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I MMO R T A LI T Y D U RI N G T HE
E A R LY R O M A N EM PI R E
G b e 1196 138 0 l ect u
r e , 19 18
Pag an Ide as o f
Im m o r t al it y D ur ing t he
Ear ly R o m an Em p i r e
By
T r of cs r o r of Cp t t n
in ba
l
r v ar d Un i v cr r l t;
1 1 1
1 1
C am b r idg e
Hv ar ar d U nive r s it y Pr e s s
L o ndo n : Hu m phre
y Mil f o rd
O xf o r d U ni ve r s i t yP r ess
1 18
9
T HE IN G E R S OLL LE C T UR E S HIP
Extr act f r o m t he will of Mi C sse Hkell I ng ll
ar o l i n as er s o who e
di d i n
Ch hi e N wHm p hi e ' n
,
' een C u ty
e, o n f
o es r , e a s r , a . 26. 18 93
, ,
( 8 as a f un d f o r t h e es t a b l i s hm ent o f a L e c t ur es hi p
ay and
t he r s t day o f D e ce m b e r o n t hi s s u b j ec t t h e Im
m o r t al i t y o i M
, ,
s ai d l e c t ur e no t t o fo r m a p ar t o f
'
an ,
P r o f e sso r o r T u t o r as p ar t o f his u s u al r o u t i ne o f i n
s t r u c t i o n t ho u gh any s u ch Pr o f es so r o r Tu t o r m ay b e
,
no r t o any o ne p r o f es si o n b ut m ay b e t hat o f e i t h e r,
l e as t s ix m o nt h s b e fo r e t h e d el ive r y o f sai d l ec t ur e .
4 1 7 3 09
PA G A N I DEAS O F
I MMO R T A LI T Y D U RI N G T HE
E A R LY R O M AN EM PI R E
I
HE invitation of the co mmittee
without prot .
1
current among both G reeks and R omans .
f e ct accomplishment of hi s task 2
.
I n answer to his son s questions the ,
great importance .
s e ct w
,
hi ch appeared in the sixth century ,
ing to a co mm on belief at least in Plato s
,
punishm ents whi ch man s imagination
could devise ; the wick e d were doomed
to lie in mud and lth whil e evil d e mons
,
him
. And man s moral obligation they
held to be to free thi s divine e lement
from the clogging weight of the body to ,
mento ns thoughts as to the soul s nature
and its destiny could any sect have i n
t r o duce d than these P They were shar e d
by their contemporaries the Py t hag o ,
13
argued that the soul must b e i mm ortal .
Whatever we may t hink of Plato s dif
f e r e nt proofs they have furnished the
,
man s reason the directing element of
,
14 '
phrase man is a fragment of G od
,
.
of the teaching M
oreover the nobl e
.
,
m o ment of death .
IMMORT ALITY 25
Tho u cans t no t p r o ve t h at t ho u ar t b o dy
al o ne ,
No r cans t t ho u p r o ve t h at t h o u ar t sp ir i t
l
a o ne ,
No r cans t t ho u p r o ve t h at t ho u ar t b o t h in
o ne
no ,
No r yet t h at t h o uar t m l
o r ta .
17 '
come ,
O r sent im ents like thi s : O nce
I had no existence ; now I have none .
'18
me . Again we nd the denial : In
IMMORTALITY 27
2 '
Then we r e lost .
II
The tim e has now come for us to r e
turn from our rather long hi storical s ur
vey to Virgil s Apocalypse and to listen ,
to the words with which Anchises S hade
taught hi s eager son :
'no w r s t t h at h eave n and ear t h and o ce an s
p lain,
t he air ,
A nd all t h e warm ing m o ns t e r s t h at be f o und
s
B e ne at h t he le v e l o f t he m ar bl e d s ea;
A e r y vir t ue a ce l es t ial po we r
, ,
N o r wh e n t o lif e s l as t b e am t h e y b i d f ar e we ll
fr e e d
Fr o m all t h e ir e shly plague s ; b ut b y xe d
l aw,
Th e s t r ang e , inve t e r at e t aint wo r ks dee ply in .
