Chapter III: Asia Minor

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Jean Réville, _La religion à Rome sous les Sévères_, pp. 62 ff.--Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon der Mythol._, s. v. "_Meter_," II, 2932.--Wissowa, _Religion und Cultus der Römer_, pp. 263 ff., where the earlier bibliography will be found, {224} p. 271.--Showerman, "The Great Mother of the Gods" (_Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin_, No. 43), Madison, 1901.--Hepding, _Attis, seine Mythen und sein Kult_, Giessen, 1903.--Dill, _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_, London, 1905, pp. 547 ff.--Gruppe, _Griech. Mythologie_, 1906, pp. 1521 ff. Eisele, "Die phrygischen Kulte," _Neue Jahrb. für das klass. Altertum_, XXIII, 1909, pp. 620 ff.

For a number of years Henri Graillot has been collecting the monuments of the religion of Cybele with a view to publishing them in their entirety.--Numerous remarks on the Phrygian religion will be found in the works and articles of Ramsay, especially in _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, 1895, and _Studies in the Eastern Roman Provinces_, 1906.

1. Arrien, fr. 30 (_FGH_, III, p. 592). Cf. our _Studio Pontica_, 1905, pp. 172 ff., and Statius, Achill., II, 345: "Phrygas lucos ... vetitasque solo, procumbere pinus"; Virg., _Aen., IX_, 85.

2. Lion; cf. S. Reinach, _Mythes, cultes_, I, p. 293. The lion, represented in Asia Minor at a very remote period as devouring a bull or other animals, might possibly represent the sacred animal of Lydia or Phrygia vanquishing the protecting _totem_ of the tribes of Cappadocia or the neighboring countries (I am using the term _totem_ in its broadest meaning). This at least is the interpretation given to similar groups in Egypt. Cf. Foucart, _La méthode comparat. et l'histoire des religions_, 1909, p. 49, p. 70.

3. [Greek: Potnia thêrôn]. On this title, cf. Radet, _Revue des études anciennes_, X, 1908, pp. 110 ff. The most ancient type of the goddess, a winged figure leading lions, is known from monuments dating back to the period of the Mermnadi (687-546 B. C.).

4. Cf. Ramsay, _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, I, p. 7, p. 94.

5. Foucart, _Le culte de Dionysos en Attique_ (Extract from the _Mém. Acad. Inscr._, XXXVII), 1904, pp. 22 ff.--The Thracians also seem to have spread, in Asia Minor, the cult of the "riding god" which existed until the beginning of the Roman period; cf. Remy, _Le Musée belge_, XI, 1907, pp. 136 ff.

6. Catullus, LXIII. {225}

7. The development of these mysteries has been well expounded by Hepding, pp. 177 ff. (see Gruppe, _Gr. Myth._, p. 1544).--Ramsay has recently commented upon inscriptions of Phrygian mystics, united by the knowledge of certain secret signs ([Greek: tekmôr]); cf. _Studies in the Eastern Roman Provinces_, 1906, pp. 346 ff.

8. Dig., XLVIII, 8, 4, 2: "Nemo liberum servumve invitum sinentemve castrare debet." Cf. Mommsen, _Strafrecht_, p. 637.

9. Diodorus, XXXVI, 6; cf. Plutarch, _Marius_, 17.

10. Cf. Hepding, _op. cit._, p. 142.

11. Cf. chap. VI.

12. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 291.

13. Hepding, _op. cit._, pp. 145 ff. Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Dendrophori," V, col. 216 and Suppl., col, 225, s. v. "Attis."

14. Cf. Tacitus, _Annales_, XI, 15.

15. This opinion has recently been defended by Showerman, _Classical Journal_, II, 1906, p. 29.

16. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, II^2, pp. 130 ff.

17. Hepding, pp. 160 ff. Cf. the texts of Ambrosiaster cited in _Rev. hist. et litt. relig._, VIII, 1903, p. 423, n. 1.

18. Hepding, p. 193. Cf. Gruppe, p. 1541.

19. On this diffusion, cf. Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v. "Meter," col. 918.

20. Gregory of Tours, _De glor. confess._, c. 76. Cf. _Passio S. Symphoriani_ in Ruinart, _Acta sinc._, ed. of 1859, p. 125. The _carpentum_ mentioned in these texts is found in Africa; cf. _CIL_, VIII, 8457, and Graillot, _Rev. archéol._, 1904, I, p. 353; Hepding, op. cit., p. 173, n. 7.

