The topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts. James R. McConnell

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The topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts - James R. McConnell


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target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_dd913cc9-3ea5-5ea6-82fa-4ee087a7d03e">183 preceded by a strong string of invectives.184 Specifically, Cicero’s charge against Vatinius is that he disregarded the laws governing the use of augury, indirectly accusing Vatinius of being impious towards the gods and their testimony, and thereby discrediting him.185

      Cicero also employs the locus of divine testimony in a more general fashion. An example cited by Quintilian (Inst. 5.12.42) is Cicero’s defense of Ligarius, in which Cicero references the judgment of the gods. Quintus Tubero has accused Ligarius of consorting with the enemy; it seems, however, that in actuality Ligarius’s offense amounted to something of a more personal nature rather than a crime (cf. Lig. 2–17). In remarks addressed to Caesar, who is judge over the case being argued, Cicero draws an analogy between Caesar and Ligarius (who was serving in Africa) during the onset of the civil war. Cicero reminds Caesar that in the beginning Caesar “held that that movement was a secession, not a war, not an outburst of hatred between foes, but of dissension between citizens, a dissension in which either party had the welfare of the state at heart, but in which each . . . swerved from the interest of the general body” (Lig. 19). Cicero continues:

      Between the two causes it was at the time difficult to decide, for the reason that on either side there was something to approve; to-day that cause must be adjudged the better, whereto the gods added their assistance. (Lig. 19)

      Thus, Cicero argues that only in retrospect is it possible to see which cause was the “right” cause, and only because the gods have given their testimony. In the greater argument of Ligarius’s innocence, Cicero is maintaining that because it was difficult to ascertain which side was the “enemy,” Ligarius is guilty perhaps of bad judgment, but certainly not a crime.

      The final example of divine testimony cited by Quintilian is Cicero’s speech against Clodius now known as De haruspicum responso. This speech includes a plethora of examples of divine testimony, beginning with Cicero’s explanation of the event that triggered the speech. An odd sound was heard and interpreted by the seers as being from the gods and that “sacred and hallowed sites were being turned to secular purposes” (Har. resp. 9). Cicero claims that Clodius is behind this interpretation, and that specifically what is in view is Cicero’s own home, built for him by the State (Har. resp. 9–10; 16). Cicero, in rebuttal, interprets the ominous noise differently:

      I am glad to have been given an opportunity . . . of speaking on the general theme of this prodigy, which I am inclined to believe is the most solemn that has been announced to this order for many years past; for you will find that this prodigy [toto prodigio] and the response occasioned thereby are nothing but a warning to us, uttered almost by the voice of Jupiter Best and Greatest, concerning Clodius’ mad wickedness and the terrible dangers that threaten us. (Har. resp. 10)

      A final example from Cicero comes from De legibus, his treatise on the law. Here Cicero is arguing for the divine origin of Rome’s laws. In an argument quite similar to the one already seen above in his defense of Milo, Cicero argues that the people must understand that “the gods are the lords and rulers of all things, and that what is done, is done by their will and authority; that they are likewise great benefactors of man” (Leg. 2.7.15). He goes on to say that the observation of nature should motivate humanity to thank the gods for their goodness and that nature gives evidence of a greater reason which governs it (Leg. 2.7.16). Finally, this same reason is the basis for Rome’s legal system. Cicero concludes this section by stating:

      Who will deny that such beliefs are useful when he remembers how often oaths are used to confirm agreements, how important


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