The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Part 12

22 I have developed this point in my _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, pp. 279 ff.

23 In Greece the Oriental cults expanded much less than in any other religion, because the h.e.l.lenic mysteries, especially those of Eleusis, taught similar doctrines and satisfied the religious needs.

24 The development of the "ritual of purification" has been broadly expounded in its entirety, by Farnell in _The Evolution of Religion_, 1905, pp. 88 ff.

25 We shall mention this subject again when speaking of the taurobolium in ch. III, pp. 67 ff.

26 We cannot dwell here upon the various forms a.s.sumed by that purifying rite of the Oriental mysteries. Often these forms remained quite primitive, and the idea that inspired them is still clear, as where Juvenal (VI, 521 f.) pictures the {222} wors.h.i.+per of the _Magna Mater_ divesting himself of his beautiful garments and giving them to the _archigallus_ to wipe out all the misdeeds of the year (_ut totum semel expiet annum_). The idea of a mechanical transfer of the pollution by relinquis.h.i.+ng the clothes is frequent among savages; see Farnell, _op. cit._, p. 117; also Frazer, _Golden Bough_, I^2, p. 60.

27 Dieterich, _Eine Mithrasliturgie_, pp. 157 ff.; Hepding, _Attis_, pp.

194 ff.--Cf. Frazer, _Golden Bough_, III^2 pp. 424 ff.

28 Cf. Augustine _Civit. Dei_, X, 28: "Confiteris tamen (sc. Porphyrius) etiam spiritalem animam sine theurgicis artibus et sine teletis quibus frustra discendis elaborasti, posse continentiae virtute purgari," cf.

_ibid._, X, 23 and _infra_, ch. VIII, n. 24.

29 Here we can only touch upon a subject of very great interest. Porphyry's treatise _De abstinentia_ offers a fuller treatment than is often possible in this kind of studies.--See Farnell, _op. cit._, pp. 154 ff.

30 On [Greek: exomologesis] in the religions of Asia Minor, cf. Ramsay, _Cities_, I, p. 134, p. 152, and Chapot, _La province romaine d'Asie_, 1904, pp. 509 ff. See also Crusius, "Paroemiographica," _Sitzungsb. Bayr.

Akad._, 1910, p. 111.

31 Menander in Porphyry _De abstin._, II, 15; cf. Plutarch, _De Superst.i.t._, 7, p. 168 D.; Tertullian, _De Paenit._, c. 9.--Regarding the sacred fishes of Atargatis, see _infra_, ch. V.--In Apuleius (Met. VIII, 28) the _gallus_ of the G.o.ddess loudly accuses himself of his crime and punishes himself by flagellation. See Gruppe, _Griech. Myth._, p. 1545; Farnell, _Evol. of Religion_, p. 55.--As a matter of fact, the confession of sin is an old religious tradition dating back to the Babylonians; cf.

Lagrange, _Religions semit._, p. 225 ff. Schrank, _Babylonische Suhnriten_, 1909, p. 46.

32 Juvenal, VI, 523 ff., 537 ff.; cf. Seneca, _Vit. beat._, XXVI, 8.

33 On liturgic feasts in the religion of Cybele: _infra_, ch. II; in the mysteries of Mithra: _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I. p. 320; in the Syrian cults: ch. V, n. 37. See in general, Hepding, _Attis_, pp. 185 ff.

34 We know according to Herbert Spencer that the {223} progressive differentiation of the ecclesiastic and lay functions is one of the characteristics of religious evolution. In this regard Rome was far behind the Orient.

35 An essential result of the researches of Otto (_op. cit._) is the proof of the opposition existing in Egypt since the Ptolemies between the hierarchic organization of the Egyptian clergy and the almost anarchical autonomy of the Greek priests. See our remarks on the clergy of Isis and the Galli. On the Mithraic hierarchy see our _Mysteries of Mithra_, Chicago, 1903, p. 165.

36 The development of the conceptions of "salvation" and "saviour" after the h.e.l.lenistic period has been studied by Wendland, [Greek: Soter]

(_Zeitschrift fur neutestam. Wissensch._, V, 1904, pp. 335 ff.). See also Lietzmann, _Der Weltheiland_, Bonn, 1909. W. Otto, "Augustus [Greek: Soter]," _Hermes_, XLV, 1910, pp. 448 ff.

37 Later on we shall expound the two princ.i.p.al doctrines, that of the Egyptian religions (identification with Osiris, G.o.d of the dead), and that of the Syrian and Persian religions (ascension into heaven).

38 At that time man's fate after death was the one great interest. An interesting example of the power of this idea is furnished by Arn.o.bius. He became converted to Christianity because, according to his peculiar psychology, he feared that his soul might die, and believed that Christ alone could protect him against final annihilation (cf. Bardenhewer, _Gesch. der altkirchlichen Literatur_, II, 1903, p. 470.)

39 Lucretius had expressed this conviction (II, 1170 ff.). It spread to the end of the empire as disasters multiplied; cf. _Rev. de philologie_, 1897, p. 152.

