The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of Europe

1

H. C. Lea, History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages (1887), 11] 11 vol. Hi, p. 437. Mr. Lea’s chapter on “Sorcery and the Occult Arts” is very interesting and contains much material which it is difficult to find elsewhere.

2

We speak of persons as jovial or saturnine or mercurial in temperament; as ill-starred, and so on.

3

The classic on the theme of magic reputations incurred by the learned in ancient and mediaeval times is Gabriel Naude’s Apologie pour tons les grands personages qui ont esti faussement soupgonnez de Magie.” Paris, 1625. That such reputations were often unjustly incurred was recognized long before Naude, however. To say nothing now of Apuleius’ Apologia, to which we shall refer later, attention may be called to the fact that even William of Malmesbury, while relating with apparent credulity the legends in regard to Gerbert, had the grace to admit that “the common people often attack the reputation of the learned, and accuse any one of dealing with the devil who excels in his art.” Gesta Regum Anglorum, book ii, secs. 167, 168.

4

Republique, book iv, ch. 2, cited by W. E. H. Lecky, History of Rationalism (1900), vol. i, p. 28. The chapter upon “Magic and Witchcraft” contains considerable material bearing upon our theme. A similar attitude to that of Bodin is found in a political treatise of about the year 1300, probably written by Pierre du Bois, where an argument for the universal rule of a French monarch is based on astrology. N. de Wailly, Memoire sur tin opuscule anonyme (Memoires de l’lnstitut Imperial de France), vol. xviii, pt. ii, p. 442.

5

Summa Theologica, pars prima, qusest. 115, arts. 3 and 4.

6

For some data on this point see Hastings Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (1895), vol. i, pp. 240–250; vol. ii, pp. 290, 452, 458, 459-

7

Etymologiae, bk. viii, ch. 9. In Migne’s Patrologia Latina, vol. lxxxii.

8

Ibid., bk. xvi, passim.

9

Ibid:, bk. iii, ch. 71. He condemned astrology, however. See ibid., and bk. iii, ch. 27.

10

“Liber Numerorum qui in Sanctis Scripturis Occurunt.” (Also in Migne, vol. lxxxiii, col. 179.) “Non est superfluum numerorum causas in Scripturis sanctis attendere. Habent enim quamdam scientiae doctrinam plurimaque mystica sacramenta.”

11

De Natura Rerum, ch. 24; De Temporum Ratione, ch. 28. The scientific writing of Bede may be found in vol. vi of his works as edited by J. A. Giles. London, 1843.

12

De Tonitruis ad Herefridum, and De Minutione Sanguinis sive Phlebotomia. Many spurious treatises were attributed to Bede but there are some reasons for. believing these genuine, although they are not named by Bede in the list of his writings which he gives in his Ecclesiastical History. Giles included them an his edition after some hesitation.

13

For the predominance of astrology in the mathematics of the 9th, 10th, nth and 12th centuries, cf. Histoire Litteraire, vol. v, p. 183; vi, 9; vii, 137; ix, 197.

14

De Naturis Rerum, bk. ii, ch. 173, and bk. i, ch. 7. Volume xxxiv of The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain. (The Rolls Series.)

15

Ibid., bk. i, ch. 7.

16

De Naturis Rerum, bk. ii, ch. 63.

17

Ibid., bk. ii, ch. 80.

18

Ibid., bk. ii, ch. 3 et seq.

19

Ibid., bk. ii, ch. 88. In chapter 87 he writes: " Chelidonius autem rufus portantes se gratissimos facit; niger vero gestatus optimum finem negotiis imponit, et ad iras potentium sedandas idoneus est.”

20

Ibid., bk. ii, ch. 89.

21

Ibid., bk. ii, ch. 85. “In verbis et herbis et lapidibus multam esse virtutem compertum est a diligentibus naturarum investigatoribus. Certissimum autem experimentum fidem dicto nostro facit.”

22

Preface, p. xii in vol. xxxiv of the Rolls Series.

23

My information concerning Michael Scot is mainly derived from his biography (Edinburgh, 1897) by Rev. J. Wood Brown, who has studied the manuscript copies of Scot’s works in various European libraries and has succeeded in dispelling much of the uncertainty which previously existed concerning the events of Scot’s career and even the dates of his life. Of Scot’s works the Physionomia exists in printed form; indeed, eighteen editions of it are said to have been issued between the years 1477 and 1660.

24

The poem is printed in Forschungen sur Deutschen Geschichte, vol. xviii, (1878) p. 486.

25

The part of the manuscript containing the experiment was written between 1450 and 1500, Brown thinks, but purports to be a copy “from a very ancient work.” If spurious, its fabricator at least shows considerable familiarity — with Scot’s life. See Brown, pp. 18–19. The recipe is given in full an the appendix of Brown’s book.

26

De Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magiae, ch. 7. Contained in the Appendix of vol. xv of the Rolls Series, edited by J. S. Brewer, London, 1859.

27

Opus Maius, vol. ii, pp. 204-221. Edited by J. H. Bridges, Oxford, 1897-1900. On page 210 et seq. Bacon gives an elaborate recipe for an elixir vitae.

28

Opus Minus, Rolls Series, vol. xv, pp. 373-4.

29

Bridges, Opus Maius, vol. i, pp. 137-139.

30

Compendium Studii, Rolls Series, vol. xv, pp. 421–422.

31

Bridges, Opus Maius, vol. i, pp. 253–269.

32

De Secretis, ch. 3, discusses this question of fascination and also the power of words and of the human soul. In regard to characters and incantations, see De Secretis, ch. 2, and the Opus Tertium, which is alsa contained in vol. xv of the Rolls Series, ch. 26.

33

Opus Tertium, ch. 27.

34

“Gaspar fert myrram, thus Melchoir, Balthasar aurum.

Haec tria qui secum portabit nomina regum

Solvitur a morbo Christi pietate caduco.”

Hist. Litt., vol. xxv, p. 327.

35

See Liber Mineralium. Opera Omnia, ed. Borgnet (1890), vol. v, page 23 et seq.

36

Two good accounts of Arnald are those in the Histoire LittSraire, vol. xxviii and Lea, History of the Inquisition, vol. iii, pp. 52–57. Older accounts are generally very misleading.

37

J. M. Rigg, Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, London, 1890, pp. viii-x.

38

Janssen, History of the German People, vol. iii, p. 45, of the English translation by A. M. Christie (1900).

39

Henry Morley, Life of Agrippa von Nettesheim (London, 1856), vol, i, p. 79. This biography includes a full and instructive outline of Agrippa’s work on Occult Philosophy.

40

A. E. Waite, Hermetical and Alchemistical Writings of Paracelsus, vol, i, p. xii.

41

For Cardan, see the "biography in two volumes by Henry Morley, London, 1854, and that in one volume by W. G. Waters, London. 1898.

42

J. L. E. Dreyer, Tycho Brahe. A Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century (Edinburgh, 1890), p. 56. A valuable book.

