Part 20

16. Adonis: Wissowa, p. 300, n. 1.--Balmarcodès: Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v.; Jalabert, _Mél. fac. orient. Beyrouth_, I, p. 182.--Marnas: The existence at Ostia of a "Marneum" can be deduced from the dedication _CIG_, 5892 (cf. Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v., col. 2382).--On Maleciabrudus, cf. _supra_, n. 10.--The Maiuma festival was probably introduced with the cult of the god of Gaza, Lydus, _De Mensib._, IV, 80 (p. 133, Wünsch ed.) = Suidas s. v. [Greek: Maioumas] and Drexler, _loc. cit._, col. 2287. Cf. Clermont-Ganneau, _Rec. d'archéol. orient._, IV, p. 339.

17. Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. "Damascenus, Dusares."

18. Malalas, XI, p. 280, 12 (Bonn).--The temple has recently been excavated by a German mission; cf. Puchstein, _Führer in Baalbek_, Berlin, 1905.--On the Hadad at Rome, cf. _supra_, n. 10.

19. _CIL_, X, 1634: "Cultores Iovis Heliopolitani Berytenses qui Puteolis consistunt"; cf. Wissowa, _loc. cit._, p. 504, n. 3; Ch. Dubois, _Pouzzoles antique_, Paris, 1906, p. 156.

20. A list of the known military societies has been made by Cichorius in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencycl._, s. v. "Ala" and "Cohors."

21. _CIL_, VII, 759 = Buecheler, _Carmina epigr._, 24. Two inscriptions dedicated to the Syrian Hercules (Melkarth) and to Astarte have been discovered at Corbridge, near Newcastle (_Inscr. gr._, XIV, 2553). It is possible that Tyrian archers were cantoned there.

22. Baltis: Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclop._, s. v.

23. Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Aziz"; cf. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 303, n. 7.

24. On the etymology of Malakbel, see Dussaud, _Notes_, 24 ff. On the religion in the Occident see Edu. Meyer in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v. {244}

25. Kan, _De Iovis Dolicheni cultu_, Groningen, 1901; cf. Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencycl._, s. v. "Dolichenus."

26. Réville, _Relig. sous les Sévères_, pp. 237 ff.; Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 305; cf. Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. "Elagabal."--In a recent article (_Die politische Bedeutung der Religion von Emesa_ [_Archiv für Religionsw._, XI], 1908, pp. 223 ff.) M. von Domaszewski justly lays stress on the religious value of the solar monotheism that arose in the temples of Syria, but he attributes too important a part in its formation to the clergy of Emesa (see _infra_, n. 88). The preponderant influence seems to have been exercised by Palmyra (see _infra_, n. 59).

27. Cf. _infra_, n. 59.

28. Cf. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_, Chicago, 1902; Jaussen, _Coutumes des Arabes du pays de Moab_, Paris, 1908, pp. 297 ff.

29. Cf. Robertson Smith, _passim_; Lagrange, pp. 158-216; Vincent, _op. cit._, pp. 102-123; 144 f.--The power of this Semitic litholatry equaled its persistence. Philo of Byblus defined the bethels as [Greek: lithoi empsuchoi] (2, § 20, FHG, III, p. 563): Hippolytus also tells us (V, 1, p. 145, Cruice), that in the Syrian mysteries ([Greek: Assuriôn teletai]) it was taught that the stones were animated ([Greek: hoi lithoi eisin empsuchoi; echousi gar to auxêtikon]), and the same doctrine perpetuated itself in Manicheism. (Titus of Bostra, II, 60, p. 60, 25, de Lagarde ed.:

[Greek: Ouk aischunetai de kai tous lithous epsuchôsthai legôn kai ta panta empsucha eisêgoumenos]).

During the last years of paganism the neo-Platonists developed a superstitious worship of the bethels; see Conybeare, _Transactions of the Congress of Hist. of Rel._, Oxford, 1908, p. 177.

30. Luc., _De dea Syria_, c. 41. Cf. the inscription of Narnaka with the note of Clermont-Ganneau, _Etudes d'arch. orient._, II, p. 163.--For bull worship in Syria cf. Ronzevalle, _Mélanges fac. orient. Beyrouth_, I, 1906, pp. 225, 238; Vincent, _op. cit._, p. 169.

