The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics) (37 page)

An act of sacrilege
: a couple of examples are given in section 41. For the penalty, see on parricide below.

that which can be expiated
: if the act was accidental or insignificant, it could be expiated. An early instance was the law which decreed that if a man’s mistress touched the altar of Juno (goddess of marriage) she should offer a ewe lamb by way of atonement; see Aulus Gellius 4- 3- 3-

they shall make provision
: Cicero means to include theatrical performances here; see section 38.

they shall observe the best
: an unhelpful rule, not greatly clarified in section 40 below.

the Idaean Mother
: see Cybele in the Index of Names, and the note on section 40 below.

a parricide
: a murderer, whether of parent, relative, or fellow-citizen. The penalty was death or exile.

perjury
: we confine the offence to false statements about facts, made under oath in the court-room. The Romans interpreted it more widely. The Twelve Tables had, indeed, prescribed the death penalty for
falsum testimonium
(8. 23), though this had ceased to be applied long before Cicero’s day. But failure to fulfil a solemn promise was also perjury. Had Regulus broken his word he would have been guilty of that
offence (see the discussion in
De Officiis
3. 107–15). Again, the penalty for breaking an oath to a god had been death, but after the early period the guilty man had been outlawed. Unfortunately Cicero’s wording is very condensed, and he declines to elaborate on the matter further in 41. Does he mean to reintroduce capital punishment for perjury? If so, how are cases for ‘divine punishment’ distinguished from those liable to ‘human punishment’? And what does Cicero mean by disgrace? Is the guilty man to be removed from his tribe by the censor and so forfeit his voting rights? Or is he merely to suffer the social effects of a bad reputation?

incest
: it is unclear whether Cicero has in mind the general ban on sexual intercourse within certain degrees of consanguinity, or, more particularly, religious offences, e.g. against the chastity of vestal virgins (the charge against Clodius was also one of incest; see note on
‘that fellow’,
p. 212 below). The penalty for the former, in the early days of the Republic, was to be thrown from the Tarpeian Rock; for the latter, the man was scourged to death and the vestal was buried alive. One hesitates to believe that Cicero would have countenanced such primitive barbarities. See Greenidge (2) 376–80.

No one shall consecrate a field
: see section 45 below.

Let there be moderation
: see section 45.

Private religious observances
: see section 48 below.

The money … and the mourning
: see sections 59–66 below.

‘as you propose’
: the formula employed by the people when agreeing to a proposal put to them by a magistrate.

On smaller matters
: this sentence is given to Marcus by Watt (1) 267.

1 shall let you off etc.
:
see Watt (t)
267.

gods whether new or foreign
: Cumont (1) is still of value here, though it is mainly concerned with the imperial epoch.

the Persian priests
: cf. R. 3. 14. In Herodotus the Persians are said to worship their gods in the open air (1. 131); Themistocles condemns Xerxes for burning and destroying the statues of the gods (8. 109).

Pythagoras … said
: ‘We are at our best when we approach the gods’ (Plutarch,
De Superstitione
9. 169E).

Thales … said
: according to D.L. r. 1. 27, Thales said that the world was animate and full of divinities.

common opinion
: the translation adopts Watt’s suggestion (1) 267.

groves in the countryside
: clumps of trees were commonly regarded as the dwelling-places of spirits.

Lares
: the context shows that Cicero is talking, not of the household Lares, but of those which were worshipped at cross-road shrines, where properties met. According to Festus under
Laneae
(108 Lindsay) and under
Pilae et effigies
(273 Lindsay), Lares were the souls of the
deified dead. They could be beneficial to the crops, but could also be malevolent if not propitiated. The discussion in Frazer, 2. 453–80 is still worth reading.

immortal… divine
: the virtuous are admitted to heaven
(R.
2. 17, 6. 13, 6. 16); the wicked are confined near the earth until they are purged
(R. 6.
29). Both forms of belief are amply discussed in Cumont (2).

Good Sense
: a temple to Good Sense
(Mens)
on the Capitol was vowed by T. Otacilius Crassus in 217 (P-A 339).

Devotion
: there was a temple to Devotion
(Pietas)
in the Circus Flaminius (P-A 389–90).

