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Therefore omitting, or passing by for a little, that crowd of petty
gods, we ought to inquire into the part performed by the great gods,
whereby Rome has been made sO great as to reign so long over so many
nations. Doubtless, therefore, this is the work of love. For they
will have it that he is the king of all the gods and goddesses, as is
shown by his sceptre and by the Capitol on the lofty hill. Concerning
that god they publish a saying which, although that of a poet, is most
apt, "All things are full of Jove." Varro believes that this god
is worshipped, although called by another name, even by those who
worship one God alone without any image. But if this is so, why has
he been so badly used at Rome (and indeed by other nations too),
that an image of him should be made?, a thing which was so displeasing
to Varro himself, that although he was overborne by the perverse
custom of so great a city, he had not the least hesitation in both
saying and writing, that those who have appointed images for the people
have both taken away fear and added error.
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