Lactantius — Divine Institutes 1.6
Now let us pass to divine testimonies; but I will previously bring forward one which resembles a divine testimony, both on account of its very great antiquity, and because he whom I shall name was taken from men and placed among the gods. According to Cicero, Caius Cotta the pontiff, while disputing against the Stoics concerning superstitions, and the variety of opinions which prevail respecting the gods, in order that he might, after the custom of the Academics, make everything uncertain, says that there were five Mercuries; and having enumerated four in order, says that the fifth was he by whom Argus was slain, and that on this account he fled into Egypt, and gave laws and letters to the Egyptians. The Egyptians call him Thoth; and from him the first month of their year, that is, September, received its name among them. He also built a town, which is even now called in Greek Hermopolis (the town of Mercury), and the inhabitants of Phenæ honour him with religious worship. And although he was a man, yet he was of great antiquity, and most fully imbued with every kind of learning, so that the knowledge of many subjects and arts acquired for him the name of Trismegistus. He wrote books, and those in great numbers, relating to the knowledge of divine things, in which be asserts the majesty of the supreme and only God, and makes mention of Him by the same names which we use — God and Father. And that no one might inquire His name, he said that He was without name, and that on account of His very unity He does not require the peculiarity of a name. These are his own words: God is one, but He who is one only does not need a name; for He who is self-existent is without a name. God, therefore, has no name, because He is alone; nor is there any need of a proper name, except in cases where a multitude of persons requires a distinguishing mark, so that you may designate each person by his own mark and appellation. But God, because He is always one, has no peculiar name.
It remains for me to bring forward testimonies respecting the sacred responses and predictions, which are much more to be relied upon. For perhaps they against whom we are arguing may think that no credence is to be given to poets, as though they invented fictions, nor to philosophers, inasmuch as they were liable to err, being themselves but men. Marcus Varro, than whom no man of greater learning ever lived, even among the Greeks, much less among the Latins, in those books respecting divine subjects which he addressed to Caius Cæsar the chief pontiff, when he was speaking of the Quindecemviri, says that the Sibylline books were not the production of one Sibyl only, but that they were called by one name Sibylline, because all prophetesses were called by the ancients Sibyls, either from the name of one, the Delphian priestess, or from their proclaiming the counsels of the gods. For in the Æolic dialect they used to call the gods by the word Sioi, not Theoi; and for counsel they used the word bule, not boule;— and so the Sibyl received her name as though Siobule. But he says that the Sibyls were ten in number, and he enumerated them all under the writers, who wrote an account of each: that the first was from the Persians, and of her Nicanor made mention, who wrote the exploits of Alexander of Macedon;— the second of Libya, and of her Euripides makes mention in the prologue of the Lamia;— the third of Delphi, concerning whom Chrysippus speaks in that book which he composed concerning divination — the fourth a Cimmerian in Italy, whom Nævius mentions in his books of the Punic war, and Piso in his annals — the fifth of Erythræa, whom Apollodorus of Erythræa affirms to have been his own countrywoman, and that she foretold to the Greeks when they were setting out for Ilium, both that Troy was doomed to destruction, and that Homer would write falsehoods;— the sixth of Samos, respecting whom Eratosthenes writes that he had found a written notice in the ancient annals of the Samians. The seventh was of Cumæ, by name Amalthæa, who is termed by some Herophile, or Demophile, and they say that she brought nine books to the king Tarquinius Priscus, and asked for them three hundred philippics, and that the king refused so great a price, and derided the madness of the woman; that she, in the sight of the king, burnt three of the books, and demanded the same price for those which were left; that Tarquinias much more considered the woman to be mad; and that when she again, having burnt three other books, persisted in asking the same price, the king was moved, and bought the remaining books for the three hundred pieces of gold: and the number of these books was afterwards increased, after the rebuilding of the Capitol; because they were collected from all cities of Italy and Greece, and especially from those of Erythræa, and were brought to Rome, under the name of whatever Sibyl they were. Further, that the eighth was from the Hellespont, born in the Trojan territory, in the village of Marpessus, about the town of Gergithus; and Heraclides of Pontus writes that she lived in the times of Solon and Cyrus — the ninth of Phrygia, who gave oracles at Ancyra;— the tenth of Tibur, by name Albunea, who is worshipped at Tibur as a goddess, near the banks of the river Anio, in the depths of which her statue is said to have been found, holding in her hand a book. The senate transferred her oracles into the Capitol.
