Faith Over Family: Perpetua 5

Faith Over Family

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 5

Perpetua was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. Before her execution, her father tried to manipulate her into recanting her faith by mentioning her family ties. In this passage, Perpetua explains that her faith was more important than her earthly family.

After a few days, we heard a rumor that we would be heard [in trial]. My father came to visit me from the city, worn out with worry. He approached me, and said, “Daughter, pity my old age. Pity your father! If I am worthy to still be called your father, if I raised you to womanhood with my own hands, if I cherished you over all of your brothers, don’t let me get dragged down by other people’s trash talk. Think about your brothers! Think about your mother and your aunt! Think about your son, who will die without you! Stop being so brave, or you’ll ruin us all. If something happens to you, none of us will be able to speak freely about it...”

My dad said this out of concern for his family, kissing my hands and throwing himself at my feet. He wept, and called me “lady,” not “daughter.” And I was upset for my dad, for he was the only person who wasn’t happy for me out of my whole family. And I comforted him, saying, “What happens at the gallows is God’s will. Please know that I am not yours to control, but rather I’m in God’s hands.” And he left me, upset.

Faith Over Family

Post paucos dies rumor cucurrit ut audiremur. Supervenit autem et de civitate pater meus, consumptus taedio, et ascendit ad me, ut me deiceret, dicens: “Miserere, filia, canis meis; miserere patri, si dignus sum a te pater vocari; si his te manibus ad hunc florem aetatis provexi, si te praeposui omnibus fratribus tuis: ne me dederis in dedecus hominum. Aspice fratres tuos, aspice matrem tuam et materteram, aspice filium tuum qui post te vivere non poterit. Depone animos; ne universos nos extermines. Nemo enim nostrum libere loquetur, si tu aliquid fueris passa.”

Haec dicebat quasi pater pro sua pietate basians mihi manus et se ad pedes meos iactans et lacrimans me iam non “filiam” nominabat, sed “dominam.” Et ego dolebam casum patris mei quod solus de passione mea gavisurus non esset de toto genere meo. Et confortavi eum dicens: “Hoc fiet in illa catasta quod Deus voluerit. Scito enim nos non in nostra esse potestate futuros, sed in Dei.” Et recessit a me contristatus.

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution. 

I Cannot Be Anything Other Than Me, St. Perpetua 2-3.2

I Cannot Be Anything Other Than Me: Perpetua’s Simple But Profound Declaration

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 2.1 – 3.2

Perpetua was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In this passage, she uses an analogy about a water pitcher to explain to her father that her faith was an integral part of her being.

Some youths were arrested before they could get baptized. They were Revocatus and Felicitas (his co-worker), Saturninus and Little Secundus. Among them was also Vibia Perpetua, a well-born lady, well educated, married and a mother. She had a mother, a father, and two brothers (one of whom was also an unbaptized Christian), and an infant son who had not yet been weaned. She was about twenty-two years old. This is a story of her martyrdom, written by her own hand, that she has left to us based on her own experience: 

When we were still among our prosecutors, my father tried to talk me out of it, out of his love for me. I told him, “Dad, do you see that vase lying over there? Is that a water jug or something else?”

He said, “I see it.”

And I told him, “Can you call it something other than its name?”

And he said, “Nope.”

And I said, “And I, too, cannot be called anything except what I am; a Christian.”

Latin Text: 

Apprehensi sunt adolescentes catechumeni, Revocatus et Felicitas, conserva eius, Saturninus et Secundulus. Inter hos et Vibia Perpetua, honeste nata, liberaliter instituta, matronaliter nupta, habens patrem et matrem et fratres duos, alterum aeque catechumenum, et filium infantem ad ubera. Erat autem ipsa circiter annorum viginti duo. Haec ordinem totum martyrii sui iam hinc ipsa narravit sicut conscriptum manu sua et suo sensu reliquit:

“Cum adhuc, inquit, cum prosecutoribus essemus et me pater verbis evertere cupiret et deicere pro sua affectione perseveraret: “Pater,” inquam, “vides verbi gratia vas hoc iacens, urceolum sive aliud?”

Et dixit: “Video.” 

Et ego dixi ei: “Numquid alio nomine vocari potest quam quod est?”

Et ait: “Non.”

“Sic et ego aliud me dicere non possum nisi quod sum, Christiana.”

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution. 

Roman Masculinity and BABIES, squee! Fronto, Ad Amicos 1.12.1-2

Fronto Fawns Over His Grandbabies!

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Friends 1.12.1-2

From: Fronto

To: Aufidius Victorinus

Hello, Son-in-Law!

