“O Lollianus, the glory and ornament of our country, it is requisite to know, in the first place, that the God, who is the fabricator of man, produced his form, his condition, and his whole essence, in the image and similitude of the world, nature pointing out the way[35]. For he composed the body of man, as well as of the world, from the mixture of the four elements, viz. of fire, water, air, and earth, in order that the conjunction of all these, when they were mingled in due proportion, might adorn an animal in the form of a divine imitation. And thus the Demiurgus exhibited man by the artifice of a divine fabrication, in such a way, that in a small body he might bestow the power and essence of all the elements, nature, for this purpose, bringing them together; and also, so that from the divine spirit, which descended from a celestial intellect, to the support of the mortal body, he might prepare an abode for man, which, though fragile, might be similar to the world. On this account, the five stars[36], and also the sun and moon, sustain man by a fiery and eternal agitation, as if he were a minor world[37]; so that the animal which was made in imitation of the world might be governed by an essence similarly divine. Hence those divine men Petosiris and Necepso[b], who deserve all possible admiration, and whose wisdom approached to the very penetralia of Deity, scientifically delivered to us the geniture of the world, that they might demonstrate and show that man was fashioned conformably to the nature and similitude of the world, and that he is under the dominion of the same principles by which the world itself is governed and contained, and is perennially supported by the companions of perpetuity[38].

“According to Æsculapius, therefore, and Anubius[39], to whom especially the divinity Mercury committed the secrets of the astrological science, the geniture of the world is as follows: They constituted the Sun in the 15th part of Leo, the Moon in the 15th part of Cancer, Saturn in the 15th part of Capricorn, Jupiter in the 15th part of Sagittary, Mars in the 15th part of Scorpio, Venus in the 15th part of Libra, Mercury in the 15th part of Virgo, and the Horoscope in the 15th part of Cancer. Conformably to this geniture, therefore, to these conditions of the stars, and the testimonies which they adduce in confirmation of this geniture, they are of opinion that the destinies of men, also, are disposed in accordance with the above arrangement, as may be learnt from that book of Æsculapius which is called Μυριογενεσις, (i. e. Ten Thousand, or an innumerable multitude of Genitures,) in order that nothing in the several genitures of men may be found to be discordant with the above-mentioned geniture of the world.

“We may see, therefore, how far or after what manner a star accommodates the testimony of its radiation to the luminaries. For the luminaries are the Sun and Moon. But Saturn first conjoins himself with the Moon: for he follows the condition of the Moon. He does this, however, because, being constituted in a feminine[40] sign, he diametrically receives the rays of the Moon, which is also constituted in a feminine sign. But when the same Saturn, in that geniture, makes a transition to the sign Aquarius, he again conjoins himself to the Sun by a similar radiation, and is again disposed in the same condition as that of the Sun. For being constituted in a masculine sign, he associates himself by an equal testimony of radiation, since he diametrically looks towards the Sun, with a radiation similar to that with which he regards the Moon. After this manner also Jupiter is constituted in Sagittary, and through a trigon affording a testimony to the Sun, first conjoins himself to his condition, and on this account being constituted in a masculine sign, and associating with the Sun, who is constituted in a sign of the same kind, first follows the power of it; but when he has made a transition to Pisces, he again conjoins himself in a like condition to the Moon. For he, in a similar manner, being posited through a trigon in a feminine sign, looks towards the Moon, who is constituted in a sign of the same kind, with an equal radiation of condition.

“In like manner also the planet Mars, being constituted in Scorpio, because he is in a feminine sign, through a trigon, affords a testimony to the Moon; but when he comes to Aries, he affords a testimony to the Sun, and making a transition, being placed in a masculine sign, he conjoins himself by a trigonic radiation with the Sun. This mode, however, is changeable; for Mars being constituted in Libra, which is a masculine sign, yet he affords a testimony to the Moon through a square aspect; but when he has made a transition to Taurus, being constituted in a feminine sign, and looking towards the Sun by a square radiation, he again affords a testimony to it. These [divine] men, however, were of opinion that the planet Mercury is common in the above-mentioned geniture, this star affording no testimony either to the Sun or Moon by a square, or a trigon, or a diameter; nor does it conjoin itself by radiation either with the Sun or Moon. But if Mercury is a morning star, he is delighted by day with the Sun, but if an evening star, by night with the Moon. All that we have here said, these men were of opinion ought to be observed in the genitures of men[41], and thought that they could not discover the destiny of man, except those radiations were collected by a sagacious investigation. Lest, however, the fabulous device[42] of these men should deceive you, and lest some one should think that this geniture of the world was contrived by these most wise men, without a cause, it is requisite that we should explain all things particularly, in order that the great sagacity displayed in this device, may, by the most diligent expositions, be intimated to all men.

“The world had not a certain day of its origin, nor was there any time in which the world was formed by the counsel of a divine intellect, and providential Deity; nor has the eager desire of human fragility been able to extend itself so far as to conceive or explain the origin of the world, especially since the greater apocatastasis of it, which is effected by a conflagration or a deluge[43], consists of 300,000 years[c]. For the mundane apocatastasis is accustomed to be accomplished by these two events; since a deluge follows a conflagration, because substances which are burnt can no otherwise be renovated and restored to their pristine appearance and form, than by the admixtions and the concrete dust of the ashes, which are a collection of generative seeds becoming prolific. Divine men, therefore, following the example of mathematicians in the genitures of men, have prudently devised this, as if it were the geniture of the world. Hence I deem it expedient to explain the contrivance of that divine composition, in order that the admirable reason of the conjectural scheme may be unfolded according to the rules of art.

