Rights for this book: Public domain in the USA. This edition is published by Project Gutenberg. Originally issued by Project Gutenberg on 2010-10-23. To support the work of Project Gutenberg, visit their Donation Page. This free ebook has been produced by GITenberg, a program of the Free Ebook Foundation. If you have corrections or improvements to make to this ebook, or you want to use the source files for this ebook, visit the book's github repository. You can support the work of the Free Ebook Foundation at their Contributors Page. The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius Author: Samuel Dill Release Date: October 23, 2010 [Ebook #34122] Language: English Character set encoding: UTFΓÇÉ8 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN SOCIETY FROM NERO TO MARCUS AURELIUS*** ROMAN SOCIETY FROM NERO TO MARCUS AURELIUS BY SAMUEL DILL, M.A. HON. LITT.D. DUBLIN, HON. LL.D. EDINBURGH, HON. FELLOW AND LATE TUTOR, C.C.C., OXFORD; PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN QUEENΓÇÖS COLLEGE, BELFAST; AUTHOR OF ΓÇ£ROMAN SOCIETY IN THE LAST CENTURY OF THE WESTERN EMPIREΓÇ¥ MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTINΓÇÖS STREET, LONDON 1925 COPYRIGHT First Edition 1904 Second Edition 1905 Reprinted December 1905, 1911, 1919, 1920, 1925 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN PREFACE There must always be something arbitrary in the choice and isolation of a period of social history for special study. No period can, from one point of view, be broken off and isolated from the immemorial influences which have moulded it, from the succession of coming ages which it will help to fashion. And this is specially true of the history of a race at once so aggressive, yet so tenacious of the past, as the Roman. The national fibre was so tough, and its tone and sentiment so conservative under all external changes, that when a man knows any considerable period of Roman social history, he may almost, without paradox, be said to know a great deal of it from Romulus to Honorius. Yet, as in the artistic drama there must be a beginning and an end, although the action can only be ideally severed from what has preceded and what is to follow in actual life, so a limited space in the collective history of a people may be legitimately set apart for concentrated study. But as in the case of the drama, such a period should possess a certain unity and intensity of moral interest. It should be a crisis and turning-point in the life of humanity, a period pregnant with momentous issues, a period in which the old order and the new are contending for mastery, or in which the old is melting into the new. Above all, it should be one in which the great social and spiritual movements are incarnate in some striking personalities, who may give a human interest to dim forces of spiritual evolution. Such a period, it seems to the writer of this book, is that which he now presents to the reader. It opens with the self-destruction of lawless and intoxicated power; it closes with the realisation of PlatoΓÇÖs dream of a reign of the philosophers. The revolution in the ideal of the principate, which gave the world a Trajan, a Hadrian, and a Marcus Aurelius in place of a Caligula and a Nero, may not have been accompanied by any change of corresponding depth in the moral condition of the masses. But the world enjoyed for nearly a century an almost unexampled peace and prosperity, under skilful and humane government. The civic splendour and social charities of the Antonine age can be revived by the imagination from the abundant remains and records of the period. Its materialism and social vices will also sadden the thoughtful student of its literature and inscriptions. But if that age had the faults of a luxurious and highly organised civilisation, it was also dignified and elevated by a great effort for reform of conduct, and a passion, often, it is true, sadly misguided, to rise to a higher spiritual life and to win the succour of unseen Powers. To the writer of this book, this seems to give the Antonine age its great distinction and its deepest interest for the student of the life of humanity. The influence of philosophy on the legislation of the Antonines is a commonplace of history. But its practical effort to give support and guidance to moral life, and to refashion the old paganism, so as to make it a real spiritual force, has perhaps hardly yet attracted the notice which it deserves. It is one great object of this book to show how the later Stoicism and the new Platonism, working in eclectic harmony, strove to supply a rule of conduct and a higher vision of the Divine world. But philosophy failed, as it will probably fail till some far-off age, to find an anodyne for the spiritual distresses of the mass of men. It might hold up the loftiest ideal of conduct; it might revive the ancient gods in new spiritual power; it might strive to fill the interval between the remote Infinite Spirit and the life of