The predictions of all these Sibyls are both brought forward and esteemed as such, except those of the Cumæan Sibyl, whose books are concealed by the Romans; nor do they consider it lawful for them to be inspected by any one but the Quindecemviri. And there are separate books the production of each, but because these are inscribed with the name of the Sibyl they are believed to be the work of one; and they are confused, nor can the productions of each be distinguished and assigned to their own authors, except in the case of the Erythræan Sibyl, for she both inserted her own true name in her verse, and predicted that she would be called Erythræan, though she was born at Babylon. But we also shall speak of the Sibyl without any distinction, wherever we shall have occasion to use their testimonies. All these Sibyls, then, proclaim one God, and especially the Erythræan, who is regarded among the others as more celebrated and noble; since Fenestella, a most diligent writer, speaking of the Quindecemviri, says that, after the rebuilding of the Capitol, Caius Curio the consul proposed to the senate that ambassadors should be sent to Erythræ to search out and bring to Rome the writings of the Sibyl; and that, accordingly, Publius Gabinius, Marcus Otacilius, and Lucius Valerius were sent, who conveyed to Rome about a thousand verses written out by private persons. We have shown before that Varro made the same statement. Now in these verses which the ambassadors brought to Rome, are these testimonies respecting the one God:—
This is the only supreme God, who made the heaven, and decked it with lights.
2. But there is one only God of pre-eminent power, who made the heaven, and sun, and stars, and moon, and fruitful earth, and waves of the water of the sea.
And since He alone is the framer of the universe, and the artificer of all things of which it consists or which are contained in it, it testifies that He alone ought to be worshipped: —
3. Worship Him who is alone the ruler of the world, who alone was and is from age to age.
Also another Sibyl, whoever she is, when she said that she conveyed the voice of God to men, thus spoke:—
Latin
Nunc ad diuina testimonia transeamus. sed prius unum proferam, quod est simile diuino et ob nimiam uetustatem et EPITOME 3 ss.] c. 4, 3. AUCTORES 6] frg. 26. 9] frg. 16. EXPILATOMES 1 mens soluta] cf. Isidor. orig. VIII 6, 19. RSMpPV] 1 sola Mac, s. I. corr. 2 segregata (alt. e ex a et ga m. 2) P con⌞cretione mortalii V- cougregatioue M omnia om. R 3 uelut uel R, om. M 4 *acerrimus (s er.) R summe M 7 rectoris orbis J rectoribus PV rectorem R, rector M 8 dei ecld., deum RSPV, deus M is ta∗tum (n er.) in qua* (a et e cr.) singula R 9 suspensa] idem suspensa R 11 quod R necque R quisquam M natura C er.) S 13 intenderet V 14 deos M, deus (s. I. m. post.) P; cf. c. 7, 5, tamen Seneca fort. deos scripserat; an deus ex c. 7, 5 inlatum ? cf. 9 hic nostri SM 15 quo M 17 ternu\'isse (e part. ras. ex u et nu m. 2) P retrorsum S fuscata M, infugata P1 (corr. P2) V 18 et om. M 19 alios esse P usu M homini M 20 praedicta V esse S1 23 et S, \'est\' P2 simili S quod is quem nominabo ex hominibus in deos relatus est.. apud Ciceronem U.
Cotta pontifex disputans contra Stoicos de religionibus et uarietate opinionum quae solent esse de diis, ut more Academicorum omnia faceret incerta, quinque fuisse Mercurios ait et enumeratis per ordinem quattuor quintum fuisse eum a quo sit Argus occisus; ob eamque causam in Aegyptum profugisse atque Aegyptiis leges ac litteras tradidisse.
hunc Aegyptii Thoyth appellant, a quo apud eos primus anni sui mensis id est September nomen accepit. idem oppidum condidit, quod etiam nunc graece uocatur Mercurii ciuitas, et Pheneatae colunt eum religiose. qui tametsi homo fuit, antiquissimus tamen et instructissimus omni genere doctrinae adeo, ut ei multarum rerum et artium scientia Trismegisto cognomen inponeret.
hic scripsit libros et quidem multos ad cognitionem diuinarum rerum pertinentes, in quibus maiestatem summi ac singularis dei asserit isdemque nominibus appellat quibus nos dominum et patrem. ac ne quis nomen eius requireret, άνώνυμον esse dixit, eo quod nominis proprietate non egeat, ob ipsam scilicet unitatem. ipsius haec uerba sunt: o se Oso; είς, b δὲ είς όνόματος ou προσδέεται έστι ykp o wv ὰνώνυμος.
