Ancient History of the Embodied Soul Asclepius

8/14/2019 Ancient History of the Embodied Soul Asclepius

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Ancient History of theEmbodied Soul- The Ministry of the Ascetics - Essenes,

Therapeutae and Asclepius

ChronologyEssenes

(Palestine)

Therapeutae

(Egypt,

Greece)

The Healer

AsclepiusSource Comments

999 BCEASCETICISMEncyclopedia Britannica: The Zulus and other primitive races distrust a medicine man who is not anascetic and lean with fasting. In the Semitic East it is an old belief that a successful fast in the wilderness of forty days and

nights gives power over the Djinns. The Indian yogi fasts till he sees face to face all the gods of his Pantheon; the Indianmagician fasts twelve days before producing rain or working any cure.

700 BCE HomerIliad: mentions Asclepius as a skillful physician, not a miracle worker.

528 BCE YES YES AsclepiusMythological

beginnings: son ofApollo

528 BCEGautama

Buddha

Enlightenmentat the age of 35

years

515 BCEBuddhist Influence: Therapeutae were sent by Buddha. Were the ancient Pythagoreans influenced by Indianideas vegetarianism, communal property, 'transmigration of souls.' and the principles of Ayurvedic medicine (Pythagoras'four humours).

510 BCE NO YES YES Pythagoras

(580 - c.490 BCE)

Michael Grant, in hiswell-respected 'The Riseof the Greeks' makes

note that the cult ofThoth/Hermes and itsequivalent

'Imhotep/Asklepios'wasthe main intellectual

belief during the time of

Pythagoras.

450 BCE YES YES Pindar

Lyric poet mentionsAsclepius performinghealings, miracles and

raising people from thedead.

420 BCELife of

SophoclesYES Sophocles

served as a priest to

Asclepius

370 BCEHippocratic

OathYES Hippocrates

"I swear by Apollo, the

healer ...

323 BCEAlexander (336-323 BC) carried Greek civilization to the east. But the flow of culture was two way for example, theGreeks adopted the Indian war elephant and a great deal of speculative Indian thinking. Greek philosophers, like Anaxarchus

and Pyrrho, had been in the train of Alexander and had mixed with the Indian gymnosophists or 'naked philosophers.' Aftertheir conquest of the Indus valley the Greeks never again returned to the simple pantheon of their Olympian gods andfounded their first school of Skepticism

250 BCE

Buddhist Influence: Therapeutae were sent by Asoka on an embassy to Pharaoh Ptolemy II (The word'Therapeutae' is itself of Buddhist origin, being a Hellenization of the Pali 'Thera-putta' (literally 'son of the elder' or 'son ofthe monk'). Ashoka, in his Second Edict refers to philanthropic works (such as medical help for humans and animals, digging

wells, planting trees etc.) taken up by his missionaries in the lands ruled by Theos II of Syria (260 to 240 B. C) and hisneighbors , including Egypt.
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0015 BCE Source

Marcus

VipsaniusAgrippa

governor of

Syria, friend of

Herod theGreat (Pliny's

source)

020 CE NO YES YES Strabo

Strabo tells us that the

Asclepius temples at Cosand Epidaurus werealways filled with

patients, and along theirwalls the tablets were

suspended, upon whichwere recorded thehistory and treatment of

the individual cases ofdisease. One of these

tablets has been foundon the island in theTiber, near Rome, at the

site of an ancient temple- inscribed in Greek:"Lucius was attacked by

the pleurisy, andeveryone despaired ofhis life; the god ordered

that the warm ashes ofthe altar be mingledwith wine, and applied

to his side. He wassaved, and gave thanksto the god before the

people."

020 CE NO YES YESChaeremon

the Stoic

Contemporary of Strabo;system not extinct -source for Porphyry

030 CE

Philois often taken as the sole authority for the Therapeutae. When he wrote, the origins of the Therapeutae were

already lost in the past, and he was even unsure about the etymology of their name, which he explained as meaning eitherphysicians of souls or servants of God. Philo was employing the familiar polarity in Hellenic philosophy between the activeand the contemplative life, exemplifying the active life by the Essenes, another severely ascetic sect, and the contemplative

life by the desert-dwelling Therapeutae. According to Philo, the Therapeutae were widely distributed in the Ancientworld, among the Greeks and beyond in the non-Greek world of the "Barbarians", with one of ther major gathering point

being in Alexandria, in the area of the Lake Mareotis

030 CE On Ascetics On Ascetics YESPhiloJudaeus

Essenes in Palestine;

Therapeutae in Egypt(and everywhere). TheTherapeutae admitted

women, the Essenes didnot. The Therepeutae

practiced annointment

with oil in the usualOriental manner,

whereas oil wasregarded as a defilement

by the Essenes.

054 CERoman COINS: Coins minted from the time of Nero in 54 CE through to Licinius in 324 CE depict Asclepius orSalus -- include a total of forty-six emperors (listed below). It is notable that the tradition ceases with the rise to supremacy ofthe emperor Constantine.

070 CE?P.Oxy.413: an incomplete manuscript of a Greek mime ( a skit). The scene of action of the skit is India and there are anumber of Indian characters who speak dialogue in an Indian language. Dr. E. Hultzsch (1857-1927), a noted GermanIndologist, identified some words of the dialogue as an archaic form of Kannada, one of the four major languages of SouthIndia.
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075 CE

Natural

History

5.73

Natural

History 29.1.3YES

Pliny the

Elder

Asclepius raised

Tyndareus from the dead(Pliny the Elder, NaturalHistory 29.1.3),

090 CEJosephus states flatly that the Essene lifestyle and the Pythagorean lifestyle

were the same. (Antiquities 15.10.4).

090 CEAntiquities(15.10.4)

"Pythagoreans"

Josephus

095 CE Fragments AEGAEApolloniusof Tyana

Pythagorean Sage andAscetic, adept, cited byPhilostratus

(Biographer), Eusebiusregards as an authority

on abstinence fromsacrifice

100 CEviaBiographer?

DioChrysostom

See Synesiusof Cyrene

2nd CE Medical YESPedanius

Dioscorideswrote an encyclopedia ofmedicine

2nd CE Medical YES

Aulus

Cornelius

Celsus

Greek physician, a

disciple of Hippocrates

2nd CE Medical YESRufus of

Ephesus

Greek anatomistrenowned for his

investigations of theheart and eye

2nd CE Medical YESSoranus of

Ephesus

Greek physician, who

recorded informationconcerning obstetricsand gynecology,apparently based on

human dissection;distinguished amongdiseases by their

symptoms and course.

150 CEDescription of

Greece126 refs Pausanias

Greek traveller andgeographer of the 2ndcentury CE., who lived

in the times of Hadrian,Antoninus Pius andMarcus Aurelius. He

describes ancient Greecefrom firsthand

observations, and is acrucial link betweenclassical literature and

modern archaeology.

160 CESacred Tales

39.5YES

Aelius

Aristides"We Asclepiustherapeutae "

165 CE Medical

Works

YES Galen of

Pergamon

Student of Hippocrates,

physician to the emperorMarcus Aurelius,
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therapetae of Ascepius.

170 CE?

P.Oxy. 1381: Dates from later second century CE. Contains extended prologue and first few lines of an aretology ofImouthes - Asclepius. The author of P.Oxy 1381 is gravely ill. Asclepius appears in a dream --- "someone whose height wasmore than human, clothed in shining raiment and carrying in his left hand a book, who after merely regarding me two orthree times from head to foot disappeared."The illness disappeared immediately; but in turn Ascepius demanded, "though the

priest who serves him in the ceremonies", the fulfilment of the patient's long-standing undertaking to write a book about

Asclepius.

300 CE

De

Abstinentia

4.6

De Abstinentia

4.6

Porphyry of

Tyre

curious resemblances to

Philo's description of theTherapeutae, even downto such details as their

posture and gait and theeating of hyssop with

their bread

310 CELife ofPythagoras

Iamblicus

"tells us how he saw at

Heliopolis largebuildings belonging tothe priests, which had

once been tenanted bymen skilled in

philosophy andastronomy, who had

been consulted by Platoand Eudoxus, but thatthe Therapeutae (sameword used by Philo) had

then fallen into decay ."

