Domino beatissimo ac mihi desiderantissimo in Christo fratri Polemio episcopo Martinus episcopus.

[1] Epistolam tuae sanctae caritatis accepi, in qua scribis ad me ut pro castigatione rusticorum, qui adhuc pristina paganorum superstitione detenti cultum venerationis plus daemoniis quam deo persolvunt, aliqua de origine idolorum et sceleribus ipsorum vel pauca de multis ad te scripta dirigerem. Sed quia oportet ab initio mundi vel modicam illis rationis notitiam quasi pro gustu porrigere, necesse me fuit ingentem praeteritorum temporum gestorumque silvam breviato tenuis compendii sermone contingere et cibum rusticis rustico sermone condire. Ita ergo, opitulante tibi deo, erit tuae praedicationis exordium:

[2] Desideramus, filii karissimi, adnuntiare vobis in nomine domini quae aut minime audistis aut audita fortasse oblivioni dedistis. Petimus ergo caritatem vestram ut, quae pro salute vestra dicuntur, adtentius audiatis. Longus quidem per divinas scripturas ordo dirigitur, sed ut vel aliquantulum in memoriam teneatis, pauca vobis de pluribus commendamus.

[3] Cum fecisset in principio deus caelum et terram, in illa caelesti habitatione fecit spiritales creaturas, id est angelos, qui in conspectu ipsius adstantes laudarent illum. Ex quibus unus, qui primus omnium archangelus fuerat factus, videns se in tanta gloria praefulgentem, non dedit honorem deo creatori suo, sed similem se illi dixit; et pro hac superbia cum aliis plurimis angelis qui illi consenserunt de illa caelesti sede in aere isto qui est sub caelo deiectus est; et ille, qui fuerat prius archangelus, perdita luce gloriae suae, factus est tenebrosus et horribilis diabolus. Similiter et illi alii angeli qui consentientes illi fuerant cum ipso de caelo proiecti sunt et, perdito splendore suo, facti sunt daemones. Reliqui autem angeli qui subditi fuerunt deo in suae claritatis gloria in conspectu domini perseverant; et ipsi dicuntur angeli sancti. Nam illi qui cum principe suo Satan pro superbia sua iactati sunt angeli refugae et daemonia appellantur.

[4] Post istam ruinam angelicam placuit deo de limo terrae hominem plasmare, quem posuit in paradiso; et dixit ei ut, si praeceptum domini servasset, in loco illo caelesti sine morte succederet, unde angeli illi refugae ceciderunt, si autem praeterisset dei praeceptum, morte moreretur. Videns ergo diabolus quia propterea factus fuerat homo, ut in loco ipsius, unde ipse cecidit, in regno dei succederet, invidia ductus suasit homini ut mandata dei transcenderet. Pro qua offensa iactatus est homo de paradiso in exilio mundi istius, ubi multos labores et dolores pateretur.

[5] Fuit autem primus homo dictus Adam, et mulier eius quam de ipsius carne deus creavit dicta est Eva. Ex istis duobus hominibus omne genus hominum propagatum est. Qui, obliti creatorem suum deum multa scelera facientes, inritaverunt deum ad iracundiam. Pro qua re inmisit deus diluvium et perdidit omnes, excepto uno iusto, nomine Noe, quem cum suis filiis pro reparando humano genere reservavit. A primo ergo homine Adam usque ad diluvium transierunt anni duo milia ducenti quadraginta duo.

[6] Post diluvium iterum recuperatum est genus humanum per tres filios Noe, reservatos cum uxoribus suis. Et cum coepisset multitudo subcrescens mundum implere, obliviscentes iterum homines creatorem mundi deum, coeperunt, dimisso creatore, colere creaturas. Alii adorabant solem, alii lunam vel stellas, alii ignem, alii aquam profundam vel fontes aquarum, credentes haec omnia non a deo esse facta ad usum hominum, sed ipsa ex se orta deos esse.