43

De Augmentis Scientiarum, bk. iv, ch. 1.

44

Ibid., bk. iv, ch. 3.

45

Ibid., bk. iii, ch. 4.

46

Bodin for instance condemned “magic” in his De Magorum Daemonomania (Paris, 1581).

47

Bridges, Opus Maius, vol. i, p. 241. See too the De Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magiae. Rolls Series, vol. xv, appendix.

48

Spec. Astron., ch. 17. Albertus Magnus, Opera Omnia, ed. Borgnet (1890), vol. x, pp. 629 et seq. And he finally came to the conclusion that “concerning books of necromancy the better judgment — prejudice aside — seems to be that they ought rather to be preserved than destroyed. For the time is perchance near at hand in which, for reasons which I now suppress, it will be advantageous to consult them occasionally. Nevertheless, let their inspectors abstain from abuse of them.” Ch. 17.

Similarly Roger Bacon, in his De Secretis, ch. 3, after mentioning books of magic to be eschewed, remarked that many books classed as magic were not such but contained worthy wisdom.

49

Magiae Naturalis Libri XX. Lyons, 1651.

50

De Augmentis, bk. iii, ch. 4.

51

This view is set forth at length in J. G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough (3 vols., London, 1900). The book also furnishes many illustrations of the magic of primitive man. Mr. Frazer holds that “religion” supplanted magic and is in turn itself being supplanted by science. His definition of religion would probably not be generally accepted.

52

Alfred Maury, in the introduction to his La Magie et I’astrologie dans I’antiquite et au moyen age, (Paris, i860), expresses a practically identical view and has the conception of magic gradually fading away before the advance of science. (See also the article on "Magic” in the Encyclopcedia Brittanica, 9th edition.)

Maury’s work is not, however, as satisfactory as one is led to think from reading its introduction. Although he has defined magic almost in so many words as the attitude of primitive man towards the universe, he himself interprets magic much more narrowly when he comes to write his book proper, as indeed its title, Magic and Astrology, suggests. In short the thought that science and magic may at one time have mingled does not seem to impress him, and his work is of little aid to one considering our present subject. For instance, he cites Pliny only as an opponent of magic. Maury’s work, moreover, comprising in its historical portion but a little over two hundred pages — and these nearly half filled by foot-notes — can hardly be regarded as more than a brief narrative sketch of the subject.

Considerable erudition is displayed in Maury’s references, especially those to Greek and Roman writers, and from page 208 to 211 Maury gives a good bibliography of some of the chief secondary works dealing with magic. More was written upon the subject shortly before his time than has been since.

53

“Praeterea iter est, non trita auctoribus via, nec qua peregrinari animus expetat. Nemo apud nos qui idem temptaverit, nemo apud Graecos qui unus omnia ea tractaverit.” From his dedication to the Emperor Vespasian. C. Plinii Secundi, Naturalis Historiae Libri xxxvii. Ludovicus Janus, Lipsiae, 1870. 5 vols. in 3. I shall refer to passages by the division into chapters found in the editions of Hardouin, Valpy, Lemaire and Ajasson. Three modes of division are indicated in the edition of Janus. _There is an English translation of the Natural History, with an introductory essay, by J. Bostock and H. T. Riley, London, 1855, 6 vols. (Bohn Library).

54

“Viginti milia rerum dignarum cura… ex lectione voluminum circiter duum milium, quorum pauca admodum studiosi attingunt propter secretum materiae, ex exquisitis auctoribus centum inclusimus xxxvi voluminibus, adiectis rebus plurimis quas aut ignoraverant priores aut postea invenerat vita.” Also from the dedication. Pliny uses more than one hundred writers, however.

55

“Homines enim sumus et occupati officiis, subcisivisque temporibus ista curamus, id est nocturnis, ne quis vestris putet cessatum horis." From the dedication.

56

Pliny the Younger to Macer in his Letters, bk. iii, ep. 5, ed. Keil, Leipzig, 1896.

57

Geo. H. Lewes, Aristotle; a Chapter from the History of Science, London, 1864. Lewes also holds that while Aristotle often dwelt upon the value of experiment and the necessity of having a mass of facts before making general assertions, he in practice frequently jumped at conclusions.

58

Nat. Hist., bk. xxvi, ch. 9. “Mirum esset profeoto hucusque profectam credulitatem antiquorum saluberrimis ortam initiis, si in ulla re modum humana ingenia novissent atque non hanc ipsam medicinam ab Asclepiade repertam probaturi suo loco assemus evectam ultra Magos etiam. Haec est omni in re animorum condicio, ut a necessariis orsa primo cuncta pervenerint ad nimium.” Cf. also bk. xxviii, ch. 1. “Quamquam et ipsi consensu prope iudicata eligere laboravimus potiusque cure rerum quam copiae institimus.” In Pliny’s dedication, however, occurs a sentence which gives one the impression that he felt rather in duty bound to accept tradition. “Res ardua, vetustis novitatem dare, novis auctoritatem, obseletis nitorem, obscuris lucem, fastiditis gratiam, dubiis fidem, omnibus vero naturam et naturae suae omnia.”

59

Quoted without reference by E. Eggleston, The Transit of Civilization from England to America in the Seventeenth Century” (N. Y., 1901), p. 16. This interesting and valuable book contains much material illustrative of the science and superstitions of the times.

60

Etymologies, bk. xvi, Migne, vol. lxxxii.

61

Alcuini Epistolae, 103, vol. vi, pp. 431–432, of Bibliotheca Rerum Germanicarum, ed. Philip Jaffe, Berlin, 1873. “Vel quid acutius quam quod naturalium rerum divitissimus [or devotissimus] inventor, Plinius Secundus, de caelestium siderum ratione exposuit, investigari valet?” In Migne’s Patrologia Latina, vol. c, col. 278, the letter is given as number 85. For other references to Pliny by earlier writers, see Bibliotheque Latine-Franqaise, C. L. F. Panckoucke, vol. cvi which forms the opening volume of Pliny’s work in that set.

62

Nat. Hist., bk. xxx, ch. 1. “Auctoritatem ei maxumam fuisse nemo miretur, quandoquidem sola artium tris alias imperiosissimas humanae mentis conplexa in unam se redigit.”

63

Ibid. He uses the words “mathematicas artes” instead of " astrologiam” but the words following make his meaning evident: “nullo non avido futura de sese sciendi atque ea e caelo verissime pati credente.”

64

Ibid. “Natam primum e medicina nemo dubitat ac specie salutari inrepisse velut altiorem sanctioremque medicinam.”

65

Bk. xxx, ch. 2.

66

Bk. xxvi, ch. 9.

67

Bk. xxx, ch. 2. “Eudoxus qui inter sapientiae sectas clarissimam utilissimamque earn intellegi voluit.”

68

Bk. xxviii, ch. 23.

69

Bk. xxvi, ch. 9.

