Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But the worshippers and admirers of these gods delight in\r\nimitating their scandalous iniquities, and are nowise concerned\r\nthat the republic be less depraved and licentious.\r\nOnly let it remain undefeated, they say, only let it flourish\r\nand abound in resources; let it be glorious by its victories, or\r\nstill better, secure in peace; and what matters it to us?\r\nThis is our concern, that every man be able to increase his\r\nwealth so as to supply his daily prodigalities, and so that the\r\npowerful may subject the weak for their own purposes. Let\r\nthe poor court the rich for a living, and that under their protection\r\nthey may enjoy a sluggish tranquillity; and let the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_73\">[Pg 73]</a></span>\r\nrich abuse the poor as their dependants, to minister to their\r\npride. Let the people applaud not those who protect their\r\ninterests, but those who provide them with pleasure. Let no\r\nsevere duty be commanded, no impurity forbidden. Let kings\r\nestimate their prosperity, not by the righteousness, but by the\r\nservility of their subjects. Let the provinces stand loyal to\r\nthe kings, not as moral guides, but as lords of their possessions\r\nand purveyors of their pleasures; not with a hearty\r\nreverence, but a crooked and servile fear. Let the laws take\r\ncognizance rather of the injury done to another man's property,\r\nthan of that done to one's own person. If a man be a\r\nnuisance to his neighbour, or injure his property, family, or\r\nperson, let him be actionable; but in his own affairs let every\r\none with impunity do what he will in company with his own\r\nfamily, and with those who willingly join him. Let there be\r\na plentiful supply of public prostitutes for every one who\r\nwishes to use them, but specially for those who are too poor\r\nto keep one for their private use. Let there be erected houses\r\nof the largest and most ornate description: in these let there\r\nbe provided the most sumptuous banquets, where every one\r\nwho pleases may, by day or night, play, drink, vomit,<a id=\"FNanchor_108_108\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_108_108\">[108]</a> dissipate.\r\nLet there be everywhere heard the rustling of dancers,\r\nthe loud, immodest laughter of the theatre; let a succession of\r\nthe most cruel and the most voluptuous pleasures maintain a\r\nperpetual excitement. If such happiness is distasteful to any,\r\nlet him be branded as a public enemy; and if any attempt to\r\nmodify or put an end to it, let him be silenced, banished, put\r\nan end to. Let these be reckoned the true gods, who procure\r\nfor the people this condition of things, and preserve it when\r\nonce possessed. Let them be worshipped as they wish; let\r\nthem demand whatever games they please, from or with their\r\nown worshippers; only let them secure that such felicity be\r\nnot imperilled by foe, plague, or disaster of any kind. What\r\nsane man would compare a republic such as this, I will not\r\nsay to the Roman empire, but to the palace of Sardanapalus,\r\nthe ancient king who was so abandoned to pleasures, that he\r\ncaused it to be inscribed on his tomb, that now that he was<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_74\">[Pg 74]</a></span>\r\ndead, he possessed only those things which he had swallowed\r\nand consumed by his appetites while alive? If these men\r\nhad such a king as this, who, while self-indulgent, should lay\r\nno severe restraint on them, they would more enthusiastically\r\nconsecrate to him a temple and a flamen than the ancient\r\nRomans did to Romulus.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK SECOND.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-160"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"109291154785c79bb184e08cff9ac8ef70eadc17191f3d1125b6500d23ff2bb1","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_108_108","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_108_108","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_108_108\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_108_108\"><span class=\"label\">[108]</span></a> The same collocation of words is used by Cicero with reference to the well-known\r\nmode of renewing the appetite in use among the Romans.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_108_108","text_sha256":"9447e0824532772a2d759f296124ae5949277d2df7cca41946b4993d482e30c2","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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