibyls are handed down by the most learned authors to have existed. Of these the first was from Persia;

the second, the Libyan; the third, the Delphic, born in the temple of Delphian Apollo, who prophesied before the Trojan wars and very many of whose verses Homer inserted into his work. The fourth, the Cimmerian in Italy; the fifth, the Erythraean, named Herophile, born in Babylon, who prophesied to the Greeks as they were making for Ilium that Troy would perish and that Homer would write falsehoods. She was called Erythraean because her songs were found on that same island. The sixth, the Samian, who was called Phemonoe, from the island of Samos, whence she took her surname. The seventh, the Cumaean, named Amalthea, who brought nine books to Tarquinius Priscus, in which the decrees of Rome were written. She is also the Cumaean of whom Virgil speaks (Eclogue 4.4): 'Now the last age of the Cumaean song has come.'

She was called Cumana from the city of Cumae, which is in Campania, and her tomb still remains in Sicily. The eighth, the Hellespontine, born in the Trojan territory, who is recorded to have lived in the times of Solon and Cyrus; the ninth, the Phrygian, who prophesied at Ancyra; the tenth, the Tiburtine, named Albunea. The songs of all these are made public, in which they are most manifestly proven to have written much concerning God and Christ and the nations. But the Erythraean is reckoned more celebrated and more noble than the rest. IX. ON THE MAGI. The first of the Magi was Zoroaster, king of the Bactrians, whom Ninus, king of the Assyrians, slew in battle; of whom Aristotle writes that two million verses composed by him are attested by the indexes of his volumes.

This art Democritus enlarged many ages later, at the time when Hippocrates too flourished in the discipline of medicine. Among the Assyrians, moreover, the magical arts are abundant, as Lucan testifies (6.427): 'Who could learn the deeds foretold in the entrails, who reveal them by birds, who watch the lightnings of heaven and scan the Assyrian stars with care?' And so this vanity of the magical arts, from the tradition of the wicked angels, prevailed throughout the whole world for very many ages. Through a certain knowledge of things to come and of the powers below and by their summoning, there were invented haruspicies, auguries, and those very things which are called oracles and necromancy.

Nor is it any wonder about the illusions of the Magi, whose arts of evildoing advanced so far that they even withstood Moses with very similar signs, turning rods into serpents and waters into blood. There is a report also of a certain most famous sorceress, Circe, who changed the companions of Ulysses into beasts. One reads too of the sacrifice which the Arcadians used to offer to their god Lycaeus, from which whoever partook were turned into the forms of beasts. From this it appears not at all doubtful what that noble poet writes concerning a certain woman who excelled in magical arts (Virgil, Aeneid 4.487): 'She,' he says, 'promises by her spells to loose the minds she wishes, but to send harsh cares upon others; to stay the water of a river and to turn the stars backward; she calls forth the ghosts of the night;

you will see the earth bellow beneath your feet, and the ash trees come down from the mountains.' What need is there of more, if it be lawful to believe, concerning the Witch of Endor, that she called forth the soul of the prophet Samuel from the hidden depths of the underworld and presented it to the sight of the living? — if indeed we are to believe that it was the soul of the prophet, and not some phantasmal illusion wrought by the deceit of Satan. Prudentius too speaks thus concerning Mercury (Against Symmachus 1.90): 'He is said, by taking up the governance of the rod, to have recalled extinguished souls into the light, but to have condemned others to death.' And a little after he adds: 'For to summon forth thin shapes by magic murmur, and cunningly to enchant the ashes of the tomb; likewise the baneful art knows how to despoil others of life.' The Magi are those who are commonly called malefici (evildoers) on account of the greatness of their crimes.

These also shake the elements, disturb the minds of men, and, without any draught of poison, kill by the mere violence of a spell. Hence Lucan (6.457): 'The mind, defiled by no gore of drunk poison, perishes when enchanted.' For, summoning demons, they dare to raise a wind, so that each may destroy his own enemies by evil arts. These also use blood and victims, and often handle the bodies of the dead. The necromancers are those by whose incantations the dead seem to be raised up to divine and to answer questions. For NECHROS in Greek means 'dead,' and MANTEIA is called 'divination'; and to consult these, blood is added to the corpse. For the demons are said to love blood.

