Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VI/Arnobius/Adversus Gentes/Book VII/Chapter XXIV

by Arnobius

24. Be it so; let it be conceded that these most unfortunate cattle are not sacrificed in the temples of the gods without some religious obligation, and that what has been done in accordance with usage and custom possesses some rational ground: but if it seems a great and grand thing to slay bulls to the gods, and to burn in sacrifice the flesh of animals whole and entire, what is the meaning of these relics connected with the arts of the Magi which the pontifical mysteries have restored to a place among the secret laws of the sacred rites, and have mixed up with religious affairs? What, I say, is the meaning of these things, apexaones, hirciæ, silicernia, longavi, which are names and kinds of sausages,^[1] some stuffed with goats’ blood,^[2] others with minced liver? What is the meaning of tædæ, uæniæ, offæ, not those used by the common people, but those named and called offæ penitæ?—of which the first^[3] is fat cut into very small pieces, as dainties^[4] are; that which has been placed second is the extension of the gut by which the excrements are given off after being drained of all their nourishing juices; while the offa penita is a beast’s tail cut off with a morsel of flesh. What is the meaning of polimina, omenta, palasea, or, as some call it, plasea?—of which that named omentum is a certain part enclosed by the reservoirs of the belly are kept within bounds; the plasea is an ox’s tail^[5] besmeared with flour and blood; the polimina, again, are those parts which we with more decency call proles,—by the vulgar, however, they are usually termed testes. What is the meaning of fitilla, frumen, africia, gratilla, catumeum, cumspolium, cubula?—of which the first two are names of species of pottage, but differing in kind and quality; while the series of names which follows denotes consecrated cakes, for they are not shaped in one and the same way. For we do not choose to mention the caro strebula which is taken from the haunches of bulls, the roasted pieces of meat which are spitted, the intestines first heated, and baked on glowing coals, nor, finally, the pickles^[6] which are made by mixing four kinds of fruit. In like manner, we do not choose to mention the fendicæ, which also are the hiræ,^[7] which the language of the mob, when it speaks, usually terms ilia;^[8] nor, in the same way, the ærumnæ,^[9] which are the first part of the gullet,^[10] where ruminating animals are accustomed to send down their food and bring it back again; nor the magmenta,^[11] augmina, and thousand other kinds of sausages or pottages which you have given unintelligible names to, and have caused to be more revered by common people.

Footnotes

1. So the edd., reading farciminumfor the ms. facinorum, corrected by Hild. fartorum—“of stuffings.” Throughout this passage hardly one of the names of these sacrificial dainties is generally agreed upon; as many are met with nowhere else, the ms. has been adhered to strictly.
2. i.e., probably the hirciæ: of the others, silicernia seem to have been put on the table at funerals.
3. i.e., tæda.
4. So Salmasius and Meursius corrected the ms. catillaminu-a-m by omitting a.
5. i.e., tail-piece.
6. Salsamina, by which is perhaps meant the grits and salt cast on the victim; but if so, Arnobius is at variance with Servius (Virgil, Ecl., viii. 81), who expressly states that these were of spelt mixed only with salt; while there is no trace elsewhere of a different usage.
7. The first four edd. retain the unintelligible ms. diræ.
8. i.e., the entrails. The ms., first four edd., and Elm. read illa.
9. So the ms., LB., Oberthür, Orelli, Hild., and Oehler; but ærumnæ is found in no other passage with this meaning.
10. Lit., “first heads in gullets.”
11. By this, and the word which follows, we know from the etymology that “offerings” to the gods must be meant, but we know nothing more.