Fo r t hi s t h e ch as t is e m e nt o f e vil s p as t
,
S o m e hang o n hi gh o ut s t r e t ch e d t o vi e wle s s
,
wi nds ;
Fo r s o m e t h e ir s in s co nt agi o n m us t be p ur ge d
In vas t ab l ut io n o f de e p r o ll i ng s eas
-
,
Wh e r e f o r a f e w t h e se se at s o f bl iss ab ide ,
T il l t im e s l o ng l ap se a pe r f e c t o r b f ullls
,
A nd t ak e s al l t ai nt aw ay r e s t o r ing s o
,
The p ur e e t h e r e al so ul s r s t v ir g in r e
.
,
A t l as t wh e n t h e m i lle nnial ae o n s t r ik e s
, ,
G o d call s t h e m f o r t h t o y o uL e t h ae an s t r e am ,
Th e y m ay b e h o ld o nce m o r e t he vaul t e d
s ky ,
A nd wi ll ingly to S hape s of e sh r et ur n .
30 PAGAN IDEAS or
were held by Virgil s contemporaries we
cannot say with accuracy but certain it ,
But Virgil s sixth book contains much
more than the eschatological views of
phi l osophic schools ; it r e ects to an ex
t r ao r di nar y degree popular ideas and
practices I have already referred to the
.
Proserpina of D emet e r s search for her
,
daughter and of the daughter s r e co v
,
wo e.
' 26
A t the close of the fth cen
tury A ristophanes made his chorus of
m y s t ae sing : F or we alone have a s un
and a holy light we who have been ini t i
,
27
gods .
'
I n the thi rd century of the
Christian era an o i cial of the mysteries
,
28 '
ill for mortals but rather a good
, .
M
,
ity . M
ithras belonge d to another class of
di vinities He was held to be the bene
.
M
, ,
became a B acchus .
S t Pe t e r s was built hard beside a Shrine
M
.
wherein lay man s supreme happiness .
III
I n view of th e facts with whi ch we
have been occupied we shal l not make
the error of thi nking that C hristiani ty
brought the h ope of i mmortality among
men for as we have seen hope
, , ,
nay ,
sure condence in the soul s survival was
,
Jesus teaching was closely related al ,
some woul d do . M
oreover he adopted ,
requirement .
IV
Al though we now h ave exam i ned the
conditions which to my mind are the
, ,
m eed
. B ut S ocrate s conceived the f u
ture state to be something very dif f er
ent ; a place in which he could hold high
36
discourse with the great ones of the past .
illustrations.
fr e e d
Fr o m all t he ir e shly p lague s b ut b y xe d law ,
Fo r t hi s t he chas t i s e m e nt o f e vi ls p as t
,
winds ;
Fo r s o m e t h e ir S in s co nt agi o n m us t be p u r ge d
i s gh o s t ly po r t i o n in t he wo r ld o f dar k .
'
e r n Church ,
from S t Thomas A quinas
.
I .
1 903 , is m o s t u s ef u l f o r i t s co m m e nt ar y , e s pe ciall y
o n r e li g io us and phil o s o ph i c m at t e r s .
4 1 9 ff .
S o D ant e s j o ur ne y t hr o ug h He ll , Pu
r g at o r y ,
3 . M e t e m p s y c h o s is w a s t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e In g e r
so l l l e c t u r e b y Pr o f e sso r Ge o r g e Fo o t Mo o r e i n
1 9 14 Th e r e f o r e t hat t h e m e i s no t di scus se d he r e
. .
4 . C f F r
. i e dl a n d e r , R
o m an L if e a n d M a n n er s,
R o ut l edg e , Lo ndo n, 1 9 1 0 , i ii , ch ap II . .
5 . O n t h e p r e -
H e ll e ni c p e r i o d s , s ee S ch u ch
M
.
1 9 1 2, 3 ;6 W W. ar d e F o w l e r ,
R el i g i o u s E xper i
and e s pe ci ally Le ct u re X I
'I , My s t i cis m Ide as
62 NO TES
of t h e Fut ur e L if e ; C Pas cal .
, Le Cr edenz a d Ol
tr eto m ba, 2 vo l s 1 9 1 2 .
, .
7 . B . I . Whee le r ,
D i o ny s os and I m m o r tal i ty ,
Ing e r so ll Le ct ur e f o r
1 8 98 99 The cl ass i c wo r k o n
.
1 903 , v o l ii . .
8 F r g 1 54 A b e l
. . .