And therefore, whenever necromancy is performed, gore is mixed with water, so that they may be more easily provoked by the gore of blood. The hydromancers (hydromantii) are named from water. For hydromancy is, in the inspection of water, to call forth the shades of demons and to see their images or illusions, and there to hear certain things from them, where, blood having been applied, they are said even to consult the powers below. This kind of divination is reported to have been brought from the Persians. Varro says that there are four kinds of divination: earth, water, air, and fire; hence they are called geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, and pyromancy. The divini (soothsayers) are so called as though 'full of god' (deo pleni); for they pretend that they are filled with divinity, and by a certain fraudulent cunning they guess future things for men. There are, moreover, two kinds of divination: art and frenzy.

The enchanters (incantatores) are so called who carry out their art by words. The soothsayers (arioli) are so named because they utter wicked prayers around the altars (aras) of idols and offer deadly sacrifices, and at those celebrations they receive the responses of demons. The soothsayers by entrails (haruspices) are named as though 'inspectors of hours' (horarum inspectores): for they observe days and hours in the conducting of business and works, and they take note of what a man ought to watch for at each several time. These also inspect the entrails of cattle and from them predict things to come. The augurs (augures) are those who attend to the flights and cries of birds and to other signs of things or unforeseen occurrences meeting men. The same are also the auspices (auspices); for auspices are the things which travelers observe on their journeys.

Now auspices are so named as though 'bird-watchings' (avium aspicia), and auguries as though 'bird-chatterings' (avium garria), that is, the voices and tongues of birds. Likewise augurium is as though 'bird-conduct' (avigerium), because the birds conduct it. There are, moreover, two kinds of auspices: one pertaining to the eyes, the other to the ears. To the eyes belongs the flight; to the ears the voice of birds. The pythonesses (pythonissae) are named from Pythian Apollo, because he was the author of divining. The astrologers (astrologi) are so called because they take auguries in the stars. The genethliaci (casters of nativities) are named on account of the consideration of the days of birth. For they describe the nativities of men according to the twelve signs of heaven, and by the course of the stars they attempt to predict the characters, deeds, and fortunes of those being born — that is, under what sort of sign each was born, or what outcome of life he has who is being born.

These are they who are commonly called Mathematici (astrologers); the Latins call this kind of superstition Constellationes, that is, the markings of the stars, how they stand when each person is born. But at first these same interpreters of the stars were called Magi, just as one reads about those who announced Christ's birth in the Gospel; afterward only the Mathematici bore this name. The knowledge of this art was permitted only up to the Gospel, so that, once Christ was brought forth, no one thereafter might interpret anyone's nativity from heaven. The horoscopists (horoscopi) are so called because they observe the hours of men's births under a dissimilar and diverse fate.

The lot-diviners (sortilegi) are those who, under the name of a feigned religion, profess the science of divination through certain things which they call 'the lots of the saints' (sanctorum sortes), or who promise things to come by the inspection of writings of any kind whatever. The salisatores (twitch-diviners) are so named because, when any parts whatever of their limbs twitch (salierint), they declare that this signifies to them something prosperous or sad thereafter. To all these things belong also the amulets of accursed remedies, which the art of physicians condemns — whether in incantations, or in written charms, or in whatever things to be hung and bound on. In all of which there is the art of demons, sprung from a certain pestilential fellowship of men and wicked angels.

Wherefore all these things are to be shunned by a Christian, and utterly to be repudiated, execrated, and condemned with every abhorrence. Now the Phrygians first invented the auguries of birds. But Mercury is said first to have invented the sleight-of-hand illusion (praestigium). And it is called praestigium because it constricts (praestringat) the keenness of the eyes. A certain Tages is said first to have handed down the art of haruspicy to the Etruscans. He dictated haruspicy from the entrails, and afterward did not appear. For it is told in fable that, while a certain peasant was plowing, this Tages suddenly sprang forth from the clods and dictated haruspicy, and on that same day he died. The Romans translated these books from the Etruscan tongue into their own. X. ON THE PAGANS. The pagans (pagani) are named from the country-districts (pagi) of the Athenians, where they arose.

