The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Part 13

The Phrygian epitaphs frequently have the character of dedications, and it appears that the graves were grouped about the temple, see Ramsay, _Studies_, pp. 65 ff., 271 ff., _pa.s.sim_. {226}

22. Perdrizet, _Bull. corr. h.e.l.l._, XIX, 1905, p. 534 ff.

23. We know of those beliefs of the Sabaziasts from the frescoes in the catacombs of Praetextatus; the _Mercurius nuntius_, who leads the dead, is found beside Attis under the Greek name of Hermes (see Hepding, p.

263).--Maybe the inscription _CIL_, VI, 509 = _Inscr. graec._, XIV, 1018, should be completed: [Greek: Rheiei [Hermei] te genethloi]; cf. _CIL_, VI, 499. Hermes appears beside the Mother of the G.o.ds on a bas-relief by Ouchak published by Michon, _Rev. des etudes anciennes_, 1906, p. 185, pl. II. See also Mendel, "Musee de Brousse," _Bull. corr. h.e.l.l._, 1909, p. 255.--The Thracian Hermes is mentioned in Herodotus, see Maury, _Rel. de la Grece_, III, p. 136.

24. Besides Bellona-Ma, subordinate to Cybele and Sabazius, who was as much Jewish as Phrygian, there was only one G.o.d of Asia Minor, the Zeus Bronton (the Thunderer) of Phrygia, prominently mentioned in Roman epigraphy. See Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. and Suppl. I, col. 258.

25. Cf. _CIL_, VI, 499: "Attidi menotyranno invicto." "Invictus" is the characteristic epithet of the solar divinities.

26. P. Perdrizet, "Men" (_Bull. corr. h.e.l.l._, XX), 1896; Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v., II, col. 2687.

27. _CIL_, VI, 50 = _Inscr. graec._, XIV, 1018.

28. Schurer, _Sitzungsb. Akad. Berlin_, XIII, 1897, p. 200 f. and our _Hypsistos_ (Suppl. _Revue instr. publ. en Belgique_), 1897.

29. The term is taken from the terminology of the mysteries: the inscription cited dates back to 370 A. D. In 364, in connection with Eleusis, Agorius Praetextatus spoke of [Greek: sunechonta to anthropeion genos hagiotata musteria] (Zozimus, IV, 3, 2). Earlier the "Chaldean oracles" applied to the intelligible G.o.d the term [Greek: metra sunechousa ta panta] (Kroll, _De orac. Chaldecis_, p. 19).

30. Henri Graillot, _Les dieux Tout-Puissants, Cybele et Attis_ (_Revue archeol._, 1904, I), pp. 331 ff.--Graillot is rather inclined to admit a Christian influence, but _omnipotentes_ was used as a liturgic epithet in 288 A. D., and at about the same date Arn.o.bius (VII, 32) made use of the periphrasis _omnipotentia numina_ to designate the Phrygian G.o.ds, and he {227} certainly was understood by all. This proves that the use of that periphrasis was general, and that it must have dated back to a much earlier period. As a matter of fact a dedication has been found at Delos, reading [Greek: Dii toi panton kratounti kai Metri megalei tei panton kratousei]

(_Bull. corr. h.e.l.len._, 1882, p. 502, No. 25), that reminds the reader of the [Greek: pantokrator] of the Septuagint; and Graillot (loc. cit., p.

328, n. 7) justly observes, in this connection, that on certain bas-reliefs Cybele was united with the Theos Hypsistos, that is to say, the G.o.d of Israel; see Perdrizet, _Bull. corr. h.e.l.l._, XXIII, 1899, p. 598. On the influence of Judaism on the cult of Men cf. Sam. Wide, _Archiv fur Religionsw._, 1909, p. 227.--On the omnipotence of the Syrian G.o.ds, see ch.

V, pp. 128 ff.

31. We are here giving the substance of a short essay on "Les mysteres de Sabazius et le judasme," published in the _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, Febr. 9, 1906, pp. 63 ff. Cf. "A propos de Sabazius," _Musee belge_, XIV, 1910, pp. 56 ff.

32. Cf. _Monuments myst. de Mithra_, I, p. 333 f. The very early a.s.similation of Cybele and Anahita justifies to a certain extent the unwarranted practice of calling Cybele the Persian Artemis. See Radet, _Revue des etudes anciennes_, X, 1908, p. 157. The pagan theologians often considered Attis as the primeval man whose death brought about the creation, and so they likened him to the Mazdean Gayomart, see Bousset, _Hauptprobleme der Gnosis_, 1907, pp. 184 ff.