man with a host of mediating and succouring powers. But the effort was doomed to failure. It was an esoteric creed, and the masses remained untouched by it. They longed for a Divine light, a clear, authoritative voice from the unseen world. They sought it in ever more blind and passionate devotion to their ancient deities, and in all the curiosity of superstition. But the voice came to them at last from the regions of the East. It came through the worships of Isis and Mithra, which promised a hope of immortality, and provided a sacramental system to soothe the sense of guilt and prepare the trembling soul for the great ordeal on the verge of another world. How far these eastern systems succeeded, and where they failed, it is one great purpose of this book to explain. The writer, so far as he knows himself, has had no arri├¿re pens├⌐e in describing this great moral and spiritual movement. As M. Boissier has pointed out, the historian of the Antonine age is free to treat paganism apart from the growth of the Christian Church. The pagan world of that age seems to have had little communication with the loftier faith which, within a century and a half from the death of M. Aurelius, was destined to seize the sceptre. To Juvenal, Tacitus, and Pliny, to Plutarch, Dion Chrysostom, Lucian, and M. Aurelius, the Church is hardly known, or known as an obscure off-shoot of Judaism, a little sect, worshipping a ΓÇ£crucified SophistΓÇ¥ in somewhat suspicious retirement, or more favourably distinguished by simple-minded charity. The modern theologian can hardly be content to know as little of the great movement in the heathen world which prepared or deferred the victory of the Church. It will be evident to any critical reader that the scope of this book is strictly limited. As in a former work on the Society of the later Empire, attention has been concentrated on the inner moral life of the time, and comparatively little space has been given to its external history and the machinery of government. The relation of the Senate to the Emperor in the first century, and the organisation of the municipal towns have been dwelt on at some length, because they affected profoundly the moral character of the age. On the particular field which the writer has surveyed, Dean Merivale, Dr. Mahaffy, Professor Bury, and Mr. Capes have thrown much light by their learning and sympathy. But these distinguished writers have approached the period from a different point of view from that of the present author, and he believes that he has not incurred the serious peril of appearing to compete with them. He has, as a first duty, devoted himself to a complete survey of the literature and inscriptions of the period. References to the secondary authorities and monographs which he has used will be found in the notes. But he owes a special obligation to Friedl├ñnder, Zeller, R├⌐ville, Schiller, Boissier, Martha, Peter, and Marquardt, for guidance and suggestion. He must also particularly acknowledge his debt to M. CumontΓÇÖs exhaustive work on the monuments of Mithra. Once more he has to offer his warmest gratitude to his learned friend, the Rev. Charles Plummer, Fellow of C.C.C., Oxford, for the patience and judgment with which he has revised the proof sheets. His thanks are also due to the Messrs. R. and R. ClarkΓÇÖs reader, for the scrupulous accuracy which has saved the author much time and labour. September 19, 1904. CONTENTS BOOK I CHAPTER I THE ARISTOCRACY UNDER THE TERROR How far the Antonine age is marked by a moral and spiritual revolutionΓÇöLight which Seneca throws on the moral condition of his class in NeroΓÇÖs reignΓÇöValue of his testimonyΓÇöHis pessimismΓÇöHuman degeneracy the result of selfish greed and luxuryΓÇöPicture of contemporary societyΓÇöCruel selfishness and the taedium vitae ΓÇöThe Ardelio ΓÇöThe terror under which Seneca livedΓÇöSenecaΓÇÖs ideal of the principate expounded to Nero in the De Clementia ΓÇöThe character of NeroΓÇöTaint in the blood of the DomitiiΓÇöNero at first showed glimpses of some better qualitiesΓÇöHow he was injured by the ambition to be an artistΓÇöFalse aestheticism and insane profusionΓÇöFeeling of Tacitus as to his timeΓÇöHis careerΓÇöViews as to his impartiality as a historianΓÇöHe was under complex influencesΓÇöHis chief motive as a historianΓÇöHe is not a political doctrinaireΓÇöHe is avenging a moral, not a political idealΓÇöHis pessimismΓÇöHis prejudices and limitationsΓÇöHis ideal of education and characterΓÇöHis hesitating religious faithΓÇöHis credulity and his scepticismΓÇöHis view of the corrupting influence of despotic powerΓÇöThe influence of imperial exampleΓÇöProfusion of the early Caesars, leading to murder and confiscation in order to replenish their treasuryΓÇöDangers of life about the court from espionageΓÇöCauses of delationΓÇöIts temptations and its great rewardsΓÇöThe secret of the imperial terrorΓÇöVarious theories of itΓÇöWas the Senate a real danger?