詞源與文集 第 18 章 第 1/2 段

ON WAR AND GAMES. CHAPTER 1. ON WARS. Ninus, king of the Assyrians, first made war. For he, by no means content with his own borders, breaking the covenant of human society, began to lead armies, to lay waste what belonged to others, and either to slaughter or to subjugate free peoples, and he subdued all Asia as far as the borders of Libya under a new servitude. Hence now the world was eager to grow thick with mutual bloodshed and reciprocal slaughter. Now there are four kinds of wars: that is, just, unjust, civil, and more than civil. A just war is that which is waged upon a prior declaration, concerning things to be recovered or for the sake of repelling enemies. An unjust war is that which is entered upon from fury, not from lawful cause. Concerning which Cicero says in the Republic (3.35):

'Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without cause. For no war can be waged justly except for the sake of avenging or repelling enemies.' And this same Tullius, with a few words interposed, added: 'No war is held to be just unless it has been proclaimed, unless it has been declared, unless it is concerning things to be recovered.' A civil war is a sedition arisen among citizens and stirred-up tumults, as between Sulla and Marius, who waged a civil war against each other within a single nation. A more than civil war is where not only citizens contend, but also kinsmen; such as was waged between Caesar and Pompey, when son-in-law and father-in-law fought against each other. Indeed in this battle brother fought with brother, and father bore arms against son. Lucan (2.151):

'Brothers fell for the prizes won from brothers.' Likewise (2.150): 'To whom the severed neck of a parent would yield.' Wars, then, are called internal, external, servile, allied, and piratical. For piratical wars are those scattered by brigands throughout the seas with light and fleeting galleys (mioparones), laying waste not only the supply-ships but even islands and provinces. These Gnaeus Pompey first, after much devastation which they had long carried out by land and sea, suppressed and overcame with wondrous speed. Now just as that is called war which is waged against enemies, so that is called tumult which is stirred up by civil sedition. For sedition is the dissension of citizens, so called because some go apart (seorsum) toward others.

Others reckon that dissension of minds is called sedition, which the Greeks call DIASTASIS. But how the two differ Cicero teaches (Philippics 8.3): 'For it can be,' he says, 'that there is a war without there being a tumult. But a tumult cannot exist without a war. For what else is a tumult but a disturbance so great that a greater fear arises?' Whence also it is called tumult, as it were 'much fear' (timor multus). 'A tumult, moreover, is more serious than a war; for in war exemptions are valid, in a tumult they are not valid.' Now war, battle (pugna) and combat (proelium) differ. For war is called the whole, as the Punic War. Its parts are battles, as that of Cannae, that of Thermae. Again, in one battle there are many combats.

For one thing is carried on upon the wings, another in the centre, another at the far end of the battle line. War therefore is the whole, a battle (pugna) is of one day, a combat (proelium) is a part of a battle. War (bellum) was formerly called duellum, because there are two (duae) sides of those fighting, or because it makes one the victor, the other the vanquished. Afterwards, with a letter changed and removed, it was called bellum. Others think it is called so by antiphrasis (because it is horrid; whence that verse (Virgil, Aeneid 6.86): 'Wars, horrid wars'), whereas on the contrary war is the worst thing. Combats (Prelia) are named from pressing (imprimendo), enemy against enemy. Whence also presses (prela) are the beams by which the grape is pressed. Battle (Pugna) is so named because at the beginning it was the custom in war to contend with fists (pugnis), or because at first they began war with fists.

Whence a battle (pugna) also is sometimes of two persons and without iron. Now four things are carried on in war: battle, flight, victory, peace. The word peace (pax) seems to be taken from a pact (pactum). But peace is received afterwards; a treaty (foedus) is first entered into. A treaty is the peace which is made between those fighting, and is named either from faith (fides), or from the fetiales, that is the priests. For through them treaties were made, just as wars were made through the secular officials. Others think treaties (foedera) are named from a sow foully (foede) and cruelly slain, whose death was wished upon him who should recoil from the peace. Virgil (Aeneid 8.641): 'And with a slain sow they joined treaties.' Truces (indutiae) are parts of a treaty: and they are called indutiae as it were 'leisure by the day' (in dies otia). CHAPTER 2. ON TRIUMPHS. Every kingdom of this world is sought by wars, and is extended by victories.

