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Grice e Conte: la ragione
conversazionale e l’implicatura conversazionale del sacrificio – scuola di
Pavia – filosofia lombarda -- filosofia italiana – Luigi Speranza (Pavia).
Filosofo paviano. Filosofo Lombardo. Filosofo Italiano. Pavia, Lombardia. Grice: “Must say I love Conte – he
has almost the same talent for linguistic coinage that I do! In Italy ‘filosofia del diritto’ is much more respectable a discipline
that it is at Oxford! But Conte managed to keep it philosophically interesting
for the philosopher’s philosopher that I am!” “Conte proves that moral
philosophy is at the heart of philosopohy qua-uni-virtue – for the critique of
reason must include the buletic – and that’s all that Conte dedicates his
philosophy too! Into the bargain, he expands into concepts like sacrifice,
punishment, ‘fiducia’ (my principle of conversational trust), and so much
more!” “He plays with language the way only Heidegger did in German and I in
English!” Grice: “Conte is what I – and Italians – would call a ‘Griceian
conversationali pragmaticist.’” Studia a
Pavia e Padova. Si laurea a Torino sotto Bobbio con “Ius naturale.” Insegna a
Pavia. Si occupa della semiotica del performativo deontico o buletico, la
regola eidetico-costitutive, validità buletica – desirabilita -- deontica, modo
imperativo, prammatica conversazionale – alla Grice. In che cosa consiste
quell’’impero’, dal quale il modo imperativo prende il nome. Altre opere: “Interpretazione
analogica. Pavia, Tipografia del Libro, “Ius ed ordine” (Torino, Giappichelli).
Primi argomenti per una critica del normativismo. Pavia, Tipografia del Libro,
Ricerca d'un paradosso deontico” (Pavia, Tipografia del Libro); Nove studi sul
linguaggio normativo. Torino, Giappichelli); Filosofia del linguaggio
normativo. I. Studi; Torino, Giappichelli, Filosofia del linguaggio normativo.
II. Studi; Con una nota di Bobbio. Torino, Giappichelli); Imperativo ed ordine.
Studi Torino, Giappichelli); Filosofia del linguaggio normativo. III. Studi,
Torino, Giappichelli); Filosofia del diritto” (Milano, Cortina); Ricerche di
Filosofia del diritto” Torino, Giappichelli); “Res ex nomine” (Napoli,
Editoriale Scientifica); “Sociologia filosofica del diritto. Torino,
Giappichelli); “Adelaster. Il nome del vero” (Milano, LED). È inventore del
genere da lui chiamato "eido-gramma" ed autore di numerosi
eidogrammi, solo parzialmente éditi:
Nella parola. Osnago, Pulcino elefante, Kenningar. Bari, Adriatica. "Per
una critica della ragione deontica" (introduzione alla Filosofia del
linguaggio normativo). Pragmatica. Filosofia del diritto Logica deontica Ontologia Performativo
(atto verbale) Pragmatica Semiotica Semantica.To undertake to set forth with
any definiteness the ‘religious’ – or eschatological -- ideas of ''a
Roman philosopher'' – FILOSOFO ROMANO -- would be an extremely difficult
task.Those, ideas would differ with the individual and the sect, being
determined or varied by a number of considerations and influences — by
locality, education, and temperament. SILIO would not hold the
views of SEIO. We may speak of the state religion – colto officiale -- of ROMA,
as distinct from various other ‘religions’ tolerated and practised
in different parts, but it is scarcely possible to define the contents of
that ‘state religion’ – il SACERDOCIO. There are certain special
priests and priestly bodies who see to it that certain rites and
ceremonies are performed scrupulously in a prescribed manner and on
prescribed dates. But these are officers of the state – LO STATO ROMANO
-- whose knowledge and functions are confined to the ritual observances
with which they have to deal. They are not persons trained in a
system of ‘theology’, nor are they preachers of a code of doctrines or
morals. They have no "cure of souls," and belong to no church. They
have no credo and no Bible or corresponding authority to which to refer.
Though most well-informed persons will know the prominent deities
in the calendar — such as IOVE or MARTE, or QUIRINO -- perhaps scarcely any one
but an encyclopaedist or antiquarian could have named one-half of the
total. It is not merely that the deities on the list are so numerous.
There are other reasons for ignorance or vagueness. In the first place,
the line between the operations of one deity and those of another is
often too fine to draw, and deities originally more or less distinct come
to be confused or identified. Secondly, it is often hard, if not
impossible, to make up one's mind whether a so-called deity — such
as SPES — is supposed to have a real existence, or whether it is simply
the personification of an abstract quality. Thirdly, divinities fall out of
fashion, and to a large extent out of memory, while new ones come, or
were coming, into vogue. The state possesses its old-established
calendar of days sacred to a number of deities, and its code of ritual to
be performed in their honour. There are ancient prescriptions as to what
certain priests should wear, what they should do or avoid in their
priestly character, what victims — ox, sheep, or pig — they should
sacrifice, what instruments they should use for the purpose, and in what
formula of words they should pray in particular connections. There is
a standing commission, with the PONTIFICE MASSIMO at this date that
excellent religious authority, the emperor — at its head, to safeguard the
state religion, to see that its requirements are carried out, and
that no one ventures to commit an outrage towards it. But the state will
not tell you with any precision that you must believe in just so
many deities and no others. It would not tell you precisely what notions
to entertain concerning those deities whom it does officially recognise.
The state dictates no theological doctrine; neither does it dictate
any moral doctrine beyond those which you would find in the secular law.
It reserves the right to prevent the introduction of a foreign divinity
if it finds sufficient cause; but so long as the temples, the rites and
ceremonies, the cardinal moral axioms of the Roman ''religion,'' and the
basic principles of Roman society are respected, the state practises
no sort of inquisition into your beliefs or non-beliefs, and in no way
interferes with your particular selection of favourite deities. Poly-theism
in an advanced commimity is always tolerant, because it is necessarily
always indefinite. What it does not readily endure is an organised
attack upon the entire system, whether openly avowed or manifestly
implied. Even undisguised unbelief in any deity at all it is often
willing to tolerate, so long as the unbelief is rather A MATTER OF
PHILOSOPHICAL DIALECTICS than anything else, and makes no attempt at a
crusade. When a state so disposed is found to interfere with a
novel religion, it will generally be easy to perceive that the jealousy
is not on behalf of the deities nor of a creed, but on behalf of the
community in its political, economic, or social aspect. Let us endeavour
to realise as best we can the religious situation among the Roman
population. Though we are not here directly concerned with the
steps by which the Roman religion had come to be what it was, we can
scarcely hope to understand the position without some comprehension of
that development. The Romans are a CONSERVATIVE people, and many of the
peculiarities of their worship are due to the retention of old forms
which had lost such spirit as they once possessed. In the infant
days of the nation there had been no such things as gods in human shape,
or in recognisable shape at all. There were only ''powers" or
"influences'' superior to mankind, by whose aid or concurrence man must
work out his existence. The early Romans and such Italian tribes - as
they became blended with were, as they still are, EXTREMELEY
SUPERSTITIOUS. In a pre-scientific age they, like other peoples, are at a
loss to understand what produces a thunder or a lightning, rain, the
fertility or failure of crops, the changes of the seasons, the flow or
cessation of springs and streams, the intoxication or exhilaration
proceeding from wine, and a multitude of other phenomena. Fire is a
perplexing thing; so is wind. The woods are full of mysterious sounds
and movements. They could comprehend neither birth nor death, nor
the fructification of plants. The consequence is a feeling that these
things are due to some unseen agency; and the attempt is made to
bring those powers into some sort of relation with mankind, either by the
compulsion of magical operations and magical formulae, or by sacrifices and
offerings of propitiation, or by promises. A superhuman power might be
placed under a spell, or placated with food and drink, or persuaded by a
vow. Such "powers" were exceedingly numerous. Greatest of
all, and recognised equally by all, was the power working in the sky with
the thunder and the rain. Its presence was everywhere alike, and its
bperations most palpable at every season. Countless others were
concerned with particular localities or with particular functions. Every
wood, if not every tree, and also every fountain, was controlled by some
such higher 'power'; every manifestation or operation of nature
came from such an 'influence.'' There was no kind of action or
undertaking, no new stage of life or change of condition, which did not
depend for help or hin- drance upon a similar power. At first "the
''powers" bore no distinctive names, and were conceived in no
definite shapes. They were not yet gods. The human being who sought to
work upon them to favour him could only do, say, and offer such things
as he thought likely to move them. But in process of time it became
inevitable that these superhuman agencies should be referred to under
some sort of title, and the title literally expressed the
conception. Hence a multitude of names. Not only was there the
ever-prominent Jupiter or sky-father " ; there was a veritable
multitude^ of powers with provinces great and small. Among the larger
conceptions the power concerned with the sowing of seed was Saturn,
that with the growth of crops was Ceres, that with the blazing of fire
was Vesta. Among the smaller, the power which taught a babe to eat was
Edulia, that which attended the bringing home of a bride was
Domiduca. The ability to speak or to walk was supposed to be imparted by
separate agencies named accordingly. Flowers depended on Flora and
fruits on Pomona. But to assign a name is a great step
towards creating a ''power'' into a ''god,'' and such agencies
began to take shape in the mind of those who named them. This was the
second stage. Jupiter, Ceres, Satmn, and almost all the rest became
"gods." The powers in the woodlands — a Silvanus or Faunus
— became embodied, like the more modem gnomes and kobbolds. Once
imagine a shape, and the tendency is to give it visible form in an image
