Cicero: On the Republic by Niall Rudd
Translated by Niall Rudd
Number of quotes: 8
Book ID: 62 Page: 128
Section: 2A
No one shall have gods of his own, whether new or foreign, unless they have been officially brought in. In private, they shall worship those gods whose worship has been handed down in its proper form by their forefathers.
Quote ID: 1554
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 129
Section: 4B,2C
They shall worship as gods those who have always been considered divine and those whose services have secured them a place in heaven—Hercules, Liber,{*} Aesculapius, Castor, Pollux, Quirinus—and also those qualities on whose account human beings are allowed to ascend to heaven—Good Sense, Moral Excellence, Devotion, Good Faith. In their honour there shall be shrines, but none in honour of vices.They shall observe the established rites.
Quote ID: 1555
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 129
Section: 2C,4B
Different divinities shall have different priests; all together shall have pontiffs; individually they shall have flamines.{*} And in the city the Vestal Virgins shall watch over the undying fire on the public hearth.Those who are unfamiliar with the methods and rituals for conducting these private and public ceremonies shall seek guidance from the public priests. Of these there shall be three kinds: one to preside over ceremonies and sacred rites, and another to interpret the strange utterances of prophets and seers which the Senate and people have accepted. In addition, the interpreters of Jupiter the Best and Greatest, that is, the public augurs, shall divine the future by means of signs and omens and maintain their art.
And whatever an augur shall pronounce unjust, unholy, harmful, or ill-omened shall be null and void. And if anyone fails to obey, that shall be a capital offence.
Quote ID: 1556
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 131
Section: 2C
The rights of the spirits of the dead shall be holy. Good men who have died shall be held to be gods. The money spent on them, and the mourning{*} over them, shall be kept small.
Quote ID: 1557
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 132
Section: 2A
That an individual’s ‘own gods, whether new or foreign’{*} should be worshipped causes confusion among religions and introduces rites which are unfamiliar to our priests.
Quote ID: 1558
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 133
Section: 4B,2C
That the law enjoins the worship of deified human beings like Hercules and others indicates that, while the souls of all are immortal, those of the brave and good are divine.{*} It is right that Good Sense,{*} Devotion,{*} Moral Excellence,{*} and Good Faith’{*} should be deified; and in Rome temples have long been publicly dedicated* to those qualities, so that those who possess them (and all good people do) should believe that actual gods have been set up within their souls. At Athens, after atoning for the crime against Cylon, on the advice of the Cretan, Epimenides, they built a shrine to Insult and Shamelessness.{*} That was a misguided act; for virtues, not vices, should be deified. The ancient altar to Fever{*} on the Palatine, and the other to Evil Fortune{*} on the Esquiline must be refused recognition, and all things of that kind are to be rejected. If we have to devise names, we should choose rather ones like Conquering Power and Protectress, and titles like Jove the Stopper{*} and the Invincible, and names of desirable things like Safety, Honour, Help,, and Victory. Because the spirit is raised by the expectation of good things, Hope{*} was rightly deified by Calatinus.
Quote ID: 1559
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 134
Section: 2C
The greatest and most prestigious power in the state is that of the augurs, combined, as it is, with political authority. I don’t say this because I’m an augur myself{*} but simply because one cannot think otherwise. If we consider their official rights, what is more impressive than the ability to dismiss assemblies and meetings called by magistrates (with or without imperium), or, when they have already taken place, to cancel their decisions? What is more momentous than the abortion of a process already begun, if one augur says ‘On another day’? What is more majestic than the right to decide that consuls should resign their office? What is more awesome than the power to grant or withhold the right to do political business with the people or plebs? Or than quashing laws illegally approved, as when the Titian Law{*} was annulled by the decree of the college, or when the Livian Laws{*} were cancelled on the recommendation of Phillippus who was both consul and augur? Or than the fact that nothing done by any official at home or in the field can receive the approval of any body without their permission?
Quote ID: 1560
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 62 Page: 138
Section: 4B
It is certainly true that whatever is best should be considered the oldest and the nearest to God.
Quote ID: 1562
Time Periods: 047
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