{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>And on this account, Theodosius not only preserved during\r\nthe lifetime of Gratian that fidelity which was due to him,\r\nbut also, after his death, he, like a true Christian, took his\r\nlittle brother Valentinian under his protection, as joint emperor,\r\nafter he had been expelled by Maximus, the murderer\r\nof his father. He guarded him with paternal affection, though\r\nhe might without any difficulty have got rid of him, being\r\nentirely destitute of all resources, had he been animated with\r\nthe desire of extensive empire, and not with the ambition of\r\nbeing a benefactor. It was therefore a far greater pleasure to\r\nhim, when he had adopted the boy, and preserved to him his<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_225\">[Pg 225]</a></span>\r\nimperial dignity, to console him by his very humanity and\r\nkindness. Afterwards, when that success was rendering\r\nMaximus terrible, Theodosius, in the midst of his perplexing\r\nanxieties, was not drawn away to follow the suggestions of a\r\nsacrilegious and unlawful curiosity, but sent to John, whose\r\nabode was in the desert of Egypt,—for he had learned that this\r\nservant of God (whose fame was spreading abroad) was endowed\r\nwith the gift of prophecy,—and from him he received assurance\r\nof victory. Immediately the slayer of the tyrant Maximus,\r\nwith the deepest feelings of compassion and respect, restored\r\nthe boy Valentinianus to his share in the empire from which\r\nhe had been driven. Valentinianus being soon after slain by\r\nsecret assassination, or by some other plot or accident, Theodosius,\r\nhaving again received a response from the prophet,\r\nand placing entire confidence in it, marched against the tyrant\r\nEugenius, who had been unlawfully elected to succeed that\r\nemperor, and defeated his very powerful army, more by prayer\r\nthan by the sword. Some soldiers who were at the battle\r\nreported to me that all the missiles they were throwing were\r\nsnatched from their hands by a vehement wind, which blew\r\nfrom the direction of Theodosius' army upon the enemy; nor\r\ndid it only drive with greater velocity the darts which were\r\nhurled against them, but also turned back upon their own\r\nbodies the darts which they themselves were throwing. And\r\ntherefore the poet Claudian, although an alien from the name\r\nof Christ, nevertheless says in his praises of him, \"O prince,\r\ntoo much beloved by God, for thee Æolus pours armed tempests\r\nfrom their caves; for thee the air fights, and the winds with\r\none accord obey thy bugles.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_224_224\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_224_224\">[224]</a> But the victor, as he had\r\nbelieved and predicted, overthrew the statues of Jupiter, which\r\nhad been, as it were, consecrated by I know not what kind\r\nof rites against him, and set up in the Alps. And the\r\nthunderbolts of these statues, which were made of gold, he\r\nmirthfully and graciously presented to his couriers, who (as\r\nthe joy of the occasion permitted) were jocularly saying that\r\nthey would be most happy to be struck by such thunderbolts.\r\nThe sons of his own enemies, whose fathers had been slain\r\nnot so much by his orders as by the vehemence of war, having<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_226\">[Pg 226]</a></span>\r\nfled for refuge to a church, though they were not yet Christians,\r\nhe was anxious, taking advantage of the occasion, to bring\r\nover to Christianity, and treated them with Christian love.\r\nNor did he deprive them of their property, but, besides allowing\r\nthem to retain it, bestowed on them additional honours.\r\nHe did not permit private animosities to affect the treatment\r\nof any man after the war. He was not like Cinna,\r\nand Marius, and Sylla, and other such men, who wished\r\nnot to finish civil wars even when they were finished, but\r\nrather grieved that they had arisen at all, than wished that\r\nwhen they were finished they should harm any one. Amid\r\nall these events, from the very commencement of his reign, he\r\ndid not cease to help the troubled church against the impious\r\nby most just and merciful laws, which the heretical Valens,\r\nfavouring the Arians, had vehemently afflicted. Indeed, he\r\nrejoiced more to be a member of this church than he did\r\nto be a king upon the earth. The idols of the Gentiles he\r\neverywhere ordered to be overthrown, understanding well that\r\nnot even terrestrial gifts are placed in the power of demons,\r\nbut in that of the true God. And what could be more