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Tertullian

Book 1 · Chapter 17

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XVII.—The Christian Refusal to Swear by the Genius of Cæsar. Flippancy and Irreverence Retorted on the Heathen.

As to your charges of obstinacy and presumption, whatever you allege

‹ Book 1 · Chapter 16 Book 1 · Chapter 18 ›

against

us

,

even

in

these

respects

,

there

are

not

wanting

points

in

which

you

will

bear

a

comparison

with

us

.

Our

first

step

in

this

contumacious

conduct

concerns

that

which

is

ranked

by

you

immediately

after

the

worship

due

to

God

,

that

is

,

the

worship

due

to

the

majesty

of

the

Cæsars

,

in

respect

of

which

we

are

charged

with

being

irreligious

towards

them

,

since

we

neither

propitiate

their

images

nor

swear

by

their

genius

.

We

are

called

enemies

of

the

people

.

Well

,

be

it

so

;

yet

at

the

same

time

(

it

must

not

be

forgotten

,

that

)

the

emperors

find

enemies

amongst

you

heathen

,

and

are

constantly

getting

surnames

to

signalize

their

triumphs

—

one

becoming

Parthicus

,

and

another

Medicus

and

Germanicus

.

On

this

head

the

Roman

people

must

see

to

it

who

they

are

amongst

whom

there

still

remain

nations

which

are

unsubdued

and

foreign

to

their

rule

.

But

,

at

all

events

,

you

are

of

us

,

and

yet

you

conspire

against

us

.

(

In

reply

,

we

need

only

state

)

a

well

-

known

fact

,

that

we

acknowledge

the

fealty

of

Romans

to

the

emperors

.

No

conspiracy

has

ever

broken

out

from

our

body

:

no

Cæsar’s

blood

has

ever

fixed

a

stain

upon

us

,

in

the

senate

or

even

in

the

palace

;

no

assumption

of

the

purple

has

ever

in

any

of

the

provinces

been

affected

by

us

.

The

Syrias

still

exhale

the

odours

of

their

corpses

;

still

do

the

Gauls

fail

to

wash

away

(

their

blood

)

in

the

waters

of

their

Rhone

.

Your

allegations

of

our

insanity

I

omit

,

because

they

do

not

compromise

the

Roman

name

.

But

I

will

grapple

with

the

charge

of

sacrilegious

vanity

,

and

remind

you

of

the

irreverence

of

your

own

lower

classes

,

and

the

scandalous

lampoons

of

which

the

statues

are

so

cognizant

,

and

the

sneers

which

are

sometimes

uttered

at

the

public

games

,

and

the

curses

with

which

the

circus

resounds

.

If

not

in

arms

,

you

are

in

tongue

at

all

events

always

rebellious

.

But

I

suppose

it

is

quite

another

affair

to

refuse

to

swear

by

the

genius

of

Cæsar

?

For

it

is

fairly

open

to

doubt

as

to

who

are

perjurers

on

this

point

,

when

you

do

not

swear

honestly

even

by

your

gods

.

Well

,

we

do

not

call

the

emperor

God

;

for

on

this

point

sannam

facimus

,

as

the

saying

is

.

But

the

truth

is

,

that

you

who

call

Cæsar

God

both

mock

him

,

by

calling

him

what

he

is

not

,

and

curse

him

,

because

he

does

not

want

to

be

what

you

call

him

.

For

he

prefers

living

to

being

made

a

god

.

Notes

2
Secunda.
3
Severus, in a.d. 198.
4
These titles were borne by Caracalla.
5
Or, “topic”—hoc loco.
6
i.e., whether among the Christians or the heathen.
7
A cavil of the heathen.
8
Sane.
9
Galliæ.
10
Vesaniæ.
11
Conveniam.
12
Recognoscam.
13
Festivos libellos.
14
A concilio.
15
Ex fide.
16
Literally, “we make faces.”
17
Comp. The Apology, c. xxxiii., p. 37, supra, and Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. xxiii. [Vol. IV. this Series.]