Chap. V.—There Was True Justice Under Saturnus, But It Was Banished by Jupiter.

Now the promised disputation concerning justice must be given; which is either by itself the greatest virtue, or by itself the fountain of virtue, which not only philosophers sought, but poets also, who were much earlier, and were esteemed as wise before the origin of the name of philosophy. These clearly understood that this justice was absent from the affairs of men; and they feigned that it, being offended with the vices of men, departed from the earth, and withdrew to heaven; and that they may teach what it is to live justly (for they are accustomed to give precepts by circumlocutions), they repeat examples of justice from the times of Saturnus, which they call the golden times, and they relate in what condition human life was while it delayed on the earth.938    [Striking is the language of the Pollio (“Redit et Virgo,” etc.) in which the true Virgin seems to be anticipated.]   And this is not to be regarded as a poetic fiction, but as the truth. For, while Saturnus reigned, the religious worship of the gods not having yet been instituted, nor any939    Ulla. Another reading is “illâ,” as though there were a reference to the family of Saturnus.   race being as yet set apart in the belief of its divinity, God was manifestly worshipped. And therefore there were neither dissensions, nor enmities, nor wars.  

as Germanicus Cæsar speaks in his poem translated from Aratus,940    Germanicus Cæsar, the grandson of Augustus, translated in verse a part of the poems of Aratus. [See p. 36, supra.]    

No, nor even among strangers: but there were no swords at all to be unsheathed. For who, when justice was present and in vigour, would think respecting his own protection, since no one plotted against him; or respecting the destruction of another, since no one desired anything?  

as Cicero941    Cicero translated in verse part of the poems of Aratus. [This poet is quoted by St. Paul, του̑ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν, Acts xvii. 28. Archdeacon Farrar does not consider the natural and impedantic spirit of the Apostle in suiting this quotation to time and place; and, if it was a common-place proverb, all the more suggestive is the accuracy of the reference to “one of your own poets.”]   relates in his poem; and this is peculiar to our religion. “It was not even allowed to mark out or to divide the plain with a boundary: men sought all things in common;”942    Virg., Georg., i. 126.   since God had given the earth in common to all, that they might pass their life in common, not that mad and raging avarice might claim all things for itself, and that that which was produced for all might not be wanting to any. And this saying of the poet ought so to be taken, not as suggesting the idea that individuals at that time had no private property, but it must be regarded as a poetical figure; that we may understand that men were so liberal, that they did not shut up the fruits of the earth produced for them, nor did they in solitude brood over the things stored up, but admitted the poor to share the fruits of their labour:—  

And no wonder, since the storehouses of the good liberally lay open to all. Nor did avarice intercept the divine bounty, and thus cause hunger and thirst in common; but all alike had abundance, since they who had possessions gave liberally and bountifully to those who had not. But after that Saturnus had been banished from heaven, and had arrived in Latium,—  

since the people either through fear of the new king, or of their own accord, had become corrupted and ceased to worship God, and had begun to esteem the king in the place of God, since he himself, almost a parricide, was an example to others to the injury of piety,—  

but not as Cicero says,946    [That is, in his translation of the poetry of Aratus.]    

For how could she settle or tarry in the kingdom of him who expelled his father from his kingdom, harassed him with war, and drove him as an exile over the whole world?  

that is, he introduced among men hatred, and envy, and stratagem; so that they were poisonous as serpents, and rapacious as wolves. And they truly do this who persecute those who are righteous and faithful towards God, and give to judges the power of using violence against the innocent. Perhaps Jupiter may have done something of this kind for the overthrow and removal of righteousness; and on this account he is related to have made serpents fierce, and to have whetted the spirit of wolves.  

and not without reason. For the worship of God being taken away, men lost the knowledge of good and evil. Thus the common intercourse of life perished from among then, and the bond of human society was destroyed. Then they began to contend with one another, and to plot, and to acquire for themselves glory from the shedding of human blood.  

CAPUT V. Quae sub Saturno erat vera justitia, hanc Jupiter fugavit.

