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Salutius

1. On the Gods and the World

Edited by Paolo Bagnato

Introduction

On the Gods and the World (Greek Περὶ θεῶν καὶ κόσμου, Latin De diis et mundo) is a late antique treatise which illustrates, in relatively few pages, important theological themes in the Greco-Roman tradition. The text is almost certainly to be attributed to Saturninus Secundus Salutius1, a senior imperial official native to the Gaul who held numerous offices already under the reign of Constans (337-350) and who, as proved by the correspondence between the two, became collaborator and intimate friend of Julian2, Emperor from 360 to 363. The latter, after having been raised in the Christian faith, embraced, thanks to his philosophical studies, the Greco-Roman religious tradition and became particularly close to the Neoplatonic current of Iamblichus3 that emphasized Theurgy, i.e. the ritual practices that leads to the purification and ascent of the soul up to the union (henosis) with the Gods.

Julian, who became sole Emperor in 361 after the death of his cousin Constantius II, established a new ruling class surrounding himself with philosophers, and implemented reforms aimed at reducing expenses of the court and restoring municipal finances. The most important part of his project, however, was the attempt to restore the traditional religions of the Roman Empire, that at the time was almost totally christianized. This meant the reopening of many temples, the restoration of priesthoods and the abolition of some privileges of the Church, without the persecution of the Christians. However, this process came to a sudden halt with the death of the young Julian in 363, that occurred during the campaign to conquer the Sasanian Empire. The Roman Emperor spent his last moments on Earth talking about the nature of the soul with his comrades, just like Socrates. Salutius, due to his old age, refused to succeed to his friend as Emperor, although he had been chosen by the generals, and the Christian Jovian was therefore elected. Salutius supported the religious restoration program promoted by Julian and contributed with the treatise that we present in these pages, aiming to provide a compendium (sometimes even defined as “catechism”) on the Greco-Roman religious thought. In fact, for some time in the west, due to the spread of superstition and atheism, the clarifying intervention of the traditional authorities had repeatedly become necessary to re-establish the correct theology. Due to the expansion of Christianity further misunderstandings occurred, making doctrinal clarifications even more urgent. The most remarkable example of these interventions on the Greek tradition is certainly the Περὶ δεισιδαιμονίας (Latin De Superstitione, English On Superstition) by Plutarch (46-125), Priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Plutarch illustrates how superstition translates into attributing human qualities to the Gods and considering Them harmful and cause of misfortune instead of seeing them as eternally good. This makes superstition particularly dangerous because, since it does not openly deny the existence of gods, it can easily infiltrate religion and consequently pervert it, thus becoming even more dangerous than atheism. Reading Salutius’s treatise, as well as others of the same kind, is evident that the most frequent and serious misunderstanding was about the myths: by ignoring the real theological and initiatic meanings hidden behind the allegories of the stories, many people believed that what the myths depicted was to be taken literally, and thus saying impieties towards the Gods4. However, in the present text the functions and the various possible meanings of the mythical tales are precisely explained, correcting in this way, the erroneous view on which the impious and the superstitious rely. In addition to this, Salutius clarifies many other topics. He illustrates the whole Chain of Being and he also explains other matters such as the function of sacrifices and theodicy. It is therefore clear the usefulness of this work in understanding many topics concerning the Greco-Roman theology. The reader, who will seize the topics illustrated by Salutius, will more easily comprehend the ancient western religious works and will be able to better address the corresponding theological doctrines exposed by other authors such as Plato, Iamblichus and Proclus.

Translation

I. On the qualifications of the disciple and the basic doctrines5

1.Those who want to learn about the Gods must have been well educated since their childhood, and not raised with foolish opinions; moreover, they must be good and intelligent by nature, in order to relate with these teachings; lastly, they must know the universal concepts.

2. Universal concepts are those ones on which all men, when properly questioned, will agree to: i.e., every God is good, imperturbable, immutable; in fact, anything that undergoes change either changes for the better or for the worse: if for the worse, it turns bad, if for the better, then it was bad in the beginning6.

II. Additional fundamental doctrines

1. This is what the disciple should be like. The doctrines must be so: Gods’ essences were not generated, because what always exists has no origin, and what holds the First Might always exists and by nature it does not suffer.

2. Furthermore, the essences of the Gods do not derive from the bodies: for the powers of the body are incorporeal. In fact, they cannot even be contained in a place, since this is a characteristic proper to the bodies7. The essences of the Gods are not separated from the First Cause nor from each other8, just as thoughts are not separated from the intellect, cognitions from the soul, sensations from the living creature.

III. Concerning myths

1. It is therefore appropriate to ask why the ancients obscured these discourses by using myths: the first advantage of myths is precisely the fact that one must investigate, so that the mind does not remain lazy. It can be said thatmyths are certainly divine because of those who made use of them: among the poets those who were inspired by God, the best among the philosophers, those who taught the Mysteries9 as well as the Gods through Their oracles.

2. The reason why the myths are divine must be sought with the help of philosophy. Since all existing things rejoice of what they perceive as similar and recoil from all that is dissimilar, also the discourses about the Gods had to be similar to the Gods, in order to be adequate to Their essence and to make Them auspicious towards those who speak of Them: this can only happen through the myths.