“These divine men, therefore, wished so to constitute the Moon [in the geniture of the world], that it might conjoin itself with Saturn, and might deliver the dominion of periodical revolutions. Nor was this improperly devised. For because the first origin of the world[d] [i. e. the beginning of the first mundane period] was uncultivated and rude, and savage through rustic association, and also because barbarous men, having entered on the first vestiges of light, and which were unknown to them, were destitute of reason, in consequence of having abandoned humanity[44], these divine men were of opinion, that this rustic and barbarous time was Saturnian, that, in imitation of this star, the beginning of life might be characterized by barbaric and inhuman ferocity. After Saturn, Jupiter received periodical power. For to this planet the Moon was conjoined in the second place, in order that pristine and squalid rusticity being deserted, and the ferocity of rude association being laid aside, human life might be cultivated through the purification of the manners. In the third place, the Moon conjoining herself with Mars, delivered to him the power of periodical revolution; so that mortality having entered into the right path of life, and inhumanity being subdued by a certain moderation, all the ornaments of arts and fabrications might originate from this conjunction. After Mars, Venus received predominating power, in order that, human disciplines gradually increasing, prudence and wisdom might adorn mankind. Hence they were of opinion that this time, in which the manners of men were cultivated by learning, and naturally formed to rectitude by the several disciplines, was under the dominion of Venus; so that being protected by the majesty of this joyful and salutary divinity, they might govern their erroneous actions by the ruling power of Providence. But [these divine men] conceived the last period to be under the dominion of Mercury, to whom the Moon in the last place conjoins herself. What can be found more subtle than this arrangement? For mankind being purified from rude and savage pursuits, arts also having been invented, and disciplines disposed in an orderly manner, the human race sharpened its inventive power. And because the noble genius in man could not preserve [uniformly] one course of life, the improbity of evil increased from various institutes, and confused manners and the crimes of a life of wickedness prevailed: hence the human race in this period both invented and delivered to others more enormous machinations. On this account these wise men thought that this last period should be assigned to Mercury[e], so that, in imitation of that star, the human race might give birth to inventions replete with evil[45].

“That nothing, however, may be omitted by us requisite to the elucidation of this subject, all things are to be explained, which prove that man was formed in the imitation and similitude of the world[46]. And that the mundane apocatastasis is effected through a conflagration and a deluge, we also have asserted, and is confirmed by all men. The substance likewise of the human body, the course of life having received its completion, is, after a similar manner, dissolved. For as often as, through the natural ardour of heat, the human body is too much relaxed, it evaporates in consequence of the inundations of humours; and thus it always suffers a decoction from a fiery ardour, or is dissolved by excessive desudation. Nor do the wisest interpreters of the medical art assert, that the substance of the human race is dissolved by a natural termination in any other way, than by either moisture dissolving fire, or again heat predominating, fire being inwardly and deeply extinguished, is left without moisture. Thus the artificer, Nature, constituted man in an all-various imitation of the world, so that whatever dissolves, or forms the essence of the world, this also should be the cause of the formation and dissolution of man.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

[b] Page 50.—Petosiris and Necepso were two of the most ancient writers of Egyptian astrology, which, in many respects, differs from that of the Chaldeans. The former of these celebrated men is greatly applauded by Manetho, who, in his Apotelesmatica, professes to be his follower, and calls him πολυφιλτατον ανδρα. Petosiris, however, was much prior to Manetho, as is evident from Athenæus, iii. p. 114, who says he is mentioned by Aristophanes. He is also noticed by Ptolemy (in Tetrabiblo) under the appellation ‘of an ancient writer’ (του παλαιου or του αρχαιου). According to Suidas, he wrote, among other things which are unfortunately lost, Περι των παρ’ Αιγυπτιοις μυστηριων, Concerning the Mysteries of the Egyptians, the loss of which work must be deeply regretted by every lover of ancient lore. He is also mentioned by Juvenal, vi. 580.

And in a Greek epigram (in Anthol. lib. ii. cap. 6.) on a certain person who had predicted his death from the stars, and, in order that the prediction might not be falsified, hung himself, it is said: αισχυνθεις Πετοσιριν απηγξατο και μετεωρος θνησκει, &c. i. e.

Thus, too, it is related of Cardan, the celebrated physician and astrologer, that having predicted the year and day of his death, when the time drew near, he suffered himself to perish through hunger, to preserve his reputation. My worthy and most intelligent friend Mr. J. J. Welsh has furnished me with the following additional information concerning the death of Cardan, and other astrologers: “Respecting Cardan’s abstaining from food, in order to verify his prediction, Thuanus says: ‘Cum tribus diebus minus septuagesimum quintum annum implevisset, eodem quo prædixerat anno et die, videlicet XI. Kalend. Octobris defecit, ob id, ne falleret, mortem suâ inediâ accelerasse creditus.’ lib. lxii. p. 155. The same historian also relates, that Cardan brought astrology into repute by the success he had in calculating nativities. ‘Judiciaria quam vocant fidem apud multos adstruxit, dum certiora per eam quam ex arte possint plerumque promere.’ Id. ib. Cardan was not the only astrologer who foretold the time of his own death; for Martin Hortensius, Professor of Mathematics in Amsterdam, not only predicted the time of his own death, but that of two young men who were with him, and the result proved the truth of his prophecy. The fact is admitted by Descartes, while he ridicules the science and underrates the abilities of Hortensius. See the 35th of his Letters to Father Mersenne, in the second volume of that collection.