70

Bk. xxxvii, ch. 40. The word in this passage which I render as “potion” is in the Latin “veneficiura” — a word difficult to translate owing to its double meaning. “Venenum” signifies a drug or potion of any sort, and then in a bad sense a drug used to poison or a potion used to bewitch. In a passage soon to be cited Pliny contrasts “veneficae artes” to “magicai artes” but I doubt if he always preserved such a distinction. A similar confusion exists in regard to the Greek word φάρμακον, as Plato sets forth clearly in his Laws. There are, he says, two kinds of poisons employed by men which cannot be clearly distinguished. One variety injures bodies “according to a natural law.” “There is also another kind which persuades the more daring class that they can do injury by sorceries and incantations. .” Laws, bk. xi, p. 933 (Steph.). Jowett’s translation.

71

Bk. xxxvii, ch. 60. “Magorum inpudentiae vel manifestissimum in hac quoque exemplum est...”

72

Bk. xxx, ch. s, 6.

73

Bk. xxviii, ch. 2. Pliny’s own medicine, is not prudish, and elsewhere he gives instances of devotees of magic guarding against defilement. (Bk. xxx, ch. 6 and xxviii, ch. 19).

74

Bk. xxviii, ch. 23. “Quanta vanitate,” adds Pliny, “si falsum est, quanta vero noxia, si transferunt morbos!”

75

Bk. xxx, ch. 4.

76

Bk. xxx, ch. 6. “Proinde ita persuasum sit, intestabilem, inritam, inanem esse, habentem tamen quasdam veritatis umbras, sed in his veneficas artis pollere non magicas.”

77

Concerning the stag, see bk. viii, ch. 50. On the use of frogs and fishes to cure fevers, bk. xxxii, ch. 38.

78

Bk. jcxvi, ch. 59.

79

Bk. xxi, ch. 105.

80

Bk. xviii, ch. 8.

81

Bk. xxiv, ch. 102.

82

Bk. xxiv, chs. 106, 107, 109, no, in. Evidently these last remedies derive their force not merely from magic powers inherent in vegetation. The effect of ceremony and of circumstance becomes a factor.

83

Bk. xxxvii, ch. 36.

84

Bk. xxxvii, ch. 58.

85

Bk. ii, ch. 106.

86

Bk. vii, ch. 2. “...Qui visu quoque effascinent interimantque quos diutius intueantur, iratis praecipue oculis, quod eorum malum facilius sentire puberes. Notabilius esse quod pupillas binas in singulis habeant oculis.”

87

Bk. xxviii, ch. 6. The eggs, however, it should be said, are represented as being beneath a setting hen.

88

Bk. xxviii, ch. 3. “Ex homine remediorum primum maxumae quaestionis et semper incertae est, polleatne aliquid verba et incantamenta carminum. Quod si verum est, homini acceptum fieri oportere conveniat, sed viritim sapientissimi cuiusque respuit fides. In universum vero omnibus horis credit vita .... Vestalis nostras hodie credimus nondum egressa urbe mancipia fugitiva retinere in loco precationibus, cum, si semel recipiatur ea ratio et deos preces aliquas exaudire aut illis moveri verbis, confitendum sit de tota coniectione. Prisci quidem nostri perpetuo talia credidere, difficilimumquc ex his etiam fulmina elid, ut suo loco docuimus.”

Pliny seems inclined to narrow down the problem of the power of words to the question whether the gods answer prayer or not, a question which takes us out of the field of magic imless he regarded prayer as a means of coercing the gods.

89

Bk. xxi, ch. 19.

90

Bk. xxvi, ch. 6o. “Experti adfirmavere plurumum referre, si virgo inponat nuda ieiuna ieiuno et manu supina tangens dicat; ‘Negat Apollo pestem posse crescere cui nuda virgo restinguat,’ atque ita retrorsa manu ter dicat — totiensque despuant ambo.”

91

Bk. xxviii, ch. 7. “Mirum dicimus, sed experimento facile: si quem paeniteat ictus eminus comminusve inlati et statim exspuat in mediam manum qua percussit, levatur ilico in percusso culpa. Hoc saepe delumbata quadripede adprobatur statim a tali remedio correoto animalis ingressu.”

92

Bk. xxxii, ch. 1.

93

Bk. xxxvii, ch. 59.

94

Bk. xxviii, ch. 23.

95

Bk. ii, ch. 9. Indeed, in bk. ii, ch. 30, he gives examples of ominous elipses of the sun, although it is true that they were also of unusual length.

96

Bk. vii, ch. 37. “Astrologia Berosus cui ob divinas praedictiones Athenienses publice in gymnasio statuam inaurata lingfua statuere.”

97

Bk. ii, ch. 1. “Mundum. . numen esse credi par est. Sacer est, aetemus, inmensus, totus in toto, immo vero ipse totum.”

98

Bk. ii, ch. 4. “Hunc esse mundi totius animum ac planius mentem, hunc principale naturae regimen ac numen credere decet opera eius aestimantes.”

99

Bk. ii, ch. 16.

100

Bk. ii, ch. 6.

101

Bk. ii, ch. 13.

102

Bk ii, ch. 6. See also bk. ii, ch. 39. “Ut solis ergo natura temperando intellegitur anno sic reliquorum quoque siderum propria est quibusque vis et ad suam cuique naturam fertilis.”

103

Bk. ii, ch. 39. For the general physical interaction of earth and stars as conceived by Pliny see bk. ii, ch. 38. “Terrena in caelum tendentia deprimit siderum vis, eademque quae sponte non subeant ad se trahit. Decidunt imbres, nebulae subeunt, siccantur amnes, ruunt grandines, torrent radii et terram in medio mundi undique inpellunt, iidem infracti resiliunt et quae potuere auferunt secum.. Vapor ex alto cadit rursumque in altum redit. Venti ingruunt inanes iidemque cum rapina remeant. Tot animalium haustus spiritum e sublimi trahit, at ille contra nititur, tellusque ut inani caelo spiritum fundit.”

104

Bk. ii, ch. 41.

105

Bk. ii, oh. 104.

106

Bk. ii, ch. 6. “Huius natura cuncta generantur in terris, namque in alterutro exortu genitali rore conspergens non terrae modo conceptuus inplet verum animantium quoque omnium stimulat.”

107

Bk. ii, ch. 6.

108

Bk. ii, ch. 18. “A sidere caelestis ignis exspuitur praescita secum adferens.”

109

Bk. ii, ch. 23. The part dealing with the shape and position of the comet reads: “Tibiarum specie musicae arti por.tendere, obscenis autem moribus in verendis partibus signorum, ingeniis et eruditioni, si triquetram figuram quadratamve paribus angulis ad aliquos perennium stellarum situus edant, venena fundere in capite septentrionalis austrinaeve serpentis.”

110

Bk. ii, ch. 86. “Numquam urbs Roma tremuit, ut non futuri eventus alicuius id praenuntium esset.” See also bk. ii, ch. 85.

111

Bk. ii, ch. 54.

