Piety, the Source of My Victories

To you, Piety, I credit the cause of my own prosperity and of all that I now have. The happy outcome of all my efforts bears witness to this truth: brave deeds, victories in war, and triumphs over conquered enemies. The great city itself acknowledges this truth with joy and praise. The people of that much-loved city agree with it too, though once, deceived by groundless hopes, they chose a ruler unworthy of them, a ruler who quickly received the punishment his reckless deeds deserved. But far be it from me now to call these events to mind, while I am speaking with you, Piety, and trying with earnest effort to address you in holy and gentle words. Yet I will say one thing, which perhaps will not be unfitting or out of place. A furious, cruel and relentless war was waged by the tyrants against you, Piety, and against your holy churches; and there were some in Rome itself who rejoiced at a disaster so grievous to the public good. The battlefield, indeed, was made ready, when you stood forth and offered yourself as a willing victim, upheld by faith in God. It was then that the cruelty of ungodly men, which raged without ceasing like a devouring fire, won for you a wonderful and ever-memorable glory. Astonishment seized the onlookers themselves when they saw the very executioners who tortured the bodies of the holy victims worn out and sickened by their cruelties; the bonds loosened, the instruments of torture powerless, the flames put out, while the sufferers’ steadfastness was not shaken even for a moment. [a]

What, then, have you gained by these atrocious deeds, most godless of men? And what was the cause of your insane fury? You will say, no doubt, that you did these things in honor of the gods. What gods are these? Or what worthy idea do you have of the divine nature? Do you think the gods are subject to angry passions, as you are? If that were so, it would have been better for you to wonder at their strange decision than to obey their harsh command when they urged you to the unjust slaughter of innocent men. Perhaps you will plead the customs of your ancestors and the opinion of mankind in general as the cause of your conduct. I grant the fact, for those customs are very like the acts themselves, and come from the very same source of folly. You thought, it may be, that some special power lived in images shaped and made by human skill; hence your reverence for them, and your careful concern that they should not be defiled. Those mighty and highly exalted gods, so dependent on the care of men!