Caecilius opens: human knowledge is uncertain, so no one should decide about God
Caecilius begins his speech to Marcus, asking him to act as a fair judge and arguing that all human affairs are doubtful and uncertain.
Then Caecilius began: "Although for you, Marcus my brother, the question we are about to examine is not in doubt—since you have lived carefully in both ways of life and have rejected one and approved the other—still, for the present you must shape your mind so that you hold the balance of a most impartial judge and do not lean in favor of one side. Otherwise your verdict will seem to come not from our arguments but from your own prior feelings.
So if you sit with me as someone new and ignorant of both sides, it is no trouble to show that everything in human affairs is doubtful, uncertain, and hanging in suspense, and that all things are more probable than true.
That makes it less surprising that some people, weary of searching out truth to the bottom, surrender recklessly to whatever opinion comes along rather than persist with stubborn diligence in investigating.
And so everyone should be indignant and aggrieved that certain people—untaught in these studies, ignorant of literature, ignorant even of the lowliest crafts—dare to pronounce something certain about the highest reality and majesty, about which philosophy itself, through so many centuries and so many schools, is still deliberating.
And rightly so, since human smallness falls so far short of divine inquiry that we are not permitted to know or search out the things suspended above us in the sky, nor the things sunk deep beneath the earth, nor is it even religious to guess at them. We would rightly seem blessed enough, and wise enough, if according to that old saying of the wise man we came to know ourselves more intimately.
But insofar as we indulge this insane and foolish labor and wander beyond the limits of our lowliness, and though cast down upon the earth we reach beyond heaven itself and the very stars with audacious desire, let us at least not entangle this error with empty and fearful opinions.
Let the seeds of all things be, in the beginning, compressed by nature coming together on its own—what god is the author here? Let the parts of the whole world have coalesced, been arranged and shaped by random collisions—what god is the designer? Grant that fire lit the stars, that heaven hangs suspended by its own material, that earth is founded on its own weight and the sea has flowed together from liquid—where does this religion come from, where does this fear?
What superstition is this? Man and every animal that is born, breathes and is raised up is a voluntary coming together of the elements, and into those elements man and every animal is again divided, dissolved, and scattered. So all things flow back to their source and return into their own source, with no maker, no judge, no author.
Thus when the seeds of fire are gathered, different suns always shine, one after another; thus when vapors are exhaled from the earth, mists are always rising; when these are thickened and pressed together, clouds rise higher; as they glide along, rains flow, winds blow, hail rattles, or when storm clouds collide, thunder roars, lightning flashes, and thunderbolts blaze forth.
Indeed they fall everywhere, crash into mountains, strike trees, touch sacred and profane places without distinction, kill guilty men and often the religious.
Why should I speak of the varied and uncertain storms, by which the onrush of all things is tumbled about with no order or judgment? In shipwrecks the fates of good and bad men are mixed, their merits confused? In fires destruction falls upon innocent and guilty alike? And when the sky's region is infected with deadly plague, everyone perishes without distinction? And when war rages with fury, it is the better men who fall?
In peace too, wickedness is not only made equal to better men, but is even honored, so that in most cases you cannot tell whether their depravity should be detested or their good fortune desired.
But if the world were ruled by divine providence and the authority of some deity, Phalaris and Dionysius would never have met with a kingdom, Rutilius and Camillus would never have met with exile, Socrates would never have met with poison.
Look: fruit-bearing trees, look: the already whitening crop, the already drunken vintage is ruined by rain and cut down by hail. So either the truth is hidden from us and suppressed, or—what is more believable—fortune, loosed from all laws, rules by varied and slippery chances."
Latin
Tum sic Caecilius exorsus est: Quamquam tibi, Marce frater, de quo cum maxime quaerimus non sit ambiguum, utpote cum diligenter in utroque uiuendi genere uersatus repudiaris alterum, alterum conprobaris, in praesentiarum tamen ita tibi informandus est animus, ut libram teneas aequissimi iudicis nec in alteram partem propensus incumbas, ne non tam ex nostris disputationibus nata sententia quam ex tuis sensibus prolata uideatur.
proinde si mihi quasi nouus aliqui et quasi ignarus partis utriusque considas, nullum negotium est patefacerè, omnia in rebus humanis dubia, incerta, suspensa, magisque omnia uerisimilia quam uera.
quo minus miram est nonnullos taedio inuestigandae penitus ueritatis cuilibet opinioni temere succumbere quam in explorando pertinaci diligentia perseuerare.
itaque indignandum omnibus, indolescendum est audere quosdam, et hoc studiorum rudes, litterarum profanos, expertes artium etiam sordidarum, certum aliquid de summa rerum ac maiestate decernere, de qua tot omnibus saeculis sectarum plurimarum usque adhuc ipsa philosophia deliberat.
nec inmerito, cum tantum absit ab exploratione diuina humana mediocritas, ut neque quae supra nos caelo suspensa sublata sunt, neque quae infra terram profunda demersa sunt, aut scire sit datum aut scrutari permissum aut suspicari religiosum, et beati satis satisque prudentes iure uideamur, si secundum illud uetus sapientis oraculum nosmet ipsos familiarius nouerimus.
sed quatenus indulgentes insano atque inepto labori ultra humilitatis nostrae terminos euagamur et in terram proiecti caelum ipsum et ipsa sidera audaci cupiditate transcendimus, uel hunc errorem saltem non uanis et formidulosis opinionibus implicemus.
sint principio omnium semina natura se coeunte densata, quis hic auctor deus? sint fortuitis concursionibus totius mundi membra coalita, digesta, formata, quis deus machinator ? sidera licet ignis accenderit et caelum licet sua materia suspenderit, licet terram sua fundauerit pondere et mare licet confluxerit e liquore, unde haec religio, unde formido?
quae superstitio est? homo et animal omne quod nascitur, inspiratur, attollitur, elementorum ut uoluntaria concretio est, in quae rursum homo et animal omne diuiditur, soluitur, dissipatur: ita in fontem refluunt et in semet omnia reuoluuntur, nullo artifice nec iudice nec auctore.
sic congregatis ignium semmibus soles alios atque alios semper splendere, sic exalatis terrae uaporibus nebulas semper adolescere, quibus densatis coactisque nubes altius surgere, isdem labentibus pluuias fluere, flare uentos, grandines increpare, uel nimbis conlidentibus tonitrua mugire, rutilare fulgora, fulmina praemicare: adeo passim cadunt, montes inruunt, arboribus incurrunt, sine dilectu tangunt loca sacra et profana, homines noxios feriunt et saepe religiosos.
quid tempestates loquar uarias et incertas, quibus nullo ordine uel examine rerum omnium impetus uolutatur? in naufragiis bonorum malorumque fata mixta, merita confusa? in incendiis interitum conuenire insontium nocentiumque? et cum tabe pestifera caeli tractus inficitur, sine discrimine omnes deperire? et cum belli ardore saeuitur, meliores potius occumbere?
m pace etiam non tantum aequatur nequitia melioribus, sed et colitur, ut in pluribus nescias, utrum sit eorum detestanda prauitas an optanda felicitas.
quod si mundus diuina prouidentia et alicuius numinis auctoritate regeretur, numquam mereretur Phalaris et Dionysius regnum, numquam Rutilius et Camillus exilium, numquam Socrates uenenum.
ecce arbusta frugifera, ecce iam seges cana, iam temulenta uindemia imbri corrumpitur, grandine caeditur. adeo aut incerta nobis ueritas occultatur et premitur, aut quod magis credendum est, uariis et lubricis casibus soluta legibus fortuna dominatur.