Seven Books of Arguments Against the Pagans, Vol. II

into lust — — — we are condemned] That is, we are bound, we are destined by fatal causes. To be condemned is very often equivalent to being destined for some evil or misfortune. Virgil, Aeneid IV, vs. 699:

— — — And she had condemned his head to Stygian Orcus.
And Petronius, Satyricon, Ch. III: What will this profit you — — — if before the fates demand it, you have poured out an uncondemned spirit (that is, not yet destined for death). Where see Burmann. O.

from weaker causes] Fulvius Ursinus conjectures reading lower instead, of which the comparative form derived from the superlative lowest Gesner produces one example in his Thesaurus from the Latin-barbaric translator of Irenaeus, Book II, Ch. 14. O.

disgraces] Glosses: dehonestamentum disgrace/dishonor, αἰσχύνη shame/disgrace. Gellius, Book II, Ch. 27: In which disgrace of the body he took the greatest pleasure. Elmenhorst.

Do you wish to put aside the habits and arrogance of men] This passage is interpolated for various reasons. Yet nothing should be changed. For Arnobius calls habit αὐθάδεια self-will/stubbornness, or a stately obstinacy. Thus Julius Firmicus Maternus, Matheseos, Book VIII, Ch. 6: Whoever are born under this star promise one thing on their brow: they hide another secretly in their character. They are of austere appearance, long beard, obstinate forehead, so that they seem to imitate the habits of Cato precisely. Heraldus. Fulvius Ursinus conjectures reading the pride and arrogance. The Leiden edition has: this arrogance. Meursius: do you wish, O men, to put aside this arrogance and pride (that is, O you). I define nothing, since I do not know how the manuscript code has it. O.

who claim God as your father] I had conjectured reading equal original: "parem". But I retract the opinion. The sense is: you who glory that you were created by God, which opinion Arnobius strives to destroy in what follows, asserting that the souls of men were created not by God, but by certain inferior powers. O.

do you wish, having put aside favor] Thus the first edition: others having put aside pride. The Leiden edition: swelling. But nothing should be changed. Favor, that is, that with which you embrace your own opinion, which in barbaric terms they call "partiality." O.

similar to the others] So most editors. The first edition reads other similar things, which Heraldus defends in vain, explaining it as other living creatures similar to us. O.

or not distant by very many differences] Differitas difference/divergence is a word used by Lucretius: On the Nature of Things IV, vs. 640: And in these things there is such distance and difference. Our author below, Book IV, Ch. 36: nor is there a sign in the thing by which the difference of ambiguous and simply spoken things can be judged. See Nonius on this word, and Lud.