Novatianus De Spectaculis

See G. Hartel, ed., S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani Opera Omnia, vol. 3, part 3, appendix, opera spuria (Vienna: Royal Academy of Letters, 1871) [1] De Spect. is the first work in this collection (p. 134 of the .pdf, p. 3 of the text itself).

NOVATIANUS, DE SPECTACULIS

Section I. Novatianus plebi in evangelio stanti salutem

1. Ut me satis contristat et animum meum graviter affligit, cum nulla mihi scribendi ad vos porrigitur occasio – detrimentum est enim meum vobiscum non colloqui - , ita nihil mihi tantam laetitiam hilaritatemque restituit quam cum adest rursus occasio. Vobiscum enim me esse arbitror, cum vobis per litteras loquor.

Just as it quite saddens me and greatly distresses my mind when no opportunity presents itself of writing to you--for it is my loss not to communicate with you--just so nothing has brought back to me so much joy and happiness as having another opportunity to do so. For when I speak with you through the medium of a letter, I feel that I am with you.

Section 2

1. Non pudet, inquam, non pudet fideles homines et christiani sibi nominis auctoritatem vindicantes superstitiones vanas gentilium cum spectaculis mixtas de scripturis caelestibus vindicare et divinam auctoritatem idolatriae conferre.

Is it not shameful, I say, shameful that men of faith and men who claim for themselves the title of the Christian name defend using heavenly scripture the vain superstitions of the pagans that are part of the spectacles, and lend divine sanction to idolatry?

2. Nam quando id quod in honore alicuius idoli ab ethinicis agitur a fidelibus christianis spectaculo frequentatur, et idolatria gentilis asseritur et in contulmeliam Dei religio vera et divina calcatur. Pudor me tenet praescriptiones eorum in hac causa et patrocinia referre.

For when when a ritual that is being performed in honor of some idol by the pagans is attended at a spectacle by faithful Christians, pagan idolotry is strngthened and the true and divine religion of God is insulted and trod under foot. I am ashamed to describe sophistries and special pleading of those men in this cause.

3. <Ubi>, inquiunt, <scripta sunt ista, ubi prohibita? Alioquin et auriga est Israel Helias et ante arcam David ipse saltavit. Nabla, cinyras, tympana, tibias, citharas, choros legimus. Apostolus quoque dimicans caestus et colluctationis nostrae adverus spiritalia nequitiae proponit certamen. Rursum cum de stadio sumit exempla, coronae quoque collocat praemia. Cur ergo homini christiano fideli non liceat spectare quod licuit divinis litteris scribere?>

"Where," they ask, "are those things written, where are they prohibited? Elijah occasionally rode in a chariot, and David himself danced before the arc. We read of nabla, tympana, citharae, and choirs. And the Apostle Paul as well in his spiritual struggles puts before us the contest of our boxing and wrestling against the spirits of evil. Again, when he takes his examples from the stadium, he also sets up the reward of a crown. Why would it not be permitted for a faithful Christian man to look at what it was permitted to write about in sacred writings?"

Nablium -i, n. a musical instrument of ten or twelve strings, played with both hands; a kind of harp, of Phœnician origin, i. q. naulium. — Form nablium, Ov. A. A. 3, 327. — Form nablum, Vulg. 1 Chron. 15, 16 sqq.; id. 1 Macc. 13, 51.

4. Hoc in loco non immerito dixerim longe melius fuisse istis nullas litteras nosse quam sic litteras legere. Verba enim et exempla quae ad exortationem evangelicae virtutis posita sunt ad vitiorum patrocinia transferuntur, quoniam non ut spectarentur ista scripta sunt, sed ut animis nostris instantia maior excitaretur in rebus profuturis, dum tanta est apud ethnicos in rebus non profuturis.

In this connection I might justifiably say that it would have been far better for those men to be illiterate than to read in this way. For words and examples that were set down to preach gospel virtue are being twisted to plead the cause of vice, because those things were not written about so that they might be looked at, but so that greater enthusiasm might be excited in our minds in profitable pursuits, while there is such great enthusiasm among the pagans in unprofitable pursuits.