“When Ann of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII., was delivered of the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XIV., a famous German astrologer was in attendance to draw his nativity, but refused to say more than these three words, which give a true character of Louis the Fourteenth’s reign; Diu, durè, feliciter. See Limier’s Hist. du Règne de Louis XIV.

“I omitted to mention above, a curious circumstance related of Cardan in Lavrey’s Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 711, viz. that having cured the Archbishop of St. Andrew’s of a disorder which had baffled the most skilful physicians, he took his leave of the Primate in these words: ‘I have been able to cure you of your sickness, but cannot change your destiny, nor prevent you from being hanged.’ Eighteen years after, this Prelate was hung by order of the Commissioners appointed by Mary Queen Regent of Scotland.

“By the way, I am much surprised that Cardan’s autobiography has never been translated; for it is, without a single exception, the most extraordinary book of the kind ever published.”

We are informed by Fabricius, that Marsham, in Canone Chron. p. 477, has eruditely collected many things pertaining to Petosiris, and Necepso king of Egypt, from the most ancient writers on judicial astrology. We likewise learn from Fabricius, that Necepso, to whom Petosiris wrote, as being coeval with him, is believed to have flourished about the year 800 of the Attic æra, i. e. about the beginning of the Olympiads. He is praised by Pliny, by Galen, ix. p. 2. De Facultat. Simplicium Medicament., and from him by Aetius.

[c] Page 56.—Proclus in Tim. lib. iv. p. 277, informs us, that the Chaldeans had observations of the stars, which embraced whole mundane periods. What Proclus likewise asserts of the Chaldeans is confirmed by Cicero in his first book on Divination, who says that they had records of the stars for the space of 370,000 years; and by Diodorus Siculus, Bibl. lib. xi. p. 113, who says, that their observations comprehended the space of 473,000 years.

Plato, in the Timæus, speaking of this greater apocatastasis, says: “At the same time, however, it is no less possible to conceive, that the perfect number of time will then accomplish a perfect year, when the celerities of all the eight periods being terminated with reference to each other, shall have a summit, as they are measured by the circle, of that which subsists according to the same and the similar [i. e. according to the sphere of the fixed stars].”

On this passage, Proclus, in his Commentary, observes as follows: “The whole mundane time measures the one life of the universe, according to which all the celerities are terminated of the celestial and sublunary circles. For in these also there are periods, which have for the summit of their apocatastasis the lation of the circle of the same [i. e. of the sphere of the fixed stars]. For they are referred to this as to their principle, because it is the most simple of all, since the apocatastases are surveyed with reference to the points of it. Thus, for instance, all of them make their apocatastasis about the equinoctial point[47], or about the summer tropic; or though the joint apocatastasis should not be considered to be according to the same point, but with reference to the same, when, for instance, rising or culminating, yet all of them will have with reference to it a figure of such a kind. For now the present order is entirely a certain apocatastasis of all the heavenly bodies, yet the configuration is not seen about the same, but with reference to the same point. Once, however, it was about the same, and according to one certain point, at which if it should again take place, the whole of time will have an end. One certain apocatastasis likewise seems to have been mentioned; hence it is said that Cancer is the horoscope of the world, and this year is called Cynic, or pertaining to the Dog, because, among the constellations, the splendid star of the Dog rises together with Cancer. If therefore the planets should again meet in the same point of Cancer, this concurrence will be one period of the universe. If, however, the apocatastasis takes places in Cancer about the equinoctial point, that also which is from the summer tropic will be directed towards the summer tropic, and the number of the one will be equal to the number of the other, and the time of the one to the time of the other. For each of them is one period, and is defined by quantity, on account of the order of the bodies that are moved. In addition, however, to what has been said, it must be observed, that this perfect number differs from that mentioned in the Republic, which comprehends the period of every divinely generated nature[48], since it is more partial, and is apocatastatic of the eight periods alone. For the other perfect number comprehends the peculiar motions of the fixed stars, and, in short, of all the divine genera that are moved in the heavens, whether visibly or invisibly, and also of the celestial genera posterior to the Gods, and of the longer or shorter periods of sublunary natures, together with the periods of fertility and sterility. Hence, likewise, it is the lord of the period of the human race.”

