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6 results for "superstitio"

1. Plautus, Mostellaria, 101-133, 84-100 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Nuno et al., SENSORIVM: The Senses in Roman Polytheism (2021) 47

2. Cicero, On Divination, 2.138-2.139 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •superstitio, in lucretius’ epicureanism Found in books: Nuno et al., SENSORIVM: The Senses in Roman Polytheism (2021) 47

2.138. —Quid ergo? istae imagines ita nobis dicto audientes sunt, ut, simul atque velimus, accurrant? etiamne earum rerum, quae nullae sunt? quae est enim forma tam invisitata, tam nulla, quam non sibi ipse fingere animus possit? ut, quae numquam vidimus, ea tamen informata habeamus, oppidorum situs, hominum figuras. 2.139. Num igitur, cum aut muros Babylonis aut Homeri faciem cogito, imago illorum me aliqua pellit? Omnia igitur, quae volumus, nota nobis esse possunt; nihil est enim, de quo cogitare nequeamus; nullae ergo imagines obrepunt in animos dormientium extrinsecus, nec omnino fluunt ullae, nec cognovi quemquam, qui maiore auctoritate nihil diceret. Animorum est ea vis eaque natura, ut vigeant vigilantes nullo adventicio pulsu, sed suo motu incredibili quadam celeritate. Hi cum sustinentur membris et corpore et sensibus, omnia certiora cernunt, cogitant, sentiunt. Cum autem haec subtracta sunt desertusque animus languore corporis, tum agitatur ipse per sese. Itaque in eo et formae versantur et actiones, et multa audiri, multa dici videntur.

2.138. Then are these phantoms of yours so obedient to our beck and call that they come the instant we summon them? And is this true even of the phantoms of things that do not exist? For what is there so unreal and unheard of that we cannot form a mental picture of it? We even shape things which we have never seen — as the sites of towns and the faces of men. 2.139. Then, by your theory, when I think of the walls of Babylon or of the face of Homer, some phantom of what I have in mind strikes upon my brain! Hence it is possible for us to know everything we wish to know, since there is nothing of which we cannot think. Therefore no phantoms from the outside steal in upon our souls in sleep; nor do phantoms stream forth at all. In fact I never knew anybody who could say nothing with more ponderous gravity than Democritus.The soul is of such a force and nature that, when we are awake, it is active, not because of any extraneous impulse, but because of its own inherent power of self-motion and a certain incredible swiftness. When the soul is supported by the bodily members and by the five senses its powers of perception, thought, and apprehension are more trustworthy. But when these physical aids are removed and the body is inert in sleep, the soul then moves of itself. And so, in that state, visions flit about it, actions occur and it seems to hear and say many things.

3. Cicero, On The Nature of The Gods, 2.142 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •superstitio, in lucretius’ epicureanism Found in books: Nuno et al., SENSORIVM: The Senses in Roman Polytheism (2021) 47

2.142. What artificer but nature, whose direction is incomparable, could have exhibited so much ingenuity in the formation of the senses? In the first place, she has covered and invested the eyes with the finest membranes, which she hath made transparent, that we may see through them, and firm in their texture, to preserve the eyes. She has made them slippery and movable, that they might avoid what would offend them, and easily direct the sight wherever they will. The actual organ of sight, which is called the pupil, is so small that it can easily shun whatever might be hurtful to it. The eyelids, which are their coverings, are soft and smooth, that they may not injure the eyes; and are made to shut at the apprehension of any accident, or to open at pleasure; and these movements nature has ordained to be made in an instant: they are fortified with a sort of palisade of hairs, to keep off what may be noxious to them when open, and to be a fence to their repose when sleep closes them, and allows them to rest as if they were wrapped up in a case. Besides, they are commodiously hidden and defended by eminences on every side; for on the upper part the eyebrows turn aside the perspiration which falls from the head and forehead; the cheeks beneath rise a little, so as to protect them on the lower side; and the nose is placed between them as a wall of separation. The hearing is always open, for that is a sense of which we are in need even while we are sleeping; and the moment that any sound is admitted by it we are awakened even from sleep. It has a winding passage, lest anything should slip into it, as it might if it were straight and simple. Nature also hath taken the same precaution in making there a viscous humor, that if any little creatures should endeavor to creep in, they might stick in it as in bird-lime. The ears (by which we mean the outward part) are made prominent, to cover and preserve the hearing, lest the sound should be dissipated and escape before the sense is affected. Their entrances are hard and horny, and their form winding, because bodies of this kind better return and increase the sound. This appears in the harp, lute, or horn; and from all tortuous and enclosed places sounds are returned stronger. 2.142. "Again what artificer but nature, who is unsurpassed in her cunning, could have attained such skilfulness in the construction of the senses? First, she has clothed and walled the eyes with membranes of the finest texture, which she has made on the one hand transparent so that we may be able to see through them, and on the other hand firm of substance, to serve as the outer cover of the eye. The eyes she has made mobile and smoothly turning, so as both to avoid any threatened injury and to direct their gaze easily in any direction they desire. The actually organ of vision, called the pupil or 'little doll,' is so small as easily to avoid objects that might injure it; and the lids, which are the covers of the eyes, are very soft to the touch so as not to hurt the pupil, and very neatly constructed as to be able both to shut the eyes in order that nothing may impinge upon them and to open them; and nature has provided that this process can be repeated again and again with extreme rapidity.

