Laudator Temporis Acti

Plutarch, On Superstition 7 = Moralia 168 D (tr. Frank Cole Babbitt):

He sits outside his house with sackcloth on and filthy rags about him; and oftentimes he rolls naked in the mire as he confesses divers sins and errors of his—eating this or drinking that, or walking in a path forbidden by his conscience.

ἔξω κάθηται σακκίον ἔχων καὶ περιεζωσμένος ῥάκεσι ῥυπαροῖς, πολλάκις δὲ γυμνὸς ἐν πηλῷ κυλινδούμενος ἐξαγορεύει τινὰς ἁμαρτίας αὑτοῦ καὶ πλημμελείας, ὡς τόδε φαγόντος ἢ πιόντος ἢ βαδίσαντος ὁδὸν ἣν οὐκ εἴα τὸ δαιμόνιον.

Some bibliography on this treatise:

• John Oakesmith, The Religion of Plutarch: A Pagan Creed of Apostolic Times (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1902), pp. 179-187
• Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Grieschisches Lesebuch II.2 (Berlin: Weidmann, 1902), pp. 203-212
• G. Abernetty, De Plutarchi Qui Fertur de Superstitione Libello (diss. Königsberg, 1911), esp. pp. 32-36 on the passage quoted above
• Hartmut Erbse, "Plutarchs Schrift ΠΕΡΙ ΔΕΙΣΙΔΑΙΜΟΝΙΑΣ," Hermes 70 (1952) 296–314
• H. Armin Moellering, Plutarch on Superstition (Boston: Christopher Pub. House, 1963)
• Morton Smith, "De Superstitione (Moralia 164E-171F)," in Hans Dieter Betz, ed., Plutarch's Theological Writings and Early Christian Literature (Leiden: Brill, 1975), pp. 1-35
• Harold W. Attridge, "The Philosophical Critique of Religion under the Early Empire," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.16.1 (1978) 45-78 (at 73-77)

Related post: A Puddle of Mere Slime.