nt, which you Academics endeavor to
confound; and, indeed, the whole contest is with you, Cotta; for your
sect, Velleius, know very little of what is said on different subjects
by other schools. You read and have a taste only for your own books,
and condemn all others without examination. For instance, when you
mentioned yesterday[152] that prophetic old dame [Greek: Pronoia],
Providence, invented by the Stoics, you were led into that error by
imagining that Providence was made by them to be a particular Deity
that governs the whole universe, whereas it is only spoken in a short
manner; as when it is said "The commonwealth of Athens is governed by
the council," it is meant "of the Areopagus;"[153] so when we say "The
world is governed by providence," we mean "by the providence of the
Gods." To express ourselves, therefore, more fully and clearly, we say,
"The world is governed by the providence of the Gods." Be not,
therefore, lavish of your railleries, of which your sect has little to
spare: if I may advise you, do not attempt it. It does not become you,
it is not your talent, nor is it in your power. This is not applied to
you in particular who have the education and politeness of a Roman, but
to all your sect in general, and especially to your leader[154]--a man
unpolished, illiterate, insulting, without wit, without reputation,
without elegance.

XXX. I assert, then, that the universe, with all its parts, was
originally constituted, and has, without any cessation, been ever
governed by the providence of the Gods. This argument we Stoics
commonly divide into three parts; the first of which is, that the
existence of the Gods being once known, it must follow that the world
is governed by their wisdom; the second, that as everything is under
the direction of an intelligent nature, which has produced that
beautiful order in the world, it is evident that it is formed from
animating principles; the third is deduced from those glorious works
which we behold in the heavens and the earth.

First, then, we must either deny the existence of the Gods (as
Democritus and Epicurus by their doctrine of images in some sort do),
or, if we acknowledge that there are Gods, we must believe they are
employed, and that, too, in something excellent. Now, nothing is so
excellent as the administration of the universe. The universe,
therefore, is governed by the wisdom of the Gods. Otherwise, we must
imagine that there is some cause superior