The City of God · Chapter
Of the establishment of scenic entertainments explained
Augustine argues that the scenic games, which are exhibitions of shameless folly and licence, were established at Rome not by human vice but by the appointment of the pagan gods.
What happens
Augustine argues that the scenic games, which are exhibitions of shameless folly and licence, were established at Rome not by human vice but by the appointment of the pagan gods. He contrasts the gods' command to hold games to stop a physical pestilence with the pontiff's prohibition of building a theatre to prevent a moral pestilence. Augustine asserts that the gods, being wicked spirits, used the games to infect morals with a more serious disease, and notes that even refugees from the sack of Rome in Carthage were madly devoted to these theatrical entertainments.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Pagan Religion
Augustine condemns the pagan gods for instituting immoral scenic entertainments, contrasting their command with the moral prohibition by the pontiff.
Morality and Virtue vs. Pagan Corruption
The chapter contrasts physical pestilence with moral pestilence, emphasizing the corrupting influence of the gods' commands on human morals.
Characters to notice
- Augustine
Author and narrator, delivering a critique of pagan gods and their establishment of scenic entertainments.
- Scipio Nasica
Mentioned as the pontiff who prohibited the construction of a theatre to prevent moral pestilence.
Key passages
“The scenic games, exhibitions of shameless folly and licence, were established at Rome, not by men’s vicious cravings, but by the appointment of your gods.”
The theatrical shows, full of shameless foolishness and immorality, were set up in Rome not because of human depravity but because the gods commanded them.
Augustine emphasizes that the gods, not humans, are responsible for introducing these corrupt entertainments.
“The gods enjoined that games be exhibited in their honour to stay a physical pestilence; their pontiff prohibited the theatre from being constructed, to prevent a moral pestilence.”
The gods ordered games to stop a bodily plague, but the pontiff forbade building a theatre to stop a plague of the soul.
Augustine contrasts the gods' concern for the body with the pontiff's concern for morality.