Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 9 · Excursus 2
¶Of murther of parentes or kinſfolkes called Paricidium.
LAſtly, whiche was moſte heynous of all,Parricidium. he polluteth hymſelfe with the murther of hys brethren: of whiche wicked cryme there are many thynges wrytten in the ciuile lawes ad I. Corneliam de Parricidiis. And as farre as I can gather out of the lawes & Hyſtoryes, in the old tyme the name of that crime was geuen vntounto thoſe whiche murthered their parentes, grandfathers, great grandfathers &c. vntounto thoſe alſo which murthered their ſonnes, neuewes, and ſonnes in the .iiii. degree &c. But afterward Pompeius extended the ſignification therof farther, & they were called Parricidae whiche ſlew their brethren, ſonne in lawes, daughter in lawes, father in lawes, or mothers in lawes, and ſuche other.A lawe of Numa Pompilius Althoughe there was an olde lawe, and geuen by Numa Pompilius: He that wittingly bringeth a man to death, let him be taken for a parricide. And alſo Auguſtine in his 3.Auguſtine. booke de Ciuitate dei the 6. chap. counted Romulus guilty of Parricidium, bycauſe he ſlew hys brother. And there he derideth the Ethnikes, which affirmed that theyr gods ſuffred Troy to be deſtroyed, bycauſe they would take vengeaunce of the adultery of Paris. But howe (ſayeth he) were they fauorable vntounto Rome, when as the builder thereof committed ſtrayght waye at the beginnyng parricidium? But the ſame Auguſtine in his booke de Patientia (which yet is ſuppoſed to be none of his) in the 13. chap. appointeth a certayne latitude or degrees betwene Paricides: for (as he ſayth) he ſinneth more haynouſly which kylleth his parentes or children, then he whiche murthereth his brethren. And he whiche ſleaeth his brethren, offendeth more, then he whiche deſtroyeth thoſe whiche are farther of a kynne. And the wicked cryme of ſleayng parentes or grandfathers, ſemed to be ſo horrible, that at Rome for the ſpace of 600. yeares, from the building of the City it was not committed.Romulus in his lawes made no mencion of Paricidium. An aunſwere of Solon. Yea and Romulus, making no mencion of it in his lawes, and beyng demaunded, why he left it out, aunſwered, that he could not be perſuaded that any ſuche thyng can happen vntounto men. Solon alſo beyng aſked why he lykewiſe by hys lawes reſtrayned not parricidium, aunſwere: that he by occaſion of his lawes would not admoniſhe men of ſo horrible a wicked cryme, and ſtirre them vp vntounto it after a ſorte by hys admoniſhyng. For it oftentimes happeneth that they whiche prohibite certayne vices, prouoke men to fall into them, whiche very often will doo thoſe thynges whiche they are forbidden.
The puniſhement of Parricides.But as for the murther of brethren and kynſfolkes, it was a thing vſed euen from the begynnyng, as all hiſtoryes do teſtifie. And the puniſhement of paricides whiche ſlewe theyr parentes or children was by lawes (as it is had ad legem Corneliam de parricidis) that they ſhould be ſowed in Culeo, that is, in a lether ſacke, & with them were put an Ape, a Cocke & a Viper, & thē they were caſt into the deepe of the ſea, or into the next riuer. But they which ſlewe of their kinſfolkes or couſins, were puniſhed with the ſworde onelyonly. Theſe puniſhementes, if they were at any tyme by the Magiſtrates neglected or winked at, God himſelf puniſhed, as the hiſtory of Samuell declareth of Abſalon, whych ſlew his brother, and moſt cruelly inuaded his father. He ſtriketh alſo with furiouſnes & madnes thoſe men whiche commit ſuch horrible wicked actes, as both the Poetes & alſo the hiſtoriographers write of Nero & Oreſtes. For either of thē whē he had ſlaine his mother, was mad. And it is a cōmō ſaying, yt they which cōmit ſo great a wicked acte,Cicero. cā not be quiet in mynde. Wherfore Cicero in his Oration for Roſcius ſaith, ye certaine yong mē of Terracinēſis which were accuſed for killing their father, wer by this meanes abſolued, bycauſe they wer foūd in ye morning ſleping, for ye iudges could not beleue yt they could ſlepe, which had cōmitted ſo deteſtable an acte. Domitianus alſo whiche ſlew his brother Titus, was killed by ye vengāce of God. And in like maner Baſsianus Caracalla, whē he had deſtroyed his brother Geta. And not to ouerpaſſe our Abimelech, God (as we ſhall heare) ſent an euill ſpirite betwene hym and the princes of Sichemites, and either party was taken with a certaine furie, ſo that at length they deſtroyed one an other.