The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Part 18

68. For instance the double ax was carried by Jupiter Dolichenus (cf.

_supra_, p. 147). On its significance, cf. Usener, _loc. cit._, p. 20.

69. Cf. Lidzbarski, _Balsamem, Ephem. semit. Epigr._, I, p. 251.--Ba'al Saman is mentioned as early as the ninth century B. C. in the inscription of Ben Hadad (Pognon, _Inscr. semit._, 1907, pp. 165 ff.; cf. Dussaud, _Rev. archeol._, 1908, I, p. 235). In Aramaic papyri preserved at Berlin, the Jews of Elephantine call Jehovah "the G.o.d of heaven" in an address to a Persian governor, and the same name was used in the alleged edicts of Cyrus and his successors, which were inserted in the book of Esdras (i. 1; vi. 9, etc.)--If there were the slightest doubt as to the ident.i.ty of the G.o.d of thunder with Baalsamin, it would be dispelled by the inscription of Et-Tayibe, where this Semitic name is translated into Greek as [Greek: Zeus megistos keraunios]; cf. Lidzbarski, _Handbuch_, p. 477, and Lagrange, _op.

cit._, p. 508.

70. On the worship of Baalsamin, confused with Ahura-Mazda and transformed into _Caelus_, see _Mon. myst. Mithra_, p. 87.--The texts attesting the existence of a real cult of {257} heaven among the Semites are very numerous. Besides the ones I have gathered (_loc. cit._, n. 5); see Conybeare, _Philo about the Contemplative Life_, p. 33, n. 16; Kayser, _Das Buch der Erkenntniss der Wahrheit_, 1893, p. 337, and _infra_, n. 75. Zeus [Greek: Ouranios]: Le Bas-Waddington, 2720 _a_ (Baal of Betocece); Renan, _Mission de Phenicie_, p. 103.--Cf. _Archiv fur Religionswissenschaft_, IX, 1906, p. 333.

71. Coins of Antiochus VIII Grypus (125-96 B. C.); Babelon, _Rois de Syrie, d'Armenie_, 1890, p. CLIV, pp. 178 ff.

72. All these qualities ascribed to the Baals by astrological paganism ([Greek: hupsistos, pantokrator], etc.), are also the attributes which, according to the doctrine of Alexandrian Judaism, characterized Jehovah (see _supra_, n. 66). If he was originally a G.o.d of thunder, as has been maintained, the evolution of the Jewish theology was parallel to that of the pagan conceptions (see _supra_, n. 69).

73. On this subject cf. _Jupiter summus exsuperantissimus_ (_Archiv f.

Religionsw._, IX), 1906, pp. 326 ff.

74. Ps.-Iamblichus, _De mysteriis_, VI, 7 (cf. Porph., _Epist. Aneb._, c.

29), notes this difference between the two religions.

75. Apul., _Met._, VIII, 25. Cf. _CIL_, III, 1090; XII, 1227 (= Dessau, 2998, 4333); Macrobius, _Comm. somn. Scipionis_, I, 14, -- 2: "Nihil aliud esse deum nisi caelum ipsum et caelestia ipsa quae cernimus, ideo ut summi omnipotentiam dei ostenderet posse vix intellegi."--[Greek: Helios pantokratos]: Macrob., I, 23, 21.

76. Diodorus, II, 30: [Greek: Chaldaioi ten tou kosmou phusin aidion phasin einai k. t. l.]; cf. Cicero, _Nat. deor._, II, 20, -- 52 ff.; Pliny, _H.

N._, II, 8, -- 30. The notion of eternity was correlative with that of [Greek: heimarmene]; cf. Ps.-Apul., _Asclep._, 40; Apul., _De deo Socratis_, c. 2: "(The planets) quae in deflexo cursu ... meatus aeternos divinis vicibus efficiunt."--This subject will be more fully treated in my lectures on "Astrology and Religion" (chaps. IV-V).

77. At Palmyra: De Vogue, _Inscr. sem._, pp. 53 ff., etc.--On the first t.i.tle, see _infra_, n. 80.

78. Note especially _CIL_, VI, 406 = 30758, where Jupiter Dolichenus is called _Aeternus conservator totius poli_. The {258} relation to heaven here remained apparent. See _Somn. Scip._, III, 4; IV, 3.

