Roman society: from Nero to Marcus Aurelius
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1958
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| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Roman society |b from Nero to Marcus Aurelius |c by Samuel Dill |
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| adam_text | Titel: Roman society
Autor: Dill, Samuel
Jahr: 1958
CONTENTS
BOOK I
CHAPTER I
THE ARISTOCRACY UNDER THE TERROR
How far the Antonine age is marked by a moral and spiritual revolution—
Light which Seneca throws on the moral condition of his class in Hero s
reign—Value of his testimony—His pessimism—Human degeneracy the
result of selfish greed and luxury—Picture of contemporary society—Oruel
selfishness and the taedium nitae—The Ardelio—The terror under which
Seneca lived—Seneca s ideal of the principate expounded to Nero in the
De Clementia—The character of Nero—Taint in the blood of the Domitii—
Nero at first showed glimpses of some better qualities—How he was injured
by the ambition to be an artist—False aestheticism and insane profusion—
Feeling of Tacitus as to his time—His career—Views as to his impartiality
as a historian—He was under complex influences—His chief motive as a
historian—He is not a political doctrinaire—He is avenging a moral, not a
political ideal—His pessimism—His prejudices and limitations—His ideal
of education and character—His hesitating religious faith—His credulity
and his scepticism—His view of the corrupting influence of despotic power
—The influence of imperial example—Profusion of the early Caesars,
leading to murder and confiscation in order to replenish their treasury—
Dangers of life about the court from espionage—Causes of delation—
Its temptations and its great rewards—The secret of the imperial terror—
Various theories of it—Was the Senate a real danger ?—Its impotence in
spite of its prestige and claims—The philosophic opposition—Was it really
revolutionary?— Scolerà sceleribus tuenda —The undefined position of
the principate—Its working depended greatly on the character of the
Emperor for the time—Pliny s ideal of the principate—The danger from
pretenders—Evil effects of astrology—Tiie degradation of the aristocracy
under Nero and Domitian illustrated from the Pisonian conspiracy—and
the Year of the Four Emperors—The reign of Domitian—Its puzzling
character—Its strange contrasts—The terrors of its elose—Confiscation and
massacre—The funereal banquet .... Pages 1-57
ix
ROMAN SOCIETY
CHAPTER II
THE WORLD OF THE SATIRIST
Juvenal and Tacitus compared—Social position and experience of Juvenal—
Juvenal and Martial deal with the same features of society—Their motives
compared—Character of Martial—The moral standard of Juvenal—His
humanity and his old Roman prejudices—He unites the spirit of two
different ages—His rhetorical pessimism—His sweeping generalisations—
Abnormal specimens become types—Soman luxury at its height—Yet
similar extravagance is denounced for five centuries—Such judgments
need qualification—The great social changes depicted by Juvenal, some
of which he misunderstands—Roman respect for birth—The decay of the
aristocracy and its causes—Aristocratic poverty and servility—How the
early Emperors lowered senatorial dignity—Aristocratic gladiators and
actors—Nero made bohemianism the fashion — The Legend of Bad
Women —Its untrustworthiness and defects of treatment—High ideals of
womanhood among contemporaries of Juvenal—He is influenced by old
Roman prejudice—Juvenal hates the new woman as much as the
vicious woman—The emancipation of women began in the second cen¬
tury b.c.—Higher cnlture of women and their growing influence on public
affairs—Juvenal s dislike of the oriental worships and their female devotees
—This is another old movement—The influence of Judaism at Bome,
even in the Imperial household—Women in Juvenal s day were exposed
to serious dangers—The corruptions of the theatre and the circus—
Intrigues with actors and slaves—The invasion of Hellenism—Its history
—The Hellenism of the Emperors—The lower Hellenism which Juvenal
attacks—Social and economic causes of the movement—Greek tutors and
professors—The medical profession chiefly recruited from foreigners—The
character of the profession in those days—The astrologer and the parasite
—The client of the early Empire—His degradation and his hardships—
General poverty—The contempt for trade and industry—The growth of
captation—The worship of wealth—The cry of the poor . Pages 58-99
CHAPTER III
THE SOCIETY OF THE FREEDMEN
The rise of the ireedmeii a great movement—Roman prejudice against them
expressed in the literature of the age—Economic and social causes of the
movement—Trade and industry despised—The freedmen occupied a vacant
place—Causes of the contempt for them—Their many vices and vulgar
taste—-Yet their rise was a hopeful sign—The freedmen in imperial office
—The policy of the early Emperors to employ freedmen in their bureaux
—Vitellius the first Emperor to employ Equités as imperial secretaries-
Hadrian conimed the three great ministries to men of equestrian rank—
The great imperial freedmen—Polybitts, Claudius Etruscus, and Abascantus
-Their career and their immense power described by Statius—The
CONTENTS
xi
intrigues and crimes of the freedmen of Claudius—The insolence of Pallas
—The wealth of the freedmen and its sources—Their luxurious display—
The baths of CI. Etruscus and the gardens of Entellus—Yet the freedmen
were seldom admitted to equal rank with the aristocracy—The Senate
flattered and despised them — The doubtful position of treed women
Plebeian Aspasias—The influence of Acte, Caenis, and Panthea—Manu¬