31. Philo Alex., _De provid._, II, c. 107 (II, 646 M.); cf. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 54.

32. For instance on Mount Eryx in Sicily (Ael., _Nat. Anim._, {245} IV, 2).--Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Dea Syria," col. 2242.

33. Tibullus, I, 7, 17.

34. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 14; 54. Cf. Diodorus, II, 4, 2; Ovid, _Met._, IV, 46; V, 331.

35. Pauly-Wissowa, _loc. cit._, col. 2241; W. Robertson Smith, p. 175.

36. The ancient authors frequently alluded to this superstition of the Syrians (the texts have been collected by Selden, _De dis Syris_, II, C. 3, pp. 268 ff., ed. of 1672). W. Robertson Smith (_loc. cit._, p. 449), is right in connecting it with certain ideas of savages. Like many primitive beliefs, this one has continued to the present day. It has been pointed out to me that at Sam-Keuï, a little west of Doliché, there is a pond fed by a spring and well stocked with fish, which one is forbidden to take. Near the mosque of Edessa is a large pond where catching fish is prohibited. They are considered sacred, and the people believe that any one who would eat them would die instantly. (Sachau, _Reise in Syrien_, 1883, pp. 196 ff. Cf. Lord Warkworth, _Diary in Asiatic Turkey_, London, 1898, p. 242). The same is the case at the mosque of Tripoli and elsewhere (Lammens, _Au pays des Nosaïris_ [_Revue de l'Orient chrétien_], 1908, p. 2). Even in Asia Minor this superstition is found. At Tavshanli, north of Aezani on the upper Rhyndacus, there is to-day a square cistern filled with sacred fish which no one is allowed to take (on the authority of Munro). Travelers in Turkey have frequently observed that the people do not eat fish, even when there is a scarcity of food (Sachau, _loc. cit._, p. 196) and the general belief that their flesh is unhealthful and can cause sickness is not entirely unfounded. Here is what Ramsay has to say on the subject (_Impressions of Turkey_, London, 1897, p. 288): "Fish are rarely found and when found are usually bad: the natives have a prejudice against fish, and my own experience has been unfavorable.... In the clear sparkling mountain stream that flows through the Taurus by Bozanti-Khan, a small kind of fish is caught; I had a most violent attack of sickness in 1891 after eating some of them, and so had all who partook." Captain Wilson, who spent a number of years in {246} Asia Minor, asserts (_Handbook of Asia-Minor_, p. 19), that "the natives do not eat fish to any extent." The "totemic" prohibition in this instance really seems to have a hygienic origin. People abstained from all kinds of fish because some species were dangerous, that is to say, inhabited by evil spirits, and the tumors sent by the Syrian goddess were merely the edemas caused by the poisoning.

37. On the [Greek: Ichthus] symbolism I will merely refer to Usener, _Sintflutsagen_, 1899, pp. 223 ff. Cf. S. Reinach, _Cultes, mythes_, III, 1908, pp. 43 ff. An exhaustive book on this subject has recently appeared: Dölger, [Greek: ICHTHYS], _das Fischsymbol in frühchristlicher Zeit_, I, Rome, 1910.

On sacred repasts where fish was eaten see Mnaseas, fragment 32 (_Fragm. histor. graec._, III, 115); cf. Dittenberger, _Sylloge_, 584: [Greek: Ean de tis tôn ichthuôn apothanêi, karpousthô authêmeron epi tou bômou], and Diog. Laert., VIII, 34. There were also sacred repasts in the Occident in the various Syrian cults: _Cenatorium et triclinium_ in the temples of Jupiter Dolichenus (_CIL_, III, 4789; VI, 30931; XI, 696, cf. _Mon. myst. Mithra_, II, p. 501); _promulsidaria et mantelium_ offered to the Venus Caelestis (_CIL_, X, 1590); construction of a temple to Malachbel with a _culina_ (_CIL_, III, 7954). Mention is made of a [Greek: deipnokritês, deipnois kreinas polla met' euphrosunês], in the temple of the Janiculum (Gauckler, _C.R. Acad. Inscr._, 1907, p. 142; _Bolletino communale_, 1907, pp. 15 ff.). Cf. Lagrange, _Religions sémitiques_, II, p. 609, and Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Gad."

38. W. Robertson Smith, pp. 292 ff.

39. An inscription discovered at Kefr-Hauar (Fossey, _Bull. corr. hell._, 1897, p. 60) is very characteristic in this respect. A "slave" of the Syrian goddess in that inscription offers his homage to his "mistress" ([Greek: kuria]).