"like unto man,*' and to honour it with an abode — a temple or
shrine. The earliest Romans known to us erected no images or
temples, but they were not long in creating them. Particularly rapid was
the reducing of a god to human form when they came into close contact
with the Etruscans and the Greeks. For all the important deities
poetry and art combined to evolve an appropriate bodily form, which
gradually became conventional, so that the ordinary notion of a
Jupiter, a Juno, a Mercury, or a Ceres was approximately that which
had been gathered from the statue thus developed. This trouble was not
taken with all the most ancient divinities. Many of the old rural and
local deities, and many of those with quite minor provinces, were left
vague and unrealised. They were represented in no temples and by no
statues. Natiu'ally as the Roman state grew from a set of neighbouring
farms into a great city, and from a small settlement into a vast empire,
the little local gods fell into the background. The deities which
concerned the state, and to which it erected temples, were those
with the more far-reaching operations — such as the gods identified with
the sky and its thunders, with war, with fertility, with the sea, with
the hearth-fire of all Rome. The rest might well be left to
localities or to domestic worship. From the early days of
Rome there existed a calendar for festivals to certain divinities
important to the little growing town, and a code of ceremonies to
be performed in their honour, and of formulae of prayer to be offered to
them. The later Romans, in their characteristic conservatism, adhered to
those festivals, to that ritual, and to those formulae, even when
some of the deities had ceased to be of appreci- able account, and when
neither the meaning of the ritual nor the sense of the old words was any
longer imderstood by the very priests who used them. Reflect
a moment on this situation. First, we have a number of deities of the
first rank, housed in temples, embodied in statues, and recognised in
all the Roman world; next a number of minor divinities whose
operations and worship may be remotely rural or otherwise local, and
whose functions are by no means always distinguishable from those of
the greater gods; then a series of more or less un- intelligible
ceremonials carried out by ancient rule in honoiu" of divinities
often practically forgotten ; outside these a number of vague powers
presiding over small domestic and other actions; finally, a
peculiar Roman tendency — in keeping with the last — to erect into
divinities, and to symbolise in statues housed in temples, all manner of
abstract qualities and states, such as Hope, Harmony, Peace, Wealth,
Health, Fame, and Youth. Reflect agam that, when the Romans, as
they spread, came into contact with Greeks, Egyptians, or other
foreigners, they met with deities whose provinces were necessarily often
identical with or closely akin Fio. 110. — A
Sacrifice. to their own. Then remember that there is
no church and no official document to define the complete list of
Roman gods. Does it not follow, as a matter of course, on the one hand,
that the importation of new gods was an easy matter, and on the other,
that no individual Roman could draw the line as to the number of
even the old-established deities in whom he should or should not
believe? The guardians of the public reUgion were satisfied if the
due rites were paid by the state to those deities, on those. dates, and
precisely in that manner, which happened to be prescribed in the official
religious books. For the rest they left matters to the
individual. So much it has been necessary to say in order to
account for existing attitudes. We must use the plural, since the
attitude of the state officials is but one of several, and, inasmuch as
the state officials themselves were not a theological caste but
only secular servants of the community administering the
regulations for external worship as laid down in the records, it often
happened that their official attitude had nothing to do with their
individual beliefs. Often they did not know or care whether there
was a real religious efficacy in the acts which they performed ;
sometimes all that they knew was that they were doing what the state
required to be done properly by some one. Cicero quotes a
dictum of a Pontifex Maximus that there was one religion of the poet,
another of the philosopher, and another of the statesman. This is
true, but it is hardly adequate. We must at least add that of the common
people. A well-known statement of more modern birth puts the case —
rather too strongly — that at our period all religions were
regarded by the people as equally true, by the phi- losopher as equally
false and by the statesman as equally useful. We may begin with the
ordinary people of whatever station, who were not poets nor thinkers
nor magistrates. It is an error to suppose that such Romans of the first
eentiu'y were either atheistic or indifferent to religion. Their
fault was rather that they were too superstitious, ready to believe
too much rather than too Uttle, but to beUeve without relating their
beUef to conduct. They did not question the existence of the traditional
gods, nor the characters attributed to them; they were ready to
perform their dues of worship and to make their due offerings, but all
this had no bearing upon their own morality. They believed with the
terror of the superstitious in omens and portents, and in rites of
expiation and purification to avert the threatened evil. They were
alarmed by thunder and lightning, earthquakes, bad dreams, ravens seen
on the wrong side of the road, and other evil tokens. They commonly
accepted the existence of maUgn spirits, including ghosts. They were prepared
to believe that on occasion a statue had bled or turned round on
its base; that an ox had spoken in human language; or that there had been
a rain of blood. There were doubtless exceptions, and super-
stition was less dire and oppressive than once it was. More than fifty
years before our date Cicero had said that even old women no longer
shuddered at the terrors of an underworld, and fifty years after it
the satirist asserts the same of children. But both writers are speaking
somewhat hyper- bolically. Doubtless it had been wondered how two
augurs could look at each other without a smile, but there is nothing to
show that even a minority of augurs were acutely conscious of any-
thing to smile at. In the multiplicity of deities the ordinary
people were prepared to accept as many more as you chose to offer
them, especially if the worship attaching to them contained mystic or
orgiastic ceremonies. By this date the populace had become exceedingly
mixed, especially in the capital, and the cool hard-headed Roman
stock had been largely replaced or leavened by foreign elements,
especially from the East. The official worship of the state was formal
and frigid ; it offered nothing to the emotions or the hopes. Many
among the people felt an instinct for something more sacramental, and
especially attractive was any form of worship which promised a continued
existence, and probably a happier existence, after death. Even the
mere mysteriousness of a form of worship had its allurements. Hence a
tendency to Judaism, still more to the Egyptian worship of Isis and
Osiris. The latter made many proselytes, particularly among the
women, and contained ideas which are by no means ignoble but to our
modern minds far more truly ''religious'' than anything to be found in the
native Roman cults. To pass through purification, to practise asceticism,
to feel that there was a life beyond the grave apportioned to your
deserts, to go through an impressive form of worship held every
day, and to have the emotion^-thus worked upon — all this supplied
something to the moral nature which was lacking in the chill sacrifices
and prayers to Jupiter and the other national divinities. In vain had the
authorities, in their doubt as to the moral effects, tried on several
occasions to suppress this foreign worship; it always revived, and it now
held its established place both in the imperial city and in the
provinces, particularly near the sea, for it was especially a sailors'
religion. Rome, like Pompeii, had its temple of Isis and her daily
celebrations. There was, however, no necessary conflict between
this worship and the oflScial religion. It was quite possible to accept
Isis while accepting Jupiter. Nor, though this particular cult has required
mention, must it be taken as belonging to more than a section of
the Roman population. Most Romans would look upon it and other deviations
with acquiescence, some with contempt, and perhaps some with a shake of
the head, while themselves satisfied with an indifferent conformity
to the more estabUshed customs of the state. Setting aside
the devotees of the mystic, the more ordinary point of view was that
between Romans and the established gods of Rome there is an
understanding. The gods will support Rome so long as Rome pays to
them their dues of formal recognition. Their ritual must not be neglected
by the authorities; it is not necessary for an individual member of the
community to concern himself further in the matter. The state, through
its appointed ministers, will make the necessary sacrifices and say the
necessary words; the citizen need not put in an appearance or take
any part. He will not do or say anything dis- respectful towards the
deities in question, and he will enjoy the festivals belonging to them. If
remarkable portents and disasters occur, he will agree that there
is something wrong in the behavioiu* of the state, and that there must be
some public purification or other placation of the gods. If the state
orders such a proceeding, he will perform whatever may be his share
in it. So far he is loyal to the ''religion of the state.''
In his private capacity he has his own wants, fears, and hopes. He
therefore betakes himself to whatever divinity he considers most likely to
help him; he makes his own prayers and vows an offering if his
request is granted. Reduced to plain commercial language his ordinary
attitude is — no success, no payment. A cardinal difference between the
religion of the Romans and our own is to be seen in the nature of
their prayers. They always ask for some definite advantage — prosperity,
safety, health, or the like. They never pray for a clean heart or for
some moral improvement. Of more importance than the man's moral
condition will be his scrupulous observance of the right external
practices. Unlike the Greek, he will cover his head when he prays. He
will raise his hand to his lips before the statue, or, if he is
appealing to the celestial deities, he will stretch his palms upwards
above his head ; if to the infernal powers, he will hold them downwards.
