134 KEV. HENRY LANSDELli^ D.D,, ETC., ON 



own ships to secure them on their voyage, although lie was 

 then at war with Rome.* 



iVfter tlie early Kings of Rome we liave instances of tithes 

 being offered by more than one of the Dictators, as well as 

 by Roman Consuls and Generals. In fact, Servius says it 

 was a Roman custom, when they made war, to promise some 

 of the spoils to the gods ; and therefore there was a temple 

 at Rome dedicated Jovi Prwdatori, not that he presided over 

 the spoils, but because some of the prey was due to him.f 



Nor was it military people only among the Romans who 

 paid their tithe ; for Plautus, the Roman dramatist (who died 

 184 B.C.), refers to Roman merchants, who from very early 

 times, it would seem, used to pay a tenth of their gains.J 



The same custom obtained, presumably, among Roman 

 farmers ; for Varro (116-27 B.C.), in his great Avork ujDon 

 agriculture, advises every man to pay tithe diligently of the 

 fruits of his ground. § 



Also Pliny the elder (23-79 A.D.I, Avho calls the tithes sent 

 to Delphi " first-fruits," says the Romans never tasted their 

 new fruits or Avines till the priests had taken the first-fruits 

 of them. II 



And, as if nothing might go untithed, it would seem, 

 according to Papinius, that the Romans paid a tithe of the 

 very beasts they killed in liunting, namely, the skins, to 

 Diana.H 



Nor Avas the fulfilment, or non-fulfilment, of a voav to pay 

 tithe, treated as a light matter CA^en in Roman law ; for 

 Ulpian, the celebrated Roman jurist of the third century, is 

 quoted by Justinian to the effect that if after having made a 

 vow to pay tithe, a man died, his heir, or executor, Avas 

 bound to pay Avhat had been vowed.** 



Having collected these testimonies concerning tithe- 

 giving by Greek and Roman sovereigns, generals, merchants, 

 farmers, and people in general, let us inquire Avhat 

 traces of the custom are to be found among other ancient 

 pagan nations of Europe. 



* Leslie, Divine Right of Tithes, Toronto edition, p. 43. 



t Servius. ^n. 3 Com. 21, Comber, Historical Vindication, &c.,p. 40. 



; Plant. Stich., Selden, p. 26. 



5^ Varro. De re rustica, Spelman, p. 120. 



ii Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. 4,, cajx 12. 



^ Spelman, p. 121. 



■** Selden, p. 28 ff. ; Tit. de Policit., lib. 2, Sect. 2. 