“The year (says Macrobius) which is called mundane, is truly revolving, because it is effected by a full convolution of the universe, and is evolved in the most extended periods of time, the reason of which is as follows: All the planets and the stars which are seen fixed in the heavens, the peculiar motion of the latter of which though the human sight has never been able to perceive or apprehend, are yet moved, and, besides the revolution of the heavens by which they are always drawn along, have an advancing motion of their own. This motion, however, is completed in such a length of time, that the life of man is not sufficiently extended to discover, by continual observation, their mutation to the place in which they were first seen. The end, therefore, of the mundane year is, when all the planets and all the fixed stars have returned from a certain place to the same place, so that no star in the heavens may be situated in a place different from that in which it was before, since all the other stars, when moved from that place to which they return, give a termination to their year; so that the luminaries [i. e. the sun and moon] also, together with the five wandering stars, may be in the same places and parts in which they were situated when the mundane year began. This, however, according to the decision of physiologists, will take place at the expiration of 15,000 years; hence, as the lunar year is a month, and the solar year consists of twelve months, and the years of the other planets are those which we have before mentioned, so the mundane year consists of 15,000 of such years as we now compute. This year, therefore, is called the truly revolving year, which is not measured by the retrogression of the sun, i. e. of one planet, but is terminated by the return of all the planets to the same place, under the same description of the whole heavens; from whence also it is called mundane, because the world is properly called heaven. Hence, as we not only denominate the progression of the sun from the kalends of January to the same kalends, the solar year, but also its progression from the day after the kalends to the same day, and its return from any day of any month to the same day, a year; thus, also, the beginning of this mundane year may be fixed by any one at any time he pleases. Thus, for instance, Cicero now, from an eclipse of the sun, which happened at the time of the death of Romulus, supposes the beginning of the mundane year to commence. And though frequently afterwards an eclipse of the sun may have happened, yet a repeated eclipse of this luminary is not said to give completion to the mundane year; but then this completion takes place when the sun, during its eclipse, will be in the same places and parts, and likewise all the planets and fixed stars, in which they were at the time of the death of Romulus. Hence, as physiologists assert, 15,000 years after the death of Romulus the sun will again be so eclipsed, that it will be in the same sign, and in the same part of the heavens, as it was at that time; all the stars likewise returning to the same place.”—Macrob. in Somn. Scip. lib. ii.

Hence, as the greater mundane apocatastasis consists of 300,000 years, and 15,000 years make a mundane year, the greater apocatastasis will consist of 20,000 mundane years.

This greater apocatastasis is also alluded to by Synesius in his treatise On Providence, and likewise in the Asclepian Dialogue ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus. The extract from Synesius, who informs us that his treatise is an Egyptian narration relative to Osiris and Typhos, is as follows:

“Some time after this, Typhos obtained the kingdom by fraud and force, and Osiris was banished: but during the evils arising from the tyrannical government of Typhos, some God manifestly appeared to a certain philosopher who was a stranger in Egypt, and who had received great benefits from Osiris, and ordered him to endure the present calamities, because they were months only, and not years, in which the Fates had destined that the Egyptian sceptres should raise the nails of the wild beasts[49], and depress the heads of the sacred birds[50]. But this is an arcane symbol. And the philosophic stranger above mentioned knew that a representation of this was engraved in obelisks and in the sacred recesses of the temples. The divinity also unfolded to him the meaning of the sacred sculpture, and gave him a sign of the time in which it would be verified. For when those, said he, who are now in power, shall endeavour to make an innovation in our religion, then in a short time after expect that the giants (meaning by these, men of another nation) shall be entirely expelled, being agitated by their own avenging furies. If, however, some remains of the sedition should still exist, and the whole should not be at once extinguished, but Typhos should still remain in the seat of government, nevertheless do not despair of the Gods. The following also is another symbol for you. When we shall purify the air which surrounds the earth, and which is defiled with the breath of the impious, with fire and water, then the punishment of the rest will also follow, and then immediately expect a better order of things, Typhos being removed. For we expel such-like prodigies by the devastation of fire and thunder. In consequence of this, the stranger considered that to be a felicitous circumstance, which had before appeared to him to be dreadful, and no longer bore with molestation a necessary continuance in life, through which he would be an eye-witness of the advent of the Gods; for it exceeded the power of human sagacity to conjecture, that so powerful a multitude as were then collected together in arms, and who even in time of peace were by law obliged to be armed, should be vanquished without any opposition. He considered with himself, therefore, how these things could be accomplished, for they appeared to surpass the power of reason. But after no great length of time, a certain depraved fragment of religion, and an adulteration of divine worship, like that of money, as it were, prevailed, which the ancient law exterminated from cities, shutting the doors against impiety, and expelling it to a great distance from the walls. Typhos, however, did not himself introduce this impiety, for he feared the Egyptian multitude, but for this purpose called in the assistance of the Barbarians, and erected a temple in the city, having previously subverted the laws of his country. When these things, therefore, came to pass, the stranger began to think that this was the event which divinity had predicted. ‘And perhaps,’ said he, ‘I shall be a spectator of what will follow.’ He likewise then learnt some particulars about Osiris, which would shortly happen, and others which would take place at some greater distance of time, viz. when the boy Horus would choose, as his associate in battle, a wolf instead of a lion. But who the wolf is, is a sacred narration, which it is not holy to divulge, even in the form of a fable.”