[7] Tunc diabolus vel ministri ipsius, daemones, qui de caelo deiecti sunt, videntes ignaros homines dimisso Deo creatore suo, per creaturas errare, coeperunt se illis in diversas formas ostendere et loqui cum eis et expetere ab eis, ut in excelsis montibus et in silvis frondosis sacrificia sibi offerrent et ipsos colerent pro deo, imponentes sibi vocabula sceleratorum hominum, qui in omnibus criminibus et sceleribus suam egerant vitam, ut alius Iovem se esse diceret, qui fuerat magus et in tantis adulteriis incestus ut sororem suam haberet uxorem, quae dicta est Iuno, Minervam et Venerem filias suas corruperit, neptes quoque et omnem parentelam suam turpiter incestaverit. Alius autem daemon Martem se nominavit, qui fuit litigiorum et discordiae commissor. Alius deinde daemon Mercurium se appellare voluit, qui fuit omnis furti et fraudis dolosus inventor; cui homines cupidi quasi deo lucri, in quadriviis transeuntes, iactatis lapidibus acervos petrarum pro sacrificio reddunt. Alius quoque daemon Saturni sibi nomen adscripsit, qui, in omni crudelitate vivens, etiam nascentes suos filios devorabat. Alius etiam daemon Venerem se esse confinxit, quae fuit mulier meretrix. Non solum cum innumerabilibus adulteris, sed etiam cum patre suo Iove et cum fratre suo Marte meretricata est.

[8] Ecce quales fuerunt illo tempore isti perditi homines, quos ignorantes rustici per adinventiones suas pessime honorabant, quorum vocabula ideo sibi daemones adposuerunt, ut ipsos quasi deos colerent et sacrificia illis offerrent et ipsorum facta imitarentur, quorum nomina invocabant. Suaserunt etiam illis daemones ut templa illis facerent et imagines vel statuas sceleratorum hominum ibi ponerent et aras illis constituerent, in quibus non solum animalium sed etiam hominum sanguinem illis funderent. Praeter haec autem multi daemones ex illis qui de caelo expulsi sunt aut in mare aut in fluminibus aut in fontibus aut in silvis praesident, quos similiter homines ignorantes deum quasi deos colunt et sacrificant illis. Et in mare quidem Neptunum appellant, in fluminibus Lamias, in fontibus Nymphas, in silvis Dianas, quae omnia maligni daemones et spiritus nequam sunt, qui homines infideles, qui signaculo crucis nesciunt se munire, nocent et vexant. Non tamen sine permissione dei nocent, quia deum habent iratum et non ex toto corde in fide Christi credunt, sed sunt dubii in tantum ut nomina ipsa daemoniorum in singulos dies nominent, et appellent diem Martis et Mercurii et Iovis et Veneris et Saturni, qui nullum diem fecerunt, sed fuerunt homines pessimi et scelerati in gente Graecorum.

Martin Bishop, to the much venerable lord and beloved brother in Christ, the Bishop Polémio.

1. I have received the letter of your holly charity in which you ask me to write you on the instruction of the rustic whom, still tied to the ancient superstitions of the heathens, pay more worshiping cult to the demons than to God, and also on other things about the origin of the idols and of their crimes, that is, that I write you on many things in few words. But, because it is convenient to develop a brief report of what happened since the beginning of the world, so that they shall understand, it was necessary for me to summarize the enourmous forest of past times and happenings in a simple treaty and thus bring prepared the feeding of the rustic with a rustic language. Thus shall then be, with the help of God, the structure of your prelection:

2. We wish, beloved children, to announce you, in the name of the Lord, those things which you haven't yet heard or, if you have, maybe thou hast forgotten it. We appeal, therefore, to your charity to hear what concernes of your salvation. All this comes expressly in the Divine Scriptures, but shortly we recommend you what follows, so that you may keep it in your mind.