317 CEPachomius - writes about his spiritual master Palamon, with whom he stayed for many years, an anchorite ascetic,whom he reports says:I have a hard ascesis. In summer I fast daily and in winter I eat every other day. By the grace of God*** I eat nothing but bread and salt. I am not in the habit of using oil and wine. I keep vigil as I was taught, always spending

half the night and often the whole night in prayer and reciting the words of God. (NB: *** This was not the "christian god")

324 CE See below H.E. 2.16-17DESTRUCTIO

NEusebius

323 CE H.E. 4.22.6DESTRUCTIO

NviaEusebius Hegesippus

322 CE ???DESTRUCTIO

N

via

Eusebius

Hippolytus of

Rome

348 CENag Hammadi

CodicesDESTRUCTIO

N

Pachomius

the Editor?SeeSUMMARY

362 CEAgainst the

GalilaeansYES

Emperor

JulianAsclepius: the GreatestGift of the Helenes

400 CE

Synesius of

Cyrene

Chrysostoms

biographer

890 CEBibliotheca104

Bibliotheca104

Photius

1852 CE Bruno Bauer(1809-1882); Critique of the Gospels and History of Their Origin, noted that in Alexandria, Philo (bornc. 10 B.C.) took up Heraclitus' [c. 540 - c. 480 B.C.E.] old idea of the Logos and made it the incorporeal first-born of God, the

high priest who stands before God on behalf of the world. He is a personal and enduring mediator between God and man, thebread of life given to man's soul. He is God's cupbearer, who offers himself as refreshing wine--not to the rulers of this word,
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Asclepius' Temples and Cult - c.500 BCE to c.500

CE

Ancient Greco-Roman medicine borrowed a lot from theEgyptian medicine.

Egyptian medical men were invited by Greeks topractice medicine

in their countries and were highly respected.

Michael Grant, in his well-respected 'The Rise of theGreeks' makes

note that the cult of Thoth/Hermes and its equivalent'Imhotep/Asklepios'

was the main intellectual belief during the time ofPythagoras.

Apollo

Apollo was considered the earliest Greek God ofmedicine.

Apollo was born in Delos and brought up in Delphi.Here,

as the legend goes, the infant Apollo slew a python ora

monster that had plagued the site. Following this,Delphi

became a sacred place in Greece, where oraclesoccured.

Apollo is regarded as having taught the art of healingto

Achilles, Aesculapius (Asklepius) and Jason.

Asclepius

Asclepius was considered to be the son of Apollo andCoronis


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a mortal woman. Ancient written sources report (seebelow) that "he healed many sick whose lives had been despairedof,

and... he brought back to life many who had died."

Major temples, shrines and healing centers werescattered across

the empire according to ancient sources. Perhaps thebest resource

available on the Asclepius Cult in the empire islocated at: http://www.theoi.com/Cult/AsklepiosCult.html

THEOI present a discussion of the following59 Asclepius temples and/or shrines:

ABIA Village in Messenia,AIGAI Town in Kilikia ,AIGINA Chief Town of Aigina,

AIGION Town in Akhaia,ALEXANDRIA Chief City of Ptolemaic Egypt (GreekColony),ALIPHERA Village in Arkadia,ARGOS Chief City of Argolis,ASOPOS Village in Lakedaimonia,ATHENS Chief City of Attika,AULON Village in Messenia,BALAGRAI Village in Kyrenaia in Libya (GreekColony),BOIAI Village in Lakedaimonia,ELATEIA Village in Phokis,EPIDAUROS LIMERA Village in Lakedaimonia,EPIDAUROS Town in Argolis,ERYTHRAI Town in Ionia / Lydia,GERENIA Village in Messenia,GORTYNA Village in Elis,GORTYS Village in Arkadia,GYTHEATAI Village in Lakedaimonia,HYPSOI Village in Lakedaimonia,KAOUS Village in Arkadia,KLEITOR Village in Arkadia,KORINTHOS Chief City of Korinthia,KORONE Village in Messenia,KOS Island in the South-Eastern Aegean,KYLLENE Village in Ellis,KYPHANTA Village in Lakedaimonia,

LEBENE Village in Krete,LEUKTRA Village in Lakedaimonia,LOUSIOS River in Arkadia,MANTINEIA Town in Arkadia,MEGALOPOLIS Chief City of Arkadia,MEGARA Chief City of Megaris,MELAINAI Village in the Troad,MESSENE Chief City of Messenia,MT ILIOS Mountain in Lakedaimonia,NAUPAKTOS Town in Ozolian Lokris,


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NEAR MEGARA,Near SAUROS Hill in Elis,OLENOS City in Akhaia,OLYMPIA Village & Sanctuary in Elis,PARAKYPARISSION Village in Lakedaimonia,PATRAI Chief City of Akhaia,PELLENA Village in Lakedaimonia,PELLENE Town in Akhaia,PERGAMON Chief City of Teuthrania,PHLIOUS Town in Sikyonia,ROME Chief City of Latium,SIKYON Chief City of Sikyonia,SMYRNA City in Aiolis / Lydia,SPARTA Chief City of Lakedaimonia,TANAGRA Town in Boiotia,TEGEA City in Arkadia,THELPOUSA Village in Arkadia,THERAI Village in Lakedaimonia,TITANE Village in Sikyonia,TITHOREA Village in Phokis,

TRIKKE Town in Histiaiotis in Thessalia

Sources cited at THEOI are these:

Aristophanes, Plutus - Greek Comedy C5th-4thB.C.Aristophanes, Wasps - Greek Comedy C5th-4thB.C.Herodotus, Histories - Greek History C5th B.C.Plato, Ion - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. -C1st A.D.Pausanias, Description of Greece - GreekTravelogue C2nd A.D.Aelian, On Animals - Greek Natural HistoryC2nd-3rd A.D.Aelian, Historical Miscellany - Greek RhetoricC2nd-3rd A.D.Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana -Greek Biography C2nd A.D.Philostratus the Younger, Imagines - GreekRhetoric C3rd A.D.Callistratus, Descriptions - Greek RhetoricC4th A.D.Ovid, Fasti - Latin Poetry C1st B.C. - C1stA.D.

Cicero, De Natura Deorum - Latin Rhetoric C1stB.C.Pliny the Elder, Natural History - LatinEncyclopedia C1st A.D.Seneca, Phaedra - Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.Statius, Silvae - Latin Epic C1st A.D.Suidas - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.
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510 BCE - Pythagoras (570-489 BCE)

Mathematician and a physicist, Pythagoras also had aprofound influence

on medicine. According to him, diseases were due todisturbances of four

humours:(1) Black bile was cold and dry.(2) Yellow bile was hot and dry,(3) Phlegm was cold and moist and(4) Blood was hot and moist.

There is a similarity between Pythagoras concept ofdiseases and the

Ayurvedic concept enunciated at least two centuries earlier.

420 BCE - Life of Sophocles (496-406 BCE)

The Life tells us that Sophocles served as a priest toAsclepius,

god of healing and medicine. In the center of Asclepius'temple

lived a great serpent, an embodiment of the god himself.Once,

during the relocation of the temple to Athens, the snakelived

in Sophocles' house till his new quarters were ready.

370 BCE - Hippocrates (460-370 BCE.)

Generally considered the Father of medicine

An astute Greek physician who was born on the island of Cos,but probably practised on Rhodes. He was the first to

maintainrecords of his patients complaints and his own observations.It was Hippocrates who enunciated the physician s oath ,now known as the Hippocratic Oath:

I swear by Apollo, the healer,

invoking all the Gods and Goddesses to be my witnesses,

that I will fulfil this Oath and this written convenantto the best of my ability and judgment. I will look

upon him

who shall have taught me this art even as one of my own

parents.

I will impart this art by precept, by lecture and by

every mode

of teaching. The regime I adopt shall be for the

benefit of the


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who have embraced the speculative life, and I will say what

appears to me to be desirable to be said on the subject, not drawing

any fictitious statements from my own head for the sake ofimproving the appearance of that side of the question which nearly

all poets and essayists are much accustomed to do in the scarcity of

good actions to extol, but with the greatest simplicity adheringstrictly to the truth itself, to which I know well that even the most

eloquent men do not keep close in their speeches.

Nevertheless we must make the endeavor and labor to attain to this

virtue; for it is not right that the greatness of the virtue of the menshould be a cause of silence to those who do not think it right that

anything which is creditable should be suppressed in silence; but

the deliberate intention of the philosopher is at once displayedfrom the appellation given to them: for with strict regard to

etymology, they are called therapeutae and therapeutrides, either

because they profess an art of medicine more excellent than that ingeneral use in cities (for that only heals bodies, but the other healssouls which are under the mastery of terrible and almost incurable

diseases, which pleasures and appetites, fears and griefs, and

covetousness, and follies, and injustice, and all the rest of theinnumerable multitude of other passions and vices, have inflicted

upon them), or else because they have been instructed by nature

and the sacred laws to serve the living God, who is superior to thegood, and more simple than the one, and more ancient than the

unity with whom, however, who is there of those who profess piety

that we can possibly compare? Can we compare those who honor

the elements, earth, water, air, and fire? to whom different nationshave given names, calling fire Hephaestus, I imagine because of its

kindling, and the air Hera, I imagine because of its being raised up,

and raised aloft to a great height, and water Poseidon, probablybecause of its being drinkable, and the earth Demeter because it

appears to be the mother of all plants and of all animals.

II. But since these men infect not only their fellow countrymen, but

all that come near them with folly, let them remain uncovered,being mutilated in the most indispensable of all the outward

senses, namely, sight. I am speaking here, not of the sight of the

body, but of that of the soul, by which alone truth and falsehoodare distinguished from one another. But the therapeutic sect of

mankind, being continually taught to see without interruption, may

well aim at obtaining a sight of the living God, and may pass bythe sun, which is visible to the outward sense, and never leave this

order which conducts to perfect happiness. But they who apply

themselves to this kind of worship, not because they are influencedto do so by custom, nor by the advice or recommendation of any
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particular persons, but because they are carried away by a certain

heavenly love, give way to enthusiasm, behaving like so many

revelers in bacchanalian or corybantian mysteries, until they seethe object which they have been earnestly desiring.

Then, because of their anxious desire for an immortal and blessedexistence, thinking that their mortal life has already come to an

end, they leave their possessions to their sons or daughters, orperhaps to other relations, giving them up their inheritance with

willing cheerfulness: and those who know no relations give their

property to their companions or friends, for it followed of necessitythat those who have acquired the wealth which sees, as if ready

prepared for them, should be willing to surrender that wealth

which is blind to those who themselves also are still blind in theirminds.

When, therefore, men abandon their property without beinginfluenced by any predominant attraction, they flee without even

turning their heads back again, deserting their brethren, theirchildren, their wives, their parents, their numerous families, their

affectionate bands of companions, their native lands in which they

have been born and brought up, though long familiarity is a mostattractive bond, and one very well able to allure any one. And they

depart, not to another city as those do who entreat to be purchased

from those who at present possess them, being either unfortunate

or else worthless servants, and as such seeking a change of mastersrather than endeavoring to procure freedom (for every city, even

that which is under the happiest laws, is full of indescribabletumults, and disorders, and calamities, which no one would submitto who had been even for a moment under the influence of

wisdom), but they take up their abode outside of walls, or gardens,

or solitary lands, seeking for a desert place, not because of any ill-natured misanthropy to which they have learned to devote

themselves, but because of the associations with people of wholly

dissimilar dispositions to which they would otherwise be

compelled, and which they know to be unprofitable andmischievous.

III. Now this class of persons may be met with in many places, for

it was fitting that both Greece and the country of the barbariansshould partake of whatever is perfectly good; and there is the

greatest number of such men in Egypt, in every one of the districts,

or nomes, as they are called, and especially around Alexandria; and

from all quarters those who are the best of these therapeutaeproceed on their pilgrimage to some most suitable place as if it

were their country, which is beyond the Maereotic lake, lying in a


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somewhat level plain a little raised above the rest, being suitable

for their purpose by reason of its safety and also of the fine

temperature of the air.

For the houses built in the fields and the villages which surround it

on all sides give it safety; and the admirable temperature of the airproceeds from the continual breezes which come from the lake

which falls into the sea, and also from the sea itself in theneighborhood, the breezes from the sea being light, and those

which proceed from the lake which falls into the sea being heavy,

the mixture of which produces a most healthy atmosphere.

But the houses of these men thus congregated together are veryplain, just giving shelter in respect of the two things most

important to be provided against, the heat of the sun, and the cold

from the open air; and they did not live near to one another as men

do in cities, for immediate neighborhood to others would be atroublesome and unpleasant thing to men who have conceived an

admiration for, and have determined to devote themselves to,solitude; and, on the other hand, they did not live very far from one

another on account of the fellowship which they desire to cultivate,

and because of the desirableness of being able to assist one anotherif they should be attacked by robbers.

And in every house there is a sacred shrine which is called the holy

place, and the house in which they retire by themselves and

perform all the mysteries of a holy life, bringing in nothing, neither

meat, nor drink, nor anything else which is indispensable towardssupplying the necessities of the body, but studying in that place the

laws and the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy

prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and all kinds of other things byreason of which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to

perfection.

Therefore they always retain an imperishable recollection of God,so that not even in their dreams is any other subject ever presented

to their eyes except the beauty of the divine virtues and of the

divine powers. Therefore many persons speak in their sleep,

divulging and publishing the celebrated doctrines of the sacredphilosophy. And they are accustomed to pray twice a day, at

morning and at evening; when the sun is rising entreating God that

the happiness of the coming day may be real happiness, so thattheir minds may be filled with heavenly light, and when the sun is

setting they pray that their soul, being entirely lightened and

relieved of the burden of the outward senses, and of the appropriateobject of these outward senses, may be able to trace out trust


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existing in its own consistory and council chamber. And the

interval between morning and evening is by them devoted wholly

to meditation on and to practice virtue, for they take up the sacredscriptures and philosophy concerning them, investigating the

allegories as symbols of some secret meaning of nature, intended

to be conveyed in those figurative expressions.

They have also writings of ancient men, who having been thefounders of one sect or another, have left behind them many

memorials of the allegorical system of writing and explanation,

whom they take as a kind of model, and imitate the general fashionof their sect; so that they do not occupy themselves solely in

contemplation, but they likewise compose psalms and hymns to

God in every kind of meter and melody imaginable, which they ofnecessity arrange in more dignified rhythm. Therefore, during six

days, each of these individuals, retiring into solitude by himself,

philosophizes by himself in one of the places called monasteries,never going outside the threshold of the outer court, and indeednever even looking out.

But on the seventh day they all come together as if to meet in a

sacred assembly, and they sit down in order according to their ageswith all becoming gravity, keeping their hands inside their

garments, having their right hand between their chest and their

dress, and the left hand down by their side, close to their flank; and

then the eldest of them who has the most profound learning in theirdoctrines comes forward and speaks with steadfast look and with

steadfast voice, with great powers of reasoning, and greatprudence, not making an exhibition of his oratorical powers likethe rhetoricians of old, or the sophists of the present day, but

investigating with great pains, and explaining with minute

accuracy the precise meaning of the laws, which sits, not indeed atthe tips of their ears, but penetrates through their hearing into the

soul, and remains there lastingly; and all the rest listen in silence to

the praises which he bestows upon the law, showing their assent

only by nods of the head, or the eager look of the eyes.

And this common holy place to which they all come together on

the seventh day is a twofold circuit, being separated partly into the

apartment of the men, and partly into a chamber for the women, forwomen also, in accordance with the usual fashion there, form a

part of the audience, having the same feelings of admiration as the

men, and having adopted the same sect with equal deliberation and

decision; and the wall which is between the houses rises from theground three or four cubits upwards, like a battlement, and the

upper portion rises upwards to the roof without any opening. on


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two accounts; first of all, in order that the modesty which is so

becoming to the female sex may be preserved, and secondly, that

the women may be easily able to comprehend what is said, beingseated within earshot, since there is then nothing which can

possibly intercept the voice of him who is speaking.

IV. And these expounders of the law, having first of all laid down

temperance as a sort of foundation for the soul to rest upon,proceed to build up other virtues on this foundation, and no one of

them may take any meat or drink before the setting of the sun,

since they judge that the work of philosophizing is one which isworthy of the light, but that the care of the necessities of the body

is suitable only to darkness, on which account they appropriate the

day to the one occupation, and a brief portion of the night to theother; and some men, in whom there is implanted a more fervent

desire of knowledge, can endure to cherish a recollection of their

food for three days without even tasting it, and some men are sodelighted, and enjoy themselves so exceedingly when regaled bywisdom which supplies them with her doctrines in all possible

wealth and abundance, that they can even hold out twice as great a

length of time, and will scarcely at the end of six days taste evennecessary food, being accustomed, as they say that grasshoppers

are, to feed on air, their song as I imagine, making their scarcity

tolerable to them.

And they, looking upon the seventh day as one of perfect holinessand a most complete festival, have thought it worthy of a most

especial honor, and on it, after taking due care of their soul, theytend their bodies also, giving them, just as they do to their cattle, acomplete rest from their continual labors; and they eat nothing of a

costly character, but plain bread and a seasoning of salt, which the

more luxurious of them do further season with hyssop; and theirdrink is water from the spring; for they oppose those feelings

which nature has made mistresses of the human race, namely,

hunger and thirst, giving them nothing to flatter or humor them,

but only such useful things as it is not possible to exist without. Onthis account they eat only so far as not to be hungry, and they drink

just enough to escape from thirst, avoiding all satiety, as an enemy

of and a plotter against both soul and body.

And there are two kinds of covering, one raiment and the other a

house: we have already spoken of their houses, that they are not

decorated with any ornaments, but run up in a hurry, being only

made to answer such purposes as are absolutely necessary; and inlike manner their raiment is of the most ordinary description, just

stout enough to ward off cold and heat, being a cloak of some


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shaggy hide for winter, and a thin mantle or linen shawl in the

summer; for in short they practice entire simplicity, looking upon

falsehood as the foundation of pride, but truth is the origin ofsimplicity, and upon truth and falsehood as standing in the light of

fountains, for from falsehood proceeds every variety of evil and

wickedness, and from truth there flows every imaginableabundance of good things both human and divine.

From: Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources

(Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907),

Vol. III: The Roman World, pp. 355-369.

054 CE to 324 CE -- COINAGE of the Roman

Emperors

SOURCE: Asclepius: The God of Medicine - By Gerald D. Hart: (p.177)

Indicates that the forty six of the Roman emperor for the period of almostthree centuries depicted on their minted coins the figure of Asclepius or

Salus. This represents a fairly extensive and persistent tradition. Notably

the practice ceases in the year 324 CE, at which time the militarysupremacist Constantine secured the entire Roman empire as his own.

At this time, Constantine destroyed the temples of Asclepius and had their

chief priests executed. For the details, see this article on the The "Council"

of Antioch.


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075 CE - Pliny the Elder: Natural History (5.73)

"To the west (of the Dead Sea) the Essenes have put the necessary distance

between themselves and the insalubrious shore. They are a people unique

of its kind and admirable beyond all others in the whole world; withoutwomen and renouncing love entirely, without money and having for

company only palm trees. Owing to the throng of newcomers, this people

is daily reborn in equal number; indeed, those whom, wearied by thefluctuations of fortune, life leads to adopt their customs, stream in in great

numbers. Thus, unbeleivable though this may seem, for thousands of

centuries a people has existed which is eternal yet into which no one is

born: so fruitful for them is the repentance which others feel for their pastlives!"
http://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-k71KEL8C&pg=PA182&lpg=PA182&dq=asclepius+imhotep&source=web&ots=J-Wj5eqsBU&sig=vivLsh4l-PFpK7X9f5QZmFxl0Yg#PPA177,M1http://www.mountainman.com.au/essenes/Council%20of%20Antioch.htmhttp://www.mountainman.com.au/essenes/Council%20of%20Antioch.htm


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manner, but had the foreknowledge of future events given him by God

also. This man once saw Herod when he was a child, and going to school,

and saluted him as king of the Jews; but he, thinking that either he did notknow him, or that he was in jest, put him in mind that he was but a private

man; but Manahem smiled to himself, and clapped him on his backside

with his hand, and said," However that be, thou wilt be king, and wiltbegin thy reign happily, for God finds thee worthy of it. And do thou

remember the blows that Manahem hath given thee, as being a signal of

the change of thy fortune. And truly this will be the best reasoning forthee, that thou love justice [towards men], and piety towards God, and

clemency towards thy citizens; yet do I know how thy whole conduct will

be, that thou wilt not be such a one, for thou wilt excel all men in

happiness, and obtain an everlasting reputation, but wilt forget piety andrighteousness; and these crimes will not be concealed from God, at the

conclusion of thy life, when thou wilt find that he will be mindful of them,

and punish time for them." Now at that time Herod did not at all attend to

what Manahem said, as having no hopes of such advancement; but a littleafterward, when he was so fortunate as to be advanced to the dignity of

king, and was in the height of his dominion, he sent for Manahem, andasked him how long he should reign. Manahem did not tell him the full

length of his reign; wherefore, upon that silence of his, he asked him

further, whether he should reign ten years or not? He replied, "Yes, twenty,

nay, thirty years;" but did not assign the just determinate limit of his reign.Herod was satisfied with these replies, and gave Manahem his hand, and

dismissed him; and from that time he continued to honor all the Essens.

We have thought it proper to relate these facts to our readers, how strangesoever they be, and to declare what hath happened among us, because

many of these Essens have, by their excellent virtue, been thought worthy

of this knowledge of Divine revelations.

095 CE -- Apollonius of Tyana

The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices

[The full title is given by Eudocia, Ionia; ed.Villoison (Venet 1781) p 57]

This treatise is mentioned by Philostratus (iii 41;iv 19),who tells us that it set down the proper method ofsacrificeto every God, the proper hours of prayer andoffering.It was in wide circulation, and Philostratus had comeacrosscopies of it in many temples and cities,and in the libraries of philosophers.


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Several fragments of it have been preserved, [SeeZeller, Phil d Griech, v 127]the most important of which is to be found inEusebius,[Prparat. Evangel., iv 12-13; ed Dindorf (Leipzig1867), i 176, 177]and is to this effect:

Tis best to make no sacrifice to God at all,no lighting of a fire,no calling Him by any namethat men employ for things to sense.

For God is over all, the first;and only after Him do come the other Gods.For He doth stand in need of naughteen from the Gods,much less from us small men -naught that the earth brings forth,

nor any life she nurseth,or even any thing the stainless air contains.

The only fitting sacrifice to Godis mans best reason,and not the wordthat comes from out his mouth.

We men should ask the best of beingsthrough the best thing in us,for what is good -mean by means of mind,for mind needs no material thingsto make its prayer.So then, to God, the mighty One,whos over all,no sacrifice should ever be lit up.

Noack [Psyche, I ii.5.] tells us that scholarshipis convinced of the genuineness of this fragment.This book, as we have seen, was widely circulatedand held in the highest respect, and it said thatits rules were engraved on brazen pillarsat Byzantium. [Noack, ibid.]

150 CE - Pausanias (2nd Century CE)Provides a comprehensive catalogue of temples and shrinesin the region, as well as frequent discussions of local

mythand cult practice. For the source texts of Pausanias see

http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1A.html

His "Descriptions of Ancient Greece" makes a total


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of 126 separate references to the name of Asclepius,the popular "hero" of physical healing.

160 CE - Aelius Aristides (117-180 CE)

Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman WorldBy John S. Kloppenborg, Stephen G. Wilson

Aelius Aristides at the Asclepieion of Pergamum

Archaeological data supplement the literary sourceson the Asclepieion of Pergamum, including the mostextensive one, Aelius Aristides' (117-180)' "Sacred Tales".

Therapeutae

Mention of "therapeutae" - "[temple] worshippers or servants"Aelius Aristides writes:

"We Asclepius therapeutae must agree with the godthat Pergamum is the best of his sanctuaries."--- Sacred Tales (39.5)

"Asclepius is the one who guides and rules the universe,the saviour of the whole and the guardian of immortals,or if you wish to put it in the words of a tragic poet,"the steerer of government," he who saves that whichalways exists and that which is in the state of becoming".

--- Aristides, Oratio 17.4 (Edelstein),

see also Oratio 23.15-18

Publius Aelius Aristides (c. 129-189) a sophist andrhetorician,

educated at Pergamum and Athens. Widely traveled in Egypt andAsia Minor, arriving at Rome in 156. Spend most of his timeas a patient at the Asclepieum of Pergamum. A friend of

Marcus Aurelius,he became a priest of Asclepius (Aesculapius) at Smyrna.

More thanfifty of his orations and declamations are extant.

165 CE - Claudius Galen of Pergamon (130-200CE)

"Galen use of the designation "therapeutae" to securefrom Marcus Aurelius exception from military service."

In his writings - Galen wrote about 500 books - he oftenacknowledged his indebtedness to Hippocrates. Galen was
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1A.htmlhttp://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1A.html


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the physician to the great philosopher-emperor, MarcusAurelius.

"I know," he said, "that I have often made a diagnosis fromdreams;

and, guided by two very dear dreams, I once made an incisioninto

the artery between the thumb and index finger of the righthand."

Nor, it seems, was this a unique success: "I have saved manypeople,"

Galen goes on to say, "by applying a cure prescribed in adream."

--- Galen 16.222 (Khn).

Galen also put great stress on the proper and frequent useof gymnastics (hence the importance and place of gymnasia).

Throughout other ancient Greek medical writings specialexercises

are prescribed as cures for specific diseases, showing theextent

to which the Greeks considered health and fitness connected.

A gymnasium was equivalent to our idea of a university. Agathering

place for scholars and their pupils, complete with alibrary.

300 CE -- PorphyryON ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD

BOOK 4: 6-22

6. Chaeremon the Stoic, therefore, in his narration of the Egyptian

priests, who, he says, were considered by the Egyptians as

philosophers, informs us, that they chose temples, as the places inwhich they might philosophize. For to dwell with the statues of the

Gods is a thing allied to the whole desire, by which the soul tends

to the contemplation of their divinities. And from the divine

veneration indeed, which was paid to them through dwelling intemples, they obtained security, all men honoring these

philosophers, as if they were certain sacred animals. They also leda solitary life, as they only mingled with other men in solemn

sacrifices and festivals. But at other times the priests were almost

inaccessible to any one who wished to converse with them. For it

was requisite that he who approached to them should be firstpurified, and abstain from many things; and this is as it were a
http://books.google.com/books?id=1rZn4fCmThoC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=%22asclepius+temple%22&source=web&ots=3nZvOLDCZT&sig=gcavzJSlq4HWmJvs96dXzSWZfE8#PPA146,M1http://books.google.com/books?id=1rZn4fCmThoC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=%22asclepius+temple%22&source=web&ots=3nZvOLDCZT&sig=gcavzJSlq4HWmJvs96dXzSWZfE8#PPA146,M1


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common sacred law respecting the Egyptian priests. But these

[philosophic priests], having relinquished every other employment,

and human labors, gave up the whole of their life to thecontemplation and worship of divine natures and to divine

inspiration; through the latter, indeed, procuring for themselves,

honor, security, and piety; but through contemplation, science; andthrough both, a certain occult exercise of manners, worthy of

antiquity. For to be always conversant with divine knowledge and

inspiration, removes those who are so from all avarice, suppressesthe passions, and excites to an intellectual life. But they were

studious of frugality in their diet and apparel, and also of

continence and endurance, and in all things were attentive to

justice and equity. They likewise were rendered venerable, throughrarely mingling with other men. For during the time of what are

called purifications, they scarcely mingled with their nearest

kindred, and those of their own order, nor were they to be seen by

anyone, unless it was requisite for the necessary purposes ofpurification. For the sanctuary was inaccessible to those who were

not purified, and they dwelt in holy places for the purpose ofperforming divine works; but at all other times they associated

more freely with those who lived like themselves. They did not,

however, associate with any one who was not a religious character.

But they were always seen near to the Gods, or the statues of theGods, the latter of which they were beheld either carrying, or

preceding in a sacred procession, or disposing in an orderly

manner, with modesty and gravity; each of which operations wasnot the effect of pride, but an indication of some physical reason.

Their venerable gravity also was apparent from their manners. For

their walking was orderly, and their aspect sedate; and they were sostudious of preserving this gravity of countenance, that they did

not even wink, when at any time they were unwilling to do so; and

they seldom laughed, and when they did, their laughter proceededno farther than to a smile. But they always kept their hands within

their garments. Each likewise bore about him a symbol indicative

of the order which he was allotted in sacred concerns; for there

were many orders of priests. Their diet also was slender andsimple. For, with respect to wine, some of them did not at all drink

it, but others drank very little of it, on account of its being injurious

to the nerves, oppressive to the head, an impediment to invention,and an incentive to venereal desires. In many other things also they

conducted themselves with caution; neither using bread at all in

purifications, and at those times in which they were not employedin purifying themselves, they were accustomed to eat bread with

hyssop, cut into small pieces. For it is said, that hyssop very much

purifies the power of bread. But they, for the most part, abstained

from oil, the greater number of them entirely; and if at any time


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9. But the Egyptian priests, through the proficiency which they

made by this exercise, and similitude to divinity, knew that divinity

does not pervade through man alone, and that soul is not enshrinedin man alone on the earth, but that it nearly passes through all

animals. On this account, in fashioning the images of the Gods,

they assumed every animal, and for this purpose mixed togetherthe human form and the forms of wild beasts, and again the bodies

of birds with the body of a man. For a certain deity was

represented by them in a human shape as far as to the neck, but theface was that of a bird, or a lion, or of some other animal. And

again, another divine resemblance had a human head, but the other

parts were those of certain other animals, some of which had an

inferior, but others a superior position; through which theymanifested, that these [i.e. brutes and men], through the decision of

the Gods, communicated with each other, and that tame and savage

animals are nurtured together with us, not without the concurrence

of a certain divine will. Hence also, a lion is worshipped as a God,and a certain part of Egypt, which is called Nomos, has the

surname of Leontopolis [or the city of the lion], and another isdenominated Busiris [from an ox], and another Lycopolis [or the

city of the wolf]. For they venerated the power of God which

extends to all things through animals which are nurtured together,

and which each of the Gods imparts. They also reverenced waterand fire the most of all the elements, as being the principal causes

of our safety. And these things are exhibited by them in temples;

for even now, on opening the sanctuary of Serapis, the worship isperformed through fire and water; he who sings the hymns making

a libation with water, and exhibiting fire, when, standing on the

threshold of the temple, he invokes the God in the language of theEgyptians. Venerating, therefore, these elements, they especially

reverence those things which largely participate of them, as

partaking more abundantly of what is sacred. But after these, theyvenerate all animals, and in the village Anubis they worship a man,

in which place also they sacrifice to him, and victims are there

burnt in honor of him on an altar; but he shortly after only eats that

which was procured for him as a man. Hence, as it is requisite toabstain from man, so likewise, from other animals. And farther

still, the Egyptian priests, from their transcendent wisdom and

association with divinity, discovered what animals are moreacceptable to the Gods [when dedicated to them] than man. Thus

they found that a hawk is dear to the sun, since the whole of its

nature consists of blood and spirit. It also commiserates man, andlaments over his dead body, and scatters earth on his eyes, in which

these priests believe a solar light is resident. They likewise

discovered that a hawk lives many years, and that, after it leaves

the present life, it possesses a divining power, is most rational and


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prescient when liberated from the body, and gives perfection to

statues, and moves temples. A beetle will be detested by one who is

ignorant of and unskilled in divine concerns, but the Egyptiansvenerate it, as an animated image of the sun. For every beetle is a

male, and emitting its genital seed in a muddy place, and having

made it spherical, it turns round the seminal sphere in a waysimilar to that of the sun in the heavens. It likewise receives a

period of twenty-eight days, which is a lunar period. In a similar

manner, the Egyptians philosophize about the ram, the crocodile,the vulture, and the ibis, and, in short, about every animal; so that,

from their wisdom and transcendent knowledge of divine concerns,

they came at length to venerate all animals. An unlearned man,

however, does not even suspect that they, not being borne alongwith the stream of the vulgar who know nothing, and not walking

in the path of ignorance, but passing beyond the illiterate

multitude, and that want of knowledge which befalls every one at

first, were led to reverence things which are thought by the vulgarto be of no worth.

10. This also, no less than the above-mentioned particulars,

induced them to believe, that animals should be reverenced [asimages of the Gods], viz. that the soul of every animal, when

liberated from the body, was discovered by them to be rational, to

be prescient of futurity, to possess an oracular power, and to beeffective of every thing which man is capable of accomplishing

when separated from the body. Hence they very properly honored

them, and abstained from them as much as possible. Since,

however, the cause through which the Egyptians venerated theGods through animals requires a copious discussion, and which

would exceed the limits of the present treatise, what has been

unfolded respecting this particular is sufficient for our purpose.Nevertheless, this is not to be omitted, that the Egyptians, when

they buried those that were of noble birth, privately took away the

belly and placed it in a chest, and together with other things whichthey performed for the sake of the dead body, they elevated the

chest towards the sun, whom they invoked as a witness; an oration

for the deceased being at the same time made by one of those towhose care the funeral was committed. But the oration which

Euphantus has interpreted from the Egyptian tongue was as

follows: O sovereign Sun, and all ye Gods who impart life to

men, receive me, and deliver me to the eternal Gods as acohabitant. For I have always piously worshipped those divinities

which were pointed out to me by my parents as long as I lived in

this age, and have likewise always honored those who procreatedmy body. And, with respect to other men, I have never slain any

one, nor defrauded any one of what he deposited with me, nor have


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I committed any other atrocious deed. If, therefore, during my life I

have acted erroneously, by eating or drinking things which it is

unlawful to eat or drink, I have not erred through myself, butthrough these, pointing to the chest in which the belly was

contained. And having thus spoken, he threw the chest into the

river [Nile]; but buried the rest of the body as being pure. After thismanner, they thought an apology ought to be made to divinity for

what they had eaten and drank, and for the insolent conduct which

they had been led to through the belly.

11. But among those who are known by us, the Jews, before theyfirst suffered the subversion of their legal institutes under

Antiochus, and afterwards under the Romans, when also the

temple in Jerusalem was captured, and became accessible to allmen to whom, prior to this event, it was inaccessible, and the city

itself was destroyed;before this took place, the Jews always

abstained from many animals, but peculiarly, which they even nowdo, from swine. At that period, therefore, there were three kinds ofphilosophers among them. And of one kind, indeed, the Pharisees

were the leaders, but of another, the Sadducees, and of the third,

which appears to have been the most venerable, the Essaeans. Themode of life, therefore, of these third was as follows, as Josephus

frequently testifies in many of his writings. For in the second book

of his Judaic History, which he has completed in seven books, andin the eighteenth of his Antiquities, which consists of twenty

books, and likewise in the second of the two books which he wrote

against the Greeks, he speaks of these Essaeans, and says, that they

are of the race of the Jews, and are in a greater degree than othersfriendly to one another. They are averse to pleasures, conceiving

them to be vicious, but they are of opinion that continence, and the

not yielding to the passions, constitute virtue. And they despise,indeed, wedlock, but receiving the children of other persons, and

instructing them in disciplines while they are yet of a tender age,

they consider them as their kindred, and form them to their ownmanners. And they act in this manner, not for the purpose of

subverting marriage, and the succession arising from it, but in

order to avoid the lasciviousness of women. They are, likewise,despisers of wealth, and the participation of external possessions

among them in common is wonderful; nor is any one to be found

among them who is richer than the rest. For it is a law with them,

that those who wish to belong to their sect, must give up theirproperty to it in common; so that among all of them, there is not to

be seen either the abjectness of poverty, or the insolence of wealth;

but the possessions of each being mingled with those of the rest,there was one property with all of them, as if they had been

brothers. They likewise conceived oil to be a stain to the body, and


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that if any one, though unwillingly, was anointed, he should

[immediately] wipe his body. For it was considered by them as

beautiful to be squalid, and to be always clothed in white garments.But curators of the common property were elected by votes,

indistinctly for the use of all. They have not, however, one city, but

in each city many of them dwell together, and those who comeamong them from other places, if they are of their sect, equally

partake with them of their possessions, as if they were their own.

Those, likewise, who first perceive these strangers, behave to themas if they were their intimate acquaintance. Hence, when they

travel, they take nothing with them for the sake of expenditure. But

they neither change their garments nor their shoes, till they are

entirely torn, or destroyed by time. They neither buy nor sellanything, but each of them giving what he possesses to him that is

in want, receives in return for it what will be useful to him.

Nevertheless, each of them freely imparts to others of their sect

what they may be in want of, without any remuneration.

12. Moreover, they are peculiarly pious to divinity. For before the

sun rises they speak nothing profane, but they pour forth certain

prayers to him which they had received from their ancestors, as ifbeseeching him to rise. Afterwards, they are sent by their curators

to the exercise of the several arts in which they are skilled, and

having till the fifth hour strenuously labored in these arts, they areafterwards collected together in one place; and there, being begirt

with linen teguments, they wash their bodies with cold water. After

this purification, they enter into their own proper habitation, into

which no heterodox person is permitted to enter. But they beingpure, betake themselves to the dining room, as into a certain sacred

fane. In this place, when all of them are seated in silence, the baker

places the bread in order, and the cook distributes to each of themone vessel containing one kind of eatables. Prior, however, to their

taking the food which is pure and sacred, a priest prays, and it is

unlawful for any one prior to the prayer to taste of the food. Afterdinner, likewise, the priest again prays; so that both when they

begin, and when they cease to eat, they venerate divinity.

Afterwards, divesting themselves of these garments as sacred, theyagain betake themselves to their work till the evening; and,

returning from thence, they eat and drink in the same manner as

before, strangers sitting with them, if they should happen at that

time to be present. No clamor or tumult ever defiles the house inwhich they dwell; but their conversation with each other is

performed in an orderly manner; and to those that are out of the

house, the silence of those within it appears as if it was someterrific mystery. The cause, however, of this quietness is their

constant sobriety, and that with them their meat and drink is


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foot in depth, and completely cover themselves by their garment,

in order that they may not act contumeliously towards the sun by

polluting the rays of the God. And so great, indeed, is theirsimplicity and frugality with respect to diet, that they do not

require evacuation till the seventh day after the assumption of

food, which day they spend in singing hymns to God, and inresting from labor. But from this exercise they acquire the power of

such great endurance, that even when tortured and burnt, and

suffering every kind of excruciating pain, they cannot be inducedeither to blaspheme their legislator, or to eat what they have not

been accustomed to. And the truth of this was demonstrated in their

war with the Romans. For then they neither flattered their

tormentors, nor shed any tears, but smiled in the midst of theirtorments, and derided those that inflicted them, and cheerfully

emitted their souls, as knowing that they should possess them

again. For this opinion was firmly established among them, that

their bodies were indeed corruptible, and that the matter of whichthey consisted was not stable, but that their souls were immortal,

and would endure for ever, and that, proceeding from the mostsubtle ether, they were drawn down by a natural flux, and

complicated with bodies; but that, when they are no longer

detained by the bonds of the flesh, then, as if liberated from a long

slavery, they will rejoice, and ascend to the celestial regions. Butfrom this mode of living, and from being thus exercised in truth

and piety, there were many among them, as it is reasonable to

suppose there would be, who had aforeknowledge of future events,as being conversant from their youth with sacred books, different

purifications, and the declarations of the prophets. And such is the

order [or sect] of the Essaeans among the Jews.

14. All of them, however, were forbidden to eat the flesh of swine,or fish without scales, which the Greeks call cartilaginous; or to eat

any animal that has solid hoofs. They were likewise forbidden not

only to refrain from eating, but also from killing animals that fledto their houses as supplicants. Nor did the legislator permit them to

slay such animals as were parents together with their young; but

ordered them to spare, even in a hostile land, and not put to deathbrutes that assist us in our labors. Nor was the legislator afraid that

the race of animals which are not sacrificed, would, through being

spared from slaughter, be so increased in multitude as to produce

famine among men; for he knew, in the first place, that multiparousanimals live but for a short time; and in the next place, that many

of them perish, unless attention is paid to them by men. Moreover,

he likewise knew that other animals would attack those thatincreased excessively; of which this is an indication, that we

abstain from many animals, such as lizards, worms, flies, serpents,


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and dogs, and yet, at the same time, we are not afraid of perishing

through hunger by abstaining from them, though their increase is

abundant. And in the next place, it is not the same thing to eat andto slay an animal. For we destroy many of the above-mentioned

animals, but we do not eat any of them.

15. Farther still, it is likewise related that the Syrians formerly

abstained from animals, and, on this account, did not sacrificethem to the Gods; but that afterwards they sacrificed them, for the

purpose of averting certain evils; yet they did not at all admit of a

fleshly diet. In process of time, however, as Neanthes theCyzicenean and Asclepiades the Cyprian say, about the era of

Pygmalion, who was by birth a Phoenician, but reigned over the

Cyprians, the eating of flesh was admitted, from an illegality of thefollowing kind, which Asclepiades, in his treatise concerning

Cyprus and Phoenicia, relates as follows:In the first place, they

did not sacrifice anything animated to the Gods; but neither wasthere any law pertaining to a thing of this kind, because it wasprohibited by natural law. They are said, however, on a certain

occasion, in which one soul was required for another, to have, for

the first time, sacrificed a victim; and this taking place, the wholeof the victim was then consumed by fire. But afterwards, when the

victim was burnt, a portion of the flesh fell on the earth, which was

taken by the priest, who, in so doing, having burnt his fingers,involuntarily moved them to his mouth, as a remedy for the pain

which the burning produced. Having, therefore, thus tasted of the

roasted flesh, he also desired to eat abundantly of it, and could not

refrain from giving some of it to his wife. Pygmalion, however,becoming acquainted with this circumstance, ordered both the

priest and his wife to be hurled headlong from a steep rock, and

gave the priesthood to another person, who not long afterperforming the same sacrifice and eating the flesh of the victim,

fell into the same calamities as his predecessor. The thing,

however, proceeding still farther, and men using the same kind ofsacrifice, and through yielding to desire, not abstaining from, but

feeding on flesh, the deed was no longer punished. Nevertheless

abstinence from fish continued among the Syrians till the time ofMenander: for he says,

The Syrians for example take, since these When by intemperance

led of fish they eat, Swoln in their belly and their feet become.

With sack then coverd, in the public way They on a dunghill sit,that by their lowly state, The Goddess may, appeasd, the crime

forgive.


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16. Among the Persians, indeed, those who are wise in divine

concerns, and worship divinity, are called Magi; for this is the

signification of Magus, in the Persian tongue. But so great and sovenerable are these men thought to be by the Persians, that Darius,

the son of Hystaspes, had among other things this engraved on his

tomb, that he had been the master of the Magi. They are likewisedivided into three genera, as we are informed by Eubulus, who

wrote the history of Mithra, in a treatise consisting of many books.

In this work he says, that the first and most learned class of theMagi neither eat nor slay any thing animated, but adhere to the

ancient abstinence from animals. The second class use some

animals indeed [for food], but do not slay any that are tame. Nor

do those of the third class, similarly with other men, lay their handson all animals. For the dogma with all of them which ranks as the

first is this, that there is a transmigration of souls; and this they

also appear to indicate in the mysteries of Mithra. For in these

mysteries, obscurely signifying our having something in commonwith brutes, they are accustomed to call us by the names of

different animals. Thus they denominate the males who participatein the same mysteries lions, but the females lionesses, and those

who are ministrant to these rites crows. With respect to their

fathers also, they adopt the same mode. For these are denominated

by them eagles and hawks. And he who is initiated in the Leonticmysteries, is invested with all-various forms of animals; of which

particulars, Pallas, in his treatise concerning Mithra, assigning the

cause, says, that it is the common opinion that these things are tobe referred to the circle of the zodiac, but that truly and accurately

speaking, they obscurely signify something pertaining to human

souls, which, according to the Persians, are invested with bodies ofall-various forms. For the Latins also, says Eubulus, call some

men, in their tongue, boars and scorpions, lizards, and blackbirds.

After the same manner likewise the Persians denominate the Godsthe demiurgic causes of these: for they call Diana a she-wolf; but

the sun, a bull, a lion, a dragon, and a hawk; and Hecate, a horse, a

bull, a lioness, and a dog. But most theologists say that the name of

Proserpine is derived from nourishing a ring-dove; for the ring-dove is sacred to this Goddess. Hence, also the priests of Maia

dedicate to her a ring-dove. And Maia is the same with Proserpine,

as being obstetric, and a nurse. For this Goddess is terrestrial, andso likewise is Ceres. To this Goddess, also a cock is consecrated;

and on this account those that are initiated in her mysteries abstain

from domestic birds. In the Eleusian mysteries, likewise, theinitiated are ordered to abstain from domestic birds, from fishes

and beans, pomegranates and apples; which fruits are as equally

defiling to the touch, as a woman recently delivered, and a dead

body. But whoever is acquainted with the nature of divinely-


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luminous appearances knows also on what account it is requisite to

abstain from all birds, and especially for him who hastens to be

liberated from terrestrial concerns, and to be established with thecelestial Gods. Vice, however, as we have frequently said, is

sufficiently able to patronize itself, and especially when it pleads

its cause among the ignorant. Hence, among those that aremoderately vicious, some think that a dehortation of this kind is

vain babbling, and, according to the proverb, the nugacity of old

women; and others are of opinion that it is superstition. But thosewho have made greater advances in improbity, are prepared, not

only to blaspheme those who exhort to, and demonstrate the

propriety of this abstinence, but calumniate purity itself as

enchantment and pride. They, however, suffering the punishmentof their sins, both from Gods and men, are, in the first place,

sufficiently punished by a disposition [i.e. by a depravity] of this

kind. We shall, therefore, still farther make mention of another

foreign nation, renowned and just, and believed to be pious indivine concerns, and then pass on to other particulars.

17. For the polity of the Indians being distributed into many parts,

there is one tribe among them of men divinely wise, whom theGreeks are accustomed to call Gymnosophists. But of these there

are two sects, over one of which the Bramins preside, but over the

other the Samanaeans. The race of the Bramins, however, receivedivine wisdom of this kind by succession, in the same manner as

the priesthood. But the Samanaeans are elected, and consist of

those who wish to possess divine knowledge. And the particulars

respecting them are the following, as the Babylonian Bardesanesnarrates, who lived in the times of our fathers, and was familiar

with those Indians who, together with Damadamis, were sent to

Caesar. All the Bramins originate from one stock; for all of themare derived from one father and one mother. But the Samanaeans

are not the offspring of one family, being, as we have said,

collected from every nation of Indians. A Bramin, however, is not asubject of any government, nor does he contribute any thing

together with others to government. And with respect to those that

are philosophers, among these some dwell on mountains, andothers about the river Ganges. And those that live on mountains

feed on autumnal fruits, and on cows milk coagulated with herbs.

But those that reside near the Ganges, live also on autumnal fruits,

which are produced in abundance about that river. The landlikewise nearly always bears new fruit, together with much rice,

which grows spontaneously, and which they use when there is a

deficiency of autumnal fruits. But to taste of any other nutriment,or, in short, to touch animal food, is considered by them as

equivalent to extreme impurity and impiety. And this is one of their


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dogmas. They also worship divinity with piety and purity. They

spend the day, and the greater part of the night, in hymns and

prayers to the Gods; each of them having a cottage to himself, andliving, as much as possible, alone. For the Bramins cannot endure

to remain with others, nor to speak much; but when this happens to

take place, they afterwards withdraw themselves, and do not speakfor many days. They likewise frequently fast. But the Samanaeans

are, as we have said, elected. When, however, any one is desirous

of being enrolled in their order, he proceeds to the rulers of thecity; but abandons the city or village that he inhabited, and the

wealth and all the other property that he possessed. Having

likewise the superfluities of his body cut off, he receives a

garment, and departs to the Samanaeans, but does not return eitherto his wife or children, if he happens to have any, nor does he pay

any attention to them, or think that they at all pertain to him. And,

with respect to his children indeed, the king provides what is

necessary for them, and the relatives provide for the wife. Andsuch is the life of the Samanaeans. But they live out of the city, and

spend the whole day in conversation pertaining to divinity. Theyhave also houses and temples, built by the king, in which they are

stewards, who receive a certain emolument from the king, for the

purpose of supplying those that dwell in them with nutriment. But

their food consists of rice, bread, autumnal fruits, and pot-herbs.And when they enter into their house, the sound of a bell being the

signal of their entrance, those that are not Samanaeans depart from

it, and the Samanaeans begin immediately to pray. But havingprayed, again, on the bell sounding as a signal, the servants give to

each Samanaean a platter, (for two of them do not eat out of the

same dish,) and feed them with rice. And to him who is in want ofa variety of food, a pot-herb is added, or some autumnal fruit. But

having eaten as much as is requisite, without any delay they

proceed to their accustomed employments. All of them likewise areunmarried, and have no possessions: and so much are both these

and the Bramins venerated by the other Indians, that the king also

visits them, and requests them to pray to and supplicate the Gods,

when any calamity befalls the country, or to advise him how to act.

18. But they are so disposed with respect to death, that they

unwillingly endure the whole time of the present life, as a certain

servitude to nature, and therefore they hasten to liberate their souls

from the bodies [with which they are connected]. Hence,frequently, when they are seen to be well, and are neither

oppressed, nor driven to desperation by any evil, they depart from

life. And though they previously announce to others that it is theirintention to commit suicide, yet no one impedes them; but,

proclaiming all those to be happy who thus quit the present life,


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they enjoin certain things to the domestics and kindred of the dead:

so stable and true do they, and also the multitude, believe the

assertion to be, that souls [in another life] associate with eachother. But as soon as those to whom they have proclaimed that this

is their intention, have heard the mandates given to them, they

deliver the body to fire, in order that they may separate the soulfrom the body in the purest manner, and thus they die celebrated by

all the Samanaeans. For these men dismiss their dearest friends to

death more easily than others part with their fellow-citizens whengoing the longest journeys. And they lament themselves, indeed, as

still continuing in life; but they proclaim those that are dead to be

blessed, in consequence of having now obtained an immortal

allotment. Nor is there any sophist, such as there is now amongstthe Greeks, either among these Samanaeans, or the above-

mentioned Bramins, who would be seen to doubt and to say, if all

men should imitate you [i.e. should imitate those Samanaeans who

commit suicide] what would become of us? Nor through these arehuman affairs confused. For neither do all men imitate them, and

those who have, may be said to have been rather the causes ofequitable legislation, than of confusion to the different nations of

men. Moreover, the law did not compel the Samanaeans and

Bramins to eat animal food, but, permitting others to feed on flesh,

it suffered these to be a law to themselves, and venerated them asbeing superior to law. Nor did the law subject these men to the

punishment which it inflicts, as if they were the primary

perpetrators of injustice, but it reserved this for others. Hence, tothose who ask, what would be the consequence if all men imitated

such characters as these, the saying of Pythagoras must be the

answer; that if all men were kings, the passage through life wouldbe difficult, yet regal government is not on this account to be

avoided. And [we likewise say] that if all men were worthy, no

administration of a polity would be found in which the dignity thatprobity merits would be preserved. Nevertheless, no one would be

so insane as not to think that all men should earnestly endeavor to

become worthy characters. Indeed, the law grants to the vulgar

many other things [besides a fleshly diet], which, nevertheless, itdoes not grant to a philosopher, nor even to one who conducts the

affairs of government in a proper manner. For it does not receive

every artist into the administration, though it does not forbid theexercise of any art, nor yet men of every pursuit. But it excludes

those who are occupied in vile and illiberal arts, and, in short, all

those who are destitute of justice and the other virtues, from havingany thing to do with the management of public affairs. Thus,

likewise, the law does not forbid the vulgar from associating with

harlots, on whom at the same time it imposes a fine; but thinks that

it is disgraceful and base for men that are moderately good to have


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any connection with them. Moreover, the law does not prohibit a

man from spending the whole of his life in a tavern, yet at the same

time this is most disgraceful even to a man of moderate worth. Itappears, therefore, that the same thing must also be said with

respect to diet. For that which is permitted to the multitude, must

not likewise be granted to the best of men. For the man who is aphilosopher, should especially ordain for himself those sacred laws

which the Gods, and men who are followers of the Gods, have

instituted. But the sacred laws of nations and cities appear to haveordained for sacred men purity, and to have interdicted them

animal food. They have also forbidden the multitude to eat certain

animals, either from motives of piety, or on account of some injury

which would be produced by the food. So that it is requisite eitherto imitate priests, or to be obedient to the mandates of all

legislators; but, in either way, he who is perfectly legal and pious

ought to abstain from all animals. For if some who are only

partially pious abstain from certain animals, he who is in everyrespect pious will abstain from all animals.

19. I had almost, however, forgotten to adduce what is said by

Euripides, who asserts, that the prophets of Jupiter in Creteabstained from animals. But what is said by the chorus to Minos on

this subject, is as follows:

Sprung from Phoenicias royal line, Son of Europa, nymph divine,

And mighty Jove, thy envyd reign Oer Crete extending, whosedomain Is with a hundred cities crownd I leave yon consecrated

ground, Yon fane, whose beams the artists toil With cypress,rooted from the soil, Hath fashiond. In the mystic rites Initiated,lifes best delights I place in chastity alone, Midst Nights dread

orgies wont to rove, The priest of Zagreus and of Jove; Feasts of

crude flesh I now decline, And wave aloof the blazing pine ToCybele, nor fear to claim Her own Curetes hallowd name; Clad in

a snowy vest I fly Far from the throes of pregnancy, Never amidst

the tombs intrude, And slay no animal for food.

20. For holy men were of opinion that purity consisted in a thingnot being mingled with its contrary, and that mixture is defilement.

Hence, they thought that nutriment should be assumed from fruits,

and not from dead bodies, and that we should not, by introducingthat which is animated to our nature, defile what is administered by

nature. But they conceived, that the slaughter of animals, as they

are sensitive, and the depriving them of their souls, is a defilement

to the living; and that the pollution is much greater, to mingle abody which was once sensitive, but is now deprived of sense, with

a sensitive and living being. Hence, universally, the purity


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dies, defiles his body, through leaving it a corpse, different and

foreign from that which possesses life. The soul, likewise, is

polluted by anger and desire, and the multitude of passions ofwhich in a certain respect diet is a co-operating cause. But as water

which flows through a rock is more uncorrupted than that which

runs through marshes, because it does not bring with it much mud;thus, also, the soul which administers its own affairs in a body that

is dry, and is not moistened by the juices of foreign flesh, is in a

more excellent condition, is more uncorrupted, and is more promptfor intellectual energy. Thus too, it is said, that the thyme which is

the driest and the sharpest to the taste, affords the best honey to

bees. The dianotic, therefore, or discursive power of the soul, is

polluted; or rather, he who energizes dianotically, when thisenergy is mingled with the energies of either the imaginative or

doxastic power. But purification consists in a separation from all

these, and the wisdom which is adapted to divine concerns, is a

desertion of every thing of this kind. The proper nutrimentlikewise, of each thing, is that which essentially preserves it. Thus

you may say, that the nutriment of a stone is the cause of itscontinuing to be a stone, and of firmly remaining in a lapideous

form; but the nutriment of a plant is that which preserves it in

increase and fructification; and of an animated body, that which

preserve

Ancient History of the Embodied Soul Asclepius

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