These are the things that matter. At home, if he belongs to
the better type of representative citizen, our Roman has his
household shrine and his household divinities, whom he never
neglects. If he is very pious, he may pray to them every morning, or at
least before every enterprise. In any case he will remember them with a
small offering when he dines. There are the ''gods of the
stores" — his ''penates'' — certain deities whom he has selected as
guardians of his belongings, and who have their little images by the
hearth in the kitchen. There is the household ''protector," or
more commonly there are two, who may be painted under the form of
Ughtly-stepping youths in a little niche or shrine above a small altar. To
these he will offer fruits, flowers, incense, and cakes. And there
is the ''Genius'' of the master of the house, who is also painted on the
wall, or who may be represented by his own portrait bust or by the
pictxu-e of a snake. That "Genius" means the power presiding
over his vitality and health and well- being. If he is an artisan and
belongs to a guild, he will pay special worship to the patron god or
goddess of that, guild — to Vesta, if he is a baker, to Minerva, if
he is a fuller. Out of doors he will find a street shrine in the wall at
a crossing, pertaining to the tutelary god of what may be called his
''parish,'' and this he will not neglect. Like all other orthodox
Romans he will not undertake any new enterprise — betrothal, marriage,
journey, or important business — without ascertaining that the auspices
are favourable. In a general way he has a notion that the
gods are displeased at certain forms of crime, and that they
approve of justice and the carrying out of compacts. The gods overlook
the state, because the state engages them so to do, and therefore to
break the laws of the state is to anger the gods of the state. But
this is rather subtle for the common man, and there is generally no
understood immediate relation between these gods and his moral conduct,
unless he has sworn an oath by one or other of them. The purpose of
calling a god to witness is to bring upon a perjurer the anger of the
offended deity. But he entertains no such conception as the modem one of
"sin" or of "remorse for sin." "Sin" is
either a breach of the secular law or breach of a contract with a
deity, and ''remorse'' is but fear of or regret for the
consequences. His morality is determined by the laws of the
state, family discipUne, and social custom. For that reason his
vices on the positive side will mostly be those of his appetites, and on
the negative side a want of charity and compassion. He may be guiltless
of lying and stealing, murder and violence; he may be honest and
law-abiding ; but there .is nothing to make him temperate, continent, or
gentle. His avowed code is duty,' and duty is defined by law and
tradition. If this is the religious condition of the conunon-
place man or woman — a blend of superstition, formalism, and tolerance —
it is by no means that of the educated thinker. Such persons were for
the most part freethinkers. Many of them, finding no better guide
to conduct, conform to the "religion" of the state without any
real belief in its gods or attaching any importance to its ceremonies.
They do not feel called upon to propagate any other views, and they
probably think the current notions are at least as good fqr the ignorant
as any others. If they are poets, like Horace or Lucan, they will dress
up the mythology, mostly from Greek models, and write fluently
about Jupiter and Juno, Venus and Mercury, either attributing to them the
recognised characters and legends, or varying them so as to make
them more picturesque and interesting — perhaps even improving them — but
all the time believing no more in the stories they are telling^ or in the
deities them- selves,* than Tennyson need have beUeved in King
Arthur and Guinevere. The gods are good poetic material and are sure to
afford popular, or at least in- offensive, reading. The poets doubtless
do something to hiunanise and beautify the popular conception of a
deity, but they seldom deUberately set out with any such purpose. If the
educated are not poets, but pubUc men of affairs, they may beUeve just as
Uttle, and yet regard the established cult of the gods as an
excellent discipline for the vulgar and the best known means of upholding
the national principle of ''duty.'' If they are philosophers they may
not, and the Epicureans in reality do not, beUeve in the gods at
all — certainly not as they are generally conceived — and will
openly discuss in speech and in writing the ques- tion of their existence
or non-existence, and of their character and nature if they do exist.
They will endeavour to substitute for the barren formalism of rites
and ceremonies, or the inconsistent or incomplete traditional morality of
duty, another set of principles as a sounder guide to life and conduct.
Some are monotheists, some are simply in doubt. Says Nero's own
tutor, Seneca, ''Do you want to propitiate the gods? Then be good. The
true worshipper of the gods is he who acts like them."
"Better," remarks Plutarch, "not believe in a God at all
than cringe before a god who is worse than the worst of men."
In the actual worship of images none of them believe. One conspicuous
writer of the time says : "To look for a form and shape to a god, I
consider to be a mark of human feebleness of mind." Concerning the
schools of thought and in particular the tenets of those Stoics and
Epicureans whom St. Paul met at Athens, and whom he could meet in
educated circles all over the Roman Empire, we shall have to speak in a
following chapter, when sununing up the intellectual and moral
condition of the time. Meanwhile it should be under- stood that, though a
profound or anything approaching a professional study of philosophy was
discouraged among the true Romans — more than once the profes-
sional philosophers were banished from the capital — there were few
cultivated persons who did not to some extent dabble in it, and even go
so far as to profess an adherence to one school or another. None of
these men believed in the "Roman religion" as administered by
the state, although many of them were administering it themselves. The
same man could one day freely discuss the gods in con- versation or
a treatise, and the next he might be clad in priestly garb and officially
seeing that the rites of sacrifice were being religiously carried out
in terms of the books, or that the auspices were being properly
taken. It does not, however, follow at all that because poet
or public man cared nothing for the pantheon and all its mythology, he
was therefore without his superstitions. He might still tremble at signs
and portents, at comets, at dreams, and at the un- propitious
behaviom* of birds and beasts. He might believe in astrology and resort
to its professors, called the ''Chaldaeans." On the other hand he
might laugh at such things. It was all a
matter of tempera- ment. It certainly was not every man who dared
to act like one of the Roman admirals. When it was reported that
the omens were unpropitious to an inuninent battle because the sacred
chickens ''would not eat," he ordered them to be thrown into the
sea so that at least they might drink. The freethinkers were in
advance of their times. "Science" in the modern sense hardly
existed, and until phenomena are explained it is hard to avoid a
perplexity or astonishment which is equivalent to superstition.
Consider now these various states of mind — that of the
people, ready to add almost any deity to the large and vague number
aheady recognised ; that of the poet, who finds the deities such useful
literary material ; that of the magistrate or public man, who,
without enthusiasm or necessary belief, regards reUgion as a thing useful
to society; and that of the philosopher, who thinks all the current
re- Ugious conceptions unsound, if not absurd, and morally almost
useless. Manifestly a society so composed will be one of
unusual tolerance. The Romans had no disposition to force their religion
on the subject provinces of the empire. Their religion was the Roman
religion; the rehgion of the Greeks might be left Greek, the Jewish
religion Jewish, and the Egyptian religion Egyptian. Any nation had a
right to the religion of its fathers. Nay, the Jews had such peculiar
notions about a Sabbath day and other matters that a Jew
was exempted from the military service which would have compelled
him to break his national laws. All religions were permitted, so long as
they were national religions. Also all religious views were permitted
to the individual, so long as they were not considered dangerous to
the empire or imperial rule, or so long as they threatened no appreciable
harm to the social order. If a Jew came to Rome and practised
Judaism, well and good. It was, in the eyes of the Romans, a
narrow-minded and uncharitable religion, marked by many strange and
absurd practices and superstitions, but if a misguided oriental people
liked to indulge in it, well and good. Even if a Roman became a
proselyte to Judaism, well and good, so long as he did not flout the
official reUgion of his own country. If the Egyptians chose to worship
cats, ibises, and crocodiles, that was theii^ affair, so long as they
let other people alone. In Gaul, it is true, the emperor Claudius,
predecessor of Nero, had put down the Druids. Earlier still the Druids
had already been interfered with ; but that was because the Druids —
those weird old white-sheeted men with their long beards and
strange magic — are performing human sacrifices — burning men alive in
wicker frames — and such conduct was not pnly contrary to the secular law
of Rome, but even to natural law. And when Claudius finally
suppressed them, or drove the remnant out of Gaul into Britain, it was
not simply because they worshipped non-Roman gods and performed
non- Roman rites, but because they were, as they had always
notoriously been, a dangerous political influence interfering with the proper canying
out of the Roman government. And when we come to Christianity
it must be remarked that, so long as that nascent religion was
regarded as merely a variety of Judaism, it was actu- ally protected by
the Roman power, and owes no little of its original progress to the fact.
In the Acts of the Apostles it is always from the Roman governor
that St. Paul receives, not only the fairest, but the most courteous
treatment. It is the Jews who persecute him and work up difficulties
against him, because to them he is a renegade and is weaning away
their people. To the philosophers at Athens he appears as the preacher of
a new philosophy, and they think him a "smatterer" in such
subjects. To the Roman he is a man charged by a certain com- munity
with being dangerous to social order, to wit, causing factious
disturbances and profaning the temple; and since he refuses to let the
local author- ities judge his case, and has exercised his citizen
privilege by appealing to Caesar, to Caesar he is sent. And, when a
prisoner in somewhat free custody at Rome, note that he is permitted to
speak ''with all freedom,'' and that in the first instance he is
acquitted. True, but the fact remains that Nero bimit
Christians in his gardens after the great fire of Rome, and that certain
later emperors are found punishing Christians merely for avowing
themselves such. Why was Christianity thus singled out? It was not
through what can be reasonably called ''religious intolerance/' for, as
has been said, the Romans did not seek to force Roman religion on other
peoples, nor did they make any inquisition into the beUefs of
Romans themselves. The reasons for singling out Christianity for special
treatment are obvious enough. The question is not whether the reasons
were sound, whether the Romans properly understood or tried to
understand, whether they could be as wise before the event as we are
after it, but whether the motive was what we should call a
religious" one. To allow Epicureans to deny the existence of gods at
all, and to make scornful concessions to the peculiar tenets of
Jews, could not be the action of a people which was bigoted. If there was
bigotry and intolerance, it was political or social bigotry and
intolerance, not reUgious. To prevent any possible misconception let the
present writer say here that he considers the principles of
Christianity, as laid down by its Founder and as spread by St. Paul, to
have been the most humanizing and civilising influence ever brought to
bear upon society. But that is not the point. The early Christians
were treated as they were, not because they held non- Roman views,
but because they held anti-Roman views ; not because they did not believe
in Jupiter and Venus, but because they refused to let any one else
believe in them; not because they threatened to weaken Roman faith, but
because they threatened to weaken and even to wreck the whole fabric of
Roman society ; not because they were known to be heretics, but
because they were supposed to be disloyal; not because they converted men,
but because they appeared to convert them into dangerous characters.