Victory (victoria) is so called because it is obtained by force (vi), that is by valour (virtute). For this is the law of nations, to repel force with force. For victory sought by deceit is base. Now a sure victory is either the killing of the enemy, or his despoiling, or both. But that victory is not joyful which comes about through immense losses: and this is what Sallust praises (Histories 3.29), that the generals carried off victory with an unbloodied army. Pomp (pompa) is so called by a Greek meaning, APO TOU POMPEUEIN, that is to be displayed publicly. Now victory precedes the pomp, because for those about to go to this contest the first thing is the vow of victory. A trophy (tropeum) is so called APO TES TROPES, that is from the turning and flight of the enemy. For from the fact that one has put the enemy to flight he earned a trophy;

he who had slain the enemy earned a triumph (triumphum), which is called APO TES THRIAMBES, that is from exultation. For a triumph is owed to a full victory; a trophy to a half-full one, because he has not yet attained a full victory: for he did not overpower, but only put the army to flight. Yet writers confuse these names. Tranquillus (Suetonius, Prata 109), however, says that the triumph was rather named in Latin because he who entered the city triumphing was honoured by a threefold judgement: for first the army was wont to judge concerning the granting of a triumph to the general, secondly the senate, thirdly the people. Now it was the custom of the Romans that those triumphing were carried in four-horse chariots, from that fact that the earlier generals were accustomed to enter wars in this array.

But whoever had conquered in an engagement was crowned with a golden palm, because the palm has thorns; but he who without an engagement had laid low a fleeing foe, with laurel, because this tree is without thorns. For those triumphing were clothed both in a purple and a palm-embroidered toga, and bore a staff (scipio) together with a sceptre in the hand, in imitation of the victory of Scipio; although a scipio is also a staff on which men lean. Whence that first Cornelius was called Scipio, because his blind father used to walk in the forum leaning upon him. Now above the staff an eagle was perched, as a sign that through victory they were approaching, as it were, to supernal greatness. Thence too they were painted with a ruddy colour, as if they imitated the likeness of the divine fire.

But that they were touched by an executioner, that was a sign that, though borne up to such lofty height, they should be reminded of human mediocrity. Now by two kinds an army is destroyed: either by slaughter (internecio) or by dispersion. Sallust (Histories, uncertain fragment 6) says, 'The enemies had been either overwhelmed or scattered away.' So too Virgil expresses both. Slaughter (Aeneid 1.69): 'And overwhelm their submerged sterns.' Dispersion (Aeneid 1.70): 'Or drive them apart and scatter their bodies over the sea.' The spoils of enemies: booty (praeda), plunder (manubiae), spoils stripped off (exuviae), shares (partes). Booty (praeda) is named from plundering (praedando). Plunder (manubiae), because it is drawn off with the hands (manibus). These, spoils stripped (exuviae), are named from stripping off (exuendo), because they are stripped off. These, shares (partes), from an equal division according to the quality of the persons, and by the just apportionment of labours.

But spoils (spolia) are named from hides (palleis), as it were 'off-hides' (expallia); for they are drawn off from the conquered. CHAPTER 3. ON STANDARDS. They are called standards (signa) of wars because from them the army receives the symbolon both for fighting and for the recall of victory. For the army is admonished either by the voice of the trumpet or by the symbolon. The principal standards of the legions are: eagles, dragons and balls (pilae). Eagles, for this reason, that this same bird of Jupiter served as an auspice in arms. For when this same Jupiter set out against the Titans, they say an eagle appeared to him as an auspice; which he, receiving it as a token of victory, took as a guardian of his fortune, and gave it to the legion as a standard; whereby it came about that thereafter it was entrusted to the soldiers' standards. Lucan makes mention of it, saying (1.7): 'Standards matched with standards, eagles and javelins threatening javelins.'

