Lactantius, Divinarum Institutionum

septimam Cumanam nomine Amaltheam, quae ab aliis Herophile uel Demophile nominetur, eamque nouem libros attulisse ad regem Tarquinium Priscum ac pro iis trecentos philippeos postulasse regemque aspernatum pretii magnitudinem derisisse mulieris insaniam; illam in conspectu regis tris combussisse ac pro reliquis idem pretium poposcisse; Tarquinium multo magis insanire mulierem putauisse;

the seventh, the Cumaean, named Amalthea, who is called Herophile or Demophile by others; and that she brought nine books to King Tarquinius Priscus and asked three hundred philippei [gold coins] for them, and that the king, scorning the size of the price, laughed at the woman's madness; that she burned three in the king's sight and demanded the same price for the rest; that Tarquin thought the woman much madder still;

quomodo id probari potest? nimirum ueteres historiae docent. antiquus auctor Euhemerus, qui fuit ex ciuitate Messene, res gestas Iouis et ceterorum qui dii putantur collegit historiamque contexuit ex titulis et inscriptionibus sacris quae in antiquissimis templis habebantur maximeque in fano Iouis Triphylii, ubi auream columnam positam esse ab ipso Ioue titulus indicabat, in qua columna sua gesta perscripsit, ut monumentum posteris esset rerum suarum.

How can this be proved? The ancient histories, of course, teach it. Euhemerus, an ancient author who came from the city of Messene, collected the deeds of Jupiter and of the others who are thought to be gods, and wove together a history from the titles and sacred inscriptions that were kept in the most ancient temples, and above all in the shrine of Jupiter Triphylius, where an inscription showed that a golden column had been set up by Jupiter himself, on which column he wrote out his own deeds, so that there might be a record of his achievements for posterity.

fugit igitur expulsus et in italiam nauigio uenit, cum errasset diu, sicut Ouidius in Fastorum libris refert: causa ratis superest. Tuscum rate uenit ad amnem ante pererrato falcifer orbe deus. hunc errantem -atque inopem Ianus excepit:

So, driven out, he fled and came to Italy by ship, after wandering for a long time, as Ovid reports in the books of the Fasti: ‘The reason for the ship remains: the sickle-bearing god came by ship to the Tuscan river, after first wandering over the world.’ Janus took him in, wandering and destitute:

nam cum Tarquinius Capitolium facere uellet atque in eo loco multorum deorum sacella essent, consuluit eos per auguria utrum Ioui cederent, et cedentibus ceteris solus Terminus mansit. unde illum poeta Capitoli inmobile saxum uocat.

For when Tarquin wanted to build the Capitol and there were shrines of many gods on that site, he consulted them through auguries as to whether they would yield to Jupiter; and while the rest yielded, Terminus alone stayed. Hence the poet calls him ‘the immovable rock of the Capitol’.

sed ut Pompilius aput Romanos institutor ineptarum religionum fuit, sic ante Pompilium Faunus in Latio, qui et Saturno auo nefaria sacra constituit et Picum patrem inter deos honorauit et sororem suam Fentam Faunam eandemque coniugem consecrauit; quam Gauius Bassus tradit Fatuam nominatam, quod mulieribus fata canere consuesset ut Faunus uiris.

But as Pompilius was the founder of foolish religious rites among the Romans, so before Pompilius was Faunus in Latium, who both established impious rites for his grandfather Saturn and honoured his father Picus among the gods, and consecrated his sister Fenta Fauna, who was also his wife; Gavius Bassus records that she was called Fatua because she used to foretell their fates to women, as Faunus did to men.

idcirco illi mulieres in operto sacrificant et Bonam Deam nominant. et Sextus Clodius in eo libro quem Graece scripsit, refert Fauni hanc uxorem fuisse; quae quia contra morem decusque regium clam uini ollam ebiberat et ebria facta erat, uirgis myrteis a uiro ad mortem usque caesam; postea uero cum eum facti sui paeniteret ac desiderium eius ferre non posset, diuinum illi honorem detulisse; idcirco in sacris eius obuolutam uini amphoram poni.

