''Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum'' (''Antiquities of Human and Divine Things'') was one of the chief works of

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

(1st century BC). The work has been

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

, but having been substantially quoted by

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

in his ''

De Civitate Dei ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' ( la, De civitate Dei contra paganos), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. The book was in response ...

'' (published AD 426) its contents can be reconstructed in parts. To a lesser extent, quotes from the work have also been transmitted by other authors, including (among others)

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(1st c.),

Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, or ...

(2nd c.),

Censorinus Censorinus was a Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer from the 3rd century AD. Biography He was the author of a lost work ''De Accentibus'' and of an extant treatise ''De Die Natali'', written in 238, and dedicated to his patron Quintus C ...

(3rd c.), Servius (4th/5th c.), Nonius (4th/5th c.),

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

(5th c.),

Priscian Priscianus Caesariensis (), commonly known as Priscian ( or ), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the ''Institutes of Grammar'', which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw materia ...

(5th/6th c.). The work was divided into 41 books ('' libri''), of which the first 25 were dealing with ''Res humanae'' ("human affairs") and the remaining 16 with ''Res divinae'' (" divine affairs"). It was above all an account of the cultural and institutional

history of Rome The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced ...

and the

Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...

. It was written in the 50s or 40s BC. In ''Res divinae'', Varro introduced the division of divinity into three parts, into

mythical theology Mythical theology (''theologica mythica'') is one of three types of theology defined by the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BC) in his lost work ''Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum''. The other two are political theolog ...

natural theology Natural theology, once also termed physico-theology, is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics (such as the existence of a deity) based on reason and the discoveries of science. This distinguishes it from ...

and

civil theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term ''political theology'' is often used to denote religious thought about political principled ...

. The concept of "natural theology" in particular has become influential via the transmission by Augustine. The topical division of ''Res divinae'' into 16 books has been preserved. Books 1–4 were dedicated to priesthood (''de hominibus''), 5–7 to cult sites (''de locis''), 8–10 to the religious calendar of festivals (''de temporibus''), 11–13 to

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

(''de sacris''), and 14–16 to the

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...

(''de dis''), especially discussing the etymology of their names. The work is based on

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy * STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain * ...

sources. Varro refutes the poetic or "mythical theology" as popular superstition, complaining that the pure veneration of the divine had been spoiled by the influence of the poets, but he considers valuable the philosophical debate on the nature of the gods. Varro presents the Roman king

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions ar ...

as a paragon of ancient piety. Numa was associated with

Pythagoreanism Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...

, even though Varro granted that Numa could not have been a Pythagorean since he lived before

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His poli ...

himself.Markus Peglau, "Varro und die angeblichen Schriften des Numa Pompilius" in: Andreas Haltenhoff, Fritz-Heiner Mutschler (eds.), ''Hortus litterarum antiquarum'' (2000), 441–450.

References

*Jörg Rüpke
"Historicizing Religion: Varro's ''Antiquitates'' and History of Religion in the Late Roman Republic"
''History of Religions'' 53.3 (February 2014), pp. 246–268.

External links

{{Authority control 1st-century BC Latin books Ancient Roman religion Theology books Lost books