St. Augustine, Of the citie of God vvith the learned comments of Io. Lod. Viues. Englished by I.H.

That those men that are not suffered as now to worship Idols, do shew them-selues fooles, in imputing their present miseries vnto Christ, seeing that they indured the like when they didde wor∣shippe the Diuels. CHAP. 31.

BVut lette them blame their owne goddes for such mischiefes, that will not thanke our Sauiour Christ for any of his benefits. For when-soeuer they be∣fell them before their goddes altar steamed with Sabaean perfumes, and fresh flowers, their Priestes were gallant, their Temples shined, playes, sacrifices and furies were all on foote amongst them. Yea euen when there was such an effusi∣on of ciuill blood, that the altars of the very goddes were besprinkled with it. (b) Tully choose no Temple for refuge, because he sawe it auailed not Scae∣uola. But those that are now so ready with their saucy insultations against Chris∣tianity, of late either fledde them-selues into such places as were dedicated to Christ, or else were brought thether by the Barbarians.

This I knowe, and euery vnpartiall iudge may know as well as I, that if man-kinde hadde receiued Christianity before the Affrican warres (to omitte the other that I haue rehearsed, and that is too long to rehearse) and withall that such a desolation should haue happened, as fell vppon Europe and Africke in the said warres; there is none of those Infidels that oppose vs now, but would haue laid onely the cause of it all vppon the backe of Christendome. But much more intollerable would their railings bee, if that either the irrup∣tion of the Galles, or the inundation of Tiber, and that great spoyle by

fire had immediately followed, vpon the first preaching and receiuing of Christi∣an religion: but worst of all, if the ciuill warres, that exceeded all, had followed therevpon. And those evills which fell out so incredibly, so farre beyond all be∣liefe, that the world reputed them as prodigies, had they come to passe in Christi∣an times, who should haue borne the blame thereof, but the Christians? for those things which were rather strange, then pernitious, as the (c) speaking of the oxe, the exclamations of children in their mothers wombes, the (d) flying of serpen•…•…s, and the (e) alteration of female creatures, both hens, and women into masculine formes, and such as these I willingly omit, those things are recorded in their his∣tories, not in their fables, but be they true or false, they do not bring so much af∣fliction vnto man as admiration. But when (f) it rained earth, and (g) chalke, and (h) stones, (not concrescences, that might be called haile, but (i) direct stones) this verily might greatly endomage the earths inhabitants. In the said authors wee read, that the fires of (k) Aetna brake out so far, that the sea boyled therewith, the rockes were burned, & the pitch dropt of the ships. This was noe light hurt, but a large wounder. Againe, (l) Sicily was so ouerwhelmed another time with the ashes therof, that the houses of (m) Catina were all turned ouer into the dust: wherevpon the Romaines pitying their calamity, released them of (n) that yeares tribute. It is recorded also, that the number of the (o) Locusts in Africa was most wonderfull, * 1.1 and prodigious, it being as then a prouince of the Romaines: and that hauing con∣sumed al the fruites & leaues of the trees, they fell al into the sea like a most huge & vnmesurable cloud. And being dead, and cast vpon the shore againe, arose such a pestilence of their stinke that thereof died (p) 80000. men (q) only in Massi•…•…s∣sa * 1.2 his kingdome, and (r) many more in other countries thereabouts, and of the (s) 30000. Romaine souldiars that remained at Vtica, there were but only ten that sur∣uiued. So that this foolery of theirs, which we must both endure and answer, what wronge would it not offer to the profession of the ghospell, had it beene preached before the birth of these prodigious accidents? yet it will not call the meanest of their gods to account, for any of these misfortunes whatsoeuer, and yet (t) these fooles will worship them still in hope to be protected by them from these incon∣ueniences, when they see neuerthelesse, how those that worshipped the same gods before haue beene oppressed, and ouer-borne with the same burdens of cal∣amity, nay with loades of miseries, farre more ponderous and intollerable then euer these latter times produced.

L. VIVES.

SAbaean (a) perfumes] Saba is the mother of Frankencence lying betweene Syria, and Arabia. India mitit ebur, molles sua thura Sabaei, saith Virgil: Ebon from Inde, from Iaua, Frankencense, * 1.3 Seruius saies they are so called of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to worship: because frankincense is an expiation, (b) Tully chose.] He died in his farme Formianum, being kept by tempest from crossing the sea to * 1.4 Brutus. (c) speaking of] often falling out, once in the second Punicke warre, in the consulships of Fabius Maximus and Marcellus, the fourth of the firsts consulshippe and the third of the laters, and in the same yeare, a woman became a man at Spoletum and an infant in the mothers wombe at Marusia, cried out Io triumphé. Liu. lib. 24.) another time, in the warre of Anticchus an Oxe cried Rome looke to thy selfe: and in Antonies ciuill warre, the Maister whipping his Oxe to worke, the beast told him. There would want no corne but there would want men to eate 〈◊〉〈◊〉. And often besides. (d) flying.] The Southwest wind brings many of those flying Serpents out of Lybia into Egypt, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants. And therefore Tully saith, they adore the Ibis, for driuing away these pestilent creatures from them. So saith He∣rodotus * 1.5 in his Euterpe. (e) Of females] Changing of sexes, women into men and hennes into

