Note 17.1 — Chapter XVII · STATE OF THE WORLD IN THE FIRST CENTURY.

Tacit. Ann. i. 2; Florus, iv. 3; Pomponius in the Digest, 1; I. Tit. ii., fr. 2.

[17.2] Helicon. Apelles, Euceres, etc. The Oriental kings were considered by the Romans to surpass in tyranny the worst of the emperors. Dion. Cassius lix. 24.

[17.3] See inscription of the Parasite of Antony in the Comptes Rendus de l'Acad. des Inscr. et B. L., 1864, p. 166, etc. Comp. Tacit. Ann. iv. 55, 56.

[17.4] See for example the funeral oration on Turia by her husband, Q. Lucretius Vespillo, of which the complete epigraphic text was first published by Mommsen in Memoires de l'Academie de Berlin, 1863, p. 455, &c. Compare funeral oration on Murdia (Orelli, Inscr. Lat. No. 4860), and on Matilda by the emperor Adrian (Mem. de l'Acad. de Berlin, u. s. 483, &c.). We are too much preoccupied by passages of the Latin satirists in which the vices of women are sharply exposed. It is as if we were to design a general tableau of the morals of the seventeenth century from Mathurin, Regnier, and Boileau.

[17.5] Orelli, Nos. 2647, &c., especially 2677, 2742, 4530, 4860; Henzen, Nos. 7382, &c., especially No. 7406; Renier, Inscr. de l'Algerie, No. 1987. They may have been false epithets, but they prove at least the estimation of virtue.

[17.6] Plin. Epist. vii. 19; ix. 13; Appian, Bell. Civ. iv. 36. Fannia twice followed to exile her husband, Helvidius Priscus, and was banished a third time after his death.

[17.7] The heroism of Arria is well known.

[17.8] Suet. Aug. 73; Fun. Orat. on Turia, i, line 30.

[17.9] Ib. 31.

[17.10] The too severe opinion of Paul (Rom. i. 24, &c.) is explicable in the same way. Paul was not acquainted with the higher social life of Rome. Besides, these clerical invectives are not to be taken literally.

[17.11] Sen. Ep. xii., xxiv., xxvi., lviii., lxx.; De Ira. iii. 15. De Tranq. anim. 10.

[17.12] Apoc. xvii.; Cf. Sen. Ep. xcv. 16, &c.

[17.13] Suet. Aug. 48.

[17.14] The inscriptions contain countless examples.

[17.15] Plut. Græc. Ger. Reipubl. xv. 3–4; An seni sit ger. resp., passim.

[17.16] Jos. Ant. xiv., x. 22, 23; Comp. Tacit. Ann. iv. 55, 56. Rutilius Numatianus, Itin. i. 63, &c.

[17.17] “Immensa romanæ pacis majestas.” Plin. Hist. Nat. xxvii. 1.

[17.18] Ælius Arist. Eloge de Rome, passim; Plut. Fortune des Romains; Philo. Leg. ad Caium, § 21, 22, 39, 40.

[17.19] Dion. Hal. Antiq. Rom. i., comm.

[17.20] Plut. Solon. 20.

[17.21] See Athen. xii. 68; Ælian, Var. Hist. ix. 12; Suidas, word Ἐπίκουρος.

[17.22] Tacit. Ann. i. 2.

[17.23] Study the character of Euthyphron in Plato.

[17.24] Diog. Laert. ii. 101, 116; v. 5, 6, 37, 38; ix. 52; Athen. xiii. 92; xv. 52; Ælian, Var. Hist. ii. 23; iii. 36; Plut. Pericles, 32; De Plac. Philos. I, vii. 2; Diod. Sic. XIII., vi. 7; Aristoph. in Aves, 1073.

[17.25] Particularly under Vespasian, as in the case of Helvidius Priscus.

[17.26] We shall show later that these persecutions, at least until that of Decius, have been much exaggerated.