9 .A pp a r e nt l y O r p h is m wa s al r e ady e s t ab li sh ed
at C r o t o n in so ut he r n t al y wh e n Py t h ag o r as ar I
r i ve d t h e r e abo u t 530 B C b ut t he m at t e r is ve r y . .
o r e anis m so o n co al e s ce d , e ve n if t he y w e r e o r i g i
10 . R ep .
,
vi , 508 f . It s ho ul d be said t h at t he
i de nt it y o f Pl at o
up r e m e idea wi t h Go d is d e nie d
s s
29 1 , 57 A, 9 2 C
11 Th e do ct r ine o f i deas is de ve lo pe d in t h e
.
14 D is t , i , 14 , 6 ; ii , 8 , 1 1
. .
s i t y Pr e ss , Cam b r i dg e 1 9 1 1 , ch ap X I . .
16 R o hde , Ps yche , ii , 3 7 9
.
.
17 . ii , 14 34 ; cf 1 8 7 7 , 226 2 . .
18 CI L , v , 1 939
. . .
19 CI L , vi , 14 67 2
. Gr aec , xi v , 1 7 4 6
. . .
NO TES
20 . Call ,
E pi g , 3 f
I
. I 3, .
21 . CIL .
,
iii , 58 25 ; vi , 9 280, 108 4 8 ; x , 6706 ; e t c .
. il in C o m pany , ,
B o s t o n,
1 908 .
23 . On t he se
m y s t e r i e s , se e R o hde , s yche , i , P 3
pp 2 7 8 f f ; Par ne ll ,
. ul ts o the r eek S tates , iii ,
. C f G
1 26 2 1 3 ; A M
o m m s e n, F es te der S tadt A then,
.
PP 20 2 04 2177, 4 5 4
24 .
4 80 f .
25 . Fr g . 13 7 .
26 . Fr g 7 53 . .
27 .
4 54 ff .
28 . Eph A r ch
, p
. 8 1 , 8 iii . .
29 On t he se and o t he r o r ie nt al g o ds , see F
. .
C um o nt , The Or i ental R el i g i o ns i n Ro m an ag an P
i s m , hicag o , 1 9 1 1 ; al s o G S ho we r m an, The Gr eat
C
Hp di
.
Mo ther of ,
the AG o ds
tt is ,
1 0
9 3; 1 90 1 ; e ng ,
W B udg e , Os i r i s and the E gypti an R es ur r ecti o n,
.
ys te r es de M i thr a ,
2 vo ls , 1 8 94 1 900 ; Id , L es .
-
.
t io n, 1 9 10 .
3 1 . iv , 7
E nn .
,
.
Cf P l at R p, 3 6 D m th xv i ii
M
3 2 . o , . e 4 B ; e o s , ,
. . .
259 ; A pu l , et , vii i , 24 f f
H
. . .
33 R H. C h a.r l e s ,
A Cr i ti.cal i s t or y fo th e D o c
3 4 . A . a m a c k ,
L e h r b u c h d er D o g m en g es c h i c h te ,
i , 4 t h cd , 1 909 ; Eng l ish t r ans lat io n f r o m t he t hir d
.
Ge r m an e di t io n, 1 90 1 ; G B S t e ve ns , The The . .
2d c d , 1 9 1 1
. .
3 5 R ep , 11, 3 63 D
. . .
3 6 . A p o l , 41 . .
37 . I t S h o u l d b e s a i d t h a t e v e n in t h e e a r li es t
pe r io d C hr is t ian b apt is m had ce r t ain m ag ical no
t io ns at t ach e d t o i t ; no t , ho we ve r , t he be lie f t hat
i t se cur e d im m o r t ali t y .
39 . am i n . N u m .
,
x x v ; i n P s xxxvi , 3
. .
4 0 . C D
.
,
xx.
,
2 5; xx i ,
1 3 ( w h e re ' i r g il
s v e r ses
g i ve n a b o v e a r e q u o t e d ) , 26 ; d e oc to D u l c i t i i
Q u a es t q Q u i ,
. 13 ; E n c h i r id i o n ,
l xix .
Di s ti ncti o xl i v , Qu aes 3 , A r t 4 , Qu
. . aes ti unc 3 ; .
W IL L IN C R E A S E TO 5 0 C E N T S 0
D A Y A N D TO O N TH E
O ' ER D U E.