cockes. There is no fault in the text: [Our interpreter knew not the force of the coniuncti∣on: and thought that Female, Faemina, had belonged onely vnto man, and that homo was one∣ly * 1.6 of the masculine gender. See what sort of men the age before vs respected and reueren∣ced: they would take vpon them the interpretation of worthy authors, and yet knew not that •…•…mo might belong to a woman, nor faemina to a beast. Wee doe wonder how wee haue our * 1.7 liberall artes so corrupted, but considering that these men haue had the medling with them, wee haue more reason to wonder how wee haue any sparke of them left vs at all.] This alteration, Pliny saith, is possible: bringing confirmation of diuers examples, and his owne credite, saying hee had seene it verefied himselfe: But considering the seuerall natures of the sexes, it is hard for a male, to become a female: but not so hard for the other change. For the masculine member to be drawne in, and dilated into the feminine receptacles, is exceeding hard, mary for the female partes to bee excrescent, and coagulate into the masculine forme, may be some-what, but not neare so difficulte as is thought, though it bee seldon seene. (f) It rained] Often, say authors. Liuius Iul. Obsequ. &c. (g) chalke] Consulls Q. Metellus, and Tul. Didius. Obsequ. (h) Stones] This is not rare. First it did so in Tullus Hostilius his time, and then it was strange. But after it grew ordinary, to perticularize in this were idle. (i) Direct stones] Some reade, directly earth, &c. (k) Aetna] Aetna is a hill in Sicily, sacred to Vulcan, cas•…•…ing out fire in the night by a vent, ten furlongs about; the vent is called the cauld•…•…on. Solinus saith it hath two of them. Aetna, Briareus Ciclops his son, or Aetna, sonne to Caelus and Terra otherwise called Thalia, gaue it the name. Seruius. Uirgill describes it in a large Poeme, which some say is Ouids: but Seneca saith, Ouid durst not deale with it, because Virgil had done it before him. Others say Cornelius Seuerus did it. The fire doth much harme to the bordering partes of the Island. This that Augustine declareth, happened in the Consul∣ships * 1.8 of Cn. Seruil. Scipio, and C. Laelius: and in M. Aemilius and L. Aurelius their Consul∣ships, the flames burst forth with an earth-quake, and the sea was heated therewith, as farre as the Island Liparae, so that diuers shippes were burnd, and diuers of the saylours stifled with the sulphurous vapor. It killed an inumerable company of fish which the Liparians feeding vpon, got a pestilent disease in their bellies, which vnpeopled almost all the whole Is∣land. Obseq. This was a little before Gracchus his sedition, and it was such, that many were driuen to flie from their dwellings into other places. Oros. (l) Sicily] Oros. lib. 5. and 12. (m) Catina] Or Catana, it is called by both names, though their be one Catina in Spaine, and ano∣ther in Arcadia. This that Augustine relateth of is recorded by Pliny lib. 3. (n) That yeares] And nine yeares more, saith Orosius. (o) Locusts] This was in the Consulships of P. Plautius 〈◊〉〈◊〉 M. Fulu. Flaccus, before C. Gracchus his sedition. Liu. lib. 9. Oros. Eutrop. Iul. Obseq. (p) 80000.] So saith Orosius, but of Micipsa his Kingdome. Of this sicknesse in al, died 800000. men, saith Obsequens. 900000. saith Eutropius (who is indeede no good computator) in Nu∣midia, * 1.9 about Carthage, 200000. of the Romaine souldiars that kept the legion there, 30000. so saith Orosius, putting onely 80. for 90. (q) Onely in Masinyssa's] Or rather Micipsa's his sonne. For Masinissa himselfe was dead. But it might bee called his, because Rome gaue it him, for his worthy deserts. (r) Many more] Our historians write not so; perhaps Augustine followed others, or els like an Orator, applied the history to his owne vse and purpose, which Cicero doth allow in his Brutus, and hath practised some-times himselfe, as wee haue obserued in his Orations, and as Pedianus hath noted therein also. (s) 30000.] Beeing left at Vtica as the Guarison of Afrike. (t) a difference of reading: we haue giuen it the truest sence.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Locusts in Africa.
• * 1.2

  Pestilence.
• * 1.3

  Sabaea.
• * 1.4

  Prodigies.
• * 1.5

  P•…•…ying ser∣•…•….
• * 1.6

  lbis whv worshiped in Egipt.
• * 1.7

  [] Paris co∣pie doth leaue out this be∣tweene these markes.]
• * 1.8

  Aetna.
• * 1.9

  Catina.