For this reason women sacrifice to her in secret and call her the Good Goddess. And Sextus Clodius, in the book he wrote in Greek, reports that she was the wife of Faunus; and that because, against custom and royal propriety, she had secretly drunk off a jar of wine and become drunk, she was beaten to death by her husband with myrtle rods; but that afterwards, when he regretted what he had done and could not bear his longing for her, he conferred divine honour on her; and that for this reason a covered jar of wine is placed at her rites.

sed quis aetate praecesserit dubitari potest, siquidem per eosdem annos Latinus Priamusque regnarunt, item patres eorum Faunus et Laomedon, quo regnante Orpheus cum Argonautis ad Iliensium litus accessit.

But which of them came first in time may be doubted, since Latinus and Priam reigned in the same years, and likewise their fathers Faunus and Laomedon, in whose reign Orpheus came with the Argonauts to the shore of the people of Ilium.

deinde fecit alterom, in quo indoles diuinae stirpis non permansit. itaque suapte inuidia. tamquam ueneno infectus est et ex bono ad malum transcendit suoque arbitrio, quod illi a deo liberum fuerat datum, contrarium sibi nomen a.dsciuit.

Then he made another, in whom the character of the divine stock did not endure. So he was infected by his own envy as if by poison, and passed over from good to evil, and by his own choice, which had been given to him free by God, he took on himself a contrary name.

unde apparet cunctorum malorum fontem esse liuorem. inuidit enim illi antecessori suo, qui deo patri perseuerando cum probatus tum etiam carus est.

From this it is clear that envy is the source of all evils. For he envied that predecessor of his, who by persevering is both approved by God the Father and dear to him.

hunc ergo ei bono per se malum enectum Graeci διβολον appellant, nos criminatorem uocamus, quod crimina in quae ipse inlicit ad deum deferat.

This one, then, who of himself became evil out of good, the Greeks call diabolos; we call him the accuser, because he reports to God the crimes into which he himself entices [men].

Cum ergo numerus hominum coepisset increscere, prouidens deus ne fraudibus suis diabolus, cui ab initio dederat terrae potestatem, uel corrumperet homines uel disperderet, quod in exordio fecerat, misit angelos ad tutelam cultumque generis humani: quibus praecepit ante omnia, ne terrae contagione maculati substantiae caelestis amitterent dignitatem. scilicet id eos facere prohibuit quod sciebat esse facturos, ut ueniam sperare non possent.

So when the number of men had begun to increase, God, taking care lest the devil, to whom he had given power over the earth from the beginning, should by his deceits either corrupt or destroy men, as he had done at the outset, sent angels to guard and to care for the human race; and he commanded them above all not to be stained by the contagion of the earth and so lose the dignity of their heavenly substance. Evidently he forbade them to do what he knew they would do, so that they could not hope for pardon.

itaque illos cum hominibus commorantes dominator ille terrae fallacissimus consuetudine ipsa paulatim ad uitia pellexit et mulierum congressibus inquinauit.

And so that most deceitful lord of the earth, through their very familiarity, little by little enticed them into vices as they lived among men, and defiled them by intercourse with women.

tum in caelum ob peccata quibus se inmerserant non recepti ceciderunt in terram. sic eos diabolus ex angelis dei suos fecit satellites ac ministros.

Then, not being received into heaven because of the sins in which they had plunged themselves, they fell to the earth. Thus the devil made them, from angels of God, into his own attendants and servants.

qui autem sunt ex his procreati quia neque angeli neque homines fuerunt, sed mediam quandam naturam gerentes, non sunt ad inferos recepti sicut in caelum parentes eorum.

But those who were begotten from them, because they were neither angels nor men but bore a kind of intermediate nature, were not received into the underworld, just as their parents were not received into heaven.

ita duo genera daemonum facta sunt, unum caeleste, alterum terrenum. hi sunt immundi spiritus, malorum quae geruntur auctores, quorum idem diabolus est princeps.