79. Cf. _Rev. archeol._, 1888, I, pp. 184 ff.; Pauly-Wissowa, s. v.

"Aeternus," and _Festschrift fur Otto Benndorf_, 1898, p. 291.--The idea of the eternity of the G.o.ds also appeared very early in Egypt, but it does not seem that the mysteries of Isis--in which the death of Osiris was commemorated--made it prominent, and it certainly was spread in the Occident only by the sidereal cults.

80. The question has been raised whether the epithet [Hebrew: MR' 'LM']

means "lord of the world" or "lord of eternity" (cf. Lidzbarski, _Ephemeris_, I, 258; II, 297; Lagrange, p. 508), but in our opinion the controversy is to no purpose, since in the spirit of the Syrian priests the two ideas are inseparable and one expression in itself embraces both, the world being conceived as eternal (_supra_, n. 76). See for Egypt, Horapoll., _Hieroglyph._, I (serpent as symbol of the [Greek: aion] and [Greek: kosmos]). At Palmyra, too, the t.i.tle "lord of all" is found, [Hebrew: MR' KL] (Lidzbarski, _loc. cit._); cf. Julian, Or., IV, p. 203, 5 (Hertlein): [Greek: Ho basileus ton holon Helios], and infra, n. 81; n. 87.

Already at Babylon the t.i.tle "lord of the universe" was given to Shamash and Hadad; see Jastrow, _Religion Babyloniens_, I, p. 254, n. 10. Noldeke has been good enough to write me as follows on this subject: "Daran kan kein Zweifel sein, da.s.s [Hebrew: 'LM] zunachst (lange Zeit) Ewigkeit heisst, und da.s.s die Bedeutung 'Welt' secundar ist. Ich halte es daher fur so gut wie gewiss da.s.s das palmyrenische [Hebrew: MR' 'LM'], wenn es ein alter Name ist, den 'ewigen' Herrn bedeutet, wie ohne Zweifel [Hebrew: 'L 'WLM], Gen., xxi. 33. Das biblische Hebraisch kennt die Bedeutung 'Welt'

noch nicht, abgesehen wohl von der spaten Stelle, Eccl. iii. 11. Und, so viel ich sehe, ist im Palmyrenischen sonst [Hebrew: 'LM'] immer 'Ewigkeit,'

z.B. in der haufigen Redensart [Hebrew: LBRYK SHMCH L'LM']. Aber das daneben vorkommende palmyr. [Hebrew: MR' KL] fuhrt allerdings darauf, da.s.s die palmyrenische Inschrift auch in [Hebrew: MR' 'LM'] den 'Herrn der Welt'

sah. Ja der syrische Uebersetzer sieht auch in jenem hebraischen [Hebrew: 'L 'WLM] 'den Gott der Welt.' Das Syrische hat namlich einen formalen Unterschied festgestellt zwischen _'[=a]l[)a]m_, dem Status absolutus, 'Ewigkeit,' und _'[=a]lm[=a]_ [_[=a]l^em[=a]_] dem Status emphaticus 'Welt.'--Sollte ubrigens die {259} Bedeutung Welt diesem Worte erst durch Einfluss griechischer Speculation zu Teil geworden sein? In der Zingirli-Inschrift bedeuted [Hebrew: BTSLM] noch bloss 'in seiner Zeit.'"

81. Cf. _CIL_, III, 1090 = Dessau, _Inscr._, 2998: "Divinarum humanarumque rerum rectori." Compare _ibid._, 2999 and Cagnet, _Annee epigr._, 1905, No.

235: "I. O. M., id est universitatis principi." Cf. the article of the _Archiv_ cited, n. 73. The _Asclepius_ says (c. 39), using an astrological term: "Caelestes dii catholicorum dominantur, terreni incolunt singula."

82. Cf. W. Robertson Smith, 75 ff., _pa.s.sim_. In the Syrian religions as in that of Mithra, the initiates regarded each other as members of the same family, and the phrase "dear brethren" as used by our preachers, was already in use among the votaries of Jupiter Dolichenus (_fratres carissimos_, _CIL_, VI, 406 = 30758).

