Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VI/Arnobius/Adversus Gentes/Book II/Chapter XLII

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Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VI, Adversus Gentes, Book II
by Arnobius, translated by Hamilton Bryce and Hugh Campbell

Chapter XLII

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158771Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VI, Adversus Gentes, Book II — Chapter XLIIHamilton Bryce and Hugh CampbellArnobius

42. Was it for this He sent souls, that some should infest the highways and roads,^[1] others ensnare the unwary, forge^[2] false wills, prepare poisoned draughts; that they should break open houses by night, tamper with slaves, steal and drive away, not act uprightly, and betray their trust perfidiously; that they should strike out delicate dainties for the palate; that in cooking fowls they should know how to catch the fat as it drips; that they should make cracknels and sausages,^[3] force-meats, tit-bits, Lucanian sausages, with these^[4] a sow’s udder and iced^[5] puddings? Was it for this He sent souls, that beings^[6] of a sacred and august race should here practise singing and piping; that they should swell out their cheeks in blowing the flute; that they should take the lead in singing impure songs, and raising the loud din of the castanets,^[7] by which another crowd of souls should be led in their wantonness to abandon themselves to clumsy motions, to dance and sing, form rings of dancers, and finally, raising their haunches and hips, float along with a tremulous motion of the loins?

Was it for this He sent souls, that in men they should become impure, in women harlots, players on the triangle^[8] and psaltery; that they should prostitute their bodies for hire, should abandon themselves to the lust of all,^[9] ready in the brothels, to be met with in the stews,^[10] ready to submit to anything, prepared to do violence to their mouth even?^[11]

Footnotes

↑ Lit., “passages of ways.”
↑ Lit., “substitute.”
↑ So the later edd., reading botulos; the ms. and early edd. give boletos—“mushrooms.”
↑ For his, Heinsius proposes hiris—“with the intestines.”
↑ Lit., “in a frozen condition.” As to the meaning of this there is difference of opinion: some supposing that it means, as above, preserved by means of ice, or at least frozen; while others interpret figuratively, “as hard as ice.” [Our Scottish translators have used their local word, “iced haggises:” I have put puddings instead, which gives us, at least, an idea of something edible. To an American, what is iced conveys the idea of a drink. The budinarius, heretofore noted, probably made these iced saucisses.]
↑ Lit., “things”—res.
↑ Scabilla were a kind of rattles or castanets moved by the feet.
↑ Sambuca, not corresponding to the modern triangle, but a stringed instrument of that shape. Its notes were shrill and disagreeable, and those who played on it of indifferent character.
↑ So the ms. and first four edd., reading virilitatem sui populo publicarent. Meursius emended utilitatem—“made common the use,” etc.; and Orelli, from the margin of Ursinus, vilitatem—“their vileness.”
↑ The ms. reads in fornicibus obvi-t-ae, which, dropping t, is the reading translated, and was received by Elmenhorst, LB., and Hildebrand, from the margin of Ursinus. The other edd. insert nc before t—“bound.”
↑ The translation does not attempt to bring out the force of the words ad oris stuprum paratæ, which are read by Orelli after Ursinus and Gelenius. The text is so corrupt, and the subject so obscene, that a bare reference to the practice may be sufficient.

[1] Lit., “passages of ways.”

[2] Lit., “substitute.”

[3] So the later edd., reading botulos; the ms. and early edd. give boletos—“mushrooms.”

[4] For his, Heinsius proposes hiris—“with the intestines.”

[5] Lit., “in a frozen condition.” As to the meaning of this there is difference of opinion: some supposing that it means, as above, preserved by means of ice, or at least frozen; while others interpret figuratively, “as hard as ice.” [Our Scottish translators have used their local word, “iced haggises:” I have put puddings instead, which gives us, at least, an idea of something edible. To an American, what is iced conveys the idea of a drink. The budinarius, heretofore noted, probably made these iced saucisses.]

[6] Lit., “things”—res.

[7] Scabilla were a kind of rattles or castanets moved by the feet.

[8] Sambuca, not corresponding to the modern triangle, but a stringed instrument of that shape. Its notes were shrill and disagreeable, and those who played on it of indifferent character.

[9] So the ms. and first four edd., reading virilitatem sui populo publicarent. Meursius emended utilitatem—“made common the use,” etc.; and Orelli, from the margin of Ursinus, vilitatem—“their vileness.”

[10] The ms. reads in fornicibus obvi-t-ae, which, dropping t, is the reading translated, and was received by Elmenhorst, LB., and Hildebrand, from the margin of Ursinus. The other edd. insert nc before t—“bound.”

[11] The translation does not attempt to bring out the force of the words ad oris stuprum paratæ, which are read by Orelli after Ursinus and Gelenius. The text is so corrupt, and the subject so obscene, that a bare reference to the practice may be sufficient.

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