§12Et ecce id ipsum quale est unde nobis cum maxime sermo est, quod nos infestatis innoxios, quod in contumeliam Dei inpugnatis adque opprimitis Dei seruos? parum est quod furentium uarietate uitiorum, quod iniquitate feralium criminum, quod cruentarum conpendio rapinarum uita uestra maculatur, quod superstitionibus falsis religio uera subuertitur, quod Deus omnino nec quaeritur nec timetur: adhuc insuper Dei seruos et maiestati ac numini eius dicatos iniustis persecutionibus flagitatis.
And behold, what a thing is that very matter of which we are speaking most of all, namely, that you harass us who are innocent, that to the affront of God you attack and oppress the servants of God? Is it a small thing that your life is stained by a variety of raging vices, by the iniquity of deadly crimes, by the summary accumulation of bloody plunder, that by false superstitions the true religion is subverted, that God is not sought or feared at all? Yet on top of this, you harass the servants of God, who are dedicated to His majesty and power, with unjust persecutions.
satis non est quod ipse tu Deum non colis: adhuc insuper eos qui colunt sacrilega infestatione persequeris.
It is not enough that you yourself do not worship God; on top of this, you persecute those who do worship Him with sacrilegious hostility.
Deum nec colis nec coli omnino permittis, et cum ceteri qui non tantum ista inepta idola et manu hominis facta simulacra sed et portenta quaedam et monstra uenerantur tibi placeant, solus displicet Dei cultor.
You neither worship God nor allow Him to be worshipped at all, and while others please you who venerate not only those foolish idols and images made by the hand of man but also certain portents and monsters, the worshipper of God alone displeases you.
fumant ubique in templis uestris hostiarum busta et rogi pecorum, et Dei altaria uel nulla sunt uel occulta.
Everywhere in your temples the altars of victims and the pyres of cattle smoke, and the altars of God are either non-existent or hidden.
crocodili et cynocephali et lapides et serpentes coluntur, et Deus solus in terris aut non colitur aut non est inpune quod colitur.
Crocodiles and dog-headed beasts and stones and serpents are worshipped, and God alone on earth is either not worshipped or it is not with impunity that He is worshipped.
innoxios, iustos, Deo caros domo priuas, patrimonio spolias, catenis premis [carcere includis], bestiis, gladio, ignibus punis.
You deprive the innocent, the just, the beloved of God of their homes, you despoil them of their patrimony, you oppress them with chains [you shut them in prison], you punish them with beasts, sword, and fire.
nec saltim contentus es dolorum nostrorum conpendio et simplici ac ueloci breuitate poenarum: admoues laniandis corporibus longa tormenta, multiplicas lacerandis uisceribus numerosa supplicia, nec feritas adque immanitas tua usitatis potest contenta esse tormentis: excogitat nouas poenas ingeniosa crudelitas.
Nor are you at least content with the brevity of our pains and the simple and swift short duration of punishments: you apply long torments to bodies to be torn, you multiply numerous punishments for viscera to be lacerated, nor can your ferocity and monstrousness be content with customary torments: an ingenious cruelty devises new punishments.
§13Quae haec est insatiabilis carnificinae rabies, quae inexplebilis libido saeuitiae? quin potius elege tibi alterum de duobus: christianum esse aut est crimen aut non est.
What is this insatiable madness of carnage, what is this unappeasable lust for cruelty? Rather, choose for yourself one of the two: to be a Christian is either a crime or it is not.
si crimen est, quid non interficis confitentem P si crimen non est, quid persequeris innocentem? torqueri enim debui, si negarem.
If it is a crime, why do you not kill the one who confesses? If it is not a crime, why do you persecute the innocent? For I ought to have been tortured, if I denied it.
si poenam tuam metuens id quod prius fueram et quod deos tuos non colueram mendacio fallente celarem, tunc torquendus fuissem, tunc ad confessionem criminis cum ui doloris adigendus, sicut in quaestionibus ceteris torquentur rei qui se negant crimine quo accusantur teneri, ut facinoris ueritas quae indice uoce non promitur dolore corporis exprimatur.
If, fearing your punishment, I concealed what I had been before and that I had not worshipped your gods by a deceiving lie, then I should have been tortured, then driven to the confession of the crime by the force of pain, just as in other trials the accused are tortured who deny that they are bound by the crime of which they are accused, so that the truth of the deed, which is not brought forth by a telling voice, may be squeezed out by the pain of the body.
nunc uero cum sponte confitear et clamem et crebris ac repetitis identidem uocibus christianum me esse contester, quid tormenta admoues confitenti et deos tuos non in abditis et secretis locis sed palam, sed publice, sed in foro ipso magistratibus et praesidibus audientibus destruenti? ut et si parum fuerat quod in me prius criminabaris, creuerit quod et odisse et punire plus debeas.
But now indeed, since I confess voluntarily and cry out, and by frequent and repeated words again and again bear witness that I am a Christian, why do you apply torments to one who confesses, and who destroys your gods not in hidden and secret places, but openly, but publicly, but in the forum itself in the hearing of the magistrates and governors? So that, even if what you previously accused in me was little, that which you ought both to hate and to punish more may have increased.
quid dum me christianum celebri loco et populo circumstante pronuntio et uos et deos uestros clara et publica praedicatione confundo, quid te ad infirmitatem corporis uertis, quid cum terrenae carnis inbecillitate contendis? cum animi uigore congredere, uirtutem mentis infringe, fidem destrue, disceptatione si potes uince, uince ratione.
Why, while I declare myself a Christian in a crowded place with the people standing around, and confound both you and your gods by a clear and public proclamation, why do you turn to the weakness of the body, why do you contend with the helplessness of earthly flesh? Engage with the vigor of the soul, shatter the strength of the mind, destroy faith, conquer by discussion if you can, conquer by reason.
§14Vel si quid diis tuis numinis et potestatis est, ipsi in ultionem suam surgant, ipsi se sua maiestate defendant.
Or if there is any divine power and strength in your gods, let them rise up themselves for their own vengeance, let them defend themselves by their own majesty.
at quid praestare colentibus possunt qui se de non colentibus uindicare non possunt? nam si eo qui uindicatur pluris est ille qui uindicat, tu diis tuis maior es.
But what can they provide to their worshippers, who cannot avenge themselves on those who do not worship them? For if he who avenges is of more value than he who is avenged, you are greater than your gods.
si ergo his quos colis maior es, non tu eos colere, sed ab illis coli debes.
If therefore you are greater than those whom you worship, you ought not to worship them, but to be worshipped by them.
sic illos laesos ultio uestra defendit, quomodo et clausos ne pereant tutela uestra custodit.
In this way your vengeance defends them when injured, just as your protection guards them when locked up lest they perish.
pudeat te eos colere quos ipse defendis, pudeat tutelam de iis sperare quos tu tueris.
It should shame you to worship those whom you yourself defend; it should shame you to hope for protection from those whom you protect.