4. Cicero, Letters To His Friends, 15.19.1 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •superstitio, in lucretius’ epicureanism Found in books: Nuno et al., SENSORIVM: The Senses in Roman Polytheism (2021) 47

5. Lucretius Carus, On The Nature of Things, 1.62-1.79, 2.655-2.659, 2.680, 2.1091-2.1104, 2.1150-2.1179, 3.978-3.1023, 4.59, 5.110-5.125, 5.1136-5.1150, 5.1161-5.1240, 5.1423-5.1429, 6.50-6.55 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •superstitio, in lucretius’ epicureanism Found in books: Nuno et al., SENSORIVM: The Senses in Roman Polytheism (2021) 47, 63, 67

1.62. Humana ante oculos foede cum vita iaceret 1.63. in terris oppressa gravi sub religione, 1.64. quae caput a caeli regionibus ostendebat 1.65. horribili super aspectu mortalibus instans, 1.66. primum Graius homo mortalis tollere contra 1.67. est oculos ausus primusque obsistere contra; 1.68. quem neque fama deum nec fulmina nec minitanti 1.69. murmure compressit caelum, sed eo magis acrem 1.70. inritat animi virtutem, effringere ut arta 1.71. naturae primus portarum claustra cupiret. 1.72. ergo vivida vis animi pervicit et extra 1.73. processit longe flammantia moenia mundi 1.74. atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque, 1.75. unde refert nobis victor quid possit oriri, 1.76. quid nequeat, finita potestas denique cuique 1.77. qua nam sit ratione atque alte terminus haerens. 1.78. quare religio pedibus subiecta vicissim 1.79. opteritur, nos exaequat victoria caelo. 2.655. hic siquis mare Neptunum Cereremque vocare 2.656. constituet fruges et Bacchi nomine abuti 2.657. mavolt quam laticis proprium proferre vocamen, 2.658. concedamus ut hic terrarum dictitet orbem 2.659. esse deum matrem, dum vera re tamen ipse 2.680. religione animum turpi contingere parcat. 2.1091. libera continuo, dominis privata superbis, 2.1092. ipsa sua per se sponte omnia dis agere expers. 2.1093. nam pro sancta deum tranquilla pectora pace 2.1094. quae placidum degunt aevom vitamque serenam, 2.1095. quis regere immensi summam, quis habere profundi 2.1096. indu manu validas potis est moderanter habenas, 2.1097. quis pariter caelos omnis convertere et omnis 2.1098. ignibus aetheriis terras suffire feracis, 2.1099. omnibus inve locis esse omni tempore praesto, 2.1100. nubibus ut tenebras faciat caelique serena 2.1101. concutiat sonitu, tum fulmina mittat et aedis 2.1102. saepe suas disturbet et in deserta recedens 2.1103. saeviat exercens telum, quod saepe nocentes 2.1104. praeterit exanimatque indignos inque merentes? 2.1150. Iamque adeo fracta est aetas effetaque tellus 2.1151. vix animalia parva creat, quae cuncta creavit 2.1152. saecla deditque ferarum ingentia corpora partu. 2.1153. haud, ut opinor, enim mortalia saecla superne 2.1154. aurea de caelo demisit funis in arva 2.1155. nec mare nec fluctus plangentis saxa crearunt, 2.1156. sed genuit tellus eadem quae nunc alit ex se. 2.1157. praeterea nitidas fruges vinetaque laeta 2.1158. sponte sua primum mortalibus ipsa creavit, 2.1159. ipsa dedit dulcis fetus et pabula laeta; 2.1160. quae nunc vix nostro grandescunt aucta labore, 2.1161. conterimusque boves et viris agricolarum, 2.1162. conficimus ferrum vix arvis suppeditati: 2.1163. usque adeo parcunt fetus augentque laborem. 2.1164. iamque caput quassans grandis suspirat arator 2.1165. crebrius, in cassum magnos cecidisse labores, 2.1166. et cum tempora temporibus praesentia confert 2.1167. praeteritis, laudat fortunas saepe parentis. 2.1168. tristis item vetulae vitis sator atque vietae 2.1169. temporis incusat momen saeclumque fatigat, 2.1170. et crepat, antiquum genus ut pietate repletum 2.1171. perfacile angustis tolerarit finibus aevom, 2.1172. cum minor esset agri multo modus ante viritim; 2.1173. nec tenet omnia paulatim tabescere et ire 2.1174. ad capulum spatio aetatis defessa vetusto. 3.978. Atque ea ni mirum quae cumque Acherunte profundo 3.979. prodita sunt esse, in vita sunt omnia nobis. 3.980. nec miser inpendens magnum timet aere aëre saxum 3.981. Tantalus, ut famast, cassa formidine torpens; 3.982. sed magis in vita divom metus urget iis 3.983. mortalis casumque timent quem cuique ferat fors. 3.984. nec Tityon volucres ineunt Acherunte iacentem 3.985. nec quod sub magno scrutentur pectore quicquam 3.986. perpetuam aetatem possunt reperire profecto. 3.987. quam libet immani proiectu corporis exstet, 3.988. qui non sola novem dispessis iugera membris 3.989. optineat, sed qui terrai totius orbem, 3.990. non tamen aeternum poterit perferre dolorem 3.991. nec praebere cibum proprio de corpore semper. 3.992. sed Tityos nobis hic est, in amore iacentem 3.993. quem volucres lacerant atque exest anxius angor 3.994. aut alia quavis scindunt cuppedine curae. 3.995. Sisyphus in vita quoque nobis ante oculos est, 3.996. qui petere a populo fasces saevasque secures 3.997. imbibit et semper victus tristisque recedit. 