[17.27] The early Christians were in fact very respectful towards Roman authority. Rom. xiii. i., &c.; I. Peter iv. 14, 16. As to St. Luke, see the Introduction to this work.

[17.28] Diog. Laert. vii. 1, 32, 33; Euseb. Prepar. Evang. xv. 15, and in general the De Legibus and De Officiis of Cicero.

[17.29] Terence, Heautont. I. i. 77, Cic. De Finibus Bon. et Mal., v. 23; Partit. Orat., 16, 24: Ovid, Fasti, ii. 684; Lucian vi. 54, &c.; Sen., Epist. xlviii, xcv. 51, &c.; De Ira, i. 5; iii. 43; Arrian. Dissert. Epict. I. ix. 6; ii. v. 26; Plut. Roman. 2; Alexander, i. 8, 9.

[17.30] Virg. Eclog. iv.; Sen. Medea, 375, &c.

[17.31] Tac. Ann. ii. 85; Suet. Tib. 35; Ovid. Fast. ii. 497–514.

[17.32] he inscriptions for women contain the most touching expressions. “Mater omnium hominum, parens omnibus subveniens,” in Renier, Inscr. de l'Algerie, No. 1987, Comp. ibid. No. 2756; Mommsen, Inscr. R. N., No. 1431. “Duobus virtutis et castitatis exemplis.” Not. et Mem. de la Soc. de Constantine, 1865, p. 158. See inscription of Urbanilla in Guerin, Voy. Archéol. in Tunis, i. 289, and a beautiful one, Orelli, No. 4648. Some of these texts are subsequent to the first century; but the sentiments they express were not new when they were written.

[17.33] Table-Talk I., v. 1; Demosth. 2; the Dialogue on Love, 2; and Consol. ad Uxorem.

[17.34] “Caritas generis humani.” Cic. De Finibus, v. 23. “Homo sacra res homini,” Sen. Epist. xcv. 33.

[17.35] Sen. Epist. xxxi., xlvii.; De Benef., iii. 18, &c.

[17.36] Tac. Ann. xiv. 42, &c.; Suet. Claud. 25; Dion Cass. lx. 29; Plin. Ep. viii. 16; Inscr. Lanuv. col. 2 lines, 1–4 (Mommsen De Coll et Sodal. Rom., ad calcem); Sen. Rhet. Controv. iii. 21; vii. 6; Sen. Phil. Epist. xlvii; De Benef. iii., 18, &c, Columella. De re rustica, i. 8; Plut, the Elder, 5; De Ira, 11.

[17.37] Epist. xlvii., 13.

[17.38] Cato. De re rustica, 58, 59, 104; Plut. Cato, 4, 5. Compare the severe maxims of Ecclesiasticus xxxiii. 25, &c.

[17.39] Tac. Ann. xiv. 60; Dion Cass, xlvii. 10; lx. 16; lxii. 13; lxvi. 14. Suet. Caius, 16; Appia, Bell. Civ. iv., from ch. xvii. (especially ch. xxxvi. &c), to ch. li. Juv. vi. 476, &c., describes the manners of the worst class.

[17.40] Hor. Sat. i. vi. 1, &c.; Cic. Epist. iii 7; Sen. Rhet. Controv. i. 6.

[17.41] Suet. Caius, 15, 16; Claud. 19, 23, 25; Nero, 16; Dion Cass. lx. 25–29.

[17.42] Tac. Ann. vi. 17; comp. iv. 6.

[17.43] Tac. Ann. xiii. 50, 51; Suet. Nero, 10.