112

Bk. xxv, ch. 6. “Turpissima causa raritatis quod ctiam qui sciunt demonstrare nolunt, tamquam ipsis periturum sit quod tradiderint aliis.”

113

Vol. i, p. 382. Dr. White’s book, which imputes well-nigh every fantastic feature of mediaeval science to Christian institutions and theology, is written with too little use of primary sources, and considerable ignorance of the character of ancient science.

114

Nat, Hist., bk. xxx, ch. 2. “Certe Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus, Plato ad hanc discendam navigavere exsiliis verius quam peregrinationibus susceptis. Hanc reversi praedicavere, hanc in arcanis habuere.” Philostratus, as we shall see, mentioned the same men as associating with the magi, although he denied that they embraced the magic art. (See infra, p. 67.)

115

Bk. xxx, ch. 2. “Plenumque miraculi et hoc, pariter utrasque artis effloruisse, medicinam dico et magicenque, eadem aetate illam Hippocrate, hanc Democrito inlustrantibus.” Pliny may have got a false idea of the teachings of Democritus by accepting as genuine works which were not. He tells us (bk. xxx, ch. 2) that some persons have vainly tried to save Democritus’ reputation by denying that certain works are his. “Democritus Apellobechen Coptiten et Dardanum et Phoenicem inlustravit voluminibus Dardani in sepulchrum eius petitis, suis vero ex disciplina eorum editis, quae recepta ab ullis hominum atque transisse per memoriam aeque ac nihil in vita mirandum est In tantum tides istis fasque omne deest, adeo ut qui cetera in viro probant, haec opera eius esse inficientur. Sed frustra. Hunc enim maxume adfixisse animis earn dulcedinem constat.”

116

Bk. xxiv, ch. 9. “In promisso herbarum mirabilium occurrit aliqua dicere et de Magicis. Quae enim mirabiliores? Primi eas in nostro orbe celebravere Pythagoras atque Democritus, consectati Magos.”

117

De Divinatione, bk. i, ch. 39, and bk. ii, ch. 42.

118

Timaeus, p. 47 (Steph.). The passage may be found in English translation in vol. iii, p. 466, of B. Jowett’s Plato’s Dialogues (3d edit.), London, 1892.

119

Timaeus, pp. 53–56 (Steph.); Jowett, vol. iii, pp. 473–476.

120

Laws, bk. xi, p. 933 (Steph.).

121

Timaeus, p. 70 (Steph.). The translation is that of Jowett, vol. iii, p. 492.

122

Ibid., p. 71 (Steph.).

123

Symposium, p. 188 (Steph.). Translated by Jowett, vol. i, p. 558.

124

Timaeus, p. 40 (Steph.). Jowett, vol. iii, p. 459.

125

Ibid., pp. 41, 42 (Steph.).

126

W. Windelband, History of Philosophy, p. 147. English translation by J. H. Tufts. Macmillans, 1898.

127

Windelband, Hist, of Ancient Philos., p. 272. Eng. transl. by H. E. Cushman. Scribners, 1899.

128

Aristotelts De Animalibus Historiae Libri X (Graece et Latine. Io. Gottlob Schneider. Lipsiae, 1811). Vol. i contains the Greek text In the following foot-notes I shall refer to the book, chapter and section by Roman and arabic numerals, but in the text the book and chapters are denoted by letters of the Greek alphabet There is an English translation of the work by Richard Creswell, London, 1862. (Bohn Library.)

129

Bk. v, ch. xx, sec. 2; bk. vi, ch. xi, sec. 2; bk. vi, ch. xiv, sec. 1; bk. vii, ch. xi; bk. viii, ch. xvii, sec. 4; bk. viii, ch. xx, sec. 12.

130

Bk. v, ch. xix, sec. 4. Γίγνεται δὲ κηρίσν μὲν ἐξ ἀνθὤν, κήρωσιν δὲ φέρσοσιν ἀπὸ τοϋ δακρύου τὢν δένδρωνю μέλι δὲ τὸ πίπτον ἐκ τοϋ ἀέρος καὶ μάλιστα ἐν ταϊς τὤν ἄστρων ἐπιτολαϊς, καὶ ὄταν κατασκήφῃ ἡ ἴρις. Ὄλως δ΄ οὐ γίγνεται μέλι πρὸ πλειάδος ἐπιτολῆς, τὸν μέν οὔν κηρὸν ποιεἵ, ὢσπερ εἵρηται, ἐκ τὢν ἀνθέων, τὸ δὲ μέλι ὄτι οΰ ποιεἴ, ἀλλὰ φέρει τὸ πίπτον, σημεϊον. ἐν μιᾂ γὰρ ἤ ἐν δνσὶν ἡμέραις πλήρη εὐρίσκονσι τὰ σμήνη οἱ μελιττονργοὶ μέλιτος. Ἔτι δὲ τοὔ μετοπώρον ἄνθη γίγνεται μὲν, μέλι δ΄ οὒ, ὄταν άφαιρεθᾔ.

131

Bk. v, ch. xvii, sec. 13.

132

Bk. viii, ch. xxviii, sec. 2.

133

Bk. iii, ch. ix, sec. 7 and bk. vi, ch. ii, sec. 4.

134

Bk. v, ch. iv, sec. 7 and bk. vi, ch. ii, sec. 9. See also bk. vi, ch. xvii, sec. 4.

135

Bk. v, ch. xvii, sec. 2.

136

Bk. ix, ch. xxv, sec. 2.

137

Bk. v, ch. xxv, sec. 2.

138

Bk. viii, ch. ix, sec. 1.

139

De Re Rustica, chs. 26, 31, 37, 40, 50. Scriptores Rei Rusticae Veteres Latini. Tomus Primus. Io. Matthias Gesnerus, Lipsiae, 1773. The speed with which I progressed through the De Re Rustica was accelerated by the fact that Mr. E. H. Oliver, Ph. D., then of the School of Political Science, Columbia University, kindly lent me an English translation which he had made of that work.

140

De Re Rustica, ch. 71. See also ibid., ch. 70.

141

De Re Rustica, ch. 70.

142

De Re Rustica, ch. 160. “S. F.” probably means “Sanitas Fracto.” Two alternative charms are also suggested, namely, “Huat hanat huat ista pista sista domiabo damnaustra” and “Huat huat huat ista sis tar sis ardannabon dunnaustra.”

143

Dio Cassius, ch. lii, sec. 36. μαντικὴ μὲν γὰρ ἀναγκαία ἐστί, καὶ πάντως τινὰς καὶ οἰωνιστὰς ἀπόδειζον, οἴς οἱ βουλόμενοι τι κοινώσασθαι σονέσονται. τοὺς δὲ δὴ μαγευτὰς πάνυ οὐκ εἴναι προσήκει. πολλοὺς γὰρ πολλάκις ο τοιοὔτοι, τὰ μέν τινα ἀληθῆ, τὰ δὲ δὴ πλείω ψευδῆ λέγοντες, νευχμοὔν ἐπαίρουσι.