Section 3

1. Argumentum est ergo excitandae virtutis, non permissio sive libertas spectandi gentilis erroris, ut per hoc animus plus accendatur ad evangelicam virtutem propter divina praemia, cum per omnium laborum et dolorum calamitatem contendatur pervenire ad terrena compendia.

And so the argument is intended to encourage virtue, not to give permission or freedom to look at pagan error; so that through this metaphor the mind might be fired to gospel virtue because of divine rewards, since we strive through all sorts of sufferings and painful calamities to arrive at earthly gains.

2. Nam quod Helias auriga est Israelis non patrocinatur spectandis circensibus; in nullo enim circo cucurrit. Et quod David in conspectu Dei choros egit nihil adiuvat in theatro sedentes christianos fideles; nulla enim obscenis motibus membra distorquens desaltavit Graecae libidinis fabulam. Nabla, cinyrae, tibiae, tympana et citharae Deum cecinerunt, non idolum. Non igitur praescribitur ut spectentur illicita.

For the fact that Elijah rode a chariot in Israel is not an argument for looking at circus races; for he ran in no circus. And the fact that David led dances in the presence of God does nothing to help faithful Christians sitting in the theater; for never did he distort his limbs with obscene motions and dance a salacious Greek story. The nabla, cinyrae, tympana and citharae played for God, not for an idol. Therefore it is not written so that forbidden things might be looked at.

3. Diabolo artifice ex sanctis illicita mutata sunt. Praescribat igitur istis pudor, etiamsi non possunt sanctae litterae. Quaedam enim scriptura magis prohibuit non praecipiendo; verecundiam passa plus interdixit quia tacuit, verita ne, si ad haec usque descenderit, pessime de fidelibus suis sensisset. Nam et plerumque in praeceptis quaedam utilius tacentur.

Thanks to the work of the devil these sacred things were changed into forbidden things. Therefore, let shame set down a rule for those men, even if sacred writings cannot. For certain things scripture prohibited more by not taking account of them; with a feeling of shame it put things out of bound because it passed them over in silence, afraid that it would have held the faithful in too little esteem if descended all the way to describing these things. For in general when giving out precepts some things are better left unsaid.

4. Admonentur enim saepe dum interdicuntur. Ita etiamsi tacentur, dum <non> divinis litteris scripta sunt, et praeceptorum loco severitas loquitur et ratio docet quae scriptura conticuit.

For often they are encouraged while they are being forbidden. Thus even if there is no mention of them, while they have not been written about in divine scripture, strictness speaks in place of explicit instructions, and reason teaches what scripture passed over in silence.

5. Secum tantummodo unusquisque deliberet et cum persona professionis suae loquatur: nihil umquam indecorum geret. Plus enim ponderis habebit conscientia quae nulli se alteri debebit nisi sibi.

Only let each man deliberate with himself and speak with his own faith as interlocutor: he will never do anything unworthy. For the conscience has more weight that will owe itself to no one other than itself.

Section 4

1. Quid scriptura interdixit? Prohibuit enim spectari quod prohibet geri. Omnia, inquam, ista spectaculorum genera damnavit, quando idolatriam sustulit ludorum omnium matrem, unde haec vanitatis et levitatis monstra venerunt.

What has scripture forbidden? It has forbidden to be looked at that which it prohibits doing. It condemned, I say, all those types of spectacles, since it banished idolatry, the mother of all the games, whence came these abominations of vanity and frivolity.

2. Quod enim spectaculum sine idolo, quis ludus sine sacrificio, quod certamen non consecratum mortuo? Quid inter haec christianus fidelis facit, si idolatriam fugit? Quid contra Deum superstitiones probat quas amat dum spectat?

For what spectacle is there without an idol, what game without a sacrifice, what contest that is not consecrated to a a dead man? What business has a faithful Christian among these things, if he flees idolatry? Why does he approve of superstitions against God, which he loves while he watches?

3. Ceterum sciat haec omnia inventa daemoniorum esse, non Dei. Impudenter in ecclesia daemonia exorcizat quorum voluptates in spectaculis laudat. Et cum semel illi renuntians rescissa sit res omnis in baptismate, dum post Christum ad diaboli spectaculum vadit, Christo tamquam diabolo renuntiat.

