§9Nunc de artificio quo circenses exhibentur.
Now concerning the art by which the circus games are exhibited.
res equestris retro simplex: de dorso agebatur, et utique communis usus; reus non erat.
Equestrian matters were simple in the old days: they were conducted on horseback, and of course were in common use; there was no guilt in them.
sed cum ad ludos coactus est, transiit a dei munere ad daemoniorum officia.
But when they were forced into the games, they passed from being a gift of God to the services of demons.
itaque Castori et Polluci deputatur, haec species, quibus equos a Mercurio distributos Stesichorus docet.
Therefore, this species is assigned to Castor and Pollux, to whom Stesichorus teaches that horses were distributed by Mercury.
sed et Neptunus equestris est, quem Graeci ἵππιον appellant.
But Neptune also is equestrian, whom the Greeks call Hippios.
seiugas uero Ioui, quadrigas Soli, bigas Lunae sanxerunt.
They consecrated six-horse chariots to Jupiter, four-horse chariots to the Sun, and two-horse chariots to the Moon.
sed et
"
Primus Erichthonius currus et quattuor ausus
Iungere equos rapidusque rotis insistere uictor
.
But also: "Erichthonius first dared to join chariots and four horses, and as victor to stand rapid upon the wheels.
"
Erichthonius, Mineruae et Vulcani filius, et quidem de caduca in terram libidine, portentum est daemonicum, immo diabolus ipse, non coluber.
"Erichthonius, the son of Minerva and Vulcan, and indeed born from passion fallen upon the earth, is a demonic monster, or rather the devil himself, not a snake.
si uero Trochilus Argiuus auctor est currus, primae Iunoni id opus suum dedicauit.
But if Trochilus the Argive is the author of the chariot, he dedicated that work of his first to Juno.
si Romae Romulus quadrigam primus ostendit, puto et ipse inter idola conscriptus est, si idem est Quirinus.
If in Rome Romulus first displayed the four-horse chariot, I think he himself also has been enrolled among the idols, if indeed he is the same as Quirinus.
talibus auctoribus quadrigae productae merito et aurigas coloribus idololatriae uestierunt.
Under such authors, the four-horse chariots produced deservedly clothed the charioteers also with the colors of idolatry.
namque initio duo soli fuerunt, albus et russeus.
For in the beginning there were only two, white and red.
albus hiemi ob niues candidas, russeus aestati ob solis ruborem uoti erantsed postea tam uoluptate quam superstitione prouecta russeum alii Marti, alii album Zephyris consecrauerunt, prasinum uero Terrae matri uel uerno, uenetum Caelo et Mari uel autumno.
The white was vowed to winter because of the bright snow, the red to summer because of the redness of the sun; but later, as both pleasure and superstition advanced, some consecrated the red to Mars, others the white to the Zephyrs, the green to Mother Earth or to spring, and the blue to Heaven and Sea or to autumn.
cum autem omnis species idololatriae damnata sit a deo, utique etiam illa damnatur, quae elementis mundialibus profanatur.
But since every species of idolatry is condemned by God, that species also is certainly condemned which is profaned by the elements of the world.
§10Tanseamus ad scaenicas res, quarum et originem com-. munem et] titulos pares secundum ipsam ab initio ludorum appellationem et administrationem coniunctam cum re equestri iam ostendimus.
Let us pass to the scenic matters, whose common origin and equal titles according to their very name from the beginning of the games, as well as their administration joined with equestrian matters, we have already shown.
apparatus? ł\\ratus etiam ex ea parte consortes, qua ad scaenam a templis et aris et illa infelicitate turis et sanguinis inter tibias et tubas itur duobus inquinatissimis arbitris funerum et sacrorum, dissignatore et haruspice.
Their preparations? They are also partners in that part where, from the temples and altars, and with that unhappy incense and blood, amid flutes and trumpets, they go to the stage accompanied by two most defiled directors of funerals and sacrifices, the designator and the haruspex.
ita cum de originibus ludorum ad circenses transiimus, inde nunc ad scaenicos ludos dirigemus.
Thus, having passed from the origins of the games to the circus spectacles, we shall now direct our course from there to the scenic games.
a loci uitio theatrum proprie sacrarium Veneris est.
From the vice of the place, the theater is properly a shrine of Venus.
hoc denique modo id genus operis in saeculo euasit.
In this way, finally, this class of building emerged in the world.
nam saepe censores nascentia cum maxime theatra destruebant moribus consuentes, quorum scilicet periculum ingens de lasciuia prouidebant, ut iam hic ethnicis in testimonium cedat sententia ipsorum nobiscum faciens et nobis in exaggerationem disciplinae etiam humana praerogatiua.