83. Renan mentioned this fact in his _Apotres_, p. 297 = _Journal Asiatique_, 1859, p. 259. Cf. Jalabert, _Mel. faculte orient. Beyrout_, I, 1906, p. 146.

84. This is the term (_virtutes_) used by the pagans. See the inscription _Numini et virtutibus dei aeterni_ as reconstructed in _Revue de Philologie_, 1902, p. 9; _Archiv fur Religionsw._, _loc. cit._, p. 335, n.

1 and _infra_, ch. VIII, n. 20.

85. _CIL_, VII, 759 = Bucheler, _Carm. epig._, 24.--Cf. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 32.

86. Macrobius, _Sat._, I, 23, -- 17: "Nominis (Adad) interpretatio significat unus unus."

87. Cicero, _Somnium Scip._, c. 4: "Sol dux et princeps et moderator luminum reliquorum, mens mundi et temperatio." Pliny, _H. N._, II, 6, -- 12: "Sol ... siderum ipsorum caelique rector. Hunc esse mundi totius animam ac planius mentem, hunc princ.i.p.ale naturae regimen ac numen credere decet,"

etc. Julian of Laodicea, _Cat. codd. astr._, I, p. 136, l. 1:

[Greek: Helios basileus kai hegemon tou sumpantos kosmou kathestos, panton kathegoumenos kai panton on genesiarches.]

88. We are here recapitulating some conclusions of a study on _La theologie solaire du paganisme romain_ published in _Memoires des savants etrangers presentes a l'Acad. des Inscr._, XII, 2d part, pp. 447 ff., Paris, 1910.

{260}

89. The hymns of Synesius (II, 10 ff., IV, 120 ff., etc.) contain peculiar examples of the combination of the old astrological ideas with Christian theology.

VI. PERSIA.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: We shall not attempt here to give a bibliography of the works devoted to Mazdaism. We shall merely refer the reader to that of Lehmann in Chantepie de la Saussaye, _Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte_, II, p. 150.

We should mention, in the first place, Darmesteter, _Le Zend Avesta_, 1892 ff., with introductions and commentary.--In my _Textes et monuments relatifs aux mysteres de Mithra_ (2 vols., 1894-1900), I, pp. xx ff., I have furnished a list of the earlier works on this subject; the conclusions of the book have been published separately without the notes, under the t.i.tle: _Les Mysteres de Mithra_, (2d ed., Paris and Brussels, 1902; English translation, Chicago, 1903). See also the article "Mithra" in the _Dictionnaire des antiquites_ of Daremberg and Saglio, 1904.--General outlines of certain phases of this religion have been since given by Grill, _Die persische Mysterienreligion und das Christentum_, 1903; Roeses, _Ueber Mithrasdienst_, Stralsund, 1905; G. Wolff, _Ueber Mithrasdienst und Mithreen_, Frankfort, 1909; Reinach, _La morale du mithrasme_ in _Cultes, mythes_, II, 1906, pp. 220 ff.; Dill, _op. cit._, pp. 594-626; cf. also Bigg, _op. cit._ [p. 321], 1905, p. 46 ff.; Harnack, _Ausbreitung des Christent._, II, p. 270. Among the learned researches which we cannot enumerate here, the most important is that of Albrecht Dieterich, _Eine Mithrasliturgie_, 1903. He has endeavored with some ingenuity to show that a mystical pa.s.sage inserted in a magic papyrus preserved at Paris is in reality a fragment of a Mithraic liturgy, but here I share the skepticism of Reitzenstein (_Neue Jahrb. f. das cla.s.s. Altertum_, 1904, p. 192) and I have given my reasons in _Rev. de l'Instr. publ. en Belg._, XLVII, 1904, pp. 1 ff. Dieterich answered briefly in _Archiv f. Religionswis._, VIII, 1905, p. 502, but without convincing me. The author of the pa.s.sage in question may have been more or less accurate in giving his G.o.d the external appearance of Mithra, but he certainly did not know the eschatology of the Persian mysteries. We know, for {261} instance, through positive testimony that they taught the dogma of the pa.s.sage of the soul through the seven planetary spheres, and that Mithra acted as a guide to his votaries in their ascension to the realm of the blessed. Neither the former nor the latter doctrine, however, is found in the fantastic uranography of the magician. The name of Mithra, as elsewhere that of the magi Zoroaster and Hostanes, helped to circulate an Egyptian forgery., cf. Wendland, _Die h.e.l.lenistisch-romische Kultur_, 1907, p. 168, n. 1. See on this controversy Wunsch's notes in the 2d ed. of the _Mithrasliturgie_, 1910, pp. 225 ff.--A considerable number of new monuments have been published of late years (the mithreum of Saalburg by Jacobi, etc.). The most important ones are those of the temple of Sidon preserved in the collection of Clercq (De Ridder, _Marbres de la collection de C._, 1906, pp. 52 ff.) and those of Stockstadt published by Drexel (_Der obergerm. Limes_, x.x.xIII, Heidelberg, 1910). In the following notes I shall only mention the works or texts which could not be utilized in my earlier researches.