As it has been put, the Christians were regarded as the ''Nihilists"
of the period. We are apt to judge the Romans from the standpoint of
Christianity dominant and understood; it is fairer to judge them
from the standpoint of a dominant pagan empire looking on at a strange
new phenomenon altogether misunderstood and often deliberately
misrepresented. Moreover — and the point is worth more attention
than it commonly receives — we have only to read the Epistles to the
Corinthians, to perceive that the early Christian gatherings were by no
means always such meek, pure, and model assemblages as they are
almost always assumed to have been. Some of the members, for
instance, quarrelled and ''were drunken.". There were evidently many
unworthy members of the new communion, and of course there were also
many manifestations of insulting bigotry on their part. The class
of society to which the Christians belonged was closely associated in the
Roman mind with the rabble and the slave, if not with criminals. What the
pagan observer saw in the new religion was "a pestilent superstition,"
"hatred of the human race," "a malevolent
superstition." He thought its practices to be connected with magic.
The intransigeant Christian refused to take the customary oath in the law
courts, and there- fore appeared to menace a trustworthy
administration of the law. He took no interest in the affairs of
the empire, but talked of another king and his coming kingdom, and
he appeared to be an enemy to the Roman power. He held what appeared to
be secret meetings, although the empire rigidly suppressed all
secret societies. He weakened the martial spirit of the soldier. He
divided f amiUes — the basis of Roman society— against themselves. He was
a socialist leveller. He threatened with ruin all the trades
connected with either the established worship — as amongst the
silversmiths at Ephesus — or with the luxuries and amusements of Ufe.
Those amusements in circus or amphitheatre he hated, and therefore
appeared misanthropic. He not only stood aloof from the religious
observances of the state and the household, but treated them with
contempt or abhorrence. Moreover, at this date, he refused to
acknowledge the one great symbol of the imperial authority. This was
the statue of the emperor. When that statue was set up in every town it
was not understood by any intelligent man that the emperor was actually
a god, or that, when incense was burnt before the statue, it was
being burned to the emperor himself as deity. But just as every
householder had his attendant Genius'' — the power determining his vital
functions and well-being — which was often represented as a bust
with the man's own features, so the statue of the Augustus, ''His
Highness," represented the Genius of that Head of the State, and the
offering of incense was meant as an appeal to the Genius to keep
the emperor and the imperial power ''in health and wealth long to
live." The man who refused to make such an offering was necessarily
considered to be ill- disposed to the majesty and welfare of the Head of
the State, and therefore of the state itself. The Roman attitude
towards the early Christians was partly that of a modern government
towards Nihilists, and partly that of a generation or two ago to a blend
of extreme Radical with extreme atheist. We are not here concerned
with the whole story of the persecution of the Christians, but only with
the situation at and immediately after the date we have chosen. It
is at least quite cer ain that when Nero burned the Christians in the
year 64 he was treating them, not as the adherents of a religion, but as
social criminals or nuisances. How far his notions of Christianity
may have been influenced by Poppaea we do not know. At least he believed
he was pleasing the populace. Grice: “Conte quotes from Aristotle’s
Soph. El. On the ‘homonimia’ of deon’ – “sometimes for the good, but sometimes
for the bad.” Conte distinguishes between semantic ambiguity – surely ‘must’ or
the imperative mode does not have TWO senses – and ambivalenza prammatica.
Since Aristotle is refusing to use Frege’s idea of ‘Sinn’, and keep referring
to ‘semeion’ (Latin segnare) rather, we may well conclude that Aristotle is
just Greek Grice. Conte does not dwell much on the imperative mode. Modo
imperativo is qualified. Modo is qualified as being modo verbale – the mode of
the verb impero. But then the future in French has a ‘valore imperativo.’ Conte
is more interested in the ‘must.’ But surely his quoting from Philippa Foot and
his joint work with von Wright into Kant’s hypo versus cate is very Griceian! On
top, Conte has a taste for local historical analysis and has discovered some
gems in some jurisprudential philosophers of his ‘paese’!” Amedeo Giovanni Conte. Keywords: il
sacrificio, the sorry story of deontic logic, fondatore della logica deontica
al Ghislieri di Pavia, il giuridico, giudicare, giuridicare, impiego, employ
(as noun), employ-ment, empiegamento, Conte e Wright – Wright cited by Grice,
alethic --. Wright on change cited by Grice in “Actions and Events”, Mario
Casotti, Volere, Grice, Volere --. Refs.: Luigi Speranza, “Grice e Conte” –
The Swimming-Pool Library. Conte.
Grice e Contestabile: la ragione
conversazionale e l’implicatura conversazionale di BRVNO al rogo – scuola di
Teano – filosofia casertese – filosofia campanese -- filosofia italiana – Luigi
Speranza (Teano).
Filosofo casertese. Filosofo campanese. Filosofo italiano. Teano, Caserta,
Campania. Grice: “I love Contestabile; I love a philosopher with a sense of
humour! At Oxford, it has become increasingly difficult to
laugh at people’s surnames! But ‘grice’ means ‘pig,’ in Norwegian! – Anyway,
Contestabile contests a revisionist account of Bruno’s life – “surely he wasn’t
a coward – I know because of his links with the Campanella whom my family
supported in his fight against the furriners!” Cacciato con una
telefonata» Intervista di Dino Martirano, Corriere della sera. Con il Psi non
ho ricoperto grandi incarichi ma ho avuto l'onore di essere stato amico di
Craxi. Mi mancherà la politica ma non è una tragedia. Torno ai miei studi, alla
filosofia medioevale. Mi mancheranno certi momenti. Io, che ero stato nel Psi
fin quando la procura della Repubblica lo ha sciolto, ricordo bene i mesi
trascorsi al ministero della Giustizia: col ministro Biondi fummo i
protagonisti del tentativo fallito, però generoso, di riportare la giustizia
sui binari della normalità. Sciolto il partito [Psi], chi si è fatto
maomettano, chi ebreo, chi cattolico. Però sempre socialisti siamo rimasti. Avvocato
e politico italiano Sottosegretario di Stato del Ministero della Giustizia
Presidente Berlusconi Predecessore Sorice Successore Mirone Vicepresidente del
Senato della Repubblica Presidente Mancino Senatore della Repubblica Italiana
Legislature Gruppo parlamentare Forza Italia Circoscrizione Lombardia Collegio Cinisello
Balsamo, Vigevano Incarichi parlamentari Sottosegretario di Stato per la grazia
e giustizia Sito istituzionale Dati generali Partito politico FI Titolo di
studio Laurea in giurisprudenza Professione avvocato. Avvocato e politico
italiano. Laureato in giurisprudenza,
esercita la professione di avvocato. Entra in politica iscrivendosi al Partito
Socialista Italiano (partito a cui è appartenuto fino agli eventi che hanno
travolto tale formazione politica)[1]. In seguito aderisce a Forza Italia,
affermando che in tale movimento politico l'area socialista era ben accolta e
rappresentata. Viene eletto senatore ed è rieletto anche nelle due successive
legislature. Vicepresidente del Senato. Incarichi parlamentariModifica Ha fatto
parte delle seguenti commissioni parlamentari: Affari costituzionali e
giustizia; Difesa. Membro, inoltre, della giunta per le elezioni e immunità
parlamentari. Sottosegretario di StatoModifica È stato sottosegretario di
Stato per la Grazia e giustizia nel primo governo di Silvio Berlusconi. Tutti i
figli e i figliastri del garofano. su qn.quotidiano.net. Adnkronos - Psi: C. a
De Michelis, noi stiamo bene in FI ^ Senato - XIII legislatura Voci correlate Modifica
Governo Berlusconi I Partito Socialista Italiano C., su Senato.it - legislatura, Parlamento
italiano. C., su Senato.it - XIII legislatura, Parlamento italiano. Domenico
Contestabile, su Senato.it - legislatura, Parlamento italiano. Biografie
Portale Biografie Politica Portale Politica Socialismo Portale Socialismo. PAGINE
CORRELATE Fabrizio Cicchitto politico italiano Maceratini politico e
avvocato italiano Scamarcio politico italiano Altre saggi:
Bruno: una revisione contestata” – La storia della filosofia è continua
revisione, e non mi scandalizzo per il revisionismo bruniano. Mi sembra però
che questi non colga nel segno. La vita diBruno, dalla fuga da S. Domenico
Maggiore a Napoli fino al rogo di Campo dei Fiori a Roma, è di singolare
coerenza. È una vita “contro”. L’accusa implicita di opportunismo mi sembra
perciò singolare. E’ vero che, durante il processo, ritratta molte sue tesi, e
avrebbe avuto salva la vita se continua in questo atteggiamento. Alla fine però
si stanca, e scolge lucidamente di morire. È opportunista chi cerca solo
di salvare la pelle, e poi decide di morire perché ritiene che il suoi giudice
ha esagerato? In quanto alla tesi sul Bruno spia elisabettiana, essa non è provata,
anzi è smentita dalla comparazione tra la grafia di Bruno e quella dei
biglietti di spionaggio. Infine, la tesi a proposito della relazione tra
Campanella e Bruno non mi ha mai convinto. Campanella (la sua rivolta e finanziata
dalla nobile famiglia C., come ricorda Firpo nel suo ottimo saggio sul processo
a Campanella) vuole poi un regime “comunista”? A leggere “La città del sole”
non si direbbe. (CA ui i) e iui Mia ba, VA dai ‘agi
LS it Il EGR Ln i \ LA va Di = | Pome Rm
Te ti n. i Li I e Aa Kt Hlirpogt] lb pi n 9 ha So Rif [a E Ji
> a ILLE di pe LIS ia
Giordano Bruno DRAMMA MILANO
Tipografia Commercial n als dtt , TORIO EMANUELE
, Carnevale. {Resta sapore PERSONAGGI BRUNO (si veda)—. . .
