Interior of St. Peter's, Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini

Arnobius of Sicca, Against the Heathen III.25

Giovanni Paolo Panini, Interior of St. Peter's, Rome, c. 1754 · Public domainGiovanni Paolo Panini, Interior of St. Peter's, Rome, c. 1754

SectionArnobius of SiccaPublic domainBook III

25. Unxia, my opponent says, presides over the anointing of door-posts; Cinxia over the loosening of the zone; the most venerable Victa and Potua attend to eating and drinking. O rare and admirable interpretation of the divine powers! would gods not have names if brides did not besmear their husbands’ door-posts with greasy ointment; were it not that husbands, when now eagerly drawing near, unbind the maiden-girdle; if men did not eat and drink? Moreover, not satisfied to have subjected and involved the gods in cares so unseemly, you also ascribe to them dispositions fierce, cruel, savage, ever rejoicing in the ills and destruction of mankind.

Reproduced in full. Translation: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 6 (Roberts and Donaldson, 1886), public domain (Public domain).

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