The standards of dragons were begun from Apollo, at the death of the serpent Python. Thereafter they began to be carried in war by the Greeks and Romans. It is reported that Augustus set up the ball (pila) in the standard, on account of the nations subjected to him throughout the whole world, so that he might display the greater figure of the globe (orbis). The banner (vexillum) is likewise a war-standard, having a name derived from the diminutive of veil (velum), as it were velxillum. Under Romulus, however, the soldiers had little bundles of hay in place of banners: hence too they are called maniples (manipuli); for we call bundles of hay maniples because they fill the hand (manum). The other standards, distinguished by various images according to military custom, exist so that through them the intermingling of battles may be recognised by the army. CHAPTER 4. ON HORNS.

The horn (bucina) is that by which a signal is given against the enemy, named from the voice (vox), as it were vocina. For pagans and country folk were summoned to every use by the horn at the crossroads: properly, therefore, this was a signal for country folk. Concerning it Propertius says (4.1.13): 'The horn used to muster the ancient Quirites to arms.' Its blare is called bucinum. The Etruscans (Tyrrheni) first invented the trumpet (tuba); whence Virgil (Aeneid 8.526): 'And the Etruscan blare of the trumpet bellowed through the air.' For this was devised by the Etruscan pirates, since, scattered around the maritime coasts, they were not easily summoned by voice or horn to each occasion of plunder, the wind for the most part drowning out the sound.

Hence afterwards it was employed in the contests of war to announce the signals of battle, so that where the herald could not be heard through the tumult, the sound of the blaring trumpet might reach them. Now the trumpet (tuba) is so called as it were tofa, that is hollow (cava). Likewise the trumpet is as it were a pipe (tibia). The ancients, moreover, distinguished between the trumpet and the horn. For the horn sounding announced anxiety for war. Virgil (Aeneid 7.519): 'By which the dread horn gave the signal.' But the trumpet used to indicate battle, as (Virgil, Aeneid 9.503): 'But the trumpet with its terrible sound.' Its sound is varied. For sometimes it is sounded that battles may be joined, sometimes that they may pursue those who flee, sometimes for the recall. For the recall (receptus) is that by which the army takes itself back (se recipit), whence too the standards are said to sound the recall.

Bugles (classica) are horns which were made for the sake of summoning, and were called classica from calling (calando). Concerning them Virgil (Aeneid 7.637): 'And now the bugles sound.' Among the Amazons, however, the army of women was summoned not by the trumpet, as by kings, but by the queen with a sistrum. CHAPTER 5. ON ARMS. Arms (arma) are generally the instruments of all things; whence too, where they are stored away, they are called armaria (cupboards). Likewise arms (arma) and weapons (tela) are of all kinds; but arms are those with which we ourselves are protected, weapons are those which we hurl. For arms are twofold: that is, either those with which we strike, or those with which we are covered. But arms (arma) are properly so called because they cover the shoulders (armos). For arms are named either from the shoulders (armi), that is from the upper arms, as (Virgil, Aeneid 11.644): 'The spear, driven through his broad shoulders, quivers';

or APO TOU AREOS, that is from Mars (Ares). CHAPTER 6. ON SWORDS. The sword is generally called ensis in battle; but ensis is only the iron blade, while gladius is the whole. Now properly it is called gladius because it divides the gullet (gula), that is cuts the neck. For it was first made for this; for the other limbs are cut rather with axes, the neck only with the sword. Now the edge (acies) of the sword is named from its sharpness (acumen). The hilt (capulus) is so called either because it is the head (caput) of the sword, or because it is grasped (capitur) there so that it may be held: for the other edge of the iron does not permit itself to be held. The point (mucro) is not only of a sword, but the sharp tip of any weapon whatever, named from length. For the Greeks call something long MAKRON; hence too machaera. The machaera, moreover, is a long sword sharp on one side.