40. Notably at Aphaca where they were not suppressed until the time of Constantine (Eusebius, _Vit. Const._, III, 55; cf. Sozom., II, 5).

41. Much has been written about the sacred prostitutions in paganism, and it is well known that Voltaire ridiculed the scholars who were credulous enough to believe in the tales of Herodotus. But this practice has been proven by {247} irrefutable testimony. Strabo, for instance, whose great-uncle was arch-priest of Comana, mentions it in connection with that city, (XII, 3, 36, p. 559 C), and he manifests no surprise. The history of religion teaches many stranger facts; this one, however, is disconcerting. The attempt has been made to see in it a relic of the primitive promiscuity or polyandry, or a persistence of "sexual hospitality," ("No custom is more widely spread than the providing for a guest a female companion, who is usually a wife or daughter of the host," says Wake, _Serpent Worship_, 1888, p. 158); or the substitution of union with a man for union with the god (Gruppe, _Griech. Mythol._, p. 915). But these hypotheses do not explain the peculiarities of the religious custom as it is described by more reliable authors. They insist upon the fact that the girls were dedicated to the temple service while _virgins_, and that after having had _strangers_ for lovers, they married in their own country. Thus Strabo (XI, 14, § 16, p. 532 C.) narrates in connection with the temple of Anaitïs in Acilisena, that [Greek: thugateras hoi epiphanestatoi tou ethnous anierousi parthenous, ais nomos esti kataporneutheisais polun chronon para têi theôi meta tauta didosthai pros gamon, ouk apaxiountos têi toiautêi sunoikein oudenos]. Herodotus (I, 93), who relates about the same thing of the Lydian women, adds that they acquired a dowry in that manner; an inscription at Tralles (_Bull. corr. hell._, VII, 1885, p. 276) actually mentions a descendant of a sacred prostitute ([Greek: ek progonôn pallakidôn]) who had temporarily filled the same office ([Greek: pallakeusasa kata chrêsmon Dii]). Even at Thebes in Egypt there existed a similar custom with striking local peculiarities in the time of Strabo (XVII, 1, § 46), and traces of it seem to have been found in Greece among the Locrians (Vurtheim, _De Aiacis origine_, Leyden, 1907). Every Algerian traveler knows how the girls of the Ouled-Naïl earn their dowry in the _ksours_ and the cities, before they go back to their tribes to marry, and Doutté (_Notes sur l'Islam maghrébien, les Marabouts_, Extr. _Rev. hist. des relig._, XL-XLI, Paris, 1900), has connected these usages with the old Semitic prostitution, but his thesis has been attacked and the historical circumstances of the arrival of the Ouled-Naïl in Algeria in the eleventh century render it very doubtful (Note by Basset).--It seems certain (I do not know whether this explanation has ever been offered) {248} that this strange practice is a modified utilitarian form of an ancient exogamy. Besides it had certain favorable results, since it protected the girl against the brutality of her kindred until she was of marriageable age, and this fact must have insured its persistence; but the idea that inspired it at first was different. "La première union sexuelle impliquant une effusion de sang, a été interdite, lorsque ce sang était celui d'une fille du clan versé par le fait d'un homme du clan" (Salomon Reinach, _Mythes, cultes_, I, 1905, p. 79. Cf. Lang, _The Secret of the Totem_, London, 1905.) Thence rose the obligation on virgins to yield to a stranger first. Only then were they permitted to marry a man of their own race. Furthermore, various means were resorted to in order to save the husband from the defilement which might result from that act (see for inst., Reinach, _Mythes, cultes_, I, p. 118).--The opinion expressed in this note was attacked, almost immediately after its publication, by Frazer (_Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, 1907, pp. 50 ff.) who preferred to see in the sacred prostitutions a relic of primitive communism. But at least one of the arguments which he uses against our views is incorrect. Not the women, but the men, received presents in Acilisena (Strabo, _loc. cit._) and the communistic theory does not seem to account for the details of the custom prevailing in the temple of Thebes. There the horror of blood clearly appears. On the discovery of a skull (having served at a rite of consecration) in the temple of the Janiculum, see the article cited above, "Dea Syria," in _Dict. des antiquités_.