So two kinds of demons came into being, one heavenly, the other earthly. These are the unclean spirits, the authors of the evils that are done, and their prince is that same devil.

itaque omnia insidiis fra.udibus dolis erroribus conplent: adhaerent enim singulis hominibus et omnes ostiatim domos occupant ac sibi geniorum nomen adsumunt; sic enim latino sermone daemonas interpretantur.

And so they fill everything with plots, frauds, tricks and errors: for they attach themselves to individual men and occupy all houses, door to door, and take for themselves the name of genii [guardian spirits]; for that is how the Latin language renders daimones.

hos in suis penetralibus consecrant, his cotidie (uina.) profundunt, et scientes daemonas uenerantur quasi terrestres deos et quasi depulsores malorum quae ipsi faciunt et mroga.ut.

[People] consecrate these in their inner shrines, pour out [wine] to these every day, and knowingly venerate demons as if they were earthly gods and as averters of the evils which [the demons] themselves cause and inflict.

qui quomam spiritus sunt tenues et inconprehensibiies, insinuant se corporibus hominum et occulte in uisceribus operati ualetudinem uitiant, morbos citant, somniis animos terrent, mentes furoribus quatiunt, ut homines his malis cogant ad eorum auxilia decurrere.

Since they are thin spirits that cannot be grasped, they work their way into men's bodies and, operating secretly in their inner organs, they damage health, stir up diseases, terrify souls with dreams and shake minds with frenzies, so as to force men by these evils to run to them for help.

Quarum omnium fallaciarum ratio expertibus ueritatis obscura est. prodesse enim putant eos, cum nocere desinunt, qui nihil possunt aliut quam nocere.

The reasoning behind all these deceptions is obscure to those who have no share in the truth. For they think that those [spirits] help them when they stop harming them, though they can do nothing but harm.

dicat fortasse aliquis colendos ergo esse, ne noceant, siquidem possint nocere. nocent illi quidem, sed iis a quibus timentur, quos manus dei potens et excelsa. non protegit, qui profani sunt a sacramento ueritatis. iustos autem id est cultores dei metuunt.

Someone may perhaps say that they should therefore be worshipped, so that they do no harm, since they are able to harm. They do harm, indeed, but to those by whom they are feared, whom the mighty and exalted hand of God does not protect, who are strangers to the sacrament of truth. But the just, that is, the worshippers of God, they fear,

, cuius nomine adiurati de corporibus excedunt: quorum uerbis tamquam flagris uerbera.ti non modo daemonas esse se confitentur, sed etiam nomina sua edunt, illa. quae in templis adorantur. quod plerumque coram cultoribus suis faciunt, non utique in obprobrium religionis, sed honoris sui, quia nec deo per quem adiurantur nec iustis quorum uoce torquentur mentiri possunt.

by whose name they are adjured and go out of bodies; and, lashed by their words as if by whips, they not only confess that they are demons but even give out their names, those that are worshipped in the temples. This they generally do in the presence of their own worshippers, to the disgrace, certainly, not of religion but of their own honour, because they can lie neither to God, by whom they are adjured, nor to the just, by whose voice they are tortured.

sed eos magi et ii quos uere maleficos uulgus appellat, cum artes suas exsecrabiles exercent, ueris suis nominibus cient, illis caelestibus quae in litteris sanctis leguntur.

But magicians, and those whom the common people rightly call malefici [evildoers], when they practise their accursed arts, summon them by their true names, those heavenly ones that are read in the holy writings.

si magus Christus, quia mirabilia fecit, peritior utique Apollonius, qui ut describis cum Domitianus eum punire uellet, repente in iudicio non conparuit. quam ille qui et conprehensus est et cruci adfixus.

If Christ was a magician because he did wonders, then surely Apollonius was more skilled, he who, as you describe, when Domitian wanted to punish him, suddenly vanished from his trial, than the one who was both arrested and fixed to a cross.