3.998. nam petere imperium, quod iest nec datur umquam, 3.999. atque in eo semper durum sufferre laborem, 3.1000. hoc est adverso nixantem trudere monte 3.1001. saxum, quod tamen e summo iam vertice rusum 3.1002. volvitur et plani raptim petit aequora campi. 3.1003. deinde animi ingratam naturam pascere semper 3.1004. atque explere bonis rebus satiareque numquam, 3.1005. quod faciunt nobis annorum tempora, circum 3.1006. cum redeunt fetusque ferunt variosque lepores, 3.1007. nec tamen explemur vitai fructibus umquam, 3.1008. hoc, ut opinor, id est, aevo florente puellas 3.1009. quod memorant laticem pertusum congerere in vas, 3.1010. quod tamen expleri nulla ratione potestur. 3.1011. Cerberus et Furiae iam vero et lucis egestas, 3.1012. Tartarus horriferos eructans faucibus aestus! 3.1013. qui neque sunt usquam nec possunt esse profecto; 3.1014. sed metus in vita poenarum pro male factis 3.1015. est insignibus insignis scelerisque luela, 3.1016. carcer et horribilis de saxo iactus deorsum, 3.1017. verbera carnifices robur pix lammina taedae; 3.1018. quae tamen etsi absunt, at mens sibi conscia factis 3.1019. praemetuens adhibet stimulos torretque flagellis, 3.1020. nec videt interea qui terminus esse malorum 3.1021. possit nec quae sit poenarum denique finis, 3.1022. atque eadem metuit magis haec ne in morte gravescant. 3.1023. hic Acherusia fit stultorum denique vita. 4.59. et vituli cum membranas de corpore summo 5.110. Qua prius adgrediar quam de re fundere fata 5.111. sanctius et multo certa ratione magis quam 5.112. Pythia quae tripode a Phoebi lauroque profatur, 5.113. multa tibi expediam doctis solacia dictis; 5.114. religione refrenatus ne forte rearis 5.115. terras et solem et caelum, mare sidera lunam, 5.116. corpore divino debere aeterna manere, 5.117. proptereaque putes ritu par esse Gigantum 5.118. pendere eos poenas inmani pro scelere omnis, 5.119. qui ratione sua disturbent moenia mundi 5.120. praeclarumque velint caeli restinguere solem 5.121. inmortalia mortali sermone notantes; 5.122. quae procul usque adeo divino a numine distent 5.123. inque deum numero quae sint indigna videri, 5.124. notitiam potius praebere ut posse putentur 5.125. quid sit vitali motu sensuque remotum. 5.1136. Ergo regibus occisis subversa iacebat 5.1137. pristina maiestas soliorum et sceptra superba, 5.1138. et capitis summi praeclarum insigne cruentum 5.1139. sub pedibus vulgi magnum lugebat honorem; 5.1140. nam cupide conculcatur nimis ante metutum. 5.1141. res itaque ad summam faecem turbasque redibat, 5.1142. imperium sibi cum ac summatum quisque petebat. 5.1143. inde magistratum partim docuere creare 5.1144. iuraque constituere, ut vellent legibus uti. 5.1145. nam genus humanum, defessum vi colere aevom, 5.1146. ex inimicitiis languebat; quo magis ipsum 5.1147. sponte sua cecidit sub leges artaque iura. 5.1148. acrius ex ira quod enim se quisque parabat 5.1149. ulcisci quam nunc concessumst legibus aequis, 5.1150. hanc ob rem est homines pertaesum vi colere aevom. 5.1161. Nunc quae causa deum per magnas numina gentis 5.1162. pervulgarit et ararum compleverit urbis 5.1163. suscipiendaque curarit sollemnia sacra, 5.1164. quae nunc in magnis florent sacra rebus locisque, 5.1165. unde etiam nunc est mortalibus insitus horror, 5.1166. qui delubra deum nova toto suscitat orbi 5.1167. terrarum et festis cogit celebrare diebus, 5.1168. non ita difficilest rationem reddere verbis. 5.1169. quippe etenim iam tum divom mortalia saecla 5.1170. egregias animo facies vigilante videbant 5.1171. et magis in somnis mirando corporis auctu. 5.1172. his igitur sensum tribuebant propterea quod 5.1173. membra movere videbantur vocesque superbas 5.1174. mittere pro facie praeclara et viribus amplis. 5.1175. aeternamque dabant vitam, quia semper eorum 5.1176. subpeditabatur facies et forma manebat, 5.1177. et tamen omnino quod tantis viribus auctos 5.1178. non temere ulla vi convinci posse putabant. 5.1179. fortunisque ideo longe praestare putabant, 5.1180. quod mortis timor haut quemquam vexaret eorum, 5.1181. et simul in somnis quia multa et mira videbant 5.1182. efficere et nullum capere ipsos inde laborem. 5.1183. praeterea caeli rationes ordine certo 5.1184. et varia annorum cernebant tempora verti 5.1185. nec poterant quibus id fieret cognoscere causis. 5.1186. ergo perfugium sibi habebant omnia divis 5.1187. tradere et illorum nutu facere omnia flecti. 5.1188. in caeloque deum sedes et templa locarunt, 5.1189. per caelum volvi quia nox et luna videtur, 5.1190. luna dies et nox et noctis signa severa 5.1191. noctivagaeque faces caeli flammaeque volantes, 5.1192. nubila sol imbres nix venti fulmina grando 5.1193. et rapidi fremitus et murmura magna minarum. 