For often the censors, protecting morals, destroyed the theaters just as they were rising, since they naturally foresaw the immense danger of lasciviousness; so that here already their own opinion, siding with us, serves as a testimony to the pagans, and even human prerogative assists us in the reinforcement of our discipline.
itaque Pompeius Magnus solo theatro suo minor cum illam arcem omnium turpitudinum extruxisset, ueritus quandoque memoriae suae censoriam animaduersionem Veneris aedem superposuit et ad dedicationem edicto populum uocans non theatrum, sed Veneris templum nuncupauit, cui subiecimus, inquit, gradus spectaculorum. ita damnatum et damnandum opus templi titulo praetexit et disciplinam superstitione delusit.
Therefore, Pompey the Great, who was not less than his own theater, when he had built that fortress of all filthiness, fearing at some time a censorial animadversion upon his memory, placed a temple of Venus on top, and calling the people to the dedication by an edict, named it not a theater, but the temple of Venus, "under which," he said, "we have placed the tiers of the spectacles." Thus he cloaked a condemned and condemnable work under the title of a temple, and deluded discipline by superstition.
sed Veneri et Libero conuenit.
But Venus and Liber match well.
duo ista daemonia conspirata et coniurata inter se sunt ebrietatis et libidinis.
Those two demons are conspired and sworn together in drunkenness and lust.
itaque theatrum Veneris LLiberi quoque domus est.
Therefore, the theater of Venus is also the house of Liber.
nam et alios ludos scaenicos Liberalia proprie uocabant, praeterquam Libero deuotos, quae sunt Dionysia penes Graecos, etiam a Libero institutos.
For they also properly called other scenic games Liberalia, besides being devoted to Liber, which are the Dionysia among the Greeks, also instituted by Liber.
et est plane in artibus quoque scaenicis Liberi et Veneris patrocinium.
And there is clearly the patronage of Liber and Venus in the scenic arts as well.
quae priuata et propria sunt scaenae de gestu et corporis flexu mollitiae Veneris et Liberi immolant, illi per sexum, illi per luxum dissolutis.
The things which are private and proper to the stage, concerning gesture and bodily bending, they sacrifice to the soft luxury of Venus and Liber—dissolute as they are, the former through sex, the latter through luxury.
quae uero uoce et mo. ţis et organis et litteris transiguntur, Apollines et Musas et Mineruas et Mercurios mancipes habent.
But those things which are performed by voice, melodies, instruments, and literature, have Apollos, Muses, Minervas, and Mercuries as their patrons.
oderis Christiane, quorum auctores non potes non odisse.
You must hate, O Christian, those things whose authors you cannot but hate.
iam nunc uolumus suggerere de artibus et de his, quorum, auctores in nominibus exsecramur.
Now we wish to suggest concerning the arts and concerning those whose authors we execrate in their names.
scimus nihil esse nomina mortuorum, sicut nec ipsa simulacra eorum; sed non ignoramus, qui sub istis nominibus institutis simulacris operentur et gaudeant et diuinitatem mentiantur, nequam spiritus scilicet, daemones.
We know that the names of the dead are nothing, just as their idols themselves are nothing; but we are not ignorant of who they are that, under those names, through the instituted idols, operate and rejoice and feign divinity—namely, wicked spirits, demons.
uidemus igitur etiam artes eorum honoribus dicatas esse, qui nomina incolunt auctorum earum, nec ab idololatria uacare, quarum institutores etiam propterea dei habentur.
We see, therefore, that their arts also are dedicated to the honors of those who inhabit the names of their authors, nor are they free from idolatry, since their founders are also regarded as gods on that account.
immo quod ad artes pertinet, altius percepisse debemus, daemonas ab initio prospicientes sibi inter cetera idololatriae etiam spectaculorum inquinamenta, quibus hominem a domino auocarent et suo honori obligarent, eiusmodi quoque artium ingenia inspirasse.
Indeed, as far as the arts are concerned, we ought to have perceived more deeply that the demons from the beginning, anticipating for themselves, among other pollutions of idolatry, also the pollutions of the spectacles by which they might call man away from the Lord and bind him to their own honor, inspired the geniuses of such arts.
neque enim ab aliis procuratum fuisset quod ad illos peruenturum esset nec per alios tunc homines edidissent quam per ipsos, in quorum nominibus et imaginibus et historiis fallaciam consecrationis sibi negotium acturi constituerunt.
For what was to reach them would not have been provided by others, nor would they have published them through other men at that time than through those in whose names, images, and histories they established the fallacy of consecration for themselves when about to transact their business.
ut ordo per- \' agatur, ineamus etiam agonum retractatum.
In order that the order may be completed, let us enter also upon the review of the athletic contests.