33. Prudentius, _Peristeph._, X, 1011 f.

34. Their meaning has been revealed through an inscription at Pergamum published by Schroder, _Athen. Mitt._, 1904, pp. 152 ff.; cf. _Revue archeologique_, 1905, I, pp. 29 ff.--The ideas on the development of that ceremony, which we are summarizing here, have been expounded by us more fully in the _Revue archeologique_, 1888, II, pp. 132 ff.; _Mon. myst. de Mithra_, I, pp. 334 ff.; _Revue d'histoire et de litt. relig._, VI, 1901, p. 97.--Although the conclusions of the last article have been contested by Hepding (op. cit., 70 f.), it cannot be doubted that the taurobolium was already practised in Asia Minor, in the cult of the Ma-Bellona. Moore (_American Journal of Archeology_, 1905, p. 71) justly refers to the text of Steph. Byz., in this connection: [Greek: Mastaura; ekaleito de kai he Rhea Ma kai tauros autei ethueto para Ludois]. {228} The relation between the cult of Ma and that of Mithra is shown in the epithet of [Greek: Aneiketos], given to the G.o.ddess as well as to the G.o.d; see _Athen. Mitt._, XXIX, 1904, p. 169, and Keil und von Premerstein, "Reise in Lydien,"

_Denkschr. Akad. Wien_, 1908, p. 28 (inscription of the Hyrkanis plain).

35. Prudentius, Peristeph., 1027: "_Pectus sacrato dividunt venabulo._" The _harpe_ shown on the taurobolic altars, is perhaps in reality a boar-spear having a kind of hilt (_mora_; cf. Grattius, _Cyneg._, 110) to prevent the blade from entering too far.

36. Hepding, pp. 196 ff.; cf. _supra_, n. 21.

37. _CIL_, VI, 510, = Dessau, _Inscr. sel._, 4152. Cf. Gruppe, _Griech.

Myth._, p. 1541, n. 7.

38. Hepding, pp. 186 ff.

39. _CIL_, VI, 499: "Dii animae mentisque custodes." Cf. 512: "Diis magnis et tutatoribus suis," and _CIL_, XII, 1277, where Bel is called _mentis magister_.

40. Hippolytus, _Refut. haeres._, V, 9.

41. Julien, _Or._, V; cf. Paul Allard, _Julien l'Apostat_, II, pp. 246 ff.; Mau, _Die Religionsphilosophie Kaiser Julians_, 1908, pp. 90 ff. Proclus also devoted a philosophic commentary to the Cybele myth (Marinus, _Vita Procli_, 34).

42. Regarding all this see _Revue d'histoire et de litterat. relig._, VIII, 1903, pp. 423, ff.--Frazer (_Osiris, Attis, Adonis_, 1907, pp. 256 ff.) has recently defended the position that the commemoration of the death of Christ was placed by a great many churches upon March 25th to replace the celebration of Attis's death on the same date, just as Christmas has been subst.i.tuted for the _Natalis Invicti_. The text of Ambrosiaster cited in our article (Pseudo Augustin, _Quaest. veter. Test_, Lx.x.xIV, 3, p. 145, 13, Souter ed.) shows that this was a.s.serted even in antiquity.

IV. EGYPT.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lafaye, _Histoire du culte des divinites d'Alexandrie hors de l'Egypte_, Paris, 1884, and article "Isis" in Daremberg and Saglio, _Dictionn. des antiquites_, III, 1899, {229} where may be found (p. 586) an index of the earlier works.--Drexler, art. "Isis" in Roscher, _Lexikon der Mythol._, II, p. 373-548.--Reville, _op. cit._, pp. 54 ff.--Wissowa, _op.

cit._, pp. 292 ff.--Dill, _op. cit._, pp. 560 ff.--Gruppe, _Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgesch._, pp. 1563-1581 (published after the revision of this chapter).--The study of the Roman cult of the Alexandrian G.o.ds is inseparable from that of the Egyptian religion. It would be impossible to furnish a bibliography of the latter here. We shall only refer the reader to the general works of Maspero, _Etudes de Mythologie_, 4 vols., Paris, 1893, and _Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient_, 1895 (_pa.s.sim_).--Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, London, 1897 [cf. Hastings, _Dictionary of the Bible_, "Religion of Egypt," V, pp.

177-197].--Erman, _Die agyptische Religion_, Berlin, 1910.--Naville, _La religion des anciens Egyptiens_ (six lectures delivered at the College de France), 1906.--W. Otto, _Priester und Tempel im h.e.l.lenistischen Aegypten_, 2 vols., 1905, 1908.--The publication of a _Bulletin critique des religions de l'Egypte_ by Jean Capart, begun in the _Rev. de l'hist. des religions_ (LI, 1905, pp. 192 ff.; LIII, 1906, pp. 307 ff.; 1909, pp. 162 ff.).

1. Cf. on this controversy Bouche-Leclercq, _Histoire des Lagides_, I, p.

102; S. Reinach, _Cultes, Mythes et Religions_, II, pp. 347 f.; Lehmann, _Beitrage zur alten Geschichte_, IV, 1904, pp. 396 ff.; Wilcken, _Archiv f.

Papyrusforschung_, III, 1904, pp. 249 ff.; Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, I, 1905, pp. 11 ff.; Gruppe, loc. cit., pp. 1578 ff.; Petersen, _Die Serapislegende_, 1910, pp. 47 ff.; Schmidt, _Kultubertragungen_, 1910, pp.