[17.44] Epitaph of the jeweller, Evhodus (hominis boni, misericordis, amatis pauperis). Corp. Inscr. Lat. No. 1027, and inscription of the age of Augustus (Cf. Egger, Mem. d'Histoire et de Phil., p. 351, &c); Perrot, Exploration de la Galatie, &c., p. 118, 119, πτωχοὺς φιλέοντα; Funeral Oration of Matilda by Adrian (Mem. de l'Acad. de Berlin for 1863, p. 489); Mommsen. Inscr. Regni Neap. Nos. 1431, 2868, 4880; Seneca Rhet., Controv. I. i.; iii 19; iv. 27, viii. 6; Sen. Phil. De Elem. ii. 5, 6. De Benef. i l; ii. ll; iv. 14; vii. 31. Compare Leblant Inscr. Chret. de la Gaule, ii. p. 23, &c; Orelli, No. 4657, Fea Framm de Frasti Consol., p. 90; R. Garrucci, Cimitera degli ant. Ebrei, p. 44.

[17.45] Corp. Inscr. Græc, No. 2758.

[17.46] Ibid. Nos. 2194 b. 2511, 2759 b.

[17.47] It must be borne in mind that Corinth in the Roman epoch was a colony of foreigners, formed upon the site of the ancient city by Cæsar and Augustus.

[17.48] Lucian, Demonax, 37.

[17.49] Dion Cassius, lxvi. 15.

[17.50] See Ælius Aristides, Treatise against Comedy, 751, &c., ed. Dindorf.

[17.51] It is worthy of note that in several cities of Asia Minor the remains of the ancient theatres are at this day haunts of debauchery. Comp. Ov. Amor. i. 89, &c.

[17.52] Orelli-Henzen Nos. 1172, 3362, &c., 6669; Guerin, Voy. en Tunisie, 11, p. 59; Borghesi, Œuvres Completes, iv. p. 269, &c.; E. Desjardins. De tabulis alimentariis (Paris 1854); Aurelius Victor. Epitome, Nerva; Plin. Epist. i. 8; vii. 18.

[17.53] Inscriptions in Desjardins, op. cit. pars ii. cap. 1.

[17.54] Suet. Aug. 41, 46; Dion Cass. li. 21; lviii. 2.

[17.55] Tac. Ann. ii. 87; vi. 13; xv. Suet. Aug. 41, 42; Claud. 18. Comp. Dion Cass. lxii. 18; Orelli, No. 3358 &c.; Henzen, 6662, &c.; Forcellini, article Tessera frumentaria.

[17.56] Odyss. vi. 207.

[17.57] Eurip. Suppl. v. 773, &c.; Aristotle Rhetor. II. v. iii. and Nicomachus viii. 1; IX. x. See Stobeus Florilegus xxxvii. cxiii. and in general the fragments of Menander, and the Greek comedians.

[17.58] Aristotle Polit. VI. iii. 4. 5.

[17.59] Cic. Tusc. iv. 7–8; Sen. De Clem. ii. 5. 6.

[17.60] Papyrus at the Louvre, No. 37, col. 1. line 21. Notices et Extraits xviii. 2d part, p. 298.

[17.61] V. ante.

[17.62] Apoc. xvii. &c.

[17.63] Virg. Ec. iv. Georg. i. 463, &c.; Horace Od. I. ii; Tac. Ann. vi. 12; Suet. Aug. 31.

[17.64] See for example De Republ. iii. 22, cited and preserved by Lactantius Instit. div. vi. 8.

[17.65] See the admirable letter, xxxi. to Lucilius.

[17.66] Suet. Vesp. 18; Dion Cass. t. vi. p. 558 (edit. Sturz); Euseb. Chron. A.D. 89. Plin. Epist. i. 8; Henzen, Suppl. to Orelli, p. 124, No. 1172.

[17.67] Funeral Oration of Turia, i. lines 30–31.

[17.68] See first book of Valerius Maximus; Julius Obsequens on Prodigies; and Discours Sacrés of Ælius Aristides.

[17.69] Augustus (Suet. Aug. 90–92) and even Cæsar, it is said, (but I doubt,) (Plin. Hist. Nat. xxviii. iv. 7) did not escape it.

[17.70] Manilius, Hygin. translations from Aratus.

[17.71] Cic. Pro Archia, 10.

[17.72] Suet. Claud. 25.

[17.73] Jos. Ant. XIX. v. 3.