40 Boissier, _Rel. rom._, I^3, p. 359; Friedlander, _Sittengesch._, I^6, pp. 500 ff.

III. ASIA MINOR.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Jean Reville, _La religion a Rome sous les Severes_, pp. 62 ff.--Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon der Mythol._, s. v. "_Meter_," II, 2932.--Wissowa, _Religion und Cultus der Romer_, pp. 263 ff., where the earlier bibliography will be found, {224} p. 271.--Showerman, "The Great Mother of the G.o.ds" (_Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin_, No. 43), Madison, 1901.--Hepding, _Attis, seine Mythen und sein Kult_, Giessen, 1903.--Dill, _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_, London, 1905, pp. 547 ff.--Gruppe, _Griech. Mythologie_, 1906, pp. 1521 ff. Eisele, "Die phrygischen Kulte," _Neue Jahrb. fur das kla.s.s. Altertum_, XXIII, 1909, pp.

620 ff.

For a number of years Henri Graillot has been collecting the monuments of the religion of Cybele with a view to publis.h.i.+ng them in their entirety.--Numerous remarks on the Phrygian religion will be found in the works and articles of Ramsay, especially in _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, 1895, and _Studies in the Eastern Roman Provinces_, 1906.

1. Arrien, fr. 30 (_FGH_, III, p. 592). Cf. our _Studio Pontica_, 1905, pp.

172 ff., and Statius, Achill., II, 345: "Phrygas lucos ... vet.i.tasque solo, proc.u.mbere pinus"; Virg., _Aen., IX_, 85.

2. Lion; cf. S. Reinach, _Mythes, cultes_, I, p. 293. The lion, represented in Asia Minor at a very remote period as devouring a bull or other animals, might possibly represent the sacred animal of Lydia or Phrygia vanquis.h.i.+ng the protecting _totem_ of the tribes of Cappadocia or the neighboring countries (I am using the term _totem_ in its broadest meaning). This at least is the interpretation given to similar groups in Egypt. Cf. Foucart, _La methode comparat. et l'histoire des religions_, 1909, p. 49, p. 70.

3. [Greek: Potnia theron]. On this t.i.tle, cf. Radet, _Revue des etudes anciennes_, X, 1908, pp. 110 ff. The most ancient type of the G.o.ddess, a winged figure leading lions, is known from monuments dating back to the period of the Mermnadi (687-546 B. C.).

4. Cf. Ramsay, _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, I, p. 7, p. 94.

5. Foucart, _Le culte de Dionysos en Attique_ (Extract from the _Mem. Acad.

Inscr._, x.x.xVII), 1904, pp. 22 ff.--The Thracians also seem to have spread, in Asia Minor, the cult of the "riding G.o.d" which existed until the beginning of the Roman period; cf. Remy, _Le Musee belge_, XI, 1907, pp.

136 ff.

6. Catullus, LXIII. {225}

7. The development of these mysteries has been well expounded by Hepding, pp. 177 ff. (see Gruppe, _Gr. Myth._, p. 1544).--Ramsay has recently commented upon inscriptions of Phrygian mystics, united by the knowledge of certain secret signs ([Greek: tekmor]); cf. _Studies in the Eastern Roman Provinces_, 1906, pp. 346 ff.

8. Dig., XLVIII, 8, 4, 2: "Nemo liberum servumve invitum sinentemve castrare debet." Cf. Mommsen, _Strafrecht_, p. 637.

9. Diodorus, x.x.xVI, 6; cf. Plutarch, _Marius_, 17.

10. Cf. Hepding, _op. cit._, p. 142.

11. Cf. chap. VI.

12. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 291.

13. Hepding, _op. cit._, pp. 145 ff. Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v.

"Dendrophori," V, col. 216 and Suppl., col, 225, s. v. "Attis."

14. Cf. Tacitus, _Annales_, XI, 15.

15. This opinion has recently been defended by Showerman, _Cla.s.sical Journal_, II, 1906, p. 29.

16. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, II^2, pp. 130 ff.

17. Hepding, pp. 160 ff. Cf. the texts of Ambrosiaster cited in _Rev. hist.

et litt. relig._, VIII, 1903, p. 423, n. 1.

18. Hepding, p. 193. Cf. Gruppe, p. 1541.

19. On this diffusion, cf. Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v. "Meter,"

col. 918.

20. Gregory of Tours, _De glor. confess._, c. 76. Cf. _Pa.s.sio S.

Symphoriani_ in Ruinart, _Acta sinc._, ed. of 1859, p. 125. The _carpentum_ mentioned in these texts is found in Africa; cf. _CIL_, VIII, 8457, and Graillot, _Rev. archeol._, 1904, I, p. 353; Hepding, op. cit., p. 173, n.

7.

21. [Greek: Tharreite mustai tou theou sesosmenou | hestai gar humin ek ponon soteria]; cf. Hepding, op. cit., p. 167.--Attis has become a G.o.d through his death (see Reitzenstein, _Poimandres_, p. 93), and in the same way were his votaries to become the equals of the divinity through death.