[First Part of Letter is Missing]...In due course the gods will honor my daughter / your wife and our entire family with more children and grandchildren, and, since you'll be their dad, they will grow up to be just like you. Not a day goes by that I don’t have little mini-baby-talk conversations or hear mini-tantrums with our either our Victorinus, Jr, or our Fronto, Jr.  Whereas you never seek a reward or bribes from your words or deeds, our little Fronto doesn’t babble any other word more frequently than “da.” [“Give!”]  And so I give the little guy whatever is at hand—either a little scrap of paper or a writing tablet, things I hope he’ll want one day. But there are some signs he’s just like me, his grandpa: he really, really, really likes grapes. It was his first solid food, and all day he would lick them, or savor them in his lips, or nom-nom on them with his little baby gums [1]. He also really, really likes little birds: he really delights watching baby birds, little baby chicks, baby doves, and baby sparrows. I heard from my nurses and teachers that I always did the same when I was a kid...

---

[1] Please do not give uncut grapes to small children. They are a choking hazard. Thank you.

 

Fronto Fawns Over His Grandbabies!

Fronto Aufidio Victorino genero salutem.

<...> meremur et mihi filiam et tibi uxorem, ut recte proveniat, favebunt et familiam nostram liberis ac nepotibus augebunt et eos, qui ex te geniti sunt eruntque, tui similes praestabunt.Cum isto quidem sive Victorino nostro sive Frontone cotidianae mihi lites et jurgia intercedunt. Cum tu nullam unquam mercedem ullius rei agendae dicendaeve a quoquam postularis, Fronto iste nullum verbum prius neque frequentius congarrit quam hoc ‘da’. Ego contra quod possum aut chartulas ei aut tabellas porrigo, quarum rerum petitorem eum esse cupio. Nonnulla tamen et aviti ingeni signa ostendit: Uvarum avidissimus est. Primum denique hunc cibum degluttivit nec cessavit per totos paene dies aut lingua lambere uvam, aut labris saviari ac gingivis lacessere ac ludificari. Avicularum etiam cupidissimus est: Pullis gallinarum, columbarum, passerum oblectatur, quo studio me a prima infantia devinctum fuisse saepe audivi ex his, qui mihi eductores aut magistri fuerunt...

A More Perfect Union? Using the Gender Roles of Other Nations to Critique Your Own, Tacitus, Germania 18

Gender Roles in Germanic Marriage Rites

Name:   Tacitus Date:    56 – 117 CE Region:   [modern Italy]  Citation:  Germania 18

Often, authors will use depictions of other nations as a mirror for their own society. Here Tacitus is glamorizing his depiction of Germanic marriages to criticize Roman women and marriages.

 

[Germanic tribes] treat marriage very seriously, and it’s the best part of their value system. Of all the other barbaric tribes out there, the Germans are the only ones who practice monogamy. Of course, there are a handful of exceptions, but the noblemen who have multiple wives do so out of political gain, and definitely not out of lust. The wife doesn’t provide a dowry to her husband; instead, the husband gives a dowry to his wife. Their parents and kin evaluate what he has to offer in the relationship—and these aren’t trifles that women nag for, or other things that new brides have. No, these are a yoke of bulls, a bridled horse, and a shield, spear, and sword. The wife accepts these gifts, and in turn, gives the same to her husband. This is seen as the highest bond, the holy rite of marriage that their religion dictates. To keep the woman from thinking that she is immune from hard work or military valor, she is warned at the start of the marriage that she is entering the relationship as a partner to her husband’s exploits and dangers, in both war and peace. This is what the team of bulls, the bridled horse, and the set of armor represents. They live together as one, and they die together as one. She is to accept this union, which she will in turn pass down untouched and pure to her children, her daughters-in-law, and her descendants.

Tacitus [Publius Cornelius Tacitus; 56 – 117 CE, modern Italy] is considered one of the best Roman historians of the 1st century CE. He wrote numerous works, including the Annals [Roman history beginning with the death of the Emperor Augustus and the rise of Tiberius], the Histories [about the Year of the Four Emperors], and a biography of his father-in,-law, the Agricola.

Gender Roles in Germanic Marriage Rites

Quamquam severa illic matrimonia, nec ullam morum partem magis laudaveris. Nam prope soi barbarorum singulis uxoribus contenti sunt, exceptis admodum paucis, qui non libidine, sed ob nobilitatem plurimis nuptiis ambiuntur. Dotem non uxor marito, sed uxori maritus offert. Intersunt parentes et propinqui ac munera probant, munera non ad delicias muliebres quaesita nec quibus nova nupta comatur, sed boves et frenatum equum et scutum cum framea gladioque. In haec munera uxor accipitur, atque in vicem ipsa armorum aliquid viro adfert: hoc maximum vinculum, haec arcana sacra, hos coniugales deos arbitrantur. Ne se mulier extra virtutem cogitations extraque bellorum casus putet, ipsis incipientis matrimonii auspiciis admonetur venire se laborum periculorumque sociam, idem in pace, idem in proelio passuram ausuramque. Hoc iuncti boves, hoc paratus equus, hoc data arma denuntiant. Sic vivendum, sic pereundum: accipere se, quae liberis inviolate ac Digna reddat, quae nurus accipiant, rursusque ad nepotes referantur.

