City of God (Penguin Classics) (187 page)

91
. 88
B.C
., Liv.,
Perioch.
, 78; App.,
De Bell. Mithr.
, 22. Mithridates (d. 63
B.C
.) was king of Pontius, but threatened to acquire much of Asia Minor, and even invaded Greece. Sulla drove him from Greece; Lucullus and Pompey defeated him in Asia.

92
. 90
B.C
.

93
. cf. Jul. Obs, Prod, 114; Oros. 5, 18, 9.

94
.
Tiberius Gracchus
when tribune in 133
B.C
. brought forward proposals for land reform. He was killed in a riot when seeking re-election. His brother Gains, tribune 125, and again in 122, re-enacted his brother’s proposals and proceeded to further liberal measures. He was killed in 121, after the
senatus consultum ultimum
had been passed against him and his supporters. L. Opimius, consul 121, was one of the leaders of the reactionary opposition to
c
. Gracchus, and in 120 he was accused of the massacre of many citizens, but acquitted (Cic,
De Or
., 2, 25, 106). Gracchus was actually killed by a faithful slave, Fhilocrates. His head was sold to Opimius by a certain Septimuleius, according to Plutarch (
C. Gracchus
, 17). M. Pulvius, consul 125, was a friend of the Gracchi.

95
.
Concord.
There was more than one temple of Concord in Rome. The dedication of the temple by Opimius is attested by Appian,
De Bell. Civ
., 1, 26.

96
. cf. Bk II.

97
. cf. Bk II, 14.

98
.
L. Apulcius Saturninus
, tribune 103 and 100
B.C
., and
Gn. Servilius Glau-cia
, praetor 100
B.C
., were extremist supporters of Marius. A
senatus consultum ultimum
declared them public enemies and they were killed in December 100
B.C
.

99
. Only 9 years. Perhaps the reading should be ‘not long afterwards’.

100
. M.
Livius Drusus
, tribune 91
B.C
., proposed the enfranchisement of the Italian allies. He was assassinated; and the failure of his proposals, and hismurder, lead to the
Social War
in 90
B.C
.

101
.
The Civil Wars
started with the war between Marius and Sulla 88–82
B.C
.

The Servile War
, led by the gladiators under Spartacus, lasted from 73–71
B.C
. There were slave wars in Sicily 135–132 and 103–101
B.C
.

102
. The pirates were finally eradicated by Pompey in 67
B.C
.

103
.
Cat
, 3, 10.

104
.
Phars
., 2, 142–4.

105
. In 88
B.C
. the command of the war against Mithridates was given by the senate to Sulla; but the Marian party got it transferred to Marius. Sulla marched on Rome, and Marius fled. But after Sulla’s departure for the East Marius returned with Cinna in 87
B.C
., and proceeded to a massacre of his opponents.
c
. Octavius,’consul in 87
B.C
., was one of the first victims. L. Caesar, consul in 90
B.C
., and his brother
c
. Caesar Strabo, a noted orator, were also put to death. F. Crassus, father of the triumvir, committed suicide in the same year, after the murder of one of his sons. Baebius and Numitorius were members of the Sullan party. Q. Lutatius Catulus is generally reported to have killed himself by inhaling the carbon monoxide from a charcoal brazier, and Merula killed himself in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

Condemned criminals were sometimes dragged by hooks to be thrown into the Tiber; cf. Cic,
Philip
, 1, 2, 5;
Pro Rabir
, 5,16, and Juvenal, 10, 66 (the treatment of the corpse of Sejanus).

106
.82
B.C
.

107
. The younger Marius and Gn. Papirius Carbo were consuls in 82
B.C
. Carbo lead the Marian Party after Cinna’s death in 84
B.C
.

108
. Q. Mucius
Scaevóla
, consul in 95. A great jurist, author of an immense work (eighteen books) on civil law, he is highly praised by Cicero (
De Or
., 1, 39. 180).

109
. 390
B.C
.

110
.
A.D
. 410.

111
. Q. Sertorius, a leader of the popular party after Sulla’s victory. Invited in 80
B.C
. to lead the revolted Lusitanians, he organized a Spanish army and defied the senatorial forces until 72, when he was murdered by one of his lieutenants.

112
.
L
. Sergtus
Catilina
, an impoverished noble, gathered a band of other desperate characters in 65
B.C
. intending a general massacre and revolution. This plot failing, he stood for the consulship in 64, but was defeated. In 63 came the ‘second conspiracy’ of Catiline, crushed by Cicero as consul. Catiline fled and was defeated and killed in battle.

113
. M.
Acmilius Lepidus
, consul 78
B.C
., attempted a military coup, intending to annul Sulla’s measures; but he was defeated in battle near the Janiculum by the forces of the other consul, Q.
Lutatius Catulus
, the leader of the senatorial nobility.

114
. Virg.,
Aen
., 1, 416.

115
. cf. ch. 28.

116
. cf. Bk I, 1.

117
. cf. Oros., 5, 15 (Orosius says tribute was remitted for ten years).

118
. Liv.,
Perioch
., 40.

119
. Numidia.

1
. Bk II, 4;
Conf
., 1, 10; 3, 2.

2
. cf. Bk III, 4 n.