3. In the beginning, having God created Heaven and the Earth, he made for the dwelling heavenly spiritual creatures, that is, angels, so that they would worship Him in His presence. One of them, which had first been made archangel, seing himself in the splendour of so much glory, honoured not God, his creator, but considered himself equal to Him. By this loftiness he was expelled from that celestial residence to this air under the heavens, in the company of many other angels which had been solidary to him. He, which had been the first archangel, having lost the glory of his light, became a dark and horrible devil. In the same way, the other angels, which made a common cause with him, were also brought down and, losing their splendour, became demons. However, the remaining angels, which kept faithful to God, retained the glory of their light before the face of God: them we call holy angels. On the other hand, those which, with Satan, their prince, were expelled for their loftiness are called rebeld angels or demons.

4. After this angelic deffection, God made man from the earth's clay, putting him in the Eden. And He said to him, that if he would follow the rule of the Lord, he would live, without being subordinated to death, in that heavenly place from which the rebel angels had been expelled; however, if he would brake the commandment of God, he would be subordinated to death. But the Devil, seeing that man had been created to fill, in the Kingdom of God, the place from which he had been brought down, full of envy, persuaded man to break the commandments of the Lord. By this falt man was expelled from Eden into exile in the world, where he would suffer many toils and pains.

5. Indeed, the first man was named Adam, and his wife, which God created from the flesh of the same man, was called Eve. All mankind was originated from these two human beings, which, forgotten of God their creator, commeting many crimes, provoked the anger of God. By this God sent the Flod and made all perish except one, that was just, named Noah, which He kept, with his sons, to reestablish the human kind. Since the first man, Adam, until the Flod, two thousand two hundred and forty two years have passed.

6. After the Flod again the human kind spread by the three sons of Noah which had been saved along with their wives. And as the growing population began filling the earth, men, once again forgotten of their God, author of the world, despizing their creator, began worshiping creatures. Some worshiped the Sun, others the Moon or the stars, some the fire, others the deep waters or the fountains, believing that all these things were not made by God for the use of men, but that they originated from themselves like gods.

7. Then the Devil or his ministers, the demons, which had been brought down from Heaven, seeing men's ignorance, forgotten of their creator, wondering through the creatures, began manifesting to them in different ways, spesking and influecing them, making them offer them sacrifices in the high hills and in the leafy woods and considered them as gods, calling themsleves names of bandit men, which spent their lives in crimes and evilness. Thus, one called himself Jupiter, which was a magician and had tarnish himself with so many adultery, daring to have as wife his own sister, named Juno, corrupting his daughters Minerva and Venus and vilely dishonouring his grandchildren and all his family. Other demon called himself Mars, which was the instigator of the litigation and of discord. Another named himself Mercury, the inventor of all the theft and all the deceit to which greedy men offer sacrifices, as if he was the god of profit, forming piles of rocks when passing through the crossroads. Another also called himself Saturn, which, living in all his cruelty, devoured even his own children, as soon as they were born. Other pretended to be Venus, which was a woman of ill life.

8. Here is what were, in those days, these lost men, whom the ignorant rustic honoured for their terrible inventions and whose names were used by demons so that they would worship them as gods, would offer them sacrifices and imitate the actions of those whose names they invoked. Equally, those demons were also capable that temples were built to them, that in them images or statues of bandit men were set and altars erected, in which they would sacrifice them blood, not only of animals, but of humans as well. Besides this, many demons among those that were expelled from Heaven preside to the rivers, the fountains and to the forests and to them in the same way do men, ignorant of God, worship them as they were gods and offer them sacrifices. And in the sea they call them Neptune, in the rivers Lames, in the fountains Nymphs, in the forests Dianes, which are no more than demons and evil spirits damaging and tormenting the infidel men which no not to defend themselves with the sign of the cross. However, they cannot harm without the permission of God, for they have angered God. They [men] do not believe with all their heart in the faith of Christ, but carry their doubts to such a point that they give the name of the demons to each one of the days, saying the day of Mars, of Mercury, of Jupiter, of Venus and of Saturn, whom didn't make any day, but were terrible and criminal men among the Greeks.