For there, in rural places and country-districts, the heathen set up sacred groves and idols, and from such a beginning they obtained the name pagani. The gentiles are those who are without the law and have not yet believed. Now they are called gentiles because they are as they were begotten (geniti), that is, just as they came down in the flesh under sin — namely, serving idols and not yet reborn. Therefore they are at first named gentiles; these same are called Ethnici in Greek. Ethnici is translated from Greek into Latin as gentiles. For ETHOS in Greek means 'nation.' But after faith, those who believe from among the nations ought not to be called nations or gentiles; just as after faith one can no longer be called a Jew, as Paul the Apostle testifies, saying to those now Christians (1 Corinthians 12:2):

'Since when you were gentiles' — that is, unbelievers. The apostates (apostatae) are those who, after having received the baptism of Christ, return to the worship of idols and the defilement of sacrifices. It is, moreover, a Greek name. XI. ON THE GODS OF THE GENTILES. Those whom the pagans assert to be gods are handed down to have once been men, and after their death they began to be worshiped among their own people according to the life or merits of each — as in Egypt Isis, in Crete Jupiter (Jove), among the Moors Juba, among the Latins Faunus, among the Romans Quirinus. In the same way also, at Athens Minerva, at Samos Juno, at Paphos Venus, at Lemnos Vulcan, at Naxos Liber, at Delos Apollo. To their praises the poets also added, and by composing songs they raised them up to heaven.

For some of them are said to have brought forth the inventions of arts by their pursuit, as medicine by Aesculapius, smithcraft by Vulcan. From their activities, moreover, they are named — as Mercury, because he presides over merchandise (merces); Liber, from liberty (libertas). There were also certain brave men or founders of cities, at whose death the men who loved them fashioned images, so that they might have some solace from the contemplation of the likenesses. But little by little, at the persuasion of demons, this error crept in among their descendants, so that those whom the former had honored merely for the memory of their name, their successors thought to be gods and worshiped as such.

The use of images arose when, out of longing for the dead, portraits or effigies were set up, as though for those received into heaven; in whose stead the demons substituted themselves to be worshiped on earth, and persuaded the deceived and lost that sacrifice should be offered to them. Now images (simulacra) are named from likeness (similitudo), because by the hand of the craftsman, out of stone or some other material, they imitate the faces of those in whose honor they are fashioned. Therefore they are called simulacra either because they are similar (similia), or because they are simulated and feigned (simulata atque conficta); whence they are also false. And it is to be noted that this Latin word occurs among the Hebrews. For among them an idol or image is called Semel. The Jews say that Ishmael first made an image out of clay.

The gentiles, however, hold that Prometheus first fashioned an image of men out of clay, and that from him was born the art of fashioning images and statues. Hence the poets too figuratively feign that men were first made by him, on account of the effigies. Among the Greeks, moreover, was Cecrops, under whom the olive first sprang up on the citadel, and the city of the Athenians drew its name from the appellation of Minerva. He was the first of all to name Jupiter, discovered images, set up altars, and immolated victims — such things never before seen in Greece. Idolatry (idolatria) is interpreted as 'the servitude or worship of idols.' For LATREIA in Greek is called servitus (servitude) in Latin, which, insofar as it pertains to true religion, is owed to none but the one and only God.

As impious pride, whether of men or of demons, either commands or desires that this be rendered to itself, so pious humility, whether of men or of holy angels, refuses it when offered to itself, and points out him to whom it is owed. Now an idol (idolum) is an image which has been made and consecrated in human form, according to the interpretation of the word. For EIDOS in Greek denotes 'form,' and from it, by diminution, idolum is derived, which likewise makes 'a little form' (formula) among us. Therefore every form or little form demands to be called an idol. Hence idolatry is all attendance and servitude directed toward any idol whatsoever. But certain Latins, ignorant of Greek, ignorantly say that idolum took its name from deceit (dolus), because the devil introduced the worship due to the divine name upon the creature.

