{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>For at what stage would that passion rest when once it\r\nhas lodged in a proud spirit, until by a succession of advances\r\nit has reached even the throne? And to obtain such advances\r\nnothing avails but unscrupulous ambition. But unscrupulous\r\nambition has nothing to work upon, save in a nation corrupted\r\nby avarice and luxury. Moreover, a people becomes avaricious\r\nand luxurious by prosperity; and it was this which that very\r\nprudent man Nasica was endeavouring to avoid when he\r\nopposed the destruction of the greatest, strongest, wealthiest\r\ncity of Rome's enemy. He thought that thus fear would act as\r\na curb on lust, and that lust being curbed would not run riot\r\nin luxury, and that luxury being prevented avarice would be\r\nat an end; and that these vices being banished, virtue would\r\nflourish and increase, to the great profit of the state; and\r\nliberty, the fit companion of virtue, would abide unfettered.\r\nFor similar reasons, and animated by the same considerate\r\npatriotism, that same chief pontiff of yours—I still refer to\r\nhim who was adjudged Rome's best man without one dissentient\r\nvoice—threw cold water on the proposal of the senate\r\nto build a circle of seats round the theatre, and in a very\r\nweighty speech warned them against allowing the luxurious<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_44\">[Pg 44]</a></span>\r\nmanners of Greece to sap the Roman manliness, and persuaded\r\nthem not to yield to the enervating and emasculating\r\ninfluence of foreign licentiousness. So authoritative and\r\nforcible were his words, that the senate was moved to prohibit\r\nthe use even of those benches which hitherto had been\r\ncustomarily brought to the theatre for the temporary use of\r\nthe citizens.<a id=\"FNanchor_80_80\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_80_80\">[80]</a> How eagerly would such a man as this have\r\nbanished from Rome the scenic exhibitions themselves, had\r\nhe dared to oppose the authority of those whom he supposed\r\nto be gods! For he did not know that they were malicious\r\ndevils; or if he did, he supposed they should rather be propitiated\r\nthan despised. For there had not yet been revealed to\r\nthe Gentiles the heavenly doctrine which should purify their\r\nhearts by faith, and transform their natural disposition by\r\nhumble godliness, and turn them from the service of proud\r\ndevils to seek the things that are in heaven, or even above\r\nthe heavens.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK FIRST."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-104"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"e381f6152887bfb00259671f9a89e53888561264235d921e917b28d566b329ad","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_80_80","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_80_80","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_80_80\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_80_80\"><span class=\"label\">[80]</span></a> Originally the spectators had to stand, and now (according to Livy, <i>Ep.</i>\r\nxlviii.) the old custom was restored.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_80_80","text_sha256":"975a7fd21e7757891570a9a78219409190029d29cb47181c31f1255b98f55aa9","verified":false,"work_id":null}