Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>Since, therefore, we see that even the select gods themselves\r\nwork together with the others, like a senate with the people,\r\nin all those minute works which have been minutely portioned\r\nout among many gods; and since we find that far greater and\r\nbetter things are administered by certain gods who have not\r\nbeen reckoned worthy to be selected than by those who are\r\ncalled select, it remains that we suppose that they were called\r\nselect and chief, not on account of their holding more exalted\r\noffices in the world, but because it happened to them to become\r\nbetter known to the people. And even Varro himself says,\r\nthat in that way obscurity had fallen to the lot of some father\r\ngods and mother goddesses,<a id=\"FNanchor_252_252\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_252_252\">[252]</a> as it falls to the lot of men. If,\r\ntherefore, Felicity ought not perhaps to have been put among\r\nthe select gods, because they did not attain to that noble position\r\nby merit, but by chance, Fortune at least should have been\r\nplaced among them, or rather before them; for they say that\r\nthat goddess distributes to every one the gifts she receives,\r\nnot according to any rational arrangement, but according as\r\nchance may determine. She ought to have held the uppermost\r\nplace among the select gods, for among them chiefly it is that\r\nshe shows what power she has. For we see that they have\r\nbeen selected not on account of some eminent virtue or rational\r\nhappiness, but by that random power of Fortune which the\r\nworshippers of these gods think that she exerts. For that most\r\neloquent man Sallust also may perhaps have the gods themselves\r\nin view when he says: \"But, in truth, fortune rules in\r\neverything; it renders all things famous or obscure, according\r\nto caprice rather than according to truth.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_253_253\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_253_253\">[253]</a> For they cannot<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_264\">[Pg 264]</a></span>\r\ndiscover a reason why Venus should have been made famous,\r\nwhilst Virtus has been made obscure, when the divinity of both\r\nof them has been solemnly recognised by them, and their merits\r\nare not to be compared. Again, if she has deserved a noble\r\nposition on account of the fact that she is much sought after—for\r\nthere are more who seek after Venus than after Virtus—why\r\nhas Minerva been celebrated whilst Pecunia has been\r\nleft in obscurity, although throughout the whole human race\r\navarice allures a far greater number than skill? And even\r\namong those who are skilled in the arts, you will rarely find\r\na man who does not practise his own art for the purpose of\r\npecuniary gain; and that for the sake of which anything is\r\nmade, is always valued more than that which is made for the\r\nsake of something else. If, then, this selection of gods has\r\nbeen made by the judgment of the foolish multitude, why has\r\nnot the goddess Pecunia been preferred to Minerva, since there\r\nare many artificers for the sake of money? But if this distinction\r\nhas been made by the few wise, why has Virtus been\r\npreferred to Venus, when reason by far prefers the former?\r\nAt all events, as I have already said, Fortune herself—who,\r\naccording to those who attribute most influence to her, renders\r\nall things famous or obscure according to caprice rather than\r\naccording to the truth—since she has been able to exercise so\r\nmuch power even over the gods, as, according to her capricious\r\njudgment, to render those of them famous whom she would,\r\nand those obscure whom she would; Fortune herself ought to\r\noccupy the place of pre-eminence among the select gods, since\r\nover them also she has such pre-eminent power. Or must\r\nwe suppose that the reason why she is not among the select\r\nis simply this, that even Fortune herself has had an adverse\r\nfortune? She was adverse, then, to herself, since, whilst ennobling\r\nothers, she herself has remained obscure.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK SEVENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-476"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"e18b11fa65e7235086d42715096caae76a493f2d6bd34a9757baa3a1616e7bae","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_253_253","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_253_253","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_253_253\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_253_253\"><span class=\"label\">[253]</span></a> Sallust, <i>Cat. Conj.</i> ch. 8.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_253_253","text_sha256":"5f09a32267f1d4c530ea9b3faed6054393644ae1f7b54e457eb2a198b99e003a","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_253_253