Moral Excellence
: a shrine to
Virtus
was built by Scipio Aemilianus after the capture of Numantia in 133 (P-A 382).

Good Faith
: there was a temple of
Fides
on the Palatine (P-A 209).

have long been … dedicated
: reading
iamdiuque harum
with Davies and Watt.

a shrine to Insult and Sbamelessness
: Cicero may have found this piece of information in Theophrastus, who is quoted by Zenobius 4. 6
(Paroemiographi Graeci)
.

Fever
: in addition to an altar, three temples were erected to this deity (P-A 206).

Evil Fortune
: for the ancient altar of
Mala Fortuna
see P-A 216.

the Stopper
: Jupiter was originally called ‘the Stopper’ because he had ‘stopped’ the flight of Romulus’ soldiers (Livy r. 12. 6). Later, the cult-title was given a political interpretation, representing Jupiter as the ‘establisher’ of Roman power.

Hope
: the temple of
Spes
in the Forum Holitorium (Vegetable Market) was dedicated by A. Atilius Calatinus during the first Punic war (P-A 493)

Today’s Fortune
: there was a shrine to this deity on the Palatine (P-A 216).

Fortune the Heedful
: there was a temple of
Fortuna Respiciens
on the Palatine (P-A 218).

Chance Fortune
: there were three temples of
Fors Fortuna
in the first century bc (P-A
212–13).

First-born Fortune
: the first-born daughter of Jupiter
(Fortuna Primigenia)
had a temple on the Capitol (P-A 217–18). For further topographical information, and photographs, see Nash.

intercalation
: the insertion of days or months to keep the calendar in line with the movements of the sun and moon. For a detailed account of the problems involved, see Michels, Index.

Vesta
: Vesta and the Greek Hestia had a common root. The shrine of Vesta was the symbolic hearth of Rome. The ever-burning fire ensured the continuing life of the city.

The classification of priests
: see Appendix.

I’m an augur myself
: Cicero became an augur in 53. The political powers summarized by Cicero here can be seen in their context in Taylor, ch. 6, ‘Manipulating the State Religion’. Her criticisms are qualified, but not removed, by Liebeschuetz 15–22.

the Titian Law
: see Titius in the Index of Names, and cf. section 14 above

the Livian Laws
: see Livius in the Index of Names, and cf. section 14 above.

a serious disagreement
: later, in
De Divinatione
(On Divination), finished soon after Caesar’s death (March 44), Cicero has his brother Quintus advance arguments in support of divination (Book 1), while he himself puts counter-arguments in Book 2. As Cicero, in the present passage, states his belief that divination is a genuine, though obsolete, art, the discrepancy calls for comment. See Introd. pp. xv and xxv.

I do not agree
: this is an unsatisfactory compromise. For if in the past augurs were able to inspect signs so as to exert a wise influence on political decisions, why should the art have been allowed to die out? And why should the authorities not have taken steps to revive it? It is clear that in the present context, because of his love of ancestral traditions and because of his acceptance of divination as an effective political instrument, Cicero is in favour of retaining the institution in his ideal state. But that, of course, is not a philosophically defensible position.

I absolutely agree
: as an Epicurean, Atticus might have accepted the last two sentences without granting that there was any truth in divination. But he could not have agreed with Cicero’s compromise as outlined in section 33. One has to conclude that Cicero has pushed the convention of the complaisant interlocutor rather too far.

the law governing war
: to judge from section 21 above, Cicero is thinking mainly of the duties of the fetial priests, a college of twenty that was concerned with making treaties and declaring war. The procedure is described by Livy 1. 24. 3–9 and 32. 5–14. FOR A SUMMARY SEE OCD UNDER FETIALES; FOR A DETAILED DISCUSSION SEE OGILVIE 110–12 and 127–36. In spite of these rituals no independent observer could claim that Rome’s declarations of war were always just, or that her conduct of war was always characterized by good faith. See Brunt (1) 175–8, Rich, ch. 3.