Sig. G. SALASSA LORENZO (figlio naturale di GIORDANO BRUNO,
«dot- tato:da).. ... ». > A.D'ANDRADE ROMANO DEI LOMBARDI
«+. > F. MIGLIARA LEANDRO giovine patrizio. S.ra
ANGIOLETTI LAURA figlia di ROMANO. >» A. Busi IL
GRANDE INQUISITORE . Sig. SALVARANI — ROCCO LILLE DAMIANI
ANDREA. Ni agN° UNGUARDIANO) che nonparlano —N. N. UN OsTE
.. Ni Ni Giovani e Nobili Veneziani, Servi di Romano,
Gondolieri, Seguaci di Bruno, Soldati, In- quisitori, Si Servi del S.
Uffizio, Frati e Popolo. L'azione del 1.° e 2.° Atto è in
Veni quella del:3.° e 4.° Atto in Re Anno 1600
ber a pieni Sofee bi; pece
SUIT ZIA PIAZZA IN VENEZIA, Un’Osteria e alcune seggiole. In fondo un
canale praticabile, che traversa la scena. Sul canale un ponte, che
mette in un viottolo, sull'angolo del quale sorge a destra, un magnifico
Palazzo illumi— minato a festa, prospiciente sul Canale. —.Un in-
gresso laterale, illuminato da faci fisse ai muri, con- ducedal viottolo
nel Palazzo. La porta principale verso . il Canale è aperta; durante la
scena seguente, visi vedono approdare gondole, dalle quali scendono
persone ragguardevoli, che, ricevute dai servi, entrano nel
Palazzo. — Sera. i SCENA TI, GIOVANI e NOBILI
VENEZIANI, parte ‘in abiti fanta- stici con mezza maschera al volto, e
parte in abiti comuni, vengono da sinistra, traversano il ponte, e
dalla strada entrano nel Palazzo. LEANDRO, ROCCO ed altri Giovani vanno e
vengono ferman- dosi sulla Piazza, cantando e ridendo, Poi LQ-
RENZO e LAURA. Leandro (accompagnandosi colla
ghitarra) A te, Venezia bella, adorata, A te, mia sposa, la
serenata. HEVVPETIAIAMITEREZI LIA VITE RENTAL rara rr
ovinantosinezineneisevazize vecio sinioneee IVTIPRErTA:Itr rara
rirevenaatos aes szereris cva:i0e vice vi’ veve’ ’avurecovio sr 0uIvI vare ri
[tti STA Hocco (Volgendosi all’osteria)
Leandro, scuotiti! Le mura adori?... Vieni ove brillano
Divini amori, Ove donzelle Cotanto belle Potrai mirar.
Coro dei nobili Al convito n’andiam! alla festa!
Leandro Prima di venir alla gran festa Distruggere io vo’
un'idea funesta! Oste, su via porgetemi Vino di Cipro; a questo
petto ardente - - Occorre del più vecchio e più potente.
Vivan le belle Danzanti; volano.... Gli occhi fiammeggiano
Più che le stelle; Ne’ Joro vortici Mi ruban Vanima.... sui
Crudo gioir! «__°—’—Più non mi muovo Suolo dolcissimo, ir
belt —r__F—rrrrrr n -
a-rt-rvreorosoeeriovoe nueva zeranen sonia mise
eeerarmierereriiovnieteacivoteote0ie Nido mio nuovo!
Muoio in tue braccia... Santo delir! | A te, Venezia
bella, adorata, A te, mia sposa, la serenata,
Coro AI Convito! n’andiam alla festa. (S'appressano in una gondola
LAURA e LORENZO) Eaurna Sul mare immenso — più non
impera Nè sulla terra — che la circonda.Venezia, è fango — la tua
bandiera! Lutto e non feste! — Pianga e s’ asconda. Core
(con alto di cu iosità) E un amante e la sua Della Che
passeggiano alla luna; Laura sembra la sua stella, Ma egli fa poca
fortuna. Seguiam tutti i vaghi amanti, E vediam, se pur n’ è
dato, In fra i suoni, i balli e i canti Di trovar
l’innamorato. È Lorenzo di Giordano, Che fuggì dal
sacro tempio ; lì Lorenzo... il vil, l’insano Che ne porge un
triste esempio. Lorenzo (con ira) . È rivolta a me
l’offesa? L’alma freme, batte il core! - Già suonaron
l’ultim’ ore; - E voi tutti io sfiderò. Laura E
rivolta a te I’effesa; rato L’alma freme, batte il core!... Già
suonaron l'ultim’ ore Io con te li sfiderò. (LORENZO furente si
scaglia contro ROCCO, e gli toglie la spada. Gli altri NOBILI
sguainano. le proprie e si schierano în fondo) SCENA
II. Detti, ROMANO dei LOMBARDI entra frettoloso dalla casa
di destra, seguito da servi con torce accese, Bomano
Chi grida? Chi chiama? Qual chiasso villano? Non son cîttadini, ma plebe
briaca ! Lorenzo, tu?... Il ferro in mano hai snudato?....
Parla! Che avvenne! Sei pazzo ?... Ti placa!... Laura (atterrita
alla vista del padre) Che mai dirà Al Genitor?...
pa Voce non ha, Non ha più cor. Lorenzo (con
timore) Che mai dirò AI Genitor?... Voce non ho,
Non ho più cor. Leandro (con circospezione) Il segno
di croce facciamoci... e andiam via! Quel vecchio è uno sgherro dell’
Inquisizione. Partiamo, fuggiamo... La belva più ria, E un angelo a
petto di questo demòne. Romane (ai Nobili) Non chiedo
ragioni di vostra contesa, Fra tenebre nacque... in tenebre resti;
E calmi la notte col sonno gli. ardori Di giovani folli, di stolti
furori.... Partite! Or è cauto lontani restar. Coro di
Nobili (infimoriti da Romano). Fuggiam dal feroce Vegliardo
Romano : Col fiato ne ammorba Il truce, l’insano;
nea Qui tutto è sospetto.... Amici, fuggìam. 1 NOBILI,
it CORO, LEANDRO e LAURA sì riti- rano pel ponte ed entrano nel Palazzo.
L’OSTE ha chiuso ed è scomparso durante la rissa, ROMANO fa un
cenno ai Servi di allontanarsi. SCENA III. ROMANO e
LORENZO Romano Vengo, tu il sai, da Roma; e il Santo
Re e Pontefice armava il braccio mio. ‘Or sotto il ferreo terribil
manto Della suprema Città di Dio L’ Inquisizione veneta sta;
E a Roma solo ubbidirà. Dell’ eresia le vampe infeste Soffocherò —.
tutte le teste D’ un colpo all’ idra io troncherò.
Lorenzo Fu il Campanella scoperto e preso? Romano
Libero ei 8° agita... Ma il gran sovrano De’ rei, che Italia e il mondo
ha acceso Contro la Chiesa santa, è Giordano. Presso i suoi complici
quì ascoso stà! Lorenzo Odio quel uomo tanto... tel
giuro. Romano Non basta odiarlo: questo io non
curo; Tu quì arrestarlo ora dovrai: (Musica da ballo
neil’interno del Palazzo) In fra le maschere lo scoprirai,
Ed il porrat — nelle mie man. Lorenzo Si chiede un atto di
traditor?... Romano Queste ai novizi prove si dan.
Lorenzo Tradir ricuso; son uom d’onor. Romano (con sdegno)
A me tu, folle, devi?... RANA RARA pinete
Lorenzo Obbedienza ! Homano Ed alia Chiesa! Trema... .
