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Quotes from The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome — Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges

1830–1889 France

← All quotes by Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges

17 quotes

Man may, indeed, subdue nature, but he is subdued by his own thoughts.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

They could maintain their power only while they satisfied the cravings of the multitude, and administered to their passions.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

Then philosophy appeared, and [finally] overthrew all the rules of the ancient polity.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

It is a chaste fire; the union of the sexes must be removed far from its presence.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

The ancient city, like all human society, had ranks, distinctions, and inequalities.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

Ovid himself was forced to admit that Vesta was nothing else than a "living flame."

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

The first rule was, that there should always be upon the altar a few live coals for if this fire was extinguished a god ceased to exist.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

It is our own creation, but we do not know it. It is human, and we believe it a god. It is the effect of our power, and is stronger than we are.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

The upper classes among the ancients never had intelligence or ability enough to direct the poor towards labor, and thus help them to escape honorably from their misery and corruption.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

It was granted to those who had three children, or who served in certain divisions of the army.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

It is a general fact, and almost without exception in the history of Greece and of Italy, that the tyrants sprang from the popular party, and had the aristocracy as enemies.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

The plebs did not obey the senatusconsulta, nor the patricians the plebiscita. There were two peoples at Rome.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

If we compare this worship of the sacred fire with the worship of the dead, of which wo have already spoken, we shall perceive a close relation between them.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

Vesta was the virgin goddess. She represented in the world neither fecundity nor power; she was order, but not rigorous, abstract, mathematical order, the imperious and unchangeable law, which was early perceived in physical nature. She was moral order.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

If the patrician spoke in the name of religion and the laws, the plebeian replied that he did not know this hereditary religion, or the laws that flowed from it. If the patrician alleged a sacred custom, the plebeian replied in the name of the law of nature.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

The plebs saw clearly that by being more independent they were not happier; that they did not form a more regular society than at Rome; and that the problem, whose solution was so important to them, was not solved.

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

There was a double conspiracy in every city the poor conspired from cupidity, the rich from fear. Aristotle says the rich took the following oath among themselves: "I swear always to remain the enemy of the people, and to do them all the injury in my power."

The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1877)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.