Section 14 | Dickinson College Commentaries

1. Nec minōrem sub idem ferē tempus eōdem in opere virtūtem ēdidit. nam cum in vīcō quōdam fānō antīquissimō et celeberrimō īgnem immīsisset, in proximam, immō adhaerentem domum agente ventō flammārum globī ferēbantur. 2. quod ubi Martīnus advertit, rapidō cursū tēctum domūs scandit, obvium sē advenientibus flammīs īnferēns. tum vērō mīrum in modum cernerēs contrā vim ventī īgnem retorquērī, ut compugnantium inter sē elementōrum quīdam cōnflictus vidērētur. ita virtūte Martīni ibi tantum īgnis est operātus, ubi iussus est. 3. In vīcō autem, cui Leprōsum nōmen est, cum itidem templum opulentissimum superstitiōne religiōnis voluisset ēvertere, restitit eī multitūdo gentīlium, adeo ut nōn absque iniuriā sit repulsus. 4. itaque sēcessit ad proxima loca, ibique per trīduum ciliciō tēctus et cinere, iēiunāns semper atque ōrāns, precābātur ad Dominum, ut, quia templum illud ēvertere hūmāna manus nōn potuisset, virtūs illud dīvīna dīrueret. 5. tum subitō eī duo angelī hastātī atque scūtāti īnstar mīlitiae caelestis sē obtulērunt, dīcentēs missōs sē ā Dominō, ut rusticam multitūdinem fugārent praesidiumque Martīnō ferrent, nē quis, dum templum dīruerētur, obsisteret: redīret ergō et opus coeptum dēvōtus implēret. 6. ita regressus ad vīcum, īnspectantibus gentīlium turbīs et quiēscentibus, dum profānam aedem usque ad fundāmenta dīrueret, ārās omnēs atque simulācra redēgit in pulverem. 7. quō visō rusticī, cum sē intellegerent dīvīnō nūtū obstupefactōs atque perterritōs, nē epīscopō repugnārent, omnēs ferē Iēsum Dominum crēdidērunt, clāmantēs palam et cōnfitentēs, Deum Martīnī colendum, īdōla autem neglegenda, quae nec sibi nec aliīs adesse possent.

notes

Martin burns a pagan shrine by prevents the fire from reaching neighboring buildings. At Levroux he pulverizes a pagan shrine despite local resistance.

sub idem fere tempus: 'at about the same time'.

eodem in opere: 'in the same task', i.e., destroying pagan shrines and converting the peasants.

proximam, immo adhaerentem: 'nearby, in fact adjacent'

agente vento: 'through the action of the wind'.

cerneres: 'you would see', i.e., if you were there, more vivid appeal to the reader.

quidam conflictus videretur: 'there seemed (to be) a kind of collision', impf. subj. in a result clause.

ibi tantum . . . ubi: 'only at that place where'.

Leprosum: village in Gallia, modern Levroux.

absque: 'without'.

opulentissimum superstitione religionis: 'richly ornamented by pagan superstition' (White).

ad proxima loca: 'to a nearby region'.

cilicio tectus et cinere: 'covered in sackcloth and ashes', a traditional sign of mortification and mourning (Isaiah 58.5, Matthew 11.21). A cilicium is a rug or blanket of goat's hair', a rough material suggestive of austerity.

instar militiae caelestis: 'like a heavenly soldiery'.

rediret . . . impleret: 'he should go back and complete', jussive subjunctive in indirect statement, representing the angels' instructions.

devotus: adverbial, 'zealously, piously'.

inspectiantibus . . . et quiescentibus dum . . . dīrueret: 'watching and being quiet until he demolished'. The dum clause is part of the ablative absolute, and its subj. suggests that dum means 'until such time as', as though the pagans were waiting for him to be done. But Sulpicius uses the indicative in a similar context above, section 13: cum īdem illī, dum templum ēvertitur, imperante Dominō quiēvissent.

redegit in pulverem: 'reduced to dust' (> redigo, -ere).

colendum: (sc. esse) 'should be worshipped' (> colo -ere), passive periphrastic in indirect statement after confitentes.

neglegenda: (sc. esse), 'should be abandoned'.

adesse: 'aid' (> adsum + dat.).

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