{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But obviously the Romans have a plausible defence for\r\nundertaking and carrying on such disastrous wars,—to wit,\r\nthat the pressure of their enemies forced them to resist, so\r\nthat they were compelled to fight, not by any greed of human\r\napplause, but by the necessity of protecting life and liberty.\r\nWell, let that pass. Here is Sallust's account of the matter:\r\n\"For when their state, enriched with laws, institutions, territory,\r\nseemed abundantly prosperous and sufficiently powerful,\r\naccording to the ordinary law of human nature, opulence gave\r\nbirth to envy. Accordingly, the neighbouring kings and states\r\ntook arms and assaulted them. A few allies lent assistance;\r\nthe rest, struck with fear, kept aloof from dangers. But the\r\nRomans, watchful at home and in war, were active, made preparations,\r\nencouraged one another, marched to meet their\r\nenemies,—protected by arms their liberty, country, parents.\r\nAfterwards, when they had repelled the dangers by their\r\nbravery, they carried help to their allies and friends, and procured\r\nalliances more by conferring than by receiving favours.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_130_130\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_130_130\">[130]</a>\r\nThis was to build up Rome's greatness by honourable means.\r\nBut, in Numa's reign, I would know whether the long peace\r\nwas maintained in spite of the incursions of wicked neighbours,\r\nor if these incursions were discontinued that the peace\r\nmight be maintained? For if even then Rome was harassed\r\nby wars, and yet did not meet force with force, the same\r\nmeans she then used to quiet her enemies without conquering\r\nthem in war, or terrifying them with the onset of battle, she\r\nmight have used always, and have reigned in peace with the\r\ngates of Janus shut. And if this was not in her power, then\r\nRome enjoyed peace not at the will of her gods, but at the\r\nwill of her neighbours round about, and only so long as they\r\ncared to provoke her with no war, unless perhaps these pitiful\r\ngods will dare to sell to one man as their favour what lies not\r\nin their power to bestow, but in the will of another man.\r\nThese demons, indeed, in so far as they are permitted, can\r\nterrify or incite the minds of wicked men by their own peculiar\r\nwickedness. But if they always had this power, and if\r\nno action were taken against their efforts by a more secret\r\nand higher power, they would be supreme to give peace or<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_101\">[Pg 101]</a></span>\r\nthe victories of war, which almost always fall out through\r\nsome human emotion, and frequently in opposition to the will\r\nof the gods, as is proved not only by lying legends, which\r\nscarcely hint or signify any grain of truth, but even by\r\nRoman history itself.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK THIRD.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-213"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"475142d9dd6321e40d16c744fd7ae848f8bce563ed239973bf2a247a69bd6880","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_130_130","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_130_130","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_130_130\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_130_130\"><span class=\"label\">[130]</span></a> Sall. <i>Cat. Conj.</i> vi.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_130_130","text_sha256":"7b23d88afa37d9c0b8dc2f83528d234ee0558a4d9ddb66e31dc7905b9b04327f","verified":false,"work_id":null}