§1Deos non esse, quos colit uulgus, hinc notum est.
That they are not gods whom the common people worship, is known from this.
reges olim fuerunt, qu ob regalem memoriam coli apud suos postmodum etiam in morte coeperant.
They were once kings, who, because of their royal memory, began to be worshipped among their own people afterwards even in death.
inde illis instituta templa, inde ad defunctorum uultus per imaginem detinendos expressa simulacra et immolabant hostias et dies festos dando honore celebrabant.
Thence temples were established for them; thence, to retain the features of the deceased by means of a likeness, statues were fashioned and they sacrificed victims and celebrated festive days by giving honor.
inde posteris facta sunt sacra, quae primis fuerant adsumpta solacia.
Thence holy rites were established for posterity, which at first had been adopted as solaces.
et uideamus, an sit et haec apud singulos ueritas.
And let us see whether this is also the truth in the case of individual gods.
§2Melicertes et Leucothea praecipitantur in maria et fiunt postmodum maris numina, Castores alternis moriuntur ut uiuant, Aesculapius ut in deum surgat, fulminatur, Hercules ut hominem exuat, Oetaeis ignibus concrematur.
Melicertes and Leucothea are cast into the seas and afterwards become divinities of the sea; the Castors die alternately that they may live, Aesculapius is struck by lightning that he may rise to be a god, Hercules, that he may put off the man, is consumed by Oetaean fires.
Apollo Admeto pecus pauit, Laomedonti muros Neptunus instituit nec mercedem operis infelix instructor accepit.
Apollo pastured the flock for Admetus; Neptune built the walls for Laomedon, nor did the unlucky builder receive the reward of his work.
antrum Iouis in Creta uisitur et sepulcrum eius ostenditur, et ab eo Saturnum fugatum manifestum est: inde Latium de latebra eius nomen accepit.
The cave of Jupiter is visited in Crete and his tomb is shown, and it is manifest that Saturn was put to flight by him; thence Latium received its name from his hiding-place (latebra).
hic literas inprimere, hic signare nummos in Italia primus instituit: inde aerarium Saturni uocitatur.
He was the first in Italy to introduce the imprinting of letters, and the stamping of coins; thence the treasury is called the treasury of Saturn.
et rusticitatis hic cultor fuit: inde ferens falcem pingitur.
He was also a cultivator of rustic life; thence he is painted carrying a sickle.
hunc fugatum hospitio Ianus exceperat, de cuius nomine Ianiculum dictum est et mensis Ianuarius institutus est.
Janus had welcomed him in his flight with hospitality, from whose name the Janiculum was called and the month of January was established.
ipse bifrons exprimitur, quod in medio constitutus annum incipientem pariter et recedentem sectari uideatur.
He himself is represented with two faces, because, being placed in the middle, he seems to look upon the beginning and the departing year alike.
Mauri uero manifeste reges colunt nec ullo uelamento hoc nomen obtexunt.
But the Mauri openly worship kings and do not cover this name with any veil.
§3Inde per gentes et prouincias singulas uaria deorum religio mutatur, dum non unus ab omnibus Deus colitur, sed propria cuique maiorum suorum cultura seruatur.
Thence throughout individual nations and provinces the various religions of the gods are changed, since not one God is worshipped by all, but a proper worship of their own ancestors is preserved for each.
hoc ita esse Alexander magnus insigni uolumine ad matrem suam scripsit, metu suae potestatis proditum sibi de diis hominibus a sacerdote secretum, quod maiorum et regum memoria seruata sit.
That this is so, Alexander the Great wrote in a notable volume to his mother, that a secret concerning the gods being men had been betrayed to him by a priest through fear of his power, namely, that the memory of ancestors and kings has been preserved.
inde colendi et sacrificandi ritus inoleuit.
Thence the rite of worshipping and sacrificing grew up.
si autem aliquando dii nati sunt, cur non hodieque nascuntur? nisi forte Iuppiter senuit aut partus in Iunone defecit?
But if gods were once born, why are they not born even today? Unless perchance Jupiter has grown old, or childbearing has failed in Juno?
§4Cur uero deos putas pro Romanis posse, quos uideas nihil pro suis aduersus eorum arma ualuisse? Romanorum enim uernaculos deos nouimus.
But why do you think that the gods can do anything for the Romans, whom you see to have availed nothing for their own people against the Roman arms? For we know the indigenous gods of the Romans.
est Romulus perierante Proculo deus factus, et Picus et Tiberinus et Pilumnus et Consus, quem deum fraudis uelut consiliorum deum coli Romulus uoluit, postquam in raptum Sabinarum perfidia prouenit.
There is Romulus made a god by the false swearing of Proculus, and Picus and Tiberinus and Pilumnus and Consus, whom Romulus wished to be worshipped as a god of deceit, as if he were a god of counsels, after his treachery succeeded in the rape of the Sabines.
deam quoque Cloacinam Tatius inuenit et coluit, Pauorem Hostilius adque Pallorem.
Tatius also found and worshipped the goddess Cloacina, Hostilius worshipped Fear (Pavor) and Paleness (Pallor).
mox a nescio quo Febris dedicata et Acca et Flora meretrices.
Soon after, by some unknown person, Fever (Febris) was dedicated, and the prostitutes Acca and Flora.
hi dii Romani.
These are the Roman gods.
ceterum Mars Thracius et Iuppiter Creticus et Iuno uel Argiua uel Samia uel Poena et Diana Taurica et deum mater Idaea et Aegyptia portenta, non numina: quae utique si quid potestatis habuissent, sua ac suorum regna seruassent.
But as for the Thracian Mars, the Cretian Jupiter, Juno either of Argos or of Samos or of Carthage, the Tauric Diana, the Idaean mother of the gods, and the Egyptian portents—they are monsters, not divinities; and if they had had any power, they would surely have preserved their own kingdoms and those of their people.
plane sunt apud Romanos et uicti penates, quos Aeneas profugus aduexit: est et Venus calua, multo hic turpius calua, quam apud Homerum uulnerata.
Clearly there are also among the Romans the conquered Penates, whom the fugitive Aeneas brought; there is also the bald Venus, far more shamefully bald here than she was wounded in Homer.