21. [Greek: Tharreite mustai tou theou sesôsmenou | hestai gar humin ek ponôn sôtêria]; cf. Hepding, op. cit., p. 167.--Attis has become a god through his death (see Reitzenstein, _Poimandres_, p. 93), and in the same way were his votaries to become the equals of the divinity through death. The Phrygian epitaphs frequently have the character of dedications, and it appears that the graves were grouped about the temple, see Ramsay, _Studies_, pp. 65 ff., 271 ff., _passim_. {226}

22. Perdrizet, _Bull. corr. hell._, XIX, 1905, p. 534 ff.

23. We know of those beliefs of the Sabaziasts from the frescoes in the catacombs of Praetextatus; the _Mercurius nuntius_, who leads the dead, is found beside Attis under the Greek name of Hermes (see Hepding, p. 263).--Maybe the inscription _CIL_, VI, 509 = _Inscr. graec._, XIV, 1018, should be completed: [Greek: Rheiêi [Hermêi] te genethlôi]; cf. _CIL_, VI, 499. Hermes appears beside the Mother of the gods on a bas-relief by Ouchak published by Michon, _Rev. des études anciennes_, 1906, p. 185, pl. II. See also Mendel, "Musée de Brousse," _Bull. corr. hell._, 1909, p. 255.--The Thracian Hermes is mentioned in Herodotus, see Maury, _Rel. de la Grèce_, III, p. 136.

24. Besides Bellona-Ma, subordinate to Cybele and Sabazius, who was as much Jewish as Phrygian, there was only one god of Asia Minor, the Zeus Bronton (the Thunderer) of Phrygia, prominently mentioned in Roman epigraphy. See Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. and Suppl. I, col. 258.

25. Cf. _CIL_, VI, 499: "Attidi menotyranno invicto." "Invictus" is the characteristic epithet of the solar divinities.

26. P. Perdrizet, "Mèn" (_Bull. corr. hell._, XX), 1896; Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v., II, col. 2687.

27. _CIL_, VI, 50 = _Inscr. graec._, XIV, 1018.

28. Schürer, _Sitzungsb. Akad. Berlin_, XIII, 1897, p. 200 f. and our _Hypsistos_ (Suppl. _Revue instr. publ. en Belgique_), 1897.

29. The term is taken from the terminology of the mysteries: the inscription cited dates back to 370 A. D. In 364, in connection with Eleusis, Agorius Praetextatus spoke of [Greek: sunechonta to anthrôpeion genos hagiôtata mustêria] (Zozimus, IV, 3, 2). Earlier the "Chaldean oracles" applied to the intelligible god the term [Greek: mêtra sunechousa ta panta] (Kroll, _De orac. Chaldeïcis_, p. 19).

30. Henri Graillot, _Les dieux Tout-Puissants, Cybèle et Attis_ (_Revue archéol._, 1904, I), pp. 331 ff.--Graillot is rather inclined to admit a Christian influence, but _omnipotentes_ was used as a liturgic epithet in 288 A. D., and at about the same date Arnobius (VII, 32) made use of the periphrasis _omnipotentia numina_ to designate the Phrygian gods, and he {227} certainly was understood by all. This proves that the use of that periphrasis was general, and that it must have dated back to a much earlier period. As a matter of fact a dedication has been found at Delos, reading [Greek: Dii tôi pantôn kratounti kai Mêtri megalêi têi pantôn kratousêi] (_Bull. corr. hellén._, 1882, p. 502, No. 25), that reminds the reader of the [Greek: pantokratôr] of the Septuagint; and Graillot (loc. cit., p. 328, n. 7) justly observes, in this connection, that on certain bas-reliefs Cybele was united with the Theos Hypsistos, that is to say, the god of Israel; see Perdrizet, _Bull. corr. hell._, XXIII, 1899, p. 598. On the influence of Judaism on the cult of Men cf. Sam. Wide, _Archiv für Religionsw._, 1909, p. 227.--On the omnipotence of the Syrian gods, see ch. V, pp. 128 ff.

