- Source
- Tertullian. Quinti Septimii Florentis Tertulliani Quae Supersunt Omnia, Volume 1. Oehler, Franz, editor. Leipzig: Weigel, 1853.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0275.stoa013.humanitext-lat1:12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Tertullian points out that the military crown has pagan origins dedicated to gods like Apollo, Liber, Venus, and Minerva, and argues that wearing it during annual vows, donatives, or triumphs amounts to apostasy and idolatry.
Sed et de corona prius dicam. Laurea ista Apollini vel Libero sacra est, illi ut deo telorum, huic ut deo triumphorum. Sic docet Claudius, cum et myrto ait milites redimiri solere. Veneris enim? myrtus,1 matris Aeneadarum, etiam amiculae Martis, per Iliam et Romulos Romani. Sed ego Venerem non credo ex hac parte cum Marte Romanam, qua pellicis dolor est.2 Cum et olea militia coronatur, ad Minervam est idololatria, armorum aeque deam, sed et paci cum Neptuno initae ex hac arbore coronatam. In his erit serti militaris superstitio ubique polluta et polluens. omnia. Quae iam polluatur et causis. Ecce annua votorum nuncupatio quid videtur? Prima in principiis, secunda in Capitoliis. Accipe post loca et verba: Tunc tibi, Iuppiter, bovem cornibus auro decoratis vovemus esse futurum.3 Cuius sententiae vox est? Utique negationis. Etiamsi tacet illic Christianus ore, coronatus capite respondit. Eadem laurea in donativi dispensatione denuntiatur. Plane non gratuita idololatria, aliquibus aureis venditans Christum, ut argenteis Iudas. Hoc erit, Non potestis deo servire et mammonae, mammonae manum tradere et deo absistere? Hoc erit, Reddite quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae dei deo, nec hominem deo reddere et denarium Caesari auferre? Triumphi laurea foliis struitur, an cadaveribus? lemniscis ornatur, an bustis? unguentis delibuitur, an lacrimis coniugum et matrum? fortasse quorundam et Christianorum; et apud barbaros enim Christus. Qui hanc portaverit in capite causam nonne et ipsi pugnavit? Est et alia militia regiarum familiarum. Nam et castrenses appellantur, munificae et ipsae sollemnium Caesarianorum. Sed et tum proinde miles ac servus alterius es, et si duorum, dei et Caesaris, certe tunc non Caesaris, cum te deo debes, etiam in communibus, credo, potiori.4
But let me speak first about the crown itself. That laurel crown is sacred to Apollo or to Liber; to the former as the god of weapons, to the latter as the god of triumphs. So Claudius teaches, when he also says that soldiers are accustomed to be crowned with myrtle. For is not the myrtle Venus’s, the mother of the Aeneadae, and also the mistress of Mars, through whom, by way of Ilia and the Romuli, the Romans are hers? But I do not believe that Venus, in this respect, is Roman along with Mars, in which there is the grief of a mistress. When military service is also crowned with olive, it is idolatry toward Minerva, likewise a goddess of arms, but also because a peace entered into with Neptune was crowned from this tree. In these things, the superstition of the military wreath will be everywhere defiled and defiling all things. And now it is also defiled by its occasions. Behold, what does the annual pronouncement of vows look like? The first in the headquarters, the second on the Capitol. Receive next, after the places, the words: “Then to thee, Jupiter, we vow that there shall be a bull with horns decorated with gold.” Whose voice is that pronouncement? Assuredly, of denial. Even if the Christian is silent there with his mouth, he answers by being crowned on his head. The same laurel is proclaimed in the distribution of the donative. Clearly not a gratis idolatry, selling Christ for some gold pieces, as Judas did for silver ones. Will this be: “You cannot serve God and mammon,” to give your hand to mammon and to stand aloof from God? Will this be: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” not to render man to God, and to take away the denarius for Caesar? Is the laurel of triumph built of leaves, or of corpses? Is it adorned with ribbons, or with graves? Is it anointed with ointments, or with the tears of wives and mothers? Perhaps even of some Christian women; for Christ is also among the barbarians. Has not he who carried this cause upon his head fought himself? There is also another military service of the royal households. For they are also called palace servants, themselves also bountiful at the Caesarian solemnities. But even then, you are just as much the soldier and servant of another; and if of two, namely of God and of Caesar, surely you are not Caesar’s then, when you owe yourself to God—even in common matters, I believe, to the more powerful one.
- 12Veneris enim? myrtus
The copula est is omitted after the possessive genitive Veneris, meaning "For the myrtle belongs to Venus." It is interpreted as an interrogative or exclamatory parenthetical statement.
- 12qua pellicis dolor est
The relative adverb qua means "in which aspect" or "insofar as." pellicis dolor (the pain of a mistress) refers to the distress, shame, or jealousy of Venus, who in mythology stands in the relation of a mistress (pellix) of Mars relative to his wife Juno.
- 12vovemus esse futurum
In the accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction serving as the object of vovemus (we vow), the future active infinitive futurum esse (here inverted as esse futurum) is used with bovem as its subject. It literally means "we vow that a bull will be (presented as a sacrifice)."
- 12potiori
potiori is the dative masculine singular of the comparative potior (more powerful, preferable), serving as the indirect object of the verb debes (you owe) or the implied servire (to serve). It indicates that between God and Caesar, one must submit to the more powerful, namely God.