Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

2298

Cicero, On Laws, 2.47

nan But, unhappily, our lawyers, whether for the sake of raising casuistry (erroris objiciendi causa) in order that they may seem to know more difficult points than they really understand -- or whether, as most likely, through ignorance of the art of teaching and conveying instruction (for it is one thing to know an art, and another to teach it) our lawyers, I say, often divide a legal doctrine, which is essentially simple, into an infinite variety of technical distinctions, (saepe quod positum est in una cognitione, id in infinita dispartiuntur). With relation to our present topic, for instance, what a wonderful cloud of sophistries has been raised by the two Scaevolas, pontiffs both equally skilful in law! Often, says Publius the son, have I heard from my father, that no one can make a good pontiff, unless he understands the civil law. What, the whole of it? Why so? What in the world has a pontiff to do with the rights of partition walls, aqueducts, etc. Or does he mean only that part of the civil law which is connected with ecclesiastical polity? But how inconsiderable is this, with the exception of certain sacrifices, vows, holidays, burials, and things of that kind. Why then should we make these of so much importance, when the others are so insignificant? Concerning those sacrifices, however, which have a more extensive relation to jurisprudence, we may pronounce this sentence: let them be preserved perpetually, -- and let them pass by succession through families, so that, as I have stated in my maxim, the sacred rites may be constant.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

10 results
1. Cicero, Academica, 2.104, 2.108 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
2. Cicero, On Laws, 1.23, 2.5, 2.17, 2.19-2.22, 2.25-2.46, 2.48-2.69 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
3. Cicero, On The Nature of The Gods, 2.2, 2.168, 3.6 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 2.2. For my part," rejoined Balbus, "I had rather listen to Cotta again, using the same eloquence that he employed in abolishing false gods to present a picture of the true ones. A philosopher, a pontiff and a Cotta should possess not a shifting and unsettled conception of the immortal gods, like the Academics, but a firm and definite one like our school. As for refuting Epicurus, that has been accomplished and more than achieved already. But I am eager to hear what you think yourself, Cotta." "Have you forgotten," said Cotta, "what I said at the outset, that I find it more easy, especially on such subjects as these, to say what I don't think than what I do? 2.168. These are more or less the things that occurred to me which I thought proper to be said upon the subject of the nature of the gods. And for your part, Cotta, would you but listen to me, you would plead the same cause, and reflect that you are a leading citizen and a pontife, and you would take advantage of the liberty enjoyed by your school of arguing both pro and contra to choose to espouse my side, and preferably to devote to this purpose those powers of eloquence which your rhetorical exercises have bestowed upon you and which the Academy has fostered. For the habit of arguing in support of atheism, whether it be done from conviction or in pretence, is a wicked and impious practice. 3.6. There, Balbus, is the opinion of a Cotta and a pontife; now oblige me by letting me know yours. You are a philosopher, and I ought to receive from you a proof of your religion, whereas I must believe the word of our ancestors even without proof." "What proof then do you require of me, Cotta?" replied Balbus. "You divided your discourse under four heads," said Cotta; "first you designed to prove the existence of the gods; secondly, to describe their nature; thirdly, to show that the world is governed by them; and lastly, that they care for the welfare of men. These, if I remember rightly, were the headings that you laid down." "You are quite right," said Balbus; "but now tell me what it is that you want to know.
4. Livy, History, 9.29.10 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
5. Lucretius Carus, On The Nature of Things, 2.251-2.293, 4.877-4.891 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
6. Ovid, Fasti, 4.637-4.640 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 4.637. But when the priests have torn the calves from their mother’s womb 4.638. And thrown the slashed entrails on the smoking hearth 4.639. The oldest Vestal burns the dead calves in the fire 4.640. So their ashes can purge the people on the day of Pales.
7. Vergil, Aeneis, 7.45-7.101, 12.777-12.783, 12.786 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 7.46. Hail, Erato! while olden kings and thrones 7.47. and all their sequent story I unfold! 7.48. How Latium 's honor stood, when alien ships 7.49. brought war to Italy, and from what cause 7.50. the primal conflict sprang, O goddess, breathe 7.51. upon thy bard in song. Dread wars I tell 7.52. array of battle, and high-hearted kings 7.53. thrust forth to perish, when Etruria's host 7.54. and all Hesperia gathered to the fray. 7.55. Events of grander march impel my song 7.56. and loftier task I try. Latinus, then 7.57. an aged king, held long-accepted sway 7.58. o'er tranquil vales and towns. He was the son 7.59. of Faunus, so the legend tells, who wed 7.60. the nymph Marica of Laurentian stem. 7.61. Picus was Faunus' father, whence the line 7.62. to Saturn's Ioins ascends. O heavenly sire 7.63. from thee the stem began! But Fate had given 7.64. to King Latinus' body no heirs male: 7.65. for taken in the dawning of his day 7.66. his only son had been; and now his home 7.67. and spacious palace one sole daughter kept 7.68. who was grown ripe to wed and of full age 7.69. to take a husband. Many suitors tried 7.70. from all Ausonia and Latium 's bounds; 7.71. but comeliest in all their princely throng 7.72. came Turnus, of a line of mighty sires. 7.73. Him the queen mother chiefly loved, and yearned 7.74. to call him soon her son. But omens dire 7.75. and menaces from Heaven withstood her will. 7.76. A laurel-tree grew in the royal close 7.77. of sacred leaf and venerated age 7.78. which, when he builded there his wall and tower 7.79. Father Latinus found, and hallowed it 7.80. to Phoebus' grace and power, wherefrom the name 7.81. Laurentian, which his realm and people bear. 7.82. Unto this tree-top, wonderful to tell 7.83. came hosts of bees, with audible acclaim 7.84. voyaging the stream of air, and seized a place 7.85. on the proud, pointing crest, where the swift swarm 7.86. with interlacement of close-clinging feet 7.87. wung from the leafy bough. “Behold, there comes,” 7.88. the prophet cried, “a husband from afar! 7.89. To the same region by the self-same path 7.90. behold an arm'd host taking lordly sway 7.91. upon our city's crown!” Soon after this 7.92. when, coming to the shrine with torches pure 7.93. Lavinia kindled at her father's side 7.94. the sacrifice, swift seemed the flame to burn 7.95. along her flowing hair—O sight of woe! 7.96. Over her broidered snood it sparkling flew 7.97. lighting her queenly tresses and her crown 7.98. of jewels rare: then, wrapt in flaming cloud 7.99. from hall to hall the fire-god's gift she flung. 7.100. This omen dread and wonder terrible 7.101. was rumored far: for prophet-voices told 12.777. Bring flames; avenge the broken oath with fire!” 12.778. Scarce had he said, when with consenting souls 12.779. they speed them to the walls in dense array 12.786. Aeneas, calling on the gods to hear
8. Plutarch, Numa Pompilius, 12.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 12.1. The Pontifices also explain and direct the ancestral rites of burial for those who desire it, and they were taught by Numa not to regard any such offices as a pollution, but to honour the gods below also with the customary rites, since they receive into their keeping the most sovereign part of us, and particularly the goddess called Libitina, who presides over the solemn services for the dead, whether she is Proserpina, or, as the most learned Romans maintain, Venus; thereby not inaptly connecting man’s birth and death with the power of one and the same goddess.
9. Lactantius, Divine Institutes, 1.22.1 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
10. Epigraphy, Ils, 4908