They say that the demons (daemones) are so called by the Greeks as though DAEMONES, that is, 'skilled' and 'knowing of things.' For they foreknow many future things, whence they are also wont to give certain responses. For there is in them a knowledge of things greater than in human weakness — partly by the keenness of a subtler sense, partly by the experience of a very long life, partly by angelic revelation at God's command. These thrive by the nature of aerial bodies. Before their transgression, indeed, they bore heavenly bodies. But having fallen, they were changed into an aerial quality, and they are not permitted to hold the purer spaces of that air, but these murky ones, which are for them as a prison until the time of judgment. These are the prevaricating angels, of whom the Devil is prince.

The Devil (Diabolus) is called in Hebrew 'flowing downward,' because he scorned to stand quiet on the summit of heaven, but, plunging downward by the weight of his pride, he fell. In Greek, moreover, diabolus is called 'accuser' (criminator), because either he refers to God the crimes into which he himself entices, or because he accuses the innocence of the elect with feigned crimes; whence in the Apocalypse it is said by an angelic voice (12:10): 'The accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.' Satan in Latin means 'adversary,' or 'transgressor.' For he himself is the adversary, who is the enemy of truth, and always strives to oppose the virtues of the saints.

He is also a transgressor, because, being made a prevaricator, he did not stand in the truth in which he was created. The same is also the tempter, because he demands to test the innocence of the just, as is written in Job. He is called Antichrist because he will come against Christ. Not, as certain simple people understand, is Antichrist so called because he will come before Christ, that is, that Christ should come after him. Not so; rather, Antichrist is so called in Greek, which in Latin is 'contrary to Christ' (contrarius Christo). For ANTI in Greek signifies 'against' (contra) in Latin. For he will falsely claim to be Christ when he comes; and there will be a struggle against him; and he will oppose the sacraments of Christ, so as to dissolve the Gospel of his truth.

For he will also attempt to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem and to restore all the ceremonies of the old law. But that man too is Antichrist who denies that Christ is God; for he is contrary to Christ. For all who go out from the Church and are cut off from the unity of faith are themselves also Antichrists. Bel is a Babylonian idol, which is interpreted 'old.' For this Belus was the father of Ninus, the first king of the Assyrians, whom some call Saturn; which name was afterward worshiped both among the Assyrians and among the Africans, whence in the Punic tongue Bal is called 'god.' Among the Assyrians, moreover, Bel is called, by a certain reasoning of their sacred rites, both Saturn and the Sun. Belphegor is interpreted 'the image of ignominy.'

For it was an idol of Moab, surnamed Baal, upon Mount Phegor, whom the Latins call Priapus, the god of gardens. He was from the city of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, from which he was driven out; and on account of the greatness of his virile member the Greeks transferred him into the number of their gods and consecrated him as the deity of gardens; whence he is also said to preside over gardens on account of their fruitfulness. Belzebub was an idol of Ekron, which is interpreted 'man of flies.' For Zebub is called 'fly.' Therefore this most filthy idol was called 'man of flies' on account of the foulness of idolatry, or on account of its uncleanness. Belial... (missing text).

Behemoth, from the Hebrew word, means in the Latin language 'animal,' because from the heights he fell to earthly things, and by his own desert was made like a brute animal. He is also Leviathan, that is, 'a serpent from the waters,' because he is tossed about in the sea of this world by his slippery cunning. Now Leviathan is interpreted 'their addition' (additamentum eorum). Of whom, namely, if not of the men on whom he once brought the guilt of transgression in paradise, and to whom, by daily persuasion, he adds or extends this even unto eternal death? Now the gentiles, through empty fables, attempt to draw certain names of their gods over to physical explanations, and they interpret them as being composed with reference to the elements.

But all this has been wholly invented by the poets, so that they might adorn their gods with certain figures, whom the histories confess to have been lost men, full of the infamy of disgrace. For there is entirely a place for fabrication where truth is lacking. Saturn is designated by the pagans as the origin of the gods and of all posterity. The Latins report that he was named from sowing (satus), as though the sowing of all things pertained to him; or from length of time, because he is sated (saturetur) with years. Hence the Greeks too say that he has the name Cronos, that is, 'time,' because he is said to have devoured his own sons — that is, the years which time produces, he rolls back into himself; or because the seeds return again to that place whence they arise. They say that he cut off the genitals of his father Caelus (Heaven), because nothing in heaven is born from seeds.