Lecky translates the passage in his History of European Morals (1889), vol. i, p. 399. The next sentence of the passage is also worth quoting: τὸ δ΄ αὐτὸ τοὔτο καὶ τὤν φιλοσοφεἴν προσποιουμένων οὐκ ὀλίγοι ποιοὔσι..

144

Apologia, ch. xxv (Van der Vleet, Apologia et Florida. Lipsiae, 1900). “Leges cerimoniarum, fas sacrorum, ius religionum.”

145

Ibid., ch. xxvi. “Auditisne, magiam, qui earn temere accusatis, artem esse diis immortalibus acceptam, colendi eos ac venerandi pergnaram, piam scilicet et divini scientem, iam inde a Zoroastro et Oromazo, auctoribus suis nobilem, caelitum antistitam? Quippe qui inter prima regalia docetur, nec ulli temere inter Persas concessum est magum esse, haud magis quam regnare.” This definition reminds one of Agrippa von Nettesheim’s praise of “that science divine beyond all human tracing.” In a less degree — for with Apuleius magic is the cult of the gods and not much concerned with material things — it recalls the high place assigned to magic by Porta and Francis Bacon.

146

Bk. i, ch. 2 of the life of Apollonius in the works of Philostratus as edited by Gottfridus Olearius. Lipsiae, 1709. ὁμιλήσαντες μάγοις καὶ πολλὰ δαιμόνια εἴποντες οὔπω ὑπήχθησαν τᾔ τέχνῃ.

147

Indeed “magic,” though condemned, was popular, and charlatans calling themselves “magi” did a thriving business.

148

Suetonius, Aug., ch. xc; Tiber., ch. lxix. Cited by W. E. H. Lecky. Hist, of European Morals (London, 1899), vol. i, p. 367. Lecky gives a large amount of material on superstition in the Roman Empire.

149

Nat. Hist., bk. xxviii, ch. 5.

150

A. Bouché Leclercq. “L’Astrologie dans le monde romain.” Revue Hist., vol. lxv, pp. 249 et seq. If we may believe the Roman historians, Tiberius was a devotee of astrology; Caligula was warned of bis death by the stars; Nero, among other acts dictated by his trust in the art, ordered a number of executions in order to avoid the evils threatened by a comet; Galba, the three Flavians and Vespasian all had their astrologers; Titus was himself an adept in the art; Domitian, when disposing of persons whom the stars designated as dangerous, made the fatal error of sparing Nerva because the constellations allowed him but a brief additional term of life; etc.

151

Revue Hist., vol. lxv, p. 252.

152

Nat. Hist., bk. xxx, ch. 1, and Tacitus, Annals, bk. vi, ch. 22 (28 in some editions).

153

Carolus Gottlob Kuhn. Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia. (Lipsiae, 1821, 19 vols.), vol. xii, p. 362. De simplicium medicamentorum ternperamentis ac facultatibus.

154

De diebus decretoriis, ibid., vol. ix, pp. 901 et seq. πάὲντων μν τὔν ἀνωθεν ἀσττρον ἀπολαύομεν τῆς δυνάμεως.

155

“Quod optimus medicus sit quoque philosophus.” Ibid., vol. i, p. S3.

156

Vacherot, L’Ecole d‘Alexandria, vol. ii, p. 115.

157

Ricardus Volkmann, Plotini Enneades, Lipsiae (Teubner) 1883. Ennead ii, ch. iii, sec. 7. et ἀλλ΄ εἰ σημαίνουσιν οὐτοι τὰ ἐσόμενα, ὤσπερ φαμὲν πολλὰ καὶ ἀλλα σημαντικὰ εἰναι τὤν ἐσομένων, τί ἀν τὸ ποιοὔν εἴν; καὶ ἡ τάξις πὤς; οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐσημαίνετο τεταγμένως μὴ ἑκάστων γιγνομένων. ἔστω τοίνυν ὤσπερ γράμματα ἐν οὐρανῷ γραφόμενα ἀεὶ ἢ γεγραμένα καὶ κινούμενα, ποιοῦντα μέντοι ἔργον καὶ ἀλλο. ἐπακολουθείτω δὲ τῷδε ἡ παρ΄ αὐτῶν σημασία, ὡς ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς ἐν ἑνὶ ζῴῳ παρ΄ ἀλλου μέρους ἀλλο ἀν τις μάθοι. καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἤθος ἀν τις γνοίη εἰς ὀφθαλμούς τινος ἰδὼν ἤ τι ἀλλο μέρος τοῦ σώματος καὶ κινδὑνους καὶ σωτηρίας. καὶ οὐν μέρη μὲν ἐκεῖνα, μέρη δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς. ἄλλα οὔν ἄλλοις. μεστὰ δὲ πάντα σημείων καὶ σοφός τις ὀ μαθὼν ὲξ ἄλλου. πολλὰ δὲ ἤδη συνηθείᾳ γιγνόμεν γινώσκεται πάσι. τίς οὔν ἡ μία; οὔτω γὰρ καὶ τὸ κατὰ τοὺς ὄρνεις εὔλογον καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ξῷα, ἀφ΄ ὤν σημαινόμεθα ἔκαστα. συνηρτῆσθαι δὴ δει ἀλλήλοις τὰ πάντα, καὶ μὴμόνον ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν καθ΄ ἔκαστα τοῦ εὔ. εἰρομένου σύμπνοια μία, άλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον καὶ πρότερον ἐν τῷ παντί.

See The Philosophy of Plotinus, Dunlap Printing Co., Phila., 1896, page 40, for further references to passages in his works giving his views anent astrology. He believed that the souls of the dead are still able to benefit men and to inspire with powers of divination. Ennead, iv, ch. vii, sec. 15.

158

Page 66, note 1.

159

Apologia, ch. iii. Even if the oration was a satire and not a speech actually delivered, the inferences to be drawn from it would be practically the same.

160

Apuleius may have been guilty of attempting to practice magic. Certainly he believed in its possibility. He affirmed the existence of subordinate gods, or demons, — interpreters and ambassadors between mankind and the superior gods, who live far away from us and have no direct concern with our affairs. The demons, he believed, were susceptible to human influence and capable of working marvels. He stated that the art of" divination was due to them. See his De Deo Socratis.

161

Apologia, ch. xxvii. Evidently hostility to magic did not commence with Christianity. Not even, as Roger Bacon thought, did the practice of confusing philosophy with magic originate among Christian writers. Bridges, Opus Maius, vol. i, p. 29.

162

See Philo’s treatise De Cherubim, cited in vol. ii, p. 243, of Rev. James Drummond’s Philo Judaeus; or The Jewish Alexandrian Philosophy in its Development and Completion (2 vols., London, 1888). Concerning Philo see also Edouard Herriot, Philon le Juif (Paris, 1898), where a full bioliography of Philonian and Jewish-Alexandrian literature may be found. A third important secondary book on Philo is by Siegfried: Philo von Alexandria (Jena, 1875).