ΓÇöIts impotence in spite of its prestige and claimsΓÇöThe philosophic oppositionΓÇöWas it really revolutionary?ΓÇöΓÇ£Scelera sceleribus tuendaΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe undefined position of the principateΓÇöIts working depended greatly on the character of the Emperor for the timeΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs ideal of the principateΓÇöThe danger from pretendersΓÇöEvil effects of astrologyΓÇöThe degradation of the aristocracy under Nero and Domitian illustrated from the Pisonian conspiracyΓÇöand the Year of the Four EmperorsΓÇöThe reign of DomitianΓÇöIts puzzling characterΓÇöIts strange contrastsΓÇöThe terrors of its closeΓÇöConfiscation and massacreΓÇöThe funereal banquet Pages 1-57 CHAPTER II THE WORLD OF THE SATIRIST Juvenal and Tacitus comparedΓÇöSocial position and experience of JuvenalΓÇöJuvenal and Martial deal with the same features of societyΓÇöTheir motives comparedΓÇöCharacter of MartialΓÇöThe moral standard of JuvenalΓÇöHis humanity and his old Roman prejudicesΓÇöHe unites the spirit of two different agesΓÇöHis rhetorical pessimismΓÇöHis sweeping generalisationsΓÇöAbnormal specimens become typesΓÇöRoman luxury at its heightΓÇöYet similar extravagance is denounced for five centuriesΓÇöSuch judgments need qualificationΓÇöThe great social changes depicted by Juvenal, some of which he misunderstandsΓÇöRoman respect for birthΓÇöThe decay of the aristocracy and its causesΓÇöAristocratic poverty and servilityΓÇöHow the early Emperors lowered senatorial dignityΓÇöAristocratic gladiators and actorsΓÇöNero made bohemianism the fashionΓÇöΓÇ£The Legend of Bad WomenΓÇ¥ΓÇöIts untrustworthiness and defects of treatmentΓÇöHigh ideals of womanhood among contemporaries of JuvenalΓÇöHe is influenced by old Roman prejudiceΓÇöJuvenal hates the ΓÇ£new womanΓÇ¥ as much as the vicious womanΓÇöThe emancipation of women began in the second century B.C.ΓÇöHigher culture of women and their growing influence on public affairsΓÇöJuvenalΓÇÖs dislike of the oriental worships and their female devoteesΓÇöThis is another old movementΓÇöThe influence of Judaism at Rome, even in the Imperial householdΓÇöWomen in JuvenalΓÇÖs day were exposed to serious dangersΓÇöThe corruptions of the theatre and the circusΓÇöIntrigues with actors and slavesΓÇöThe invasion of HellenismΓÇöIts historyΓÇöThe Hellenism of the EmperorsΓÇöThe lower Hellenism which Juvenal attacksΓÇöSocial and economic causes of the movementΓÇöGreek tutors and professorsΓÇöThe medical profession chiefly recruited from foreignersΓÇöThe character of the profession in those daysΓÇöThe astrologer and the parasiteΓÇöThe client of the early EmpireΓÇöHis degradation and his hardshipsΓÇöGeneral povertyΓÇöThe contempt for trade and industryΓÇöThe growth of captationΓÇöThe worship of wealthΓÇöThe cry of the poor Pages 58-99 CHAPTER III THE SOCIETY OF THE FREEDMEN The rise of the freedmen a great movementΓÇöRoman prejudice against them expressed in the literature of the ageΓÇöEconomic and social causes of the movementΓÇöTrade and industry despisedΓÇöThe freedmen occupied a vacant placeΓÇöCauses of the contempt for themΓÇöTheir many vices and vulgar tasteΓÇöYet their rise was a hopeful signΓÇöThe freedmen in imperial officeΓÇöThe policy of the early Emperors to employ freedmen in their bureauxΓÇöVitellius the first Emperor to employ Equites as imperial secretariesΓÇöHadrian confined the three great ministries to men of equestrian rankΓÇöThe great imperial freedmenΓÇöPolybius, Claudius Etruscus, and AbascantusΓÇöTheir career and their immense power described by StatiusΓÇöThe intrigues and crimes of the freedmen of ClaudiusΓÇöThe insolence of PallasΓÇöThe wealth of the freedmen and its sourcesΓÇöTheir luxurious displayΓÇöThe baths of Cl. Etruscus and the gardens of EntellusΓÇöYet the freedmen were seldom admitted to equal rank with the aristocracyΓÇöThe Senate flattered and despised themΓÇöThe doubtful position of freedwomenΓÇöPlebeian AspasiasΓÇöThe influence of Acte, Caenis, and PantheaΓÇöManumissionΓÇöIt was often not a very abrupt changeΓÇöThe better side of slave lifeΓÇöTrusted and favourite slavesΓÇöHow they could obtain their freedomΓÇöSlaves employed in offices of trustΓÇöThe growing peculium ΓÇöThe close tie between patron and freedmanΓÇöThe freedman gets a start in tradeΓÇöHis rapid rise in wealthΓÇöHis vulgar ostentationΓÇöThe Satiricon of PetroniusΓÇöTheories as to its motive, date and authorshipΓÇöIts author probably the C. Petronius of NeroΓÇÖs reignΓÇöHis character in TacitusΓÇöHis probable motiveΓÇöThe literary character and scene of the Satiricon ΓÇöThe character of the Greek adventurersΓÇöTrimalchioΓÇÖs dinner, to which they are invitedΓÇöSketch of TrimalchioΓÇÖs careerΓÇöThe dinnerΓÇöCarving to musicΓÇöDishes descend from the ceilingΓÇöWine 100 years oldΓÇöConfused recollections of HomerΓÇöHannibal at the Trojan warΓÇöRope-dancers and tales of witchcraftΓÇöThe manners of FortunataΓÇöThe conversation of some of the guestsΓÇöTrue bourgeois vulgarityΓÇöGrumbling