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
action	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
agency, action, individual freedom of	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
authority	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
balbus	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
belief, roman	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
belief, traditional	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
belief	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
cicero	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122; Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
citizenship, and cult practice	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
citizenship	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 103
consecration	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
cult, and gods/goddesses	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
cult, norms of	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
cult, public-private	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
cult places, property and cult	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
de natura deorum (cicero)	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
dedications	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
dedicatory epigrams, gifts to the gods	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
defilement	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
deontology	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
dreams	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
exclusion	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 103
family	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
fatherlands, two	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 103
faunus	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
fear	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
finger-bone	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
gallus, aelius	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
general characteristics, introduction of new	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
gods/goddesses, and cult	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
gods/goddesses, cult of	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
imprudens	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
institutions	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
intention	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
intentionality, doxastic states of	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
lactantius	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
lamia	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
law, sacrae	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
licinia	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
lucilius	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
mucius scaevola, q.	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
municipalia sacra	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 103
myths, numa pompilius	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
natural law	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 103
norms, internalization	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
norms, of cult	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
numa	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116; Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
oaths	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
ovid	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
pater familias	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
piaculum	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
pietas	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
pinarii	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
plutarch	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
politics and religion, roman magistrates	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
politics and religion	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
pollution	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
pontiff	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14, 103
pontifices	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72; Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
prayer	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
priesthood	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
prodigies	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
prudens	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
purus	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
religion	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
religious knowledge	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
religious norms, new	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
responsum of the pontifical college	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
roman religion, and belief	Mackey, Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion (2022) 122
sacer	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
sacra municipalia, privata	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
sacra municipalia, publica	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
sacra privata	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
sacra publica	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
sacrifices	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54, 277
satire	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116
secularity of roman law	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
statue, dedication	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 96
superstition	Ker and Wessels, The Values of Nighttime in Classical Antiquity: Between Dusk and Dawn (2020) 116; Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
temple	Rüpke, The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean (2014) 72
temple buildings'	Wynne, Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage (2019) 54
twelve tables	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14
vestal	Rupke, Religious Deviance in the Roman World Superstition or Individuality? (2016) 14