42. Porphyry, _De Abstin._, II, 56; Tertull., _Apol._, 9. Cf. Lagrange, _op. cit._, p. 445.

43. Even in the regions where the cities developed, the Baal and the Baalat always remained the divinities [Greek: poliouchoi], the protectors of the city which they were supposed to have founded.

44. Le Bas-Waddington, 2196.--Suidas, s. v. [Greek: Phularchês] (II, 2, col. 1568, Bernhardy). Cf. Marquardt, _Staatsverwaltung_, I, p. 405, 409.

45. Hippolytus, Adv. Haeres., V, II, § 7: [Greek: Assuriôn teletai]; § 18: [Greek: Assuriôn mustêria] (pp. 145, 148, ed. by Cruice). Cf. Origen, _Contra Celsum_, I, 12. Pognon (_Inscrip. sémitiques_, {249} 1907, No. 48) has recently published a Syrian epitaph that is unfortunately mutilated, but which seems to be that of an adept of the pagan mysteries; see Nöldeke, _Zeitschrift für Assyr._, XXI, 1907, p. 155.

46. On the Semitic notion of purity, W. Robertson Smith has written admirably and convincingly (pp. 446 ff. and _passim_). The question has been taken up from a different point of view by Lagrange, pp. 141 ff.--The development of the notion of purity in the ancient religions has been recently expounded by Farnell, _The Evolution of Religion_, 1905, pp. 88 ff., especially pp. 124 ff. Cf. also _supra_, p. 91 f. An example of the prohibitions and purifications is found in the Occident in an inscription, unfortunately mutilated, discovered at Rome and dedicated to Beellefarus (_CIL_, VI, 30934, 31168; cf. Lafaye, _Rev. hist. relig._, XVII, 1888, pp. 218 ff.; Dessau, _Inscr. sel._, 4343). If I have understood the text correctly it commands those who have eaten pork to purify themselves by means of honey.--On penances in the Syrian religions see ch. II, n. 31.

47. M. Clermont-Ganneau (_Etudes d'archéologie orientale_, II, 1896, p. 104) states that the epithet [Greek: hagios] is extremely rare in pagan Hellenism, and almost always betrays a Semitic influence. In such cases it corresponds to [Hebrew: QRSH], which to the Semites is the epithet _par excellence_ of the divinity. Thus Eshmon is [Hebrew: QRSH]; cf. Lidzbarski, _Ephemer. für semit. Epigraph._, II, p. 155; Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil d'archéol. orient._, III, p. 330; V, p. 322.--In Greek Le Bas-Waddington, 2720, has: [Greek: Oi katochoi hagiou ouraniou Dios]. Dittenberger, _Orientis inscript._, 620, [Greek: Zeus hagios Beel bôsôros]. Some time ago I copied at a dealer's, a dedication engraved upon a lamp: [Greek: Theôi hagiôi Arelselôi], in Latin: J. Dolichenus _sanctus_, _CIL_, VI, 413, X, 7949.--J. Heliopolitanus _sanctissimus_, _CIL_, VIII, 2627.--"Caelestis _sancta_," VIII, 8433, etc.--The African Saturn (= Baal) is often called _sanctus_.--_Hera sancta_ beside Jupiter Dolichenus, VI, 413.--Malakbel is translated by _Sol sanctissimus_, in the bilingual inscription of the Capitol, VI, 710 = Dessau, 4337. Cf. _deus sanctus aeternus_, V, 1058, 3761, and _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1906, p. 69.--See in general Delehaye, _Analecta Bollandiana_, 1909, pp. 157 ff. {250}

48. As curious examples of Greco-Syrian syncretism we may mention the bas-relief of Ed-Douwaïr in the Louvre, which has been analyzed in detail by Dussaud (_Notes_, pp. 89 ff.), and especially that of Homs in the Brussels museum (_ibid._, 104 ff.).

49. Macrobius, I, 23, § 11: "Ritu Assyrio magis quam Aegyptio colitur"; cf. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 5.--"Hermetic" theories penetrated even to the Sabians of Osrhoene (Reitzenstein, _Poimandres_, 166 ff.), although their influence seems to have been merely superficial (Bousset, _Göttingische gelehrt. Anzeigen_, 1905, 704 ff.)--The existence of [Greek: katochoi] at Baetocécé and elsewhere appears to be due to Egyptian influence (Jalabert, _Mélanges de la fac. orient. de Beyrouth_, II, 1907, pp. 308 ff.). The meaning of [Greek: katochos] which has been interpreted in different ways, is established, I think, by the passages collected by Kroll, _Cat. codd. astrol. graec._, V, pars 2, p. 146; cf. Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, I, p. 119; Bouché-Leclercq, _Hist. des Lagides_, IV, p. 335. It refers to the poor, the sick and even the "illumined" living within the temple enclosures and undoubtedly supported by the clergy, as were the refugees of the Christian period who availed themselves of the right of sanctuary in the churches (cf. _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1907, p. 454).