about the management of the aedilesΓÇöΓÇ£Everything is going backΓÇöIt all arises from neglect of religionΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe coming gladiatorial show, when there will be plenty of bloodΓÇöThe education of a freedmanΓÇÖs sonΓÇöΓÇ £You learn for profitΓÇ¥ΓÇöFast and furiousΓÇöThe ladies get drunk, and Trimalchio gives an unflattering account of his wifeΓÇÖs historyΓÇöHe gives directions to his friend, the stone-cutter, for the erection of his monumentΓÇöHe has himself laid out for dead, and the horn-blowers sound his lament Pages 100-137 BOOK II CHAPTER I THE CIRCLE OF THE YOUNGER PLINY The contrast between the pictures of society in Juvenal and in PlinyΓÇöThey belonged to different worldsΓÇöThey were also of very different temperamentsΓÇöMoral contrasts side by side in every ageΓÇöThere were puritan homes in Italy, even in the worst daysΓÇöInfluence of old Roman tradition and country lifeΓÇöThe circle at ComoΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs youth and early trainingΓÇöCharacter of the Elder PlinyΓÇöHis immense industryΓÇöRetreats of old Roman virtueΓÇöThe character and reforms of VespasianΓÇöHis endowment of educationΓÇöThe moral influence of Quintilian on Roman youthΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs student friendsΓÇöHis relations with the Stoic circleΓÇöHis reverence for FanniaΓÇöHis career at the BarΓÇöHe idealises the practice in the Centumviral courtΓÇöCareer of M. Aquilius Regulus, the great delator and advocateΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs passion for fameΓÇöThe crowd of literary amateurs in his dayΓÇöPliny and MartialΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs relation to the literary movement of his timeΓÇöHis admiration for CiceroΓÇöHis reverence for GreeceΓÇöHe once wrote a Greek tragedyΓÇöHis apology for his loose versesΓÇöHis ambition as an orator, and canons of oratorical styleΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs Letters compared with CiceroΓÇÖsΓÇöThe merits and fame of the LettersΓÇöTheir arrangementΓÇöThey are a memorial of the social life and literary tone of the timeΓÇöThe character of Silius ItalicusΓÇöLiterary coteriesΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs friendship with SuetoniusΓÇöThe devotion of literary amateurs to poetic composition and its causesΓÇöThe influence of the great Augustan models read at schoolΓÇöSigns of decay in literatureΓÇöThe growing love of the archaic styleΓÇöImmense literary ambition of the timeΓÇöAttempts of Nero and Domitian to satisfy it by public literary competitionsΓÇöThe plague of recitationsΓÇöPliny believes in the duty of attending themΓÇöThe weariness and emptiness of life in the capitalΓÇöThe charm of the countryΓÇöRoman country seats on the Anio or the Laurentine and Campanian shoresΓÇöThe sites of these villasΓÇöTheir furniture and decorationsΓÇöDoubtful appreciation of works of artΓÇöThe gardens of the villaΓÇöThe routine of a country gentlemanΓÇÖs dayΓÇöThe financial management of an estateΓÇöDifficulties with tenantsΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs kindness to freedmen and slavesΓÇöThe darker side of slaveryΓÇöMurder of a masterΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs views on suicideΓÇöTragedies in his circleΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs charity and optimismΓÇöThe solidarity of the aristocratic classΓÇöPliny thinks it a duty to assist the career of promising youthΓÇöThe women of his circleΓÇöHis love for Calpurnia and his love lettersΓÇöThe charity and humanitarian sentiment of the ageΓÇö Bene fac, hoc tecum feres ΓÇöThe wealthy recognise the duties of wealthΓÇöCharitable foundations of the emperorsΓÇöPlinyΓÇÖs lavish generosity, both private and publicΓÇöYet 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 literatureΓÇöYet the love of the country was strongΓÇöA relief from the strain of the capital, which, however, always maintained its attractionΓÇöThe Empire a realm of citiesΓÇöImmense development of urban life in the first two centuriesΓÇöThe rise of Thamugadi in NumidiaΓÇöGreat tolerance of municipal freedom under the early EmpireΓÇöYet there was a general drift to uniformity of organisationΓÇöInfluence of the capitalΓÇöThe rage for travelΓÇöTravelling became easy and luxuriousΓÇöPosting facilities on the great roadsΓÇöThe speed of travelling by land and seaΓÇöGrowth of townsΓÇöMany sprang from the canabae legionis ΓÇöHistory of LambesiΓÇöAristocratic or timocratic character of municipal organisationΓÇöIllustrated by the album Canusii ΓÇöThe sharp demarcation of social gradesΓÇöYet, in the first century, the Commons had still considerable powerΓÇöExamples from PompeiiΓÇöThe magistracies and popular electionΓÇöThe honorarium payable on admission to officeΓÇöThe power of the duumvirsΓÇöPosition of the CuriaΓÇöThe mode of filling its ranksΓÇöLocal EquitesΓÇöThe origin and position of the AugustalesΓÇöTheir organisation and their