3. The myths represent and imitate the Gods in accordance with what can be said and what is inexpressible10, what is visible and what is invisible, what is evident and what is hidden. They also represent the goodness of the Gods: as the Gods let everyone know the good coming from perceptible things, but They only let the wise know the good coming from the intelligible, in the same way the myths announce the existence of the Gods to everyone but reveal who and how They are only to those who can understand. Lastly the myths represent and imitate the works of the Gods: even the World can be called a myth, because bodies and objects are visible in it, while souls and intellects are hidden11.

4. In addition, teaching to everyone the truth about the Gods causes disdain in fools for their inability to understand, and causes laziness in regular people; on the other hand, hiding the truth through the myths prevents the former from disdain and compels the latter to investigate. But why the myths have spoken about adultery, kidnappings, fathers in chains and other absurdities? Isn’t it rather a thing worthy of great wonder? In other words, it is thanks to the evident absurdity that the soul immediately thinks of the myths as veils, considering the truth as unspeakable12.

  1. Flavius Sallustius is the other possible author of this treatise, although we are not aware of his philosophical activity. He also worked together with Julian the Apostate, and held various imperial posts including consul in 363.[↩]
  2. See From Cosmos to Chaos – 28. The Roman Empire and Christianity.[↩]
  3. See From Cosmos to Chaos – 16. The Neoplatonics[↩]
  4. Svāmī Karapātrī jī Mahārāja, Lingopasana Rahasya (Swami Karpatri, The Linga and the Great Goddess, (Jean Louis Gabin, ed. by), Varanasi, Indica Books, 2008, page 73) “Because spiritual and supernatural topics are described within the Vedas and the Puranas in a worldly language, then, sometimes, ignorant people think that these therefore imply something indecent.”[↩]
  5. We added titles to each chapter.[↩]
  6. The Gods are eternally perfect and so there cannot be any change in them: a change necessarily involves either a worsening, therefore the loss of perfection, or an improvement which, however, implies a worse initial condition.[↩]
  7. The Divine is not subject to spatial limits. If the Gods were subject to the bodies it would mean that the bodies would have the ability to limit the Gods and therefore the bodies would be a superior power to Them. This would make the cult and theurgy useless since both imply the presence of the Gods everywhere in the cosmos, at the same time immanent and transcendent. As the famous saying of Thales states “everything is full of Gods”. See also Jagadguru Śaṃkarācārya Śrī Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī III Mahāsvāmīgal – Knowledge of the Self: “The devas are present everywhere because of their respective functions in the universe, they could not pour the offering anywhere, every place being occupied by them.”[↩]
  8. The unity the Gods and the First Cause leads us to strongly question the common use of the word “polytheism”. In fact, the ancient authors who stress the oneness of the divine are not few and irrelevant. Two examples among all are Plutarch who in Περὶ τοῦ εἶ τοῦ έν Δελφοῖς (Latin De E apud Delphos, English On the E at Delphi) explains the impossibility of the multiplicity of the Divine, and Maximus of Tire (II century AD) who in the dissertation 11.5 says that: “you can see only one precept shared unanimously all over the Earth: that God is only one, King and Father of all, and that there are many gods, sons and associates of the God. Both the Greek and the foreigner say these things.”. Hinduism is also often ignorantly said to be polytheistic, while the scriptures and the Jagadgurus state that the Supreme is only one and that He is called by many names. Svāmī Karapātrī jī Mahārāja wrote in his Devi Bhagavati Tattva (The Linga and the Great Goddess, p. 229): “monotheism (ekesvaravada) is universally accepted”. We therefore believe that the use of the term “polytheistic” in the Greco-Roman tradition is the result of a misunderstanding, as much as in the case regarding the Sanātana Dharma.[↩]
  9. See From Cosmos to Chaos – 3. Initiation and mysticism[↩]
  10. The word ἄρρητον (comparable to the Sanskrit anirvācya and also translatable as mysterious, secret, ineffable) makes evident the use of a Mysteric technical language. It is inexpressible not only because it is bound by the initiatic secrecy (the term μυστήριον is in fact linked to being “mute, silent”, similar to the Sanskrit muni) but also because it is incommunicable by nature. Plotinus refers ἄρρητον to the One. About this topic see Enneads VI, 9, 10-11 “The vision (of the One) is difficult to express. Indeed, how could He be described as different from oneself, while during the contemplation He was not seen as different, but as one with oneself? This is the meaning of the prescription of the Mysteries, that is, not to disclose anything to the uninitiated: since the Divine is not communicable, it was forbidden to reveal it to others, except to those who already had the chance to contemplate it.”[↩]
  11. The myth veils with symbols the truths about the Gods, which can be discovered by the worthy and well educated. Just as in the myths the images expressed are manifest and evident to all, but not their deep and real meaning, in the same way the visible forms of the world are expressions of the invisible Principles that govern them. Therefore, even the world can be called a myth.[↩]
  12. “Men of sound intellect and probity, / Weigh with good understanding what lies hidden / Behind the veil of my strange allegory!” Dante, Inf. IX, 61-63 (translated by John Ciardi). The myth’s purpose is to amaze the wise reader with strange tales in order to push him to search for the real meaning hidden in the story.[↩]