50. Cf. _infra_, n. 59.

51. Strabo, XVI, 1, 6. Cf. Pliny, _H. N._, VI, 6: "Durat adhuc ibi Iovis Beli templum." Cf. my _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, pp. 35 ff.; Chapot, _Mém. soc. antiq. de France_, 1902, pp. 239 ff.; Gruppe, _Griech. Mythol._, p. 1608, n. 1.

52. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, c. 10.

53. Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_, I, pp. 233 ff. and _passim_.

54. On the worship of Bel in Syria cf. _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1907, pp. 447 ff.--Cf. _infra_, n. 59.

55. On the Heliopolitan triad and the addition of Mercury to the original couple see Perdrizet, _Rev. études anc._, III, 1901, p. 258; Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 24; Jalabert, _Mélanges fac. orient. de Bayrouth_, I, 1906, pp. 175 ff.--Triad of Hierapolis: Lucian, _De dea Syria_, c. 33. According to Dussaud, the three divinities came from Babylon together, _Notes_, p. 115.--The existence of a Phoenician triad (Baal, Astarte, Eshmoun or {251} Melkarth), and of a Palmyrian triad has been conjectured but without sufficient reason (_ibid._, 170, 172 ff.); the existence of Carthaginian triads is more probable (cf. Polybius, VII, 9, 11, and von Baudissin, _Iolaos_ [_Philothesia für Paul Kleinert_], 1907, pp. 5 ff.)--See in general Usener, _Dreiheit_ (Extr. _Rhein. Museum_, LVIII), 1903, p. 32. The triads continued in the theology of the "Chaldaic Oracles" (Kroll, _De orac. Chald._, 13 ff.) and a threefold division of the world and the soul was taught in the "Assyrian mysteries" (_Archiv für Religionswiss._, IX, 1906, p. 331, n. 1).

56. Boll, _Sphaera_, p. 372.--The introduction of astrology into Egypt seems to date back no further than the time of the Ptolemies.

57. The Seleucides, like the Roman emperors later, believed in Chaldean astrology (Appian., _Syr._, 28; Diodorus, II, 31, 2; cf. Riess in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Astrologie," col. 1814), and the kings of Commagene, as well as of a great number of Syrian cities, had the signs of the zodiac as emblems on their coins. It is even certain that this pseudo-science penetrated into those regions long before the Hellenistic period. Traces of it are found in the Old Testament (Schiaparelli; translation by Lüdke, _Die Astron. im Alten Testament_, 1904, p. 46). It modified the entire Semitic paganism. The only cult which we know in any detail, that of the Sabians, assigned the highest importance to it; but in the myths and doctrines of the others its influence is no less apparent (Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencycl._, s. v. "Dea Syria," IV, col. 2241, and s. v. "Gad"; cf. Baudissin, _Realencycl. für prot. Theol._, s. v., "Sonne," pp. 510-520). To what extent, for instance, the clergy of Emesa had been subjected to its ascendency is shown by the novel of Heliodorus, written by a priest of that city (Rohde, _Griech. Roman_^2, p. 464 [436]), and by the horoscope that put Julia Domna upon the throne (_Vita Severi_, 3, 8; cf. A. von Domaszewski, _Archiv für Religionsw._, XI, 1908, p. 223). The irresistible influence extended even to the Arabian paganism (Nöldeke in Hastings, _Encyclop. of Religion_, s. v. "Arabs," I, p. 661; compare, _Orac. Sibyll._, XIII, 64 ff., on Bostra). The sidereal character which has been attributed to the Syrian gods, was borrowed, but none the less real. From very early times the Semites worshiped the sun, {252} the moon, and the stars (see Deut. iv. 19; Job xxxi. 25), especially the planet Venus, but this cult was of secondary importance only (see W. Robertson Smith, _op. cit._, p. 135, n. 1), although it grew in proportion as the Babylonian influence became stronger. The polemics of the Fathers of the Syrian Church show how considerable its prestige was in the Christian era (cf. Ephrem, _Opera Syriaca_, Rome, 1740, II, pp. 447 ff.; the "Assyrian" Tatian, c. 9 ff., etc.).