admirable\r\nthan his religious humility, when, compelled by the\r\nurgency of certain of his intimates, he avenged the grievous\r\ncrime of the Thessalonians, which at the prayer of the bishops\r\nhe had promised to pardon, and, being laid hold of by the\r\ndiscipline of the church, did penance in such a way that the\r\nsight of his imperial loftiness prostrated made the people who\r\nwere interceding for him weep more than the consciousness of\r\noffence had made them fear it when enraged? These and\r\nother similar good works, which it would be long to tell, he\r\ncarried with him from this world of time, where the greatest\r\nhuman nobility and loftiness are but vapour. Of these works\r\nthe reward is eternal happiness, of which God is the giver,\r\nthough only to those who are sincerely pious. But all other\r\nblessings and privileges of this life, as the world itself, light,\r\nair, earth, water, fruits, and the soul of man himself, his body,\r\nsenses, mind, life, He lavishes on good and bad alike. And\r\namong these blessings is also to be reckoned the possession of\r\nan empire, whose extent He regulates according to the requirements\r\nof His providential government at various times.\r\nWhence, I see, we must now answer those who, being confuted<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_227\">[Pg 227]</a></span>\r\nand convicted by the most manifest proofs, by which it\r\nis shown that for obtaining these terrestrial things, which are\r\nall the foolish desire to have, that multitude of false gods is\r\nof no use, attempt to assert that the gods are to be worshipped\r\nwith a view to the interest, not of the present life, but of that\r\nwhich is to come after death. For as to those who, for the\r\nsake of the friendship of this world, are willing to worship\r\nvanities, and do not grieve that they are left to their puerile\r\nunderstandings, I think they have been sufficiently answered\r\nin these five books; of which books, when I had published\r\nthe first three, and they had begun to come into the hands of\r\nmany, I heard that certain persons were preparing against\r\nthem an answer of some kind or other in writing. Then it\r\nwas told me that they had already written their answer, but\r\nwere waiting a time when they could publish it without\r\ndanger. Such persons I would advise not to desire what\r\ncannot be of any advantage to them; for it is very easy for\r\na man to seem to himself to have answered arguments, when\r\nhe has only been unwilling to be silent. For what is more\r\nloquacious than vanity? And though it be able, if it like, to\r\nshout more loudly than the truth, it is not, for all that, more\r\npowerful than the truth. But let men consider diligently all\r\nthe things that we have said, and if, perchance, judging without\r\nparty spirit, they shall clearly perceive that they are such\r\nthings as may rather be shaken than torn up by their most\r\nimpudent garrulity, and, as it were, satirical and mimic levity,\r\nlet them restrain their absurdities, and let them choose rather\r\nto be corrected by the wise than to be lauded by the foolish.\r\nFor if they are waiting an opportunity, not for liberty to speak\r\nthe truth, but for licence to revile, may not that befall them\r\nwhich Tully says concerning some one, \"Oh, wretched man!\r\nwho was at liberty to sin?\"<a id=\"FNanchor_225_225\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_225_225\">[225]</a> Wherefore, whoever he be\r\nwho deems himself happy because of licence to revile, he\r\nwould be far happier if that were not allowed him at all; for\r\nhe might all the while, laying aside empty boast, be contradicting\r\nthose to whose views he is opposed by way of free\r\nconsultation with them, and be listening, as it becomes him,\r\nhonourably, gravely, candidly, to all that can be adduced by\r\nthose whom he consults by friendly disputation.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK FIFTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-417"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"85ae7bcb74511ceec683e2ffe7b96a2584fa3c35c677ed29e1a70e22cb180e27","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_224_224","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_224_224","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_224_224\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_224_224\"><span class=\"label\">[224]</span></a> <i>Panegyr. de tertio Honorii consulatu.</i></p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_224_224","text_sha256":"0ea72c866feeded2027ce36352da2af9c595843c5042f5e5d4158b08c8586610","verified":false,"work_id":null}