Eumolpidae
: in a letter of 67
BC
Atticus is asked for information about the ancestral rites of the Eumolpidae, i.e. the Eleusinian mysteries
(Att.
1. 9. 2). Cicero himself is addressed as an initiate in his
Tusculan Disputations
1. 29 (45
BC).

the comic poets
: examples: Menander,
Epitrepontes
451 ff. (the festival of the Tauropolia), and Plautus,
Aulularia
36 and 794 ft. (the festival of Ceres).

that fellow
: Publius Clodius Pulcher. On 4 December 62 the nocturnal rites of the fertility goddess known as the Bona Dea were being celebrated by a group of aristocratic matrons in the house of Julius Caesar, who was pontifex maximus. Clodius disguised himself as a woman and gained access in order to pursue an affair with Caesar’s wife, Pomponia. He was detected and brought to trial. In the event he was acquitted thanks to heavy bribery on the part of Crassus. Nevertheless, Caesar divorced Pomponia on the grounds that ‘Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion’ (Plutarch,
Julius Caesar
10. 9, Suetonius,
Julius Caesar
74. 2). The piquancy of this was appreciated by all, for Pompey had just divorced his wife, Mucia, for adultery with Caesar (Cic.
Att.
1. 12. 3, Suetonius,
Julius Caesar
50. 1). In the course of Clodius’ trial Cicero incurred his bitter hatred by demolishing his alibi. Three years later, Clodius gained his revenge by engineering Cicero’s banishment.

Bacchanalia
: the disorderly rites in honour of Bacchus got out of hand in 186 and were suppressed by the Senate. For details see Livy 39. 8–18 and Walsh’s article.

In his work
: Cicero is thought to refer to a scene in the lost
Horai
(Seasons), of which one fragment reads ‘Sabazius, the Phrygian, the flute-player’ (frag. 578, Kassel-Austin). Cf.
Birds
873–5
^an
d
Wasps
9. Sabazius was a Phrygian deity whose cult was widespread in Asia Minor. His worship was especially popular with women and slaves. ‘The other gods’ may well have included Adonis; see
Lysistrata
387–90 and Strabo to. 3. T 8.

I agree with Plato
: see Plato,
Republic
4. 424d.

the laws of music
: for the social implications of music see Plato,
Laws
3. 700–1, Aristotle,
Pol.
8. 5–7 (Barker), and Horace,
Ars Poetica
202–19, with Brink’s notes.

Pythian Apollo
: in Xenophon,
Memorabilia
4. 3. 16 the oracle says ‘Follow the custom of the state’; cf. T.3. T.

just a few days
: the Megalensian festival in honour of Cybele or the Great Mother
(megale
in Greek meant ‘great’), was held during 4–10 April. Lucretius describes how, at the procession, onlookers threw silver and copper coins into the roadway (De
Rerum Natura
2. 626–7). In his fulminations against Cybele Augustine mentions her devotees in Carthage collecting money ‘even from shopkeepers’ (De
Civitate Dei
7. 26). See also Frazer iii. 198–202. Such collections were not for charity, but for the cult itself.

Alexander
: there appears to be no confirmation of this story. Mr E. I. McQueen points out that while Alexander might have deposited the 200 -talent fine paid by the people in a temple during the celebrations which he organized, he would hardly have left it behind when he departed, for he was seriously short of money. See Arrian 2. 5. 5–7, 12. 2; Q. Curtius 3. 7. 2.

Cleisthenes
: this story is also uncorroborated. There is no record elsewhere of Cleisthenes having daughters.

Plato
: a reference to Plato,
Laws
4. 716–17.

the penalty imposed
: again, Cicero is not specific.

On my departure
: on the grounds that he had put Roman citizens to death without trial (namely some of Catiline’s accomplices), Cicero was sent into exile in March 58. His house on the Palatine was pulled down, his villas at Tusculum and Formiae were destroyed, and he was for bidden to reside within 400 miles (640km.) of the capital. The direct agent of all this was Clodius, but Clodius knew he had the backing of Caesar and Pompey. For accounts of this episode see T. N. Mitchell 133–43
^an
d E. Rawson (3) 116.

a temple of Licence
:
3.
sardonic distortion. The temple erected by Clodius on the site of Cicero’s demolished house on the Palatine was dedicated to Liberty.

the deity who was the guardian of the city
: before leaving Rome, Cicero took a statue of Minerva from his house to the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, where he dedicated it with the inscription ‘To Minerva, Guardian of Rome’. Minerva had long been worshipped on the Capitol along with Jupiter and Juno. See T. N. Mitchell 138.