163

Drummond, vol. 1, p. 13.

164

Stromata, bk. v, ch. g. Nor was such mysticism advocated by theological writers alone. Roger Bacon — but one instance from many — declared that one lessened the majesty of knowledge who divulged its mysteries, and even went to the length of enumerating seven methods by which the arcana of philosophy and science might be concealed from the crowd (a vulgo), De Secretis Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magiae. Rolls Series, vol. xv, pp. 543–544.

165

De Civitate Dei, bk. xi, ch. 30.

166

“Aliquando De Motu Terrarum volumen iuvenis ediderim.” L. Annaei Senecae Naturalium Quaestionum Libri Septem, bk. vi, ch. 4. The edition by G. D. Koeler, Gottingen, 1819 has convenient summaries indicating contents at the head of each book, and devotes several hundred pages to a “Disquisitio” and “Animadversiones” upon Seneca’s work. In Pancoucke’s Library, vol. cxxxxvii, a French translation accompanies the text.

167

“Veniet tempus, quo posteri nostri tarn aperta nos nescisse mirentur. Harum quinque stellarum. . modo coepimus scire.” Bk. vii, ch. 25.

168

Bk. vii, ch. 31. “Non semel quaedam sacra traduntur. Eleusin servat quod ostendit revisentibus. Rerum natura sacra sua non simul tradit. Initiatos nos credimus; in vestibule eius haeremus. Ilia arcana non promiscue nec omnibus patent; reducta et in interiore sacrario clausa sunt.”

169

Bk. iv, ch. 7. “Et apud nos in duodecim tabulis cavetur ne quis alienos fructus excantassit. Rudis adhuc antiquitas credebat et attrahi imbres cantibus, et repelli; quorum nihil posse fieri, tam palam est, ut huius rei causa nullius philosophi schola intranda sit.”

170

Bk. v, ch. 6 for animals being generated in flames.

Bk. ii, ch. 31 for snakes struck by lightning.

Bk. iii, ch. 25 for the Nile. Bk. iii passim, for marvelous fountains, etc.

171

Bk. iii, ch. 25.

172

Bk. iii, ch. 26.

173

Bk. ii, ch. 32. “Quidquid fit, alicuius rei futurae signum est.”

174

Bk. ii, ch. 46.

175

Bk. i, ch. I.

176

Bk. vii, ch. 30. “Egregie Aristoteles ait, numquam nos verecundiores esse debere, quam quum de diis agitur. Si intramus templa compositi, si ad sacrificium accesuri vultum submittimus, togam adducimus, si in omne argumentum modestiae fingimur; quanto hoc magis facere debemus, quum de sideribus, de stellis, de deorum natura disputamus, ne quid temere, ne quid impudenter, aut ignorantes affirmemus, aut scientes mentiamur?”

177

Bk. ii, ch. 10.

178

Bk. vii, 28. “Chaldean” was often used to denote an astrologer without reference to the person’s nationality.

179

Bk. ii, ch. 32. “Quinque stellarum potestatem Chaldaeorum observatio excepit. Quid tu? tot millia siderum judicas otiosa lucere? Quid est porro aliud, quod errorem incutiat peritis natalium, quam quod paucis nos sideribus assignant: quum omnia quae supra nos sunt, partem sibi nostri vindicent? Submissiora forsitan in nos propius vim suam dirigunt; et ea quae frequentius mota aliter nos, aliter cetera animalia prospiciunt. Ceterum et ilia quae aut immota sunt, aut propter velocitatem universo mundo parem immotis similia, non extra ius dominiumque nostri sunt. Aliud aspice et distributis rem officiis tractas. Non magis autem facile est scire quid possint, quam dubitari debet, an possint.”

180

Bk. iii, ch. 29.

181

Bk. ii, ch. 32. Seneca has been describing other manifestations of the “divina et subtilis potentia” of thunderbolts; he proceeds, “Quid, quod futura portendunt: nec unius tantum aut alterius rei signa dant, sed saepe totum fatorum sequentium ordinem nuntiant, et quidem decretis evidentibus, longeque clarioribus, quam si scriberentur?”

182

His discussion of divination by thunderbolts is contained in bk. ii, ch. 31–50.

183

The edition of the Tetrabiblos which I used is that by Philip Melanchthon, 1553. It gives the Greek text, a Latin translation and an introduction of interest, in which Melanchthon affirms his own more modest trust in astrology.

Two other treatises of considerable length setting forth the principles of astrology and which have come down to us from the Roman Empire, are a poem consisting of five books of about 900 lines each by Manilius, probably of the Augustan age; and a prose treatise in eight books, and apparently left unfinished, by Firmicus who was a Neo-Platonist of about 350 a. d. M. Manilii Astronomicon, London, 1828, Delphin edition. Iulii Firmici Matemi Matheseos Libri VIII, (ediderunt W. Kroll et K. Skutsch, Lipsiae, 1897, 2 vols., (Teubner edition). The essay on astrology purporting to be by Lucian is probably spurious.

184

“C’etait la capitulation de la science.” Rev. Hist., vol. lxv, p. 257, note 3.

185

Roger Bacon, Opus Minus, Rolls Series, vol. xv, p. 313, speaks of “Hermes Mercurius, pater philosophorum.”

186

Stromata, bk. vi, ch. 4.

187

Ammianus Marcellinus, however, writing during the latter fourth century, says of Egypt: “Hie primum homines longe ante alios ad varia religionum incunabula, ut dicitur, pervenerunt et initia prima sacrorum caute tufintur condita scriptis arcanis.” Bk. xxii, ch. xvi, sec. 20. Again, in bk. xxii, ch. xiv, sec. 7, Ammianus speaks of the Egyptian mystical books as still extant.

188

F. J. Champagny, Les Antonins, vol. iii, p. 81 (Paris, 1863).

189

See article on “Hermes” in La Grande Encyclopidie by Berthelot who has made an extended study of the history of alchemy; and who, in his La Chimie an Moyen Age holds that Greek alchemistic treatises were continuously extant in Italy during the Dark Ages — a circumstance.which diminishes the importance of Arabian influence on the study of the hermetic art in the later Middle Ages.

190

See Anthon’s Classical Dictionary, 1855 (no adequate account of Hermes Trismegistus exists in any of the more recent classical dictionaries).

191

The Poemander (or Pymander) has been reproduced in the Bath Occult Reprint Series (London, 1884) from the translation “from the Arabic by Dr. Everard, 1650.” It has an introduction by Hargrave Jennings, “author of the Rosicrucians,” giving some account of Hermes Trismegistus. Vol. ii in the same Bath Occult Reprint Series — which seems to have been instituted on behalf of “students of the occult sciences, searchers after truth and Theosophists” — is Hermes’ Virgin of the World. Besides Berthelot’s article, an account of Hermes may be found in pages 181–190 of The Literary Remains of the late Emanuel Deutsch (London, 1879). There is a French translation of the Poemander by Menard with an introductory essay which, however, Deutsch characterized as “deplorably shallow.”