58. Humann and Puchstein, _Reise in Klein-Asien und Nord-Syrien_, 1890, pl. XL; _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 188, fig. 8; Bouché-Leclercq, _Astrol. gr._, p. 439.

59. Cf. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 306-7.--On the temple of Bel at Palmyra, cf. Sobernheim, _Palmyrenische Inschriften_ (_Mitt. der vorderasiat. Gesellsch._, X), 1905, pp. 319 ff.; Lidzbarski, _Ephemeris_, I, pp. 255 ff., II, p. 280.--Priests of Bel: Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil d'arch. orient._, VII, p. 12, 24, 364. Cf. _supra_, n. 54. The power of Palmyra under Zenobia, who ruled from the Tigris to the Nile, must have had as a corollary the establishment of an official worship that was necessarily syncretic. Hence its special importance for the history of paganism. Although the Babylonian astrology was a powerful factor in this worship, Judaism seems to have had just as great an influence in its formation. There was at Palmyra a large Jewish colony, which the writers of the Talmud considered only tolerably orthodox (Chaps, _Gli Ebrei di Palmira_ [_Rivista Israelitica_, I], Florence, 1904, pp. 171 ff., 238 f. Cf. "Palmyra" in the _Jewish Encycl._; Jewish insc. of Palmyra; Euting, _Sitzb. Berl. Acad._, 1885, p. 669; Landauer, _ibid._, 1884, pp. 933 ff.). This colony seems to have made compromises with the idolaters. On the other hand we see Zenobia herself rebuilding a synagogue in Egypt (_Revue archéologique_, XXX, 1875, p. III; _Zeitschrift für Numismatik_, V, p. 229; Dittenberger, _Orientis inscript._, 729). This influence of Judaism seems to explain the development at Palmyra of the cult of [Greek: Zeus hupsitos kai epêkoos], "he whose name is blessed in eternity." The name of Hypsistos has been applied everywhere to Jehovah and to the pagan Zeus (_supra_, p. 62, 128) at the same time. The text of Zosimus (I, 61), according to which Aurelian brought from Palmyra to Rome the statues of [Greek: Hêliou te kai Bêlou] (this has been wrongly changed to read [Greek: tou kai Bêlou]), proves that the {253} astrological religion of the great desert city recognized a supreme god residing in the highest heavens, and a solar god, his visible image and agent, according to the Semitic theology of the last period of paganism (_supra_, p. 134).

60. I have spoken of this solar eschatology in the memorial cited _infra_, n. 88.

61. This opinion is that of Posidonius (see Wendland, _Philos Schrift über die Vorsehung_, Berlin, 1892, p. 68, n. 1; 70, n. 2). It is shared by the ancient astrologers.

62. This old pagan and gnostic idea has continued to the present day in Syria among the Nosaïris; cf. Dussaud, _Histoire et religion des Nosaïris_, 1900, p. 125.

63. The belief that pious souls are guided to heaven by a psychopompus, is found not only in the mysteries of Mithra (_Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 310), but also in the Syrian cults where that rôle was often assigned to the solar god, see Isid. Lévy, _Cultes syriens dans le Talmud_ (_Revue des études juives_, XLIII), 1901, p. 5, and Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 27; cf. the Le Bas-Waddington inscription, 2442:

"[Greek: Basileu despota] (= the sun), [Greek: hilathi kai didou pasin hêmin hugiên katharan, prêxis agathas kai biou telos esthlon]."--

The same idea is found in inscriptions in the Occident; as for instance in the peculiar epitaph of a sailor who died at Marseilles (Kaibel, _Inscr. gr._, XIV, 2462 = _Epigr._, 650):

"[Greek: En de [te] tethneioisin homêguri [es] ge pelousin] [Greek: doiai; tôn heterê men epichthoniê pephorêtai,] [Greek: hê d' heterê teiressi sun aitherioisi choreuei,] [Greek: ês stratiês eis eimi, lachôn theon hêgemonêa]."

It is the same term that Julian used (_Césars_, p. 336 C) in speaking of Mithra, the guide of souls: [Greek: hêgemona theon]. Cf. also _infra_, n. 66 and ch. VIII, n. 24.