[
132]
58. “I will assert, however, in conclusion,
that I do not recognize fortune-tellers, or those who
prophesy for money, or necromancers, or mediums,
whom your friend Appius
1 makes it a practice to
consult.
In fine, I say, I do not care a fig
For Marsian augurs, village mountebanks,
Astrologers who haunt the circus grounds,
Or Isis-seers, or dream interpreters:
—for they are not diviners either by knowledge
or skill,
2 —
But superstitious bards, soothsaying quacks,
Averse to work, or mad, or ruled by want,
Directing others how to go, and yet
What road to take they do not know themselves;
From those to whom they promise wealth they beg
A coin. From what they promised let them take
Their coin as toll and pass the balance on.
Such are the words of Ennius who only a few lines
further back
3 expresses the view that there are
gods and yet says that the gods do not care what
human beings do. But for my part, believing as
I do that the gods do care for man, and that they
advise and often forewarn him, I approve of divination which is not trivial and is free from falsehood
and trickery.”
When Quintus had finished I remarked, “My dear
Quintus, you have come admirably well prepared.”