deo igitur nomen EPITOME 4-20, 1] c. 4, 4. AUCTORES § 2 s.] de nat. deor. III 22, 56. 17 dominum ct patrem] Ps.-Apulei. Asclep. c. 20 (p. 42, 16 Goldb.) et saepius; Poemand. c. 5, 2 (p. 42, 2 s. Parth.) 18-21] cf. Ps.-Apulei. ibid. c. 20 (p. 42, 27- 43, 3 Goldb.) § 5] cf. Minuc. Fel. c. 18, 9 s. EXPILATORES 6] cf. Isidor. orig. V 1, 2. 13 s.] ibid. VIII 11,49. RSMpPV] 1 his SPV ex] ab M inter M relaxatus S 2 G. PV cocta S 3 et de uarietate M 4 faceret] sciret P1, ras. ei s. I. corr. P2 7 in om. codd. Cic. 8 Thoyth R, THOITN S, ΘЄΟΥ- CЄN M, ΠΗΟΥΤΟΗ factorem P, ΠΗΟΥΤΗ V; theyn codd. Cic. 9 illos P 11 Pheneatae edd. ex codd. Cic., faenia.tae RPV, feniatae S, fenitae M 12 tamefsi1 P2 antiquissimis P1, corr. P2 tamen et instructissimus om. M 14 scientiam M trimegistus (-inae- M) RM nomen M is (h er.) R 15 et om. V 16 asseruit SlrI 17 Msdemque S2, hisdemque PV supra doli add. diñ R2 ac M 18 Anonymen M, ANQΝΥΜΟΝ sine nomine P 19 ab ipsa scilicet unitate M 20 Sk prius] A€ M 21 PO- CAЄCTM M, IIPOCAЄЄTAI P ЄCTIN SMP rAPr Rae, Υ del. Rl1, IAP M ANONVMOC M, ANQNIMOC P interpretatio lat. fere eadem in S et P 2* (non) est, quia solus est, nec opus est proprio uocabulo, nisi cum discrimen exigit multitudo, ut unam quamque personam sua nota et appellatione designes. deo autem, quia semper unus est, proprium nomen est deus.
Superest de responsis sacrisque carminibus testimonia quae sunt multo certiora proferre. nam fortasse ii contra quos agimus nec poetis putent esse credendum tamquam uana fingentibus nec philosophis, quod errare potuerint, quia et ipsi homines fuerint.
M. Varro, quo nemo umquam doctior ne apud Graecos quidem uixit, in libris rerum diuinarum quos ad C. Caesarem pontificem maximum scripsit, cum de quindecimuiris loqueretur, Sibyllinos libros ait non fuisse unius Sibyllae, sed appellari uno nomine Sibyllinos, quod omnes feminae uates Sibyllae sint a ueteribus nuncupatae uel ab unius Delphidis nomine uel a consiliis deorum enuntiandis. atouq enim deos, non Osouc, et consilium non βουλήν, sed βούλλαν appellabant Aeolico genere sermonis. itaque Sibyllam dictam esse EPITOME 5 s. (superest) 9-21, 5 (Libyssam)] c. 5, 1. EXPILATORES § 7 ss.] Hieronym. adu. Iouin. lib. I, uol. II306 D Vall.; Isidor. orig. VIII 8; cf. Augustin. de ciu. dei XVIII 23 (p. 285, 5; .288, 7 s.); Auonym. de Sibyllis, post Orac. Sibyll. ed. Friedl. p. IV s. RSH (a 3) MPPV] 1 non add. edd., cf. Minuc. Fel. p. 24,19 s. opus] ⌞cor⌟pus S2 2 ut om. M 3 designet M deus R a deo autem in- cipit H 5 superest] superest ut (s. I. m. 2) P sacri⌞s⌟que H2 6 multa S, multitudo V ii R, hi SPV, hii H, hii* (q er.) M quod Pl, corr. P2 9 quo* (d er.) V ne* (c exters.) R 10 dixit R 11 C. om. SHM, G. PV 12 sibyllinos R, sibullinos Sac (u ras. in i corr.), sibyliuos If, sybillinos MPV; omnino hac in uoce perpetua in omn. codd. permutatio litterarum i et y, interdum etiam u, frequens alterius 1 omissio libros om. M 13 sed] et HM 14 femine* (s er.) R, om. P sibullae HMae (u ras. in i corr.) 16 CΙΟΥC RS, sic HM, CΥΟΥC PV NONeCOTC PV theus SH, theos M 17 ΝΟΝΒΟΥΑΗΝ (jJost A erastim I in P) PV βουλήν] bulen SHM βούλλαν Wachsmuthius, quippe quod Sibulla forma quoque commendet, quam Varronem scripsisse probabile sit; boyaian R, ΒΟΥΑΙΑΝ PV, buletin S, bulean HM; βόλλαν Ahrensius de dial. Aeol. p. 59 n. 34, βυλήν edd. eo**go (li er.) R, ae*olico (1 er.) M 18 ita R dirctam H2 quasi θεοβούλην.