Lorenzo (soffocando il furore) Obbedienza! Romano Dunque
?... Lorenzo (con sottomissione) Giordano io scoprirò! Eomano
(ricomponendosi) Tuci giovanili e schictti Modi ti gioveran, se
manca il senno Di età maggior, Tuo sguardo onestà; ispira, K assai
tua voce ad ascoltarti attira. Per la grand’ opra non sarai solo,
D’altri miei fidi 1’ aiuto avrai; Pronto a miei cenni sempre
sarai, Uno per ‘tutti sia il mio voler. Lorenzo (con dolore)
L’iniqua trama ahi mi colpisce! La terra, il cielo pur n’
hanno orror!... Vile è colui, ch’ altri tradisce, Nè v' ha
pietade pel traditor. ERomano (imperioso) Come voglio, sia
fatto. Or d’ altro; è m'’ odi. Dal dì che ardenti e improvidi
Sguardi su Laura hai posti, Travolto dalla subita Cicca passion tu
fosti; N | Una rea febbre 1° agita Tutte le membra o
siolto, E vedo nel tuo volto Il fuoco del delir.
Bada! io ti scruto, o giovine, E leggo il tuo desire; Guai se tal
fiamma ignobile Io non vedrò svanire. Tu sogni; ma chi vigila
l'e per tuo ben consiglia; Dimentica mia figlia, O trema del tuo
ardir. (parte da sinistra mentre sì volge ancora con fiero
sguardo su LORENZO). Lorenzo (con dolore): SO Solo
alfin... solo quì sono... Piangere, impallidir, tremar t’è dato sa
Povero cor! Ma dannate in eterno ei Son mie lacrime in lor foco
d'inferno. Ci i . . 0 cielo, perchè l’aere Fa A ._ ©. Spargi
de’ tuoi profumi? CRT a O terra perchè il giubilo. SA
Delle tue stelle assumi? © nare: A me negata è l'estasi. da D’ ogni
dolcezza umana, No: ae d'ogni gioia lè vana (ale EZIO Larva,
che fugge ognor; TERIOS L’ amor che è riso d’ angioli, 0; Di
Nel povero mio cor. i Strazio divien di dèmone, WA Delirio
agitator. pr | Amar non posso... 0° AARON] eta P, ‘L'odio mi
restag» SS CE ao ag Son stretto a questa to; LR 1 sur aRatalità.
EI _: Vò di te vincere. | Con santo zelo, .. Servir vo’ il
Cielo... E questa l’ ultima . «Mia volontà. (parte con fretta
per il ponte). ‘ Cala la Vela. arnie, Affo
Secondo onere ge oi SALA NEL PALAZZO LOREDANO
Una splendida sala da Ballo nel Palazzo di Lore- dano a Venezia,
con colonnato per modo che si possa figurare l’accesso in altre sale.
Illuminazione splen- didissima. SCENA L Coro
degl’Invitati ($ acc incanto dell’ebbre sale!
Che ballo immenso! Sarà immortale. Quest’ è la reggia della
letizia; Il, paradiso. d’ ogni. delizia. Deh! non fuggire, tempo;
t’ arresta; Bearsi al lungo delir giocondo Della fatata splendida
festa Tutto in. Venezia vorrebbe il mondo. {Gl’invitati
s'allontanano in varie parti) SCENA ILL GIORDANO
entra con cautela e colla maschera in mano, poi gli amici.
drrezadzanzecezanconca n ionici oc. c0100 dna
enricicondiizeotentoro neo dan'ontooarcrroniòolo /Tasos signor cecanzara anee
Giordano Quì ognun danza e delira Spensierato e
demente. E niun ragiona, E senno e cuore ha niuno. x
tutto quì è in periglio, ove il Leone Alato di San Marco
Prostrato dalla Santa Inquisizione Ai piè, scordò il
ruggito Di cui tremò per secoli ogni lito (volgendosi in
fondo) Ecco gli amici: ma assai lenti e scarsi. Alcuni dei
Primi Luce! Giordano Giustizia a tutti! E Primi E
verità! Alcuni dei Secondi [venendo oltre) Luce
! Giordano Giustizia a tutti E Secondi E libertà!
Giordano Grazie diletti ! Sian pochi i detti; Molta
l’opra. A ingannar V'astuta Corio Dei biechi Inquisitori Ho scelto
queste sale Di Loredano. È pronto ognuno ? Coro
Ognuno! Giordano L’ ardir pari del vero alla
grandezza? Ed uniti? Coro Siam tuoi, Giordano
Bruno! Giordano e Coro Nel popol vero s’ incominci 1’
opra: S° illumini! Bugiarda è la parola Di Roma e il
suo Re, che Dio si noma, Sull’ alma i Papi vogliono l’ impero
Per posseder la terra; E coi libri e col braccio
tt Viva facciasi ovunque eterna guerra Allo
spirito, al verbo, a ogni menzogna, Con che farci suoi schiavi Roma
agogna SCENA III. DETTI e LAURA che entra anelante
dalla sinistra colla maschera in mano. Enura Signor,
fuggite! Giordano Io? no! non fuggo. Coro
(insospettito) Fuggiamo.... È pazzo! (fuggono da va»ie aio
Giordano (con ira) Vili! Tu hai fede? (a Laura) ERaunna
(sempre ancelante) Gran Dio! In queste sale Circondavi un
estremo ‘ Periglio. Per voi tremo... Fuggite per pietà.
IIIEEZZZERETET TEZIEXIZZELUPPEE PE CETO CE TI CE CES CECI ICI IA CIT ALIZICI
AZIO LETO EI Va besasnza rea dI gra rirvarai tion Giordano
(simulando) Fuggir?... Da chi fuggire? Laura Da
tutti! I delatori, Cui fia virtù tradire, Vi cercano là
fuori... Son mille a me ben noti, Fierissimi e devoti
Al sacro Tribunal. Giordano (sorpreso) Mi
conoscete? Eguana A Padova Vi scorsi il«dì che
ardito Nel fiume vi gettaste, E un fanciullin tornaste Vivo
al materno sen. L’ Inquisizion seguiavi Co’ mille sgherri
suoi Per arrestarvi; e voi Tra il popolo festante Poteste in
un istante Securo allor fuggir. Giordano (simulando la
calma) Bruno era quegli, che allor miraste! Io non lo
sono!... Mal giudicaste, . — 20— i
Laura (sorpresa) Credetti... ho divinato! © ;
Voi siete il gran filosofo. Giordano Oh certo s’ è
ingannato Il vostro giovin cor. Laura Perdonate se un
lembo alzo del velo, Che a me vasconde... (solleva: dl velo) Io v'
ho scoperto!... siete... Celarvi non potete... Giordano E chi
son io? Laura Giordano Bruno, cittadin di Nola!
SCENA IV. (Durante quest’ultimo colloquio, LORENZO entra
da destra, LEANDRO da sinistra; si fermano in - fondo, e, non
veduti funno alto di attenzione). “erimmiberarisisaorizeoeee
— Mi — nisi bro aravrariszazazezea ripa paio
: Lorenza ngi Ho. in mani, alfin 1, dai i ‘Ch’ ha
Italia avvelenato; ‘Salvo da Ini mille: anime! a Il mondo mi sia.
EH 9 Leandro (LormNZO | con simulata ironia) % TAL il
salverài, mia “tnamo, | ) È quegli'il gran? ; Filosofo) di
Il celebre Giordanb. VESTA Dal Tribunal del Dèmoni Ù
401 1 PR. E O ARNO E ‘J RARE. | Baura (| ‘801 ‘presa vi
ala PISAE) | dia 39 DS IDE Lorenzo! dui GicoL..
(a o pi di te-che mai sarà? F a iI Gietiala
(con dolore) Fui tradito !..-Oh cerudoltà So IV I
Santo phrto) Tana ‘in Cactpnse deg Di palpiti, di ladina
, Tempo,non è, mio cuore; .: .Salvarlo, fat Miracoli. DERE eo
-0t devo ame l'amore. OL DI Giordano © La luce
tua mi sfolgora, Fanciulla, nel pensiero; Se il
mio profeta! Libero Trionferà il mio vero. (poi fissando
LORENZO) Quel volto! V° è 1’ immagine Impressa di
Teresa... Misto è quel volto... e annunziami La gioia ed il
dolor! (Prendendo per mano LORENZO) Giovane, dimmi:
sei tu di Roma? La tua favella mel dice... Parla! Dimmi: tua
madre come sì noma? Teresa forse? Lorenzo Teresa?...
Sì! SCENA V. (In fondo appare ROMANO con SERVI e
SOLDATI poi vengono gl’Invitati). Giordano L’
inquisizione! Oh quale orror! (a Lorenzo) E tu con essa? Ah
traditor! o Io a te la vita diedi... e la morte - Tu, iniquo,
appresti al Genitor!... A te l’ inferno schiuda le porte... Sii
maledetto, vil delator. fekresrey=neoan0enencastec pregsoneeaossog
@zor—rorerovrse ereeeericrone cer csvpirtetronertpariosonnen contiene
nanenene Lorenzo Tu... padre mio? Che mai feci
io!... Padre, perdonami _Se pur ancora ‘ Merto
pietà. GU INVITATI che riappariscono da destra e sinistra e
detti. GI Envitati e Leandro La festa è
orrenda! Fuggiamo tutti; Qual tradimenti! > > Keco
distrutti --- Degl’ innocenti Gli almi piacer. HEomano
Grazie, o Ciel! Nelle mie mani Or Giordane io vedo tratto!
Roma esulti...! Il suo desìo Finalmente è soddisfatto.