He holds a sickle, they say, either to signify agriculture, or on account of the years and seasons, because they return upon themselves, or on account of wisdom, because it is sharp within. In some cities, moreover, among the gentiles they used to immolate their own children to Saturn, because the poets handed down that Saturn was accustomed to devour his own children. Jupiter (Jovis) is said to be named from 'helping' (iuvando), and Iuppiter as though 'a helping father' (iuvans pater), that is, one bestowing on all. Him also they called by the private title Jove the Best (Iovem Optimum), though he was incestuous among his own kin and shameless among strangers. At one moment they feign him a bull on account of the rape of Europa (for he was on a ship whose emblem was a bull); at another, that he sought intercourse with Danae by a shower of gold — where it is understood that a woman's chastity was corrupted by gold:

at another, in the likeness of an eagle, because he seized a boy for defilement; at another, a serpent, because he crawled, and a swan, because he sang. And therefore these are not mere figures, but plainly crimes of real truth. Whence it was disgraceful to believe in such gods as men ought not to be. They call Janus as though the 'door' (ianua) of the world or of heaven or of the months; they give Janus two faces, on account of the East and the West. But when they make him four-faced and call him the twin Janus, they refer this to the four parts of the world, or to the four elements or seasons. But while they feign this, they make a monster, not a god. They proclaim Neptune to be the waters of the world; and he was called by them Neptune as though 'thundering through the cloud' (nube tonans). Vulcan they wish to be fire;

and he was called Vulcan as though 'flying brightness' (volans candor), or as though volicanus, because he flies through the air. For fire is born from the clouds. Whence Homer too says that he was hurled down from the air to the earth, because every thunderbolt falls from the air. And for this reason Vulcan is feigned to have been born from the thigh of Juno, because thunderbolts are born from the lower air. Vulcan is called lame (claudus) because by its nature fire is never straight, but has, as it were lame, a kind of appearance and motion of that sort. And they say that this same Vulcan is the author in the smiths' furnace, because without fire no kind of metal can be melted and wrought. Pluto in Greek is Diespiter or Ditis pater (father of wealth) in Latin, whom others call Orcus, as though 'the receiver of deaths' (receptor mortium). Whence a vessel that receives waters is also called an orca.

He himself in Greek is also Charon. They will have Liber named from 'liberation' (liberamentum), because, as it were, males in intercourse are freed (liberentur) by his favor when the seed is emitted; which same Liber is depicted with a womanly and delicate body. For they say that women were assigned to him, and wine, for the sake of arousing lust. Hence his brow too is girded with vine-shoots. But he has a crown of vine and a horn for this reason: because when wine is drunk with gratitude and moderation, it affords gladness; when beyond measure, it stirs up strifes — that is, it gives, as it were, horns. The same is also Lyaeus, APO TOU LUEIN (from loosing), because the limbs are loosed by much wine. He too in Greek is DIONYSOS, from Nysa, a mountain of India, where he is said to have been reared. Besides, there is also a city Nysa, in which this same Liber is worshiped, whence he was called Nysaeus.

Mercury they interpret as 'speech' (sermo). For Mercury is said to be named as though 'running in the middle' (medius currens), because speech runs in the middle among men. For this reason too he is ERMES in Greek, because speech, or interpretation — which certainly pertains to speech — is called ERMENEIA. For this reason too he presides over merchandise, because between sellers and buyers speech is made in the middle. He is feigned to have wings for this reason: because words run about the more swiftly. Whence he is brought in as swift and wandering; his wings on his head and on his feet signify that speech is made a winged thing through the air. He is called a messenger (nuntius) because through speech all thoughts are announced. And they call him the master of theft, because speech deceives the minds of hearers. He holds a rod, with which he divides serpents, that is, poisons.