192

J. B. Bury, Later Roman Empire (N. Y., 1899), vol. i, p. 208.

193

De Divinatione, bk. i, ch. 58. “Haec habui, inquit, de divinatione quae dicerem. Nunc ilia testabor non me sortilegos neque eos qui quaestus causa hariolentur, ne psychomantia quidem quibus Appius amicus tuus uti solebat, agnoscere.”

194

For the arguments of Favorinus, see Aulus Gellius, Nodes Atticae, bk. xiv; ch. 1. (Delphin & Variorum Classics [1824] ex editione Jacobi Gronovii.) Fragments of Favorinus’s writings are also to be found in Stobseus.

The edition of the Opera of Sextus Empiricus which I used was that by Johannes Albertus Fabricus, (Lipsiae, 1718), giving the Greek text and a Latin translation.

For Cicero’s arguments, see De Divinatione, bk. ii, chs. 42–47.

195

“Adversum istos qui sese chaldseos seu genethliacos appellant, ac de motu deque positu stellarum dicere posse, quae futura sunt, profitentur, audivimus quondam Favorinum philosophum Romae Graece disserentem egregia atque illustri oratione; exercendine autem, anne ostentandi gratia ingenii, an quod ita serio judicatoque existamaret, non habeo dicere. Nodes Atticae, bk. xiv, ch. 1, sect. 1. A foot-note in the Delphin edition expresses preference in place of the words “exercendine autem, anne ostentendi” for the shorter reading "exercendi autem, non ostentandi” — which reading is adopted by Hertz in his edition of the year, 1885.

196

“Disciplinam istam Chaldaeorum tantae vetustatis non esse, quantae videri volunt; neque eos principes eius auctoresque esse, quos ipsi ferant: sed id praestigiarum atque offuciarum genus coramentos esse homines aeruscatores, et cibum quaestumque ex mendaciis captantes.” Nodes Atticae, bk. xiv, ch. 1, sect 2.

197

For instance, the charge that astrologers disregard the differing aspects of the heavens in different regions does not hold true in the case of Ptolemy. Also the objection to the doctrine of nativities, that men born at different times often suffer a common fate in battle or some such general disaster, is a weak argument at best, for the fact that you and I are born under different stars does not necessitate that our careers have absolutely nothing in common, and it was nullified by Ptolemy’s explanation that great general events like earthquakes, wars, floods and plagues overrule any contradictory destiny which the constellations may seem to portend for the individual. See Bouche-Leclerq, Rev. Hist., vol. lxv, p. 268.

198

Similarly Favorinus declared that, if the different fate of twins was to be explained by the fact that after all they are not born at precisely the same moment, then to determine one’s destiny the time of his birth and the position of the stars at the same instant must be measured with an exactness practically impossible. “Atque id velim etiam, inquit, ut respondeant: si tarn parvum atque rapidum est momentum temporis, in quo homo nascens fatum accipit, ut in eodem illo puncto, sub eodem circulo coeli, plures simul ad eamdem competentiam nasci non queant; et si idcirco gemini quoque non eadem vitae sorte sunt, quoniam non eodem temporis puncto editi sunt; peto, inquit, respondeant, cursum ilium temporis transvolantis, qui vix cogitatione animi comprehendi potest, quonam pacto aut consulto assequi queant, aut ipsi perspicere et deprehendere; quum in tarn praecipiti dierum noctiumque vertiginq, — minima momenta ingentes facere dicant mutationes.” Nodes Atticae, bk. xiv, ch. 1, sect. 10.

199

Favorinus declares that the astrologers may congratulate themselves that he does not propose such a question to them as that of astral influence on minute animals; Cicero says that if all animals are to be subjected to the stars, then inanimate things must be too, than which nothing could be more absurd.

“Ulud autem condonare se iis dicebat, quod non id quoque requireret, si vitae mortisque hominum rerumque humanarum omnium tempus et ratio et causa in coelo et apud Stellas foret, quid de muscis aut vermiculis aut echinis, multisque aliis minutissimis terra marique animantibus, di cerent? An ista quoque isdem, quibus homines, legibus nascerentur, isdemque itidem epcstinguerentur.” Aulus Gellius, Nodes Atticae, bk. xiv, ch. I, sect. 12.

“Et si ad rem pertinet, quo modo coelo affecto compositisque sideribus quodque animal oriatur; valeat id necesse est etiam in rebus inanimis. Quo quid did potest absurdius?” De Divin., bk. ii, ch. 47.

Favorinus, however, does hint in one place that the sole evidence that we possess of any influence of the stars upon us is a few such causal connections as that between the phases of the moon and the tides of the ocean.

200

Ptolemy made a fair retort to this argument by holding that foreknowledge, even if it could not enable us to avoid the coming event, at least served the purpose of breaking the news gently and saving us the more vivid shock which the actual event, if unexpected, would cause by its raw reality.

201

See T. Schiche, De Fontibus Librorutn Ciceronis qui sunt de Divinatione, (Jena, 1875) and K. Hartfelder, Die Quellen von Ciceros zwei Buchern de Divinatione (Freiburg, 1878).

202

Bk. i, ch. 39. “Neque ante philosophiam patefactam, quae nuper inventa est, hac de re communis vita dubitavit; et postea, quam philosophia processit, nemo aliter philosophus sensit, in quo modo esset auctoritas. Dixi de Pythagora, de Democrite, de Socrate; excepi de antiquis praeter Xenophanem neminem; adiunxi veterem academiam, peripateticos, stoicos. Unus dissentit Epicurus.” This trust in tradition, it may be here observed, formed one of the chief grounds for mediaeval belief in magic as well.

203

Bk. ii, ch. ii. “Hoc ego philosophi non arbitror, testibus uti, qui aut casu veri aut malitia falsi fictique esse possunt. Arguments et rationibus oportet quare quidque ita sit docere, non eventis, iis praeser- tim quibus mihi liceat non credere.”

204

Bk. ii, ch. 33. “Errabat enim multis in rebus antiquitas.”

205

Bk. ii, ch. 36.

206

As Tully (bk. ii, ch. 5) puts it, “Quae enim praesentiri aut arte aut ratione aut usu aut conjectura possunt, ea non divinis tribuenda putas sed peritis.”

207

Bk. i, ch. 50.

208

Bk. ii, chs. 3, 4.

209

We saw Pliny use “mathematicae artes” as an equivalent of divination or astrology.

210

Bk. ii, ch. 15.

211

Bk. ii, ch. 16. “Urbem philosophiae, mihi crede, proditis dum castella defenditis. Nam dum aruspicinam veram esse vultis, phy- siologiam totam pervertitis. Caput est in jecore, cor in extis: iam abscedet, simul ac molam et vinum insperseris; deus id eripiet, vis aliqua conficiet, aut exedet. Non ergo omnium dnteritus atque obitus natura conficiet; et erit aliquid quod aut ex nihilo oriatur, aut in nihilum subito occidat. Quis hoc physicus dixit unquam? Aruspices dicunt? His igitur quam physicis potius credendum existimas?”