Lerenzo Orrenda infamia! Tu il. padre mio?... Ah me
infelice! Che mai fec? io! Padre, perdonami... O Ciel, pietà! ERA
EeIOrtitiezast:nuvo cene cen vinariesazyaza cc uPONPPA PESSANO MT RI
Laura (a GIORDANO) Delle amarezze il calice Berrò con
te, Giordano; Già in seno il duolo squarciami Il core a brano
a brano; Peno per te, pel figlio Mio primo e solo
amor. Leandro Oh come ovunque penetra La santa
Inquisizione ! Come sarà terribile La sua imputazione !
In lui perdiamo un figlio, Che della patria è onor. Giordano
(4 LAURA) Ah no! Laura, non piangere... Giordano ha l’alma
forte ! Pel Vero è pronto a vincere Il duolo pur di
morte! Dio deh! ritorna il figlio A Laura e al
Genitor, Lorenzo Sento nel seno piovermi D'un
aspro duol le stille!... Il padre... oh! il padre scorgere
ab 0); Temon le mie pupille! Com'è infelice un figlio
Ribelle al genitor ! Romano Entro mi serpe un fremito,
Che mi sconvolge il core, Veggendo quest’ eretico Di scismi
banditore, Che, della Chiesa*figlio, Divenne traditor!
Leandro Tu piangi?... Incauto, a Lui {affida Pel suo
perdono; ma l’alma infida Nel suo rimorso gran pena avrà.
Coro (a LORENZO) Che piangi?... Ognuno vile ti grida;
Se’ un traditor; se’ un parricida! Nè Dio, nè il mondo n’avran
pietà. (I SOLDATI circondano GIORDANO e cala la tela/.
IITTTTAAEIAIII RA CORTI Affo
Cerzo IN ROMA Sala nel palazzo dell’Inquisizione. — In
fondo, nel mezzo della parete una cortina nera che chiudela scena,
— A sinistra una finestra aperta con ferriata. In fondo un tavolo
coperto con un tappeto nero, a cui siedono il grande INQUISITORE e DUE
SCRIVANI; ai lati siedono gl’INQUISITORI, e, di fronte, GIORDANO, R0MANO
e LORENZO, — Porte a destra e a sinistra. SCENA I.
Romano {> iordano! Voi siete’ D’innanzi ai vostri
giudici, al supremo Tribunal della terra! E qui dovete, Smésso
l’antico stile, Risponder vero, obbediente, umile. “cà
ra G. Inquisitore Vostro nome è Giordan Bruno?
Giordano Di Nola. mrantsiorizea nano AMDI ATTI
ANI ANAZANAZA NZ RATTI TIT IATA TERI ri prenpaniananan ananarenaenzana
G. Inquisitore Vi conosciamo! Voi correste in terre
D’eretici; lè in Praga, in Francoforte. ‘ E predicaste spesso agl’
infedeli La santissima Chiesa dileggiando Di Roma,
tutti i novator germani Esaltando. D’ Iddio 1’ essenza in false
Forme sponeste; come v’ inspirava Mal talento. D’ Iddio la legge in
pubblici E in segreti convegni commentaste; Le coscienze fùr
guaste. Giordano Mentite! Solo io dissi agli
uomini Il mondo ha una visiera Di antiche, immense tenebre ;
Cerchi la luce vera. Dio vuol che l’uomo spinga L’acuta sua
pupilla Fin dove in cielo brilla L’eterno suo splendor.
Coro d’Inquisitori D’ anime felle Empia utopia!
Il tuo, ribelle, Un Dio non è. Non ha che larve - Tua
fantasia; .0 & gi ver disparve ; “Se in eresia ft fo i AI
fuoco, ‘al fuoco: © Sia condannato! 1 “REP carcer. poco, s ra
! tal OmpIO, egli de (Si apre la cortina’ dalla’ quale ‘escono
pina DTA io GRANDE INQUISITORE, quindi ROMANO, poi gli SCRIVANI,
‘gi ISQUISITORI, ed sea pIoR-SSf DANÒ accompagnato, dalle GUARDIE. : Gala
la cortina e solo LORENZO rimane în ‘scend), DÒ dt e Laura
01,3 (LAURA entra dalla' sinisird e presi itasi) di LORENZO
| in atto supplichevole). SÉ Roe dia eor ATI v
Rat Laura! moi (HI dÉ tia Koi i È &
Loréiizo i «105 si vo MREPSRI RATA GIL
Lorenzo Di ea DO Ur PA Ale 2 i sd Met: la "I Che
vuoi tut ot Raid) fai I nSetdi o SERRA 2 Senti la
ToRe.e. un uomo Rico tu soi. “ rE: Lorenzo
Tinura! Da me che brami? Sento straziarmi il cuore...
Laura Ah! tu il padre salvar déi, Se una belva ancor non
sei. Lorenzo Tact Laura! Il ver dicesti È
mio padre! Io lo sentìa Quando'.il labbro suo: terribile. Me
colpevole maledia. È mio padre! Ancor lo sento AI perenne! e
fier tormento.‘ ©’ Che m’ opprime e strazia il cor. Laura
| Pietà del misero. Tuo genitor. Lorenzo
L’accento tuo terribile E un dardo al traditor. ebic
Laura Lorenzo. it i #1) Ma shananorazi scenza
sanacenencacaee cena sane
oeanconeesccnionaacea—ea—e@ce0cui0reò’npsQa”ncceinci’’’ ne Agp
ipmpasrssssso— Lorenzo Nol posso! Laura
Va da me lungi, o perfido, Se nieghi al genitor
Salvar la vita. E sorga il dì terribile Che
ognuno, o traditor, Ti nieghi aita. Lorenzo
Taci!.... e che far poss’ io? Laura Aiutarmi a
salvarlo; tu lo puoi! ‘Ei fugga da quell’ orrida Fossa in serena
terra, Ove su lui degli uomini Taccia sì cruda guerra.
Ove un demén carnefice Non trovi nell’ amico, Nel figlio, un
traditor; Ove il sovran suo spirito Onnipotente e pio
Possa inalzarsi libero Di tutti al Padre, a Dio; E
riabbracciar qui un figlio, Che traviò pentito, Stringendolo al suo
cor. . pra, im masasena nanasasesc’poossoncostor09posporooscoesaesose®
Lorenzo Quell’ardire, che in volto a te brilla, La speranza,
la fede m' ispira: E una sacra, divina favilla Della
fiamma, che tarde nel cor. Raura e Lorenzo (assieme)
Con te nutro la credula speme, Che a giustizia il trionfo sorrida;
Siamo uniti per vincere insieme Od insieme da forti morir.
(partono). Muta la scena. — Carcere di GIORDANO con porte in fondo:
dentro vedesi un giaciglio di pietra, una seg- giola ed un tavolo su cuì
arde una lampada. — A sinistra una scala da cui si accede agli
Uftizii del- l’ Inquisizione. Giordane (seduto sul giaciglio)
«Ecco, o Roma, l’eretico In questo tetro carcere rinchiuso !
Del sangue suo dissetinsi I tuoi Inquisitori Ebbri di
gioia in lor ciechi furori! (Gleaso Sul rabido rogo dall’empio
innalzato La fiamma divampa sanguigna e stridente, Ma
in mezzo all'incendio securà possente Del martire invitto la voce
s’ udrà. Il rogo non strugge — la libera idea; Ma, eterna fenice —
risorge o sfavilla; Del vasto creato — nel verbo s'inslilla Te
dense tenebre — del mondo a fugar. In mano ai carnefici — chi, miser, mi
trasse, Tu fosti, mio figlio; — tu sli maledetto ' 9 Ma no
maledirti, + ma no, nol poss’io: La morte è un trionfo — per me, figlio
mio! SCENA IV. LORENZO apre con furia la porta del
fondo che mette nel carcere; indi entra anche LAURA. Entrambi «$0NO
Raealii in domino nero come i servi del- V’ Inquisizione.
Lorenzo (di piedi di GIORDANO) Padre mio! Tuo figlio...
Giordano Non sogno! Lorenzo Si, son io, ch’ hai
maledetto ; Ma figlio tuo! Ripeti un altra volta La tua maledizione
i Coll’ accento d’ un padre, ed al mio cuore Più cara suonerà di
quel che fora Del sacerdote la benedizione ; Ah! lasciami
morir a pieid tuoi. TIrCItIVISIÀ
poorrcensersantisaazuztt=veSnII=TIERERA TATE conuaca riv ertaziori (apusa ra
rara zar sara ra bist enaneronesane ‘Giordano Felice è un tal
momento! A me t’ adusse Iddio; Ora tu sei redento! M’
abbraccia, o figlio mio. Lorenzo Padro' i] mio cuore un
balsamo Nella tua voce trova! Col tuo perdon risorgere
Mi sembra a vita nuova. Laura Redento il figlio,
accoglierlo Ben può il paterno core; Quale inattesa grazia
!.., Disparve ogni terrore. Mutti (inginocchiandosi)
Gran Dio, che fra le angoscie Apri a quest’ alma il riso,
E mesci ai loro spasimi In terra un paradiso. A
te, che i santi vincoli Riannodi di natura, Salga da queste
mura L’ inno de’ nostri cor. Giordano (STO ER Dal
fondo del cor mio 2/0 SARA Grazie a te sien, gran Dio! a
Pi E | SCENA V. re k » à, s ER wr: DETTI,
e ROMANO, che presentasi in cima della >° dente.