1. Cf. Petr. Patricius, _Excerpta de leg._, 12 (II, p. 393, de Boor ed.).

2. Cf. Chapot, _Les destinees de l'h.e.l.lenisme au dela l'Euphrate_ (_Mem.

soc. antiq. de France_), 1902, pp. 207 ff.

3. Humbert in Daremberg and Saglio, _Dictionnaire_, s. v. "Amici," I, p.

228 (cf. 160). Cf. Friedlander, _Sittengesch._, I, pp. 202 ff.

4. Cf. _L'Eternite des empereurs romains_ (_Rev. d'hist. et de litt.

relig._, I), 1896, p. 442.

5. Friedlander (_loc. cit._, p. 204) has pointed out several instances where Augustus borrowed from his distant predecessors the custom of keeping a journal of the palace, of educating the children of n.o.ble families at court, etc. Certain public inst.i.tutions were undoubtedly modeled on them; for instance, the organization of the mails (Otto Hirschfeld, _Verwaltungsbeamten_, p. 190, n. 2; Rostovtzev, _Klio_, VI, p. 249 (on angariae)); cf. Preisigke, _Die Ptolemaische Staatspost_ (_Klio_, VII, p.

241), that of the secret police (Friedlander, I, p. 427).--On the Mazdean _Hvareno_ who became [Greek: Tuche basileos], then _Fortuna Augusti_, cf.

_Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, pp. 284 ff.--Even Mommsen (_Rom. Gesch._, V, p.

343), although {262} predisposed to look for the continuity of the Roman tradition, adds, after setting forth the rules that obtained at the court of the Parthians: "Alle Ordnungen die mit wenigen Abminderungen bei den romischen Caesaren wiederkehren und vielleicht zum Teil von diesen der alteren Grossherrschaft entlehnt sind."--Cf. also _infra_, ch. VIII, n. 19.

6. Friedlander, _loc. cit._, p. 204; cf. p. 160.

7. Bousset, _Die Religion des Judentums im neutestam. Zeitalter_, 1903 (2d ed. 1906), pp. 453 ff., _pa.s.sim_.

8. Cf. _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, pp. 21 ff.

9. Cf. _infra_, ch. VII, pp. 188 ff.

10. _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, pp. 9 ff., pp. 231 ff.

11. Lactantius, _De mort. persec._, 21, 2; cf. Seeck, _Gesch. des Untergangs der antiken Welt_, II, pp. 7 ff.

12. Cf. Strzygowski, _Mschatta_ (_Jahrb. preuss. Kunstsammlungen_, XXV), Berlin, 1904, pp. 324 ff., 371 ff.--From a communication made to the Congress of Orientalists at Copenhagen (1908) by Father Lammens, it would appear that the facade of Mschatta is the work of an Omaiyad kalif of Damascus, and Strzygowski's conclusions would, therefore, have to be modified considerably; but the influence of Sa.s.sanid art in Syria is nevertheless certain; see Dussaud, _Les Arabes en Syrie avant l'Islam_, 1907, pp. 33, 51 ff.

13. Cf. _infra_, n. 32.

14. Plutarch, _V. Pompei_, 24: