The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism

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Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, by Franz Cumont

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Title: The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism
Author: Franz Cumont
Release Date: August 1, 2007 [EBook #22213]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.
Some short Greek renderings in the main text were printed as page footnotes. To avoid confusion with the links to the scholarly notes, these have been moved to parentheses next to the English renderings.
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The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism
By
Franz Cumont
With an Introductory Essay by Grant Showerman
Authorized Translation
Chicago The Open Court Publishing Company
London Agents Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.
1911
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COPYRIGHT BY THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO. 1911
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TO MY TEACHER AND FRIEND
CHARLES MICHEL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.--The Significance of Franz Cumont's Work, By Grant Showerman ... v
PREFACE ... xv
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION ... xxv
I. ROME AND THE ORIENT ... 1
Superiority of the Orient, 1.--Its Influence on Political Institutions, 3.--Its Influence on Civil Law, 5.--Its Influence on Science, 6.--Its Influence on Literature and Art, 7.--Its Influence on Industry, 9.--SOURCES: Destruction of Pagan Rituals, 11.--Mythographers, 12.--Historians, 13.--Satirists, 13.--Philosophers, 14.--Christian Polemicists, 15.--Archeological Documents, 16.
II. WHY THE ORIENTAL RELIGIONS SPREAD ... 20
Difference in the Religions of the Orient and the Occident, 20.--Spread of Oriental Religions, 22.--Economic Influences, 23.--Theory of Degeneration, 25.--Conversions are of Individuals, 27.--Appeal of the Oriental Religions to the Senses, 28.--Appeal to the Intelligence, 31.--Appeal to the Conscience, 35.--Inadequacy of the Roman Religion, 35.--Skepticism, 37.--Imperial Power, 38.--The Purification of Souls, 39.--Hope of Immortality, 42.--Conclusion, 43.
III. ASIA MINOR ... 46
Arrival of Cybele at Rome, 46.--Her Religion in Asia Minor, 47.--Religion at Rome under the Republic, 51.--Adoption of the Goddess Ma-Bellona, 53.--Politics of Claudius, 55.--Spring Festival, 56.--Spread of the Phrygian Religion in the Provinces, 57.--Causes of Its Success, 58.--Its Official Recognition, 60.--ARRIVAL OF OTHER CULTS: Mèn, 61.--Judaism, 63.--Sabazius, 64.--Anahita, 65.--The Taurobolium, 66.--Philosophy, 70.--Christianity, 70.--Conclusion, 71.
IV. EGYPT ... 73
Foundation of Serapis Worship, 73.--The Egyptian Religion Hellenized, 75.--Diffusion in Greece, 79.--Adoption at Rome, 80.--Persecutions, 82.--Adoption Under Caligula, 84.--Its History, 85.--Its Transformation, 86.--Uncertainty in Egyptian Theology, 87.--Insufficiency of Its Ethics, 90.--Power of Its Ritual, 93.--Daily Liturgy, 95.--Festivals, 97.--Doctrine of Immortality, 99.--The Refrigerium, 101.
{iv} V. SYRIA ... 103
The Syrian Goddess, 103.--Importation of New Gods by Syrian Slaves, 105.--Syrian Merchants, 107.--Syrian Soldiers, 112.--Heliogabalus and Aurelian, 114.--Value of Semitic Paganism, 115.--Animal Worship, 116.--Baals, 118.--Human Sacrifice, 119.--Transformation of the Sacerdotal Religion, 120.--Purity, 121.--Influence of Babylon, 122.--Eschatology, 125.--THEOLOGY: God is Supreme, 127.--God is Omnipotent, 129.--God is Eternal and Universal, 130.--Semitic Syncretism, 131.--Solar Henotheism, 133.
VI. PERSIA ... 135
Persia and Europe, 135.--Influence of the Achemenides, 136.--Influence of Mazdaism, 138.--Conquests of Rome, 139.--Influence of the Sassanides, 140.--Origin of the Mysteries of Mithra, 142.--Persians in Asia Minor, 144.--The Mazdaism of Anatolia, 146.--Its Diffusion in the Occident, 149.--Its Qualities, 150.--Dualism, 151.--The Ethics of Mithraism, 155.--The Future Life, 158.--Conclusion, 159.
VII. ASTROLOGY AND MAGIC ... 162
Prestige of Astrology, 162.--Its Introduction in the Occident, 163.--Astrology Under the Empire, 164.--Polemics Powerless Against Astrology, 166.--Astrology a Scientific Religion, 169.--The Primitive Idea of Sympathy, 171.--Divinity of the Stars, 172.--Transformation of the Idea of God, 174.--New Gods, 175.--Big Years, 176.--Astrological Eschatology, 177.--Man's Relation to Heaven, 178.--Fatalism, 179.--Efficacy of Prayer, 180.--Efficacy of Magic, 182.--Treatises on Magic, 182.--Idea of Sympathy, 183.--Magic a Science, 184.--Magic is Religious, 185.--Ancient Italian Sorcery, 186.--Egypt and Chaldea, 187.--Theurgy, 188.--Persian Magic, 189.--Persecutions, 191.--Conclusion, 193.
VIII. THE TRANSFORMATION OF ROMAN PAGANISM ... 196
Paganism Before Constantine, 196.--Religion of Asia Minor, 197.--Religion of Egypt and Syria, 198.--Religion of Persia, 199.--Many Pagan Religions, 200.--Popular Religion and Philosophy, 201.--Christian Polemics, 202.--Roman Paganism Become Oriental, 204.--Mysteries, 205.--Nature Worship, 206.--Supreme God, 207.--Sidereal Worship, 208.--The Ritual Given a Moral Significance, 209.--The End of the World, 209.--Conclusion, 210.
NOTES ... 213
Preface, 213.--I. Rome and the Orient, 214,--II. Why the Oriental Religions Spread, 218.--III. Asia Minor, 223.--IV. Egypt, 228.--V. Syria, 241.--VI. Persia, 260.--VII. Astrology and Magic, 270.--VIII. The Transformation of Paganism, 281.
INDEX ... 289
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INTRODUCTION.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FRANZ CUMONT'S WORK.
Franz Cumont, born January 3, 1868, and educated at Ghent, Bonn, Berlin, and Paris, resides in Brussels, and has been Professor in the University of Ghent since 1892. His monumental work, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de Mithra, published in 1896 and 1899 in two volumes, was followed in 1902 by the separate publication, under the title Les Mystères de Mithra, of the second half of Vol. I, the Conclusions in which he interpreted the great mass