But let him know that all these things are the inventions of demons, not of God. Impudently he exorcizes in church the very demons whose pleasures he praises at the spectacles. And although once in renouncing him everything was forgiven in baptism, once after knowing Christ he goes to the spectacle of the devil, he renounces Christ just as he renounced the devil.

4. Idolatria, ut iam dixit, ludorum omnium mater est, quae ut ad se christiani fideles veniant blanditur illis per oculorum et aurium voluptatem. Romulus Conso quasi consilii deo ob rapiendas Sabinas circenses primus consecravit, ceteri reliquis. Cum urbem fames occupasset, ad advocationem populi acquisiti sunt ludi scenici et Cereri et Libero dicati postmodum reliquisque idolis et mortuis.

Idolatry, as I have just said, is the mother of all the games, who, in order to get faithful Christians to come to her, flatters them through the pleasures of the eyes and the ears. Romulus first consecrated circus games to Consus, a kind of god of strategy, for the purpose of siezing the Sabine women, and the rest are consecrated to various other gods. When a famine had gripped the city, theatrical games were acquired to advocate for the people and were later dedicated to Ceres and Liber and to the other idols and to the dead.

5. Graeca illa certamina vel in cantibus vel fidibus vel in vocibus vel in viribus prasesides suos habent varia daemonia. Et quicquid est aliud quod spectantium aut oculos movet aut delinit aures, si cum sua origine et institutione quaeratur, causam praefert aut idolum aut daemonium aut mortuum. Ita diabolus artifex quia idolatriam per se nudam sciebat horreri, spectaculis miscuit, ut per voluptatem posset amari.

Those Greek contests, either in vocal performance or string instruments or in oratory or in strength have various demons as their presidents. And whatever else there is that either moves the eyes or charms the ears of the spectators, if one looks to its origin and founding, carries the banner of idols or demons or of the dead. So clever an artificer is the devil, because he knew that idolatry by itself, undisguised, would cause revulsion, so me mixed it with spectacles so that it could be loved through providing pleasure.

Section 5

1. Plura prosequi quid est necesse vel sacrificiorum in ludis genera monstruosa describere? Inter quae nonnumquam et homo fit hostia latrocinio sacerdotis, dum cruor etiam de iugulo calidus exceptus spumanti patera, dum adhuc fervet, et quasi sitienti idolo in faciem iactatus crudeliter propinatur, et inter voluptates spectantium quorundam mors erogatur, ut per cruentum spectaculum saevire discatur, quasi parum sit homini privata sua rabies, nisi illam et publice discat.

Why is it necessary to say more, or to describe the monstrous varieties of sacrifices that take place at the games? Amongst them sometimes even a human being becomes a sacrifice, thanks to the criminality of a priest, while blood taken hot from the throat, received in a foaming bowl, is drunk down while still hot and tossed into the face of idol as though it was thirsty; and amongst the pleasures of the crowd, the death of certain persons is demanded, so that they can learn to be savage through the cruel spectacle, as if it were not enough for each man to have his own savagery at home, unless he also learns it in a public forum.

2. In poenam hominis fera rabida nutritur in deliciis, ut sub spectantium oculis crudelius insaniat. Eruditur artifex bellua, quae clementior fortasse fuisset, si non illam magister crudelior saevire docuisset.

A savage beast is reared as a pet for the purpose of punishing men, so that it might go more cruelly wild before the eyes of the spectators. The beast undergoes careful education, and would perhaps have been more gentle if its master, more cruel than the beast itself, had not taught it to to be savage.

3. Ergo ut taceam quicquid latius idolatria probat, quam vana sunt ipsa certamina, lites in coloribus, contentiones in curribus, favores in honoribus, gaudere quod equus velocior fuerit, maerere quod pigrior, annos pecoris computare, consules nosse, aetates discere, prosapiam designare, avos ipsos atavosque memorare.

And so, to say nothing of the things that idolatry esteems more broadly, how pointless are those contests, the arguments over the chariot teams, the disagreements over charioteers, favores in honoribus?, the jou when a horse is rather swift, the grief when it is too slow, the calculations of the beast's age, the precise knowledge of dates, the learning of ages, the description of lineage, the recitation of grandfathers and even more distant ancestors.