ceterum Sibyllas decem numero fuisse, easque omnes enumerauit sub auctoribus qui de singulis scriptitauerint. primam fuisse de Persis, cuius mentionem fecerit Nicanor, qui res gestas Alexandri Macedonis scripsit; secundam Libyssam, cuius meminerit Euripides in Lamiae prologo;
tertiam Delphida, de qua Chrysippus loquatur in eo libro quem de diuinatione conposuit; quartam Cimmeriam in Italia, quam Naeuius in libris belli Punici, Piso in annalibus nominet; quintam Erythraeam, quam Apollodorus Erythraeus adfirmet suam fuisse ciuem eamque Grais Ilium petentibus uaticinatam et perituram esse Troiam et Homerum mendacia scripturum; sextam Samiam, de qua scribat Eratosthenes in antiquis annalibus Samiorum repperisse so scriptum;
septimam Cumanam nomine Amaltheam, quae ab aliis Herophile uel Demophile nominetur, eamque nouem libros attulisse ad regem Tarquinium Priscum ac pro iis EPITOME 6-16 tertiam - Cumanam] c. 5, 1. 11 s.] c. 5,2 Erythraea — perhibetur. 15-22, 7] c. 5, 2 ex his — tres esse libros. AUCTORES 11-13] Orac. Sibyll. III 419-430. ItSHMPPVJ 1 ΘЄΟΒΟΥΑΗΝ RJ, s. I. i - consilium esse dei R2, theobulen SHPV, theobolen M, cf. Hieron. quodsi Aeolico genere sornionis Sibylla θεοβούλη appellatur; σιοβυλήν edd., cf. Sent. Aen. VI12 (III445) Sibylla dicta est quasi σιοδ βουλή; an Lact. OEOU βουλήν scripsit? 2 omnis P enumerauerint HM sub — scriptitauerint in inf. mg. H2 quide- (m er.) P 3 scribtitauerant (alt. a ex i) R2 4 liiehanor PV 5 machedonis Px (h del. P2) V libissam S, lybissam PV cuius - Delphida om. M 6 eruripides V prolago Sl 7 Delphida] dolfida Epit., i delphida RS, delphidam HFV, om. M loquatur (i m. 2) R, loquitur IIM at 10 nomin∗ (& er., at m. 2) R, nominat HM erythream PV; sic uel i pro y uel h om. saepe omnes codd. 11 affirmet (at s. I. er.) R, adfirniat SM eaque (~ m. 2) H 12 graiis R, gri⌞ecis⌟ 82 13 troiam esse M 14 scribat P, scribit cett. eracorthenes S 15 sammiorum PV se om. HM 16 amolatheam HJJf, amalthaeam PV erofilc (-lo M) SHMPV 17 denofile (corr. m. 2) V; Demo conl. Pausan. X, 12, 8 Massius, de Sibyllarum indicibus p. 33 18 iis R, eis S, his cett. trecentos philippeos postulasse regemque aspernatum pretii magnitudinem derisisse mulieris insaniam; illam in conspectu regis tris combussisse ac pro reliquis idem pretium poposcisse; Tarquinium multo magis insanire mulierem putauisse;
quae denuo tribus aliis exustis cum in eodem pretio perseueraret, motum esse regem ac residuos trecentis aureis emisse; quorum postea numerus sit auctus, Capitolio refecto, quod ex omnibus ciuitatibus et Italicis et Graecis praecipueque Erythraeis coacti adlatique sunt Romam cuiuscumque Sibyllae nomine fuerunt;
octauam Hellespontiam in agro Troiano natam, uico Marmesso circa oppidum Gergithium, quam scribat Heraclides Ponticus Solonis et Cyri fuisse temporibus; nonam Phrygiam, quae uaticinata sit Ancyrae; decimam Tiburtem nomine Albuneam, quae Tiburi colatur ut dea iuxta ripas amnis Anienis, cuius in gurgite simulacrum eius inuentum esse dicitur tenens in manu librum.