importance in the Roman worldΓÇöMunicipal financeΓÇöDirect taxation in the first century almost unknownΓÇöSources of municipal revenueΓÇöThe objects of expenditureΓÇöMunicipal mismanagement, as in BithyniaΓÇöSigns of decay in TrajanΓÇÖs reignΓÇöFirst appointment of Curatores ΓÇöImmense private munificenceΓÇöExamples from Pompeii, which was only a third rate townΓÇöOther instancesΓÇöPlinyΓÇöThe StertiniiΓÇöHerodes Atticus, the prince of benefactorsΓÇöTestimony of the InscriptionsΓÇöExample of imperial liberalityΓÇöThe public works of the Flavian and Antonine EmperorsΓÇöFeasts to the populaceΓÇöDistributions of money, graduated according to social rankΓÇöThe motives of this munificence were mixedΓÇöYet a high ideal of the duties of wealthΓÇöThe better side of municipal lifeΓÇöLocal patriotism and general kindly feelingΓÇöBut there is another side to the pictureΓÇöImmense passion for amusement, which was often debasingΓÇöGames and spectacles on 135 days in the yearΓÇöDescription of a scene in the amphitheatre in the Antonine ageΓÇöPassion for gladiatorial shows especially in CampaniaΓÇöRemains of gladiatorial barracks at PompeiiΓÇöAdvertisements of gamesΓÇöPictures on tombs and on the wallsΓÇöThe shows in small country townsΓÇöShows at Cremona a few days after the battle of BedriacumΓÇöGreece was little infected with the tasteΓÇöThe feeling of the philosophersΓÇöStatistics as to the cost of a gladiatorial showΓÇöHow the ranks of the profession were recruitedΓÇöIts attractionsΓÇöOrganisation of the gladiatorial schoolsΓÇöThe gladiator in retirementΓÇöHow municipal benefactors were honouredΓÇöMunicipal life begins to lose its attractionsΓÇöThe causes of thisΓÇöPlutarch on municipal dutyΓÇöThe growth of centralisationΓÇöThe beginning of the end Pages 196-250 CHAPTER III THE COLLEGES AND PLEBEIAN LIFE The plebs of the municipal town chiefly known from the InscriptionsΓÇöGreat development of a free proletariatΓÇöThe effects of manumissionΓÇöThe artisan class in the InscriptionsΓÇöTheir pride in their callingsΓÇöEmblems on their tombsΓÇöEarly history of the Collegia ΓÇöRigorous restraint of their formation by Julius and AugustusΓÇöThe evidence of GaiusΓÇöDangers from the colleges not imaginaryΓÇöTroubles in the reign of AurelianΓÇöYet the great movement could not be checkedΓÇöThe means of evading the lawΓÇöExtended liberty in reigns of M. Aurelius and Alexander SeverusΓÇöThe social forces behind the movement of combinationΓÇöThe wish for funeral rites and lasting remembranceΓÇöEvidence of the InscriptionsΓÇöThe horror of loneliness in deathΓÇöThe funerary collegesΓÇöThat of Lanuvium shows how the privilege granted to them might be extendedΓÇöAny college might claim itΓÇöDescription of the college at LanuviumΓÇöIts foundation deedΓÇöThe feesΓÇöThe grants for burialΓÇöThe college of Aesculapius and HygiaΓÇöIts organisation for other objects than burialΓÇöAny college might assume a quasi-religious characterΓÇöThe influence of religion on all ancient social organisationΓÇöThe colleges of tradersΓÇöWandering merchants organise themselves all over the worldΓÇöAnd old soldiersΓÇöColleges of youth for sporting purposesΓÇöEvery branch of industry was organised in these societiesΓÇöEvidence from Ostia, Lyons, and Rome, in the InscriptionsΓÇöClubs of slaves in great houses, and in that of the EmperorΓÇöThey were encouraged by the mastersΓÇöThe organisation of the college was modelled on the cityΓÇöIts officers bear the names of republican magistratesΓÇöThe number of members limitedΓÇöPeriodical revision of the Album ΓÇöEven in the plebeian colleges the gradation of rank was observedΓÇöPatrons carefully sought forΓÇöMeeting- place of the collegeΓÇöDescription of the Schola ΓÇöSacred associations gathered round itΓÇöEven the poorest made presents to decorate itΓÇöThe poor college of Silvanus at PhilippiΓÇöBut the colleges relied on the generosity of patronsΓÇöTheir varying social rankΓÇöElection of a patronΓÇöA man might be a patron of many collegesΓÇöThe college often received bequests to guard a tomb, and perform funerary rites for everΓÇöThe common feasts of the collegesΓÇöThe division of the sportula by ranksΓÇöRegulations as to decorum at college meetingsΓÇöThe college modelled on the familyΓÇöMommsenΓÇÖs opinionΓÇöFraternal feelingΓÇöThe slave in the college, for the time, treated as an equalΓÇöYet the difference of rank, even in the colleges, was probably never forgottenΓÇöWere the colleges really charitable foundations?