But the framea is a sword sharp on both sides, which they commonly call a spatha. This is also the romphea. Now the framea is so called because it is of iron (ferrea): for just as an iron implement (ferramentum), so it is called framea; and accordingly every sword is a framea. The spatha is named from suffering (passio), by a Greek word, since PATHEIN in Greek is 'to suffer'; whence too we say patior and patitur. Others declare the spatha to be named in Latin, because it is spacious (spatiosa), that is broad and ample: whence too the spatula (shoulder-blade) in cattle. The half-spatha (semispatium) is a sword named from the half of the spatha's length, not, as the ignorant crowd says, 'without space' (sine spatio), because it is swifter than an arrow. The dagger (pugio) is named from pricking (pungendo) and piercing through. For it is a small sword, twice-sharpened, clinging to the side.

The same is also called clunabulum, because it is tied to the buttock (clunis). The chelidoniacus is a sword with a broad blade, whose double and forked point is formed in the manner of a swallow's tail; whence too it is called chelidoniacus (from chelidon, swallow). The dirk (sica) is named from cutting (secando). For it is a short sword which those especially use who practise brigandage among the Italians; from which too they are called assassins (sicarii). Tranquillus (Suetonius, On the History of Games 195), moreover, says: 'When the sword of a certain gladiator, sent into the arena, had been curved from its straight edge, one man ran forward to correct it; and then it was answered by the fighter: Thus (sic) I shall fight. Thence was given the name of the sica.' Axes (secures) are standards which used to be borne before the consuls; which the Spaniards call Franciscas by derivation, from the usage of the Franks.

These standards are borne so that they might neither lose the use of war, nor let the sight of the swords go idle. CHAPTER 7. ON SPEARS. The spear (hasta) is a pole with iron; whose diminutive makes hastilia (little spears). Now the name hasta took from cunning (astus); whence too astutia (craftiness). The pike (contus) has no iron, but is only sharp at the point. Virgil (Aeneid 5.208): 'And iron-shod poles and pikes with sharp point.' Now the contus is as it were conitum: for a cone (conus) is a sharp roundness. The pole-hooks (trudes) are shafts with a crescent-shaped iron, which the Greeks call aplustria. And they are named from trudes because they thrust (trudunt) and push away (detrudunt). Virgil (Aeneid 5.208): 'And iron-shod poles.' Hunting-spears (venabula) are so called as it were 'suited for the hunt' (venatui abilia), or because they catch (excipiunt) the beast coming on, as it were excipiabula.

For they catch boars and await lions, and enter into bears, provided only the hand be steady (cf. Martial 14.30). The lance (lancea) is a spear having a thong (amentum) in the middle: and it is named lancea because, poised with an equal balance (lance), that is with an equal thong, it is brandished. The thong (amentum) is the binding of javelins and spear-shafts which is fitted to the middle of the spears: and thence it is amentum because it is tied to the middle of the spear so that it may be hurled. The club (clava) is such as was that of Hercules, so named because it is bound about with iron nails (clavis), one against another; and it is made a cubit and a half in length. This is also the cateia, which Horace calls caia. For it is a kind of Gallic weapon of the most pliant material possible, which when thrown flies not far indeed on account of its weight, but wherever it arrives, breaks through with excessive force;

and if it is thrown by a skilled craftsman, it returns again to him who threw it. Virgil makes mention of it, saying (Aeneid 7.741): 'Accustomed to whirl cateiae in the Teutonic manner.' Whence too the Spaniards and Gauls call them tautani. The falarica is a huge weapon fashioned on a lathe, having an iron point a cubit long and a roundness of lead in the manner of a sphere. At its very tip it is said even to have fire fixed to it. With this weapon they fight from towers, which manifestly are called falae. Juvenal (6.589): 'Before the towers (falae) of the consul and the columns of the dolphins.' From the falae, therefore, the falarica is named, just as the mural (muralis) from a wall (murus). Indeed Lucan says the falarica is sent by twisted sinews and a certain engine (6.198): 'As now the falarica, hurled by twisted sinews.'