Typhos, however, through his tyranny, was at length dethroned, and Osiris recalled from exile; and Synesius, towards the end of this treatise, observes, “that the blessed body which revolves in a circle is the cause of the events in the sublunary world. For both are parts of the universe, and they have a certain relation to each other. If, therefore, the cause of generation[51] in the things which surround us originates in the natures which are above us, it follows that the seeds of things which happen here descend from thence. And if some one should add, since astronomy imparts credibility to this, that there are apocatastatic[52] periods of the stars and spheres, some of which are simple, but others compounded; such a one will partly accord with the Egyptians, and partly with the Grecians, and will be perfectly wise from both, conjoining intellect to science. A man of this kind therefore will not deny, that, in consequence of the same motions returning, effects also will return, together with their causes; and that lives on the earth, generations, educations, dispositions, and fortunes, will be the same with those that formerly existed. We must not wonder, therefore, if we behold a very ancient history verified in life, and should see things which flourished before our times accord with what is unfolded in this narration; and, besides this, perceive that the forms which are inserted in matter are consentaneous to the arcana of a fable.”

The following is the extract from the Asclepian Dialogue, a Latin translation only of which is extant, and is generally believed by the learned to have been made by Apuleius:—

“An ignoras, O Asclepi, quod Ægyptus imago sit cœli, aut, quod est verius, translatio et descensio omnium quæ gubernantur atque exercentur in cœlo? Et, si dicendum est, verius terra nostra totius mundi est templum: et tamen quoniam præscire cuncta prudentes decet, istud vos ignorare fas non est, futurum tempus est, quum appareat Ægyptios incassum pia mente divinitatem et sedula religione servasse, et omnis eorum sancta veneratio in irritum casura frustrabitur. E terris enim ad cœlum est recursura divinitas. Linquatur Ægyptus, terraque, quæ fuit divinitatis sedes, religione viduata, Numinum præsentia destituetur. Alienigenis enim regionem istam terramque complentibus, non solum neglectus religionum, sed (quod est durius) quasi de legibus, a religione, pietate, cultuque divino statuetur præscripta pœna, prohibitio. Tunc terra ista sanctissima, sedes delubrorum et templorum, sepulchrorum erit mortuorumque plenissima. O Ægypte, Ægypte, religionum solæ supererunt fabulæ, eæque incredibiles posteris suis; solaque supererunt verba lapidibus incisa, tua pia facta narrantibus; et inhabitabit Ægyptum Scythos aut Indus aut aliquis talis. Divinitas enim repetet cœlum, deserti homines toti morientur, atque ita Ægyptus Deo et homine viduata deseretur. Te verò appello sanctissimum flumen, tibique futura prædico: torrenti sanguine plenus ad ripas usque erumpes, undæque divinæ non solum polluentur sanguine, sed totæ rumpentur, et vivis multo major erit numerus sepultorum; superstes verò qui erit, lingua sola cognoscetur Ægyptius, actibus verò videbitur alienus. Quid fles, O Asclepi? Et his amplius, multoque deterius ipsa Ægyptus suadebitur, imbueturque pejoribus malis, quæ sancta quondam et divinitatis amantissima deorum in terras religionis suæ merito, sola seductio [lege reductio] sanctitatis et pietatis magistra, erit maximæ crudelitatis exemplum. Et tunc tædio hominum non admirandus videbitur mundus, neque adorandus. Hoc totum bonum, quo melius nec est, nec fuit, nec erit, quod videri possit, periclitabitur. Eritque grave hominibus, ac per hoc contemnetur, nec diligetur totus hic mundus, Dei opus immutabile, gloriosa constructio, bonum multiformi imaginum varietate compositum, machina voluntatis Dei in suo opere sine invidia suffragantis omnium in unum, quæ venerari, laudari, amari denique à videntibus possunt, multiformis adunata congestio. Nam et tenebræ præponentur lumini, et mors vita utiloir judicabitur. Nemo suspiciet cœlum. Religiosus pro insano, irreligiosus putabitur prudens, furiosus fortis, pro bono habebitur pessimus. Anima enim et omnia circum eam quibus aut immortalis nata est, aut immortalitatem se consecuturam esse præsumit, secundum quod vobis exposui, non solum risus, sed etiam putabitur vanitas. Sed mihi credite etiam periculum capitate constituetur in eum, qui se mentis religioni dederit. Nova constituentur jura, lex nova; nihil sanctum, nihil religiosum, nec cœlo, nec cœlestibus dignum audietur, aut mente credetur. Fiet Deorum ab hominibus dolenda secessio; soli nocentes angeli remanebant, qui humanitati commixti ad omnia audaciæ mala miseros manu injecta compellent in bella, in rapinas, in fraudes, et in omnia quæ sunt animarum naturæ contraria. Tunc non terra constabit, nec navigabitur mare, nec cœlum astrorum cursibus, nec siderum cursus constabit in cœlo. Omnis vox divina necessaria taciturnitate mutescet, fructus terræ corrumpentur, nec fœcunda erit tellus, et aër ipse mœsto torpore languescet. Hæc et talis senectus veniet mundi, irreligio, inordinatio, irrationabilitas bonorum omnium. Cùm hæc cuncta contigerint, O Asclepi, tunc ille dominus et pater, Deus primipotens, et unus gubernator mundi, intuens in mores factaque voluntaria voluntate sua, quæ est Dei benignitas, vitiis resistens, et corruptelæ omnium errorem revocans, malignitatem omnem vel alluvione diluens, vel igne consumens, vel morbis pestilentiisque per diversa loca dispersis finiens, ad antiquam faciem mundum revocabit, ut et mundus ipse adorandus videatur et mirandus, et tanti operis effector et restitutor Deus ab omnibus qui tunc erunt frequentibus laudum præconiis benedictionibusque celebretur. Hæc enim mundi genitura cunctarum reformatio rerum bonarum, et naturæ ipsius sanctissima et religiosissima restitutio, peracto temporis cursu, quæ est et fuit sine initio sempiterna. Voluntas enim Dei caret initio, quæ eadem est, et ubique est sempiterna.” i. e.

