{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/102/1020008.htm","path":"chr/ecf/102/1020008.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/102/1020008.htm","text":"Chapter 2.\u2014That It is Quite Contrary to the Usage of War, that the Victors Should Spare the Vanquished for the Sake of Their Gods.\nThere are histories of numberless wars, both before the building of Rome and since its rise and the extension of its dominion; let these be read, and let one instance be cited in which, when a city had been taken by foreigners, the victors spared those who were found to have fled for sanctuary to the temples of their gods; 34 or one instance in which a barbarian general gave orders that none should be put to the sword who had been found in this or that temple. Did not \u00c6neas see\nStaining the hearth he made divine?\u201d 35\n\u201cDrag with red hands, the sentry slain,\nHer fateful image from your fane,\nHer chaste locks touch, and stain with gore\nThe virgin coronal she wore?\u201d 36\nNeither is that true which follows, that\n\u201cThenceforth the tide of fortune changed,\nAnd Greece grew weak.\u201d 37\nFor after this they conquered and destroyed Troy with fire and sword; after this they beheaded Priam as he fled to the altars. Neither did Troy perish because it lost Minerva. For what had Minerva herself first lost, that she should perish? Her guards perhaps? No doubt; just her guards. For as soon as they were slain, she could be stolen. It was not, in fact, the men who were preserved by the image, but the image by the men. How, p. 3 then, was she invoked to defend the city and the citizens, she who could not defend her own defenders?\nThe Benedictines remind us that Alexander and Xenophon, at least on some occasions, did so.\n2:35\nVirgil, \u00c6neid, ii. 501\u20132. The renderings of Virgil are from Conington.\n2:36 2:37","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. II: City of God: Cha...","type":"page"}