mission—It was often not a very abrupt change—The better side of slave
life—Trusted and favourite slaves—How they could obtain their freedom
—Slaves employed in offices of trust—The growing peculium,—The close
tie between patron and freedman—The freedman gets a start in trade—
His rapid rise in wealth—His vulgar ostentation—The Satirico ,? of
Petronius—Theories as to its motive, date, and authorship—Its author
probably the C. Petronius of Nero s reign—His character in Tacitus—His
probable motive—The literary character and scene of the Satiricon—The
character of the Greek adventurers—Trimalchio s dinner, to which they are
invited—Sketch of Trimalchio s career—The dinner—Carving to music—
Dishes descend from the ceiling—Wine 100 years old—Confused recollec¬
tions of Homer—Hannibal at the Trojan war—Rope-dancers and tales of
witchcraft—The manners of Fortunata—The conversation of some of the
guests—True bourgeois vulgarity—Grumbling about the management of
the aediles·— Everything is going back—It all arises from neglect of
religion —The coming gladiatorial show, when there will be plenty of
blood—The education of a freedman s son— You learn for profit —Fast
and furious—The ladies get drunk, and Trimalchio gives an unflattering
account of his wife s history—He gives directions to his friend, the stone¬
cutter, for the erection of his monument—He has himself laid out for dead,
and the horn-blowers sound his lament . . . Pages 100-137
BOOK II
CHAPTER I
THE OIECI.B OF THE YOUNGKR PLINY
The contrast between the pictures of society in Juvenal and in Pliny—They
belonged to different worlds—They were also of very ¿liferent tempera¬
ments—Moral contrasts side by side in every age—There were puritan
homes in Italy, even in the worst days—Influence of old Roman tradition
and country life—The circle at Como—Pliny s youth and early training—
Character of the Elder Pliny—His immense industry—Retreats of old
Roman virtue—The character and reforms of Vespasian—His endowment
of education—The moral influence of Quintilian on Roman youth—Pliny s
student friends—His relations with the Stoic circle—His reverence for
Fannia—His eareer at the Bar—He idealises the practice in the Centum-
viral court—Career of M. Aquilius Regulus, the great delator and advocate
—Pliny s passion for fame—The crowd of literary amateurs in his day—Pliny
and Martial—Pliny s relation to the literary movement of his time—His
ROMAN SOCIETY
admiration for Cicero—His reverence for Greece—He once wrote a Greek
tragedy—His apology for his loose verses—His ambition as an orator, and
canons of oratorical style—Pliny s Letters compared witli Cicero s—The
merits and tame of tlie Letters—Their arrangement—They are a memorial
of the social life and literary tone of the time—The character of Silius
Italiens — Literary coteries — Pliny s friendship with Suetonius — The
devotion of literary amateurs to poetic composition and its causes—The
influence of the great Augustan models read at school—Signs of decay
in literature—The growing love of the archaic style—Immense literary
ambition of the time—Attempts of Nero and Domitian to satisfy it by
public literary competitions—The plague of recitations—Pliny believes in
the duty of attending them—The weariness and emptiness of life in the
capital—The charm of the country—Roman eountry seats oil the Anio or
the Laureatine and Campanian shores—-The sites of these villas—Their
furniture and decorations—Doubtful appreciation of works of art—The
gardens of the villa—The routine of a country gentleman s day—The
financial management of an estate—Difficulties with tenants—Pliny s
kindness to freedmen and slaves—The darker side of slavery—MuTder of a
master—Pliny s views on suicide—Tragedies in his circle—Pliny s charity
and optimism—The solidarity of the aristocratic class—Pliny thinks it a
duty to assist the career of promising youth—The women of his circle—His
love for Calpurnia and his love-letters—The charity and humanitarian
sentiment of the age—Bene foe, hoc tecum feres—The wealthy recognise
the duties of wealth—Charitable foundations of the emperors—Pliny s
lavish generosity, both private and public—Yet he is only a shining
example among a crowd of similar benefactors in the Antonine age
Pages 141-195
CHAPTER II
MUNICIPAL LIFE
Little known of country town life from Roman literature—Yet the love of the
country was strong—A relief from the strain of the capital, which, how¬
ever, always maintained its attraction—The Empire a realm of cities—
Immense development of urban life in the first two centuries—The rise of
Thamugadi in Numidia—Great tolerance of municipal freedom under the
early Empire—Yet there was a general drift to uniformity of organisation
—Influence of the capital—The rage for travel—Travelling became easy and
luxurious—Posting facilities on the great roads—The speed of travelling
by land and sea—Growth of towns—Mam- sprang from the canabae legionis
—History of Lambesi—Aristocratic or timoeratic character of municipal
organisation—Illustrated by the album Canusii—The sharp demarcation
of social grades—Yet, in the first century, the Commons had still consider¬
able power — Examples from Pompeii — The magistracies and popular
election—-The honorarium payable on admission to office—The power of
the duumvirs—Position of the Curia—The mode of filling its ranks—Local
Equités—The origin and position of the Augustales—-Their organisation
and their importance in the Roman world—Municipal finance—Direct
taxation in the tat century almost unknown—Sources of municipal
CONTENTS
xlii
revenue—The objects of expenditure—Municipal mismanagement, as in
Bithynia—Signs of decay in Trajan s reign—First appointment of Gura-
tores—Immense private munificence—Examples from Pompeii, which was
only a tliird-rate town—Other instances—Pliny—The Stertinii—Herodes
Attiras, the prince of benefactors—Testimony of the Inscriptions—Example
of imperial liberality—The public works of the Flavian and Antonine
Emperors—Feasts to the populace—Distributions of money, graduated
according to social rank—The motives of this munificence were mixed—
Yet a high ideal of the duties of wealth—The better side of municipal life
—Local patriotism and general kindly feeling—But there is another side
to the picture—Immense passion for amusement, which was often debasing
—Games and spectacles on 135 days in the year—Description of a scene
in the amphitheatre in the Antonine age—-Passion for gladiatorial shows
especially in Campania—Remains of gladiatorial barracks at Pompeii—
Advertisements of games—Pictures on tombs and on the walls—The shows
in small country towns—Shows at Cremona a few days after the battle of
Bedriacum—Greece was little infected with the taste—The feeling of the
philosophers—Statistics as to the cost of a gladiatorial show—How the
ranks of the profession were recruited—Its attractions—Organisation of the
gladiatorial schools—The gladiator in retirement—How municipal bene¬
factors were honoured—Municipal life begins to lose its attractions—The
causes of this—Plutarch on municipal duty—The growth of centralisation
—The beginning of the end .... Pages 196-250
CHAPTER III
THE COLLEGES AND PLEBEIAN LIFE
The plebs of the municipal town chiefly known from the Inscriptions—Great
development of a free proletariat—The effects of manumission—The artisan
class in the Inscriptions—Their pride in their callings—Emblems on their
tombs—Early history of the Collegia—Rigorous restraint of their formation
by Julius and Augustus—The evidence of Gaius—Dangers from the
colleges not imaginary—Troubles in the reign of Aurelian—Yet the great
movement could not be cheeked—The means of evading the law—Extended
liberty in reigns of M. Aurelius and Alexander Severas—The social forces
behind the movement of combination—The wish for funeTal rites and
lasting remembrance—Evidence of the Inscriptions—The horror of loneli¬
ness in death—The funerary colleges—That of Lanuvium shows how the
privilege granted to them might be extended—Any college might claim it
—Description of the college at Lanuvium—Its foundation deed—The fees
—The grants for burial—The college of Aesculapius and Hygia—Its
organisation for other objects than burial—Any college might assume a
quasi-religious character—The influence of religion on all ancient social
organisation—The colleges of traders — Wandering merchants organise
themselves all over the world—And old soldiers—Colleges of youth for
sporting purposes—Every branch of industry was organised in these
societies—Evidence from Ostia, Lyons, and Rome, in the Inscriptions—
Clubs of slaves in great houses, and in that of the Emperor—They were
xiv
ROMAN SOCIETY
encouraged by the masters—The organisation of the college was modelled
on the city—Its officers bear the names of republican magistrates—The
number of members limited—-Periodical revision of the Album—Even in
the plebeian colleges the gradation of rank was observed—Patrons carefully
sought for—Meeting-place of the college—Description of the Schola—
Sacred associations gathered round it—Even the poorest made presents to
decorate it—-The poor college of Silvanus at Philippi—But the colleges
relied on the generosity of patrons—Their varying social rant—Election of
a patron—A man might be a patron of many colleges—The college often
received bequests to guard a tomb, and perform funerary rites for ever—
The common feasts of the colleges—The division of the sportula by ranks
—Regulations as to decorum at college meetings—The college modelled on
the family—Mommsen s opinion — Fraternal feeling —The slave in the
college, for the time, treated as an equal—Yet the difference of rank, even
in the colleges, was probably never forgotten—Were the colleges really
charitable foundations ?—The military colleges—Their object, not only to
provide due burial, but to assist an officer throughout his career—The
extinction of a college—The college at Alburnus in Dacia vanishes prob¬
ably in the Marcomannic invasion .... Pages 251-288
BOOK III
CHAPTER I
THE PHILOSOPHIC DIRECTOR
The great change in the motive and character of philosophy—The schools for¬
sook metaphysical speculation,, and devoted themselves to the cultivation of
character—Why faith in abstract thought declined, and the conduct of life
became all-important—The effect of the loss of free civic life and the estab¬
lishment of world - empires—1The commonwealth of man—The great ars
t h:nidi Spiritual directors before the imperial times—They are found in
every great family—The power of Seneca as a private director of souls—
How his career and experience prepared him for the office—He had seen the
inner life of the time, its sensuality, degradation, and remorse—-He was
himself an ascetic, living in a palace which excited Zero s envy—His experi¬
ence excited an evangelistic passion—His conception of philosophy as the
art of saving souls—His contempt for unpractical speculation—Yet he
values Physics for its moral effect in elevating the mind to the region of
eternal truth Curious examples of physical study for moral ends—The
pessimism of Seneca Its causes in tlie inner secrets of his class—It is a
lost world which must be saved by every effort—Stoicism becomes trans¬
figured by moral enthusiasm—Yet can philosophie religion dispense with
dogma ? Empirical rules of conduct are not enough—There must be true
theory of conduct—Seneca not a rigorous dogmatist—His varying con.
ceptions of God Often mingles Platonic conceptions with old Stoic
CONTENTS
XV
doctrine—But all old Stoic doctrine can be found in him— The kingdom
of Heaven is within —Freedom is found in renunciation, submission to
the Universal Reason—Whence comes the force of self-reform?—The
problem of freedom and necessity — How mail may attain to moral
freedom—The struggle to recover a primeval virtue—Modifications of old
Stoic theory—The ideal sapiens—Instantaneous conversion—Ideas fatal to
practical moral reform—For practical purposes, Stoic theory must be
modified—The sapiens a mythical figure—There may be various stages of
moral progress—Aristotelian ideas—Seneca himself far from the ideal of the
Stoic sage—The men for whom Seneca is providing counsel—How then-
weaknesses have to be dealt with — The ars vitae develops into
casuistry in the hands of the director—Obstacles in the way to the higher
life—Seneca s skill in dealing with different cases—His precepts for reform
—Necessity of confession, self-examination, steadiness of purpose, self-
denial—Vìvere militare est—The real victor—The mind can create its own
world, and triumph even over death—Seneca s not the Cynic ideal of
moral isolation—Competing tendencies in Stoicism—Isolated renunciation
and social sympathy—A citizen of two cities—The great commonwealth of
humanity—The problem of serving God and man variously solved by the
Stoics—Seneca s ideas of social duty—Social instinct innate—Duty of help,
forgiveness, and kindness to others—The example of the Infinite Goodness
—The brotherhood of man includes the slave—Seneca s attitude to slavery
—His ideal of womanhood—Women may be the equals of men in culture
and virtue—The greatness of Seneca as a moral teacher—He belongs to the
modern world, and was claimed by the Church—A pagan Thomas à
Kempis ..... . Pages 289-333
CHAPTER II
THE PHILOSOPHIC MISSIONARY
Seneca the director of an aristocratic class—The masses needed a gospel—
Their moral condition—The Antonine age produced a great movement for
their moral elevation—Lucian s attitude to the Cynics—His kindred with
them—Detached view of human life and its vanity—Gloomy view of the
moral state of the masses—The call for popular evangelism—Can philo¬
sophy furnish the gospel?—Lucian s Hermotimus—The quarrels of the
schools—Yet they show real agreement on the rule of life—The fashionable
sophist—Khetorical philosophy despised by more earnest minds—Serious
preaching—The sermons of Apollonius of Tyana—Sudden conversions—The
preaching of Musonius, Plutarch, and Maximus of Tyre — The mystic
fervour of Maximus—Dion s view of the Cynic preacher—The mendicant
monks of paganism —Lucian s caricature of their vices—Many vulgar
impostors adopt the profession—It oifered a tempting field—Why the
charges against the Cynics must be taken with reserve —S. Augustine s
testimony—Causes of the prejudice against Cynicism—Lucian s treatment
of Peregrinus—The history of Peregrinus—The credibility of the charges
which Lucían makes against him—He is about to immolate himself at
Olympia when Lucian arrives—Lucian treats the self-martyrdom as a piece
XVI
ROMAN SOCIETY
of theatrical display—Yet Peregrinile may have honestly desired to teaeli
contempt for death—Stoic suicide—The scene at the pyre The last words
of Peregrinità—Lucían creates a myth and sees it grow—Testimony of A.
Gellius as to Peregrinus—The power of the later Cynicism—The ideal Cynic
in Epictetus—An ambassador of God—Kindred of Cynicism and Monas-
ticism—Cultivated Cynics—The character of Demetrius, a leader of the
philosophic opposition—Cynic attitude to popular religion—Oenomaus a
pronounced rationalist—Disbelief in oracles—The character of Demonax
His great popular influence—Prosecuted for neglect of religious observances
—His sharp sayings—Demonstrations of reverence for him at his death—
The career of Dion ChTysostom—His conversion during his exile—Becomes
a preacher with a mission to the Roman world—The character of his eighty
orations—He is the rhetorical apostle of a few great truths—His idea of
philosophy—His pessimism about the moral state of the world—A
materialised civilisation—Warning to the people of Tarsus—Rebukes the
feuds of the Bithynian cities—A sermon at Olbia on the Black Sea—The
jealousies of the Asiatic towns—Prusa and Apamea—Sermon on civic
harmony—He assails the vices and frivolity of the Alexandrians—His
prose idyll—Simple pastoral life in Euboea—The problema and vices of city
life exposed—Dion on true kingship—The vision of the Two Peaks—The
ideal king—The sermon at Olympia inspired by the Zeus of Pheidias—Its
majesty and benignity—Sources of the idea of God—The place of art in
religion—Relative power of poetry and sculpture to express religious truth
—Pheidias defends his anthropomorphism—His Zeus a God of mercy and
peace ....... Pages 334-388
CHAPTER III
THE PHILOSOPHIC THEOLOGIAN
The pagan revival and the growth of superstition called for a theodicy—Old
Roman religion was still powerful—But there was an immense accretion
of worships from the conquered countries—And an immense growth in the
belief in genii, dreams, omens, and oraeles—Yet amid the apparent chaos,
there was a tendency, in the higher minds, to monotheism—The craving
for a moral God in sympathy with man—The ideas of Apuleius, Epictetus,
M. Aurelius—The change in the conception of God among the later Stoics—
God no longer mere Force or Fate or impersonal Reason—He is a Father
and Providence, giving moral support and comfort—The attitude of the
later Stoics to external worship and anthropomorphic imagery—How was
the ancient worship to be reconciled with purer conceptions of the Divine ?
—God being so remote, philosophy may discover spiritual help in all the
religions of the past — The history of STeo-Pythagoreanism — Apollonius
of Tyana—His attitude to mythology—His mysticism and ritualism—
Plutarch s associations and early history—His devotion to Greek tradition
His social life—His Lives of the great Greeks and Romans—He is a
moralist rather than a pure philosopher—The tendency of philosophy in his
day was towards the formation of character—The eclecticism of the time
Plutarch s attitude to Platonism and Stoicism—His own moral system
was dTawn from various schools—Preeepts for the formation of character—
CONTENTS
xvii
Fintarci on freedom and necessity—His contempt for rhetorical philosophy
—Plutarch on Tranquillity—How to grow daily—The pathos of life—The
need for a higher vision—How to reconcile the God of philosophy with the
ancient mythology was the great problem—Plutarch s conception of God—
His cosmology mainly that of the Tinaie as—The opposition between the
philosophic idea of God and the belief of the crowd was an old one—Yet
great political and spiritual changes had made it a more urgent question—
The theology of Maximus of Tyre—His pure conception of God, combined
with tolerance of legend and symbolism—Myth not to be discarded, but
interpreted by philosophy, to discover the kernel of truth which is
reverently veiled—The effort illustrated by the treatise of Plutarch on
Isis and Osiris—Its theory of Evil and daemonic powers—The Platonist
daemonology—The history of daemons traced from Hesiod—The conception
of daemons justified by Maximus—The daemonology of the early Greek
philosophers—The nature of daemons as conceived by Maximus and
Plutarch—The ministering spirits of Maximus—The theory of bad daemons
enabled Plutarch to explain the grossness of myth and ritual — The
bad daemons a damaosa hereditas—The triumphant use made of the
theory by the Christian Apologists—The daemonology of Plutarch was
also used to explain the inspiration or the silence of the ancient oracles
— The oracles are dumb —Yet in the second century, to some extent,
Delphi revived—Questions as to its inspiration debated—The quality of
Delphic verse—The theory of inspiration—Concurrent causes of it—The
daemon of the shrine may depart—The problem of inspiration illustrated
by a discussion on the daemon of Socrates—What was it ?—The result of
the inquiry is that the human spirit, at its best, is open to influences from
another world ...... Pages 384-440
BOOK IV
CHAPTER I
SUPERSTITION
Superstition a term of shifting meaning—Plutarch s treatise 011 Superstition—
Why it is worse than atheism—Immense growth of superstition in the
first century, following on a decay of old religion—Forgotten rites and
fallen temples—The revival of Augustus—The power of astrology—The
Emperors believed in it and dreaded it—Tiberius and Thrasyllus at
Capreae—The attitude of Nero, Otho, and Yitellius to astrology—The
superstition of the Flavian Emperors—And of Hadrian and M. Aurelius—
The superstition of the literary class—The Elder Pliny—Suetonius—
Tacitus—His wavering treatment of the supernatural—How it may be
explained by the character of the age—Epictetus on divination—The
superstition of Aelian of Praeneste—His credulity and his anathemas
on the sceptics—P. Aelius Aristides—His history and character—His
illness of thirteen years—Was he a simple devotee?—The influence of
xviii
ROMAN SOCIETY
rhetorical training on him—The temples of healing in his time—Their
organisation and routine—Recipes by dreams in the temples of Asclepius,
Isis, and Serapis—Medical skill combined with superstition—The amuse¬
ments and cheerful social life of these temple-hospitals were powerful
healers—The ailments of Aristides and his journeys in quest of health—
Strange divine prescriptions astonish the medical attendants—Their own
heroic remedies—Epiphanies of the Gods—The return of his rhetorical
power—The debt is repaid in the Sacred Orations—The treatise on dreams
by Artemidorus—His idea of founding a science of dreams—His enormous
industry in collecting materials—His contempt for less scientific inter¬
preters—His classification of dreams and methods of interpretation—The
new oracles—The failure of the old was not so complete as it is sometimes
represented—The revival of Delphi—The history of the oracle of Alex¬
ander of Abonoteichos—His life and character—How he played on the
superstition of the Paphlagonians—The business-like management of the
oracle—Its fees and revenue—Its secret methods—Its fame spreads every¬
where—Oracles in many tongues—Kutilianus, a great noble, espouses
Alexander s daughter—The Epicureans resist the impostor, but in vain
—The mysteries of Glycon—Alexander, a second Endymion—Immense
superstition of the time—Apotheosis in the air—The cult of Antinous—
And of M. Aurelîus—In Croton there were more gods than men !—The
growing faith in daemons and genii—The evidence of inscriptions as to the
adoption of local deities all over the world—Revived honours of classic
heroes—The belief in; recurring miracle—Christian and pagan were equally
credulous—The legend of the Thundering Legion —Sorcery in Thessaly
—The lawless romance of Apuleius . . . Pages 443-483
CHAPTEE II
BELIEF m IMMORTALITY
The conception of immortality determined by the idea of God—Religion supplies
the assurance denied by philosophy—Vagueness of the conception natural
and universal— It doth not yet appear what we shall be —Confused and
various beliefs on the subject in the Early Empire—The cult of the Manes
in old Italian piety—The guardianship of the tomb, and call for perpetual
remembrance—The eternal sleep—The link between the living and the dead
—The craving for continued human sympathy with the shade in its eternal
home—The Lemures and the Lemuria—Visitations from the other world—
The Mundus in every Latin town—The general belief in apparitions illus¬
trated from the Philops udes of Lucían, from the Younger Pliny, Suetonius*
Dion Cassius, and Maximus of Tyre—The eschatology of Virgil a mixture
of different faiths—Scenes from the Inferno of the Aeneid—Its Pythagorean
elements -How Virgil influenced later conceptions of the future state—1
Scepticism and credulity in the first century—Perpetuity of heathen
beliefs The inscriptions, as to the future state, must be interpreted with
care and discrimination—The phrases often conventional, and springing
from different orders of belief—Inscriptions frankly atheistic or sensualist
Ideas of immortality among the cultivated class—The influence oí
CONTENTS
xix
Lucretius —The Stoic idea of coming life, and the Peripatetic—The
influence of Platonismi—In the last age of the Republic, and the first of the
Empire, educated opinion was often sceptical or negative—J. Caesar, the
Elder Pliny, Tacitus—The feeling of Hadrian—Epictetus on immortality—
Galen—His probable influence on M. Aurelius—The wavering attitude of
M. Aurelius on immortality—How he could reconcile himself by a saintly
ideal to the resignation of the hope of a future life—His sadness and
pessimism fully justified by the circumstances of the time— Thou hast
come to shore ; quit the ship —Change in the religions character long
before M. Aurelius—Seneca s theology as it moulded his conception of
immortality—A new note in Seneca—The influence of Pythagorean and
Platonic conceptions in modifying Stoicism—The revival of Pythagoreanism
in the first century—Its tenets and the secret of its power—Apollonius of
Tyana on immortality—His meeting with the .shade of Achilles—Plutarch
and Maximus of Tyre on immortality—Plutarch s arguments for the faith
in it—The Delays of Divine Vengeance—But, like Plato, Plutarch feels
that argument on such a subject must be reinforced by poetic imagination
—The myths of Thespesius of Soli and Timarehus in Plutarch—Mythic
scenery of the eternal world .... Pages 484-528
CHAPTER III
THE OLD ROMAN RELIGION
The decay of old religion in the last age of the Republic—Its causes—Influence
of Greek philosophy and rationalism—Distinction drawn between the
religion of philosophy and that of the State—The moral and religious
results—Sceptical conformity or desuetude of ancient rites—The religious
revival of Augustus — How far a matter of policy—Ancient temples
and worships restored — The position of Pontifex Maximus — How the
Emperors utilised the dignity and kept a firm hold on the old religion—
The religious character of the early Emperors—The force of antiquarian
sentiment in the second century—The Inscriptions plainly show that the
popular faith in old Latin religion was still strong—The revival of the
Arval brotherhood—Its history and ritual described—A stronghold of
imperial power—How the Arval College supported and flattered the
Emperors—How the cultivated class reconciled themselves to the rudest
forms of the ancient religion—The philosophic reconciliation—The influence
of patriotism in compelling men to support a religion which was intertwined
with all social and political life—The sentiment powerful down to the
end of paganism—But other religious ideas were in the air, preparing the
triumph of the cults of the East ..... 529-546
CHAPTER IV
MAGNA MATES
The fascination of the worship of the Great Mother—It was still powerful in
the days of S. Augustine—Its arrival from Pessinus in 204 b.c.—The
XX
ROMAN SOCIETY
history of its growing influence—The taurobolium in the second century
The legend and its interpretations—The Megalesia in spring The priest¬
hood—The sacred colleges of the worship—Evidence of the Inscriptions—
The worship in country places—Vagabond priests in Thessaly described by
Apuleius — Picture of their wild orgies—The problem of these eastern
cult?—From a gross origin, they became transmuted into a real spiritual
power—The elevation of Magna Mater—The rite of the taurobolium—Its
history in Asia Minor—Its immense influence 111 the last age of the
Empire—A challenge to the Church—The history of the taurobolium in
the West from the Inscriptions—Description of thé scene from Prudentius
¦—The connection of Magna Mater with ilithra and other deities
Pages 547-559
CHAPTER V
ISIS AND SERAPIS
Their long reign in Europe—Established at Peiraeus in the fourth century B.c.
—And in Asia Minor—How the Egyptian cults had been transformed
under Greek influences—Greek settlers, soldiers, and travellers in Egypt
from the seventh century B.c.—Greek and Egyptian gods identified—The
new propaganda of the Ptolemies—Theories of the origin of Serapis—The
new Egyptian Trinity—The influence of Greek mysticism—The worship
probably established in Oampanian towns before 150 B.c.—The religious
excitement in Italy in the early part of the second century B.C.—The
Bacchanalian scandal — The apocryphal books of Numa — Efforts of the
Government in the first century b.c. to repress the worship—A violent
struggle with varying fortunes—The triumvirs in 42 B.c. erect a temple
of Isis—Persecution of eastern worships in the reign of Tiberius—Thence¬
forth there -was little opposition—Attitude of the Flavian Emperors—
Domitian builds a temple of Isis, 92 a.d.—The Egyptian worship
propagated from Alexandria by slaves, officials, philosophers, and savants
—Votaries in the imperial household—Spread of Isiac worship through
Europe—It reaches York—The secret of its fascination—The cult
appealed to many kinds of mind—Its mysticism—Its charm for women—
Its pomp and ceremonial—How a religion originally gross may be trans¬
formed—The zoolatry of Egypt justified as symbolism by Greek philo¬
sophers—But there is little traee of it in the Isiac worship of the West—
Isis becomes an all-embracing spiritual power—And Serapis is regarded by
Aristides as sovereign lord of life—Yet the worship never broke away from
the traditions of idolatry—It fostered an immense superstition—The
PetosMs—But there -was undoubted spiritual power in the worship—The
initiation of Lucius—The faith in immortality—e????a on tombs—Im¬
pressive ritual—Separation of the priesthood from the world—-Description
of the daily offices—Matins and Vespers—Silent meditation—The great
festivals of the Isiac calendar—Ascetic preparation—The blessing of the
sacred ship—Description of the procession in Apuleius—The grades of
priests The sacred guilds—The place of women—The priesthood an
aggressive power—The Isiac presbytery—Priestly rule of life—Tertullian
holds it up as an example—The popular charm of the Divine Mother
560-584
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
THE RELIGION OF ?????G??
The canses which in the second century A.i . prepared the triumph of Mithra
—Heliolatry the natural goal of heathenism—Early history of Mithra
in the Vedas and A vestas—He is a moral power from the beginning—
His place in the Zoroastrian hierarchy—His relation to Ormuzd—The
influence of Babylon on the Persian worship—Mithra identified with
the Sun—The astral lore of Babylonia inseparable from Mithraism—Yet
Mithra and the Sun are distinct in tlie later Inscriptions—How Mithra
worship was modified in Asia Minor—The influence of Greek mythology,
philosophy, and art—The group of the Tauroctomis probably first
fashioned by a Pergamene artist — Mithra in literature — Herodotus —
Xenophon—The Thebaid of Statius—Plutarch—Lucian may have heard
the Mazdean litany—Mithra s first coming to the West probably in the
reign of Tiberius—The earliest inscriptions of Mithraism belong to the
Flavian age—At the same time, the worship is established in Pannonia—
The earliest temples at Ostia and Rome—The power of Mithra in the
capital—The secret of the propaganda—Soldiers were the most effective
missionaries of Mithra — Slaves and imperial officials of every degree
propagate the Persian faith—Its progress traced around Rome and through
various regions of Italy, especially to the north—Mithra s ehapels in the
valleys of the Alps and on the roads to the Danube from Aquileia—Along
the line of the Danube—His remains abundant ili Dacia and Pannonia—
Chapels at Aquincum and Carnuntum—The enthusiasm of certain
legions—The splendid remains of Mithra worship in Upper Germany- in
the early part of the second century ?.?.—Mithra passes on, through
Cologne and Boulogne, to London, Chester, York, and the wall of
Hadrian—Mithra made least impression on W. Gaul, Spain, and N.
Africa—In spite of tolerance and syncretism, Mithraism never ceased to be
a Persian cult—The influence of astrology—The share of Babylonia in
moulding the worship—Yet Greek mystic influences liad a large part in it
—The descent and ascent of the soul—Yet, although Mithraism came to
be a moral creed, it never ceased to be a cosmic symbolism—The great
elemental powers—The daemonology of Mithraism—Its affinity with the
later Keo-Platonism—The evil eifect of belief in planetary influences—The
struggle between formal and spiritual ideals of religion—The craving for
mediatorial sympathy in the moral life was urgent—Mithra was a mediator
both in a cosmic and a moral sense—He stands between Cautes and
Cautopates, and between Ornmzd and Ahriman—The legend of Mithra as
faintly recovered from the monuments—The petra genetrix—The adoration
of the shepherds—The fountain gushing at the arrow-stroke—The legend
of the mystic bull—Its chase and slaughter—Its death as the source of
resurgent life—The mysterious reconciliation of Mithra and the Sun—
Their solemn agape—Yarious interpretations of the legend—Yet there was
a real spiritual meaning under it all—A religion of strenuous combat—
How it touched the Roman soldier on the Danube—Its eschatology—Its
promise of immortality and final triumph over evil —The sacramental
mystery of Mithraism—The daily offices, and the annual festivals—The
XXII
ROMAN SOCIETY
mysteries of Mithra and tlie seven grades of initiation — Symbolic
ceremonies—The colleges of Mithra—Their influence in levelling social
distinctions—The suspicions of the Apologists—Description of a chapel of
Mithra — The form of the cave ahvays preserved — The scene of full
initiation—Mithraism as an imperial cult and a support of imperial power
—Sketch of the history of imperial apotheosis—The historic causes which
aided it — The influence of Egypt and Persia on the movement—Tlie
Persian attitude to kings—The Fortune of the monarch—How these ideas
blended with old Roman conceptions—The influence of Sun-worship in the
third century, in stimulating theocratic ideas—The Emperors appropriate
the titles and insignia of the Sun—The imperial house consecrate a temple
to Mithra at Carnuntum, twenty years before the conversion of Constantine
Could Mithra ever have become the god of western Europe ?—His
chances of success in the chaos of belief seemed promising—His syncretism
and tolerance, yet his exclusive claims—His moral charm—The fears of
the Fathers—Parallels between his legend and the Bible—-His sacramental
system a travesty of the mysteries of the medieval church—Yet there
was a great gulf between the two religions—The weaknesses of Mithraism
—It did not appeal to women—It had no Mater Dolorosa—It offered little
human sympathy—And in its tolerance of other heathen systems lay its
great weakness—A Mithraist might be a votary of all the ancient gods—
Mithraism was rooted in nature-worship, and remained the patron of the
worst superstitions—Mithra belonged to the order which was passing
away pages 585-626
|
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| spelling | Dill, Samuel Verfasser aut Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill 3. print. New York, NY Meridian Books 1958 XXVII, 639 S. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Meridian library 1 Geschichte 54-180 gnd rswk-swf Religion (DE-588)4049396-9 gnd rswk-swf Kultur (DE-588)4125698-0 gnd rswk-swf Römisches Reich (DE-588)4076778-4 gnd rswk-swf Römisches Reich (DE-588)4076778-4 g Kultur (DE-588)4125698-0 s Geschichte 54-180 z DE-604 Religion (DE-588)4049396-9 s Meridian library 1 (DE-604)BV020576598 1 HBZ Datenaustausch application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=022351479&sequence=000002&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis |
| spellingShingle | Dill, Samuel Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius Meridian library Religion (DE-588)4049396-9 gnd Kultur (DE-588)4125698-0 gnd |
| subject_GND | (DE-588)4049396-9 (DE-588)4125698-0 (DE-588)4076778-4 |
| title | Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius |
| title_auth | Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius |
| title_exact_search | Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius |
| title_full | Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill |
| title_fullStr | Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill |
| title_full_unstemmed | Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill |
| title_short | Roman society |
| title_sort | roman society from nero to marcus aurelius |
| title_sub | from Nero to Marcus Aurelius |
| topic | Religion (DE-588)4049396-9 gnd Kultur (DE-588)4125698-0 gnd |
| topic_facet | Religion Kultur Römisches Reich |
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