5.1194. O genus infelix humanum, talia divis 5.1195. cum tribuit facta atque iras adiunxit acerbas! 5.1196. quantos tum gemitus ipsi sibi, quantaque nobis 5.1197. volnera, quas lacrimas peperere minoribus nostris! 5.1198. nec pietas ullast velatum saepe videri 5.1199. vertier ad lapidem atque omnis accedere ad aras 5.1200. nec procumbere humi prostratum et pandere palmas 5.1201. ante deum delubra nec aras sanguine multo 5.1202. spargere quadrupedum nec votis nectere vota, 5.1203. sed mage pacata posse omnia mente tueri. 5.1204. nam cum suspicimus magni caelestia mundi 5.1205. templa super stellisque micantibus aethera fixum, 5.1206. et venit in mentem solis lunaeque viarum, 5.1207. tunc aliis oppressa malis in pectora cura 5.1208. illa quoque expergefactum caput erigere infit, 5.1209. ne quae forte deum nobis inmensa potestas 5.1210. sit, vario motu quae candida sidera verset; 5.1211. temptat enim dubiam mentem rationis egestas, 5.1212. ecquae nam fuerit mundi genitalis origo, 5.1213. et simul ecquae sit finis, quoad moenia mundi 5.1214. et taciti motus hunc possint ferre laborem, 5.1215. an divinitus aeterna donata salute 5.1216. perpetuo possint aevi labentia tractu 5.1217. inmensi validas aevi contemnere viris. 5.1218. praeterea cui non animus formidine divum 5.1219. contrahitur, cui non correpunt membra pavore, 5.1220. fulminis horribili cum plaga torrida tellus 5.1221. contremit et magnum percurrunt murmura caelum? 5.1222. non populi gentesque tremunt, regesque superbi 5.1223. corripiunt divum percussi membra timore, 5.1224. ne quod ob admissum foede dictumve superbe 5.1225. poenarum grave sit solvendi tempus adauctum? 5.1226. summa etiam cum vis violenti per mare venti 5.1227. induperatorem classis super aequora verrit 5.1228. cum validis pariter legionibus atque elephantis, 5.1229. non divom pacem votis adit ac prece quaesit 5.1230. ventorum pavidus paces animasque secundas? 5.1231. ne quiquam, quoniam violento turbine saepe 5.1232. correptus nihilo fertur minus ad vada leti. 5.1233. usque adeo res humanas vis abdita quaedam 5.1234. opterit et pulchros fascis saevasque secures 5.1235. proculcare ac ludibrio sibi habere videtur. 5.1236. denique sub pedibus tellus cum tota vacillat 5.1237. concussaeque cadunt urbes dubiaeque mitur, 5.1238. quid mirum si se temnunt mortalia saecla 5.1239. atque potestatis magnas mirasque relinquunt 5.1240. in rebus viris divum, quae cuncta gubernent? 5.1423. tunc igitur pelles, nunc aurum et purpura curis 5.1424. exercent hominum vitam belloque fatigant; 5.1425. quo magis in nobis, ut opinor, culpa resedit. 5.1426. frigus enim nudos sine pellibus excruciabat 5.1427. terrigenas; at nos nil laedit veste carere 5.1428. purpurea atque auro signisque ingentibus apta, 5.1429. dum plebeia tamen sit, quae defendere possit. 6.50. Calliope, requies hominum divomque voluptas, 6.51. te duce ut insigni capiam cum laude coronam. 6.52. ventorum existant, placentur ut omnia rursum 6.53. quae fuerint, sint placato conversa furore. 6.54. cetera quae fieri in terris caeloque tuentur 6.55. mortales, pavidis cum pendent mentibus saepe

1.62. Whilst human kind Throughout the lands lay miserably crushed Before all eyes beneath Religion- who Would show her head along the region skies, Glowering on mortals with her hideous face- A Greek it was who first opposing dared Raise mortal eyes that terror to withstand, Whom nor the fame of Gods nor lightning's stroke Nor threatening thunder of the ominous sky Abashed; but rather chafed to angry zest His dauntless heart to be the first to rend The crossbars at the gates of Nature old. And thus his will and hardy wisdom won; And forward thus he fared afar, beyond The flaming ramparts of the world, until He wandered the unmeasurable All. Whence he to us, a conqueror, reports What things can rise to being, what cannot, And by what law to each its scope prescribed, Its boundary stone that clings so deep in Time. Wherefore Religion now is under foot, And us his victory now exalts to heaven. 3.978. And, verily, those tortures said to be In Acheron, the deep, they all are ours Here in this life. No Tantalus, benumbed With baseless terror, as the fables tell, Fears the huge boulder hanging in the air: But, rather, in life an empty dread of Gods Urges mortality, and each one fears Such fall of fortune as may chance to him. Nor eat the vultures into TityusProstrate in Acheron, nor can they find, Forsooth, throughout eternal ages, aught To pry around for in that mighty breast. However hugely he extend his bulk- Who hath for outspread limbs not acres nine, But the whole earth- he shall not able be To bear eternal pain nor furnish food From his own frame forever. But for us A Tityus is he whom vultures rend Prostrate in love, whom anxious anguish eats, Whom troubles of any unappeased desires Asunder rip. We have before our eyes Here in this life