Nunc reddenda est de justitia proposita disputatio: quae aut ipsa est summa virtus, aut fons est ipsa virtutis; quam non modo philosophi quaesierunt, sed poetae quoque, qui et priores multo fuerunt, et ante natum 0564B philosophiae nomen pro sapientibus habebantur. Hi plane intellexerunt abesse hanc a rebus humanis, eamque finxerunt offensam vitiis hominum, cessisse e terra, in coelumque migrasse; atque ut doceant, quid sit juste vivere, (solent enim praecepta per ambages dare) a Saturni temporibus, quae illi vocant aurea, repetunt exempla justitiae, narrantque in quo statu fuerit humana vita, dum illa in terra moraretur. 0565A Quod quidem non pro poetica fictione, sed pro vero habendum est. Saturno enim regnante, nondum deorum cultibus institutis, nec adhuc ulla gente 0565A ad divinitatis opinionem consecrata, Deus utique colebatur. Et ideo non erant neque dissensiones, neque inimicitiae, neque bella. Nondum vesanos rabies nudaverat enses,ut Germanicus Caesar in Arataeo loquitur carmine: Nec consanguineis fuerat discordia nota.Immo ne alienigenis quidem: sed neque ulli omnino gladii, qui nudarentur, fuerunt. Quis enim praesente ac vigente justitia, aut de tutela sui, cum nemo insidiaretur, aut de pernicie alterius cogitaret, cum nemo quidquam concupisceret? 0565B Malebant tenui contenti vivere cultu,ut Cicero in suo narrat, quod est proprium nostrae religionis. Ne signare quidem, aut partiri limite campum Fas erat: in medium quaerebant.Quippe cum Deus communem omnibus terram dedisset, ut communem degerent vitam, non ut rabida et furens avaritia sibi omnia vendicaret, nec ulli deesset quod omnibus nasceretur. Quod poetae dictum sic accipi oportet, non ut existimemus nihil omnino tum fuisse privati, sed more poetico figuratum; ut intelligamus, tam liberales fuisse homines, ut natas sibi fruges non includerent, nec soli absconditis incubarent, sed pauperes ad communionem proprii laboris 0565C admitterent. 0566A Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant.Nec mirum, cum promptuaria justorum benigne paterent omnibus; nec avaritia intercipiens beneficia divina, famem sitimque vulgo faceret: sed omnes aequaliter abundarent, cum habentes non habentibus large copioseque donarent. Sed postquam Saturnus a filio pulsus, in Latiumque delatus est, Arma Jovis fugiens, et regnis exsul ademptis;cum jam populus vel novi regis metu, vel sua sponte depravatus, Deum colere desiiset, regemque pro Deo habere coepisset; cum ipse propemodum parricida exemplo caeteris esset ad violandam pietatem: 0566B Deseruit propere terras justissima virgo;sed non, ut ait Cicero: Et Jovis in regno, coelique in parte resedit.Quomodo enim poterat in ejus regno residere, aut commorari, qui patrem regno expulit, bello persecutus est, exsulem toto orbe jactavit? Ille malum virus serpentibus addidit atris, Praedarique lupos jussit:id est, odium, et invidiam, et dolum hominibus insevit, ut tam essent, quam serpentes, venenati, tam rapaces quam lupi. Quod quidem vere faciunt ii qui justos ac fideles Deo persequuntur, dantque judicibus saeviendi adversus innoxios potestatem. 0566C Fortasse aliquid ejusmodi Jupiter fecerit, ad expunandam 0567A tollendamque justitiam; et idcirco efferasse 0567A serpentes, ac lupos acuisse tradatur. Tum belli rabies, et amor successit habendi.Neque immerito. Sublata enim Dei religione, boni quoque ac mali scientiam perdiderunt. Sic hominibus intercidit communitas vitae, et diremptum est foedus societatis humanae. Tum inter se manus conserere coeperunt, et insidiari, et gloriam sibi ex humano sanguine comparare.