3
.
L. Apuleius Afer: (fi. c
.
A.D
. 150): born in Numidia. His best known work is the satirical romance, the
Metamorphoses
, generally known as
The Golden Ass
; but he was also a professor of rhetoric and philosophy. He wrote a treatise,
De Platonis Dogmate
, and another,
De Deo Socratis
, dealing with the Platonic (or Neoplatonic) doctrine of the Deity and of the demons, the subordinate supernatural powers. This last is extensively quoted and discussed by St Augustine in the
City of God
.

4
.
De Mundo
, 34 (inexactly quoted).

5
. Bk I, 36.

6
. Matt 5, 45.

7
.
The slave of vices:
a Stoic sentiment; cf. Seneca.,
Ep
., 47, 17: ‘He is a slave. Is he any the worse off for that? Show me any man who is not a slave! One manis the slave of lust, another of greed, another of ambition; and all men are theslaves of fear… and the most degraded slavery is that which is self-imposed.’

8
. 2 Pet. 2, 19.

9
. Cic.,
De Rep
., 3, 14, 24.

10
. cf. Bk III, 26.

11
. Spartacus, Oenomaus, Crixus.

12
. 73–71
B.C
.

13
.
Justinus
(second or third century
A.D
.) abridged the
Universal History
of Trogus Pompeius (
fl
, under Augustus) which started with the foundation of Nineveh and came down to his own time. His source for Assyrian history was Ctesias, a Greek physician at the Persian court in the early fourth century.

Ninus
is legendary, his supposed date being
c
. 2000
B.C
. The foundation of Babylon was attributed to his widow, Semiramis. The rise of Assyrian power began in fact
c
. 1500.

14
. cf. Euseb-Hier.,
Chronic
., (ed. Helm) p. 83a,
9f
.

15
. Fall of Nineveh, 612
B.C
.

16
. Capture of Babylon by Cyrus, 538
B.C
.

17
. 336–323
B.C
.

18
. cf. Bk II, 17; Bk III, 17.

19
. Most of those ‘tiny gods’ were vaguely conceived ‘powers’ (
numina
) invoked for various particular functions, and only a few enjoyed anything like a cult. Some of them are merely names to us, and no doubt they were little more than that to the pagans of
St
Augustine’s time. The purpose of St Augustine’s elaborate irony is to combat the sentimental nostalgia for the old days of paganism.

20
.
Cloacina (Cluocina)
: a title of Venus rather than the name of a distinct deity. It derives from
cluare
, ‘to purify’; but St Augustine takes it as meaning the goddess of the sewer (
cloaca
).

Volupia
: personification of pleasure. Varro mentions her shrine (
De Ling. Lat
., 5, 164).

Lubentina
: personification of sensual pleasure. Cicero speaks of
Lubentina Venus
(
De Nat. Deor
., 2, 23, 61).

Vaticanus:
Augustine’s derivation is, as often, fantastic; but Varro is responsible for it (Gell., 16, 17).
Cunina
is mentioned by Varro.
Rusina
is unknown.

Iugatinus
is unknown: (a deity of the same name appears in ch. IV; Bk VI, 9).

Collatina, Vallonia
, are unknown;
Segetta
appears as
Segesta
in Pliny;
Seia
occurs in Macrobius and Pliny;
Tutiltna
is mentioned by Varro, without attribution of function.

Proserpina:
her function assumes a derivation from
pro-serpere
, ‘to creep forth’. Varro (
De Ling. Lat
., 5, 68) gives another meaning to this derivation (‘because, like a serpent, she sways now to the right, now to the left’). The cult of Proserpina (with Dis) was started in 249, during the first Punic War.

Nodutus, Vplutina,
Hostilina, Lacturnus
are unknown.

Patelana
is mentioned by Arnobius (Adv. Gent, 4,7).

Flora
: cf. Bk II, 27.

Matuta
: cf. Bk XVII, 14. She appears in Lucretius (5, 654) as goddess of the dawn, identified with Aurora. As ‘Mother Matuta’ she had a festival of mothers, the
Motralia
, at Rome on 11 June (Ovid,
Fast
., 6,479).
Runcina
appears only here.

Forculus, Cardea
(
Cardia
in Ovid,
Fast
., 6, 101),
Limentinus
are mentioned elsewhere, but with no information about them.

21
. The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

22
. Virg.,
Ecl
., 3, 60.

23
. cf. ch. 31.

24
. Virg.,
Aen
., 1, 47.

25
.
Jupiter in the ether
. The identification of Zeus with the upper air (aether), is found in two fragments of Euripides: ‘This ether which extends without limit in the height of heaven, this is Zeus’ (Frag. 941); ‘The ether, which men call Zeus’ (Frag. 877).

26
. cf. Bk VII, 22.

27
. cf. Bk VII, 19. Saturn is identified with the Greek Cronos, whose name was supposed to be derived from
chronos
, ‘time’. (Cic,
De Nat Dear
., 2, 25, 64.)

28
.
Georg
., 2, 325ff.

29
. cf. Bk VII, 23.

30
.
Vesta
: Ovid, (
Fast
., 6, 299) gives a curious etymology: ‘The earth stands by its own power; Vesta gets her name because of standing with power (
vi stando
).’ There seems to be no evidence for the equation Vesta = Venus; cf. Bk VII, 24II.