Book 2, Chapter 19
Original Latin
43 Hoc fortasse rei publicae causa constitutum est; comitiorum enim non habendorum causas esse voluerunt. Itaque comitiorum solum vitium est fulmen, quod idem omnibus rebus optumum auspicium habemus, si sinistrum fuit. Sed de auspiciis alio loco, nunc de fulgoribus.
Quid igitur minus a physicis dici debet quam quicquam certi significari rebus incertis? Non enim te puto esse eum, qui Iovi fulmen fabricatos esse Cyclopas in Aetna putes;
44 nam esset mirabile, quo modo id Iuppiter totiens iaceret, cum unum haberet; nec vero fulminibus homines, quid aut faciendum esset aut cavendum, moneret. Placet enim Stoicis eos anhelitus terrae, qui frigidi sint, cum fluere coeperint, ventos esse; cum autem se in nubem induerint eiusque tenuissimam quamque partem coeperint dividere atque disrumpere idque crebrius facere et vehementius, tum et fulgores et tonitrua existere; si autem nubium conflictu ardor expressus se emiserit, id esse fulmen. Quod igitur vi naturae, nulla constantia, nullo rato tempore videmus effici, ex eo significationem rerum consequentium quaerimus? Scilicet, si ista Iuppiter significaret, tam multa frustra fulmina emitteret!
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks and reviewed throughout against it. Both books, all 130 chapters and 282 numbered sections; no historical English translation used. Latin transcription credited to the Perseus Project under CC BY-SA 4.0, Müller’s 1915 Teubner edition.
43 “This rule may have been established for political reasons: they wanted grounds for not holding assemblies. Accordingly, a thunderbolt invalidates only assemblies, whereas in all other matters we regard it as the best possible auspice if it comes from the left. But auspices belong elsewhere; for now, lightning.
“What could be less appropriate for natural philosophers than to say that uncertain things signify anything certain? I do not suppose you are a man who believes the Cyclopes forged Jupiter's thunderbolt on Etna.
44 “For then it would be astonishing how Jupiter could throw it so often when he had only one. Nor would he use thunderbolts to warn people what to do or avoid. The Stoics hold that cold exhalations from the earth become winds when they begin to flow; when they enter a cloud and start splitting and tearing its thinnest parts, and do this more frequently and violently, flashes and thunder arise. If heat forced out by the collision of clouds bursts forth, that is a thunderbolt. Do we seek a sign of coming events in something we see produced by natural force, without regularity or any fixed time? Of course, if Jupiter were giving these signs, he would send so many thunderbolts to no purpose!
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation, made independently and directly from the Latin, never from the Musean edition. Both books and every numbered section; a separate Latin-source model review covered the entire text. No human specialist review is claimed.
43 “Perhaps this rule was established for political reasons. They wanted grounds for not holding assemblies. So a thunderbolt invalidates an assembly, but nothing else. In all other matters, a bolt on the left counts for us as the most favorable sign of all. But I will discuss auspices elsewhere. Now I am discussing lightning.
“What could be less appropriate for students of nature than to say that uncertain things indicate anything certain? I do not think you are someone who believes the Cyclopes made Jupiter’s thunderbolt in Etna.
44 “With just one thunderbolt, how could Jupiter throw it so many times? Nor would thunderbolts really be his way of telling people what actions to take or what dangers to watch for. On the Stoic account, wind is cold vapor from the earth that has begun to move. When they enter a cloud and begin to split and tear apart its thinnest parts, and do so more often and more violently, flashes and thunder result. But if heat squeezed out by the collision of clouds shoots out, that is a thunderbolt. We see this happen through natural forces, with no regularity and at no fixed time. Do we look to it for signs of what will follow? Of course, if Jupiter were using it to give signs, he would send out so many thunderbolts to no purpose!
About this section
Book 2, Chapter 19 is part of On Divination by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 77 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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