I Do Not Owe The State Children: Epaminondas to the Thebans, John Tzetzes Hist. 12.412ff

I Do Not Owe the State Children

Name: John Tzetzes Date:   1100 – 1180 CE Region:    Constantinople [modern Istanbul, Turkey] Citation:     Histories / Chiliades 12.464 – 471

Epaminondas was an excellent leader of the Thebans.

When he died, he was excessively mourned by them.

They reproached him, saying, “When you die, Thebes will die with you,

For you did not leave behind a son from your loins.”

As he died, he responded to them:

“I do not die childless, fellow countrymen;

Instead, I am a prolific father!

For I leave behind my two daughters,

The victory at Leuctra, and the victory at Mantinea!”

Ἔπαμεινώνδας στρατηγὸς Θηβαίων ὑπηργμένος, Ὡς ἐθρηνεῖτο τελευτῶν περιπαθῶς Θηβαίοις, Ἔπαμεινώνδα, λέγουσι, θνήσκῃς σὺν σοὶ καὶ Θῆβαι Τέκνον ἐν βίῳ μὴ λιπών, τέκνον ἐκ σῶν σπερμάτων, Ἀποκριθεὶς ὡς πρὸς αὐτοὺς τάδε καὶ θνήσκων λέγει: Οὐ μὲν οὐ θνήσκω ἄτεκνος, ἀλλ ̓ εὔτεκνος, Θηβαῖοι Δύο γὰρ καταλέλοιπα ἐμοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας, Τὴν ἐπὶ Λεύκτροις νίκην τε καὶ τὴν ἐν Μαντινεία.

Epaminondas imperator Thebanorum existens, ut lugebatur mortuus perdolenter a Thebanis Epaminonda (dicentibus) mortuus es, tecum & Thebae filium in vita non linquens, filium ex tuis seminibus. Respondens ad ipsos, haec et moriens dicit: Haud vero haud morior orbus, sed fecundus pater, o Thebani: duas enim reliqui ex me filias, illam in Leuctris victoriam, & illam Mantinaeae. Translated into Latin by Paolo Lazise

John Tzetzes [1100 – 1180 CE, Constantinople/Byzantium, modern Istanbul, Turkey] was a Byzantine scholar and beaurocrat. He is known for his epic poem the Histories / Chiliades, which ties together topics from Greek and Roman history and mythology, followed by a Christian interpretation.

Marco Antonio Tritonio: Love Comes in All Forms

Reciprocal Love:

Halcyon & Ceyx

Hermaphroditus & Smilax

Orpheus & Euridice

Philemon & Baucis

Progne & Philomela

Pyramus & Thisbe

Sirens & Proserpina

The Sisters of Phaeton

The ancients stated perfectly that friends are merely one soul in many bodies, and that friendship is nothing more than a mutual harmony of souls—so much so that we grieve when a friend grieves, and we rejoice when a friend is happy. Check out the following examples which highlight reciprocal love and kindness:

1. Isn’t the greatest example of matrimonial love Halcyone’s love for Ceyx, for she spotted him drowned in the ocean from far away and leapt into the waves, becoming a halcyon bird? Isn’t the greatest example of love Ceyx’s love for Halcyone, even in death he could feel his transformed wife’s kisses, and was himself transformed into the same type of bird? Don’t we see this mutual love shared among spouses in this couple?  [cf. Ovid’s Metamorphoses book 2, story 10]

2. Hermaphroditus [the son of Venus and Mercury] and Smilax [the nymph of the Salmacian spring] loved each other so much that they are said to have merged into one body. [Cf. book 4, story 2]  

3. Orpheus is known for his love of Eurydice. He descended into the Underworld when he was still alive to restore his dead wife back to life. [book 10, story 1]

4. There was so much spousal love between Philemon and Baucis that they lived a long life together in poverty and never argued. [book 8, story 7]

5. Procne could not live without her sister Philomela. When she found out that her husband had attacked her, she took revenge on her husband and forced him to devour [the body of] their son Itys. [book 6, story 29]

6. The Babylonian couple Pyramus and Thisbe loved each other so much, that Pyramus killed himself when he believed that his Thisbe had died, and Thisbe killed herself with the same sword that he used. [book 4. Story 4]

7. The Sirens held such love for Proserpina that they demanded wings from the gods in order to more easily find Proserpina on land & sea [after she had been abducted]. Because of this, they were transformed into birds, but retained their women’s faces and voices. [book 5, story 16]

8. Phaeton’s sisters wept so many tears when he fell from the sky* that they were transformed into trees. [book 2, story 2]

-- --M. Antonii Tritonii Utinenis, Mythologia, 1560 p. 8-9

Amor Aliquorum Mutuus.

Halcyon & Ceyx

Hermaphroditus & Smilax

Orpheus & Euridice

Philemon & Baucis

Progne & Philomela

Pyramus & Thisbe

Sirenes, et Proserpina

Sorores, et Phaeton

 Praeclare veteres dixerunt amicos esse tanquam unam animam in pluribus corporibus, nihil enim aliud est amicitia, quam mutuus quidam animorum consensus, adeo ut cum dolentibus amicis doleamus, cum gaudentibus laetemur, quare optime fabulosa haec exempla sunt perpendenda, quae nobis mutuum aliquorum amorem & benevolentiam demonstrant.

1. Nonne maximus fuit Halcyonis in Ceycem maritum amor, si longius illum in aequore submersum prospiciens ac in medias undas prosiliens in Halcyonem avem conversa est? Nonne maxima ipsius Ceycis in coniugem benevolentia, si vel mortuus uxoris in avem commutatae sentiebat oscula, cuius etiam cadaver in eiusdem generis volucrem fuit transmutatum? in quibus adhuc servatam inter coniuges benevolentiam perspicimus [lib.ii.fab.x]

2. Hermaphroditus Veneris & Mercurii filius & Smilax Salmacis fontis nympha ita mutuo se dilexerunt amore, ut e duobus corporibus in unum commutati dicantur.[lib.iiii.fab.ii]

3. Amor etiam Euridices, et Orphei notus est, is enim vivus ad inferos descendit, ut mortuam coniugem ad pristinam vitam & incolumitatem reduceret. [lib.x.fab.i]

4. Inter Philomonem, & Baucidem coniuges tanta fuit benevolentia, ut pauperitatem suam patienter ferentes sine ulla rixa longam traduxerint aetatem. [lib.viii.fab.vii]

5. Progne, sine sorore Philomela vivere non poterat, cumque illam a marito Tereo stupratam cognovisset, ut pro sorore de marito vindictam sumeret, illi proprium filium Ityn devorandum apposuit. [lib.vi.fab.xxix.]

6. Pyramus & Thibse Babylones tanto se mutuo prosecuti sunt amore, ut cum Pyramus amicam credens mortuam seipsum interfecisset, Thisbe amantem mortuum nacta eodem se gladio traiecerit. [lib.iiii.fab.iiii]

7 Syrenes tanto amore Prosperinam sunt prosequutae, ut a Diis alas flagitarent, quo facilius Proserpinam terra, marique possent inquirere. Quare ita in aves fuere conversae, ut facies tamen virginea, voxque humana remanserit. [lib.v.fab.xvi.]

8 Sorores Phaetontis fratrem coelo delapsum tot lacimis deplorarunt, ut in arbores demum sint commutatae; tantus inter fratrem, et sorores amore extitit. [lib. ii. fab.ii]

  

 

Saving the Life of a Friend: David & Jonathan, 1 Samuel 20

Defying a Parent to Save a Friend: David and Jonathan II

Citation:  1 Samuel 20

David fled from Nahioth (a region in Ramatha). He came to Jonathan and said, “What have I done wrong? What wrong have I committed against your father that he is trying to kill me?”

And Jonathan said to David, “No! You will not die. My father won't do anything, large or small, without telling me first. Has my father then hidden this plan from me? No, it cannot be.” And once again Jonathan swore an oath to David.

And David said, “Well, of course your father knows that you look upon me fondly, and he will say, ‘Let's keep Jonathan in the dark about this so he won't be upset.’ But

surely as the Lord lives, and as surely as your soul lives, I tell you what, there is only one step between me and death.”

And Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul asks of me, I will provide.”

David told Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the first of the month, and I usually sit beside the king at dinner (as royal custom dictates). Let me go and instead I'm going to hide in the countryside until the evening of the third day.

“If your father asks where I am, tell him that I asked you to go to my hometown Bethlehem for religious reasons. If he is okay with it, I'm safe, but if he's angry about it, then you’ll know the extent of his ill will towards me. Have mercy upon me, your servant, for you have entered a covenant of the Lord with me. If, however, I have done any wrong, then kill me instead of bringing me to your father.”

And Jonathan replied, “Of course you haven't done me any wrong. If I find out that my father is plotting evil against you, of course I'll tell you.”

David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father makes threats against me?”

And Jonathan told David, “Come on, let's go to the countryside.” And when they both went to the countryside.

Jonathan told David, “I swear to God, if I figure out what my father has planned, either tomorrow, or the next day, and if he has good intentions for David, but I don't immediately send for you and let you know, then let the Lord curse Jonathan, and even worse! But if my father's malice against you continues, I will tell you, and I will send you away in peace. And the Lord may be with you as He has been with my father. And if I live, may the Lord have mercy upon

me, but if I die, may the Lord not take away His mercy from my house forever, just as the Lord has obliterated the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”

And so Jonathan made an oath with the house of David, and the Lord fulfilled it against the hands of the enemies of David, and Jonathan renewed his oath to David, for he cherished him as much as he did for his own soul.

Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the first of the month, and your absence will be noticed. You need to be absent before tomorrow. So leave quickly to your hiding spot. On the very next workday, settle down by the rock called Ezel, and I will shoot three arrows next to it, pretending to use the rock as target practice. I will send a slave to fetch the arrows back. If I tell the slave, ‘Hey, the arrows are close to you,’ then pick them up and approach me, for you’re safe and

there is no plot against you (as the Lord lives). But if I tell the slave, ‘Hey, the arrows are far away,’ then run for your life, for the Lord has sent you from this place. Regarding the oath we spoke together, may the Lord be beside you and me forever and always.”

So David hid in the countryside, and the first of the month came, and King Saul sat down for the feast. When King Saul sat down on his throne by the wall (as was his custom), Jonathan rose up and Abner sat down beside the king. David’s spot was empty.

And Saul didn’t say anything, for he thought something might have happened to David, that he was impure or needed a purification ritual.

And on the next day, when David was still missing, Saul asked Jonathan why David, the son of Isai was absent for dinner both yesterday and today.

And Jonathan replied to Saul, “He asked me to leave for Bethlehem. He told me, ‘Please let me go, for there is a holy sacrifice ritual in my hometown. One of my brothers has come and invited me to it. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me go quickly and visit my brothers.’ And that's the reason why he's not at the royal feast.”

Saul angrily lashed out against Jonathan.  He said, “[Insult], you think I don't know that you love David to the point of shamefulness, and to the point of your mother's shame? For as long as the son of Isai [David] lives on the earth, your life will not be set firm, nor will your kingdom. So go fetch him, for he is the son of death.”

Jonathan replied to his father Saul, “Why should he die? What has he done?”

And Saul snatched up a spear to strike him down, and Jonathan realized that his father had his heart set on killing David.

Jonathan got up and angrily left the table. He did not eat bread on the second day of the month, worried for David and upset because of his father[’s actions].

The next day, Jonathan went out to the countryside in the spot he and David had agreed to meet.  He brought a young slave boy with him.

And he told the slave, “Go and fetch my arrows as I shoot them.” As the boy ran, the shot an arrow past the boy.

The boy came to the place where Jonathan shot the arrow and Jonathan shouted to the boy, “Hey, the arrow is past you!”

Jonathan shouted out to the boy, “Hurry up, don't just wait around!” The slave collected Jonathan's arrows and brought them back to his master.

The slave didn't know the meaning of this; only Jonathan and David knew the secret message.

Jonathan gave his armor to the slave and told him to bring them back to the city.

When the slave was gone, David left his hiding place (which was to the south), and falling on the ground, he knelt at Jonathan's feet three times. Both kissed one another and wept. But David wept more.

Jonathan told David, “Go in peace. Let our covenant which we swore in the name of the Lord between you and me remain for us and our descendants forever.”

And David got up and left. And Jonathan returned to the city.

 

Fugit autem David de Nahioth, quae est in Ramatha, veniensque locutus est coram Jonathan, “Quid feci? Quae est iniquitas mea, et quod peccatum meum in patrem tuum quia quaerit animam meam?”

Qui dixit ei, “Absit non morieris, neque enim faciet pater meus quidquam grande vel parvum nisi prius indicaverit mihi. Hunc ergo celavit me pater meus sermonem tantummodo nequaquam erit istud.”

Et iuravit rursum Davidi. Et ille ait, “Scit profecto pater tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis et dicet nesciat hoc Jonathan ne forte tristetur. Quinimmo vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia uno tantum (ut ita dicam) gradu ego morsque dividimur.”

Et ait Jonathan ad David, “quodcumque dixerit mihi, anima tua faciam tibi.”

Dixit autem David ad Jonathan, “Ecce kalendae sunt crastino, et ego ex more sedere soleo iuxta regem ad vescendum. Dimitte ergo me ut abscondar in agro usque ad vesperam diei tertiae. Si respiciens requisierit me pater tuus, respondebis ei ‘Rogavit me David ut iret celeriter in Bethlehem civitatem suam, quia victimae sollemnes ibi sunt universis contribulibus suis.’ Si dixerit, ‘Bene, pax erit servo tuo,’ Si autem fuerit iratus, scito quia conpleta est malitia eius.

Fac ergo misericordiam in servum tuum, quia foedus Domini me famulum tuum tecum inire fecisti. Si autem est aliqua iniquitas in me, tu me interfice et ad patrem tuum, ne introducas me.”

Et ait Jonathan, “Absit hoc a te, neque enim fieri potest, ut si certo cognovero, conpletam patris mei esse malitiam contra te, non adnuntiem tibi.”

Responditque David ad Jonathan, “Quis nuntiabit mihi, si quid forte responderit tibi pater tuus dure de me?”

Et ait Jonathan ad David, “Veni, egrediamur in agrum.”

Cumque exissent ambo in agrum, ait Jonathan ad David, “Domine Deus Israhel, si investigavero sententiam patris mei crastino vel perendie, et aliquid boni fuerit super David et non statim misero ad te et notum tibi fecero, haec faciat Dominus Jonathan et haec addat. Si autem perseveraverit patris mei malitia adversum te revelabo, aurem tuam et dimittam te, ut vadas in pace et sit Dominus tecum sicut fuit cum patre meo. Et si vixero, facies mihi misericordiam Domini. Si vero mortuus fuero, non auferas misericordiam tuam a domo mea usque in sempiternum quando eradicaverit Dominus inimicos David ununquemque de terra.”

Pepigit ergo foedus Jonathan cum domo David et requisivit Dominus de manu inimicorum David, et addidit Jonathan deierare David, eo quod diligeret illum sicut animam enim suam ita diligebat eum.

Dixitque ad eum Jonathan, “Cras kalendae sunt, et requireris. Requiretur enim sessio tua usque perendie descendes ergo festinus, et venies in locum ubi celandus es in die qua operari licet, et sedebis iuxta lapidem cui est nomen Ezel. Et ego tres sagittas mittam iuxta eum, et iaciam quasi exercens me ad signum mittam quoque et puerum dicens ei, ‘Vade, et adfer mihi sagittas.’ Si dixero puero, ‘Ecce, sagittae intra te sunt tolle eas,’ tu veni ad me, quia pax tibi est et nihil est mali, vivit Dominus. Si autem sic locutus fuero puero, ‘Ecce, sagittae ultra te sunt,’ vade in pace, quia dimisit te Dominus.

De verbo autem quod locuti sumus ego et tu sit Dominus inter me et te usque in sempiternum.”

Absconditus est ergo David in agro, et venerunt kalendae et sedit rex ad comedendum panem. Cumque sedisset rex super cathedram suam (secundum consuetudinem) quae erat iuxta parietem, surrexit Jonathan et sedit Abner ex latere Saul vacuusque apparuit locus David. Et non est locutus Saul quidquam in die illa cogitabat enim quod forte evenisset ei ut non esset mundus, nec purificatus. Cumque inluxisset dies secunda post kalendas rursum vacuus apparuit locus David, dixitque Saul ad Jonathan filium suum, “Cur non venit filius Isai nec heri nec hodie ad vescendum?”

Et respondit Jonathan Sauli, “Rogavit me obnixe, ut iret in Bethlehem, et ait, ‘Dimitte me, quoniam sacrificium sollemne est in civitate unus de fratribus meis. Accersivit me nunc ergo, si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, vadam cito et videbo fratres meos.’ Ob hanc causam non venit ad mensam regis.” 

Iratus autem Saul adversus Jonathan dixit ei, “Filii mulieris virum ultro rapientis, numquid ignoro quia diligis filium Isai in confusionem tuam et in confusionem ignominiosae matris tuae omnibus enim diebus, quibus filius Isai vixerit super terram, non stabilieris tu, neque regnum tuum. Itaque iam nunc mitte et adduc eum ad me, quia filius mortis est!”

Respondens autem Jonathan Sauli patri suo ait, “Quare morietur? Quid fecit?”

Et arripuit Saul lanceam, ut percuteret eum, et intellexit Jonathan quod definitum esset patri suo ut interficeret David. Surrexit ergo Jonathan a mensa in ira furoris et non comedit in die kalendarum secunda panem contristatus est enim super David, eo quod confudisset eum pater suus.

Cumque inluxisset mane venit Jonathan in agrum iuxta placitum David et puer parvulus cum eo, et ait ad puerum suum, “Vade, et adfer mihi sagittas quas ego iacio.”

Cumque puer cucurrisset, iecit aliam sagittam trans puerum. Venit itaque puer ad locum iaculi quod miserat Jonathan et clamavit Jonathan post tergum pueri et ait, “Ecce ibi est sagitta porro ultra te!”

Clamavit Jonathan post tergum, “Pueri, festina velociter, ne steteris!”

Collegit autem puer Jonathae sagittas et adtulit ad dominum suum, et quid ageretur penitus ignorabat tantummodo enim Jonathan et David rem noverant.

Dedit igitur Jonathan arma sua puero et dixit ei, “Vade, defer in civitatem.”

Cumque abisset puer, surrexit David de loco, qui vergebat ad austrum et cadens pronus in terram adoravit tertio et osculantes se alterutrum fleverunt pariter, David autem amplius.