“Are you ignorant, O Asclepius, that Egypt is the image of heaven, or, which is more true, a translation and descent of everything which is governed and exercised in heaven? And, if it may be said, our land is truly the temple of the whole world. Nevertheless, because it becomes wise men to foreknow all things, it is not lawful that you should be ignorant that the time will come when it may seem that the Egyptians have in vain, with a pious mind and sedulous religion, paid attention to divinity, and all their holy veneration shall become void and of no effect. For divinity shall return back from earth to heaven. Egypt shall be forsaken, and the land which was the seat of divinity shall be destitute of religion, and deprived of the presence of the Gods. For when strangers shall possess and fill this region and land, there shall not only be a neglect of religion, but (which is more miserable) there shall be laws enacted against religion, piety, and divine worship; they shall be prohibited, and punishments shall be inflicted on their votaries. Then this most holy land, the seat of places consecrated to divinity, and of temples, shall be full of sepulchres and dead bodies. O Egypt, Egypt, fables alone shall remain of thy religion, and these such as will be incredible to posterity; and words alone shall be left engraved in stones, narrating thy pious deeds. The Scythian also, or Indian, or some other similar nation, shall inhabit Egypt. For divinity shall return to heaven, all its inhabitants shall die, and thus Egypt, bereft both of God and man, shall be deserted. I call on thee, O most holy river, and predict to thee future events. Thou shalt burst forth with a torrent of blood, full even to thy banks, and thy divine waters shall not only be polluted with blood, but the land shall be inundated with it, and the number of the dead shall exceed that of the living. He, likewise, who survives, shall only, by his language, be known to be an Egyptian, but by his deeds he will appear to be a stranger. Why do you weep, O Asclepius? Egypt shall experience more ample and much worse evils than these, though she was once holy, and the greatest lover of the Gods on the earth, by the desert of her religion. And she who was alone the reductor of sanctity and the mistress of piety will be an example of the greatest cruelty. Then also, through the weariness of men, the world will not appear to be an admirable and adorable thing. This whole good, a better than which, as an object of perception, there neither is, nor was, nor will be, will be in danger, and will be grievous to men. Hence this whole world will be despised, and will not be beloved, though it is the immutable work of God, a glorious fabric, a good compounded with a multiform variety of images, a machine of the will of God, who, in his work, gave his suffrage without envy, that all things should be one. It is also a multiform collected heap, capable of being venerated, praised and loved by those that behold it. For darkness shall be preferred to light, and death shall be judged to be more useful than life. No one shall look up to heaven. The religious man shall be accounted insane, the irreligious shall be thought wise, the furious brave, and the worst of men shall be considered a good man. For the soul, and all things about it, by which it is either naturally immortal, or conceives that it shall attain to immortality, conformably to what I have explained to you, shall not only be the subject of laughter, but shall be considered as vanity. Believe me, likewise, that a capital punishment shall be appointed for him who applies himself to the religion of intellect. New statutes and new laws shall be established, and nothing religious, or which is worthy of heaven or celestial concerns, shall be heard, or believed by the mind. There will be a lamentable departure of the Gods from men[53]; noxious angels[54] will alone remain, who, being mingled with human nature, will violently impel the miserable men [of that time] to war, to rapine, to fraud, and to every thing contrary to the nature of the soul. Then the earth shall be in a preternatural state; the sea shall not be sailed in, nor shall the heavens accord with the course of the stars, nor the course of the stars continue in the heavens. Every divine voice shall be dumb by a necessary silence, the fruits of the earth shall be corrupted, nor shall the earth be prolific, and the air itself shall languish with a sorrowful torpor. These events and such an old age of the world as this shall take place, such irreligion, inordination, and unreasonableness of all good. When all these things shall happen, O Asclepius, then that lord and father, the God who is first in power, and the one governor of the world, looking into the manners and voluntary deeds [of men], and by his will, which is the benignity of God, resisting vices, and recalling the error arising from the corruption of all things; washing away likewise all malignity by a deluge, or consuming it by fire, or bringing it to an end by disease and pestilence dispersed in different places, will recall the world to its ancient form, in order that the world itself may appear to be an adorable and admirable production, and God, the fabricator and restorer of so great a work, may be celebrated, by all that shall then exist, with frequent solemn praises and benedictions. For this geniture[55] of the world is the reformation of all good things, and the most holy and religious restitution of the nature of it, the course of time being accomplished[56]; since time is perpetual, and always was without a beginning. For the will of God is without beginning, is always the same, and is everywhere eternal.”

