43. For if this deity832    The dii inferi. requires a black, that833    The dii superi. a white skin; if sacrifice must be made to this one with veiled, to that with uncovered head;834    Saturn and Hercules were so worshipped. this one is consulted about marriages,835    Apollo. the other relieves distresses,—may it not be of some importance whether the one or the other is Novensilis, since ignorance of the facts and confusion of persons displeases the gods, and leads necessarily to the contraction of guilt? For suppose that I myself, to avoid some inconvenience and peril, make supplication to any one of these deities, saying, Be present, be near, divine Penates, thou Apollo, and thou, O Neptune, and in your divine clemency turn away all these evils, by which I am annoyed,836    The ms., first five edd., and Oehler read terreor—“terrified;” the others tor., as above, from the conjecture of Gifanius. troubled, and tormented: will there be any hope that I shall receive help from them, if Ceres, Pales, Fortune, or the genius Jovialis,837    Cf. ch. 40, note 21. It may further be observed that the Etruscans held that the superior and inferior gods and men were linked together by a kind of intermediate beings, through whom the gods took cognizance of human affairs, without themselves descending to earth. These were divided into four classes, assigned to Tina (Jupiter), Neptune, the gods of the nether world, and men respectively. not Neptune and Apollo, shall be the dii Penates? Or if I invoked the Curetes instead of the Lares, whom some of your writers maintain to be the Digiti Samothracii, how shall I enjoy their help and favour, when I have not given them their own names, and have given to the others names not their own? Thus does our interest demand that we should rightly know the gods, and not hesitate or doubt about the power, the name of each; lest,838    So LB., Hild., and Oehler, reading nomine ne; all others ut, the ms. having no conjunction. if they be invoked with rites and titles not their own, they have at once their ears stopped against our prayers, and hold us involved in guilt which may not be forgiven.

XLIII. Etenim si hic atram, ille albam desiderat pellem, huic capite velato, illi sacrificandum est nudo, de matrimoniis ille consulitur, hic medelas incommoditatibus praestat, interesse non potest nihil, an sit ille Novensilis, an ille, cum ignoratio rerum, et personarum confusio deos offendat, cogat et necessario piaculum contrahi? Finge enim me ipsum incommoditatis alicujus et declinandi periculi causa horum cuipiam numinum supplicare dicentem: Adeste, adestote, dii Penates, tu Apollo, tuque Neptune, omniaque haec mala, quibus uror, torreor, vexor, vestri numinis averruncate clementia: eritne spes 1001B aliqua referendae ab his opis, si Ceres, Pales, Fortuna, 1002A Jovialis aut Genius, non Neptunus et Apollo Penates dii erunt? aut si Curetas pro Laribus invocaro, quos Digitos Samothracios pars vestrorum asseverat auctorum, quemadmodum his potero auxiliatoribus et propitiis uti, cum neque his sua, et aliena illis imposuero cognomina ? Usque adeo res exigit propriatim deos scire, nec ambigere, nec dubitare de uniuscujusque vi, nomine; ut si alienis ritibus et appellationibus fuerint invocati, et aures habeant structas, et piaculis nos teneant inexpiabilibus obligatos.