ΓÇöThe military collegesΓÇöTheir object, not only to provide due burial, but to assist an officer throughout his careerΓÇöThe extinction of a collegeΓÇöThe college at Alburnus in Dacia vanishes probably in the Marcomannic invasion Pages 251-286 BOOK III CHAPTER I THE PHILOSOPHIC DIRECTOR The great change in the motive and character of philosophyΓÇöThe schools forsook metaphysical speculation, and devoted themselves to the cultivation of characterΓÇöWhy faith in abstract thought declined, and the conduct of life became all importantΓÇöThe effect of the loss of free civic life and the establishment of world-empiresΓÇöThe commonwealth of manΓÇöThe great ars vivendi ΓÇöSpiritual directors before the imperial timesΓÇöThey are found in every great familyΓÇöThe power of Seneca as a private director of soulsΓÇöHow his career and experience prepared him for the officeΓÇöHe had seen the inner life of the time, its sensuality, degradation, and remorseΓÇöHe was himself an ascetic, living in a palace which excited NeroΓÇÖs envyΓÇöHis experience excited an evangelistic passionΓÇöHis conception of philosophy as the art of saving soulsΓÇöHis contempt for unpractical speculationΓÇöYet he values Physics for its moral effect in elevating the mind to the region of eternal truthΓÇöCurious examples of physical study for moral endsΓÇöThe pessimism of SenecaΓÇöIts causes in the inner secrets of his classΓÇöIt is a lost world which must be saved by every effortΓÇöStoicism becomes transfigured by moral enthusiasmΓÇöYet can philosophic religion dispense with dogma?ΓÇöEmpirical rules of conduct are not enoughΓÇöThere must be true theory of conductΓÇöSeneca not a rigorous dogmatistΓÇöHis varying conceptions of GodΓÇöOften mingles Platonic conceptions with old Stoic doctrineΓÇöBut all old Stoic doctrine can be found in himΓÇöΓÇ£The kingdom of Heaven is withinΓÇ ¥ΓÇöFreedom is found in renunciation, submission to the Universal ReasonΓÇöWhence comes the force of self-reform?ΓÇöThe problem of freedom and necessityΓÇöHow man may attain to moral freedomΓÇöThe struggle to recover a primeval virtueΓÇöModifications of old Stoic theoryΓÇöThe ideal sapiens ΓÇöInstantaneous conversionΓÇöIdeas fatal to practical moral reformΓÇöFor practical purposes, Stoic theory must be modifiedΓÇöThe sapiens a mythical figureΓÇöThere may be various stages of moral progressΓÇöAristotelian ideasΓÇöSeneca himself far from the ideal of the Stoic sageΓÇöThe men for whom Seneca is providing counselΓÇöHow their weaknesses have to be dealt withΓÇöThe ΓÇ£ars vitaeΓÇ¥ develops into casuistry in the hands of the directorΓÇöObstacles in the way to the higher lifeΓÇöSenecaΓÇÖs skill in dealing with different casesΓÇöHis precepts for reformΓÇöNecessity of confession, self-examination, steadiness of purpose, self-denialΓÇö Vivere militare est ΓÇöThe real victorΓÇöThe mind can create its own world, and triumph even over deathΓÇöSenecaΓÇÖs not the Cynic ideal of moral isolationΓÇöCompeting tendencies in StoicismΓÇöIsolated renunciation and social sympathyΓÇöA citizen of two citiesΓÇöThe great commonwealth of humanityΓÇöThe problem of serving God and man variously solved by the StoicsΓÇöSenecaΓÇÖs ideas of social dutyΓÇöSocial instinct innateΓÇöDuty of help, forgiveness, and kindness to othersΓÇöThe example of the Infinite GoodnessΓÇöThe brotherhood of man includes the slaveΓÇöSenecaΓÇÖs attitude to slaveryΓÇöHis ideal of womanhoodΓÇöWomen may be the equals of men in culture and virtueΓÇöThe greatness of Seneca as a moral teacherΓÇöHe belongs to the modern world, and was claimed by the ChurchΓÇöA pagan Thomas ├á Kempis Pages 289-333 CHAPTER II THE PHILOSOPHIC MISSIONARY Seneca the director of an aristocratic classΓÇöThe masses needed a gospelΓÇöTheir moral conditionΓÇöThe Antonine age produced a great movement for their moral elevationΓÇöLucianΓÇÖs attitude to the CynicsΓÇöHis kindred with themΓÇöDetached view of human life and its vanityΓÇöGloomy view of the moral state of the massesΓÇöThe call for popular evangelismΓÇöCan philosophy furnish the gospel?ΓÇöLucianΓÇÖs HermotimusΓÇöThe quarrels of the schoolsΓÇöYet they show real agreement on the rule of lifeΓÇöThe fashionable sophistΓÇöRhetorical philosophy despised by more earnest mindsΓÇöSerious preachingΓÇöThe sermons of Apollonius of TyanaΓÇöSudden conversionsΓÇöThe preaching of Musonius, Plutarch, and Maximus of TyreΓÇöThe mystic fervour of MaximusΓÇöDionΓÇÖs view of the Cynic preacherΓÇöThe ΓÇ£mendicant monks of paganismΓÇ ¥ΓÇöLucianΓÇÖs caricature of their vicesΓÇöMany vulgar impostors adopt the professionΓÇöIt offered a tempting fieldΓÇöWhy the charges against the Cynics must be taken with reserveΓÇöS. AugustineΓÇÖs testimonyΓÇöCauses of the prejudice against CynicismΓÇöLucianΓÇÖs treatment of PeregrinusΓÇöThe history of PeregrinusΓÇöThe credibility of the charges which Lucian makes against himΓÇöHe is about to immolate himself at Olympia when Lucian arrivesΓÇöLucian treats the self-martyrdom as a piece of theatrical displayΓÇöYet Peregrinus may have honestly desired to teach contempt for deathΓÇöStoic suicideΓÇöThe scene at the pyreΓÇöThe last words of PeregrinusΓÇöLucian creates a myth and sees it growΓÇöTestimony of A. Gellius as to PeregrinusΓÇöThe power of the later CynicismΓÇöThe ideal Cynic in EpictetusΓÇöAn ambassador of GodΓÇöKindred of Cynicism and MonasticismΓÇöCultivated CynicsΓÇöThe character of Demetrius, a leader of the philosophic oppositionΓÇöCynic attitude to popular religionΓÇöOenomaus a pronounced rationalistΓÇöDisbelief in oraclesΓÇöThe character of DemonaxΓÇöHis great popular influenceΓÇöProsecuted for neglect of religious observancesΓÇöHis sharp sayingsΓÇöDemonstrations of reverence for him at his deathΓÇöThe career of Dion ChrysostomΓÇöHis conversion during his exileΓÇöBecomes a preacher with a mission to the Roman worldΓÇöThe character of his eighty orationsΓÇöHe is the rhetorical apostle of a few great truthsΓÇöHis idea of philosophyΓÇöHis pessimism about the moral state of the worldΓÇöA materialised civilisationΓÇöWarning to the people of TarsusΓÇöRebukes the feuds of the Bithynian citiesΓÇöA sermon at Olbia on the Black SeaΓÇöThe jealousies of the Asiatic townsΓÇöPrusa and ApameaΓÇöSermon on civic harmonyΓÇöHe assails the vices and frivolity of the AlexandriansΓÇöHis prose idyllΓÇöSimple pastoral life in EuboeaΓÇöThe problems and vices of city life exposedΓÇöDion on true kingshipΓÇöThe vision of the Two PeaksΓÇöThe ideal kingΓÇöThe sermon at Olympia inspired by the Zeus of PheidiasΓÇöIts majesty and benignityΓÇöSources of the idea of GodΓÇöThe place of art in religionΓÇöRelative power of poetry and sculpture to express religious truthΓÇöPheidias defends his anthropomorphismΓÇöHis Zeus a God of mercy and peace Pages 334-383 CHAPTER III THE PHILOSOPHIC THEOLOGIAN The pagan revival and the growth of superstition called for a theodicyΓÇöOld Roman religion was still powerfulΓÇöBut there was an immense accretion of worships from the conquered countriesΓÇöAnd an immense growth in the belief in genii, dreams, omens, and oraclesΓÇöYet amid the apparent chaos, there was a tendency, in the higher minds, to monotheismΓÇöThe craving for a moral God in sympathy with manΓÇöThe ideas of Apuleius, Epictetus, M. AureliusΓÇöThe change in the conception of God among the later StoicsΓÇöGod no longer mere Force or Fate or impersonal ReasonΓÇöHe is a Father and Providence, giving moral support and comfortΓÇöThe attitude of the later Stoics to external worship and anthropomorphic imageryΓÇöHow was the ancient worship to be reconciled with purer conceptions of the Divine?ΓÇöGod being so remote, philosophy may discover spiritual help in all the religions of the pastΓÇöThe history of Neo-PythagoreanismΓÇöApollonius of TyanaΓÇöHis attitude to mythologyΓÇöHis mysticism and ritualismΓÇöPlutarchΓÇÖs associations and early historyΓÇöHis devotion to Greek traditionΓÇöHis social lifeΓÇöHis Lives of the great Greeks and RomansΓÇöHe is a moralist rather than a pure philosopherΓÇöThe tendency of philosophy in his day was towards the formation of characterΓÇöThe eclecticism of the timeΓÇöPlutarchΓÇÖs attitude to Platonism and StoicismΓÇöHis own moral system was drawn from various schoolsΓÇöPrecepts for the formation of characterΓÇöPlutarch on freedom and necessityΓÇöHis contempt for rhetorical philosophyΓÇöPlutarch on TranquillityΓÇöHow to grow dailyΓÇöThe pathos of lifeΓÇöThe need for a higher visionΓÇöHow to reconcile the God of philosophy with the ancient mythology was the great problemΓÇöPlutarchΓÇÖs conception of GodΓÇöHis cosmology mainly that of the Timaeus ΓÇöThe opposition between the philosophic idea of God and the belief of the crowd was an old oneΓÇöYet great political and spiritual changes had made it a more urgent questionΓÇöThe theology of Maximus of TyreΓÇöHis pure conception of God, combined with tolerance of legend and symbolismΓÇöMyth not to be discarded, but interpreted by philosophy, to discover the kernel of truth which is reverently veiledΓÇöThe effort illustrated by the treatise of Plutarch on Isis and OsirisΓÇöIts theory of Evil and daemonic powersΓÇöThe Platonist daemonologyΓÇöThe history of daemons traced from HesiodΓÇöThe conception of daemons justified by MaximusΓÇöThe daemonology of the early Greek philosophersΓÇöThe nature of daemons as conceived by Maximus and PlutarchΓÇöThe ministering spirits of MaximusΓÇöThe theory of bad daemons enabled Plutarch to explain the grossness of myth and ritualΓÇöThe bad daemons a damnosa hereditas ΓÇöThe triumphant use made of the theory by the Christian ApologistsΓÇöThe daemonology of Plutarch was also used to explain the inspiration or the silence of the ancient oraclesΓÇöΓÇ£The oracles are dumbΓÇ ¥ΓÇöYet in the second century, to some extent, Delphi revivedΓÇöQuestions as to its inspiration debatedΓÇöThe quality of Delphic verseΓÇöThe theory of inspirationΓÇöConcurrent causes of itΓÇöThe daemon of the shrine may departΓÇöThe problem of inspiration illustrated by a discussion on the daemon of SocratesΓÇöWhat was it?ΓÇöThe 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 meaningΓÇöPlutarchΓÇÖs treatise on SuperstitionΓÇöWhy it is worse than atheismΓÇöImmense growth of superstition in the first century, following on a decay of old religionΓÇöForgotten rites and fallen templesΓÇöThe revival of AugustusΓÇöThe power of astrologyΓÇöThe Emperors believed in it and dreaded itΓÇöTiberius and Thrasyllus at CapreaeΓÇöThe attitude of Nero, Otho, and Vitellius to astrologyΓÇöThe superstition of the Flavian EmperorsΓÇöAnd of Hadrian and M. AureliusΓÇöThe superstition of the literary classΓÇöThe Elder PlinyΓÇöSuetoniusΓÇöTacitusΓÇöHis wavering treatment of the supernaturalΓÇöHow it may be explained by the character of the ageΓÇöEpictetus on divinationΓÇöThe superstition of Aelian of PraenesteΓÇöHis credulity and his anathemas on the scepticsΓÇöP. Aelius AristidesΓÇöHis history and characterΓÇöHis illness of thirteen yearsΓÇöWas he a simple devotee?