§17Similiter inpudicitiam omnem amoliri iubemur.
Similarly, we are commanded to cast away all impurity.
hoc igitur modo etiam a theatro separamur, quod est priuatum consistorium inpudicitiae, ubi nihil probatur quam quod alibi non probatur.
In this way, therefore, we are also separated from the theater, which is a private council-chamber of impurity, where nothing is approved except what is disapproved elsewhere.
ita summa gratia eius de spurcitia plurimum concinnata est, quam Atellanus gesticulatur, quam mimus etiam per muliebres res repraesentat, sensum sexus et pudoris exterminans, ut facilius domi quam in scaena erubescant, quam denique pantomimus a pueritia patitur ex corpore, ut artifex esse possit.
Thus, its greatest charm is largely made up of filth, which the Atellan actor gesticulates, which the mime also represents even through female things, destroying the sense of sex and modesty, so that they may blush more easily at home than on the stage; which finally, the pantomimist suffers in his body from boyhood, so that he may be able to be an artist.
ipsa etiam prostibula, publicae libidinis hostiae, in scaena proferuntur, plus miserae in praesentia feminarum, quibus solis latebant, perque omnis aetatis, omnis dignitatis ora transducuntur; locus, stipes, elogium, etiam quibus opus non est, praedicatur, etiam (taceo de reliquis) [etiam] quae in tenebris et in speluncis suis delitescere decebat, ne diem contaminarent.
The very prostitutes, victims of public lust, are brought forth on the stage, more wretched in the presence of women, to whom alone they used to remain hidden, and they are paraded before the eyes of every age and every rank; their location, price, and record, even to those for whom there is no need, is proclaimed, and also (I keep silence about the rest) those things which it was fitting to lie hidden in darkness and in their caves, so that they might not defile the day.
erubescat senatus, erubescant ordines omnes; ipsae illae pudoris sui interemptrices de gestibus suis ad lucem et populum expauescentes semel anno erubescant.
Let the senate blush, let all ranks blush; let those very destroyers of their own modesty, trembling at their own gestures before the light and the people, blush once a year.
quodsi nobis omnis impudicitia exsecranda est, cur liceat audire quod loqui non licet, cum etiam scurrilitatem et omne uanum uer-.
But if to us all impurity is to be detested, why should it be permitted to hear what it is not permitted to speak, when we know that even scurrility and every idle word are judged by God?
bum iudicatum a deo sciamus? cur aeque liceat uidere - quae facere flagitium est? cur quae ore prolata communicant hominem, ea per aures et oculos admissa non uideantur hominem communicare, cum spiritui appareant aures et oculi nec possit mundus praestari cuius apparitores inquinantur? habes igitur et theatri interdictionem de interdictione impudicitiae.
Why is it equally permitted to see what it is a disgrace to do? Why, if the things brought forth by the mouth defile a man, should not those things admitted through the ears and eyes be seen to defile a man, since the ears and eyes are ministers to the spirit, and it is impossible for the master to be kept clean when his attendants are defiled? You have, therefore, also the prohibition of the theater from the prohibition of impurity.
si et doctrinam saecularis litteraturae ut stultitiae apud deum deputatam aspernamur, satis praescribitur nobis et de illis speciebus spectaculorum, quae saeculari litteratura lusoriam uel agonisticam scaenam dispungunt.
If we also reject the teaching of secular literature as being counted as foolishness with God, we are sufficiently prescribed also concerning those kinds of spectacles which, by means of secular literature, settle (or perform on) the playful or competitive stage.
quodsi sunt tragoediae et comoediae scelerum et libidinum actrices cruentae et lasciuae, impiae et prodigae, nullius rei aut atrocis aut uilis commemoratio melior est: quod in facto reicitur, etiam in dicto non est recipiendum.
But if tragedies and comedies are bloody, wanton, impious, and prodigal actors of crimes and lusts, the mention of nothing either atrocious or vile is better: what is rejected in deed must not be received in word either.