Dixit ergo Jonathan ad David, “Vade in pace quaecumque iuravimus ambo in nomine Domine, dicentes ‘Dominus sit inter me et te et inter semen meum et semen tuum usque in sempiternum.’”

Et surrexit et abiit sed et Jonathan ingressus est civitatem.

Found Family: Noemi & Ruth, Ruth 1:1-17

Where You Go, I Go: The Story of Ruth and Naomi

Citation:  Ruth 1:1 – 17

When judges ruled over Israel, there was a famine in the land.

One man from Bethlehem in Juda left to travel with his wife and two sons to the land of the Moabites.

This man was named Elimelech, and his wife was named Naomi. Their two kids were named Mahalon and Chelion, Ephrathites from Bethlehem.

They traveled to the land of the Moabites and dwelled there.

When Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, it was just her and her two sons.

Her sons married Moabite women; one was named Orpha and the other was named Ruth.

They lived there for ten years, but then both of her sons Mahalon and Chelion died. Now the poor woman was bereft of both her husband and her two sons.

She took it upon herself to travel back to her homeland with both of her daughters-in-law, for she had heard that theLord had protected His people, and had provided them with food.

She got up and left, and when she was about to travel, she told her daughters-in-law, “Go back home to the home of your mothers. May the Lord take pity on you, just as you have taken pity on both the dead [i.e., your husbands] as well as me. May he give you peace in the home of your husbands when you remarry.” And she kissed them.

They began to cry, and wept, saying, “We will go with you to your people.”

She responded to them, “My daughters, go back home. Why would you want to go with me? I don’t have any more children in my womb, so you can’t hope for future husbands from me. Go back home, my daughters, and leave me. I am worn out with old age, and too old to get married again. Even if I could conceive a child tonight, and give birth to sons, if you wanted to wait for them to get old enough to marry them, you’d be too old to marry them.”

I beg you, daughters, please don’t stay, for your difficulties weigh upon my heart more than my own, and the Lord has set His hand against me.”

They both wailed and began to weep. Orpha kissed her mother-in-law and left her. Ruth, however, clung to her mother-in-law. Naomi told her, “Go now, she’s travelling back to your kin, and your own gods. Go with her.”

Ruth responded, “Don’t keep me from you or make me leave. Wherever you will go, I will go. Wherever you will live, I will live there, too. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. The land that holds your tomb will also accept mine. May the Lord grant me these things, and add one more thing: that only death should ever separate you and me.”

  

Where You Go, I Go: The Story of Ruth and Naomi

In diebus unius iudicis, quando iudices praerant, facta est fames in terra. Abiitque homo de Bethlehem Iuda, ut peregrinaretur in regione Moabitide cum uxore sua ac duobus liberis. Ipse vocabatur Elimelech, et uxor eius Noemi: et duo filii, alter Mahalon, et alter Chelion, Ephrathei de Bethlehem Iuda. Ingressique regionem Moabitidem, morabantur ibi.

Et mortuus est Elimelech maritus Noemi: remansitque ipsa cum filiis qui acceperunt uxores Moabitidas, quarum una vocabatur Orpha, altera vero Ruth. Manseruntque ibi decem annis, et ambo mortui sunt, Mahalon videlicet et Chelion: remansitque mulier orbata duobus liberis ac marito.

Et surrexit ut in patriam pergeret cum utraque nuru sua de regione Moabitide: audierat enim quod respexisset Dominus populum suum, et dedisset eis escas.

Egressa est itaque de loco peregrinationis suae, cum utraque nuru: et iam in via revertendi posita in terram Iuda. Dixit ad eas: “Ite in domum matris vestrae faciat vobiscum Dominus misericordiam, sicut fecistis cum mortuis et mecum. Det vobis invenire requiem in domibus virorum, quos sortiturae estis.” Et osculata est eas.

Quae elevata voce flere coeperunt, et dicere: “Tecum pergemus ad populum tuum.”

Quibus illa respondit: “Revertimini, filiae mea, cur venitis mecum? Num ultra habeo filios in utero meo, ut viros ex me sperare possitis? Revertimini, filiae meae, et abite: iam enim senectute confecta sum, nec apta vinculo coniugali: etiamsi possem hac nocte concipere, et parere filios, si eos expectare velitis donec crescant, et annos pubertais impleant, ante eritis vetulae quam nubatis.

 Nolite, quaeso, filiae meae: quia vestra angustia magis me premit, et egressa est manus Domini contra me.”

Elevata igitur voce, rursum flere coeperunt: Orpha osculata est socrum, ac reversa est.

Ruth adhaesit socrui suae, cui dixit Noemi: “En reversa est cognata tua ad populum suum, et ad deos suos, vade cum ea.”

