Roman Stoicism: being lectures on the history of the Stoic philosophy with special reference to its development within the Roman EmpireArnold, Edward Vernon
Religion
Roman Stoicism: being lectures on the history of the Stoic philosophy with special reference to its development within the Roman Empire
Arnold, Edward Vernon
Stoics
[107] ‘si conferre volumus nostra cum externis; ceteris rebus aut pares
aut etiam inferiores reperiemur, religione, id est cultu deorum, multum
superiores’ Cic. _N. D._ ii 3, 8.
[108] See above, § 250.
[109] ὄφρ’ ἂν τιμηθέντες ἀμειβώμεσθά σε τιμῇ, | ὑμνοῦντες τὰ σὰ ἔργα
διηνεκές, ὡς ἐπέοικε _Hymn_ 36, 37.
[110] περὶ τοίνυν τῆς διὰ τ(ῶν μου)σικῶν (τ)οῦ θείου τει(μῆς εἴρη)ται μὲν
αὐτάρκως καὶ πρότερον Philod. _mus._ iv 66 (Arnim iii Diog. 64).
[111] ‘cultus autem deorum est optimus idemque castissimus atque
sanctissimus plenissimusque pietatis, ut eos semper pura integra
incorrupta et mente et voce veneremur’ Cic. _N. D._ ii 28, 71.
[112] Epict. _Disc._ i 16, 17.
[113] _ib._ iii 5, 10.
[114] _ib._ i 16, 15.
[115] See above, § 121.
[116] ‘non sunt ad caelum elevandae manus, nec exorandus aedituus, ut nos
ad aurem simulacri admittat; prope est a te deus’ Sen. _Ep._ 41, 1.
[117] ‘turpissima vota dis insusurrant; si quis admoverit aurem,
conticescent’ _ib._ 10, 5.
[118] Sen. _Dial._ x 11, 1.
[119] _ib._ xi 4, 2.
[120] _Ben._ ii 14, 5.
[121] _ib._ vi 38, 1.
[122] _Ep._ 32, 4.
[123] ‘etiamnunc optas, quod tibi optavit nutrix tua aut paedagogus aut
mater? o quam inimica nobis sunt vota nostrorum!’ Sen. _Ep._ 60, 1.
[124] ‘se quisque consulat et in secretum pectoris sui redeat et
inspiciat, quid tacitus optaverit. quam multa sunt vota, quae etiam sibi
fateri pudet! quam pauca, quae facere coram teste possimus!’ _Ben._ vi
38, 5.
[125] This sentiment we can trace back to the time of Plautus: ‘stulti
hau scimus frustra ut simus, quom quid cupienter dari | petimus nobis:
quasi quid in rem sit possimus noscere’ Plautus _Pseud._ 683-5.
[126] Epict. _Disc._ ii 16, 42.
[127] _Manual_ 8.
[128] Sen. _Dial._ v 36, 2. He describes his practice with naïve detail:
‘cum sublatum e conspectu lumen est et _conticuit uxor_ moris mei iam
conscia, totum diem meum scrutor’ _ib._ 3.
[129] Epict. _Disc._ iii 10, 2 and 3 (Long’s transl.).
[130] ‘quomodo sint di colendi, solet praecipi’ Sen. _Ep._ 95, 47.
[131] ‘non enim philosophi solum, verum etiam maiores nostri
superstitionem a religione separaverunt’ Cic. _N. D._ ii 28, 71.
[132] ‘primus est deorum cultus deos credere, deinde reddere illis
maiestatem suam, reddere bonitatem, sine qua nulla maiestas est; scire
illos esse, qui praesident mundo’ Sen. _Ep._ 95, 50.
[133] _ib._ 95, 47.
[134] ‘vis deos propitiare? bonus esto. satis illos coluit, quisquis
imitatus est’ _ib._ 95, 50.
[135] ‘You must believe that you have been placed in the world to obey
them, and to yield to them in everything which happens, and voluntarily
to follow it as being accomplished by the wisest intelligence’ Epict.
_Manual_ 31, 1.
[136] _Disc._ iii 22, 53 (compare Long’s transl. ii p. 83).
[137] _ib._ iii 26, 30.
[138] ‘sic vive cum hominibus, tanquam deus videat; sic loquere cum deo,
tanquam homines audiant’ Sen. _Ep._ 10, 5.
CHAPTER XI.
THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUL.
[Sidenote: Man a part of the universe.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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