But Virgil says that Turnus hurled a falarica by hand (Aeneid 9.705). Javelins (pila) are weapons of throwing-spears and darts, named from twisting (torquendo) or from hurling (emittendo). Concerning them Lucan (1.7): 'Standards matched, eagles and javelins threatening javelins.' Its singular is called pilum. A weapon (telum) is named according to Greek etymology, APO TOU TELOTHEN, whatever can be hurled far: although a sword too is loosely called so, as is that verse (Virgil, Aeneid 9.747): 'But not this weapon, which my right hand wields with force.' Properly, however, a telum is named from length (longitudo): whence too we call it mustela (weasel) because it is longer than a mouse (mus). The point (cuspis) is a spear-shaft fitted with a thong, named from turf (caespes), which is a shrubbery. Virgil (Aeneid 7.817): 'And the pastoral myrtle tipped with a point.'

Properly, however, the cuspis is the hinder part of the spear. CHAPTER 8. ON ARROWS. The arrow (sagitta) is named from a sagacious blow (sagax ictus), that is a swift blow. For it is borne on feathers, like a bird, so that death may swiftly run to the man. The Cretans first used these, to which feathers, as we have said, are for this reason glued, that they may be light and fly through. Scaptos. Darts (spicula) are arrows or short lances, named from the appearance of ears of grain (spicae). The scorpion (scorpio) is a poisoned arrow shot from a bow or from engines, which, when it comes to a man, pours in the venom with which it strikes; whence too the scorpion received its name. CHAPTER 9. ON QUIVERS. The quiver (pharetra) is the case of arrows, named from bearing (ferendo) javelins; just as too the bier (feretrum), where the corpse is borne (defertur).

These have a common etymology for the reason that the quiver (pharetra) carries death, the bier (feretrum) carries the dead. Bow-cases (coriti) are properly the cases of bows, just as quivers (pharetrae) are of arrows. The sheath (vagina) is so named because in it a point or sword is carried (baiuletur). The case (theca) is so named from the fact that it covers (tegat) something received, the letter C being placed for G. Others assert that it is called theca by a Greek name, because something is stored away (reponatur) there. Hence too a library (bibliotheca) is called the storing-place of books. The dolones are wooden sheaths, within which a dagger lies hidden under the appearance of a staff. Now the dolones are named from deceit (dolus), because they deceive and beguile with the iron, since they present the appearance of wood. These the common folk call by a Greek name oxos, that is 'sharp' (acuti). Whence too among physicians an acute disease is called OXEIA.

The bow (arcus) is so called because it wards off (arceat) the enemy. Hence also citadels (arces) are named, from which foes are kept off (arcentur). Likewise the bow (arcus) is so called from its shape, because they are rather tightly curved. X. ON SLINGS. The sling (funda) is so named because from it stones are 'poured out' (fundantur), that is, discharged. The ballista is a kind of engine, named from the hurling of missiles; for 'ballein' in Greek means 'to throw.' It is drawn taut by the lashing of sinews, and with great force it casts either spears or stones. Hence also the fundibalus, as it were 'pouring out and discharging.' Against the ballista the tortoise-formation (testudo) avails; for a row of shields is made with their bosses bound together one with another. XI. ON THE RAM. The ram (aries) received its name from the animal, because it strikes the wall with an onset after the manner of butting rams.

For the head of a strong and knotted tree-trunk is clad with iron, and being suspended by ropes it is driven against the wall by the hands of many; then, drawn back, it is launched with greater force. And so, battered by frequent blows, the side of the wall gives way, and being hollowed out it breaks through and makes a breach. Against the impact of the ram the remedy is a sack full of chaff, let down to the place where the ram strikes; for by the loose fold of the sacks the blow of the ram, cushioned, is softened. For harder things yield more readily to softer ones. Screens (plutei) are hurdles woven over with raw hide, which are set against the enemy while a work is being carried out. The 'little mouse' (musculus) is made like a burrow, by which the wall is dug through; from which it also takes its name, as it were a 'little wall' (murusculus). XII. ON SHIELDS.