[17.74] Bereschith rabba ch. lxv. fol. 65b; Du Cange, word matricularius.

[17.75] Cic. De Legibus, ii. 8; Vopiscus. Aurelian, 19.

[17.76] Religio sine superstitione, Orat. fun. Turia i. lines 30–31. See Plu. de Superstit.

[17.77] See Melito, Περὶ ἀληθείας, in Spicilegium Syriacum of Cureto, p. 43, or Spicil. Solesmense of dom Pitra, t. ii. p. xli., to get a good idea of the impression made by it upon the Jews and Christians.

[17.78] Suet. Aug. 52; Dion Cass. li. 20; Tac. Ann. i. 10; Aurel. Victor. Ceas, i. Appian. Bell. Civ. v. 132; Jos. B. J., I. xxi. 2, 3, 4, 7. Noris, Cenotaphia Pisana, dissert. i. cap. 4; Kalendarium Cumanum, in Corpus Inscr. Lat. i. p. 310; Eckhel. Doctrina Num. Vet. pars 2d. vol. vi. p. 100, 124, &c.

[17.79] Tac. Ann. iv. 55–56. Comp. Valer. Maxim. prol.

[17.80] Ante, p. 193, &c.

[17.81] Corinth, the only Grecian town which was considerably Christianized during the first century, was no longer at this period a Hellenic city.

[17.82] Heracl. Corn. Comp. Cic. De Nat. Deorum, iii. 23, 25, 60, 62, 64.

[17.83] Plut. Consol. ad ux. 10; De sera numinis vindicta, 22; Heuzey. Mission de Macedoine, p. 128. Revue Archéologique, April, 1864, p. 282.

[17.84] Lucret., i. 63, &c.; Sallust. Catil. 52; Cic. De Nat. Deorum. ii. 24, 28. De Divinat. ii. 33, 35, 57; De Haruspicorum Responsis, passim; Tuscul. i. 16; Juvenal, Sat. ii. 149, 152; Sen. Epist. xxiv. 17.

[17.85] Sua cuique civitati religio est, nostra nobis. Cic. Pro Flacco, 28.

[17.86] Cic. De Nat. Deorum, i. 30, 42; De Divinat. ii. 12, 33, 35, 72. De Harusp. Resp. 6, etc.; Liv. i. 19, Quint. Curt. iv. 10. Plut. De plac. phil. I. vii. 2; Diod. Sic. I. ii. 2. Varro. in Aug. De civit. Dei ,iv. 31, 32; vi. 6. Dion. Halic. ii. 20. viii. 5. Valer. Maxim. I. ii.

[17.87] Cic. De Divinat. ii. 15; Juvenal, ii. 149, &c.

[17.88] Tac. Ann. xi. 15. Plin. Epist. x. 97. sub. fin. Serapin in Plut. De Pythiæ Oraculis. Comp. De EI apud Delphos, init. See also Valer. Maxim I., passim.

[17.89] Juv. Sat. vi. 489, 527, &c. Tac. Ann. xi. 15. Comp. Lucian Conv. Deorum; Tertull. Apolog. 6.

[17.90] Jos. Ant. xviii. iii. 4; Tac. Ann. ii. 85; Le Bas, Inscr. part v. No. 395.

[17.91] Plut. De Pyth. orac. 25.

[17.92] See Lucian, Alexander seu pseudomantis and De morte Peregrini.

[17.93] Sen. Epist. xii. xxiv. lxv. Inscr. Lanuv. 2d col. lines 5–6; Orelli, 4404.

[17.94] Dion Cass. lxvi. 13; lxvii. 13; Suet. Domit. 10. Tac. Agricola. 2.45; Plin. Epist. III. ii.; Philostr. Vit. Apollon. I. vii. passim. Euseb. Chron. A.D. 90.

[17.95] Dion Cass. lxii. 29.

[17.96] Arrian, Dissert. de Epictet. I. ii. 21.

[17.97] Ibid. I. xxv. 22.