Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But they have not found how to refer Mercury and Mars\r\nto any parts of the world, and to the works of God which are\r\nin the elements; and therefore they have set them at least\r\nover human works, making them assistants in speaking and in\r\ncarrying on wars. Now Mercury, if he has also the power of\r\nthe speech of the gods, rules also over the king of the gods himself,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_277\">[Pg 277]</a></span>\r\nif Jupiter, as he receives from him the faculty of speech,\r\nalso speaks according as it is his pleasure to permit him—which\r\nsurely is absurd; but if it is only the power over human\r\nspeech which is held to be attributed to him, then we say\r\nit is incredible that Jupiter should have condescended to give\r\nthe pap not only to children, but also to beasts—from which\r\nhe has been surnamed Ruminus—and yet should have been\r\nunwilling that the care of our speech, by which we excel the\r\nbeasts, should pertain to him. And thus speech itself both\r\nbelongs to Jupiter, and is Mercury. But if speech itself is\r\nsaid to be Mercury, as those things which are said concerning\r\nhim by way of interpretation show it to be;—for he is said\r\nto have been called Mercury, that is, he who runs between,<a id=\"FNanchor_271_271\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_271_271\">[271]</a>\r\nbecause speech runs between men: they say also that the\r\nGreeks call him Ἑρμῆς, because speech, or interpretation, which\r\ncertainly belongs to speech, is called by them ἑρμηνεία: also\r\nhe is said to preside over payments, because speech passes\r\nbetween sellers and buyers: the wings, too, which he has on\r\nhis head and on his feet, they say, mean that speech passes\r\nwinged through the air: he is also said to have been called\r\nthe messenger,<a id=\"FNanchor_272_272\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_272_272\">[272]</a> because by means of speech all our thoughts\r\nare expressed;<a id=\"FNanchor_273_273\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_273_273\">[273]</a>—if, therefore, speech itself is Mercury, then,\r\neven by their own confession, he is not a god. But when\r\nthey make to themselves gods of such as are not even demons,\r\nby praying to unclean spirits, they are possessed by such as\r\nare not gods, but demons. In like manner, because they have\r\nnot been able to find for Mars any element or part of the\r\nworld in which he might perform some works of nature of\r\nwhatever kind, they have said that he is the god of war,\r\nwhich is a work of men, and that not one which is considered\r\ndesirable by them. If, therefore, Felicitas should give perpetual\r\npeace, Mars would have nothing to do. But if war\r\nitself is Mars, as speech is Mercury, I wish it were as true\r\nthat there were no war to be falsely called a god, as it is true\r\nthat it is not a god.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK SEVENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-508"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"0e0de520570bb547684ac59d869eb70964b3abd43a04b9d47a839b86cf118f3e","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_272_272","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_272_272","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_272_272\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_272_272\"><span class=\"label\">[272]</span></a> Nuncius.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_272_272","text_sha256":"3573cfae206fb8063e15cc92812ad008088c75c177ea0b86dc6f1ffa0969b0fc","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_272_272