The round-shield (clipeus) is the larger shield, so called because it 'covers' (clipet), that is, conceals (celet) the body and withdraws it from dangers, from the Greek 'apo tou kleptein' (from stealing away). For being held out in defense, it fortifies the body against spears and javelins. The round-shield (clipeus) belongs to foot-soldiers, the oblong-shield (scutus) to horsemen. The shield (scutum) is so named because it 'shakes off from itself' (excutiat) the blow of weapons. For that missiles may be resisted, the round-shield is held out in front. The boss (umbo) is the middle part of the shield, as it were the navel (umbilicus). The ancile is a short and round shield. Concerning it Virgil (Aeneid 7.188): 'On his left he bore the ancile.' And the ancile is so named from 'cutting around' (ancisio), because it is as it were cut around on every side and rounded. Ovid (Fasti 3.377): 'And they call it the ancile, because it is cut back on every side: and wherever you mark it with your eyes, every angle is absent.'

The pelta is a very short shield in the shape of a half-moon. Of these the Book of Kings makes mention (3 Kings 10:16): 'King Solomon made two hundred shields of pure gold and three hundred peltas of tested gold.' The cetra is a shield of leather without wood, which the Africans and the Moors use. Of it the poet says (Virgil, Aeneid 7.732): 'A cetra covers his left side.' The parma is a light weapon, as it were small (parva), not a round-shield. But a shield is also called a tortoise (testudo), for a round-shield is made in the manner of a tortoise. There is also a 'tortoise' formed of shields joined together, curved in the manner of a tortoise. For in the kinds of arms soldiers take their names even from animals, as the ram (aries); and Sallust (Histories 3.36) says, 'in the manner of a military hedgehog (ericius).' XIII. ON CUIRASSES. The cuirass (lorica) is so called because it lacks thongs (loris careat);

for it is woven only of iron rings. The scale-armor (squama) is an iron cuirass linked together from iron or bronze plates in the manner of a fish's scale (squama), and it is named from the very sheen of the scales and their likeness. Cuirasses are both polished and covered with haircloth (cilicia). XIV. ON HELMETS. The metal helmet (cassis) is made of plate, the leather helmet (galea) of hide. For 'galerus' means hide. The cassis, however, is said to be named from the Etruscans (Tusci): for they call a helmet (galea) 'cassis,' I believe from the head (caput). The crest-mount (apex) is that which projects at the top of the helmet, on which the plume (crista) is fixed; the Greeks call it 'chonon.' For the cone (conus) is the curvature that projects on the helmet, above which are the plumes. XV. ON THE FORUM. The forum is the place for conducting lawsuits, named from speaking (fando) [or from King Phoroneus, who first gave laws to the Greeks].

This place is also called the Prorostra, from the fact that in the Punic War, when the ships of the Carthaginians were captured, their prows (rostra) were removed and fixed up in the Roman forum, that it might be an emblem of that victory. Now the forum consists of the case (causa), the law, and the judge. The case (causa) is named from the chance (casus) by which it occurs. For it is the substance and origin of a lawsuit, not yet laid open by the scrutiny of examination; and while it is put forward it is a 'case' (causa), while it is examined it is a 'judgment' (iudicium), while it is concluded it is 'justice' (iustitia). Now a judgment (iudicium) is so called as it were a 'declaring of law' (iurisdictio), and justice (iustitia) as it were the 'state of law' (iuris status). But a judgment was formerly called an inquiry (inquisitio); whence also we call the pleaders of lawsuits and their overseers quaestores or quaesitores (inquirers). 'Business' (negotium) signifies many things: now the transaction of some matter, to which leisure (otium) is the opposite;

now the pleading of a case, which is the wrangling of a suit. And it is called 'business' (negotium) as it were 'no leisure' (nec otium), that is, without leisure. But 'negotium' is said of lawsuits, 'negotiation' (negotiatio) of commerce, where something is given that greater gains may be made. A dispute (iurgium) is so named as it were 'a chattering of the law' (iuris garrium), because those who plead a case argue by law (iure disceptent). A suit (lis) first took its name from a quarrel over a boundary (limes). Concerning which Virgil (Aeneid 12.898): 'A boundary-stone was set, to settle the dispute over a field.' A case rests either on argument or on proof. Argument never gives proof by witnesses, never by documents, but discovers the truth by investigation alone; whence it is called 'argument' (argumentum), that is, 'a clever finding' (argutum inventum). But proof rests on witnesses and the reliability of documents.