also a SisyphusIn him who seeketh of the populace The rods, the axes fell, and evermore Retires a beaten and a gloomy man. For to seek after power- an empty name, Nor given at all- and ever in the search To endure a world of toil, O this it is To shove with shoulder up the hill a stone Which yet comes rolling back from off the top, And headlong makes for levels of the plain. Then to be always feeding an ingrate mind, Filling with good things, satisfying never- As do the seasons of the year for us, When they return and bring their progenies And varied charms, and we are never filled With the fruits of life- O this, I fancy, 'tis To pour, like those young virgins in the tale, Waters into a sieve, unfilled forever. . . . . . . Cerberus and Furies, and that Lack of Light . . . . . . Tartarus, out-belching from his mouth the surge of horrible heat- the which are nowhere, nor Indeed can be: but in this life is fear of retributions just and expiations For evil acts: the dungeon and the leap From that dread rock of infamy, the stripes, The executioners, the oaken rack, The iron plates, bitumen, and the torch. And even though these are absent, yet the mind, With a fore-fearing conscience, plies its goads And burns beneath the lash, nor sees meanwhile What terminus of ills, what end of pine Can ever be, and feareth lest the same But grow more heavy after death. of truth, The life of fools is Acheron on earth. 5.110. But ere on this I take a step to utter Oracles holier and soundlier based Than ever the Pythian pronounced for men From out the tripod and the Delphian laurel, I will unfold for thee with learned words Many a consolation, lest perchance, Still bridled by religion, thou suppose Lands, sun, and sky, sea, constellations, moon, Must dure forever, as of frame divine- And so conclude that it is just that those, (After the manner of the Giants), should all Pay the huge penalties for monstrous crime, Who by their reasonings do overshake The ramparts of the universe and wish There to put out the splendid sun of heaven, Branding with mortal talk immortal things- Though these same things are even so far removed From any touch of deity and seem So far unworthy of numbering with the gods, That well they may be thought to furnish rather A goodly instance of the sort of things That lack the living motion, living sense. For sure 'tis quite beside the mark to think That judgment and the nature of the mind In any kind of body can exist- Just as in ether can't exist a tree, Nor clouds in the salt sea, nor in the fields Can fishes live, nor blood in timber be, Nor sap in boulders: fixed and arranged Where everything may grow and have its place. Thus nature of mind cannot arise alone Without the body, nor have its being far From thews and blood. Yet if 'twere possible?- Much rather might this very power of mind Be in the head, the shoulders, or the heels, And, born in any part soever, yet In the same man, in the same vessel abide But since within this body even of ours Stands fixed and appears arranged sure Where soul and mind can each exist and grow, Deny we must the more that they can dure Outside the body and the breathing form In rotting clods of earth, in the sun's fire, In water, or in ether's skiey coasts. Therefore these things no whit are furnished With sense divine, since never can they be With life-force quickened. 5.1136. And therefore kings were slain, And pristine majesty of golden thrones And haughty sceptres lay o'erturned in dust; And crowns, so splendid on the sovereign heads, Soon bloody under the proletarian feet, Groaned for their glories gone- for erst o'er-much Dreaded, thereafter with more greedy zest Trampled beneath the rabble heel. Thus things Down to the vilest lees of brawling mobs Succumbed, whilst each man sought unto himself Dominion and supremacy. So next Some wiser heads instructed men to found The magisterial office, and did frame Codes that they might consent to follow laws. For humankind, o'er wearied with a life Fostered by force, was ailing from its feuds; And so the sooner of its own free will Yielded to laws and strictest codes. For since Each hand made ready in its wrath to take A vengeance fiercer than by man's fair laws Is now conceded, men on this account Loathed the old life fostered by force. 