Of this very remarkable extract, it is necessary to observe, in the first place, that it was principally made by me from the edition of the Asclepian Dialogue by Ficinus, as he appears to have had a more correct manuscript in his possession than any that have been consulted by more modern editors. Of this the learned and at the same time philosophic reader will be immediately convinced, by comparing this extract with the same part of that dialogue in the most modern editions of it. In the second place, that this dialogue is of genuine antiquity and no forgery, is, I think, unquestionably evident from neither Lactantius nor Augustin having any doubt of its authenticity, though it was their interest to have proved it to be spurious if they could, because it predicts, (which is the third thing especially deserving of remark,) that the memorials of the martyrs should succeed in the place of the temples of the Gods. Hence Augustin concludes this to be a prophecy or prediction made instinctu fallacis spiritûs,—by the instinct or suggestion of a deceitful spirit. But that this prediction was accomplished, is evident, as Dr. Cudworth observes in his True Intellectual System of the Universe, p. 329, from the following passages of Theodoret, which I shall quote as translated by the Doctor. “Now the martyrs have utterly abolished and blotted out of the minds of men the memory of those who were formerly called Gods.” And again, “Our Lord hath now brought his dead (i. e. his martyrs) into the room and place (i. e. into the temples) of the Gods; whom he hath sent away empty, and bestowed their honour upon these his martyrs. For now, instead of the festivals of Jupiter and Bacchus, are celebrated those of Peter and Paul, Thomas and Sergius, and other holy martyrs.” Antoninus the philosopher also, according to Eunapius, predicted the very same thing, viz. that after his decease the magnificent temple of Serapis in Egypt, together with the rest, should be demolished, and the temples of the Gods be turned into sepulchres, και τα ἱερα ταφους γενησεσθαι. And in the fourth and last place, the intelligent reader who compares this prediction with what is said about the philosophic stranger by Synesius, in the foregoing extract, will immediately see that the former wonderfully accords with the latter.

[d] Page 57.—This first period of the world, which was uncultivated and rude, and, according to Firmicus, was under the dominion of Saturn, is mentioned by Plato at the beginning of his third book On Laws. For there having observed that time is infinite, he says, “that myriads upon myriads of cities have existed in this time, and that, in consequence of the same temporal infinity, as many have been destroyed.” He also says, “that they will everywhere have been governed according to every kind of polity; and at one time pass from the less to the greater, and at another from the greater to the less, and have become worse from the better, and better from the worse.” He adds, “that the cause of this mutation, viz. the many destructions of the human race, is through deluges, diseases, and numerous other things, in which a very small part of mankind was left....” After this he observes, “that those who escaped the destruction which was caused by a deluge, were nearly mountain shepherds, a few dormant sparks of the human race, preserved on the summits of mountains. That such as these must necessarily have been ignorant of other arts, and of those artifices, in cities, of men towards each other, with a view to prerogative and contention, and other base ends.” He also supposes “that the cities which were situated in plains, and those bordering on the sea, entirely perished at that time. That hence, all instruments were destroyed, together with every invention pertaining to art, political discipline, or anything else characterized by wisdom.” He adds, “We must therefore assert, that when that devastation by a deluge took place, human affairs were in a state of infinite and dreadful solitude; that a prodigious part of the earth was unprolific; and other animals having perished, some herds of oxen, and a few goats, which were rarely found, supplied those men with food that escaped the devastation.” See what the divine philosopher further observes on this interesting subject, in my Translation of this book of his Laws.

The reader, however, must be careful not to confound this Saturnian period with the golden age, which also was under Saturn. For the latter, says Damascius (apud Phot.), consisted of a race of men proximate to the gods, and is most magnificently celebrated by poets who were seated on the tripos of the Muse. But by the golden age, as Proclus on Hesiod beautifully observes, “an intellectual life is implied. For such a life is pure, impassive, and free from sorrow; and of this impassivity and purity gold is an image, because it is never subject to rust or putrefaction. Such a life, too, is very properly said to be under Saturn, because Saturn is an intellectual god.”—See more concerning this Divinity in the Additional Notes at the end of the 5th vol. of my Plato, p. 675, &c.

[e] Page 59.—Plato, in the eighth book of his Republic, speaking of the dissolution of the city which he has constituted, observes as follows: “Not only with respect to terrestrial plants, but likewise in terrestrial animals, a fertility and sterility of soul as well as of body takes place, when the revolutions of the heavenly bodies complete the periphery of their respective orbits; which are shorter to the shorter lived, and contrarywise to such as are the contrary.” The necessity for such a mutation taking place is this (as I have observed in the Introduction to my Translation of Aristotle’s History of Animals),—that all the parts of the universe are unable to participate the providence of divinity in a similar manner, but some of its parts enjoy this perpetually, and others only for a time; some in a primary, and others in a secondary degree. For the universe, being a perfect whole, must have a first, a middle, and a last part. But its first part, as having the most excellent subsistence, must always exist according to nature; and its last part must sometimes subsist according to, and sometimes contrary to, nature. Hence the celestial bodies, which are the first parts of the universe, perpetually subsist according to nature, both the whole spheres and the multitude co-ordinate to these wholes[57]; and the only alteration which they experience is a mutation of figure, and variation of light at different periods; but in the sublunary region, while the spheres of the elements remain, on account of their subsistence as wholes, always according to nature, the parts of these wholes have sometimes a natural, and sometimes an unnatural subsistence; for thus alone can the circle of generation unfold all the variety which it contains.