47 ff.

2. Herodotus, II, 42, 171.--Cf. n. 4.

3. aelius Aristides, VIII, 56 (I, p. 96, ed. Dindorf). Cf. Plut., _De Iside et Osiride_, ed. Parthey, p. 216.

4. Plut., _De Is. et Osir._, 28; cf. Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, II, pp.

215 ff.--This Timotheus is undoubtedly the same one that wrote about the Phrygian mysteries; see _infra_, n. 79.--The question, to what extent the h.e.l.lenistic cult had the form ascribed to it by Plutarch and Apuleius immediately after its creation, is still unsettled; see Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, II, p. 222. We do not appear to have any direct proof of the existence of "mysteries" of Isis and Serapis {230} prior to the Empire, but all probabilities are in favor of a more ancient origin, and the mysteries were undoubtedly connected with the ancient Egyptian esoterism.--See _infra_, n. 78.

5. Diogenes Laertius, V, 5, -- 76: [Greek: Hothen kai tous paianas poiesai tous mechri nun haidomenous]. The [Greek: mechri nun] Diogenes took undoubtedly from his source, Didymus. See Artemidorus, _Onirocr._, II, 44 (p. 143, 25 Hercher).--This information is explicitly confirmed by an inscription which mentions [Greek: he hiera taxis ton paianiston] (_Inscr.

Graec._, XIV, 1034).

6. Kaibel, _Epigr._ 1028 = Abel, _Orphica_, p. 295, etc.--See _supra_, ch.

I, n. 14.--According to recent opinion, M. de Wilamowitz was good enough to write me, the date of the Andros hymn cannot have been later than the period of Cicero, and it is very probably contemporary with Sulla.--See _supra_, ch. I, n. 14.--On other similar texts, see Gruppe, _Griech.

Mythol._, P. 1563.

7. Amelung, _Le Serapis de Bryaxis_ (_Revue archeol_, 1903, II), p. 178.

8. P. Foucart, _Le culte de Dionysos en Attique_ (_Mem. Acad. des Inscr._, x.x.xVII), 1904. On the Isis cult in ancient Greece, we can now refer to Gruppe, _Griech. Myth._, pp. 1565 ff.; Ruhl, _De Sarapide et Iside in Graecia cultis_ (Diss. Berlin) 1906, has made careful use of the epigraphic texts dating back to the time before the Roman period.

9. The only exception is the Zeus Ammon, who was only half Egyptian and owed his very early adoption to the Greek colonies of Cyrene; see Gruppe, _Griech. Myth._, p. 1558. The addition of other G.o.ddesses, like Nephtis or Bubastis to Isis is exceptional.

10. Concerning the impression which Egypt made on travelers, see Friedlander, _Sittengesch._, II^6, 144 ff.; Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, II, p. 210.

11. Juvenal, XV, 10, and the notes of Friedlander on these pa.s.sages.--The Athenian comic writers frequently made fun of the Egyptian zoolatry (Lafaye, _op. cit._, p. 32). Philo of Alexandria considered the Egyptians as the most idolatrous heathens and he attacked their animal worship, in particular {231} (_De Decal._, 16, II, p. 193 M., and _pa.s.sim_). The pagan writers were no less scandalized (Cicero, _Nat. deor._, III, 15, etc.) except where they preferred to apply their ingenuity to justify it. See Dill, _loc. cit._, p. 571.--The features of this cult in ancient Egypt have been recently studied by George Foucart, _Revue des idees_, Nov. 15, 1908, and _La methode comparative et l'histoire des religions_, 1909, pp. 43 ff.

12. Macrobius, _Sat._, I, 20, -- 16.

13. Holm, _Gesch. Siziliens_, I, p. 81.

14. Libanius, Or., XI, 114 (I, p. 473 Forster). Cf. Drexler in Roscher, _op. cit._, col. 378.

15. Pausan., I, 18, 4: [Greek: Sarapidos hon para Ptolemaiou theon eisegagonto]. Ruhl (op. cit., p. 4) attaches no historic value to this text, but, as he points out himself, we have proof that an official Isis cult existed at Athens under Ptolemy Soter, and that Serapis was worshiped in that city at the beginning of the third century.

16. Dittenberger, _Or. gr. inscr. sel._, No. 16.

17. Apul., _Metam._, XI, 17.

18. Thus it is found to be the case from the first half of the third century at Thera, a naval station of the Ptolemies (Hiller von Gartringen, _Thera_, III, pp. 85 ff.; cf. Ruhl, _op. cit._, p. 59), and also at Rhodes (_Rev. archeol._, 1905, I, p. 341). Cult of Serapis at Delos, cf. _Comptes rendus Acad. inscr._, 1910, pp. 294 ff.

19. A number of proofs of its diffusion have been collected by Drexler, _loc. cit._, p. 379. See Lafaye, "Isis" (cf. _supra_), p. 577; and Ruhl, _De Sarapide et Iside in Graecia cultis_, 1906.