sdi

It's odd to me just how much effort Sallustius has spent on the specific topic of the eternal nature of the world: this is the third chapter discussing it, following chapters VII and XIII. I would think the brief argument given originally—the world is the natural byproduct of the Gods actions, and since the Gods are eternal, so too must be the world—to be quite sufficient, especially in a short text like this one.

Does anyone know why he belabors the point so? Nock doesn't provide much context besides noting that it was a point of much dispute in classical philosophy generally. I am still reading Murray am not yet sure if her discusses it.