Fissa collo sguardo LORENZO, indi scende rapidamente. Lo seguono il
GUARDIANO Retles va x carceri e i SERVI del S. UHEIZIO: - da
si ‘Romano < È Come tu qui?... La figlia ancor Di vedo, ea Oh
mio furore ' eco 3 F : x Laura e Lorenzo 00 o O qual terror! >
ua | » Romano È ‘ Giiordano..- Questa ou fatale a me una
figlia nn dio Spa ma a te la vita. (LEANDRO, il GUARDIANO delle
carceri ei SERVI. del S. UFFIZIO mascherati ed armati si ap-
d pressano). Lg i VEL 7 Pi AE Li
unisoseorevrespropeosovo ” Romano (a GIORDANO) Trencar ti
voglio, qual vile stelo; Delle tue carni la terra e il Cielo Io
colle fiamme consolerò. Lorenzo Ed io fidato m’ ero a tal
jena ? Tutto l’inferno qui si scatena, E cielo e terra han di te
orror. Laura e Leandro Sublime martire! La tua gran
vita Tronca in un lampo tra l’infinita Gioia... Qual strazio sento
nel cor! Giordano Del mio carnefice sul volto scritto Sta col
livore il suo delitto; Solo dal Cielo giustizia avrò. Romano
(a° Soldati) Innanzi al Tribunal condotto sia. Coro (Servi e
Soldati) S'innalza un turbine Di guai novelli. Su de’
fratelli — Tratti in error. E l’empio eretico < «N°
è lavcagionez 9:13 <L Maledizione Sul corruttor! Al rogo
ignifico ‘ Condotto Sia. © Chi l’eresia Tra noi portò. Legge
inviolabile Il turbolento A tal tormento Già condannò. RIC
FROCIO RA ATONTAITA Atto Quarto Gran sala nel Palazzo
dell’Inquisizione in Roma. Nel fondo una Galleria apertà sostenuta da
colonne, fra ile quali: si, aprono grandi fin:stre che lasciano
tra- vedere le cupole e i colli di Roma. — Porta: a de- stra e a
sinistra. — Nelmazzo un tavolo con quattro candelabri. — Siedono al
tavolo il grande INQUI- SITORE, ROMANO e ) UE SCRIVANI. — DUE SERVI
«ai. lati, quindi gl’ INQUISITORI, i SCENA I. Coro
d'Inquisitori || |) eo nembo dall’aere piove Lupa ' Di
Giordano su:l’empia cervice! "Non v'ha niun che l’appelli
infelice, Non v'ha cor che si muova a pietà. Pronto è il
rogo, la fiamma divampa... E pur essa la vittima è pronta !
AI gran Nome Cristiano quest’onta. Or. dal fuoco purgata sarà.
} SCENA II, Giordano (appressandosi). O sommo
Inquisitor! Giunta è l'estrema Ora, che me a gran
prova. al rogo. appella! G. Inquisitore (alle guardie) Fuor della
porta vigilate ! (le guardie e i servi partono) O
Bruno Di Nola! Quest’ è 1’ ora che vi chiama Alla prova del
fuoco.... a morte.... 0 a vita Lieta d'ogni uom nel mondo! E a voi
concesso Ciò e’ ha nessuno fu giammai; la scelta Fra la vita e la
morte! Scegliete. E in, vostre man la vostra sorte! Giordano
(Mi tentan!) Che si vuol da ms? Parlate. G. Inquisitore Qui
in faccia a tutti, dichiararvi figlio Della Romana Chiesa ora e in
eterno E vi doniam la vita; rimarrete Prigion; ma al figlio libertà
darete! Giordano. Dèmone tentator! Nol vò.... nol posso! G.
Inquisitore (qa RomaANO)] Perduto! Udiste ?... La sentenza è
data! (Parte coi servi, Le guardie circondano GIORDANO e partono. Romano
(in preda a soffocato sdegno). Cieco sirumento io sono all’empie
voglie Di costoro! Ubbidir sempre... e frattanto Spezzare di mia
figlia il vergin core, Serbando la mia vita al lutto e al pianto! O
Laura, tu l’adori D’averno il rio Filosofo, Che con l'accento
magico Tuo cuor conquise già. Or ei morrà sul rogo!... Ma
temo per mia figlia. Dal duol trafitta, all’empio Vicina ella
cadrà!... Senza la figlia, il padre Più viver non potrà. To
l’adoro! In lei Tiposi Ogni speme ed ogni alta; La mia luce, la mia
vita Con la sua si spegnerà. Volgi, o Dio su me, su lei Un
tuo sguardo protettor, E la figlia, che perdei Deh! ridona al
genitor. (ROMANO parte da sinistra e nell'uscire si. moontra con
LAURA). Laura (apprdssandosi ‘a ROMANO) Ah! padre caro, mi
benedici! Quel divin spirto, che t’empie il core, Io pur lo sento!
Odio i nemici Di quel gran ùomo;-che' giùsto muore. Ma tu, che. il puoi,
deh! tu lo salva;; Se Do, «con Lui io morirò. :
(Romano La rea fiamma, che in cor ti VE Per chi scuote de’
Papi l’impero, Sulla fronte il delitto’ ti Stampa Che tu svolgi nel
cupo pensiero... “Salvo tu vuoi Giordano ? Iniqua ! Nol
sperar... tu Il chiedi > invano. i (parte) Laura (con
disperazione) Più di salvarlo non v' ha speranza! L’
ala nel tempo batte spietata! Ah! la fatale ora 8° avanza. i Con te
Giordano io morirò. ( prende il veleno) A morte infame traggono. ;
L’ apostolo del vero; Ma dal suo rogo. pallida; | La fiamma
sorgerà. Che sovra. il cieco popolo... La luce porterà;
COLERE Nè più potrassi spegnere Quel fuoco che foriero Sarà di
libertà. | Coro frecta judicate filù hominum
Laura Quai voci ascolto! Lugubre E questo il canto
estremo, Ch’ ora al supplizio adduce- L’apostolo del Ver.
Coro Recta judicate fili hominum Laura Con te
Giordano! Morir voglio! Al gaudio tuo volar desio. SCENA Ve
{LORENZO e LEANDRO col corteo funebre s’inol- trano nella scena. GIORDANO
Tifo, le guardie si fa avanti nel mezzo). Giordano. Gran Dio! la
vittima. Tu vedi pronta Il rogo a scendere \a 1 1 Per
la tua, fe; CERRI TERA ee L'ira de’ perfidi, Ovunque.
conta, Oggi terribile Piombò su di me. Coro
Etenim in corde iniquilates operamini; Injustitias manus vestrae
concinnant. Lorenzo. Si squarcino le tenebre Or dell’uman
pensiero, E torni vivo a splendere Il sol di verità, Che
strugga alla tirannide L’ atroce maestà, E’ incenerisca i
fulmini Del mistico nocchiero Nella futura età.. Giordano e
Leandro Da’ rei carnefici Il rogo ardente Pel nuovo
martire E posto là; Ma la giustizia Di Dio clemente Le
braccia schiudere A Lui vorrà. GIORDANO circondato ddlle guardie parte
col corteo. Leandro, Cero (partendo) In terra injustitias manus.
vestrae concinnant. (LORENZO s’appressa a LAURA, che si troverd,
vicina. a ROMANO), i Lorenzo (con disperazione)
O Padre, addio. Per me l’estrema Ora fatale suonata è già?
Guarda tuo figlio, che più non trema Nel vendicare la verità.
A me di Laura l’amor fu tolto : Perchè un mistero buio
sognai... Ah! padre, credilo, tutto: ignorai; Solo or la luce
scorgo del Ver. ER omamno Lorenzo! Lorenzo
[trattosi dall’ abito uu pugnale, si ferisce. Laura! Laura (riavendosi
avvicinasi a LORENZO) Al gaudio Ei vola. Romane (sorreggendo
LORENZO) Serbate a quanti spasimi E il povero mio cor?
o aaravai -ercerecote e merie—i ve oraconcorsoee «n -
peacee -LilsSTFri= pone rete na dor e. Lorenzo È tardi, o
padre, il piangere... . Anche Lorenzo... muor! (gli cadde ai
piedi). Romano. /Odesi “una campana a lenti rintocchi; avvicinandosi
a LAURA e sorreggendola/ Orribil pena mi strazia il core...
Un disumano fui genitore...! Non v’ha infelice al par di me!
Laura (presso LORENZO) Lieta è quest’ ora... della mia
vita... Bel paradiso la via... m’ addita Giordano.... Io volo... In
ciel... con tel (Da una finestra vedonsi le fiamme del rogo, ed
un urlo di popolo annunzia la fine dello spettacolo. Cala la
tela], op de nia - oe vr 2A SN DI
LESANIA AL TR I RRIA Ji ) _ DE sa NI Ao AME Ta0 “Si 1
iL VPI, | ati Lion "Ul ci Li TR PSR
= Hi (i dI - Un pi Hi 3 i si f VI %
Y, ILA } 4 ” ; A Yy 4 Pi f f lo L É } 1} Ì
; A A Domenico Contestabile. Keywords: BRVNO, nobilita italiana, la
famiglia Contestabile financia la rivolta di Campanella -- filosofia
medioevale, Bruno, il melodramma. Refs.: Luigi Speranza, “Grice e Contestabile”
– The Swimming-Pool Library.
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