The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism [1911] - Get a Free Blog

276 THE ORIENTAL RELIGIONS.
49. Dante, Purg., XXX, 109 ff. In the Convivio, II, ch. XIV,
Dante expressly professes the doctrine of the influence of the
stars over human affairs. The church succeeded in extir
pating the learned astrology of the Latin world almost com
pletely at the beginning of the Middle Ages. We do not
know of one astrological treatise, or of one manuscript of the
Carlovingian period, but the ancient faith in the power of the
stars continued in secret and gained new strength when Europe
came in contact with Arabian science.
50. Bouche-Leclercq devotes a chapter to them (pp. 609 ff.).
51. Seneca, Quaest. Nat., II, 35: "Expiationes et procura-
tiones nihil aliud esse quam aegrae mentis solatia. Fata in-
revocabiliter ius suum peragunt nee ulla commoventur prece."
Cf. Schmidt, Veteres philosophi quomodo iudicaverint de precibus,
Giessen, 1907, p. 34. Vettius Valens, V,9, (Catal codd.
astr., V, 2 p. 30, ii = p. 220, 28, Kroll ed.), professes that
AdvvaToj riva ev<Uf fy dvaiaiq iTrtviKJjaai rr/v kt; ap%i/f Karaj3o^i>
K. T. X., but he seems to contradict himself, IX, 8 (p. 347, 1 ff.).
52. Suetonius, Tib., 69: "Circa deos ac religiones neglegen-
tior, quippe addictus mathematicae, plenusque persuasionis
cuncta fato agi." Cf. Manilius, IV.
53. Vettius Valens, IX, 11 (Cat. codd. astr., V, 2, p. 51, 8ff.
P- 355> 15, Kroll ed.), cf. VI, prooem. (Cat., p. 33 p. 240,
Kroll).
54. "Si tribuunt fata genesis, cur deos oratis?" reads a verse
of Commodianus (I, 16, 5). The antinomy between the belief
in fatalism and this practice did not prevent the two from
existing side by side, cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 120, 311;
Revue d hist. et de Hit. relig., VIII, 1903, p. 431. The peri
patetic Alexander of Aphrodisias who fought fatalism in his
Ilept ct/iapjue^s, at the beginning of the third century, and who
violently attacked the charlatanism and cupidity of the astrol
ogers in another book (De anima mantissa, p. 180, 14, Bruns),
formulated the contradiction in the popular beliefs of his
time (ibid., p. 182, 18) :
Ilore fie v &v6puiroi TO rf)q elfiap/u.ev^f vpvovaiv o>f
avayaalov, rcork 6 ov
iravry TTJV cvvX iav avrijc TTICTEVOVOL au^eiv Kal -yap ol 6ta T&V Aoyuv
inrlp avri/s cjr OVGIJS avayaaia^ 6taTeiv6fj.Evoi o<b66pa Kal iravra avanBivreg
avry, kv ralg Kara rbv (3iov Trpdt-eoiv ova koinaciv avTy