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Adversus Gentes

Arnobius of Sicca

Book 5 · Chapter 38

About this work

A vigorous Latin defense of Christianity against claims that conversion had angered the gods, combining criticism of Roman mythology and cult with arguments about Christ and the soul.

Author: Arnobius of Sicca
Date: c. AD 300–310
Origin: Sicca, North Africa
Genre: Apology

Section 38

38. Either, then, they must all have been

‹ Book 5 · Chapter 37 Book 5 · Chapter 39 ›

written

and

put

forward

allegorically

,

and

the

whole

should

be

pointed

out

to

us

;

or

nothing

has

been

so

written

,

since

what

is

supposed

to

be

allegorical

does

not

seem

as

if

it

were

part

of

the

narrative

.

These

are

all

written

allegorically

,

you

say

.

This

seems

by

no

means

certain

.

Do

you

ask

for

what

reason

,

for

what

cause

?

Because

,

I

answer

,

all

that

has

taken

place

and

has

been

set

down

distinctly

in

any

book

cannot

be

turned

into

an

allegory

,

for

neither

can

that

be

undone

which

has

been

done

,

nor

can

the

character

of

an

event

change

into

one

which

is

utterly

different

.

Can

the

Trojan

war

be

turned

into

the

condemnation

of

Socrates

?

or

the

battle

of

Cannæ

become

the

cruel

proscription

of

Sulla

?

A

proscription

may

indeed

,

as

Tullius

says

in

jest

,

be

spoken

of

as

a

battle

,

and

be

called

that

of

Cannæ

;

but

what

has

already

taken

place

,

cannot

be

at

the

same

time

a

battle

and

a

proscription

;

for

neither

,

as

I

have

said

,

can

that

which

has

taken

place

be

anything

else

than

what

has

taken

place

;

nor

can

that

pass

over

into

a

substance

foreign

to

it

which

has

been

fixed

down

firmly

in

its

own

nature

and

peculiar

condition

.

Notes

1
i.e., if historical, the whole must be so, as bits of allegory would not fit in.
2
Cicero, pro Rosc. Am., c. 32.