212

Bk. ii, ch. 28.

213

Bk. ii, ch. 12.

214

Bk. ii, ch. 19.

215

Bk. ii, ch. 12. “Atqui divina cum rerum natura tanta tamque praeclara in omnes partes motusque diffusa, quid habere potest commune, non dicam gallinacum fel (sunt enim qui vel argutissima haec exta esse dicant) sed tauri opimi jecur aut cor aut pulmo, quid habet naturale, quo declarari possit quid futurum sit?”

216

“Deinde est hominum generi prosperus et salutaris ille fulgor qui dicitur Jovis. Turn rutilus horribilisque terris, quem Martium dicitis. Deinde subter mediam fere regionem Sol obtinet, dux et princeps et moderator luminum reliquorum, mens mundi et temperatio,” etc.

217

“Nam cum aetas tua septenos octies solis anfractus reditusque converterit, duoque hi numeri, quorum uterque plenus, alter altera de causa habetur, circuitu naturali summam tibi fatalem confecerint, etc.”

218

These recipes are given in Frazer’s Golden Bough, vol. i, p. 23, from the De Medicamentis of Marcellus, bk. xv, ch. 82 and bk. xxxiv, ch. 100.

219

Ammianus Marcellinus. Rerum gestarum libri qui supersunt. F. Eyssenhardt recensuit. Berlin, 1871. Book xxviii, ch. iv, sec. 24. “Multi apud eos negantes esse superas potestates in caelo, nec in publico prodeunt nec prandent nec lavari arbitrantur se cautius posse, antequam ephemeride scrupulose sciscitata didicerint, ubi sit verbi gratia signum Mercurii, vel quotam cancri sideris partem polum discurrens optineat luna.” Very likely, however, Ammianus — whom we shall see defending divination in general — himself cherished a moderate trust in astrology and was rather satirizing the infidelity of the nobles — their inconsistency in so minutely ruling their lives by the planets when they denied the existence of “superas potestates in caelo.” There is an English translation of Ammianus by C. D. Yonge (London, 1862; Bohn Library).

220

Ibid., bk. xxii, oh. xvi, sec. 18. “Pro omni tamen experimento sufficiat medico ad commendandam artis auctoritatem, si Alexandriae se dixerit eruditum.”

221

Ibid., bk. xxii, — ch. xvi, sec. 17. “Et quamquam veteres cum his, quorum memini floruere conplures, tamen ne nunc quidem in eadem urbe doctrinae variae silent; nam et disciplinarum magistri quodam modo spirant et nudatur ibi geometrico radio quidquid reconditum latet, nondumque apud eos penitus exaruit musica nec harmonica conticuit, et recalet apud quosdam adhuc licet raros consideratio mundani motus et siderum, doctique sunt numeros haud pauci; super his scientiam callent quae fatorum vias ostendit.”

222

Bk. xxii, ch. xii, sec. 8.

223

Bk. xxi, ch. i, sec. 7. “Et quoniam erudito et studioso cognitionum acquainted with the first book only of De Divinatione, this remark — which ought to have proved more potent than any necromantic spell in invoking Cicero’s slandered Manes — must be taken as a startling revelation of the mental calibre of both its maker and his age.

224

Bk. xxi, ch. i, sec. 13.

225

Bk. xxi, ch. i, sec. 14. “Unde praeclare hoc quoque ut alia Tullius ‘signa ostenduntur’ ait ‘a dis rerum futurarum.’” “Dis” seem to be practically identical in Ammianus’s mind with natural forces.

226

Περὶ ἐνυπνίων. (On Dreams) ch. 2. Synesii Cyrendei Quae Extant Opera Omnia. Io. Georgius Krabinger. Landishuti, mdcccl. Tomus I.) All following references to and quotations from the works of Synesius apply to this edition. There is a French translation with several introductory essays by H. Druon, Paris, 1878. For an account in English of Synesius and his writings see W. S. Crawford, Synesius the Hellene, London, 1901. See also, H. O. Taylor, Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages, pp. 78–82, New York, 1901. This interesting work gives illustrations in various fields of the continuity of culture during the transition from Roman times to the Middle Ages.

227

Περὶ ἐνυπνίων (On Dreams) ch. 3. Ἔδει γαρ, οἴμαι, τοῦ παντὸσ τούτου συμπαθοῦς τε ὄντος καὶ σύμπνου τὰ μέρη προςήκειν ἀλλήλις, ἄτε ἑνὸς ὄλον τὰ μέλη τυγχάνοντα. Καὶ μή ποτε αἱ μάγων ἰυγγες αὐται· καὶ γὰρ θέλγεται παρ ἀλλήλων, ῶσπερ σημαίνεται· καὶ σοφὸς ὁ εἰδὼς τὴν τῶν μερῶν τοῦ κόσμου συγγεενειαν. Ἔλκει γὰρ ἄλλο δἰ ἄλλου, ἔχων ἔνέχυρα παρόντα τῶν πλεῖστον ἀπόντων, καὶ φωνὰς, καὶ ύλας καὶ σχήματα..... Evidently Synesius did not regard the magi as mere imposters.

228

Καὶ δὴ καἱ θεῷ τινὶ τῶν εῐσω τοῦ κόσμου λίθος ἐνθένδε καὶ βοτάνη προσήκει, οἴς ὁμοιοπαθῶν εἴκει τῇ φύσει καὶ γοητεύεται. In his Praise of Baldness (Φαλάκρας ἐγκώμιον), ch. 10, Synesius tells how the Egyptians attract demons by magic influences.

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Πρὸς παιύνιον, ch. I. Αὐται μὲν ἀποδείξεις ἔστων τοῦ μαντείαν ἐν τοῖς ἀρίστοις εἴναι τῶν ἐπιτηδευομένων ἀνθρόποις.

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Ibid., ch. 18.

231

Φαλάκρας ἐγκώμιον, ch. 10.

232

Αἰγύπτιον ἢ περὶ προνοίας, bk. ii, ch. 7.

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Πρὸς παιύνιον περἰ τοῦ δώρου, ch. 5.

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Δίων , ch. 7. 11 Περι ὲνυπίον, ch. 4. Ἐπιστολαί, 4 and 49.

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“Universa philosophiae integritas.” Commentary on Dream of Scipio, bk. ii, ch. 17. For Macrobius on Virgil see T. R. Glover, Life and Letters in the Fourth Century a. d. (Cambridge, Eng., 1901), p. 181, and Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. i, ch. xvi, sec. 12. Macrobius has been edited in French and Latin by Nisard. Paris, 1883.

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Commentary, bk. i, chs. 5 and 6; ii, ch. 1 and 2.

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Ibid., bk. i, ch. 7.

238

Ibid., bk. i, ch. 19.

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Commentary, bk. i, ch. 14.

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Glover, op cit., p. 178.

241

Glover, op cit., p. 187, note 1.