4. Quam hoc totum otiosum negotium, immo quam turpiter ignominiosum! Hunc, inquam, memoriter totam equini generis subolem computantem et sine offensa hunc locum magna velocitate referentem, parentes Christi si perroges, nescit, aut infelicior si scit. Quem si rursus perrogem, quo ad illud spectaculum itinere pervenerit confitebitur per lupanarum, per prostitutarum nuda corpora, per lubricam libidinem, per dedecus publicum, per vulgarem lasciviam, per communem omnium contumeliam.

How utterly superfluous is the whole business, in fact, how foul and disgraceful! This man, I say, who calculates the entire stock of some equine clan with total recall and flawlessly recites this knowledge with the greatest of speed, if you ask him who are the parents of Christ, he has no idea, or is even more unfortunate if he does know. Again, if you ask this man by what road he came to that spectacle, he will confess that it was through the brothel, through the naked bodies of prostitutes, through sleazy lust, through public disgrace, through vulgar sensuality, through the reproaches of all right thinking men.

5. Cui ut non obiciam quod fortasse commisit, vidit tamen quod committendum non fuit et oculos ad idolatriae spectaculum per libidinem duxit, ausus secum sanctum in lupanar ducere, si potuisset, qui festinans ad spectaculum dimissus e dominico et adhuc gerens secum, ut assolet, eucharistiam inter corpora obscena meretricum Christi sanctum corpus infidelis iste circumtulit, plus damnationis meritus de itinere quam de spectaculi voluptate.

But I should not charge him with what he has perhaps not actually committed. Still, he saw what should not have been committed, and led his eyes to the spectacle of idolatry through lust. He would have dared, if had been able, to lead a saint into the brothel, a man who hurried to get to the show having just gotten out of Sunday services, and still bearing within him, as is his custom, the Eucharist; that infidel carried around the holy body of Christ amidst the obscene bodies of whores; he deserves damnation less from the pleasure of the spectacle than from the route he took to get there.

Section 6

1. Sed ut ad scenae iam sales inverecundos transitum faciam, pudet referre quae dicuntur, pudet etiam accusare quae fiunt, argumentorum strophas, adulterorum fallacias, mulierum impudicitias, scurriles iocos, parasitos sordidos, ipsos quoque patres familias togatos modo stupidos modo obscenos, in omnibus stolidos, certis nominibus inverecundos.

But to pass now to the shameless witticisms of the theater, I am ashamed to describe what is said, ashamed also to indict what is done, the tiresome plot devices, the lies of adulterers, the lewd women, the filthy humor, the distasteful parasites, and also the very heads of households in their togas depicted sometimes as stupid, sometimes as rakes, and all the time as fool and utterly lacking in shame.

2. Et cum nulli hominum aut generi aut professioni ab improbis isto sermone parcatur, ab omnibus tamen ad spectaculum convenitur. Commune dedecus delectat videlicet vel recognoscere vitia vel discere. Concurritur in illud pudoris publici lupanarium, ad obscenitatis magisterium, ne quid secreto minus agatur quam quod in publico discitur. Et inter ipsas leges docetur quicquid legibus interdicitur.

And although no type of man or profession is spared such treatment at the hands of those wicked men, nevertheless everyone goes to the spectacle. No doubt the common shame delights in reviewing its vices--or in learning them. They run to that whorehouse of public shame, to that school of obscenity, lest anything be done less in secret than that which is learned in public (?). And amidst the pomp of the laws they are taught the very thing that the laws forbid.

3. Quid inter haec christianus fidelis facit, cui vitia non licet nec cogitare, quid oblectatur simulacris libidinis, ut in ipsis deposita verecundia audacior fiat ad crimina? Discit et facere dum consuescit videre. Illas tamen, quas infelicitas sua in servitutem prostituit libidinis publicae, occultat locus et dedecus suum de latebris consolantur. Erubescunt videri etiam quae pudorem vediderunt.

What does a faithful Christian, for whom it is not permitted even to think about sinning, do amidst these things? Why does he delight in the images of lust? So that by