For those at war and in discord are calmed by the speech of interpreters; whence, according to Livy, the ambassadors of peace are called heralds (caduceatores). For just as wars were declared through the fetials, so peace was made through the heralds. Hermes, moreover, in Greek is called APO TES ERMENEIAS, in Latin 'interpreter' (interpres); who, on account of his virtue and his knowledge of many arts, was named Trismegistus, that is, 'thrice greatest.' But as to why they feign him with a dog's head, this reason is given: because among all animals the dog is held to be a most sagacious and keen-sighted kind. They say that Mars is the god of war, and that Mars is so named because it is by men (viri) that battle is waged, so that Mars is mas (male); though there are also three kinds of custom — as of the Scythians, where both women and men go into battle; of the Amazons, where women alone go;

This is the custom of the Romans and other nations, where only males are present. Likewise Mars is understood as if he were the author of deaths (mortium), for from Mars death (mors) takes its name. They also call him an adulterer, because to those making war he is uncertain. And because he stands with bared breast, it signifies that each man should hurl himself into battle without dread of heart. Among the Thracians Mars is called Gradivus, either because those who fight advance a step (gradum) in war, or because they march briskly (inpigre gradiantur). As for Apollo, although they wished him to be a diviner and a physician, they nevertheless also called him the Sun, as it were 'alone' (solum). They called him Titan, as though one of the Titans who did not rise against Jupiter. They called him Phoebus, as if ephebus, that is, a youth. Hence the sun too is depicted as a boy, because it rises daily and is born with new light.

They say that the same Apollo is also called Pythius, from Python, a serpent of enormous bulk, whose venom terrified no more than its size. When Apollo laid it low with the blows of his arrows, he bore off the spoils of its name as well, so that he was called Pythius. Hence, as a mark of his victory, he appointed the Pythian rites to be celebrated. Likewise they say that Diana, his sister, is the moon and the guardian of ways. Hence too they hold her to be a virgin, because a way brings forth nothing. And therefore both are imagined to carry arrows, because those two heavenly bodies cast their rays from the sky all the way down to the earth. Diana was named as if Duana, because the moon appears both by day (die) and by night. They also assert her to be Lucina, because she gives light (luceat). They call the same one Trivia, because she is endowed with three forms.

Concerning her Virgil says (Aeneid 4,511): 'The three faces of the maiden Diana,' because the same one is called Luna, the same Diana, the same Proserpina. But when she is figured as the Moon, Prudentius (Against Symmachus 1,363) says: 'She shines in a faintly gleaming mantle.' When girt up she casts her reeds, she is the Latonian maiden; when she sits enthroned below, she is the Plutonian consort. She is called Latonia Diana because she was the daughter of Latona. Ceres, that is, the earth, they assert is named from the creating (creandis) of crops, calling her by very many names. They also call her Ops, because by cultivation (opere) the earth becomes better; Proserpina, because from her the crops creep forth (proserpiant); Vesta, because she is clothed (vestita) with herbs and various things, or from standing by her own force. They likewise imagine her as Tellus and the Great Mother, turreted, with a tambourine and a cock and the clamor of cymbals.

She is called Mother (Mater) because she brings forth very many things; Great (Magna) because she produces food; Nourishing (Alma) because she feeds all living creatures with her fruits. For the earth is the nurse of all nourishment. That her image is fashioned with a key signifies that the earth is closed in winter and opened in spring, so that the crops may come forth. That she has a tambourine, they wish to signify the orb of the earth. That she is said to ride in a chariot means that she herself is the earth which hangs in the air. That she is supported by wheels means that the world revolves and is ever-turning. That they place tame lions beneath her is to show that no kind of thing is so wild that it cannot be tamed or overcome by her. That she wears a turreted crown upon her head shows that the cities set upon the earth stand out, as it were marked out by their towers.

That seats are imagined around her means that, although all things are moved, she herself is not moved. That her ministers the Corybantes are imagined to be with drawn swords is to signify that all men ought to fight for their own land. That they made the galli serve this goddess signifies that those who lack seed ought to follow the earth; for in her indeed they find all things. That they leap about before her is a precept, they say, that those who till the earth should not sit idle, for there is always something to be done. And the sound of the cymbals is the clashing of iron implements in cultivating the field; but they are of bronze because the ancients tilled the earth with bronze before iron was discovered.