In every trial six persons are required: the judge, the accuser, the defendant, and three witnesses. The judge (iudex) is so called as it were 'one declaring law' (ius dicens) to the people, or because he decides by law (iure disceptet). But to decide by law is to judge justly: he is not a judge if there is no justice in him. The accuser (accusator) is so named as it were 'one bringing to a case' (adcausator), because he calls to a case (ad causam vocat) the one whom he arraigns. The defendant (reus) is named from the 'thing' (res) which is sought, because, although he may not be guilty of a crime, he is nevertheless called a defendant (reus), so long as in the trial something is sought from him regarding some matter. Witnesses (testes) were in old times called 'survivors' (superstites), because they were brought forward over (super) the standing of the case. Now, part of the name being removed, they are called 'testes.' A witness is considered by his condition, his nature, and his life. By condition, if he is free, not a slave.

For often a slave, out of fear of his master, suppresses the testimony of the truth. By nature, if he is a man, not a woman. For (Virgil, Aeneid 4.569): 'A fickle and ever-changeable thing is woman.' By life, if he is innocent and upright in conduct. For if a good life is lacking, he will lack credibility. For justice cannot have fellowship with a wicked man. Now there are two kinds of witnesses: either by telling what they have seen, or by reporting what they have heard. And witnesses fail in two ways: when they either bring forth falsehoods, or conceal the truth by silence. XVI. ON SPECTACLES. Spectacles, as I suppose, are generally the name for pleasures which do not defile of themselves, but through the things which are performed there. And they are called spectacles (spectacula) because a public viewing (inspectio) is there offered to men.

These are also called 'sports' (ludicra), because they are performed in games (ludi) or at banquets. The origin of the games is handed down thus: that the Lydians, as immigrants from Asia, settled in Etruria under the leadership of Tyrrhenus, who had yielded to his brother in a contest over the kingdom. Therefore in Etruria, among the other rites of their superstitions, they also instituted spectacles under the name of religion. From there the Romans borrowed the summoned performers; and hence the games were called 'ludi' from the Lydians. But Varro says the games were called 'ludi' from play (lusus), because young men used to delight the people on festival days by the exultation of play. Whence they reckon that play of the young men also to festival days and temples and religious rites. There is now nothing more to say of the origin of the word, since the cause of the matter is idolatry.

Whence also the games were indifferently called Liberalia, in honor of Father Liber (Bacchus). For this reason the stain of its origin must be examined, lest you deem good that which took its beginning from evil. Now a game is either gymnastic, or of the circus, or gladiatorial, or theatrical. XVII. ON THE GYMNASTIC GAME. The gymnastic game is one of the glory of speed and strength. Its place is called the gymnasium, where athletes are exercised and the swiftness of runners is tested. Hence it comes about that the exercises of nearly all the arts are called 'gymnasia.' For formerly those competing in the contests were girded, lest they be stripped bare; afterwards, when the girdle was loosened, a certain runner suddenly fell down lifeless. Wherefore, by decree of the council, the archon Hippomenes then permitted that all should thereafter exercise naked.

From this it was called 'gymnasium,' because young men exercise naked in the field, where only the private parts are covered. XVIII. ON THE KINDS OF GYMNASTIC EXERCISES. There are five kinds of gymnastic exercises: that is, jumping, running, throwing, feats of strength, and wrestling. Whence they relate that a certain king, having so many grown sons, ordered them to contend for the kingdom in just as many kinds of contest. XIX. ON JUMPING. The jump (saltus) is so called as it were 'to leap up on high' (exilire in altum): for a jump is to leap up rather high or rather far. XX. ON RUNNING. Running (cursus) is named from the swiftness of the legs (crura); for running is the speed of the feet. XXI. ON THROWING. The throw (iactus) is named from throwing (iaciendo). Whence also a fishing net is called a 'iaculum' (throwing-net). The practice of this art is to strike from afar with snatched-up stones, to hurl spears with balanced weight, to shoot arrows from the bow. XXII.