The madness of athletic contests and the need to guard eyes and ears

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Novatian continues his catalogue of public shows, now turning from stage plays to the athletic contests and their bodily harm and shamelessness.

The other madness of the rest is plain to see: it is a business for idle men. A body grows fat on stuffing to its own injury, so that it may strike harder or be beaten harder, and the first victory is to have been able to hunger beyond the measure of a human belly—all for the title of a crown in a shameful market of gluttons. An unhappy face is hired out for blows, so that a still more unhappy belly may be stuffed. How foul, moreover, are the wrestlings themselves: a man lies under a man, tangled in dishonorable embraces and bindings. In such a contest, let whoever wins be seen—modesty has been defeated. Look, one man leaps naked; another hurls a bronze hoop into the air with all his strength. This is the glory of madness. Take away the spectator, and you have returned it to vanity. Faithful Christians must flee these things, as we have said often already—public shows so vain, so pernicious, so sacrilegious. Both our eyes and our ears must be guarded. We quickly grow accustomed to what we hear, and swiftly to what we see. For when the human mind is led to vices themselves, what will it do to itself if it has examples? The body's nature is slippery and falls of its own accord—what will it do if it is pushed? The soul must be called away from these things.

Latin

Nam illa altera reliquorum dementia est manifesta otiosis hominibns negotiatio: in iniuriam suam pinguescit in sagina corpus ut robustius aut feriat aut uapulet, et prima uictoria est ultra modum, humani uentris esurire potuisse, super titulo coronae edacis flagitiosae nundinae: ictibus infelix facies locatur, ut infelicior uenter saginetur. quam foeda praeterea ipsa luctamina, uir infra uirum iacens am* plexibus inhonestis et nexibus implicatur. in tali certamine stare. uiderit quis uincat, pudor uictus est. ecce tibi alter nudus salit, alter orbem aeneum contentis in aerem uiribus iactat. haec gloria eat dementiae. denique remoue spectatorem, reddideris uanitatem. fugienda sunt ista christianis fidelibus, ut iam frequenter diximus, tam uana, tam perniciosa, tam sacrilega spectacula: et oculi nostri sunt et aures custodiendae. cito in hoc assuescimus quod audimus, celere in id quod uidemus. nam cum mens hominis ad uitia ipsa ducitur, sibi quid faciet, si habuerit exempla? natura corporis lubrica quae sponte corruit quid faciet, si fuerit impulsa ? auocandus est animus ab istis.

About this text

Novatian warns Christians who quote Scripture to defend going to the public games and shows.

Novatian (fl. c. 250) was a Roman presbyter and Christian teacher who wrote this treatise to the faithful, whom he addresses as brothers. He composed it because some Christians were defending attendance at public spectacles by appealing to Scripture, and he feared that wounds poorly bound might break open again. His aim was to admonish those already instructed rather than to teach them anew.

The occasion is a dispute within the Christian community. Some believers argued that Scripture does not forbid the circus, theater, and athletic contests, and they cited examples such as Elijah, David, and an unnamed apostle whose athletic imagery matches Paul's epistles. Novatian quotes these opponents directly and refutes their appeals, showing that the biblical examples were written to stir virtue, not to permit spectacles. He also names Romulus, who first consecrated circus games to the god Consus, and Ceres and Liber, to whom stage plays were dedicated.

A reader should know that public shows means the circus games, stage plays, and athletic contests of the Roman world, all of which Novatian traces to idolatry and the devil. He argues that even apart from idolatry these shows are marked by vanity and immodesty, and that Christians have better spectacles in God's creation and in Scripture. The treatise cites Old Testament figures such as Elijah, David, and Daniel without formal book citations, and it alludes to the apostle's athletic imagery in the epistles. The term Eucharist refers to the consecrated body of Christ, which in Novatian's time a believer might carry home from church.

New English from the Latin base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from CSEL 3.3 (1871) (Latin)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.