§18Quodsi et stadium contendas in scripturis nominari, sane obtinebis.
But if you contend that the stadium also is named in the scriptures, you will certainly obtain it.
sed quae in stadio geruntur, indigna conspectu tuo non negabis, pugnos et calces et colaphos et omnem, petulantiam manus et quamcumque humani oris, id est diuinae imaginis, depugnationem.
But those things which are done in the stadium, you will not deny to be unworthy of your sight: fists, kicks, blows, and every insolence of the hand, and any defacing of the human face, which is the image of God.
non probabis usquam uanos cursus et iaculatus et saltus uaniores, nusquam tibi uires aut iniuriosae aut uanae placebunt, sed nec cura facticii corporis, ut plasticam dei supergressa, et propter Graeciae otium altiles, homines oderis.
You will nowhere approve vain runnings, throwings, and vainer leaps; nowhere will harmful or vain strengths please you, nor the care of an artificial body, as if surpassing the clay-modeling (or creation) of God, and you will hate those who are fattened for the leisure of Greece.
et palaestrica diaboli negotium est: primos homines diabolus elisit.
The art of the palaestra also is the devil's business; the devil threw down the first humans.
ipse caestus colubrina uis est, tenax ad occupandum, tortuosa ad obligandum, liquida ad elabendum.
The boxing-glove itself is a serpentine force, tenacious for grasping, twisting for binding, slippery for escaping.
nullus tibi coronarum usus est; quid de coronis uoluptates aucuparis?
You have no use for crowns; why do you hunt for pleasures from crowns?
§19Exspectabimus nunc ut et amphitheatri repudium de scripturis petamus? si saeuitiam, si impietatem, si feritatem permissam nobis contendere possumus, eamus in amphitheatrum.
Shall we now wait to seek the rejection of the amphitheater also from the scriptures? If we can contend that cruelty, impiety, and wildness are permitted to us, let us go into the amphitheater.
si tales sumus quales dicimur, delectemur sanguine humano.
If we are such as we are said to be, let us delight in human blood.
bonum est cum puniuntur nocentes.
It is good when the guilty are punished.
quis hoc nisi tamen nocens negabit? et tamen innocentes de supplicio alterius laetari non oportet, cum magis competat innocenti dolere, quod homo, par eius, tam nocens factus est, ut tam crudeliter impendatur.
Who will deny this, except a guilty person? And yet it does not behove the innocent to rejoice in the punishment of another, since it is more fitting for the innocent to grieve that a human being, his equal, has become so guilty that he must be so cruelly spent.
quis autem mihi sponsor est, nocentes semper uel ad bestias uel ad quodcumque supplicium decerni, ut non innocentiae quoque inferatur aut ultione iniudicantis aut infirmitate defensionis aut instantia quaestionis? quam melius ergo est nescire cum mali puniuntur, ne sciam et cum boni pereunt, si tamen bonum sapiunt.
But who is my guarantor that the guilty are always decreed either to the beasts or to any punishment, so that innocence is not also brought to it either by the vengeance of a careless judge, or the weakness of defense, or the urgency of torture? How much better is it, then, not to know when the wicked are punished, lest I know also when the good perish, if indeed they understand what is good.
certe quidem gladiatores innocentes in ludum ueneunt, ut publicae uoluptatis hostiae fiant.
At any rate, innocent gladiators are sold into the school, so that they may become victims of public pleasure.
etiam # qui damnantur in ludum, quale est ut de leuiore delicto in homicidas emendatione proficiant? sed haec ethnicis respondi.
Also those who are condemned to the school, what kind of thing is it that they make progress from a lighter crime to become murderers as a correction? But I have answered these things to the pagans.
ceterum absit ut de istius spectaculi auersione diutius discat Christianus.
For the rest, far be it that a Christian should learn any longer about the aversion to this spectacle.
quamquam nemo haec omnia plenius exprimere potest nisi qui adhuc spectat.
Although no one can express all these things more fully than one who still watches.
malo non implere quam meminisse.
I prefer not to complete the description than to remember.