§12Sed et de corona prius dicam.
But let me speak first about the crown itself.
Laurea ista Apollini vel Libero sacra est, illi ut deo telorum, huic ut deo triumphorum.
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.
Sic docet Claudius, cum et myrto ait milites redimiri solere.
So Claudius teaches, when he also says that soldiers are accustomed to be crowned with myrtle.
Veneris enim? myrtus, matris Aeneadarum, etiam amiculae Martis, per Iliam et Romulos Romani.
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?
Sed ego Venerem non credo ex hac parte cum Marte Romanam, qua pellicis dolor est.
But I do not believe that Venus, in this respect, is Roman along with Mars, in which there is the grief of a mistress.
Cum et olea militia coronatur, ad Minervam est idololatria, armorum aeque deam, sed et paci cum Neptuno initae ex hac arbore coronatam.
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 his erit serti militaris superstitio ubique polluta et polluens.
In these things, the superstition of the military wreath will be everywhere defiled and defiling all things.
omnia. Quae iam polluatur et causis.
And now it is also defiled by its occasions.
Ecce annua votorum nuncupatio quid videtur? Prima in principiis, secunda in Capitoliis.
Behold, what does the annual pronouncement of vows look like? The first in the headquarters, the second on the Capitol.
Accipe post loca et verba: Tunc tibi, Iuppiter, bovem cornibus auro decoratis vovemus esse futurum. Cuius sententiae vox est? Utique negationis.
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.
Etiamsi tacet illic Christianus ore, coronatus capite respondit.
Even if the Christian is silent there with his mouth, he answers by being crowned on his head.
Eadem laurea in donativi dispensatione denuntiatur.
The same laurel is proclaimed in the distribution of the donative.
Plane non gratuita idololatria, aliquibus aureis venditans Christum, ut argenteis Iudas.
Clearly not a gratis idolatry, selling Christ for some gold pieces, as Judas did for silver ones.
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.
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.
Qui hanc portaverit in capite causam nonne et ipsi pugnavit? Est et alia militia regiarum familiarum.
Has not he who carried this cause upon his head fought himself? There is also another military service of the royal households.
Nam et castrenses appellantur, munificae et ipsae sollemnium Caesarianorum.
For they are also called palace servants, themselves also bountiful at the Caesarian solemnities.
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.
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.