Complete Works of Lactantius, Vol. I

would be? It is apparent from baldness. Therefore, He covered it with hair; and because it was to be at the top, He adorned it as if it were the highest peak of a building. This adornment was not forced into a circle, nor made round in the shape of a cap, lest it should be unsightly due to certain naked parts; but it was shed here and there, and retracted elsewhere, for the decency of each place. Therefore, the forehead, fenced about, and the hair flowing from the temples before the ears, and the upper parts of the ears encircled like a crown, and the whole back of the head covered, show the appearance of wonderful beauty. Now, the reason for the beard is incredible, how much it contributes either to recognizing the maturity of bodies, or to the difference of sex, or to the beauty of manliness and strength; so that the reason for the whole work would seem not to have stood at all if anything had been made otherwise.

CHAPTER VIII.

Concerning the parts of man, the eyes and ears.

Now I will show the reason for the whole human being, and the utilities and habits of each of the limbs, which are open or A covered on the body. Since, therefore, God had decided to make man alone among all animals heavenly, while all others are earthly, He erected this one upright for the contemplation of the heavens, and established him as a biped, specifically so that he might look toward the same place from which his origin comes. But He depressed those others toward the earth, so that because there is no expectation of immortality for them, their whole bodies, projected toward the ground, might serve the belly and their sustenance. Therefore, the upright reason of man alone, and his sublime status, and his face, common and near to God the Father, testify to his origin and his creator. His almost divine mind, because it has been allotted dominion not only over the living creatures that are on earth but also over its own body, being placed in the highest part of the head as if in a sublime citadel, watches B and gazes upon all things. He did not form this hall of his as covered and elongated, as in mute animals, but similar to a circle and a globe; because all roundness belongs to perfect reason and figure. Therefore, the mind and that divine fire are covered as if by the sky: the summit of which—

"Purchased with his own money," Pliny. Nepos, book III, epistle 6, not only does not excuse but even proclaims in this manner:

It is indeed bare, and does not hide faults, if there are any, nor does it fail to show praises. EDMUND FIGRELLIUS.

It is apparent from baldness. These are absent from the Gothic, 5 Colbertine, Leipzig, Clermont, Brandenburg, and Bovio manuscripts, and four other older editions. Compare Theodoret, Sermon 4 περὶ προνοίας concerning providence, and History 51, 55, narrated by Isidore of Pelusium. PRICEUS. — Which, however, is a characteristic of man C if it is not innate. Pliny. Concerning the deformity of baldness, found throughout the authors. Hence the praise of baldness, an argument of ἀδόξου inglorious/without fame. Furthermore, concerning the beauty of hair, read chapter 11 of the first Epistle to the Corinthians. That the providence of God appears even in the hairs, the voice of Christ himself testifies when he says that not even a hair of the head falls without the will of the Father. See Theodoret, that great admirer of Providence, in sermon 4 on the Providence of God, considering the reasoning of the hairs. Afterward, he speaks about the use and adornment of the hair. Then he speaks much concerning the disgrace of baldness.

Highest peak of a building. Thus chapter 10: The head is as it were the peak of the whole divine work. Thus chapter 8, he calls the head the highest pinnacle; and our author and others willingly add highest to the words peak and pinnacle. Thus Livy, book I, chapter 58, calls the head the highest peak of man; and Lactantius book VI, chapter 15: to the highest peak; book VI, chapter 24: Highest pinnacle. BUN.

Or in the shape of a cap. Thus I have replaced from 4 Royal, 4 Colbertine, 4 Oxford, Marmoutier, and Brunswick manuscripts, and many printed editions; in D 2 Bologna, 2 Royal, Tax, Erasmus, Clermont, and Baluze manuscripts, it reads of a ball, but erroneously. In 3 rec. editions it reads of hair.

Shed here and there, and retracted elsewhere. Thus I restored from 2 very old manuscripts, 1 Bologna, Cauc., the Is. edition, and some other printed ones. In the others, it is twice elsewhere; in some, poured into. Heumann, however, thinks it should be read shed here, retracted elsewhere for the decency of each, etc.

Of each. In 1 Bologna manuscript ancient, of each one.

Fenced about. All editions read fenced about, as in chapter 10: Eyelids... fenced by hairs standing in order. BUN.

Incredible, how much it contributes. Leipzig 2 reads, erroneously, contributes. I add from Cicero, II On the Nature of the Gods, chapter 59: It is incredible... how much work nature has machined. BUN.

Reason for the whole work. The genuine reading taken from 2 Bologna, 2 Royal, 4 Colbertine, Tax, Utrecht, Baluze, and Brunswick manuscripts is read in the 3rd rec. edition and others as of the body. Truly, both readings seem correct.

Habit. That is, condition, reason, form. WALCHIUS.