31. We are here giving the substance of a short essay on "Les mystères de Sabazius et le judaïsme," published in the _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, Febr. 9, 1906, pp. 63 ff. Cf. "A propos de Sabazius," _Musée belge_, XIV, 1910, pp. 56 ff.

32. Cf. _Monuments myst. de Mithra_, I, p. 333 f. The very early assimilation of Cybele and Anahita justifies to a certain extent the unwarranted practice of calling Cybele the Persian Artemis. See Radet, _Revue des études anciennes_, X, 1908, p. 157. The pagan theologians often considered Attis as the primeval man whose death brought about the creation, and so they likened him to the Mazdean Gayomart, see Bousset, _Hauptprobleme der Gnosis_, 1907, pp. 184 ff.

33. Prudentius, _Peristeph._, X, 1011 f.

34. Their meaning has been revealed through an inscription at Pergamum published by Schröder, _Athen. Mitt._, 1904, pp. 152 ff.; cf. _Revue archéologique_, 1905, I, pp. 29 ff.--The ideas on the development of that ceremony, which we are summarizing here, have been expounded by us more fully in the _Revue archéologique_, 1888, II, pp. 132 ff.; _Mon. myst. de Mithra_, I, pp. 334 ff.; _Revue d'histoire et de litt. relig._, VI, 1901, p. 97.--Although the conclusions of the last article have been contested by Hepding (op. cit., 70 f.), it cannot be doubted that the taurobolium was already practised in Asia Minor, in the cult of the Ma-Bellona. Moore (_American Journal of Archeology_, 1905, p. 71) justly refers to the text of Steph. Byz., in this connection: [Greek: Mastaura; ekaleito de kai hê Rhea Ma kai tauros autêi ethueto para Ludois]. {228} The relation between the cult of Ma and that of Mithra is shown in the epithet of [Greek: Aneikêtos], given to the goddess as well as to the god; see _Athen. Mitt._, XXIX, 1904, p. 169, and Keil und von Premerstein, "Reise in Lydien," _Denkschr. Akad. Wien_, 1908, p. 28 (inscription of the Hyrkanis plain).

35. Prudentius, Peristeph., 1027: "_Pectus sacrato dividunt venabulo._" The _harpé_ shown on the taurobolic altars, is perhaps in reality a boar-spear having a kind of hilt (_mora_; cf. Grattius, _Cyneg._, 110) to prevent the blade from entering too far.

36. Hepding, pp. 196 ff.; cf. _supra_, n. 21.

37. _CIL_, VI, 510, = Dessau, _Inscr. sel._, 4152. Cf. Gruppe, _Griech. Myth._, p. 1541, n. 7.

38. Hepding, pp. 186 ff.

39. _CIL_, VI, 499: "Dii animae mentisque custodes." Cf. 512: "Diis magnis et tutatoribus suis," and _CIL_, XII, 1277, where Bel is called _mentis magister_.

40. Hippolytus, _Refut. haeres._, V, 9.

41. Julien, _Or._, V; cf. Paul Allard, _Julien l'Apostat_, II, pp. 246 ff.; Mau, _Die Religionsphilosophie Kaiser Julians_, 1908, pp. 90 ff. Proclus also devoted a philosophic commentary to the Cybele myth (Marinus, _Vita Procli_, 34).

42. Regarding all this see _Revue d'histoire et de littérat. relig._, VIII, 1903, pp. 423, ff.--Frazer (_Osiris, Attis, Adonis_, 1907, pp. 256 ff.) has recently defended the position that the commemoration of the death of Christ was placed by a great many churches upon March 25th to replace the celebration of Attis's death on the same date, just as Christmas has been substituted for the _Natalis Invicti_. The text of Ambrosiaster cited in our article (Pseudo Augustin, _Quaest. veter. Test_, LXXXIV, 3, p. 145, 13, Souter ed.) shows that this was asserted even in antiquity.