'Tis thence That fear of punishments defiles each prize of wicked days; for force and fraud ensnare Each man around, and in the main recoil On him from whence they sprung. Not easy 'tis For one who violates by ugly deeds The bonds of common peace to pass a life Composed and tranquil. For albeit he 'scape The race of gods and men, he yet must dread 'Twill not be hid forever- since, indeed, So many, oft babbling on amid their dreams Or raving in sickness, have betrayed themselves (As stories tell) and published at last Old secrets and the sins. 5.1161. And now what cause Hath spread divinities of gods abroad Through mighty nations, and filled the cities full of the high altars, and led to practices of solemn rites in season- rites which still Flourish in midst of great affairs of state And midst great centres of man's civic life, The rites whence still a poor mortality Is grafted that quaking awe which rears aloft Still the new temples of gods from land to land And drives mankind to visit them in throngs On holy days- 'tis not so hard to give Reason thereof in speech. Because, in sooth, Even in those days would the race of man Be seeing excelling visages of gods With mind awake; and in his sleeps, yet more- Bodies of wondrous growth. And, thus, to these Would men attribute sense, because they seemed To move their limbs and speak pronouncements high, Befitting glorious visage and vast powers. And men would give them an eternal life, Because their visages forevermore Were there before them, and their shapes remained, And chiefly, however, because men would not think Beings augmented with such mighty powers Could well by any force o'ermastered be. And men would think them in their happiness Excelling far, because the fear of death Vexed no one of them at all, and since At same time in men's sleeps men saw them do So many wonders, and yet feel therefrom Themselves no weariness. Besides, men marked How in a fixed order rolled around The systems of the sky, and changed times of annual seasons, nor were able then To know thereof the causes. Therefore 'twas Men would take refuge in consigning all Unto divinities, and in feigning all Was guided by their nod. And in the sky They set the seats and vaults of gods, because Across the sky night and the moon are seen To roll along- moon, day, and night, and night's Old awesome constellations evermore, And the night-wandering fireballs of the sky, And flying flames, clouds, and the sun, the rains, Snow and the winds, the lightnings, and the hail, And the swift rumblings, and the hollow roar of mighty menacings forevermore. 5.1194. O humankind unhappy!- when it ascribed Unto divinities such awesome deeds, And coupled thereto rigours of fierce wrath! What groans did men on that sad day beget Even for themselves, and O what wounds for us, What tears for our children's children! Nor, O man, Is thy true piety in this: with head Under the veil, still to be seen to turn Fronting a stone, and ever to approach Unto all altars; nor so prone on earth Forward to fall, to spread upturned palms Before the shrines of gods, nor yet to dew Altars with profuse blood of four-foot beasts, Nor vows with vows to link. But rather this: To look on all things with a master eye And mind at peace. For when we gaze aloft Upon the skiey vaults of yon great world And ether, fixed high o'er twinkling stars, And into our thought there come the journeyings of sun and moon, O then into our breasts, O'erburdened already with their other ills, Begins forthwith to rear its sudden head One more misgiving: lest o'er us, percase, It be the gods' immeasurable power That rolls, with varied motion, round and round The far white constellations. For the lack of aught of reasons tries the puzzled mind: Whether was ever a birth-time of the world, And whether, likewise, any end shall be How far the ramparts of the world can still Outstand this strain of ever-roused motion, Or whether, divinely with eternal weal Endowed, they can through endless tracts of age Glide on, defying the o'er-mighty powers of the immeasurable ages. Lo, What man is there whose mind with dread of gods Cringes not close, whose limbs with terror-spell Crouch not together, when the parched earth Quakes with the horrible thunderbolt amain, And across the mighty sky the rumblings run? Do not the peoples and the nations shake, And haughty kings do they not hug their limbs, Strook through with fear of the divinities, Lest for aught foully done or madly said The heavy time be now at hand to pay? When, too, fierce force of fury-winds at sea Sweepeth a navy's admiral down the main With his stout legions and his elephants, Doth he not seek the peace of gods with vows, And beg in prayer, a-tremble, lulled winds And friendly gales?- in vain, since, often up-caught In fury-cyclones, is he borne along, For all his mouthings, to the shoals of doom. Ah, so irrevocably some hidden power Betramples forevermore affairs of men, And visibly grindeth with its heel in mire The lictors' glorious rods and axes dire, Having them in derision! Again, when earth From end to end is rocking under foot, And shaken cities ruin down, or threaten Upon the verge, what wonder is it then That mortal generations abase themselves, And unto gods in all affairs of earth Assign as last resort almighty powers And wondrous energies to govern all?

6. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 7.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •superstitio, in lucretius’ epicureanism Found in books: Nuno et al., SENSORIVM: The Senses in Roman Polytheism (2021) 47

7.2. We have pointed out that some Scythian tribes, and in fact a good many, feed on human bodies — a statement that perhaps may seem incredible if we do not reflect that races of this portentous character have existed in the central region of the world, named Cyclopes and Laestrygones, and that quite recently the tribes of the parts beyond the Alps habitually practised human sacrifice, which is not far removed from eating human flesh. But also a tribe is reported next to these, towards the North, not far from the actual quarter whence the North Wind rises and the cave that bears its name, the place called the Earth's Doorbolt — the Arimaspi whom we have spoken of already, people remarkable for having one eye in the centre of the forehead. Many authorities, the most distinguished being Herodotus and Aristeas of Proconnesus, write that these people wage continual war around their mines with the griffins, a kind of wild beast with wings, as commonly reported, that digs gold out of mines, which the creatures guard and the Arimaspi try to take from them, both with remarkable covetousness., But beyond the other Scythian cannibals, in a certain large valley in the Imavi (Himalayas), there is a region called Abarimon where are some people dwelling in forests who have their feet turned backward behind their legs, who run extremely fast and range abroad over the country with the wild animals. It is stated by Baeton, Alexander the Great's route-surveyor on his journeys, that these men are unable to breathe in another climate, and that consequently none of them could be brought to the neighbouring kings or had ever been brought to Alexander. According to Isogonus of Nicaea the former cannibal tribes whom we stated to exist to the north, ten days' journey beyond the river Borysthenes [Dnieper], drink out of human skulls and use the scalps with the hair on as napkins hung round their necks. The same authority states that certain people in Albania are born with keen grey eyes and are bald from childhood, and that they see better by night than in the daytime. He also says that the Sauromatae, thirteen days' journey beyond the Borysthenes, always take food once every two days., Crates of Pergamum states that there was a race of men round Parium on the Dardanelles, whom he calls Ophiogenes, whose custom it was to cure snakebites by touch and draw the poison out of the body by placing their hand on it. Varro says that there are still a few people there whose spittle is a remedy against snakebites. According to the writings of Agatharchides there was also a similar tribe in Africa, the Psylli, named after King Psyllus, whose tomb is in the region of the greater Syrtes. In their bodies there was engendered a poison that was deadly to snakes, and the smell of which they employed for sending snakes to sleep, while they had a custom of exposing their children as soon as they were born to the most savage snakes and of using that species to test the fidelity of their wives, as snakes do not avoid persons born with adulterous blood in them. This tribe itself has been almost exterminated by the Nasamones who now occupy that region, but a tribe of men descended from those who had escaped or had been absent when the fighting took place survives today in a few places. A similar race lingers on in Italy also, the Marsi, said to be descended from the son of Circe and to possess this natural property on that account. However, all men contain a poison available as a protection against snakes: people say that snakes flee from contact with saliva as from the touch of boiling water, and that if it gets inside their throats they actually die; and that this is especially the case with the saliva of a person fasting., Beyond the Nasamones and adjacent to them Calliphanes records the Machlyes, who are Adrogyni and perform the function of either sex alternately. Aristotle adds that their left breast is that of a man and their right breast that of a woman. Isogonus and Nymphodorus report that there are families in the same part of Africa that practise sorcery, whose praises cause meadows to dry up, trees to wither and infants to perish. Isogonus adds that there are people of the same kind among the Triballi and the Illyrians, who also bewitch with a glance and who kill those they stare at for a longer time, especially with a look of anger, and that their evil eye is most felt by adults; and that what is more remarkable is that they have two pupils in each eye. Apollonides also reports women of this kind in Scythia, who are called the Bitiae, and Phylarchus also the Thibii tribe and many others of the same nature in Pontus, whose distinguishing marks he records as being a double pupil in one eye and the likeness of a horse in the other, and he also says that they are incapable of drowning, even when weighed down with clothing. Damon records a tribe not unlike these in Ethiopia, the Pharmaces, whose sweat relieves of diseases bodies touched by it. Also among ourselves Cicero states that the glance of all women who have double pupils is injurious everywhere. In fact when nature implanted in man the wild beasts' habit of devouring human flesh, she also thought fit to implant poisons in the whole of the body, and with some persons in the eyes as well, so that there should be no evil anywhere that was not present in man., There are a few families in the Faliscan territory, not far from the city of Rome, named the Hirpi, which at the yearly sacrifice to Apollo performed on Mount Soracte walk over a charred pile of logs without being scorched, and who consequently enjoy exemption under a perpetual decree of the senate from military service and all other burdens. Some people are born with parts of the body possessing special remarkable properties, for instance King Pyrrhus in the great toe of his right foot, to touch which was a cure for inflammation of the spleen; it is recorded that at his cremation it proved impossible to burn the toe with the rest of the body, and it was stored in a chest in a temple., India and parts of Ethiopia especially teem with marvels. The biggest animals grow in India: for instance Indian dogs are bigger than any others. Indeed the trees are said to be so lofty that it is not possible to shoot an arrow over them, and [the richness of the soil, temperate climate and abundance of springs bring it about] that, if one is willing to believe it, squadrons of cavalry are able to shelter beneath a single fig-tree; while it is said that reeds are of such height that sometimes a single