ΓÇöThe influence of rhetorical training on himΓÇöThe temples of healing in his timeΓÇöTheir organisation and routineΓÇöRecipes by dreams in the temples of Asclepius, Isis, and SerapisΓÇöMedical skill combined with superstitionΓÇöThe amusements and cheerful social life of these temple-hospitals were powerful healersΓÇöThe ailments of Aristides and his journeys in quest of healthΓÇöStrange divine prescriptions astonish the medical attendantsΓÇöTheir own heroic remediesΓÇöEpiphanies of the GodsΓÇöThe return of his rhetorical powerΓÇöThe debt is repaid in the Sacred OrationsΓÇöThe treatise on dreams by ArtemidorusΓÇöHis idea of founding a science of dreamsΓÇöHis enormous industry in collecting materialsΓÇöHis contempt for less scientific interpretersΓÇöHis classification of dreams and methods of interpretationΓÇöThe new oraclesΓÇöThe failure of the old was not so complete as it is sometimes representedΓÇöThe revival of DelphiΓÇöThe history of the oracle of Alexander of AbonoteichosΓÇöHis life and characterΓÇöHow he played on the superstition of the PaphlagoniansΓÇöThe business-like management of the oracleΓÇöIts fees and revenueΓÇöIts secret methodsΓÇöIts fame spreads everywhereΓÇöOracles in many tonguesΓÇöRutilianus, a great noble, espouses AlexanderΓÇÖs daughterΓÇöThe Epicureans resist the impostor, but in vainΓÇöThe mysteries of GlyconΓÇöAlexander, a second EndymionΓÇöImmense superstition of the timeΓÇöApotheosis in the airΓÇöThe cult of AntinousΓÇöAnd of M. AureliusΓÇöIn Croton there were more gods than men!ΓÇöThe growing faith in daemons and geniiΓÇöThe evidence of inscriptions as to the adoption of local deities all over the worldΓÇöRevived honours of classic heroesΓÇöThe belief in recurring miracleΓÇöChristian and pagan were equally credulousΓÇöThe legend of the ΓÇ£Thundering LegionΓÇ¥ΓÇöSorcery in ThessalyΓÇöThe lawless romance of Apuleius Pages 443-483 CHAPTER II BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY The conception of immortality determined by the idea of GodΓÇöReligion supplies the assurance denied by philosophyΓÇöVagueness of the conception natural and universalΓÇöΓÇ£It doth not yet appear what we shall beΓÇ¥ΓÇöConfused and various beliefs on the subject in the Early EmpireΓÇöThe cult of the Manes in old Italian pietyΓÇöThe guardianship of the tomb, and call for perpetual remembranceΓÇöThe eternal sleepΓÇöThe link between the living and the deadΓÇöThe craving for continued human sympathy with the shade in its eternal homeΓÇöThe Lemures and the LemuriaΓÇöVisitations from the other worldΓÇöThe Mundus in every Latin townΓÇöThe general belief in apparitions illustrated from the Philopseudes of Lucian, from the Younger Pliny, Suetonius, Dion Cassius, and Maximus of TyreΓÇöThe eschatology of Virgil a mixture of different faithsΓÇöScenes from the Inferno of the Aeneid ΓÇöIts Pythagorean elementsΓÇöHow Virgil influenced later conceptions of the future stateΓÇöScepticism and credulity in the first centuryΓÇöPerpetuity of heathen beliefsΓÇöThe inscriptions, as to the future state, must be interpreted with care and discriminationΓÇöThe phrases often conventional, and springing from different orders of beliefΓÇöInscriptions frankly atheistic or sensualistΓÇöIdeas of immortality among the cultivated classΓÇöThe influence of LucretiusΓÇöThe Stoic idea of coming life, and the PeripateticΓÇöThe influence of PlatonismΓÇöIn the last age of the Republic, and the first of the Empire, educated opinion was often sceptical or negativeΓÇöJ. Caesar, the Elder Pliny, TacitusΓÇöThe feeling of HadrianΓÇöEpictetus on immortalityΓÇöGalenΓÇöHis probable influence on M. AureliusΓÇöThe wavering attitude of M. Aurelius on immortalityΓÇöHow he could reconcile himself by a saintly ideal to the resignation of the hope of a future lifeΓÇöHis sadness and pessimism fully justified by the circumstances of the timeΓÇöΓÇ£Thou hast come to shore, quit the shipΓÇ¥ΓÇöChange in the religious character long before M. AureliusΓÇöSenecaΓÇÖs theology as it moulded his conception of immortalityΓÇöA new note in SenecaΓÇöThe influence of Pythagorean and Platonic conceptions in modifying StoicismΓÇöThe revival of Pythagoreanism in the first centuryΓÇöIts tenets and the secret of its powerΓÇöApollonius of Tyana on immortalityΓÇöHis meeting with the shade of AchillesΓÇöPlutarch and Maximus of Tyre on immortalityΓÇöPlutarchΓÇÖs arguments for the faith in itΓÇöThe Delays of Divine VengeanceΓÇöBut, like Plato, Plutarch feels that argument on such a subject must be reinforced by poetic imaginationΓÇöThe myth