Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>I shall not therefore stay to inquire what sort of men\r\nRomulus gathered together, seeing he deliberated much about\r\nthem,—how, being assumed out of that life they led into the\r\nfellowship of his city, they might cease to think of the punishment\r\nthey deserved, the fear of which had driven them to\r\ngreater villanies; so that henceforth they might be made more\r\npeaceable members of society. But this I say, that the Roman\r\nempire, which by subduing many nations had already grown\r\ngreat and an object of universal dread, was itself greatly\r\nalarmed, and only with much difficulty avoided a disastrous\r\noverthrow, because a mere handful of gladiators in Campania,\r\nescaping from the games, had recruited a great army, appointed\r\nthree generals, and most widely and cruelly devastated Italy.\r\nLet them say what god aided these men, so that from a small\r\nand contemptible band of robbers they attained to a kingdom,\r\nfeared even by the Romans, who had such great forces and\r\nfortresses. Or will they deny that they were divinely aided\r\nbecause they did not last long?<a id=\"FNanchor_160_160\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_160_160\">[160]</a> As if, indeed, the life of\r\nany man whatever lasted long. In that case, too, the gods\r\naid no one to reign, since all individuals quickly die; nor is\r\nsovereign power to be reckoned a benefit, because in a little\r\ntime in every man, and thus in all of them one by one, it\r\nvanishes like a vapour. For what does it matter to those<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_141\">[Pg 141]</a></span>\r\nwho worshipped the gods under Romulus, and are long since\r\ndead, that after their death the Roman empire has grown so\r\ngreat, while they plead their causes before the powers beneath?\r\nWhether those causes are good or bad, it matters not to the\r\nquestion before us. And this is to be understood of all those\r\nwho carry with them the heavy burden of their actions, having\r\nin the few days of their life swiftly and hurriedly passed over\r\nthe stage of the imperial office, although the office itself has\r\nlasted through long spaces of time, being filled by a constant\r\nsuccession of dying men. If, however, even those benefits\r\nwhich last only for the shortest time are to be ascribed to the aid\r\nof the gods, these gladiators were not a little aided, who broke\r\nthe bonds of their servile condition, fled, escaped, raised a\r\ngreat and most powerful army, obedient to the will and orders\r\nof their chiefs and much feared by the Roman majesty, and\r\nremaining unsubdued by several Roman generals, seized many\r\nplaces, and, having won very many victories, enjoyed whatever\r\npleasures they wished, and did what their lust suggested,\r\nand, until at last they were conquered, which was done with\r\nthe utmost difficulty, lived sublime and dominant. But let\r\nus come to greater matters.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK FOURTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-280"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"9d1698e6c47ea46768af3254cbc9207189b29020f386dcfdf254173cd2a4d8ee","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume I","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Book IV)","J. J. Smith (Books V-VIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45304-Footnote_160_160","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_160_160","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_160_160\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_160_160\"><span class=\"label\">[160]</span></a> It was extinguished by Crassus in its third year.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_160_160","text_sha256":"60f053f24fbb47692cbea5686b578655ab2a28c54ee7390365d01d4dc88b8c01","verified":false,"work_id":null}

references: [] | work_id: | origin: existing-private-derived-record | source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_160_160