Quae respondit: “Ne adverseris mihi, ut relinquam te, et abeam. Quocumque enim perrexeris, pergam, et ubi morata fueris, et ego pariter morabor. Populus tuus populus meus, et Deus tuus Deus meus. Quae te terra morientem susceperit, in ea moriar: ibique locum accipiam sepulturae. Haec mihi faciat Dominus, et haec addat, si non sola mors me et te separaverit.

Challenging Gender Roles: Hortensia Goes to Court--and Wins! Val. Max. 8.3.3

Hortensia, A Women’s Rights Advocate

Name: Valerius Maximus Date:  1st century CE Region:  Unknown Citation:  Memorable Deeds and Sayings   8.3.3

When noblewomen were oppressed by the triumvirs’ taxation and none of their husbands deigned to advocate for them, Quintus Hortensius’ daughter Hortensia pled the women’s case in court—and won! By using the eloquence she inherited from her father, she managed to get a majority of the taxes remitted. At that time Quintus Hortensius came to life again in female form; he inspired his daughter’s words.

Hortensia, A Women’s Rights Advocate

Hortensia vero Q. Hortensi filia, cum ordo matronarum gravi tributo a triumviris esset oneratus nec quisquam virorum patrocinium eis accommodare auderet, causam feminarum apud triumviros et constanter et feliciter egit: repraesentata enim patris facundia impetravit ut maior pars imperatae pecuniae his remitteretur. Revixit tum muliebri stirpe Q. Hortensius verbisque filiae aspiravit.

Valerius Maximus [1st century CE] Little is known about the life of Valerius Maximus except that he wrote during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. His work, Memorable Deeds and Sayings, is a collection of examples from Roman and world history categorized by theme for the purpose of rhetorical exercises.

Going Back to School: Roman Masculinity and Fatherhood, Pliny the Younger, Ep. 2.18

Name: Pliny the Younger Date:  61 – 113 CE Region:   Como / Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Letters 2.18

 Roman men could form loving, parental bonds with their friends' children.

To: Mauricus

From: Pliny

What can be a more fun favor for me to do for you, than to find a tutor for your brother’s kids? For now, thanks to you, I can go back to school & return to the best days of my life: I get to sit in on classes with the youngins, as I used to, and I get to experience their respect for me in their studies. (2) Recently, I entered the noisy classroom where they were all chatting amongst each other with their peers, and as soon as I entered the room, they quieted down. I’m only mentioning this to show off their good behavior, not my own, and because I don’t want to you worry about your brother’s kids not getting a good education. (3) I’ll observe the teachers and I’ll tell you what I think about them in a letter that is so detailed that you’ll think you’ve heard them teaching yourself. (4) I’m going to do this with concern and care, because I owe this to you and to the memory of your brother. For what’s more important for these kids—I would say *your* kids, because I know how much you love them as your own—than that they get the education that is worthy of their father, and worthy of you, their uncle? And I’ll do this for you, even if you haven’t asked me to. (5) I know that when I find the perfect tutor for these kids, I’ll make whoever isn’t chosen angry, but I don’t care. Let them be mad. This is for your brother’s kids, and I’ll deal with it calmly as if they were my own.

C. PLINIUS MAURICO SUO S.

1 Quid a te mihi iucundius potuit iniungi, quam ut praeceptorem fratris tui liberis quaererem? Nam beneficio tuo in scholam redeo, et illam dulcissimam aetatem quasi resumo: sedeo inter iuvenes ut solebam, atque etiam experior quantum apud illos auctoritatis ex studiis habeam. 2 Nam proxime frequenti auditorio inter se coram multis ordinis nostri clare iocabantur; intravi, conticuerunt; quod non referrem, nisi ad illorum magis laudem quam ad meam pertineret, ac nisi sperare te vellem posse fratris tui filios probe discere. 3 Quod superest, cum omnes qui profitentur audiero, quid de quoque sentiam scribam, efficiamque quantum tamen epistula consequi potero, ut ipse omnes audisse videaris. 4 Debeo enim tibi, debeo memoriae fratris tui hanc fidem hoc studium, praesertim super tanta re. Nam quid magis interest vestra, quam ut liberi - dicerem tui, nisi nunc illos magis amares - digni illo patre, te patruo reperiantur? quam curam mihi etiam si non mandasses vindicassem. 5 Nec ignoro suscipiendas offensas in eligendo praeceptore, sed oportet me non modo offensas, verum etiam simultates pro fratris tui filiis tam aequo animo subire quam parentes pro suis. Vale.

--Pliny the Younger, Ep. 2.18

Pliny the Younger was an Italian born noble and nephew of the famous natural historian Pliny the Elder. He is best known for publishing his private correspondence, in which he flouts his connections with other illustrious Romans (including the Emperor Trajan and the author Tacitus). Two of the most famous examples of these are his “eyewitness” account of the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE and his letter to the emperor Trajan regarding the treatment of Christians.