The different periods in which these mutations happen are called by Plato, with great propriety, periods of fertility and sterility; for in these periods a fertility or sterility of men, irrational animals, and plants takes place; so that in fertile periods mankind will be both more numerous, and upon the whole superior in mental and bodily endowments, to the men of a barren period. And a similar reasoning must be extended to animals and plants. The so much celebrated heroic age was the result of one of these fertile periods, in which men transcending the herd of mankind both in practical and intellectual virtue abounded on the earth. And a barren period may be considered as having commenced somewhat prior to the Augustan age, the destruction of all the great ancient cities, with all their rites, philosophy, &c. being the natural consequence of such a period. It appears to me that this period commenced in the time of Sylla, and I found this opinion on the following passage in Plutarch’s Life of that great commander:—Το δε παντων μεγιστον, εξ ανεφελου και διαιθρου του περιεχοντος ηχησε φωνη σαλπιγγος, οξυν αποτεινουσα και θρηνωδη φθογγον, ὡστε παντας εκφρονας γενεσθαι, και καταπτηξαι το μεγεθος. Τυρῥηνων δε οἱ λογιοι μεταβολην ἑτερου γενους απεφαινοντο, και μετακοσμησιν αποσημαινειν το τερας. ειναι μεν γαρ αυτῳ οκτω τα συμπαντα γενη διαφεροντα τοις βιοις και τοις ηθεσι δ’ αλληλων, ἑκαστῳ δε αφωρισθαι χρονων αριθμον, ὑπο του θεου συμπεραινομενον ενιαυτου μεγαλου περιοδῳ· και ὁταν αυτη σχη τελος, ἑτερας ενισταμενης κινεισθαι τι σημειον εκ γης ἢ ουρανου θαυμασιον. i. e. “But the greatest of all [the signs prior to the civil wars] was the following: On a cloudless and clear day, the sound of a trumpet was heard, so acute and mournful as to astonish and terrify by its loudness all that heard it. The Tuscan wise men and soothsayers, therefore, declared that this prodigy signified the mutation into and commencement of another age. For according to them there are eight ages, differing from each other in lives and manners, each of which is limited by divinity to a certain time of duration, and the number of years of which this time consists is bounded by the period of the great year. Hence, when one age is finished, and another is about to commence, a certain wonderful sign will present itself, either from the earth or the heavens.” The mournfulness of this sound of the trumpet was evidently an indication that a barren period was about to commence.—For an account of the great year, see the note to page 478 of the treatise on Meteors.

The following extracts from a work entitled “Sketches chiefly relating to the History, Religion, &c. of the Hindoos, concerning the Mundane Periods,” appear to me to be highly interesting, and to form a most important addition to what has been before said about the revolutions which take place in the universe.

“They reckon the duration of the world by four Yougs, corresponding in their nature with the Golden, Silver, Brazen, and Iron ages of the ancients.

p. 222.

“The beginning of the Kaly Youg, or present age, is reckoned from 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 30 seconds of the morning of the 16th of February 3102 years before the Christian era; but the time for which their astronomical tables are constructed, is 2 days, 3 hours, 32 minutes, and 30 seconds after that on the 18th of February, about six in the morning. They say there was then a conjunction of the planets, and their tables show that conjunction. Monsieur Bailly observes[58], that by calculation it appears, that Jupiter and Mercury were then in the same degree of the ecliptic; that Mars was distant about 8 degrees, and Saturn 17; and it results from thence, that at the time of the date given by the Brahmans to the commencement of the Kaly Youg, they saw those four planets successively disengage themselves from the rays of the sun; first Saturn, then Mars, then Jupiter, and then Mercury. These four planets, therefore, showed themselves in conjunction; and though Venus could not have appeared, yet, as they only speak in general terms, it was natural enough to say there was then a conjunction of the planets. The account given by the Brahmans is confirmed by the testimony of our European tables, which prove it to be the result of a true observation. Monsieur Bailly is of opinion, that their astronomical time is dated from an eclipse of the moon, which appears then to have happened, and that the conjunction of the planets is only mentioned by the way.”—pp. 224, 225.

The conjunction of the planets mentioned in the above extract, is admirably elucidated by Olympiodorus in his MS. Scholia on the Gorgias of Plato, as follows: “There are seven spheres, that of the moon, that of the sun, and those of the other planets; but the inerratic is the eighth sphere. The lunar sphere, therefore, makes a complete revolution more swiftly, for it is accomplished in thirty days. That of the sun is more slow, for it is accomplished in a year. That of Jupiter is still slower, for it is effected in twelve years. And much more that of Saturn, for it is completed in thirty years. The stars, therefore, are not conjoined with each other in their revolutions, except rarely. Thus, for instance, the sphere of Saturn and the sphere of Jupiter are conjoined with each other in their revolutions in sixty years. For if the sphere of Jupiter comes from the same to the same in twelve years, but that of Saturn in thirty years, it is evident that when Jupiter has made five, Saturn will have made two revolutions; for twice thirty is sixty, and so likewise is twelve times five; so that their revolutions will be conjoined in sixty years. Souls, therefore, are punished for such-like periods. But the seven planetary spheres conjoin their revolutions with the inerratic sphere, through many myriads of years; and this is the period which Plato calls τον αει χρονον, for ever.”—See the Introduction to the volume of my Aristotle, which contains a translation of Aristotle’s treatise on the Soul, &c. &c.