section between two knots will make a canoe that will carry three people. It is known that many of the inhabitants are more than seven feet six inches high, never spit, do not suffer from headache or toothache or pain in the eyes, and very rarely have a pain in any other part of the body — so hardy are they made by the temperate heat of the sun; and that the sages of their race, whom they call Gymnosophists, stay standing from sunrise to sunset, gazing at the sun with eyes unmoving, and continue all day long standing first on one foot and then on the other in the glowing sand. Megasthenes states that on the mountain named Nulus there are people with their feet turned backwards and with eight toes on each foot, while on many of the mountains there is a tribe of human beings with dogs' heads, who wear a covering of wild beasts' skins, whose speech is a bark and who live on the produce of hunting and fowling, for which they use their nails as weapons; he says that they numbered more than 120,000 when he published his work. Ctesias writes that also among a certain race of India the women bear children only once in their lifetime, and the children begin to turn grey directly after birth; he also describes a tribe of men called the Monocolia who have only one leg, and who move in jumps with surprising speed; the same are called the Umbrella-foot tribe, because in the hotter weather they lie on their backs on the ground and protect themselves with the shadow of their feet; and that they are not far away from the Cave-dwellers; and again westward from these there are some people without necks, having their eyes in their shoulders. There are also satyrs [doubtless a kind of monkey] in the mountains in the east of India (it is called the district of the Catarcludi); this is an extremely swift animal, sometimes going on all fours and sometimes standing upright as they run, like human beings; because of their speed only the old ones or the sick are caught. Tauron gives the name of Choromandae to a forest tribe that has no speech but a horrible scream, hairy bodies, keen grey eyes and the teeth of a dog. Eudoxus says that in the south of India men have feet eighteen inches long and the women such small feet that they are called Sparrow-feet. Megasthenes tells of a race among the Nomads of India that has only holes in the place of nostrils, like snakes, and bandy-legged; they are called the Sciritae. At the extreme boundary of India to the East, near the source of the Ganges, he puts the Astomi tribe, that has no mouth and a body hairy all over; they dress in cotton-wool and live only on the air they breathe and the scent they inhale through their nostrils; they have no food or drink except the different odours of the roots and flowers and wild apples, which they carry with them on their longer journeys so as not to lack a supply of scent; he says they can easily be killed by a rather stronger odour than usual. Beyond these in the most outlying mountain region we are told of the Three-span men and Pygmies, who do not exceed three spans, i.e. twenty-seven inches, in height; the climate is healthy and always spring-like, as it is protected on the north by a range of mountains; this tribe Homer has also recorded as being beset by cranes. It is reported that in springtime their entire band, mounted on the backs of rams and she-goats and armed with arrows, goes in a body down to the sea and eats the cranes eggs and chickens, and that this outing occupies three months; and that otherwise they could not protect themselves against the flocks of cranes that would grow up; and that their houses are made of mud and feathers and eggshells. Aristotle says that the Pygmies live in caves, but in the rest of his statement about them he agrees with the other authorities. The Indian race of Cyrni according to Isigonus live to 140; and he holds that the same is true of the Long-lived Ethiopians, the Chinese and the inhabitants of Mount Athos — in the last case because of their diet of snakes' flesh, which causes their head and clothes to be free from creatures harmful to the body. Onesicritus says that in the parts of India where there are no shadows there are men five cubits and two spans a high, and people live a hundred and thirty years, and do not grow old but die middle-aged. Crates of Pergamum tells of Indians who exceed a hundred years, whom he calls Gymnetae, though many call them Long-livers. Ctesias says that a tribe among them called the Pandae, dwelling in the mountain valleys, live two hundred years, and have white hair in their youth that grows black in old age; whereas others do not exceed forty years, this tribe adjoining the Long-livers, whose women bear children only once. Agatharchides records this as well, and also that they live on locusts, and are very swift-footed. Clitarchus gave them the name of Mandi; and Megasthenes also assigns them three hundred villages, and says that the women bear children at the age of seven and old age comes at forty. Artemidorus says that on the Island of Ceylon the people live very long lives without any loss of bodily activity. Duris says that some Indians have union with wild animals and the offspring is of mixed race and half animal; that among the Calingi, a tribe of the same part of India, women conceive at the age of five and do not live more than eight years, and that in another part men are born with a hairy tail and extremely swift, while others are entirely covered by their ears., The river Arabis is the frontier between the Indians and the Oritae. These are acquainted with no other food but fish, which they cut to pieces with their nails and roast in the sun and thus make bread out of them, as is recorded by Clitarchus. Crates of Pergamum says that the Cavemen beyond Ethiopia are swifter than horses; also that there are Ethiopians more than twelve feet in height, and that this race is called the Syrbotae. The tribe of the Ethiopian nomads along the river Astragus towards the north called the Menismini is twenty days' journey from the Ocean; it lives on the milk of the animals that we call dog-headed apes, herds of which it keeps in pastures, killing the males except for the purpose of breeding. In the deserts of Africa ghosts of men suddenly meet the traveller and vanish in a moment., These and similar varieties of the human race have been made by the ingenuity of Nature as toys for herself and marvels for us. And indeed who could possibly recount the various things she does every day and almost every hour? Let it suffice for the disclosure of her power to have included whole races of mankind among her marvels. From these we turn to a few admitted marvels in the case of the individual human being.

Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database